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mosh-4 · 4 years

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listen (iii)

harry styles imagine mini series

part iii to listen - harry has a soulmate (soulmate au)

you had finally come to your senses after you had just launched yourself from your porch into the arms of your soulmate. With his arms wrapped around you and your blanket slowly slipping from your shoulders into the snow, you began to pull away from him.

“not that I’m not happy that you’re here, but who gave you my address?” you asked.

he released you from his grasp and began pulling your blanket back over your shoulders.

“I have my ways,” he laughed.

you squinted at him puzzled.

“I’m kidding. Kath gave it to me.”

“oh…honestly, it’s Kath. I’m not that surprised.”

you both let out a little laugh as you peered up at him. you blinked away the snowflakes that landed on your eyelashes. you reached up and gently brushed the snow from his hair.

“we should probably go inside before we both freeze.” you suggest pulling the blanket away from your frame to peer down at your fuzzy-sock clad feet sinking into the snow.

“oh god, y’er poor socks,” he laughed looking down at what you were looking at. “let’s go inside before ya get frostbite.”

“come on, you can meet my dog.”

you grab his hand while his other hand held his snow covered bag that he had dropped in the snow when he caught you.

Harry smiled as he watched you turn toward your front door with your hand in his while your other hand held your blanket around your frame. you pulled him up your front steps to the door, opening it for him.

a big ball of fur bounded out the door and swarmed the both of you.

“Marley,” you laughed pushing her down as she tried to jump on Harry. “down. we don’t jump on people.”

you led her back inside with Harry on your heels.

Harry gently shook the snow from his hair with his hand. He set his bag down by the door and waited for you. He smiled as he watched you talk to your dog like she was a small child.

“be nice,” you said letting go of her collar to let her investigate Harry. “she’s not really aggressive. she’s just skeptical of new people. she’ll warm up to you in a second,” you told him.

Harry placed a hand down to let your dog sniff him. she advanced toward him sniffing him before backing away barking again. Harry peered at you to see if her reaction was okay. he watched as you bent down to her height gently petting her.

“Mar, it’s okay. he’s a friend.”

you finally turned your attention to him. you looked at him from your crouched position. Harry took the hint and squatted down next to you. he put his hand out in front of him again. now that his towering height was gone, Marley approached him and sniffed his hand again before nudging her nose under his loose hand.

“what is she doing?” he laughed, slightly nervous.

“she wants you to pet her. she’s not much of a licker so this is how she shows affection,” you replied as you ruffled the fur on Marley’s back.

Harry moved his hand to pet the top of her head, and Marley began to relax.

“thank god she likes you or this would have been over,” you laugh turning to look at him in the eyes.

his eyes met yours, and he smiled.

“really? just like that?”

“just like that.”

you both stared at each other for a moment with goofy grins on your faces.

“come on, let’s get into something warmer.”

you laughed throwing your head into Harry shoulder as the two of you were curled up on your chase lounge. he had changed from his plane clothes into a pair of soft sweatpants and a sweatshirt. you had changed your socks and threw the other pair and your blanket into the dryer. you had FRIENDS playing in the background, but neither of you cared to watch.

“when did you know I was y’er soulmate?” Harry asked brushing your hair away from your face.

“when you and Kath called me?”

“no, you had to have known before then. I don’t believe that you didn’t know until a few months ago.”

“alright, fine,” you sighed taking his hands in your so that you could play with his fingers. “you remember when you were in one direction?”

“vaguely.”

you both laughed.

“so when you were on your take me home tour, I despised you guys.”

“WHAT?” his eyes grew wide at your statement.

“I thought your music was too familiar. I’m sorry. it wasn’t until I realized why it sounded so familiar. I heard it every night while you were on tour, and then I mentioned it to Kath and Eva-she’s our other friend. and, they thought it was weird that I heard your music every night in the exact order of your setlist, and they started planting ideas in my head that my soulmate was one of the guys in one direction.”

“I was totally convinced you were a fan back then. you were listening to my music all the time.”

“no,” you laughed. “that was Eva and Kath. they were obsessed. Kath had a cardboard cutout of Niall.”

Harry let out a loud laugh.

“she gave me Niall-girl vibes.”

“shut up,” you shoved him lightly. “don’t tell her I told you that.”

“no promises.”

“I swear. you can’t tell her that I told you that. she’ll skin us both alive.”

“okay. okay. secret is safe will me. now tell me when you knew.”

“okay, okay,” you said taking his hands back. “so after they were convinced that one of you was my soulmate, I looked you guys up. I went to youtube just as every new fan does, and I searched “one direction funny moments.” naturally, I found your video diaries-”

“oh god,” he pulled his hand back to cover his eyes.

“I watched all of them, and I started to fall in love you guys, but I wasn’t going to tell Kath or Eva that. I would have never heard the end of it. then, I came across your x-factor audition.”

you stopped talking to gauge his reaction. he peeked at you through his hand.

“that was my favorite song when I was fifteen.”

“I know. you listened to it a lot.” he removed his hand from his eyes.

“I remember hearing that amateur sing it over and over again, right around the time you would have auditioned.”

“amateur, excuse me, I am a professional,” he scoffed feigning offense.

“you weren’t then, Mr. Harry Styles.”

“so that’s when you knew? you’ve known since we were sixteen?”

“well, not really. I had an inkling. it made sense for it to be you. the audition, then hearing the tour setlist every night, then later I heard you recording your albums. I had an idea. it wasn’t really solid until I actually went to your shows.”

“god, my head hurt like hell the first time I played here.”

“it was like a ringing echo crushing my skull.”

“yeah.”

“I have to admit, the last show I went to wasn’t that bad.”

“hmmm?” he questioned peering over at you from where he had laid his head back.

“Kath got us front row tickets to your Live on Tour show.”

“ahhh, so that was you? I recognize you now. you were that pretty girl I gave that water bottle to. you were about to pass out.”

“can you blame me? you had just announced to the whole arena that your soulmate was there, and I was standing right there, knowing that you were probably my soulmate.”

“I tried to get you after the show.”

“what?”

“I sent security after you when the show was over, but they couldn’t find you. you left so quickly.”

“that sucks.” you curled yourself into his chest.

he laughed running a hand through your hair.

“that sucks? that’s all you have to say?”

“mhmm,” you murmur nodding your head gaining another laugh from your soulmate.

“wow.”

“so now that I answered your question, you have to answer one for me.”

“shoot.”

“falling.”

“oh.”

“that’s my dad’s piano melody. you put it in your song.”

“to be fair, it was a piece of you, and I was sad.”

“so the song is about me?”

“yeah, I wasn’t in a good place, and I wanted to find you. I messed up, and I didn’t know if you would love the version of myself that I was becoming. or, if I would love that person. it’s a conversation I imagined us having.”

you got up to look into his eyes while he was trying to look anywhere else.

“and now? do you love the person you are now?”

“I don’t know. I think I do, but I have my days.”

you ran a hand through his hair, and his eyes finally met yours.

“I’m proud of you,” you said with love swelling in your chest.

you really wanted to admit that you loved him, but you didn’t want to be the first person to drop that bomb so instead you told him that you were proud of him. you were. you were so immensely proud of him and everything that he has accomplished. you were proud of how he managed to carry himself and to be mindful of his mental health. he had been through a lot, and he was still here, grounded, sitting on your couch petting your dog.

“I’m proud of the person you have become,” you reiterated.

you stared into each other’s eyes for a bit. he played with the ends of your hair.

“I don’t want to freak you out. I know we’ve only really known each other for a short while, and perhaps this is just my sleep deprivation getting to me, but I want to tell you that I love you.”

you laugh planting your face into his chest. your fists clutch the front of his sweatshirt as you practically lay yourself on him.

“I’m completely serious.”

“I know,” you said pulling away to looking straight in the face. “and I want to tell you that I love you too.”

“good, good,” he said pulling you back to his chest. “glad we’re on the same page.”

“yeah,” you hum. “it’s definitely due to sleep deprivation though. we might regret it in the morning.”

“we might. promise you won’t regret it in the morning.”

“I pinky promise.” you threw your pinky finger up to him.

“pinky promise.” he entwined your pinky fingers together to lock in the promise.

you sleepily closed your eyes. you wrapped your arms around his chest. your head was laying in the nook of his neck.

“are you falling asleep on me?”

“figuratively and literally,” you murmur with your eyes closed.

“please tell me you don’t have to work tomorrow.”

“I do. I have to go in at eight.”

“nooooo,” he whined wrapping his arms around you.

“you and Marley can hang out and eat my food all day tomorrow. just save me something good.”

“okay,” he murmured into your hair before kissing your head.

“can we sleep here, or is it going to hurt your back?”

“I’ll be okay for one night. go to sleep. I’ll set an alarm for you.”

“okay, I need to be up by six.”

“I got ya.”

“thank you. goodnight. I love you.”

“goodnight, love. I love you.”

you fell asleep in the glow of your christmas tree with Harry gently pulling a blanket over the two of you.

you made your way up the frosty front walk to the steps of your front porch. your briefcase loosely hung from your shoulder as you jostled through your coat pocket to find your house keys. after finally retrieving your keys, you unlocked your front door only to be greeted by Marley.

“hi baby,” you greet reaching down to pet your puppy. “where’s Haz?”

“hi,” he said pulling your attention from your dog.

Harry stood in the entrance way of your kitchen drying his hands with a dish towel. you practically swooned at how hot he looked. Harry had the sleeves of his sweater rolled up to his elbows. his hair was gently pushed back, probably from the amount of times he ran his hand through his hair.

“hi,” you smile back at him before going to hang your bags up on the coat hooks by your door.

“how was work?” he asked helping you take off your coat.

“it was good. I started in on analyzing a new set of scans. it was interesting but busy,” you said grabbing your phone from your purse before turning around to face him. “what have you been up to all day?”

“Ahh, the dog and I went for a run.”

“you did?” you laugh looking up into his eyes.

“yeah, ya didn’t tell me that she tries to eat the leash when ya go faster than a light jog.”

you laugh at him resting your forehead against his chest.

“she does. I’m sorry. we’ll have to work on that.”

he wrapped his arms around you as you rest your chin on his chest to look up at him.

“after our run fiasco-”

“wait, aren’t the sidewalks partly frozen still?”

“I was getting there if ye give me a chance.”

“oh haz.”

“so after I started takin’ her back to the house with a light jog, I bit it on an ice patch and fell into a pile of street slush-”

“noooo, are you okay?” you asked trying to stifle your laugh.

“you can laugh. I’m fine. my ego is a bit bruised though. so after that, I did laundry. then, I decided to make dinner for us so I went to the store.”

“you made dinner?”

“yeah, just a simple spaghetti. I hope that’s okay? I probably should have asked if you had any dietary preferences or issues.”

“Harry, it’s fine. I like spaghetti.”

“good, good. we should probably go eat then. hopefully, Marley didn’t help herself already.”

“no, she’s right here,” you nod your head into her direction.

Harry turned his head to her.

“oh hello,” he said to her before turning back to you. “come on, let’s eat.”

he led you back to your kitchen to your small breakfast table that he had decorated with candles and a pretty tablecloth.

“you really pulled out all the stops.”

“I had to impress a pretty lady,” he said pulling your chair out for you.

“wine?”

“yes, please.”

two plates and a bottle of wine later, you were both curled up on the couch together once more. you had worked together on the dishes, and whatever was left of your dinner was boxed up and placed in the fridge for leftovers.

“do we tell people?” you murmur to him with your head resting on his shoulder.

“people?” he asked moving his head to look at you.

“yeah, like our families and friends.”

“ah people. we should probably tell them.”

“unless you want it to be just us for a while. until we really get to know each other.”

“I don’t think it would hurt to just mention it to our inner circles.”

“that sounds good,” you nod against his chest.

“who’s in y’er inner circle?”

“my parents and brother, probably. then, maybe my cousin-we’re pretty close-and maybe Kath and Eva.”

“sounds like a solid inner circle.”

“who’s in your inner circle?”

“my mom, sister, and sometimes, dad. then, probably Mitch and Sarah. for work purposes, I would probably have to tell Jeff, but we can stall on that until I have to get back to work.”

“ugh, please don’t go back to work,” you whine wrapping your arms around him. “I’m kidding. you can always go back to work. I’m just gonna miss you. I would sew myself to your skin if I could.”

“creepy.”

you laughed. you had to admit you were a bit tipsy.

“I work in criminology. you’re gonna get some gallows humor from me.”

“I’ll take it. and, I don’t want to get back to work yet. I want to stay here as long as possible,” he said into your hair. “just you, me, and the dog.”

you giggle. yes, you’re giggling now.

“yes, you, me, and our Moogie,” you repeat. “isn’t that right, Moogie?” you asked Marley as she watched the two of you from her spot on the couch on the other side of Harry.

she let out a soft sigh. she was getting tired of being the third wheel. you both chuckle at her before Harry got back to the conversation at hand.

“should we text our families?”

“you want to tell our families over text?” you ask him wide eyed.

he shrugged.

“how would you do?”

“a sober phone call tomorrow morning.”

“oof, I guess that’s slightly better. would you chicken out if you were sober?”

“maybe,” you shrug. “do you really want to do it now?”

he shrugged once more. he was a man of very few words when it came to big decisions. that’s what you were at least finding out now.

“okay,” you respond whipping out your phone before downing the rest of your wine glass. you pressed a few buttons before putting the phone up to your ear. “mom, hi, how are you?”

you pulled yourself off the couch and started pacing around the family room as you talked to your mom on the phone. Harry stared at you with wide eyes, watching you to see what you’re gonna say.

“so mom, the reason I’m calling-is dad with you?,” you flash Harry a nervous grin before you continue. “put me on speaker. no, everything is fine, just put me on speaker. okay-mom are you listening?” you brush a hand through your hair. “you’re listening? okay. the reason I’m calling is because I found my soulmate.”

Harry watched your expression as you listened to their response.

“it’s a guy, yes,” you laugh. “oh my god, would it have been so horrible if it wasn’t. jesus, mom.”

Harry laughed at you before reaching his arms out to you. you took that as an invitation to sit in his lap.

“he’s very nice…he’s staying at my place right now…WE JUST MET…yes, he is very respectful, and he’s been super good to me.”

you could feel Harry’s laugh against your back. you lean your head back to stick your tongue out at him.

“you guys can’t meet him yet,” you say jumping out of his arms to start pacing again. “because I want to spend more time getting to know him before he has to get back to work. no mom, he’s not from (your hometown).” you meet Harry’s eyes, and he gives you a perplexed look. “he’s from out of state.” you shrug at him. “yeah, that’s probably why everything was so quiet.” you listened to her ramble before you figured this conversation needed to be over. “listen mom, I will call you later this week to tell you more about everything, but I’m tired and I have a busy day tomorrow…okay, I will talk to you later…thanks, I’m excited too…yes, I will tell you all about him later…okay, love you. bye.”

you hung up your phone before collapsing back into Harry.

“I did my part. your turn” you pat his chest.

“it’s 4 am in England right now. I’ll call in the morning,” he murmured into your hair while he wrapped his arms around you.

“good,” you say burying your face into his sweater. “I want you to myself tonight.”

you could feel him laugh through his chest.

“what did y’er mum say?”

“she wants to meet you. they’re happy for us though. they were starting to think there was no hope for me.”

“that’s good. I think my mum and sister will be happy too.”

“I hope so,” you say looking into his eyes. “I hope they like me.”

“they will. they’ll love you. I just hope your family likes me.”

“oh, they love you,” you laugh running a hand through his hair. “they love The Harry Styles, from my many years of being a fan of one direction, they have to love you at this point. but, they’re gonna love just Harry too.”

“oooo, risky question. who’s girl were yeh? were yeh a Liam-girl or a Niall-girl?” he smiled as you laughed at his question.

“I’ve always been a Harry-girl.”

“ye’r just saying that,” he said throwing his head back. “that’s such a cop out.”

“I’m not,” you said sitting up. “it’s always been you.”

“are you okay that I’m just Harry?” he blurts out biting his lip. you could tell that he had been thinking about this for a while. “you’re not in this just because I’m The Harry Styles.”

“I love just Harry,” you say placing your hand on his cheek. “don’t get me wrong, The Harry Styles is pretty cool, but I would still love just Harry if he was still the boy in the bakery.”

“I want to kiss ya right now.”

you stared into his eyes as he held your gaze. his eyes were filled with such admiration and love.

“okay.”

with that, he placed a hand behind your ear and pulled you to him. he placed his lip against yours and kissed you. you placed your other hand on his cheek as you kissed him back. he kissed you again deeper as you moved to straddle him. he moved both of his hands to your hips as he pulled you closer.

you pull away to take a breath, resting your forehead against his.

“I love you.”

he reached up to tuck a piece of your hair behind your ear.

“I love ya so damn much.”

you pressed your lips against his once more. you kissed him until you were breathless. he wrapped his hand in your hair while the other was around your waist. you continued to make out until you felt a cold, wet nose against your cheek.

you jumped pulling away from Harry to start at the culprit. Marley stared at you before letting out a small deep bark.

you start to laugh before collapsing into Harry’s shoulder. he wrapped his arms around you as he began to laugh with you. Marley let out another loud bark at the two of you. you began to pry yourself out of Harry’s arms.

“she has to go out,” you tell him as you get off his lap. “let’s go Marley.” you pat your leg for her to follow you. in response, she jumped off the couch and followed you to your back door.

you stood at the back door as your watched Marley roam around your fenced-in yard for a minute. she seemed okay as she explored.

you made your way back to your living room before collapsing into Harry’s lap once again.

“where were we?”

you woke up the next morning in your bed with Marley at your feet. with bleary eyes, you slapped your hand against the spot next to you to find it empty. you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes as you sat up. you listened for the shower, but you only heard a muffled voice coming from your living room.

you pulled the covers from your body before putting on Harry’s sweater from the night before. your bare feet padded through your hallway before you made it to your living room with Marley following behind you.

you found Harry shirtless on your couch with his phone pressed to his ear. you plopped yourself down next to him as he sent you a smile.

“yeah, mum, she’s great, and I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

you smiled as you placed your head on his shoulder.

“she’s awake now so I’m gonna call ya later, okay?” he murmured into the phone. “bye mum, love ya.” you waited a few moments as he hung up the phone.

once he was done, he wrapped an arm around you pulling you close.

“how did ya sleep?” he asked before kissing your head.

“good,” you murmur into his chest. “what did your mom say?”

“she was happy. I called Gem before her, and they are both really excited. they were both skeptical at first, just wanting to make sure, that it was right. that I wasn’t being an idiot. once I explained the whole thing, they were really happy for us. they really want to meet you.”

“yay,” you say turning to wrap your arms around his shoulders.

“I see a trip to London for us in the future.”

“yay for us.” you look up at his eyes from where you had your head buried into his shoulder.

“do you want to tell Kath and Eva?” he asks meeting your eyes.

“yeah, we can text them.”

“oh, so you just want to text them? no phone calls?”

“saves us from the screaming,” you say pointing at him.

he laughed pulling you closer.

“true, true.”

“let’s just send them a selfie. I trust them.”

“you sure?” he raised an eyebrow at you.

“absolutely. we can tell them to keep it quiet for a bit. that we want privacy and stuff. they’ll get it.”

“okay, let’s do it.”

with that, you got up from his lap and padded back to your bedroom. you snagged your phone from its charger before making your way back to the couch. you slide back into your spot next to him. you held you phone up to take the picture, but he had other ideas. he pushed you back on the couch. you fell on your back laughing as he laid his head on your chest. you fixed your phone.

“smile,” you laugh as you clicked the button to take the picture.

“send it,” he murmured looking up at you. he wrapped his arms around you as you moved to type your message to the group chat with your friends.

you: keep it quiet, but I have acquired a soulmate.

“I sent it,” you say putting your phone down to look at him. “do we want to make breakfast?”

“yes,” he says getting off you to place a kiss on your forehead. he grabbed your hand to pull you up with him. “let’s eat.”

as you both made your way to the kitchen, Harry let Marley out the back door before placing himself at the counter.

“y’er phone is blowing up.” he slid your phone across the counter to you.

“oh boy,” you say opening your messages from Kath and Eva.

Kath: HOLY FUCK IT HAPPENED

Kath: tell Harry hi for me

Kath: I’m so happy for you both

Eva: OH MY GOD

Eva: is that Harry Styles?

Eva: OH MY GOD WE WERE RIGHT

Eva: YOUR SOULMATE WAS IN ONE DIRECTION

Eva: QUEEN I CALLED IT

Eva: I am also very happy for you both. Call us later with details.

you laughed before showing Harry the messages. he smiled as you typed back a ‘thank you.’

“breakfast?”

“breakfast.”

you and Harry made small talk as you made breakfast together. you were just happy that your small world was getting a bit bigger. you loved your little life with Harry in your small home, and you couldn’t wait for this to be the rest of your life, even if he had to get back to work eventually.

hi! i’m sorry this took me so long to write. this is the end of the official series, but if you want me to write one shots based on soulmate!harry let me know! i’m on my winter break for a while so i should have more time to write. anyway, i hope you enjoyed. feel free to send requests - mosh

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i hope i got everyone’s tags!

#harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles x reader #harry styles #harrystyles

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sokkascroptop · 4 years

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traitor. (sokka x f!reader) pt 3

A/N: Finally we get to see Azula’s true nature! Also, the first time we get to see Zuko!! To be clear, Azula is in this fic a lot, but this is far from a redemption fic.

part 1 | part 2 | part 4

Zuko caught Y/N’s eyes like he wanted to ask her a million questions. But she was too embarrassed about everything to hold his gaze. She looked away hoping she didn’t look too guilty or shameful. She joined Azula in staring out the window. The cherry blossom trees were in bloom. They covered every square inch of sky as she looked out. It filled the room with a sweet scent that Y/N knew was going to permeate their clothes when they left. If she let her eyes go unfocused it looked like there was a raging fire in front of her.

Y/N found herself outside in the palace gardens. She was running from something, but it wasn’t scary. She was laughing and she heard other girls laughing around her. She began to climb a tree, stifling her giggles the entire time. For some reason, she had to be quiet.

“You’re going to get in trouble for being up there,” Someone said from below.

Y/N looked down between the branches to see a boy her age. He was wearing a high ponytail held with a small fire pin.

“Why?” she asked. She jumped down to the lowest branch and sat there hanging her legs over the side. She didn’t want to get down just yet.

He arched one eyebrow. “Just ‘cause. If the palace gardener sees you climbing the trees, he’ll yell at you.”

“Well I’ll just tell him that my new friend is Princess Azula and that’ll shut him up.” Y/N laughed again and made a start to go back up the tree.

“Well, I’m her older brother Prince Zuko and I’m telling you, you’re gonna get in trouble.” He looked like he wanted to emphasize his sentence by sticking his tongue out at her.

“Why aren’t you playing hide-and-explode with us?” Y/N asked. She jumped down and landed lightly in front of Zuko. They were the same height, which made her feel oddly proud.

“I don’t like playing games with Azula,” Zuko said. “I’m ten–”

“–well I’m nine and a half and I can still have fun,” Y/N interrupted.

“You’re almost my age and you’re friends with Azula? What happened? Did you get held back?” Zuko taunted.

“No!” Y/N made a face. Suddenly she felt very self conscious. She didn’t know what ‘held back’ meant but it didn’t sound good, not when he was laughing at her. “This is the first time I’ve ever gone to real school. I just got put in her grade.”

Suddenly a fireball landed at Y/N’s feet; sparks flew up and singed her pants and burnt her legs. She squealed, a mix between surprise and pain.

“Azula!” Zuko snarled. He half stepped in front of Y/N, all hints of the earlier teasing gone. Zuko produced a similar fireball and threw it at Azula’s feet but she kicked it away, making it land in a nearby bush.

“You’re it, Y/N,” Azula ordered.

“It’s not fair, Azula. She’s not a bender,” Zuko argued.

“Neither are Mai and Ty Lee. And they don’t whine like babies.” The last part she directed at Y/N with a sneer.

“I’m not whining!” Y/N protested. She pushed Zuko out of the way and covered her eyes, beginning to count to twenty. She peeked at Zuko at fifteen. All the girls had already scattered but he just stood there watching her. “I’m faster than Azula anyways. I can catch her.”

She paused and looked at Zuko who stood there awkwardly. “Are you going to hide or what?” She asked. When she covered her eyes again she heard him run away, looking for a hiding place. She waited a beat before counting again, “–SIXTEEN, SEVENTEEN..”

Y/N woke to darkness. But it was always dark below deck. The only light came from candles and lanterns hung in the hallways. Her own candle was only an inch high and fading fast from the accumulation of wax. She could feel the familiar rock of the ship lulling her back to sleep… Y/N sat up quickly. She could tell that it was morning, possibly very early but she couldn’t risk going back to sleep. She tucked the covers under her neck and over her shoulders to snuggle down to ask the important questions. Why was she dreaming of Zuko?

The day they met was probably one of their most innocent and least notable moments. At least that’s what she thought. Or it was possible her brain was trying to make her feel guilty about what she and Azula were going to do today. That day wasn’t the last that Zuko had tried to protect her from his sister, it actually set the stage for years of him standing up to Azula in her place. Not that she needed it, she could hold her own plenty, but it felt nice to be protected.

Sometimes she wondered if they had more time together, if they’d have become better friends than her and Azula. Even though he was a fire-bender too, he spent a lot of training with his dual swords. Time that was spent with her on the training grounds. They sparred daily until his banishment; spirits, Y/N was sure they’d even sparred the day of the war meeting that started everything. Now she was going to find him, and lie to him, knowing that what awaited him at home was not a crown but a prison cell. Y/N shook her head to clear it and slid out of the bed and into her clothes. No use in thinking of the past when her future was all that was necessary. Honor and glory and all.

Y/N could hear Iroh and Zuko arguing a mile away. Azula and her had gotten there an hour before and broke inside the little cabin they were living in. They’d not so inconspicuously gone through all their stuff and upon not finding anything worth while, sat around just waiting.

“We don’t need any more useless things. You forget we have to carry everything for ourselves now!” Zuko lamented as Iroh dumped a bag of seashells on the table by the door, that looked suspiciously like the same seashells next to Azula on their dining table. Neither one had looked up to see them inside.

“Hello, brother,” Azula said. “Uncle.” Both of the men jumped.

“What are you doing here?” Zuko asked as he stepped his body in front of Iroh’s. He looked from Azula to where Y/N was sitting in the window sill behind Azula. Her stomach dropped. This was the first time she’d seen his scarred face. Pink and red scars circled his left eye and wrapped far back enough to cover his ear. His hair was no longer long, but shaved around his ponytail. He looked so much older even though it had only been three years. Y/N wasn’t sure what made him look so different, whether it was a scar that marred his face or the anger that seeped deep beneath his pores.

“In my country we exchange a pleasant hello before asking questions.” Azula picked up a seashell and inspected it. She glided across the room to stand in front of him. She was so much shorter than Zuko and Y/N but she carried so much power. “Have you become uncivilized so soon, Zuzu?”

“Don’t call me that!”

“To what do we owe this honor?” Iroh spoke up, breaking up the fight between the siblings before it started. Y/N moved to stand behind Azula.

“Hmm, must be a family trait. Both of you are so quick to get to the point.” Azula was still playing with the men like they were rabbit-mice. She snapped the shell she was holding in her hands. “I’ve come with a message from home. Father has changed his mind. Family is suddenly very important to him. He’s heard rumors of plans to overthrow him–treacherous plots.” Y/N looked to Zuko to gauge his reaction. His face had softened at hearing the news from his Father.

“Family are the only ones you can really trust,” Azula told him earnestly. “Father regrets your banishment. He wants you home.” Azula paused to look out the window.

When no one said anything, Azula whipped her head back around to stare at her brother. “Did you hear me? You should be happy, excited, grateful. I just gave you great news.”

“I’m sure your brother simply needs a moment–”

“Don’t interrupt, Uncle!” Her voice changed from sickeningly sweet as she plied Zuko with the words he wanted to hear to savage as she screamed at Iroh. Azula had never learned to be patient, and she wanted them on the ship now. “I still haven’t heard my thank you,” She growled at Zuko. “I’m not a messenger. I didn’t have to come all this way. I could have sent Y/N for this.”

Y/N tensed at her words. She bit her tongue so hard that she tasted blood. How dare Azula think she was her messenger hawk?

“Father regrets? He wants me back?” Zuko muttered. Y/N felt like this was a conversation with himself that they were all intruding on. Y/N had to admit that the words that Azula used to trick them were sweet as honey, but also not very believable.

Y/N touched the back of Azula’s arm. “I think that he needs time to take this in. It’s all very sudden for him.” She sent a smile in Zuko’s direction that he did not return.

“I’ll send Y/N to call on you tomorrow.” Azula concluded and she and Y/N took their leave.

“Why are you sending me tomorrow?” Y/N asked once they were out of range of the house.

“Zuko trusts you more than he does me,” Azula admitted. “I figure even if he decided he doesn’t want to come, you’ll be able to sweet talk him down the hill to our little ship.”

“Zuko and I were–”

“Oh shut up, Y/N. You two always had an eye for one another.”

Y/N felt her cheeks heat up. “I–”

“Besides that’s the reason my Father wanted you to come anyways.” They had reached the wooden dock that the ramp to their ship rested on.

Y/N stopped dead in her tracks. “What?”

Azula cocked her head. “Well, I figured you’d caught on to that already the way you were making moony eyes at my brother up there.”

“I wasn’t–How was I supposed to know I was only brought here to flirt Zuko’s ass all the way back to the Fire Nation?!”

“Just back to the ship. Once he gets here we’ll put him in a jail cell.”

“AZULA!”

“Look,” she snarled. “You’re good with a sword but what the hell is that going to do against a fire bender? It’s a fact that you being a non bender means you’re a liability in a fight.” Azula turned and marched up the ramp. That was the end of the discussion even if Y/N had more to say.

She looked down at her toes at the blue-green water between the slats. She could feel her eyes burning with unshed tears. She blinked them away and followed Azula onto the ship.

Y/N fisted her hands in her tunic and stalked to her room. Control your anger, control your anger she repeated over and over in her head. She wasn’t like Azula or Zuko, she couldn’t make something with the anger that grew and festered in her chest. She couldn’t throw a fireball at the nearest wall and hope that her anger dissipated like the sparks that fell to the floor. She shut her door and immediately balled up her fist and let it slam home against the wall. The thin metal crumpled easily under her hand. It stung, but that was good. Y/N let out a breath she thought she’d been holding since the dock. She collapsed onto her bed and pulled her knees to her chest.

It wasn’t a secret that she was a non-bender. But it’s not like it didn’t hurt to be reminded that she wasn’t as worthy because she was one.

Please like/reblog!!

#sokka x reader #avatar sokka #sokka #sokka x you #sokka x y/n #zuko #azula #aang #katara #toph beifong #iroh #atla #a:tla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #avatar #avatar resurgence

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 4 years

Text

Humans are Space Orcs, “Medal of Honor.”

Ok that second to last part was hard to write, damn. Anyway read to the end to get an idea of where the next arc is going :)

A gentle breeze cut over the open field outside UNSC headquarters. Blue UN flags whipped lightly in the wind, and the sun shone down, though its rays beat against a crowd of somber figures all dressed sharply for the morning, men and women alike.

Camera crews had set up just off to the side of the stage, where Admiral Kelly stood in her dress greys along with white gloves and cords at the shoulder, her hands resting against the lectern as if searching for support somewhere.

“And it is with great regret that I must report Commander Vir of the UNSC Missing in Action.”

This was not news to the assembled crowd, so there was no gasping, no cries of alarm, only solemn silence.

“Commander Vir was…. a … a true representative of what it means to be human, and what it means to be a member of the UNSC. He was brave, loyal, diligent, and, from personal experience, I can vouch for his character as one of the best men I have ever known. He was a man who…. Wasn’t afraid to be himself, kind, trusting, and fun-loving. There were at times were members of the UNSC wondered if he was ready to command a ship. There were times when we questioned whether he was even capable of leading, but it is more than safe to say that Commander Adam Allen Vir has proved himself without a doubt. Two nights ago, the U.N.S.S Harbinger was set upon by a burg surprise attack. Commander vir took charge of the fleet admirably, though sources and footage report a linking of 40 kree satellites that created some sort of…” She paused here, “We aren't entirely sure, a black hole, or wormhole, or warp, tunnel. Commander Vir’s ship was caught in the pull.”

Kelly straightened up, “And in an act of great honor and selflessness, commander Vir initiated the shatter protocol. Because of his efforts, the rest of the harbinger crew made it out alive with only three casualties, and one life pod still missing in action. The ship itself will undergo reassembly at the Europa station. “ More flags flapped, and behind her on the stage, five other Admirals, the secretary of intergalactic affairs, the GA representative, and the UN President sat heads bowed slightly.

“Commander Vir, remained in command until his signal was lost. Efforts are currently being made to determine what the device did, so we can definitely determine what happened to Earths favorite hero.”

She turned stepping back a little as the UN president stood and walked forward clearing his throat two assistants walking behind him off to the side of the stage a man was brought up. He wore a well worn-but finely tailored suit, though is eyes were red. The UN president straightened his back and turned to look at the man as cameras flashed , “After deliberation with the UN council and members of the GA, we have determined that Commander Vir’s actions in battle are of the highest degree, and would thus award him the UNSC Medal of Honor.” The two assistants Flipped open the two identical cases as pictures snapped, and the boxes were eventually handed over to Jim Vir who took them in shaking hands.

“The UNSC and the GA thank your son for his service, and we will do everything in our power to get him home…. No matter what.”

The man’s face remained stoically flat, though in the bright light of the sun golden tears rolled down his cheeks, and dripped onto the velvet interior of the case. He was led from stage as admiral Kelly returned to her feet, “The burg have harassed and harried the GA and the UNSC almost since inception. Their actions over the Kree home world are reprehensible, and as of now the GA has declared open war on the Burg, a decision that the UNSC unanimously supports. We will not bow before tyrants, and it is now that we ask young men and women of earth, of Mars and of the colonies, tot take up arms like commander Vir in defense of earth, and in defense of the galaxy. Let us not, allow his sacrifice to go meaningless.”

***

“No, he’s not dead!” “Mrs Vir.

“He's not dead! I would know if he's dead, and I know he’s not dead!”

Maverick stood in the center of the Vir family living room her hands clasped before her. This was her least favorite duty as ship chaplain, but she hadn’t wanted anyone else to do it.

Martha Vir walked in a tight circle ringing her hands.

“Ma’am.”

“Don’t you ma’am me! We should be out there looking for him! He could be sick or hurt or or…

“Ma’am, the UNSC is doing everything in their power. As of now he is only considered Missing in action, not dead.” She reached out a hand to rest on the woman’s shoulder but took it back at the last moment, “Things are not without hope.”

Across the room Jim Vir stood staring out the window back hunched head bowed. His hard calloused hands were balled into fists at his sides.

Jeremy sat on the couch looking dumbstruck shaking his head, “no…. No i’m sure hes alright, that bastard could survive anything he…. Hes like that, our little brother.”

Across from him David stood with his partner Jordan. David’s cheek twitched hard eyes filling up with moisture that he tried to hold back as he looked up at the ceiling. David wrapped his arms around him, and as soon as that happened David broke dropping his head into one hand body shaking silently.

Maya sat shell shocked in her father’s favorite chair .

There was silence for a long moment and then, “This is bullshit!” Everyone turned to where Thomas had stood knocking over a chair in the process. His scruffy hair was in disarray, “This is some fucking bullshit!”

“Thomas!”

“No! Don’t THOMAS me, this if bull- shit! You should be out there looking for him! Because he's fucking alive, so fuck you and, and all of your stupid….” His voice cut off, and he stood there mouth opening and closing for a moment before he turned and raced out the door slamming it behind him as he went.

Everyone was silent.

“I’m sorry about Th-” “It's ok…. I get it, and I feel the same way.”

Outside Thomas paced around the front yard before sitting on the front step head in his hands.

Sobbing quietly.

***

Cannon had to pry open the door from the outside. The frame had been warped and bent at some point, and that made it difficult to get inside. His heart was pounding as the other marines worked to help him. Jamming his spear into the crack, and with all four of them resting their body weight on it, they were just able to pop the seal.

There was a sharp hiss as the interior of the compartment pressurized to the air around it. Cannon rammed his shoulder into the door once twice, and then finally it popped inward the warped damage to the inside fixed enough for the door to slide open.

Deep blue light filtered in from the docking bay of captain Koslov’s ship and into the interior compartment falling on a figure kneeling at it’s center.

Cannon went to rush forward hands outstretched to the figure but paused in horror. The room was covered in blood, orange like the rising sun over Anin. A broken steel spear shaft lay on the ground snapped in half like a stick over a child’s knee. At the center of this carnage, She knelt blue carapace marred with blood hands twisted into claws torn and bleeding The metal about the room had been dented beyond repair, long scratches marred the metal.

“Sunny,” He whispered softly

When no answer came, he stepped forward into the room and walked over, slowly kneeling down before her.

Both sets of her hands rested on her legs, and her head was bowed eyes closed.

He reached out resting a hand over hers, “Sunny?”

Slowly her eyes opened, and she tilted her head up to look at him. Little droplets of blood speckled her face though the expression was completely dead, dead mostly but for the burning rage behind her golden eyes. He sat back in shock.

He had only ever seen that look on one other person in his life.

On the face of General Cosma after the death of their father.

“I’m going to kill them all.”

***

KIA

Olivia Wild - Engineering

Chris Hallis - Marine

Trevor Lane - Pilot

MIA

Adam Vir

Dr. Krill

***

Waffles waited on the tarmac at Fort Harmony airbase, and waited, and waited. She stood, walked around for a bit, then sat down.

She waited resting her head on her paws and staring up at the sky.

She waited as the sun grew high into noon and then sunk downwards towards the distant ocean. She could smell it on the air, a salty tang.

She waited as the sun dipped towards the horizon.

Waffles stood picking up the dusty white captain’s cap in her mouth and walking over to a patch of grass where she sat and continued to wait. The smell on the hat was still strong. Off in the distance engines roared, and she perked her ears up, standing on the tarmac and watching as an F-90 darkfire rolled down onto the field. Her tail began to wag and she broke into a trot towards the taxiing plane. Her body wiggled and her nose twitched with excited sniffling.

The canopy opened, and waffle’s tail dropped sagging towards the hot tarmac that burned her paws a little. She let the dusty cap drop from her mouth and onto the hot surface flopping down beside it, her nose resting where, with every breath, she could smell the familiar scent.

She whined quietly, looking up as a figure walked forward over the tarmac.

It was a distantly familiar smell but not the one she wanted. Chief Palmer stopped next to her and knelt down, running a gentle hand over her ears. His voice was soft, “Still waiting, huh girl?”

She beat her tail half-heartedly against the ground.

He stood, “Come on girl, lets go inside.” She didn’t move

He whistled, and her ears twitched, but she didn’t come. He sighed and walked over sitting next to her, “Well, maybe we can wait together for a little bit. It grew dark as they waited, and he stroked a gentle hand down her back.

After a bit, he reached over gently pulling the cap from under her snout. She lifted her head, “Promise I’ll give it back.” he said taking a moment to dust the dirt from the white top before handing it back.

‘“I have to go ok.” He said standing, “But I understand you have to wait.”

She whimpered softly. He bit his lip and turned away wiping at his eyes with the back of his sleeve.

The sun sunk lower, lights flicked on over the tarmac. Men in orange vests passed by patting her on the head and whispering soft things to her as they did. One man came by with a blanket, draped over her form the cold.

A figure in white billowed behind her its strange human voice inside her head waiting with her.

The night got colder, and Waffles looked up at the sky whimpering softly at the stars, waiting, still waiting.

***

The inky blue sky was alight with fire as debris rained down from above. Animals raced over the sandy dunes across an inland sea in fear and shock as great pieces of metal crashed to the ground with fiery explosions.

A small metal ball with the lines. LIFE POD 37 on the outside crashed towards the sea.

Overhead the night sky was dominated by the glowing rings formed about the planet, and the glowing orbit of Seven moons, some barely pinpricks against the night.

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tagsecretsanta · 4 years

Text

From @Psychoseal

to @avengedbiologist Secret santa does not won this fic, full credit to the author above

Scott is exhausted. Running his hand through his prematurely greying hair as he exits Thunderbird One, the only thing running through his mind is the thought of a long hot shower and the largest pot of coffee on the Island.

All Scott has ever known in his life is responsibility. He doesn’t even remember the peaceful years before Virgil was born and his life flipped upside down. Before Virgil was born, he had a number of names. Sunshine, Sweetheart, Darling, Scooter are just a small sample. But then everything changed. And his name became “Scott don’t” “Scott don’t put the stickers on the baby. Scott don’t feed the baby your broccoli. Scott don’t climb the furniture.”

But he learned to love Virgil, and by the time his youngest brother was born his new nickname was smother hen!

Scott can even remember his first grey hair. He was nineteen and had just gotten witnessed his thirteen-year-old brother fall from the barn roof in a dare gone wrong. That first grey hair he named Gordon!

Once he has escaped to the safety of his room, Scott quickly strips off his clothes before climbing under stream of fresh almost boiling water. He is so tired he doesn’t even realise that the water is dying his skin blue as he lathers shower gel into his hair, his eyes closed happily as the water helps him to relax. Finally.

Flicking the water off, he strings a large fluffy towel around his hips.

Then screams.

A scream so loud it brings Grandma running up two flights of stairs from the kitchen and barging into his room. “Scott?” she gasps, struggling to catch her breath. The rolling pin she was using to make the pie crust still in the hand. “What happened?”

“Gordon!” Scott growls. “Where is he?”

“London with Lady Penelope on vacation and has been all week, I don’t think this is one of his” Grandma reminds him gently.

“Never jump to conclusions Smurf” Virgil says having also heard the screams, and come running, stopping short when he spots his big brother and bursting into laughter. “Think, who have you annoyed recently, then follow the trail to the culprit”

“Annoyed? I never annoy anyone” Scott splutters in protest. “I am going to borrow your bathroom to get rid of this ridiculous dye”

“Sure Smurf just let me do something really important first” Virgil says, and before Scott has the time to run, Virgil snaps a photo of him and runs away laughing.

“Grandma!” Scott protests, he can feel a new grey hair emerging.

“Go and get a shower, I will have a word with Virgil” Grandma replies leaving him to his thoughts.

Scott’s thoughts are not pleasant, and involve drowning the responsible brother in boiling oil, or tarring and feathering them while he films their humiliation. Googling cruel and unusual punishment ideas once he is back to normal and hiding out in his own room, Scott smiles at some of the ideas and regrets the vote he lost to build an island jail for his wayward siblings.

Lying back on his bed, his head resting on the pillow, Scott stares at the ceiling in the ever-increasing gloom of the early evening, but he doesn’t get up to put the light on, but he can’t sleep. The frustration with his brothers isn’t receding the longer he lies here. Revenge is the only thing he wants!

*TB*

Gordon is back from leave the following morning. Carrying a bag full of gifts for his family. All neatly wrapped.

“Where is everyone?” he asks Virgil who is the only one in the kitchen.

Virgil doesn’t answer him while he focuses on draining his coffee instead. “Mmm, that is better! What did you ask Squid legs?”

“Where is everyone?” Gordon repeats. Rolling his eyes and pouring himself a coffee.

“Alan and Scott are still in bed. You need to apologise to Scott. He didn’t think your prank was a good idea!” Virgil says.

“What prank?” Gordon asks. His eyes wide and innocent.

“The dye in his shower head. How did you pull that off anyway? You weren’t even here” Virgil asks, he is impressed despite himself. If Gordon has evolved to pulling pranks remotely, then the whole island is doomed!

“Oh that. I just gave Alan the instructions and told him where the joke kit is hidden. Alan is the guilty party, not me” Gordon insists.

“IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT!” A voice booms from behind him, causing Gordon to startle and almost drop his coffee.

“Smurf, hi” Virgil says, trying to dissipate the tension building between his two brothers.

“I KNEW YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS” Scott roars at Gordon.

Gordon rolls his eyes picks up one of Grandma’s scented candles and throws it at Scott’s head. “Lighten up Smurf” he says before running from the room, Scott on his heels determined more than ever to pound the brat!

Gordon runs up the stairs and out the main doors to the pool.

“No running by the pool Fish” Scott shouts at him, that thing in his brain telling him to protect his younger brothers kicking in again.

Gordon once again is one step ahead of him as he dives into the pool, and swims across to the other side, before climbing up and continuing to run down to the beach still pursued by Scott, who can’t outswim him and he knows he can’t break an important safety rule. Gordon is fast, but Scott is angry and determined, and he catches up to him, tackling him to the ground.

“What on earth?” Jeff asks in exasperation. “Gordon you only had one job!”

Gordon struggles under Scott’s weight, as his eldest brother is now sitting on his chest, pinning his shoulders to the ground with his arms. “I got him here didn’t I?”

“Let him up Scott please” Jeff asks.

“What’s the magic word?” Scott asks Gordon.

“Abracadabra” Gordon replies.

“Scott” Jeff asks again.

And Scott knows that this is the best he can hope for as he rolls off his brother and allows him to stand. “Why are you here?” he asks his dad. “And what did you mean when you said you got me here?” he asks Gordon, now thoroughly confused by the whole matter.

“Come with me, and you will find out” Jeff replies cryptically.

Scott follows his father and brother along the sandy pathway leading to a small cove Gordon discovered during his first summer on the island, before he stops in his tracks at the scene in front of him.

All his favourite people in one place. something that rarely happens in his family. His brothers, even John, are all sitting on the floor around the preparations for a bonfire, yet to be lit.

“Scott come and sit down” Grandma calls him over. There is a smile on her face, as she pats a spare piece of sand next to her. Scott does as he is told, even though he is confused by what is happening.

He hasn’t even noticed a large pile of gifts, all neatly wrapped nearby where Alan is sat chatting to Colonel Casey.

“Why is everyone here?” he finally asks, unable to resist the temptation any longer.

“I TOLD YOU HE FORGOT!” Gordon cries gleefully.

“Forgot what?” Scott asks, racking his brains desperately for anything he might have missed. It definitely isn’t Christmas as the villa’s not been decorated. And it isn’t one of his brother’s birthdays as there is no way he would be allowed to forget those. Alan still drops gift hints for months before the big day.

“Hand it over John” Gordon says holding his hand out for his winnings. John reluctantly hands over a twenty dollar bill.

“Will someone please tell me what the heck is going on?” Scott asks. Unable to take the laughter any longer.

“What day is it?” Virgil asks, trying to help him out.

“Erm Wednesday?” Scott replies.

“It is Saturday Scott” Virgil replies rolling his eyes. “How about the month?”

Scott knows this one. As it was Alan’s birthday recently. “March” Scott says this time confidently.

“It’s April” Virgil says.

“No it isn’t. Alan’s birthday was the other day” Scott insists.

Virgil takes pity on his eldest brother. “Scott it’s the fourth of April. This is your birthday party!”

“It can’t be. I would know if it was April already. Gordon is this an April fools’ joke?” Scott asks, turning his attention to Gordon, who is sitting on Lady Penelope’s lap while she hand feeds him grapes. “And can’t you do that in private?”

“Nota April foolsh joke” Gordon confirms, his mouth full of half chewed grape.

“Ugh swallow first” Scott tells him disgusted, and still not convinced that it really is his birthday.

“Scott, it really is April. And it really is your birthday. I am sorry I gave Gordon the job if getting you down to the beach, but happy birthday son” Jeff tells him. “We are worried about you though. You have been working far too hard recently. You missed Gordon’s April fools’ day prank because you were on Mars with Alan. it was a good one this year too” he adds.

“What did he do?” Scott asks. Remembering that this is Jeff’s first April fools’ since he got back from the Oort cloud.

“Snuck into the GDF headquarters and left a notice on the board advising on a Chewbacca Roaring contest and to call my phone and leave a voicemail with their best effort and that I will judge them tomorrow. He even managed to set my phone to go straight to voicemail and put a message on it repeating the contest instructions.” Jeff tells him grinning.

“And you found that funny?” Scott asks.

“I did. And I have picked a winner already. Gordon will be paying the fifty-dollar reward though!” Jeff says.

“Worth it” Gordon says with a shrug. “But Scott, seriously open your presents already!”

Scott is still sceptical but he also knows that Colonel Casey and his father wouldn’t play a practical joke on him, maybe it really is his birthday.

Picking up the first gift from the pile. Scott knows without looking at it that this was wrapped by Gordon. It is wrapped in bright yellow paper and covered in so much tape he knows that it will take him hours to get in to! Sure enough the label reads “Yo scotty. Have fun getting into this. Love your favourite brother”

“Hey look, he’s picked your gift Gords” Alan says with a grin, grabbing his phone and loading up the timing app. “Ready Scott?” he asks.

“Ready for what?” Scott asks.

“Our party game; let’s see how long it takes you to get into the present. My guess is thirty-five minutes” Alan replies.

Scott knows that he should play along, this has always been one of their favourite traditions. An invention of Gordon’s the first year he was old enough to wrap gifts. “Fine. Start the count” he says.

“GO!” Alan calls.

Scott tries to slide his nail under the tape but it is impossible. He can’t deny that Gordon is the master. Turning the badly wrapped gift over in his hands, looking for a way in Scott gets more and more frustrated as the minutes tick by, and starts to chew his way in, finally biting a hole through the tape and into the paper.

“How long?” Gordon asks the official timekeeper.

“Six minutes, thirty-five seconds” Alan replies. “Dad and Colonel Casey have been eliminated from the game”

“You all had bets?” Scott asks, he is laughing now though. Finally starting to relax.

“Of course” Jeff tells him. “We have been planning this for weeks”

Scott is now working on making the hole bigger, sticking his thumb in and wriggling it about. the contents are confusing, as whatever is in here feels slimy.

Pulling out a piece of still wet seaweed Scott is confused. “Seaweed?” he asks Gordon.

Gordon grins at him. “Yep and there is something else in there too”

Scott pulls out the rest of his gift. A book.

“Stop the clock Al” Gordon says.

“Eleven minutes, twenty-two seconds” Alan announces, checking the contest list for the closest. “Hey Virg, you won!”

Virgil jumps up from the floor to do his victory dance, pumping his fist in the air and twirling around until he falls over his own feet. Picking himself up and spitting out sand, he turns to Scott. “What is the book Scott? I don’t think Gordon has ever even opened a book let alone bought one for someone else!”

Scott examines the books cover. “1001 of the weirdest laws in the world” he realises that one of the pages is bookmarked. Opening the book Scott reads the highlighted passage “In New Hampshire, it is illegal to collect and carry away seaweed at the beach, but only at night.”

“You didn’t?!” Scott asks, eyeing up his brother. “You went to New Hampshire in the middle of the night to get seaweed even though it is illegal?”

Unrepentant, Gordon nods. “Yeah I even borrowed thunderbird one. Do you like it?”

“Like it?!” Scott asks spluttering with laughter. “Only you Gords. Come here”

Gordon scrambles to his feet from Lady Penelope’s lap and runs over to Scott, who grabs him by the waist and tackles him to the ground. “Of course I like it! Who doesn’t love gifts that have been gathered illegally?”

The rest of Scott’s presents are more normal. A painting of Thunderbird One over the Island from Virgil, which will look great above his bed. “Thanks Virg. I love it” He says, now with genuine enthusiasm.

“The cavern quest expansion pack” Scott says opening up his gift from Alan.

“Yeah, I am going to need that back once you are done” Alan says.

“Sure” Scott replies, handing it over. He does not have the time to play mindless video games.

Alan rolls his eyes. “Scott. You have to play it first. Come and see me tomorrow and Kayo and I will teach you”

“You know I don’t have the time” Scott reminds them.

“You do, we cleared your schedule for the rest of the week. You are on vacation and we are going to teach you to have fun!” Alan insists.

“I know how to have fun” Scott insists.

“Scott, your idea of fun is doing paperwork, nagging me and cleaning your room” Gordon tells him.

Making the only decision that will allow him to keep his dignity, Scott ignores Gordon and goes back to his presents. This one is from Grandma and turns out to be vouchers for an evening out at his favourite restaurant. “Thanks Grandma, but can I leave Gordon and Alan here to eat your lasagne, they really like the way you leave it frozen in the middle but burn the top layer.”

“Scoooooo-oooooott!” Gordon and Alan whinge in unison.

“Call it big brother’s revenge!” Scott replies with a grin.

Their pouting doesn’t last long as Scott unwraps his gift from his father.

Shocked by the contents, Scott just stares at him.

“Well?” Jeff asks.

“I can’t” Scott insists. “International Rescue needs me. They need me”

Scott has been raising his younger brothers for so long, he has not had a proper vacation in years. But this states he can have a whole month away from all the worry and stress.

“We can cope. The GDF are going to take care of some of the simple rescues. The hood and the Chaos Crew are all safely locked away in the newly rebuilt Hex prison. I don’t think they liked the irony of being locked up in a prison they blew up!” Jeff says. “It is okay to admit you need a break Scott”

Scott can feel tears welling up in his eyes, and it his father who makes the first move, wrapping his arms around his eldest son, who has been so strong for so long.

“We love you Scooter” Jeff says. “You have held this family together beautifully, but please let me help you”

Scott nods. His head still buried on Jeff’s shoulder.

“If I do, please don’t let Gordon have Thunderbird one!” Scott says, trying to inject some humour into the situation.

“Oh I don’t know; he did a g-g-great job while you were on Mars. A-a-apart from the unauthorised t-t-trip to New Hampshire” Brains says.

“Oh don’t forget the drone he crashed into the Eiffel tower” John says.

“And the flood in the hangar when he was trying to clean off the mud off after he had to rescue the three explorers from a mudslide in Italy” Virgil says.

“Stop it, or he will never agree to leave” Jeff says.

“Where am I going to go?” Scott asks.

“Anywhere you want son” Jeff replies. Still holding him in his embrace. “We can talk about it after the party. Now how about you open some more presents, then we can get the bonfire started and grill some breakfast”

Scott doesn’t make an effort to move from Jeff’s side, but happily opens the rest of his presents. Finally realising that they are right, he has been so wrapped up in the problems of the world that he has been carrying that weight on his soul, and it is slowly crushing the life out of him. Maybe, just maybe he can take a vacation.

*TB*

The party lasts all day, thank you to the organisational skills of his family there are no emergency call outs, as Eos is forwarding the calls to local authorities and the GDF. The sun is starting to set, but the party is still going strong. Gordon and Lady Penelope have disappeared somewhere more private, but everyone else is there.

Alan is in charge of the music. Having set up a playlist and letting it go.

“GUYS COME ON! THIS IS MY FAVOURITE” Alan calls when the introduction to his favourite some comes on. “LINE UP”

No one moves as the opening lines of the macarena start up.

Alan grabs Jeff’s hands and pulls him into a standing position. “Come on dad, pleeeeeeaaaaassssssse!” he begs, giving his father the wide doe eyed start that no one, not even the great Jeff Tracy.

“Okay fine show me what to do” Jeff replies.

“Great! Okay Scott, Virgil, John, Grandma, Kayo, Parker, Brains, Colonel Casey” Alan calls while he starts going through the movements of the dance.

Virgil is the first to join in. knowing that Alan needs this just as much as Scott does. Taking his phone, he tries to contact Gordon. A family macarena isn’t the same without the family fish.

“Hey Virg, what’s up?” Gordon asks.

“Where are you?” Virgil asks.

“Thunderbird one with Pen” Gordon replies.

“Please tell me you’re just giving her a tour” Virgil asks facepalming.

“Sure” Gordon replies with a shrug.

“Anyway stop it, and get back to the beach, we are having a family dance off” Virgil says.

“You know I am going to win right?” Gordon asks, ringing off without giving Virgil a response. Pulling his shirt back on, he helps Lady Penelope zip back up her dress before they hop down from the pilots seat and exit Scott’s plane before running hand in hand back to the beach.

“The macarena?” Gordon says with a grin. “Put it back to the beginning Al”

Alan skips the track back to the start, and Gordon takes centre stage. Wriggling his hips before jumping up into the air crying “HEY MACARENA!” every single time.

Even Parker and Grandma join in. the move on to the cha cha slide and the YMCA before collapsing into a heap on the floor laughing.

“What song next DJ Allie?” Kayo asks. Even she has relaxed, her hair no longer in its customary tight pony tail but falling loosely around her shoulders.

Alan grins before jumping up to his feet and skipping over to his phone.

“No way. This I draw the line too!” Kayo says as the opening to baby shark starts to blare through the speakers.

“SCOTTY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO! Gordon starts. “SCOTTY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO”

John is the first to join in. “SCOTTY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO”

Jeff joins in too “SCOTTY SHARK!”

Kayo groans, but she knows when she is defeated. “VIRGY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO VIRGY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO VIRGY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO VIRGY SHARK!”

This is the version of the song Jeff would sing to Alan and Gordon to get them to sleep after their mom died. It never got them to agree to go to sleep but became a family tradition along with their bedtime stories.

“JOHNNY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO JOHNNY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO JOHNNY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO JOHNNY SHARK!

Lady Penelope is looking at the boys and Jeff like she has never seen them before while they do the baby shark song dance like the madmen, she always suspected they are. But she can’t help but join in.

“GORDY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO GORDY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO GORDY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO GORDY SHARK!”

“ALLIE SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO ALLIE SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO ALLIE SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO ALLIE SHARK!”

Lady Penelope stops there she has no idea what will come next, as there is no way they will hunt prey!

“TRAPPED IN A CAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO TRAPPED IN A CAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO TRAPPED IN A CAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO TRAPPED IN A CAVE”

“LET’S GO SAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO LET’S GO SAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO LET’S GO SAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO LET’S GO SAVE!”

“SAFE AT LAST DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO SAFE AT LAST DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO SAFE AT LAST DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO SAFE AT LAST!”

“You guys are too adorable” Lady Penelope says.

Night has fully fallen now, and with it the boys’ inhibitions and dignity have evaporated with the daylight and they are now dancing their way through whatever song that comes on. Wild songs that see them dancing round the fire all holding hands and laughing. Slow songs which Lady Penelope and Gordon take centre stage for, dancing like their the only two people in the world. Fast songs they dance wildly too.

“Is anyone going to bed?” Jeff asks, just after four o’clock. The fire is starting to die down now, and with it the temperature is dropping. He is starting to feel the chill in the air and he can tell by looking at Alan who is standing over the dying fire, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm that he is not the only one.

No one protests, as they tiredly march back to the house, Scott and Virgil taking the time to make sure the fire is out.

*TB*

“So, Gordy Shark” Lady Penelope says once they are alone in Gordon’s room. “Want round two of what we got up to in Thunderbird One?”

Gordon grins before he strips his shirt off and jumps into the bed.

*TB*

Scott leaves for his vacation the following afternoon, carrying one rucksack full of everything he is going to need for his trip, after forcing all four of his brother’s sign a contract that they will tell him immediately if he is needed.

There is an immense feeling of relief as he gets settled in the cabin he has rented, looking out of the window at the sun glittered lake. This is the perfect place, miles away from civilisation and the problems he deals with every day.

The only issue he faces here, is will he want to return to that chaos when his dream holiday is over?

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds 2015 #tag team secret santa #secret santa 2020 #Scott Tracy #jeff tracy #John Tracy #alan tracy #Virgil Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Lady Penelope #colonel casey

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chocoluckchipz · 4 years

Text

The Other You - 22

Read it on A03, FF.net, WattPad

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It didn’t make sense.

His head spun, the burning feeling in his chest intensifying with every passing moment.

It shouldn’t make sense!

Missing someone who was probably happy he was out of her life shouldn’t even exist as a concept.

It wasn’t fair!

She made him suffer like never before. She took his heart and trampled on it without a care in the world. Granted, he wasn’t all that innocent himself, but all he wanted was to help her. Why couldn’t she see that?

Yes, he wasn’t perfect. But she wasn’t either. Just look where he found her those few months back. At the end of her wits and her humanity. And yet he still recognized the goodness hidden deep inside her, accepted and loved her with all her peculiarities and flaws which weren’t many but still… Why couldn’t she do the same for him? Was he that unlovable?

Why did it take her so long to think about it? What was there even to think about? She either wanted him or she didn’t.

Adrien gritted his teeth, his fists tightening.

And why did he have to be the one stuck loving someone who couldn’t care less about him? He’d never asked to be so “lucky”.

Lump in his throat, he closed his eyes, trying to ignore the force that gripped his heart.

“You gonna sleep anytime soon?” Plagg grumbled from his bed. “I thought alcohol was supposed to knock you out, not make you even more restless.”

“Maybe I didn’t drink enough,” Adrien grunted and tried to sit up. “I’ll go get some more.”

“No!” Plagg zoomed to his face and glared. “You’ve had more than enough. Go to bed. Sleep it off.”

“But, Plagg. I’m sure a little more will help me forget—"

“Bed!” Plagg hissed. “Or I’m going to go get Ladybug and let her deal with you and your childish ways. Would you like that?”

Adrien pouted and plopped back onto his bed, covering himself with a blanket up to his head. “You’re so mean. I should’ve given you away too.”

“You should’ve,” Plagg grumbled, flying back to his spot. “But, since you didn’t, deal with it like a man. Not an overgrown baby.”

“I am a man, unlike someone." Adrien stuck out his tongue in Plagg's general direction and turned away, his eyes falling on the lucky charm Marinette once gave him on his nightstand.

Why hadn't he thrown it out yet?

He grabbed the string of beads and froze, the coolness of the material burning his palm.

Oh. Yes… Because he still loved her. Because he was still hoping she’d give him another chance.

Bringing the charm close to his chest, he curled in on himself, memories of Marinette vibrant in his mind. The evenings they spent together, those delicious meals she cooked just for him, video game competitions, bantering and joking around… The kiss they had shared, the softness of her lips, her scent… The feeling of her delicate skin under his fingers haunted his dreams on a nightly basis. She was his warmth. She was his light. His hope for a brighter future. She was his everything.

And he lost her.

He was so happy with her. Happy and loved and accepted. He was always welcomed and cherished at her home. At least he felt like he was…

Was it all an illusion?

Did he imagine it all?

The cursed lump in his throat grew bigger, making it hard for him to breathe. Adrien bit into his lip trying to suppress the tears that threatened to fall.

Gosh, he missed her so much!

He’d never missed anyone this badly.

Nothing had hurt him more than the absence of Marinette.

He wished she’d make up her mind already, whichever way it went, because uncertainty was killing him. The wait was quickly becoming unbearable.

“Listen, kid.” Plagg snuck under his blanket and cuddled to his chest. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes because this is getting ridiculous. I know you’re hurting but you can’t let anger and despair overtake you. Sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

“I’m fine—”

A low rumble rolled against his chest. Adrien froze.

“Are you—”

“In your dreams! See? Alcohol’s getting to you. You’re hallucinating already. Go to sleep!”

Adrien quietly chuckled and cuddled Plagg closer. What a bad liar he was. Always refusing to admit he cared for Adrien. He shouldn’t deny that, though. Adrien loved his grumpy, cheese-obsessed kwami of destruction too much for his own good. Plagg didn't even have to threaten the destruction of Paris if Adrien were to surrender his miraculous to Marinette. Adrien wasn't even entertaining the idea in the first place.

Closing his eyes, Adrien let Plagg’s purring lure him to relax, sleep slowly overtaking him.

Good.

He needed to sleep.

He had to forget.

Perhaps, move on.

Get over Marinette.

He must…

He wasn’t sure he ever would.

***

Every muscle in his body hurt.

So did his head.

He could’ve drunk an ocean if given the chance.

He had to get up for that.

Adrien groaned, shifting in his bed, immediately regretting ever moving.

Perhaps getting drunk wasn’t the best of his ideas. He had to try, though, because binging anime and stuffing himself with junk food for days in a row didn’t help him forget or ease the pain. It didn't make waiting for her decision any easier either. He thought alcohol would do the trick, but it seemed all it did was intensify his already messed-up emotions for the evening, gifting him nothing but a headache and misery in the morning.

Bad choice. He’d think twice before going down that road again.

His stomach growled.

Plagg grumbled beside him. “Make it stop. It’s impossible to sleep with that earthquake in your belly. Go feed yourself or something. Don’t touch my beloved.”

Adrien closed his eyes for a moment. Perhaps he should put something in his stomach. Surely, he can still find something edible in the kitchen.

But water first.

Then, painkillers.

Adrien slowly got up, somehow stumbling to his en-suite. Splashing cold water on his face, he shuffled to the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards. The dangerously sugary American cereal box was empty. Frozen waffles were gone. Ice cream didn’t appeal at the moment. A single egg and a few bacon strips lay on the top shelf in the fridge. Perhaps he could fry those. Marinette taught him once how to do that.

Painkiller first, though. And some water. He was dying of thirst.

“Don’t burn the house down.” Plagg flew into the kitchen as soon as Adrien cracked the egg into the frying pan.

“I’m not that hopeless,” Adrien deadpanned, the painkiller, thank heaven, starting to work.

“Sure,” Plagg mocked him, heading straight for his Camembert stash.

Adrien should probably buy him more. If he remembered correctly there was only one wheel left. Surprisingly, Plagg wasn’t complaining yet. Just as he surprisingly had yet to…

“You know, I’m impressed. It’s been a few days and you’ve yet to nag me with ‘I told you so’.”

Plagg yawned, cradling a wedge of Camembert in his paws. “Should I?”

“Well, yes. You did warn me. I didn’t listen and look where we are now. So, go ahead—lecture me all you want. I deserve it.”

“Kid, I’m the kwami of destruction, not a heartless monster. I’m not about to kick you when you’re already down.”

“Maybe if you lectured me more, I’d stay out of trouble.”

“You’ve had enough lecturing from your father for three lifetimes. Did it help? Give yourself a break. You’re human. You’re bound to make mistakes.”

Adrien didn’t answer, turning his attention to the pan. The egg started to whiten, so he salted and peppered it just like Marinette had shown him, and stared at it intently until it was time to flip it over. Once it was ready, he transferred it to a plate and started on the bacon.

“Do you regret it?”

“Regret what?”

“Getting involved in all of this.”

Adrien had never thought about it but if he had to give an answer… “Only that it didn’t work out between us. But otherwise, no. I can’t say I regret anything.”

Plagg quirked an eyebrow. “How come?”

Adrien shrugged, flipping the bacon. “We helped someone in a bad situation get back on their feet. And not just Marinette. A whole lot of people at Gabriel as well. I can’t regret that. Yeah, I got hurt, but I’m sure Marinette’s hurting more. Finding out it was me, going behind her back again, all while I knew she didn’t want me getting involved… She must be thinking I didn’t think she could do this. I must have totally destroyed whatever little trust she had in me.” He paused for a moment, his eyes focused on the bacon in his pan, but seeing nothing, his vision starting to blur. “I was stupid. I should’ve… I don’t know, done something differently, right? Perhaps—"

“Don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying.”

“How do you still have tears in you? You’ve been bawling your eyes out for days.”

“Plagg, I’m not—”

“Your bacon’s burning.”

Adrien quickly swallowed the lump in his throat, taking the slightly too-crisp bacon out of the pan. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm down and get a grip.

In and out.

This was normal. Just another stage in his grieving process. He had a right to grieve. Because despite Marinette leaving him a message in which she apologized for her reaction to his reveal and asked for time to pull herself together, make sense of everything, and to think about her feelings and what she wanted to do next, Adrien felt that the battle was already lost. That tiny flickering of hope that still burned in his chest was growing smaller with each passing day, and soon he’d have to admit that he had lost both of them: Marinette, the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and Ladybug, his best friend and partner for a decade. He had a right to mourn that.

Adrien headed to the washroom to splash some more water on his face and compose himself. A mess of a human being, a far cry from his former, glorious supermodel-self, looked at him from the mirror. Adrien closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing.

He had to get a hold of his emotions.

He couldn’t be like this forever.

He had to move on.

He would move on!

Unless she’d want him back…

Who was he kidding? His own father didn't want him and he’d done nothing but obeyed Gabriel his whole life. Why would Marinette want him after he’d repeatedly broken her trust and her heart? So, he’d better start working on getting over her with a proper meal of bacon and eggs instead of whatever garbage he’d been surviving on the last few days.

Five minutes later he was settling down at the table, a look of uncertainty in his eyes as he beheld his meal. It looked nothing like what Marinette would’ve made. The egg seemed decent, but the bacon was half-burned. He cut a little of the egg and tasted it, grimacing right away. Way too salty. Not enough pepper. A bit pathetic.

Just like him.

“Don’t worry. Not everything’s lost yet,” Plagg said, plopping on the table in front of him. “She hasn’t replied to your letter yet, so you never know. Maybe she’ll fly to your side soon enough with a pot of steaming stew and a warm pie in her hands and all will be great again.”

“Seriously?” Adrien glared at Plagg. “Not everything in this life is about food, Plagg.”

“Yeah, tell yourself that when there is a meal made by Marinette in front of you on the table.”

Adrien let out a disapproving grunt and pushed away his plate. “I’m nothing but a nuisance. She’ll be better off without me.”

“That’s your depression talking,” Plagg grumbled. “We’ve been over this already multiple times, and I'm not singing your praises again. Better get yourself together and get outside. That’ll do you some good.”

Adrien mentally protested. He didn’t want to go anywhere!

“Adrien,” Plagg kept on nagging. “I get that you’re hurting but you can’t bury yourself here. You have Gabriel to take care of and don't forget your teaching job is starting again in a few weeks.”

“I know,” Adrien grumbled, taking his plate and throwing the barely touched food out. It wasn’t edible anyway. “Not today, though. I don’t feel like it.”

Plagg flew right in Adrien’s face and grabbed him by his nose. “You’ll never feel like it if you don’t push yourself to change something. Go outside. You need fresh air. Meet with a friend. Give it some time, kid. It’ll get better. It will. I promise. But only if you stop burying yourself alive.”

A short moment later a soft sigh escaped his lips as Adrien cradled Plagg in his palms, bringing him to his chest for a hug. “Thanks, Plagg. I’ll try. For you.”

He did his best. Adrien forced himself to shower, wear something apart from his oversized t-shirt and lounge pants, and go shopping for groceries. Then, he called Nino and rescheduled the lunch he’d canceled yesterday for Tuesday. He even cleaned his apartment, going as far as packing all things related to Marinette in a separate box, kicking himself again and again for still hoping she’d forgive him. It was pathetic, he knew that. But he couldn’t just order his heart to stop loving the girl he’d been in love with for almost half of his life. No one could do that in a matter of days.

In the evening, Adrien transformed and ran a few laps around the city to unwind as fast as he could, making sure to stick to darker areas in case Ladybug was out. Marinette did ask him to give her time and space, but that didn’t mean Chat Noir had to disappear. Adrien just couldn’t do that. He loved being Chat Noir. He loved the freedom, the rush, the adrenaline it allowed him. It did wonders for his physical and mental health, and in his current condition, it would’ve been awfully stupid of him to give that up. So after much deliberation with Plagg, he’d figured that as long as he could make it quick enough to avoid being detected, he should be fine.

Standing atop the Eiffel Tower at the end of his run was exhilarating. Chat breathed in deeply and closed his eyes, taking in the muffled noise of the city below. He’d never be able to give this up. With a slight smile on his lips, he quietly bid farewell to the view and sprinted back home.

“What’s for dinner?” Plagg yawned as Adrien dropped his transformation upon entering his apartment. “I’m starving.”

“Your cheese is in the fridge.”

“And you?”

Adrien shrugged. “Not hungry.”

“You’ve got to eat, kid.”

“Later.”

Adrien plopped on his sofa and stared at the ceiling. His mind somewhat clearer after the run, he tried to think about what his next move should be. Were Marinette to kick him to the curb, adjustments in his life would be necessary to make. Chat Noir, for example, would have to go out in secret and as little as possible, and Adrien Agreste would have to sell his Gabriel shares and go back to teaching physics to a bunch of teenagers in a few weeks.

Adrien shifted, turning to lie on his stomach. Unexpectedly even to him, he had kind of taken a liking to Gabriel as of late. He’d always liked solving problems and once he got over the initial shock of being a CEO of a fashion empire, Adrien realized that running it was just a huge puzzle to be solved. And he liked puzzles. All he had to do was learn the rules of this particular one and the rest came to him naturally.

One of the things Adrien especially enjoyed was seeing how his changes transformed Gabriel into an effective and comfortable workplace, a far cry from the state his father had left it in. Its employees these days looked happier, less stressed, and more confident than ever, improving their output and the quality of their work as a result. Quitting slowly stopped. They had even hired new people recently, and Adrien predicted that after Fashion Week’s success, they’d easily be able to replace all of the people who left with qualified professionals.

He shifted again. Back on his back, he covered his face with his hands. The last thing he wanted now was to sell Gabriel off to some random stranger who might be looking at it as a money-making machine instead of the living, breathing organism requiring love and care that it was. Perhaps, he could interview the potential buyers himself and try to figure out who would be the best fit for the company. It wouldn’t even be about the money. Adrien had a decent salary from his teaching job and had inherited a fortune from his father, large enough for a few lifetimes. He’d have to talk to his lawyer first and see what options he had. Because if Marinette wouldn't want him in her life, he’d have no choice but to sell. He doubted she’d want to see him at her workplace, even if once in a while. He wasn’t sure he could handle that either.

His stomach growled for the umpteenth time. Plagg nagged him again. Adrien groaned and got up. Dinner it was, no matter how much he dreaded it.

He shuffled to the kitchen and opened one of the cupboards, taking out the last package of cup noodles. Kettle on, he glanced into the fridge. He’d forgotten to buy pre-packaged salads again. Oh well, not the first time. The water boiled. Adrien poured it into his noodles and sat at the table, waiting for them to cook. He wrapped his palms around the cup to warm them up.

“Plagg?”

“Trying to sleep.”

Adrien let a puff of air out. “Good night, Plagg.”

The kwami muttered something incomprehensible in return as Adrien peeled the cover off the noodle cup and picked up his fork. Tasteless and gooey. Mushy in places and hard in others. He didn’t enjoy them; he never did, but they were enough to survive on and that was all that mattered.

He shoved one more bite into his mouth and chewed. Marinette would never eat this. She’d cook something and no matter how simple or extravagant the dish was, it’d taste divine. His mouth watered at just the thought.

Their banter was even better than their meals. Marinette was always a great conversation companion, having tons of stories and opinions.

She was smart and funny. She made him laugh like he’d never laughed before. She was sassy and always had a comeback for every one of his smart remarks. She wore her heart on her sleeve. Her face, her voice, her body language always softened when she talked about her loved ones. And her passion? Excitement would be palpable in the air as she told him over and over again all about her designs and everything related to them. At moments like those, she shone her brightest.

He wiped away a tear. Another one slipped out of his other eye. Adrien put the fork down and pushed the noodles away.

He couldn’t stomach them anymore.

A glass of water didn't help and once again, he went through his bedtime routine on autopilot, hiding under his comforter right after. Her lucky charm clutched in his fist, Adrien swaddled himself in his sheets. His eyes drooping closed, he hugged his pillow close, finally letting his tears roll freely.

He’d get over her one day.

He knew that.

That day, however, hadn’t arrived yet.

***

Monday morning, Adrien contacted his lawyer and set up a meeting for that afternoon. An hour before their appointment, his lawyer called to reschedule, saying he had a family emergency and wouldn’t be able to meet up with Adrien until at least Wednesday.

The next few days, Adrien spent doing nothing in particular. At Plagg’s insistence, he got out of the apartment to take walks around the city and snuck out as Chat Noir after dark. He met Nino for lunch on Tuesday, discovering, much to his surprise, that Nino seemed to be blissfully unaware of anything going awry between Adrien and Marinette. He even invited Adrien to Alya’s birthday celebration in a few weeks, which Marinette was certain to attend as well. Adrien didn’t refuse, only mentioning that he might have to stay away if Marinette wasn’t comfortable with him, to which Nino replied that based on what he’d heard from Alya, Marinette shouldn’t have any issues with him attending.

On Wednesday at two o’clock, Adrien sat down with his lawyer in a VIP lounge of his favourite restaurant to brainstorm ideas and possible courses of action regarding a potential Gabriel sale.

After about an hour, both men concluded that to fully grasp all the peculiarities of the situation, they had to consult a few other professionals in the area.

“I’ll let you know what my accountant suggests in a few days.” The lawyer stood up. “Now, I must apologize and depart.”

“I hope your wife gets better soon,” Adrien said, shaking the man’s hand. “Can’t imagine how hard it must be for your family right now.”

“Thank you. The doctor’s prognosis is promising so we’re hoping for the best. I’ll see you soon, Adrien.” The man was about to depart when he remembered something and, opening one of his folders, pulled out a white envelope. “I was asked to give this to you by one of your employees.”

Adrien quirked an eyebrow. “Oh? Who?”

“I don’t know. I just stopped by your office to pick up a few documents before our meeting on Monday and some girl came in looking for you. I mentioned I’d be seeing you later that day, so she gave it to me but then…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Adrien put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Go to your wife. She needs you more than I do right now.”

“Thank you,” the lawyer gave him a smile and put the letter in his hands before departing.

Adrien sat down and opened the envelope, pulling out a single sheet of paper with cursive handwriting on it.

His heart skipped a beat.

He knew that writing.

He knew who put little hearts over all the ‘i’s.

He’d waited for it. He knew it was coming, but now that Marinette’s reply was in his hands, Adrien didn’t know what to feel or do or say or even think. One way or another, whatever she wrote in there would change his world. Without much thinking, Adrien read.

“Hello, Adrien.

I apologize for taking such a long time to reply, but I didn’t want to rush into anything. I wanted to be absolutely sure of what I’m about to say, so I had to really think this through. I’m also sorry for writing a letter instead of coming to you face to face, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to say everything I want to tell you in person. I’m not sure if you’re still willing to listen to me. So, a letter it is. I hope that’s okay with you.

Before I start, though, I wanted to thank you for your letter and for telling me the whole truth. I really appreciate it. I think it would be fair for me to share all of my secrets with you as well, just like you did.

I guess, technically, I have only one, but it seems to be big enough to cause all of this commotion. Because you see, I wasn’t avoiding Adrien because I hated him. I was running away because I was falling back in love with him—”

Adrien froze.

Did he read that right?

He reread the sentence a few more times.

She was falling back in love with him?

She didn’t hate him?

SHE LOVED HIM???

“… I was running away because I was falling back in love with him, and I couldn’t afford for that to happen. I loved Chat Noir. I was dating Chat Noir. I couldn't and didn't want to be unfaithful.

I do admit, I’ve spent years hating you for what happened back in the day. When you reappeared in my life, I still despised you; but then, I slowly started to see who you really are and what I saw wasn’t the vicious, petty man I’d painted in my mind. You were kind and protective, someone who made a mistake following his good intentions and sincerely regretted it. I must admit I didn’t handle that situation in the best way, for which I’m sincerely regretful. That’s why I didn’t want to rush into anything. I don’t want to repeat my mistakes and hurt you again.

After we talked about the past and made our apologies, I was starting to think that maybe we could be friends again. The day you took me out for lunch was the day I understood that ‘just a friend’ and ‘Adrien Agreste’ weren’t compatible in my head or my heart. I either had to hate you or fall in love with you. That wasn’t fair to Chat Noir who’d waited years for me to get my life together. I loved him. I couldn’t betray him. That’s why I pushed him to confess to Ladybug. That’s why I revealed myself. I thought if I was dating Chat Noir, my attraction and longing for Adrien would vanish.

I was wrong. Terribly so. Chat was pulling away and at the same time Adrien had become so irresistibly sweet and kind, and I just couldn't keep myself in check anymore. A little more and I don't know what would've happened. That’s why I ran. Not from you, Adrien. From my feelings. That’s why I said all of those hurtful things at the gala. You told me as Ladybug that you loved Marinette. So, I thought if Marinette were awful to you, if she cut you out of her life completely and destroyed all hopes for a relationship, then you’d move on to someone else and my feelings for you would slowly disappear.

I'm so sorry for my actions that night. You didn't deserve what I put you through. My only excuse is that I was desperate to stay faithful to Chat, but even so, I crossed too many lines in my blind quest and I hope I’ll be able to apologize properly to you one day.

And then, when you revealed yourself, I was so shocked I couldn’t move or talk or even think straight. I know I hurt you. I swear I wanted to go find you, but Tikki stopped me and, to be honest, I’m grateful to her for that. She said you deserved an answer to your question the next time we met, and that night I didn’t have one for you. If I had found you that night, I would’ve rushed into something neither of us might have been ready for, or I might have hurt both of us again. I don't know what would’ve happened, but I want to get it right this time, so I had to step back, calm down, and think about it all.

I do have an answer for you now if you still want to hear it, and I’m 100% certain of what I’m about to say.

Can I look at Adrien and tell him I love him just as much as Chat Noir?

Yes, I can.

I love you, Adrien.

He sucked in the air, his breathing halting. Heart threatening to jump out of his chest, Adrien couldn't keep a smile off his face.

She loved him.

She loved him!

HIM!

LOVED!!!

Adrien reread the last four words a thousand times before proceeding.

All of you.

The one who’s been by my side all of these years as my loyal partner and the one whom I’ve so unfairly doubted and cruelly hurt.

Adrien, I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am for our masks right now. Without them, I would've never spent years getting to know you as Chat Noir and never would’ve come to see the real you—the man beneath my biases and assumptions. Without the masks, I would've never fallen in love with your beautiful soul and your overwhelmingly kind heart. There is no doubt in my mind that you’re a good person, Adrien. The best one I’ve ever met.

I know I can trust you.

With my life and with my heart.

If you still want it.

So, there. That’s my secret. I’m leaving it up to you now. If you think we should give us another try, I’m more than willing to. I’m sure it won’t be easy, and we’ll have to learn to communicate and stop keeping secrets from each other… but I want to give us a fair chance. I don’t believe we had one.

If that’s something you want too, find me before Wednesday at 3 pm. I got a job offer from Muï Muï. My train for Milan departs at 3:15 pm from Gare de Lyon. I wanted to refuse them at first, but then I thought that if you didn’t want me back, I should be the one to step away. Firstly, because it’ll be easier to get over each other if we’re living in different countries. Secondly, because you can’t leave Gabriel, Adrien. You made such a huge difference in the company. People are enjoying themselves now. They are eager to create and become better because they know they work for someone who cares. You have a kind and compassionate soul. That’s all that’s needed to head Gabriel. Please, don’t leave them. If we aren’t meant to be together, let me be the one to leave. I’ll be perfectly happy in Milan. Gabriel may never have another leader as great as you.

That’s it. I’ll stop now. It’s getting late and I’m pretty sure I already wrote everything I wanted. I took a week off, so I’ll be home most of the time packing.

If, by some miracle, you find me worthy of a second chance, I’ll be waiting for you any time of the day or night. If you think it's better for us to go our separate ways, I’ll leave on Wednesday at 3:15 pm. If I don’t see you by then, I’ll know your answer.

In any case, thank you for everything. Thank you for helping me achieve my dream. Thank you for loving and respecting me so much you allowed yourself to be hurt. I am so, so sorry about everything again. I hope you can forgive me one day.

I love you.

Marinette.

P.S. Since you aren’t coming to collect the rent fee I still owe you, I’ve been freezing meals for you with reheating instructions attached. After I’m gone, you’ll find them all in your freezer. I also wrote down a few recipes of your favourite dishes and left them on the kitchen table. They’re pretty easy to make, so I’m sure you’ll be able to handle them.

P.P.S. Of course, you can keep Plagg. Just let me know how I can find him if I need to.

P.P.P.S. I’m also furious you kept self-akumatizing yourself for weeks. Do you even know how dangerous it is?! There are reasons there always, ALWAYS two people involved in this, and no, I don’t consider Plagg a full-fledged person no matter how good of a job he did de-akumatizing you. However, no matter how angry about this I am, I have to thank you. I could never have done this without ‘Felix’ and his help. So, thank you, but DON'T YOU DARE ever think about doing it again. If you do, I swear, I won’t care that you’re Chat Noir, my loyal partner for a decade, I WILL kick your butt all the way down the Eiffel Tower and then some.”

Adrien laughed. Ladybug was always so adorable when she was annoyed or angry at him. Reading the letter, he could practically see her glaring at him, her lips pursed, eyebrows knit in a frown, a hint of smoke coming out of her ears. She never was angry for long, though. She was too kind for that.

His eyes went back to the words before all of the postscripts, running over them again and again.

I love you.

She loved him!

His heart quickened its pace as he grinned harder.

Marinette loved him.

She didn’t hate him; she loved him! And she wanted to give them another try, to give him a second chance.

Why would she even think he wouldn’t want that? Who did she think he was? Silly girl. Of course, he—

His breath hitched, grin vanishing from his lips. He pulled out his cellphone and looked at today’s date on the lock screen.

No.

Wednesday.

3:00 pm.

He had fifteen minutes to stop Marinette before she left Paris thinking he didn’t want anything to do with her. Bone-chilling cold gripped his chest. Adrien shook it off, standing up and gathering his things.

He couldn’t let her go again.

Not when they finally had a viable chance at happiness. Dropping money for the lunch on the table, he ran to the nearest hiding spot, clutching the letter in his hand.

He could make it there in time, but he had to hurry.

“Plagg! Claws out!”

Chat Noir ran as fast as he could towards a big dome in the distance. Gare de Lyon. He could see it, but it would take him at least ten minutes to get there.

Chat pushed himself harder, hoping to defy time.

He had to get there faster.

He couldn’t let her go.

He couldn’t let her think he didn’t want her.

He couldn’t…

Trains came into his view. Out of breath, Chat dropped onto the roof of the building. Below him lay a labyrinth of train tracks, metro connections, shops, and people. Crowds, thousands of people walking around. How was he supposed to find her here?

He noticed an information bulletin and ran towards it. The train for Milan was leaving in a few minutes. Thankfully, the platform he needed was right there. He glanced at the entrance. Huge lines of people were scanning their tickets to access the platform. He had to get past them. He also had to get away from the people gawking at him and trying to get his attention. He had no time for fans right now. He had to find Marinette.

Using his staff, Chat got back to the roof and ran past the ticket checkpoint, descending into the underground pass between the platforms. He quickly found a nook to de-transform and ran out to the platform just in time to see the train depart.

His heart sank.

No!

NO!

Adrien ran after it.

“Marinette! Marinette, wait!”

The train didn’t stop, but when Adrien reached the end of the platform, he had to. Out of breath, he grabbed a nearby pole to hold on to, watching the train carry his love away.

This wasn’t fair.

This couldn’t be happening.

He came.

He ran!

As fast as he could.

Why?

“You can’t do this!” Adrien cried out after the train without thinking. “This isn’t fair! I had fifteen minutes! Fifteen minutes to get here!”

His vision blurred, but Adrien raised the letter in his hand and yelled again. “You can’t tell me all of this and then leave! I didn’t get to answer!”

His fists clenched. He didn’t care what the people around him thought. “You know what? I’m not letting you get away like this! I’m buying a ticket for the next train to Milan and I’m going to find you and give you my answer! You said it yourself we have to learn to communicate, so that is what I’m doing!”

Straightening up, he pressed his lips together and turned around, ready to fulfill his words, only to freeze in place. A few meters away in a red dress with her hair down, stood Marinette. Her eyes wide, cheeks flushed, she clutched her luggage, watching him silently.

Her name slipped from his lips.

He swallowed and held up her letter. “Is this still true? Did you mean it?”

“Every word,” she breathed out.

That was all that Adrien needed to hear. With an urgent stride, he walked up to her and, pulling her close, captured her lips in a kiss. The world around them vanished, erupting in a symphony only they could hear. She sighed against him, her hands on his shirt, tugging him close. Hot breaths mingling, their lips moved in unison. Adrien slid one of his hands to the small of her back and pulled her closer, holding her as though she were the most precious treasure he'd ever beheld. Her arms wrapped around his neck, a barely audible moan escaping her lips. Adrien groaned and deepened the kiss. She whimpered but allowed him the freedom. His heart threatened to burst, fire burning in the pit of his stomach. Adrien kissed her more fervently with each passing moment, getting lost in their closeness. Her scent, the warmth of her body, her burning touch. His knees were giving out, but he refused to let her go.

What if she disappeared on him again?

He wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle that.

He pulled her even closer, holding on as tight as he could. In vain. A few moments later, she pulled back, gasping for air. He tightened his hold on her, leaning forward so their foreheads touched. “Please, don’t go. Stay. I want you to stay with me.”

“I will,” she whispered, her cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling with tears. “I want to stay with you too.”

He lowered his head again, peppering her lips with sweet, gentle kisses.

Marinette giggled, losing composure. Her tears spilled as she buried her face in his chest and sobbed. “I’m so sorry. I was so stupid. I hurt you so much.”

“I wasn’t at my best either,” he whispered into her hair. “You’re right—we didn't really have a fair shot at this. But we’ll talk and figure this thing out, okay?”

She quietly nodded, her face still hidden in his shirt. “I was so scared you wouldn’t show up.”

“I only got your letter twenty minutes ago. I ran as fast as I could but it wasn’t enough. I’m sorry I made you worry.”

She shook her head, her hold on him tightening. “That’s fine. It helped me realize even more how much I want to be with you.”

A lump stuck in his throat, Adrien cradled her in his arms. “You didn’t get on the train.”

“I waited for you on the platform a minute too long.”

He smiled. “You knew I’d come?”

“I was really hoping you would.”

He kissed her again, light butterfly kisses at the corner of her lips, her nose, that pretty forehead of hers.

Wiping her tears, Marinette giggled, her voice ringing like tiny bells in springtime.

“Let’s go home,” Adrien said, pulling away, yet keeping her in his arms.

“We should. We have a lot to talk about.”

“That and I believe I owe you cuddles and kisses for all the times I held back. Ugh, that was so hard!” he bemoaned dramatically. “I wouldn’t wish the experience even on my enemies.”

She laughed, bopping his nose as she pulled out of his embrace. “We have plenty of time to catch up on that as well. I took a week off work and I heard you weren’t showing up either.”

“I needed some time off.”

“How convenient for us we both have no obligations for a few more days. Plenty of time to talk things through.”

He grinned and took her luggage. “Then let’s not waste a single minute, my Lady. This cat is at your service.”

She let a teasing smile play on her lips. “That’s a dangerous offer you’re making there, Adrien. What if I intend to capitalize on it to the fullest?”

“I insist you do.” He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Anything for you, Princess. I love you. I always did. I always will.”

“I love you too,” she whispered in response, pulling him down for another kiss. “With all my heart. Forever and then some.”

Next >

#miraculous ladybug #marichat #adrienette #ml #chat noir #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #ladybug #the other you

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dreamescapeswriting · 4 years

Text

BTS Reaction || Bittersweet Song [Request]

A/N: Me being a big dumb dumb didn’t know what Bittersweet was so I had to redo everything lmaooooo hope this is okay. And for anyone like me [Bittersweet - Sweet with a bitter aftertaste]

Seokjin: - Send My Love - Adele

You were walking down the red carpet of the Grammy's, you were up for an award for your new song and you knew that the person that the song was about was going to be there which made you nervous. Every two seconds you were looking over your shoulder for him but you hadn't seen him yet,

"So, Y/n. You're up for an award for your song Send My Love, do you want to give us an exclusive on who the song is about?" You laughed at the interviewer and shook your head at him, something you would never do was tell anyone about who it was about. Your relationship with him was hidden for years because of both of your famous lifestyle.

"I can't." You giggled shaking your head at the camera,

"In the song, you mention that you aren't kids anymore...Does this mean you were together since you were young?" You ignored his question like you were told by management and you moved onto the next interviewer.

Jin stared at you the whole night, he'd heard the song. Everyone had heard the song it was all over the internet with theories about who it was about, it even had him invested although he knew the song was about him and you.

"Maybe you can just give us the initials of his name?" Another interviewer said you'd had enough of the same question over and over again and turned around to leave bumping straight into Jin. His hands held onto your arms to stop you from falling over and you both locked eyes, neither of you moving from the position. You felt your breathing stop as he stared down into your eyes and he felt his heart skip a beat as he held you in his arms again.

"Y/n, you have to be more careful." Your manager yelled but neither you or Jin were paying attention to anything happening around you, all either of you cared about was staying in that position long enough to take a final look at one another.

"We have to go." Your manager said taking your hand and walking you into the building to find out where you would be sitting for the evening.

(X)

"Jin is the owner of Y/n's heart! Send my love is about Jin?" You read through the articles the next morning, someone had taken the photos of you and Jin from the night before and placed them all over the articles. People drawing their own conclusions on the way you stared at each other, not just on the carpet but throughout the show. He was stealing glances from the row in front of you whenever you weren't looking and people put the clips of you singing on stage next to a video of Jin reacting with his head down looking at the ground.

"Why did you have to bump into him? This could have blown over easily." You stared at your manager,

"Oh, so this is somehow my fault?" You asked throwing your phone down onto the table and throwing your head back, you just wanted to go back to bed but you had an interview later that day and that was all the questions were going to be about now.

"Fuck." You cried out wanting nothing more than to ignore the world for the day but knowing you couldn't.

Yoongi: When I was Your Man - Cover by Madilyn Bailey

Your cover of the song was everywhere that Yoongi went, he couldn't go anywhere without hearing it. It was on in the car, in the studio and even in the coffee shop that he went to every lunch. Every radio stationed seemed it was a good idea to play the song that ended him, made him crumble up whenever he heard your voice singing the words that sounded as though they should have been loving but weren't.

"Should have gave me all your hours when you had the chance." He heard your voice again and turned off the radio in the car earning looks from Namjoon, everyone knew what happened between you both but no one talked about it. Yoongi didn't want to talk about it, it haunted every time he thought about you for even a second.

"She's giving an interview online later," Jungkook told him, they'd been trying to tell him all day and Jungkook was the only one brave enough to just bring it up as a casual conversation between friends, Yoongi stared at him and then to his phone. You were still his lock screen and home screen, you were his everything still but you weren't together. You weren't going to be together anymore,

(X)

You sat at the piano finishing the last chords of the song as you sang into the microphone, looking up to make eye contact with the camera, everything you'd been taught to do by your managers.

"But I just want you to know, He buys me flowers. He holds my hand...Give's me all his hours, cos he had the chance." A tear rolled down your cheek as you broke into the larger notes, thoughts of nothing but Yoongi running around your mind.

"Takes me to all the parties cause he remembers how much I love to dance, does all the things you should've done when you were my man." The studio began clapping and you sent them a fake smile, getting up from the piano and going over to the sofa to sit with the interviewer for questions.

"We all love your cover of Bruno Mars' song, even Mr Bruno Mars himself." The interviewer said clapping his hand and then leaning forward on his legs.

"But we have to know...You sing with such passion and love in that song, who are you thinking about when you sing?" Yoongi stared at you through the phone, you were sitting nervously on the sofa. Twirling the end of your hoodie string around your finger so much it looked as though it was going to fall off, something you did a lot whenever he made you nervous.

"It's just a cover, I figured there should be a female version." You laughed but no one believed you, no one would ever believe you. Not the way you played it with so much emotion in your voice,

"Okay well, who taught you how to play the piano?" The interviewer asked, going into normal questions now that you'd finished singing. You smiled at him and then looked at the floor,

"A close friend of mine actually, he was-is one of my best friends." You told the interviewer with a smile, it was true. You and Yoongi were best friends, you started dating and because he had no time for you, you both took a step back. Deciding it was easier to be without each other in that part of your life but finding it hard to be around one another anymore so you broke apart.

"I guess we don't get a name?" You shook your head and the interview was coming to an end, Yoongi stared at you through the screen and debated calling you but he knew deep down it wasn't a good idea. Neither of you could be around each other without feeling hurt by the other, some things just weren't meant to be.

Hoseok: Big Girls Don’t Cry - Fergie

Losing Hoseok was one of the worst things you'd ever had to go through...Besides how you broke up. It was one of the messiest breakups you'd ever heard of you, insults were flying to and from one another, screaming at each other as you came to the final fight. Both of you had regrets about the breakup but there was no going back to each other, not after everything you said and everything he said to you. There was no trust in the relationship and you weren't going to go back to him just because you loved him. Hoseok stared at the screen, a notification popped up on his phone alerting that there was a new music video from your company, meaning you'd released a new song and he wasn't looking forward to it. The way you ended things he was expecting to see a diss track with major productions pulled out but instead it was a video of you sitting alone in a studio,

"The smell of your skin lingers on me now, you're probably on your flight back to your home town." You started off softly and he relaxed a little staring as you sang into the microphone in your hand, he watched as your brows frowned together when you were building up to higher and longer notes.

"I hope you know, I hope you know. That this has nothing to do with you. It's personal, myself and I. We've got some straightening up to do." You locked eyes with the camera and he bit down on his lip,

"It's time to be a big girl now, and big girls don't cry." You went back into the softer singing and staring at the floor.

"Fairy tales don't always have a happy ending, do they?" You were singing but Hobi felt as though you were really speaking to him through the song and he felt his heart crush as you stood up walking to the camera and touching it as if it was someone's cheek,

"That this has nothing to do with you, it's personal, myself and I. We've got some straightening out to do. and I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket but I've got to get a move on with my life." You were singing into the camera as if he was standing right in front of you and you let a couple of tears go,

"Its time to be a big girl now, and big girls don't cry." You whispered, quickly wiping your face and ending the video. Your managers wanted raw footage and that's what they got, they were milking the breakup out of you. Hobi locked his phone and stared at the photo of you he had on his studio desk, he was happy it wasn't some kind of diss track on him but he was heartbroken that you'd released a song about him like that though he should have seen it coming. He used his personal experiences in lyrics too and it was how he taught you to write.

"Never again." You told your manager through tears, pushing the microphone into his chest and walking out of the studio. Promising yourself you would never sing that song again for as long as you lived.

Namjoon: - Why Try - Ariana Grande

Namjoon was nervous about going to the award ceremony, he knew you were debuting a new song at the opening show and since you'd only broken up last month he assumed it was going to be a diss track on him.

"You okay? You look sick." Jimin said to his leader as they sat in the front row of the audience and looked at the stage, you weren't even there yet and his heart was skipping beats.

"He's worried about seeing Y/n," Jin told Jimin who was now sitting beside Namjoon and trying to comfort him but it was too late, the lights dimmed and a spotlight was on the middle of the stage where you were sitting. Namjoon stared in awe for a couple of seconds, you were sat on a stool, wearing one of his old FG hoodies, wearing thick knitted tights, his mouth hung open as the music started softly, you looked up into the crowd and locked eyes with him instantly, your heart was in your throat and you looked away to make eye contact with the cameras,

"I've been living with devils and angels, angels, angels." You started and Namjoon was transfixed on you, he didn't look away the whole time. While other performers would come out and do a whole number you were sitting there as if you were just sat in his studio singing to him and that's how it felt to him. It felt as though you were back in his studio on a late-night, both of you singing or rapping to one another lovingly.

As the music began to pick up he still watched you, studying how you closed your eyes tightly trying not to cry as you poured every emotion into the song.

"I'm in love with the pain, I never wanna live without it!" He felt his stomach drop,

"You drive me insane, Now we're screaming just to see who's louder!" He stared down at the floor, tears falling down his cheeks as he thought about the last couple weeks of your relationship. It was full of nothing but fights, small bickering back and forth until he shouted and you shouted back.

"Through it all, you could still my heart skip, heart skip, oh yeah." You were standing up now, taking the microphone off the stand as you tried to put on the best performance through the tears.

"Even when you're yelling at me I still think you're beautiful. Through it all, you could still my heart skip." You were standing at the front of the stage singing into the camera when you stared down at Namjoon to hold eye contact, you were shaking and crying. Your microphone was shaking badly and he stared up at you,

"I'm loving the pain. I never wanna live without it. So why do I try? You drive me insane!" You were belting out the last notes,

"Now we're screaming just to see who's louder." The music ended and the venue was silent, the only thing that could be heard was your broken sobs as you walked off the stage with the microphone clinging to your hand. The crowd started clapping and Namjoon stared at the space where you'd been standing, it wasn't a diss at him it was something that you'd clearly put a lot of work into and he couldn't even knock you for it. He'd taught you to write about everything you were feeling and that was it, that was everything you'd felt over the last month of being apart from him. Your manager was waiting with open arms as you reached her backstage, you dropped into her arms and cried to her about him being there. Something you did the moment the relationship ended with him, she'd been there through everything, every fight, every small breakup that wasn't a real breakup right until the big one. The big breakup to end all breakups.

"You did great, it's okay." She assured you, rubbing your arms as you moved out of the way so the next act could go onto perform.

Jimin: Secret Love Song Part II - Little Mix

Your group was on the stage waiting for you and you walked out, staring at the fans and smiling. It was the goodbye song for the end of the show and you should have been used to singing it by then but you weren't. Every lyric brought back memories of your relationship with Jimin, every word bringing their own flashback to your love for him.

"When you hold me in the street and you kiss me on the dance floor. I wish that I could be like that. Why can't it be like that? Cause I'm yours." You began singing and the arena fell silent as they watched you singing into the microphone. No one knew about your relationship with Jimin, it was all kept quiet because of the press. No one wanted to know Jimin was dating, it would ruin his reputation.

"Stolen moments that we steal as the curtain falls, it'll never be enough. It's obvious you're meant for me, every piece of you it just fits perfectly." You trailed off and your band member took over for her verse, you looked over at the stage manager who was looking out into the crowd nervously, you followed her gaze and there was Jimin on the first row with the rest of his band members and you felt your world coming to a crashing halt. You hadn't seen him since the breakup, you were forced to break up because of people getting to close to knowing about you, you stared at him for a couple of seconds...or what you thought was a couple of seconds but your final verse was coming up. You raised the microphone to your mouth shakily and he maintained eye contact with you the entire time.

"Oh, why can't you hold me in the street? Why can't I kiss you on the dance floor? I wish that it could be like that Why can't it be like that?

'Cause I'm yours." You were staring back at him now, you didn't care about anyone else in the room, you didn't care if the relationship that was now over was outted to the world, all you cared about was Jimin knowing how you truly felt. "Why can't I say that I'm in love? I wanna shout it from the rooftops, I wish that it could be like that Why can't we be like that? 'Cause I'm yours... Why can't we be like that? Wish we could be like that" You broke down on the last lyric and your band members all crushed you in a group hug, making you kneel down on the ground as you sobbed into their shoulders, your fans all screaming at you that it was okay but you were gone. The curtains dropped and you got up from the floor, sprinting in the direction of your changing room and not wanting to talk to anyone about what had happened, especially your manager who was screaming out your name for answers about what happened on the stage.

Taehyung: My Happy Ending - Avril Lavine

"Will you just turn it off?" Taehyung asked Jungkook as he walked into the dorms, Jungkook had been playing the radio when your song came on over the radio and Tae wanted to throw the radio out of the window.

"He was everything, everything that I wanted. We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it," He heard your voice and he stared at the floor thinking back to the breakup that you both went through. He knew he was too harsh on you but it was the only way he could end the things between you.

"And all of the memories, so close to me just fade away

All this time you were pretending

So much for my happy ending." He groaned turning the radio off himself and then leaving the apartment,

(X)

"Tae what are you talking about? We just had a really nice dinner." You said as you entered your apartment, expecting Taehyung to stay over for the night but he was starting to be dry with you. Giving you dry replies, not wanting to hold your hand or be near you,

"We're over okay! Look I don't know why I even got involved with you in the first place! I never loved you, all of this is fake." You stared at him, tears forming in the corners of your eyes as he stared at you as if what he'd just said didn't bring your world down around you, as if you really didn't mean anything to him.

"You don't mean that." You whispered your voice cracking in the middle as you broke down into tears.

"I do. I don't like you, the company made me date you. You think I'd ever want to date someone like you?" You swallowed the lump in your throat and he walked out of the door never to be seen again.

(X)

You stared out of the hotel window at the rain, you sat down on the window seat and opened the window up. Wanting to feel the fresh cold air but the window as slammed shut again, you were supposed to be listening to your manager telling you about the performance you had later but all you could think about was Taehyung. You thought the breakup song would have helped you moved on but it had the opposite effect, it just brought everything tumbling back to you from that night and you cried whenever you sang it.

"You have to get over him, he's just a dumb boy who didn't know how good he had it." You nodded and looked at the plans for later that night.

Jungkook: Miss Moving On - fifth Harmony

When you agreed to perform in front of people you didn't expect that within those people would be Jeon Jungkook. Your ex-boyfriend who you'd had a nasty breakup with, only a few months previous to this show. You'd performed in front of him loads of times but none of those songs were about him, none of them were about being hurt by him and finally finding yourself again.

"I'm breaking down, gonna start from scratch. Shake it off like an Etch-A-Sketch." You started and Jungkook looked up from his phone looking up to where you were standing on the stage and you weren't looking at him. He missed the way you would stare at him but he knew he couldn't go back to that, he knew he'd hurt you too much to go back to how things used to be together.

"I'm not the way that I used to be...I took the record off repeat. You killed, but I survived and now I'm coming alive." You finished at your friend took over on her verse and you glanced to where you knew Jungkook was standing and you quickly looked away at your friend who nodded at you. You'd been dreading this performance all week because you knew he was going, he'd tweeted out that he was going to see you all because before the breakup he was a giant fan of your work.

"I broke the glass that surrounded me, I ain't the way you remember me. I was such a good girl, so fragile but no more." Jungkook felt his eyes welling up as you sang directly to him, you weren't looking in his direction but he knew what this was about and he understood why you were like this.

It was coming to the final verse and you took centre stage, taking in a deep breath trying not to be blinded by the spotlight that was now on you.

"Everything is changing and I never wanna go back to the way it was. I'm finding who I am and who I am from here on out is gonna be enough...It's gonna be enough." You took a step back and the girls took over on their final lines, once the curtain dropped you walked off stage, leaning against a speaker and smiled at your friends who were trying to see if you were okay.

Jungkook didn't know what to expect when he went, he didn't think you would come crawling back to him but he figured you would at least come and talk to him after the show but when he went backstage to meet you, your band members told him you'd already left the stadium and were going home.

"Is she okay?" He asked but your friends weren't about to give him information on you,

"She's perfect." They lied, knowing that every night you either cried yourself to sleep or would regularly sleep in his t-shirt to try and make it hurt less to be without him and you didn't know that Jungkook slept with one of your shirts every night, but it was starting to lose your smell.

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lake-arrius-caverns · 3 years

Text

Nerevarine Rising

Chapter 10: Lost In The Ashes

once again i advise to read on AO3 if possible bc better formatting n stuff ✌️

summary Fahjoth is dragged along to accompany Ribyna on a dirty job. When their only way of navigation is lost, Ribyna takes it upon herself to lead the way, with unexpected results.

content warnings violence, blood, minor character death

read under the cut or on AO3, cheers 👍

:: First :: || << Previous << || >> Next >> || :: Masterpost ::

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The yurt loomed in the distance, still and silent aside from the soft rushing of waves rolling and breaking against the shore. The peace along this stretch of Azura’s Coast was unspoiled, aside from the footsteps of the twins as they crept closer.

Fahjoth wasn’t at all sure how he felt about being dragged along on Ribyna’s next assassination. On the one hand, he disapproved heavily of what she was doing. On the other, he knew better than anyone how difficult it was to sway Ribyna once she had her mind set on something, so at least this way he was able to keep an eye on her and offer assistance if things got tough. Their one saving grace was that the target, Odaishah Yasalmibaal, lived alone on the coast, far away from any town or city where there would be witnesses to report them.

Fahjoth cringed at that notion. Witnesses. He felt as culpable as an accessory to murder.

Once they reached the yurt, Ribyna motioned to Fahjoth to stay still and silent. He obliged, watching as his twin approached the door and drew her weapon, perhaps expecting resistance. After a moment during which she seemed to be gathering her nerves, she flung open the yurt door and charged in.

The reaction was instant. From outside, Fahjoth could hear Yasalmibaal’s furious cries, cursing and insulting Ribyna to the deafening clashing of blades. Fahjoth was a bundle of nerves, possibly even more so than Ribyna, but as he tried to edge closer to the doorway to peer inside, he was almost flattened by two flailing bodies as they tumbled out of the yurt, yelling and snapping at each other like rabid wolves.

Then Ribyna was on the ground, her shortsword held up lengthways as Yasalmibaal bore down upon her with a war axe of his own. She struggled to keep him at bay, kicking out against his armoured midriff, and Fahjoth gasped.

“Ribyna!” he exclaimed, drawing his own sword, but Ribyna snapped him a response without breaking eye contact with her target.

“Don’t get involved!”

With strict orders not to intervene, Fahjoth could only dither on the edge of the fight and watch helplessly as the two continued to brawl. Then, Ribyna’s boot found its way between Yasalmibaal’s legs, slamming hard against his groin and inciting a grunt of pain from the stricken man. As he slumped to the side, desperately trying to regain his strength, Ribyna sat upright and thrust her dagger into his throat without hesitation.

As she yanked it free, the blade left behind a deep puncture hole in Yasalmibaal’s throat that began to gush blood in a rapid free-flow, painting everything in the vicinity a stark red. Fahjoth crouched beside Ribyna to check her over, but quickly became distracted by the sound of blood spattering against the dusty ground, as well as Yasalmibaal’s rasping gurgles as he fought for breath and struggled to remain upright. With his chest now coated in a slick dark stain, he dropped into a weakly convulsing heap, occasionally twitching as he bled out. After some time, he moved no more.

“Gods...” Fahjoth murmured, feeling rather sickened by the scene. “Well, is that it, now? Are you done?”

Ribyna began wiping her dagger blade on the nearest soft surface, which happened to be Yasalmibaal's trouser leg. "Yup, that's it," she confirmed. "No point hanging 'round now. Let's get back to Vivec."

"Ugh. Right now? We've been walking for ages," Fahjoth complained. "A break would be nice!"

The journey from Vivec City to Azura's Coast certainly hadn't been quick, nor had it been particularly easy. After departing from Vivec the twins had headed east, on the road for hours on end until they reached Molag Mar, where they had stopped overnight. The following morning had seen them up at the crack of dawn to continue onwards, following the coastline — oftentimes having to wade through the shallows themselves to navigate around jagged rocks and cliff faces — until they had reached Benserib Camp, Yasalmibaal's home. Fahjoth wasn't looking forward to the journey back.

However, it seemed that Ribyna was keen to get going; as soon as she had finished cleaning her blade, she stood up and sheathed it, looking remarkably unruffled — albeit with her hair a mess and back now covered in dust. "Oh come on," she goaded him, rolling her eyes. "Don't be a pussy. A slow walk back will be fine. Anyway, I think I've figured out a shortcut."

Fahjoth certainly had his doubts. "Really? Where?"

"Yep! Look," Ribyna said, drawing her map out of her pocket and holding it up to show Fahjoth. He held the other side so that Ribyna was able to point with her free hand, cringing as she left a smudge of blood on the parchment. "If we cut across the Ashlands here, we can go straight down to Vivec without needing to go all the way around the coastline again."

"The Ashlands?" Fahjoth frowned. Cosades' words floated to the forefront of his mind:

“I don't think their tribes tend to be particularly welcoming to outlanders, so watch yourself if you’re ever wandering in the Ashlands.”

"What if we come across Ashlanders?"

"Pfft, fuck 'em!" Ribyna scoffed. "Come on!"

"Ribyna—!" Fahjoth groaned. But Ribyna was adamant, and he had no choice but to trot along in her wake as she set off further into the dusty, ashen wastelands spanning central Vvardenfell, the sun already obscured by its many jagged peaks.

——————————————

The further they ventured into the Ashlands, the greater Fahjoth's feeling of foreboding grew. The endless valleys, already steeped in shadow, became darker and darker with the setting of the sun. Traipsing across the cracked ashen ground, Fahjoth broke into a sweat as they passed by pools of magma, beautiful but deadly and glowing as bright as a flame in the gloom, seeing his twin sweltering just as much as he was in the stifling heat.

Fahjoth was already having plenty of regrets, even before his foot slipped on some loose stones and he came dangerously close to falling onto a stream of sluggishly bubbling lava. Fortunately, Ribyna had been close enough to grab his arm before disaster struck.

“Watch where you’re going, you fucking idiot!” Ribyna had snapped as she hauled Fahjoth backwards to safety.

As if it was his fault they were stumbling through a magma-ridden wasteland.

And as if that wasn't enough to solidify the notion that Ribyna's 'shortcut' had been a terrible idea, it wasn't long before they were besieged by scorching winds, carrying a blanket of choking dust that obscured the path ahead of them with a thick crimson haze — an ash storm.

After a short while of struggling through, Fahjoth slowed to a halt. “We have to stop somewhere!” he yelled, desperately shielding his face and raising his voice to be heard above the roaring of the wind. “This shit carries the Blight!”

Ribyna turned to squint at him, her scarf wrapped tightly around the lower half of face. “We can’t stop now! We’ve got nowhere to stop! Just don’t breathe it in,” she replied, and Fahjoth groaned with exasperation. Even with his mouth and nose covered by his own scarf, the simple matter of being in the midst of the ash storm — and knowing what it could bring with it from Red Mountain — was making him feel sick with anxiety. The dryness in his mouth was not helping, instead making him think that he had somehow managed to inhale dirty, disease-ridden ash and grit even through the scarf’s dense fabric.

And so the trek continued. Every time Fahjoth tried to persuade Ribyna to stop and take shelter, she would only counter it with a stubborn rebuttal that made him want to tear his hair out in frustration. At one point, when they could barely see two metres ahead and the winds howled viciously around them, Ribyna stopped to unfurl her map.

“Look, we’re about here,” she shouted, pointing to somewhere on the southern edges of the Ashlands. Fahjoth had no idea how she could be sure of that, but before he could voice his concerns, Ribyna ploughed on. “We just passed that lake, so we’re literally like an hour away from Balmor— AGH!”

Fahjoth watched in mute horror as the wind whipped the map clean out of Ribyna’s fumbling fingers, snatching it away into the deep red gloom. Ribyna made an attempt to catch it, grabbing wildly at air thick with dust, but the map had vanished within seconds.

With his heart already settling somewhere in the region of his stomach, Fahjoth buried his face in his hands and let out a groan that gradually rose in volume and pitch until it was almost a muffled scream. “Great! Fucking fantastic!” he exclaimed, glaring furiously at Ribyna, who merely stood there and looked sheepish. “What now, then?! I’m sure you’ve got another brilliant idea that’ll just get us even more lost — if it doesn’t kill us first!”

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, during which Fahjoth could almost hear the gears ticking over in Ribyna’s head, she spoke up with much less conviction than previously.

“We just keep going straight ahead,” she answered. “Balmora is due west. So we just keep going in this direction and we’ll get there.”

Fahjoth rarely wanted to strangle his twin, but this was one of the few occasions where he wished to do nothing but. But what other choice did they have? Ribyna’s plan was a terrible one, but it was their only one. So he shut up and trudged along after her, saving his energy to fight against the storm rather than with his sibling.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as simple as Ribyna had hoped. The path ahead was not straight, but winding and twisting and up and down over hills and mounds of ash and dirt. And after passing through a vast ravine where they were forced to turn north and follow the natural path that stretched along its base, Ribyna began to pick up the pace.

“I think we’re nearly there! I can hear a silt strider!” she called to Fahjoth, who again had his doubts. This area looked nothing like the pleasant grassiness around the southernmost regions of the West Gash. Even with the ash storm still raging around them, Fahjoth could tell that they were still in the Ashlands. But, sure enough, they soon found themselves on another road — not just a road, but a real footpath — and now Fahjoth too could hear the solemn cries of the silt strider himself, even over the wind. Moments later, the lofty walls of some kind of settlement faded into view through the haze.

Without another word the twins rushed forward, passed under the arch marking the entrance and made a beeline for the nearest inn — not very pleasantly named The Rat In The Pot. It wasn’t quite the South Wall Cornerclub, but as far as warmth and shelter went, it would do.

Ribyna’s sense of direction had been just a little bit askew. They may not have returned to Balmora as planned, but they had made it to Ald’ruhn.

——————————————

“Right, what are you having? I’ll get the first round in.”

Fahjoth settled down at a small table near the bar, taking care not to disturb the candle that sat flickering merrily on its surface as he let out a heavy sigh. After their long journey, he relished the chance to sit down somewhere warm, dry and relatively safe, despite being in an unknown area. “Are you sure, Beebs?” he asked as he turned his gaze up to Ribyna, who simply nodded impatiently and gestured for him to go on. “Alright, well, I’ll have a mazte then, ta.”

As Ribyna headed over to the bar, Fahjoth sat back and quietly watched the occupants of the inn. Ald’ruhn was Redoran territory, he knew that, so he was surprised to see how diverse it was; a Breton woman stood behind the bar and the punters included a Khajiit, an Argonian, and a Dunmer who was quite unlike any Dunmer he had seen before. Piercings and scarifications bedecked his face, and his clothes were more reminiscent of pelts and crafted leathers than anything Fahjoth had seen being worn by the town- and city-dwelling Dunmer he saw day-to-day. A curious thought occurred to him: was that an Ashlander?

Did Ashlanders even venture into House Dunmer territories? Fahjoth to his knowledge had never seen one before, but that didn’t exactly prove anything. While he pondered this interesting occurrence, he watched as the Dunmer struck up a conversation with Ribyna.

How odd, he thought. Over the chatter of the other punters, he couldn’t make out what they were saying, but Ribyna looked as surprised as Fahjoth was by the man’s approach. After some time, the man departed, and Ribyna returned to the table with two bottles clasped by the neck in one hand, and a cloth pouch in the other.

“Well, that was weird,” she said, taking a seat and sliding one of the bottles over to Fahjoth.

“Yeah, it looked it. What was all that about?” He accepted the drink with a murmur of thanks, then nodded to the pouch that Ribyna had placed onto the table. “What’s in the bag, anyway?”

“Two hundred drakes.”

Ribyna’s answer caused Fahjoth to almost spit out the mouthful of mazte that he had just swigged, forcing him to splutter and swallow it far more quickly than he had intended to.

“Two hundred?! Did that man give it to you?”

“Yeah.”

“What for?”

Ribyna shrugged, a look of mild bemusement on her face. “He asked if we were going to that Ghostgate place. And if we were, he asked if we’d look out for some lad who’s going up Red Mountain. Or something. I dunno, I wasn’t really paying much attention...”

“And you didn’t think to... I dunno... ask? And get the full story?” Fahjoth frowned. “So what was the gold for? Some kind of reward?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t matter, though. We haven’t got to do anything.”

Now Fahjoth was even more confused. “So he gave you gold... for no reason? Surely he’s expecting us to go and find this person?”

Ribyna suddenly grinned. “That’s the best part! He literally told me he doesn’t even care if we don’t go. I think he was glad to see the back of this boy, to be honest.”

“Are you sure?”

“Course I am! Or don’t you believe me?”

“No, I believe you,” Fahjoth replied hurriedly, “I just think it’s... well, a bit weird.”

“Me too, but I’m not gonna question it.” She waved the matter aside with a flick of her wrist. “Listen, don’t worry about it. I’m not. Basically, I just got us some free gold for our drinks tonight and our ride home tomorrow morning. No need to thank me.”

Ribyna was looking very pleased with herself as she drank her mazte, but Fahjoth still had reservations.

“Did you even get his name?”

“Who?”

“That man! Or the boy we’re meant to be finding, actually.”

Ribyna blew out in derision. “What am I, a detective? Anyway, it don’t matter! It’s not like we’re actually going to Ghostgate anytime soon, is it?”

Fahjoth was about to protest, but on seeing the severe look Ribyna gave him over the brim of her bottle, he sighed. “No, I s’pose not...”

It wasn’t long after the twins finished their drinks that they decided to retire for the night, but it was a while before Fahjoth was able to sleep. He was still awake long after Ribyna’s deep breathing indicated that she had drifted off, while he remained staring at the ceiling in the dark, deep in thought. Ribyna may have been able to dismiss the request as easily as the Dunmer himself, but Fahjoth could not bring himself to do the same, and the thought played on his mind until the tiredness took over and he eventually fell asleep too.

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tag list @boulderfall-cave , @padomaicocean (lmk if you’d like to be added!)

#oc: fahjoth #oc: ribyna #tes #tes fic #morrowind #dunmer #dunmer oc #nerevarine #elder scrolls #elder scrolls fanfic #TES III: Morrowind

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gustafsnightangel · 3 years

Text

Shattered Lives Ch 39 Pt 1

The noise that filled the apartment woke her up, the sheets cold on Gustaf’s side of the bed telling her he’d let her sleep in. In the few days since the visit from Uncle Elias the kids had hardly been home. Gustaf taking them out for lunch and the movies, Stellan and the boys going bowling, and the pajama party with Valter and Gustaf’s two youngest brothers last night. She could hear Gustaf chatting to Stellan through the ajar door, the boys settling back in after the overnight with grandpa. The happiness in their voices made her smile, far less grief than this time last year, not a hint of anger or sorrow. She heard Gustaf get them situated before he came in, smile wide, damn she loved that smile, the look of him.

“Hey there lovely lady.” He murmured sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning down to claim her mouth. God the man knew how to kiss.

“Hi.” She breathed out, wrapping her arms around him securing him to her. “Sounds like the monsters are back.”

“They are, and they’re excited that we leave for the cabin tomorrow.” His kiss lingered. “Time to get up, lots to do.”

“Yeah, I need to take them shopping later for snacks, I promised them one treat each for the trip.” She kissed him sweetly. “I’m starting to regret my decision as it means I have to take them out in public.”

He chuckled, those laugh lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes. “What were you thinking?” He said, the sarcasm thick.

“I wasn’t, that’s the problem.” She snorted, thumb brushing his crows feet. They both laughed at the squeak of dad dad as Lily padded her way into the room all excited, Gustaf picking her up and kissing her until she giggled. “Someone had a good time away.”

“Dad said she was running the house as soon as she woke up this morning, keeping the boys in line.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me.” She muttered. Just looking at him with her in that instance made her belly flip, the whole kids of their own thought sailing through her head like a bright neon sign. He placed Lily on the bed and she crawled over to Sildie for cuddles while Gustaf took a shower.

“He’s much happier today huh little lady.” She murmured as Lily snuggled in. She’d been worried, the days since Elias had been brutal on him. She’d phoned Elsa and dealt with more paperwork while Gustaf was shut up in his office laying down the law with his lawyers and security team. She’d never heard him so angry, the shreds he’d stripped off the building security, the anger and fury that had unleashed again as he made arrangements to have Dana’s entire family under surveillance. Especially when they were informed he’d made bail and the trial wouldn’t be until April 5th. Sometimes the system just sucked and so did the timeframe. She also knew that being away for filming over the next few months was making this whole situation far worse, she sensed his anxiety already poised to drag him under. It was a clusterfuck and added pressure he didn’t need.

“I’m going over to mums for lunch today, she wanted to chat about the whole Ana thing.” He said as he came out wrapped in nothing but a towel, setting all her wild fantasies aflame. “She’s... concerned.”

“That’s one way to put it.” She said softly. “Do you need us to be there?” Her voice was quiet, apprehension he thought.

“Not if you don’t want to be.”

“I do, I just don’t want the kids around when we’re talking about all that, about her.” She would protect them from it as much as possible. “They don’t need that in their lives.”

“I already told mum it would just be me.” He toyed with her wisps of hair at her face and kissed her tenderly. “For exactly those reasons, and I also know that Eija and Alex are there today too, family meeting about it really. I’ll get them up to speed. It’ll be fine.”

“You know the spiel as well as I do now anyway.” She trailed a finger along his jaw. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” His thumb brushed the dark shadows marring her cheek, it still made his anger flare. He tossed a shirt and jeans on and collected Lily from the bed. “Up you get love, I’ll make some tea.” He kissed her quickly and went to see why the boys were suddenly so quiet.

She could hear them play fighting as she dressed, and smiled. The beginnings of their family, fun times, happy memories, they’d build more tomorrow and over the coming weeks. The ruckus she came out to made her chuckle, three boys tackling the fourth freakishly tall one. He was a big kid at heart, that gorgeous smile plastered across his face, not a hint of anxiety or stress in him. They were both eager to be in the mountains away from everything for a while.

Leaning against the counter she watched, videoing what she could. She laughed as Lily came to the rescue of her dad dad, the boys laughing, so carefree and happy, just as it should be. Gustaf could never fully understand the precious gift he’d given them, stability, love, a family. He’d brought them together as a family unit. “I hope you’re seeing this brother.” She muttered under her breath. “He loves them as if they were his own.” Her smile went wide as Lily tackled Gustaf to the floor, the boys cheering. She fisted a hand and tapped it on the counter thinking. “He’d make a great father.” She whispered, her breath catching. Breathing out a steadying breath she saw Gustaf calm them down and leave them to play some Mario cart.

“They’re ready to go when you are, they’ve had breakfast.” He chuckled, that gorgeous smile lighting up his face as he stopped in front of her, fingers reaching to toy with the soft waves of her hair she’d left down.

“I love seeing you this happy.” She said, hands cupping his face and kissing him sweetly.

“You make me this happy love, so do they.” He kissed her, sensing something had knocked her off kilter a little. “I love you Sildie, the five of you are my world.”

“You’re ours sweet man.” She smiled, her kiss lingering. “Go have a good lunch with your mum, we’ll get some snacks and shopping for the trip. I need to get Lily another jacket, she’s grown out of her other one and the twins need new boots.”

“Fun times.” He grinned.

“Joyous.” She said sarcastically at his chuckle. “Go on. Get going.” She swatted his ass and took a sip of her tea. His arched eyebrow at her butt slap had that mischievous smirk tug her lips.

“A very dangerous game to play kitten.” He growled and devoured her mouth thoroughly.

“Text me your dinner order, I’ll pick something up.” She said changing the subject as her body melted at his touch.

“Mmmm hmmm. Will do lovely lady.” He purred. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

He could tell something was bothering her, more than her usual grief and the shitstorm that Ana had created, the way it had dragged Elias and Dana’s side of the family into the mix. So much going on in that wicked smart brain of hers. He knew she was piecing something together but there was something else she was chewing on. Walking across the street to his mothers he thought about the conversation they were all about to have, the steps he would take, had taken, to protect them all, those measures Sildie had already put in place. They would rally around him, protect him, protect Sildie, the kids, like a family should. It still irritated him that he had to resort to such drastic measures of security and legal restraints but he was out of time, options, and patience.

Sildie and the kids hit the mall, John, their shadow as she like to call him, following their car and staying a respectable distance from them as they shopped, eyes ever watchful. She felt bad for dragging the guy out on a chilly afternoon for them to go shopping, but if this was going to set Gustaf’s mind at ease while he wasn’t here with them she wasn’t going to argue. He was already under enough stress and pressure, he didn’t need anymore. She didn’t think Ana would blatantly harm her or the kids, but there was always the what if, the maybe. Those thoughts that raced through her head a mile a minute. Just look at Elias, she thought bitterly. Not in a million years did she see the connection between him and Ana coming.

Her lawyer brain kicked in as she helped the twins find shoes. How did he fit into it? How did he know her? Was he just a junkie? Was Ana just his supplier? Something more? Had there been a relationship between them? Was Elias part of the syndicate? Was the rest of Dana’s family involved? How far did Ana’s claws dig in? Questions she hoped would be answered when the law finally caught up with her. After that, it wouldn’t take long for Elias to sing, to rat on her to save his own ass.

With a new coat for Lily and new boots for the boys, Brendan included because his toes were already touching leather from the pair she’d bought a few months ago, they stopped in for ice cream. It was their weekly thing, an after shopping treat that had carried over from Dana that she didn’t have the heart to stop, especially when mint chocolate chip was involved and it kept a part of their mother with them.

With groceries in hand they headed back to the car, John helping with the heavier stuff, boys laughing, and a chattering Lily in her arms playing with the zipper on her new coat. As they neared the car the happiness of the afternoon turned to ash and vinegar in her mouth as she looked closer.

“John take the kids to your SUV please.” She said quietly and handed her bags to him. “Brendan, take Lily please and get everyone in the car with John, stay with him ok?” She saw the shock on the teens face, the questions of, who and why echoed there. “I’ll explain later.” Was all she heard herself say as she approached her vehicle slowly.

The windows had been smashed in, seats ripped, red paint covered every surface inside as if a paint can had exploded. The vulgar messages on the doors, the paint splattered and shattered windshield. She felt the panic attack surge up, the nausea and lightheadedness threatening to consume her. “Breathe.” She whispered and sucked in a breath. “Just breathe, the kids are ok, it’s just a car.” A car Gustaf had bought for her, for the kids. He’d bought it to take care of her. Pulling out her phone she took photos of it all and texted them straight to Detective Holmberg, her phone rang a moment later.

“Sildie it’s Leon. I’m on my way. Are the kids somewhere safe?” He said hurriedly. She could hear him moving as he spoke. “Are you safe?”

“Yes they’re with John our security detail, in his car.” She didn’t like how pathetic and shaky her voice sounded. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t touch anything.”

“I haven’t, I just took pictures.” As she was speaking to him she noticed a blonde woman watching her a few cars over. It took her a second to recognize her through the haze of adrenaline and anxiety coursing through her system. “Ana’s here, a few cars down from me.” She snarled, an overwhelming urge to cut a bitch slammed into her so violently the anxiety flipped a one eighty into full on lethal rage.

“Don’t approach her, pretend she’s not there. We maybe able to box her in, I’ll have the parking lot cordoned off.” Which she could hear him relaying that order as he drove. “I’ll be there in two minutes.”

“Ok.” She would not crumble and give Ana the satisfaction, and she would not retaliate. She wanted to though, oh how she wanted some divine retribution right here, right now at her own hand. Everything she’d done to get at Gustaf, to cause him more pain, more grief. Yes, she thought, I’d like to have a knock down drag out with you, you vindictive bitch, she thought as her gaze flicked to Ana and then back at the car.

Calming the rage her thumb hesitated over Gustaf’s number. She knew she had to make the call or he’d be more furious at her for handling it on her own, especially after what went down with Elias. But part of her wanted to spare that sweet soul of his any further pain. She choked back a sob as she knew this would hurt him, cut into him so deeply. Her rage gave way to anxiety once more as she stared at his number. All that peace he’d found these past few weeks was ebbing away. “Together.” She breathed and hit dial, the sick feeling in her stomach growing with every ring.

“Hey lovely lady.” She could hear the joy in his voice and she was about to shatter it.

“Hey handsome.” She breathed, anxiety rising.

“You ok?” He went on full alert, he knew that tone, something had happened.

“I’m fine, so are the kids, the car not so much. Not an accident.” She blurted out quickly and held back the sob.

“Ok, good to know.” His gut threatened to abruptly launch his meal out via his teeth. “Talk to me love.” He said gently at her sudden silence.

“Ana’s here, she vandalized the car and is sitting a few cars from me. I’ve called Leon, and he’s just pulling in.” The lawyer had surfaced to take care of the situation, he could hear it in her voice, but it shook.

“God fucking damn it!” He roared, his temper snapping out. She could hear the chair he was sitting in get pushed back explosively, crashing to the floor. It was the last straw for him, she knew it would be and felt sick for it.

“Gustaf, take a breath, please.” She stayed calm, her voice quavering with the tears that threatened to fall. She was only just holding it together. “Were fine, the kids are in the SUV with John at my request. I’m not in any danger and Leon is here.” She willed her voice to not shake. “He just pulled up.”

“I’m on my way to you.” He seethed, he would fucking murder the bitch.

“You won’t get in they blocked the car park so she has no where to go.” She tried for calm, her voice betrayed her as the anxiety surged forward again.

“The hell I won’t.” He spat and she heard the unmistakable slam of a car door. “I’m on my way.” The line went dead.

She’d never heard him this angry, never had him be so short with her. New Year’s Eve was one thing, confronting Elias another, but this? This was an entirely different level of anger, explosive, reckless, and violent.

“I take it that was Gustaf?” Leon asked coming to stand beside her.

“Yes. He’s on his way and rather angry.” That was the understatement of the century.

“Quite rightly.” Holmberg muttered. “Where is she?” He asked, paying particularly close attention to a spot on the drivers side door as he spoke.

“Your eleven o’clock, four cars down, blue...” She said softly, only flicking her eyes to make sure she had the details correct.

“I see her.” He texted the location to his team and let them handle it. Before Ana could tear her eyes away from Sildie and the mayhem she was gloating over, her car was boxed in and police were hauling her out.

Sildie wasn’t interested in the takedown, or the profanity spewing from Ana’s mouth as they cuffed her. She turned her back on Ana, not giving the woman another moment of recognition. It was difficult not to retaliate, because she wanted to, she wanted to March right over there and lay her out cold for what she’d done to Gustaf. Rarely did Sildie want to get into a physical altercation but she was certainly ready to make an exception in this case.

She peered into the car once more, her focus drawn to the rear view mirror and what was no longer hanging there. “She took it.” Her choked tone had Leon turning sharply.

“Took what?” He asked, but she couldn’t answer him, her voice had ceased working as the grief swallowed her whole. Silent tears tracked down her cheeks and she felt her world bottom out. As they placed Ana in the back seat of the police cruiser she felt familiar arms around her, turning her slowly until she was breathing in that familiar scent.

“Sildie.” Gustaf sighed, the relief that she was ok flooding into him. Eyes searched for John’s car and landed on him a moment later, the respectful nod saying the kids were fine setting his mind at ease.

“Sildie, what did she take?” Leon asked again softly as she buried her face in Gustaf’s chest and wept.

“Something missing?” Gustaf asked flatly looking at Leon with ice cold eyes.

“All she said was she took it.” Leon shrugged.

Gustaf leaned down to peer into the car and his temper went nuclear. “I will fucking murder her.” He snarled, holding Sildie tighter to him. “The charm from her rear view mirror is missing, the one her brother gave her.” He said evenly, barely able to contain the contempt in his voice.

“I’ll need you to check the rest of the vehicle to see if anything else is missing.” Leon’s voice had turned flinty.

“Give us a minute ok?” Gustaf asked, he had to talk Sildie off the ledge of a panic attack and stuff his violent fury back into its box.

“Take your time, it’ll take us a while to process this mess.” Leon said and moved away.

Gustaf stood there, soothing her as best he could when he knew all she’d be able to feel would be the waves of anger rolling off him. “You’re ok love, I’m here.” He murmured. “I’m here.”

“I’m sorry.” She sobbed. “I’m sorry... the car.”

“No, no, you’ve done nothing wrong, look at me.” He said tenderly trying to get his anger under control. “Look at me love.” When she did it crushed him. “I’m the one that should be sorry for dragging her into your life.”

“But the car.” She hiccuped.

“Is just a car. It’s insured. I’m more livid about what she took from it.” His rage banked as he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, she needed him to be calm. They were both stressed and him letting the anger gain the upper hand wasn’t the answer. He’d have time to unleash later.

“It’s gone.” She sobbed.

“It is love, I’m so sorry.” This was tearing her apart and cleaving his soul into pieces. That charm wasn’t something he could replace. He couldn’t fix it.

“Oh shit, the kids, they’re still with John...” she said hurriedly swiping the tears from her face, realizing she didn’t have the luxury to fall apart. “And I just left...”

“They’re perfectly fine, look.” He pointed to the SUV and the kids waved back.

“We have to get them home.” She sniffed pulling it together, it was a stupid charm, it wasn’t like someone had died, she berated herself.

“How about you hang here for a little bit and help Leon out while I go and grab a new car seat for Lily? Because we can’t take anything from the car and her seat is trashed.” He said softly.

She let her gaze drift over to the items already being bagged, spare shoes, sweaters, and Brendan’s hockey gear. “Leon? Can you open that bag real quick.” She asked pointing to Brendan’s gear.

“Paint in the bag too.” Leon said sharply.

“And his mask.” Sildie sighed, before another sob broke free.

“I’ll have another made love.” Gustaf said softly.

“It’s not the same.” She sniffed. “You had that made for him, your first gift to him. You have no idea what it means to him.”

“I know it’s not the same love.” He pulled her into a hug while Leon was trying his damnedest to wipe the paint off the teens hockey mask. “I might be able to take it back and get it cleaned and refinished. I’ll figure it out, I’ll fix it. Somehow I’ll fix it.” He kissed her temple and lingered, willing his system to calm down so in turn he could soothe hers. “Are we able to get this stuff back at some point?” He snapped at Holmberg and immediately regretted his tone. It wasn’t Leon’s fault, Gustaf was just on a razor thin edge.

“I’ll get them back to you as soon as I can.” The detective looked at Gustaf, yes, he thought, Leon was pissed too, good.

“Appreciate it.” He kissed Sildie softly. “Go sit with the kids a moment ok? I’ll get Lily a new seat and we can go from there ok?” She just nodded and walked to John’s car. The slump of her shoulders told him this had kicked her hard.

“I knew her brother.” Leon said quietly. “My wife was close friends with Dana. I’m doing everything I can Gustaf, but I have to stay within the confines of the law, so do you. Don’t go doing anything crazy, get a good attorney and take the spiteful bitch down.”

“Do me a favor.” Gustaf said bluntly. “Search Ana’a car real quick for that charm, or her pockets. The rest of this I can replace, that I can’t, and it will destroy Sildie if it stays missing.”

Leon nodded. “Go get Lily a car seat, I’ll look myself right now and call it in for when they process her at the station.”

“Thanks.” He huffed and scrubbed a hand over his face. As he started to walk away he turned. “I’m sorry, for snapping earlier.”

“Not necessary, I’d be a little snappy too considering the circumstances.” Leon said, a tight smile gracing his lips.

“Well regardless, I’m sorry. There was no need for it, you’re only trying to help.” He wasn’t that person anymore, to rage without reason, without sucking it up and apologizing like the man he was trying to be.

“All good.” Leon said, clasping a hand of Gustaf’s shoulder and squeezing it in support.

He knew he could be an insufferable prick when he put his mind to it or the rage swamped him, that wasn’t him anymore. “And that’s what you’re hoping for isn’t it you fucking bitch.” He muttered as he walked to the baby store across the street. “You’re hoping to get me so riled up I’ll snap. Well I’m way past that. Coming after me was one thing, going after Sildie was the biggest mistake you ever made. By the end of this you’re going to wish you’d never fucking met me.” He said with conviction.

She explained it as much as she dared to the boys, the plea in her eyes to Brendan to just go with it so she could explain more when they were away from the twins. His tight nod all she needed to have some measure of relief. She watched Gustaf walk back to his car and fit the new seat. This will destroy him, she thought, all that peace he’d found obliterated in the instant she’d phoned him. Destroying another life, just like she’d destroyed the boys. It was a spiral, she knew it was happening yet she was powerless to stop her thoughts diving so deeply out of control. It was all too much and she’d reached her tolerance level of bullshit.

She hopped out of the car as he approached and went to him.

“Load the kids up and head home, love. Take care of them and let me worry about all this ok?” He said gently, he would be her calm now as he knew she was far from done today. “You ok to drive?” A nod was all she could give him. “You sure?”

“Yeah. I need to get them home before Lily implodes.” She said trying her damndest to pull it together, she had shit to take care of not wallow in self pitty.

“I’ll stay here with Leon until the car’s towed and then go hire one for our vacation. I’ll send John back with you to help with the groceries ok?” He watched her carefully and was concerned.

She nodded and leaned her forehead against his chest, breathed him in, his scent soothing her jagged emotions.

“That’s it love. Breathe a minute. It’ll all be ok, you and me, we’ll fix it.” He murmured and stroked the nape of her neck tenderly.

She let herself just exist for a moment, collect the shred of composure she was clinging to and pulled it together. Drying her eyes she kissed him softly, the grief he felt already echoing in his eyes.

“There’s my girl.” He said softly, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “I’ll be home a little later. Do you need me to send mum over, or dad? A sibling? I have plenty to spare.” His attempt at humor got the chuckle from her he was hoping for.

“No, I’ll be ok.” You won’t be, he thought, but nice try.

“I love you Sildie. Together love.” He kissed her tenderly.

“Love you too, not letting her win, it just knocked me a bit.” She sniffed.

“I know, me too, but we’ll knock back harder.” He kissed her brow and looked at her. “Come on, I’ll get Lily bear settled, because I can hear her starting to ramp up for a full on I’m tired and hungry meltdown.”

Gustaf helped her get the kids settled in the car, fielding questions from the twins as vaguely as possible. “Text me when you get home.” He said softly.

“I will.” Her voice was that eerie quiet he didn’t like. It only got like that when she retreated into herself and it killed him to see her like that.

She seemed to be on auto pilot as she drove home, aware enough to drive, but not really caring about what was happening around her. John helped her get the kids inside, the groceries for their trip piled on the counter. With the kids occupied she sat in her office, the process of writing notes about the incident clearing it out of her mind as the words appeared on paper. Gustaf’s text tone interrupted her asking if she’d got home and she swore, she’d forgotten to text him.

We’re home. I’m so sorry I zoned and totally forgot.

It’s ok love. You’re all home safe that’s what matters. I’m headed to hire a car, be home soon. Is John still there?

He left a little while ago but he said they have someone watching the building. He stayed until we were settled.

Ok, that’s good.

I love you.

Love you too lovely lady. I’ll be home soon.

He came home an hour or so later and could hear Sildie reaming someone on the other end of the phone in her office, door shut tightly.

“She’s been in there for nearly an hour.” Brendan said quietly.

“You know who she’s flaying?” He asked carefully and the kid shook his head.

“I haven’t seen her this mad since she yelled at grandma after mum and dad...” He stopped suddenly and shook his head not wanting to voice the rest of the sentence.

“Well she’s super upset about the car so I’m not surprised.” Gustaf said carefully, he wasn’t sure how much he should divulge.

“Why would someone do that?” Brendan asked as he walked with Gustaf to the kitchen out of the twins hearing.

“I don’t know B.” Gustaf sighed, he was beat to hell and he knew he’d have to talk Sildie down before she imploded. “The short version ok, because I’m beat to hell.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to collect his thoughts. “It’s an ex girlfriend, the ex girlfriend, the one that screwed me up. They arrested her and things could get a little messy. Your mum has had to bust ass on making sure you guys are safe and it’s all just a little too much for her today.”

“Is that why we have John and Andrew come with us everywhere?” The kid was a quick study.

“Yes. I promised Sildie I’d keep you all safe too.”

“Oh.” The teen looked a little shocked.

“I love you guys, you’re my family Brendan and there’s absolutely nothing I won’t do to protect you, to make sure you’re safe, that Sildie’s safe.” He said softly as the teen hugged him tight. “Absolutely nothing.” His head came up at the sharp shout from Sildie’s office and he decided he needed to get in there and deal with it. “It’s getting late, you guys eaten yet?”

“Yeah we got something on the way home, there’s some here for you too. We weren’t sure when you’d get home.”

“Thanks. Can you get the twins in a bath or shower, I need to go see if she’s ok. Did the cold groceries get out away?”

“Yeah they’re away.” He said and started to unpack the rest.

@hausofobsession @ill-skillsgard @grandpa-sweaters @authentic90skidd @tuckersgirl @fairlyfallacy @flowers-in-your-hayr @raewritesfiction @stinkerbelle007 @kamie-b @mrsaugustwalker @skrsgardspam @loliwrites @trippedmetaldetector @lihikainanea @fay-walden @nandadb

#gustaf skarsgard #gustaf skarsgard fanfic #shattered lives

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basenji18 · 4 years

Text

His Queen, Chapter One

A prequel to southernpeach13's Princess saga.

*********************************************************************

When he first met the girl, she was still a girl, and that, of all the things that happened, is his biggest regret. She was alone, she was upset, and she was young, and it was his responsibility to keep things from unfolding as they did.

And he failed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

He first meets the Russians in the middle of the jungle, miles away from either of their origins.

Sweat runs down his sides, plastering his shirt to him. There’s a swampy squish under his arms every time he moves. The hair on the back of his neck is wet as if he’s just stepped out of the shower. His feet are roasting inside his shoes. His father insists they remain businesslike and well dressed. He says it makes them look respectable. James thinks they look like two giant white fools sweating to death among the small, brown locals who know better.

Still, he doesn’t argue. The old man is still the old man, and James is still here as his apprentice. He keeps his mouth shut and his ears open.

They’re in the country on a sales trip. Nothing like a little governmental insurrection to boost sales at MARS, and this small country has had more than its share of both governments and insurrections. James isn’t really sure which party is officially in power at the moment - nor, he suspects, are many of the locals. In that respect, his father is right: power is held by the one with the largest gun.

Their clients run their operation guerrilla-style. No swank hotel room meetings for this. The Scots meet them out in the jungle, in the villages. James can’t say all the villagers are happy to see them.

When he meets the Russians, they are on a very different mission. James hears them first, the local dialect being spoken with a distinct accent, to the sound of local laughter.

He comes around a hut to see a dark-haired man smiling in the center of a small group. A cluster of women and children surround him. The man says something and they laugh at his chatter. One of the women corrects him. He tries again, butchers it once more to their amusement. He rolls his eyes at himself, but he doesn’t really seem embarrassed. He hands the woman who corrected him a bundle. One bundle for each woman, then come smaller treats from his pockets for the children. He says something else and no one corrects him, the women moving off with calls and waves of thanks. The man waves, grinning like a pleased fool. He notices James, and gives him a wave too. James returns it, walking over.

The man is a slim beta, dark-haired, even paler than the Scot. Like James he’s in khakis, but unlike James and his father, the dark-haired man wears a light linen shirt and open sandals. James feels a sweaty pang of jealousy. The man extends his hand, still smiling with all the open-faced goodwill of a Labrador.

“Good morning. Are we speaking English?”

He is, but with a Russian accent. Imagine finding a Ruskie out here, and one greeting a stranger with a smile.

“We are. James McCullen the Third. I’m here with my father, for - “

“MARS Industries. I know.”

His smile doesn’t falter, but James can’t quite read his tone. Their handshake ends, and the beta hooks his thumbs in his pockets. He smiles.

“Sorry. What I meant is, we knew you were in the area too.”

“Who is ‘we?’”

“Ah, more apologies. My name is - “

“Baron Eugene Ciserov.”

James’s father appears from the cluster of huts. The heat has everyone’s scent baking off of them and James smells him even from behind him, the alpha alpha male. The Baron doesn’t say anything, but his hands don’t leave his pockets.

“The Baron here is a philanthropist in these parts,” McCullen senior says. “Back here on one of your supply runs?”

“Somehow they keep being needed.”

“So who is ‘we,’ then? Got a team now, do you?”

The Baron’s face lights up a bit again.

“Ah! Da da da da, yes. Well, we both have our partners this time, don’t we? Oi, Stazi.”

He turns and calls something in Russian into the hut behind him. The cloth covering the door moves aside.

James doesn’t believe in premonitions, but in the half second before the curtain moves, he knows what comes next will change his life.

She’s beautiful from the first moment he lays eyes on her. Like her brother, she’s fair-skinned and dark-haired. But while her brother’s eyes are blue, hers are dark as her hair, framed by a pair of glasses which give her fierce, aristocratic beauty a grounding touch. She takes in all three men without frowning or smiling. James feels odd. Like he’s being measured, weighed. Evaluated.

“This is Mr. and Mr. McCullen, of MARS,” the Baron says. “Gentlemen, this is my younger sister, Anastasia Ciserovna.”

James can tell their names mean something to her. The girl’s eyes narrow, looking more sharply at them. Unlike her brother, she steps up and extends her hand, tilting her chin up to meet his father’s gaze.

“A pleasure to meet you, sir.”

If anything, her accent is thicker than her brother’s, her voice deeper than James expected. She pumps his father’s hand with all the assuredness of a fellow businessman, though his hand swallows hers.

“The pleasure’s all mine, lass.”

The corners of her mouth turn up a little more. She turns to James and reaches for his hand.

She’s beautiful. Truly beautiful, long dark hair and big dark eyes. Eyes with depths so far back he can’t begin to fathom, and a kind of living spark dancing in them. A wise wickedness to this beautiful, sweet thing.

Her smile widens at his hesitation. The tips of ivory fangs peek beneath her upper lip, and he realizes the faint sweet scent is not the flower in her hair. An omega? She has more alpha energy than her brother.

She purses her lips and raises an eyebrow at him, and he realizes he still hasn’t shaken her extended hand. He gently takes her fingers, bends down and kisses the back of her hand.

“Charmed,” he says.

She takes her hand back with a look that tells him he’s corny, but he gets to see those little fangs peek out again as she smiles. She turns back to his father. There’s no shyness in this girl.

“What brings you to the village?”

As if she didn’t know. James and Eugene both squirm in place, but the old man grins at her audacity.

“Making deliveries,” he says.

“Oh? Us too.”

That gets James attention.

“What would you be delivering?”

“Food and medicine, mostly,” Eugene jumps in. “Supply lines have been cut to the area recently, and with the lack of clean water, infection rates are still high. We’ve got a load of dry goods and antibiotics. We’re meeting a contact of mine in the area to get them distributed.”

“And you brought your little sister to the middle of a war zone?”

The words are out of his mouth before he can think, and James feels the force of the glare she sends his way. Eugene sees it too and laughs.

“This area is stabilized, at the moment.” There’s a weight to these last words that’s aimed at the arms dealers, but which everyone ignores. “Stazi has been wanting to come with me for years. This seemed like a good way to bring her onto the team.”

“And it doesn’t hurt to have a young lady with you to help connect to the women and children refugees,” the old man says.

“Everything’s a business,” the Baron says drily.

“Well then, we’ll leave you to yours and be about ours,” McCullen senior says. “Baron. Lass.”

Baron Ciserov keeps his hands in his pockets, merely nodding as they leave. His smile is gone. His sister takes the old man’s hand again and shakes it in farewell. That unreadable expression is back on her face. Watching them all. Taking them in. James looks over his shoulder as he and his father round another hut, moving deeper into the village.

A heavy arm lands around his shoulders.

“Put it out of your mind, boy.”

“What?”

His father laughs. Their smells mingle, two sweaty alphas in their ill-advised clothes.

“If you’re anything like your old man, pretty omegas with big eyes and sweet faces are going to get you in more trouble than all the warlords in the world. Trust me, lad: that one’s more dangerous than anything we’re selling. Best leave it alone."

#gi joe renegades #their princess #his queen #anastasia cisarovna #james mccullen #baroness #destro #baronestro #fanfiction

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axther · 4 years

Text

vixens from venus (and mice on mars)

prompt: secret admirer (@bnhabookclub‘s bingo event)

ochako uraraka x reader

@videogameboiwhowins, @prismaroyal, @pixxiesdust, n @ererokii !!! thank all yall for bullying me into finishing bjsfkab

Ochako Uraraka loved many things.

She loved the starry sky and the grass under her feet. She loved her friends and she loved her family. She loved the smell of lemon and mochi. She loved sitting on her bed with the fan going on summer evenings.

And she loved YN LN.

Ah, YN. The new transfer to 1-B that gave both Bakugou and Todoroki a run for their money and who helped Ochako patch up after a particularly rough training session. She was fast in becoming the next big thing for U.A., with a Third Eye quirk that let her rewind time. It was dangerous when she used it, but beautiful in a terrifying way. YN LN was boundless, ancient, and esoteric, all at once.

And Ochako fell within about thirteen minutes of knowing her.

YN wasn’t hard to love. She stood her ground but listened. She was a wonderful ally and a formidable enemy. She cared and she guarded. She gave and took in measure. But she and Ochako were two very opposite characters.

Ochako was like a mouse from Mars, timid but angry. She was small but fought hard. YN was a vixen from Venus, beautiful but untouchable, sleek and swift.

The mouse was going to pursue the vixen.

Ochako watched YN across the shoe lockers, taking her in. YN slunk over the lockers, talking quietly with Setsuna and Kendo. She towered over them, hushed and calm.

“You’re staring,” Mina teased from next to Ochako.

She jumped, flushing and squeaking the whole time. Mina had a smirk on her face and Tsuyu had her finger on her chin, curious.

“Is something going on between you and YN?” She croaked. Mina put her hands on her hips and grinned haughtily.

“Ochako has a crush!”

“Quiet!” Ochako rushed forward and placed her hands over Mina’s mouth, glancing between her and YN in hopes YN didn’t hear. She didn’t seem to, and Ochako relaxed, turning back to Mina. “Don’t be so loud about it!” “We can be louder!” Tooru spoke from beside Tsuyu. “Hey! YN-ow!” “Don’t be mean, kero.”

“You’re the one being mean…” “Maybe we can help?” Yaomomo walked up from behind them with Jirou at her side, both curious.

“Ahaha…” Ochako turned with a sheepish grin, rubbing that back of her head. “Well, it’s just…”

Ochako looked back over to YN, and her breath caught. The morning sun shone through the front doors and lit her up like an angel from a Renaissance painting, one of the ones with the Virgin Mary and cherubs all around. Her hair was beautiful and her skin just about glowed, and when YN glanced up at Ochako, her eyes looked like they had seen everything and nothing at once. She gave a small smile that dealt more damage to Ochako’s knees than Aizawa’s training before turning to her classes. When Ochako finally snapped out of her daze, she saw all the girls of 1-A staring at her.

“Oh, yeah,” Jirou muttered. “You’re whipped.”

Thank God Ochako didn’t share her classes with YN, or else she might’ve not been able to focus.

They occasionally had training with 1-B, but for the most part, they remained apart. The only glances Ochako would get would be fleeting, from changing classes to lunch to training. It killed her a bit every time, but it was better than failing her class from oogling at YN.

“Hey, Uraraka.”

Speak of the devil.

Ochako turned with as small of a blush as she could muster to look up at YN. The taller student looked down at Ochako with a gentle smile. “Sorry if this is sudden, but is 1-A planning to use the pool again tomorrow?” She scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “1-B was gonna train with it, but all your classmates that I asked told me to ask you.” Ochako baulked inwardly at the fact her entire class set her up, and the thought of YN in a swimsuit came to mind, but she shook her head. “N-No, we aren’t!” She grinned. “You guys can use it!” “Thanks!” YN cheered. She stalked off, but left Ochako’s heart racing. There was no way in hell she could tell YN face to face, but...

Ochako stood in front of the shoe lockers with a soft pink envelope in her hand.

It was the next day and YN was supposed to be at the pool, and Ochako eyed her locker with a vengeance. She was even shaking a bit, but she gripped the letter a bit firmer than she would’ve liked.

Inside was a love letter where Ochako oozed out everything she could onto it, with looping handwriting and as many flowery descriptors as she could manage. She even spritzed it with a bit of perfume, if only to add a bit of flair.

So she was gonna do it.

She was totally gonna do it.

She...was gonna…

God. She couldn’t do it.

Sure, the letter was anonymous, but it was nerve-wracking and made Ochako feel hot and cold at once. Nerves riddled her skin until she felt a sweat break out, and quite suddenly, she wiped her hands on her skirt.

No big deal. Just put it in the locker. It’s not like YN would ever know.

“I feel like I could use my quirk better.”

Ochako jumped out of her skin upon hearing YN’s voice ring down the hallway, suppressing a yelp and feeling every danger sense in her body kick in. She snapped her head to look down the hallway, and lo and behold, Setsuna, Kendo and YN were walking down, all soaking wet and still in their swimsuits. Ochako may have stared a bit, yes, but upon realising that their voices were growing louder, she snapped out of it and looked back at the lockers.

Shoot! Which one was YN’s?!

She eyed them all frantically, trying to remember before realising the three were almost upon her. Her eyes snapped over a familiar set of kanji before rushing forward and stuffing the letter inside, scampering off just as YN walked up to her locker. She hid behind the wall of lockers behind the two before peeking her head out, watching. YN opened her locker with a firm grip (no, Ochako was not daydreaming about it) and listened to the other two chatter before freezing. “Huh?” She murmured. Ochako shook as she watched her crush take the letter into her hands, which quite suddenly looked smaller in her grip. “What’s this?” “Whoa!” Kendo leaned forward and took the letter, looking it over. “Is this a love letter?!” “I don’t know.” YN gently took it back. “I’ve only been here for a couple of days. It might be a prank.”

Ochako gave a choked whine at the thought that YN wouldn’t take it seriously, but went quiet as YN somberly opened the letter.

“What is it…?” Setsuna leaned over her shoulder, but YN backed into the lockers behind her, still reading. Ochako looked at her with wide eyes as she saw YN flush, placing her free hand over her mouth. She looked genuinely touched, and Ochako began to lose her caution as she leaned over the edge of the lockers.

“It’s a love letter.” YN murmured. Kendo nodded but YN continued. “It’s real.” “Whoa.” Setsuna fidgeted with her towel a bit. “That’s...fast.” “They’re...wow.” YN closed it with a giddy smile, and Ochako took a deep breath. “They’re romantic.” Ochako turned back to her side of the lockers, covering her face and hiding her ear-splitting grin. Her heart felt light. The sun was on her skin and when she let her head sit back onto the steel, she stifled a happy laugh.

It was one step forward, and one she would never regret.

#ochako uraraka #ochako urakara x reader #bnha x reader #bnha bookclub #bnha bingo #bnhabookclub bingo

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softest-cinnamon-roll · 5 years

Note

11 for the smut prompts!!!

11. I didn’t know you were so sensitive.

(notsfw ahead!)

* * * * *

Eddie fought back the urge to rock back and forth in his seat as he sat surrounded by all the losers at a fancy high rated restaurant in Uptown New York. It was Stan’s birthday and since it was not in his comfort zone to go out clubbing, so here they are having a fancy dinner.

Of course, with Richie as his fiance, there was never a quiet moment in their relationship, so when they received the text message in the group chat, the first thing Eddie looked up to was Richie’s smirking expression. It didn’t take a genius to know what he was thinking, and Eddie has never been wrong when it came to Richie and his sexual thoughts.

After about a year into their relationship, the two of them moved away from the simple vanilla sex they had been partaking in, and decided to mutually dip their toes into something more...interesting. It started simple, with some dirty talk here and some smacks on the ass there. Then they delved into the more intense stuff, like toys and handcuffs. If someone had told Eddie a few years ago that he’d be hard at the thought of Richie Tozier bossing him around, he’d have laughed in their face.

Yet here he was, sitting next to Richie at the end of the dinner table, listening to his friends all reminisce stories about Stan that his girlfriend Patty had never heard before. The only thing different from any other dinner party he had with his friends, was that there was a vibrating butt plug currently pushed up against his prostate.

He bit down on the inside of his cheek, holding back a whimper as he shifted, causing the toy to push directly against his prostate. Eddie placed his hand on Richie’s knee under the table, squeezing it to let him know to turn the toy down just a little, or he would be coming way too soon. Richie obliged, reaching into his pocket and turning the toy all the way down to his lowest level, just a light buzzing.

Eddie exhaled, taking a long drink of his water before focusing his attention back on his friends. He managed to get in a few funny comments about Stan and their friendship growing up. Patty found it completely hilarious and not at all surprising to find out that Stan had issued all the losers with shower hats in the clubhouse to stop spiders landing in their hair.

He was so lost in the conversation, he totally forgot about his predicament until Richie flicked the toy back to life and Edide dropped his fork. Bill gave him a weird look but Eddie shrugged him off, his hand gripping Richie’s thigh tighter. At that moment, the waitress came by with another round of drinks and the attention was taken off of him and onto the alcohol being passed around the table.

At the distraction, Richie leaned over to whisper into Eddie’s ear, “You okay there, baby?” He breathed, sending a shiver down Eddie’s spine. “Damn baby, I know we’ve been at this for a while, but I didn’t know you were so sensitive.”

Eddie glared at him and opened his mouth to reply, but Richie changed the setting to one which buzzed for five seconds and then stopped for five seconds. It was one of the most torturous settings the toy had and Eddie was seriously regretting his life decisions right then in that moment.

“Richie…” He breathed, looking up at him through his darkened eyes, filled with lust. He had been on edge for hours, and he knew if Richie kept playing with him the way he was, he was going to have a dirty pair of underwear and a wet patch on his jeans, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Taking pity on him, Richie flicked the toy off once more and pushed the remote into his pocket. The bill had been placed on the table, and Eddie was relieved to know they would be saying their goodbyes after this round of drinks. As Richie downed his whisky, he pulled his wallet out and placed $200 on the table for him and Eddie as well as part of Stan’s meal as his gift.

“This was great you guys, but Eds here needs to be up at four am for his shift at the hospital and I have my show at seven, so we need our beauty sleep.” Richie stood up and held out his hand for Eddie, who took it and stood up as well, smiling at all of his friends. “Patty, it was a pleasure as always, take care of our Stanny Boy will you? Give him a birthday to remember!”

Stan glared and threw a straw at Richie as he cackled and the other losers snorted. Eddie rolled his eyes and dragged RIchie out of the restaurant, both because he didn’t want to make Patty more embarrassed and also because he really, really wanted to come.

Richie chuckled at Eddie’s desperation and he slipped into the passenger side of the car, as Eddie was the designated driver that evening. Luckily, their apartment was only a few minutes away from the restaurant by car, so he didn’t have to wait too long. True to his nature, Richie teased him the whole way home, turning the toy up and down whenever he felt like it.

Finally, Eddie pulled up outside their place and he parked the car, turning off the engine and slipping out, followed by Richie and his shit eating grin. The second they opened their apartment door, Richie was shoving Eddie up against the wall, leg pressed between his thighs, against his hard erection. “So desperate, baby,” Richie breathed into Eddie’s ear, kissing down his neck.

Eddie moved his hand into Richie’s hair, tugging tightly on his curls, earning him a moan of pleasure, “Please, fuck...I need to come…”

A hand pushed Eddie’s pants and boxers down and wrapped around his hard cock, pumping him fast as the toy inside him turned up. “Come for me Eds, come on baby, you’ve been so good for me tonight.”

Unable to hold on Eddie longer, Eddie let out a sob as his orgasm washed over him, come covering Richie’s hand as he stroked him through it. “Oh fuck, Rich...fuck.”

“Feel good, Eds.” Richie breathed, pressing a kiss to Eddie’s neck once more. “You are so fucking hot, I can’t wait to marry you, baby. I can’t wait until I can call you my husband.”

Eddie bit his lip and looked up at Richie through tired eyes, “You’re so sappy,” he smiled. “Now help me clean up and let’s go to bed. I have an early shift in the morning, like you said.”

“Anything for you, Eds. Anything for you.”

* * * * *

@richietoaster @tozier-boy @eds-trashmouth @bitchbrak @sloppybitchreddie @its-stranger-than-you-think @maximusfraker @jem-carstairs-is-perfection @thejadeazalea @halfway-happy353 @tinyarmedtrex @inthebreadbinwrites @kat-ships-everything @takeourpure @lo-v-ers @that-weird-girls-blog @studpuffin @s-s-georgie @reddie-for-anything @trashmouthtozierr @richietoizer @girasol-eddie @bi-bi-richie @honeybeehanlon @mars-14 @reddiesetandgo @marsisaplanetyall @xandertheundead @sedanleystanley @hawkinsbabe @beepbeeprichiellc @stellarbisexual @oldguybones @stanleuyris @eduardoandale @purplepoisonedgem @reddie-to-cryy @pink-psychic @violetreddie @toziesque @queen-sock @appojoos @moonlightrichie @rreddies @disneyfan567 @annxmatron @lifesucksheres20bucks @anellope @roobarrtrashmouth @are-you-reddie-for-it @callmechee @nancynwheeler @reddieforlove @twoidiotsinl0ve @madi-artist @tozierking @s-onora @atownofeggs @wilding-throught-thehallways @no-she-wasnt-reddie @dadbodrichie @thorn-harvester-ven @eddiekasbpark

#reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #notsfw

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fmdjoosungarchive · 4 years

Text

location: gwangju, unspecified city, unspecified city, seoul

dates: aug 2005, jan 2006, mar 2007, oct 2009

word count: 1938

tldr; lara j(oosung)ean song c(hoi)ovey. an adaptation to lara jean’s love letters, more fit to sung and each situation. if u dont wanna read thru this all, the letters themselves more or less can be standalone. pairs well with [x]

best friend

“um, could i leave him a note please? i, um, i can’t stay long.”

“oh, sure, honey. would you like to come in?”

sung shook his head, and thanked his mother for the notebook and pen. it’d hurt, in a different way, more painful, to be in a place he’d spent so much time with his friend, without him.

his velcro topped shoes turned, and clomped a couple of steps down, until he had space to sit down on the stairs, right outside the building’s entrance. people passed by, now and again, though sung paid them no mind, against the railing enough his small frame wasn’t an issue. his attention was turned towards the sky. slow in motion, he leaned back, until his entire body covered his section of the short staircase. from his position, the tall apartment building matching the one he was in front of, fell out of view, leaving the expanse of early morning blue and orange sky.

he looked down, and began to write,

months after handing off that letter to his friend’s mother did he find out that his friend woke up not even five minutes after he’d left.

art class

sung’s cheeks had been burning all morning.

was it alright for a man to give another man a present on valentine’s day? or was white day more appropriate? or, was that even more offensive. sung didn’t want to embarrass himself by asking his mom, which meant he prepared the gift anyway, and hoped with all of his might that he’d have enough confidence to actually give it to the boy.

by the time art class rolled around, sung’s heart beat felt as fast as a ferret’s. the second the boy walked into the room, any sense of confidence he’d had whooshed out of the permanently closed windows. he’d heard many of the girls in their school had crushes on him. the boy must much prefer receiving gifts from women, than someone like him.

it took the entire class’s length, and repeated glances up at the boy, for sung to muster enough impulsive courage to take his note, and the boy’s favorite candy, and hold them out at arm’s length with his face turned towards the ground.

shaky as it was, he managed to get out, “i hope this is okay. i wanted you to know how much i admire you as an artist.”

sung never found out much about the boy’s reaction. he’d zoomed away the second the gifts were in the boy’s hands. though, later, the boy did mention his letter.

he called him cute.

rebel

within their about half a year of knowing one another, sung had given this boy many notes. passed along through people-he-considered-mutual-friends, during lunch break, for holidays, just because he was thinking of him. it was something sung enjoyed doing for those he called his friends, because he thought it was nice to let them know whenever he was thinking of them.

sung wished the letter he was trying to write was a positive one.

in truth, sung didn’t know if he could bear to hand this letter off. he wasn’t sure if he could even finish it. the amount of scratched out drafts he’d started were filling up his wavy striped wastepaper basket fast. how could it be possible to write properly with so many feelings inside.

eventually, he did finish, and brought it to school with him. when he managed to see the boy alone, he didn’t look at his happiest. sung considered leaving, but he knew if he didn’t hand this off now, he never would.

the boy immediately ripped open his envelope, that he’d carefully sticker-ed close. sung cringed at the ferocity, and wrapped his arms around his own waist, as the boy read.

“what the fuck is this?”

sung blinked. “um, did-did you read it?”

“yeah i fucking read it. it’s a pile of bullshit. what right do you have to demand shit of me?” he glanced down at the paper, then held it up, shaking it. “and friends?” a laugh devoid of any humor. “you don’t mean anything to me. not a single thing. i never claimed to care what you think about me, or feel about me. you’re not my fucking friend. your company is as good as a dog’s.”

sung stood there, at a loss, words unfound. in those few beats, it seemed the boy’s anger calmed down. he shook his head, “just... get away from me, alright?” and tossed the envelope and letter back at sung, one of which he had to grab from the floor where it fell.

he bowed and apologized, then ran out to go cry in the bathroom.

over the next couple of weeks, it seemed like the boy had come to regret what he said to sung. for his part, sung did avoid the boy, but whenever he saw sung, his face turned pained, and his mouth opened, like he might say something. the moment never came, as sung was soon enough shipped off to another city, far away from the boy.

almost

of all of the letters sung had written over the years, to friends, family, and everything in between, this was the only one he wasn’t sure reached its recipient. the boy’s mom didn’t like him much anymore, after having hurt her son by auditioning for gold star. she might never have given him the letter he’d written.

the letter, with many of his best stickers laid out in the most uniform and pleasing pattern he could manage, and, with a friendship bracelet he’d made for the boy long ago, but had been too shy to give to him. he’d rewritten the letter, to achieve his best handwriting, enough times that he could recite it by heart.

#realized while writing this theres an unfinished sentence in my hc but i refuse 2 fix it bc im stubborn n need everyone 2 kno how dumb i am #self para #this is so long i probably could have made four paras for this but fuck it we wrote 4k today for no reason #also if u cant read the letters im sorry tumblr sucks open n zoom if it helps #if ur Rly interested i can transcribe them #but i felt the intense need for smth in a handwritten font w hearts over the i's #hes rly on his t swift bs in the last one huh

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ladyxgilex · 4 years

Text

Relaxing Day.

The night had already fell over Monstrum City when the door of Galax family home opened with force, calling the attention of members of the Galax family that were present. Mars and Phoenix turned their heads ignoring the TV, while Juliet and Ivy stretched their necks from the kitchen to see who had entered so suddenly.

Luna was breathing heavily on the door, her usually well cared hair had mud and other strange-looking substances on it with some parts of it either cut or burn, her dress, once beautiful and immaculate, was now filled with holes, burn marks, broken and dirty, along with her skin that had several cuts, bruises and even lines of blood coming out here and there.

For a few seconds, the whole family stared in silence to their daughter/sister, unsure how she had end up in such a state if she had go out on the morning completely different.

-How…? - finally, Mars Galax was the first to ask.

-The girls- Luna answered quickly, cutting her father question.

-Ah-

Satisfied with her answer, the Galax family turned back to their respective activities.

Normally Luna would at the very least complaint about the fact her family did not seemed to mind her state or health anymore, but remembering who was she friends of, Luna realized that she would not ask neither.

Nova Butterfly was somehow bearable all things considered, but adding Lix Le-Shade to the equation, it became a vortex of chaotic energy that not even Luna could escape of.

-Are you gonna eat dinner sweetie? I prepared your favorite- Juliet said as Luna wearily stepped on the stairs.

-No, I ate half the core of a corrupted primordial elemental of ice that Lix invoked by accident while Nova tried to imitate one of her mom spells on a dimension I forget the name of- Luna stopped a moment after hearing herself.

-…. Ok, have a nice rest sweetie-

Luna resumed her track with an absent mind, each time she tried to look back at how her day had go she noticed that the more time she spend with both girls, the weirder and wilder it became, in fact she could not even find an ounce of sense or logic on the last 8 hours, and she was pretty sure that the dimension she had go was one of ice, in that case why was her hair and dress burned?!

The moment Luna reached her bed she was still trying to remember how her day had turned out to be so wild, but regardless of the reason, both her mind and body felt weary and tired.

Instead of trying to delve deeper on her memory, Luna decided for the second option and simply launched herself on her bed, the fluffy and comfortable surface received her without resistance, allowing her to cast aside her worries and problems for a well-deserved rest.

-tomorrow…. I am going have a relaxation day…no monster… no adventures… no magic…nothing… just a… well spend – Luna yawned strongly, closing her eyes and hugging the nearest pillow- rest…zzzzzzz-

Luna allowed her mind to drift towards the land of the dreams, with her objective already set for the next day.

Luna opened her eyes once again with tiredness and annoyance, looking around she noticed the light of the sun coming of her window, indicating that another day have started, in the face of a productive and enjoyable day, Luna did what any other teenager with super-natural powers would have made.

She froze up her window, blocking the sunlight to allow herself to rest for more time. However the world have other plans.

Almost on the moment that Luna had tried to close her eyes, her phone ringed, loudly and ever so increasingly, forcing her to reach upon other of the high leveled tactics that the teenagers could choose from.

She took her pillow and wrapped her head with it at the same time that she turned around, blocking her ears and ignoring the sight of her phone at the same time. Unfortunately her phone had the vibration activated so Luna had to acknowledge it is existence, for a moment Luna desired to curse the person that had leave it like that before remember that she herself was the one that set her phone like that.

Unable to keep bearing said tactic, she extended her arm to grab her phone and glance at the person that was disturbing her completely productive (on terms of relaxation) day.

Luna eye twitched as she looked her phone, noticing the 3 missed calls of Lix and the 2 missed calls from Nova. On normal circumstances Luna would be a reliable friend and send a long message explaining her choice of not answering their calls.

However, this was her relaxing day, she was not going to stress herself out of her friends’ problems/Adventures/ideas/etc. or whatever they had on their minds at the moment.

And with that in mind, Luna decided to finally use the ultimate technique that the teenagers had developed in order to avoid/resolve their different problems.

She grabbed her blankets and wrapped them around her body like cocoon, ignoring everything and everyone that were outside of her blankets

She froze up her phone after the seventh call of Nova.

She make sure of freeze up the door so nobody could enter and purposely ignored the continuous small rocks hitting against her window.

Surely with all of those signs, her incredibly perceptive friends, that surely knew her even better than other people would understand the message that she was sending them and…

BOOM!!

Before Luna could even finish her train of thought, a crushing sound came from the side of her room that had a window, very slowly and barely opening an eye, Luna took a peek, only to discover that, on the place that her window should be, there was a rather big hole, and on the middle of her room, between broken wood and glass, there was a giant rock.

- HA! Told you that she was in home, she was just asleep-

- I told you I knew that, but you wanted to throw that rock anyway-

-You are welcome-

Luna did not even had to guess about who those voices belonged to, she turned her eye towards the now open hole on her room to notice Lix and Nova smiling innocently at her on the other side of said hole.

Luna had to remember herself several times that murdering her friends was illegal.

Yet, after some careful thinking process, Luna realized that this was also an opportunity to properly explain her friends that she desired to have a peaceful day for once in which they could do stuffs that normal teenagers did.

Not that Luna had any idea what normal teenagers did since she was practically just starting on it like her friends. Maybe for that reason Luna forgot about other of the very special traits that much teenagers have but are unable to control.

In the face of being capable of resolve her problems by expressing her emotions, Luna purposely ignored said emotions and tried to use the advanced avoiding technique of hiding between her blankets. With some luck her friends may not notice her.

-I think she is ignoring us, maybe we should leave her alone? - Nova voice still reached her ears, and for once Luna was glad of being her friend.

-Do not care, Luna get out of that bed or I swear I am dragging you all the way!- Lix shouted loudly, disregarding both Nova and Luna efforts.

Obviously Luna followed the technique steps and kept hiding between the blankets.

-I think we should ask other person- Nova suggested, lifting Luna hopes unconsciously.

-The only other person with “experience”, it is Star, you wanna ask her for help or tell her you managed to resolve a problem on your own?- Lix countered Nova suggestion sharply, and even Luna could hear the gears moving on Nova mind.

Not long afterwards, and somehow with Luna mother, Juliet, approval, Luna was being cowardly dragged around by her legs while valiantly holding onto an ice pillar she had made on a hurry on an attempt to frustrate their cowardly effort of made her go outside her room.

Obviously this was Luna perspective, but taking into count the fact that the trio had somehow reached dock of Monstrum City was commendable at the least.

The pretty obvious line of disaster left behind by Luna ice pillar was not to be taken into count of course.

Surprisingly enough the 3 friends managed to stay into relative silence, with Lix keeping to her word of dragging Luna around and Luna sticking to her tactic of ignore everything that was not related to her bed, pillows or blankets. Nova seemed to just go along the situation, but Luna did not knew and did not care enough on the moment to dig beyond that.

-Oof! What a great day It is not it Luna? - Lix spoke first to Luna surprise, commenting on the weather for some strange and unknown reason.

-Yeah, it is surely a great and amazing day! - Nova commented as well, smiling innocently.

On Luna experience, that meant that they messed something up together.

-… Ok, I am going to ask just once, what is the deal with you two today? - Luna asked, not out of curiosity but she figured that if they became distracted then she could sneak out of the docks with some luck.

-Do you remember Missy? Missy Lynn-Thomas? - Lix answered with a question.

-Who? – Luna asked once again, she knew a lot of people and she was still barely awake, they needed to be specific.

-Girl of our age, blonde with a red line of hair, intelligent, her mother it is Jackie, you know her, human, like very human- Nova explained while Luna nodded, vaguely remembering someone like that.

Still, Luna eyebrow got up when she noticed that Nova make sure of remark the fact that she was “very human”, when Nova make remarks that usually was a bad sign.

-Yes I remember her, why? - Luna decided to ignore it in hopes of finish things up quickly.

Instead of answering her, both girl suddenly looked behind her.

Luna noticed the sound of the water making waves behind her, like something was rising from under the water, followed by a shadow that covered a part of the docks with the form of a human being.

Already regretting her choice of not have run away when she had the chance, Luna turned around.

On a side of the dock was a giant mermaid with a pretty human-like appearance aside a slightly more blue skin tone. Looking at her face, she noticed that the mermaid had green-blue eyes, while her hair was blonde with a line of red.

-…Missy? - Luna asked slowly, almost wishing to be wrong. But the nod of the mermaid in front of her and both Nova and Lix destroyed her wishes.

-Yeah, accidentally we…Luna what are you doing?- Nova started to explain, but was stopped for the fact that Luna simply created an ice coffin and got inside on it in much less time than Nova would like to admit.

-NO! - Luna screamed inside the coffin.

Surely the story behind Missy turning onto a mermaid was full of twists and probably was the start of an epic adventure, but if Luna had to be completely honest with herself, if she had to hear again the phrase of “The true treasure it was the friendships you made along the way” after several dozens of life endangering situations, she was gonna murder someone.

-Luna…-

-Luna come on! We have tried everything and we still cannot turn her onto a human again!-

-… since it was a combinations of your spells, would not she have magic that she can use on herself to figure out how to turn herself onto a human? – Luna suggested still inside the coffin, mostly out of random more than anything else.

Luna did not heard anymore sounds a few seconds after making the suggestion, she almost became curious of what was happening outside until the sound of a couple of wet feet walking on the wood floor of the dock became audible, followed by some small cheers.

Luna smiled to herself, with the problem solved the girls did not needed her anymore so she could get back to her room and…

-Luna there is a giant Kraken coming out way to try to eat us, can we beat it? I mean, I am not familiar with the Monstrum city laws- Lix voice reached her ears, killing any of Luna dreams.

-…why…? - Luna tired voice came out, not really wanting to hear the answer.

-Sorry, I think it is my fault- a new voice joined the group, Luna assumed it was Missy voice, she apologized at the least.

-What, why? - Nova was the one that asked.

-When you girls went to search for Luna I dive a little and find a Giant Kraken that wanted to eat me- Missy explained calmly.

-Could not you have tried to talk to him? - Lix sounded curious- you are not one to fight head on-

- I did- said Missy- I also explained him a proper diet that he could follow that would be low risk and high reward on a certain part of the ocean-

-And he is coming our way because…? – questioned Lix.

-Because he still told me that he wanted to eat me- answered Missy- so I punched him on one of his brains, he may have also swear on his ancestors that he would eat me and all of my friends-

-… yeah, I think that is important info that you should have shared before- said Nova, after a few seconds of silence.

Luna was about to ask about how near was the Giant Kraken since the conversation had go a little away of the subject at hand. But when the sound of the wood breaking down, violent waves of water and a soul-piercing scream filled the atmosphere, she figured out that the question was not needed anymore.

Luna felt the movement of her ice coffin as the wood under it broke down, and for a few solid seconds Luna did not even think of opening it. But for once on the day, logic won the battle and she decided to open the coffin.

When Luna opened the coffin and seat up on the it, she was not on the place she had expected.

-Oh, hey Lun, we are inside the Kraken stomach but Missy used some of her new found magic to get rid of the acid, very cool uh? Anyway I think we should…-Lix spoke without hurry, more than used to those weird situations.

Lix, Nova and Missy were over a floating piece of wood, with Nova illuminating the Kraken Stomach with her wand, looking like they were somehow prepared to keep going with the day just like this.

Unfortunately, Luna was not up to it.

-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!- Luna scream came from the deepest of her lungs, breaking part of the ice coffin and making the fluids of the Kraken stomach form small waves.

Luna jumped from her coffin to the girls’ piece of good quickly, standing in front of them.

-NO! - Luna remarked, breathing heavily- I said NO! I am not to go down this rabbit hole ALL OVER AGAIN! Yesterday we had a very VERY weird day! I did not even knew how we stole someone country! And then my hair and clothes got burn! Why my clothes got burn if we were on an ICE BASED dimension?! That have no sense!-

-Actually, I am pretty sure we faced an ice-zombie that was capable of fire breathing- Nova added innocently.

-WHY WOULD AN ICE-ZOMBIE….- Luna stopped her screams, knowing very well that if she screamed for every little thing that did not seemed to have sense on their lives she would probably never stop screaming- Look… I want… I NEED a relaxation so we are having one NOW!-

Lix, Nova and Missy had to blink several times, making sure that Luna would not explode on the next moment, but at the lack of more screams, they figured that she was done.

The other 3 girls looked between themselves, sharing looks.

Nova shrugged, not seeing any problem.

Lix seemed unsure, but at the danger of hearing more of Luna screams she gave up as well.

Missy was just going along the current so she actually had no problem.

-Are you sure that you want a relaxation day? I mean… - Lix asked to confirm, looking around the broken wood, the trash, the debris and other strange stuffs inside the Kraken stomach.

-Yes Lix! – Luna claimed with exhaustion - I just want a NORMAL relaxing day! Just CHILLING, and RELAXING, and talking about boys like NORMAL TEENAGERS!! It is much to ask?!-

-…. Ok-

-Fine by me-

-Sound reasonable-

Luna stared the girls down, seemingly expecting any weird sudden shenanigan that would pop up. Surprisingly, only the sound of small waves crashing against the wood filled the place, but even then Luna did not allowed herself to blink until she herself was sure that no craziness would happen on the second she was not paying attention.

-… nice to hear that, now that we are officially on MY relaxation day, do you know what we should do first? – Luna voice suddenly became gentle, smiling with high hopes.

-Think on a way to get out of the Kraken stomach? – suggested Missy.

-Use magic to create a boat so we do not have to stand on a floating piece of wood? - added Nova.

-Punch our way out with extreme violence? – said Lix.

Luna head moved on denial, making the other girls look at her with confusion.

-No, the first order of the day it is….. Talk about boys- Luna countered their suggestions with a clear smile.

An unconvinced Lix raised her index finger while opening her mouth, with obvious plans of give another kind of suggestion.

Luna stared down at her with a cold and unforgiving glare.

Lix could foresee her immediate future if she voiced out her original words, so with the use of her quick mind she changed her words to something that would surely save her of Luna fury.

-I know for a fact that Missy likes Connor- said Lix, making Luna attention change to Missy.

-Oh do not act like you do not like him as well- instead of trying to refute Lix comment, Missy decided to shoot it back, a small blush was visible on her cheeks even with the dim light.

-well that is four-eyes fault, like have you see the way that his eyes shine whenever he is having one of his ideas? – Nova joined the conversation with a weird combination of compliment and complaining.

Quickly finding a common ground, the 3 girls started to talk with great familiarity.

Luna wanted to say something about the fact that they were supposed to talk about boys not just one boy in order for the conversation to be carried out properly, but they did not seemed very willing to change the subject.

-But of course they like the same boy…-Luna complained, whispering to herself as she felt out of the conversation, secretly wondering if Connor had some kind of special ability to draw girls attention, but she was not going to investigate that right on the moment.

-You know, Wolf it is pretty cool too! – Luna joined the conversation with a smile, she had somehow accomplished her relaxation day and she was not gonna let it go to waste.

Now if they could make something about the whole “Stomach of a Giant Beast” Atmosphere, that would be incredible, but Luna decided to consciously ignore it until it became a problem.

-Later that same Day-

-Mars, could you check up if Luna it is ok? She is not answering my messages-

Mars Galax turned his head to look at his wife, Juliet Galax that was staring at her phone with a slightly worried face.

-Did not you let her friends take her away? – Mars inquired, clearly remembering Luna friends dragging her away of her room.

-Yes, but I thought that they would just need her for a moment, besides that girl needed to get some fresh air, she just shut herself on her room and did not even came out to take dinner- Juliet answered, still looking at her phone.

Before Mars could agree to look out for his daughter, the sound of something huge crashing outside made the whole house shake greatly, making Juliet, Mars and all the couches on the house jump a little.

Sharing a look, both parents looked outside only to find a Giant Kraken on the street outside of their home.

Even before any of them had the chance to even try to question what was a Giant Kraken making on the middle of a city, they looked at how a girl opened the maws of the Kraken and came out, followed by other 3 girls, one of which was Luna and the other 3 seemed to be her friends.

-… Oh look, I found Luna- Mars proclaimed with a proud smile, going back to see his TV show.

Juliet frowned lightly at her husband, but decided to pay attention to the outside, still curious of her daughter day.

Luna waved her hand at the girls as they separated on 2 groups, Lix, Nova and Missy on one and Luna on the other before she headed to her home. The Giant Kraken extended it is tentacles, slamming the ground to jump out of the city and into the sea like this had just been an everyday thing.

-So, how was your day sweetie? – Juliet Galax asked as soon as her daughter entered on the house, trying not to sound too anxious.

-Oh, hey mom, I think it was pretty cool, me and the girls had a pretty chilling day- Luna commented with a smile- what is for dinner anyway?-

Juliet blinked several times, wondering how “chilling” could explain the fact she had come out of a Monster mouth, but quickly gave up.

It was surely a teenager thing.

EPILOGUE

-So… this was a normal thing or…? – Missy asked curiously as she, Nova and Lix made their way back to Echo Creek.

-Well, kinda? - Lix was the first to talk, yet her answer did not sounded very assuring.

-Kinda?-

-I mean, Luna it is the weirder of all of us, like way weirder than us- Nova said- I mean, chilling for a whole day inside a Kraken stomach? I had not thought onto that-

-True, but I guess that is part of her charm as a friend- added Lix.

Missy thoughts started to drift away, but she soon came to the realization that she would not mind spending part of her time with weird people like Luna.

She had to admit that despite her weirdness, she was fun to hang out with.

#Lix Le-Shade #Luna Galax #Nova Butterfly #Missy Lynn-Thomas #Art #MyArt #Writing #Story #AU #alternative universe #Friends

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alolanrain · 5 years

Text

Do you like someone? No.

“Who do you like, Ash?” Misty asked one night. The original gang had set up their small camp, resting before going after Ash’s fourth gym badge.

Ash looked up from grooming Pikachu, who for once wasn’t whining like Ash was ripping out its fur in clumps, glancing at Misty through his eyelashes. The clinking of metal against metal in the small distance means dinner isn’t done yet so Ash can’t escape from her question.

“No one.” He answered easily. Moving to drop the fur brush and pick up a fine tooth comb for Pikachu's tail, the mouse Pokémon actually started purring at the sight of black plastic. Ash doesn’t look back up at Misty, even though he heard her disappointed sigh and the discord chime of Brock setting down the metal spoon with slightly more force than necessary.

Because Ash doesn’t like anyone, he never really needed to. It’s not something he should be worried about anything either, he’s only ten. It’s not like Ash doesn’t have more important things on his mind like when Team Rocket is going to surge up or when the next Godly encounter is. Ash is only ten years old, he’s fine with just focusing on his Pokémon and gym battles for now.

-----

“Do you have a special someone, Ash?” Max asked, popping up besides the older trainer who was filling his dish with the amazing smelling stew Brock made for lunch. “Like someone back home in Kanto?”

“Max!” Misty hissed, shoulders hunching as she tried to reach for her brother around the table to drag Max back to his spot next to her.

Ash lifted his eyes to where Brock was walking over after double checking that everything was off and no wild Pokémon was going to steal any leftovers in the closed pots. Brock lifted an eyebrow, his eyes held a curious glint to them.

He ducked his head back down, shoveling another spoon full before swallowing and facing Max. “No.” Was Ash’s slow response. He doesn’t really like-like anybody right now, and no one would be waiting for him back in Kanto. “I don’t like anyone and no one is waiting for me back home.”

The curious glint in Brock's eyes died down as he sat next to the raven haired teen. His hand coming out on reflex to mess up Ash’s hair, the shorter complained slightly before going back to his meal and Brock scooping some of his own out of the large pot on the table.

Max felt his older sister sag against him a little, glancing up he didn’t comment on the sour look on Mays face and turned back to his own delicious lunch with a quiet thanks to Brock.

——

“So…” Dawn drawled, rolling over on the hotel bed so she could look at Ash upside down, “anyone special in your life, Ash?” She immediately giggled when Pikachu poked her bare side with the edge of its tail.

Ash sighed and set down his phone on the coffee table next to the pair of chairs he’s sitting in and the large window. He chose to glare out the window a little bit, looking at all of the pretty lights shine and blink in the twin they’ve stopped in. If only Brock were here instead of going out to a strip club.

“No,” was Ash’s answer, dropping his head sideways onto his arm that’s thrown over the chairs back, “nobody has gained my interest yet.” To be honest with himself, Ash is a little bit worried. He’s fourteen now and not a single person has caught his eyes; female, male, or any other gender. None, absolutely nada. Is there something wrong with him?

“What about Zoey?” Dawn asked, rolling back over and eyeing the way Ash’s league suite made weird waves over Ash’s stomach. If only she could alter the suite, Ash would look ten times more better than whatever Champion Lance chose for Ash.

Groaning, Ash stood up. Bringing his arms above his head to stretch. “She’s a lesbian, Dawn.” He did a mock voice of the old lady from that one vine Dawn really liked to play when she’s bored.

Said girl immediately pushed her upper half up before twisting to look at Ash, all doe eyes and small smiles. “She is?”

“Room 103, second floor down the left side of the hallway.” Ash relayed like a robot. It wasn’t his fault that he was actually texting the same red head when Dawn asked him who he liked.

Dawn was jumping off the bed and pulling her shirt down before rounding said bed to lung at Ash. She pecked his cheek once he caught her before darting off and out the room. Leaving Ash and Pikachu alone in her wake.

——

“Do you fancy anyone, Ash?” Cilan asked one sunny day. The trio were out in the woods, stopping for lunch before continuing on to Ash’s fifth gym battle.

They had eaten and were now chilling by the small lake that was nearby. Pikachu was silently dozing in the sun next to Ash, the humans cap laying on the Pokémon’s head to block out the sunlight.

Ash’s face scrunched up in consideration before a frown marred his lips. “No,” he’s tone sounded dull to his ears as the same answer for the past sixteen years passed his lips. “No I don’t.”

Iris scoffed, sitting up on the other side of Cilan. “What a little kid!” She crowed our, ignoring Cilans weak glare, “only little kids don’t get crushes.” Iris declared. All the while eyeing Ash.

Said teen shrugged his shoulders, ignoring Iris’s petty attempt for a silly argument and the need to throttle her for the ‘kid’ comment. Ash’s hand that wasn’t supporting him came out to gently run his fingers over Pikachus fur, the Pokémon was so asleep it didn’t even twitch at the touch.

Scoffing at the lack of response, Iris later back down with a huff and rolling over to look away from both boys.

Cilan then took over and started to wax poet about why daring can be so good for the soul, or something.

Ash really didn’t care, so he kept silent and let his traveling partners do their own thing.

——

“Hey Ash!” Bonnie yelled suddenly. Wrenching herself away from Diantha’s side and bounding over the sand easily to reach the nineteen year old trainer.

“Ye-oof!” Ash huffed as he caught the excited little girl suddenly. “Yeah Bonni?” He croaked out, morning his Long Island that was now spilt into the sand. He felt a hand rest against his shoulders, turning back Ash met Professor Sycamore's knowing look as the man had bent down to grab the falling glass.

“Do you like anyone?” She yelled happily, pointedly glancing back at Serena who was sitting next to Miette and Alain. The contest girl had frozen up with an angered look directed at Bonnie.

Ash's smile felt like plastic, he was hoping he would be able to dodge the question but Aah should have guessed it would come up either way with Bonnie in the group. “Why,” Ash pauses, scooping the giggling girl up more into his arms, “I like everyone here! They are all my friends!” Ash was at least happy that he could direct the answer to something more friendly, he doesn’t think he would be able to deal with a sulking Serena for the rest of their travels.

Bonnie groaned in annoyance before requesting to be put down, Ash doing just that she then farted back over to Diantha who happily allowed the little girl to climb back up into the Champions hammock.

Ash pointedly ignored several staring eyes, going back over to the set up beach bar where Professor Sycamore and Malva are making another batch of Long Islands.

——

“Hey Ash,” Mallow greeted, planting herself right next to Professor Kukui’s Teacher Assistant. Said Teacher Assistant was sprawled out over a picnic blanket, an extra one he brought in case the larger one their teacher brought couldn’t hold all his students.

She waved to a group of girls she was familiar with as she waited for Ash to acknowledge Her. Ash was pretty determined to not do anything for this festival, choosing to lay down the extra blanket a little ways from all the festivals festivities. Unlucky for the twenty year old, it just made everyone that he knew on Melemele to slowly transfer their stuff next to him.

Sighing as Ash couldn’t ignore Mallow for too long before the young girl would lay herself over Ash’s back and whine extra loudly that he was ignoring her, he wiggles his arms under his chest so Ash could push up his upper half off the blanket.

“Yes, Mallow?” He grumbled. Ash also ignored the soft cries of resistance from Pikachu, who’s large head had fallen off of Ash’s shoulders.

“Do you like anyone?” Her innocent smile couldn’t cover her teasing smirk that was thrown over her shoulders.

From Ash’s position he could see Gladion, Hau, and Kiawe all freeze up at the green haired girls question. Dammit, Ash was hoping that he wouldn’t have to break hearts in Alola.

“No.” Aah was forceful in his answer. Starting it clearly with a final tone to Mallow, because if he didn’t surely Mallow would get Lana and Lillie into bothering him as well.

He ignored the broken looks of Gladion and Hau, and Ash didn’t even see Kaiwe’s shoulders slumping. Ash slid back down so his chest could press against the warm blanket with a half mumbled goodbye to Mallow, only smiling at Pikachu's soft cry of victory before the mouse Pokémon laid its head back into Ash’s upper back.

——

“Do you like anyone?” Gou was blunt with his question. Scorbunny next to Gou snuggled deeper into the over plushed and soft blankets of the hotel bed. The young’s teen was almost regretting letting Ash use him as his ‘plus one’ to a Gala in Galar.

The question just popped into Gou’s mind, after all Ash didn’t really do a lot at the Gala besides talk to people and dance with a few other higher up members like the Kalosian Champion Alain and the new Regional Professor Garrison Oak. All of which were just friends and old rivals of Ash when he was younger.

The twenty three year old Alola and Orange Isle Champion poke his head out of the extended bathroom. “Nope!” Was Ash’s answer before his head disappeared into the bathroom. Only to pop back out with a slight frown and eyes glistening with a little worry. “Nobody at the Gala assumes you and me were dating, if that’s what the question is referring to. You're too young for me and everyone knows I’m not into dating.”

Gou’s shoulders relaxed a little, to be honest he was worried about that. But it seemed it was all okay now. “Alright.” Gou mumbled back, feeling the lack of sleep the past few days fully hitting him now.

Chuckling, Ash slipped out of the bathroom. Trotting over in a pair of pj pants and a fully white robe draped over his shoulders. The young adult reached for the covered and Scorbunny, lifting the tiny Pokémon up Ash places Scorbunny on Gou’s chest before covering both of them with the hotel blanket.

“Get some sleep,” Ash stated quietly, one hand coming up to cup Gou’s cheek before carding through his raven hair once, “we’re leaving early tomorrow to head back to Kanto.” Ash pulled back before whispering good night to both Scorbunny and Gou.

Gou whispered goodnight back as he felt the bed dip and Pikachus bulking frame came into view before curling into the young researchers side

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