#I’ve been wanting to draw for weeks now but nothing came out until this so. yay!!

[silverflqmes]

໒⦂ 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄’𝐒 𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐐𝐈𝐍𝐆.

synopsis. the general of the xianzhou luofu is absolutely knocked out, nowhere to be found, and you’re left to look after his son retainer.

genre. fluff + crack

tw. secondhand embarrassment..

for @melukonova <3

jing yuan x gn!reader.

“i am not a child!” the blond haired swordsman whined out, sheathing his icy blade. “therefore i do not need babysitting!”

you let out a sigh, throwing your bow on your back as you caught up to the fuming teen. “i don’t wanna look after you anymore than you want me to. but your dad- i mean, mentor, ordered me to.” a chill ran down your spine. “and i don’t even want to know what would happen if i disobeyed and lost you.”

the dozing general, as your good friend sushang called him, was all lax and carefree until angered. you being you, the last thing you wanted was to see first hand what that anger looked like. after all, they did say the calmer ones are scarier when they snap.

yanqing eyed you for a moment before letting out a huff, unfazed by her reasoning. “what makes you think i would get lost? i’m perfectly capable of handling myself, i’ve been doing so for years now!” he argued before drawing out a hum. an idea. “but..” he dragged out, peering at you from the peripheral of his gaze. “if you want to waste your day chasing me around, i suppose you’ll have to keep up!”

and just like that, the boy was gone within a sprint.

your palm came in contact with your forehead as you let out an ( exasperated ) sigh. normally you would have left the kid to do his thing, but with the mara-struck soldiers around and all sorts of dangerous beings.. it wasn’t wise to leave him on his own, even if his skills rivaled or outnumbered your own.

“this kid is gonna be the death of me.” with that in mind, you bolted after him. “wait up!”

yanqing didn’t dare slow down as he maneuvered his way through the artisanship commission — a favored place of his. for awhile he’d been eyeing a sword there, but sadly.. he’d spent his entire paycheck upon receiving it.

which for reference, was last week..

however, two days ago yuan had provided him with the necessary credits to purchase the blade. hence his pursuit for the antique store.

when his peridot eyes found his destination, they sparked with relief when they caught sight of the sword. his prayers had been answered! no one bought it!

he took the antique meticulously into his hands, as though afraid it could shatter if handled incorrectly, as he brought it up to the counter.

“sir yanqing, you’ve returned!” the storekeeper greeted, smiling brightly. “the sword’s been waiting for you the entire week! since no one has come to purchase it, it seems it was meant to be with you after all!”

the ice user let out a chuckle, folding his arms proudly across his chest . “it seems so!” he grinned before reaching into his pocket. “same amount as before?”

a nod. “same amount!”

relieved to hear it hadn’t gone up in price, yanqing continued his search.. only to come out empty handed.

the boy blinked in surprise, reaching into another pocket.. and nothing again.

“i must have left it at the estate!” he mentally scolded himself before looking up with a blush coating his cheeks. “i-i um.. left my wallet at home.. is there any chance you can hold onto the sword while i get it?” he asked, praying the shopkeeper would say yes, but his apologetic smile said otherwise.

“i’m sorry sir yanqing, it would go against the store policy since we’re an antique shop — you sort of find what you can get..”

the young prodigy paled, whispers entering his ears around him about the blade. if he left, someone was sure to take it!

“what to do, what to do..”

“yanqing, there you are! i’ve been looking everywhere for you.” you called out, glancing between the blond and the store clerk. “were you going to buy this?”

his eyes widened at your ability to have caught up so quickly. he thought he’d lost you amidst the twists, turns and teleportation! it seemed his methods in slipping away still needed work. he could only wonder how the general had perfected his so well.

parting his lips, yanqing felt the need to interrogate you on your abilities in finding him, but he closed them right after, his curiosity faltering. “it doesn’t matter, i left my credits at home so i can’t buy it.” he mumbled back, cheeks burning as the words left his mouth. how could he have made such a rookie mistake?!

a hum left your lips at his reasoning before you reached into your utility belt, pulling out a sum of credits you’d received just yesterday. “how much is the weapon?” you stepped forward, holding out the bills in your hand.

the blond nearly felt his jaw drop at your actions. were you going to pay for him?? he couldn’t allow that — it wasn’t right!

“w-wait, y/n! i can just get another one some other time!” he blurted, tugging on your wrist to pull you back.

however, you ignored him. “will this be enough or does it cost more?” you asked, refocusing your gaze on the shopkeeper — who looked almost dumbfounded. how much did cloud knights earn?!

“um- it will do, y-yes..” the owner answered quietly, popping the register open before grabbing a tote. “would you like a bag with that..?”

you looked towards your blond companion, nudging him out of his daze. “bag or no bag?”

“n-no bag..” yanqing answered quietly, taking the blade off the counter before sheathing it at his hip.

the walk to the estate was quiet, minus the rustling of the trees and gossiping of birds.

no wonder the general liked his naps so much, it was peaceful and much needed- considering his workload.

yanqing hadn’t spoken a word after saying he didn’t need a bag.

part of him was still disbelieved about it all. if it hadn’t been for you grabbing his wrist to guide him back home, he would’ve remained frozen in his place.

the silence didn’t matter to you though, your job of looking after yanqing was nearing its end. you could return to your post in about twenty minutes worry free.

“y/n, yanqing!” the general greeted at the gates, smiling that cat-like grin he always sported. “i was beginning to think something had happened that required me to save you both.” he teased, sliding his gaze over to his retainer’s hip before letting out a chuckle. “i see you went shopping. is that the one you’ve been eyeing?” he inquired gently, folding his arms comfortably over his chest.

the teen looked up at the albino haired male for a moment before lowering his eyes, shame overcoming him. “a-about that, i left my wallet here.. so y/n bought it for me.” he confessed, flushing like he did before. he felt bad to have you pay, after the way he behaved with you earlier.

and yuan had no issue picking up on this as he let out a hum. “really now?” he questioned softly, peering over at you for confirmation.

surprise crossed your features upon being addressed before you inclined your head. “he was worried someone would buy it if he left the store, so i paid. but it’s no issue at all! t-truly, general..”

the lightning user let out a hum. “i see. well i can’t let your kind actions go to waste.” he spoke up finally, raising a hand to his chin.

“that’s alright- consider it a gift.” you smiled awkwardly, waving your hands dismissively before flitting your eyes to the blond. “i hope the sword finds you well.”

yanqing felt his guilt creeping up on him as he watched you turn before he could say his thanks.

and then his voice found him. “w-wait..!” he blurted out, grabbing your hand, as you did previously to him. “you didn’t let me thank you properly..” the ice user spoke up, swallowing his embarrassment to look over at the golden eyed male beside him for permission. “can y/n stay over for dinner?”

“dinner?? with the general and his retainer?!” you shouted in your head, astonished that the boy was even asking such a thing when all he wanted was to get away from you.

“a-ah, yanqing that’s okay- it was a gift! therefore no payment is required.. and i don’t want to intrude.” your voice quieted at the last sentence, suddenly feeling flushed yourself.

you had a post to get back to and later a box of leftover takeout waiting for you at home. having dinner with the general and his apprentice was completely unheard of!

however, the general in question thought otherwise. “hmm.. i think the kid is right.” jing yuan finally said, lowering his hand to the arm over his chest. “you’re relieved of your duties for tonight. yanqing, show them in while i get dinner started.”

with that, the general was already walking through the gates into his grand estate.

and once more.. you were left to look after his retainer — or in this case, he was left to look after you.

“um.. this way.” the blond brought you out of your trance when he dropped your hand, moving a few steps ahead of you.

the walk was awkward to say the least, he was truly hoping for yuan’s assistance on this, but alas.. he had other plans.

perhaps this was yanqing’s punishment for forgetting his wallet behind. “have you visited here before?” he sliced through the silence, though not as cleanly as his swords would.

you slid your eyes to him, surprised to hear him speak, though you recovered quickly. “a few times to deliver messages, but never beyond the gates.”

the blond nodded in understanding. jing yuan was keen on not mixing home life with work, he liked to preserve his relaxing environment. which made sense, people came home to relax and get away from their job.

he continued onward with you, stopping at the small nook he normally spent time off in to grab what looked to be.. digital checkers?

your brows rose a little. despite yanqing arguing that he was not a child, he sure favored his games.

his eyes met yours — a wordless invitation.

it’s not like there was much to do. anything to pass the time ( and embarrassment ) will do.

“alright, dinner is ready!” the snowy haired general called, walking out with a crockpot in hand — a culinary achievement of his. “who’s hungr-”

“HOW?!” yanqing’s voice tore through his question, causing him to blink. his retainer wasn’t one for losing his cool around others; had he missed something?

you surveyed yuan at the doorway for a second before lowering your eyes to the blond, lifting your shoulders at his outburst. “beginner’s luck?” you asked with an innocent smile.

only, he wasn’t buying it. “no way-! then i demand a rematch to test that statement!”

“how about you let our guest eat first.” the general chimed in, chuckling softly when the boy sharpened up instantaneously. worked every time. “i see you and y/n have been quite busy in my absence.. perhaps i’ll have to try my luck with them as well.” he mused, winking over at you.

your face heated up at the gesture, not having anticipated that of your superior, but you tried not to think too much of it.

sure he was a smooth talker and incredibly handsome. you’d even caught that foxian ambassador selling his pictures once!

however you knew better than to become romantically attached. least of all with your, quote on quote, boss.

even so, you couldn’t help those butterflies that crept into your gut at that wink. it was heart-stopping.

you took the vacant seat the boys had left you- across from yuan, ironically. once again, you tried not to think much of it.

but how could you do that after his fingers brushed yours so delicately when you reached for the ladle?

the way his golden eyes fell to yours and that dreamy look on his face with that lazy smile. no wonder you kept away from the general, you wouldn’t survive a day!

yanqing eyed the exchange, glancing between you and his caretaker. something felt strange in the atmosphere, and at this point, he was rethinking his choices on inviting you to eat. this was.. embarrassing to witness, and he’d had enough of his own share already.

still, it would be rude to send you home or question his guardian’s actions.

that, and he couldn’t help this weird, fuzziness in his chest. the little kid in him that yearned for that familial feeling.

granted, jing yuan on his own was a father figure enough — but right now, sitting at the table between you both.. he couldn’t help the rush of emotions he felt all at once.

he wondered if maybe, you would come again to dinner if he asked you to.

notes. hi queen i was trying so hard to get this out on your birthday but i fr blanked out and the creative juices went dryer than sumeru’s desert😐 anyway i hope this was what you wanted?? went from where’s waldo ( yanqing ) to very fluffy dinner??? first time writing jing yuan AND yanqing too, so i am um.. concerned for the portrayal. but i hope it satisfies you! and happy happy birthdayyy mami, mwah<3

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[scribblingapparition]

El Dios de la Brisa (K'uk'ulkan x reader) (1)

Summary: You are a passionate Marine Biologist who has lived in the Yucatan Peninsula for some time now. An accepted and welcomed member of the local village, you've been working through the heartache of losing your mentor and friend. You were not prepared for how your life would change and the discoveries you would make.

[Word count: 5,654]

. . .

There were many aspects of your profession that you adored. 

You loved the time you spent doing fieldwork, gathering information about the diverse wildlife that inhabited the oceans and letting hours pass you by while you swim among them. You loved aiding in the restoration of habitats and looking at problems from all the different perspectives brilliant minds brought to the table to find solutions. You adored rehabilitating injured animals and felt a great sense of accomplishment and pride each time you released an animal back into the water where it belonged.

All of that is your driving force behind wanting to make a difference and take responsibility for the planet we all share and have to take care of.

There were threats to that passion.

Phone calls.

“The funding that your mentor left you won’t last an eternity. Listen, I know you are grieving her loss. We all are. But you need to stop finding excuses to push aside the real work that needs to be done elsewhere. Your technique of lab grown coral has completely revived the coral reefs in Culebra. You really impressed everyone in Puerto Rico with that. We need you here.” Enrique sighed, you could hear him shuffling papers as he spoke. “You’ve taken all her things back to her family and gotten a look at what she was working on in Yucatán. It’s time to move on.”

“It’s really nice of you to call in every week to repeat the same thing. Really keeps the conversation interesting.”

“You always have to take things the wrong way.”

“I’m not taking anything any sort of way. I’ve already told you, there’s something interesting here that’s got my attention and I have no intention of leaving until I’ve understood as much as I can. Funding or not, I’ll figure it out. I always do. Like I did before her, alright? So, thank you for the call but I don’t need you worrying about me. You or anyone.” 

You didn’t enjoy being the sort of person that spoke to others like that but it’s what they brought out of you. You came from nothing and you had no one. Everything you had ever earned in your life you achieved through hard work and perseverance. You put yourself through school, through college, and with no help from anyone you managed to be taken under the wing of one of the world’s most brilliant marine biologists: Altagracia Alvarez-Delgado. 

Paralleled stories and a common goal had united the two of you and together a real change happened in the world of ocean conversation. Your mentor had a way of inspiring crowds with her mastery in storytelling and she could create empathy in the hearts of others that got them to care – to truly want to join the cause of being responsible, intelligent, beings that could change the planet for the better. For everyone. 

You had never admired anyone more. You never took a moment for granted, you never took her advice for granted, and you never took the many lessons you learned through her grace and humility for granted. You don’t experience loss when you don’t have anyone; her unexpected death sent you through a downward spiral you could not have predicted. It was in her honor that you traveled to her village to deliver the news of her passing and the last of her belongings. Her family had welcomed you, encouraged you to take up residence in her old cabin across the bay from the pyramid and gave you advice on how to find peace and comfort when you felt like you would never have it again.

It had never been in your plans to stay.

Now you couldn’t seem to leave.

You were naturally a curious person, always were. The draw to the sea called out to you like the hypnotizing melodies of a siren song. It didn’t matter if you never truly had a home because as long as you were by the ocean and allowed to get lost underneath its waves you would feel at home. There was something about the bay that called out to a part of you that was in tune enough to listen.

The first couple of months of living among the villagers you had taken to conduct undisturbed research of the area. Multiple times a day, Ines Delgado (your mentor’s mother), would spot your pack resting in the same place it always was in the shore line while you dove to the depths with your gear to spend time around the reefs and exploring the extensive cave systems. Each time you shared your discoveries with her over coffee. 

There is one thing you could not get over.

“Ines, sinceramente, he viajado por el mundo y he visto todo tipo de ecosistemas y hábitats. Con la forma que están los océanos ahora, muchos de ellos están en diferentes estados de sufrimiento, pero estos…los que veo aquí son casi perfectos.” You had told her both in a state of disbelief and admiration, knowing that whatever your mentor had started here was working incredibly well. “Lo que su hija ha comenzado aquí es brillante. Ella es brillante.”

(Ines, sincerely, I have traveled around the world and I have seen all types of ecosystems and habitats. With the way the oceans are now, a lot of the ones I have seen have been in different states of suffering, but these…the ones I have seen here are almost perfect. What your daughter started here is brilliant. She is brilliant.)

Shaking her head, her hands trembled slightly due to her age as she brought the cup to her lips to drink. “Es la protección de el que la ha guardado.”

(It is all due to his protection, that has kept it safe.)

“Quien es el?”

(Who is he?)

“K'uk'ulkan. La serpiente emplumada existe. Lo he visto. Inspiro miedo en mi, cuando lo vi. Estaba vestido en trueno y oro, plumas y perlas. Alas en sus pies y rabia en sus ojos. Espero que nunca lo tenga que ver otra vez. Mi niña, tienes que tener cuidado por dónde exploras cuando estás debajo de esas olas. Rara vez estás sola. Nada existe en el océano que la serpiente no permita.”

(K'uk'ulkan. The feathered serpent exists. I’ve seen him. He inspired fear in me, when I saw him. He was dressed in thunder and gold, feathers and pearls. With wings on his feet and rage in his eyes. I hope to never have to see him again. My girl, you must be careful where you explore when you are underneath the waves. Rarely are you alone. Nothing exists in the ocean that the serpent does not allow.)

You promised Ines you would be careful. In a world where aliens can snap their fingers and change the course of life in the universe it never hurts to be aware and respectful of the myths and the gods others believed in for you never know what you might encounter. You had smiled and taken her hand in yours when the words left your mouth and a promise to be extra careful was made.

☀

It did feel as if you were breaking that promise now as you left behind your phone, not wanting to answer any more annoying phone calls, grabbed your pack and gear and headed up the trail to the base of the pyramid.

There was no escaping the heat. 

It was simply impossible.

There was little solace to find in the shade provided by the thick foliage of the trees and the ocean breeze did manage to move leaves in gentle sways enough to reach you but your prayers to Kinich Ahau sadly went unanswered as the heat of the sun did not lessen. There were guided tours around the pyramid during the busy seasons where tourists invaded the peninsula in hopes of seeing, but never truly appreciating, the history that can be found in this land. One of the guides had befriended you and had mentioned a cave opening surrounded by an arch of hieroglyphics that housed the clearest water in the area.

It was believed to be a gateway to an ancient city forged in the depths of the ocean where the sunlight could not reach and many who still believed in the ancient gods left offerings for K'uk'ulkan.

Not only that but there were said to be schools of fish that pulsed light like eye catching signals that were rumored to be found deeper within the system. It had been mentioned a while ago and you had always had it in the back of your mind to see if you could spot and observe the fish. 

What better time to do it than after a call reminding you that you might have to leave this paradise behind soon because of funding, of all things?

It had taken some time to reach your destination as it was not a well traveled path. Making sure you were hydrated and ready to go, you began to suit up. Your diving ensemble was state of the art. The suit itself worked wonders for helping you camouflage to your surroundings allowing you for the best sights of the marine life that happily swam around you after they got used to your presence. You didn’t have to wear a heavy tank that limited your time in the water thanks to the mask your mentor’s genius friend had invented and the fins you swam with actually worked pretty well when you were in a hurry.

Making sure your pack was hidden away in case someone else decided to explore the area, you carefully stepped into the water. The mask you wore covered your face entirely allowing you the luxury of not having to let your eyes adjust to the water. You did close your eyes for a moment, however, to take in how amazing it felt to be completely submerged.

This was home.

You were beneath a pyramid that was built somewhere along the 3rd and 9th AD by a powerful and rich civilization, miles away from where others would consider your actual home, sinking into an unknown darkness without any fear of what might be waiting for you. So many others would not find this particular situation comforting at all but you did.

The water called to you.

Like the soothing song.

This was home.

- 

“Mi niña, tienes que tener cuidado por dónde exploras cuando estás debajo de esas olas. Rara vez estás sola. Nada existe en el océano que la serpiente no permita.”

(My girl, you must be careful where you explore when you are underneath the waves. Rarely are you alone. Nothing exists in the ocean that the serpent does not allow.)

-

Detaching the flashlight strapped to your thigh, you brought it up to shine at the cavern walls. You had been swimming for some time now, alone in the darkness, and though you had encountered some animals none of them were the glowing fish the tour guide had mentioned. What you had found, however, were intricate hieroglyphics that seemed almost untouched by time. Your eyes widened as you took in the absolute artistry in front of you.

How had they not been eroded by the currents after centuries?

You touched them and allowed your fingers to trace through the creases of the smoothly carved images. Had these been above water at some point? What did they mean? You could only make out a few images. Pushing back to get a wider view and moving your hair so nothing obstructed your vision, you listened to the sound of your own breathing as you moved the light further down; eyes eagerly searching for new wonders when suddenly your breath caught in your throat.

Eyes. You had seen eyes staring up at you and the moment your light hit them, whatever it was moved out of the way quickly. They weren’t the eyes of a fish, it looked human, it looked like a person.

You immediately moved your light all around you, twisting to see if you could catch a glimpse of what had run away from you. You had felt the water move and push against you as whatever it was swam away but it was back to nothing. It was just you in the darkness and the sound of your racing heart but you were no longer fooled. You were not alone.

Years of diving experience have made you become extremely well aware of your surroundings. You had to be when you spend as much time as you do in the ocean where the animals that lived there have evolved over millions of years to perfectly exist within the places you were not fully equipped to be in. That’s why you weren’t shrugging off what you saw as a figment of your imagination or a construct of your mind adjusting to the dark.

You saw a man. The eyes of a man.

And now you were seemingly alone but there was something there, something in the quiet shadows and you could all but feel his gaze. 

Movement came from underneath you and into the path of your flashlight calmly wandered a nurse shark. Large, brown, and gentle; most definitely a nurse shark. Your brain began to give you facts about how many different species of sharks are cave dwellers and how nurse sharks are most definitely one of many different kinds found in the peninsula. You tried to calm your breathing to the almost lazy movements of the animal before you who was not frightened at all. It was home, it felt safe.

Yet you could not just simply calm your mind enough not to worry.

There it was again. You could feel something beneath you. Remaining calm, you closed your eyes as tightly as you could, reminding yourself of so many different situations you had been in where the danger level had been much higher and never had you felt this much fear. Never once had you feared even the biggest ocean creature but a man, this man…

You pointed your flashlight beneath you.

Below, curling up ready to attack, was a giant serpent.

Its tongue extended past its wide open jaw and around the head sharp triangle-like spikes circled around it in layers like a lion’s mane. The light only reached so far but it was clear that it was posed in action and ready to devour you whole. 

K'uk'ulkan

Fear moved you before your mind could rationalize the giant feathered serpent to be nothing but a statue. You had never complained about the quality of the swimming fins you wore but quickly kicking your feet to get away from your perceived threat, you had moved too quickly right into a protruding hieroglyph that smashed into the shield protecting your face, your mask. You didn’t think that you hit it hard enough to crack but water began leaking into your mark by your eye, causing you to move both hands quickly to try and stop it. Your flashlight drops into the darkness. You cannot believe how unprofessionally you are acting and how stupid your decisions have been when you know better. She taught you to know better.

The water was now gathering beneath your chin. Your body was pressed against the cave wall, one hand trying to cover the crack in your mask while the other maneuvered around your bags around your waist to find something to fill the crack. Your hair bunched in front of you as you moved and during that movement something that went down to the cave floor and retrieved your flashlight.

You bet it wasn’t the nurse shark as the light turned off and the darkness did what the serpent wanted to do.

It swallowed you whole.

You centered yourself as much as you could and the water stopped as it reached your lips thanks to the plaster you had which you securely placed on top of the damaged part of your mask. It was not a permanent fix and you needed to get out of the caves. Now. Your heart was racing and you could feel your hand trembling as you gripped another flashlight from where they were strapped to your thigh but before you could turn it on strong hands grabbed your own and pulled you forward.

Instinctively, you thrashed against their hold hoping to escape but it felt like trying to pull your arms away from steel. You were pulled forward again and in the darkness your hands reached out and you felt…were those beads? A necklace? A chest? There wasn’t much time to determine what anything was before you were pulled further into the darkness. Whatever had you moved with the ease of an eel and the strength of a shark. It was disorienting being pushed around in total darkness with the water inside your mask splashing around, making you cough it out when your hazardous breathing accidentally made you swallow some of it. You could do nothing but let yourself be led.

You should’ve listened more carefully to Ines.

It felt like an eternity later but eventually you saw light. This cave you did not recognize but that mattered little as you were released and you began swimming towards the surface. You must be somewhere close to the surface as it seemed to be more than an air pocket where you were in. In the center was a platform, a perfect circle made out of stone that sat above the water and you gripped onto the edge with all your might ignoring the pain as you raised yourself onto it.

Your mask was the first thing to be removed as you moved to the center of the circle, coughing up water and breathing lungfuls of air. You were greedy after almost being sure breathing air was something that would never happen again. On your back, eyes facing the stalagmites reaching down towards you from the cave’s ceiling, feet still protected by the fins, and mask discarded next to you. You counted yourself lucky to be alive.

You had said it in your call to Enrique what seemed like forever ago even though it was just that very day. There was something about this place that refused to let you leave and your need to discover it, to understand it, had almost landed you a watery grave in the place you felt most at home.

Turning yourself onto your stomach, your wrists hurt where you had been grabbed and dragged through the water. Whatever it was, whatever that humanoid was, had the strength of a killer whale. You sat up and looked into the water. There was nothing there at first but then out of the water emerged a king.

You didn’t know who he was, what he was, but instinctively deep down you knew you were in the presence of something ancient, something above a human. It was like the water both clinged to him and helped him rise; a pure display of power just right there before your eyes. His hair was darker than the shadows of the caves, his neck adorned with gold and pearls, his eyes contained the rage of a summer storm, and on his feet…wings. 

Fluttering white wings. 

It can’t be…

He spoke in Yucatec Maya that much you were sure of. The pronunciation and formation of the words you were familiar with as the locals had tried to teach you one several occasions. It was too fast for your less than basic knowledge to pick out any words you knew but you did not need to be fluent in his language to understand that what he was saying certainly wasn’t good.

Then he surprised you.

“You have wandered around my home as if it belonged to you.” The anger in his voice was palpable yet he remained right where he rose from the water. “For many months, you pushed past the boundaries set in place and ignored the warnings to satisfy your own greed. My people have kept a close watch on you. You have trespassed for the last time, surface-dweller. What do you say for yourself?”

“I…” You struggled to find words, any words, in the presence of his might and fury. It may have been the incredible situation that you were in that made your mind override the need for survival with boundless curiosity and amazement. It was the only explanation you could think of for the way you sat up to look directly at him while your mind went wild processing and connecting what you now had knowledge on.

“It’s you. You’re…him. She was right. They were right! They truly had seen you. But the stories span hundreds of years, that must mean you’ve been alive for quite some time! A-and the reefs, the fish, they’re in abundance here. A thriving healthy community amidst so many disasters. If your people were watching me then-it was their work! I knew it! There was no way everything could be that pristine with the level of tourism, even with the help of the locals. It’s unfortunate to say that but it-it makes sense, you-”

He roared in Maya t’aan; though you may not have understood him exactly, you did understand context and his call for silence as his patience diminished. The cavern walls amplified his distaste as he stepped onto the stone circle before you. You bowed your head in fear of looking into his eyes again and kept your hands close to you in an attempt to stop them from trembling.

“My name is (Y/N) (L/N). I am a marine biologist and I never once intended to trespass into your territory. I have dedicated myself, my life, to the betterment of the oceans.” You explained through a shaky voice as he neared you, eyes firmly placed on the stone before you. “I may have wandered too close to places I should not have been at but I swear to you I meant no harm. Not to you, your people, or any creatures I may have encountered. Meent' uts, K'uk'ulkan.”

((Please, K'uk'ulkan.))

It felt to you as if an eternity had passed in the quiet that followed.

He wasn’t unaware of the state of the surface world. To be prepared for your enemy meant keeping yourself knowledgeable on their movements, their advances, their whispers. The reports he had gotten from his Talokanil is that you had an understanding of the oceans in ways they had not seen other surface dwellers have before. The ocean creatures calmed in your presence, almost welcoming it, seeking you out when you entered their home. You did not seem hostile or aware at all of their existence yet you chose to explore many of the routes created to lead to Talokan. You could never reach it. Not with your mask and suit that would do nothing to protect you from the pressure of the deep or the frigid temperature.

Your good deeds preceded you and just as your curiosity led you, unknowingly, to them it was his curiosity to meet the one his scouts spoke of that had led him to you.

“I have many names. My people call me K'uk'ulkan, but my enemies call me Namor.” He spoke with a deadly tone, causing your eyes to close as your mind jumped to the worst. “You have caught my attention as many surface dwellers have not. You are not welcomed in these waters and it will do you well to remember my words. Nothing roams my oceans, close to my people, without my permission and you do not have it.”

☀

There were many aspects of your profession that you adored.

Phone calls serving as reminders that your funding was running out was not one of them.

Being banished from the place you most loved by an ancient feathered serpent god was not one of them.

It had been a full moon cycle since that fateful encounter and you had taken a lot of that time to think about what the future held for you. It was difficult ignoring the call of the sea but that time had been spent being more involved with the village and carefully listening to all of the parts of their culture they chose to share with you. There were those that believed and those that did not heed the tales of the elders. You did your best to remain neutral but interested.

He had disappeared into the water after forbidding you from telling anyone of his existence and of what you had now come to know. Your mask had also mysteriously vanished. You had made it back to your cabin by the time the sun dived deep beneath the waves and for the rest of that night you could not sleep.

“Estos turistas! ¡No tienen respeto por nadie ni por nada!”

((These tourists! They don't have respect for anyone or anything!))

That’s how you had been woken up by a young boy named Mateo that you had befriended during your time in the village. He told you that there had been a big boat, painted in bright colors, that had been rented by some tourists a couple of times over; the boat was filled with men disturbing the wildlife and the boy had seen them wrestling a sea turtle out of the water. Mateo had shouted at them to stop from the shore but that did nothing as they did not listen.

The wind blew your hair behind you as you steered your boat in the direction of where the boy had seen the turtle go after it had been thrown back into the water. They’re fast swimmers and with only the light of the moon it would be a miracle if you spotted the injured animal but you had to try.

You were around the area of where the boat had last been seen by Mateo and looking back at the bay, you had moved farther away than they had been by a lot. But this is where your heart had guided you and you never doubted your instincts. You prepped the boat and lowered the anchor, quickly working on lifting the heavy ramp off the side of your little vessel preparing to have to lift a decent sized sea turtle. The bay was the home to many beautiful green sea turtles and though they were stunning, they were large heavy animals. Usually a rescue like this would be done by a team but it was just you.

You in the middle of the pitch black ocean you were told you weren’t welcomed in.

You were steady as the boat rocked and you held onto the railing of the steps leading down as you looked all around you and placed your hand in the water. This world had many living in it with special abilities forced to be kept secret for their safety. You did not believe you had any. You were sure there was nothing special about you until your early days on the field proved you wrong. You couldn’t communicate with sea animals but they did seem to come to you when they needed help. 

Too many things happened that had no real good explanation for you to brush them off as coincidences.

The ocean was a completely different world from the one you lived on, now more than ever you were aware of that fact. Regardless of what you believed was real or not, you knew you could not go searching for the injured one so you closed your eyes, gripping onto the side latter until your knuckles hurt, and called out to the animal.

You felt ridiculous.

You weren’t special. 

It wasn’t going to work.

Moments passed with no result and you had to fight the urge to just jump in the water, knowing the search would not be fruitful without your equipment. Your eyes watered and you scoffed at yourself becoming emotional. It had not been easy spending a month away from your research, away from laughing underneath the waves as fish darted around you and intelligent little octopi tried to steal your stuff. Just as it had not been easy to lose the one person who understood your need to be in the water.

A head with large eyes and hexagonal shaped markings popped out from the dark and soon the entire body came with it. The shell had been cracked, almost cut into. It wasn’t unheard of for tourists to try to remove the shells off the turtles to keep them as souvenirs and it angered you that it had even been attempted.

Your gasp of surprise quickly became gentle words of encouragement.

“Hi, beautiful, hello. It’s okay. It’s okay. You found me and I’m going to help you, okay? You’re a big girl aren’t you? I gotcha, beautiful. You’re so smart, all turtles are. I’m going to take care of you, let me just-” You had turned to face the deck and yelled.

K'uk'ulkan stood on the deck of your boat. Water rolled off his body and the moon silhouetted his imposing figure, allowing the pearls around his neck to glow on their own. The wings on his feet shook the moisture off of themselves and in his hand he held a scepter (or was it a spear, there wasn’t much light) crafted of gold and jade.

“You scared me! I didn’t even hear you-wait, your majesty, wait! I didn’t go back on my word. I need your help. Please.” You pleaded while frozen to your spot on the stern. “She’s hurt. She came to me for help. I can’t lift her onto the ramp and then onto the boat alone but if you could help me. Not for me. For her. Meent' uts, K'uk'ulkan.”

You had said it again. You had begged the god the same way you had done in that cave.

For the second time he was inexplicably moved to spare you.

The green sea turtle was young and healthy, you estimated around 200 to 250 lbs just by her sheer size. He showed absolutely no difficulty lifting up and placing the animal in the containment tub.

“I kept my word, you know.” You said as you quickly moved to grab a flashlight to inspect the shell. “I didn’t step into the water once. But this is my job, what I’m passionate about. I can’t just sit back and stay inside my cabin knowing there’s someone out here that needs me. If this gets me killed, so be it. Just let me make sure she gets treatment, an open shell like this is dangerous. I don’t want an infection to set in.”

You lost yourself in your work. Quickly diagnosing what you could without your equipment, writing it all down, and making preparations to get back to the cabin and contact the right people before you noticed that he was still there; watching your every move as you made it, concealing whatever he felt behind the strong confident body language of a god.

“You are different.” His head tilted to the side as he allowed himself to see you, to truly see you. “Her pain is soothed by your touch and you called out to her in the water. I saw you. How?”

“No, I didn’t do that. I was just, um, trying something. It’s a coincidence.”

“How did you know where to guide your boat in the darkness?”

You didn’t know what to say. 

“I’ve got good instincts. I have to take her back to land and call the closest rehab facility. Will you allow me that much?” You asked, not wanting to rush him and ask the deity that may or may not decide to end your life to leave so you could get the turtle to safety as quickly as possible.

He bowed his head in agreement and you did your best not to sigh in relief right in front of him. It was left unsaid but it was understood and this would not be your last encounter and that it would not be the last time the conversation was brought up. You didn’t think about that now, or you tried not to at least, as you started bringing in the ramp and calling up the anchor to start your return to shore. 

You had a job to do.

The god’s sentencing would have to wait.

☀

You had caught the attention of a god unlike any on the surface world had before.

There were no early signs of how much your life would change in the simple refusal of leaving the place you were slowly carving out a home after a lifetime of denying yourself one. The things you wished you could change were how you had gotten there; you would do anything to bring back your mentor. The past could not be changed but the future could be forged into whatever you desired.

There were so many stories to tell of how you got to where you are and you intended to share them. It’s been a long journey to get here.

To your boat sitting alone in the middle of dark waters, welcomed, with moonlight shining overhead.

With you sitting on the stern, hand in the water, calling out to the depths to the king that had stolen your heart as if it had always been meant for him.

It always took a moment and you could not see into the inky black waves but you could feel him approaching and your heart melted when a hand took yours within the water and laced your fingers together.

“You came.” You smiled, using your other hand to move his hair away from those eyes you loved so much.

“I always will when you are the one calling. Join me. I have much to show you.”

☀

((A/N: I'm excited to be actually inspired to write for the first in so many years! This is part one of many one shots that won't be tied to each other so they can be read in any order! If you got to this point and you want to talk about the movie, I'm just one message away! L'iik'ik Talokan!))

[widowmaxff]

I’ve been having some bad days, could you write something where Y/N is having a rough week and pretends she’s fine except Wanda knows her daughter and comforts her?

I just love the way you write Wanda as a mother and that she just always knows

overwhelmed

pairings: mom!wanda maximoff × fem!reader

warnings: angst, reader crying, depressed reader — i think that's all!

a/n: tysm for your request love and im so sorry for your bad days, i really hope things get better for you and if you need someone to talk you can dm me, okay? <33

Interacting with any other human being was the last thing you wanted to do today. Saying that you had a bad week was an understatement, all the bad things that could happen to you happened. And not just things around you, but also your mind didn't stop for a second. You felt so overwhelmed that anyone could see on your face how much that week was hurting you.

"This can't be happening right now." You mumble as you feel the raindrops start to fall on your head. There was still more than half the way until you arrived at the Compound, you didn't have an umbrella, much less a coat to protect yourself from the cold that would come. No one could come and get you since everyone was busy and you didn't want to disturb your mother, she had enough problems to deal with yours.

You were coming home from school after another stressful day. You've spent the last few weeks studying for an incredibly difficult test, especially in a subject you had difficulty with, and seeing that big red note made your urge to cry even more. You studied so much that you thought it was impossible for that to happen. So many nights without having slept and so many energy drinks wasted for nothing.

You were absolutely soaked when you stepped into the Compound. Your sneakers made a funny noise when you stepped on them, but the only thing you wanted to do now was take them off your feet and throw them at the person closest to you, shouting in their face. "You're going to clean this up, Little Maximoff." Tony's annoying voice says, obviously joking, but still your head hurt just hearing that you had to do something that day. Your jaw tightens and you close your eyes tightly, taking a deep breath.

"I know, Tony." You ramble, trying to keep your voice as calm as possible. You walk past him to head towards your room, feeling your eyes burn from having something else on your list of things that made your week worse than it already was.

On normal days the first thing you would do was go look for your mother in her office, but the last thing you wanted to do that day was worry her, because you knew that the moment she laid eyes on you she would know that something was wrong. And filling her with your problems would make you feel guilty for a long time, you hated making people feel sorry for you and looking like you were a baby. You just needed to calm down, didn't you?

"Fuck!" You scream when you see all your notebooks soaked, especially your sketchbook, which you spent hours and hours drawing. You drop your things on the floor and run your hands through your hair, taking a deep breath. You wished your mother was there now, she would know what to do and help you with whatever you needed to calm down, but you put that idea out of your head before you ran towards her arms.

You enter the bathroom connected to your room and take off your clothes before you catch a cold. The hot water from the shower makes your muscles finally relax after the terrible days you prayed would end. In a few seconds you no longer knew what water was or what the tears on your face were. All those things that happened in your week came together into one, and you started to feel like you were on that empty, dark hole that took you a long time to get out of. You thought that maybe the problem was you, that maybe you deserved all those bad things, from the smallest to the ones that made you cry and scream like that moment.

You didn't hear the knock on your door because your bad thoughts were so loud that it was almost impossible to even hear the shower water hitting the floor. But when Wanda entered her room after hearing no response, she felt like something was wrong at the moment. She looks at your completely wet things lying on the floor and frowns. You told your mom you didn't need a ride home from school, but apparently, you did.

"Honey, is everything okay?" When she heard the shower turning off after long minutes, she knocked on the bathroom door just to let you know she was there and see if everything was okay. "Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." You say in a low voice, taking a deep breath. You knew that the moment you left the bathroom, your mother would know that your bad thoughts came back again, but you also knew that she wouldn't pressure you to say anything.

You close the bathroom door quietly, finally looking into Wanda's green eyes and seeing the worry through them. She held your backpack in her hands with her face confused at you, because she wouldn't think twice to get in the car and drive to you. "I was almost here at the Compound and the rain caught me." You chuckled, trying to hide your red eyes, your cheeks and the tip of your nose with the same color as your mother's hair.

"Are you okay, love?" She asks again, her face relaxed now. You put a fake smile on your face, but still with enormous affection for your mother.

"Yeah, just a little upset that my sketchbook got ruined, but it's okay." You don't completely lie. Yes, you were upset that your drawings would now have to go in the trash, but no, nothing was okay.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Wanda says approaching you. You just throw it away, muttering 'it's okay' but she wraps her arms around you, giving you a relaxing hug. Your mother leaves a long kiss on your head, making the urge to cry increase even more. You loved all the affectionate actions that your mother gave you, it made you feel so vulnerable and light. "Come on, let's get you something to eat, shall we?" You didn't like eating when you were feeling bad like that, you felt like you were going to throw up when you put anything in your stomach because of the anxiety, but you just agreed.

You were so lost in your thoughts that you didn't even notice when you arrived in the kitchen which, unfortunately, was made up of a few people. You felt so overwhelmed that being in the same environment as some people made you feel even worse. The small group of Avengers on your left irritated you. The loud noises they made. The conversations. The sound of people swallowing food. The tapping of Steve's shoe on the floor. Everything irritated you. From the small scratches on the counter to the farthest lamp that blinked every one minute and two seconds. Wanda noticed that. She noticed that you were itching to keep from freaking out. That you closed your eyes tightly trying to ignore your surroundings. That she needed to do something to help. She wanted to come to you and ask what intrigued you so much. What made you take deep breaths and crack your fingers every second was curious.

"Thank you, momma." She almost didn't hear you because of your low and hoarse voice. Wanda leaves a kiss on your head as she watches your foot bouncing up and down, eating the sandwich she made.

Wanda debated in her head what she could do to make you feel better. She knew she couldn't pressure you into saying anything, but she was so worried that she would do anything to see you well again. And even if it got to the point where she had to read your mind, she couldn't. You somehow managed to block your mother from reading your thoughts and seeing what was wrong.

You place your plate in the sink, taking a deep breath. Finally you would get away from people and that feeling of anxiety would finally leave you, that's what you thought. You thought that just a few hours of lying in bed doing nothing would solve your problems, but deep down, you knew that wasn't what would happen. And, now walking towards your room, not even your plan of closing yourself under the covers would be complete, as your mother followed you with the comfortable atmosphere that she always exuded.

You lie in your bed watching your mother calmly wait for your permission to lie down next to you. You nod to her with a smile on your face. Wanda puts her arms around your body, running her hand on your back, making your body relax. You loved these moments between the two of you, you realized how important you are to her and how loved you are. "You know you can always talk to me, don't you?" She murmurs, making you lean into her even more. Your face was in the crook of her neck, hiding how your lip trembled trying to hold back your crying. "I love you so much, sweetheart."

You finally let out a sob when Wanda murmurs those words that came out of her mouth so sweetly. Her grip around you tightens as she feels tears fall onto the skin of her neck, leaving a kiss on your head. The caress on your back never stopped, reassuring you that you were safe in your mother's arms. "It's okay, baby. Everything's going to be okay." You hated crying out loud, but at that moment you couldn't control all those feelings that made your heart ache spilling across your face, and Wanda was there to remind you that it was okay to cry and feel that way. "I-I'm sorry."

"Honey... we never apologize because of our emotions, right? Never." Wanda pulls you to place you on her lap, making you lay your head on her chest. You start playing with the hem of your mother's shirt, sniffling as you try to think of words you could say to her. "Do you want to talk about it, детка?"

"It was just... a bad week." You murmur, snuggling even closer to Wanda, feeling her heartbeat in your ear, which made you calm down a little more. "I just- I'm just feeling so overwhelmed and... and I don't know what to do."

"Oh, baby... it's okay. We'll get through this, yeah? It's okay to feel this way and I'll help you with whatever you need, my love." She strokes your hair, making your body relax in her lap. You agree, feeling her comfortable words enter your ears and help you with the horrible thoughts. "You're so strong, honey. Remember you're not alone, okay?" You mumble something, agreeing with her. You never knew how Wanda could make you feel better with just a few words, maybe it was her magic? You never knew. But she would always be your best friend and the person who would always make you feel better again. "Thank you, momma."

You would never be able to explain how grateful you were to have your mother by your side, because there are so many people in the world who don't have that comfort, and just thinking about not having someone to help you through your episodes made you feel sick. Even if she didn't say it, you knew Wanda was afraid you'd go back to that time when the hole was deeper than it is now. You remember exactly how she cried with you when you vented to her about everything you were feeling, and how she helped you every step of the way again.

"You don't need to thank me, детка. I love you so much, okay? I will always be by your side, on whatever you need." And you knew she was telling the truth, because Wanda loves you so much. You will always be her little miracle and the most important thing in her life. She feels so proud of you, because she knows that you can get through this, that you are strong enough to get through all the challenges in your life. She believes in your ability to overcome these difficult times - because you can - and there will always be people to support and walk alongside you, because you'll never be alone.

[mattyriddlegf]

The Stupid Closet (3)

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone enjoys this one, it's a little bit longer this week!

Comment if you'd like to be added to the taglist :)

(This is a series, read previous parts first!)

-----------

About two weeks had passed since your and Mattheo’s argument. You had avoided him since then, spending most of your time with Theo. You really liked Theo and didn’t want to screw anything up. Whenever you were around Mattheo, your mind seemed to wander to places it didn’t belong. 

You had been studying all day and you felt like your brain was about to explode. Theo, Blaise, and Draco had quidditch and Pansy chose to watch instead of study. Unfortunately for you, you were towards the top of your class and wanted to maintain perfect grades so you had decided to study instead.

I need a break.

You close the book in front of you and look at your window. The weather was nice and sunny. You decided to take a break and head outside to the gardens, sitting on a bench by yourself. You loved nature and enjoyed being in the fresh air, it was so peaceful for you.

You close your eyes, taking in the warm breeze.

“Wow I’ve barely seen you out and about without Theo lately” You hear a voice sound behind you. Mattheo’s voice.

You open your eyes and look back to see Mattheo standing there, holding a brown leather notebook. You watch as he sits down next to you.

“What’s that?” You ask him, pointing to the notebook.

“Nothing…” He trails off, looking out to the flowers around you.

“Oh come on. Let me see!” You try to grab the book, him moving it away, holding it in the air.

“No! Nobody has ever seen this.” Mattheo responds.

“What…are you hiding something gross in there?” You ask, looking up at him with puppy eyes.

“No, but-” He says until you grab the book from him and hold it on the other side of you so he can’t take it back.

As he sighs, you open the book to see sketches and poems written throughout. Most of the sketches are of birds and other animals, nature, and the castle. They were extremely detailed.

“Matty these are beautiful” You breathe out as you flip through the pages.

“Matty? Is that my new nickname?” He laughs. You had never seen this side of Mattheo.

“Maybe” The nickname had just come out without a second thought. You respond as you look up to him for a moment before looking back towards the book, “Seriously did you draw all of these yourself?”

“Yeah I did. I love drawing and honestly even poetry sometimes is really peaceful” He says, shrugging his shoulders. He pauses before adding, “but don’t tell anybody…please.”

You look up and stare into his large brown puppy eyes. You swear you could get lost in them.

“I won’t” You breathe out. You looked down to his lips for a moment.

“Fuck” Mattheo whispers before leaning forward and connecting your lips. He places his hand on your cheek. It took you by surprise but after a moment, you came to your senses.

You back away, “We can’t do this Mattheo.” You scoot over a little bit, putting some space between you two, “I’m with Theo.”

“I’m sorry.” Mattheo apologizes.

 You hand his book back to him, “I uh have to go.” He blurts out before standing up. He walks away, looking back at you before you’re out of his sight.

You were so screwed. 

You had never seen the softer side of Mattheo but you liked it. He was sweet and sensitive, nothing like the Mattheo you had known all these years. What brought him out, you weren’t sure of but you were glad he did.

You stayed sitting on the bench, touching your lips. His kiss lingered once again. You stayed there for a while, trying to think of Theo and how much you liked him. Why did this keep happening with Mattheo? This was twice now and it had only been less than a month back at Hogwarts.

You went back to your room, studying until Pansy came back. 

“How’d they do?” You ask.

“They did great! Theo seemed in a good mood when I left…” She trailed off, winking with a wide smile on her face.

While you guys had managed to keep it somewhat private, it was known throughout the group that you and Theo had been having sex quite often. 

“Pansy, that doesn’t mean we’re gonna hook up” You roll your eyes.

“I know…but I love you two together, it just makes so much sense” She squeals. 

You laugh, “Ready to head down to dinner?” You ask. Pansy nods her head and walks down to the dinner hall with you, joining your group at the Slytherin table.

You sit down next to Theo, across from Mattheo. Mattheo keeps his head down, eating his food. Throughout the entire dinner, he doesn’t look at you once nor does he speak up at all. Mattheo was usually on the more quiet side but never was he this silent. 

After dinner, you walk back with Theo. He takes you to his room, Mattheo walking in as you guys kiss. It wasn’t going anywhere but as soon as Mattheo walks in, you back away. 

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick” Theo says before getting up and walking into the bathroom, leaving you and Mattheo alone.

You sit on Theo’s bed as Mattheo looks through his dresser. You didn’t know what to say so you just blurt it out, “Mattheo are we ok?”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” He says, continuing to dig through his dresser.

“I mean I don’t know, I just thought-” You start.

“Well don’t. As far as I’m concerned nothing happened.” Mattheo stops and looks at you.

“Well it did…” You trail off.

“Look. Like you said, you’re with Theo. Just forget it ever happened because it won’t again.” Mattheo slams his dresser drawer shut.

Theo walks back into the room, looking between us, “Is everything ok?”

“Everything’s fine.” Mattheo responds as he walks past Theo and leaves the room, shutting it behind him. Theo looks over to you as you furrow your eyebrows. 

“What was that?” Theo asks as he sits down next to you.

“Mattheo being Mattheo I guess.” You raise your eyebrows as you pinch the bridge of your nose, “He hurts my head”

“I think I can fix that” Theo grabs your face, bringing you in for a kiss. The kisses heat up, you pushing Theo beneath you as you take your top off. 

Theo flips you around, holding himself up on top of you. He goes down and starts kissing your chest and stomach.

“Wait.” You say. He looks up, stopping what he’s doing, “Maybe we shouldn’t do this right now, Mattheo could be back at any second…”

“Don’t worry about it” Theo says, starting to go back down.

“Theo seriously” You say. He backs off of you and stands up, sighing. 

“I don’t understand, you’ve been all over me for the past ten days and now you suddenly don’t want to?” Theo asks.

“I just don’t want Mattheo to-”

“Why does he matter in this situation?” Theo interrupts.

“Because Theo, he walked in on us once and-” You say as you pull your shirt back on.

“And what?” Theo asks quietly.

“And he saw me. All of me. And I just don’t want it happening again.” You blurt out.

“What do you mean he saw all of you?”

“He saw my tattoo…” You whisper. You were hoping that Theo wouldn’t hear but he did.

“Did he bring this up to you?” He asks, urgency in his voice.

“Yeah but we’re past it and-” you start rambling.

“Oh I’m gonna kill him.” Theo says as he opens the door and walks out of the Slytherin house, you running after him.

“Theo it’s fine, please don’t” You plead as Theo walks up to the astronomy tower. Both Theo and Mattheo went up there to smoke quite often.

When you guys reach the tower, Theo walks straight up to Mattheo and punches him in the nose, “What the fuck!” Mattheo shouts.

“You fucking talk about her again, I swear to god” Theo gets in his face, pointing at his chest.

“Theo please” You say as you try to pull him away.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Mattheo spits.

“Mention her body again and you’re dead, hear me Riddle?”

“Back the fuck off Theo. I won’t mess with your perfect little girlfriend or your relationship ok?” Mattheo looks past Theo over to you. His nose was bleeding, sweat dripping off his forehead.

Theo backed off, staring at Mattheo before turning around and walking away. He was fuming and didn’t even notice you still there, watching him leave. After he’s gone, you turn around and look at Mattheo who’s watching you as his jaw is clenched.

“I’m sorry, It just came out and-” you start trying to explain yourself.

“Just leave it.” Mattheo responds quietly, leaning on one side, placing his hand on his hip, the other touching the blood under his nose.

“You’re bleeding.” You mention as you walk towards him.

“I’m fine.” Mattheo twitches his nose, breathing in as he does, looking at the ground.

“Mattheo please…let me help.” He looks up at you, his brown eyes staring into your soul.

He takes a moment to look at you before nodding. You both walk down to the girls bathroom nobody uses. You get a cloth, wetting it as he leans back against the sink next to you.

You take the cloth and start wiping his nose off as you stand there, your thighs up against his.

“You know, it’s not even that bad” You mention, still wiping the blood off absentmindedly.

Mattheo grabs your wrist and looks at you, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” You mutter out.

“Kissing you in that bottle game. It was stupid of me.” You hold eye contact with him the entire time.

“Don’t worry about it.” You reply as he lets go of your wrist. You look down before you add on, “It was actually kinda good.”

“The kiss?” Mattheo smiles and lightly laughs.

“I said only kinda” You respond, laughing with him. This was nice. You and Mattheo finally didn’t hate each other and it felt…normal.

“I better go check in with Theo.” You say, washing your hands. 

“Right” Mattheo nods pursing his lips.

“Look. Matty he's your best friend, he just-“ you sigh, “I turned him down because I didn’t want you to walk in on us again.”

“You turned him down? Because of me?” Mattheo asks.

“Don’t let that go to your head” you respond, “I’ll go talk to him ok?”

“Ok.” Mattheo responds emotionless, “…thanks”

You lightly smile as he pushes his weight off the sink and starts walking to the door. He leaves the bathroom, leaving you alone in your thoughts. What was happening between you two? And why did you have butterflies in your stomach?

taglist: @helendeath @mayamonroem

[lulublack90]

Prompt 13 - Street

@jegulus-microfic February 13 Word count 811

Previous part First part

The green flames died behind Voldemort, leaving behind the weak flickering fire in the grate. 

Without asking, Voldemort grabbed Regulus’s chin in his cold, harsh hand and drove into his head. It was like being stabbed in the brain. Legimency could be painless. It was up to the caster whether or not it hurt, and Voldemort always ensured it hurt. Regulus winced and tried as hard as possible to keep his composure as the memories from the last few weeks crashed behind his eyes. 

Voldemort lingered on his torture, slowing the tirade to watch each cut and forceful curse. 

Regulus fell to his knees. Somehow, he wasn’t sure how he managed it, but he kept the memories of James and his brother locked away where Voldemort couldn’t find them. 

After a final particularly painful spike into his memories, showing Remus helping him to escape, Voldemort relinquished his hold on Regulus and stood as though nothing had happened. 

“Ah, so the young wolf wants to join us, does he? I shall send Fenrir to collect him as soon as possible.”

The flames glowed green again, and multiple people invaded Regulus’s home. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan, Lucius, and, to his horror, Barty and Evan crowded around him. 

“Ah, back where you belong, cousin?” Bellatrix cooed in her harsh, rasping voice. He tried not to flinch as she ruffled his hair. 

“Bloody hell, Reg. What did they do to your face?” Evan looked over his bruised and swollen face with horror. Remus had done an excellent job. 

“Don’t know what you’re on about Rosier. I’ve never seen him look so good.” Barty cackled as he shot out a finger and poked one of the dark bruises on Regulus’s face.

Regulus pulled his wand from its holster on his arm and shot hot red sparks at Barty’s feet, causing him to jump up and down indigently across the Persian rug to avoid being burnt. 

“Hey! What the fuck Reg?! That was uncalled for!” 

“Don’t touch me then,” Regulus said in a bored voice as he twirled his wand back up his sleeve.

“Enough!” Voldemort hissed. The room fell into total silence, all attention on the pale wizard who commanded the room. 

“It is happening today, Regulus, now,” An excited murmur passed between the death eaters in the room. 

“What’s happening?” He asked. He could only think of one thing that required this many of the inner circle to be in his drawing room. 

“We attack the Ministry in one hour.” Bellatrix interrupted excitedly, clapping her hands and grinning maniacally.

“Bella,” Voldemort said quietly, Bellatrix immediately composed herself. 

“Make yourself presentable, Regulus, and we shall make our way to the Ministry.” Regulus looked down at the ruined, tattered robes he’d put back on this morning and nodded, leaving the group as he went to change. 

He carefully locked his bedroom door, and cast a silencing charm on the room. He pulled out the tiny mirror that had been Sirius’s and called into it.

“James? James, you there?” He didn’t get an immediate answer, so he removed his ragged robes. 

“Regulus?” James’s voice came back. Regulus picked up the mirror. 

“I don’t have much time.” He whispered to James’s reflection. “We’re going to the Ministry now. He said within the hour.” He summoned fresh clothes and began pulling them on as he spoke. 

“Thank you, love. I’ll alert the order. And Reg—” James paused until Regulus had finished dressing. “Be careful, yeah. Don’t die.” Regulus smiled into the mirror. 

“I’ll do my best.” Then James’s image was gone, and his own battered reflection showed in the mirror. 

He put the mirror in a secret pocket in his clean robes, and after taking a steadying breath and forcing his face into a neutral expression, he headed back downstairs. 

“You took your time,” Lucius was waiting for him. 

“Hardly,” He scoffed. Lucius raised his wand, and Regulus held his breath. Lucius muttered a charm, a light blue glow pulsed out of his wand, and Regulus’s face didn’t feel sore anymore. He checked the hallway mirror, and his face had returned to its usual flawless porcelain. “Thanks,” He said as his fingers reached up to check the skin for himself. 

“You’re welcome,” Lucius said with a sickening smile spreading across his face. “Come now, we mustn’t keep the Dark Lord waiting, should we?” He waved his hand forward, inviting Regulus to enter the drawing room. 

“Ah, good,” Voldemort exclaimed when he opened the door. “The rest of our forces are already gathered. Let us join them.” Regulus followed the small party out of the front door and onto the street outside. He turned to look back at number 12 as it concealed itself, disappearing from view as he walked further away. 

Voldemort himself grabbed ahold of Regulus’s arm. His claw-like hands dug into Regulus’s flesh as they apparated to the Ministry.    

Next part

[burntb4bydoll]

OMGG could you please write 2023!Tom with like a daddy kink if that’s okay? he’s literally just looks so…

UM YES?? IVE LITERALLY BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS EXACT IDEA FOR LIKE A WEEK NOW BUT DIDNT KNOW IF PEOPLE WOULD THINK ITS WEIRD OR SOMETHING

2023 Tom Kaulitz x fem!reader

Summery: you just want some attention from Tom :(

Warnings: daddy kink, hair pulling, praising, fingering, oral (fem!receiving) no real sex, Tom gives reader the princess treatment🤭

“Baby, please. Im doing something right now.” You dramatically huff out a breath and throw yourself onto the couch. Tom just rolls his eyes and continues to do whatever it is that he needed to finish on his laptop. You had been trying to get him to notice you for the past 3 hours, you had even took off your pants and walked around the house wearing nothing but his shirt and a lacy pair of underwear. Still nothing.

An idea pops into your head that makes you grin widely. You slowly creep closer to him and lean up against his side, tucking you head into his neck to give him light kisses. He doesn’t engage with you and continues to quickly type away on the small keyboard.

“I want your attention, please daddy..” his fingers suddenly stop typing, and his eyes open widely. He gazes down at you and you give him a little smile. The laptop was quickly shut and he moves your body so that you’re laying on the couch. His fingers slide up your throat and gently squeezes.

“What did you say?” He didn’t sound angry, he sounded flustered. You bring your hand up to hold onto his wrist and pout your lips out at him,

“I was just saying how I wanted your attention, daddy.” The confused look on his face slowly morphed into a look of lust. He pulls you into a messy kiss, moving his knee to rest in between your legs. One of his hands remains on your throat and the other comes up to tangle in your hair, giving it a tug to make you tip you head back.

“Such a needy girl, aren’t you? Making me stop my work to play with you,” he scoffs quietly “you needed daddy’s attention that bad?” You can feel your body start to heat up at the nickname he called himself. Honestly, you didn’t think he would enjoy it too much, you just wanted to get a rise out of him. His hand gives you hair another tug and you groan,

“Mhm. I’ve been waiting for you to pay attention to me all day.” He smirks at how out of breath you sound.

“Well, I’m paying attention to you now. What do you want baby? You want my fingers? My mouth?” You nod your head as much as you can with his hand still gripping it tightly.

“Want both, daddy. Please..” he releases you from both of his hand and moves down to lay between your legs, pulling your underwear down with his teeth.

“Oh? You’re so greedy, princess.” He laughs, and you could feel his breath hit your soaking wet core. You arched your back slightly and a sharply inhaled. His hands massaged your thighs as he kissed around where you needed him the most. Not only had he been ignoring you, but now he’s teasing you? What an asshole.

“Tom..stop teasing, asshole.” Your words came out sounding demanding, which made his raise an eyebrow at you. You regret using that tone with him, but it was too late to take it back now. His hand comes back up to squeeze your throat harder than he had done before and pulled you to look at him.

“Hey, I was being nice and giving you what you’ve been begging for and thats how you talk to me? Say sorry.” Now he was the one demanding things.

“I didn’t mean it. ‘M sorry daddy..” you bat your eyelashes at him, trying to make him ease up on you. Luckily, he’ll give you whatever you want as long as you ask nicely. So he runs his tongue up your cunt until he reaches your clit. He starts to draw slow circles on it as two of his fingers poke through your entrance. You throw your legs over his shoulders and gently stroke his hair with one of your hands. “You’re so good, daddy. I love when you use your mouth~” you knew that being sweet to him would only make him give in to your desires more. He pulls his face away from you but keeps up the steady pace of his fingers.

“Yeah? You’re being such a good girl for me, baby.” You smile at him before he dives back down to suck on your sensitive clit. Whines and breathy moans leave your mouth as his fingers start to speed up. He can feel your legs start to clamp around his head and your walls start to tighten around his fingers. He curls his fingers inside of you, successfully hitting your g-spot repeatedly. Your hands tug on his long hair and he groans into your pussy.

“I know you’re close, I can feel it. Cum for me princess. Cum for daddy..” he cooed, watching as your eyes roll back and your back arch off the couch cushion. Your orgasm made your head spin, and you were mumbling all sorts of incoherent things without even realizing. Tom just smirks, knowing he’s no where near finished with you yet.

[gilly-moon]

You're right, combing thru the angst prompts just to narrow them down is so much more difficult than it needs to be! Some of them are just too good!

But!!! I think I narrowed some down that would fit both/either blackice or Vlad and Danny, author's choice:

2., 23., 39.

~harley

This one was very fun to write ♡ enjoy!

-

39 : “He’s the only person left! He’s the only thing I’ve got, the last good thing in my life!”

The Shadows were hardly pleased with Pitch’s new friend.

A month ago, Jack Frost had managed to slip through one of the slim skylights of his underground lair. They’d scuffled briefly, until Jack hovered out of reach and explained why he had come.

His voice hadn’t wavered as he spoke, but his eyes were looking at Pitch’s hands instead of his face. There was tension wound through his small frame, a fear that his body betrayed despite the confidence of his words. It had been…almost endearing.

Pitch had accepted Jack’s offer of friendship faster than he would ever admit, much to the frustration of the darkness shrouding his lair.

Jack had departed soon after, but promised to return within the month. The fear that had been tangled around him had withered away by the time he floated off, and two weeks later he came back with a tentative smile on his lips.

It had been enough time for Pitch to convince himself that this was just temporary. Perhaps this was truly just a new tactic from the Guardians to take Pitch down once and for all. Or maybe one of them would get tired of the other eventually, or Jack would cross some line and Pitch would let the Shadows consume him slowly and painfully.

But then he was floating down into Pitch’s cavern, practically glowing in the shaft of light with his lopsided grin and frosted hair, and Pitch knew instinctively that it was already too late for him. Whatever he’d told himself about being over the idea of befriending Jack Frost had been nothing more than a pathetic lie.

He ached to draw Jack in closer to him, to entwine their lives together until they were inseparable. As often as Jack wanted to visit, Pitch was more than pleased to have him. But the closer he got to Jack, the heavier his shadow became.

Ever since accepting Jack’s friendship, there had been more dark whispers in Pitch’s ear, and an increasing weight on his shoulders where agitated Shadows draped themselves. Several tried to sink their claws into him, attempting to manipulate his actions as they pleased. It was getting more difficult to shrug them off.

The few Nightmares that remained tried to inflict themselves upon Jack against Pitch’s orders. Luckily, Jack was quite adept at ingratiating himself with the creatures. He had many fears and nightmares to feed them, and was more than willing to give them up in return for their friendship.

It was while Pitch was watching Jack lay himself out on his stomach on the back of a Nightmare, so comfortable and at ease in this dark and fearful place, that Pitch began to wonder what it would be like to follow this boy out of his cave and into the light. To see the world through his eyes.

This was the final straw for the Shadows.

.

“I am your King,” Pitch snarled. “The same as you decreed thousands of years ago. You will listen -”

‘We declared you King,’ the Shadows said, a hissing chorus of Nightmare Men and Fearlings. ‘We are your power. We decide how you rule.’

Exhaling a noise of frustration, Pitch wound his hands into fists so tight his nails cut into his palms. They’d been going back and forth on this for hours now, dark figures darting around him on every surface of the cavern. Pale eyes occasionally peeked out from the hoard, piercing into Pitch where he stood on the central walkway.

“You are nothing more than lost, scattered souls,” he retorted. “Without me, you would still be captured, rotting away in a dark cell and starving for a light to devour.”

‘Without you, we would have consumed this weak little world already. Including those noisome Guardians.’

“The Guardians and their lunar friend have defeated us twice now,” Pitch sighed, less than pleased to remember it. “Fragmenting our forces with these petty arguments only reduces our chances of succeeding next time.”

‘Next time?’ the Shadows repeated curiously, no longer flitting around quite as furiously.

“Yes. We will need to have an even larger army than before. More Nightmares. Perhaps some automatons, and armor to protect against their weapons.”

‘We need him.’

Pitch’s spine snapped straight.

“No.”

‘Yesss,’ the Shadows whispered. They slipped over the floor, winding around in a circle that trapped Pitch where he stood.

“We’ve tried that before,” he reasoned with them, still managing to keep his voice level if only barely. His fears were a tightly corked bottle, shaken and at the verge of bursting open. “He’ll side with the Guardians even more firmly this time. There’s no use.”

‘So we take him by force,’ the Shadows replied. ‘Just like we took you.’

Something white hot flared behind Pitch’s eyes. He was blinded by it, too shocked to speak. The fire coursed down through his limbs, a sensation he almost recognized. A need to defend. To protect.

“Pitch?”

He blinked. No. Not now.

‘Take him!’

“Pitch, what’s going on?”

“Get out,” Pitch shouted without looking up. That deliciously familiar cold was already permeating the air. “Now, Jack!”

The Shadows thrashed, rebelling. With a guttural cry, Pitch threw his arms out, fingers spread wide. He tugged hard against his connection to the Shadows, using it as a leash to reign them in.

“Tell me what’s happening! I can help!”

Pitch grit his teeth. He’d never resisted the Shadows like this before. Already his hold on them felt fragile, ready to slip at any moment.

‘LET US HAVE HIM!’

“NO,” Pitch bellowed. His refusal only stirred the Shadows into more of a frenzy, dark shapes leaping from the floor and walls erratically in a whirlwind around Pitch.

Still, he stood firm, yanking at the threads connecting him to any that tried to leap for Jack.

‘WHY DO YOU STOP US?!’

“Because he’s the only person left!”

Pitch was panting, vision blurry. He could see the faces of every Nightmare Man and Fearling. Corrupted souls who were once people. Mothers. Fathers. Daughters. Lost to darkness for good.

“He’s the only thing I’ve got,” Pitch gasped, “the last good thing in my life!”

The Shadows didn’t care.

“Please.” Pitch looked to Jack directly, unable to process the look of shock on his face. “Leave. This is my fight, and mine alone.”

Jack hovered slightly higher, hesitating for an agonizing moment. His expression shifted into one that Pitch knew instinctively, but couldn’t name.

“You’re not,” Jack called down. “You’re not alone.”

He flitted away and vanished through the skylight.

It dawned on Pitch then, what Jack’s expression had been. As the Shadows twisted, aiming their fury inward to him, he found the word and held it tight.

Belief.

[bagopucks]

A group of Michigan Brothers and their tall friend

🤝

A group of Michigan Brothers and their tall friend

From one hyper fixation to the next. If you wanna know where I’ve been, it’s with my music.

If there’s one thing I’ve loved all my life, it’s been music. It has been so long since I’ve genuinely invested myself in a band I felt meaningful or enjoyable. Modern music is not my favorite thing. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but I just don’t enjoy the vast majority. This however, I can get behind. Nothing beats modern rock that sounds like it was pulled from the 70’s. I’ve always been envious of older decades that had such beautiful music, and I can’t even express how wonderful and fulfilling life has felt with the one thing I’ve wished for since I was old enough to listen to and comprehend music. I can’t explain it in a way to make anybody understand, but this music, this fashion, this time feels almost.. like a reality in a way. Like it’s actually within my grasp. It’s something I’ve always loved but I never had the privilege of loving in the present time. Now I do, and the love I used to hold for music has returned at such an overwhelming pace that life feels so full again.

Nothing touches my soul deeper than a beautiful voice and meaningful lyrics. Something poetic and fun. I’ve been an artist since as long as I can remember. I feel incomplete if I don’t have good music to listen to, or a muse for drawing and physical art. Music is beautiful in an indescribable way.

Due to the transition period I’ve started, from high school to college, and a lot of change, my OCD and depression has been spiking on and off like a switch. I’ve been pretty busy these past few weeks, seeing as everybody at work simply decided to quit, so my hours are through the roof. I’d like to take a break to focus on my art and my future for a month or so. Possibly until the new season opens. I’m not saying a permanent goodbye, I promise I’ll be back. I just need some time for myself, and I’d love to explore my other interests some more while I have this past summer as a ‘kid’.

Always feel free to check in, submit thoughts, questions, just talk if you want to talk. I’ll still be on tumblr, just not writing. Though I’ve kept my accounts separate, with this break, I’d like to extend the opportunity for anybody to follow @teddydrawshockey (my first account) if they’d like. I’ll probably continue to post art there from time to time. Requests for art, drawings, anything of that nature is always welcome on that account as well.

I want to give a sincere thank you to all of those who have followed and remained consistent through the few months I have done this! It has been so much fun, and I can’t wait to return to writing soon. The support, interaction, and love for my work was what kept me going. This account was initially created so I could get some of my own ideas down on paper. Then interaction came in, and I decided to make something out of it. I thank all 800+ of you who have followed for the ride. And the ones who popped in every once and a while to check out my works and spam my account. I am eternally grateful, and I do hope you all stick around for my return.

I promise this is not the end, I’ll be back

-Ella

[royaltysuite]

The Tales Of Lady Baccara and The Straw Hat Pirates

Chapter One: The First Encounter

Summary: After the events of the liberation of Drumm Kingdom, Y/n reveals herself to the Straw Hats as Chopper’s older sister. However, the reunion is short-lived as she is now interrogated by Luffy and his Straw Hat crew.

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

“So, did ya miss me, Chopper?” Y/n asked, holding back the urge to wrap her arms around her little sibling. “Y/n, is that really you?!” Chopper shouted in disbelief. The sight of it was a bit hilarious to the surrounding people in the room. “Of course it’s me. I’ve just been hidden in your shadow the entire time and made sure that you were safe and happy. Even when you were living with the crazy lunatic, Dr.Kureha.” “Wow, that’s amazing…” chimed in Nami’s voice from the background. “Oh, I’m so rude. Sorry for intruding upon your ship. My name is Y/n Baccara, a wolf-woman from the depths of the woods in Drumm Kingdom. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. If it hasn’t already been clear from what Chopper said, I am his sister.” Y/n explained.

“But, you’re not a deer though? So how could you possibly be siblings?” The swordsman spoke as he made his way around Y/n. “It’s quite simple, you see. He’s my found family. I was once alone and abandoned by my people. They believed that embracing their wolf self was the way nature intended for us, but I was against it. I didn’t want to be seen as a monster to the humans I saved, but they didn’t care. So, they left me to die in an abandoned quarry after a hunt. It was almost a full week until Chopper found me and took me to Dr.Kureha’s. Since then, we formed a bond as siblings even if we weren’t together physically.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet! Chopper, why didn’t you tell us this? Also, stop staring at her like she’s a freak, idiot mosshead!” Nami pointed out. “It never came to mind. All I know is that I’m glad you were always by my side, big sis…” “I’ll always be there, Chopper, no matter what…”

The moment was enough to dispel any form of suspicion from the crew, They then went on to explain to Y/n the plans to bring Vivi back to Alabasta Kingdom in order to stop the war that’s bound to happen between the Royal Army and the Rebel Army. “That is devastating to hear, Vivi. If you would like, I could help by contacting this Pell you speak of. He has the ability to shift into an eagle, right?” “Yes, that’s right. But, could you reach him from such a long distance?” “Not exactly, I’d have to be within a wide enough vicinity around him without drawing suspicion from other citizens. After all, he could take me as a part of the rebel army.”

“That is true, but other than that?” Usopp inquired, very wary of the plan. “I could possess him and plant any message you’d like me to leave.” Y/n answered calmly, as if it was a normal situation. “POSSESS?!!” Everyone shouted. “That’s so cool! Can you possess me, too?!” Luffy bellowed loudly with excitement before being smacked upside the head by Sanji. “It doesn’t work that way. I can only possess animals, not humans, ya silly goose.” Y/n chuckled, booping Luffy on the nose with a small smile. The action made his face tinge a light red before he went back to laughing. “Anyways, guys, the plan when we reach Alabasta - find and stop the REAL culprit behind this civil war before Alabasta crumbles to nothing. Alright?!” Nami yelled, the sound of the rest of the crew’s cheers echoed loudly into the night as the Going Merry sailed through the night.

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

The next few days on the sea were full of excitement. I never thought that being around other people would start to heal, especially after reuniting with Chopper. All the time that I spent with Chopper in his mind, I could feel the never-ending anxiety that he had. All the fear of being rejected by outsiders that didn’t understand him. It all hit me like a harsh wave and I wanted nothing more than to just leap out of his mind and comfort him. But, I knew that it was going to be an important step in him becoming more confident in himself.

“Sis, is everything okay? I was calling for you, but you seemed distracted.” “Oh, Tony, I didn’t see ya there. What’s going on?” I replied, shaking myself out of my daze. “I was trying to let you know that we’re approaching Alabasta now and we’re going to a city called Nanohana to restock on supplies. Did you want to come along?” “Sure, sounds interesting. Hmm, maybe they’ll have some smoked fruits…” I mumbled as we made our way off the ship towards the rest of the crew. 

As we made plans to grab only essential supplies while in Nanohana, things quickly took a turn as Luffy had run off. “Luffy, wait!” I hollered, quickly making chase behind him. Soon enough, I caught up to him and saw him sitting at a bar next to an open space in the wall. “Luffy, why didn’t you wait for us?” I sighed, trying to catch my breath before sitting next to him. “I’m hungry. Hey, old man, gimme food. Gimme, gimme, gimme food.” He chanted, clearly food being the only thing on his mind. “Sorry if he disturbed anything, if we could get one of everything on your menu along with some smoked fruit on the side please.” I told the barman, who was still in shock at the scene in front of him. 

It was quite hilarious to see just how simple-minded Luffy was sometimes. “Adorable…” I whispered to myself as I rested my arm on top of the bar counter. Once the food hit the counter in front of Luffy, he immediately began inhaling almost everything in sight. The sight was something out of the ordinary to the bystanders in the bar. As Luffy kept eating, the sound of moving rubble had my ears perking up in alert. I slid off of my seat and took a couple of steps to the side to stand in front of the giant hole in the wall.

The pile of rubble began to move and out popped a large man in a puffer coat. He then stood to his feet and shook off the dust before turning around. Both him and I made eye contact with one another then he began stomping in my directions. “Just who is this guy?” I muttered, tilting my head in confusion. As he got closer and closer to where Luffy was sitting, I stepped to the side. It seemed like he had some unfinished business with Luffy who continued devouring food. Puffer coat guy halted in his steps and he addressed Luffy, who blatantly ignored him until the guy shouted loudly in his face. Luffy took a pause in his meal as the dots began to connect in his head and he recognized the guy. 

“Oh crap, it’s Smoker…” Luffy gulped, a nervous sweat drop beading up on his forehead. Luffy then grabbed up the rest of the food and shoved in his mouth. He then grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me out into the street. The action startled me and I stumbled a bit before catching my footing. “Uhh, Luffy, why are we running away?” I shouted, trying to figure out what was going on. “Is he an enemy or something?” “I guess you could uh… say that.” The answer made me deadpan a little, but it didn’t matter. Right now, we need to get out of here quickly before the Marines catch wind of us being here.

[malicedragoness]

Cori x Havik Soft Asks

@crowsnhoes sent in an ask quite a while ago. I’ve only finished 1/3 of the soft asks, and might as well post what I’ve done so far.

MK story tag list: @bihanspookies

#7- Write about one member of your ship asking the other to dance with them.

Word count: 605

Warnings: mentions of death, Seido’s flooding.

~*~*~*~*~

Havik sat on the sidelines as he watched the revelry unfold.

It’s been weeks since the capital of Seido was plunged into the watery abyss. The hierarchy and upper castes were gone. Drowned in the cold depths, their corpses now food for the creatures that lurked beneath the surface. And with them went their riches. Riches that are now useless in this new world of his. A world he helped shape in blessed anarchy.

The lower castes, slaves to all of those deemed above them, now run rampant.

Free.

Free to live the life that was denied to them for so long. Everything finally came to fruition.

The rebel watched as the mansion of his former master burned. The fiery blaze lighting up the velvet sky, the heat of the flames chasing away the chills crawling up his spine.

The free people of Seido danced around the flames. Some by themselves, others with their partner. Hoots and hollers mixed with the sound of the flutes and drums being played.

A soft, dainty hand curled around his armored one. The smell of pomegranate and jasmines tickled his nose. His little thief rested her head against his shoulder. After weeks apart, he finally got her back. And he’ll be damned if he let her go again.

“They all look so happy.” Cori watched as they danced to the music.

Havik loved her accent. He missed waking up to that beautiful Vecillian lilt and smiling face.

His hand tightened around hers. “They’re finally free.”

“They’re free because you did that for them.” Cori turned her emerald gaze to him, eyes shining with adoration.

Havik couldn’t count how many times he’s been lost in those shiny green depths. Drawing him in with promises of affection and mischief.

Havik let go of her hand and began to work on the worn leather straps of his armor.

“Havik?” Cori quirked an eyebrow at him. “What are you doing?”

The pauldrons slumped to the ground with a heavy thunk. The sinewy muscles of his cheeks lifted up in what he could manage of a smile, as he watched her drink in the sight of his bare chest.

His gauntlet came off next, then the leather rerebrace, the faulds, and finally the purple silk. Until he stood before her in nothing but his pants. Each piece he removed, felt like another chain breaking, freeing him from the ghosts of his past.

Havik stretched out a scarred hand to her, mirth shining in his eyes. “Dance with me.”

Cori’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“What?” A smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. “You never want to dance with me.”

His jaw clacked as he let out a dry chuckle.

Anytime she wanted to dance, Havik would simply stand there with a disgruntled face, and let her puppeteer his arms while she danced around him. Not putting forth any effort to dance with her, but also not denying her wishes.

“I never had a reason to. Nor the desire.” He pulls her close. “Stand on my feet.”

Cori’s smile widens. She kicks off her boots and carefully tiptoes on his feet, his strong arms wrapping around her. A satisfied groan escapes his throat as her soft curves press against him, and she laid her head on his broad chest.

Gently, he swayed their bodies to the music, his chin resting atop her soft locks. Lost in their own world.

“People dance when they’re happy. Before this, I didn’t have anything to make me happy. To make me dance.” Havik murmured amidst the chaos around them. His arms tightened around her. “Now, I do.”

[skyzerkarma]

Tutor [ᴄʜᴇꜱᴛᴇʀ ᴅᴀᴠɪᴇꜱ x ꜰ!ɢʀʏꜰꜰɪɴᴅᴏʀ!ᴍᴄ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ]

Requested by: @foggytrashwonderland-blog

Word count: 3k

As you scramble to try and complete an assignment at the very last possible moment, you’re saving grace comes in the form of your longtime crush.

(a/n): I’ve never written for Chester before, nor was I able to find decent source material for his personality online, so he may be incredibly ooc. And also don’t pay too much mind to the mention of pens, I wrote this late last night and just didn’t feel like changing it despite the inaccuracy.

✧✧✧

You stared at the blank piece of paper in front of you with nothing but contempt. The pen in your hand continuously being clicked as your mind scrambled to find the perfect words to begin this potion assignment. You hadn’t had much time as of late for schoolwork, mainly due to the various unauthorized activities you indulged in when you had even a single spare moment of time.

Those cursed vaults were really going to be the death of you. And if they weren’t, Snape surely would be. Especially if you didn’t send in a decent assignment for him to grade. It would suspended his thirst for your blood for a class, and you would take what you could get when it came to him. He really had no qualms about showing how he despised you, if your horrible grades and numerous scoldings were anything to say about that. He’d even sent you back to your dorm with a note for McGonagall one time (Which you’d discarded and then got promptly reprimanded for the next morning).

It’s a shame that the vaults couldn’t be used as an excuse for your many late and crappy assignments that had been thrown together the last moment you realized that they had to be turned in because you were breaking even more severe rules by seeking them out. You had to thank Rowan for the countless reminders he gave you when it came to important projects, otherwise you wouldn’t have a single spare moment to search for the vaults amongst all of the detention you would get. Which seemed to be their go-to way to punish you for your horrid work, having you sit there and fix it until it was near perfection.

And since you knew Snape was just itching to send you there, because you’d bothered him so much with your insistence for a different punishment last time due to a preplanned meetup you had scheduled, you were not taking any chances of this assignment coming out inadequate for his extraordinarily high standards.

But it seems like your brain is fighting to make sure you do have detention for the entire week, because it can’t seem to come up with a single sentence to put down on the blank sheet of paper in front of you. Even as you continuously scan through the source material laying flat out on its spine right beside it. It’s like all the words on the page aren’t being registered within your mind, the knowledge going in and out faster than you can blink. The fact that it’s seven and the only semblance of sleep you got was a quick power nap in between charms and dinner was not helping by any means either.

Honestly the only thing it’s doing is making you further contemplate simply forgetting about the assignment and taking whatever punishment you’d get for ‘forgetting’ to do your work. Because you’re completely exhausted after staying up all night, doing a similar thing to now- having your nose buried in a book- but you also really do not want a single setback in whatever step you all are going to take next. And any sort of punishment would be one. But you being completely wiped out because you keep deciding not to sleep is as well. Though the latter is entirely your fault, as will be the former if you don’t just put a few words on the paper sitting in front of you. Sitting there as if it’s taunting you, without a single outline of a word forged on top of it. A clean, blank slate for whatever thoughts are soon to come to your head.

”You look like death,” The voice of a new person draws you out of your thoughts and has your gaze traveling upward to meet the face of the perturber of your solitude, only to see none other than Chester Davies staring down at you.

As if this couldn’t possibly get worse, your little hallway crush, who you’d gushed to Rowan about a multitude of times, was standing right across from you, looking down at the empty piece of paper sitting untouched in front of you. He also clearly took note of how weary you must look. The fact that the only action you’d been accomplishing for the past ten minutes was clicking the pen in your hand certainly did little to help the horrible appearance you were putting up.

Nonetheless, you plaster a smile onto your face and place the pen down so you can give him your full attention, for whatever it is he needs from you. The two of you aren’t particularly close, but you’ve had a fair few interactions, so it isn’t a stretch for him to come to you if he needs something, “Thanks. What have I done to owe the pleasure of entertaining you as company? Don’t tell me one of my friends ratted me out and you’re here to reprimand me.”

“That wasn’t originally what I was here for, but I’ll admit that I’m now intrigued.” His eyebrows raise slightly at your statement, as his hand goes to pull out the chair directly across from you, which causes your eyebrows to mimic his. There’s also an undeniable curiosity lacing his tone, a signature trait of his dear house, and reflecting in his eyes as to what could have prompted that declaration from you, “Though I’ll admit it is because of one of your friends.”

”I take it that’s also the reason you’re joining me? Or did my sparkling personality draw you over here?” You say, brushing off his question about your previous statement without a single moment of hesitation. You have compete confidence that he’d snitch about your after school activities if he learned, though that was just who he was, and you wouldn’t fault him for it. You can’t say for certain you wouldn’t be concerned learning your classmate was trying to open deadly vaults, had you yourself not had good motivation for doing so.

“The former. Not that I don’t like your personality or anything,” He’s quick to defend himself as you quirk a brow, though you wouldn’t have taken offense to the statement regardless. You decide to spare him from commenting about the slight dusting of red on his ears and nose, since it could be directly related to embarrassment or shame. Even if the thought of it being due to you flustering him made your heart beat a bit too fast, “Rowan told me you were struggling to keep up and asked if I could help tutor you.”

You bite down on your lip so that you don’t let out the groan you desperately desire to. Of course he’d do that. As much as you dearly love Rowan, you didn’t think he’d go out and ask your crush to help you with the assignment you’d been struggling on. Sure, you may have told him to set you up once or twice before, but this was not what you expected when you had those conversations. Though, you doubt Rowan was seriously thinking about that while expressing his concerns to Chester.

”Well, the only thing I’m really struggling with is potions, and herbology somewhat,” You take a glance back down towards the paper laying out in front of you, your eye twitching as you try once again to retain any of the information you’d read through just a moment prior to prove that you do not need him to sit here and walk you through it, but nothing pops up, “And this paper is due tomorrow.”

His eyes run along the binding of the book sprawled out beside you, before his arm stretches out to pick it up and examine the contents after doing a quick once over of the cover. His finger taps absentmindedly along the back as his gaze runs along the page you’d been trying desperately to cram your mind with the knowledge of, “I see. So you’re working on antidotes right now? That’s a pretty simple topic, so this shouldn’t take too long. What exactly does the paper have to cover?”

You decide to brush past that little unintentional jab on his part, since you really don’t have the energy to argue right now, and instead explain the specifics of the assignment you’d been given, “It’s supposed to talk about the different types of healing potions and how their effects differ. A comparison between them.”

He nods, but you can see the clear cut confusion as to how you haven’t already made leeway on this in his eyes. But it’s not your fault he’s several years ahead of you and has therefore covered all of this and more, “I can help with that. At least the outline, you’ll have to write it yourself. I’ll also proofread it if you’d like. That way I can make sure there’s no glaringly obvious mistakes with your facts or presentation.”

You agree without the slightest bit of resistance because, at this point, you’ll take it. As long as it helps you finish it faster, even though you are reluctant to be leaning on someone else to help finish your schoolwork with you. You can do so much for yourself with the vaults and all your wand working classes, but this just happens to be the thing you fall behind with. Not that having the most biased teacher ever helps, especially when he specifically hates your guts.

You’ll admit that he’s good at this though, and the information is much easier for your sleep deprived brain to process when he spells it out in a simple, clear cut way for you. He ends up moving his chair over to sit it beside you too so he can look over your shoulder and examine the work you’re doing, as well as give his own input without taking away from your original idea. It’s really no surprise he became a Prefect.

But he’s also just as easily a distraction to you, since every time his shoulder brushes yours, or his fingers graze your knuckles, you immediately begin to feel your face and neck heat up. The contact, though completely platonic, promotes a foreign feeling to bubble inside your chest. One that spreads warmth through your body even more than those quick glances across the hall, that last for a mere millisecond. You doubt he thinks half as much of them as you do though, even when his ears erupt into a violent shade of crimson at those simple touches, mirroring the feeling within you.

You shove those feelings down as you attempt to focus more on the work, so you can leave this terribly awkward situation. As neither of you had been very good at keeping a conversation going amongst the actual teaching aspect of this meetup, and your feelings are just making the whole thing more worse on your end. He’s much older than you anyway, so you’re sure the only sort of feeling he could have for you is strictly friendly, maybe even brotherly. It’s simply out of the question for him to reciprocate your feelings. Your suspicions, you’re confident, are nothing more than false delusion.

As the times goes by you begin to let go of your thoughts and actual focus on the work in front of you, especially now that someone is waiting for you to finish writing this paper rather than it just being you surrounded by bookshelves and a few passing students. You can’t take your sweet time when someone, who likely has other better, schedule, things to do, is awaiting the finished product. Especially not when you also want to impress them.

And once you do hand it to him, he gives a quick scan along with a few simple critiques for your future works, but otherwise gives you the green light to turn it in. Which you’re simply ecstatic about, since it means you shouldn’t be getting detention- assuming you don’t pull any crazy stunts tomorrow- and that you can finally go back to your dorm and sleep. You even contemplate sleeping through charms, since you’re doing extremely well in the class without a high attendance rate already. But you know it won’t fix your sleeping problems.

“I’ll accompany you back to your common room.” The statement startles you, and you turn to look at Chester, who has his satchel slung overtop his shoulder, positioned right beside his opposing hip. You‘re still shoving the book into yours, as well as trying to make room for the paper so it doesn’t get lost in the mess you refer to as your bag.

You shake your head without even thinking about it, as if it was instinct of your bodies rather than your mind. And only after do you realize you have to give an excuse to pair with the action, since otherwise it just looks rude and dismissive. But you also aren’t going to outright say it’s because you’re totally crushing on him and spending more time with him will not be good for you, nor the friends who will have to listen to your rant about it during breakfast, “I wouldn’t want to bother you. I’m sure you have things to do.”

”Nonsense,” He shuts it down just as fast, smiling at you in a way that makes your heart skip several beats, so gentle and kind, “I have to head that way anyway so it’s more convenient if we travel together. Unless you’d rather we not?”

”Oh, not at all! I’d love to walk with you. I’ll have you know I’m a fantastic conversation partner,” You’re digging your own grave by not refusing, but you’re sure it won’t cause too much harm. You hate liking people like this, because you have no singular clue about what to do. Especially when they decide to do things like this.

He chuckles softly, and you’re sure it’s comparable to the same sound bells make when they chime because it’s just simply so beautiful and melodic. As if you’d been graced with a song sung by a siren, “I don’t doubt it.”

And then you embark on the walk back to your common room. Chester even says a farewell to Madam Pince, who scolds him in response and shoo’s you out of the library even faster than your feet could carry you. Which causes her to become the topic of your conversation as the doors fall shut behind you, and the understanding that she’d never leave her precious books unattended the comforting thought that accompanies the careless gossip that rings throughout the air. The portraits uninterested in the stories they’d heard numerous times from other passing students who’d been there at the time, each story widespread enough to not be a surprise to those who heard the words tumbling from your mouth.

After the initial area of reluctance and awkwardness, the conversation begins to flow with ease and comfort. As if the two of you had been friends who were much closer and had known each other much longer. It was nice like that, without your brain running at several miles an hour trying to figure out how you were supposed to speak with the guy who currently held your heart in his hands. It was natural, a seamless chat between two people. One that looked so fun with how you couldn’t help but laugh at all the little things he told you about, and how he looked at you with his complete attention when you begin to go on a long, unrelated, tangent that a story reminded you of.

You could feel your heart ache a little as you got the portrait of the fat lady, the long hallway leading down there being the point where the two of you would separate for the evening. No more would you two talk like that, once again going back to being mere acquaintances who smiled when they met the others eyes in the hall. You met his eyes, which wrinkled in the corners as a smile of his own grew, reflecting the one that had stretched across yours.

“Thanks for the help, I’ll try not to delay my next assignment so long,” You say, patting him in the shoulder in your own little way of showing your appreciation. Your hand lingering for a moment longer than you intended before you retract it. Even though the last few words are completely empty, a lie you’d simply uttered so he wouldn’t have to worry about you repeating this cycle, the first ones were nothing but truth. You were, despite a bit of your ego being butt hurt, grateful for the help.

”Anytime. If you ever need an actual tutor for something, just let me know,” His eyes travel away from your own and move down towards your lips, staying fixated on them for a moment before he realizes that he’s standing there doing nothing but looking directly at your lips. His hand reaches to scratch the nape of his neck as he gaze breaks away from your face to look up at the ceiling, rocking on his heels, “Uhm, this is a little weird-“

”Hm?” You can feel your heart beat faster as you take a notice of the blush that’s beginning to dust his face and the way his eyes continuously flicker back towards your lips. A faint feeling of hope beginning to flicker within your heart.

”-Would you, uh, like to. No, would you be okay if I, well, kissed you..?”

You barely let him finish speaking the words before you wrap your  arms around his neck and press your lips against him. His arms curl around your torso as he reciprocates the kiss with the same sort of inexperience you have, yet matching the intensity with which you kiss him without an ounce of effort.

It lasts for a few seconds, before you pull away to take in a breath and glance at how his face has become completely coated in a bright shade of red due to the kiss. Your neck is hot, but you feel good afterwards aside from the heat emitting from your body. Knowing your feelings are reciprocated, the thing you deeply doubted from the moment they developed up until a minute ago.

Safe to say you knew exactly what you’d be ranting to your friends about tomorrow morning.

[nights-at-crystarium]

Fragments - episodes 12-14 author notes

Hi hello and welcome to yet another ramble about Fragments C: I’m doing these regularly because there’s so much I wanna say about my idiots, and I like looking back and appreciating the work I’ve done.

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned!

I haven’t commented on any of the ShB episodes yet, so here we go. Chapter 2 is estimated to last for over a year real-time, it correlates to the msq events up to Amity. The name honestly I’m not too proud of, I didn’t wanna spend too much brain juice on it :’> But the cover.....

Obligatory ShB spoiler warning!

- Investigating each other. They’ve become completely new people since ARR.

- Despite what he thinks of himself, our lord and savior Crystal Exarch has the ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ grandeur ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆.

- Vivi’s self-image is similar, he doesn’t see himself as anything grand no it’s not a height joke but Exarch rapidly grows in his eyes as he learns about him.

- He sports an outfit I once doodled and found cute, I’m just being cheeky about his newfound obsession.

- He also appears fragile to Exarch, who’s literally seen a world where he died being this young. Exarch wants to protect him, to say the least.

- Vivi’s perceived helplessness and lack of agency in ShB, although it’s nothing he hasn’t already been through in his other WoL misadventures.

- The Light, of course the wicked white surrounding them.

Episode 12 I’m proud of writing-wise, but not art-wise. Turns out the Ocular is a bigger bitch to draw/paint than I’d anticipated, and, although I’ve mostly figured it out by now (having just released episode 16 for patrons), the colors and light in the episode 12 will forever stick out like a sore thumb to me, probably until I find the time to redraw it. Same goes for the Scions, learning to draw a whole bunch of new characters over a week (roughly, an episode takes 7~14 days to complete), well, I should’ve taken a bigger break and practiced some more.

I’d even apply the ugly word “crunch” to this episode. But ah, the best page wasn’t crunched, hell started breaking loose a bit later. Yeah I don’t work in order, usually I do the most important frames first.

A bit of a sidetrack: even though I sometimes find myself wanting for more time between episodes, I don’t think I can afford making the releases even more sparse, current 2-week cycle ensures that this story WILL reach its finale in some distant 2028 if not later, I’m not kidding, it might take even longer and I’ve only been working on the script for a year. The broad strokes are complete, but I indulge in adding more sweet nonsense here and there. Or sometimes a raw af dialogue pops up in my head and MUST be included in some chapter. In other words, help, this behemoth keeps growing.

Personally I’m loyal to my fandoms, and not in a rush to finish the comic, but my mmo experience bangs on that nothing lasts forever: I don’t know where the xiv community would be in 5+ years from now, and I need A LOT of people supporting me, allowing me to work on this full time. So I’d rather keep a steady pace while it’s still possible.

As I get more xp in painting backgrounds and learn all the ShB character designs, it should become easier for me. Currently I’m fumbling through a new field, so please bear with me :’D

Back to the main topic: I came up with and scrapped at least 2 ideas of the transition between ARR and ShB, the timeskip was always planned, but Vivi needed some more introduction still. Current iteration of Exarch “interviewing” the Scions seems the most fun and creative to me.

Also, tea parties with Urianger and Feo Ul :> They’re his only two friends in my hc, Urianger he purposely revealed himself to, and Feo Ul, merely being a soul in a sparkly shell, can see Exarch’s soul as well, hoods are useless. All while they’re somewhat reliable, truly the paragon of pixies who wouldn’t randomly spill his secrets (probably).

Vivi’s a mirror. Every single one of us is, to some degree. We react and adapt to the way the others treat us, and so does Vivi. Unintentionally, of course. It’s a natural “passive trait”. All the Scions except Urianger (for the same reason he managed to trick the pixies, he’s just a special smartass) see their reflections in Vivi, direct or warped.

Y’shtola is basically this:

Can’t promise equal amounts of screentime for all the Scions, but the twins and Thancred are the closest to Vivi, you’ll definitely see more of them.

He’s 26 now, which is still rather young by the elezen standards, and he’s way too tired (tm) probably like most WoLs at this point in time.

Maybe not of life itself, but he’s definitely sick of the Source and all its inhabitants. For all he cares, this place can go to hells.

His state just so happens to be perfect for the isekai love story that awaits him. How did he get there? I know, you’ll have to stick around until I deem it appropriate to drop some flashback episodes. I’m leery of loredumping too early on: firstly, you current readers will get more invested over time, therefore have more fun learning about him at a later point; secondly, I’m personally not a fan of tragic backstories right in yo face, before the main story gets a chance to breathe. And, mind you, Vivi’s past isn’t even THAT tragic, just, well.. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes \o/

In this episode I wanted to show his practical approach to things. He may possess an Echo, Blessing, soul stone and whatnot else, but gotta stick a good ol’ dagger in a boot just in case. He’s a doubter, just a tiny bit paranoid.

Also he has The Chair (tm) where he dumps clothes on. His room in the Rising Stones looks vague for now because we indeed don’t return there for years in real time, I don’t need to spend my energy on designing this room in detail just yet.

Most items don’t hold any special meaning, he simply prepares for a journey into the unknown. Well, there’s the journal he dumps his cringy thoughts in, and doodles sometimes. The trinket he holds here is a Princess Ai easter egg:

I talked about Vivi’s character influences and inspirations here if you haven’t seen yet C:

Exarch’s glorious meltdown does a good job averting eyes from Feo Ul being right there in the beginning of the episode 14, but yeah they’re present not for no reason :>

Mentally he’s still in the msq cutscene.

Gotta mention that there’s no amnesia, insanity, or other sad brain fuckery ever in this comic. Vivi’s head’s made of dense and sturdy stuff x’D

Just a meme I made because I had to :>

There isn’t much Deep Meaning in this episode, the visuals speak for themselves, and I’m DAMN PROUD of them.

We don’t see Exarch in this moment ingame, so I took my creative liberty to illustrate the range of emotions he goes through in like 5 minutes before finally rushing out to meet his hero in person, forgetting that he can teleport at will (yet another hc of mine) anywhere in the Tower’s vicinity, and doing so on foot.

That’s it for now, thank you for reading this and enjoying Fragments C:

[restwellsoon]

Nothing in Particular | Chapter 5 - To Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say Pt. 2

Pairing: Omota Uramichi x F!Reader

Summary: A series of unexpected encounters and misunderstandings causes you to fill a large and gaping hole in Uramichi’s life.

Minors and blank blogs DNI! You will be blocked!

Warnings: unprotected sex

“Well ? Are you gonna spill everything that’s happened, or do I have to ask you everything I’ve been wondering, question by question?”

The menu distracted you both for a few minutes, but after the server took your order, Utano went straight to business. You’d left her hanging for weeks, and work had kept you both apart. Whatever was going on between you and Uramichi hadn’t left her mind, and she needed to get updates from you since Uramichi was difficult to corner and get alone.

As if you forgot what had happened in your own life, Utano decided to provide a refresher. “Where did we leave off?” The server brought your drinks first, and she dramatically sipped on her tea, pondering slowly until she grinned. “Ahh, yes. You and Uramichi took the train together after the work party and…?”

“And I slept over at his place,” you said slowly, copying her behavior and drinking yourself.

She wiggled her eyebrows and her eyes sparkled. For a moment, she ignored the fact that her friend might have had sex with her depressing co-worker. “So you two…?”

Pretending to look for your food’s arrival and commenting on the other treats that passed by, you tried to avoid describing what really happened for as long as possible. Utano rolled her eyes at your stalling.

Finally, you cleared your throat, speaking as quietly as you could. “No. I uh–I got really drunk, stripped down to my underwear, crawled into his bed, and made Uramichi sleep on the floor.”

Utano laughed, like really laughed. It was one of those ones that came from the belly, and she even knocked over her fork while doing so, drawing others’ attention to you temporarily.

“If it makes you feel better,” she said in-between wheezing and thanking a worker for bringing her a clean utensil, “he probably chose to sleep on the floor, so you wouldn’t freak out in the morning.”

Staring at the amber liquid in your cup, you considered this new perspective. All this time, you’d been lamenting over your bad behavior, unsure of even where to start with your apology or if you should even say anything at all. Uramichi truly was a kind person.

“You’re smiling into your drink,” Utano commented, cheek in hand as she side-eyed all of the desserts that passed by. She was growing impatient.

“You said he was intense, but I think he’s more considerate if anything,” you said.

“Intensity doesn’t nullify consideration,” Utano reminded you. “If anything, he’s considerate to the point that it might be…” 

She paused, trying to think of how to describe Uramichi without going into too much detail. Uramichi would rather wear the most humiliating outfits to get the scene over with than protest with the costume department. If the kids were having fun, Uramichi would pick them up and play with them for as long as they wanted despite all of his aches and pains. Hell, Iketeru told her that Uramichi sat through an awkward work dinner where he was berated for something trivial so Kikaku wouldn’t get in trouble.

“Self-destructive.”

Her words were heavy, and they sank down in your gut along with the cake you ordered.

“How sad,” you finally commented, unable to find another other word that was more fitting. You swirled the last remaining bit of tea in your cup. “I hope he finds happiness one day.”

Having known each other for nearly four years now, Utano said, “Oh, that won’t happen. The darkness in his eyes has slowly eaten away at him ☆”

It was true too. They all found Together with Maman during the darkest points in their lives, yet while Iketeru and her own demons retreated, Uramichi seemed to commune with his own. Rather than hopelessness, apathy had befallen him, leaving him spineless. 

But was Uramichi really spineless? Utano wondered. Or was he simply trying his best to game life? After all, they were at the mercy of their employers and needed to work in order to survive. It was difficult to be happy when you were just doing your best to stay alive.

“That’s just adulthood,” you confirmed, not understanding where Uramichi’s co-workers were coming from. Perhaps it was because you didn’t know him well-enough, but you still stood by that thought you first had of him. He was that beautiful doll that sat on the shelf, the one that never got played with.

“But yeah. Yesterday–or I guess this morning?–he and um, Us–Usa…? The blond , coincidentally ended up staying at my place cuz they drank too much. Uramichi and I shared my bed.”

“ And ?” Utano said impatiently. It was only naturally for someone who was in a committed, happy, and long-term relationship to live vicariously through their friends’ disastrous love lives.

“...and we just slept,” you said gloomily. 

Dabbing at the corner of her mouth with a napkin, you were impressed per usual with Utano’s ability to eat and show nothing for it. You supposed that chasing children on set and dancing also helped with maintaining her figure.

“And if you didn’t ?” Utano pretended for a minute that the man you were interested in wasn’t her co-worker. “Would you complain then that he didn’t want to date you?”

“Are you on my side or his?” You joked, understanding what she was trying to say. Utano had the misfortune of being privy to your dating mishaps in your 20s until you gave up altogether. If you wanted something casual, they were too serious, and vice versa. She was curious to know what you wanted in your 30s now that you were wiser.

“I don’t care if we date.” She shot you a look. “ Really , I don’t. I learned my lesson from last time. But what I told you before was true. I’m not looking for anything in particular, but I’m open to seeing where this road takes me.”

Her features twisted into disbelief. “I remember saying that years ago.”

Knowing that the conversation was going into dangerous territory you shrugged.

—

“And get this! This dude was so drunk, he said that some konbini angel saved us,” Usahara laughed, pointing that dude out as Uramichi. “So who was it, Uramichi, huh? I’m sure it was one of your gymnast friends from the past. Quit trying to be cool and mysterious, dude. I bet it was Supermura , wasn’t it?”

Iketeru looked at Uramichi expectantly while Kumatani couldn’t have cared less. Utano was disinterested in the conversation completely, scrolling and tapping away at her phone.

He sighed, already at his breaking point. Uramichi clocked in less than ten minutes ago too. This was a new record. If it weren’t for this ridiculous 8 AM meeting, he would have stalked off to the smoke room for a break, but instead, he had to make small talk at this ungodly hour because of Derekida and Furode who were unsurprisingly late.

Right on cue, the door burst. Derekida and Furode strolled languidly, to-go coffee cups in hand. They were 45 minutes late.

“Everyone here?” Furode asked. Using his sunglasses as a headband, he fished for the rolled up papers in his back pocket before sitting down. Neither of them bothered to actually check before talking. 

“Well, since no one said anything, that must mean we’re all here. So,” he cleared his voice, smoothing out the papers. The cast did their best to hide their expressions as he repeated the process twice before speaking again. “Talent’s off for the next three days. Paid too . The writers and big wigs gotta think of a game plan for how we’ll promote Uramichi for the Galaxy Awards nomination. So rest up. We’ll be busy in the upcoming months–Uramichi especially.”

The cast sat silently as they let the producer’s words sink in. Three paid days off? Should they be worried of possible layoffs or an unexpected announcement about series cancelation? No, no, no. Furode said this was for the Galaxy Awards. There was no way that MHK, the greedy bastards that they were, would let their cash cow die. A more reasonable action would be for them to review their time cards. They were most likely taking their time from their PTO bank instead.

Uramichi in particular didn’t like the good news that was announced, trying to process just how busy he might possibly be. Anxiety bubbled up at the thought of long stretches of overtime and traveling from shoot to shoot and interview to interview. If awards shows were anything like athletic meets and competitions…

Glancing over at the gymnast oniisan, Iketeru couldn’t help but admire Uramichi’s expression. He looked determined–no, motivated–by their boss’ words. “You can do it, oniisan,” he cheered his co-host on, though he doubted that he needed it until Uramichi responded. 

“Can I…?” He whispered back into the void, not looking at Iketeru or anything else for that matter. “Just thinking about it already exhausts me.”

“So uh, is that all for today?” Usahara dared to ask. Uramichi and Iketeru looked as if they talking about philosophy while Kumatani wore that blank expression that meant he was zoning out. Utano still scrolled, although more discreetly, on her phone.

Derekida looked up, using an index finger to push up his slipping sunglasses. “Oh, you’re still here?” He waved them off while looking back at Furode’s rolled up papers. “Yeah, that’s it for today. Now scram . The writers need to use this room in ten.”

Following his directions as always, they left, moving in silence as a group. Their footsteps echoed in the halls until finally they left the building. Once free from the shackles of work, they took in the bright sun and fresh air.

Iketeru glanced at his watch before asking if anyone knew the time. It was nine on the dot. 

Yes, the sun was shining brightly. (No vengeful sun spirits here.) The air was fresh. The birds even sang to ring in their three days of freedom.

But rather than taking a moment to smell the roses, they collectively sighed. The sun’s glare hurt their eyes. The fresh air hurt their lungs, which were too used to the stagnant air of the closed set. The birds’ songs reminded them of the shrill screams of the children.

Most importantly though, they realized something with the righteous anger only known to those who’d been working too hard and for far too long–this meeting should have been a fucking email.

—

Guess what~

You reacted to Utano’s text with a ? reaction, not bothering to guess. You’d been working since 4 am to deal with an overseas client.

I have the next three days off since the higher ups are thinking of ways to promo Uramichi’s nom ヾ(*´ ∇ `)ﾉ

Your eyes narrowed as you typed, disregarding the ellipses that indicated that Utano was still typing.

Good for you …which means that Uramichi also has the next three days off He should rest then since he’ll be busy Or maybe you can rock his world for a few hours (or days) LOL

She flipped her phone around for a moment. Who knew that playing cupid could be so fun.

And before you try to say that you have work, I know you can use your PTO or have someone cover you for a few hours. C’mon boss lady, use that power for a dick down\(♡´౪<♡)/

God, she knew you too well. You deleted your response about having to work tomorrow, hitting a button so you no longer had to look at your conversation. Staring at the dark screen, you wondered if you should take this opportunity.

When he came over, he basically said that he was down to fuck, even if he didn’t say it directly. You recalled his words for a moment–”When I miss you again, I’ll be good to you the next time we meet”–and you wondered if maybe he’d be interested in something more. With how vague his words were and how confusing he was, being good to you could mean a lot of things: good sex, no teasing, treating you well… Your mind wandered for a moment into a daydream, imagining Uramichi being good to you as a partner until it was interrupted by Utano’s laughter.

You shook your head.

“Yeah, well, of course I have to at least try,” you said to yourself, laughing at your hesitation. 

—

From the corner of his eye, Uramichi could see his phone screen light up, but he didn’t dare to fully look at it otherwise he’d break his form. He stayed in his full planche hold for another five breaths, slowly letting his body rest on the sixth. He rolled out the tension from his body, grabbing his phone during his rest period.

A smile almost crept on his face when your name popped up on his notifications. He was grateful though that he didn't when he read the body of your message.

Good evening, When you’re free, I’d like to talk to you.

Uramichi felt bad for your subordinates whose jobs depended on their ability to understand what you meant. He reread your message three times. This had to be about something bad, right?

Sure ◉‿◉ I’m at the gym right now, but I can call you once I’m done

He was surprised by how quickly you responded.

You’re working out at this hour? Impressive. Have a good workout, and if you’re too tired after, don’t worry about calling. It’s not that important 

His timer rang, telling him that he needed to get back to work. Finished with his planches, he thought that doing a few extra lifts would help him gather his thoughts. As Uramichi loaded the plates onto the bar, he wondered if maybe he should take a picture of himself at the gym. He had a good pump going on, so maybe he could impress you even more.

He switched over to the other side to load the same amount. No, that was stupid. Besides, the thought of him taking a selfie was already making him embarrassed.

Settling himself on the bench, he thought that maybe you’d want proof that he was at the gym instead of making excuses for avoiding the conversation. If it wasn’t that important, you wouldn’t have asked to speak about it, you would have texted him instead.

Gripping the bar in his hands, he lifted it off the support, grunting as he lowered it and pushed, wavering slightly before he reset it. Something wasn’t right.

“That’s why…” he mumbled to himself, realizing that he accidentally doubled the amount of plates on each side.

Maybe it would be best if he left–to prevent an injury and to take a selfie in the comfort of his own bathroom.

—

With his towel wrapped around his waist, Uramichi looked at himself in the mirror, flexing and relaxing his well-deserved body. Years of training kept him strong and defined physically, but his mental fortitude was lacking. His fingers shook while trying to capture a picture of himself, all of them blurry, until he gave up. What an embarrassment.

He should have just called you instead of wasting his own time.

“Hello?” You said on the other line. “Uramichi?”

Suddenly he was nervous, staring at your name on the screen. This had to be something serious. Did you not want to see him anymore? He wasn’t sure if he could act like a stranger around you. How would he face Utano? “ Hi. ”

“Thanks for calling me,” you said, glancing at the time on your kitchen clock. “I know it’s late.”

“It’s not that late,” Uramichi tried to argue. 

Your clock said that it was 10:45 PM.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

It was your turn to pause, unsure of how to even start the conversation. Would it have been better to text it instead? But typing it out was more embarrassing than saying it though. It meant that you consciously chose the words that you did, read it as a fully formed sentence and still decided to text that. You would have stared at your screen until he responded.

“Utano said that you have tomorrow off.”

“Yeah, the next day too,” he said before explaining that it had to do with the Galaxy Awards. “It’s nice to finally be rewarded for my hard work with an actual break instead of more work.”

Did he want to spend tomorrow relaxing instead? A part of you felt guilty for your selfish request, but still, you started it, so you had to see it through.

“I’m off tomorrow too actually, so I was wondering—”

“—Oh that’s great,” he said, cutting you off. “You work so hard. Wanna hang out ?”

You let out a shaky breath, both relieved and surprised that he wanted to spend time with you. You weren’t being selfish after all.

Hearing your sigh on the other end, Uramichi wondered if you were annoyed. He sounded desperate to be with you, didn’t he? He should have let you finish instead of excitedly asking for your time.

“I’d love to, but um—can we do that thing we talked about last time?”

His silence meant that he didn’t remember, you thought. This conversation is over the phone, you reminded yourself, you can blurt it out, and if it gets awkward, you can hang up, block him and never go to Utano’s work ever again.

“Can I fuck you?”

The silence was heavy, and you double checked your phone to make sure that you didn’t reflexively hang up and blocked him. His name still showed up on the screen, and it counted how long you’d been talking for.

Uramichi didn’t know how to react, grateful that his phone sat on the counter. Both hands were placed on either side of it, and he leaned over, staring himself in the mirror. His face was bright red up to his ears, and the color reached down to his neck and the chest that he was so proud of.

“Sorry,” you started to apologize, “that was out of line, and–”

“Yeah,” he finally said, voice breathy and low. “Can I fuck you too?”

He felt like a fool.

You laughed quietly. Uramichi had a silly way of responding at times. “I’d love that. Can I come over to your place?”

This time, he made sure to answer quickly.

—

Ten o’clock was far too early to come over, and Uramichi regretted giving you that time. After sleeping in, he spent nearly an hour debating on whether or not he should go to the gym. He didn’t want his routine to be off, but he also didn’t want to be tired for the rest of the day. After squeezing in a quick lift, he tidied up his place, pushing his dumbbells into a corner and stuffing his oversized baguette pillow and Kotori-san into a closet.

He nearly tore the front door off its hinges when he heard a knock and then consequently slammed it when he realized it was just solicitors. That made him slower to respond to the second knock five minutes after. He sprinted to the door when he saw you calling.

You greeted him in a sundress that teased the body beneath the fabric. It seemed like you wanted to cling to the last bit of summer before things cooled down, legs bare aside from a set of strappy sandals. If Uramichi saw you on the street, he would have guessed that you were on your way to a date. Instead, you were here, meeting him at his apartment. He didn’t have too long to dwell on what a date with you might entail; by asking him if you could come in, you interrupted his thoughts.

Like the first time you met, he took you with him.

Uramichi spent too much time cleaning to think about how he would set the mood. Luckily you had gone over the boring things over the phone–yes to condoms, yeah you both were clean–but all that was left was, well, sex . It was too early to drink and he already smoked when he got out of bed. Sobriety made him hyperaware and he hated it.

“Wanna meet me in bed while I wash up?” You suggested.

He slackened his grip once you were inside, but now his hand loosely held yours in an awkward state of close but not close enough. The proximity made you self-conscious. The sun was brighter than you expected, and you were worried about your sweat.

“That’s fine,” he said, still holding your hand. “Not sure if you remember where the bathroom is, but it’s over there,” he said, pointing with his free hand. The fuzzy memory of Uramichi’s apartment became clearer with sober eyes. “Then my bedroom is that door beside it.”

He let go after dropping you off in front of the bathroom room, quickly stripping down to his boxers. The door creaked slightly, making him jump, and he was surprised to see you standing there.

“Can you help me unzip my dress?” You asked shyly, already half-turning around. “The zipper’s stuck,” you explained.

There was something incredibly intimate about holding your hair aside, so Uramichi could focus on helping you undress. An hour before you arrived, you agonized over what to wear, unsure of what impression you wanted to leave him with. You settled on a sundress, unassuming yet deceivingly sexy, but forgot the reason why you hardly wore it until it came to taking it off.

One palm pressed gently against your shoulder to create tension for the zipper to slide, and with a soft tug, it finally slid down with little resistance. His hands pushed down the sleeves, and the rest of the fabric fell with it. Now he could see and feel your bare skin. You were on fire.

Scanning over the details of your lingerie–because that was the only thing that it could be with all of the lace and sheer gauze that adorned it–he habitually clicked his tongue, being reminded of all of the costumes he wore for work. He mumbled something about it looking inconvenient.

“Thanks,” you said, turning to face him. 

If the back was inconvenient, then the front was troublesome. Sheer bra cups barely hid your breasts from him with the lace appliques that covered your nipples, the only bit of modesty that you had. The sheer material had covered enough of your bottom, but in the front, it dipped low, as if guiding the eyes down to where it wanted the wearer to look.

It was clear that Uramichi was uncomfortable, and you never had the chance to ask if he’d done something casual like this before. You supposed that it was fortunate that you were more experienced in these matters.

“Let’s lay down and talk,” you told him, giving him a light push onto the bed. He scrambled to give you space, but you crawled right beside him.

Uramichi wondered if this was how things would have been if you didn’t fall asleep before he could join you, with you taking the lead. 

“So how have you been? Your friend must have had a bad hangover.”

Not really wanting to talk about Usahara, he gave in to this being a better option than letting silence fall between you. He didn’t bother correcting you on the friend part, only commenting, “Yeah, but his body is used to that by now.”

“And what about you, Michi?”

“Oh, I wasn’t hungover at all. I only had a few drinks.”

“Yeah, I know you’ve got a high tolerance, which is why…” you trailed off, remembering that he said you couldn’t bring him back to your place because of it. “Ah, sorry. I was just remembering what you said. You’re funny. ”

Uramichi didn’t understand why you thought he was funny for saying that, but now he understood why Usahara wants to be funny so badly. Your voice softened when you said that, and your eyes looked into his to make sure he heard you. Your lips sat in a half smile as if he was the only man in the world that could make you laugh. If this was his reward for being funny, then yeah, it was something he’d strive for.

“I might have acted recklessly again,” you admitted, “so let’s take things slow if you want. I want this to be fun for both of us.”

“Well then, what do you like?”

Surprised by Uramichi’s question, you blurted out, “Oh, like sexually?” Well duh, obviously. “Um, I wouldn’t mind if you were a little mean to me in bed…” Suddenly you were shy.

“Oh, like over the weekend?”

He was so direct. You couldn’t face him but let out a quiet ‘yes.’ That judgemental ‘hm’ he let out was exciting and embarrassing all at once.

“What about you?” You asked, thinking it was unfair that all of the attention was on you. It was time to turn the tables on Uramichi.

“A lot of kissing,” he said. Despite his bluntness from earlier, he couldn’t look you in the eyes. “You can also be loud if you want. I don’t hate that.”

Somehow your bodies had inched closer to each other, and you felt each other’s heat. “It must have been torture then, to tell me to quiet down,” you teased.

He tried to downplay it. “It wasn’t that bad, but it could have been worse if things went on for longer.”

Hunger shone in both your eyes, and you moved closed until finally you kissed. The impact was soft but grew with neediness as each second passed. Your tongues explored each other’s mouths, nipping and sucking the meaty part of your lips. Hands clutched as whatever they could grab, kneading and rubbing, as your lower halves found friction in each other.

Uramichi was the first to break away, getting on top and settling between your thighs. He stared down at your heaving chest, your bruised lips, your disheveled hair. Your nipples teased him from behind your bra, and it was then that he decided to suck on them. It was a good choice. You yelped in surprise, tugging at his hair. You made another noise when he used his hand to pinch the other one. By the time he was done, your bra was wet with his spit, so he trailed his kisses downwards.

“You’re wet already?” He asked, glancing down at the slick fabric that barely clothed your sex. 

With utter fascination, Uramichi traced his index finger along your slit, the damp cloth sticking to your skin. He retraced the movement a few more times, watching as it molded to the outline of your cunt. On his last way down, his finger dipped in a little, pushing the wet fabric inside. You groaned, shifting from the intrusion. 

In a shift of energy and intention, you both hurried to remove what remained of your clothes. You ended up helping Uramichi slide off his boxers since you wiggled out of your lingerie set first.

He loved the way your face looked when you saw his cock, eyes widening as your mouth hung open. He didn’t think his size was anything impressive, but the look in your eyes when they finally met his told him that he was wrong. There was a clear expression of approval and better yet excitement .

But he couldn’t think of all the things that you wanted to do to him because he was focused on everything he wanted to do to you. He ducked down between your thighs to get a better look at what he wanted. Your pussy was puffy and shone with your wetness, making a squelching noise when he used two fingers to spread your lips. Impulsively, he leaned forward to give your clit a kiss, making you moan and drag him closer with one of your legs. 

Gently pushing one finger in, he glanced up to check your reaction, moving knuckle by knuckle until it hilted. Your brows knitted together and your hips shifted. You wanted him to move. Uramichi pumped his finger, watching the way you sucked him back in, ears perked up to the sound of your contented sighs.

Since you took one finger well, he thought another wouldn’t hurt, but you bucked up into his face. Apparently it was too much.

His apology came out muffled from his position, fingers still in remorse.

“It’s fine,” you breathed out, “your fingers are just bigger than mine, so I’m not used to them yet.”

Your face scrunched up and your lips were twisted, back arched in an uncomfortable position. Uramichi tried to think of how he could comfort you when you returned to silence. As always, he returned to his training.

“Breathe through it,” he said. Breathing helped the body relax, which you needed if either of you wanted to have sex. “How do you expect to take my cock if you can’t even handle two fingers?” He didn’t mention that it’d probably be best if he added in a third to prep you.

It seemed that Uramichi took your preference into consideration, speaking in that dark tone of his. Your body felt impossibly hot, and finally you let out a few ragged breaths, a wordless way of telling Uramichi to go on.

Going at an even pace, Uramichi reveled in the wet noises your pussy made, daring to go even faster. You still weren’t talking, just breathing heavily with the occasional groan. 

His fingers curled up when he felt a soft, tender spot. Your back arched again, and he continued to press there. 

You sounded airy and light, as if his fingerfucking had already sent your soul to heaven. “Mm… Michi,” you murmured, carding your fingers through his hair. It was a miracle that you could even say anything at all. Your legs were shaking from all the pleasure. “You better fuck me soon.”

“Are you really in a position to be making demands?” Uramichi asked. His face was flushed yet his body showed no signs of exhaustion, his fingers still pumping in and out of you at an even pace, occasionally slowly to scissor and spread inside of you.

You whimpered in response.

Trying to push in a third finger, it was too tight, Uramichi realized. As much as you tried to help him–or perhaps help yourself–by fucking yourself on his hand, you couldn’t get back that middle knuckle, even if he stacked the fingers on top of each other.

He pulled out to your protest. “What?” Pre-cum smeared against his stomach and connected him to a thin string that matched a small wet spot on his bed. “Weren’t you just begging me to fuck you?”

He grabbed at the condom on his nightstand, doing his best to open it while you kept yourself entertained. Between the scent of your desire on his fingers, its slipperiness, and watching you play with yourself, rolling on the condom was difficult, and his efforts were futile when he realized it didn’t fit. You offered to buy some since you could stop by the store on your way over, but Uramichi failed to tell you what size to get.

“We don’t need it,” you said impatiently, even going so far as to snap when Uramichi gave you a look of uncertainty. Over the phone you mentioned that you were on the pill.

Your words sent a jolt of lust down Uramichi’s spine that went straight to his cock, and he looked down to make sure that he didn’t cum prematurely.

Using one hand to guide it in, he wet it at your entrance, sliding both the pre and your slick all over. Enjoying the sounds you made, he teased you further by rubbing the head against your clit in circles until you were begging him to fuck you.

Uramichi’s prep was worth it. He slid in with minimal effort, though it was obvious that you were stretched by your body tensing. Your walls were hot and clamped down with every inch forward.

Leaning back, he said, “Your pussy looks so nice with my cock in it.”

It was the right thing to say. Suddenly you felt impossibly tight, but Uramichi tried to press against it, giving a few experimental strokes before committing to fucking you with intention.

“ Fuck ,” you said, pulling him into your chest as you looked at him with half-dazed eyes, “Michi, you feel so good.”

Focusing on the act, you both let yourself get lost in the feeling. With your legs pushed back and wrapped around him, Uramichi leaned forward to fuck you deeper, hitting a spot that made you squeal and buck up against him. You told him to keep pressing right there and begged him not to stop, calling out his name as you came on his cock. He thought he could help you ride out your orgasm, but to his embarrassment, he came shortly after. 

When he stopped moving, you looked at him, and sheepishly he admitted to cumming quickly. He was grateful that he wasn’t keeping track of the time, but now he was worried that you’d make fun of him or try to leave. Women wanted a partner that could last, didn’t they? That’s what he saw in all the porn he watched at least. He knew that his last girlfriend needed more time too.

“I’m that good, huh?” You said, admiring his chest that flushed pink and the sheen of sweat on his skin. “I can take responsibility for that,” you laughed.

You opened your arms, urging him to settle in them. Your heartbeat was deafening in his ears as his eyes grew heavy. He drifted off to sleep, dreaming about taking you on a date in that sundress when he woke up.

—

His room was darker when he woke up, and Uramichi blindly reached for you, but you weren’t there. All he could smell was your shampoo on his pillows and a mixture of your sweat and perfume on his sheets. Rolling onto his back, he checked his phone. It was now the mid-afternoon. He checked his texts, but none of them were from you. He sighed. What was he expecting?

Faintly, he heard his fridge door shut, and he sat up, hastily throwing on his boxers to investigate. Maybe, just maybe…

“Oh!” You startled, beaming as Uramichi entered the kitchen. Your smile fell as you realized that he caught you rifling through his fridge. “Sorry, I should have waited until you woke up, but I was really thirsty.” You held up your cup of water as proof. “I hope you don’t mind.” You even bowed slightly to show your remorse.

When he didn’t say anything, you looked up. “I thought you left,” was all he said.

“Without saying goodbye?” You took a gulp of water, setting it down on the counter. “No way. That’s rude.”

“Besides, I was wondering if you wanted to grab something to eat. We could order something too if you don’t feel like going out. If you don’t wanna do that, we could also make something too.”

Your rambling about food options was lost on Uramichi as relief settled in his heart, all of his worries melting away. He nodded along before grabbing your hand. “Yeah, I’m fine with whatever, but first, let’s head back to bed. There’s something I wanna do to you.”

Catching his words, you understood what he meant. An impish grin settled on your face as you asked him if he could fuck you on the kitchen counter.

Return to

the Main Masterlist

Nothing in Particular | fic cover

Life Lessons Masterlist

AO3

[kuzuhina1brainrot]

Have wip

rambling and stupid shit under. Venting I guess! (Long, If u even end up reading this shit)

This. This was the one week off I had and I spent it laying in bed and cleaning and shit instead of drawing and stuff like I’d hope. Last week I was like omg I’m gonna be them drawing so much ill reach 220!!! Because I had ideas. I’m still at 215 rn. I only get the motivation when I don’t have the time why couldn’t it have stayed. 😞 I haven’t drawn much this week and that may sound like nothing but it’s weird because usually I’m able to keep up and constantly do stuff.

Every year, April is the worst for me mentally ????Like. Bad.somehow it just is. so don’t expect much this month from me lol.!! Unless I end up feeling bad and trying to pump out shit

like we are 4 days in and I have not been feeling good

it’s weird, as soon April came my mood dropped further and further. the worse it gets, the more I try to distract myself from it. YESTERDAY I SPENT MY WHOLE MORNING THINKING ABOUT GRAVEYARDS AND I KEEP STAYING UP UNTIL 1 IN THE MORNING WHEN I ACTUALLY DON’T NEED TO BECAUSE NOW I HAVE THIS WEIRD FEELING GROWING ON ME WHERE I JUST DONT WANNA LEAVE MY FRIENDS AND STOP TALKING EVEN IF IM TIRED? I LITERALLY WAIT UNTIL EVERYONES OFFLINE TO SLEEP LMAO?? The changes I’ve noticed altogether: not motivated to even draw Kuzuhina which is odd, eating junk and like no real food at all unless someone reminds me to, staying up for my friends, not wanting to get out of bed and do shit I’m supposed to. And then next week I gotta go back. Kill me ion wanna

I know it’s a bunch of little stuff, it’s just weird

anyway love u person reading go eat and get water or something have good day or night goofy

[milleopede]

did someone say hockey ghouls? because i’ve got swiss and dew on opposing teams and making each other bleed. rain may be a center but he’s playing referee here.

RATING: explicit (cw for blood)

PAIRING: swissraindrop

WORD COUNT: 1160

-

Back to back, Swiss and Dew refused to look at each other. The falling swell and heave of their chests moved in erratic tandem, as anger simmered in the air. One wrong move could send it boiling over.

Weeks worth of heat had been mounting between them, like a summer storm crackling with electricity.

The tension that came with being on opposing teams was inevitable, but as of late, it had been running higher than usual.

Especially after the spark of a fight that had broken out on the ice only hours before.

The tick of the clock had counted down on the third, narrating the battle for dominance in front of Mountain’s net. Sweat and misery kept the two teams trapped in a vicious struggle, the puck unmoving from the Ghoul’s end of the ice. As the minutes closed in, begging the tie to break, the boards of the end zone felt suffocating.

And everyone was getting desperate to breathe.

Finally catching an opportunity to snag the puck at a moment’s notice, Swiss had moved with purpose. With the right timing, the impulse of a shot could make the point of the game. That is, until he was caught in the crossfire of a stick, high and proud as it slammed into his shoulder.

Dew.

As the perpetrator had skated away, jeering with a familiar grin, Swiss had horribly fumbled the execution of his plan. The puck weakly drifted off on the snow ridden ice, mocking him as it fell into the possession of a triumphant Ifrit.

And nobody swooped in to stop the play.

So, Swiss took the missing call into his own hands and made his own. Brutally, it sent him flying at Dew, all fists and no gloves.

Skipping the pleasantries of teasing chirps, they made haste of instigating punches with the intent to draw blood. And blood was certainly drawn.

It still stained their chins, dried and smeared, as they sat locked in a heated silence.

“Unbelievable,” Rain tutted, standing over them in disappointment. Cutting through the hotel stench, his anger scented the air with the salty spray of tidal waves. “You’re like kits, it’s fucking pathetic.”

Neither ghoul dared to respond, letting their furious silence speak volumes.

Rolling his eyes, Rain ran a hand through his dark curls with irritation. He did nothing to mask his frustration. “Oh, so this is my responsibility now? I have to mediate for you, because you’re too immature to do it yourselves?”

Yet again, Rain was met with the retort of a deadly quiet. Any words that Swiss and Dew wanted to say were lost to the throws of anger.

But ever the instigator, Swiss wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to make the situation worse than it already was.

“Make the call, Rain,” he growled, his lip curling. His resentment lingered, desperate to find justice for Dew’s foul play. And all of those that had come before it.

Pausing, Rain took to indulging in his own silence. Dangerously, he surveyed the two bloodied and battered ghouls with a careful eye. Every twitch of his gaze was calculated, measuring out his assessment of what was deserved.

Though, Rain had made up his mind the second he had pulled Dew off of Swiss back on the ice. The suspense of feigned consideration was just part of his own game.

“Swiss, fuck him until he’s sorry. That’s a good penalty, isn’t it, firefly?”

Dew barely got the opportunity to respond, choking out a whine in agreement, as Swiss descended with all the teeth and tongue of a heated kiss.

Dried blood flaked between their chapped lips, as they devoured each other. Hot and fierce, Swiss demanded Dew’s full attention, and he got it in stride. Lacking hesitation, the fire ghoul’s forked tongue licked into his mouth with smoke, copper, and cinnamon.

It was sickening with how easy it was for Dew to break Swiss down. Within seconds, the liquid hot anger that simmered in the pool of his gut had shifted into desire.

Quickly, the already intense lust was made insufferable as the tang of fresh blood was exchanged with their kiss. A particularly vicious blow had Dew’s nose bleeding mercilessly during the fight, and it kicked back up again with a vengeance.

Despite the hot, red rush, neither Swiss nor Dew pulled away. It did nothing but encourage the heat between their thighs, as Rain’s snarl echoed in approval.

Finally drawing away with a stuttering gasp, Swiss pulled back in a weak display of restraint. It was short lived while he took a mere moment to recover, before diving in to lick a path up Dew’s bloodied face.

With frenzied affection, Swiss went back in. He leaned in, mouthing at Dew’s chin and licking up at the swell of his lips that begged to be kissed again. Ignoring their pleas, Swiss dragged his face through the trails of the blood he had once drawn. It was nauseating and he wanted more.

Swallowing down his hunger, Swiss moved down Dew’s chest. It had been long bare as soon as the door of the hotel room had clicked behind him, heaving and flushed with sweat. Now, it left him perfectly vulnerable to Swiss’ tongue flicking against the rings through his nipples.

“Give it to me,” Dew moaned out, clearly displeased with the teasing trail Swiss had been making down his body. The heady smoke of his arousal was intoxicating, and made him impossible to deny.

Whipping his head to Rain, Swiss looked to the water ghoul with expectant hesitation - awaiting approval.

“Raincloud?”

“Take what you need,” Rain rasped, a needy hand working its way down into his pants to relieve his own desperate cock.

And Swiss certainly didn’t need to be told twice.

With frenzied hands, he made rough work of forcing Dew’s tight slacks down around his thighs - just enough to free his cunt. Slick and waiting, Dew pushed his legs apart to fully reveal the extent of his arousal. It was an invitation, a plea, to be ruined.

Quick to settle in a familiar spot between Dew’s knees, Swiss stared up at him through dark lashes. Grinning with blood soaked fangs, he licked his lips with hungry anticipation.

Keeping heated eye contact, Swiss pulled the length of his tongue across Dew’s cunt. Light and teasing, blood smeared with the drag of the motion - mixing with the slick of his arousal.

Above him, Dew mewled at the sight - the amber of his eyes almost swallowed with pitch black pupils.

Using his response as encouragement, Swiss took to lapping at the head of Dew’s clit. Revelling in how it rested against his tongue with every pull and drag of his mouth. Pushing deeper, Swiss nudged his nose into Dew’s light curls, leaving his face flush against the swell of his body.

In response, Dew’s hips pressed up off the mattress with a whine, forcing himself further onto Swiss’ waiting mouth.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Hurricanes / Hummingbirds: X

Series Synopsis: As the years go by, you find that it is incredibly difficult to survive wars and fight storms, especially when the only thing you have by way of a cursed technique is the blessing of a tiny bird.

Chapter Synopsis: Kashimo takes you to meet a person that might be able to help you in your battle against Ten.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Hajime Kashimo x Female Reader; slight Kento Nanami x Female Reader; slight Satoru Gojo × Female Reader

Chapter Word Count: 5.4k

Content Warnings: swearing, enemies/rivals to lovers, character death, canon-typical violence, angst, gore, original characters included

A/N: kashimo stans how are we doing...😔

You and Kashimo were exact opposites. He was the god of lightning. You were blessed by the hummingbird. There was no universe in which you and he could coexist. Perhaps this was where his drive came from, his natural determination to see the end of your existence: you were not meant to live at the same time. There could only be one of you, and yet for so many years it had been both of you, taking up space and jousting for dominance over a sky that hated you both equally.

The truth — and this was a secret that you had never told anyone — was that you wanted to fight him as badly as he wanted to fight you. It was the most thrilling, illicit thing you could imagine, your guiltiest pleasure, picturing a battle that you fought for no other reason than because you wanted to, a battle that you might not win, one where your life was truly on the line instead of a routine exorcism that meant nothing in the long run. It would be a break from the monotony of your life, and an escape from the crushing obligation of having to defeat Ten in exchange for the power the hummingbird had lent you. Maybe that was what you fantasized about the most; not the clash itself but the freedom that it would bring you.

At night, you had been dreaming of him. Hisashi could never know this, but ever since you had intruded upon Ten’s domain, your nightmares about your parents had vanished. Now, it was Kashimo you saw. The visions varied: sometimes, your sword would drive into his heart, his hot blood spurting out and covering you in red, and on other nights, his lightning would dance through your veins until you blacked out from the pain, the most sensation you had ever felt in your life. The commonality between the dreams was him, always him, only him. You could not close your eyes without seeing his cold expression, and after two weeks, you resolved to seek him out once more and demand him to leave your mind.

There were dark shadows under his eyes when you happened upon him, bruises like roses blooming on the face of the invincible man. Who could’ve caused such wounds? Was it your imagination, or had he been easier to find this time? As if he knew what you must be thinking, his fingers flitted to his face, tracing the outline of the purpling.

“I’ve come to see you,” you said finally, when it became clear that he was not going to say anything. He dug his nails into his skin, though lightly, not hard enough to draw blood.

“Have you, now?” he said. “I know you have not defeated Ten yet, so there must be some other motivation for you to be here. Is it to torture me?”

“It seems there is no need for my intervention in that regard,” you said. “Seeing as someone else has beat me to it.”

He raised his eyebrows, his hands falling to his sides again, his shoulders slumping. You had never seen him in such a way, his weapon-like body faded into a shadowed copy of itself, frail and trembling and easily breakable.

“No one else could ever beat you to it,” he said. “No one else could ever beat me.”

“But I have not even seen you in so long,” you said. “How, then, can you put this recent turn of events upon me?”

“I am sick,” he said.

“Is it a fever?” you said.

“No,” he said.

“Your stomach?” you said again, narrowing your eyes, trying to discern what ailment he had.

“It is not that,” he said.

“Then a cough, perhaps?” you said.

“It is you,” he said.

“I am no disease,” you said.

“You might as well be,” he said icily. “I find no joy in anything but the thought of killing you. I want it more than I have ever wanted anything in my life. But — but what if it is not me? I cannot stop thinking about it. What if someone else does it first?”

He paused, looked up at the sky. The clouds covered the stars, and you frowned slightly. Perhaps it was strange, but you found you missed them. It was hard to believe that they were there when you could not so much as see them.

“I don’t want that,” he said. “I don’t want another person to be the one that gets that right. It should only be me.”

“No one will get that right,” you said carefully. “It will not be you, nor Ten, nor anyone else.”

He reached out for you, and to your surprise, you let him. His grip was strong enough to crush a weaker person’s wrists, but it did nothing to yours, despite his best efforts. You gazed at him steadily, waiting for him to speak.

“Draw your sword,” he said. “Please, draw your sword.”

“No,” you said.

“Kill me,” he insisted. “If I cannot kill you, then I want you to kill me. I want to know what it’s like to triumph — but if I cannot have that, then at least once I would like to lose.”

“I dream about it sometimes,” you said, then paused. “No. All of the time. I promise — I promise that in the end it will be us two. You will have to wait until such a time comes to pass, however.”

“Ten,” he said, dropping your wrists and exhaling. This time when he looked up at the sky you understood what he meant by it.

“I have challenged him,” you said. “It will not be long. Even now I can feel it, feel his restlessness, how he wonders if I will make good on my promise and kill him or not. He will come for me soon.”

“Then you will need a better weapon than that sword of yours,” he said.

“What do you mean?” you said.

“That Gojo clan trash,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “It’d snap in an instant if you put any actual amount of cursed energy into it. Most cursed tools aren’t strong enough to withstand the amount of power needed for sorcerers like us to go all out, the way you indubitably would need to against Ten. You should forge your own sword; it’s what I did with my staff to ensure that it could handle my lightning.”

“I haven’t the faintest clue how to forge a sword,” you said. The sword you currently used was one that Hisashi had gifted you, a plain, workmanlike tool that did what you needed it to do. Sometimes you dreamt of a blade more suited to you, one that shone with the power of the hummingbird, but for your current purposes, Hisashi’s sword served well enough.

“You needn’t forge it yourself,” he said. “Your purpose is to imbue your cursed technique into it as it is created.”

“You act like such things are commonplace. The forgers of cursed weapons have never been ubiquitous, and in recent times have grown rarer than ever — largely in part to people like you,” you said, to which Kashimo only smiled slightly.

“I suppose you believe the rumor that I murdered the man who made my staff so that no one could ever have a weapon equal to mine,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be out of character for you to do such a thing,” you said.

“Perhaps, but in truth I did not,” he said. “I left him alive in case I ever needed him again. What good fortune that I did, as that hour has finally come.”

“You don’t need him,” you pointed out. He actually laughed.

“Perhaps I don’t,” he said. “However, don’t you?”

“I suppose that is the case. How long will it take?” you said.

“Maybe months. Maybe Ten will not be patient for that long,” he said. “You ought to begin as soon as possible, lest you keep your lord waiting.”

“He is not my lord,” you said. “He is my parent’s killer. He is the one I was born to defeat.”

“Yet he rules over your life regardless, and so cannot be called anything but,” Kashimo said. It was that same wry humor that he employed whenever speaking of yours and Ten's eventual clash, that half-disdain, half-envy, as if he found your devotion ridiculous and, at the same time, wished you were that devoted to him instead.

“He is the lord of the sky,” you said. “If anything, he is your lord, o god of lightning.”

Kashimo’s face grew strangely pale, as if you had something particularly blasphemous, something that offended his sensibilities to the max. Well, to be fair, you certainly had — he was the independent deity who hated to think of anyone as above him, and yet here you were implying that he was nothing more than a pawn in Ten’s game.

“Never say such a thing again,” he said. “No matter who they are, I will never fall to my knees for another person.”

“Hm,” you said. “Maybe that’s true. Though it doesn’t matter; I know you hardly even believe in Ten. How could you kneel to something that does not exist?”

Kashimo frowned. “Of course I do not believe in him. But you do.”

“And so?” you said. He extended his hand, palm facing the moon. You stared at it for a moment before setting your own atop his, suppressing a flinch when sparks pinpricked your skin.

“And so he must definitely exist. Somewhere, somehow, he is real, or I will make him be so. This waiting, this torture you force upon me…if Ten does not exist, then it isn’t worth it. Then this entire charade is worthless on your part. Therefore, I have to have faith that he is an actual being,” he said. “Because you are many things, Y/N L/N, but I find that the one thing I cannot think of you is worthless.”

Then his fingers closed over yours and he took off at an impossible speed, one you could only hope to match with the Hummingbird’s Blessing active. But you did not even need to run, his hurtling momentum carrying you along behind him effortlessly, so that your feet were pushing at air instead of striking against the ground.

Almost as soon as it had begun, the breathless flight was over, Kashimo skidding to a stop in front of a large camphor tree. You slammed into his broad back, which he took no heed of, his glittering eyes trained on the camphor’s boughs, mouth tugging upwards into a smile.

“You can come out now,” he said. “I haven’t come to kill you. In fact, I’ve brought someone I need you to help.”

It was the kindest you’d ever heard him say anything — a request, not a demand. There was a shuffling sound and then a ripple in the air in front of us before a sharply-dressed, dark-haired man blinked into existence, scowling at Kashimo, who fairly beamed at him.

“Hajime Kashimo,” the man said. “To what do I owe the honor of the so-proclaimed god of lightning paying a visit to my humble abode?”

“I told you already. I have someone who needs your help,” he said.

“And since when has it been in your nature to try and help others?” the man said, arching a neat brow at Kashimo.

“It’s self-serving either way,” you interjected. “He only wants me to have a better weapon so that I may defeat Ten and then fight him. Don’t think that altruism is a virtue he’s suddenly gained.”

“Who might you be?” he said before pausing. “No, wait. If Hajime wants to fight you, then there’s only one person you can be: the Hummingbird.”

“At least, I am blessed by such a creature,” you said, as graciously as you could.

“Of course,” he said. “Y/N L/N. The sorcerer who’s received the Hummingbird’s Blessing. Ah, forgive me for my lack of manners; my name is Daisuke Hinode.”

“Daisuke Hinode!” you repeated in surprise, for the name was one you recognized. “You don’t mean to say you’re —”

“Yes,” he said, interrupting me before you could finish. “That Daisuke Hinode.”

Daisuke Hinode was a man that had been erased from the history books, or at least Kichiro Kamo had been doing his very best to ensure that that was the case. His sly technique and deadly weapons made him Kichiro’s bitterest rival, an enmity only matched by the one Kashimo held for you. But unlike you and Kashimo, there was no equality between Kichiro and Daisuke; in fact, in any match the two had, Daisuke would come out the winner. So, instead, Kichiro endeavored to destroy Daisuke in another way, the way that really mattered: from the memories of posterity.

How sad it was, you thought to yourself as you scrutinized Daisuke — who you found to have a sort of unassuming charm about him — that in a few decades, he would be forgotten completely. Would he ever have descendants? Would there ever be anyone else who carried on his name? And what of his technique, that secretive, elusive thing? Would it be lost to the ages?

“I hid him,” Kashimo said proudly. He was strange around Daisuke. Gentler. As if Daisuke was someone he could genuinely consider a friend instead of just another person he had to fight.

“He did not,” Daisuke said. “I hid myself with my technique. He just suggested a place that would work the best. Will you tell Kichiro Kamo?”

“I shan’t,” you said. “Not if you can help me the way Kashimo is convinced you can.”

Daisuke hummed. “I have no reason to trust you, you know.”

“Of course not,” you agreed readily, though you were altogether put out by the development. Your association with the Big Three Sorcerer Families was generally helpful due to the respect the clans commanded, but in times like this, it was actually a hindrance.

“Bar one,” he continued. “If Hajime brought you here…”

Kashimo himself shrugged. “Her trustworthiness was of little concern to me when I did so. She needs a sword, Daisuke.”

“A hummingbird’s sword,” Daisuke said. “I wonder what such a weapon could be called. It would be such a magnificent thing…and so I demand payment.”

“Payment!” you said. Kashimo snickered.

“Of course you do,” he said. “How do you aim to collect, Daisuke?”

“It is twofold,” Daisuke said, holding up two fingers. You frowned, wondering what absurd requests he would make of you.

“Go on,” you said warily.

“There is a girl,” he said. “The daughter of a prostitute and a European tradesman. We were friends in our youth, and I wish — I wish to meet her again. If you can find that girl and bring her to me, then I will consider the first request fulfilled.”

“Very well,” you said, though in truth such bastards were not exactly a rarity, and there was no guarantee that the girl whom Daisuke spoke of even remembered him. “And the second?”

“Aid Kichiro in his quest,” he said. “Erase me from the pages of history. Make it so that Hinode is a name no one knows of; I wish to vanish as verily as if I had used my technique.”

“Why is that?” you said. “Isn’t the aim of every man to be remembered?”

“Being remembered and being loved are not the same, Y/N L/N,” he said. “I would take the latter over the former any day. If Kichiro cannot wipe all evidence of my existence, he will surely slander me in every story that is told. I wish to spare my descendants the humiliation that bearing my name will hold if such an event is to occur, and so I repeat: make it so that I disappear, so that there was never a man named Daisuke Hinode. If you can do that, then I will give you a sword that can shatter the heavens.”

“Fine,” you said. “I will do my best.”

“I will help,” Kashimo said imperiously.

“What help would you be?” you said, raising a critical eyebrow at the warlike man, who you had never known to offer help to anyone. He shrugged as if it was something he did everyday, like he was a regular patron of the needy.

“Do you know the girl Daisuke speaks of?” he said. You scowled, because of course you did not, so you found that it was altogether rude of Kashimo to tease you for it.

“No,” you said.

“I do,” he said. “When we were young, the three of us…spent some time together.”

You realized you knew frighteningly little about him. You supposed he was aware of that, which was why he was dangling the information in front of you, frustratingly out of your grasp but close enough that you kept reaching for it like a fool.

“Well, won’t Daisuke tell me who she is?” you said.

“No, he wouldn’t,” Kashimo said. “What sort of payment would it be if there is no difficulty to it? And you have been blessed by the Hummingbird, so if you know her identity, it would be so easy for you to find her that Daisuke could never feel sufficiently reimbursed.”

“Wouldn’t it be the same if you tell me who she is?” you pointed out.

“As if I would just tell you!” Kashimo said, like that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. You pouted, though it was a childish gesture. You had been hoping he would just tell you who she was, so that you could get it out of the way, obtain your sword, and then get your fight with Ten over and done with.

“You’re right,” Daisuke said. “I was actually planning on telling her, but if she is as strong as the rumors say, then it wouldn’t make sense. Surely she can figure it out with her supposed power!”

“Kashimo,” you hissed. “If I did not know that threatening to murder you would only excite you further, I would do so right now.”

“I promise I won’t even try to fight you until Daisuke has forged your sword,” he said, every word sparkling with the utmost of sincerity, ignoring your threat completely. You snorted.

“We already agreed that we would not fight until I defeat Ten, or have you forgotten already?” you said. He opened his mouth and then closed it, repeating the process a few times before exhaling in defeat.

“I suppose that that’s true,” he said.

“So it’s not some great concession the way you’re making it out to be,” you said. “In fact, this is all for your benefit. The sooner I can get my sword and defeat Ten, the sooner I can fight you. Don’t act as if you’re going out of your way to aid me.”

You had figured out during the course of the conversation Kashimo’s true motives in wanting to help you find the woman. There was no affection nor empathy in it; it was the same reason he had taken you to meet Daisuke in the first place. He wanted to fight you. He would do anything to fight you. But before you would fight him, you had to defeat Ten, which meant that for the moment, you both were temporarily aligned in your goals.

The only thing that you couldn’t understand was why he wouldn’t tell you who the girl was, but you decided to attribute this to a mischievous streak you had not known about until now.

“Whether or not it’s a concession on my part, the fact remains that you need my help if you want a sword from Daisuke. Unless you feel confident about your current weapon of choice?” he said, nodding at the sheathed sword which hung from your hip.

“Fine,” you said, though you were loath to do so and knew Hisashi, if he ever heard of it, would be furious. “Then we shall help each other.”

“How will you help me?” he said.

“I will forge the sword,” you said. “And I will defeat Ten. Then, I will defeat you.”

“You are a vain woman, to think yourself capable of defeating our very own god of lightning,” Daisuke said, before squinting and looking at you. “Well. Maybe not. I wish you luck, Hummingbird.”

With that, he turned and walked into a ripple, which formed in the air like it was fabric. In an instant, he was gone, a phantom that left behind nothing but a soft wind whistling through the branches of the camphor tree.

It took an entire day for you to gather the courage to tell Hisashi your plans. Even then, it was a doctored version, with Kashimo’s and Daisuke’s involvements edited entirely out of your recounting.

You pretended like the woman was someone who knew a sword forger — naturally, this was true, but that was not exactly why you were seeking her out — and could point you in their direction so that you could have a suitable cursed tool to face off against Ten. You thought that he might be averse to it and ask you to instead continue using his sword, but he did no such thing. He only nodded and agreed that it would be best for you to have something that you could use to channel your cursed technique, and that was the end of it.

“I am surprised the white-haired one did not come with you,” Kashimo observed when you reined your horse to a stop by where he leaned against a fencepost. You bristled at the insult to Hisashi, though it was barely even an insult.

“He would’ve,” you said. “If I had asked. He would go anywhere if I asked.”

Kashimo considered this before untying his own horse and swinging atop its back, kicking it forward and gesturing for you to follow him. You did so reluctantly, though every step the mare took away from your home with Hisashi felt like a betrayal to the man you were meant to marry.

“He wants your technique,” he said.

“His father coveted it, yes,” you said. You knew the reason why you had been engaged to Hisashi: the power of the Hummingbird, which the Gojo clan believed could smooth over the Six Eyes’ disappearance in recent years.

“How long have you known him?” Kashimo said. It was idle small talk, but there was a deeper purpose. In asking these questions, he was learning you in a way that you could never learn him. Perhaps it should’ve been a frightening proposition, the thought of Kashimo knowing you so intrinsically, but you found it to be more soothing than anything.

“Since I was a child,” you said. “Very young. I was promised to him the night that my parents were killed, right before the man with the stitch-scarred forehead came to meet me.”

For a little girl, the kind prone to romantic flights of fancy, a boy such as Hisashi Gojo was akin to a dream come true. The heir to a clan and possessing lovely, fine features, you had believed him to be a hero come to sweep you off of your feet.

Of course, such heroes did not exist, and so the early years of your engagement were devoid of much happiness. Hisashi did not hate you, but neither did he love you; he was a boy three years your elder, and so for the most part he thought of you as a child come to bother him, following behind him when he would rather be playing with Kichiro and Naoki.

When you two grew to be teenagers, he began to tease you incessantly, and so the roles were reversed in that you were the one frequently irritated by his presence. Naturally you did not realize that he was doing this because he had, in some way, grown to be fond of you, but that was the truth of it. He was becoming a man, and you a woman, and unlike you he was at the same time growing aware of this development. You believe it made him uncomfortable, the entire concept of the girl he had once known wearing the pretty face of an unrecognizable stranger, and so he lashed out at you in the only way he knew how.

He was never cruel. Hisashi at his heart has always been gentle, and even at his worst he didn’t know how to hurt you. You always thought his father might detest him for it, at least a little, that in such a violent existence he was still kind, but even if that was the case, it did not stop him from his softness. Maybe it was his own form of rebellion against the world.

You kissed Hisashi for the first time when you were —

“Alright, that’s enough,” Kashimo said. You snickered at his disgruntled expression, which he took no heed of. “I don’t need to hear about that part.”

“You asked,” you said.

“I distinctly did not,” he said haughtily. “It was a question that did not necessitate an entire story being told to explain its answer.”

“What else do we fill the time with?” you said. “Unless you’d like to tell me about your life.”

“No,” he said. An awkward silence stretched over the two of you. You gave Kashimo a telling look, and he frowned. “Fine. Tell me another story from your life. But — but not one with Hisashi Gojo in it. I care little for him and his gentleness.”

“Certainly, you only respect strength, so the value of a kind person would be lost on you,” you said. “Alright, what if I tell you about the man with the stitches on his forehead?”

Kashimo hummed contemplatively. “Fine.”

The night your parents died was the same night you met that man, the one who would define your existence forevermore. He had no great demands; indeed, he was overly generous to the point of suspicion. When you asked him the reason for his kindness, he told you that it was because your father had offered him something in return, made a Binding Vow to ensure your protection. And what authority did you have to question him? You were alone. Your parents had left you and you did not know where they had gone or why they had done it.

He was a handsome person, with an angular face and dark hair tied neatly back, as was customary for the time. The single blemish on what was an otherwise artistically perfect image was the row of stitches engraved into his forehead, standing out angry and red against the pale skin. You remembered this the best about him; even so many years later, when the shade of his eyes and the pursing of his lips had faded into the recesses of your memory, the stitches stood out as clearly as they had on the day you had met him.

That man — and he refused to tell you his name, claimed ‘names had power for creatures such as hummingbirds’ — was the one who gave you the book Tales of the Hummingbird. He also told you what it meant for you to be blessed in the way that you were.

The eternal conflict with the lord of the sky. He was the one who told you about it, who told you about Ten. Perhaps if it had not been for him, you never would’ve known that you had to fight that great being. Well, that’s likely not true; if you were born to do it, then you would’ve found out eventually regardless. The man only sped along the process, made it so that you knew your life’s purpose from the moment you could think deeply enough about your existence to begin wondering what it might be.

You asked him what your father’s Binding Vow had been, but he never told you. He only patted his lap, bade you to sit upon it and then stroked your hair as he spoke. You remembered that there was a warmth lacking from the gesture, though this could be put down to your fascination with the grotesque appearance of his brow leading to a lack of appreciation for the comfort you were sure he was trying to provide you.

He told you that the day would come when you, too, would make a Binding Vow with him. You said you would not, that you were not in the business of making Binding Vows with just about anyone, but he only chuckled and told you that things would change in the future and one day you’d beg him to do it, beg him to give you the chance to get what you most terribly wanted.

Even now you didn’t understand what he meant by that — after all, how could a Binding Vow with a mere man grant your deepest wishes? The only theory you had ever come up with was that somehow the nature of his technique was as such, but it felt a flimsy explanation.

When you asked Hisashi and Kichiro and even Naoki if they knew the man of whom you spoke, they shook their heads and told you that they had never seen a person like that. So he remained a mystery, one you never again encountered but thought of frequently.

“That was a little anticlimactic,” Kashimo said.

“Whatever do you mean?” you said. He shrugged, reaching up to hold a tree branch out of his way and then letting go so that it sprung back and would’ve slammed into your face if you had not ducked in time.

“So a man made a vow with your father and gave you a book. I don’t understand why you’re so impressed by that. If I give you a book, will you think of me frequently?” he said. You rolled your eyes.

“No,” you said. “And you cannot make a vow with my father, as he is dead, so think of some other way to occupy my mind.”

“Really, though, he was probably just some relative of yours or another that took the chance to mold you into the perfect, powerful little sorcerer that would do as he asked in the wake of your parents’ death. He was probably lying about all of it,” Kashimo, ever the practical one, said. You let out a heavy exhale.

“It’s possible. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that there was something odd about the entire situation,” you said. “After all, why did he have that book? Until that point, it was not even certain if I had a cursed technique or not.”

“If you look for fantastical explanations, then they will manifest. Conversely, if you look for the reasonable methods, then they will surely make themselves apparent,” he said.

“That’s true,” you said hesitantly. Kashimo blew out a huff of air.

“You tell boring stories. I suppose that’s that, then; I’ll have to tell you one about myself,” he said.

“Will you, now? Which one?” you said. There was so little you knew about Kashimo that you could not help how his statement piqued your interest. He grinned, a smug, self-satisfied expression that was so at home on his face it was a wonder he did not wear it more often.

“I’m sure there is much you’d like to know, and before I kill you, I will tell you it all and tell you it well, but in the meantime, we should begin with a more innocuous story,” he began.

“Get to the point, Kashimo,” you said. “What are you going to tell me?”

“You won’t indulge my theatrical desires when I am going so far out of my way to help you? Cruel woman that you are, I guess it isn’t too much out of character for you to do such a thing,” he said.

“As I said earlier, you are not going out of your way. You all but forced your way into helping me, when I would’ve been able to find this woman perfectly easily without your interference and your egging on of Daisuke,” you said.

“Well, you wouldn’t have even found Daisuke without me…but that’s beside the point!” He hastily cut himself off when he saw you open your mouth to argue. “The story I’m going to tell you is actually related to both the woman and Daisuke. In fact, it is the story of my childhood and how it is that an orphan, one who was born with nothing to his name, came to be known as the god of lightning, making up for his lack of blessings by becoming a deity in his own right.”