#To keep away the boredom while waiting to be rescued

[fikefries]

wheels of fate (m.s) part one

part one: shadows in the dark

warnings: implied almost assault, swearing, mentions of alcohol

summary: when you find yourself in the face of danger, an unexpected character comes to your rescue.

1.1k words

you sit on your dorm bed, staring blankly at the incomplete essay on the laptop in front of you. today was not your day. partying the day before your thesis was due was not the best idea. the words blur together as your mind wanders, boredom gnawing at you, and an immense craving for salt-and-vinegar chips bubbling in your stomach. you look across your room to your tiny electric clock sitting on your desk, its blue hue slightly lighting up the darkness of your dorm.

1:37 AM,

you sigh, shutting your laptop with a small thud, rubbing your tired eyes, and pull yourself out of bed. you left out a soft groan at the state of your room, mini skirts, tube tops, and empty bottles of tequila sprawled out on the floor. the room feels stifling, and your hunger is rising. you need to get out, even if just for a little while.

grabbing your phone and hoodie, you decide to make a quick trip to the 24/7 convenience store down the street. it isn’t far, and the walk will do you good. you slip out of your dorm quietly, tip-toeing down the hall—not wanting to wake your roommates.

the cool night air is a nice change as you walk through the campus gates and onto the empty night streets. the city has a different feel at night—quieter and more solemn. you stuff your hands into your jacket pockets, trying to shake off the unease that creeps up your spine. you know that walking down a dark street in the middle of the night isn’t the safest thing to do for a girl like you—but hey, what are the odds something happens the one night you decide to go out?

as you reach the convenience store, you notice a small group of tall men huddled around the energy drink section. they are dressed in black t-shirts, black jackets, and have on fingerless gloves. you realise that most of them are holding motorcycle helmets, automatically assuming they are night bikers. the area you live in is notoriously famous for its biking culture—one that results in many police chases and gunshots. knowing this, you keep a safe distance away from the group of men, but one seems to catch your attention. a boy who looks around your age is holding a motorcycle helmet and has multiple piercings adorning his ear. you can’t help but stare at his sharp features and siren eyes, the way he looks with his jaw clenched, a toothpick resting in his mouth as he stands patiently, waiting for the rest of the guys to sort out their choice of drink. you don’t even realize you are staring so intensely until he starts looking around the small store, before his eyes catch yours.

shit.

you quickly avert your gaze and pretend to inspect the different flavors of chips. your embarrassment doesn’t falter, as you feel his sharp gaze burning into the back of your head. you turn to quickly grab a few snacks and head to the counter.

"just these, please," you say, trying to act normal and confident, not wanting to garner more attention from the possibly dangerous bikers.

the cashier barely glances at you, engrossed in his phone.

“have a good night,” he mumbles as you pay and leave the store.

you begin your walk back to your dorm, nervously munching on a bag of chips you bought. you decide to take a different route, hoping to enjoy the quiet streets a bit longer, distracting yourself from the awkward encounter you just had. your thoughts wander, and you find yourself lost in your own world, not noticing the ominous figure that has started following you.

“hey you,” a gruff voice breaks through your thoughts, making you jump in fear. you turn to see an old, ragged man approaching you, his eyes gleaming with something sinister, a creepy smile etched onto his face, revealing his crooked teeth. “what’s a pretty thing like you doing out here alone, hm?”

your heart races, and you quicken your pace, turning around occasionally to see if you lost him, but the man keeps following you, his grunts growing louder as he catches up to you. you begin randomly taking different paths and alleyways in hope of losing the man. you've heard stories of what has happened to other girls on campus before and you know how dangerous the situation you are in is.

god, i should've just stayed home.

you glance around at your surroundings, slowing down your pace, realizing you have run into a more isolated and unknown part of town, and are now at a dead end, with nowhere to run to as the creepy man catches up and starts walking towards you.

“leave me alone,” you manage to shout, your voice trembling in utter fear and desperation.

“come on, don’t be like that,” the man sneers with a wicked smile, closing the distance between you.

before he is able to touch you, the sudden loud roar of a motorcycle engine echoes down the street, zooming towards your direction. the old man halts his actions, his expression shifting from predatory to wary and he slightly backs away from you. a sleek black bike skids to a halt in front of you, and the rider jumps off with an air of cold confidence.

the rider removes his helmet, revealing the boy from the convenience store with sharp features and piercing eyes that seem to see right through you, his hair messy from being underneath the helmet.

how is he here? did he follow me? did he hear me screaming?

he barely glances at you before fixing his gaze on the old man.

“get lost,” he says flatly, his voice devoid of emotion, his blue eyes glaring coldly at the man.

the old man hesitates, clearly intimidated by the biker’s presence. “hey, boy, i don’t want any trouble,” he mutters, fully backing away from you, as you let out a sigh of relief.

“you already found it. leave before you actually fucking piss me off,” the biker replies, his tone cold and unwavering.

the old, creepy man shoots one last menacing glare at you before turning and disappearing into the night, knowing not to mess with a night biker—especially in this part of town. the biker turns to you, his expression unreadable.

“you okay?” he asks, his voice and eyes still stoic and devoid of warmth.

you nod, swallowing hard. “yeah, thanks. i—”

“be careful” he interrupts, already turning back to his bike.

“wait” you nervously call out, hesitantly taking a step forward. “what’s your name—i mean thanks for saving me, i don’t—” you stutter.

he pauses, glancing at you over his shoulder. “matt,” he says simply, putting his helmet back on and revving the engine of his bike before heading off into the night.

tags: @isasturns @sofieeeeex @scqrletsmadness

a/n: im thinking this will be a 10 or more part series! let me know if you have any ideas!

[lucinata]

FFXIV Write, Prompt #2: Horizon

At the edge of the universe, she had won. More than just the star, this time, every star was saved from destruction. But it was close. If he hadn’t been there, defied every expectation and flown to her for that final confrontation, there is a very real chance that she would have lost. Died, leaving nothing but memories, sacrificing herself to keep the scions safe, to get them away, that they might figure out some other way to stop the Endsinger’s Aria. They always thought she had a plan, but in that moment, she’d had none at all, save for ol’ reliable: throw herself at the enemy and take them down with brute force and sheer determination.

But this time. For the first time. She thought that wouldn’t be enough. Damned if she hadn’t been ready to try it anyway, despite it all. Mind gone blank, weapon gripped tight, she’d faced down the Endsinger and been certain that their clash would destroy her, if not kill her.

And then Zenos appeared.

Zenos, of all people! The villain who killed his father for the crime of getting in his way and threw an entire country into civil war and disarray, who’d slaughtered his own men out of boredom, who would go to the moon and back and throw away his mortal form just to goad her into a fight, he who cared for naught but the heady rush of mortal combat against his only equal, he who called her friend with the same breath that he threatened her companions with death… he who was more a cataclysm than a man, had found her there, had saved her, and had died.

She wonders if his body is still there.

In that space, with an infinite horizon perpetually on the cusp of dawn, she had comforted Meteion, helped her remember how to be more than the embodiment of nihilistic despair, and he had waited. The starbird flew off, and he waited as she watched it go. So different from their clash between the blooms of the Royal Menagerie.

In Ala Mhigo, he had denied the parts of her outside of what he could understand while claiming kinship. He raved like a madman, and his words rang hollow; only his fusion with the eikon Shinryu tipped her hand against him, and he remained dissatisfied.

But he had changed since then, somehow. Somehow, some way, he had realized that her truths, though different from his, were no less real for their incomprehensibility. So he waited for her. He gave up on his attempts to force her hand against him, and let her be the hero the universe needed. And when, at last, her job was finally, truly finished, when she had no more threat to stop, no more fight to fight… he had asked.

He did not demand combat from her. He did not threaten her or her loved ones, and this time, his words struck true. At that time, in that place, she could no longer deny it. She had wanted to fight him all along, in truth, but duty ever called, always needed pulling her elsewhere, always some other crisis to solve, person to help, realm to save. But finally, she had nothing left to stop her from an emphatic yes.

Their clash had been everything she’d ever wanted from a fight. No people at risk in the crossfire, no buildings or nature to take collateral damage and need restoration afterwards, no aftermath but the one left upon their flesh, their souls. No linkpearl could call her away, no airship could swoop in and “rescue” her. Finally, she could bring her everything to bear, no holds barred. Every step rippled beneath their feet as they danced to the song of combat, and her heart sung as she exhausted every last dreg of her strength. It was… glorious.

She thought he felt the same.

He had spoken again, after their fight. Disappointed with his loss, of course, but not mad about it. Collapsed on the ground, she listened as best as she could, until eventually, he said no more. Had he died, then? His last sentence left unfinished, hanging loose in the silence, and she remembered a falling star landing beside her, before all went black. When next she woke, she was among a sobbing crowd of Scions, and Zenos had been nowhere in sight. They’d blubbered and begged her not to be so reckless again, and when she asked how she’d gotten back, they told her she’d probably used the teleportation device Wilfsunn had given them before their departure, since it had been right beside her when she’d turned up (more than half-dead and within an ilm of her life, as Alisaie put it).

She was sure she’d tossed it to the void, though, that her friends might escape without her. So how had it ended up beside her, in that realm where emotion dictates all? She hadn’t felt much of anything, other than bone-tired, when she’d passed out. Perhaps…

With so much kerfuffle, and the heady feeling of their biggest victory yet, it was only much later that she wondered if his body was still lying there, in that bubble at the end of the universe. Frozen in time, or decaying, or vanished to nothing… she wasn’t sure she could ever find that space again to check. Though perhaps Zenos would prefer that she let him remain frozen in the memory of their fight.

He’d asked her questions, when they were both so exhausted they could hardly move. She’d barely been able to keep her eyes open, let alone answer, but he’d asked them all the same. Was her life a gift, or a burden? Did she find fulfillment? She wasn’t sure, really. It was possible he’d been asking himself as much as her. But she thought, despite the hardships, that her life is a gift, in the end. And if she’s yet to find fulfillment, then there’s nothing for it but for her to seek it out, wherever that journey may lead her. And perhaps, in a different life, in a different time, Zenos would find the same.

[kichimiangra]

In your comic, what was Klunk's plan after kidnapping Ratchet? His ominous little puppet show made it clear that Ratchet did not have any real say in the matter, but how did Klunk plan to "replace" Clank? Was Klunk intending to assist Dr. Nefarious with Ratchet's very unwilling help, and just keep the Lombax nearby?

I wish I could fully remember. This was one of those "Left open to continue but didn't plan far past the puke joke" moments. It definitely would have had Klunk kidnap Ratchet and get right into some crazy stuff. I think it was going to have Klunk try to use the mind control device from Secret Agent Clank he had used on Ratchet in that game, or graft it to his head more permanently with intent to use it to keep Ratchet under his control.. but in a creepy stalker way. And it would either go down a direction of it not working and Ratchet having to pretend it is while playing house/tea party with Klunk while waiting for a chance to escape/ his friends to come to the rescue (The Comedy route) or a direction where it doesn't immediately work but it is constantly pushing further into Ratchet's mind until he doesn't even know what is real and what isn't anymore! Wasn't he always with Klunk since Veldin? But wait wasn't he not... but wasn't he just kidnapped by the vacuume cleaner? But why would that happen? Aren't they partners? Why would Klunk need to kidnap him?

(AKA the drama route)

I do remember that Nefarious was mostly being reserved for a joke ending where after all the drama is had, think epic final battle moment, Neffy just shows up (Because this is all taking place in Neffys base) and is like "There you fucking are you little asshole!" *Deactivates Klunk and goes back to repairing him* and is so pissed off by the events of the day that he just tells everyone to get the hell out of his house.

My friend was helping me get out of corners a lot with the writing and she specializes in kidnapping fics (She was responsible for Klunks little puppet show) and she had written out a script for the whole scene that the puke joke exists in including what would be like... Pages 13-15 if I had gone further than the puke joke:

Nefarious clasped his hands together. “Excellent!” 

He turned, gaze blurring past metal walls and corridors as he zeroed on his minions. His eyes shrank to pinpricks as he realized what exactly was in their hands.

Before turning, he lifted a fist and grinned at the mirror. “Finally! I’ll be able to kill my nemesis. With what you’ve stolen from their very own home I will be able to–“

“Those monsters!” He slapped a hand to his chest and hacked. Metal screws flew out of his mouth and bounced off the heads of the minions. “What did they do to my creation!?!”

He lifted a hand, index finger raised to his minions, as he proceeded to upchuck cogs and bolts. The metal chinked against the floor and scattered about the robots feet. When he finished, he straightened and eyed the object in the minion’s hands.

“He’s been turned into an atrocity. Those squishy heroes are horrible! Horrible I say!”

Lawrence puttered to Nefarious’ side, the corners of his mouth curved down in boredom. “Sir, if I do recall you have a photo of said heroes in your holo-diary.”

The butler reached into his vest. “I believe you even titled that page as…ah, Bestie Buddies?”

Lawrence started to pull out a tablet with the words “Neffie’s Diary” inscribed on the back in elegant calligraphy but Nefarious lunged in front of him, eyes wide.

“No!” He faced his minions, back hiding Lawrence and any incriminating evidence from view. “I mean, uh, I don’t have a diary!”

Lawrence rolled his eyes but returned the tablet to his vest and stepped out from behind Nefarious, studying the vacuum-transformed Klunk. “Sir?” he gestured at the minions, who, judging by how they were shaking enough for their innard metal to rattle, were terrified. 

Nefarious swiped his baby out of their hands and shooed them away. “‘l’ll fix him and he’ll be back to causing mayhem and terror!” He started to laugh but his system glitched and he froze. The dialogue and music from his favorite movie played from the speaker wired into his mouth.

Lawrence smiled slightly and slapped his back. Hard. He stumbled a bit but continued his laughter. Damn, Lawrence was working out or something cause that hurt.

~oOo~ 

Nefarious leaned over a work table, goggles covering his eyes to protect them from flying sparks. He held a screwdriver in one hand and leaned over Klunk’s unconscious form. The small robot had the chest compartment open as he worked on cleaning out Klunk’s innards.

He pulled out a chunk of orange fur with the screwdriver and shifted the fur into one hand. “You poor thing you’ve got a lot of hideous Lombax hair.”

He turned around, exchanging the wrench for a small lint brush. It’d be easier to clean out the hair and then work on restoring the wiring. Nefarious pinched the fur between two metal fingers.

He murmured to himself. “If I could feel…would this be soft?”

The robot turned around and his eyes shot wide. Where was Klunk? Metal clacked and he lifted his gaze to spot the little robot turning a corner. Strands of orange hair fell out of his chest and left a trail behind him.

Nefarious crossed his arms and yelled. “You’ll come back when your circuits overheat!” He huffed to himself. “Ungrateful little brat.”

~oOo~

So I know with her cowriting it would have been something awesome:P

[rove-bogge]

Happy Birthday to the Ignihyde Gremlin!

Happy Birthday Rove!

"Huh people actually have time to remember this year?"

Do you normally not get your birthday celebrated? 

"Not really…my family runs a tailors and Halloween is like the busiest time of year for orders especially after Reda has expanded the business…If I'm lucky the simp might make my favourite dinner but normally it's kinder overshadowed…"

How about this year? 

"Well my main want is to have a great halloween with the rest of Ignihyde I guess if we get that I'm happy….not that I am a sappy person uuurgghh..." 

Any birthday memories? 

"Ehhh its always been full of busy work making last minute adjustments or dealing with fussy karens….though one year we had this magician come in when i was still a little tot…apparently he needed some adjustments to his big show costume so I was helping with the hem and he asked me what day it was and when I told him it was my birthday he gave me my first set of dice and taught me some dice tricks he was a fun guy though I forgot to get his name and sadly never had time to check out his shows… shame but I still have those dice there my super super lucky ones!" Any plans for the future? “Not really…I have to go help out in the family store after all. Got to love being shut in the basement and forced to work my life away in boredom…” You're joking right? Well what would you like to do?” “Umm…well if I could pick…I like to be a bug tester both in spells and technology. People hire hackers and virus makers to see if they can break their security on their systems and test the weaknesses. It’s doing what I do best but legally. Then I could use the money to expand and improve my bug habitats and maybe even do breeding for endangered species to help them recover.”

Ok some favourite food? 

"Sour gummy worms totally are the best. It always makes people do a double take if they look more realistic too hahaha. I guess there's also the simps stew too that always hits right especially during the rainy season. I have a slow cooker in my room to make it every now and then. I sometimes will make a huge batch for the dorm when people need a bit of a pick me up!"

Least favourite food? 

"Urgh coffee it's so bitter….how can people drink it? I added like fifthteen sugars and milk and it still tasted nasty…I'll pass thanks there's other ways to get caffeine!"

Who would you bring to a deserted island? And the person can not be someone from your dorm! 

"You knew Ortho would have been the easiest pick…well I guess it's still not a hard question to answer. Kalen. With his unique magic I'm sure he will do all the heavy lifting while I sit back and wait for rescue..maybe even see what insects live on this island. And Kalen is at least tolerable to be stuck with and worse case there's plenty of muscle if food sources become short kek /jk!"

Who would you pick for a sibling-

"Orth-"

But it can't be someone from your own dorm!?!

" ….."

"……"

*turning bashful* 

"…..Lilia or Vil..."

And why??

"Well…Lilia seems to see my bugs as cute too and wouldn't it be funny to be taller than the older brother so there's that too and I could only imagine the cool prank team ups we could have!"

"As for Vil Jinx is always saying good things about Vil and it…sounds nice to have a sibling who would look out for you and care about your well being…Reda never really cared about looking out for me growing up…there was many times I needed him and he wasn't interested in being there….oi forget I said that!!"

Jeez alright…

A dorm other than Ignihyde? 

"Hmm can I pick Ramshackle? Hehe the ran down house is perfect for wild certain wild bugs I would love to have a even bigger room to house my collection in and it's quiet not filled with many people so peaceful…though…would the internet be decent…might need to speak to Idia about installing fibre optic if I was to move though I guess if Ramshakle doesn't count Diasomnia seems alright. It is not lively like the other dorms or stuffy so I could keep to myself easily there…and Ember is there too so we can play games in the evenings. I guess green is also more my colour then blue...." Ready for your gift of good fortune? "I wouldn't call it good fortune.....How about we just give it to the bugs....a little treat." Hold still! [Whoosh!]

[chey-murray]

Wilderness Survival: The Basics

Reminder: these posts are not made to replace hands-on education of wilderness survival.

If you are lost, S.T.O.P

When people get lost in the woods, one of the hardest things to do is admit to being lost. Perhaps out of fear of embarrassment, people keep walking while thinking that the way out must be around that bend or over that hill.

Instead, here is something that you should engrave into your mind for if you find yourself lost in the woods: 

STOP yourself to avoid becoming more lost, and also to help yourself get rescued. By walking around, you might actually be moving further away from the search crews trying to find you.

THINK of what immediate danger you are facing to avoid any rash decisions. “Am I hurt? How long have I been walking? Do people know I am gone?”

OBSERVE  around you for any potential solutions to your current problems, as well as looking for what problems could soon arise. Look for anything that could be of use. “Am I somewhere safe? Is this somewhere I could wait for help? If a storm is coming, what can I use for protection?”

PLAN your next course of action after following the steps above. If you are in a group, this is when you should start signaling for them to help, if not, then you should move onto the survival pattern.

The Survival Pattern

This is the general go-to order when you are lost, but the situation that you are placed in can change this order. For example, in a desert water is a higher priority on the list. Do not be afraid to change the order when needed.

First Aid.  Injuries, no matter how small, could become life-threatening if left untreated. Even a small little papercut could become infected. Pain also limits our ability to think, and decreases your moral. Without first dealing with first-aid, you might find you have no motivation to continue further down the list.

Fire.  Fire is what helps purify water, cooks food, keeps us warm, lights signal fires, and even keeps us sane. Cold lowers our ability to think and takes away our will to work.

Shelters.  Without a shelter, bad weather can become your worst enemy. A good sleep is extremely necessary to keep heads clear, and also keep up morale. If you are too tired, you will not want to do anything.

Signals.  Someone might be looking for you very soon, so you will need a way to help them located you, such as from a fire signal.

Food and Water.  This is last for a very important reason. On average, you can survive three days without water, and three weeks without food, while the other things on the list can affect your survival almost instantly.

The Seven Enemies of Survival

Pain.  Pain can take away your motivation to work. Instead, force yourself to find something to do to keep your mind off the feeling, perhaps by crafting something that might help(such as a splint). There are also natural pain-killers that can be found in the wild.

Cold.  Cold drains motivation by making you want to huddle up. Instead, force yourself to keep moving; such as by adding extra layers to your shelter to keep warmer at night. Keep your fire going, keep dry, keep busy.

Thirst.  Not only does thirst dull your mind, but it is also often forgotten about until water is needed. Drink often and stay in the shade if it is overly hot out. Thirst can bring on the effects of pain, cold, and also fear.

Hunger.  Hunger takes away your rational thought and can make you shaky as well as tired. Hunger can also bring on the effects of pain, cold, and fear.

Fatigue.  Fatigue reduces mental ability and motivation. If this becomes a problem, take extra steps to make your sleeping area more comfortable.

Boredom.  The more you sit, the less you think about survival. To fix this, focus on bettering your camp, such as with camp crafts.

Loneliness.  Boredom can lead to loneliness, loneliness strips your will to work.

[mostly-vo1d]

Wait I have a steo wild hunt au that still gives us the why wouldn't I remember Stiles scene. Time travel.

Everything goes exactly as planned, the pack remembers and gets back Stiles. Stiles and Theo somehow end up fighting together when one of the riders gets both of them at the same time. But because magic is funny like that (read: whatever the dread doctors/the nogitsune did to them turns the hunt's train station dimension into wibbly wobbly timey wimey nonsense) they end up both alive 3 months earlier.

And promptly get taken separately by the wild hunt again.

So we not only get both of them being forgotten, we also get Theo being the one telling Stiles he was the only one who really remembered him.

[bekaroth-reads]

Lupin III gang x sick reader

[still on a Lupin III kick because I may or may not have watched season one in one week. Thought of and wrote this out really late last night so sorry if there’s some stuff worded weird, haha]

Lupin

You’re sick

He would be one to give you a little bit of time to see if you were actually alright if you insisted, but not a lot.

Will baby you to no end, but in a clingy way

It gets to the point where sometimes the others have to keep him away from you because he’s checking in on you so much that you’re not getting the rest you need to get better

Absolutely uses it as an excuse to stay in bed with you all day

While this sounds nice at first, there are two main problems with this

The first is that he can’t really stand to sit still that long

Even though he can wait forever when he has to do something for a heist, he still technically doing something so the boredom doesn’t get to him as much

When he’s just lying there with you then he’s dying to do something

So, he starts playing with your hair, running his hands along your arms, tapping his foot against yours, and so on

Again, making the others scold him for not letting you rest

The other major problem with him staying in bed with you while your sick is that no matter how much you tell him he’ll get sick too, he doesn’t listen and insists that the power of love is stronger than any illness

Which leads to the next section…

He’s sick

You have to take care of him

He wants you to be as clingy with him as he was with you

You have to be with him 24/7 because he’s a poor, defenseless, sick, little Lupin and what if his cold were to kill him suddenly while you were gone for fifteen minutes? You wouldn’t feel horrible, wouldn’t you?

But good luck getting him to actually do anything that will help him get better

If Lupin doesn’t like it, then Lupin doesn’t want anything to do with it, and that includes most medicines

He will insist that you bought the worst tasting kind just because you hate him

The only way to make it up to him is to take a nap with him because he’s freezing and wants to steal your body heat, seeing as it’s really the only thing that he can steal at the moment

Him not being able to sit still applies here too

If he’s awake, he’s trying to get up and still plan things, that is when he’s not playing up his symptoms to try to get your attention

There will be times where he wants to show plans to the others, but he’s quickly shunned from the rest of the hideout and banished back to his room while everyone Lysol everything that he touched on his way there

It’s really not good to be a world class thief and have to worry of they’ll get caught on a job from something as stupid as a sneeze and they all know that

If Lupin is lying in bed and he’s away he will be sure to make a loud, miserable sounding sigh to be sure that you remember that he’s there and he’s not well

When he does fall asleep, he tosses and turns so much that it’s a wonder that he even stays in the bed

Will absolutely pretend to be sick a day or two longer than he actually is so that you will dote on him a bit more.

Jigen

You’re sick

When he notices that you’re not feeling well he’ll just push you to your room without saying a word

Tells you to take a nap and then leaves the room

It’s not that he doesn’t care or is afraid of getting sick

He just doesn’t have much experience in this situation so he tells you to do what he would tell himself to do if he were sick and in the same tone too

If you don’t have any cough medicine on hand he’ll go to the liquor cabinet and grab you something from there

Cough syrup is mostly just alcohol and menthol right?

So if you drink this whiskey while you have a cough drop in your mouth it’s practically the same thing

Goemon to the rescue, stops him before he even offers. Lupin wants to try Jigen’s theory

Will stay in the room with you as long as you want, but will go somewhere else to sleep

Again, not that he’s afraid to get sick, but he also won’t take too much of a chance on it either

Many times he can be the life or death change in Lupin’s plans, so he needs to make sure that he can go on as many jobs as he can

He’s sick

The exact opposite of Lupin

Doesn’t hate to get affection, but also won’t seek it out either

He will cover himself with a blanket and literally stayed curled in a ball of misery until he feels better

Make sure he eats and gets water

He’s bad about keeping up with that

His reaction is to sleep through everything, symptoms and meals alike

Takes the medicine like shots, might not enjoy the taste, but wants to try to rush getting better anyway that he can. Remind him that he only needs about a tablespoon every few hours, and make sure the bottle is out of his reach.

He’s one of those people that won’t eat at all while they are sick, but once they feel better their body wants to make up for lost time.

That’s actually how you know that he’s better. Not only is he actually out of bed, but the pantry has been practically emptied out as well.

Fujiko

You’re sick

Old fashioned thinking would say that as a woman, she would have more natural, maternal instincts for situations like these

And old fashioned thinking would be wrong on many accounts, especially with this

She hates sickness.

Hates to see you so sad, hates all of the excess body fluids that come with the ordeal, and most importantly

She hates being sick

You will not be seeing too much if her until you are feeling better

If it ends up being something life threatening, then sure she’ll come to your aid

Other than that, the two of you can talk through the door as easily as you could face to face

If the two of you happen to be with the rest of the gang at the time then she totally makes Lupin do stuff for her instead like run to the store for stuff, or hand you things like tissues through the door

She loves you, she really does, but it all just kind of creeps her out

She’s sick

If she gets sick, she get a bit clingy but not as bad a Lupin

In fact there are plenty of times that she would rather be alone because she has done he best to be the most beautiful woman in many people’s eyes and doesn’t want anything to ruin that, especially not a runny nose

She does alright with medicine, has to kind of psych herself up for if before she drinks it though

It pretty good about keep herself busy but with things that are low energy so that she doesn’t wear herself out

She will love you forever if you make sure she has plenty of puzzle books to work on

Has a humidifier going constantly. It keeps her warm and helps her breathe easier so it’s her new best friend

As soon as she feels better she wants to go do something, anything, that gets her out of the house

She hasn’t worn make up or cute cloths for about four days and wants to feel like an actual person again

Goemon

He’s sick

He’s the kind of person that believes you if you insist that you’re not sick

Like you look like you’re about ready to topple over and everyone else is begging you to lie down and he’s like, “No, it’s alright. They said they aren’t sick, so they aren’t.”

Not that he’s stupid or uncaring, he just figured you know your own body better than anyone else so you knew if you were sick or not

If it does get to the point where you finally admit it, or he can really tell you’re bad off, he will be there to make you go rest

He will make sure you have everything that you need, enough blanked and pillows, things to keep you occupied as you rest, or even just be there to talk to you if you need

I hope you like tea, because you’re getting a lot of it.

Stuffy nose? Have some tea. Headache? More tea. Hungry? Here is some soup which is like the food version of tea. Also he brought you more tea as well.

Fujiko asked him about all of the tea seeing as he had basically been boiling water for two days straight.

Was it some sort of herbal medicine that a master had taught him during his time training

No, it wasn’t. He just really isn’t that good with expressing certain emotions, especially in the caring department, but he was good at one thing and that was making tea. So that was his substitution for that.

Will, insist that he sleeps with you still in case you need anything during the night.

If you worry that he may get sick himself, then he’ll assure you that he will be fine

Not that he’s like Lupin and thinks the power of love will protect him. That’s just foolishness.

He’s simply too strong to get sick

He’s sick

He was not too strong to get sick

Still insists that he is though

He will be sitting there doing his meditating and looking like a ghost to the point where you have to poke him to make sure he’s still with you

Once he does give in and rest he’ll make it seem like he’s just doing it to humor you.

Well, he’s not really sick, but if it will make you feel better if he lies down for a bit then he will

Is out like a light before his head even hits the pillow

Will take medicine and say that he would never do something as childish as complain about the flavor

But his face scrunches up every single time, no matter how much he denies it

Is the cleanest sick person you know

Not matter how out if it he may be due to a fever, he will always insist that he has somewhat clean cloths on and that there is a wastebasket right next to him for any used tissues

Had multiple cases where he insisted that he was still waking up at the crack of dawn and going to train, only to make it to the door and fall asleep again, making you have to go and put him back to bed

Feels bad if you want to sleep in the same bed as him still

As much as he appreciates it, he would feel awful if he got you sick.

Once he finally feels better, he goes outside.

Doesn’t matter what he does outside as long as he can see the actual sun for the first time in about a week

Zenigata

You’re sick

The moment that he even remotely hears a cough or a sneeze he’s convinced you’re dying

Even if you weren’t even sick. No matter how much you try to explain that you were just dusting and some blew into your face, to him you were in critical condition with a new disease that there was not cure for and that you needed to be rushed to the hospital NOW

Everything is larger than life for him and he has a bad tendency to think of the worst case scenarios first

As it turns out after he practically carried you to the hospital, you simply had a cold so there wasn’t much you needed to do other than rest a few days

But, this is Zenigata we are talking about and he has to be sure things were followed to the letter, if not stricter

You weren’t even going to sit up if he had a say about it, and if he walked into the room to see you doing anything but trying to sleep, he’d panic a bit

What do you mean that you walked over to the bathroom by yourself?? What if you made yourself worse from the effort of walking 3.5 meters all in a single day!!

He would take off work to take care of you

As much as he could anyway. There were still a lot of phone calls coming in for him

He will make sure that you eat and will have himself convinced that you are starving if you don’t eat at least something every few hours.

Don’t make him force feed you this soup, because he will if you haven’t eaten right after he made it

Lots and lots of physical affection from checking your forehead for signs of a fever, to hand holding, to hugs

Because he’s just so afraid of something happening to you even though it’s unlikely, that he wants you to know that he’s here and he loves you

Will be in the same bed as you when you sleep, but doesn’t sleep as well

He’s just watching you and keeping an eye out for… something

He doesn’t even know what

Maybe he’ll arrest the germs that made you sick in the first place

He’s sick

Turns out that stressing your body out by not sleeping much for a few days and worrying about everything while hanging out with a sick person isn’t such a great idea

It happened almost the exact day that you started to feel better yourself

You walked into the kitchen to tell him the good news and were greeted with the sound of a sneezing fit

Now it was your turn to make him lie down

He insisted that he was fine

And even if he wasn’t he still needed to get back to work as they would need him

You told him he had options, either he call the chief and ask for a few more days off or you would be doing it yourself

It wouldn’t hurt some of the other inspectors to start pulling their weight for once

Back to the Interpol agent at hand

The poor man was miserable after a bit

He could hardly stay awake to eat anything

And even when you did get him to eat or take medicine you weren’t even sure he was conscious enough to know what he was even doing

A symptom that he did get that you didn’t was how he lost his voice

You figured it was the universe telling him to quiet down for once, but you went through a lot of honey and ginger making stuff to help the poor guy

While he is pretty much asleep for the duration of his sickness, he still has a sixth sense for when you’re around and especially if you’re next to him in bed, and will subconsciously wrap himself around you when he can

You’re very comforting to him whether he’s even awake to fully appreciate it or not

Sadly, after he feels better he has to get back to work almost as soon as he can, but he will let you know plenty of times that he appreciates everything you do for him, and will make it up to you later

[perlukafarinn]

there should have been an episode where dean and cas get locked in a room while they’re on a case and for ~handwave-y magic reasons~ they can’t get out. so for the rest of the episode they’re just stuck in there together, at first trying their best to get out and then resigning themselves to waiting to be rescued, going through various stages of pissed off, worried, bored, etc. as they wait.

and after a while it just devolves into this slumber-party-at-3-am feeling, where just talking to stave off the boredom develops into them genuinely sharing a lot of intimate secrets and inner thoughts. 

dean shares his fear of ending up like his father and the fear of that fear, what this means about his relationship with john. cas talks about the guilt he’s constantly carrying with him and the secret regret he feels at not having been able to raise jack like a normal child.

then there’s a long silence, and dean confesses in a very quiet voice, “i don’t think i’m straight.”

cas looks shocked at that - what dean said or that he said it? that’s left up for our interpretation! - and after some visible internal panic he thanks dean for sharing this with him.

dean very transparently changes the topic to something safer and cas goes along with it. cut to some time later, we don’t know how long, but both of them look notably more tired. dean is lying on his back on the ground and cas sits next to him, leaning his back against the wall.

dean wonders out loud what’s gonna happen if no one ever finds them. cas’ grace doesn’t work in this room (again, for handwave-y magic reasons) so dean’s days are pretty numbered. cas asks dean not to talk about it, not wanting to dwell on the topic himself, but dean pushes.

“i could die in here. we both could, we don’t know what this place does to angels long-term. you tellin’ me you’ve got no regrets, knowing that?”

and he looks up, catches cas’ eye. cas stares down at him, then quietly admits, “maybe a few.”

they keep staring at each other, motionless. there’s palpable tension and then cas moves, shifts like he might be about to lean down but before he can -

boom, the door slams open! sam and eileen are in the doorway, guns raised. sam’s shoulder slump in relief when he sees dean and cas and he laughs. “don’t tell me you’ve been in here the whole time!”

hard cut to the bunker’s kitchen. 

the four of them are having post-hunt beers, sam explaining how they got the witch (let’s just say it was a witch) and eileen is adding some embellishments to his re-telling. it’s a nice, relaxed scene except neither dean nor cas look fully at ease. dean’s smile looks fixed and cas is hunched awkwardly, as if mimicking a relaxed posture.

dean’s eye catches cas’ again, this time clearly by accident. they look at each other for a moment, some silent communication passing between them. then dean looks away.

the episode ends and for maximum torture, nothing that happens in it is brought up again for the rest of the season!

[elias-code]

How to Kiss (with fangs)

Characters: c!Techno x gn!reader

~Ask Link~

Summary: You and Technoblade are childhood friends and an innocuous visit to his cabin ended up trapping you with him for a week straight. While trying to annoy him, you asked how he kissed with his fangs, and you soon got a first-hand look at how it's done.

Warnings: None (it's fluff :3)

----------- This was for an ask! I hope you enjoy anon!! -----------

You set out on what was supposed to be a weekend trip, there to see Techno and get up to some mischief like old times. As kids, you’d ransack Phil’s house and harass Will together. No matter what happened, you two always ended up in some sort of trouble and Phil would have to come to rescue you.

You came to the cabin, partly out of boredom, at the worst time possible. The blizzard hit the night you arrived, trapping you in the house with Techno for a week. You were sure the storm had to let up soon, but every morning, the house was dark. The snow still piling up outside while you two huddled together for warmth, not that he needed it.

Eventually, he got tired of talking. He was never much for small talk, but especially now since you’d run out of even remotely interesting things to talk about. He tried to read to you, but you were restless.

“Hey!”

“I told you if you didn’t move, I’d just pretend you weren’t there.”

Earlier, trying to get his attention, you’d sat on the ottoman of his armchair, where he usually rested his feet while he read. You thought it’d bother him, but after asking you to move multiple times, he just decided to best you and he swung his legs onto your lap, trapping you there.

“Well, now I’m just going to annoy you until you move your legs.”

“Feel free,” He said, reaching for the book on the table next to him. He always looked studious with his reading glasses on, the little fangs poking out of his mouth being especially cute when he focused.

“Weather’s pretty crazy, huh?” You said for the second time that day, you know it got on his nerves, and so you made a point to asking as often as possible.

“Are you going to do this all night?”

“Until you let me get up.”

“You’re just going to annoy me somewhere else. At least here you’re predictable.”

He was right, you thought, but you might as well make the most of it. “Where’d you get these boots?”

“You know I make my own clothes.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen you make stuff.” You poked his foot, pretending to look at the stitching. “I remember when I accidentally ripped your cape and you had to stitch it up.”

“Still mad about that.”

“Sorry,” You flicked the toe of the boot, “I mean, it was the first time I’d seen you sew. I didn’t know you knew how.”

“Mhm.”

This was getting nowhere. You huffed, looking at the fire that was roaring a minute ago, now only crackling away over a pile of ash. You’d have to add another log to the fire soon, but he wasn’t letting his feet up anytime soon. You were already getting cold.

“The fire’s dying.”

“Yep, thank god we’re both nether-dwellers,” He looked up sarcastically, “Oh wait, you’re not.”

“Techno,” You whined, kicking your feet against the foot of his chair.

“What?”

“Let me up, I want to stoke the fire,” You looked at him, pretending to shiver, “I’m already cold!”

“In a minute.”

Alright, well now it was back to your old tactics. If he wouldn’t respond to annoyance or pouting, you’d have to bring out the big guns.

“Remember when Phil caught you putting ice in Will’s pillowcase?”

“Yes, I do.”

“He deserved it,” You said, “But he brought you out in front of Will and made you apologize.”

“And then he made me apologize to you for pinning it on you.”

“I remember. Maybe I should put ice in your pillowcase for trying to pull one over on me.”

“I don’t keep ice in my house, you’d have to get from some outside,” He looked briefly at you, “And you’re already dying in here.”

So much for that plan. Maybe it wasn’t embarrassing enough, you had to dig deeper. “What about…” You drew a blank.

“Hmm?”

“Have you ever kissed anyone?”

His eyes looked up from his book, squinting at you, trying to read your expression.

“You know I haven’t,”

“I mean I dunno, you must keep some secrets from me…”

“But you have a habit of knowing everything about everyone, you’d probably somehow know before I did.”

“Good point.”

There was a pause, your train of thought got away from you, now you were just thinking about kissing him.

“How’d you think you’d kiss someone?”

He took a deep breath, “What do you mean?” “Like, with your fangs, how would you, ya know…” You made some elaborate hand gestures, which confused him more, “With the fangs and all…”

“Um, I guess I’d be really careful.”

“But how? Show me.”

His face went bright pink, ears nearly red. You hit the sweet spot. He moved his legs off of you, tucking them onto his chair, propping up his book. Victory. You stood, grabbing a log for the fire. You slowly brought the flames back to life, blowing lightly on the embers, igniting the driest bits of bark.

“No, but seriously,” You walked over to his armchair and put your head on the top of the chair, tilting your head to look at him.

“Seriously what?” His face was still slightly flushed.

“How do you kiss with the fangs? I’m actually curious.”

“I don’t know if I could describe it.”

“Well, I mean we’ve got time to waste.”

His eyes darted to you and then back to the book, taking mental note of the page number so he could come back to it.

“What are you saying?” He turned his body to face yours, getting awkwardly close. You backed up and his head followed you to the front of the chair, expression never changing.

“I mean,” You poked one of his fangs, testing its sharpness, “That could hurt someone,”

“You’re pretty tough,”

Now you had each other turning pink. You wanted to hide your face, but that would mean he’d be winning. Besides, you wanted to see if he actually had the guts to kiss you.

“Then do it,” you taunted.

He rolled his eyes and leaned in, inviting you to do the same. Am I really doing this? Am I kissing my best friend? You leaned in. He put his hand on your cheek to steady you, any wrong move would mean you’d have a tooth in your face.

You got close enough to see the details on the rims of his glasses, and you could make out tiny trios of skulls engraved in gold. Your lips were practically touching, and you whispered, “Careful, I don’t want to have to explain to Phil why my lip is busted,”

He pulled away ever so slightly, “Wait, how do I actually do this?”

You laughed. He didn’t think he’d get that far, he was just trying to psych you out, secretly hoping you’d go for it.

“Let's just try, we can figure it out as we go,”

He went back in, tilting his head, trying to get purchase on your bottom lip. “No, that's not right,”

“You got this, Techno.”

This time, you managed to get one, mouths closed.

“Alright, just let me,” You blurted, holding his face.

You went for it, full force, slightly startling Techno. You forced his lips open with your tongue, freeing his bottom lip of his fangs. From there he got the hang of it.

You both sat there for a while, exploring each other’s mouths. All things considered, he wasn’t a bad kisser. Something inside of you stirred, a long-buried crush on Techno reawakening at that moment.

You smiled into the kiss and put your arms around his neck. You swirled your tongue around his fangs, testing their sharpness, daring him to bite down. He didn’t, he was being cautious, almost like he sincerely enjoyed it.

You both parted for air, staring at each other for a while afterwards, basking in the moment.

“Wasn’t so bad, was it?” You mocked, your face still burned bright pink and you felt hot to the touch.

“We should do this again sometime,”

“Maybe during a blizzard or something…”

[maybe-theres-hope]

Tarlos ficlet - “You Like My Costume?”

For all y'all firefighter!Carlos babes :) 

@howtosingit @pragmaticoptimist34 and anyone else who likes this kind of thing <3

1.6k | ao3

TK is actually kind of bummed to be working on Halloween.

Sure, it’s not like he has to work Thanksgiving this year--he somehow finagled the day off and he has yet to tell Carlos that he will be making a surprise visit to the ranch for dinner and he absolutely can’t wait to see his fiancé’s face when he walks in--but he was kind of looking forward to doing the cutesy couple’s costume thing. He’s a sucker for that kind of thing, and he’s bummed, okay?

They’re out on a call that’s frankly more of a time waster than anything else since the fourteen year old in question wasn’t actually suffering from alcohol poisoning but rather he’d yarfed because his friends had dared him to drink a teaspoon of dish soap--honestly, kids these days--so things are looking pretty mellow so far for the evening. He half expected full-moon level type calls tonight but in all honesty he’s been kind of bored. Which really makes it doubly crappy to be working. There’s not even any excitement. 

“At least we’re off at 11, you’ll get to see the last of the trick-or-treaters,” Nancy says with a smirk. 

“Who trick-or-treats at 11 p.m.?” he asks. “By then it’ll just be the dumb teenagers TP-ing old people’s houses and that’s if anyone actually does that anymore.”

“What, you’re too old and married for those kinds of shenanigans?”

“Screw you, I’m not old, and I’m not married yet,” he quips back at her.

“Mmmhmm. Coulda fooled me.” She’s smiling her mischievous smile, the one she gets when she’s contemplating how to jump-scare him in the bunk room in the middle of the night because one time he yelped in such a high-pitch that she nearly peed herself laughing, and she’s been trying to recreate it ever since. 

“Hey, the thrill is not gone, I can promise you that.” Now it’s his turn to smirk back at her.

“Ugh ugh, okay, don’t wanna hear about it.” She waves her hands in front of her face like she’s shooing away fog. “And TK? I mean that. Whatever it is you’re going to be doing tonight, I never wanna hear about it, okay? Just...please. Keep it in the bedroom. Everyone’s going to be making enough assumptions as it is.”

He turns to look at her from the driver’s seat, puzzled. “What do you mean, tonight? What’s so special about tonight and why are people making assumptions? Carlos had to work until half an hour ago anyway, so we’re probably both going to just pass out when I get home. Also, what do you mean ‘assumptions’?”

She just smiles at him again. “Just drive, Strand.”

When he pulls the rig into the bay at ten minutes past eleven, TK just wants to shower and collapse. Boredom held out for only so long before giving into three separate calls where the patient coded on the backboard. He’s tired, he’s hungry, and he feels like he will never be clean of all the sweat. His fingers are aching and his shoulders are sore. He’s never been more ready to just slip into their sheets at home and pass into blissful oblivion. He can’t even make himself look up from the floor as he walks toward the locker room. 

“Hey TK! Why don’t you say hi to the new probie?” Mateo’s voice is nearly a giggle, and it actually causes TK to lift his head. With great effort. 

“Huh? We have a new probie? Whose first shift is on Halloween? Who did he piss off to manage that?” TK asks, following Mateo through the kitchen.

It’s Paul who answers from where he’s leaning against the archway leading back into the bay where the ladder truck is parked. “No one. You might be a little peeved that he took your old turnout gear, but I really, really doubt that.”

“What?” Now TK is just thoroughly confused. 

“Yeah,” Marjan says when he rounds the corner, “and it doesn’t fit him all that well, but I also highly doubt you’ll be upset about that either.” She’s practically glowing with mirth. 

“Okaaaay...what’s with everyone? Is this some kind of Halloween prank? Is someone going to jump out and scare me?”

“Trust me, it won’t scare you. Just...don’t scar the rest of us once you see it. Behave yourself until you get home,” is Nancy’s last line before she turns and practically runs up the stairs. 

TK darts his gaze around to the rest of them, brow furrowing. 

“Just go, man. We’ve been keeping this from you for like a week and we want to see the fruits of our labor,” Mateo says, shoving at TK’s shoulder so that he walks toward the ladder truck.

Still confused and slightly nervous, TK rounds the back of the truck and looks around to see what it is they’ve conjured up to prank him with. He scans the floor, wondering if someone in a scary mask will slide out from under the truck. He moves around to the other side while still in the team’s line of sight, looking back at them for some kind of indication that he’s on the right track. Marjan points subtly up and he follows with his gaze. 

His mouth goes instantly dry and his breath stops. He might gasp, but he can’t be sure.

“Hi babe. Happy Halloween,” Carlos croons in a low voice, though he’s blushing slightly which removes some of the effect. 

TK can only stare. His old turnout gear, indeed.

His fiancé his perched on top of the truck, casually leaned against the ladder and looking down on him. His hips, clad in baggy pants only held up by bright suspenders are slipped forward just so, inviting TK’s eyes to travel up the long line of his glorious body. The AFD t-shirt is straining at the seams, defining every muscle in his abs and pecs, the suspenders caressing against the hard planes of his chest, peeking out from the turnout coat hanging open. 

When Carlos notices where TK’s eyes have gone, he lifts himself out of his ridiculously sexy lean to stand and shrug out of the coat. How on earth anyone can make the removing of standard-issue PPE look so goddamned alluring, TK will never know. The movement causes Carlos’ shoulders to flex, and the cotton of the t-shirt nearly gives out. TK catches a peek of his own name in bright orange lettering across the back of the coat before it’s casually flipped over one massive shoulder, clinging to one finger. 

“I...holy shit,” is all he can say. He has been robbed of his entire vocabulary. He can hear his team snickering at him from the kitchen, but he pays them no mind. The view from here is much better. 

Carlos blushes a bit more, and tosses the coat down to TK, who catches it dazedly. Then, he watches as his absolutely gorgeous fiancé nimbly climbs down the footholds on the side of the truck like he’s done it a thousand times before, and between drooling and sucking in subtle breaths of air TK’s eyes are drawn directly to his ass. It’s a marvelous sight. 

Dropping down lightly onto the floor with a tiny bounce in his step, Carlos turns to face TK in all his glory. TK’s gaze once again runs the gambit from his shoulders down his torso, right down to his own spare pair of boots. 

Carlos saunters closer, knowing full well what he’s doing and loving every minute of it, the bastard. “So, babe,” he says in that same low voice, closer this time. “You like my costume?”

TK still can’t really form words. He might stutter a bit, but he’ll deny it later.

Carlos leans in close--presumably to deter their audience from hearing his next words, which are whispered directly into TK’s ear. 

“I chose to dress up as your secret fantasy,” he says, his lips caressing the shell of TK’s ear. He shivers, though from the words or the touch or the outfit or all of the above, TK can’t say. The next words he hears don’t help matters much.

“What do you say I rescue you from work? Take you home and give you some mouth-to-mouth?” 

TK can hear the desire behind the words, but he can also hear the tiniest giggle at the blatant dirty talk that Carlos actually doesn’t do that much of, and it makes his heart melt. This man is everything.

When he regains some coherency, TK decides to give back as much as he’s gotten. He runs his hands down Carlos’ torso, nearly dropping one suspender completely off his shoulder with his vigor in grabbing a handful of pectoral muscle. 

He leans back in and says into Carlos’ ear, “Well, have you still got your uniform in your car? It might be a bit big on me, but I think I’d look good in nothing but your utility belt. Should I handcuff you to the bed, firefighter Reyes?”

He leans back just enough to catch Carlos scrunching his eyes shut and biting his lip--desire written into every line of his face--and suddenly remembers their audience. This is not a free show, no matter how much help they provided Carlos in surprising TK with this. “Take me home, now.”

“You got it, babe.” With that, Carlos bends down, grabs TK by the waist, and lifts him like he weighs nothing. TK is thrown over his shoulder in a full fireman’s carry to the tune of his team, his friends, whistling and catcalling as he’s carried off to Carlos’ car. 

Yeah, this is a good Halloween. Maybe the best one yet. 

[screaming-blue-bagel]

teaser: hell, no [eddie m. fic]

eddie munson x fem reader *read at your own risk. this is a fantasy story. based on stranger things characters* plz, like and comment if you would like to continue reading this story.

summary: Sir Eddie and Sir Steve are given a journey to find the stolen princess y/n.

This is my first fic. Plz give feedback and be kind. This is not meant to be read as a quick thing. I will likely make this into a series if you all like this. It will be for those committed ppl who love a good adventure.

Once upon a time, in a castle far far away there was a princess locked up in a random tower in the kingdom of Tagoona. Her name was princess y/n of the kingdom of Lightpope. Because Lighthope was already taken smh. Anyway, you're not here to listen to the narrator blab on about technicalities, so let's move on.

Last I checked, princess y/n was sitting on the ledge of her balcony possibly waiting for a prince to rescue her. So, that was the last I checked. Now she's just gone... On the bright side, I do see her on a horse riding away from the tower.

At Lightpope castle same day, but later time.

King Hopper was sitting on his throne in his throne room. His boredom was getting to him all the while his royal squire was helplessly trying to entertain his king in hope of not being thrown out of the window.

"Your grace, please excuse the interruption, but uhh..." "Well get on with it!" Hopper said in an annoyed voice. "I have received word that princess y/n is no longer in her tower." "What the hell?!" "Go get my two finest guards, she must be found as soon as possible." "Yes, sire," said the royal announcer.

In the knight's quarters. Sir Steve Harrington and Sir Eddie Munson are playing darts.

"So Harrington, got any hot dates tonight?" Eddie said. "No man, I wish you would stop asking me that question, geez." "Well shit, my bad I..."

"Report to the King's throne room immediately he requested his two best soldiers." Another guard said.

Eddie looked around the room to see if he was talking to someone else besides him and Harrington. "You mean us?" Eddie said, nervously. "Yes, you're the only two in here aren't you?" Steve looked at Eddie. "Well, I guess we better not keep the King waiting."

Throne room.

The two knights practically run to the throne room to meet the king. As they walk into the room, Eddie trips over Steve's heel. "Shit. Shit. Shit." "Silence, you fool." Said the king's, right-hand man. Steve and Eddie bow for Hopper. "I am sending you on a super important mission. You are to find and save my daughter y/n. She has been stolen from her tower and is probably terrified right now." Hopper announced.

"Your majesty, I'm flattered truly, but kindly I'm going to say, hell. no." Eddie said smiling. Steve glared at Eddie and slapped the back of his head before looking back at King Hopper who was about to kick Eddie's ass himself. "Um, your majesty, what Sir Munson means to say is 'Hell no, I can't believe you would choose us to save the princess," Steve said. Eddie quickly nods still rubbing his head and smiles at the king. "Yes, your majesty that is exactly what I meant. How lucky are we?" He says terrified and still smiling not considering the fact that he was about one minute away from ending up with his head on a stick outside the gates.

King Hopper cleared his throat, wondering how these two idiots were his two best knights. "Before you leave at dawn you meet the rest of your party. I will arrange for them to meet you at the Leaky Chalice tonight."

The two knights bowed to the king and quickly walked out of the throne room back to their quarters to pack their belongings.

Knight's quarters.

"I swear Eddie, you should really keep your fat mouth shut sometimes. You almost got us killed." Steve said. "You know Harrington, consider yourself lucky. My mouth is like a double-edged sword getting and getting us missions by day and the ladies for us by night." Eddie said grinning and flexing his muscles. "Oh, shut up Munson you know that's not what happened." "Maybe not, but the ladies won't know that," Eddie said putting a small future stone in his bag along with a small bag of dried herbs *wink wink.*

"Come on, we are going to be late," Steve said. I can't be late saving the princess, then how would she fall in love with me he said while flipping his perfect hair. "Whatever, man. The princess would much rather have me and you know it." Eddie said remembering his conversation with the princess just one year ago. Before she was locked away in a tower and stuff...

[hacked-by-jake]

Hi. Can I get 14 and 16 with Jake and MC (female) ?

No, genius. No, Ah! God!

Prompts: "I still don't trust you." and "Friendly reminder that I know how to hide a body." "That did not sound friendly at all." Words: 3,5k Warning: Bad language, an arrogant and annoying Jake, an annoyed MC, quarrel, teasing, slight sexual allusion for fun, mention of violence (for fun). A/n: Hi anon, first of all, thank you for your request. I really enjoyed writing it. And thank you for your patience. I wanted to try something new, but I hope you���ll like it anyway. Sorry for the mistakes and have fun reading! <3

-

Summary: Jake is an asshole, an idiot, he’s terrible and exhausting. The others call your relationship absolute hate love. Even if the hatred really predominates. He is arrogant, he is a macho and he drives you to the edge of your nerves every second. You wouldn’t say that you hate him - although.. okay yes, that’s exactly what you’re doing. And you try to avoid him as much as possible. You thought he found something important about the Man Without A Face and that’s why he’s leading you into the woods. But you forgot who you’re talking about.

(Gif is not mine)

-

"What the hell is your plan?" With the nerves at the end you stumble through Duskwood’s forest. Stumble over roots hidden under leaves and dirt or step into holes you can’t see. In front of you, the cheerful and whistling Jake, almost jumping over branches and bushes. "Actually, I don’t have a plan. I just thought a walk in the woods would be a nice thing for both of us" with a hypocritical grin, he turns to you. Speechless your mouth opens and you stop immediately, "WHAT?" you ask angrily. It was so clear it was just another trick. He twists his eyes and also stops walking, "Listen to me when I talk. You and me. A walk. In the woods. I can spell it for you if you want," he explains as if you were a child. You notice how your eye starts twitching suspiciously as you clench your hands into fists, "You said you had to show me something!"

However, Jake takes it with a simple giggle and doesn’t seem really worried about your anger. "Yes, I’ll show you the forest" he shrugs his shoulders and smiles his head crooked. But to your bad luck, of course, you immediately stumble over the first root that gets in your way. "Oh no"  it escapes you and you wait for the impact on the forest floor, but it does not come. Instead, you feel strong arms curling around you at the last second and rescuing you from the rough impact.

You open your eyes in amazed and look directly into the equally astonished-look of Jake. His face is only a few inches away from yours. You can feel his warm breath on your skin. You notice the cherry smell of his chewing gum and also the smell of his perfume and oh damn, he really smells incredibly good.

While it’s not the first time you’ve noticed the smell, it’s the first time you notice how appealing this smell is. None of you say a word, none of you move; all you both do is stare at each other. And you don’t know if it’s just imagination, but you feel like his face is getting closer and closer to yours.

Does he want to kiss you? Do you want him to kiss you?

Well, you don’t have to think any further than a more than self-assured grin popping up on his face. And as if that conceited look wasn’t enough, he has to fire another stupid line. "Slow, slow, MC. You don’t have to pretend you’re falling, You can just ask me to put you in my arms, I would never say no." he rebukes you and shakes his head with amusement. You’re gasping for air. Wait, wait, wait. What did he say?

Instantly you writhe out of his protective arms.. uhm disgusting arms, and push him away quickly as you're back on your feet. "You-" you want to start to threatening him. "You handsome, breathtaking, perfect man! No, genius. No, also not that. Ah! God," he interrupts you and pretends to throw long hair over his shoulder. At the last moment, before you really rush like a fury at him to slap the grin out of his face, you decide to take the much easier solution.

Turn around and go. Said and done.

As elegant as possible, you stomp up the small slope without giving him another look. "Hello?" he calls after you, "Where exactly do you want to go?". "Genius, use your brain! What does it look like? I’m leaving!" You hear him giggle before he calls, "Okay". Well, great! At least you don’t have to deal with him anymore. After about 20 meters, comes the first crossing.

Shit. Which way did you come from? Left? Right? It wasn’t the middle, was it?

Desperately you put your hands in your hips and think hard about which fucking direction he dragged you into the forest. "Such a stupid crap," you grind your teeth when it just won’t come to mind. "Don’t you remember where we came from?" his voice sounds right next to your ear. Startled by the sudden sound you whirl around to him and stare up at the grinning hacker with big eyes. How come you didn’t hear him? "Oh God, do you want to kill me?" you accuse him, "You can’t sneak up on me like that!" "I thought you could hear me coming," he defends himself immediately. "Obviously not, otherwise I wouldn’t have let you get so close to me, I had half a heart attack!" "Well, then I was lucky that it was only half a heart attack, I wouldn’t want to hide your body somewhere," he teases.

"I was hoping they could lock you up for murder"!" you grumble. "Don’t worry, I know how to hide a corpse," he assures you with a wink, "They wouldn’t have caught me" "The others know we’re in the woods, if I don’t come back, you’re the only suspect, all right?" you threaten him. "Understood, I won’t kill you" he nods to confirm, "But do you really think I would do that? After everything we’ve been through?" Theatrically, he holds his hand to his left chest and painfully wrinkles the face, "You hurt my feelings," he pouts. And for the 100th time today, you’re just twisting your eyes.

"With you, nobody can know, I still don’t trust you, even after the long time". Briefly you have the feeling that something like actual grief flashes in his eyes but quickly the typical mischievous grin returns. "Anyway, can we please go now?" you sigh as you kick leaves in front of you. "But sure," he nods confirmingly, turns around and start walking. "We have to go the other way," you remind him. "To come home, yes, but I want to show you something, you remember?".

"Okay. Point one, I don’t believe you, you just want to waste my time, point two, I want to go home!" "Well, then I wish you a lot of fun to find the right way, see ya," he purrs, waved to you without turning around and just keeps going his way. He’s not really gonna leave you here, is he?

"Fuck it, I can find the way alone, Google Maps saves life" You get your phone out of the back pocket of your jeans and press the button to turn on the screen. However, this is certainly not your wallpaper, nor your phone case.

This isn’t your phone.

And obviously, it can only belong to one, the idiot of Hacker. Your gaze falls on its background and you can remember exactly the day the picture was taken. It shows him, Lilly and Hannah in the Donforts' garden while they laugh at something. Hannah’s mother had taken this picture. You were there then. He has a really nice laugh. Somehow soft and melodic. Contagious. "Oh God, I spend two hours with him, and instantly go crazy," you shake your head and drive away your thoughts.

Suddenly Jake’s phone starts ringing and you hear the song 'I like you like a Love Song of Selena Gomez and The Scene'.

I, I love you like a love song, baby I, I love you like a love song, baby I, I love you like a love song, baby And I keep hitting repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat

"MC😍❤️" is on the screen.

"He can't be serious," you can’t hold back the grin that pops up on your lips. The boy is even crazier than you. Smiling, you answer the call.

"So? How do you like my personal ringtone for you?" he asks as soon as you put the phone to your ear. "Is it possible that you have too much time and boredom? How do you come up with such an idea?" "Quite simple, I- I love you like a love song" he hums the melody. "I hate you," you replied, amused. "I know, and now come, I will describe to you the way you must walk". "Pick Me Up" "No" "Now!" "Nope" "Asshole!" "Good looking" "Jake!" "Yes, honey?" "Don’t call me honey!" "Don’t call me Jake" "Oh no? How then?" "Babe?" "Oh my God" "No, babe is enough" "How -" "How can you be as perfect as Jake?" "Ok, it's enough now!" "You’re right, so, to my home or to yours, hon?" "I -" "You love me? I know" "WHAT?" "What?"

An unwanted giggle leaves your lips. Damn, even though Jake is really terribly conceited, annoying, exhausting, handsome-.. uhm an asshole, you’ve gotten used to these little teases so slowly and enjoy them occasionally. He’s an idiot, but he knows how to make someone laugh. "Oh princess can laugh" he mocks and immediately you become serious again and snort insulted. "Don't imagine anything on it" "Of course not, by the way, it’s pretty sweet that you stared at my background, I mean, I can understand. I look so good". "What? what makes you think so?" you try to deny his accusation immediately. "I have seen it" "how that?" "Quite simply, I can read your mind"

You pull the eyebrows together and keep the phone away from your ear and look at the screen and think about whether he hacked the camera, but you can’t see anything. That’s the only way he could have seen it. "Nope, not the camera," he explains as you hold the phone back to your ear. "How-?" you start, but he interrupts you as he do often. "Look to the left" he demands.

Immediately your gaze shoots in that direction and NATURALLY, he stands there. Relaxed as ever. The legs crisscross, the phone in his left hand on his ear and the right one beckons to you, "Here’s the one you’ve always been looking for. Your dream prince". Presenting himself, he spreads his arms and bows to you. "More like my nightmare," you grumble, ashamed that he apparently really saw you staring at his screen.

"As if I would just leave you here in the forest," he comes towards to you and has already hung up. "As I said, when it comes to you, nothing surprises me" "Really? You really think that I would just leave you here?" he pulls up an eyebrow and stops in front of you. "Well, when you started walking away, yes, yep I thought it". "And now I’m standing here with you again, so, let’s go" euphorically he reaches for your hand to pull you with him. "I said I was going home," you remind him.

"Oh come on, MC please. You will survive this only afternoon"

"I’m not sure, every time you are there, you cost me all my nerves"

"Come on, what have you got to lose, I beg you to share this one afternoon with me"

"Then at least tell me what you want to show me"

"I can’t, it’s a surprise"

"Be honest, you want to kidnap me and then leave me in the middle of the forest," searchingly you look at him. He laughs and twists his eyes, "I promise I won’t kill you or leave you. You're not a dog. You’re more like an elegant but stubborn cat, kitten" he winks. "Stop calling me that"

"All right, but only if you come with me" "Why? Why don’t you ask one of your other girls to disappear into the woods with you, Casanova," you roll your eyes. "Because it wouldn’t be fun with another girl, besides, I want to show you and no one else" "Why? Because they’re throwing themselves at you without ifs and buts?" "Exactly, I can argue with you and annoy you, that’s fun, you’re cute when you’re mad," he grins.

"Then I really need to change my behavior if you think I’m cute,"

"I like how your hand fits into mine" he suddenly changes the subject and looks at your hands. He’s still holding yours, and you haven’t even noticed. You jerk out of his grip but notice how your skin tingles.

"Stop that!" you scold immediately, but at the same time you notice how as your cheeks turn slightly red. Jake notices this but withholds another stupid comment. "Okay, can we then?" he asks instead, pointing in the direction. "Jakeeee," you whine. Why doesn’t he just leave you alone. "Come on, just this one day, I promise I won’t annoy you anymore. I will behave like a true gentleman"

"I doubt you can even spell that" "Please please pleaseeee" he pleads and looks at you lost like a puppy. You look tormented in the sky, "My mind". "So, yes?" he asks shrill and almost squeaks. "If you finally leave me alone, and only if you stop straining my nerves" "Promised" Again you must smile at his sight. He almost looks like a little boy who has been promised ice cream.

"So let’s get into the adventure" he cheers and again simply reach

~

You shouldn’t have listened to his promise, not to annoy you. You should have called someone with his phone to pick you up. You should have just run away from him. It took about 10 minutes for you to ask him why he even had your phone and if he could finally give it back to you. After he explained to you that it fell out of your pocket when you almost fell, he told you about his idea of switching phones so you can’t call anyone. So, it was planned. He made the switch when he suddenly stood behind you. You were so absorbed in thinking which way was the right one that you didn’t realize he put the phone in your pocket. Creepy. First you were mad that he got so close to your butt, and then you were really angry when he didn’t want to give you your phone back. The whole thing end up with, he held your phone up, and you had to jump around in front of him to get it back. "Jake! Now give me my phone back!" you hiss as you hang from his upper arm to pull his arm down.

You can feel his tense muscles working under your hands and in this moment you are amazed, you didn’t expect that. You could never really tell under his sweaters or jackets. To your bad luck, not only do you actively notice that he is not weak, but also that you simply can’t get his arm down. And if that’s not bad enough, you need to get way too close. And to your dissatisfaction, this closeness makes you extremely nervous.

"Come on, princess, you can do it, I believe in you," he continues to tease. "You promised not to be an ass," you hiss and jump up with all your strength to get your phone. Or at least his elbows... "Almost, just a little higher," he continues, " I promised you, yes. But we have not set a time for how long I am not an ass, and how could I not if you get so close to me". His grin triggers a tingling sensation in your stomach. "Then just keep it" For a short time it was finally quiet, even if you had to sacrifice your phone, you just kept walking.

But only a few moments later, it went on. Jake had quickly overtaken you again, with the camera open on your phone, holding it so high that you could be seen on it. And then he started taking endless pictures of you. You just looked annoyed in almost every picture, showed him the middle finger, on some you attacked him and on the other you wanted to kick him what he tried to fight off.

So to put it briefly, Jake had the fun of his life and you were annoyed... Normal situation between you and Jake.

~

"Come on, admit it, you wanted me to kiss you!" he continues to tease. "What do you dream of at night hm?" Meanwhile, you walk in front of him with quick steps  so that he finally stop staring at you from the side and you don’t have to see the stupid grin anymore. "Oh, babe, I can’t say that, but it has to do with you," he chuckles. "Argh! You’re so disgusting," you curse as you stomp furiously through the deep forest.

"Annnnd?" "And what?" "Are you finally admitting it?" "I can’t admit what’s not true!" "You wanted to kiss me, I saw it in your eyes" "May I remind you that you have come closer to me and not the other way around? If anyone wanted to kiss anyone, you wanted me" "But you wanted me to do it" "No, I was hoping a tree would fall on you" "The tree would have hit you too" "I don’t care, then it would finally be quiet" "Just keep telling yourself that, you want me and you know it" "Over my dead body!"

"Ok, is that so?" Suddenly, his voice changes drastically. The next moment, a big hand wraps around your hand and you get whirled around. A small scream escapes your throat as you slam hard against a chest. Instinctively, your hands are against Jake’s chest to maintain balance.

You actually want to start bitching at him right away and push yourself away from him, but when you look up at him, every word gets stuck in your throat. For the second time today, your faces are a few inches apart. A goose bump pulls over your arms as you inhale his incredibly  perfume again. "Are you sure you don’t want to kiss me?" he breathes. His right hand rests on your back to keep you closer to him while the other is lying on your hip. Almost like in a trance, no, more out of shock (try to convince yourself)  your eyes haunt the movements of his lips as the words come out so gently and at the same time deep out of his mouth.

Your heart accelerates by twice your normal pulse and unconsciously your hand grasps the fabric of its tshirt more firmly" "If I come any closer now..." he whispers and approaches you, "if I kiss you now, would you actually push me away? Because you don’t want to?".

"Yes" you squeeze out panting. Yes, of course. Who are you trying to tell?

"Too bad" he whispers and comes even more closer to you. Your eyes are caught by his lips and with every millimeter your breath accelerates and tension rises.

You really should get away from him, but you can’t, your mind is going crazy, you can’t move. Your body longs for the kiss that is so close. Your mind screams, 'push him away' and 'don’t give it this triumph' but the adrenaline that is triggered says, 'don’t pull back, you want that'.

"If you don’t move, I will really kiss you," he warns you one last time. But until your clouded mind has realized the words at all, its lips are already on yours.

You open your eyes in shock when you understand what’s happening here. You look at the closed eyelids of Jakes whose soft lips press on yours. You want to get away from him quickly, but his hand on your back keeps you from it. "Damn now, stop fighting back, we both know you want to," Jake hisses at your lips. And for whatever reason, you really dont know, but you finally give in, tired of the fight and the whole quarrel against your feelings. After that, you can still yell at him. Sighing, you close your eyes and give in to the kiss you have secretly longed for months..

Since you first saw him.

You focus on his lips that are now slowly moving against yours. They are soft but decisive, they take the lead and you just let yourself be dragged along. A high that grabs you, clouding your senses, taking your mind and will never let go of you again. Your arms wrap around his neck and pull him even closer to you, resulting is a rough giggle from him.

Oh, you’re gonna regret this.

---------------

🌹🎭

----------------

A/n: It's me again. I think the whole thing is a little confusing and it has an open end. Plans. I have to say, somehow I love the content of the story  . Since it’s a little different than usual, I hope you’ll like it anyway. As I said, somehow I really love this, sooooo I wanted to ask if you want a second part of it? Let me know!

[aslitheryprinx]

Starstruck au: the trial and error of acclimatizing to suddenly being tiny in a big world, for the bench trio at Wilbur's house (since they didn't grow up as tinies/borrowers). Have any small incidents happened? Wilbur doing something on accident, and/or one of the trio misjudging what they are actually capable of while small.

It's very difficult for the bench trio to adjust. Not only is it terrifying, but so much of what they can do is gone. They can't play games, they don't have their phones anymore. Even surfing the internet on Wilbur's computer takes more than one of them. A few of the shows or ccs they watched weren't even real, they were just products of the simulation.

Everything, from eating, to moving around, to basic hygiene has just become a hundred times harder. They don't even have any muscle strength built up because their actual bodies were just lying down while their minds were in the simulation.

Wilbur does what he can to entertain them, but things aren't made for tiny people. So the trio takes to exploring their new world to quell the boredom. It also helps keep their mental states from tanking now that everything they knew has vanished.

Their exploring forces them to face some of their limits sooner rather than later. Even getting off of whatever piece of furniture Wilbur has left them on is a huge struggle, and a little dangerous. Walking across a single room takes forever and winds all of them. The entire time they're on the floor, they're terrified Wilbur will come in, not notice them and step on them. They end up getting stuck and have to wait for Wilbur to find and rescue them.

The incident causes Wilbur to make his house a bit more tiny friendly. He puts little ladders and ways to get up and down on most of his furniture, and he tapes out areas that he's not allowed to step in just in case they might be wandering on the floor.

Wilbur is as careful as he can with the trio. They're so fragile, physically at least. He handled them occasionally while they were still in the experiment, and he treats them the same now; as if he's handling glass.

But he's around them 24/7 now. Caution requires focus, and Wilbur can't be focused 100% of the time. There are times he forgets how close one or more of the boys are to him, and gestures while he talks, or hits the table for emphasis.

Benchtrio all know logically that Wilbur won't hurt them. But when he does stuff like that, when his hand slams down inches away from them with enough force to crush a car their size... They can't help but be a little afraid. They freeze up, and it takes a while to calm them down again.

The longer they live together, the more they all get used to the strange situation. Wilbur starts automatically being cautious in ways he would normally need to focus for. The benchtrio stop being overwhelmed every time something reminds them of their new size. The tinies also become more reckless, although they've also gotten more skilled in traversing their new world. It still worries Wilbur to death.

[nothing-but-dreamy]

ISEKAI

Pairing: FFXV! NYX ULRIC x GENDER NEUTRAL!READER

Words: 5.205

Warnings: none;

A/N: I'm sorry that this request took me so long. Mostly, because I really loved the idea. Therefore, I really hope you will like it. I had much fun to write it.

Summary: Because of a mysterious accident you land in Eos. Finding yourself in an unknown world, you're happy that you got help by someone. Nyx saves your life and quickly, he sees more in you than just a person who was in danger.

***

You were bored. Like, really bored. Your life was barely special before Corona had overtaken the world and now, with all the quarantines, restrictions and rules, the excitement was ... zero.

So, out of boredom, you started to clean your apartment. Every single corner. All of it. From your loudspeakers, random music was playing to cheer you up. Mostly soundtracks of everything you liked: Supernatural, Marvel, Dr Who, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings ... whatever there was in the gaming, movie or TV orbit drifting around, you probably liked it.

So, while you were humming with the latest tune of some triple A video game, you put the vacuum cleaner away to get a black cloth for a last task on your list before everything would be shiny again in your small apartment: the mirrors.

With slow, circling moves, you wiped over the reflecting surface. Your face was staring back at you. Mocking you. You and your boring life even without a pandemic. Sometimes, you even got the feeling of not being in the right place. That you should be somewhere else. That you belonged somewhere else. Where you would have friends and maybe even a partner…

Your eyes were taunting you. They reminded you of all the dreams you had in your youth. All the adventures you wanted to go on. All the exotic countries you wanted to visit. All the food you wanted to discover and yet, you were captured in a boring life, cleaning your apartment at 6 pm because you got nothing else better to do.

You looked into your own eyes, the cloth still touching the mirror as you whispered to yourself, "You know, it would be so great to be somewhere else. Just to be ... Away! Away! Away!"

***

"I hate these trips!", Libertus complained for the third time since they had passed the wall.

Nyx rolled with his eyes but stayed silent. He was still slowly polishing his blades. As he looked up, his eyes met the smirking expression of Pelna who thought the same as Nyx: 'cry-baby'

"Could you please shut up? Would you rather clean the training court instead?", Crowe asked, annoyed about Libertus' non stop whining.

"At least, it wouldn't be less dangerous.", Libertus argued, crossing his arms over his chest.

Crowe leant forward, supporting herself on her knees, "Oh, really? You remember the last time where we got charged with the cleaning task? Three barracks were burning, one was smoldering and the smell of smoke lingered in the Kingsglaive headquarters for three weeks.", she pointed out.

Libertus stretched out his arms as a question, "What? I just wanted to help and to dry everything faster!"

"Yes! With fire magic, god dammit! You're not the best with magic. At all. Just ... don't do that. This mission will be a bit ... easier, I hope."

Nyx' scoffed, "Please... What shall happen on a routine mission to kill some animals which are terrorizing the outskirts?"

Little did he know...

*

"Here kitty, kitty!", Pelna called out and tried to gain the attention of some Sabertusks that had been running into small woods.

"Seriously?", Crowe asked, crossing her arms with a frown on her face.

"What? Somehow we have to get their attention back or do you wanna run after them into the woods where the space is crap to fight against them?", Pelna argued.

Libertus stepped next to Crowe while Nyx was a bit closer to the woods and watched the scene closely. Somehow, it had become silent. Too silent for Nyx’ liking. Not one single sound was to be heard except the soft rustling of the leaves of some trees.

Then, he heard something in the distance but the bikerings of his friends were too loud, so Nyx couldn't locate the source of the sound or what it was at all. After another moment had passed, Nyx turned around with a stern expression, "Guys! Could you shut up, please? I heard something!"

"What did you hear?", Libertus asked and earned a rolling of Nyx' eyes.

"I don't know because you're still talk-", but Nyx stopped as he heard this voice again. This time it was louder and came from the nearby woods.

"Help! Anyone help me!"

"Have you guys heard it?", Nyx asked and stepped forward, closer to the voice. He still couldn't see the source so his eyes darted around to find it.

Pelna stepped to Nyx' side, "It came from the woods."

"Yes, but I can't see from where.", Nyx answered serious, drawing his brows together in concern. Running blind was a bad idea. Nyx still searched the area until a figure emerged from a bunch of bushes, running and stumbling forward.

Shocked, Nyx watched you. You were dressed in some casual, short clothes. It could be just something comfortable to chill or something to sleep with. But whatever it was, it wasn't suitable for someone who was out in the wild. So, the first impressions Nyx had about you were: reckless and … cute

"Help! Please, someone help!", you cried out once again while you stumbled forward, flailing with your arms to keep your balance. Four mean and vicious lonking beasts were chasing you. The animals were jumping out of the woods and caught up on you quickly.

This was enough for Nyx to react, "Guys! Take care of the Sabertusks! I will hurry to help them!", he commanded as he saw you falling to the ground, lying there in shock while waiting for the beasts to attack you. Without a second thought, Nyx threw his Kukri to your position.

Screaming and wheezing you crawled back over the ground, cutting deep into the palms of your hands with sharp stones. Backwards, you tried to create as much space as possible for the monsters with the ugly head, the sharp teeth and deadly claws.

Once again, you cried out for help as something appeared in front of you with a soft sizzling and a sound like fire cracking. You blinked for a moment and then, a man was emerging in front of you. He was surrounded by sparks and glitter. He knelt in front of you on one knee with burning scars in his face.

You cried out in surprise and fear, trying to crawl away from him but Nyx raised his hands to soothe you, "It's okay. You're safe now.", he said, trying to calm you but he still saw the panic in your eyes.

You crawled further till your back hit a huge rock, so your way was blocked. The guy looked back at something before he turned back to you. Obviously, he was pleased with what he saw because his expression was more relaxed than before. You noticed his incredible blue eyes and his handsome face. He looked strange with the hairstyle and the tattoos on his face. Strange but not scary, quite the opposite, which made it easier for you to calm down.

While putting away the Kukri, Nyx noticed that you became calmer even if your breath was still erratic. The pure panic became less and left were two beautiful eyes staring right back at him. Your whole appearance was eye-catching as he looked past all the dirt. Slowly, he crawled closer to you, "I won't hurt you. My name is Nyx. What's your name?", he said soothingly, stretching out his hand to you to show you that he was unarmed.

You calmed down by the sound of his warm voice and the sight of the smile on his full lips, "My... My name is YN.”

Nyx smiled softly as he heard your nice voice. As you shot him a weak smile, he felt his heart making a little jump because it was so beautiful. There was something on you he liked immediately. Quickly, he checked your skin but except for a few scratches and bruises, he couldn’t see any serious wounds, “Nice to meet you, YN. Are you hurt?”

You shook your head while moving your arms and legs a little bit to check on them, “I- I'm fine- ahhh!", you cried out in shock about the view of one of the mean beasts that had chased you as its head appeared next to Nyx'. You panicked and luckily, you passed out finally so you wouldn't notice how Nyx with the nice eyes would die before you would get killed as well.

As Nyx saw you passing out, he reached out for you, catching your shoulders before your head could hit the ground and placed your upper body on his lap. As you were secure, Nyx looked up and watched Libertus stepping closer with a dead Sabertusk body as a trophy raised in the air. He was covered in blood and had a big grin on his lips. Annoyed, Nyx sighed, "Great job, idiot.", Nyx said with you unconscious lying in his arms.

***

As you awoke, you found yourself in a room. It was grey, plain, simple and you were alone. Slowly, you sat up, your head was slightly spinning and a dull pain throbbed behind your temple but your vision became slowly clearer. As you looked around, your eyes landed on a neat folded pile of clothes. Your own were torn and dirty and so, you were thankful to change them.

While you dressed in plain black pants and shirt, you heard sounds coming from behind the door. You considered staying in the safeness of the room but your curiosity won. So, you sneaked out, looking left and right the hallway before you followed the undefined sounds.

After a few metres, you found yourself faced with the view of a courtyard. You were on the second floor and looked into a wide open area. There were men flying and jumping around, all dressed in black, uniform-like clothes. They were appearing and disappearing quickly. Someone started in one corner and landed immediately in another across the field accompanied with sparks and glitter. That you had seen this effect once before calmed you.

Like a circus show, the people were making flic-flac or somersaults. A thought struck you: maybe you got rescued by a bunch of acrobatics and the strange animals had been part of their show? You leant against the handrail to watch them excited.

Suddenly, a man, who stopped right in front of you, keeping himself steady with his hands on the handrail, brought you out of these deliberations and out of your fascination, "Oh, hey, sleeping beauty! Are you good?", the tall guy asked. But unfortunately, it wasn't the one with the incredible blue eyes.

"Libertus! Back to training!", someone called out in a harsh tone, commanding the man away from you.

"Sorry, I have to go.", and with that said, the man called 'Libertus', threw his blade and disappeared in a fog of sparkling stuff.

Still amazed, you watched the others and their 'training', leaning against the handrail with your arms again. As you got used to their tricks, you liked to watch them and how easy it seemed to move so quickly around.

So, as someone appeared next to you, you were startled about the sudden sound of an unknown voice. The owner was tall, with broad shoulders and dressed in a heavy outfit with leather and decorations, "Hi, good to see you awake. My name is Titus Drautos. I’m the Captain of the Kingsglaive.", he introduced himself seriously but calmly.

You frowned, "Kingsglaive?", you asked. You never had heard such a name.

"Yeah... They are the Kingsglaive.", Drautos said and pointed at the jumping figures, "How do you feel?", he asked, checking you quickly but your eyes were clear and there was no other sign of sickness.

"Oh, I'm feeling good again. Thank you.", you said politely, unsure if he wanted to know more but you also felt uncomfortable around him even if you couldn't say why.

"Is there anything I can do for you?", Drautos said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Yeah, actually, I would like to speak with the man who saved me. I would like to thank him. I think 'Nyx' was his name?", you said carefully, watching the Captain’s reaction.

Drautos looked at you for a split second before he shrugged with his shoulders, stepping forward to the handrail, "Ulric!", he called out.

A few seconds later, you watched how a man appeared in front of you, emerging from sparks and glitter like on the field. This time, you were calmer and so, you were impressed how he did this. You never had seen something like this before. And once again, you noticed the glowing, fiery scars carved into his face and down his neck as he stepped in front of the Captain, taking position like a soldier.

"Yes, Sir?", Nyx said serious but already had caught sight of you staring at him. He was glad to see you awake and noticed you approaching with a curious glance. Your eyes were already distracting but Nyx tried to focus on his Captain.

"Since you were the one who had saved YN's life, I thought it would be just right if you would talk with them.", Drautos said serious, "Take care of them.", he said as if you wouldn't stay right next to him before he turned over to march away.

You stared after the tall man, "Actually, it wasn't his idea...", you said resentfully.

Nyx chuckled and closed up on you, "He seeks advantage from whatever he gets. Forget it. But I'm glad that you're awake again. You frightened me a lot as you passed out.", he said with a warm smile.

You chuckled shyly, rubbing the back of your neck, "Yeah...sorry for that. I never fainted before but on the other hand, I never was in such a scary situation."

"I know. Libertus can be frightening-"

"No! I meant this monster! I never saw something like this in my entire life.", you explained, shaking about the mere memory.

“You mean the Sabertusk?", Nyx asked, confused. Sure, not every Insomnian citizen knew all Lucis' animals or had seen them in real life but Sabertusks were so common that even the smallest kids knew about them.

"Saber- what? Nevermind. I just don't want to see any of this again."

Nyx chuckled, "Don't worry. Here in Insomnia, you're safe."

You tilted your head, "Insomnia?"

Nyx frowned and was concerned if you might have hit your head after all, "Yeah... Insomnia? The capital city of Lucis?"

You blinked several times because you had no idea what he was talking about, "Lucis? Is that a nickname for... Louisiana?"

Nyx stepped in front of you, looking in your eyes and checking your head but you seemed alright, "Amnesia, huh? Well, I guess this will be over soon. I'm sure it's coming from the shock. You're hungry?", he asked hopefully to be able to spend more time with you and watched how a broad smile spread on your lips.

"I'm starving!", you answered.

"Oh, no! Don't do that! Drautos will yell at me if I won't take good care of you.", he joked and showed you the way out of the headquarters.

As you stepped out of the building, you had no idea that the time for questions and wonders had just begun.

Nyx passed the entrance mindlessly and walked down the few stairs but as he couldn't hear you following him, he turned around just to see you staring at the skyline with big eyes. It was this moment where Nyx noticed two things:

First, the astonishment you showed as you looked at all the buildings and at the sky with the magical wall wasn't just an act and second, Nyx realized that he was attracted to you.

It was the second point that surprised Nyx the most. He barely knew you. He had just met you and still, there was something on you. He had felt it back on the field. Something he couldn't put a finger on. Were it your eyes? Or the way you looked at the surroundings as if you had never seen any of all this before? Or was it the way you looked at him?

Nyx thought about it like a magical aura that surrounded you. There was something on you he couldn't quite understand but he was eager to find out what it was. Amused but at the same time attentive, he watched you stumbling down the few stairs because your eyes were still directed at the sky. Nyx caught you at the last moment and shook his head with a grin, "Watch out, YN. Don't walk around so mindlessly or you will hurt yourself.", he whispered.

You noticed your cheeks redden, mostly as you felt Nyx’ strong hands on your body and how close he was, but as your eyes met his you saw the grin on his lips, "Usually, I'm more cautious but- have you seen the sky? It… Is it sparkling? It looks as if sparkling waves are spreading over the city…", you breathed, looking up once again.

Nyx looked from you at the sky and back at you before he placed you back on the ground, "Y-yeah… it's kinda sparkling. That's the magic of the crystal. The crystal which secures this city through the King's power?", he added as he saw your puzzled expression.

"Y-you… this city has a King? And a magical- what? A wall?"

"Very funny!", Nyx called out and laughed. He thought you would make fun of him but as you still stared at him with no amusement, he frowned, "Where do you actually come from?"

"Oh, I'm from New Jersey.”

“Never heard about it before. Come on, let us get something to eat and then we talk a bit.”

*

"What the hell is this building? Is this a church?", you asked, pointing at a building with two tall towers where something shot into the sky from the middle of the building, "This smoke looks … strange.", you pointed out.

This was the tenth question of that kind you had asked during the last five minutes. Nyx stopped in his tracks and looked at you, "It's the Citadel. The castle?", he tried to trigger your memories as you showed no reaction, "The 'smoke' you see there is actually the energy from the crystal that creates the wall. I told you about it before."

You nodded slowly, "Yeah… the crystal… You have some crazy stuff here.", you said, impressed, chewing on some spicy meat you had picked from a stick.

Before Nyx could react, he got a call and asked you to wait, "Ulric. Yes, Sir. Yes, we're still in the city. No, Sir.", he answered the questions asked by Drautos while he watched you wandering around. Nyx kept you in sight but was also fascinated by the way you looked at all the different things around you. He wouldn't call it naive but it seemed as if you were easily impressed. You found something interesting in the smallest things while Nyx caught himself by thinking about you as cute and … lovely.

Another question of Drautos brought Nyx back to reality and he realized that he stopped listening to his Captain a while ago, "Yes, Sir. I'm listening. Of course. Yes, I will take care of YN. Yes. Bye-", but the Captain already had hung up, "Good day to you, too, Sir."

As you noticed that Nyx was done with his call, you joined him again, "What was the matter? Are you in trouble?", you asked, concerned because you had hogged Nyx for quite a while.

"No, everything's good. It was just Drautos. Obviously, you're stuck with me a bit longer. I got the orders to look after you.", Nyx answered with a soft smile as he saw your worried expression which changed into a huge, charming, heart-stopping smile.

"Great. I still have a bunch of questions.", you said excitedly, linking your arm with Nyx' to wander further through the Crown's City.

***

But not just you had a lot of questions. Nyx too. In the beginning, he thought you would make fun of him as you asked so many things about the best known facts of Eos everyone actually knows.

But quickly, after Nyx had asked you a bunch of questions on his own, he realized that you weren't joking. Sure, as you told him that you came through a mirror, because you had been fallen through it, sounded more like a bedtime story for kids but you spoke about everything with so much conviction that Nyx believed you.

The Captain, slightly concerned about your state because Nyx had told him about his suspicion that you could suffer from amnesia, asked on a regular basis if Nyx had any new information about you. And not for one second, Nyx thought about telling him the truth.

He said neither something about your journey through the mirror nor about your life in New Jersey. That you knew nothing about Eos at all because this was simply not your world. He kept it all a secret.

Because Nyx felt the urge to protect you. Whenever he was with you in the past week he felt good. As if just your presence was able to lift his spirit. You were funny, curious and interested in him and in this, for you, new world. Nyx already liked you. A lot. It wasn't just attraction anymore, rather he really started to like you on a more emotional level even after this short of time. But he had no idea how you were thinking about him.

So, by the end of the week, Nyx collected as much courage as he could find, "Hey, uhm… Libertus and the others are meeting at Yamachang's. You… Do you wanna come with me? I- I mean us?", he asked and felt nervous. The whole week, he had been with you with no problem and now, he felt nervous because this question didn't belong to the Captain's order anymore to take care of you. For him, it was far more.

You saw the hope in Nyx’ eyes and the insecurity in his expression about what your answer would be. The past week, you had spent a lot of time with Nyx. You got to know him. His life as a Glaive. As a refugee. You had learned about his deceased family and his life in Galahd. And, not very surprisingly, you started to like the soldier with the greyish hair and the incredible blue eyes. For you, it was extremely hard to resist his charm and his handsomeness. And in the end, you didn’t want to resist him. You just had no idea how he thought about you.

You tried to get closer to Nyx so many times. You wanted to show him in a subtle way how you felt. Maybe, this invitation would give you the opportunity to make a move on him, "I would love to come with you.", the slowly growing smile on Nyx' lips gave you the sense to have done things right.

*

"YN, it's good to see that you're alright again.", Pelna said and gave you a drink.

"Yeah… Nyx did everything to bring me back on track.", you said and winked at Nyx who smiled shyly.

"The Captain already complained you two were just sightseeing all the time.", Crowe said jokingly.

You chuckled, scratching the back of your neck, "Yeah… I guess, the amnesia had hit me harder than I thought."

Nyx looked at you with a frown. After you had told him your story, he was sure you were okay. No amnesia or something like this. So, why were you sticking to this story instead of telling the truth?

"Oh, so, you remember where you come from and stuff?", Libertus asked.

You smiled at him, "Yes, of course.", you answered. Quickly, you checked on Nyx who still watched you. Were you seeing cautiousness in his eyes? Was he afraid of what you would say? You looked back at Libertus, "I come from Altissia. I was moving to Insomnia for a new job. As you found me, I was on my way but unfortunately, I had an accident with my car and then, the horrors with all these creatures started. You have to know, Altissia is built on water. We don't have such wildlife as Lucis has."

Nyx stared at you speechless. You were lying. Lying about everything. Effortlessly. But everything you said were things you knew from him. Nyx showed you a map of Eos. He told you as much as he knew about Lucis and Accordo. About all the differences he could remember. You turned your head and smiled softly at him. You even winked at Nyx and he saw in your eyes that you would explain it to him later.

*

You and Nyx walked side by side as you left Yamachang's a few hours later. The Crown's City was still buzzing. People were walking to bars, clubs and restaurants. You turned your head over to Nyx and because he was unusually quiet, you nudged his shoulder with yours, "You think they bought my story?"

Nyx looked at you with an unreadable expression, "You were lying."

"Yes and I hated it. Trust me. But what else should I say? The truth? That I fell through a mirror and landed here? Instead that I woke up in my bed in New Jersey, I awoke in an old hunters hut in the middle of nowhere?", you pointed out softly.

Nyx nodded. He understood your point. He was barely able to understand all this but he had accepted it. You had spoken so detailed about your home that there was no way that everything was just made up. But to explain everything to his friends would be maybe too much.

Suddenly, a thought struck his mind and he was surprised that he didn't have thought about this earlier. Carefully, he looked at you, "Do you miss it? Your … home, I mean."

Your brows shot up because you realized that you were barely thinking about your former life, "Actually, I uhm…", you whispered, searching for the right words, before you looked at Nyx and stopped. You had reached the plaza of the Citadel. You looked at the stream of magical power and at the beautiful sparkling light. The moon was already up and together it was a captivating view. You looked back at Nyx who waited patiently, "To be honest, I have barely thought about it since I've been here."

Nyx stepped closer to you. It was a moment that could change things and he felt it. Maybe it was silly to think about a future with someone he knew for just one week but here he was, looking into your enchanting, sparkling eyes and watching how your teeth were digging into your lower lip, "If it would be possible, if there would be a way, would you… go back?"

You also stepped forward with a pounding heart in your chest. For one week, you asked yourself how Nyx' lips would taste, how his hands would feel on your skin when he would want you and how soft his hair really felt between your fingers, "You know, as I was in this hut, before you found me? I tried to find a way to get back. Now, I think things might have changed.", you whispered.

Nyx' pulse quickened as he saw your breathtaking smile, "What has changed? I mean, this is not your world.", he said softly, stroking with the back of his hand over your cheek before he cupped your face carefully, "There's nothing that would keep you here.", he whispered.

You leant against his warm hand, even inhaling his scent, "For me, there would be a reason … rather… someone… to stay here.", you said, looking at Nyx in a certain way to tell him that you meant him. As you let your hands slid underneath his jacket, stroking over Nyx' chest, feeling him tensing, you saw that he understood, "But I- I'm not sure what this someone might think of it if I would want to stay.", you said meaningfully.

Nyx was nervous, excited and jittery at the same time. It had increased since you had started to touch him softly. Your affection gave him the courage to snake his other arm slowly around your waist to pull you closer, "You know, you have nothing to fear about this someone’s reaction. He would be more than happy to keep you here.", he breathed, nudging playfully your nose with his with a shy smile on his lips.

You mimicked his smile. The moonlight was sparkling in Nyx’ mysteriously glowing eyes which kept you in their spell, "Y- you're so sure about it?", you whispered.

Nyx nodded slowly, still looking into your eyes, "Yes, I am sure. YN, I… I'm falling for you. There's no doubt how I'm feeling about you. It's crazy because we just met one week ago but … you're so beautiful. And so amazing. The way you're interested in all these new things. How you look at everything … how you look at me… I wouldn't stop you if you really want to go back home but I… I would love to be the reason for you to stay here. With me."

You snaked your arms around Nyx' neck, pulling him closer, "You're the best reason I could ask for.", you breathed against his lips before you closed the gap finally.

Nyx responded to your move and kissed you deeply. His fingers found their way into your hair while he caressed your lips with his. The grip of his arm around you got even stronger to have you close while you played with his hair in a teasing way. He was overwhelmed by all the things he felt by just kissing you. No matter where you had come from, that you were there, with him, that you even existed was everything for him.

Under the magical, white moon of Lucis, Nyx gave you an unspoken promise. He wouldn't let you go. Never. From the beginning, you were more than just someone whose life he had rescued. You were what he had missed in his life all the time. He had been searching for something that had been out of reach. But obviously destiny meant it well and you had been falling into his life like a miracle. Literally. And Nyx would treat you like this. With his lips, he sealed this promise to you.

For the first time in your life, you felt as if you were in the right spot. You weren't misplaced anymore. You even had found people that already cared for you. You had found someone who wanted to keep you in his life. Maybe you should feel sad for leaving your former life just like that. Maybe you should feel lost because this wasn't your world. But in fact, you felt home. As Nyx kissed you, he showed you a future you never thought you would have.

For the first time, you felt excited for all the unknown things that were lying in front of you. You would discover all of these things. With Nyx by your side.

[anothertimdrakestan]

Mommy Issues (Damian Wayne x Reader)

words: 2.2k

req? yes! from a lovely anon!

“Can I request a Damian x Reader soulmate AU fic where you write on your skin and it appears on your soulmate? I had this idea where reader doodles on her arm in class and Dami doodles back, and they start sending little notes in class and one day they ask for each other's names and just look cross the class and lift their arm? and then the school is under villain attack or something and Dami rescues her! I think it could be really cute<3 sorry for the long request”

this is too cute!!! 10/10 great idea i hope my writing brought it to life for you : ) hope you enjoy thank you for the req!

no notes today? you looked at the ink on your arm one last time before rolling down your sleeve. The notes and doodles had just recently started but you’d grown attached quickly- they were from your soulmate after all. However, today was silent, your notes exchanged last night had been washed off before you had woken up and there was nothing waiting for you. This seemed normal at first, whomever your soulmate is, they were always the first to remove the notes, most of the time before the sun fell for the days notes and similarly before dawn for the occasional late night writing. This was strange behavior as most everyone let their soulmates notes and doodles linger until they were just faint ink splotches, but your soulmate was diligent to never leave a trace.

You couldn’t help yourself, pulling up your sleeve to look for an answer but there was none. It was strange as whenever you were in english was when your soulmate was most active. English, what started as the most boring, dull class slowly shifted into the class you remember most fondly. Relishing in the slight tickle that comes from your soulmate drawing little pictures or little notes across your forearm you learned to appreciate the boring lectures your teacher gave as they made the perfect cover for getting to know your soulmate. 

So far, you’d learned your soulmate was a he, with some wild artistic talent, even though he was always complaining about his pen bleeding through the small crinkles in skin as he tried to draw various pictures on your arm. It had only been around a couple days or so since lettering began to show, typically soulmates can start drawing pictures and whatnot that will show through a month or two before lettering fades through the bond as well, then finally your name will bleed through onto the base of your soulmates wrist, giving away the secret to your penpal. As is fate makes you patiently wait your turn, falling in love with the little doodles and notes until you finally know exactly who your soulmate is. 

Your day dreaming was cut short by the familiar tickle on your forearm. Trying to keep calm you slid your sleeve back and watched as the beautiful penmanship appeared. As he wrote you admired the sloppy but exquisite writing, a mix of cursive for speed and lettering for flair that exuded a kind of careless confidence- at least that’s what you’d determined from hours of pouring over the little notes on your skin.

Apologies for the delay, hectic day. You smiled at the formal-ness of the message as it seemed he slipped into that type of writing when he was distracted- god, you needed to stop obsessing over every last detail of the writing. You grabbed your pen, considering what to write back before the tingling started again. 

Do you go to GCHS as well? Your heart stopped at the message. Quickly you scribbled back, Yes! I do! You waited for a reply, scanning your class realizing that anyone there could be your soulmate. 

There was no wordy reply, but you felt large swooping curves begin to bleed onto your skin meaning your soulmate was drawing something. “Y/n care to give us an answer?” your head snapped from your arm to your professor, your pen which you had been toying with sliding down your neck as you flinched, almost assuredly leaving a black line down your neck. Slapping a hand on your neck you looked at your professor who was asking about last night's reading, a section you definitely did not do. “I gotcha y/n it was in Chapter 39!” your classmate Jack called from the other side of the classroom, giving you a wink as he turned his attention back to the teacher. “That so? Can you confirm 39 was the chapter?” the teacher turned back to you with a glint in his eyes daring you to accept that answer. 

“It was 41, can we move on now?” A voice echoed with boredom from the back of the class. “Ah mister Damian, welcome back, you know I’ll have to mark you tardy for class,” you let out a sigh of relief glancing back at Damian with a thankful smile, but his eyes were cast down looking at something on his desk. 

Class got out shortly after and as you packed up your books you saw the curling black stem of a drawing peeking from the exposed skin on your wrist. Pulling it back you saw the most beautiful drawing of a large rose with vines creeping beautifully from it’s edges. You were too busy admiring the rose to realize that there at the base of your wrist in the handwriting you’d been obsessing over for days was forming a new message. 

damian wayne

Your soul just about left your body. 

Then all the windows in your school shattered.

You flung yourself to the floor covering your head as you heard shouting and the sound of bones breaking. Peeking up you saw cloaked figures tearing their way through the hordes of terrified students grabbing the wrists then throwing them backwards. You crept away until your back was pressed against the back of the classroom. Watching as they checked student after student you saw a blur flit past every cloaked figure, knocking many of them out with ease. You craned your neck to follow the blur but your vision was interrupted by a dark figure entering the classroom, following the same protocol as he grabbed the wrist of students then threw them backwards. 

When he came up to you his ice cold fingers wrapped around your arm, you yelped, trying to rip your arm away but he held tight. He just stared at your wrist, then an eery smile crept over his lips, the cheshire smile was the only thing you could see from under the deep green, almost black hood. Unlike the other students his grip held strong, dragging you out of the classroom while you kicked and screamed. 

“Look what I found” he cooed as he pulled you towards the main hallway of your school. The view from the second story of your school was shocking. There was a blue and black blur fighting alongside a green and yellow one as they both attacked a group of the cloaked assassins, all watched over by a tall woman dressed in black. Her head snapped up to you and the same terrifying smile slid over her face. “See! Was that so hard dearest?” her voice drawled as Robin looked up at you, his expression hardening. “Over my dead body mother” he said between clenched teeth as he sprang backwards, breaking into a run in your direction while (you assumed to be) Nightwing began sweeping through the figures. 

You screamed as you were tugged backwards, you had way too bright a future for this shit. With all the courage you had you wound back, and swung, your fist connecting with the mans face. You winced as you felt your ring finger click out of place against his nose but it was a good and unexpected punch, sending him stumbling back as you ripped your other arm out of his grasp. 

“Y/n!” you whipped your head to Robin who flipped past you, giving far too hard a blow to the assassin, returning to your side almost immediately. “Did he hurt you,” his gruff voice dipped into concern while you held your breath in his presence. When you gave a small nod he released a breath he seemed to have been holding for far too long, turning his gaze off of you and back down to the fight below you saw a black streak jutting down his neck. Your hand flew to your own, your mouth moving before your brain.

“Damian” his masked eyes snapped back to you. “Y/n” he answered, his tone softer and more natural. He continued, “we’ll sort this out in a minute,” as he jumped off the banister, rolling to break his fall and diving back into the fight with Nightwing against the woman. She seemed to be laughing into the fight, whispering teasing remarks that seemed to anger Damian, but Nightwing was already overpowering her and with Damian’s assistance she knew she was out played. She gracefully dodged Nightwings punch, gliding up to Damian. Giving his hair a little ruffle she winked at him “be terrible my son I’ll be back yet” and before he could reacted she ran out of the building, followed by her men. 

You sat for a second in shock, trying to let everything set in. The school was silent, most students had either fled or were huddled in classrooms still unaware the fight was over. 

“Hey! Your hand okay?” Nightwing gained your attention as he was waving his arm with a dazzling smile. “Oh uh, I hurt my finger but it’s nothing,” you replied, hearing your shaky voice echo through the halls of your school. “C’mon down I’d love to help you out!” Nightwing beckoned you, getting jabbed in the ribs from an uncomfortable looking Robin. 

A few minutes later you were perched on the roof of your school sitting with Damian while Nightwing briefed the public. Damian broke the silence, “Which finger” his gaze cast down to your hands, you held out a shaky hand where your finger was visibly bent. “You gave him a hard hit” Damian mused, taking off his gloves to more delicately hold your hand while he began to bandage it. 

“y-yeah” you swallowed, bidding your voice to stop shaking. Damian’s eyes refused to meet yours. “Do you wanna talk about the whole, wrist thing?” you whispered, casting your eyes down to notice his exposed wrist had y/n l/n written on it as well. He stayed silent, you brought your eyes up only to notice he’d been staring at you, quickly he looked back down, finishing the bandaging he released your hand with a sigh. 

“Nice to meet you soulmate” you said with a small smile. Damian glanced up at you, giving you a surprised look. “Soulmates?” he gulped as he continued, “I completely understand if you like to move on and forget about all this, I know better than anyone how dangerous my life is and if today with my mother was any sign I should’ve known soulmates just aren’t in the books for me,” you watched as his hardened expression faltered, even behind the mask Damian seemed easy to read to you. “Oh uh, that was your mom?” he gave you a pained nod when you realized you’d hit a touchy subject. “Not the point! Soulmates are soulmates for a reason and as you saw today [you held up your bandaged hand] I’m a freaking badass and can totally defend myself. I’m not giving up or forgetting anything.” you finished with a deep breath, telling yourself that this was the beginning of something epic. 

“Then, I suppose it is nice to meet you soulmate” Damian said, his lips faintly curling into a smile as he stuck out his hand. “Shaking hands with your soulmate? Absolutely not.” you teased, wrapping your good arm around him and giving a squeeze. He seemed frozen at first, but slowly but surely you felt his arms begin to caress your back in a lopsided slightly dysfunctional hug, but a hug nonetheless. You could feel him smiling against your shoulder, making you melt into his embrace as he let out a sigh, his hot breath tickling your neck. 

“Aw Dames this is too cute!” Damian scrambled out of your embrace as a tall raven haired boy joined you on the roof. “Dick Grayson, Nightwing” the man grinned at you, ruffling Damian’s hair against his protest. “You got your soulmate baby bird congrats!” you laughed as Damian huffed, a light blush peeking out from under his mask. “I’m all ready to go unless you wanna stay with what’s your name again?” before you could answer Dick grabbed Damian’s wrist with a laugh, “y/n! Pretty name isn’t it Dames” he swerved Damian’s fist half heartedly launching towards his face. “I’ll be at the cave waiting!” Dick cooed triumphantly as he careened down the stairs. 

“I should be going,” Damian agreed, getting up and offering you a hand. As you stood up he quietly said, “I’ll text you okay?” and you nodded, “oh okay! Do you need my number or anything?” you began to pull out your phone. “No, it’ll be easy for me to find,” he said honestly. You shook your head, “right, Robin, Batman- oh my god you’re Bruce Wayne’s son is he-?” “Yup” Damian flashed a confident smile at your dropped jaw. 

“See you around y/n” Damian nodded at you, pulling his hood over his head and grappling off the top of the building, leaving you standing atop Gotham still trying to process the days events. Pulling your phone out you dialed your best friend. 

“Dude are you okay? I heard shit went down at your school!” their voice echoed from your phone. 

“You’re never gonna guess but I found my soulmate” you said, revelling in just saying the sentence. “Who?” they screeched.

“R- Damian Wayne!” you cut yourself short, realizing that now you had a secret to keep for Damian. There was certainly more than meets the eye about the quiet boy in the back of English.

“HOLY SHIT BITCH YOU’RE GONNA BE RICH!” 

[bnhabadass]

Pairing: Hawks x Reader Warnings: N/A Genre: Fluff Word Count: 4.5k Synopsis: You're surprised when your best friend tells you she's dating pro hero Hawks. As you get to know him throughout his frequent visits to the tea shop you work at, your uncertain despisal of him may just turn into romance. 

When your best friend told you that she was dating the number two hero you laughed in her face. “It’s true!” she pleaded. Her eyes gleamed against the hanging lights in your kitchen. She looked as if she were a lovestruck middle schooler doodling hearts and writing her initials in the margins of her notepad. But you knew her like the back of your hand and you were well aware of her habit of compulsive lying.

You spent the following week teasing her relentlessly for making up such an outlandish lie. Yui Nakamura, your best friend in the world. She was an up-and-coming actress who claimed that she was slowly taking Japan by storm.

“I guess I just caught the number two hero’s heart from my last film,” she told you. It was all she could talk about for a solid week, leaving you rolling your eyes and sticking your tongue out in a fake gagging motion every time his name was brought up.

It wasn’t until she brought him into your place of work that you finally realized she was telling the truth. The small jingle bells tied to the doorknob of the shop rang as you were crouched behind the counter, sorting loose tea leaves into their respective jars.

“This is my favorite place to get an iced tea in this hot weather,” her sickeningly sweet voice cooed.

Your ears perked up. Grabbing one of the jars of tea leaves, you stood up with a big smile on your face, ready to greet your friend. That smile, however, didn’t last long. Instead it was replaced with a punch in your gut and a ringing in your ears as you saw the person standing in front of you holding hands with your best friend was the number two hero in Japan.

You should have known something was off when the few people sitting in the leather chairs and at the counter looking out into the street had gone silent. Everyone’s jaws were slack in amazement at the hero before their eyes. A few people whispered about how much more handsome he looked up close or how they didn’t realize how vibrant his wings actually were.

The only person who didn’t look shocked or happy that he was there was the number two hero himself.

“(Y/n)!” Yui exclaimed. “How’ve you been?”

“Um, good,” you managed to choke out. Your eyes never left the winged hero.

“I see you’ve noticed my boyfriend,” she giggled. Her happy-go-lucky smile never left her face. It seemed as though her biggest wish had come true. It’s no secret that she had been pining after the hero for years, playing back footage of his rescues and showing them to you over and over again. She would always cover her eyes when watching his fights because she “couldn’t bare to see his beautiful face get hurt” and you would have to tell her when the scary parts were over.

“Hawks,” you spat out.

His golden eyes dug daggers into you. “Yes?” His tone was uninterested and very clearly bored. It left a sour taste in your mouth.

“I, um, well I, ya know, I didn’t–”

Yui cut off your stumbling with a fluttering laugh, the kind of laugh they romanticize in a shoujo manga. “(Y/n)-chan didn’t believe me when I told her you were my boyfriend,” she said in a sing-song voice. “Now come on, Hawky, what do you want?”

Hawks visibly cringed at the nickname she had given him. Hawky, like the sport but spelled like the bird. Even you could admit that it was pretty bad.

“I think I’ll have the iced hibiscus tea,” she said. Her hands fumbled for her wallet.

“I’ll take a small sencha.” You never expected the winged hero to drink tea. It seemed so unlike him. He seemed much more of a coffee kind of person, needing the extra energy to fulfill his hectic life.

“All right, your total is 540¥,” you said. As you brewed their tea, you couldn’t help but keep an eye on Hawks and the little things about him. Sure he was attractive, but was that really enough to satisfy your friend? He didn’t seem very interested in her as she tugged on his sleeve like a little kid clinging to their parents.

As you called their names with their orders in hand, you were surprised when neither of them went to grab their drinks. Instead, Hawks sent two of his feathers to grab them out of your hands. They were so delicate yet so strong.

Yui smiled as the feather fluttered around her before presenting her drink in front of her.

“Let’s go,” Hawks said, still with a look of boredom plastered to his face, but maybe there was more to him than you thought.

You got to know Hawks a little more during the next few months. It’s true that when you first met him he was not your cup of tea. He and Yui would come into the shop and as Yui chatted your ear off about all the sweet nothings he would tell her, Hawks always seemed to zone out or lose interest in the conversation relatively fast. From the outside it looked like he didn’t care about her and that made your blood boil. But there had to be more to it, right? You’re sure that Yui wouldn’t bother with someone who didn’t seem to care about her.

It was at the end of summer when Yui told you the exciting news. She was cast as a major role in a new film and would be flown to Yakushima Island for the shoot. As she told you the good news, her smile never faltered. It was as if all her dreams were coming true and the different pieces of her life were being put together like a puzzle.

“I’m really happy for you,” you said while pouring hot water over a tea bag with oolong in it. “I can’t wait to see the film when it’s released.”

“I can’t wait for you to see it too! It’s going to be rough being away from Hawky for so long but I think we’ll both manage.”

You turned around before she could see you rolling your eyes at the ludacris nickname. You’re not sure how it managed to stick throughout the months, and every time you hear the words pass her lips it triggers a shudder to run through you. “When do you leave?”

“Next week. You have no idea how excited I am, (Y/n).”

You were happy for her, you really were. Yet part of you felt like you were being left behind, stuck in the mud. While she had her handsome top pro hero of a boyfriend, you spent your nights alone and as she went off to chase her dreams of being one of the most famous actresses in Japan, you were still pouring hot water over tea leaves as you have been for the past two years. It didn’t seem fair, but you would never let her know that.

The next week went by quicker than you had hoped and Yui was off to the airport. She, of course, stopped by for one last cup of tea before she left.

Once she was gone the leaves began to change. Red, orange and yellow leaves fluttered through the air onto the ground and gusts of wind would push them across town, occasionally dropping them off in front of the tea shop’s door.

This time of year was always your favorite. The smell of cinnamon and spice floating through every tea, pastry and coffee shop always made you smile in delight. A new shipment of pumpkin tea had just arrived and you couldn’t resist ducking down to stick your nose in the box and smell the leaves through their packaging under the counter.

The homey smell ravished your senses. Your mind was instantly filled with wonderful fall memories. Jumping in piles of leaves as a kid, drinking hot tea by the window and watching the rain outside trickle down the gutter of your childhood home. Carving pumpkins and dressing up in inappropriate halloween costumes back in your college days. It all came back.

“Do I even want to know what you’re doing?”

The all too familiar voice of Hawks startled you, and as you leapt up out of shock, you hit your head on the counter top. “Ow,” you croaked. Reaching for the fridge next to one of the display cases of teas, you grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and placed it on your head. “Hi.”

“Hello to you too.” There was a cocky grin on his face, unlike what you’ve seen of him before.

“Yui’s out of town.” Why was he here? There was no reason for him to be if his girlfriend was gone. Since he started showing up with Yui, the shop had gotten much more traction. More people had shown up asking when the pro hero was coming next or which seat he sat in. You were sick of it all.

“I know. Doesn’t mean I can’t get a cup of my favorite tea from my favorite barista.” His cheeky smile grew and you beat yourself up for blushing at him compliment.

“What’ll it be then? A small sencha?” You grabbed one of the small to-go cups in preparation.

“Nah let’s switch it up a bit.” He eyed the list of teas up and down, ogling the glass containers with delicate tea bags placed inside. “What box were you sticking your nose in just now?”

You looked down at your feet in shame, cheeks heating up at the memory. You had hoped he would forget about what he just saw or at least wouldn’t mention it out of pity for you. “Pumpkin tea. It’s a new shipment that just came in.”

“Huh,” he pondered. “Is it good?”

Your head shot up. “Seriously? You’ve never had pumpkin tea before?”

“Nah the commission doesn’t really like it when I eat or drink things that aren’t in my diet.” He wove his hand through his blonde locks, pushing them back out of his face. “They’ve been a bit more chill about things since I started dating Nakamura, but I’m still on a pretty strict food regiment.”

The fact that he referred to your best friend by her last name almost made your heart ache. For how much she doted on him he barely seemed to care. “That sucks,” you said. “Do you want to try it?”

He chuckled a bit. “Yeah, let’s give it a whirl.”

You heated the water and poured it out in a hot stream over the tea bag. “Here you go. That’ll be 280¥.”

He slid the coins over to you and held the piping hot to-go cup up to his nose, breathing in the heat and letting it run through him. A soft smile overcame his features and he pressed the cup to his lips, letting the brew hit his tongue. His eyes shot open. “Wow. That’s incredible.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “Isn’t it really good?”

“It is!” He smiled up at you and you couldn’t help but drink in every detail of it. It was a happy and relaxed smile, one that a child would give after tasting candy for the first time. His eyes grew brighter than the sun as the tea coated his taste buds and pulled him into euphoria.

“Um, excuse me?” a small voice croaked from behind Hawks.

He moved to the side, revealing a small young woman holding hands with a little boy. He was chewing on an action figure and as he pulled the head out of his mouth you could see the bright flames of Endeavor coated in a layer of thick saliva.

“Hey there,” Hawks said. “I’m sorry, do you need to order?”

“No no no!” The rosey cheeks of the young woman deepened as chills of embarrassment filled her. “My son here is a really big fan and, well, we were hoping we could get an autograph.”

You weren’t sure how something like this would play out. You’ve seen the stares and the hushed whispers people give when watching Hawks and Yui in the shop. They almost look too scared to approach him, yet this flustered woman came out of nowhere.

“Yeah of course!” Hawks’ cheeky smile widened. He squatted so he was eye level with the boy. “What’s your name, little guy?”

The kid slid behind his mother’s hip, unsure of what to do or say.

“I see you like Endeavor. You have good taste. He’s one of my favorite heroes too.”

You watched in awe, jaw slack as if you had been slapped in the face, as you watched Hawks laugh and ruffle the kid’s hair. He signed a notebook that the kid’s mother gave him and just as he was about to say goodbye, the kid shot his arms up in Hawks’ direction. You could feel yourself melt on the spot as he picked up the giggling boy, spinning him around. It was so unlike him to do that, but at the same time it was everything you had ever imagined in the stories that Yui would tell.

That was the first time that you realized you were beginning to fall for your best friend’s boyfriend, and after that nothing would be the same.

Hawks came in and out of the shop more and more frequently, only now ordering a small pumpkin tea. As the days went by, the weather grew colder. Chilly winds howled past the store and jingled the chimes out front.

Hawks sauntered in, giving you the grin and nod he was now accustomed to.

“Small pumpkin?” you asked, gripping your scarf and holding it closer around your neck.

“You know it,” he winked.

You hated how every time he walked up to the counter your breath would hitch and your heart would skip a beat. The little wink he gave you definitely didn’t go unnoticed by you. You hid the flushed feeling by burying your face up to the tip of your nose in your scarf.

“So what’s been going on in tea land?” he asked. His fingers danced across the display of cup sizes and tea cakes to the side of the register. They stopped, resting on the side of the jar labeled “TIPS” in a fat black marker over bright colorful construction paper.

“Same old,” you replied. “How’s hero work?”

“Same old.” The two of you had grown comfortable with minimal conversation, almost finding it endearing that the two of you could communicate so much with so few words.

“And Yui?”

Hawks took a moment before answering. You looked up from the tea you were preparing but averted your eyes the second you realized he was staring at you. “I’m thinking of breaking up with her.”

You couldn’t pay attention to what he said next. All you could hear was the ringing in your ears at hearing his words. He was breaking up with her. The recent nights you had spent fantasizing what it would be like to be the one held in his arms at night seemed more in your grasp. The thought scared you a little.

“Hey, are you listening?”

“Huh?” He snapped you out of your thoughts. “Sorry, I think I zoned out a little.” You could feel your face heating up. “Why are you breaking up with her?”

“It’s been about four months,” he said, still toying with the rim of the tip jar.

It bothered you a little how he kept looking at it. Either put in a tip or leave it alone, you wanted to yell at him.

“Four months,” he repeated as if he needed to double check. “That’s when our contract is up, at least.”

You were confused. What was he talking about? “What do you mean?” The skepticism on your face made you look like a puppy being taunted with a bone.

“Heh, you’re cute when you’re confused,” he said. “Our relationship,” he trailed off in thought, trying to find the right words. “It was never real, I guess. Never has been.”

As Hawks spoke about the contract the two of them were under, that her agent and the people working at the commission made them sign, your jaw became more and more unhinged.

“Why did they force you to date in the first place?” The shrill of your voice was hard to tame.

“Her agent knows my people well,” he admitted, referring to the commission. “And they thought this would be good for her publicity. They were right since it got her the big movie she’s working on, but they told us if nothing happens after four months we can end it.”

“I see.” You were still trying to put the pieces together in your mind. “So you never really loved her.”

He couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “I thought that was pretty obvious,” he admitted. “Look, I know she’s your best friend and all but she’s kinda hard to be around and to get along with at times.”

Deep down you knew he was right, but hearing it come from someone that you knew Yui loved and trusted made your blood boil. What made you feel even worse was the growing hope within you that if Hawks didn’t like someone like her, he could possibly fall for someone like you.

He looked down at his phone to check the time. “Shit, I have training with my intern in ten minutes.” As you slid his drink towards him he fished into his wallet to pay. Taking out an extra bill, he folded it up and put it in the tip jar. “Promise me that when I break things off with her you’ll be there to comfort her?”

The question took you off guard but you nodded anyway.

He smiled a deep and genuine smile that showed so much more emotion than could be understood by the human brain. “Thanks. She’ll need a good friend like you to keep her company.” And with that, he dashed out the door quicker than your eyes could follow.

A week went by and you heard nothing. Hawks didn’t come into the shop to tell you how it went and Yui hadn’t texted you with any of her usual updates for how the movie was going. It wasn’t until you were locking up shop on a Friday night that you received a FaceTime request from Yui. You texted her, assuring her that once you got home you’d call her back. You knew that he did it and she needed to hear from you right now.

Snuggled into the plush fabric of the side-of-the-road sofa in the middle of your living room, you called her back. It only took one ring before she picked up. Her face was blotchy and red and the makeup she wore on set was streaking down her features.

“What happened?” you asked, fully aware of the situation.

She explained in detail everything that had happened, from the warm tea she was holding in her dressing room when he called her to break things off to the way his eyes shimmered with both sadness and relief as he told her what was on his mind.

You tried to reason with her as she blew her snotty nose into tissue after tissue. Phrases like “I’m sure he doesn’t hate you” and “You’re better than him anyway” often came up. Truth be told, you were only paying attention to her side of the story half the time. You slipped in and out, mind wandering over to where Hawks may be and how he must be doing.

“Maybe he had a reason for doing it,” you finally said once she had started to calm down.

“What?”

“Do you think he, I dunno, wasn’t happy?” You shrugged a bit. Your eyes traced the rhombus patterns on your carpet as they avoided Yui’s saddened expression. “Maybe he just wanted to be a free bird is all.”

You looked up from your carpet and came face to face with Yui’s eyes. Once doughy and glossed over with a thick layer of gelatinous tears, they now held a form of anger and hurt that you have never seen from her. “How could you say that?” she asked. “How could you even think of taking his side?”

“I’m not taking a side, I–”

“Yes you are!” Her face was turning red and as much as you wished to defend the man you had caught feelings for you also wanted to be there for Yui. “I don’t know how you could defend him right now, you guys aren’t even friends.”

Hearing her say that hit you deep in the chest. Of course she didn’t know how often Hawks had swung by the shop. Of course he wouldn’t tell her.

“You barely know him, (Y/n), so why are you defending him?”

Why were you defending him? Even with Yui out of the picture, there would still be a slim chance that Hawks actually felt the same way you did. He’s the number two hero, an icon in more ways than one. His fangirls pooled at his feet constantly. Why would you, just a simpleton working at a tea shop, have a chance with him?

“I can’t even talk to you right now.” She was looking down, refusing to make eye contact with you through the small screen.

“Yui, I–”

“No. Just,” she trailed off. “Call me when you know whose side you’re on.”

And with that she hung up and you were left alone. You felt terrible, like the worst friend in existence. You needed something to calm yourself down after the shitshow you had a feeling would be your last conversation with her for a long time.

Your shaky figure got up off the couch and went into the kitchen, putting up the water for a cup of tea. Your hands visibly calmed down once you gripped the hot mug with the pumpkin tea bag swirling inside.

“Hey baby bird.” As you walked into the living room, the person lounging on your sofa startled you. You let out a scream and the hot tea sloshed out of your mug and hit your chest, the thin material of your shirt and the knit sweater you dawned doing little to nothing to stop the burning sensation. “Ah shit.”

Hawks ran up to you and pressed the sleeve of his hero costume against your chest. “I’m sorry. Are you all right?”

The wince you gave him let him know his answer. “What are you doing here?” you managed to croak out once the heat subsided. “And how the hell do you know where I live?”

“Followed you home,” he said like it was nothing.

“So you stalked me.”

“I like to call it stealth training.” The grin on his face resembled a snarky cat and as pissed off and angry you were about him and Yui and everything, you couldn’t help letting out a laugh.

The aura between you two was both friendly and awkward. It seemed as though you both wanted to say something but didn’t know what. As Hawks kept rubbing his sleeve against your damp clothes, his eyes trailed over your face and tried reading into what you were thinking.

“I talked to Yui,” you finally let out. “She’s mad at me.”

“So I heard.” He stopped moving and rested his arm on your shoulder. “You deserve better friends.”

You looked away. “No. She does.”

He let out a laugh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You, (Y/n), are kind, compassionate, care about your customers and you actually take time to listen to others. And I know Nakamura would say the same thing.”

Somehow the use of your friends last name didn’t bother you as much as it used to. What did cause you to blush was the sound of  Hawks saying your own name. The sound of it leaving his lips had an imprint on you like no other.

“And those,” he continued, “are some of the many reasons why I started to fall for you.”

You felt a sting in your cheeks as they grew hot from his words. He liked you? Did you hear that correctly? He fell for you? The same way you fell for him? The only thing you could think to do was let out a “huh?”

And Hawks let out a toe curling laugh. “I like you. Have liked you for a while now.”

You didn’t know what to say. You were so overwhelmed with emotion. All you could even think to do was stare at him with your mouth agape.

“Hello?” he waved his hand in your face. “Earth to (Y/n).”

You shook your head and the rest of your body, getting any jitters out. “Um, yeah.”

He barked out another laugh. “So, do you got something to say to me or are you gonna leave me hanging?”

You took a sharp inhale. “I think that I might also like you,” you said. “A bit.”

“Now was that so hard to say?” He took a step forward, raising a hand to cup your face. He wasn’t ready, however, when you stepped away, shielding yourself from him. “What’s wrong?”

“Yui is what’s wrong.”

It dawned on him how difficult and confused you must’ve been feeling, especially if you’ve liked him for as long as he’s had feelings for you. Yui Nakamura is your best friend so of course having feelings for her boyfriend, her ex boyfriend, would make you fall into a pit of despair.

“I’m sorry.” You turned away, walking back to your kitchen.

Even though you clearly wanted to be left alone, Hawks followed you and stayed in the door frame as you put up water for another cup of tea. “You remember when I caught you sniffing the heck out of that box of Pumpkin tea?”

You made a disgruntled noise of agony as you buried your head in your hands.

He chuckled. “That’s when I realized I had feelings for you. When did you know you had them for me?”

You sighed. “Look, Hawks. I really wish that things were different and that Yui wouldn’t be mad at me, but–”

“It’s a simple question, baby bird.” He reveled in the nickname.

Your eyes wandered over to the kettle and the soft heat that rose from the stove. “I think it was when I saw you give that kid and his mom and autograph and, I don’t know, you’re just...really good with kids is all.”

“Is that really all?” His cocky smirk struck you and you couldn’t help but hit him playfully.

“Shut up, asshole.” The kettle went off and you grabbed two mugs, placing pumpkin tea bags in each. “I like you, but I love Yui.”

“So I’m assuming that it would be inappropriate for me to kiss you right now?”

You handed him one of the now full mugs, your face lowered to hide your subtle embarrassment. “You are correct.” The two of you stood there in the middle of your cramped kitchen, neither darring to take a sip. “But,” you started. “We can maybe cuddle on the couch a bit and talk, if that’s something you want.”

His golden eyes brightened. “Yeah, baby bird. I’d like that.”