#also i hope i found a good middle ground between the 'it's magic' excuse for winged humans and anatomically accurate ones

[auxiliarydetective]

I've started remaking my first One Piece OC, Luna. Mostly, it was about the color palettes, but I also thought she deserved to be drawn in my new artstyle. Especially since she's from my MS Paint era...

Please click on the image and see it in full scale

Base by Destinys-Heart on DeviantArt + kailnaiorsolya and We Heart It on Pinterest

So here she is in her pre-timeskip appearance. She's a moon spirit which is where she got the wings from - plus a little bit of magic. That magic is what got her the cracks on her eye and hand - her own powers backfired because her body had not yet fully matured and was unable to withstand them. The scars are from various battles she has gotten into for the Straw Hats. Moon spirits aren't supposed to fight. They're very vulnerable. But Luna wants to fight not only for herself but for her friends.

In case some of you are wondering: Yes, Luna does molt. It's a completely natural thing and part of her species' maturing process. She grows at the speed of a normal human, but her wings don't grow like her hair or nails, even though they're made of the same material. That's why she has to molt. Whenever her wings got too small to carry her, she has had to molt, rendering her unable to fly for a few weeks. Luna has already molted about ten times. Her growth spurt was a pain because that meant the molting intervals got smaller - and molting is exhausting! Being 18 before the timeskip, she hadn't gone through her final full molt yet. That started happening during the Sabaody Arc, to her dismay. It was also the main reason why she made no attempt to fly off the island she was sent to. She couldn't. Notice I said full molt. After a tought battle, she usually sheds a few of her feathers because they got damged. Thankfully, they grow back very quickly.

Her feathers, as you can see, are pretty big, especially her primaries which has led to some interesting quirks among the crew. Each of her crewmates keeps one of her feathers like a friendship bracelet. Luffy has only a small one that he keeps tucked under the red part of his hat. Zoro has it tied to one of his katana. Nami's is her most prized quill that she uses for drawing her maps. She may have picked up more than one and have a habit of sticking aroung Luna during fights. Just because the feathers can't be used for flying anymore doesn't mean Nami can't use them for writing. Some of them aren't badly damaged at all, they just annoy Luna. Usopp has a very practical use for Luna's feathers. He cuts them into pieces and attaches them to some of his ammunition, like the the feather part of shuttlecocks. There's a single long feather, one of the primaries, that he keeps in his workshop on the Sunny. Nobody knows where Sanji keeps his feather. But it's definitely somewhere very safe and he worships it. Chopper has a mid-sized feather tied to his backpack. Robin always finds a way to incorporate her feather into her outfits. Franky keeps his feather attached to his gold chain. Brook has the feather openly displayed on his hat. Luna is very touched by the gesture, even though she thought it was odd at first and admittedly got embarrassed about her molting, thinking it was annoying that there would be feathers lying around.

Post-timeskip

[novawrts]

7-letter word

Riven x Fairy Reader

Request: “a Riven one where they’ve been friends for a while and constantly flirt and everyone is going insane about it because why the hell aren’t they together yet? And then a near threatening situation with maybe a burned one or something similar makes them confess finally.”

A/N: Requested by @oneflewoverthenewtmasnest. I hope you will like it! Also, English isn’t my first language so I apologize in advance for any grammar/spelling mistakes.

Warning: None.

“Good morning to the most beautiful Fairy and to the most beautiful Fairy only,” there were only two reactions possible at Riven’s words: Sky and Stella’s one which consisted of rolling exaggeratedly their eyes, or yours, smiling. “Good morning to you too handsome,” you greeted him, waiting for Doris to heat up the water of your tea in the cafeteria queue. “I’ve got this,” he said to you while grabbing your tray and his once done. “Is it me or does it look worse than last year?” You stated, looking at everyone food as you sat at a table in the middle of the dining hall. “Well… We still can go to my room if you want a satisfying breakfast, you know,” you couldn’t help but chuckle at his words unlike Stella who pushed her food away with disgust before even touching it. “Thank you, Riven, for spoiling my appetite.”

As it went on, Sky pointed it out that classes will start soon and if the boys wanted to stop by their dorm beforehand they better had to go now. “See you later at practice?” Riven asked, hands buried in the pockets of his leather jacket. “Sure. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” with that confirmation he got up from the bench and leaned towards you, his greyish green eyes locked on yours. “While I will miss that face until then,” he winked at you and straightened up as you rested your chin in the palm of your hand, watching him left with his best friend.

Riven had a grin plastered on his lips something that had certainly not escaped the notice of the other Specialist. “What’s your excuse for not dating her again?” Sky wondered, more amused than actually confused by the current situation. “We’re friends mate,” and his answer could have been unquestionable if it wasn't for the clench of his jaw when he had slightly turn his head your way. By the time his gaze shifted back to you, your attention was on a relatively fed up Stella. “Why aren’t you acting on it yet exactly?” The Light Fairy snapped, leaving you quite befuddled. “Acting on what?” Her shoulders went down as she sighed loudly at your question. “On the constant flirting since year one!” She shouted like it was the most obvious of things. “We are friends Stel.”

Friends. A 7-letter word that you and Riven have put a lot of efforts into to describe your relationship, much to Sky and Stella dismay. It had been a while now that you had lost count of the number of attempts to make you confessed possible feelings for each other. Both supposedly contented with the simplicity of at least one thing in your respective lives. Therefore, brushing off the conversation whenever they brought it back had become an art that you had learn to master even better than magic or a sword.

This sunny afternoon probably being one of the last, you put the shortcut to the training ground aside. It was when you heard it, when you heard them, in the greenhouse. “They are still students,” the voice, you were sure, belonged to Professor Harvey your Botany teacher. “They are Specialists, they have duties,” Mister Silva pointed out before hissing in pain. His recent infection surely didn’t get any better. “It’s a Burned One we’re talking about. Look what it did to the Solarians, to you Saul,” you frowned and thought, they couldn’t possibly wanted to send the Specialists to the barrier. “We have to prepare them, Ben,” the firmness of Headmistress Dowling made your heart sank, of course they were considering it.

“There you are,” Riven said happily after jumping off the elevated stand where him and Sky had started to warm up. “Sorry, I’ve been held back,” you had never lie to him before and in some way it wasn’t fully a lie, or at least it was what you convinced yourself of. After all, you had been held back, even it was by eavesdropping three authority figures of Alfea. “Alright, listen up everybody!” You hadn't noticed that Mister Silva had arrived, and despite the anger you felt towards him right now, you were glad he was here to prevent an imminent questioning from Riven. “You better go.”

You rarely seen him that good out there. He always was the best for you, no matter how many times Sky beat him, but today it didn’t happen even once. Surely it wasn’t thanks to your cheering. On other circumstances you would have be ecstatic but your mind kept creating scenarios in which they chose students to hunt down the Burned One with the battalion and Riven was always on the list. Despite the smiles you offered him throughout practice he perfectly could tell you were not your usual self.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” He asked you the very second you reached out the waterfall near the Stone Circle, the place where you were spending time together since your first year. Your favourite spot. “I’ve heard something. That’s why I was late,” and so you recounted every words to Riven, shared every schemes possible. Your fear and your disappointment too. Now you understood why he hated being here. “We should have stay in the shack we found this summer and locked ourselves in,” he muttered, head down. “I’m serious Riv,” you protested over of the disconcerting calm he was showing. “So am I! Everybody plays pretend in this damn school and I don’t want to anymore! Not with you,” he paused for a moment, gesturing his arms in defeat. “I mean... Will it that bad? Us.”

You had stayed silence until he get down the rock he stood on to reduce the distance between you. You had a hard time realizing what Riven just told you. It wasn’t another one of your stupid dreams. It wasn’t Sky or Stella playing matchmakers. It was your friend, your friend you had always love, who was finally opening up to you about his feelings. “No. No, it wouldn’t be that bad,” you whispered while resting your hands on his shoulders. Your eyes switching between his and his lips as he put his forehead against yours, just to lean his face further to kiss you.

[aggressivelyclueless]

witching hour

in which star and the ghost hold a midnight conversation in the graveyard

contains: secrets, confessions, and revelations on both sides

[part one] [part two]

It was coming up on midnight when Star made her way out to the graveyard on Split River Road.  It was moonless and bitter, with wind that creaked through the trees and brought a flurry of leaves down every time it came through.  She pulled the gate open with a hard half-rusted screech, shivered, and crept along the packed dirt path.

She found an empty spot under the willow tree, where the wind wasn't so bad and she wasn't so cold, and sat down.  There was a semi-comfortable place in between two twisted roots that she found suitable enough, plopping down on the cold dirt and crossing her legs under her.  She cast a surveying glance around her.

He was around here somewhere.

She sat back, zipped her jacket the rest of the way up, and concentrated.  When the ghost spoke to her, he bypassed physical sound and manifested in her mind.  That was the loudest that anything could be; she couldn't do that, not with words at least.

But if she cast out far enough, she could feel the ghost, and if she prodded, she hoped he could feel her too.

It didn't take long until her concentration was spent, and her mind began to spin.  She'd expected it, considering how far she was trying to reach, and rubbed the heel of her hand against her temple in an effort to ease the dull throbbing that had come up in her head.  When that didn't help, she groped around in her backpack for the bottle of water she'd filled for herself before she'd left.

It would do.

The ghost had felt her, or at least something had.  The shadowy thing crawled in on a stiff breeze, pooling into the darkness under one of the nearby headstones and making itself comfortable.

(Aren't you cold?)

It sounded like him.

Star let all of her breath out at once, straightening herself out and leaning back against the willow tree's roots.  "Answer me something, ghost."

(Only if you say please)

"Alright, please tell me: why are you still here?"

(Here?  As in, right here?)

"Here, as in still-on-this-earth," said Star, "Ghosts are supposed to have unfinished business, aren't they?"

(Well, yeah) said the ghost, (but wait a second.  How come I should tell you?)

Was he serious?  "Because you're not the only one that gets to be curious and ask questions.  This goes both ways."

The ghost paused to consider it.  He didn't like the sounds of it - the apprehension all but dripped off him, hanging thickly in the air between them, and the longer he thought about it, the more it wanted to solidify into dread.

(And you'll tell me about your. . . whatever-you're-doing)

Star nodded solemnly.  "If that's what you want."  She slipped a hand into the backpack resting beside her, pulling out the folded square shape of Felicity's ouija board and laying it flat on the ground.  Procuring the wooden puck from the side pouch, she set it down over YES and glanced back at the shadows.  "Well?"

The ghost prickled.  (Do we even need that?  Oh, wait, let me guess, to keep me honest, right?)

"To keep us honest," said Star, with a practiced patience.  "It goes both ways.  Whatever you're so scared about - I thought this might help."

(Hey, I'm not scared) retorted the ghost, a little too defensively to convince her.  He came up to the other side of the board, appearing as a slinking oily shape over the ground, and she felt the cold deepen over her fingers as he rested his own on them.  (I want to go first.  Tell me about how you do it.  How you know all this stuff I never told you, how you know if I'm there when you said you couldn't see me, whatever kind of telepathy that is - )

"You think it’s telepathy?" said Star, both eyebrows shooting up, "Was that what you were so worried about?"

(Tell me about it) pressed the ghost, (Please.  I have to know)

Star gave it a moment of thought.  "Not exactly.  Telepathic, I mean.  You think of a number and I can't magically guess it every time.  But I get feelings from people.  From places.  From the dead.  Always could, to some extent.  A lot of people think it's bull."

(You can sense ghosts) said the spirit, and she got the impression that he didn't much like the sound of that.

Star shrugged.  "Mostly it's just a feeling, or what someone wants.  Like at the seance the other night, when you wanted an excuse to screw around.  I knew you weren't going to hurt anybody."

(And you went along with it on purpose)

"I was hoping it would scare the hell out of Felicity's friend.  She never liked me, you know.  But, point is - most of the time, it's just little pieces.  Sometimes - well, once in a while - it'll be a thought.  Sort of."

Dread.  (What do you mean, sort of?)

"Those are the kind I have to really try for.  They don't come on their own, and like I said I can't pull someone's locker combo out of their mind.  I get ideas.  Concepts."  She regarded the shadow on the ground for a moment, prying, her brow furrowing as her concentration deepened.  She'd exerted most of herself casting out for the spirit earlier; almost immediately, the ache returned behind her temples.  "The one I keep getting from you goes like, what if she finds out?"

Dread turned to stone-cold fear.  (Find out what?  Please, please tell me you don't know)

Star shook her head slowly.  "That's not how this works."  She paused, a new thought occurring to her, and after giving it a brief consideration she asked: "That's what you're afraid of, though, isn't it?  You're afraid that I can, and you think I'm going to dig up this secret of yours on purpose."

(Aren't you?)

"Hmm."  She cocked her head back and forth a few times.  They both still had their fingers on the board; she couldn't have flat-out lied if she'd wanted to.  "I might, just for curiosity's sake.  But I don't think I'd tell anyone."

That surprised him.  (You wouldn't?)

"Of course not - because then it's not only also my business, it's also my problem.  Not sure I'd want it to be, if it's already yours and you're dead."

(I mean. . . )

"Wait, did you think I would have told people?"

(Well - I don't know, maybe I did.  Look, I thought a lot of things, and it's turning out my track record for most of them is being wrong.  So I'm sorry)  The shadow on the other side of the board swirled in place, as if the ghost was ashamed.  Perhaps he was.

But Star just smiled.  "You thought I was stupid, didn't you?"

The ghost didn't answer, probably because he didn't want to have to say yes.

"I'll tell you one other thing, then."  She leaned in over the board, her voice dropping to a whisper.  "When you shine a little like I do, sometimes people notice.  Sometimes things notice.  You sure did.  That's why people think I'm dumb.  Because it's better that way."

For a moment, the ghost was silent.  At last: (I. . . wow, sorry, that's. . . that explains so much, actually)

Star straightened back up again, reaching over and pawing at the side of the backpack without looking.  Her fingers found the corner of a candy bar in the front pocket; she plucked it out, tearing the wrapper off with her teeth.  Through a mouthful of chocolate and caramel: "Okay, okay, my turn.  Tell me about the whole unfinished business thing.  Is that your big bad secret?  That you don't want people to know what it is?"

(Well - ) the ghost paused, redirecting.  (Actually, that's not it.  It sort of isn't.  It's complicated)

Star wasn't about to let him off the hook - not after her little revelation.  "Try me.  Let's start easy: it's not ghostly vengeance, it's not closure for the body, or anything like that.  What is it?"

The ghost sighed.  (That's the thing. . . )

"You don't have any," she completed the thought for him, turning it over a few times internally to see if it would stick.  It didn't, at least not cleanly.  "Then how come you're - wait.  Wait a sec, you. . .  "

Realization and disbelief struck in tandem, practically knocking the air right out of her.  "You're not a ghost," she breathed, "You're something else."

(Well. . . )

"What are you, really?"  Part of her had to find out; part of her knew it would be better not to ask.  Part of her said it was already too late not to.  She had to wonder if the rules of the board still bound him.  What if he'd lied to her this whole time?

(No, don't - I'm not. . . not a demon, or anything.  Honest, I'm not.  I'm just. . . look)  The shadow coiled in on itself slightly, as if the thing was shifting around under the darkness.  (I won't tell anyone about your whole - ghost sensitivity, or whatever you want to call it, but you can't tell anyone about this either, okay?)

She nodded slowly.  What was one more secret, in the grand scheme of things?  She had plenty of them already, and not just her own.

(Okay.  Honest truth: I'm not completely a ghost.  I'm not all the way dead - but I'm not all the way alive, either.  I'm kind of stuck somewhere in the middle)

She cast out one last time.  He was telling the truth, and it wasn't only because the rules of ouija were forcing him; she could feel his honesty, and the uncertainty of not knowing what would come next or what she'd think, but not only that, he trusted her.

And, if she was honest too, that was a good feeling.

[saintprinsessa]

Feeling You: Wanda x Fem!reader

Summary: You were in the middle of a war zone, the Avengers had found Hydra’s base and planned on attacking them by surprise, but the plans didn´t go as initially thought.

You saw how Wanda was in danger and you just went to help her.

Even if it cost you everything.

Trigger warning: Explicit descriptions of serious injuries (broken bones and burns), just a bad word, a little self-consciousness, and a lot of angst.

Words: +5000 (Got carried away)

Author´s note:

I don´t love this one, it made my heart ache a bit tho.

This takes place when Vision was still awkward with the Avengers, so he is going to talk with more estimation.

Also more Agatha ones are coming! :)

Any mistakes are on me and me only!

Anyways, please enjoy!

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

The team was trapped, you were going in front, trying to clean the way to give access to Cap and Widow, they needed to enter the building and destroy the heart of it.

While fighting some guards, you looked up instinctively and saw Wanda attacking from a high position in the air, throwing energy blasts towards some armored trucks.

She is safe.

A bad feeling hit your gut, and your eyes searched around the field.

They landed on a guy who was standing on a tall rock not so far from you.

Before you could react, he shot an electric net, which captured Wanda, instantly wrapping leaving her motionless and shocking her until she was unconscious.

With widened eyes, following her all the time, you ran into the guy, throwing him into the nearest tree, knocking him over, and ran to catch Wanda.

fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

You gave yourself an electromagnetic impulse, and then your body was collapsing into Wanda’s in the air, but as soon as you touched her, the electric shot went through you, you shut your eyes tight and groaned.

You grabbed the net, your eyes started blooming with light, and with an inhuman effort, you tore it from her body, making her fall from you.

The net was giving you electric shots but you did your best to let Wanda land without her getting hurt.

Her body landed gracefully.

Yours not.

You were like a ragdoll being thrown into the ground, your ribs crunched, twisting inside you and making your organs turn, one of your arms twisted backward, you grunted loudly as your head hit the ground in a bumping motion, and you were dragged various meters, the hard rock floor cutting through your skin and bruising you.

Slightly dizzy, you managed to lift your head.

You needed to see if Wanda was okay.

And when you saw her chest rising slowly, you let go a relieved sigh.

Widow, Cap, and Bruce screamed at you, and by the time you were processing what they said, an explosion was the last thing you heard.

And then everything went black.

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

Wanda jolted awake terrified, breathing sharply, holding the sheets for her dear life.

What happened?

She cleaned some of the sweat on her forehead and started to ease her nerves, trying to calm herself.

Wanda left her room and went to the kitchen, the halls of the Avenger’s tower were empty.

Strange.

When she arrived, they were all gathered in there, all with worried looks on their faces, some facing the ground, some staring at something.

And then, the realization hit her.

Someone was carrying her back to the ship, in the middle of all the shouting and explosions, she saw that they were winning, she could remember that something hit her and she lost balance, but she was confused, she was falling from high, why her body was unharmed?

Then she saw another body being carried near her, and she quickly recognized who it was.

You.

But she couldn’t see your face, it was blurry and fading, your body seemed...

Lifeless.

Then she fainted.

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

“Where is (y/n)?”

The question was hesitant, almost like a whisper, and bit her bottom lip.

Maybe she just didn’t want to hear the answer to that question.

Wanda searched between all of them, they looked at each other with sad faces.

Clint avoided her eyes, Natasha was fiddling her fingers, lost in her mind; Cap looked at her but quickly returned his gaze to the floor.

Vision was leaning onto the counter with his arms folded.

“Vision.”

He flinched, Wanda used a stern tone, not a good sign.

“Where is (y/n)?”

Her thick sokovian accent slipped, the question was venenous, her eyes flashed red for a second.

Vision couldn’t bear it anymore, that was too much pressure.

“This compromises me a lot, Wanda, (y/n) fervently asked us to not tell you.”

He said nervous, clasping his hands together while he approached her.

“She is currently at Dr. Banner´s laboratory.”

As soon the sentence left his mouth, Wanda hurried off the room.

Vision turned around to watch the other’s faces, who only nodded, and quickly followed Wanda.

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

The doors of the lab flushed brutely open, Banner jumped backward losing balance and fell, Wanda made her way towards him stomping, her magic surrounding her menacing.

“Where?”

Her eyes lighted up dangerously for a second as a warning.

Bruce only pointed on a left hall, quickly shooting up on his feet and guiding Wanda, she was following closely, every step as a threat for him to walk faster.

He unlocked the door and Wanda pushed him aside, not having a pinch of patience.

She gasped.

You were nowhere to be seen.

If looks could kill, Banner would be three meters underground.

“I- I swear I left her here.”

He put his hands as if surrender, he quickly went to check your last vital signals registered on the machines.

“Her body was recovering quickly.”

He smiled nervously at Wanda, her anger was replaced with concern.

Thousands of negative thoughts were racing on her mind.

Vision appeared, traversing through the wall, his eyes saw the empty gurney in front of him and then settled on Wanda.

“I bet she is breathing and stable, Wanda.”

He tried to comfort her while he patted her shoulder, just for Wanda to turn and hug him.

She started sobbing like a child, she couldn’t contain herself.

She had so many things to tell you.

Vision soothed her, caressing her back awkwardly, he didn’t know what to do with human emotions.

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

Four weeks had passed.

You hadn’t shown any signals of life.

Tony had sent multiple drones to seek for you, the other avengers were searching every day in your favorite spots around the town.

Wanda, on the other side, every day that passed, the first thing that she did was go to your room, and run her hand through the sheets of your bed, your figure still draw in them, she would spend the whole day locked in there.

She also had a shirt that you gave her, she would sleep every night in her bed, hugging the shirt tightly.

“I should have told you, I should have done so many things, (y/n).”

She felt heavy, her eyes swollen for crying till she was dry, her throat sore, she was tired.

She still hoped that one day, she would wake up, go to your room and you would be there.

You would be sleeping peacefully, waiting to the alarm to wake you and spend your day making the avengers laugh at your silly jokes, training almost half of the day, and in the afternoon, while everyone was occupied, you would approach silently to Wanda’s bedroom, hesitantly deciding if knock or not the door, which she would sense you and would permit you to enter, you would find her sitting leg-crossed in her bed, while watching a 50’s black and white sitcom.

She would invite you with a warm smile and a slight nod, asking silently for you to sit on her side.

At some point in the show, she would look at you from the corner of her eye.

You would be watching the show attentive, trying to understand what was happening, but your thoughts, were flooding with Wanda’s presence, how warm she felt, how her company calmed you, she made you happy, she made you feel safe.

You would feel that someone is looking at you, and you would turn to see Wanda, who is now looking at you fully, with a small blush on her cheeks.

You would smile at her, your heartbeat would rise and your eyes would gleam with emotions.

Wanda would retrieve the smile.

“Hey.”

You would say cheerily.

“Hey.”

She would reply sheepishly.

The show would end and you would ask if she wants to see another episode.

She would say yes.

She always says yes to you.

And you would spend the entire afternoon watching the show, maybe you would leave Wanda for some snacks and then would return with your arms full, making Wanda laugh.

Or maybe you would fall asleep because the show not more entertains you, and she would look at you with devotion and adoration.

Some nights you would stay there, Wanda always let you stay, she would hug you, let her head rest on your chest and sleep with you, the next morning you would jolt awake and shower thousands of apologies to Wanda, she just would laugh and say that it was okay.

Some nights you would wake up in the middle of the night, super embarrassed, apologizing and leave, saying that it won’t happen again.

Wanda despised that kind of nights.

She loved your company.

Vision entered her room once again, always forgetting about privacy.

He would do this every day, bringing her some food, and she would eat half of it, just for respect.

Wanda’s head shot up, watching Vision approach to the bed.

“What do you want, Vision?”

Wanda asked dryly, her accent became evident these past weeks, it seems that it tended to appear when she was annoyed.

“I excuse myself for the bargain, Wanda, but I kindly remind you to ingest the nutrients your body needs.”

He replied while gesturing towards the plate he left that afternoon, deep in him, he was hoping that Wanda at least, ate, because her lack of resting and lack of self-care was clearly evident.

She scoffed and returned to her curled-up position.

Vision sighed, this needed to change.

She was not fine.

“Wanda.”

His voice was stern now.

No response.

He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

“You need to eat something, if you continue like this, you will pass out.”

Still no response.

“The Avengers, including myself, are doing everything in their limits to find (Y/n)”

He trailed off a bit in the end.

Wanda turned her head to look at him.

“She will appear, I can sense it.”

Now her whole body was facing him.

“I think she would like to find you doing well.”

He dedicated Wanda a slight smile, she replied with another.

“Thank you, Vision.”

He just nodded and left the room.

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

Two weeks passed after that.

Wanda recovered some color on her face, her lips were plump again, and her eyes were refreshed, she would give a small smile if she encountered someone on her way to the kitchen or returning to your bedroom.

When she opened the door, she squealed when she found Vision inside but smiled afterwards.

“Vis, what are you doing here?”

He was in the middle of the room, looking outside through the gigantic window.

He glanced over his shoulder but didn’t move.

Wanda, slightly confused, approached him.

“Are you okay?”

She grabbed his shoulder, slowly turning him to her.

She locked her eyes onto his.

But they weren’t Vision’s eyes.

They were (y/e/c).

“Wanda...”

Vision talked, but that wasn’t only his voice, there were hints of yours too.

“(Y/n)?”

She smiled hopefully and cupped Vision’s face.

“You look stunningly delicious, Wanda.”

Vision smiled fondly like he was feeling your excitement.

The compliment was a joke between you and her, she was trying to learn english compliments and asked if the Froot Loops could be described as “stunningly delicious” .

She laughed a bit and looked into your eyes.

It was you but how?

“How have you been? Have you lost weight?”

The Vision-controlled-by-you asked pressing her cheeks together, her face now looked like a Blowfish.

The body quickly retracted his hands and took a step backward.

His eyes turned blue again.

“I’m sorry, Wanda, I hope that didn’t bother you.”

That was Vision, embarrassed of grabbing Wanda´s face like that, even if that was you.

You apologized mentally to him, he said that it was fine.

Wanda laughed a bit, she realized that you two were talking mentally as he had his eyes closed but they were moving furiously.

“How are you doing all this?”

She approached Vision again, he opened his eyes and they were yours.

“It’s a long story, but we are somehow connected.”

You smiled a little while remembering something.

You sighed and looked at her again.

“I just wanted to see you, to check if you were doing fine, Wanda.”

Her eyes started watering, and she shivered a bit.

Oh how much she missed you, how much she missed your face.

“Where are you right now, (y/n)?”

She simply asked and that took you by surprise.

You gulped and tried to take Vision back, but she grabbed your shoulder to keep you in place and grasped your chin so you couldn’t avoid her gaze.

“Where are you!?”

Her voice broke, she was crying.

Your eyes closed shut, you were concerned for her, you wished, no, you dreamed of being there, replacing Vision.

“I’m sorry, Wanda.”

You cupped her face and hugged her tightly so she won’t move.

“I really am.”

She shoved Vision backward so she could look at your eyes.

“Wait! (Y/n)!”

She shook Vision when she saw how (y/e/c) were fading to give access to Vision´s ones again.

“Don’t go...”

Wanda trailed off when he saw the pitiful look on his eyes, she started sobbing loudly.

“I apologize, Wanda.”

He hugged her, but not like you.

Nobody could hug like you.

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

They stayed in the room after that, it was quiet, Vision was sitting beside Wanda the entire time, she stopped crying after some time; when it got too late, he left the room and quickly returned with some food.

“How...”

Wanda mumbled as Vision was setting a little table in front of her.

“How is she connected with you?”

Wanda asked nervously, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and scratching her arm.

Vision nodded and sat again, giving Wanda a glass of water and observing her.

She took the hint and began to eat.

After a few seconds, he started talking.

“I don’t have a proper explanation of it.”

Vision said frowning.

“One day, (y/n) just approached me, she touched the stone...”

He motioned his hand hanging over the stone a little.

“And suddenly, I could feel not just me, but her too.”

He looked at his hands.

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

And it was true.

When you arrived at the tower, Vision was a really interesting being for you.

You quickly befriended everyone, even him; he would ask about some human things, and you would gladly tell him everything you knew about it, still amazed at the fact that he could think properly and feel too.

One day, the curiosity took the best of you, and you asked if you could touch the stone, slightly embarrassed, you didn’t know how Vision could feel about it.

He smiled at you and nodded, bending a little so you could reach his forehead.

You thanked him and softly pressed your digits into the rock.

Click.

Everything made sense, his existence, how his body worked, how he could feel things, you now could see how he was conformed, you watched his energy flowing in his body.

He was a sophisticated invention, and when you looked at his eyes, the stone glowed.

Your eyes flashed.

Vision could see your brain working, your veins pumping and your nerves functioning, you were something more than a simple human, yet you were made in blood and flesh.

He could feel you and you felt him.

You two shared a smile.

He was a good artificial friend, and you were the closest he has been to a human.

When you got hurt in the battle, he left the Avenger’s tower, even if told he had to stay and not intervene, and when he found you, lying unconscious on the ground, he carried you to the lab immediately.

He felt how you were physically hurt, while you were screaming to the others from pain in the lab, crying.

He felt.

He had felt you thinking loudly while you escaped.

Then he felt how you were hiding from the avengers.

No.

You were hiding from Wanda.

He could feel...

Your sadness.

So he contacted you, through a mind bond you both had, at first that scared the shit out of you, but quickly was replaced by relief.

He was... happy to be talking to you, you two agreed that he would check on you, but he wouldn’t say anything.

In his visits, he told you about everyone, you felt horrible, and when he told you about Wanda’s breakdown, you made him promise that he would take care of her.

And he gladly did.

Because this was not an order, like the ones that Stark gave to him.

This was something that you asked.

And while you were asking, he felt your sorrow.

So when he returned another week and told you that Wanda was doing better because he raised her hopes about seeing you again, you had to do something.

You couldn’t appear, no.

His stone was enlightened again.

And you understood that this connection was deeper than you initially thought.

When you looked at him, he nodded, and you hugged him.

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

Wanda stopped chewing and gazed at him, in disbelief.

He sighed.

“Wanda... is there any possibility that I could see inside your mind?”

She gave him a confused glare, frowning, and shook her head.

“It’s just... I feel like...”

His stone gleamed for a second.

Wanda’s eyes shot up and she approached him, she slightly raised her hand, and Vision stiffened.

That was not what he wanted, and Wanda caught up.

She closed her eyes and let her hands rest on her legs.

Vision nodded and softly pressed his hand into her temple.

Now, he no only felt how you were observing, but now, you were feeling Wanda too.

She felt painfully broken, flooding with anguish and melancholy, she felt like someone tore apart half of her soul.

You felt her.

And now you were crying disconsolately.

Vision quickly drawled his hand back, he had his eyes closed and a pained look on his face.

Wanda blinked a few times and give a concerned look at him.

“Vis, what happened?”

Vision opened his eyes.

A tear ran down his cheek.

“I know where is (y/n).”

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

You were gathered in a corner of the room you were living in, crying, you couldn’t stop your tears anymore.

You missed Wanda, you missed her laugh, her voice, her eyes, her warmth.

You missed the moments you spent with her.

I should have told her...

You heard someone bursting into the living room.

Vision?

You didn’t have the forces to confront him right now.

“(Y/n)!?”

You froze.

It wasn’t Vision.

It was Wanda.

“(Y/n)!? Where are you!?”

She screamed with hope in a faint voice.

Everything was dark, Wanda quickly lighted the only bulb that was in the room.

“(Y/n)! Please!”

She cried out, her heart pumping hard in her chest, her face tear-stained was desperate looking around.

And from all the darkness, you appeared.

Wanda went through thousand of emotions when she saw you.

You were different.

Skinny, almost in your bones, your body slightly curved, like you were using just a foot to put your whole weight, one of your arms was bruised; the other one holding a cane.

You stepped more into the light, and she took in your face.

Your lips were dry, you had a big cut in the bottom one, half of your right ear was missing.

And the whole part of your eyes was bandaged.

You were wondering if your mind tricked you, there was no sign of someone in there.

Until you felt an arm wrapping you tightly.

You dropped your cane and hold onto the figure.

Wanda started sobbing into your shoulder, she had one of her arms grabbing you strongly by your back and the other one was grasping your shoulders, trying to feel you as most as she could.

“I thought that I had lost you.”

She continued to cry until she had little hiccups.

You were crying too, your bandages were damped at this point.

“I’m sorry...”

You replied breathlessly.

She left the embrace, but she continued to hold you, her hands were now at your waist.

“I won’t leave again.”

You nodded slowly, trying to reassure her that it was a promise.

She observed you and reached the bandages to tug them off, but you quickly grabbed her hand, stopping her.

“Wait, Wanda.”

You called quickly, your heartbeat raised, and your breaths became shorter.

“You don’t have to.”

You were anxious, repeatedly trying to put her hand down.

She cupped your face with her other hand and caressed your cheek with her thumb.

“I want to, (Y/n)”

For a moment, you dug your nails into her wrist but you quickly surrendered.

It was Wanda after all.

As soon as you nodded, she retrieved her hands and used her magic to undo the bandages.

It all happened slowly, she carefully took every layer, hesitating a little, because every layer she took off made you stiffen more.

At the final layer, she used her hands, she grabbed gently the last strand, removed it, and let it fall into the ground.

She gasped and her eyes softened.

The superior part of your face was the most affected.

The whole upper area was in a dark crimson pinkish color, burned, and in living flesh.

It covered all of it, and it reached from ear to ear.

It seemed like it was healing slowly, but the worst part was your eyes.

They were covered mostly in a milky white layer, leaving a quarter of your (e/c) at sight, swollen and sticky, tears staining your eyelids.

Now they were moving, desperately trying to seek something.

Wanda sensed your hesitation.

“I’m happy to see you.”

She smiled and leaned forward but stop inches enough so you were feeling her hot breath against your face.

“Does it hurts?”

You blinked a few times.

“No, it doesn’t.”

She brushed her nose with yours.

She read about it in a book, it was told that Eskimos couldn’t kiss because of the cold weather, so they brush their noses gently to show affection.

It was something that she liked, and you despised.

You crunched your nose and smiled.

She smiled too.

“Wanda, I have something to tell you.”

You took a step back, trying to make some room but you almost tripped so she caught you by your back.

You had one of your hands grabbing her coat and the other one her arm.

“And if I don’t say it know, It seems that probably I won’t have the chance to do it other time”

You chuckled quietly.

“ I...”

You sighed, she was giving you time to talk, you thanked that.

“I love you.”

She became ecstatic.

Your eyes stared forward, unsure, moving rapidly, waiting for an answer.

The room was silent.

You were trembling at this point.

She shook her head rapidly, coming back to reality, and when she realized that you couldn’t see her, she grabbed your hands and let you cup her face.

You eagerly touched her features, going from her forehead, tracing the corner of her eyes, caressing her cheekbones, and when you cupped her jaw, you could sense that she was smiling.

“What do you feel, (y/n)?”

A tear touched your hand and you carefully wiped it away.

“I just feel you.”

She kissed the palm of your hand.

“Good.”

She said softly and her eyes shot up red.

She was letting you into her mind.

Memories, feelings, and thoughts of her were being shown to you, so you shared yours too.

You saw how she would check on you while you were training, using a facade of “I like to see some moves to use later” knowing that she doesn’t use close combat, or how she would prepare foods that you liked in a thankful form for missing dinners when you preferred spending the night with her.

You saw how the high ranked members on meetings would make her feel less saying that she was dangerous, so it was safer to not use her in order to protect the civilians on there; but she would simply shrug it off because, in the afternoon, she would see you again.

You saw how she spent these weeks going to your bedroom and hugging your shirt, crying until she fell asleep.

You saw how she was shattered into million pieces and made her best to compose herself in the hope of seeing you again.

On her side, she saw how your eyes were fixated on her in Stark’s parties to see if she was having fun, and when you come to realize that she was getting a bit uncomfortable, you would smoothly distract anyone that was talking to her to give her some space, or how would you seek for her in every mission just to see if she was doing fine, even if you were the one that needed help.

She saw how you would have a terrible day and it all disappeared when you saw her.

She saw how you caught her while she was falling in the mission, and made sure that she was okay.

She saw how your body fell, twisted, and cracked, how the mine near you exploded.

How you screamed in agony, crying loudly and begging the others to not let her see you like this.

Because in every thought that you had.

She was present.

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

You abandoned each other’s mind, her magic burst in a blast in the room when you broke the connection.

“Wow.”

You both said in a whisper at the same time, with your foreheads pressed.

“(Y/n)?”

Her gaze was fixated on you while she was brushing her slender fingers through your long hair.

“Yes, Wanda?”

This time, your eyes were searching for something, it seemed like you were searching for her lips.

“Can I kiss you?”

Your eyes shot up and somehow they looked into Wanda’s

“You can.”

You closed her eyes and stood still, Wanda closed hers too and leaned, kissing you dearly, making you both melt into the kiss.

It felt good.

Like new stars forming in the universe, like a laugh of a newborn or the soft caress of a mother.

Her lips had a faint taste of salty tears mixed with her sugary strawberry lipstick.

Your lips felt softer than they seemed, they had a taste of chocolate syrup covered with a hint of mint.

You had been eating your favorite candy, Vision had brought a box of them without being asked.

It’s a gift, he said, smiling.

Your hand tried to reach her face so she took your hand, grabbing and squeezing it lovingly.

You were the one that broke the kiss, with your eyes still closed but you didn’t pull apart from her, her body was emanating the heat you missed and craved.

She didn’t try to move away neither, she was enjoying the moment.

“I love you too, (y/n).”

She murmured against your lips while you formed a smile.

She laughed, and took you into her arms, picking you up, and started swirling you around.

You chuckled and screamed startled at her to stop, she stopped and lifted you higher, with a smile on her face that quite reached her ears and observed you for a moment.

Your hair was falling in cascades on her face, it framed your features perfectly, your eyes were squinted because of your wide smile.

She lowered you a bit, so now you were hovering her face.

You instinctively inclined your head, searching for her face and she made it easier when she guided your lips to hers.

This one felt like shooting stars too.

Your heart was doing stunts in your chest, she hummed into the kiss and both of you sighed excitedly.

You let your hands rest on her shoulders and wrapped your legs around her torso, then she had her hands securing you by the waist.

She broke the kiss this time, your body was melting into her touch.

You let your chin rest on her shoulder and closed your eyes, letting go a deep breath.

This felt right.

Wanda nodded, and raised her hand to rub your back, she agreed.

This indeed felt right.

“I’m sorry.”

You said suddenly, swallowing a sob, the guilt tightened your chest.

“Don’t be.”

She was smiling sadly, she still couldn’t conceive the thought of never seeing you again.

“But I only caused problems, I made you feel miserable.”

You buried your head into her neck, your voice was quiet.

“I was sad because I remembered all the happy moments that you shared with me, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you, but you are alive, (y/n).”

She was excited now.

“I have the chance to show you how much I love you.”

You giggled and kissed her neck, making her laugh too.

You backed a bit, forgetting that you couldn’t see her, but that didn’t bother you in the slightest, she was there, and you could feel her.

“Wanda?”

You asked knitting your brows.

“Yes, (y/n)?

She cupped your cheek, watching you with a goofy smile.

“Are we floating?”

You laughed a bit, you could somehow sense that you weren’t on the floor, but it became obvious when you let go of your legs from her waist and your feet just felt air.

And you were right.

Absently minded, Wanda started floating while sharing the kiss with you.

“Yes, we are.”

She was laughing sheepishly, she slowly started lowering you both, holding you tenderly, until she reached the ground and she helped you to stand.

You both had your hands intertwined.

“I’ll stay with you from now on.”

She stated, taking your expressions, you were thinking.

“First me disappearing, then you gone? The others will freak out.”

You chuckled at the thought, imagining the chaos that would lose Wanda’s disappearance.

She kissed both of your hands, and leave them to grab your temples and rest her head over yours.

“Vision knows where are we, if they need us, they can talk to him.”

You shook your head, smiling.

“Poor him.”

You could hear a soft voice in the back of your head.

I wouldn’t mind in the slightest.

“Oh and (Y/n)?”

Wanda asked, a smile could be heard in her voice.

“Yes?”

“You look stunningly delicious.”

She snorted and gently kissed your nose.

[ezgithechaotic]

yellow . cedric diggory

pairing: Cedric Diggory x Reader

AU: soulmates

summary:  Y\N thought the whole “soulmate” business was a bunch of horse shit, honestly.

warnings: Harry falling off of his broom and Oliver losing his mind over Quidditch, but is it really suprising?

author note: I’m sorry in advance if I have any fault. English is not my first language. But please let me know if you see anthing that doesn’t seem right.  Please leave a comment about what you think, love you.

main masterlist

You woke up to your roommate Angelina sneaking in, and it was still early, so early that it was still dark. For a moment, you thought it was the rain that woke you, but then you realized it was Angelina and she was still wearing the same clothes from the day before. You let your head fall to your pillow again, groaning. Your other roommates were still sound asleep.

 "I assume you were with Fred?" Your voice was hoarse since your face was still buried in your pillow.

 Angelina giggled as she dropped herself to the end of your bed. "Oh, I had such a good time, Y\N."

 You smiled at yourself, not knowing if she could see your face or not. "I can tell. But you two need to take it easy, though. I had to drag Percy the Head Boy to the other side of the school so you guys could sneak into the Astronomy Tower." You raised your head to see her face. "And I'm not doing it again."

Angelina laughed as she reached and kissed your cheeks. "You're the greatest prefect slash best friend ever!" She walked to her trunk that stood at the end of her bed. Taking her uniforms out of it, she turned towards the bathroom. "I'll tell Fred to buy you from those green candies you like, I promise."

 "It doesn't matter, you know, since I can't see the color of it."

Angelina stood at the door, looking back at you with lovey-dovey eyes. You hated when she did that. "You'll find him, Y\N. It doesn't always happen at our age. Marry's aunt found hers when she was thirty."

"Wow, you're a great motivator, Angelina. Have you ever thought about turning it into a profession?" You yawned. “And, honestly, I couldn’t care less.” 

“Sure, honey.” Then she turned and went into the bathroom, but you could hear her laughing. You fumbled for your alarm clock and looked at it. It was half-past six. You rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, but it was difficult, now that you were awake, to ignore the sounds of the thunder rumbling overhead, the pounding of the wind against the castle walls, and the distant creaking of the trees in the Forbidden Forest. In a few hours, you would be out on the Quidditch field, battling through that gale. Finally, you gave up any thought of more sleep, got up to eat something before Oliver gave you a hell of a time.

The weather seemed to worsen steadily as the first Quidditch match drew nearer. Oliver was making everyone train harder than ever. You loved playing Quidditch, but you had no idea how you survived through training because Oliver Wood was obviously a psychopath. But luckily this was your last training before the match, so you were finally going to be able to rest between your prefect duties and school work.

Now, standing in the cold, all of the Gryffindor Team was waiting for Oliver to arrive at the Quidditch pitch, which was weird because Oliver had never been late for training.

 "Do you suppose he's having a breakdown again?" George asked. You could feel his body vibrate since your head was resting against his shoulder.

 "I hope not; it's freezing out here!" Angelina complained.

 "I don't think he would do that when he has the opportunity to torture us. Surely something is wrong." You said, your head still against George's shoulder and your eyes closed. You wished you had tried sleeping more this morning.

"At least it's not raining." You heard Alicia. "Oh, there he is!"

You opened your eyes to see. Oliver was walking towards you, and you could see the anger on his face. When he finally reached where you were standing, he gave his team some unwelcome news.

 “We’re not playing Slytherin!” he told you, looking like he could throw a fit any time. “Flint’s just been to see me. We’re playing Hufflepuff instead.”

 “Why?” chorused the rest of the team.

“Flint’s excuse is that their Seeker’s arm’s still injured,” said Wood, grinding his teeth furiously. “But it’s obvious why they’re doing it. They don’t want to play in this weather. They think it’ll damage their chances."

 “There’s nothing wrong with Malfoy’s arm!” said Harry furiously. “He’s faking it!”

 “I know that, but we can’t prove it,” said Wood bitterly, “And we’ve been practicing all those moves assuming we’re playing Slytherin, and instead it’s Hufflepuff, and their style’s quite different. They’ve got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory —”

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled. “What?” said Wood, frowning at this lighthearted behavior.

“He’s that tall, good-looking one, isn’t he?” said Angelina.

"Oi!" Fred yelled. "I'm right here, you know!"

“Strong and silent,” said Katie, and they started to giggle again.

“He’s only silent because he’s too thick to string two words together,” said Fred impatiently. “I don’t know why you’re worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. The last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?”

“We were playing in completely different conditions!” Wood shouted, his eyes bulging slightly.

“Diggory’s put a very strong side together! He’s an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you’d take it like this! We mustn’t relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!”

“Oliver, calm down!” said Fred, looking slightly alarmed. “We’re taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously.”

"Perhaps we could use Y\N for distraction." Alicia slyly smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" You asked, not knowing what Alicia meant, but surely it couldn't be something good.  

"Don't tell me you've never realized it!"

"Realize what, Alicia?" Now you were sure she was only doing it to get on your nerves. "His eyes are always on you on meals!" She turned to look others. "We believe he has a crush on our little Y\N."

 "Diggory?" George asked. "He better stay away, that git."

 "Why, Weasley, you in love with her too?" Alicia laughed. You didn’t let George speak.  "You're just being ridiculous. We don't even know each other. There's no way Diggory has a crush on me."

"I wouldn't be so sure, honey," said Angelina. But before you could say anything, Oliver was back to yelling about not having any time for your little girl crushes.  

 -

There were a lot of things loved about playing quidditch, but now standing on your broom, drenched to the bone because of the awful rain, dementors lurking around, you couldn't think of one good reason why you were playing this stupid sport. Holding the quaffle under your one arm, you tried to strengthen your grip on your broom, but it was useless; your hands were slipping under the rain. Your muscles were stiff as if screaming you to stop. But you didn't. You knew Harry was close to catching the golden snitch, plus Oliver would have your head if you did. So, you kept flying towards the hoops, but two Hufflepuff players cut in front of you, leaving no way to run. Your ears were ringing, voices were blending into each other, but you could distinguish your teammate Alicia almost screaming your name.

"Y\N! Here!"

In a matter of time, your arm was throwing the quaffle to Alicia without your will. Alicia caught the quaffle and sprinted towards the hoops, passing Fred, one of your best friends, on her way.

We don't mind a bit of rain.

You remembered Alicia's words from earlier, but this was the absolute worst. First, your opponent team got replaced with Hufflepuff, so you had to change all of your strategies because Hufflepuff's play was nowhere near Slytherin's, and now, you had to play under this awful rain, and you could hardly hear or see any of your teammates. In addition to that, all you could see was black and white because your soulmate sucked.

Living in this magical world had its perks, it did. You could channel your magic with your wand, from taming the wildest animals to levitating a cup; it was simply fantastic. But magic also brought disadvantages with itself. No wizard and witch, regardless of their blood status, could see any colors until they touched their soulmates, which was compelety ridiculous. What if you never met your soulmate? Were you never going to see any colors? And almost all of your classmates finding their soulmate and trying to describe the colors and terribly failing at it was nowhere near helpful to you.

Now, at the quidditch pitch, only thing you could do was to trust your instincts because you couldn't see any of your friend's faces at all. And you couldn't see their uniform's color, well, because your soulmate was determined on not showing up at all. And you certainly hated them for it.

 "Harry!" You heard Oliver's crazy screaming. "Harry, behind you!"

You turned to see Harry. For a moment, he stood there, searching for the snitch. The moment he saw snitch, with a jolt of panic, Harry threw himself flat to the broom handle and zoomed toward it. But Cedric was on his tail, following him higher and higher.

"C'mon, Harry," you muttered under your breath. You couldn't take your eyes away, but you were only watching Cedric Diggory. His hair sticking to his forehead, his face features stern, and his wet yellow, at least you assume, robes weighing him down. And in a matter of time, you saw Harry's broom was slowing, then finally stopping in the middle of the air, Cedric passing him and Harry slipping off of his broom, falling to the ground.

You couldn't even react until Harry was halfway through. Then you heard yourself yell. "Harry!" Now, you were flying towards him, but it was no use because he was already on the ground, lying unconscious.

After Cedric caught the snitch, he heard your cry, making him turn around. He saw you getting off your broom, stumbling in the mud of the pitch. Your hair now, free from the hair tie, was sticking to your face. The heavy rain was beating your face, causing you to frown. Cedric found himself following you. His feet touched the ground without even realizing it, and he saw Harry. Cedric stopped one step behind you, not knowing what to do, and then his hand found yours.

"Is he-"

You didn't even realize until you turned around and saw him standing with worry in his eyes, soaking wet, and in yellow robes. You could see the pale color of his skin, almost purple lips from the cold, and grey eyes. Your breath stuck in your throat. Your hand, the one that Cedric was still holding onto, was burning despite the rain and the cold. You almost didn't believe it. But then you heard Fred's voice even though you couldn't figure out what he was saying because your ears were ringing stronger than before, and then you saw your teammates red robes. Your head was spinning, you tried taking a step back, but it was almost impossible as if the ground was shaking.

You stumbled again as you did a minute ago when you were trying to walk in the mud, but this time you felt hands steadying you, making sure you were on your feet. Cedric's looks were burning through your head. It was so absurd. You didn't even know him.

There was no way he was your soulmate. He couldn't be.

You took a step back again, this time fully aware of where you stepped on. Turning your back to Cedric, you saw Madam Pomfrey carrying Harry to the hospital wing. You followed after them, hearing Dumbledore's yelling and Cedric's voice after. But you didn't stop or look back because if you did, you knew you wouldn't be able to walk again. This whole thing was such bullshit, honestly. A boy you knew nothing about but his name was your soulmate. And all of a sudden, your world was upside down because you could see colors now?

A week ago, hearing that he might have a crush on you sounded batshit crazy. But obviously, the universe got offended after all the shit you thought about soulmates and said, here you go, your soulmate.

-

As you were standing next to Harry's bed in the hospital wing, you could hear people talking around you, but you weren't listening to any of them. Your head still spinning, you thought about Cedric and his yellow robes. You felt hands around your shoulders, but they didn't burn through your skin as Cedric's did.

"Y\N, you're shaking," George said, still holding your shoulders and with worry in his eyes. "Would you like me to ask Madam Pomfrey for a blanket?"

You forced a smile. "No, it's alright. I guess I'm just in shock."

Harry's eyes opened. "Harry!" said Fred. "How are you feeling?"

"What happened?" he asked, sitting up.

"You fell off," said Fred, again. "Must have been - what - fifty feet?"

"We thought you'd died," you said, now realizing how shaky your voice was. Hermione made a small, squeaky noise. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot.

“But the match,” said Harry. “What happened? Are we doing a replay?” No one said anything. The horrible truth sank into Harry like a stone. “We didn’t — lose?”

“Diggory got the Snitch,” said George. “Just after you fell. He didn’t realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square… even Wood admits it.”

“Where is Wood?” said Harry, suddenly realizing he wasn’t there.

“Still in the showers,” said Fred. “We think he’s trying to drown himself.”

Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook it roughly. “C’mon, Harry, you’ve never missed the Snitch before.”

“There had to be one time you didn’t get it,” said George. “It’s not over yet,” said Fred. “We lost by a hundred points.”

“Right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin…”

“Hufflepuff’ll have to lose by at least two hundred points,” said George. “But if they beat Ravenclaw…”

“No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff…”

“It all depends on the points — a margin of a hundred either way —”

After ten minutes or so, Madam Pomfrey came over to tell the team to leave him in peace. “We’ll come and see you later,” You told him. “Don’t beat yourself up Harry, you’re still the best Seeker we’ve ever had.” The team trooped out, trailing mud behind you. As everyone made their way to the Common Room, you were still standing in front of the hospital wing. You needed some time alone.

 "Y\N, are you coming?" You heard Angelina. You looked at her, your eyes almost empty. "I think I'll check up on Oliver, see if he's alright."

"You don't look so good yourself, love. Wood will be alright, no need to worry. Let's get you to your room." George said, gently touching your elbow.

"No, I feel fine. I really should see Oliver, make sure he didn't really drown himself. I'll see you later."

George finally let you go; he realized he wasn't going to convince you. As you made your way to the changing rooms, the cold made you shiver inside your soaked clothes. But you couldn't find the strength to reach your wand and cast a spell. You were exhausted. Your arms were almost numb, and you had no idea how your legs still carried you.

A few steps before you reached the boys changing room: you heard footsteps behind you.

"Y\N!" You heard Cedric yelling. "Can I talk to you?"

You turned to him, realizing there was no point in acting as if you hadn't heard him call you. "Not the time, Diggory." You turned back again and took the rest of the steps, diving right into the room.  

"Wait, that's boys changing-" Cedric yelled after you. "Y\N!"

He could swear to Merlin that he had never met anyone as stubborn as you. Were you not going to talk to him after what happened? Well, he understood that you might be in shock, but one way or another, you had to speak to him, right? After all, he was your soulmate. Not having any choice, he followed you into the room.  

"Oliver!" You found him sitting under the shower, his clothes still on, while pulling his hair and mumbling to himself. You were sure that one of these days he was going to lose his mind, well, if he hadn't already. You heard Cedric following after you like a lost puppy, but you didn't have the time to deal with him. You reached to turn the shower off, getting yourself wetter than you already were.

Oliver was still pulling his hair. Now you could hear him better without water running. You sat in front of him, gently pulling his hands off of his hair. "Oliver, you need to calm down."

"We lost." He mumbled.

"It's not the end of the world, you know."

"It's the end of the world, Y\N! We lost!" Oliver yelled; his eyes were almost going to pop off. "Now, there's no way for us to win the cup!"

You held his hand tighter. "Don't be stupid now. Harry is still in the team, he’s alright. Everything'll be alright."

You could visibly see Oliver calming. "Yeah, we still have Harry."

"Also, there is no way that Hufflepuff is going to win against Ravenclaw. So, no need to have a tantrum." You turned to Cedric. "No offense."

"None taken," he said. He knew now wasn't the time to have a fight about which team was better. Cedric stood there for a while, not knowing what to do, and watched you calm Oliver. He could see you still shaking, but you didn't seem to care. Instead, you were helping your friend when you could use some help yourself. Cedric's chest tightened to the thought of you. It wasn't a lie that he had liked you for a while.  He had seen you laughing with your friends, playing Quidditch, maybe throwing a fit at Alicia or Angelina because you lost a few points to Slytherin, but he had never seen you this vulnerable, shaking, in shock and scared.

"I better take him to his room." You said, feeling the urge to explain yourself or share something with Cedric. He helped you get Oliver to his feet. "I'll help you to the tower."

"It's alright. I know the way." You smiled. Why were you even smiling?

"You can't let people help you, can you?" said Cedric, not caring about what you had just said and still holding Oliver. His smile was beautiful. It was beautiful, and it made you mad because you didn't want to think that his smile was beautiful. And it made you angry because you wanted to believe the world was a good place and full of yellow.

The world was not a good place at all.

He was aware that you were tired and had probably a million thoughts in your head, bothering you. So, he didn't say anything. He had all the time in the world to talk to you, the rest of his life. He knew to take his time, especially with you. He wanted to ask you out, but he didn't. You probably would've said no anyway. He just took you in. Your face, your looks, how you tried to stay on your feet even though you were exhausted, how you walked, he took all of you in.

You stopped in front of the portrait of Sir Cadogan and told him the password. When Oliver took a step in you lingered back, turning to Cedric.

 "I'll see you later, then. Maybe at breakfast?" Cedric asked, smiling.

 "Maybe."

[szeherezadaa]

Bakugou HC

We know canonically Bakugou is a good pickpocket (chapter 219). Bakusquad learns about it (and some more) gradually.

(It turned out to be long af and drabble-ish, but it’s basically fluffy Bakusquad shenanigans with Bakugou being talented in yet another field.)

It starts with Kaminari who wants to mess with Bakugou a little. They’re studying in Bakugou’s room, but Kaminari is exhausted and wants a break, so he steals the pen Bakugou marks their mistakes with that is currently laying on the table — alone and unprotected, easy prey. Bakugou is distracted at the moment, he’s explaining something to Sero once again. Kaminari hides the pen in the pocket of his hoodie and shoots a smile at Ashido who’s also low-key dying and has asked for break at least three times already.

“Okay, Sparky, your turn,” Bakugou says and Kaminari slides him his worksheet on the table, and then finally looks at him with an innocent face-

-and sees Bakugou marking all of Kaminari’s errors with the exact same pen he did it all this time. Kaminari checks his pockets frantically, but they’re empty.

“Something’s wrong, Sparky?” Bakugou asks in a daring tone not even sparing him a glance. Kaminari just shakes his head, blurting out one nervous “no!”. It’s too nervous to pretend nothing happened, but Sero is too engrossed in correcting his mistakes and Kirishima looks like he’s fully focused on the textbook but while his body is here, his mind is probably fifty thousand miles away, so only Ashido actually notices.

She’s the next one to try to stea- to borrow something without asking from Blasty. She wants to see if it were Kaminari who messed up or if it’s the case of Bakugou being insanely good at something once again. Honestly, is there anything this guy can’t do? So, she decides to kill two birds with one stone. She has an agenda of stealing clothes from her boys to wear them, but she didn’t try to take Bakugou’s clothes yet. It’s a good opportunity to do so.

She sneaks into his room one day, right after school when barely anyone is back in the dorms yet; the excuse of organizing a movie night later at the tip of her tongue if for some reason Bakugou is already in his room. She’s lucky though, because when she enters his room, it’s empty. She opens his closet, pulls out a black hoodie with some band logo on it — it’s the softest one he has, she knows — and she’s about to put it on and leave, when the doors to Bakugou’s room open and Bakugou himself enters. She hides the hoodie behind her back.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Bakugou demands, opening the closet and pulling something out of it. Ashido laughs nervously and avoids looking him in the eye. In this brief second she did, she felt like his piercing gaze reached her soul. She starts to babble — how she was looking for him and about the movie night, it would be great if he joined them — while he goes to the bathroom to change from his school uniform. When he opens the bathroom doors, he’s wearing black hoodie with some band logo on it, the softest Bakugou owns.

Wait.

“Wha-” Ashido checks her hands and sees a dark red jacket she’s not sure she’s ever seen before.

“I’m not gonna be an easy target like Shitty Hair or Tape Face. If you want to have my hoodie, you have to put some fucking effort into it. Now get the fuck out of my room.”

Ashido leaves.

Kirishima and Sero know because Ashido barged into Kaminari’s room, when they were playing video games together. She tells them everything. Kirishima isn’t exactly surprised, his bro is amazing after all.

Kaminari decides they should test it. See if there is something they can steal from Bakugou and have him not notice it. Ashido agrees eagerly. Sero shrugs, says he will help if he can, but mostly will be there as a witness. And a reporter, kind of, with his phone always ready to snap a photo or record a video. Kirishima isn’t sure if it’s a good idea — mostly because stealing isn’t manly — but the rest convince him, arguing that they don’t actually want to steal anything from Bakugou, just tease him, mess with him a little- The point is they don’t have any malicious intent, just want to have some harmless fun and judging from Bakugou’s reaction when Ashido tried to steal his hoodie, he knows it and already treats it as a challenge. So yeah, Kirishima agrees in the end, sue him.

The problem is, Bakugou is insanely good at it. He notices every time and it’s almost scary — whenever one of them have their hands on something belonging to Bakugou and are ready to present it to the rest of the squad, it turns out he already pickpocketed it back. He’s quick, and subtle, and efficient, and although two of these things are normal for him, Bakugou being subtle is somewhat surreal. They don’t really give up, but they stop focusing on it. They try to gain the element of surprise back, so they have to stop for a while. Lull Bakugou into a false sense of security.

They are kinda taken aback though, when Bakugou uses his skills out of his own initiative instead of as a mean to get his stuff back.

They’re sitting in cafeteria during lunch break, and Kirishima gets a text that makes his face as red as his hair in a matter of a second. It doesn’t go unnoticed by his friends.

“Who are you texting? You’ve got a crush on someone? Did they agree to a date?” Ashido floods him with questions, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Kaminari and Sero join the teasing, so Kirishima blurts out hurriedly:

“No! My mom was cleaning our attic and found a photo album from my childhood. She just sent me an embarrassing photo.” He hopes it will calm them down. He forgets one thing.

“Show me!”

“C’mon dude!”

His friends are a pain in the ass, all of them.

“No way!” he screams and tries to keep his phone out of his friends’ reach. He picks up his bag, hides his phone inside, zips the bag and holds it close, as if it was his most precious possession. It kind of is in this particular moment.

“Please, bro. I swear I won’t laugh.”

Kirishima knows it’s a lie. He refuses, stares down at Ashido and Kaminari and Sero (the traitor. Kirishima didn’t expect anything else from Ashido and Kaminari, but Sero? He trusted him) and refuses to give in to their puppy eyes. It’s tough, he’s gotta admit it. And then…. And then he hears Bakugou’s voice.

“I thought it would be something more scandalous given your reaction, Shitty Hair.”

No. He didn’t.

Except he absolutely did.

Kirishima glances, panicked, at Bakugou holding Kirishima’s phone in his hand.

“It’s not that bad, don’t be a pussy.” Bakugou rolls his eyes and puts Kirishima’s phone on the table - closest to Kirishima but not out of Kaminari’s reach. Kirishima sees this little smirk on Bakugou’s face that Bakugou always wears when they manage to convince him to some shenanigans he won’t admit out loud he enjoyed. Kirishima knows Bakugou will use his skills more often, now.

They created a monster.

Luckily Bakugou doesn’t really use his powers for evil. Well, he doesn’t use it for evil on Sero, just on Kaminari, Ashido and sometimes Kirishima, and for Sero it’s enough actually. The number of times it happened doesn’t mean they know everything about his skills though, Sero discovers one day. It should be obvious in hindsight, but Bakugou has this weird talent where whatever he does, whatever new thing you get to know about him, you’re both surprised and not at all, at the same time.

They’re doing groceries together, and they’re getting back to the dorms already, when a villain attack happens. The villain in question isn’t really strong, luckily, but has some weird teleporting quirk that moves random people to random places. They help the hero who arrived at the scene and once the villain is arrested, the hero asks them to stay here a bit longer and help people who weren’t hit with the teleporting quirk find their friends and family. More specifically help some kids, who can’t find their parents now. More specifically Sero and Bakugou are supposed to babysit the kids until the hero and his sidekicks find the missing parents.

Sero sees Bakugou frown but he doesn’t argue. Sero knows kids aren’t exactly Bakugou’s forte, especially not crying kids, so he tries his best to calm them down quickly. It’s not that easy. Sero sees Bakugou’s hand sparkle with mini-explosions. It doesn’t really calm the kids down either.

Finally, Bakugou snaps and points at a little girl with a witch hat on her head and a dark blue cape with yellow stars on it on her shoulders.

“Will you shut up if I show you a magic trick?”

The girl doesn’t look even a little bit calmer, but she hesitantly nods her head nonetheless, her lips still trembling and tears still streaming down her cheeks. Bakugou’s roar, although scaring some kids more (or, like, again; Sero actually made them stop crying and it’s all for nothing now, thanks Bakugou), brings all the kids’ attention to Bakugou. He kneels on the ground and shows his little audience that his hands are empty, then proceeds to pull a coin out off the witch girl’s ear. He shows the coin to all the kids, rotates it holding it with his index finger and his thumb, then closes his palm into a fist. When he opens his palm once again, there are two coins — between his index and middle finger, and between his middle and ring finger. He closes his palm into a fist one more time, and when he opens it, it’s empty again. The kids gasp.

“Your other hand!” one kid exclaims.

“Clever little shit,” Bakugou grins, “You thought you’re so smart, huh? Well, not this time.” He shows the other hand too; both are equally empty.

“Once more!” one kid demands.

“Once more!” the Clever Little Shit agrees.

“Once more! Once more!” the witch girl starts to chant. Other kids join her.

“Fine,” Bakugou says, then pulls out the coin again. He moves it on his fingers, throws it in the air, then catches it in his fist. Once he opens his palm, there are three coins, all between his fingers, minus his thumb. He closes his fist again and once he opens it, it’s empty once more. He looks at all the kids, then at Sero.

“Yo, Tape Face, check your pocket.”

There’s no way, is there?

Sero swears if there are coins in his pocket, he’ll start Bakugou’s fanclub. He’ll build him a shrine, because apparently Bakugou’s not entirely human.

His pockets are empty. Kids moan with disappointment (and to be honest Sero doesn’t know himself if he’s more disappointed or relieved he doesn’t have to build the shrine after all), but Bakugou’s not deterred.

“Well, then maybe you check under your hat, brat,” he addresses the witch girl. She looks at him with doubt but also with hope and takes her hat off.

A dozen of coins fall to the ground. Kids scream — excited, full of awe. Bakugou gathers all the coins from the ground, closes them in both of his cupped hands and shakes them.

“Blow,” he says to the Clever Little Shit. Clever Little Shit does as he’s told and Bakugou opens his palms. There are candies in his palms, the ones that Hagakure likes and of which they got three packages earlier, because she asked. Kids squeal, gather around Bakugou, each takes one candy and there is just excited chatter, no wails for lost parents anymore. Bakugou shows one more magic trick before the hero and his sidekicks appear with the kids’ parents.

The police takes Sero and Bakugou to leave their testimonies, and they’re finally free to go.

“So. Magic tricks,” Sero starts, once they’re on their way to dorms again.

“Shut up.”

“No, dude, wait! It was so cool! You should do it more often.”

Bakugou only grunts something that sounds like “fuck off, I’ll do what I want”. Sero knows Bakugou’s just abashed, because there wasn’t any of his usual bite. He smiles.

He has to tell the rest of the Bakusquad all about it.

Their class gets to know how skilled Bakugou is when one evening they’re all sitting in the common room and Bakugou wants to go to sleep but his friends want him to stay for a movie night. Or, at least one movie. They all deserve a break after a long week full of surprise quizzes! The rest of the class tries to respectfully convince him too, some tell him to “live a little” but before Iida, as the responsible class prez he is, manages to tell everyone that they should respect Bakugou’s opinion instead of flooding him with silly reasonings, Bakugou pulls out a sheet of paper, writes “all the fucks I give” on it, shows it to the whole class (they’re all quiet now, curious what he’ll do, although half sure he will just explode it), then proceeds to make it disappear in a true illusionist fashion.

Some of their classmates lose their shit, some stare in awe, some in shock. Midoriya smiles this soft smile of his, with stars sparkling in his eyes.

[lizbotw]

SEVEN MINUTES IN HELL: INTRODUCTON

YOU’VE ENTERED THE FOREST: CHOOSE A PATH (MASTERLIST)

pairing: various (bakugou, iida, jirou, kaminari, midoriya, todoroki) x reader

summary: You go adventuring in the woods with your friends as part of the Halloween spirit, but things don’t exactly go as planned.

a/n: this is the intro post to my collab with kristy! since it’s a choose your own adventure story, check out the masterlist here for additional details and for links to the other routes ♡ i hope you all enjoy and feedback is very much appreciated!

word count: 4.1k

Go exploring in the forest for the hell of it. It’ll be fun, they said. Halloween isn’t complete without late night adventures, they’d said. We’ll only be gone for a few hours. Mr. Aizawa wouldn’t mind.

Well, you know what? They had lied. And by they, you meant Kaminari because of course he had been the mastermind behind this grand idea. He was wrong about all of it and especially that last point because in your heart of hearts, as much as you wanted to believe you were all magically given permission to go perusing on your own, you knew that a detention notice awaited all of you when you got back. Not that anyone seemed to care.

Leaves crunching underfoot, jackets and sweaters wrapped snugly around you, Kaminari’s victims—ahem, your friends that he had roped into this scheme—trudged behind him as he jabbered on about the positives of this bonding experience.

“Do you think we’ll actually find anything?” Midoriya piped up after Kaminari’s latest spiel about this forest being infamous for the random skulls travelers always swore they spotted conveniently resting at the bases of trees or perched upon its branches. There was a barely noticeable tremble in his voice at the prospect.

You heard a scoff. “Slim chance,” Bakugou sneered from next to you as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. His hands had been stuffed into his pockets the entire time, kicking stray rocks in his path at every opportunity. “Who the hell would believe that anyway?”

As much as you wanted to scold him for ruining the Halloween spirit, you had to agree. What were the chances of you finding anything noteworthy during this expedition? There was a reason no one could ever produce actual pictures or evidence of the horrors they had supposedly witnessed.

Kaminari was apt at ignoring skeptics though—maybe a little too good at it—and Midoriya’s interest seemed to have lit a fire in him as he whirled around to face the group now, walking backwards. His expression said it all—Finally, someone believes me! “Duh, we have to carry something back to show the others. They’re totally missing out!”

“I don’t think a skeleton is an appropriate thing to bring back to our classmates. Perhaps they’d enjoy something educational, like a sample of leaves from the different trees or-”

“No one cares, four-eyes.” You’d lost count how many times Bakugou had interrupted Iida at this point. And each and every time it had resulted in an argument—including now. That would be entertaining and all if not for the fact that you were pretty sure your right ear was going deaf from being next to them.

You tuned out the biting remarks (Bakugou) and the gasps of surprise at the vulgarity (Iida), as had become routine to you at this point. What was that saying about groups tearing each other apart during horror movies before anyone even gets killed off? Or maybe you had just made that saying up yourself… hmm… well whatever it was, it definitely applied right now.

“This is stupid,” Jirou mumbled from your other side and you almost groaned. How did you end up sandwiched between the resident pessimists of the group again?

Maybe it was the combination of Bakugou and Jirou that was starting to make you skeptical, or maybe it was the fact that you had been walking for who knows how long and your legs were tired, or the fact that you were hungry and thirsty, or that there was no reception out here, or—or maybe it was just all of it. You wrinkled your nose the more you thought about it. Maybe everyone was right, there really was nothing out here. You suddenly wanted to go home, sick of the whistling wind, the towering trees, and the flits of rapidly fading sunlight that shone through the leaves.

“Kaminari, maybe we should turn back.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Jirou threw her hands up in exasperation. “Why did any of us agree to this anyway?”

“Just for the record, I’m only here to make sure none of you do anything irrational.” That was true. The only reason Iida of all people ended up on this expedition was because he’d heard Kaminari advertising the idea a little too loudly and realized there was no way to talk him out of it. So here he was, playing babysitter.

“Yeah? Well, just for the record, I don’t need you to watch me.” And Bakugou was back to stirring up trouble, just when the latest argument had started to die down and the ringing in your ear had stopped.

You almost felt bad for Kaminari being at the receiving end of everyone’s frustration until you saw that his grin was no where close to faltering and in fact he seemed to take the challenge head on. You admired his drive but you were wondering for the umpteenth time why he didn’t just bring Kirishima, Mina, or Sero on the expedition too—they wouldn't be complaining… much. (Probably because those three were so into Halloween it was insane. Tough chance of getting them away from the yearly Halloween festival planning. They didn’t want to miss anything.)

He clicked his tongue in disapproval, shaking his finger at the others. If anything, you were impressed how he was able to navigate the forest walking backwards while continuing his chiding. On second thought… your eyes darted up ahead to a rapidly approaching object. Wait, was that—

“You guys seriously have to lighten uHHH-AH.” A crash echoed through the trees as Kaminari tripped over a well-placed log, his back hitting the ground and knocking the air out of him. In the distance you saw a few birds fly out of the trees in surprise at the noise, beating wings black against the afternoon sky.

“You really should’ve been watching where you were going,” Todoroki spoke up from the back of the group after a moment of shocked silence from everyone—even Bakugou had shut up.

“Are… are you okay?” Midoriya was the first to check up on him, walking forward and crouching down next to his friend, craning his neck to examine him closer.

Kaminari sat up, rubbing his head. “Yeah, never been better.”

“We should all be more careful. We don’t have a first aid kit to use if something goes wrong.” Please, Iida, it’s not that serious—but also, good point. In the middle of the woods with no first aid kit—way to make this seem way more scary than it actually is.

“Guys, quit worrying—”

“I wasn’t worrying,” both Bakugou and Jirou cut in.

“—I’m fine, see?” He stood up, rustling the leaves at his feet further. He did seem fine, although you were sure he would start complaining later. “I’m tough!”

Kaminari admitting that everything was alright opened the floodgates for the concern from the others to morph back into claims of how you should definitely not be in this forest at all, now paired with chastising him for not being more observant.

“I’m turning back. And you’re coming with me so we don’t get lost.” Jirou took a hold of your arm to pull you after her. “You're the only rational one around here.”

“Wait, but I-”

“I uh… I don’t think it's a good idea for us to split up.” Midoriya’s attempt at stopping Jirou didn’t exactly work as intended.

“Then we should all go.”

“That’s not really what I-”

“It’s probably for the best,” Todoroki said. He shrugged when you looked at him in surprise; he had been fairly neutral about the ordeal up until that point. “Kaminari,” he turned to look at the blond now, “We should get your head checked out too, to make sure you don’t have a concussion.”

“I didn't hit my head,” Kaminari whined, “Seriously guys, you worry way too much.” He shifted his weight to his other foot, crossing his arms as he took a second to think. “...but fine, if you really want to go back, we’ll go. Not just because I fell though.”

“Finally,” Jirou breathed out. You felt her grip on your arm tighten for a second and then she released it.

“So… which way?” Midoriya prompted, eyes scanning the trees that were starting to look a little too similar now that you thought about it.

Everyone turned expectantly to Kaminari, although it seemed that the same idea was already budding in their minds as well.

He blinked at the sudden attention and then a sheepish smile overtook his features and he rubbed the back of his head, averting his gaze. “Well…”

“We’re lost,” Bakugou deadpanned. It wasn’t a question.

Kaminari tried to skirt around the issue, making up half-excuses and telling all of you not to worry, fumbling with his words. He wasn't very convincing. Realizing it was a lost cause a minute into the act, he gave up with a deep sigh. “Okay, yeah, we’re lost. We have been… for a while.” He mumbled that last part.

“We what?”

Kaminari held his hands up in defense. “Woah, woah, Bakugou, calm down. I'm sure I can get us out of here, no sweat.”

“I knew we passed that tree before. We’ve been walking in circles this entire time.” You looked over to see who had said that and found Todoroki, hand on his chin, staring contemplatively at a large tree with a spiral carved into its trunk. Now that you thought about it, it did look familiar.

The quiet that had followed ever since Kaminari fell was slowly falling apart, being replaced with loud, frantic discussions about what the fuck were you going to do. The bordering desperation in some of their voices wasn’t well hidden—it didn’t help ease anyone’s nerves that none of you had told a single soul where you were headed off to, hoping that no one would notice your absence at all. You were starting to realize just how many bad decisions everyone here had made up until this point. Note to self: maybe don’t get mad at horror movies portagonists for acting stupid once you get back to your dorm and flip on a new show to watch (now you were thinking about your dorm and how cozy you could have been in it right now, safe and sound with all of your friends for an impromptu movie night).

You shook your head. No time to think about what you could’ve been doing. Someone around here had to do something about this chaos because it seemed like everyone was seconds away from being at each other’s throats and you're pretty sure that's exactly what happens before things go horribly wrong in horror movies.

You cleared your throat, clapping your hands together. You took a deep breath, filling your lungs with air before opening your mouth and— “Shut up!” The echo of your shout had even more birds in the distance fleeing from their trees (oops?).

Everyone fell quiet, all looking at you now and their pinning stares were not happy. “Um…” You hadn’t actually thought of what to say once you got their attention. What could any of you do? “We need a plan.”

“No, duh.” Bakugou rolled his eyes.

You fixed him with a glare. “I said shut up. Anyway, we’re not going to get anything done at this rate if we all keep panicking.”

“You’re right,” Iida spoke up, “We all need to remain calm. Let’s discuss this properly.”

Looks like your plan to instill some order among the group hadn’t been a complete bust because everyone was nodding in agreement now. Maybe this could work and you all would be safely back at U.A. within a few hours.

That had been until the downpour had started, rain splattering through the trees and soaking into the fabric of your shirt.

A drop of water came from above, landing on your arm and chilling to your core. Then there was another and another, cold and unrelenting. No one had noticed the gray clouds heavy with moisture rolling in and it was like it all came down at once, stunning you all in place before you realized you were getting absolutely soaked.

It was a blur what happened after that, but let’s just say that the sense of order from before didn't last long. Those who had hoods on their jackets pulled them up, and anyone who didn’t held their hands up to shield themselves, or pulled their jackets up and over their heads by the collar. In a frenzy to find shelter, you all took off, feet thumping against the ground, yelling about your horrible luck so far. It was as if the forest had decided that you had been standing around too long talking and that it was time to get a move on.

The canopy of trees darkened the area, and you had to focus on the forest floor to prevent yourself from tripping several times. It was a miracle you all were able to stick together considering that it felt like you ran off in a seemingly random direction. The search for cover was suspiciously short though when Kaminari spotted a cabin in the distance. No one thought to question it much and before you knew it, you had shoved open the unlocked door and collapsed inside. The sound of the rain against the roof was deafening, but once the door was shut the clatter wasn’t as bad.

After everyone had caught their breaths and settled in, they’d gone back to arguing, mostly because no one was expecting to get drenched like that. Cute outfits? Ruined. Kaminari was going to be put on the chopping block for that one.

“It doesn’t make sense for us to be stuck here. Can’t we just use our quirks to find our way out?” you asked. The solution seemed obvious to you and you folded your arms against your chest, trying to keep warm.

Todoroki stood near one of the small windows, dusty from years of disuse, and swiped a hand over the glass to clean it. “I don’t think we should go out just yet. There’s low visibility with all this rain so there’s a high chance we might lose track of each other.”

Grumbles of agreement at that brought you to where you were now, sitting ducks in an ominous building in the woods with some of your best friends. This was starting to seem like some over done, predictable horror movie plot more and more.

“Can you help me carry those?”

You snapped out of your stupor, eyes drawn to the fire blazing in the mantle, and then up at the person who had spoken. Jirou.

She was pointing at a stack of logs near the door that Todoroki was crouched in front of, running his hands over the wooden pieces. You wondered how long you had been sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall for, acutely aware of the ache in your back and the stiffness in your legs now. This was boring.

“Well?” Your eyes snapped back to Jirou, her head tilted expectantly.

You cracked a smile, rising to your feet. “What? Are they too heavy for you?”

She rolled her eyes and pushed your arm lightly in retaliation before walking over to the stack. You followed in her wake.

Up close now, you could see that Todoroki was using his quirk to dry off the wood, the dripping droplets that splattered onto the wooden floor slowly dissipating away under his touch.

Strangely enough, aside from a light coating of dust, the cabin seemed ready to live in (or, er, crash in… for now, until you got back to U.A. and could forget this ever happened) and a small pile of logs had been situated next to an empty fireplace. Todoroki had thrown the wood in and lit it up no problem, casting light over the tiny room and providing some much needed warmth, but there wasn’t enough to keep the flame burning long.

The rain had eased up not long ago and with that Iida had decided to venture out to find more kindling. It didn’t take him long to skirt around the area to find branches and fallen logs that could be lugged back to the cabin with his super speed, and currently he was still out there gathering extra pieces that you’d surely need through the night. Despite the rain no longer pouring down, the sky had darkened significantly and it was decided that it was probably best if none of you went very far out there; same reason as the rain—low visibility. (You’d already been stuck here for a few hours so a few more until sunlight breached the horizon didn’t seem too bad… right?)

Normally wet kindling wasn’t ideal and would be a recipe for disaster once the flames caught ahold of it and the room filled with smoke from the combination, but luckily for you, Todoroki was perfect for survival expeditions. The plan was that he would simply dry off the wood with light heat from his hands, similar to how he had dried off most of your clothes earlier on to prevent anyone from getting sick from the cold.

While Iida went looking for large enough logs outside, Todoroki worked diligently to dry them off, sitting expectantly by the door for the next bundle. Then, one of the others would lug the wood either to rest next to the fireplace for when you needed it, or throw it into the flame when it started to die down. There weren’t exactly perfect pieces of wood laying around the forest, so many of them burned out quickly if they were too small and had to be replaced frequently.

You noticed the flickering light of the current flame starting to die down. Todoroki noticed your footsteps behind him and looked back at you before standing and moving so that you and Jirou could grab either end of a large log, slowly walk it over to the flame and then swing your arms for momentum a bit before throwing it in. You repeated the process with a few more smaller pieces and within no time the flame was back to its healthy, roaring self. The glow it cast would be cozy if the situation was any one but this.

Wiping your brow from the exertion, you had your other hand on your hip as you stared into the fire and admired your work. Jirou lingered a second by your side doing the same before walking off to go slump down in a seat somewhere, and you felt eyes on the back of your head once she left. You spared a glance over your shoulder to find Todoroki still standing in the same spot as before with his arms crossed watching you.

“How long do you think these will last us?” you asked to break the tension, referring to the slowly growing pile of wood.

Todoroki’s eyes shifted away from you and to the pile on the floor. “That should be good. I’ll tell Iida we should be set for the night when he comes back.”

You nodded and looked down. Not able to think of anything else to say, you padded back over to the corner you had been sitting in before and slotted yourself against the wall as had become familiar at this point, leaning your head back and closing your eyes. Maybe if you ignored the situation it would all pass faster.

“This is just plain depressing.” You pried one eye open in exasperation at the interruption—come on, you had just gotten in the “zone” (oh well, not like you had a time limit on doing that anyway). Kaminari was standing right in front of the fireplace at the head of the room, addressing all of you. He was back to giving you that disapproving shake of his head, the same kind he gave when he thought you guys were being boring. Uh oh… where’s this going to go? It was great and all that someone wasn’t feeling down in the dumps over this whole thing, but with it being Kaminari you weren’t sure how high the scale of how great it was actually went.

Bakugou’s eyes were following Kaminari’s movements now, waiting to see what dumb idea he had probably come up with this time—preiovusly, Bakugou had been staring out of the window at the full moon, elbow resting on the window sill and head in his palm (it was nice to see him calm and peaceful like that for a change). Even Midoirya, who had been alternating between sit-ups, push-ups, and planks in the the opposite corner of the room (where he got the energy for all of that right now was beyond you), had sat up to focus on Kaminari, his knees bent and his arms looped around his knees.

“You guys seriously need to lighten up,” Kaminari continued, dismissively gesturing with his hands as if to ward off the negativity all of you were emitting right now.

You saw Jirou quirk an eyebrow. “Yeah? And how should we do that? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re stranded here.”

“Well, yeah, I know that, but that doesn't mean we can't have some fun.” He could tell he was already losing everyone’s attention as you diverted your gazes, each wanting to go back to being solemn on your own. “Why don’t we play a game?” he tried as a last ditch effort.

You let out a huff through your nose. “And that game would be…?”

“Truth or dare! Obviously.”

“Right,” you breathed out to yourself, rolling your eyes, although you couldn’t help but smile a little at the thought.

“I wouldn’t mind that.” Bless your heart, Midoriya.

“Awesome! See, at least someone around here knows how to enjoy themselves.” Kaminari planted his hands on his hips and the light of the fireplace behind him illuminated his outline. “Okay, the rest of you sticks in the mud have to play too. Form a circle in the middle of the room. Chop chop now. You have to admit it beats sitting around like this.”

You looked over to your side when you heard Jirou sigh and then the creak of the floorboards when she got up. “I guess.”

Midoriya had already gotten up from his spot and had lowered himself down to sit near the center. Jirou followed suit.

“Whatever.” Bakugou cast the window one last look before he moved towards the forming circle.

Just as Todoroki stepped forward as well, the door swung open with a creak, and Iida stepped inside, dropping the wooden bundles in his arms to the floor. Just as he moved to go back outside to no doubt collect more, not even sparing a glance further into the room, Todoroki stopped him, reaching out a hand to grasp his arm. “We have enough, Iida. I think we’ll be fine tonight.”

He nodded. “Sounds good then. I guess all that’s left to do now is wait this whole thing out,” Iida said. His gaze flickered from Todoroki’s face to the wood pile near the fireplace in order to see if there really was enough and that was when he noticed the circle forming in the center of the room. “…what’s going on?”

“We’re playing truth or dare!” Kaminari declared from the head of the circle where he’d sat down.

“You don’t have to play if you don’t want to,” Todoroki said.

“Nonsense. I think it’ll be good to lift our spirits. Excellent idea, Kaminari.” Kaminari was absolutely beaming at the praise from Iida.

Iida stepped further into the room and leaned forward to shake his head out from side to side, water droplets flying from his hair—they’d probably dripped down from the towering trees onto him as he moved around outside, even after the storm.

As Todoroki and Iida choose their spots in the circle, you did as well, rising from your place against the wall, stretching, and then situating yourself among the others.

Once everyone was done squirming in their seats and getting comfortable, Kaminari clapped his hands together and leaned forward as if he had a secret to tell you all. A mischievous, almost dangerous glint was in his eye and the fireplace cast shadows over his face. “Let’s play.”

Catching the shine of the full moon in the far edge of the room in your peripheral, you shivered. You had a feeling the night was about to go from humbling to downright horrifying in true Halloween fashion.

TRUTH OR DARE: WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE?

[ohhmyheart5678]

When in the streets of seoul (7)

*warning* this mentions death, murder, suicide, guns, and other gruesome and dark content if you are sensitive to these kinds of things do not read the it

Pairing: Chan x female reader

Word count: 1.8k

Previous/next

********

Chris and I talk at yongsan for hours. It was the most time I've ever spent with him, and I can honestly say that I began to see him in a new light.

Everything changed from that moment on. I don't know what it was about sitting four hours in your favorite park in the fall time which the orange leaves that had fallen around as time passed that opened us up, but whatever it did was magic.

Chris had told me about his childhood and how his father was also in a mafia so it was inevitable for him, but when it was time for him to take over he realized he wanted to start his own.

That's when he found Changbin and jisung two lost kids not having anywhere to go, he needed people to join and they were talented plus they had nowhere else to go and saying no to Chris pretty much is never a real option.

From there he just kept taking in boys that needed a home but that would benefit him in some way. In a way I found it sweet, did they have an option? Maybe not but at least he was giving them a home. I hated to say it but something in me agreed with it, and suddenly my heart felt like it jumped out of my chest.

Was it Stockholm syndrome? It had to be just more than that right?

He told me he had lost his mom in a war between his dad and another mafia. It was a hard time for him and that's when he realized hat whoever  he ended up with, he was gonna protect them with his life and that there was no way he was gonna let what happened to his mother happen to them.

"What about you? Anything interesting about your parents?" he says leaning on the bench for support. I could tell that he was fully engaged and paying attention. Chris always payed attention to details, to everything. That was one of his biggest strengths was reading people but to him,I was the hardest person to read.

" Besides my dad being a detective that's been on your case?" I giggled, I mean that had to be interesting enough right? "Besides that smarty pants!" He scrunched his nosed a little at me."Remember when I told you that I like coming to this park a lot?" Of course he remembers it's the whole reason he brought me here, but I needed a way to start the conversation. Chris hummed as a way of telling me to keep talking. "Well my mom and I used to come here every Sunday and eat ice cream ever since I was a kid" the Aussie just nodded his head and waited for me to continue.

"A few months ago actually a month before my dad was set on your case my mom committed suicide" this was something I really didn't talk to with anyone and the fact that I was sharing it with him took a lot but I needed to get it off my chest.

"She jumped off of Lottie world tower which was weird because she was always so happy, at least I thought she was" Chris's face changed and suddenly the atmosphere turned really dark. "Was you're mother's name Autumn Grey?" He leaned closer almost as if he needed to make sure he because didn't want to miss the answer. "Y-yah! how'd you know?" Did he know something about my mother's death I didn't know? I'm sure he saw that a million questions was running in my head because he was very quick to respond.

"Oh, it was all over the news. I felt sorry for her family" He couldn't stand my gaze, now it was my turn to read Chris but turning off his any signs of emotions was as easy as breathing for him. "Anyways maybe we should get outta here" Chris shoots up from his spot. He holds a hand out for me to grab and I grab on to it to stand myself up.

We're walking in Korea at 10pm at night, the air is freezing cold. Walking down the street with the gold and orange leaves crunching beneath our feet besides that, Silence was the only thing between us and neither of us cared enough to break it. Until Chris finally decides to speak up.

"Kinely there something I wanted to ask" He caused us to stop and stand in the middle of the sidewalk. "What do you think of when you think of me?" The question took me by surprise. It wasn't a question I was prepared to answer yet.

How could I tell him when think about him I think about not only power and smarts, wittyness and charm, I thought about love and passion, commitment. I thought about how fast my heart beats when I even just look at him.

"I-I don't know" I stutter, looking at the ground. I couldn't even look at him not now, not when he looks as amazing as he does right at this very moment. The truth is when it came to Chris I always avoided his eyes because when I looked into them I could feel myself sinking in.

"I wanna know what goes inside your head" Christopher grabs my chin to make me look at him. Now I had no choice but to look him in the eyes.

"I need to know what goes on inside your head because I need to know how you feel about me. I can read everyone like a book but when it comes you I can't tell a thing and it drives me insane. I feel something with you kinely, it's like I'm a whole other person when I'm with you and I don't know if it's a good or bad thing but I wanna figure it out with you. I need to know if you feel same way I do about you" With every word he spoke Chris would inch closer and closer to my face. Soon there wasn't any space left , his lips grazed against mine and a shiver went down my spine.

He looked into my eyes for approval and me nodding was the only thing he needed before he sealed the final space between us.

My whole body went numb, I almost couldn't feel anything anymore at this point. The only thing I felt was my heart jumping out of my chest and just how soft and delicate the kiss was. It was almost as if he felt that he needed to handle me with care.

When he pulled away it felt as if he had casted a love spell on me. Why was I feeling this way? "I- um.. let's go home shall we?" Suddenly the confident Chan , leader of stray kids was no longer with me. It was Christopher just a shy ordinary guy who was now amongst us. We continued to walk home both of us grinning from ear to ear.

As soon we got home Chris walked me to my room. "Thank you Chris today was... different, in a good way" we both awkwardly laugh as I tuck a strand of curly hair behind my ear. "Goodnight kinely. I hope we have more nights like this in the future" he crosses his arms behind his back. I only nod in response "Goodnight Chris" I give him a wave before closing the door.

I quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth. I put on my pajamas and head to bed. Tonight changed everything and little did I know that 'everything' was bigger than just my love life.

Waking up in the morning I sat there in bed to fully wake up. I look at the speaker and almost pushed the number on it when I realized I don't have wait for them anymore. I needed to figure out how to get to the kitchen even if it means getting lost but luckily on my way I ran into my favorite oranged haired boy.

"Well if it isn't my favorite Aussie in the world" I smiled at him and he happily returned it. "We both know Chan is your favorite Aussie " Felix playfully rolled his eyes at me. I assumed he had just woken up not too long ago as well due to the fact the his hair was all over the place and his voice was a little deeper and raspier than normal.

"Whatever! Hey can you point me in the direction where the food is?" I wiggle my eyebrows, Felix shook his head at me. "Just say the kitchen you weirdo" he walks down the hall and looks behind him once he realized that I wasn't following him.

"Are you coming? " Felix rubs his eyes with he back of his hands still trying to wake up all the way. "Right I totally was" he laughs at me knowing that I was lying but I then began to follow and he proceeded to lead me to the kitchen. Once we arrived there a few of the boys that were already there including Chris and Hyunjin.

Everyone was starring at me and Hyunjin looked slightly irritated about something. Changbin , Minho , and seugmin all had a weird grin on their face that I couldn't quite read. "Ow ya goin mate?" Chris greeted Felix bright and happy Felix just waved not really in the mood to talk at the moment. We both sit down at the table, me sitting next to Changbin and Felix next to seugmin. "Good morning babygirl" Chris greets and my eyes widen.

I wasn't used to him calling me that but I honestly didn't hate it. "Morning Chris" we both showed off our dimpled smile displaying it to eachother. "Morning guys" the boys greet me and Minho gives Chris a look. What is going on with everyone today? Felix noticed it too because he raised an eyebrow and looked between the both of us. "I wanna know the secret!! Did I miss something?" His curiosity got the best of him but all he got in return were smirks and shrugged shoulders. I just shook it off and decided to talk to my favorite brown haired boy. "Hey Hyunjin how'd you sleep?" I gave him a soft smile.

Hyunjin quickly stands up "excuse me, I'm not hungry. I'll just head to my room now." Was all he said before storming off. I looked at the other boys hoping they could answer my questions but they too looked just as confused as I was.

***

Previous/next

[misskittysmagicportal]

Happy Thirsty Thursday! 🍑🍆💦

I’m not sure if you’re up for writing for Nikolai but I saw this prompt and I just thought of him.

“you’re so cute I just want to eat you out”

“don’t you mean up?”

“no”

I Wish I Was The Moon (Nikolai x Fem!Reader)

Word Count: 1914

Warnings: Oh delightful full moon inspired smut

You floated along the lake on your back where you relished both the silence and solitude. The dark sky above you housed millions of stars hidden behind the smog of Manhattan where you lived. Nowhere in Sway Lake smelled like piss or garbage. Free from angry faces and graffiti. You were blessed to get away for the week.

You weren't certain if anything was hazardous to you as you swam naked not far from shore. You were so lost in your senses, ears underwater causing everything to be still except the faraway frogs and random cry of some bird. It prevented you from hearing the soft swish of someone swimming beside you.

“Privyet rybka” a deep Russian voice broke through the silence.

Startled all you could muster was a scream as you held your hands over your breasts and sank under the water. Bobbing back up, you began to tread water hoping you were far below the surface to hide your nudity.

“I promise I am here in peace. The USSR is no more,” he held his hands up in surrender.

“What.. What are you doing here?” you asked nervously.

“Is this not a free lake?” You assume he means public, but you nod in confirmation.

“Fair,” you're exasperated but drop pretenses and tread a bit harder. Your naked chest out of the water now catching moonlight. “What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

“I have business to attend to. For the Sways.” It's the first time you notice a canoe with a gas can perched on the front. “But I saw this gorgeous, naked woman just floating in middle of lake. I had to stop. Like a siren’s call.”

You rolled your eyes but somehow felt heat as it crept up your cheeks. Your eyes had adjusted and you looked at him properly. His wet, dark hair plastered to his forehead. Sharp jaw and full lips. Eyes that reflected the moon and seemed to stare right into you. Muscular arms circled languidly in the water attached to broad shoulders. He was, you lacked real words, beautiful.

“I have made you speechless?” his thick eyebrow arched. His eyes moved towards openly staring at your bare breasts.

“No. What business could you possibly have with the camp? And why the hell are YOU naked?” there was a giggle in your voice. His shorts were hanging over the side of the canoe.

“I thought you may be more comfortable if you weren't alone?” It was a question. The excuse didn't make any sense. Your look challenged him. “Fine! Easier to move naked than with wet shorts on, yes? I need to run and don't get caught, I go quicker without clothes.”

“You're out of your fucking mind if you think no one will catch you. They party til dawn,” you gesture towards a revelry away from where you had left your clothes.

“I will blend in. How many you think are doing,” he paused and thought, “HAVING sex right now? Too drunk and horny to notice one more naked person at a party. Besides maybe I'm a siren too? I've already had sex with one of them.”

“Only one? Whatever. You do what you have to, I never saw you. You're a ghost,” you started to swim back to shore. Annoyed at your peace deferred but also at how turned on you were by his voice. His face.

Your back to him, you picked up some speed. Unfortunately, fortunately? He followed and caught up easily. “Let me at least ride you back to the beach? Then I go in from the side and back and they'll never see me.”

You snorted and covered your mouth, “Ride me.”

“Hey! I have only been speaking English a few years. Forgive me,” there was a laughter in his voice too. “Come. I'll get you back, and maybe you'll help me?”

“Commit a felony? No thanks, I'm trying to have a career as a nurse.”

“Oh good!” he turned to swim back to his canoe.

He pulled himself up over the side and you couldn't help but stare at his naked body as he did so. Lithe like a swimmer. You couldn't help but catch a glimpse of his cock too before it all disappeared into the canoe. Christ even that wasn't bad looking

“I get hurt, you kiss me and make it better?” There was innuendo in his voice as he held a hand out to help you up into the boat. “I'm Nikolai.”

“And I'm fucking nuts,” you quipped and anchored yourself with his large hand as you crawled on behind him. You stopped caring about hiding your nudity.

“I've never met someone named fucking nuts. I thought Ollie sounded funny,” he began to row back to shore.

You watched the muscles in his shoulders and back flex and tense with motions. Hypnotized a bit, you began to fantasize about his arms and body crawling over you. Lying down on top of you. Pushing inside of you. You shook your head free of the filthy thoughts. Not that you wanted to, because you felt a sense of self preservation. You were better than the townies who bet every year how many tourists they could fuck.

Or were you?

“You and Ollie Sway are friends?”

“Comrades yes! Closer to brothers. We are inseparable. This is why I owe him a duty to protect his lake. Make it clean for him and his grandmother and everyone else good”

“By setting fire to the camp?”

“No! Just a little.. fun with the jet skis. But yes, the easiest way to get rid of them is to set them on fire.”

“Won't they explode?” You were starting to freak out as he maneuvered the boat on shore.

“I can only hope for the best!” He hopped out and grabbed the gas can and a zippo lighter. “Wait here for me.” It was a command, not a suggestion. “We will celebrate.”

“Celebrate? By doing what? Did you bring vodka?”

“Did I bring vodka? Because I'm Russian?” he feigned being upset.

“Well-”

Then a raucous laugh, “OF COURSE! It's in boat. But I meant a different way. You're so cute, I could eat you out.”

Your eyes wide, “You mean up? Language barrier right? The phrase is eat me up.”

“No. I meant what I said. It is definitely out.”

Uncertain of why or what you were doing, you laid on the grass along the lake shore. Your heart was racing along with your thoughts. Then a fire blazed up near the dock where the cabins were. You scrambled to your feet in a daze. Eyes wide and mouth agape with shock, you couldn't believe he did it.

Nikolai actually set them on fire. Those nasty, gas leaking jet skis that terrorized swimmers and destroyed the beauty of the lake. Maybe it wasn't necessarily the machines themselves, but the pig headed assholes who drove them. Still there was a smug satisfaction.

Then in a blur of arms and legs, Nikolai in his nude glory came racing across the hillside. A devilish look of delight on his lips and eyes as he grabbed your hand and tugged you along. There was an explosion behind you that caused each of you to duck and stop in your tracks. Hearts racing as you turned to watch several more small fireballs shoot upwards.

Nerves or adrenaline made you both start laughing hysterically. It was surreal. Your night of serenity and solitude turned into one of aiding and abetting a Russian ex-patriot in the destruction of personal property. It was, you remembered, a full moon.

Nikolai was breathing heavily in the stillness. His body tense as he waited for someone to follow, but no one came. The fire danced in his eyes that you noticed were green. Or blue? Or ever-changing. His lean body tan from the late summer sun.

“I didn't know Russians could catch a tan,” you spoke your thoughts out loud.

“Maybe I am Gypsy,” he shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I work my magic on this place. They won't forget me. Or well, them I hope don't know it was me?” He scratched his head absently.

“Well I certainly won't forget you at this point. But wasn't there another offer I was meant to take you up on?” You heart pounds out a loud rhythm over the words you couldn't believe tumbled from your mouth.

Nikolai looked down at you and smiled again. The static in the air, or humidity, caused an electricity that ran through your body. Adrenaline made your hands shake with anticipation. This lake had a strange effect on all its visitors.

Then his hands were on your back and in your hair and your mouths were hungry for each other. Tongues and lips and teeth as you playfully nipped at him. He laughed and feigned hurt as you melted into him.

Your nails dug into Nikolai’s shoulders as he ground his hips into you. And erection hard against your thigh and your body responded in kind. Your mouths never stopped kissing as he pushed a knee between your legs so you had to straddle it. You rode it briefly, body unable to find control.

“A little fire and two naked people kissing,” his accent thick and low. “You're so ready for me, da?” There was a teasing in his question.

“Weren't you supposed to.. eat me?” you joked. only a little.

Nikolai backed away from you. “Get down on the ground.” A command again in lieu of a suggestion.

You complied and laid down. The grass and sand cool under your back. Nikolai followed. He parted your thighs to situate himself on top of you. His skin was warm and smelled like burnt wood as his mouth blazed a trail from your neck down over your body that arched reflexively underneath him.

You gazed up at the full moon as it shone down on the both of you. You stopped thinking, lost in the kisses that briefly strayed to your breasts. Lips that sucked and bit before they headed between them and over your stomach and to your sex.

Nikolai darted his tongue inside of you. It searched and snaked in and out. Traced up and down before it found your clit. His hands on your hips to pull you into him. Encouraged you to ride him as he lapped you. Tasted you and kept going. His tongue and mouth unflinching as you took a hold of his head and tangled your fingers in the thick waves.

“Fuck,” you moaned and writhed. You took a chance and looked down at him.

Nikolai locked eyes with you and your body started to lose control. His movements found a rhythm that never stopped. Just continued until you couldn't take it anymore and cried out. Your body exploded like the jet skis in the distance. The fire still reflected in his eyes as you both rolled through the orgasm.

“We blame it all on the moon, dorogaya,” Nikolai finally suggested.

His words filled your head as he kissed you behind the ear. You could smell yourself on him, taste yourself as he kissed you one more time.

“I must go. Ollie will be worried.”

You weren't so sure Ollie Sway even noticed the Russian was gone, but you didn't correct him. Then he was gone and you were left blissful in the silence and solitude. Still floating.

[remmyswritings]

over the years//blaise zabini x reader

HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL PUFFS! HERE IS MY FIRST BLAISE ZABINI FIC AND REQUEST!! THANK YOU @peeves-a-legend​ FOR TRUSTING ME WITH THIS I HOPE YOU LIKE IT EVEN THOUGH YOUR HEART WILL MOST LIKELY BE CRUSHED! :) <3

also @summer-writes​ this is the work I decided to use for your writing challenge so I hope you also like it even if it crushed you. the prompt is bolded.

taglist: @curious-curios​, @summer-writes​, @willowbleedsonpaper​, @strawberriesonsummer​, @jenniweaslee​, @cherrycolakxsses​, @peeves-a-legend​, @booksmusicteaandanimals​, @heart-of-tempered-steel​, @firewhisky-kisses​

warning: there is a ton of angst, plus some vulgar language, but no worries it ends with fluffity fluff fluff

*Not my picture, found on Unsplash credit to creator*

You first met Blaise Zabini when he happened to stumble upon you as you sat under the tree near the Black Lake in your first year. Hogwarts and the idea of magic was all new to you and you found yourself becoming rather overwhelmed so you would go to that spot near the lake and listen to music, or read, or write with one of your muggle pens. At some point though it was no longer your spot, instead it became yours and Blaises spot. And that spot saw a lot of things happen over the years.

YEAR 1

“What is that thing you’ve been carrying around with you all day?” Blaise broke the silence between the two of you.

You looked up at him to see him motioning towards the Walkman in your lap, “Oh, this is a Walkman. It’s a muggle invention that helps you listen to music as you walk around.”

“How do you listen to it though?” Blaise peered at the thing inquisitively.

You pulled your headphones off and handed them to Blaise, watching as he slowly reached out and grabbed it only to hold it in his hands wondering what to do, “Here let me help you with that.”

Blaise watched as you shuffled over to him tentatively, still leaving enough space for him to back away. Then you grabbed the headphones and placed them on his head softly.

“There you go,” you whispered, and then looked down at the Walkman to make sure a new song played. You definitely liked how Blaise seemed to smile while he listened- of course you were never going to tell him that.

YEAR 2

You walked over to your spot under the tree only to find Blaise already sitting there. You knew that he saw you before you’d arrived by the tilt in his head and the small smile on his face. 

“Hello Blaise,” you smiled softly and plopped yourself down on the grass next to him.

He nodded towards you, “Hello Y/L/N,” and then returned to the book that he was reading.

By now, knowing that this was his sign that he didn’t want to talk, you pulled out your homework and worked on bits and pieces until you were done. Then you pulled out the famous Walkman that the two of you practically shared and instead of connecting your headphones in, you played it out loud for the two of you to enjoy. 

It seemed as though one song in particular had caught Blaise’s attention as he closed his book and laid it next to him, “What song is that one?”

“Hm,” you opened your eyes and looked towards him, “It’s Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles.”

Blaise nodded his head and as the cassette tape started over again, you saw how his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep. Some time later, it seems as though you had also fallen asleep and when you woke up you found yourself wrapped up comfortably in Blaise’s arm. While you wished to stay there for as long as you could, you knew that Blaise wouldn’t so slowly and softly you removed Blaise’s arm from your waist and packed up your stuff.

As you left you could have sworn you heard a Goodbye be muttered from Blaise’s lips, but you weren’t entirely sure.

YEAR 3

During your third year, you finally had the freedom to go to Hogsmeade and while you found it nice you definitely preferred your spot under the tree. Blaise, on the other hand, didn’t. Sometimes you wondered if it was from that day the two of you had fallen asleep or the fact that you hadn’t been able to write over the summer, but you felt as though Blaise had become rather distant. No matter, you thought to yourself, it’s not like it was officially our spot anyway.

Nonetheless you would still try your hardest to catch him there from time to time. Only to be greeted by his very cold demeanor… most of the time at least, today- it seemed- you were lucky.

“Hello Y/N,” Blaise greeted you softly. It was now spring so the grass was mostly wet and the air rather warm, but it was a climate you enjoyed the most.

You smiled and waved at him, “Nice seeing you around here Blaise.”

“It has been awhile,” he sat down close to you, closer than usual, “I’m sorry about that.”

You looked at him shell shocked, “Did the Blaise Zabini just apologize?”

“I thought Hufflepuffs weren’t supposed to have that type of attitude,” he chuckled.

You bobbed his nose with your finger, “I think that you should have learned by now that we Puffs can have one hell of an attitude.”

“Ya, I guess you can,” he smiled brightly at you as if he knew something that you didn’t. 

YEAR 4

“Someone looks tired,” you heard Blaise’s snarky remark before you saw him.

Not even bothering to say hello, you practically dropped to the ground hoping to find at least some form of comfort, “I am! And I couldn’t even find anything that works.”

Blaise placed the book that he was reading and then turned to you, “What are you talking about?”

“Ugh, only because I know you’ll pester me until I tell you,” you moved your body so that you could sit up and face Blaise, using the tree for support, “A bunch of girls in our year went shopping for their dresses and I decided to join them. Of course, the one dress that I absolutely loved cost way too much since I’d have to get all these alterations done. And since I had found it early on, I figured I’d go find Hermione or Ginny to get a Butterbeer only to be told that if I left the other girls that they would see me as a bitch.”

You hadn’t even realized that you were crying until you felt Blaise’s hands cupping your cheeks, his thumbs wiping away the tears. The two of you sat there in tranquility until that happened to be destroyed by the one and only Zacharias Smith.

“Y/N,” you could feel the arrogance radiating off of him, “there you are. I was wondering if you’ve thought of a response to my proposition.”

He clearly ignored Blaise sitting next to you, his arm now wrapped around your waist. 

“I already told you Smith,” frustration dripping from every word, “I’m not gonna go to the Ball with you… so please leave me alone.”

Before either boy could react, you stood up and stomped back to the castle, not before you purposely rammed Smith in the shoulder knowing he would turn around at you only to see a middle finger instead of your face. 

YEAR 5

It seemed as though this year, Blaise and you had both decided to go to your spot the first day back. The arrival of the pink toad- excuse me, Umbit… no Umbridge- felt like the end of the world. And you knew that the end of the world was coming, as you had stayed with the Weasleys the whole summer. When you saw Blaise, you found yourself having a new feeling in your body, as if everything just glowed when he was around. But when he saw you, all he saw was bright, fiery red- who could blame him though, you had promised to write, even to try and visit, but he didn’t get a single letter from you.

“I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be loyal,” he scoffed at the sight of you.

You frowned and crossed your arms, “Of course, I’m loyal. I wouldn’t have been your friend all these years if I wasn’t.”

“Really because you told me that you’d write that we’d talk about what happened last year and you didn’t even send me a scrap of paper,” the tenseness in Blaise’s body kept on getting worse and worse as he spoke.

You faltered when you finally saw the pain within his eyes, “I-” you hesitated, “I’m sorry. I wish I could give you a good reason as to why I didn’t write but please just trust me when I tell you that if I could have, I would have.”

“Like that is supposed to help,” he crossed his arms in front of you. “I mean, how can you tell someone you love them right after you kiss them and then not even bother to write.”

Blaise’s voice was starting to strain and you no longer just saw his pain, you heard it too, “I love you too much to lie and give you some bullshit excuse and you and I both know that I can’t tell you the truth.” 

You slowly walked over to Blaise and when you reached him, you held your hands up in surrender, “Can I touch you?” you whispered.

He nodded and your hands came to cup his face and wipe away the tears, much like he had done for you the year prior. Then he was the one to act, he grabbed you by your wrists and instead of pulling you away as you thought, he brought each of your palms to his mouth and kissed them. You couldn’t help but step even closer to Blaise, his arms then dropped only to wrap around your waist. 

The two of you looked at one another and slowly leaned in not even realizing your movements until your noses touched. Blaise leaned in even more so that his forehead touched yours, “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes,” you whispered. Blaise’s lips meet yours and you felt a whirlwind of emotion the second it did. 

At first you felt his frustration from earlier, but then he relaxed and you felt his love and passion for you. Neither of you wanted to stop yet when you felt your lungs screaming for air you broke away, only to see his lips chase yours.

You chuckled at the action, “Let me catch my breath first.”

Blaise was shocked at how he reacted and wasn’t able to stop the slight blush that grew on his cheeks, “I’d like to be your boyfriend… that is if you want me to be.”

You giggled a bit at the way he asked and then pecked his lips softly, “I’d love it if you were my boyfriend.”

YEAR 6

You wish you could say that the last year with Blaise had been filled with just love and tender moments between the two of you, but after watching Sirius Black get murdered at the Department of Ministries, you knew you could no longer play pretend. You loved Blaise, you loved him in such a way that you had never loved anyone, but you knew the danger that came with being with him, especially because of your blood status. You’d already sent your parents away, obliviating their memories of you before making them believe that they should go to live in the U.S. and then going to stay with the Weasleys. Standing in your spot, you fretted over how to tell him so much that you hadn’t even realized he had arrived. 

“Hello mi principesa,” he wrapped you up in a hug and gave you a loving kiss on your forehead.

His action brought you out of your head, “Oh, hi Blaise.”

“You alright mi principesa?” he backed away slightly so that he could get a good look at you having learned over the years the little traits you showed when you were nervous.

You merely nodded your head not trusting your voice in that moment. Your eyes went down to your hands, which were playing with one another, and then out to the Lake knowing that the second you looked at Blaise everything would break. 

He knew what you were doing and yet he struggled to know why, not a single idea came to mind. Blaise didn’t enjoy seeing you like this, it pained him when you kept everything in. Slowly, so as to not startle you, he grabbed one of your hands and pulled it to his chest, “Please tell me what’s going through that beautiful head of yours.”

“You know,” you started, “the memories I have with you, are the best memories that I have. Not even my memories of getting my letter, being introduced to this world, sharing it with my parents, getting into Hufflepuff… none of those are my best memories. Which is why I need to keep it that way.”

Blaise could tell which way the conversation was going and if only you could know how badly he didn’t want it to continue, but he also knew you needed this so he squeezed your hand as a signal to continue.

“I can’t stay-” your voice started to break, “I can’t stay here, and I can’t stay with you.”

Blaise shook his head, “No. no. no. We’ll figure this out, maybe I can get my mother to help you into hiding.”

The tears that had grown in your eyes started to fall, “Baby, you know I can’t do this. The Order has asked that I watch over some people for them, but I need you to let me go.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Blaise had started crying too, “What if I just want to keep you here with me? I need you mi principesa.”

Hearing those last words only made your tears worse, “Please, Blaise…” you were practically begging at this point, “I need you to let me go, at least until this is all over okay. I’ll come find you right here, and I’ll wait for you in this very spot. I promise”

Blaise didn’t know if it was the fact that you were begging or the fact that you had promised to come back to him, but something in him let you go. He opened his eyes, the tears coming to a slow stop to see you looking just as wrecked in front of him, “Can I at least get one last kiss?”

You practically flung yourself at him after that question. If you had considered your first kiss to be passionate this one was even more so. The two of you poured everything you felt for each other and for the situation in front of you: all the pain, desperation, sadness, hurt, frustration, concern, devotion, adoration. It practically burned you and Blaise, but you didn’t care. You needed to burn just one more time before you drowned in what was to come.

YEAR 7

Standing in front of the Great Hall, your heart broke into a million pieces. So many people died or hurt, and you weren’t sure how to feel. You had spent the whole year running that you didn’t exactly have the time to think, to feel. And now that you did, you weren’t entirely sure how to feel. You should feel happy that you won, happy that you were alive. But how could you feel that when Fred, Remus, and Tonks and so many others all lost their lives in this fight. And Blaise, you didn’t even know if he was here anymore. Hermione had told you about how they had run into him, how he asked about you but ran off when he found out they didn’t know anything. 

Your spot, finally you remembered that if he would be anywhere it would be there. You rushed out of the Great Hall trying your hardest not to run into any person or any of the fallen pillars, not even realizing when Prof. McGonagall and Prof. Sprout gave you a knowing look. The two of them having done what they could to keep Blaise alive. When you finally made it, it was if you were looking at heaven. There he was, the love of your life, and from what you could tell he didn’t have a scratch on him.

“Blaise,” you ran down the hill jumping into his arms not even hesitating. 

He wasn’t sure how to react when he heard your voice, but holding you in his arms he finally knew that everything would be okay, “mi principesa,” he mumbled over and over. 

The two of you stayed in each other’s arms for what seemed like forever, only moving slightly when you pulled his face down to yours so as to kiss him. While your goodbye kiss had been fervent and messy, this one was graceful and slow. You knew you had all the time in the world now, nonetheless you were gonna enjoy the hell out of this kiss. It’s as if you were exploring each other’s bodies for the first time, not being able to keep your hands off one another but in a way that said more I need to make sure you are here with me and less of a I need you to fuck me. When you finally separated, your foreheads stayed connected and at some point you found your hand roaming Blaise’s chest until it found his heart and that’s where it stayed.

“I told you I’d come back,” you whispered, “and… if you’ll have me, I plan on staying.”

“Stay, please. And let me follow you this time, wherever you go.”

“Ok, I will.”

The two of you went silent and merely basked in each other’s embrace, waiting your longest to let go, knowing that that would start the next phase of your lives. Cause in that very moment all you wanted- no needed- was Blaise with you in your spot under that tree. 

--

should I do a separate fic of their wedding or Blaise proposing at their spot?

[thetiredbiwrites]

And then...

Dad!Tony x Son!Reader

(mentions of Uncle Rhodey)

Anon: // hello can you do angsty tony x Son reader. Tony and reader has strained relationship and they we're not in good terms, Tony prefer Peter than his son but it got change when both of them got kidnapped, they been together for a few days and slowly they reconciled. Soon they got save by the avengers but the Son Reader notice that one kidnapper pulled a weapon to Tony then R save his father, he got shot then Tony is scared to see his son dying. Its up to you the ending. ☺

A/N: Thank you for the Tony request 🤗🤗 Hope this is ok! (I love dad!Tony, I think he’d be so good...even though this fic is on a different note🤔😂)

Warnings: Cliff hanger end. It was getting pretty long and I wanted to upload something before bed (which also means it hasn’t been checked but oh well, I’ll re-read it tomorrow) BUT I do plan on doing a part 2 :)

(Also swearing, just always assume swearing)

Words: 3100+

Tony’s relationship with his son had always been strained. Ever since he was practically dumped on his doorstep at 4 years old.

Tony had no prior knowledge that he has a kid, none of the women he’s been with had ever even told him they were pregnant. But if he was being honest with himself, it didn’t surprise him. With the way he got around it was bound to happen eventually.

He just wished he’d known from the beginning.

Having a 4 year old left in his care with no warning put him in a whole new territory he was completely unprepared for.

A baby gives you time to prepare and are essentially a ‘blank slate’ at birth. A 4 year old has experiences, like and dislikes, routines, a connection to someone who abandons them with a stranger…

At the time, Tony was still a playboy, out at events and travelling a lot. As well as CEO of a company manufacturing weapons for the military. He didn’t have time for a child. To break through recently arisen trust and abandonment issues and build a relationship.

He cared about his son. Always made sure he had everything he needed or wanted, a good education and was in good health. But forming personal, emotional connections can’t be done with money, and Tony could barley cope with his own true emotions.

It quickly became clear that they did not share talents or interest in maths, sciences or mechanics. His son struggled especially with maths and Tony initially really did try to help, finally thinking something was in his element and he could bond.

But elementary (followed by middle and high) maths was so simple and automatic for Tony’s brain that he found it difficult to slow down and explain the process to the young boy.

He hired a tutor in his place.

That’s not to say Tony expected or needed his son to be a genius in the same subjects as him. He didn’t need his son to follow him (or his father) to be worthy of his time. But it would have made it easier.

Instead, his son excelled in English and arts, and was amazing in the kitchen. He loved to write stories, create pictures to accompany them and experimenting with new recipes.

Unfortunately, Tony did not excel in these areas, thus distancing them further.

At least he wasn’t taking after his father though. He didn’t force his son into one path or degrade him. No forcing him to grow up, giving him alcohol at a ridiculously young age or sending him away to be completely alone.

Tony often wondered himself if he’d have taken the path he did if his father hadn’t pushed him. If he’d be the same person without the verbal abuse and constant neglect of his father.

He wasn’t blind to his emotional distance and lack of bond to his son. Or to the connection the boy had to both Rhodey and Pepper. He could see that his son was connect to the two people he trusted the most and he was glad.

When Rhodey was available, being in the air force meant he wasn’t always around, he made sure to take the boy out, go to school events and even read his stories, giving feedback and support.

Pepper made herself available if he ever needed to talk and was always willing to taste test.

Even Happy was around to take him where he needed to go, training in the gym and joke with.

So even if the young boy didn’t have a relationship with his father, he had adults around to support and love him and help him through life.

It didn’t stop him wishing he did have a relationship to his father though.

 While MIA in Afghanistan, Tony realised he wanted to try harder to build a relationship to his nearly teenaged son.

It didn’t happen.

He returned home and completely changed his company, which required a lot of time. His guilt also led in him to putting on that damn suit and trying to save the world.

And then he nearly died from palladium poisoning.

And then New York was attacked by aliens and the avengers were formed.

And then Tony had PTSD; anxiety, panic attacks and nightmares.

And then ‘terrorists’ blew up their house and nearly killed Happy and Pepper.

And then murderous robots.

And then the avengers broke up.

And then Tony worked with the UN to amend the accords and set up more help and cleaning crews. Back to lots of travelling.

And then…

And then… Peter.

It never eased up and his son turned 18.

His son made excuses over the years. He genuinely was busy and obviously struggled with relationships. Maybe he’s just not paternal? You can’t blame someone for trying to save lives either.

Of course he was aware it isn’t all on Tony, he could have tried harder to bond with his father as well.

But then Peter came along.

Scientifically and mathematically gifted Peter.

Superhero Peter.

Enthusiastic, smart and funny 15 year old Peter.

And then Tony had the time.

He made the time.

For Peter.

To talk to him. Help with his homework and superheroing.

Teaching him. Training him.

They spent a lot of time in the workshop and lab.

Tony was always so interested in what Peter had to say. Whether is was about science or mechanics, school, spider-man or even teenage romance.

It came so easily and naturally to Tony.

He had the time.

Even the team had noticed this relationship and dubbed them ‘Iron-Dad and Spider-Son’.

That hurt.

The time he overheard Clint comment, ‘why couldn’t we have had dad-Tony this whole time?’ really stung.

Tony’s been a dad, to a son, the entire time he’s known the avengers.

He didn’t hate Peter though. It’s not his fault and he’s actually perfectly nice. But to see his father so easily bond with another kid in a short time made him realise that he’d never get that father-son relationship.

Tony is paternal. Just not for him.

--

His eyes fluttered open, the ground cold against his face.

Wait, ground? What-

A groan passed his lips as he sat up, pressing a hand to the side of his head where pain radiated.

He blinked the fuzziness from his eyes, trying to remember how he got there, but the last thing he could recall was leaving the Stark Industries event after supporting Pepper.

The room was dull and very basic. With stone walls and floor, no windows, one dim light and two metal framed beds so rusty they would probably break under his weight.

As he glanced back down to the ground, he noticed another body in the room. They were still slumped on the ground and back to him.

Scrambling across the floor, he pushed on the mans shoulder to lay in on his back and see his face.

Dad?

Quickly he checked for a pulse and when he was satisfied with the regular thumping, he moved away, letting out a sigh of relief.

With his back to the wall, arms resting on his bent knees, he waited.

It was only a short while later when Tony began to wake. Groaning and sitting up in the same manner his son had moments earlier.

“Oh God, what the hell-where am I?” He mumbled, clearly unaware he wasn’t alone.

“I was hoping you’d know the answer”

Tony’s head snapped over at the grumbled voice to see his son.

“Y/N. What- what are you doing here?”

“hell if I know. Can’t imagine why anyone would take me. I generally don’t piss people off and I’m neither an Avenger or a tech genius.”

“Maybe they mistook you for me” Tony joke, completely oblivious to his sons disinterested and cold tone.

He shuffled back to lean against the opposite wall as his son scoffed.

“Sorry kid, you got the Stark looks.”

“Yeah, that’s all I got” the young man mumbled, leaning his head back on the wall, closing his eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

Silence fell between them until the door opened.

The two men rose to their feet as two armed guards entered the room, a third following with a tray of unappealing food and bottled water.

Neither Stark was acknowledged as the tray was placed on one of the beds and they turned to leave. They even ignored Tony’s incessant questioning and cocky attitude.

His son stayed silent, taking on of the bottles as he sat back on the floor, still not ready to trust the beds.

“Could they just answer a simple question? They got to have a fucking reason for this.”

“Whatever it is I wish they’d just hurry up with it.”

“What, are you bored? Got places to be?” Tony asked, before taking his seat back on the floor.

“Yes, actually. I have an interview Monday and I’m not ready.”

“An interview? What for?”

“Like you actually care.”

“Hey, that’s not-“ Tony began to object but his son looked over at him and cut him off.

“Unless it’s about Peter or Superhero shit, you don’t want to know. You haven’t magically become interested, you just don’t like the silence and unfortunately I’m the only one here. You never cared about what was actually happening in my life before, why start now?”

Tony stared at his son in shock. It’s hard to make The Tony Stark speechless, but right now he had no words at all.

As his son dropped his head back to the wall, looking away from him, Tony couldn’t take his eyes off his son.

Thoughts ran through his head as he examined his son, becoming aware of how little he really did know.

-When did he get so tall? Not tall-tall though, definitely the Stark gene at work there.

-That suit makes him look so grown up, even if those a-holes took our jackets and shoes. Why did they take our shoes? No. Not important. Focus.

-I care about my son. Come on Tony, think. Something.

-School? Crap, when did I last even read a report card? He’s always aced English. Didn’t he do band? No, shit, that was Peter. Goddamnit, is he right?

“You’re 18.”

“Well done. You want a medal?”

“Is the interview for college?”

His son still didn’t move, wouldn’t even look at him.

“Please, Y/N. I-I know I’ve not really been… present in your life. But I do care about you.”

“Do you?” His eyes burned long repressed anger and Tony prepared himself for everything that was coming. He knew he’d deserve it too.

“You gave up so easily. It was too hard to bond with your idiot son, a shy kid who couldn’t understand simple maths. You’d rather be with women and go to parties, and the company always came first. All you did was throw money at things. For year I was fine with it, you using money to help me. I had more than more. It was clear you struggled with relationships of any kind and I was just dumped on you with no warning. It was fine because I had Rhodey, Pepper and Happy. They were there to talk to, they taught me things and supported me, Rhodey would go to school events whenever he could. I just figured maybe you’re not a paternal person. Then you became Iron Man and started saving the world and I can’t be mad about that.”

Tony stayed silent and watched as his son stood up, running a hand through his hair as he began to pace.

“Then you met Harley and kept in touch with him. You upgraded his garage into a high-tech lab. But he did help you save Pepper and the President so I guess you owed him and I didn’t let it bother me. It wasn’t until Peter came along that I noticed that you are one of the most naturally paternal people I know. You became his father figure, took him in so quickly, bonding immediately. If he needed help, you were there. He wanted to talk, you listened. Whether it’s out being Iron Man and Spider-man, training him, helping him with his school work or just locking yourselves in the workshop for hours building new shit. You’re always there for him. He witters on about some stupid crush for 25 minutes and you hang on every word. But you couldn’t do that for me?! What, did I need to be a genius at maths?! Interested in building extravagant technology?! Would you have noticed me then? You know, you went to Peter’s science show last month but you’ve never been to any of my school events. It was always Rhodey, Pepper and Happy a couple times, or no-one. But never you.”

The young man stared at his father, chest heaving, eyes burning as he held back tears. Yet Tony said nothing. He couldn’t take his eyes off his son. Lips parted and eyes glistening with unshed tears, he just sat, no words coming out.

“Yeah I’m 18 any yeah it’s a college interview. I graduate in a few weeks, Rhodey’s going. I’ve already been accepted to a couple colleges. Only a few months and I can leave.”

He didn’t give Tony a chance to respond as he risked the bed, laying down and facing the wall as he focused on bringing his breathing back to normal.

Behind him, his father watched on as tears fell down his face, guilt taking over his whole being.

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the night. While his son eventually fell asleep, Tony stayed on the floor, thinking through everything his son told him and looking back over the years.

The following morning, two guard came in and took Tony away.

They brought him back a few hours later, unharmed. The younger Stark watched as Tony worried his bottom lip and fussed with his clothes. He noted the troubled look on his father’s face and it was clear that whatever the kidnappers told him wasn’t good at all.

But he remained silent.

Eventually Tony settled, sitting on the floor again. But the two still didn’t speak for a few more hours.

“I’m sorry,” Tony finally broke through the silence and tense atmosphere of the confined space.

His son remained silent but his eyes moved up to look at him. This was enough of an acknowledgement that he was listening and so Tony continued.

“You might not believe that, but I am. I don’t know why it was so hard or why it was so easy with Peter. I didn’t- It wasn’t intentional, I didn’t even realise.”

The young Stark kept his eyes on his father but his face stayed blank and lips sealed.

“And you know, just because maths and science subjects didn’t come naturally to you doesn’t mean you’re an idiot. I’ve never once thought you were. I know the Stark name has become so tied to them, mechanics, advanced technology and engineering… but it doesn’t mean you’re not…good enough? Because you don’t follow that. I never thought you should have been, it didn’t-didn’t disappoint me or anything. But you were always so talented in arts, you wrote the most amazing stories and a complete natural in the kitchen. Things I’m not so great at. It just made it harder for me to figure out how to connect. I didn’t know where to start.”

A small smile flashed across his face, eyes glazed as he recalled the past.

“Y’know, I loved those stories about the uh, the dragons that live on your shoulder. I’d find drawings and paintings of them all over the house, and it was a big house!”

Across from him, his son’s head raised a little higher, eyebrows subtly furrowing and looked at the soft expression on his father’s face. He had no idea Tony even know about those.

“I should have been there, tried harder. There’s no excuse for that. But I have always cared. You were just so talented in things I didn’t understand. Then I saw how close you and Rhodey became and-“

Tony let out a sigh, looking away from his son.

“You were left with me, an egotistical ass and a- a playboy. I didn’t think I deserved you. You deserved someone better. Someone emotionally available and mature. Someone to help you grow into an amazing person and progress your talents. Someone like Rhodey. He deserved you and you him. He was -and is- better for you. You were loved and supported by him, and then Pepper and Happy, so I – I thought you’d be ok. That you wouldn’t need me.”

Once again it was all quiet in the small room. This time Tony wouldn’t look at his son, but he couldn’t take his eyes off his father.

“I did need you.”

His voice was raspy as he admitted this to not only Tony but himself.

“Rhodey’s the best. I love him. Couldn’t have asked for a better Uncle. But that’s what he is; my Uncle. You were supposed to be my Dad. I shouldn’t have had a father figure when my father was right there. You were so cool, before and after becoming Iron Man. You made everything around you seem like fun. I didn’t understand the tech crap but- I’m an artist. I can, and did, design things. It’s not all on you, I didn’t make it easy.”

“You were a kid, it is on me. But, maybe- When we get out of here I’ll do better. I want to be an active part in your life. I also understand if it’s too late though.”

“It’s not. It’ll take time but, I’d like that. Rhodey might get jealous though.”

A huffed laugh slipped past Tony’s lips as they spread into a smile on his face when his son cracked a grin.

They continued to talk into the night, about school, which colleges and courses, friends and dating. Once they started they couldn’t stop.

It is hard to shut up a Stark.

They were laughing about one of Tony’s stories of his time in MIT with Rhodey when an explosion shook the room.

The men stood up and faced the door as the sounds of fighting and yelling grew nearer. A smirk spread on Tony’s face as he recognised the noises of his teammates.

It wasn’t long before the door was broken down and Captain America stood in it’s place.

“Bout damn time. Did you stop for coffee?”

“Yeah, yeah, tin man. You’re welcome.” Hawkeye quipped as they walked down the halls.

Rhodey broke through to get to his nephew’s side, checking him over and ensuring he was ok.

Tony led the group to the main room. The kidnappers had access to files and tech that would be too dangerous to leave.

As Tony wiped everything, quips flowing between him and his teammates, none of them noticed the man sneak in through another door.

The younger Stark moved before his brain could even process what was happening, placing himself between his father and the gun that was raised to his back.

*bang*

[melon-wing]

The Void [Gren]

[Fanfiction Masterlist]

Ren really enjoyed the company of their newest member on the server. Grian was overall a nice addition. He was so open with all of them and spread fun everywhere he went. Sure, Ren had been on the receiving end of quite a few pranks, but he really didn’t mind that much.

There was a quiet noise and he looked at his communicator, putting his shovel to the side.

Grian fell into the void.

Ren winced. Again? Now that he thought about it… How many times had it been this week? He knew Sahara needed an ungodly amount of Shulkerboxes, but why send Grian, when he was so unlucky?

And not just this week. Since they had cleared the path to the other dimension that same message of Grian dying had come up again and again

The first time he had seen the message pop up on his communicator, he hadn’t been bothered at all. A lot of Hermits had managed to fall into the voids if their Elytra broke, they went out of rockets or just simply lost orientation. Or in the beginning when they needed to bridge over the endless nothingness.

But this? This was getting weird. It was as if Grian fell into it every time he went to the end. And it worried Ren. Falling into the void wasn’t a quick and painless death. It hurt like hell and it took really long.

<Ren> You alright, G-man? Need any help?

It took Grian a while to respond and Ren could just envision it: Grian lying on his back, being still a little out of it from respawning.

<Grian> I’m fine. I just miscalculated the landing.

<Ren> Need some help to get your stuff back? I can help you grind a bit.

Ren waited. The answer took unusually long. it had just been a nice offer since Ren knew how much it sucked, falling into the void and losing everything. Finally, there was a beep and Ren already got up, expecting to be called away to help.

<Grian> It’s fine. I had most of my stuff in my Enderchest already. That was really lucky.

Ren raised an eyebrow at that. Hadn’t Grian also said that to Mumbo a few days ago… Ren was pretty sure he had heard this a couple of times already. Now the question was, did Grian make that up as an excuse so nobody needed to help him or did he really put all his stuff away because he was so prone to dying.

<Ren> Alright! Maybe we should go to the End together next time. Then I can make sure you won’t fall! You really should take part in the buddy system we got going on.

There was no reply this time and Ren sighed. Grian always went to the end alone, declining every offer for help. Heck, even Doc in the middle of their Civil War had offered to accompany Grian when they had run into each other at the End portal.

If Ren ever met Grian at that portal, he swore he would make sure to stick to his side no matter what Grian said.

Weeks passed and Ren grew more and more worried. Sure, Grian was completely normal and healthy, but the constant deaths in the End still kept going, sometimes more often and sometimes few and far in between. And Ren was pretty sure that Grian didn’t even go to the End when there was a long time of him not dying in the void.

They had been getting closer and closer during the season and Ren had seen Grian fly around, easily landing on a tiny block mid air at almost full speed. This wasn’t a person who would miscalculate a landing or run out of rockets at the wrong time. Grian was too graceful for that, too good.

Ren looked at Grian through the flames of the campfire, his flower crown slightly crooked, but a bright smile on his lips. And Ren couldn’t help but smile as well when Grian looked at him, eyes sparkling.

“Well, thanks for this lovely evening Ren”, Grian said, a slight blush on his cheeks as he got up. “We really should do it again soon. But I really need to go now. Sahara needs a ton of Shulkers again and Mumbo and Iskall are busy with the redstone and-”

Grian stopped when Ren suddenly grabbed his hand, keeping him from moving away.

“Don’t.”

“Ren, what…?”

“Don’t go into the End. Or don’t go alone. You can’t… I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’m worried. All this dying can’t be good for your health.”

Grian smiled. A sad smile and he gently tore his hand from Ren’s grasp.

“I’ll be fine. I know what I’m doing.”

“But-”

Grian put a finger against Ren’s lips and Ren could feel the heat rising to his cheeks.

“I promise, I’m alright.”

And as if he had known that Ren would still be too stunned to react he took out his rockets to take off quickly. By the time Ren had snapped out of it Grian was long gone. Damn. How could he let his stupid crush keep him from staying by Grian’s side like he had vowed to do?

Ren quickly jumped up, going to his RV. Of course Grian had kept all his stuff on him already while Ren had to get his Elytra and rockets first. And in which chest had he thrown it again? Damn, he hadn’t paid attention earlier, too nervous from the fact that he had managed to invite Grian over to a fucking dinner date.

It took him way too long. He knew Grian would be gone by the time he arrived. That still didn’t stop him from rushing towards the End portal. When he stepped into the End, the main island was deserted. Well, deserted except for a bunch of enderman.

Ren put his head back slightly, trying to pick up a noise or a scent in the wind. His senses were slightly better than the average human’s and the full moon was close. It was faint, but Ren would recognise that scent everywhere. Grian! He dashed to one of the portals and threw an Enderpearl inside to get whisked miles and miles away.

He searched everywhere. Endcity after Endcity. Sometimes he picked up Grian’s scent, but it got less strong by the minute. Ren was falling further and further behind. And then, when he hit the next Endcity he lost the trail altogether. Damn it! He had wanted to protect Grian. He wanted to be there for him.

With a sigh Ren let his head hang low and trotted back out of the building to look for one of the Endportals. It took him a while, but then he was standing on the Main Island again. And a familiar scent hit him full force. Grian! Ren jumped up the stairs leading to the main area and then he stopped. There was Grian, kneeling in front of the portal leading home, not wearing any of his equipment, an Enderchest standing next to him.

Ren stepped closer, quietly until he was behind Grian.

“Grian… Are you-”

Grian’s head whipped around fast and Ren gasped. There were trails of tears on Grian’s face and he looked so small and scared.

“R-Ren. I didn’t think you’d- I thought you were… Why are you here?”

“I was worried.”

Grian smiled, if only a little and then got to his feet.

“I’m… I was just…”, Grian seemed to search for the right thing to say, his eyes slowly traveling slightly to the left and Ren already knew then. He was able to read Grian by now. Whatever left his mouth next was a lie. “I sprained my ankle a bit when I missed the portal. I hit the ground too hard. I’m… It’s a bit better now. Why don’t you go ahead and jump in and I’ll be right there behind you, yes?”

“No worries. We can jump in together. I can carry you.” He’d believe that lie if it meant he would be able to get Grian to the overworld again safely.

“I…” Grian’s hands were shaking as he spoke, his eyes darting to the portal, a haunted expression on his face and that’s when it hit Ren. For whatever reason Grian was scared. Scared of…

“You never once jumped into this portal, did you? You jump into the void on purpose to get back to your spawn point.”

Grian flinched and Ren knew he’d found the answer. This was the reason Grian died so often in the End. It was his way home.

“Why, Grian? Why are you so scared of going in there? We all do it. It doesn’t hurt. It’s safe. It’s-”

“I don’t want to leave.”

Ren knitted his eyebrows in confusion at the statement. It seemed so random.

“I don’t want you to leave either, but the portal will just transport you home.”

Grian shook his head and tears welled up in his eyes again, he was holding himself now, his whole posture seeming so small and uncertain, so unlike the confident and cheerful Grian that Ren had fallen for.

“The- The last time... I jumped into it before. They took me.”

“They?”

“The Watchers…” Grian’s voice was barely above a whisper but he sounded so scared as if saying the word too loud might call the ones he was talking about.

“Watchers? But they are nothing but an Urban Legend. A myth. They’re not…”

Grian sobbed and Ren stopped talking. Something changed in the air between them. A red haze surrounded Grian and suddenly his eyes were glowing golden and black wings appeared on his back. And on Grian’s arms glowing markings appeared, lots and lots of drawings of open eyes, all seemingly staring at him. Ren gasped and stumbled back a few steps, which in turn made a grim smile appear on Grian’s face.

“I look like a monster, I know. When I jumped into the portal I lost everything. They turned me into this. What if they take me again? I don’t want to leave this world. I don’t want to lose everyone. And I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you. Not you. And now you know I’m a monster and everything will be different and you’ll leave me and-”

Ren rushed forward, his arms moving around Grian, careful not to disturb his wings, pressing him close to his chest.

“I’m here. I won’t leave. Ever. I love you.”

The shaking stopped and Grian raised his head slightly, looking at Ren. And while his eyes might be glowing golden, Ren could still see the emotion in there. Hope.

“You do?”

“Yes. And no matter what, I’ll protect you. I don’t know what happened in your last world, but Xisuma’s magic is strong. He has made sure nobody and nothing can get into our world. You’re safe here.”

“Are you sure…?”

Ren nodded and then stepped up to the portal, guiding Grian to go with him, both of them standing on the edge.

“I won’t force you to jump in, but we can do it together.”

“Yes, please.”

Grian’s hand was shaking and Ren pressed it reassuringly as he took the last step needed, pulling Grian along with him.

He felt the magic of the portal wash over him and then the hand in his was gone as he landed on his soft bed in the RV. Respawn points. Fuck. Of course he wouldn’t stay with Grian. They hadn’t set the same respawn point.

Ren jumped up and ran out of his RV, hurrying to get to Grian, praying that he was still there. Just as he was about to kick in the door of Grian’s RV it opened and Grian stood there, back to his normal self, wide bright blue eyes looking at Ren.

Both of them just stared at each other for a second and then Ren pulled Grian into a hug once more, holding onto him as if he never wanted to let go.

“Thanks, Ren…”, Grian muttered into his shoulder and then turned his head slightly to be able to look at Ren. “I love you too.”

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

2, 15, and 94 with LoSleep?

2. Royal AU || 15. Criminal AU || 94. Hair Brushing/Braiding

~

anon i hope you know this is like the Perfect set up for a rapunzel AU. maybe you did. maybe you did this on purpose. regardless... tangled AU

imma go with remy being the lost princess, and logan the dashing thief, because while my instinct is to go the other way around i like Switching It Up on y'all

remy's bigender, using male pronouns but female titles/referrals. he figured this out solely because he preferred the way the male pronouns sounded, while also liking being a princess a good deal more than being a prince. he doesn't mention this to mother gothel tho. i mention this mostly so none of y'all get confused as i go sdkjhncfjsd

logan's transmale, and his struggles as a poor trans kid are what made him go Fuck Society Actually. he targets the crown especially bc the king and queen can stand to lose their gold

he doesn't stumble upon the tower after being chased for the crown, however; he's just looking for a place to hide in general. he's just made off with a good sack of gold, and he wants to stash it for a bit, let the heat die down, before he tries to buy anything with it

and that's how he finds the hidden clearing, with the surprisingly intact, singular tower dead center

he, of course, goes to investigate, and ends up nearly getting run through with a broomstick, which he feels would be a pretty bad way to go

but that's not entirely horrible, because the person dangerously weilding the cleaning implement is a bit absolutely stunning

he says as such and almost gets a broom through a lung, because apparently this tower dweller thinks he's a threat and is also insulting them

after a... lot of talking, and logan wisely easing up on the complimenting thing (for now...), they get things figured out. the tower dweller is remy, and he's waiting for his mother to return from a store run or smth. logan has to be gone before mother is back, or logan will be in trouble

aside from the fact logan doesn't really want to leave remy just in General, he has some doubts about 'mother'. like why she was raising her kid... here. in the middle of the woods. in a hidden clearing. in a high tower. with no clear way in or out (logan had to scale the thing, and it doesn't look like remy's used to that method of entrance). and the best defense weapon on hand being a broom

so when remy faux-indifferently asks logan what the moving lights are ("i know they're not stars... please don't tell me they're stars..."), logan jumps at the chance to invite remy to see them- it'll only be a day, mother wont mind that long, right? logan can keep remy safe from his every fear of that real world, and remy'll get to see the lights, and everyone will be happy

remy's hesitant, but it's clear he wants to go. it doesn't take that much prodding to convince him to leave mother a Very vague note about being back soon and being safe, to go with logan

that's when logan learns about remy's hair. he hadn't noticed before, the dirty blond hair on the floor not having caught his attention, but he certainly notices it when remy's jumping out the window, cascading down the way by hanging on to all... goodness knows how many yards of it

if he wasn't already suspicious there was something off about this whole situation, the hair that was Way longer than it should be- and way stronger to boot- tipped him off pretty seriously

and as their trip goes on? logan's only adding to the list of Sus, including (but oh so not limited to)

the clear fact remy's Never left the small, sheltered clearing (which in my version is still within the forest, no overhead open sky) to the extent seeing the sun has him doubling over and clutching his eyes like they burn

after making do with some cloth wrapped over remy's eyes for a bit, logan gets him some sunglasses and remy doesnt know what they are at first

remy has too much fucking anxiety in his him- he hides from a passing person faster than logan, the known and wanted criminal

and it's clear he's not just avoiding social interaction- he loves talking to logan, and he's plenty social and alive and everything then- but he just seems to have some fear against. well. the world

remy is also... oddly clingy to logan. like. wayyyy too much so. maybe logan could blame it on remy not knowing enough about the outside world, but it seems... more than that. as if just bc remy's decided to trust logan on this, logan's the end-all be-all of trust or smth. logan's not exactly how to put it to words but. it's wrong

overall, remy has a very Vibrant personality. he's confident, strong, unwilling to just be led around and nothing like a damsel in distress. but it seems much too... surface level. like if logan pushed too hard, it would all crumble, to reveal something- someone- who's not sure about anything and who's terrified because of it

making their way to the center of the kingdom makes it all the more clear to logan that Something is wrong with remy, and that there is no way he can ever go back to that tower

because logan's an orphan kid, he's seen his fair share of foster homes, of some of the kids who come back from them

he knows what child abuse victims look like

that's not all logan's learning about remy on the way to the kingdom, however. he's also learning about his favorite story, how much he's thought about the moving lights, how the world looks so different from the ground. logan's learning how remy's genuine smiles are much prettier than the faux one he wears a lot, how his laughs are rare but perfect, how incredible he is between the poorly concealed fear and hurt

logan's a thief and a cynic, someone's who had long written off most of the supposed good in the world, much too used to an orphaned childhood, growing up in poverty, misgendering, pain

something about remy makes him reconsider some of his more pessimistic beliefs

they reach the kingdom at midday, but remy stops them before they can actually go in. even with the sunglasses, logan can see the blinding fear in his eyes at the sight of civilization, of all those people. he grips his hair, takes a half step back, looking about ready to call it all off and run all the way back 'home'

logan grabs remy's hand. the grip is light, easily escaped, but remy doesnt, just looks at logan, trying to school his expression into one of cool neutrality instead of fear

"i can braid your hair." logan says, holding remy's gaze as he speaks. "so no one steps on it while we go to see the moving lights."

logan knows that's not the main thing stopping remy from entering the kingdom. it's an excuse, just for him. because it's easier to be worried about your hair being stepped on then to admit just being Afraid, right?

"I will not let it come undone" logan adds, lightly squeezing remy's hand. i will not let you get hurt

it's a long minute before remy agrees, but he does agree

they sit on the floor of the forest, just outside the kingdom, logan's deft fingers making quick work of the tangles that have developed in remy's hair over the course of the trip, the thief carefully watching the way remy's stiff as wood at first, trying not to react to logan's work on his hair, but slowly relaxes, leaning back a bit, tilting into logan's touch each time it comes back to remy's head

it takes a while, but soon enough, remy's hair is mostly restrained in a braid that's held together at key points by flower stems, leaving remy's hair decorated with wildflowers to boot

remy loves it. logan's starting to think he loves something too, but he's less willing to admit it

spending the rest of the day in the town is surprisingly wonderful- remy keeps close to logan, but he manages to talk to some people at times, and when they find the library he seems just about ready to die happy in there

logan stays close to him the entire time, usually holding his hand. he's never loved being around people more

it's getting close to the time for the lanterns to be released when logan realizes who remy is

the tower girl makes a comment about how familiar the lost princess's mural is. logan glances between it and remy, between the uniquely red-tinted brown eyes, the bright baby hair that could've easily turned dirty blond, the story of a dying queen and a magical flower springing to mind

remy is the lost princess. and as loathe as the thought of letting him go is, logan knows remy's the one treasure the thief can't have

so logan promises to himself, after they see the lanterns, he'll explain. he'll bring the princess to the king and queen, and hope he doesn't get arrested in the process. he'll set things right, and then he'll leave

because the thief doesn't get the girl anywhere other than fairytales

they still share an absolutely magical moment out on the water though. the way remy's eyes light up seeing the lanterns rise into the sky, sunglasses off in the dark evening, awe-struck... and when logan reveals the lanterns he snagged at one point, that they two of them can send up- logic help him, logan's not sure how much longer he can go on denying the truth

they don't kiss, don't even get close, bc logan's too busy trying to deny the truth and remy's still got a million trust issues

but remy's hand is slotted in logan's nearly the entire time, and they release their lanterns at the same time, and they hold each other's gazes a few times too long, and that seems pretty damn close to Something for them

they head back to the kingdom land before the other boats. logan knows remy will prefer to hear what he says without too many people around them, and if logan's being honest with himself? he's running away. he's running away from this closeness before it can get him (it's already gotten him, but he's always been so good at lying)

then logan gets shot :D

bc mother gothel found that note and she didnt like it!! she was after remy as soon as she saw it, and now she's caught up, and she's not letting anyone keep remy from her

she comes totting a crossbow that she levels on remy the moment she sees him. demanding he come home, saying the world is too dangerous for him to be out and about, pretending the crossbow is for logan instead, that he's a threat, can't remy see he needs to come home with her? where it's safe?

remy doesn't move. mother is supposed to be safety, right? he should go with her

...he doesn't want to leave logan

things escalate. logan says he'll never let gothel have remy again. remy doesn't react to this, but he doesn't step closer to gothel either. her frustration builds. the trigger gets pulled

it's unclear who she meant to hit but logan's the one who takes the arrow through his chest, barely even thinking as he made sure he was between remy and the projectile

by then, the townspeople have begun returning to the town, so there are people to grab gothel, ensure she doesn't attack further. someone runs for the king and queen, because one soldier recognizes gothel, as long ago as it's been since she was last seen and known and Wanted by the rulers, wanted for taking their baby

people try to approach logan, to help, but remy curls around him, refusing to let anyone near, not trusting them, refusing to lose the one person left in this world he cares about

remy's hair has fallen out of its braid, falling around himself and on top of logan, whose head remy is carefully supporting in his hands. logan's trying to convince remy it's okay, everything will be okay, that as long as remy is okay it'll be okay, but remy's really not buying it, not when logan's blood is staining his shirt and hair and his voice is getting weaker and weaker and weaker

"it's okay" logan tries to promise, even though remy can barely hear him over the gurgle of blood in the back of his throat

"how can it be okay? you're dying"

"...and you're safe" logan replies, just barely, wasting the last of his strength to reach up, cupping remy's cheek, holding his face like he was the most important thing in the world, "you're safe. and i love you"

logan's eyes slip closed after that, and they don't seem to be opening again soon

remy could do a lot of things now. scream, cry, breakdown. he's already pretty close to doing a lot of them

but instead, he sings. he sings the song mother gothel always made him, the one that could deage. he doesn't know what it will do. but he hopes against hope it'll do Something. that it will save logan Somehow

and before the eyes of the town, before the eyes of the king and queen just fetched from their castle, they watch as remy's hair glows with magic not seen in nearly two decades

it's dangerous for remy. gothel had always taught that. people would do Anything to take his hair if they knew. but he doesn't care right then. all that mattered was logan. nothing else

he doesn't even realize what he's managed to do until logan's gently shaking him, telling him he can stop singing, it's okay, for real now, he's okay, they're okay

and you know how it goes from there... the king and queen reveal that Yep Remy You're Our Daughter, logan is accepted by the family bc Took A Hit For Remy Our Daughter, remy and logan continue to have their own issues due to Childhood Abuse but with each other, and their love, they get better... and they get to live happily ever after

[raindropsduringthesunset]

Forests and Fae (That Fateful Day) (TSS Fae AU)

Ao3 ~~~ Wattpad

First Part, Last Part, Next Part

Characters: Virgil, Janus, Patton, Remus, Roman, Logan, Original background character(s) (mentioned)

Relationships: LAMPDR (Platonic), Eventual LAMPDR (Romantic)

TW: neglect, mention of implied non-consensual kissing, blood, non-consensual touching (non-sexual),

CW: cursing, panic, Janus (sympathetic), Remus (sympathetic, Patton (sympathetic), nose bleeds, injury, dehumanization of a nonhuman (it/it's)

Enjoy!

~~~

The world is such a strange place.; strange and violent- at least from Virgil’s experience. He wasn’t mad about it honestly. At least He couldn’t say he was surprised. After all, being born in a small town filled to just melt into the touch and let it consume him. He honestly had every reason to; nothing was stopping him from just accepting his fate in this moment. Well, nothing except the boiling anxiety that was making his stomach tumble in somersaults every second he stood still.

Virgil was always under fire from something for something. His hair was always too long, his face always dusty, and his clothes were always dirty, his eyes were weird. He found that he couldn’t really complain- most of the town didn’t really have much going for them so they needed something to pick on. It’s also not every day you meet someone with purple eyes.

Magic of course wasn’t unheard of either. Gods know that mortals tend to blame everything that inconveniences or scares them on magic. It was raining when you had to walk to work? Magic. The room was a little darker than you remember it being last? Magic. Someone’s eyes are purple? Magic.

Virgil couldn’t say he was surprised once he realized that the town was very very against magic use- despite it being awfully convenient from what he’d read in spare newspapers that would be left by teens visiting from the next town over.

Man Miraculously Healed By Local Sorcerer Physician, read a headline. Wizard Scholars Put Out Fire At Museum, another had said.

Sometimes though he understood. Headlines of warlocks starting fires and enchanters cursing whole bloodlines and getting arrested made him understand.

What he didn’t understand was why he was feared. He didn't practice magic. He wasn't born with magic. His eyes were just purple because they were like that. He couldn't change that.

Okay maybe he felt like he was over exaggerating their distaste for him, at least at first, but the nail in the coffin for the town was when one of the boys happened to think he was hot, and happened to kiss him in the middle of the street, and happened to use the excuse that he was enchanted by Virgil as to not get kicked out. Word spreads quickly in small spaces, the incident quickly making Virgil the talk of the town.

Cursed they had called him. Disgusting, Corrupting, Evil. Virgil had to go. Half the town was out for his head and he was not about to become a statistic.

Not a week after the incident Virgil had decided. Not even bothering to pack, Virgil ran for it and never looked back.

Timeskip

Branches and thorn bushes scratched at his legs as he ran through the forest, his heart pounding in his ears. His feet hurt from the pebbles and stickers poking roughly at his soles, but he couldn’t slow down and risk getting caught. He really didn’t want to learn what the town did to runaways.

A twig snapped loudly under his feet making him stumble forward. Despite hoping he wouldn’t trip, he ended up falling face first into a pile of twigs and pebbles. Virgil groaned and pushed himself up, wiping the blood that was now dripping from his nose.

Panting heavily, he turned and looked back between the trees. No one. Good. Virgil let out a shaky breath and leaned over on his knees, waiting for his nose to stop bleeding. The ground was hard and rocky, leaving small dents in his knees and his hands.

A small crack to his left caught his attention, his eyes snapping to a tall figure halfway hidden behind a tree. Oh fuck. Cringing slightly at the taste of copper, Virgil pushed himself up and onto his feet. He glanced around, wanting to kick himself when he noticed the small border of mushrooms and flowers behind him.

“Well, well, well,” The figure sneered, sounding closer than it appeared, “What business does a mortal have doing in my forest?” Virgil was frozen in place, his knees locking. The figure finally stepped into the light.

Long, straight black hair flowed down to the person's waist and seemed to glimmer from the sunlight. It wore a long golden cloak over a warlock cloak. What really caught Virgil's eye was the person's face which was plated with shimmering scales on one side, it's eyes glimmering golden with it's pupils sharpened.

Wait. The eyes. Oh. Oh fuck this was a fucking fae.

As if that wasn't already obvious from the whole… thing the fae has going on.

Virgil gulped as his hands began to shake. He decidedly ignored the overshadowing fact that he also seemed to think the fae was very attractive. But of course he did- fae and their fucking rules and fancy flair making Virgil swoon for no reason.

“Are you lost, little one?” The fae strode closer, it’s cloak drifting gently above the grass, avoiding getting snagged on scattered twigs. It felt like thorny invisible vines had tied their way around Virgil’s ankles.

He had run right into a hunters trap.

His eyes shot around, looking for the fastest way out. He paused, breath hitching while looking at a nearby tree. Moss had grown only around the bottom of the tree, wrapped firmly all the way around like a ring. No sense of direction. He was in a fae garden- very deep in a fae garden may he add. Just wonderful. This was by far the worst situation he had ever gotten himself into.

Blood dripped down his lip and onto his shirt, the taste invading his mouth and probably dying his teeth red. The fae frowned slightly at the blood, raising an eyebrow and glancing down at the stones below Virgil.

“You fell.” Yeah, that's fucking obvious. The faery smirked, sending a sharp shiver down Virgil's spine.

“You’re remarkably snarky for the predicament you're in darling.” Virgil blushed, though he couldn't tell if it was from the embarrassment from his lack of filter or the pet name.

“You look awfully red, do you like when I call you darling?” It moved closer, “Would you like me to clean your face for you, darling?” Virgil could've sworn the word was enchanted. He found himself leaning toward the fae, the realization of his own movement causing him to flinch back, stumbling slightly. The fae pursed it’s lips, furrowing it’s brow before gliding forward and gently taking Virgil’s head in his hands.

“Oh little one,” the fae wiped away the blood from Virgil’s face, “you must relax.” Virgil stood frozen in front of the fae. He wanted to run, he wanted to kick and fight and scream and just get away. Fear- and maybe something else in the raging dumpster fire of emotions he was feeling- shot through every nerve in his body. Blush rushed up his neck, coloring him pink from his shoulders to the tips of his ears. A cough from a few feet away caught the two’s attention, making the fae’s head snap to the side.

“What’ve you got here J?” A voice perked up, a series of steps quickly following as Virgil stood helpless still in the fae’s grasp. The fae- apparently named J- sighed and rolled his eyes before reluctantly passing Virgil to the other.

“I was having my fun Pat, why did you have to come?”

“I felt something in the bond; do you expect me to just ignore when you find something interesting?” The new fae joked, walking in front of Virgil and gently holding his chin.

God, the fae was so warm. It felt like a hot evening cider had seeped it’s way into Virgil’s bones, warming him oh so gently and leaving the intoxicatingly sweet taste of comfort on his tongue. He was so tempted to just melt into the touch and let it consume him. He honestly had every reason to; nothing was stopping him from just accepting his fate in this moment. Well, nothing except the boiling anxiety that was making his stomach tumble in somersaults every second he stood still.

“Oh aren’t you just the sweetest thing, I ought to be offended that J didn’t tell us about you sooner. Us? Virgil pushed away the thought in favor of trying to assess the situation- again.

The fae holding him, Pat, had coily blonde hair, it’s- their, Virgil couldn’t pretend these fae weren’t as serious as they were anymore- skin a warm shade of brown with a seemingly constant red-ish blush across their cheeks. Virgil would say it was makeup if it weren’t so hard to get it around these parts- then again these were fae. It’s eyes shone with a beautiful light blue and just a shimmer of gold around the iris. Several freckles dotted across Pat’s face, giving them a more gentle appearance, only adding onto the comfort that they seemed to radiate from them. They wore more casual clothing than J did, simply a sweater with various plant life sewn onto it and a pair of slacks.

Everything about them seemed to draw Virgil in, making him lean slightly toward Pat with a dazed expression before his brain seemed to snap back into place and start working again. Pat frowned slightly at the sight of Virgil’s swollen nose and used their other hand to oh so gently swipe a finger from Virgil’s forehead to the tip of his nose repeatedly, making him feel like he was floating.

“What happened to you, dear? Are you alright?” Pat asked in a loving, parental tone.

“He fell, look down, ya' numb-nut.” A new voice said, gravel very quickly cracking under what was probably very heavy boots.

A pair of bright emerald and- you guessed it- golden eyes bore into Virgil’s as a fae with an extravagant dark cloak and black princely suit with fine sparkling green trims stood beside him. Their hair was a brown, raggedy mess, their face surprisingly dirty despite their formal appearance. What managed to really throw Virgil off was the large handlebar mustache that seemed to be plastered onto the fae’s face. He… Supposed it didn't make the less attractive- wait fuck no stop dude what the fuck.

“Duke, please step away from the mortal, they're already overwhelmed,” J said, making Virgil realize that he, in fact, was breathing pretty fast. Pat hushed him and put their hands on his cheeks and ghosted their thumbs over his cheekbones. J rolled their eyes from a few feet away.

“I can never have my fun without you two interrupting,” J huffed, a humorous smirk crossing their lips.

“Oh, don't go acting like the Duke now, you've had your fun and it's our turn.” Pat said, earning a quiet ‘hey!’ from the Duke. Virgil glanced to the side and back to where the Duke was only to find him no longer there. Confusion and panic invaded his system only for a pair of arms to tightly wrap themselves around his waist.

“He’s so small!” Duke shrieked, making Virgil flinch.

“Quiet down Duke, you’re going to scare him.” Pat’s expression softened as they tapped the tips of their fingers against Virgil’s cheek.

“Oh, I hate to say, but he’s already…” J looked him up and down, “terrified.” Gods, Virgil hated that they were right. Pat looked between J and Virgil for a few seconds before slowly letting go of his face. Virgil might have appreciated it more if the Duke wasn’t holding him hostage.

The blood under his skin felt like it was boiling- but somehow in a good way. The touch both made him want to scream and want to curl in closer. The feeling of the Duke’s fingertips tapping along his stomach as they spoke to the other two that were there made him feel like he was on fire. He couldn't put the fire out, he was going up in flames and burning down.

“Duke, let go of him, he needs a break,” Pat said, looking worriedly at Virgil. The Duke looked hurt for a moment before looking at Virgil's face and slowly uncurling their arms from around him with a small huff, causing Virgil to stumble forward a little. He felt like he could breathe again, his body finally stopped feeling like a fire pit. His skin still crackled with adrenaline, Virgil holding himself back from scratching at it.

“I do believe it's my turn.” Another new voice added. Gods, how many are there?

“Prince, didn’t I just say that he was overwhelmed?”

“Oh hush, as if he wasn’t just holding him,” The Prince tilted their head to the Duke. Pat pursed their lips and gave them a look. The Prince rolled their red-tinted eyes and huffed dramatically, playing with his cloak. Virgil realized the Prince looked just like the Duke but inverted- maybe they were twins or something, he didn’t really have the mental energy to deal with the semantics of that though.

“Gods, you’re just fun fun police today aren’t you?”

Virgil felt like a spectator, standing still and watching the two argue playfully. Argue over him. This was weird. Everything here was weird, it was bright, it was loud. He could feel the forest’s energy thrumming under his skin. His heart beat rapidly, his breath speeding up.

“Hey, little one, take a breath for me, yes?” A new fae that seemingly suddenly appeared in front of Virgil said, reaching for his hand before hesitating and retracting their touch. Virgil took in a shaky breath and let it out in a rush, hearing a small coo from a few feet away that was followed by fierce whispering from what he thought might be one of the twins. He repeated the process a few more times until his breathing seemed to regulate.

“Good, good, can I touch you little one?” The fae reached their hand out again. This time Virgil reached out himself and took it, earning a small nod from the fae.

“I’m L, you’re safe little one, we have you,” L looked back at the others, “I apologize for the others being so… insistent. They don’t do boundaries well.”

“He started it!” The twins called out as one, pointing to J who rolled his eyes.

“Do as I say, not as I do.” He said as if he’d repeated it a million times- and maybe he has.

Virgil redirected his attention to the fae in front of him. L and J looked similar, L shockingly looking more formal. They had a flowing tailcoat of black with dark blue accents, a very well tailored black suit. They were sun tanned but seemed to share the same pale complexion as Virgil- if you ignored the literal star shaped moles that were sparingly scattered around their body. Virgil would be concerned if the fae weren’t, ya’ know, immortal.

“Dear, why is the mortal injured?” L asked J who just rolled his eyes and pointed down. L spared a glance and nodded before swiping his thumb against Virgil’s hand.

Virgil gulped and glanced around, counting the fae. Oh yeah, he was royally fucked. He was pretty sure he was going to die. It was fine, everything was fine. This was fine. He had to admit that he couldn’t really be mad. Hey, if his last sight was a beautiful fae, he was not going to complain.

“I can feel you lying to yourself,” J said, stepping forward, “What is going on in that pretty head of yours?” L took a step to the side to let J cup Virgil’s chin, making him shudder. Virgil turned his head slightly and let out a cough, his palm feeling sweaty in L’s hand.

“I, uh, fuck,” He sputtered out. The fae let out a chorus of laughter. His blush deepened as he reached a hand up to cover his face.

“Oh beauty, that was precious.”

“Watch your language sweetheart.”

“That was adorable, I could just die.”

“You can’t die Duke-”

“Figure of speech L.”

“Darling,” Virgil peeked through his fingers, “why are you so tense?” J gently moved his hand, smirking slightly when they saw how deep his blush was.

“I-” Virgil’s words got caught on his tongue. He panicked and glanced around, his eyes jumping from fae to fae. “I uh, express extreme regret for entering your territory without thinking.” L chimed with light laughter, giving a small smile that made something well up in Virgil’s chest.

“Oh you are very smart, well done little one.” They praised, squeezing his hand before letting go and walking to talk quietly to Pat.

Gods this was so fucking weird. Of all places Virgil could have stumbled into- a coven, a ritual, a prayer circle, maybe just some kids messing around- this was probably one of the worst scenarios. He supposed it could be worse; at least these fae seemed keen to not terrify him or want to eat him alive… at least so far. He wondered what he’d owe the fae after this.

Stumbling into their forest like a bumbling idiot, snark one of them- clearly the more powerful one as well-, comfort that in all honesty he knew he didn’t deserve. Oh yeah, Virgil was a dead man for sure. He’d have to give them his soul and then some. This was an absolute disaster.

“You can say that again.” The Duke said with a loud cackle, making Virgil jump and stumble back a little bit. J grabbed his arm and stopped him from falling, carefully setting him back on his feet.

“What part of this is a disaster kiddo?” Pat asked, casually taking L’s hand and sending him a quick nod. Virgil glanced around and took a shaky breath.

“What do I owe you?” He started, looking down at the floor and stepping away from J’s touch. “I… I don’t have much, I don’t know what I owe you or what you count as a favor but,” he sighed, “I’m bound to owe you something, yeah?”

The forest was suddenly quiet, still thrumming with faint energy. The five fae looked around at each other, having a silent conversation. The twins looked at each other, then at Virgil, and back at each other, and nodded in unison. Pat nodded, then L, then J.

Virgil blinked at the five, confusion clear on his face as he tried to figure out what the hell they were agreeing on- if anything. Were they figuring out what to charge him? Whether or not to kill him? At this point, Virgil thought that might be a better option. He didn’t have anything to give really, so why would they keep him alive after he had taken so much. He was in debt and couldn’t pay it back.

“If you’re going to kill me, please just make it quick.” Eyes snapped to look at Virgil, making him squirm under the attention. Pat’s expression softened, J and him locking eyes before J stepped to the side and let Pat walk up.

“Actually kiddo, we were thinking of just… keeping you,” Pat said, “If you would like to stay of course. We don’t really like the idea of taking anything from you. Plus you don’t really look… prepared.”

What. What? WHAT? Why would they- what are they- what? Words and questions spun through Virgil’s head, leaving him dizzy and disoriented- well, he was already disoriented by the forest but that was hardly the point.

“But- why? I haven’t done anything, why would you-” He paused, licking his lips nervously, “Why would you want me? Is this some sort of joke? I’m- I’ll guess I’d be a servant or something but- why not just kill me? Aren’t souls like- super valuable?”

The fae looked… horrified? Virgil really couldn’t tell anymore. He was tired, okay? Pat took a few more steps closer and took Virgil’s head in his hands. Virgil’s heart sped up and he just couldn’t help but want to melt into the touch.

“Kiddo I-” he cut himself off, “I understand why you may be… distrustful of us. We aren’t- fae don’t really have the best reputation and…” Pat’s words got stuck on his tongue. He looked back at and sent a quick pleading stare. L blinked at the two for a moment before sighing under his breath.

“We understand if you do not wish to stay with us. From what we have discussed, we are fully willing to let you leave with, ahem, no strings attached.” L looked to the Prince, his face twitching up when the Prince nodded.

What? What?

What even was Virgil’s luck at this point? These fae were so fucking weird. Virgil blinked blankly at the chorus of fae in front of him, still processing what he just heard. The Duke chuckled gently and quickly walked up to Virgil, pushing Pat out of the way. He ruffled Virgil’s hair and squished his face, smiling when he felt how warm Virgil was to the touch. A shiver went down Virgil’s spine at the sight of his slightly sharpened teeth.

Is it worth it?

I have nothing to lose.

So why are you so scared?

… I don’t know.

So? The universe is your guide, right?

As if the universe has been anything less than harsh.

Have they given you a reason not to trust them?

… No. But gods I wish I could. It feels like the universe is throwing every stone at me and I can’t escape it. I want to trust them but it’s just so hard to when everything- every odd is pinned against me.

Karma comes back to help in times of need. Why not take a chance? Just this once?

This is a big chance to take so blindly.

You said it yourself, you have nothing to lose.

“I… sure?” Words tumbled out of Virgil’s mouth, regret crossing his face for a moment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The Duke let go of Virgil’s face and walked a few steps away. Here goes nothing.

“I can’t promise I’ll be anything… special for you but,” he opened his eyes and looked up, “I’ll try to repay you.”

“Oh little one,” J, suddenly in front of him, gently dragged the back of his hand against Virgil’s cheek and took his chin between his pointer and thumb, “You owe us nothing.” The moment seemed frozen in time. Virgil felt something warm well up in his chest, spreading through his entire body.

“What can we call you, little one?” J asked, gently staring at him with his magic-filled eyes. Okay, so Virgil was dumb, but he wasn’t that dumb. He also didn’t have a death wish so:

“You can call me V.”

The fae smiled at him, looking between each other. A silent phrase was passed in the air.

This will be an interesting journey.

[fenrys-moonbeam-lochan]

A little fear shared among friends

Summary: Lorcan is a father of five. Rowan is scared of having children.

Ao3

Part of my ToG Comfortember 2020

tw: Rowan has a mild panic attack. I’m not sure it can be called that but I decided to put it here just in case. 

XXX

When Rowan chugged down his third drink of the night, he even had Lorcan giving him worried looks.

"Whitethorn," said his former commander, "You alright over there?"

"I'm drinking," he grumbled at Lorcan

"Leave him alone Lochan," said Fenrys from beside Rowan "He's been pissy all day. I think he had a fight with Aelin,"

"Huh," said Lorcan, eyeing Rowan as he filled his cup again, "Maybe you should go home,"

Rowan glared at him from across the table.

"I can hold more than this, you know,"

"Oh trust me, I know," said Lorcan, still on his first drink, "But usually not this fast and you don't want to go back to the Queen drunk if you did have a fight,"

Rowan slammed down his cup.

"You know," he told Lorcan, "Sometimes I miss the times when you were a brooding asshole that destroyed himself and let others destroy themselves through drinking and wallowing,"

"Well," answered Lorcan, voice filled with sarcasm, "I am so very sorry that my emotional growth is a hindrance to your pity drinking. Truly, Your Majesty, I apologize from the bottom of my cold dead heart,"

Fenrys burst into laughter while Rowan glared at Lorcan. A lesser male would have been cowed. As it was, Lorcan stared right back as he took a long sip from his cup of ale. A cup, that Rowan noticed, was still half full.

"I would like to know," said Fenrys, once he got his laughter under control, "Why aren't you getting drunk? I at least have the excuse of having to leave for Doranelle early in the morning. What's yours?"

Lorcan smiled, "I don't want to go back to my rooms drunk. Elide and the children are here with me,"

Rowan flinched as the older male mentioned children. Fenrys did not seem to notice as he exclaimed about not knowing the other Lochans and Salvaterres were there.

"I'll have to see them before going to sleep," said Fenrys, "I had no idea you brought them with you this time,"

While Lorcan was obviously nodding along to Fenrys, Rowan could also feel his eyes on him. Unlike Fenrys, he had most likely noticed Rowan's movement from where he was sitting. He could only hope Lorcan would leave it alone.

"Well," said Fenrys, as he finished his cup, "I should go now. The travelling party wants to leave as early as possible and I don't want to be tired in the morning,"

After a quick goodbye, Fenrys left and their drinking party of three turned into two.

"So," said Lorcan, "Children, huh?"

Rowan finched again. He couldn't help it.

"What is it about the mention of children that's making you react like that?" asked Lorcan, looking over him quizzically, "If Elide's word is to be believed, you two were merely waiting to have children. You both still want them, don't you?"

"Yes," said Rowan, barely above a whisper.

"What's the problem then?"

Unbidden, the memory of the dark vision came to him. His children and his mate being swept away from him. The darkness swallowing them whole. Not being able to save them, just watching them disappear. They had been so beautiful and he could imagine it happening in reality. One wrong move, one wrong decision and a precious life could-

Leave.

Rowan

Be gone.

Rowan

"Rowan!"

He shook himself out of his reverie to find that Lorcan had moved beside him, his hand hovering just over Rowan's shoulder.

"Are you back with me?" asked Lorcan, looking at him critically

Rowan nodded jerkily.

After another moment, Lorcan gently placed his hand on Rowan's shoulder. Rowan stiffened at first but hen relaxed at the contact, allowing the other male to ground him.

"Rowan?" asked Lorcan, "What in Hel just happened?"

Rowan sighed, "It's complicated,"

How was he supposed to explain it to Lorcan? to anyone?

However, then another set of images flitted through Rowan's mind. Lorcan holding his son Zirrek for the first time, crying in a way Rowan had never seen before. Lorcan holding his daughter Salva a year later, just as enchanted. Lorcan absolutely terrified as his children grew, thinking he would do something wrong. Lorcan coming to him, saying that he was thinking of bringing up adoption to Elide. Specifically, the adoption of three abused demi-fae siblings between the ages of nine and thirteen who would later take the name Salvaterre. Lorcan wondering over and over again, if he was doing right by his children, biological and adopted.

Lorcan just a few months ago during the holidays, three years after the adoption, surrounded by all his children and smiling the brightest smile he was capable of.

If anyone was going to understand his fears it would be Lorcan.

"I'm- well," he tried, "I'm-"

He cut himself off with a shuddering breath but Lorcan only watched him, wearing a patient expression quite like the one Rowan had worn when the older male had gone on a panicked tangent a week before Zirrek's birth. It was odd to be on the receiving end of it.

After a few moments, Rowan tried again.

"I'm- I guess," he said, "I guess I'm afraid,"

"Understandable," murmured Lorcan

Rowan sighed. Lorcan kept watching, hand still in place.

"Do you remember those dark visions we saw?"

Lorcan stiffened and then visibly forced himself to relax.

"Yes," he said roughly

"I've never told anyone," said Rowan, "Not even Aelin,"

Lorcan brow furrowed, "Rowan are you sure-"

"I saw children,"

"Oh," Lorcan said softly, "I see,"

"I saw our children, four of them. They were standing beside their pregnant mother. They were beautiful, Lorcan, so beautiful. I reached for them and they were taken away from me into darkness and dust,"

"Rowan-" whispered Lorcan, voice filled with the anguish Rowan felt

"And I know- I know it was only a vision. But I already lost a family once, Lorcan, and every time Aelin brings it up, I flashback to that. And it's so ridiculous, absolutely stupid that I can't get over it. And I know I'm hurting Aelin because of it but-

Rowan was running out of breath as he spoke, his throat closing around his words.

"Whoa, whoa," said Lorcan, shaking him a little, "Rowan, stop,"

Rowan shut his mouth with a click.

Lorcan was now holding him by both shoulders.

"Come on, Whitethorn, breath for me,"

Rowan took a few shuddering breaths but then forced himself to stop and match Lorcan instead. It took a few minutes, but eventually, Rowan came back to his normal pattern of breathing.

"Rowan. First of all, it's not stupid or ridiculous," said Lorcan, sliding his hands down so he was holding Rowan's wrists, "On the contrary, it's perfectly understandable,"

"Right," sniffed Rowan, trying to get himself under control.

"I don't have to tell you what you need to do now,"

"No," groaned Rowan, "I have to talk to Aelin,"

"Yes,"

Rowan let out a chuckle, sounding a little hysterical to his own ears and making Lorcan look at him nervously.

"I can't believe I just did all that in front of you," he told Lorcan

Lorcan laughed, relieved, "It's alright. Remember me before Zirrek was born?"

"I remember," said Rowan, grinning at the memory, "Both Vaughan and I practically had to hold you down from pacing,"

"Yes," said Lorcan, "And look at me and my children now,"

Rowan smiled as he thought of Lorcan and Elide's children. The oldest, Mara Salvaterre, was sixteen now and quite proficient in taking care of their gardens. They seemed to grow and blossom under her touch as if she was breathing life into them herself. The second child, Shyla Salvaterre, whose magic was the reason Lorcan had discovered them was fourteen and already a great warrior. The middle one, Amin Salavaterre, was now twelve and fluent in eight different languages, all taught to him by his father. Zirrek and Salva Lorcan were only six and five so it was hard to tell their direction in life. However, they had their mothers' wit and kindness and their fathers' strength and stubbornness. All the children were quite adored by the court, and while Lorcan liked to credit Eiide with them, everyone knew Lorcan gave them as much as his wife did.

"Your children are wonderful," said Rowan.

"That they are," said Lorcan, a soft smile on his face, "And I'm still afraid but it passes and I look at them and everything washes away,"

"Hmm," said Rowan, "Maybe talking to Aelin will help,"

Lorcan nodded and then chuckled.

"If only we could have Aedion's confidence,"

"Right," Rowan said with a small laugh, "It would be much easier,"

Two years ago, Aedion and Lysandra's first child had been born and now they were expecting their second one. Both times, Aedion had thrown himself into preparation with gusto, reading from books, learning from healers and talking non-stop about how excited he was. Of course, he had had the normal fatherly nerves that came with becoming guardian to a precious little life but even those had been normal and fleeting. Absolutely nothing like Lorcan and Rowan's panic.

"You should talk to him too," suggested Lorcan.

"Yes. That's probably a good idea," he said and then shook his head a bit as it started to fog, "I think my drinks are hitting me a bit,"

Lorcan smirked.

"I would expect that much," he said, "I will walk back with you,"

His tone left no room for argument and Rowan found himself nodding. They silently walked back to the royal suites. Lorcan kept a hand on his back to steady him for which Rowan was grateful. Once they got to the right door, Lorcan took his hand away and nodded towards the door.

"Don't forget to talk to her,"

Lorcan turned to leave but before he could, Rowan caught him by his sleeve.

"Lorcan?" he said

Lorcan turned and looked at him questioningly.

"Yes?"

Rowan smiled, "I don't miss you being a brooding asshole,"

Lorcan smiled back, moving his hand so their fingers were curled around each other.

"I know, Rowan,"

"Good night," said Rowan, "Give them my love,"

Lorcan nodded and squeezed Rowan's fingers gently before walking away. Rowan turned and took a deep breath, opening the door to find his wife sitting on the settee and reading a book.

"Fireheart," he murmured, "I think I need to talk to you,"

Aelin gave him a gentle smile, one he did not think he deserved but cherished anyway.

"Then let's talk, Buzzard," she said, patting the space beside her.

Smiling, Rowan gently closed the door behind him.

A few suites over, Lorcan slipped inside his rooms quietly to find his children sitting around the fireplace, being read to by their eldest sister. He kissed each of their foreheads and told them that uncle Rowan loved them. Mara wrinkled her nose a bit, but the rest of them smiled sleepily and nodded. Lorcan then went into his room where Elide was already under the overs and asleep. He quickly changed and slipped in beside her.

Even in bed, he kept an ear to his children as they finished their story and were ushered to bed by the eldest girls. He didn't stop listening until all their breathes evened out and they were asleep in their beds, warm and safe from the world.

Lorcan sincerely hoped that one day Rowan would be able to know this kind of love and peace too, the kind that came from watching your children grow and thrive

[bez09]

Cerberus part four

Cerberus could hear people muttering around him, but he ignored them, he was on the trail. He laid as close to the ground as he could and sniffed, yes his mistress and the demon brothers had come this way not too long ago, as well as that annoying cat that lived down the street that does its business on his master’s property. 

“Maybe while we’re out we can bbq the thing!”  Middle smiled viciously as flames escaped his mouth. 

Left shook their now joint head “No, we can not draw attention to ourselves anymore then we have, we are to get this to the mistress and then return to our guard duty” 

Right beamed a bright happy smile “And when we give it to the mistress, she will be happy and will pat us on the head and call us a good boy. Oh! Maybe she will even give us a treat!” 

“Well I kinda hope we bump into that teacher that is giving her so much grief and is making her cry. I wouldn’t mind giving him a good hard bite on the arse!” said Middle as they continued to talk down the road towards RAD. 

“I agree with your desire but we must not interfere with the mistress’s school life here. That is for the master to handle” said Left. 

“But I don’t like seeing her cry” whined Right as he remembered how his mistress had curled up into a small ball and wept. It had taken a lot of licks and rubs to calm her down. 

“I know…”said Left with a sigh “We’re almost at the gates now, I think it best that I remain in control until we leave as not to drew suspicion” 

“Can we at least mark that lamppost before we go in? This territory hasn’t been claimed yet and we really do need to go” said Middle pointing to the post in question. 

“Can we even do that in this body?” asked Right curiously. 

“I believe so. Let's be quick and then we must find the mistress”  said Left as he reached down to his pants.

M/C had one lesson without the brothers and it was the one less in which she was seriously doing bad in. Not from the lack of trying but more because well the teacher was an asshole. The history of demon magic was a common enough subject in Devildom but since M/C was human and up until she came here didn’t believe in magic it was hard. Not to mention that demon history was four to five times longer than humans and most of the demons actually lived though their history didn’t help either. Also Professor Slabnock was just too quick, M/C could barely write down her notes before he would spin the board and start on something else. By the time the lesson had finished she was already far behind. After one lesson she asked Slabnock for some help and tried to explain her struggle only for Slabnock to sneer at her and call her a lesser race, ignorant and basically stupid. It wasn’t his fault she couldn’t keep up and maybe it was for the best that she returned to the human world before she embarrassed herself and Lord Diavolo. That had hurt! She had cried into Fluff...Cerberus’s fur for a good long while that night. She couldn’t give in and she didn’t dare ask for help from Lucifer or the others, what would they think of her? Would she disappoint them or more importantly disappoint Lord Diavolo and his program? So she sat in the classroom trying to understand what the hell the teacher was going on about and just hoped for the best. 

There was a polite knock on the door, everyone turned to see who it was, as a tall student with long black hair and glasses came in carrying a lunchbox. 

“Please excuse my interruption but is my Mistress here?” he spoke in a deep but smoothing voice when his eyes fell on her. “Ah, there you are Mistress, I found your lunchbox and thought it best to bring it to you” 

M/C felt her face glow brightly as the handsome stranger came over and knelt before her and handed over her lunchbox, that she could have sworn she packed in her bag, could it have possibly fallen out?

“Umm...thank you...thank you so much” she said softly as she took the box. 

“Mistress...have I been a good boy?” 

“Huh?” 

The classroom broke out into giggling and whispers as everyone was watching the weird but good looking student bowing before a human. 

“I didn’t know she was into that sort of thing!”

“It’s always the quiet ones”  

“Don’t tell me she has a pack with him too?”

“I thought she wasn’t allowed with anyone outside of the brothers” 

“Mistress? Have I not been good?” the male student looked at her with such a deep sadness in his ruby eyes that she couldn’t help but reach out her hand and stroke his long hair. 

“You have been a very good boy, Good Boy, thank you so much” 

Suddenly the stranger student smiled brightly and clenched his fists tightly to his chest. 

“Yeah, Mistress said I was a good boy, I got praised by Mistress!” 

M/C felt her cheeks redden and she fought down this urge to give the odd student a cuddle. 

“Alright enough of this nonsense!” snapped Slabnock as he came over to M/C desk “You have done your good deed now get back to your own class. As for you M/C it would be considered a good idea not to flaunt your packs over demons or is that how you get your kicks by treating those you have a pack with as slaves?” 

“No Professor Slabnock! You're mistaken I…” M/C tried to argue but the other student got to his feet and glared openly at the teacher. 

“So you're the a-hole that made my mistress cry” He glared baring his sharp teeth. 

 “What? How dare…” Slabnock stumbled back as the student advanced towards him, flames licking between his lips as he spoke. 

“My mistress is human and doesn’t understand our ways or our histories but is trying her hardest to understand us unlike you, you pathetic sniveling worm. How dare you show her such disrespect! My Mistress is brave and kind and I will not allow anyone to bring her to tears the way you have! So consider yourself warned!” 

The black hair student took a large breath and fired a fire ball directly at the teacher who ducked for cover as it coliaded with the blackboard and left a large hole in it and the wall behind.  He smirked happily and turned back to M/C who looked a bit startled and concerned. 

“He won’t be bothering you anymore Mistress and if he does you just tell me and I will rip the flesh off and drink the marrow from his bones!” 

“....ok…” said M/C for something to say. 

“So...er...am I?” a faint blush came over the scowling face “Am I a good boy?” 

M/C blinked for a moment as the craziness of the scene was as laughed before reaching up and stroking the long black hair. 

“You are a good boy! A great boy. Simply the best” she praised and for a moment she swore she could see a tail behind him wagging. 

“Thank you Mistress. I will return to my duties now. I will see you soon” said the student calmly as he leaned forward and licked M/C’s forehead. The rest of the class all “oohhh” and cheered as M/C turned red and watched the strange student leave as politely as he came in. 

“Hey M/C! Who was that?” asked a demoness “He was super cute!”

“You know what….I have no idea” 

I wonder how the brothers are going to react? Lol.