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white-collar-lawmen-and-conmen · 3 years

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Pulse Point

A/N: Requested by anonymous. Warning for canon-typical violence; minor character death, nightmares, and post-traumatic stress. Also: borrowed Dr. Sweets from the show Bones.

Summary: A near-death experience leaves you with recurrent nightmares. Neal offers some comfort.

Word Count: 5,154

The steady beeping of hospital equipment was driving you insane. It had been hours now of nothing except the monotonous noise of your own heartbeat. If it didn’t shut up soon, you would claw your ears off. With a stiff body and an ache that penetrated down to your bones, you forced your body upright and pinched open the pulse monitor on your right hand.

You let out a relieved sigh as the equipment went silent and dropped yourself back onto the well-padded pillows behind you. The pulse monitor clattered to the floor on its long white cord and you settled down for a nap. The ache in your bones made you feel heavy, like lead. There was nothing quite like a well-deserved nap.

In mere seconds after you had closed your eyes, the equipment started acting up again, this time blaring one long, constant shriek. The surprise made your heart skip a beat, but your eyelids were too heavy to look and see what had happened. Then your heart kept skipping, and your throat tightened. You couldn’t breathe. Your chest burned. It wasn’t a heartbeat; it was a flatline.

You were dying.

The leaden feeling in your body doubled. Your muscles didn’t respond to trying to move and you couldn’t force your lungs to take in a breath. Footsteps pounded around you, incoherent shouts going in one ear and out the other. You were desperate for your paralyzed eyes to open. Was this what you’d have for the rest of your life? Nothing but darkness and unintelligible, mind-numbing noise, punctuated by electrical humming and the pain of a vice clamping itself again to your finger?

The flatline paused for a second. Your ears rang and you thought, for a moment, that you were safe, your heart was beating again. Instead, your stomach twisted and you realized you were losing feeling in your toes. No blood. No life. When the screech of your flatline came back again, it was louder, more piercing. The shrillness reminded you of screaming.

As soon as you remembered it, it was there – the same screaming as before, somewhere in your room, echoing from every corner. In the next pause of the flatline, it turned into a hoarse shriek and a plea. “No! Please!”

You couldn’t hear anything underneath it, no more overlapping voices, and your panic increased. Where were the doctors? Did they think you were gone? Help me!

Your eyes opened with a sudden snap, the droning of your alarm clock replacing the flatlining of the monitor.

As you stared at your ceiling, you panted for breath. Rationally, you knew, you had probably never stopped breathing, but in the panic of your nightmare, it felt like you’d been smothered. Terror powered your desperate gasps and convinced you that your feet and hands were numb, even as you could feel that one foot was poking out from the end of your blanket. After a long moment, you dared to move your arm, ready to scream if you weren’t dreaming after all and still couldn’t move. You turned your alarm off easily.

Soft rain pattered against the glass windows, creating shiny-looking streaks as droplets collected and streamed down the side of the building. It was much more soothing than the silence that usually reigned in Dr. Sweets’ office when he was waiting for you to talk. Maybe he should invest in one of those noise machines with rain as an option. You thought about making the suggestion, but knowing him, he would probably call you out on the procrastination, or deflection, or whatever else he wanted to call it.

You broke the silence. “I’m certain I can wait you out for the next…” You checked the clock. “Twenty-seven minutes.”

Dr. Sweets raised his eyebrows, still leaning his head on a closed fist, propped on the arm of his chair. “I’m equally certain I can recommend you remain on desk duty for the next…” He pretended to check his watch. “Twenty-seven weeks.”

You scowled.

Psychological clearance was a bureau mandate after something traumatic occurred during the course of the job. You’d been lucky enough not to need it up to this point, but after… that, you hadn’t been given a choice. Dr. Sweets was a highly qualified psychotherapist, and you were sure that he did amazing things to help a lot of people, but so far you felt neither amazed nor helped.

“Agent L/N, you went through something incredibly harrowing that you were very close to not walking away from.” The psychologist finally took his head off his fist and put his arm down in his lap. At least he’d taken the bait and you weren’t the one starting the discussion. “You were a half-inch or couple minutes from bleeding out.” He pinched his fingers to demonstrate as if you didn’t have a scar on your body that distance from your femoral artery. You’d never be able to forget what half an inch looked like.

“But I did walk away, and the person who did that to me is in prison for the rest of his life.” You crossed your legs, trying to look more comfortable than you felt. You weren’t sure how effective you were going to be at convincing a therapist that you didn’t need therapy, but it was worth the try.

He looked utterly unconvinced. Actually, the jerk looked like he knew exactly what you were trying for and thought it was cute that you thought you could trick him. “Justice, or even retribution, which it feels like you’re leaning towards, doesn’t erase a wrongdoing or its associated harm.”

“I didn’t erase it, I healed from it. I took medical leave, now I’m back.”

“Physically, you healed. It takes a lot longer to heal mentally from those kinds of wounds.”

“Does it?” You challenged.

“I think your nightmares speak for themselves,” Dr. Sweets said pointedly.

You glared at him, at a loss for a quick comeback. You knew you didn’t look like a million bucks, but you hadn’t thought it was that obvious you were losing sleep. If he knew, then the coworkers who spent a lot of time with you must know, too. Especially Neal – nothing got past him. Oh, that was embarrassing.

The nightmares had been recurring for weeks now. They had started once you had a return date to the office, but after actually resuming your work, they had increased in frequency and intensity. They weren’t identical, but they did all share some similarities: some fatal injury had you dying, alone, in the dark, like you almost had in real life. You never got to the point of actually dying in your dreams, you didn’t think, but you were just fine with that. They were bad enough as they were. Yes, they were a sign of trauma and anxiety. But if your mind didn’t heal itself from weeks safe at home, then you knew returning to normal as fast as possible was probably your best bet at getting over what had happened.

“I’m not your enemy here,” the therapist said to you more gently. You couldn’t say he was heartless, even if you didn’t enjoy the half-hour sessions where he tried to talk about your feelings whether you wanted to or not. “My goal is the same as yours. I want you back at work, safely, able to sleep through a night so you don’t jeopardize yourself or the people around you.”

You let out a deep sigh. “What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to tell me about the affect this has had on you.” Dr. Sweets encouraged, not for the first time. “You’ve accepted what happened. I can see that. But the next step is processing what it means for you, as an agent, as a person… maybe both.”

You felt helpless. What was that supposed to mean? You couldn’t very well tell him you were terrified your job was going to actually get you killed or cost more lives on your watch. When your employer paid your therapist’s bills, you couldn’t fully trust doctor-patient confidentiality. Maybe it was just paranoia, but you couldn’t bring yourself to risk it.

“I can’t sleep,” you admitted. Your tone sounded mournful. In a way, you were mourning for a time when you could sleep through the night and enjoy your days at work. It wasn’t like white-collar crime was your passion, but you did like puzzles, and you did like being around the people you worked with, especially a certain blue-eyed felon. “I keep having nightmares that I’m… injured, and I’m alone.”

“Your wire was jammed and your team didn’t hear you signal for backup.” Dr. Sweets talked slowly, patient and pragmatic as he validated your nightly anxieties. “You expected help, but they didn’t know to come.”

“They did come,” you said with a shrug. “It just… almost wasn’t in time. I know it wasn’t their fault.”

Your words about time felt glued into your ears. Yours had come really close to running out. And for what? Insurance fraud? No amount of money justified murder, and you likewise couldn’t put a price tag on a life. So why were you so eager to leap back into the same job that almost cost you yours?

It was something you had been mulling over since it happened. Your job was dangerous. You had always known that. You’d been shot at, been near explosives… your partner had been abducted by a murderer not that long ago, and your best friend had had guns in his face so often that, honestly, you’d lost count a while ago. Somehow it just hadn’t clicked, you supposed, that you could legitimately die. You were protected by the bureau and your body armor, until that wasn’t enough. Other agents had learned that lesson in a much harder way; being confronted with that was hard to simply get over.

Apparently, your use of the word “fault” led Dr. Sweets to talk to you about guilt and anger around the incident. You didn’t blame your partner or feel angry, except at the man who shot you, but you let him continue around your noncommittal, half-assed answers. You knew he at least suspected you were putting him on again, but you also knew you hadn’t given him much to work with. Then again, he didn’t call you on your bullshit replies, either, so you weren’t quite sure what he thought.

While Dr. Sweets had yet to approve you for field duty, there was still plenty to do at your desk. You pretended not to notice the itch in your legs to go somewhere while you kept yourself busy, preparing documents, performing research, helping delegate and manage case files, and topping off your team’s coffee whenever they got low. You had become even more of a desk jockey than Neal; at least he got to go out with Peter when given the green light. You missed outings with your partner, or really with any other agent.

Comparing yourself to a caged tiger was likely on the dramatic side, so you put it out of your mind and refused to feel sorry for yourself. You understood the protocols and the routines and they were for your benefit as much as the bureau’s. Besides, your team wasn’t treating you like you were fragile or demoted. They leaned on you to help just as much as they ever did, the assignment of duties just went a little differently.

You doodled a cat on your notepad during a meeting. Everyone had great ideas and you tossed in some ways you could contribute when you’d been quiet for a while. Peter’s proposed field op was going to go smoothly. Odds were high that any hiccups could be taken care of by Diana’s swift running of interference. Neal was raring to go and Jones was a little too excited to play the part of an intimidating brute, in your opinion, and Peter was appropriately apprehensive (someone ought to be, after what had happened to you).

“Let’s sleep on it,” Peter decided after looking out the window and seeing how low the sun had sunk. “If we’re all still in agreement in the morning, we’ll set the ball in motion.”

Jones graciously commented, “Good idea. We can all think on it.” He was probably the most cautious of all of you.

“Y/N?” Neal asked. You immediately looked up from your (admittedly lopsided) cat drawing. The forger was still in his chair, even while the others were pulling on their coats and blazers. “You’ve been quiet. Do you have any concerns?”

You shook your head, but not too quickly that it raised suspicion. You could get away with doodling – Peter often turned a blind eye to it; after several years, he’d developed a soft spot for you – but only if you were still paying attention and participating, so you didn’t want to give him a reason to suspect you weren’t.

Peter, Diana, and Jones all said their goodbyes. The two younger agents left the room, but Peter lingered at the doorway.

“Neal, do you want a ride?” He offered.

Neal looked from you to Peter, and then shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ll find my way. You don’t want to be late for roast,” he added when Peter looked unconvinced. After glancing at you, your partner decided that he really didn’t want to be late for roast and left without another look over his shoulder.

Now that you were alone, Neal softened his expression. “Seriously, Y/N, what’s going on?”

“I told you, I’m not worried. We’ve thought of just about everything we can predict.” You said with a straight face, pretending not to know that Neal wasn’t just talking about this specific case anymore.

He wasn’t having it. “Don’t lie to a conman, Y/N,” he chided you with a small, fond smile. “Come on. It’s not just today, you’ve been quiet ever since you came back. It’s not like you.” You raised an eyebrow and pursed your lips, uninterested in talking. Neal reached partway across the table for you but stopped there. It was an invitation but not a command. “I’m worried about you.”

The thing about your history with Neal was that it was a close one. You went from strangers when Peter got him out of Sing Sing to best friends within the span of two years. You trusted him more than you trusted just about anyone, and there hadn’t been a time when one of you needed the other and was turned away. He didn’t come to you when he was upset – seeking out reassurance and comfort was not Neal’s strength, because it involved professing vulnerability – but he never turned you away when you came to offer it, either. Now it seemed to be his turn to do the offering, as he had realized over the last few weeks that you weren’t going to ask.

You reached for his hand and silently sighed in relief at how solid and warm it was to the touch, so unlike the few dreams where you screamed and cried for someone to help and found yourself grasping at tricks that weren’t there. Neal turned his hand to hold yours and gave it a squeeze.

“It’s been so hard, Neal,” you told him reluctantly. “I have no idea how you do it. How you just walk away from all the close calls.”

Neal frowned a little. “I don’t just walk away,” he objected. “I have bad nights. I have bad days. Sometimes I have a whole bad week, or a few bad months.” You knew the latter was a reference to losing Kate, and you sympathetically gripped his hand tighter. “But, you know… there’s always something I can find to focus on instead, and after a while, the things go in the past. I let go.”

That advice was entirely unhelpful. “I’ve been trying to let go,” you said sourly. It wasn’t directed at him, exactly, but moreso at your brain, which was failing in its task of moving past what happened. “It’s not working. I can’t sleep. Sometimes I don’t think I can breathe.”

“It’s not easy,” Neal agreed, stroking the back of your hand with his thumb. It was an intimately affectionate gesture that comforted and eased the nerves beginning to bubble in your stomach. “Company helps. The reminder that I have backup, even when it doesn’t come right away. I’ve got Peter, Moz. You.” He met your eyes with a small smile and raised your hand to his lips, gently kissing your knuckles.

“Company?” You echoed uncertainly. If you were unconscious, how was company going to make a difference to what you dreamed about? Then you remembered what you had said to Dr. Sweets about your nightmares always ending with being alone. If you knew, on some level, that you weren’t alone, maybe you would feel safer. “Like, overnight?”

His expression didn’t change to give away whether you were right or wrong. Instead, he just asked, evenly, “Is that what you need?” The way he looked at you then, without judgment in his eyes, but with determination in the set of his jaw, you just knew that whatever you said you needed, Neal would move a mountain to give it to you.

“I’m not sure, but… maybe?” You hesitantly guessed. If it worked, it would be worth the awkwardness. Even just one night of solid sleep would do wonders for how you felt, and it wasn’t like it would be the first time you had stayed with Neal overnight. Long marathons on slow weekends, and the less pleasant nights after Kate’s death, meant he kept an extra toothbrush and a set of your pajamas in his penthouse.

“Okay,” he said right away with nothing but quiet matter-of-factness. It was so comforting to be proven right that you could rely on him to help you with what you needed. His tone just said, you need this, so we’re doing it, full-stop. You just hoped you were right, both so you could finally go eight hours without fearing for your life and so you weren’t inconveniencing him for no reason. “Let’s get dinner on the way. We don’t have to talk about it,” he quickly said, seeing your face. “Whatever you need.”

Everyone should have a friend like Neal, but everyone should find their own, because this one was all yours. If it weren’t for the table in the way, you would’ve launched yourself at him in a tight hug. As it was, you settled for a squeeze of his hand and a grin as wide as you could muster. “Dinner sounds great.”

The stickiness of your pants along your thigh made your hands shake, unable to bring yourself to look at your palms. You knew what you would see all over them. The fire lancing up your thigh told you what you already knew. So did the weakness in your body and the fog in your mind. It was done. The hourglass on the desk was trickling through the last of its sand. Moretti was nowhere to be seen. You couldn’t even die in the presence of a murderer.

There was screaming coming from another room. It was the desperate wail of another agent begging for their life. “No! Please!”

“No,” you mumbled, using all of your energy to turn your head to the doorway. He couldn’t… not now that you were down… you couldn’t even raise your voice to cry for help. You were completely helpless. You couldn’t save him.

Your chest burned with the effort of your heart, ironically helping you to bleed out faster. Your breaths came labored, and then they couldn’t come at all as your vision faded. The dark carpet blurred from a mass of pilled fibers into a solid navy sea. The pain in your leg was excruciating, it was all you could feel; the idea of feeling peace ever again slipping away.

Screaming. Banging. Footsteps. More screaming. Pounding. Shouting. It was all indistinguishable, a mess of men’s voices and loud gunshots. Then, you heard it. Just your name, barely audible above the rest, in a voice that made you strain to see past the blackness.

“Y/N!”

You’d give the rest of your precious seconds away just to see him one last time, just to know he was beside you and you weren’t alone.

“Y/N!”

Footsteps came closer and the pressure on your chest intensified. The blood loss made you dizzy and your body shook.

“Y/N!”

You jolted awake, eyes snapping open in time to see Neal leaning out of the way just in time to avoid your hand flying at his face. You processed slowly that his hands were on your shoulders – had he shaken you? – and it was still dark. You could barely see his face, but his figure was lit from behind by the lamp next to his bed. You could tell from his messy hair that he had been sleeping not long ago, and you felt awful for waking him up.

After cursing, you sat up and gripped the warm blanket on your lap tightly. “I’m sorry,” you said remorsefully, feeling like a fool. Not only hadn’t you been able to sleep through the night, but now you’d ruined his rest, too. You cussed again. “I really hoped being close… just not being at my apartment, alone…”

It had felt like a safe bet off to a good start. You had gotten dinner together near Gramercy Park, then watched a lighthearted movie before turning in for bed. Neal offered to let you take his mattress, but you didn’t want to put him out and you had slept over enough that he didn’t feel like a bad host for letting you insist on the sofa. You’d been out by ten, but now you could guess it had been less than four hours. Your heart was still racing, your leg still tense with an imagined pain.

“It’s okay,” Neal said, sounding unsettled. He kept his hands on your shoulders like he was keeping you grounded on the earth. “Don’t worry about it. It’s okay.”

Neal’s eyes must have already adjusted to the low light, because his aim was spot-on when he lifted a hand from your shoulder to cup your neck instead. His profile ducked and you felt his lips land on your forehead, checking your temperature, signalling forgiveness, and administering reassurance all at once. He rubbed his thumb across your jaw as he stood up straight, releasing you, and walked away around the couch.

You put your legs down in front of you and rubbed your face, exhausted mentally and physically. Helplessness made you want to cry. Time wasn’t healing. Sleeping pills just made it harder to wake up, letting the nightmares ravage your psyche for longer. Not even the proximity of someone you trusted and adored was enough to let go of the past.

The light in the kitchen came on, bright enough to illuminate the studio but far enough away not to be blinding. Neal came back to the couch holding a bottle of water and offered it to you before sitting down. He looked so adorable, still sleepy and with a bit of pink in the side of his face from sleeping with his arm under his pillow. You scolded yourself for even thinking about how cute he was when you were the one who had woken him up.

You sipped at the water. It was so nice and smooth on your throat. You felt fine, now that you were awake, but the vividness of your nightmares always left you feeling parched and you always expected swallowing to hurt as if you had strep. Neal leaned into the back of the couch and put his arm up along the cushions. You capped the water, bent your knees to pull your feet back up onto the furniture, and let yourself lean into his side. Neal dropped his arm softly on your shoulders, holding you in a tender sideways hug.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized again after a couple of minutes. You felt much better, much faster than you usually did, thanks to him, and if you were being fully honest, you were not ready for him to get up and go back to bed, but it wasn’t fair to ask him to stay up cuddling you at god-knows-what-time just because you were a wreck.

“I told you, it’s okay,” Neal said, his voice firm. If you apologized again, you figured he would start scolding you for it, so you let it go.

“I just – I should’ve expected this,” you said with frustration, feeling like you were confessing to knowingly bothering him. “I haven’t been able to sleep well in ages. I keep having these nightmares, I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

Neal was quiet for a few seconds, making sure you had said all you were inclined to. Then, knowingly, he asked, “This is about the Moretti case, isn’t it?”

“I can’t let it go,” you said with a whimper. “It won’t leave me alone. Every night, it’s a little bit different, but at its core it’s always the same.”

Neal’s voice cutting through the fog of your nightmare had been a saving grace, giving you peace even in your unconscious, but now that you were awake, you realized with clarity that his voice saying your name wasn’t the only voice you could make out. In fact, you always heard the same thing, every night, no matter what else changed.

“What’s the same, Y/N?” Neal asked you, trying to help. He stroked your upper arm with his open hand. You were already shaking your head. Neal could comfort you all he liked, but he couldn’t bring back the dead. In grief and shame, you turned your head and bent your neck to bury your face in his shoulder. Neal tilted his head so his cheek was resting gently on your hair. “Tell me, darling,” he coaxed in a whisper.

You felt like someone’s hands were wrapped around your throat, strangling your reply. “Agent Flynn,” you answered dryly, barely more than mouthing his name. “In every nightmare, I hear… I hear his last words. Begging Moretti not to take the shot.”

Neal was quiet for a long time, but never pushed you away. He held you closer when you started to shake, crying against him as quietly as you could manage. The artist rubbed your arm and periodically kissed your head, but he knew that there was nothing he could say to erase the horror of what you had heard or take away the guilt that you had survived because Moretti was distracted by taking out the other agent.

Moretti was part of a family gang, often in conflict with the Barellis, who, interestingly, paid a little deference to the white-collar division ever since you and Peter had recovered a stolen Book of Hours. The Morettis had no such connection or gratitude, so their response to the FBI sticking their nose into an embezzling scam was violent and bloody. Moretti shot you in the leg and intended to finish you off, but one of his own men had reported you came with someone. He left you to bleed out, and only a few rooms over, you had heard Flynn’s pleas – and the subsequent gunshot. Your team, wising up to the dead signal, arrived for a takedown before Moretti could make his way back to you, but it was too late for your teammate.

Neal shifted after what felt like forever, only to pull you closer to his chest and wrap both arms around you. You trembled in his embrace, but that just made him hold you closer, like you were delicate and breakable. When he next talked, his low voice was quivering, just like your body.

“I thought we lost you,” he said, cupping the back of your head in a gentle hand. He massaged his fingers into your scalp, even as he kept you cuddled in his lap. “I thought I lost you, Y/N. Two gunshots. I thought…” He struggled to find his words and you hiccuped, trying to stop crying. “I was the one who found you, and I was so scared I was too late.”

You sniffled and uncrossed your arms to melt against his chest and hug him tightly around his waist instead. “I didn’t know you…”

“We found him first, but you weren’t there and I needed to find you.” Neal now sounded equal parts frightened and furious. “If he had taken you away, I would’ve…” He shook his head and pressed his forehead to yours, as desperate to be close to you as you felt to be close to him. “I would’ve shattered. I can’t lose you, Y/N. I just can’t lose you, too.”

“I’m so glad I didn’t die,” you blurted, almost in a sob. You felt so safe with him, but now you knew for a fact that your own safety wasn’t what had been tormenting you. It was a nearly debilitating case of survivor’s guilt. “I just wish I hadn’t been the only one who survived.”

“No one wants that,” Neal promised you, untangling his hand from your hair and stroking it down instead. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could fix this and take it away, but all I can do is be here and hold you and tell you it’s going to be alright. It wasn’t your fault.”

You sniffed. Neal’s words were more of a comfort than you had thought they would be. They changed nothing about the situation, but… you weren’t alone. You hadn’t been alone since you met him. You just agonized that Flynn had been. “Neal, I can’t lose you, either. I love you, you’re… you’re who I’m going to heal for.” You had to find a way.

Neal seized your lips with his in a searing kiss. It wasn’t as sexy or patient as you may have imagined, but you gripped his shirt and gave as good as you got, and wow, the man gave verygood. It was a desperate kiss, needing to bring you together and reaffirm your life. To you, it was the seal of a promise that you wouldn’t let the past crush your spirit. When you could sleep through the night and had a handle on your post-traumatic stress… if he would just be patient, you would be his the way you wanted him to be yours.

He released you to breathe, eyes opening wide as if he only just realized what he had done. Before he could pull away, you pressed your forehead to his again, urging him to stay close. Your breaths mingled between you and you were sure you could feel his heart beating through his chest.

“I love you, too,” he said once he had caught his breath.

124 notes · View notes

fruitcoops · 3 years

Note

Hi! I'm new to your blog and I've been going through your masterlist and I wanted to request something. I haven't come across it yet so, sorry if this has been requested before. Angsty coops? Where maybe Sirius has been having trouble going about his day with his healing ribs, and Remus wants to help him but Sirius keeps pushing him away? Only if you want to, of course! I've loved all your stories I've read, they're so great :) <3

This is slightly different than your request, but it has the same broken ribs hurt/ comfort theme, so I hope you enjoy! I combined it with @thesmokeandflame‘s request for some Coops nightmare comfort <3 SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

TW for broken bones, medicine, nightmares, and swelling/ bruises (mentioned)

Remus is cold at night, now. It’s silly, when he thinks about it—Sirius is mere feet away from him, but the pillow that divides them may as well be a canyon. He settles for holding his hand tight and praying that Sirius’ stubbornness also manifests in his ability to heal. He misses the solid warmth of Sirius’ body next to his own so much it aches.

Tonight is no different; Remus gets into bed after Sirius has already been asleep for twenty minutes, watching the shadows play over the angles of his face. He is peaceful in sleep. There is no pain, no frustration, no twist to his mouth that Remus wants to smudge away. He breathes, deep and soft, and Remus laces their hands together before he allows the sound to lull him to sleep.

A sharp gasp and sudden burning in his hand wakes him, and he bolts upright. “Sirius?”

“Fuck.” Sirius’ breaths are coming fast and he screws his eyes shut around a cry of pain.

“Sirius, what’s wrong?” Remus feels utterly useless as his skin turns white in Sirius’ grip, skimming his free hand over the still-swollen skin of his chest.

“Mes côtes, mes côtes, fuck.” A tear slides down to Sirius’ ear from terror-bright eyes; he can’t catch his breath and a whine slips through his gritted teeth. Ribs. My ribs, my ribs.

All lingering tendrils of sleep flee Remus’ mind as he leans over, careful not to bump him while he reaches up to cradle the side of his face. “Shh, love, you’re alright. You’re alright, just hold on to me. Deep breaths.”

Sirius clutches his forearms in desperation. “I can’t,” he gasps. “I can’t, I can’t, Remus.”

“Yes, you can.” Remus cards his fingers through the sweaty hair just above his right ear and shushes him gently, using his other hand to rub small circles on Sirius’ palm. His face is tight with pain as he struggles for breath. “In and out, baby, you’re okay.”

“Don’t go,” he pants, meeting Remus’ gaze like a wild, frantic creature. “Don’t leave me, please.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Remus tilts his head down to kiss Sirius’ hand as it scrambles for a hold on his bare shoulder; his heartbeat hammers beneath Remus’ touch. “What happened?”

“Hurts.” Sirius’ chest caves for a second and he squeezes Remus’ thumb. “Hurts so much, oh god.”

“Did you move?”

“I—you were leaving.” A whining sob sets off another wince as Remus’ heart leaps into his throat. The hand on his shoulder is clumsy with fear and tremors. “I woke up and tried to turn over and—and then I couldn’t breathe and—”

“Sirius, focus,” he says, keeping his tone as even as possible. He traces Sirius’ smooth cheekbone with the pad of his thumb until their eyes meet; the next breath is uneven, but slower than before. “Look at me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“What time is it?”

“Just past midnight. You’ve still got two and a half hours until you can take your meds.”

Sirius leans his face into Remus’ palm with a shaky exhale. “Can I take them now?”

Everything in him wants to say yes, wants to take Sirius’ pain away by any means necessary, but he can’t. “Not yet, baby.”

“Are you sure?” Sirius’ weak voice and pleading eyes rip Remus’ poor, soft heart right in half.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He kisses his forehead, then rests his own against the feverish skin. “We don’t need to add a fucked-up liver to the mix, right?”

“It hurts, Re.”

“I know.”

“I can’t sleep when it’s like this.”

Remis bites down hard on the inside of his lip, then nudges their noses together. “Two weeks and you’ll be good as new. The doctor said this is the hardest part, remember? You’re going to keep doing your exercises and keep taking your medicine, and we’ll get through it together.”

“In my dream, you left.” His warm hand splays over the side of Remus’ neck and the dip of his collarbone.

“Why would I do a stupid thing like that?”

Sirius sniffles. “I couldn’t play anymore. I couldn’t hold you. You just…left.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Something fierce rears its head behind Remus’ teeth and he holds Sirius’ hand over his heart. “Not now, not ever. Broken ribs aren’t a death sentence, and you’ll be back on the ice before you know it. I sure as shit am not going to leave you over this.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more. Do you want to try and sleep again?”

“It still hurts.”

“What kind?” Remus carefully feels along Sirius’ front, checking for any sign of new damage beneath the radiating heat.

“It was burning and sharp earlier, but now it’s…shit, what’s the word? Like a heartbeat, but bad?”

“Throbbing?” His heartbeat is, in fact, pulsing under the bruises by Remus’ fingertips.

Sirius snaps his fingers. “Exactly. It’s easier to breathe, though.”

“Do you want to take a shower?”

“I don’t think standing up is a good idea,” he says, pulling a face. “I’m thirsty, though. And kind of hungry. And way too warm.”

Remus sighs and tucks his face into Sirius’ neck for a moment; his familiar body heat is more of a relief than any ice pack could dream of being. There is a low hum under his cheek as Sirius turns his head to place a kiss by his temple, and he shuts his eyes to soak it in. “I would cuddle you if I could.”

“Moi aussi. Two weeks, mon loup.”

“Two weeks,” Remus repeats, straightening up again. “Try and rest, okay? I’ll grab some water and a snack so you don’t take your meds on an empty stomach.”

A flash of guilt flutters over his face in the darkness. “Sorry for waking you.”

“Don’t be sorry.” He kisses each of Sirius’ cheeks and lets his lips linger for a beat longer than usual. “I signed up for this. It’s literally my job, and I love spending time with you in any way I can.”

“Still—”

“Shh.” Remus holds his index finger over Sirius’ lips until they curl into a soft smile. “Next time I get hurt, you can get me snacks, okay?”

A light kiss presses against his first knuckle. “D’accord.”

Remus runs his finger over the light slope of Sirius’ nose, watching his eyes fall shut. “Rest. I’ll be back in a second.”

By the time he returns with a glass of water and a granola bar, Sirius is out cold once more. Remus smiles to himself and climbs back under the covers, then reaches out to hold his hand over the pillow barrier between them. Two more weeks. Just two more.

186 notes · View notes

five-rivers · 3 years

Text

Face Your Dreams

Almost forgot to post this here as well! @anthropwashere

Phic Phight 2021

Prompt from Anthrop: Any flavor of the Reverse AUs that strike your fancy. Who gets the ghost powers? Who becomes the ghost hunter? Who gets ghost magick'd into the villain of the week?

Danny’s phone was dead. Which was just typical, really. His parents were brilliant, wealthy inventors that played with the fabric of reality on a daily basis and had managed to turn, not one, but two of Danny’s best friends into half ghosts, but they couldn’t be bothered to get Danny a phone that was actually reliable. Although they hadn’t intended to do the half ghost thing and didn’t know about it.

Probably.

Maybe.

(Honestly, Danny didn’t know. His parents were weird. And Danny suspected they were keeping secrets.)

Back on topic. Phone. Not working. Which was a problem because Danny was something like ninety-percent sure a ghost had been following him for the last block or so and he couldn’t call for help.

Correction, he could call for help all he wanted, he just wouldn’t get any that would be any good against a ghost. If he got any at all. It was the middle of the night.

He should have taken up Sam’s offer of a flight home. Or Tucker’s. But, no, he had to be sulky about how both of them were developing yet more really, incredibly cool powers and Danny was still just…

Himself.

Faceless, boring Fenton. Only notable for the number of bullies he attracted and the people he was related to. No special skillset, no dreams he had any hope of achieving, no triumphs. Nothing to contribute. Not in and of himself. Only useful to enemies that wanted a hostage.

He was about to be murdered by a ghost and he was still sulking. God, he was pathetic.

(Not all ghosts were evil – Sam and Tucker’s stories had taught him that much, on an intellectual basis. Was it too much to hope that he could reach home without the ghost attacking? Too much to hope that it was just watching?)

White noise tugged at Danny’s ears. It reminded him of the sleep CD Jazz played when Mom and Dad were being loud.

… and, also, oddly, of a video he’d once watched about what stars might sound like, based on how they vibrated.

Danny shuddered, his heartbeat redoubling as he picked up speed, reaching a run. If he could get home, he could turn on the ghost shield and call Sam and Tucker from his home phone. They’d be annoyed that he was bothering about a ghost so long after a patrol, but he was freaked out enough to not really care about their teasing.

(He’d been freaked out enough for the past two blocks.)

His breath began to catch in his lungs, his side burning. He splashed through a puddle, dark, oily liquid sticking to his right sneaker and pant leg. It glittered in the light of the waning crescent moon.

Wait –

It hadn’t rained for weeks.

He slipped and fell, skinning hands, knees, and chin on the sidewalk. Something wet, sticky, and smooth as silk spread over the pavement beneath him. It bubbled like a tar pit, and captive stars shone from within.

Danny tried to push himself up, but the liquid held on to him, pulled him back down.

He was sinking.

He flailed for the sidewalk, reaching, trying to stay afloat. It didn’t work. His elbows were below the level of the sidewalk, and inky, glittery black dripped from his front. It seemed to be eating through his clothes.

Forget useful help. He’d take any help. He screamed.

And he fell.

“You have such lovely dreams,” said the masked man, his horns curling into galaxies. “Impossible dreams.”

Danny couldn’t breathe. He was in freefall. A vacuum. No ground in sight, only the cold, heartless stars, perfect in their beauty.

(And his eyes. Oh, god, was this really a ghost?)

It was his dream, to be an astronaut. With this little twist, it became a nightmare, and yet—

Yet.

“You feel faceless,” continued the masked man. “But there’s freedom in that, is there not?”

Danny shouldn’t be able to hear him. There shouldn’t be any sound in space, and there wasn’t. Not except for his voice.

“Freedom,” said the man, “to follow your wildest dreams, unshackled from responsibility, from reality, from reasonability. No longer dependent on those that call themselves your friends, who claim to be your family, who walk over your dreams for the sake of theirs.”

Suddenly, Danny hit the sidewalk, and he could breathe again. Something thick dripped from his nose, his mouth, his eyes. He pushed himself to his hands and knees. His clothing was gone. His limbs were painted with the night sky in all its glory. He froze, staring.

From Danny’s shadow, the masked man rose, towering over Danny until he felt like little more than a shadow. “Don’t you want to have the chance to see your dreams come true, child?”

Danny blinked. It was hard to force his eyes back open. They seemed to want to stick closed.

“Who are you?” Danny asked, words garbled by the dripping stars trying to force their way past his lips.

“I am Nocturne,” the ghost said, leaning closer.

“You’re like,” Danny choked, “like Desiree. I don’t want—”

Nocturne scoffed. “Desiree. A creature of wishes, of momentary things. I do not care for what you wish for. What matters is that you dream.”

There was something in Nocturne’s hand, round and white and moonlike. It looked small, held between two of his fingers, but it had to be the size of Danny’s face.

“Don’t you dream of flying?” purred Nocturne. “Of being among the stars? Don’t you dream of a peaceful world, where your friends are safe, and the accident never happened? Where you’re a friend, not a weapon supply, a sidekick, or a damsel in distress?”

Danny had been thinking something so close just minutes ago and he couldn’t—

“There, there, my child. No need to cry.” He brought the round thing closer.

Danny could see, now, that it was a mask. Just his size.

“Close your eyes,” said Nocturne, gently, cupping Danny’s trembling shoulders with his other hand. “Close your eyes and dream. Let your face go, for a little while.”

(Danny did as he was told.)

“Hi, Sam,” said Mrs. Fenton, her voice crackling slightly through the phone speaker. “Have you seen Danny today?”

“I haven’t seen him since last n—Since yesterday,” said Sam, correcting herself halfway though. Mrs. Fenton didn’t know about their nightly escapades, and for good reason. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know yet,” said Maddie. “He just… I haven’t seen him either. He usually says goodbye before he leaves.”

He didn’t, but Maddie didn’t need to know that.

“Have you checked with Tucker yet? Sometimes they hang out without me. Guy things.” This… was also not entirely true. Danny and Tucker hadn’t had a ‘guy thing’ for ages. They’d been smoothly replaced with ‘ghost things’ like most everything else in their lives.

Sam… might have felt a little bad about that. All of their normal friend activities being replaced by ghost things, that is. Often ghost things that Danny couldn’t really participate in, because Danny couldn’t fly or shoot lasers from his hands.

He did do a good job of setting up obstacle courses and covering for her and Tucker’s—

Wait, no, not the point.

“He hasn’t seen him, either. Jazz doesn’t know where he is. I don’t—” She broke off, sighing. “Call me if you see him. Or tell him to call me.”

“I will,” said Sam, opening the window and preparing to take off.

“Thank you,” said Maddie. She hung up.

Sam went ghost with a burst of green fire. She floated up and out of the window, fading out of visibility as she dialed Tucker’s number.

“Starboy’s missing,” she said.

“Yeah, I’m already searching for him,” said Tucker, the microphone crackling with static but otherwise clear. Tucker’s powers both did and didn’t mesh well with technology.

“Any luck?”

“No,” said Tucker. “This is one of those times when I wish he did have friends other than us. Then we could ask them about where he is.”

“Do you think he’s been taken by a ghost?” asked Sam.

“I mean, maybe? There was that whole thing with Desiree…”

“And the second thing with Desiree,” added Sam.

“And Skulker.”

“And the second thing with Skulker.”

“And Spectra.”

“And the second thing with Spectra.”

“Not to mention Vlad.”

“What a freak,” said Sam.

“Are you picking up a pattern here?”

“Yeah, maybe. Who’s only kidnapped Danny once?”

“I’m not sure… Maybe it’s a new guy? We do get new guys now and again.”

Sam sighed. “Never mind that,” she said. “Where have you looked so far?”

“Not too many places. Do you want to meet up, or…?”

“No, we’ll have more luck going separately. I’ll check in with you in a bit.”

A whole day passed without any sign of Danny. They did, however, find a lot of ghosts with stitched-shut eyes, which they decided was probably related and also incredibly creepy.

By that time, the police got involved. Danny was officially a missing person.

But they were distracted. Didn’t have the manpower to search for just one missing person.

Why?

The sudden surge in coma patients.

“I don’t get it,” said Tucker. “Is that more of a, you know,” he lowered his voice, “doctor thing? Like, if it’s a bunch of people, don’t you think it’s a disease or something?”

“The police think that someone poisoned ‘em,” said Sam.

“How do you know that?”

“How do you think I know that?”

“Dude. You have to stop eavesdropping on the police. I’m, like, ninety percent sure that’s illegal.”

“Not for ghosts, it isn’t.”

“Okay, I’m one hundred percent sure it is. You’ve read the anti-ecto acts, haven’t you? I’m not the only one who did that, right?”

“It was, like, fifty pages thick. And stupid. The only reason I’d read it would be if I wanted to break the laws more efficiently.”

“Seriously?”

An alien world spread out below Danny, a place to explore to his heart’s content, the sky twinkling above him. He couldn’t see it, but he knew it was there, in the nameless, infinite way you knew things when you were dreaming.

He was an astronaut. An adventurer. An explorer.

He was doing everything he had ever dreamed of.

The only thing missing were the people. His friends. His family.

But… He could bring them here. He knew that, too, in the same way.

He just had to reach out and touch them. Feel them. Take them.

(A bit of black and starlight in their eyes, a touch of the gift given to him.)

(Nocturne whispered in his ears. A song only for him.)

They found the ghost responsible for the comas. And maybe they should have realized a ghost was causing them, but Danny was the one who usually put the pieces together, and he wasn’t there. Which was the problem.

(What Sam wouldn’t give for some kind of reliable ghost-detecting power. Or even technology.)

(No, the Fenton Finder didn’t count.)

It was small, human proportions, human skin tone, where it wasn’t covered with some kind of ghostly paint that mimicked the night sky. Its hair was colored the same way, and a blank mask covered its face. Seemed to be directing the green stitched-eye ghosts somehow, despite not saying a word. So. All in all, typical ghost, if somewhat more annoying due to his lack of witty banter.

Then he shrugged off the thermos beam like it was nothing. Almost like he was human.

Then Tucker froze.

The ghost was carried away from the fight by its minions, faster than Sam or Tucker could go.

“Tucker! What was that?”

“Birthmark,” gasped Tucker.

“What?” asked Sam.

“That was Danny’s birthmark.”

“Oh my god,” said Sam. “Did he really get himself transformed into a ghost again?”

“This seems different than Desiree,” said Tucker. “I don’t… Were we really fighting him?”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Let’s go get the Ghost Catcher.”

The Ghost Catcher was not in evidence in the Fenton basement.

“What now?” asked Tucker.

“Beat it out of him?” suggested Sam.

“That is a terrible plan. No, I can’t even call it a plan. It’s just bad.”

“Do you have anything better?”

(Tucker did not have anything better.)

(And Danny still couldn’t find his friends, to show them this dream come true.)

When about one in ten people in Amity Park was in a coma, things managed to get even worse. The people who were asleep began to sleepwalk. And sleep attack people.

Sam and Tucker were used to fighting ghosts. Not humans. They didn’t want to hurt anyone.

Especially Danny who was especially vicious. And also seemed to be targeting them.

Danny was so close. So close he could almost touch them. He could feel them, electricity and green things and dreams of power and justice. He could feel them, feel them, feel them, and he was so, so close to inviting them into the dream and he needed it, needed them. Wanted them.

His dream, the dream, his dream, it just wouldn’t be complete without them at his side, wouldn’t be right.

He reached for them, reached for Sam, brushed her sleeve and—

A meteor shower threw them apart.

Tucker dragged Sam away from Danny’s hand and the sleep-inducing liquid it was coated in.

“We have to go,” he gasped, looking out at the veritable horde of ghosts and sleepwalking humans.

“Yeah,” said Sam. “Yeah, we have to – Have to regroup.”

They retreated to the Ghost Zone, and, predictably, were separated.

The ghost’s name was Undergrowth, and he was interested in Sam. Interested enough to offer to teach her.

His power was the same as hers. Nature. Plants.

His rage against humans was… much greater. Overwhelming. Too much, too far, to extreme. She was glad he didn’t see her as human, didn’t seem to know that she wanted to protect humans.

(That she wanted to save Danny.)

Tucker already knew Technus. Had met him, fought him, beat him. More than once, even.

So, he had to ask why Technus was suddenly helping him.

The ghost fixed Tucker with a look that managed to be both incredulous and flat.

“Ghost child,” warbled Technus, “I, Technus, Master of All Things Electronic and Beeping, know what being electrocuted feels like! By the very power we both now wield!”

“Oh,” said Tucker. “Yeah, that makes sense. You were saying?”

Sam and Tucker stood in front of the portal, side by side.

“Ready to be a wake-up call?” asked Tucker.

“You’d better believe it,” said Sam.

Danny was caught, trapped in Sam’s vines.

“This isn’t working,” said Tucker, lightly shocking Danny once again. The ectoblast didn’t help, either. “Usually, this’d zap the ghost out of him, but…”

“Maybe we could try to overshadow him?” asked Sam, dubiously.

“Ugh,” said Tucker. “My least favorite power.”

“It could be the only way to find the ghost actually responsible.”

“Let’s do this.”

Danny was thrilled! He’d finally found his friends. True, he couldn’t move, but—

The stars shuddered. Shifted. Blinked.

Nocturne was angry.

Sam was knocked out of the sky at full speed, making a crater in the dark ground. People were gathered nearby. Amity Park people.

This couldn’t just be the inside of Danny’s mind (overshadowing had never worked this way before, but, well, it wasn’t like they experimented with it a whole lot), it had to be some kind of shared dream. A special power of the ghost, perhaps?

Sam fired up her powers, reaching for the nearby plants. They didn’t respond.

Crud.

This was a dream. They just looked like plants.

Then Tucker lit up the sky like a dying star, electrocuting everyone in range.

Danny woke up, throwing Sam and Tucker out of his body, something metallic clanging against sidewalk pavement. Out of his mind, out of his dream. Out of that dream, the one Nocturne had made for him.

Oh, god. He’d just spent the last week—Had it been a week, or longer? —out of his mind, in that dream, reality at one remove, if that. He’d been blind and—

He reached up to his face, to that mask and he pulled. It stuck. He pulled harder, and felt the goo sticking it on give, the mask coming away while dripping thick strands of ooze. He gasped. And it felt like the first breath he’d taken in—

How long had it been?

He opened his eyes just in time to see Nocturne rise out of his shadow.

Both Sam and Tucker had more of an advantage out here in the real world, without having to worry about hurting people. Well, without having to worry about hurting people more than usual. Wrecking buildings and missing with ectoblasts were still concerns.

“Draw him towards the park?” called Tucker, once they got close enough to confer with each other.

“You grab Danny?”

“I don’t—” started Tucker. He dodged a swipe from the large, starry ghost. “He might be safer, if—”

A column of blue light strobed into the sky, and Nocturne was pulled into the Fenton Thermos. The Fenton Thermos held by Danny Fenton. He coughed, black liquid dripping down his chin.

“Hey,” said Danny. “Thanks.”

“I’ve got to stop losing that thing,” groaned Tucker.

“I think the more important thing here is getting Danny some clothes,” said Sam, shielding her eyes.

“Yes, please,” said Danny.

“Glad to have you back, man,” said Danny, landing next to Danny and transforming. “Honestly, without you, we kind of suck at the whole investigation angle.”

“What?” asked Danny, taking the sweater Tucker offered him.

“We missed you,” clarified Sam. “A lot. We kind of… don’t do to well at anything about ghost fighting. Or life.”

“Yeah, our social life sucked even more than usual.”

“Oh,” said Danny, wrapping the sweater around his waist. “That’s cool.” He spit some of the black liquid out onto the sidewalk. “I need a shower.”

“Yep. Hugs are going to be deferred until then.”

“I’m okay with that,” said Danny. “I kind of… don’t want to be touched, for a while.”

“Ah,” said Tucker. “Well. I’m depressed again.”

“Just. Until the shower,” said Danny.

Sam reached out as if to pat Danny on the shoulder, then drew back. “Do you want a flight back home? Or to, uh, Tucker’s house? To shower. And get some clothes.”

“How is that different from a hug? You’ll still have to carry me.”

“It just is,” said Sam.

“It really is,” said Tucker.

There was a long pause.

“I lied, I want a hug so bad,” said Danny.

His friends practically flung themselves at him.

#Danny Phantom #phic phight #danny fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #nocturne #reverse trio #void!danny

166 notes · View notes

jean-does-not-have-a-horseface · 4 years

Note

hi can i please request one where levi's s/o is sort of like him in personality but just melts whenever theres a baby. like she'll see a baby in town and will go from silent and moody to the heart eyes emoji but a person, or she'll babysit her neice or nephew or cousin and will be just so loving and bubbly? like its obvious that she wants to be a mum but she never brings it up because she doesnt think he wants kids and eventually they get pregnant + his reaction? sorry if this is too much (1/2)

ΑΝΟΟΟΟΝ IM BLUSHING THANK YOU SO MUCH. I really loved this request and it inspired me so I pushed before others because I had to get it out of my system. I hope you like this. It's super duper long also👉👈

Warnings: uhh pregnancy, mentions of anxiety

Tags: fluff, domestic Levi, pregnancy, modern au

Pairing: Levi/ Reader

Baby Fever

Your heartbeat grew louder with each passing second as Mike abused the door with one too many knocks. You didn't know if you could talk, or breath or do anything other than vomiting though this time from the anxiety building at the pits of your stomach and not due to your very recent event of morning sickness.

"Are you alright in there?"

You choke on your own voice as you try to huff a single response. It's not really up to your judgement of you're alright or not but rather in the small white object's that rests between the thumbs and pointer fingers of each of your hands. You contemplate if there's a way to not raise any more suspicion to the blond male, you're at his house for all that matters. Nanaba called you to take care of their their twins and you happily complied to your half sister's pleas because Mike had a very important job interview. Life had taken a toll on him lately, they couldn't afford a babysitter and he was just recently fired due to his company having to cut down expenses thanks to the pandemic. Amidst this pandemonium he had to find a way to provide for his family and help Nanaba with at least a short monthly salary. So babysitting your beloved niece and nephew wasn't much of a problem. Not until now.

At first it hadn't bothered you that your period was late, you had accepted the pcos lifestyle the hard way ever since you first got it. You would track down your period in hopes you could ever predict when it would come again but it always seemed to surprise you. Sometimes it would come in a months notice only to take four months to do a full circle. At twenty three, this was the most positive outturn as a resolution to your problem. Levi was pushing you to eat healthy and exercise to get a better grip of your situation, even though you knew it was in vain. And thus, overall it didn't bother you that you hadn't had your period still, fatigue and breast inflammation were also common problems due to hormonal abnormalities so you chose not to pay any attention to those early signs either.

What had driven you to urge Levi to drop you off to the drugstore next to Nanaba's house though was that you've been having symptoms of morning sickness for almost a week now, that you had tried to push aside for Levi not to notice. He would quarantine you on your on your own and go stay with Erwin and Hange had he any suspicion of you being down with the stomach flu. The stomach flu though didn't feel like that and you knew, you had been through it one too many times, this was something different and yet you cursed at yourself for overthinking it. You had bought the pregnancy test as something that was supposed to turn out negative, as a positive resolution that you weren't pregnant and that you should quest for whatever it was that was making your stomach turn and twist every morning.

Upon finally opening the door in an attempt not to delay Mike who wanted to attend his interview, the blond male inspected your form with a harsh gaze. "You shouldn't push yourself if you're sick. We could call my mother to watch over Eli and Blaire."

"No." You pushed it off. "I'm fine Mike, it's probably that weird mushroom soup I ate yesterday, Levi insisted on not buying it but I didn't listen."

"I see." Mike said scrunching his nose at the process. Sometimes you hated that he knew you so well that he could even smell you lying, but he was Nanaba's childhood friend before her mother married your father and had you; you had practically grown up with the blond duo so for all you knew, even if he was certainly aware that you were lying he didn't push things further. He simply placed a hand on your shoulder, the brother like nature of his touch as assuring as one can be. "If you need anything call me, I'll answer as soon as possible, drink lots of water and don't wear yourself down."

You bore your eyes into his and nodded simply. Mike greeted the twins with reluctance and let out a sigh before fixing his suit perfectly on his shoulders. The small kids smiled bubbly in return and waved at their father enthusiastically. As soon as the door closed and their father got out of sight both children jumped on you with loud giggles. The act alone was enough to curl your lips into an upward position.

By noon you had fed and lulled the kids to sleep, earning some significant time to sink into the crevices of the feathery soft sofa before Nanaba came back from her shift. As tiring as Eli and Blaire were you enjoyed their teeny company. You didn't mind their lack of ability to form full understandable sentences yet, you loved how they didn't even try to spare a second thought on what they bubbled on about and you did your best to provoke them to speak correctly. They would open their arms for you, their tiny palms signaling you to take them into long affectionate hugs as they called a baby spoken version of your nickname and you would melt at it every single time. Everyone knew you much you loved the chubby cheeked sweethearts, as much as it contrasted with your usual demeanor. There was something that truly made you feel like the best version of yourself when you were around them.

Babies seemed to be a hot topic in your group of friends for a couple of months now, ever since you started helping Nanaba in the house before Mike got fired. Levi seemed very unbothered by the subject in a way that saddened you almost; sure, you might have talked about it in the past, being that he was a little older than you and he might have understood that you longed to be a mother one day, but that was as far as that one conversation had gone. He still had that bored, stoic gaze that slipped off of yours when you would encounter a baby in the street, whereas you would basically make heart eyes and weird grimaces to any infant he would just click his tongue and avert his gaze away, to any other direction as if he disapproved off your fondness.

That memory alone left you hollowing inside as you recalled of the two very much pink lines on the screen of the test this morning. Naturally you would check with a doctor before jumping to conclusions, there still was a chance that the test was at fault and you wanted to bet on simply that. If the case was that you were actually pregnant though things were more complicated than you wanted them to be. For instance you were still in University, for your last year at that, but you had excessive amounts of studying to get your hands on your degree and Levi was cornered and ready to be squished by his job for being a vice president, which was unfair as he worked for Erwin. You understood the situation though as Erwin was struggling to keep the company going especially through these rough rough times. There was also the fact that you were terrified of Levi asking you to put the baby down, with pcos wearing your system down you were panicking that you wouldn't have a chance to conceive a baby later on. What if this was your only chance? You've always longed to be a mother so it didn't matter that it came to you this early right?

The sound of the front door clicking open shook you off your thoughts immediately. For better or for worse it was Nanaba that had finally returned, eager to strip herself of her clothes and face mask and run to the bathroom. She offered you small greeting to which you only nodded, your tired mind ordering your eyes to find comfort at small shapes in the ceiling. You didn't know how long your sister took in the bathroom, but judging by the lack of giggling coming from the babies' room you supposed it wasn't for long.

"You want to wait for Levi to come pick you up or should I give you a ride home when Mike's back? He should be home soon!" She spoke as she poured water in a red metallic boiler.

"I'll just walk. I need some air."

Nanaba emitted a soft hum in response "Are you alright? You seem off."

"Oh no." You brushed her off "I was just thinking about what I should wear at Erwin and Hange's anniversary dinner next week, and what gift to buy Levi now that his birthday is coming."

"Good, I see, just don't stress alright?"

___

The way home was longer than you had initially remembered, whether it was for your inability to walk with a steady pace or mostly because it was already getting dark and cold. You wondered if Levi would be getting home by now as you neared the apartment complex the two of you resided in. By the looks of your illuminated window he was already home as expected of him this certain hour. It probably was one of those days when he didn't have a strict deadline to attend to, which, under normal circumstances, only meant more cuddles and kisses for you. Yet, tonight was different.

"Hey Levs" Your voice lingered in his brain the moment you stepped inside.

"Hey brat, welcome home." The kiss you left on his cheek as you hurriedly headed to the bathroom was different, off almost, and he picked up on it immediately. "Did Nanaba drop you off? I had asked Mike to come by tonight, he said he'd bring some tea leaves he bought for me."

He leaned at the frame of the door as he watched you wash every crevice of your face thoroughly, paying enough attention to the insides of your outer nasal cavity. He was pretty meticulous about hygiene and especially at times like these with a hole pandemic going on he wasn't taking any chances, you knew, plus you were kind of disgusted of germs lately yourself, you thought you finally understood where he was coming from. He took a few steps ahead, away from your body in search of a clean face towel to hand out to you when you were done. You have it to him, even if he seemed cold as stone that domestic lifestyle was mesmerizing to you.

"Thanks baby, you're the best." You half smiled.

"You good?"

At this point you wondered if you seriously we're so easy to read. You supposed you were off, but you were always off and unresponsive to many things so what exactly was it about today that made everyone know you had a conflict in your mind.

"Yeah I'm just tired, I walked here."

Levi clicked his tongue at that "Nanaba's home is very far away from here, have a shower and I'll rub your legs and feet." With eyes that never left yours Levi watched as your face lit up a little more, he gave you a tiny of a smile on return.

"You prooomise Levs?" You knew teasing with him could only lead to one thing, yet you did it shamelessly.

"Tch, of course, hurry up, I'm making pancakes with eggs and bacon."

Normally at the very sound of this particular food your eyes would water and your mouth would drool but the unresponsive nature of your expression only sent a new wave of worry through Levi's chest. As much as he had wanted to convince himself you were just tired, he couldn't, not after this reaction to your favorite snack. He decided not to push you into saying anything you didn't want to though. Maybe it was that enormous amount of notes you had to memorize for your next exams in addition to your fatigue and any hormonal altercations.

"Yeah" you trailed off "babe, about that, can we have cocktail shrimp? And maybe fried rice and fries? Pretty pretty please?"

Ah, there it was. Although it was a rare occasion for you not to be in the mood of his infamous pancakes, you could still have a few different cravings from time to time. Levi let out a sigh of relief as he proceeded your order trying to figure of where he should order from, last night's mushroom soup had messed your stomach up, that he knew, but you seemed to be fine now so in theory that should be enough to prevent him from whining out his concerns.

As he closed the door to the bathroom he hummed his favorite tune to himself, softly enough as not to disturb you with your bath. He picked up his phone from the kitchen table with ease before collapsing on the couch, there was a limit to what his body could take and he had surpassed that by far these past few months. Endless deadlines that took turns one after another and extra hours at the office had been killing him, mentally and physically, making him a little more grumpy than usual. In great addition his back ached, his fingers were sore and his mind felt like canned alphabet soup every single night. Perhaps, seeing him in this state was taking a toll on you as well; you were always so protective over him, almost like a mother to her child, despite being younger, and he if he had to, he'd admit he enjoyed it a little too much than he should have.

When you came out of the bathroom he gazed over you briefly, you were sitting before the end of the dresser, standing in front of the full body mirror, examining your form. He seemed to be puzzled by your demeanor once again. Normally, or up until yesterday, you would have immediately shot out to where he was seated at to plough into his arms with wet hair, only to slightly irritate him for getting him wet, not that he didn't enjoy to smell your fresh scent anyway, but it was a game of routine for you by now. It was almost as if you were seeking to be scolded at for not rushing to dry your hair. He always wanted you as healthy as ever.

You couldn't shake off your head how soft Levi's chest is. There probably wasn't a reason as to why he's sleeping shirtless tonight, your apartment was very warm, given that it was the start of December already, but you didn't complain. The feeling of creamy, milky soft skin, perfectly excused by any coarse hair was slowly putting you to sleep. You loved how Levi was so soft everywhere you touched, it was so unlike what the world perceived of him, maybe your baby's skin was going to be as smooth and perfect as his and not as dry and oily as yours. Of course the baby's skin was going to be soft, ugh and those little arms and legs, you couldn't lie to your self, deep down you were just a tad excited to have a baby, if it meant that it would look like Levi you wouldn't want to give up on it for the world.

"Levi, does Kenny keep baby pictures of you?"

"What?" The onyx haired male raised a brow at your inquiry but didn't give you enough time to repeat yourself before he answered. "My mother had so many pictures of me so I guess that it's natural that he has some and well there probably are a few pictures from after my mother's death, I'm not that sure."

In response, he only earned a hum.

"Tch, can I lay on your chest? I want you to play with my hair." His eyes pleaded with you in the darkness. Of course you could never say no to such thing, you loved it even more when he was the one sleeping on you. Another sentence left his lips, this time with a yawn as he shifted himself on you, cooing like a small child. "I'll call Kenny tomorrow, sleep now I know you need it."

____

Under any other circumstance you would have loved seeing everyone's dumbfounded faces stating at you as if they had seen the dead rise from their graves. You had to pinch your arms to remind yourself this was indeed serious and you shouldn't let out a single chuckle.

"Please tell me you're joking" Nanaba pleaded, placing her hand on yours in disbelief.

"I'm going to screeeeeam! Shorty can't even hold it in, ghaaaa!"

"Hange he will hear you through the restroom."

Hange blinked her eyes rapidly at the sound of that. "You haven't told him?" She immediately seemed to lose her enthusiasm, something you hadn't intended to happen, especially at such a night, but you knew you didn't have a say in other people's emotions.

"Hange he never seemed too fond of the idea, why would I complicated things for him?"

Mike's eyes widened in disbelief. There was no way in hell he was having this. You were practically his little sister, seeing you so tormented as you were in the moment when you spoke those words ravaged his last nerve, causing anger to clench his hands into fists. He watched as you took a small bite of your food giving the rest to Eli who was comfortably sitting on your lap, tapping his little hands on the rim of your plate. Other than the fact you broke out such news to him, Nanaba Hange and Erwin and had expressed your fears on informing your significant other, you seemed quite bubbly. Children really did bring out such a soft side of you, he knew that was for sure.

"Hange" you spoke, unphased as ever "Levi's coming please stop screaming at me, i love you but it's only making me dizzy."

It felt as if a thousand pairs of eyes were burning holes through his whole body, his head, and everywhere around his personal space bubble. Levi could feel his pulse tense just a tad, Hange's unnerving gaze and her crippling smile were fixated especially on him, making his nose itchy. There was something very different in the atmosphere around him; Nanaba wasn't eating anymore, she was more fixated on her daughter than anyone else, Erwin was nervously staring between him and you and you and Mike were trying to clean Eli's hands from the food he had just touched. When the scenery wasn't something irregular, none of you dared look eachother in the eyes, beat it that Hange was staring only at him.

"Oi, what the fuck is wrong-"

"Levi, shorty! Does Eli look like he's enjoying himself in (y/n)'s arms?" Hange turned her sweetened gaze on you, making you choke on your words, you shot her an atrociously strict glare. "Remember when Nanaba gave birth? What do you think about babies? Maybe you think they smell a lot? But what about ackerbabies?"

"Way to be discreet Han, thank you!" Your lips puckered in anger as you brought your arms to cross under your chest.

"Wait what's going on shitty glasses?"

"Yada Yada shorty, you're not getting a word from me, my lips are sealed" Hange spoke and shut her eyes to emphasize the significance of her words.

You sighed in a pathetic attempt to relieve some tention of your chest. A tight knot had formed due to anxiety, fog had clouded over your brain and you were feeling so faint and exhausted that you just wanted to get it over with. You didn't mind standing there like a fish out of water after breaking the news to him, the tention in the air was in fact what was making you suffocate in your seat. With wobbly hands you pushed Eli off your lap, not caring about the moan of disagreement he made and you shot up from your seat, announcing you had to take some fresh air. Levi had to stop Nanaba mid tracks to be able to come after you, fast enough to be there when you got out.

Naturally, you stood seated at a bench that neared the restaurant. Your hands were covering your face scratching softly through your hair, probably in attempts to calm your self down. He approached you without any second thought, this time determined to know what was it with you. Your behavior these past week had been unnerving and overly concerning to say the least. Carefully he sat himself down next to you, his right arm come around your frame comfortingly while the left one came to caress underneath your cheek.

"You should probably talk to me."

Your voice came muffled from between your palms as you still hadn't dared to look him in the eye. "Levi, I'm, I'm so sorry it's just... I'm very anxious."

"I think I figured that, brat." His voice was so soothing, it felt as if he was speaking to you in the comfort of your private room, not on a bench outside a semi fancy restaurant

"You know when Hange talked about ackerbabies she uhm, she might have had a particular baby in mind."

Levi blinked erratically for a single second before his mouth, unable to compel to his brain's orders, formed the shape of an oh. Of course, in the moment it was hard to click with any other even but he attributed that to his lack of knowledge over the situation. Had he any clue or suspicion that you could be pregnant he would have been able to realise that it wasn't that your stress had been messing with your stomach every morning and that your extreme fatigue couldn't possible align with the erratically swift rhythm of your palms. Of course, of course it wasn't a thermometer that you had disposed of in the toilet, he wanted to slap himself for being so naive as to believe that. He was strict with recycling rules, you wouldn't have just straight up there s thermometer in the trash. Fuck now's not the time to think about recycling.

With the soft, chaste kiss at the top of your hair you finally decided to turn your gaze to him. Watery eyes met with an adoring grey gaze, a gaze you've never seen at this extreme before. "I love you, you know." Another kiss meant your head got to lift a little more, just to get closer to him. "I don't say it often but you don't have to worry, I'll try to tell our kid more often."

Your eyes shimmered with adoration at his words, despite the cold weather you couldn't bring yourself to feel not even a little tingle, Levi was keeping you so warm with his words. "Really? You want this?"

"Tch why wouldn't I, you thought I'd ever let you go and leave me lonely? I've always thought you knew we're sharing the same future."

Your lips attacked his in fiery passion. It was a natural reaction to his words, an ice melting kiss, a promise for the future. There were many reasons as to why you lived Levi but maybe the fact that you would have a little stoic faced baby running around your feet made you love him a little bit more.

#aot #levi ackerman x reader #levi x reader #snk x reader #levi #aot x reader #shingeki no kyojin #levi ackerman #attack on titan #snk #Captain levi #modern au #levi x reader imagine #ahhhh brrr #wufff #daddy levi makes me go wuf #barkkk #eye-

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tendouluvr · 3 years

Text

hq!! dads and their kids singing a cartoon’s theme song

- characters: bokuto, hinata

- warnings: none but in hinata’s it talks abt doctors and medical procedures but it’s all fake and just toys (doc mcstuffins)

- wc: 1k, 839

a/n: thought of this in the shower,,, lots to think abt

BOKUTO : sofia the first

#! noooo he has twins u cannot tell me otherwise

#! little twin girls,, they both have his pepper colored hair

#! one has shorter hair, she likes to keep it shoulder length

#! the other one is “growing her hair out so daddy can practice doing hair”

#! not her words, it’s bokuto’s words

#! you were out doing some quick errands, leaving all three kids at home alone

#! bokuto just finished showering the girls and they both ran out of the restroom with little towels wrapped around them before he could grab their clothes

#! a chase ensues and very loud high pitched giggles could be heard from both of them as they run around while keeping their tiny hand on their towel so it doesn’t fall off

#! “i’m gonna get cha~!!!” bokuto sings as he walks around the house, following their giggles that just keeps getting louder

#! they think they’re being quiet, but sadly bokuto’s their daddy :((

#! bokuto tries not to laugh when he hears them shushing at each other to be quiet even though they were both making noises

#! “hmm where could they be..?” he feigns ignorance while walking back and forth in front of the curtains they hid behind

#! his daughters behind the curtains: 😦

#! “found ya!” he yanks the curtains to the side and they both screamed as he wraps his arms around them to keep them in place

#! another fit of giggles comes from the twins while bokuto chuckles, chest rumbling against them making them laugh even more because it tickles

#! “can we weh pwincess, daddy?” the one with shorter hair mumbled against his arm

#! the other quickly agrees with her sister and excitedly hits bokuto’s other arm while beaming up at him, “bwaid!!!!”

#! he pretends to think about it until they both were clinging onto his arm to shake him before he laughs and opens his arms to let them go get their dresses

#! he follows behind them into their room to see them standing in their closet looking for their dresses

#! after they found it and he helped them put it on, they each grabbed a hand and hurriedly pulls him out to the living room

#! the one with shorter hair lets go to look for the tv remote and the one with longer hair pulls him towards the couch

#! she makes him sit down and she stands in between his legs, both of her tiny hands resting on each of his knees, with her hair facing him

#! “you want braid, angel?” he asks while tucking her hair behind her ears

#! she doesn’t turn around but gives him quick nods so he gets to work

#! now, bokuto’s been practicing his braiding skills. he started out terribly, there were knots, loose strands of hair, and tying it off was so hard :((( why does it keep getting looser as he’s trying to tie it </33

#! but now he’s still not that good, BUT the braids are more composed and he can tie them without ruining the final look :))

#! good job bo

#! he feels the remote hit his arm and looks up to see his daughter staring at him, which makes him laugh

#! “what funny?” she pouts making him laugh harder

#! she huffs when he doesn’t say anything and holds out the remote to him

#! “sofia the firsht, daddy,” giving him a toothy grin

#! “what’s the magic word!!!,” he grabs the remote from her but does not turn the tv on

#! her eyebrows furrow as she stares at him with one side of her hip leaning against the couch, “..pwease?”

#! he gives her a big kiss on her forehead while mumbling a, “good job, princess.” and turns the tv on

#! he goes onto youtube and searches for the ‘sofia the first’ theme song

#! right when the song starts, he was immediately pulled off of the couch by his twin daughters taking him by surprise

#! bokuto stumbles onto his feet, trying to find his balance before his hands were grabbed again and the girls started jumping around

#! his loud laugh could be heard from outside and little giggles could be heard following it as they all bounced around in a circle

#! the twins took turns singing parts of the short song and bokuto joins in when he hears them stuttering over their words

#! “daddy!! can we get pet cwackle?” he heard his daughters asking below him

#! “pet dragon?! of course we can!” he cheers while bending down to pick them up, both girls on each arms

#! “what’s that about a pet dragon?” your voice comes from the doorway and their heads quickly turned to look at you

#! the twins squirm around in his arms to get off so they could run to you

#! bokuto lets them down and you suddenly get ambushed by two mini bokutos while the big one is right on their tails

#! bokuto’s big body drapes itself over you, practically encasing all three of you into his arms

#! his face is in your neck and you feel the girls’ faces smushed against your thighs

#! “daddy said we get ‘wagon!!” one of them excitedly tells you with her hands moving around to show how big the dragon was going to be

#! “a wagon?” you pretend to not understand making her pout with furrowed brows

#! “no! pet ‘wagon!!!! daddy said pet ‘wagon.”

#! “it’s pet dwagon, not ‘wagon,” the other one subtly rolls her eyes at her sister, making both you and bokuto raise an eyebrow at her action

#! “where’d she learn that?” you mumbled so only he could hear and you felt him shrug against your body

#! “dunno, probably uncle omi,” he chuckles into your ear, sending shivers down your spine

#! you push him off for making you feel ticklish, but he caught the smile on your face before looking down at the girls

#! one of them looks up at him and he picks her up to walk to the couch while the other was talking your ears off about a pet dragon, but somewhere along the way her words got jumbled and she lost you lmao

#! you picked her up to walk to the couch, settling against bokuto’s side with her laying on you

#! bokuto turns on a playlist full of ‘sofia the first’ episodes and you guys let the twins watch while laying on their parents as you both softly talk to each other about your day and tonight’s dinner

HINATA : doc mcstuffins

#! hinata’s little boy likes to help people so ‘doc mcstuffins’ easily became one of his top shows

#! his tiny, slightly tilted mop of orange hair could be seen in front of the tv majority of the time during his play time

#! for christmas, he was gifted a doc mcstuffins play set with the tiny white coat and everything

#! whenever hinata had a day off, he would spend his day playing with his kid by pretending to be a patient

#! you guys have considered the possibility of your child growing up to be a doctor seeing that he loves to help people feel better

#! OMG and if hinata happens to get one of his sudden fevers that prevents him from playing, his son would try to fix him up but because hinata’s actually sick he can’t keep going near him 😭😭

#! so his son is just persistent on helping and hinata is just laying in bed hiding under the blanket, which is super hot and making him sweat like balls

#! “dada, why no play?” his head is tilted to the side with a curious look and his hands are up like his shoulders are shrugging, a tiny pout on his lips at his dad who was hiding from him under the blanket

#! “it’s because i’m sick, bubby.” he hears his dad muffled grumbling

#! “but ‘m doctor!!!!! i can giveyu check up!” his chubby little hands raise up in excitement

#! “nooo, i’m sick for real. if you keep touching me you might get sick too. i love you, but please go play with your stuffies instead, baby.” by this point, he lifted the blanket off of himself to talk directly to his son whose hand was holding onto the fake stethoscope around his neck

#! “ok, daddy. i go, but wait here!” he quickly runs off before hinata could say something and a few seconds later, the kid’s fast like his dad, he’s already running back into the room holding a stuffie

#! “here you go! she better doctor so she can make you good fast, daddy,” a shy smile on his face as he hands hinata his small doc mcstuffins plushie

#! hinata lets out a laugh at his antics before taking the doll and hugging it to his chest

#! “thank you, bub. go play now, i love you.”

#! “lub you too!!!!” he squeals as he runs out of the room

#! ANYWAY back to the actual scenario, so it was hinata’s day off and he was currently laying on the couch with a fake blood pumping cuff around his arm that was dangling off of the couch

#! small mumbling could be heard from his son who was quietly talking to himself as he looks around in his doctor chest

#! “am i doing good, doc?” hinata asks him to keep the scenario going

#! his head quickly moves up to look at hinata with wide eyes, “you scared me!” he giggles making hinata giggle along with him

#! “i need to see doctor b’cuz i forgot what to do.. can you turn it on?” he hands hinata the remote

#! without replying, he turns on ‘doc mcstuffins’ and as soon as the theme song plays his son jumps up and his eyes were glued onto the screen

#! “hey, scoot back a lil before you go blind!” hinata slightly raises his voice to get his attention

#! once he’s concentrated on something, he tunes out everything around him

#! hinata knew his son heard him when he saw his bum make the tiniest movements to scoot itself back, he thought it was still kind of close but shrugged it off

#! the mini hinata was bobbing his head side to side, eyes sparkling, and mouth moving along with the words

#! halfway through the song, he hurriedly gets up from the floor to make his way over to his dad who had his eyes closed

#! when hinata heard his small voice singing along to the song, he opens an eye to look up at his son

#! a big smile made its way onto his face and as his son is pretending to pump his daddy’s blood pressure and checking his heartbeat, he also started to whisper along with the song

#! the voice caught his son’s attention and he looks up at his dad before taking his tiny hands to smoosh hinata’s cheeks together

#! they both giggled and the boy crawled up onto the couch to straddle hinata’s waist

#! “dada, you look funny,” he giggles even more then begin poking hinata’s cheeks with a finger

#! “hmm, is that a good thing?” hinata tries to speak but it sounded muffled from his squished cheeks

#! “no!” he gives him a toothy grin as he giggles even louder, finding the situation funny and thinking he was the funniest comedian out there

#! hinata rolls his eyes before grabbing his son by the waist and rolling him over so he was laying on his side

#! hugging him from behind, hinata gives him a gentle peck on the side of his head before turning up the volume on the tv

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dialovers-translations · 3 years

Text

Diabolik Lovers DARK FATE ー Reiji Dark [Prologue]

ー The scene starts in the underground waterway

Yui: ( I’m sure Reiji-san will be upset with me if I follow after him. But even so, I... )

Uu...

ー She pushes open the portal

*Creaaaak*

*THUD*

ー The scene shifts to the forest in the Demon World

Yui: ーー I’m here...

( This is the Demon World...It’s as dark as ever. Even more so right now, with the lunar eclipse still ongoing... )

( Oh no. I don’t know the way...It’s pitch-black, I can barely see a thing. )

( Which direction should I go? )

( I want to meet up with Reiji-san as soon as I can... )

*HOOOOOOWL*

Yui: ...!!

( The howling of wolves...Don’t tell me, they’re nearby? )

( Those wolves which attacked Ayato-kun... )

ー A flashback ensues

Yui: Ayato-kun!!!!

Ayato: Fuck…That hurt! The fuck’s your problem!!?

ー The wolf continues its assault

Ayato: Guh…Chichinashi, don’t you dare move from underneath me…!!

Yui: B-But…!

Ayato: Shut up…Guah…!!

*RIIIIIIP*

Ayato: …Guh…Uu…!!

ー The flashback ends

Yui: Ugh...

( Oh no...I remembered, and now my body won’t stop shaking. )

( Perhaps I made a mistake by coming here all by myself... )

*HOOOOOOWL*

Yui: ...! Again...

( Also, I feel like they’ve gotten closer than before... )

( Either way, staying here is dangerous. I should look for a place to hide. )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to inside the abandoned building

Yui: ーー There’s a house all the way out here...

( The building seems to be quite old and there doesn’t appear to be anyone living here right now... )

( Perfect. I’ll use this as my hiding spot. )

*Rustle*

Yui: ...Phew.

( I finally got to catch my breath... )

( However, I can’t stay here forever. Perhaps it isn’t too late to turn back after all... )

*Thud*

Yui: ...!!

( I heard a noise coming from outside right now...Don’t tell me, there’s someone here? )

( What should I do? Where can I hide...? )

( Ah! I can hide behind those curtains! )

ー Yui moves behind the curtains

??? 1: The noise was coming from here, right?

??? 2: Yes. I am positive.

??? 1: ...You’re right, it definitely reeks of something in here. Oi, search the room.

??? 2: Yes, sir!

Yui: ( ...Who could those guys be? Are they perhaps Vampires...? )

( Oh no. Who knows what they’ll do to me if they find me. )

( Please, don’t let them check here...! )

??? 2: ーー There doesn’t seem to be anyone around. Should we turn back?

??? 1: Hm...

Yui: ( Thank god. Seems like they’re leaving already. If I just stay hidden like this, I should be able to go unnoticed somehow... )

??? 1: ...?

??? 2: Is something the matter?

ー He opens the curtains

Yui: ...!!!

??? 1: So this is where you’ve been hiding. Hah, how naive.

*Rustle*

Yui: Ow! No, let me go...!

??? 1: A woman, huh? And a human, on top of that. Where did you come from?

Yui: F-From the human world...

??? 1: Why did you come here? Did you come with a specific reason in mind? Or perhapsーー

...Hm?

Yui: Eh...?

??? 1: What is this scent? For a human, it’s somewhat...

Oi, woman! Are you truly a human?

Yui: I am...

??? 1: Suspicious. Seems like we need to investigate you more thoroughly.

ーー Oi, take this woman to our castle.

??? 2: Roger!

Yui: No way...! Stop, please! I have somewhere I need to go immediately, so...!

??? 1: Keep quiet and follow us!

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyah...!

( At this rate, I’ll get taken with them...However, I’m no match for these people... )

( No...I’m scared...Save me, Reiji-san...! )

???: May I ask what you are going to do with her?

Yui: Eh...?

Reiji-san...!!

( This is the real one, right? I didn’t think he’d actually come for me...! )

??? 1: ...! You are Karlheinz-sama’s...

Reiji: Long time no see, Zweig-sama. I suppose it must have been since the last evening party.

Yui: ( Reiji-san knows this person...? )

Reiji: By the way, would you kindly let go of the lady?

Zweig: My sincere apologies! I was unaware of the fact that she is your prey...

Reiji: No. She is my lover.

Yui: Eh...?

( He said that like it was nothing... )

( But I’m happy. He’s willing to refer to me as his lover in front of others. )

Zweig: ...I see. In that case, I should return her to you.

Reiji: Thank you very much.

Zweig: However, what was she doing here?

This is the Demon World and on top of that, the lunar eclipse is still ongoing. It is extremely dangerous for a human woman to be wandering around the woods by herself.

Reiji: You are absolutely correct. This was a blunder on my part. ...I am extremely ashamed.

Zweig: No, I was not blaming you or anything...

Well, let us move on from that. In the end, nothing happened after all.

Reiji: Once again, my sincere apologies.

Well then, we shall take our leave now. ーー We are leaving, Yui.

Yui: Y-Yes.

ー The scene shifts back to the forest

Yui: ーー I’m so sorry, Reiji-san. I caused you trouble.

Reiji: Is that all? Nothing else you should say?

Yui: Well...I acted recklessly despite my promise to remain in the human world...

Reiji: My thoughts exactly. Good grief...I was right sending a Familiar down there to check just in case.

Who knows what could have happened if I arrived just mere seconds later.

Yui: ( He’s upset... )

( Of course he is. I caused him trouble because of my own selfish acts. )

Reiji: I doubt you are aware, but those men were part of the Snake Clan, also known as Vibora.

Yui: Snake...? So they’re not Vampires?

Reiji: Yes. However, that does not make them any less dangerous. After all, they are highly territorial.

They were patrolling around the abandoned building to keep an eye on possible intruders wishing to enter their territory which lies just past that area...

If one were to set foot inside their territory, not even a fellow Demon would make it through unscathed.

You were truly playing with fire.

Yui: ( I see... )

I really am sorry...

Reiji: Haah...Well, I suppose I can let it slide. Nothing happened this time after all.

Please use this as a lesson and refrain from being so reckless in the future.

Yui: ( Huh? He only scolded me. In the past, I would have received a severe punishment... )

Reiji: What is the matter? Making such an odd expression.

Yui: Uhm, I was just thinking you’ve kind of changed.

Reiji: Why would you say that all of a sudden...?

However, if I have truly changed, then that would be...because of you.

Yui: Eh?

Reiji: Well then, let us head home.

ー He offers his hand

*Rustle*

On certain CGs, little black roses will appear on the screen. If you click on them, you get an extra line of dialogue.

“Look at those flushed cheeks...Seems like my lover is quite the shy one per usual. Although that is part of what makes you so adorable.”

“You honestly are hopeless without me. I suppose I would be able to rest at ease if you were constantly connected to me like this.”

Yui: Ah...

( He grabbed hold of my hand... )

( His hand is so big...His fingers are long too, it really feels like a man’s hand. )

( I wonder why? This isn’t the first time he has touched me, but my heartbeat’s going crazy... )

Reiji: Why do you avert your gaze?

Yui: I-It’s nothing...

Reiji: I shall not allow you to keep any secrets from me. Answer me, Yui.

Yui: Well...I feel somewhat embarrassed...

Reiji: Embarrassed?

Heh. Why are you still flustered over this? We are lovers. Therefore, it is only normal for us to hold hands.

Or would you perhaps prefer another method?

Yui: Another method...?

Reiji: I will tell you if you so wish...But when I do, I assume your cheeks may turn an even brighter shade of red.

Yui: Uu...

Reiji: Fufu...You truly are a straightforward person.

Yui: ( ...I wonder if he’s teasing me? )

( However, even that makes me happy. )

( His voice is so gentle, therefore I can tell that he cares for meーー )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the entrance of the Sakamaki castle

Reiji: Well then, we have arrived.

You are dirty, so you should take a shower first.

Yui: Yes. Uhm...Is Ayato-kun alright? If possible, I’d like to see him...

Reiji: Ayato has yet to regain consciousness. There is nothing you can do even if you go see him.

Yui: I see...

( Vampires usually have a speedy recovery. Yet, he still hasn’t woken up... )

( I wonder if he’ll be okay...? )

Reiji: ...Well, would you like to go take a quick look?

Yui: Eh? I can?

Reiji: It is written all over your face that you are worried sick.

I doubt you can relax and take a shower in your current state.

Yui: Thank you very much!

ー The scene shifts to one of the bedrooms

Yui: ...

Ayato: ...

Yui: ( He really won’t even budge. )

( I don’t want to think this way, but it’s almost as if he’s dead... )

Reiji-san, how’s his condition...?

Reiji: The wound on his left arm is the only physical injury. It is recovering quite well, but to this day, he has not shown any signs of awakening.

He might have hit his head hard on something.

However, I am not a medical specialist, so I cannot say for sure...

Yui: I see...

Uhm, do doctors not exist here in the Demon World?

Reiji: I believe I have mentioned this in the past as well, but the profession of ‘doctor’ does not exist here.

Aah, however...

Yui: Does something come to mind?

Reiji: Yes. There is one thing.

Father’s pharmaceutical department. If we go there, they could examine Ayato’s symptoms.

Yui: Really?

Reiji: Yes.

Well then, we have been here long enough, no? Let us leave.

I doubt you can relax in those dirty clothes.

Yui: Ah, just a little longer...Ayato-kun has some sweat on his forehead, so I’d like to wipe it off.

Reiji: I shall do that.

Yui: But...

Reiji: ...You are rather dense.

Yui: Eh? What do you mean?

Reiji: You wish to remain by Ayato’s side that badly? More so than spending time with me?

Yui: Eh...?

( Don’t tell me, is Reiji-san jealous...? )

ー Reiji steps closer

Reiji: Good grief. To think you would make me go this far...I assume you are prepared to get punished?

Yui: N-No way...I was simply worried about Ayato-kun, that’s all...

Reiji: Are we talking back now? In that case, I assume those defiant lips should be first to receive a penalty.

Nn...

*Smooch*

Yui: ...

Y-You can’t...Reiji-san...Ayato-kun’s right there...

Reiji: He cannot tell since he is asleep. Come on, keep still.

Nn...Haah...

Yui: ( They’re only light kisses, yet it’s making my head spin... )

( At this rate, I’ll... )

Reiji: Fufu...You look as if you are about to melt any second now. It would be troublesome if you were to collapse on me as well, so I will leave the follow-up for some other time.

ー Reiji walks away

Yui: ( Geez, Reiji-san...! )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

→ LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

<- [ Sakamaki Prologue ] [ Dark 01 ] ->

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #reiji sakamaki #dark fate #diabolik lovers translation #dfreijidarkprolog

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scribblingfangirl · 4 years

Text

WRITTEN WORDS & WHISPERED WISHES | Julie and The Phantoms - Luke Patterson

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Author’s Note: I wrote this fic for an old fandom of mine and thought I could re-write/re-use it to finally get started on my JaTP bingo card (because my creativity and originality are nowhere to be found) - I hope you enjoy, yet I’m still sorry in advance? (song’s Poet by Bastille but slightly adapted by me)

word count: 1.9k

prompt: ‘Song Fic’ on my @jatpbingo bingo card

summary: It took several sleepless nights, days of throwing up and feeling bad and the pressure of cuddling with Luke to finally discover that you were pregnant.

warnings: teen pregnancy, character death, a very hastly scribbeled down fic idea (this was not beta read (or read over in general) so typos, inconsistent grammar and other faboulous little annoyances (if anyone loves to read my fanfics and would like to volunteer as my beta reader I’ll kiss your feet))

.•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•.

It had been a few weeks since you, well... since you had seen another room rather than your classrooms and your own four walls. You even missed your kitchen and living room. But especially, you missed the boys' studio.

Today, however, has been a good day. You had managed to eat properly without feeling sick and were starting to catch up on some shortly due essays, papers and homework assignments, so you wouldn’t need to do them when feeling utterly sick again.

Luke had come to visit you (or tried to) a few times, needing to use his charm at your door, as you told your parents that you didn’t want him to see you. Your hair was a mess and unkempt, it pained you to stand for a long period of time (so you reduced the times you washed it to a minimum), your eyes had dark circles under them and you were exhausted even if you didn’t do anything the whole day long.

“I brought you food. I know that your fridge only knows like three meals”, he had said once quietly, putting the tray with the steaming meal on your bed, gesturing for you to move a little, so he could sit beside you.

“You mean to say that I and/or my parents only know three meals”, you had coughed laughing and refused to move. You didn’t want him to get sick too.

“No don’t,” you had muttered when he started to push you to the side, “I think I might have a bad bug and Sunset Curve can’t function without its lead vocalist and guitarist. And I can’t eat anyway.”

He had looked at you, confused and concerned. “Still? Alex told me you were able to keep your breakfast in, and I thought that meant you were on your way of improvement.”

“Some illnesses take longer to go away. I just didn’t want you to check on me because things like a normal cold or a little stomach bug can pass without unnecessary medications even if it takes longer.”

That had been two weeks ago. But today, when you were finally looking presentable again and were even able to open the door yourself, it wasn’t Luke that was visiting you.

“Oh… it’s you guys.”

“Geez, thanks Y/N. No need to kill us with all this kindness,” Reggie said laughing and sniffed, “Uh! Smells amazing. Pizza?” Without any hesitation or warning, he entered your house and vanished into the kitchen.

“Pizza? Wow, you must really be feeling better. I remember you throwing up on me a week ago when I tried to feed you chicken soup,” Alex smiled, hands in his pockets and not moving until you invited him in.

“Oh no,” hiding your face in your hands after you closed the door behind you both and groaned. “I’m so sorry about that. Again. Tell me how much the cleaning bill was and I-”

“Chill Y/N, relax. You’ve seen me at my worst and now I’ve seen you at your worst. Sure, I was still way more elegant and not as weak as you, but you just gave me a reason to finally get rid of those shoes.”

“No Alex! You loved those sneakers!” you said horrified.

“Just kidding. Give me 50 bucks and we’re even. Or, you know, better yet, come back to the studio and help us get rid of an overly clingy Luke. Now that you’re better, pleeeease, give him some cuddles!”

You giggled. “You know you have two perfectly fine arms to hug him with as well, right?”

“Yeah!” He said, raising his voice. “But not ALL the time. And I want to be appreciated for myself once too! Not just because I am the only one available to give hugs as an ‘emergency solution’!”

“You make it sound like you actually let us hug you dude, don’t lie,” Reggie muttered through a mouthful of Pizza, throwing himself on your couch.

Throwing Reggie a stink eye Alex turned to you again. “Anyway… You and I will go to the studio now. Yeah?”

“Well”, you stocked, not sure if you could talk to them about it. You had hoped for a few more days to think it over. “You know… It might actually not have been a bad bug, but rather a big bug that I caught.”

At their confused faces, you sighed. “I’m a few days, or even weeks... late”, you mumbled the last part so quietly, you weren’t even sure if they had heard you (if they even knew what you meant).

You were definitely not expecting Reggie to be the one to answer. “Do you want me to drive you to the hospital or do you just want a pregnancy test first?”

You didn’t know who of them had told Luke, or when, but after a few minutes of waiting in the hospital’s waiting room he came barreling in, beanie askew on his head and guitar case on his back. His searching eyes found yours in a haze and you could basically hear the question in his gaze ‘Are you?’. Silently you shook your head, averting your eyes.

Alex offered him his place beside you and Luke grabbed your hand while you waited. A few moments later your name was called and the nurse brought you and Luke to an empty room and told you to wait again. She came back a few minutes later and Luke moved to the side of the bed and held your hand again.

You didn’t feel the cold gel on your belly. Didn’t feel the way Luke was almost crushing your hand in his. Didn’t hear the words the nurse said. You only heard the faint heartbeat of your baby. You were pregnant.

Luke was beaming, looking at the screen where you could see the ultrasound of your baby, but he also looked at you with a little bit of fear in his eyes.

I can't say the words out loud So in a rhyme, I wrote you down Now you'll live through the ages I can feel your pulse in the pages

Even though you were only in your eighth week and not really showing yet, Luke wouldn’t allow you to wear anything else than his oversized hoodies, sweaters, pullovers and flannels (the ones that still had sleeves. And okay, fair enough, it might also have been because he absolutely loved to see you in his clothes.)

He was like an eagle watching over you, flying down as soon as you were doing or were going to do something he didn’t approve of. He even almost convinced his and your parents to move into your room so he could reach you faster in case of an emergency. (It was a clear no from both parents and he even got grounded for that idea - though later on, you learned from Alex that it was because he had said ‘Why not? It’s not like I can impregnate her again!’)

Of course, your parents weren’t happy about the situation, but they weren’t about to throw you out on the street. They both loved you and Luke (after all, they did fall for his charms one to many times), but they never really spoke the words out loud, never really talked about the fact that you two were going to be parents, a family at such a young age.

And Luke and you? While he was acting like an overprotective husband you both weren’t really talking about it either. You both were terrified about the fact that you were going to raise a child while Sunset Curve was trying to make it big, while you were still in High School and it still seemed more like a dream to you both, a dream from which neither of you wanted to wake up and face reality.

That’s why you started to write the letters. Or in Luke’s case - lyrics. Letters to future you’s, letters to your unborn child telling them about your adventures, your experiences and feelings. It was a way to tell yourself all the reasons why it was okay that you were going to be having sleepless nights filled with the cries of a baby, telling you that it was all going to be worth it.

And for the first time, while writing those letters and lyrics, it was as if both you could feel your baby.

Your body lies upon the sheets Of paper in words so sweet I can't say the words So I wrote you into my verse Now you'll live through the ages I can feel your pulse in the pages

Time went by fast. You remembered the first time you felt the little kick very well, as if it was yesterday, but at that time you still could somewhat see your feet and now you couldn’t even stand up anymore without somebody’s help.

School was weird, but you had the boys to help you through it.

You started to draw little babies beside your letters, trying to imagine the different looks it could have. Would it have your hair or Luke’s? His eyes and your nose? Your eyes and his smile?

And then you started to write your letters and lyrics around the baby, making it look like it was cradled by your warm words, hoping that whenever you wouldn’t be able to hold your child, it would be able to read your letters and feel the love, because you surely did.

How could you have known that in just a few weeks these lyrics would be the only words your child would ever ‘hear’ from their father?

I have read you with these eyes I've read you with these eyes I have held you in these hands

You had never seen your parents looking so fragile and broken like the night they came into your room to tell you the boys died.

And then, the next thing you knew was that your son was born. The doctors and nurses said that it was the stress, the emotional overload of being told that your friends, your loves, the father of your child died that caused your water to break.

That’s why it was Bobby and not Luke that was by your side that night and held your hand. It was Bobby, the normally strong and grumpy teenager, that was smiling like a little kid that just got told it would get to eat as much candy as it wanted.

His eyes were glistening with tears as the nurse handed him the little bundle of joy and he started to sway him - Luke - slowly back and forth, knowing that you were too tired to hold him at the moment.

“He is beautiful”, you murmured as he took a seat beside you, his gaze still fixed on his nephew, because obviously, he would be Uncle Bobby (though not for a very long time), “Just like his father.”

You didn’t hear Bobby’s answer as you fell asleep and dreamed of Luke, tucking you in and kissing your forehead before he dedicated himself entirely to the new tiny human in his arms, singing a sweet lullaby.

“We have written you down. Now you will live forever and all the world will hear you and you will live forever. In eyes not yet created, on tongues that are not born, in ears not yet listening. I have written you down, now you will live forever and Sunset Curve will sing about you.”

#luke patterson x reader #julie and the phantoms x reader #jatp #julie and the phantoms #luke patterson #luke patterson imagine #luke patterson one shot #luke patterson oneshot #julie and the phantoms imagine #julie and the phantoms oneshot #julie and the phantoms one shot #jatp imagine #jatp one shot #jatp oneshot #my writing #viascribbles

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illegal-spiegel · 4 years

Text

To Save a Dog’s Life

Genre: angst, fluff Warnings: reader sustaining injuries Summary: Bakugo, Todoroki, Deku, and Kirishima’s reaction to the reader who risks their life to save a dog A/N: I am not a doctor so sorry if none of this is ✨accurate✨

Katsuki Bakugo:

he is literally blasting towards the villain when you jump in out of nowhere

he slams on his nonliteral brakes and gawks for a second

what kind of moron are you?

you run right at the villain before stopping a couple of feet away to pick something up

wait

is that a...?

it’s a dog

you start to run away again when the villain sends rubble your way

Ground Zero is right back into action when he gets over his initial shock

but, of course, he just wasn’t fast enough

next thing he knows, you’re being crushed

he flies to you using his quirk and lands before you

he goes to help you while the other idiots try to stop the villain

“You sure are stupid.”

that is literally the first thing he says to you when he reaches you

he’s not very good at this part of the whole hero thing

you gawk up at him after telling the dog to run home

he watches the dog take off before looking back to you

“Did you seriously just risk your life to save a dumb mutt?” he asks as he tries to lift the rock off of you

you scoff at his question, rolling your eyes

“Well duh! The poor thing was about to be crushed!”

Bakugo gives you a straight face as he assesses your situation right now

your entire lower half is trapped under concrete

“God, you’re such an idiot,” he groans before deciding to just blast the rubble away

you scoff again and go to say something as you move to stand up when you feel it

you cry out in agony, your legs refusing to move

“Your legs are broken, you imbecile. Stop moving,” he snaps, moving to lift you up bridal style

you huff and roll your eyes, looking at the villain who is now tied up

“My hero,” you say sarcastically

he clicks his tongue and scowls at the sight of the villain restrained

“You made me miss all the action, you extra.”

“Do you have a single nice bone in your body?” you snap, growing agitated

“I saved you, didn’t I?” he snaps right back

you huff and look away from him once more

“Touché.”

he personally took you to the hospital and made sure you were taken care of before leaving

he barely spoke the entire time he was with you after you both reached the hospital

you can’t help but feel sad that he left

maybe you only like him because he saved you?

but he’s so handsome...

and he can keep up with your quips and sarcasm...

you tried to forget about him during your stay in the hospital but it was hard

he was always on tv saving people and he even appeared in your dreams

stupid hero

when you started physical therapy, halfway through the first session, you discovered that he was there

you asked for a break and sat in your wheelchair before wheeling on over to him

“Ground Zero?” you ask shocked

“Yeah. Good thing your brain isn’t more damaged than it already is,” he says as he crosses his arms over his chest

you grunt and roll your eyes

“And you’re here because...” you trail off, waiting for him to fill in the blank

he stays silent for a moment, just staring at you

then he finally says, “I just wanted to tell you that the stupid dog you saved is okay. The family found it and said they’ll pay for your hospital bills as thanks.”

you’re shocked, to say the least

you try to argue with him but he says it’s too late and it’s already been done

turns out, he’s actually the one who paid for them

he didn’t lie about the family’s dog though. They got you flowers, balloons, and a ‘get well soon’ card to which he brought to your room

after that one visit, he found himself coming around more often

after your legs were good as new, you ended up asking him on a date

you’ll never let him live down how red his face got

Shoto Todoroki:

he uses his right side to freeze the villain’s legs in place

this is when he sees you just a couple of feet away with your feet stuck as well

you’re also holding a dog?

you quickly set the dog down though and let it run away from you

before he can do anything else, the villain extends his arms to you and hits you with all of his might

so he can extend his body

he must also know that saving you is the priority

because he hit you from behind and made you go forward

since part of your legs are stuck in the ice though, your knees break with the pressure as you fall forward to the ground

Todoroki curses and quickly freezes the rest of the villain, not even caring at this point if he freezes the villain to death

he goes to your side and uses his left hand to melt the ice around your legs

you look up at him with wide eyes, staring at him and refusing to look away

“Is the dog okay?” you stutter out, voice laced with pain

he was not expecting that

his brows furrow at your question as he looks at your face before looking back down to your legs

yup, your legs are definitely broken

“Yeah. It ran away. Is it your dog?” he asks as he lifts you up

you shake your head with a weak laugh

“Oh, no. I just saw it and knew I needed to save it.”

he honestly can’t believe you right now

you risked your life to save a dog that isn’t even yours

you’re starting to remind him of Deku

did you hit your head too?

he takes you to the hospital, leaving the villain to the police

he doesn’t even bother melting the ice for them

he stays with you for as long as he can before visitors are forced to leave

he visits you every single day though

it is his fault that you got stuck there and then the villain attacked you

you tried to tell him it wasn’t necessary but he refused to listen

it took a while for your legs to heal and for you to be able to walk again but the day eventually came

Todoroki then told you he’s taking you out to eat

yes, you read that right

he didn’t ask

he demanded it

he tried to tell himself that it’s because he felt guilty for being the cause of this

when in reality

over the time he visited and stayed with you at the hospital, he began to grow feelings for you

you already felt bad enough for getting in his way and having him pay for your hospital bills (despite your protests)

and now he wants to take you out to eat?

you agree but only if you could pay for the meal

he agrees, if anything, to just see you longer

Izuku Midoriya:

he’s already in mid-jump heading toward the villain when you appear out of nowhere

he starts to panic but tries to remain calm

wait, okay

maybe you have a quirk and just want to help

maybe you’re not an innocent civilian

yeah, you’re most definitely not a hero

you pick up a dog that’s about to get crushed by the villain and turn around just to have Deku run into you

he can’t exactly stop himself in the middle of the air

you both crash to the ground and you weakly let the puppy go to let it run off to safety

you cough a bit as Deku quickly moves off of you

just as he does though, the villain sends heavy debris both of your ways

he punches through it to make the pieces smaller but they still hit you

one hits your head and has you laying back down onto the ground

he quickly takes care of the villain before rushing to you

he jumps high into the air with you in his arms to the rooftops, knowing it’ll be quicker for him to take you to the hospital this way rather than having you go through traffic

“Did you just risk your life to save a dog?” he asks incredulously

at your weak laugh and nod, he can’t help to smile a bit despite his worrying

you’re just like him

even before he got his quirk, he was running out into danger to save the people he cared about

you pass out halfway there and it only makes him go faster

when he brings you inside, he refuses to let you go unless it’s absolutely necessary

he just wants, no—needs you to be okay

turns out you have a concussion

he asks the doctor how long you’ll be here for

“Normally, someone who sustains a head injury only needs to stay three to seven days unless it’s serious. We won’t know until we run some tests,” he replies smoothly before excusing himself to check on other patients

whether you’re there for a couple of days or a couple of weeks, Deku is there for it all

it’s his fault you got hurt in the first place

with his caring and protective personality, it didn’t take long for you two to become close

anytime he mentioned you getting hurt is his fault, you stop him and reassure him it’s not

“You saved me. You’re my favorite hero. I’ll never forget that day,” you reassure him the first time he ever said it was his fault

you’re the first person to tell him that he’s your favorite hero

he’s red in the face for the rest of that day

the day you’re released, he asks you to get food with him

“Deku, are you asking me out on a date?” you tease

“No! Maybe! Yes! Only if you want to!” he stutters out, face the darkest shade of red you’ve ever seen

and who would you be to deny him?

Eijirou Kirishima:

he’s trying to think of a plan on how to stop the difficult villain when you appear out of thin air

he thinks you’re a hero for a second before he realizes that you’re just a civilian trying to save a dog

the giant villain is about to crush the dog with his foot when you run towards the villain, grab the dog, and slide it out of the way

it was very manly of you, whether you’re a man or not

Kirishima is very moved and even tears up a little

he snaps out of it though when he realizes that you couldn’t move out of the way fast enough and got stepped on

Kirishima has never moved so quickly in his life

he hardens as he runs at the villain and goes right through their leg

it’s gross and he’s covered in blood but at least it prevents the villain from walking anymore

he runs to your side and checks to see if you’re alive, praying that you are

if you died because he wasn’t manly enough and didn’t stop the villain sooner...

his whole body softens when he realizes that you’re still breathing and you have a heartbeat

both are weak though and you need medical attention asap

he lets the ambulance take you since its the fastest way

he makes sure to know what hospital you’re going to though

once he knows, he saves it into his memory as he heads home to clean up

when he’s free of blood and in his regular clothes, he goes to the hospital to visit you

he’s devastated to find out you’re in a coma

this is all his fault

you stay that way for weeks but you best believe that Kirishima visits you every. single. day.

he talks to you too

he tells you about his day, what he learned in class, his friends, about being a hero, and anything else

he’ll spend the whole day there and he never grows bored

sometimes, he’ll even read to you or work on homework out loud

no matter what he’s doing, he makes sure to include you

because what if you’re awake but just can’t show it and you’re so incredibly bored?

he’s there when you wake up

you’re shocked to see him there and even more surprised to watch him start to cry

he begs for your forgiveness and promises that he’ll be a more manly hero and do a better job at protecting people

all you do at first is smile at him and weakly reach for his hand

“Thank you for saving my life. I heard you, you know. Everything you said to me,” you say weakly, voice barely working thanks to lack of use for weeks

he wipes his teary eyes with his free hand and smiles the brightest smile you’ve ever seen

he thanks you and makes sure to visit you every day until you’re released

when you are, he blushes as red as his hair and asks you out on a date

“I think it’s only fair to keep you company after you’ve kept me company after all this time,” you lightly tease

he tries to get rid of his blush while you laugh at how red he’s turning

yeah, it didn’t take long for you to start dating

┍━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━┑

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petitelepus · 3 years

Note

Yo, LL manages to save their liason from the SG universe, what's the (rescue +) aftermath like? I want to see some angst with the bots as their liason is completely broken and traumatized and quite possibly a little bit insane and won't trust anything anymore.

WARNING: ABUSE, STOCKHOLMS SYNDROME.

"How's it going Brainstorm, Perceptor?" Rodimus asked as the two scientists worked their afts off in an attempt to save you from their evil counterparts.

"Just about done captain!" Brainstorm said while inputting codes into the supercomputer they had prepared for the occasion. The bright orange mech nodded, before looking and scowling at your counter version who had been tied in the strictest straitjacket after their attempt to sabotage the rescue.

"You're all wasting your time!" They shouted before cackling like a fucking drunk hyena. "There is no doubt that Rodimus, my Rodimus threw your little liaison to others to play with. You'll be lucky if liaison will be even able to talk after what others have done to them!"

"Shut up!" Rodimus was having trouble keeping his anger in check. Your evil version had been living with them who knows how long and honestly, every mech and femme in Lost Light felt fooled by your evil side's fake facade that they used to trick the crew.

The only one who saw through them was Whirl and no one believed him because it was Whirl. It took a long conversation with Cyclonus who appeared to be the only one who believed the empurata survivor and together they had tricked your evil side to show their true dark colors.

"Alright, I think we are done!" Brainstorm finally exclaimed and he joined Rodimus and Perceptor at the base of their universal portal gun.

"Are you sure it works?"

"Absolutely. Two of the greatest scientist made it after all." Perceptor nodded and Brainstorm beamed at being called genius but the situation demanded everyone's full attention. Rodimus nodded as he called everyone to come where he was. It didn't take long for the rescue party to get there.

Whirl and Cyclonus had been among the first ones who wanted to save you, followed by Megatron as he felt it was his fault that you had ended into this whole mess. If you hadn't become his guardian then you would never have ended in such a mess back on Earth. Drift was there also since you had been abducted while he was watching after you. He had to come. Ultra Magnus wanted to come, but someone had to look after the spaceship and he was honestly best suited for it at the moment.

Taking in all the mechs ready rescue you, Rodimus picked up your evil twin and nodded to Brainstorm and Perceptor. "Start it up."

The two scientists entered coordinates and the huge machine rumbled as it collected electricity all around itself until it reached its peak and shot out a beam that tore the line between the two universes apart. The Autobots looked at each other and lead by Rodimus they entered one by one into the other evil universe.

"Find them quickly, the longer the portal is open the more it might twist our realms!" Perceptor shouted. Rodimus looked at Megatron and Cyclonus. "You two stay here and watch that no one comes or crosses the universe!"

The two former Decepticons nodded and took their spots around the tear, protecting it the best way they could. Rodimus glanced at Drift and Whirl. "We will stay together since we don't know what we are against here."

"I tell you! Murderers, manipulators, and assholes, but mainly murderers!" The other you yelled and Whirl squinted his only optic at the evil human. "If it was left to me, you would be dead fleshie!"

"Oooh, I'm so scared! Don't you think my Whirl hasn't tried that before?" Other you grinned wickedly. "I can't wait to see what he has done to my better half."

"You little-!"

"Calm yourself Whirl!" Drift placed a hand on the blue mech's shoulder. "We must work together now. Don't let them get under your armor. Don't give them the upper hand."

The flyer glared at other you, but nodded and pulled back as the three of them ventured into the other Lost Light. Everything looked the same except for some occasional dent on the wall or suspicious-looking splat of energon. They had no idea where you could have been.

"Hey?" Drift said your other self and they shot a glare at the swordmech. "What?"

"You can make this easier and tell us where our liaison could be."

Your other half grinned maliciously. "Oh, there are way too many places! They could be a wet splatter of blood on a firing range where Deadlock likes to shoot anything that moves and has a heartbeat."

"Rung could have taken a liking to them, but where there is Rung there is Whirl close by. If not, he might have taken doctor's privileges to practice some lobotomy perhaps?"

"The best thing to them maybe if Tailgate got his hands on them first. He likes humans, has had a TON of them as pets. You know when you see something so cute you wanna squeeze the life out of it? Petite things we humans are, aren't we?"

"Fragger is enjoying this!" Whirl shouted in fury, but then they all heard something. Clapping. The three Autobots quickly looked at the source of the noise and saw a dark blue mech at the end of the hall, clapping his hands together as he emerged from the darkness.

"My, I see that you got yourself a nasty case of a disobeying human there."

"Rung?"

"Eyebrows?"

"No one has called me that and made the same mistake twice." The other Rung smiled and looked at the other you.

"Liason." He smiled, "My how I have dreamed of seeing you tied like that."

"Psych," Your evil version nodded towards evil Rung, but they didn't stop there. "And psycho."

Suddenly another mech emerged from the darkness, this one red and-! Empurata survivor. Whirl's only optic widened as he took in his counterpart. The red mech glared back at his blue version and tension rose. Rodimus cleared his intake to get the bad guys' attention and he lifted other you for them to see.

"Listen, we just want our liaison back and you can have yours back." The orange Autobot said and the blue Rung tilted his head. "Really now? Give us a reason to switch."

"Well... This one is yours and you have ours?"

"Ah, you sound so juvenile captain Rodimus. Much like ours."

"Enough, where is our friend?" Drift stepped up and Rung smiled as he took a step aside and let red Whirld open his cockpit. The three good Autobots were shocked to see you there, sitting inside the evil mech's chest, unconscious but otherwise unharmed. There was a click and Whirl suddenly pulled his gun out before anyone could stop him and pointed them at the evil Rung and Whirl.

"Hand them over or I'll paint the walls with your energon!" The flyer shouted. Rung chuckled and gently picked your unconscious body from his partner's cockpit. "You wouldn't shoot us when we have your precious human on my arms?"

"Try me."

"Whirl, no!" Rodimus and Drift shouted and your evil twin laughed, "Yes, shoot them!"

The blue Autobot growled but in the end, he lowered his weapons. "Just... Give them back."

"Hah! You're just as stupid as you look!" The evil you laughed wickedly, "Like Hell these bastards would-!"

"You have a deal." Rung suddenly said and everyone froze as he picked you up. Your evil counterpart turned their wide gaze into their Rung. "What the fuck!? You're going to give up so easily!?"

The mechs ignored you as Rung approached the good Autobots and held you for them. "Take them. We want what's ours."

"You can't be serious!" Evil you shouted as they were handed to their own Rung. They glared at the psychiatrist and grinned viciously. "You will never break me...!"

The blue bot smiled maliciously right back at them. "Darling, you should know that I enjoy challenges." He glanced at your rescue party and smiled. "It was a pleasure working with you. Give my best regards to my counterpart. I'm sure he will enjoy his time with your liaison."

And just like that, the evil Autobots turned and took their leave, while your counterpart kept insults coming on everyone. Rodimus looked at you in his hands. You looked so weak and vulnerable, his spark ached. Whirl felt the same way, but he would never tell that.

"Roddy, we have to go now!" Drift pulled both bots out of their pity party and they all quickly returned to the portal, only to be surprised by the number of unconscious mechs lying around in Megatron's and Cyclonus' pedes.

"We got company so we took care of them," Megatron said and it was enough for them all. They all went through the portal back to your universe and as soon as they made it out, Perceptor shut the gap between your worlds. As soon as they were safe, Rodimus transformed and drove as fast as he could to the medbay where Ratchet was waiting for them.

"Please, heal them!" The captain cried and Ratchet took your body into his hands and laid you on the surgeon's table. He carefully took in your vitals and came to the conclusion that you were perfectly healthy. Some bumps and bruises, but no broken bones or serious like that. At least with your body.

"I don't see anything wrong with them. No matter what happened, they kept our human in good shape." Ratchet said and Rodimus sighed in relief. The sensation was short-lived as you started to come by. Rodimus was beaming happily as he watched your pretty eyes flutter open and take in the surroundings.

"Wh- where...?" You stuttered weakly as your eyes fluttered open and you looked around but when your eyes fell on Ratchet and you suddenly screamed bloody murder.

"I'm sorry Ratchet, I'm sorry!" You cried in horror and quickly twisted your body so you were kneeling before the medic and to everyone's horror you started to bang your forehead against the hard solid metal bed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I don't know what came to me! I didn't mean to offend you!"

"H- hey, stop!" Rodimus shouted grabbing you before you could do any damage but you had managed to cut your forehead as blood dripped down your face. The moment your eyes landed on Rodimus and registered what you were sawing it was like a switch was clicked in your head.

"R- Rodimus!" You cried out before you suddenly hiccupped and your body went limp before suddenly jolting up like you had gotten an electric shock. "P- please captain...! Let me go...!" You whimpered like you were afraid for your life. Speechless Rodimus glanced at the medic and Ratchet nodded, already comming to Rung to quickly come to medbay.

"I'm here!" The orange mech exclaimed as he stepped inside the medbay and your eyes locked together. Rung's optics widened behind his glasses and you smiled coyly at him.

"Rung...! My beloved, where were you hiding all this time? Why did you leave me alone?" You looked at Rung like he was your own personal universe and this sent alarm bells ringing in the mech's head. You were friends but you never talked like that to anyone. You attempted to jump to him but Rodimus quickly caught you before you could break anything.

"How long have they acted like this?" The psychiatrist asked and Rodimus placed you into Rung's hands. "It was like they were a completely different person!"

The orange mech blinked at you as you winked at him. "Will we have fun with Whirl again, master Rung?"

Rung swallowed hard as he looked at you and smiled lightly. "It's okay, I'll take you to our room and change a couple of words with captains." He said and just like the switch was turned in you, you suddenly turned fearfully of everyone surrounding you. "Pl- please no! R- Rung, no, please, don't leave me alone!"

The psychiatrist tried to give you to someone else even for a second but the moment he tried that, you turned defensive, kicking and sending everything else flying instead of letting them touch you.

Not seeing any better way out of their situations, you were locked into your old habsuite while Rodius, Megatron, and Ultra Magnus went to Rung's private meeting.

"You won't like what I have to tell you." The orange mech warned and Rodimus scowled. "So just tell us! That's wrong in them!?"

"Well, captain... The liaison was exposed to extreme situations that their mind simply couldn't handle on their own so they resorted to finding shelter from my and Whirl's alternative universe versions. By the way she reacted, I think she was manipulated to believe those two sought only their best interest, making them ignore all the red flags and learning to appeal to other Rung's and Whirl's liking."

"So...? They fell for your twins?" Rodimus asked.

"It's called Stockholm Syndrome back in Earth. It means that the victim developed feelings like loyalty, sympathy or even love towards their captor." Rung explained and Megatron groaned. "I'm familiar with those cases."

"You had someone fall for you?!" Rodimus gasped and the grey mech gave them a small nod. "Not for me per se, but some war prisoners would switch after learning the truth of the Decepticon cause."

"How do we treat them Rung?" Ultra Magnus asked, "You're the only one with so much knowledge of this."

"I'm afraid there isn't some miracle pill that could heal them." Rung shook his head and corrected his glasses. "Therapy sessions as much as I can offer and light medication incase they developed a depression or anxiety. I also must treat them for post-traumatic stress disorder that they probably suffered from other evil counterparts' treatment."

The captains and Magnus shared a look and they all nodded, agreeing with their decision. Megatron looked at Rung and nodded. "Do whatever you can Rung."

#transformers #mtmte #transformers mtmte #rodimus prime #megatron #rung #whirl #ultra magnus #cyclonus #drift #abuse #stockholm syndrome #anon #request #shattered glass

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mollygetssherlockcoffee · 4 years

Text

Broken

Pairing: Spencer x Fem!reader

Summary: When Rossi makes a comment which upsets the Y/N, Spencer is there to reassure her

Warning: Mentions of rape and murder. Talk about the medical condition Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Sadness. Fluff at the end

Words: 1,824

A/N: As someone who has this condition, this a drabble I have always wanted to read.

Master List HERE!

This last case had been particularly hard for you. You’d gotten your diagnosis three days before you left for California on a case involving an unsub forcing women into pregnancy, only to kill the mother and sell the child. The latest victim to have been found, Amelia Bragg, had been found on in a ditch. She had been raped, repeatedly, but she had not given birth and wasn’t pregnant. However, the signature of the female gender symbol carved onto her hip post-mortem indicated it was the killer you were after.

“Why didn’t she have a child like the others?” JJ asked, looking from the screen where Amelia’s picture was shown to the files in her hands.

“She had a condition which made it difficult to have children… she was ‘broken’” Rossi had replied, glancing at Amelia’s medical records. “PCOS and endometriosis.”

“PCOS? What’s that?” Derek asked, looking towards Reid for an answer.

You jumped in first, not even looking up from the file in front of you, “Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Follicles surround the eggs, making ovulation difficult. As such, their periods are irregular, and they struggle with fertility. Women often experience head hair loss, while gaining excess hair in other places, such as their face, due to increased androgen. Also, they can experience increased pain anytime through their menstrual cycle, on their period or not. People with PCOS tend to struggle with their weight, due to the hormones. Also, they’re more than likely to suffer with mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety due to the imbalance of hormones. Endometriosis is where tissue similar to the lining of the room grows in other places, like the ovaries or fallopian tubes. Endometriosis causes a lot of the same problems as PCOS, but it is known to be much more painful.��

The room is quiet for a moment as the team takes in your words. You don’t look up, you can’t look up. Rossi’s words had hurt you and you couldn’t help but answer before Reid. It was a subject you had knowledge in, you had done for a while. You best friend, Jamie, had endometriosis and you had done your research after her diagnosis in an effort to support her.

“How do you know that, Y/N?” Derek questioned, his voice gentle as he realised you might have experience with the conditions.

You shrugged ad remained silent for a moment. You didn’t really want to tell them all. Sure, they’re your friends, family even, but did you want all of them knowing this? Finally, you settled on a half-truth, “I know people with the condition, so I learned about it.”

You’d caught the unsub in the end, but not before another girl had been kidnapped. Thankfully, the team had gotten to the house, and then into the underground ‘lair’ before she was raped. It was horrific done there. It was dark and with the mass of six women, all in various stages of pregnancy, crammed into the small space, it was dirty and humid.

The women had been sent to the hospital for a check-up and the unsub taken to the police station to be processed. With the case complete, Hotch decided to postpone the flight home until the morning, saying everyone deserved a night of rest.

And that was how you found yourself sitting on your motel bed, arm around your knees, as you cried.

You’d been having troubles for a while now. Your periods were irregular, only having one every few months, and yet you often walked around with pain low in your belly and back. You often had to wax your upper lip, while you often lost long strands of your hair. Your moods swung, and your weight was a like a seesaw.

You’d went through this for more than a year before you went to the doctors. They’d listen to your symptoms before ordering a thorough blood test which came back with results saying you had excess hormones. This wasn’t enough for a diagnosis, and your doctor had sent you for an ultrasound.

And there they were. Little follicles surrounding your ovaries. There was your answer, you had PCOS. You’d been fine with the diagnosis. You had friends with the same condition, and you knew the ins-and-outs of it. However, what Rossi had said really got to you. In that one instance, your entire mental approach changed and your mind told you that your body was broken. That you were broken.

And that hurt.

PCOS was currently incurable. Medication could be taken to help the symptoms, but there was nothing to stop them. When you wanted a child, you could take medication which may help to be able to conceive but there was no guarantee that you would become pregnant. You were broken. The one thing you were designed for, as a woman, was something you couldn’t do. You were a woman, you were meant to bare children. Yes, you’d never through about having children before but now the choice had been taken from you.

There was a knock at the door. You held your breath, keeping the sobs back. There was another knock. A moment passed before the knock sounded again.

“Y/N, open up… please, I know you’re in there” Spencer begged, knocking on the door again. “Please, just let me in.”

Out of everyone on the team, Spencer was who you were closest to. When you had first joined the BAU, he had helped you with your paperwork. He knew you weren’t a huge fan of clubbing, so while the rest of the team went for drinks, he invited you to go with him to his favourite café. You’d get together every week to watch the newest episode of Doctor Who and when the season ended, you would just watch reruns. Spencer was the one you had warmed up to first, and he was still the person you’d consider as your closest friend.

Knowing that Spencer wouldn’t go away, you pushed yourself to your feet. You opened the door enough for him to squeeze through and quickly closed it behind him. Spencer entered the little room, moving to drop the armful of snacks on the bed before turning around to you.

He didn’t speak, just opened his arm. A fresh wave of tears burst forth and you rushed into his arm, burying your face in his chest and letting the tears fall. His arms wrapped around you securely, holding you to his chest tightly. His chin rested on your head as he held you to him, his thumb rubbing over the top of your arm where his arms wrapped around you.

After a few minutes, you calmed down, your snobs turning to quiet sniffles. He gently released you but took your hand, leading you over to the bed. You climbed on, grabbing a packet of gummy bears before you curled in his side.

“So,” he started. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

You wiped your hand under your eyes, getting rid of another tear. “You remember that I told you I hadn’t been feeling to great and that I had that appointment at the hospital for some tests? Well, I got the results.”

“I know. PCOS” your head turned so quickly that it took your eyes a moment to catch up and focus on your face. “I know the symptoms of it Y/N, and… I had suspicions. Your knowledge of it confirmed those suspicions. You have much more than just a ‘friend offering support’ knowledge.”

“What Rossi said…” your lips rolled between your teeth and you shook your head, looking away from Spencer. “I wasn’t really bothered at first by the diagnosis but when Rossi said that Amelia was ‘broken’… that hurt. Is that how people see me, how I am, broken?”

“Of course, you’re not broken” Spencer reassured you, pulling you tightly into his side. “Rossi didn’t mean it like that. He meant it as broken for the unsub, in the unsubs mind.”

“I know how he meant it” you assured him. “Its just… I can’t help but feel like people will think I’m broken. And who would want a broken girlfriend, or wife? I’ll have these mood changes, weight problem, hair troubles for the rest of my life. And I’ll struggle to have a child too… Who would want someone like me?”

A firm hand grasped your chin and turned your face. Spencer looked at you, his face more serious than you had ever seen it. His jaw was set and his eyes held such an intensity, that you struggled to make eye contact.

“Who wouldn’t want someone like you? You’re amazing” he reassured you, his voice firm and full of sincerity. “You’re kind, funny, smart, a little too sassy at time, generous and…and gorgeous. You’re amazing. You helped me find a place for my mom, you bring me my favourite coffee and a doughnut every time I’m sad. You drive me to and from work because you know I hate to drive. You are amazing. Your mood changes? Everyone’s moods fluctuate, yours maybe a bit more than others, but that doesn’t matter. Your weight? Y/N, you’re perfect. And your hair? That shouldn’t matter to anyone because its not about what you look like, its about who you are. There is nothing saying you won’t be able to get pregnant. Yes, it’ll take longer and you made need help but still, it can happen. And if it doesn’t, there are other options. Like surrogacy or adoptions. And that’s even if you want kinds. You don’t have to have them. And the man you’re with should accept all of these things because they are what make you you. And you are amazing, you’re perfect. If they can’t accept you as you are, this perfect person, then they don’t deserve someone as amazingly brilliant as you.”

Your heartbeat wildly in your chest as you stared at Spencer. Your eyes prickled with tears again, but this time, they were in awe of the beautiful things he’d said about you. The way he spoke about you… you felt warm inside, you felt appreciated, cared for… you felt loved.

Your hand lifted to cup his face and your thumb traced his cheekbone. His eyes were soft as they met yours, the light brown orbs full of warmth. Your eyes trailed to his films, his prefect lips, and slowly, you leaned in. He met you halfway, pressing his lips to yours in a kiss.

The kiss was soft and gentle. His hand trailed from your chin to the back of your neck, tilting your head to allow him better access to your mouth. You sighed into the kiss, the warmth in your heart all consuming.

Slowly, he pulled back from the kiss, his eyes meeting yours again. “Y/N, you’re prefect and… I…I love you.”

You smiled at him. “I love you too.”

You pulled him towards you to kiss him again.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x reader #spencer x reader #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #cm #criminal minds #david rossi #derek morgan #criminal minds fanfiction

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127-mile · 4 years

Text

Damsel in distress.

Pairing: Hero!Kun x fem.reader.

Genre: Hero/villain!au, feelings realization / Angst, fluff, mature content.

Warnings: Smut (thigh riding, handjob), violence, blood, injuries, revenge seeking, mention of nightmares, of shadows, vulgar language (reader curses a lot).

Plot: More commonly referred to as Kun by his friends, and Pyro by the citizens, he is a hero. He is adored by the citizens, and it is rare to find someone who does not know his name, or the way he handles fire. You know him too, and for many reasons.

One day, he found you, what he thought was a damsel in distress. You were, yes, but only to get to him.

Word count: +15.9k.

A/N: This is part of the Twisted Truths collab hosted by @yangyanghater.

+ I really hope this fits the theme of the collab, if not, well, I’ll write something else.

Your breathing is rapid, and choppy.

You know that if you do not calm down within a minute, you will pass out right in the middle of the deserted and dark alley where you are. It was a bad idea to go down an alley, you know, but being in a street surrounded by houses would have turned out to be just as pointless. The crime rate is so high that locals turn off their lights and pretend they do not exist when they hear someone calling for help. Sometimes they'll call a hero agency, but that's very rare. They prefer to remain anonymous, and observe from behind their windows.

You do not blame them, you would certainly do the same if you were in their situation. But at the moment, it doesn't really help. When you feel tears rolling down your cheeks, you wipe them with the palms of your hand, which is also a bad idea, because the blood from your hands spreads more on your skin, and the metallic smell makes you gag hard enough for some bile to go up in your throat. "Help, please help me." you sob weakly, ready to give up your race to drop onto the asphalt to wait for your inevitable death.

A sudden rush of adrenaline makes your legs move before you can stop them, and when your vision clears a little, you notice that you have stepped out of the alley. The streetlights help you see your surroundings, and even though you move further and further away from your apartment, you are a little safer. No villain would dare to attack you right in the middle of the busiest street in town, right?

Your blood runs cold when you hear the growl of the Beast chasing you, and ignoring the burn in your legs and lungs, you start to run again. You do not know where you are going, and why you do not look for a place to hide instead, but you run. You run until you come in direct contact with someone. Your chest hits hard against the chest of a man who has little time to catch your hand before you fall on your butt.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" the man says, and you shake your head. You are not in pain, but for a moment, you feel like you are losing all sense of direction, and the little bit of sanity you have left. "Are you okay? You are bleeding!" even though your eyes are closed, you can feel the man crouch down in front of you, and he takes your arm where what you think is a cut continues to bleed. He grimaces, and cups your face to force you to look at him. "Answer me."

When you open your eyes, you are surprised to find large dark eyes starting at you. Even if he wears his civilian clothes, it would be hard not to recognize Pyro, the hero. You grab his t-shirt, oblivious to the traces of blood you leave on the white fabric. "Help me, I'm begging you, he is chasing me." the pro-hero frowns, and sits up looking around. "Who is?" you shrug, and when he lowers his head, you see flames dancing in his eyes.

"I'll take care of it, but taking care of the victims is a priority." he mumbles more to himself than to you. "Can you stand up?" he asks, and when you shake your head, he is pulling his cell phone out of the pocket of his pants. He types a message, probably to notify another hero from his agency that he needs backups, and when he is done, he turns to you. "I'll call an ambulance."

That simple sentence seems to be what your body needed to give up the fight. Your limbs go numb, and the darkness embraces you tenderly. You feel your head banging against the asphalt, and the pain radiating through your neck and jaw, but that's it, after that it's a mix of noises, movements and then nothing. Complete darkness.

When you regain consciousness, you know that you are no longer on the streets, and for a minute, you wonder if this was not just another nightmare. "Don't move." a voice commands you when you try to turn, and that's when you feel it. The pain in your body, a sharp but fleeting pain. You open your eyes, and you close them when you are attacked by the rays of the sun. "Oh shit, sorry." the voice mumbles.

The person in the room with you is busy closing the curtains, and you are grateful for that. You flutter your eyelids, and when you finally see where you are, you are hardly surprised to see a white room, to hear the steady beep of your heartbeat on the monitor, and to smell the disinfectant smell that is often the one in hospitals. An IV prevents you from moving your right arm the way you want, but it's for your own good, you think.

"How are you feeling?" the voice asks you, and when you finally look at the person, you frown when you see him. Pyro. Why is he here? Yes, he was with you on the street when you passed out, but he should not be by your bedside, the police should be. "I feel like I've been run over by a dozens of cars." you answer with difficulty, your throat dry. "Yeah, I suspected as much. The doctors said your body was really at its limit when we brought you here last night."

With a nod of his head, he points to your other arm, and you see the bandage covering part of it. "They gave you 9 stitches, and they injected you with an antidote to combat the poison the villain injected you when he bit you." poison? It is a lot for your poor head which is ready to explode at any moment. You are also very tired, but you have questions for the hero. "Pyro? Why are you still here?" you ask in a weak voice, and he sits down on a chair that has been brought closer to the edge of the bed.

"You can call me Kun, I'm not here as a hero." he explains, and you nod. "Unfortunately neither I nor my colleagues were able to track down the villain who attacked you last night, so we are taking turns to make sure he does not come back here to finish what he started." yeah, that makes sense, even though you do not know what the villain would like to end, when you do not know why he started chasing you in the first place.

"The doctors said that apart from the tiredness of your body caused by the poison, and the injury to your arm, you have nothing worth staying in the hospital for a few more days. So you will be allowed to go out tonight, do you have relatives with whom you could stay until the situation calms down?" he asks, and you bites your lower lip. This is painful. "No, I am alone here." your answer does not seem to please the hero who crosses his arms against his chest. "We can have heroes stand guard oustide your house."

"I live in an apartment complex with a majority of seniors. Seeing heroes outside my door 24/7 might worry them." Kun sighs, letting his head drop back, and you admire the column of his throat and the way his adam's apple bob as he swallows. It's definitely not the best time to think about it, but Pyro is quite a handsome hero. "No need to worry about me, I'm sure the villain will not come back. I was just a victim who got in the wrong place, at the wrong time."

Kun seems to be thinking, and he stands up to take a piece of paper and a pencil. On it, he writes two phone numbers that he gives you. "Here you have my agency number, and here you have my personal number. If you ever have the suspicion that you are being followed, or hearing noises behind your door, at any time of the day or night, you can call me. I'll send a few of my heroes to check on you every now and then without worrying anyone."

It's definitely not a good idea, Kun knows, but he can't force you to live with heroes outside your door. And the kids at the Hero Academy would get even more attention, even though they are all extremely gifted for their age. "I'll do it, thank you Py-Kun." he nods, and he looks at the bedroom door before getting up from the chair again. "The police is here to take your statement. I'll be outside if you need anything."

Like Kun had said, the doctors let you out after dark. And they even called a cab so you would not have to walk back to your apartment, which is really sweet of them, you think as you are looking at the city behind the car window. The hero had to leave while you were talking to the police, a villain problem in the streets, at least that's what you understood as he was apologizing loudly for having to leave so early.

When the car pulls up in front of your apartment complex, you give the driver some money before getting off. Nothing is different from last night, although you may had expected to find a horde of villains waiting to kill you. And going up the stairs to the door of your apartment is calm, you meet an elderly person who asks you where you were last night, and that's about it. Nothing life threatening.

You close the door behind you, and you press your back against it, sighing. You slid down until you are sitting on the floor with your eyes closed. You feel like your skull is going to split open if you do not stop moving or even breathing. It is attrocious. "Come on, let's calm down." you whisper, pressing the palm of your hands to your eyes. "Everything is fine. We are fine."

After several minutes, you get up.

In the bag the nurse gave you before leaving, you take out your cellphone. The screen is cracked, but it still works, giving you the opportunity to see the various messages and missed calls from a couple of your friends. You do not read them, only the last one.

From Ten: Where are you? Did it work?

You sink onto your couch, trying to ignore the black dots playing in front of your eyes, and your headache. You could call Ten to make it easier, but you do not know if you can bear to hear him yell at you. Not tonight. Tomorrow maybe.

To Ten: I just got back from the hospital. I'm at my apartment now.

Ten's response is immediate.

From Ten: Fuck. From Ten: Do you want me to come? To Ten: Please, don't. I'm tired, and I have a terrible headache, I just want to sleep it off. Tomorrow. From Ten: Okay, I'm here if you need anything.

You turn off your phone, it will be easier for you, and you grab a blanket to cover yourself up, face included. And in less time than you would have thought, you fall asleep. Sadly, like every night, you wake up in the middle of the night feeling like you are being suffocated by someone or something. You remove the blanket, your breathing heavy and rapid, and you look around. Nobody is here. Like always.

You mumble a few insults at no one in particular, and you sit up. Beads of sweat slide down your face, and you can feel them down your spine. At least your headache is gone, and you do not know if it's because your body is still asleep, but you do not feel like all of your limbs are numb and sore anymore. That's a good thing, you hope.

You prick up your ears when you hear whispers behind the door, and you stand up silently. Of course, since you and luck are not friends, your floor creaks with every step you take towards the door. But luckily it's not loud enough to be heard by anyone in the hallway. You glance through the peep-hole, and sigh in relief when you see two people. According to the clothes they are wearing, they are heroes. You remember seeing them on TV when Pyro opened his own agency.

You know they are there to check that your door is still intact, and that no one is hiding in the common places, but you open the door anyway, startling the two heroes who turn to you. At least, they have the decency to look ashamed having woken you ip at 3 in the morning. "We didn't mean to wake you up." one of them whisper, and you nod. "Don't worry, it's okay." you place your hand against your mouth to hide a long yawn that makes the second hero smile. "Nothing to report?" he asks, and you shrug. "Nothing at all. But like I told Pyro, nothing will happen to me, don't waste your time here."

The man, with his long blond hair and his teasing smile, shrugs his shoulders. "It's our job miss, maybe you can thank us later with a drink, or two." you roll your eyes, and you return inside the apartment, closing the door in front of the two heroes. The first hero punches the other, who whines loudly, earning him a second punch. "Johnny, you are such an idiot. We are here to work, not flirt with the person we are supposed to be protecting!" he mumbles, and Johnny, as you learnt, chuckles softly. "I didn't say she had to do it right now, you really need to chill Yuta."

Unsurprinsingly, you spend the next day in your bed, sleeping. Your headache did not come back, and the wound on your arm stopped stinging, and you had no nightmares during the 20 hours you spent sleeping. Maybe you could get attacked by a villain more often, it would allow you to get through a full night without being bothered by the shadows.

When you come out of the bathroom after a long, hot and well-deserved shower, you find your phone on the coffee table, and when you turn it on, you see Ten and Doyoung bombarding you with messages. You sit on a chair around the dining table, and dials Ten's number for a video call, which he answers almost immediately. He is not alone, Doyoung is sitting next to him on a dirty and dusty old leather sofa.

"Oh my god, we thought you died overnight." Ten says in a calm manner which contrasts with the anger evident in Doyoung's eyes. "What happened to you?" he asks with clenched teeth. "That fucking villain turned out to be more dangerous that I thought. I thought we said no injury, or at least nothing serious?" you mumble, and the boys frown. "What are you talking about?"

You show your arm still wrapped in a bandage in front of the camera. "That motherfucker decided to bite me, and to inject his fucking poison in me! The doctors had to inject me with some antidote so I wouldn't fucking die." you spit, and Ten and Doyoung look at each other, worried. "It was not in the plan." you let your shoulders drop before crossing your arms over your chest. "No shit Sherlock, I was there when we put together this stupid plan."

"Do you want us to come?" Doyoung asks after calming down, and you shake your head. "No, Pyro has asked several heroes to come and check that nothing is happening to me." Ten grimaces, he knows that if he steps outside, he will be immediately recognized by the heroes, and not just those belonging to Pyro's agency. "I will come, don't take the risk to approach my apartment." the two boys nod, and you end the video call.

You walk over to the front door, and you look in the peep-hole and you are relieved to see that the heroes are not here. You go back to your room to get dressed, before putting on a coat and a scarf in which you can nuzzle your face in. Pyro has not told you that you were not allowed outside by yourself, but you do not want to risk being recognized by him, or by one of his hero friends. You do not want to be forcibly taken back to your apartment, or locked in a hotel room like he said could be a good and safe idea.

You leave your apartment, swinging your backpack over your shoulder, and you leave the building quickly. A car is parked in front, and you see the flashy colors of what must be a hero costume. Luckily, he is too busy looking on his phone to notice you. The rest is also easy, you know the way like the back of your hand, and in twenty minutes, you are already at the door of the bookstore where Doyoung, Ten, and probably Taeyong are waiting for you.

You push the door open, and you smile at Renjun, the young student who works here during the school break when he is not living on the second floor. "Y/n! How are you?" he asks, approaching to give you a quick hug. "I'm doing just fine, and you kid? School?" he nods, smiling. Renjun is an orphan whom you all took under your wing a few years ago, and he has became a perfect little gentleman with good grades, and a smile that would make you blind if you looked at it for too long. "I'm fine, and school is going great too."

"I am proud of you!" you say, and he smiles even more brightly before the door to the bookstore opens to a potential client. "I'm going in the back to talk to the boys, if you need anything come see us, okay?" he nods and you ruffle his hair before you walk though a door behind the counter. The back shop serves as a reserve for books, and as a meeting place. It's not much, a coffee table, a TV hanging on the wall, and two old, dusty sofas on either side.

Oh, and there's a fridge and cupboard filled to the brim with snacks in case Renjun gets hungry. Or Taeyong. Ten and Doyoung's gaze turn to you, and Ten is the first to stand up. He helps you remove your bag, scarf and coat before inspecting the bandage. "I'm fine, Ten. Otherwise I would not be here." he shakes his head. "I know that, but nobody can be trusted. Who tells you they didn't inject you with something weird with the antidote." he mumbles and you tilt your head. "Idiot."

"No but it is true what, since when do we trust doctors." he says, offended and you roll your eyes before sitting down on the other couch. "Because they are doctors, and what would they gain from injecting us with strange drugs, Ten?" Doyoung answers for you, and you look at them. "You scared us when you didn't answer your phone." Doyoung is not one to be sentimental, or even worried, but sometimes he does, and you enjoy seeing the human behind the shell he has created for himself over the years.

"The poison he injected into me made my body tired to the point where even the shadows did not wake me up." you say, and both boys look stunned to hear something like that. "Maybe we should ask him to give you some extra so you can get through the nights." you laugh softly, not a bad idea, but you do not know how many doses you can take before your body completely shuts itself down or stop responding to the antidote which will certainly be harder to find without having to break into the hospital.

"He'll be dead by the end of the day anyway, so that doesn't matter." you turn your head to see Taeyong, his arms crossed against his chest, and his head resting against the doorframe that leads to the bookstore. "We can't kill him. Not now." you say, and Taeyong walks over shaking his head. "He hurt you, Y/n, that was not the plan, why should we let him live?" you take Taeyong's hand when he sits next to you, and his hand is ice cold, as usual.

"Because we still need him. We have a plan, and he is the only way to do what I didn't do the other day." Ten is about to speak, but Taeyong stops him by raising his hand. "What if he attacks you again? What if this time he decides to kill you?" he asks, and you turn completely to him. "Well he'll kill me. We knew from the start that we could not trust him despite the money we gave him, it's a risk I'm willing to take. If we don't do it, only god knows how long will pass before we have another opportunity like this."

Taeyong sighs.

He was born to be a leader, he knows it, and everyone else knows it. But he does not know how to keep his mask of leader on when, you, one of his dearest friends is ready to risk your own life for a mission which should be very simple if only the villain he hired could just stick to the fucking plan and obey him. The simple idea of losing you is something he cannot imagine, it is too much. He is the leader, sure, but you are the glue that keeps the team together. If you die, the team will no longer exist, and once again, he will find himself alone. Because he knows Renjun will resent him and go with Ten.

Or Renjun will find himself alone once more, because, because of him, Ten and Doyoung can hardly be outside without being recognized by passers-by. He is pulled out of his thought when a warm hand lands softly on his cheek, and he flutters his eyelids as he looks at you. "You were getting lost in your thoughts, Taeyong."

Like a cat, he leans against your hand to enjoy the warmth that he misses so dearly. "I know what I'm doing, Taeyong. I'll do everything in my power to finish this mission safe and sound, I promise you." he shakes his head. "You can't make that kind of promise, you know that." yes, you know it, and yet you do not hesitate to do it. It won't be your first rodeo after all, and it sure won't be your most dangerous mission either. It's even one of the simplest if you had to be honest with yourself. "I know, but I'll be back."

"She knows she can't die because I will do all I can to hunt her down even in Hell and bring her back here by the skin of her ass so I can kill her myself." you nod, and you bite your bottom lip so as not to laugh at Ten's choice of words. He always does what he can to make conversations easier, and you appreciat that. Not all the time, but right now, you do, because you can feel Taeyong relaxing.

"Call him Taeyong. Call the Beast."

The same evening, you are back in your apartment.

You are reading a message Renjun sent you, something about a book he is writing when he is not in class, when noises start coming from the common hallways. You frown, but you do not move. Even though you know what is going to happen, your heart starts to race. Because unfortunately, when you see how the first part of the mission ended, you wonder if this one is going to turn out as bad. But knowing Taeyong, he probably briefed the villain on what he could do, and could not do.

To The cheap villains alliance: It's starting. From The cheap villains alliance/Taeyong: Please, be careful, and keep us informed as soon as possible.

Before the door swings open, you dial the number Pyro gave you, and when you hear the thud of the door crashing to the floor, probably in several pieces, you call the hero. It is not very late, and yet, he does not answer. It was not in the plan, again. "Where are you, shadow handler?" the hoarse voice of the Beast echoes in the apartment, and also in your head, so that you have to held your head in between your hands. "Do not do that." you whisper.

"Do you really think your boss's threats are going to stop me from doing what I want?" Oh shit. You get up from the couch, and hide behind it, as if it would stop a villain like the Beast from reaching you. "If you are here, I guess the antidote worked. Too bad my poison can only be cured once. The body still remembers it, and this time, it will be fatal for you." you dial Pyro's number once more, but this time, you hands are shaking so much that you wonder if you'll make it.

"Answer, you stupid hero." you mumble, and that's when you hear a sleepy voice from the other side. "Kun! Pyro! Oh my god, he is here, he is in my apartment!" you hear a noise, and you do not know if it's coming from your apartment, or the side of the hero who gets out of bed suddenly. "Help me, please, please." the sobs are fake, but you know that if you set your gaze on the Beast, you will cry for real this time, and that's the last thing you want. A villain does not deserve to see you cry. A hero either for that matter.

"I'm coming! Hide somewhere." you nod even though he can't see it. "Hurry up, please, I'm scared." you whisper, and the man makes an affirming noise before hanging up. It takes a lot to scare you. Heroes don't scare you, and neither do villains. But there are always some exceptions, and god, you would have liked to never meet this exception. If you make it out alive, you'll make Taeyong understand that next time, he'll have to hire a normal villain, not someone like that damn Beast.

"It surprised me when your boss contacted me to help you on a mission." the Beast says, and you hear the heavy sounds of his footsteps on the creaking floor. "I didn't think he was stupid enough to contact someone wanting you dead." okay, your death is wished for by many villains, heroes, and humain beings like others, but the Beast? What did you do to make him so angry that he risked betraying someone like Taeyong just to get revenge? Petty much?

"I don't care if I die, if that means I would have had the chance to kill you first." after that, he is silent. He has stopped moving, and his voice is still ringing in your head, so you have no idea where he is. He may very well be in front of the sofa, as he may be in your bedroom. You lower the brightness of your phone to send a message to the group chat.

To The cheap villains alliance: Taeyong, if I get out alive, you are a dead man.

Yes, you have to let him know that from the moment you leave this apartment, preferably alive, he will have to watch his back.

"I expected better from you, shadow handler." you lift your head and your breathing hitches when you see the Beast watching you over the back of the sofa. Oh god gamn it. You get up, and you walk around the sofa. "What did I do to you?" you ask when you finally find your voice, and the Beast laughs so hard that you clench your teeth so as not to scream to cover the atrocious noise. "Don't you remember? Don't make fun of me, I know you always remember everything."

He approaches you dangerously, and as he takes a step forward, you take a step back, at least until your back makes contact with the living room wall. You are stuck. But it is not over, not yet. The Beast made a mistake. He didn't turn off the lights when he entered. If he knew you as well as he says he does, he should have known that with the lights on, you can do whatever you want. You close your eyes, and you concentrates. At least you try, it is hard to think with the breath of the Beast so close.

He is so close that you can feel the warmth and the putrid smell of his breath against your face. "Come on, try harder, I'm sure you can remember." he whispers, and he raises his hand, and before he can make any movement, his arm is blocked. He looks shocked at first, and when he turns his head he laughs when he sees a hand around his biceps. "Do you really think your little shadows are going to keep me from turning you into dust?" he asks. "No, they are not strong enough, but yours on the other hand.."

He frowns when he is thrown back by his own shadow. Even though it's just a shadow, it has the same strenght as the Beast, so it's easy for the shadow to get rid of him. The Beast crashes on the dining table, and one foot goes loose under his weight, and he collapses to the groung. "You will pay for that." yeah, you don't doubt it. You haven't used your power for a while now, so that simple use of the Beast's shadows is enough to tire you out. You won't be able to do it any more.

When the Beast gets up, other footsteps are heard in the apartment, and damn it, you are relieved. It could very well be help for the villain, but for once, you want to be positive, and think that this is Pyro, and his little hero friends. You slip down the wall, and you do not even have to pretend to cry, since your cheeks are already wet and shining with tears. You hadn't even realized it. Is it because of fear? Fatigue? You wish you knew.

You close your eyes, and you take a long breath that is cut short when two hands rest on your shoulders. "We are here, hey, we are here. Take a deep breath." it is not the voice of Pyro, but that of one of the two heroes who have come to check on you. Yuta, if you remember his name. Death Stare, yeah that's him. You hold your head in your hands when the Beast screams, and you are hardly surprised to see that you are the only one affected by his voice. "We're gonna get you out of here."

Death Stare takes your hand, and he helps you stand up. "I'll join you in a minute." he says before taking you out of the apartment. "The Beast..The Beast.." you continue to whisper, and Yuta squeezes your hand in his. "Everything will be fine, don't worry, you are safe now." you almost trip down the stairs a few times, but Yuta is always here to put you right back on your feet. When you are outside, you are shaken by the cold wind which whips your face, and your bare arms. You didn't have time to take a jacket. You didn't have time to take anything either. At least, you have your phone in your pocket.

Your gaze is caught by the lights of the ambulance and police cars that are parked outside the apartment complex, and you bite your lip. That's a lot of people, luckily your face is not known by the police, unlike Ten and Doyoung who think a mask is unnecessary when using their powers in public. "I have to let her here, I'm trusting you with her, I have to go back." Death Stare says to a woman who nods, and put her hand on your arm to get your attention. "Come inside, or you'll get cold."

She helps you get into the ambulance, and immediately makes sure you are okay. She checks your pulse, your heartbeat, your blood pressure, and finally the stiches. Fortunately, they are still intact. "How do you feel?" she asks nicely, and you shrug. "Shaken." that's all you can answer, and the woman understands perfectly, she does not pressure you into talking more.

The next minutes are quite strange.

It is sometimes silent in the street, or it is sometimes noisy because of the screams. But silence always returns. At least until you hear the sound of broken glass, and the sound of gunshots being fired. You straighten, and you grip your thighs with your fingers, so hard that you hurt yourself, but at least it helps you keep your head cool. After a while, the ambulance door opens, and when you turn your head, you see Pyro. He is not in his civilian clothes, but in his hero costume. It's black, and understated, unlike the heroes who like to add flashy colors to their costumes.

"It's over." he says angrily, and you sit up, your head tilted. "The Beast ran away." oh.

Heroes don't kill villains. They are here to stop them, and to bring the victims to safety, and sometimes it does not go as planned, and the villains escape. It is very rare, especially against heroes like Pyro, Death Stare and Mayhem (John). You start to shake and once again, this reaction is natural, and not forced. If the Beast was close to killing you today, you know he will come back, time and time again, no matter what Taeyong tells him, to finish whatever he started.

"What am I going to do?" you ask in a weak voice, and the hero gets into the truck, closing the door once the paramedic is out. "I have nowhere to go, especially now that he knows where I live." Kun takes off his mask, and he runs his fingers through his hair where they stick to his forehead from sweat. "I will protect you personally. You have nothing to fear anymore, I promise you."

Kun didn't lie.

After the Beast's attack, he decided that it would be safer for you to move in with him, in his apartment. Heroes don't do that. Normally in this kind of situation they let the police deal with the victims who are still in danger, but for some reason, Kun decided it would be different this time, that he would protect you himself.

You looked surprised, but deep down, you were very happy about it. Despite the Beast not obeying Taeyong's basic plan and orders, you came much further than you had thought you would. Because yes, getting closer to Kun is what you were looking for, not for a second you would have thought to be in his apartment. By offering you that, he had just made it easier for you without even knowing it. Heroes are not so bad after all.

Kun's apartment is not as you would have imagined. You know that pro-heroes make a lot of money, even more so when they have an agency and great heroes working for them, so you expected a large apartment, with floor to ceiling windows giving a splendid view of the city, with expensive furniture and artwork on the walls, but not at all. Kun's apartment is large enough for two people, and the decor is simple, just like him.

It's easy to feel good here, to feel at home, even though you are here on a mission, and not to imagine what your life would be like if you had made different decisions. Well, you still need protection from the Beast who will not give up until he sees your dead body at his feet, so being here is always a plus.

Taeyong, Doyoung and Ten do not think the same.

You had to wait until Kun left for work the day after the attack to contact them. Before that, you had to convinced Kun to go, you had to convince him that everything would be okay, and that he would not come into an apartment devastated by the Beast. You made it clear to him that even if the Beast found you thanks to your scent, he would never dare set foot in the apartment of a hero like Pyro. The Beast is brave, yes, but not to stupid as to sign his death warrant. At least, that's what you want to think.

Now you are sitting in Kun's bed, your back against the headboard, one leg pulled up to your chest, and you phone poised precariously on your knee. You dial Taeyong's number, the latter waking up much earlier than the other boys. After two rings, he answers.

"Y/n, how are you?" he asks, he is trying to sound calm, but you can feel the tension in his voice. You do not know if it's because of your radio silence last night, or because of the message you sent him, promising to make him a dead man. "The Beast made it clear to me that he was going to use the contract you gave him to kill me, so I don't know how I'm doing Taeyong." you mumble, and you hear his breathing quicken. "But on a more positive note, I'm at Pyro's. He lets me live in his apartment until they find the Beast."

"Y/n, I'm so sorry." Taeyong whispers, and you imagine him walking down the halls of the apartment above his bookstore, trying not to wake the boys up by talking too loudly. "You have to do something for me now, Taeyong. Find the Beast. Kill him, because if the heroes find him, he will not hesitate to throw everything out about the contract for a remission. And if he does, I'm next on their list."

You hear the sound of the door opening and closing, probably the one in the kitchen where he is going to lock himself up to prepare Renjun's breakfast. The other boys can do it on their own, and also because Taeyong enjoys torturing them a little. "The heroes don't know who you are, even if he gives them your alias, they will not believe him, they won't have any proof to arrest you."

"Taeyong, if he speaks, I won't be the only one in danger. Ten and Doyoung will be even more so. What about Renjun? What will he do when the heroes show up in the middle of the night in the bookstore to take you out? He'll be alone, once again. And god damn it, I don't want this kid to have to suffer one more time because you are not doing your fucking job properly!"

Taeyong remains silent for a long minute, and even though you know you crossed the line, you do not blame yourself. He needs to hear it. "You're still here?" you ask weakly, and hear him clear his throat. "Yeah, I'm just waiting for you to spit out some more of your poison. It's the first time you've really told me what you're thinking, so go ahead, tell me everything, you know I can take it."

You bite your lip. You and Taeyong have known each other since high school, you know that nothing you can say will change your friendship. At least you hope so, because you have a lot to tell him. "Taeyong, you are a good leader, believe me, I've met some terrible ones. But this time, you screwed up completely. The minimum to do when you hire a villain for a mission like this is to check if they have something against one of us, for fuck's sake! I almost fucking died twice because of you, and the fact that you trust the first person who dares to smile at you show that maybe you should step away from being a fucking leader! You're so fucking needy for attention that you are ready to put us all in danger."

"Is that what you really think?" he asks in a small voice, and you sigh. But before you have time to answer, you hear the sound of the key in the lock of the front door. "I have to go." you hang up and shove the phone the the pocket of your hoodie. "Y/n, where are you?" Kun asks, and you turn your head towards the door. "Your room." the young hero pushes the door open, and he smiles when he looks at you. "Is everything okay? Is the guest room not good enough for you?"

You shrug, ignoring the question. "What are you doing here? I thought being a hero meant being overworked, especially right now." you tilt your head, and Kun smiles, giving you time to look at his dimples. Cute. "Touché. The other heroes take care of everything, so I asked for some free time to be with you. I can't protect you if I'm on the other side of town." he is not wrong, you think, pushing yourself to make room for him on the bed.

Kun settles down, hugging a pillow tight against his chest, resting his head on the headboard. "And how do you plan to protect me?" you ask, and he shrugs. "By preventing you from leaving the apartment, by not letting you go anywhere on your own." you frown, giggling. "Try to follow me in the bathroom, and I'll show you that it is not just heroes who can fight." it's enough to make Kun laugh, and it's a sound you might have enjoyed under other circumstances. "I can not wait to see that."

"You don't think I'm capable of fighting you, mister pro-hero?" you ask, turning to him and he closes his eyes, laughing softly. "I have powers too, you know, and I'm sure I can kick your little flames' ass." Kun suddenly seems very interested as he straightens up, resting the pillow back on the bed. "Do you really mean that? Do you want to show me?" you do not think your body will be able to withstand a fight with someone like Pyro, but you know you could kick his ass under normal circumstances.

"I would love to, really, but we are not intimate enough for me to show you my powers." Kun throws his head back, laughing heartily. "You really are something." you shrug, what can you say, you are amazing. "Did you go to the hero academy?" he asks, and you nod, biting the inside of your cheek. "I went there, and I missed the provisional license, twice, so I decided to give up." Kun pouts, and luckily, you are strong, otherwise you would have leaned down to bite on his lower lip. "It's a shame, who knows, we could have been partner."

"I would have hired you in my agency, because we know very well that my agency would have been way more successful than yours." you smirk, and you know you are looking for troubles, but you need to know where Kun's limits lie. "Do you think you would have found better heroes than mine? Better than Death Stare, Mayhem and Strike?" you run the tip of your tongue over your lower lip, sighing, ignoring the way Kun's gaze follow your tongue. "Mayhem spends too much time flirting with victims, so of course we can always do better." it's a slippery slope you are going down, because you know that Pyro and Mayhem have always been best friends.

"I take it that he flirted with you." he says, and you shrug, you are not going to tell him. "It doesn't surprise me, but you know, that's part of his charm, the citizens adore him anyway!" well, you can't deny that Mayhem is hot. He is tall, muscular, and his long hair suits him perfectly. "Maybe I should have flirted back, I would have someone else to help me kick your ass." Kun rolls his eyes, getting up from the bed. "Two against one? That's not really fair, but even like that, I know I would win."

You have to show him what you are capable of, within the limits that your body imposes on you. You close your eyes, and it only takes half a second for one of the shadows who love to torture you during the night to appear in front of you, watching you curiously. With a nod, you indicate the curtains, and the shadow hastens to open, bathing the room in a yellow light. Immediately, Kun's shadows looms behind him as he prepares to leave the room.

"What the hell?" he frowns when he feels a pressure on his arm, preventing him from going any further, pulling him in once more, and slamming the door in front of his face. "A problem?" you ask, tilting your head. Kun is surprised to see you on the bed, as someone seems to be holding him back, but when he turns his eyes, the shadow is back on the floor, as still as Kun. "What just happened?"

You get up from the bed, shrugging your shoulders. "You are getting old Pyro boy." you say as you open the door and leave the room without the slightest problem. "Did you do that?" he asks, following you. "Me who did what?" you open the fridge to take out the bottle of water which you open to take a sip. "You used your powers to keep me from going out!" you laugh, practically choking on the water in your mouth; "I told you Kun, we are not intimate enough. You probably just imagined it all."

Kun shakes his head, he knows what he felt, and it was a hand on his arm. A cold hand, almost ghostly. He knows you did it, but as of right now, he can't prove it. But he will. He'll for you to show him your powers.

For the week after moving in with the hero, you need to put yourself back in your place when you start to feel more at home than with a man you are supposed to betray. But it's difficult, because Kun is such a lovely host, who puts your needs and protection first, even arguing with his friends because he does not want to leave you alone. But at the end of the day, you know you can't afford to fall for him.

In another life, maybe.

This morning, you are awaken when the curtains in your bedroom are drawn open, letting in the sun which warms the bare skin of your legs. You turn onto your stomach, covering yourself with the blanket, muttering something Kun does not quite understand. "Get up, sleeping beauty, we have to go out!" at that, you stuck your head out of the blanket, frowing, your eyes still closed. "Go out?" Kun nods, but you don't see him do it. "I have to go to the agency, so you are coming with me."

You get out of bed quickly, and Kun laughs as you walk into the bathroom to get dressed. Unable to return to your apartment to retrieve clothes, you used the hero's credit card to buy everything you need until you are finally allowed to go home. And when you come out, Kun is already ready to go, his hand resting on the doorknob. "Ready?" he asks, and you nod.

The agency is not far from the hero's apartment, but he takes his car not to take the slightest risk. The Beast could be anywhere, stalking your scent or even your cell phone if he is smart enough, because you do not know if Taeyong did what you ask him or not. When he parks his car in the parking lot, he turns to you. "You better behave, with the heroes, okay?" he says, and you take a falsely offended expression. "Are you really doubting me, hero?" you ask, and he sighs. "You said you would kick my ass last time, god only knows what you can tell them."

He is not wrong, so you shrug. "I say this because I know it's true, and I could kick all their asses, trust me." he chuckles, and gets out of the car. You follow him closely, your hands buried in the pockets of your coat. When he pushes the door of the agency, you are surprised to hear nothing but silence. You expected to see heroes running to and fro, responding to call from panicked citizens, not to see them behind desks, speaking in low voices not to bother anyone around.

"Kun!" a voice breaks the silence, and the hero rolls his eyes as he watches the hero with the long hair approach you. "Oh, who do we have here, Y/n. You know I'm still waiting for you to buy me a drink." he says, turning to you and you tilt your head. "To thank you for letting the Beast come into my home in the middle of the night?" Johnny's cheeks take on a pinkish tinge under the attack, and out of the corner of your eye, you see Kun turn his back to you so you won't see him laughing. "You are not wrong." Death Stare says, leaning against a door that probably lead to other offices.

You wink at Johnny when Kun asks you to follow him into his office. When you enter the room, the bright colors attack your retina right away. "Oh my god, you are a fanboy!" you exclaim and Kun clears his throat. From all part of his office, you can see figurines, posters, and merchandise belonging to the current number one hero in the country. "I never thought your office would look like an 8-year-old's bedroom, that's really cute."

Kun whines as he drops into his office chair, and he busy himself working on his computer so as not to have to answer you. You laugh, and turn to a section of the wall where various newspaper articles are hung. "Are these the arrests you made?" you ask, and the man looks in your direction. "Yeah!" he bulges his chest, probably extremely proud of his achievements. It is not for nothing if he is so popular amongs locals.

You recognize several villains, for having spoken to them at least once, or for having witnessed the arrest live on television. But your gaze stops on one particular photo, and you frown. A boy, quite young, with red hair, and a smile on his face despite the handcuffs and the hero preventing him from making a move. Your eyes fill with tears, but you shake your head, you can't cry. Not here. Not in front of the hero. He would start to suspect something when you are so so close to succeeding your mission.

You do not hear Kun approaching you, and you jump when he opens his mouth. He must have noticed the article you dwelled on. "Red Arrow." he begins, and you bite the inside of your cheek. "I admit that catching him was all down to luck. From the moment he started causing chaos in town, I thought I would never get a hold of him." he explains. Yes, you know what happened. You know that Lucas has escaped the grasp of the heroes and the police on countless occasions. Thanks to you, Doyoung, Ten and Taeyong.

"Why?" you ask in a trembling voice, and Kun watches you, arching his eyebrows. "He was so young when he was arrested, not even 18. Why did you arrest him?" Kun sighs, and he pulls away from the wall to sit on the edge of his desk. "You can't let a villain go free because he is young, Y/n, that would be reckless. Powers get stronger and stronger with age, we could not risk seeing him grow bigger, stronger and more aggressive."

You scoff, shaking your head. Lucas was not aggressive, he would never hurt a fly, he just had trouble controlling his powers like a lot of people in the world. He didn't pass the hero academy entrance exams, and no one taught him how to wield his powers. Taeyong tried, but he too had to manage his own life behind. In a way, it's your fault if he is in jail now, you are the ones who didn't take the time to train him properly when he joined the family.

But it is also the fault of the heroes who refused to understand that it was not his fault. Sure, hanging out with villains does not promise a bright future, but he was not looking to hurt either, it was not in his plans to kill two people with his arrow that day. He couldn't control it. It's that simple, he never really caused any chaos in town, but it is nearly impossible to make heroes understand a thing. "Are you okay?" Kun asks, and you must be looking extremely suspicious, but you take a deep breath, turning on your heels to face the hero, nodding your head, smiling despite your anger. "I'm doing perfectly fine."

"Y/n!"

Renjun's reaction is not what you expected. The boy has a bloody temper, he gets angry very quickly, especially when he doesn't understand something, and when he feels abandoned. So you thought he would get angry when he saw you walk through the door to the bookstore, but instead, he leaps into your arms, wrapping his arms around your neck. "I missed you." he whispers, and you rub his back. "I missed you too, kid."

After a little minute, he takes a step back, and he pouts looking at you. "I promise you everything will be back to normal very soon." he does not seem to believe you, but that's okay. You put your hand on his cheek, and he leans into the warmth of your hand. "You'll see, before you know it, I'll be back." he nods, and you place a kiss on his forehead before walking through the back door. The boys are not here, and you are not surprised, it's way too early.

So instead, you push a hidden door at the back of the room and you go up the stairs to the apartment they share. The place is quiet, except for the sounds of hushed conversation coming from the kitchen. The door is open, and when Ten's gaze lands on you, the conversation ends. "What are you doing here? Did something happen?" he asks, getting up from his chair, and you shake your head.

"Everything is fine, don't worry." you say as you open the fridge. You take out several ingrediens under Taeyong's suspicious gaze. "May I know why you are raiding our fridge?" you stuff everything in your backpack, and you turn to the boy. "Kun was asleep when I left. If he is up when I get back, I'll tell him I was at the supermarket to make him a well-deserved breakfast." they nod their heads, they don't question you anymore, they trust you. "I needed to see you."

"Oh, do you miss us?" Ten coos, and you almost regret coming. "Maybe a little, but I will not give you the pleasure to say anything more." you mumble, and Taeyong pulls up the chair next to him so you can sit down. "Everything is going fine, don't worry. The Beast doesn't seem to have tracked me down yet, and the heroes haven't seen him in town since the last attack." you explain, and Taeyong releases a breath he didn't know he was holding. "I'm close to my goal, so give me a few more days."

The boys worry about you, they let you know several times a day, and you understand. You are the target of the Beast, that Taeyong couldn't find, and on top of that, you spend your time surrounded by heroes. Heroes who could find out who you really are, and lock you up like they did with Lucas. "We are going to get him back, don't worry." you can promise Renjun to come home quickly, but you cannot promise the boys to bring Lucas back. It's a delicate situation, and even if you manage to get close to the goal, you do not know if you will be able to go that far.

Basically, the mission was to get revenge for Lucas' arrest, but over time, and in the sights of how your relationship with Kun progressed, you figured that maybe there was a way to get the young boy back. You do not know if it's actually possible, but you need that little bit of hope to hold on. You turn to Taeyong who is nervously playing with the hem of his hoodie, and you put your hand on his. "I'm sorry Taeyong, for what I told you last time on the phone." the man shakes his head, smiling tenderly. "Don't worry, it's already forgotten."

You do not know what you would do without him, or without Doyoung and Ten. "I have to go, I don't want him to send his squad to find me." you get up from your chair, and you sigh. It's harder than you thought it would be. Leaving what you call your second home, even if you live on your own on a daily basis. "Be careful, alright?" Doyoung says, and you nod. "Of course. Always."

When you walk through the apartment door, and walk to the bedroom, you find Kun still asleep. He looks peaceful, with his hair messy on the pillow, and his blanket covering part of his face. In another life, you think, heading for the kitchen. From your bag, you take out the ingredients you stole from Taeyong's fridge, and you busy yourself with preparing breakfast. You never had the chance to do so, because Kun always wake up before you, and he made it his personal mission to make you as comfortable as possible.

You are not as good as him in the kitchen, and it ends with an unmistakable uproar when the pan in which you were cooking the eggs fall to the ground. You do not know how it happened, but it did. What you don't know either is how Kun manages not to wake up in a hurry, ready to yell at you for being so reckless with his dear cooking equipment. But no, you can still hear his long breaths as you approach the bedroom.

"Weirdo." you whisper as you return to the kitchen to finish breakfast. Okay, the eggs don't look very good, and you are not even sure it's perfectly cooked, but it'll do. You pour coffee into a cup, and orange juice in a glass that you nearly drop. This is the last time you will enter a kitchen, you think, carrying the tray to the bedroom. You put it on the bedside table, and sit on the edge of the bed.

You do not need to open your mouth, because the smell of food is enough to make Kun stires awake. He pushes the blanket away, a smile on his face, his eyes still closed. "Good morning." he whispers in a sleepy voice, and you can't help but smile too. When he finally opens his eyes, and his gaze lands on the tray, he sits up against the headboard. "What is that?" he asks. "It's for you. It's not perfect, and I really don't recommend eating the eggs, but it's a way of thanking you."

"You don't need to thank me, I told you that already." he takes the cup of coffee, and he blows on it gently. "I do it because it's my job, and because I want to." he explains, and of course, you understand, but still. "Yes, but I'm making you miss your job, that's not good." he takes a sip of coffee which is, just as he likes it, and that makes his heart beat a little faster. Maybe. "I'll go back to work when I know you are safe."

Will you ever be completely safe? You are not sure, but it's something Kun doesn't need to know. You take the glass of juice, and take a sip under Kun's amused gaze. "What?" you ask with a frown, and he shakes his head. "Nothing." he doesn't stop smiling with amusement, and it starts to annoy you. "What?" you whine, and he throws his head back to laugh. God, you hate how much you love that laugh.

You put your glass on the tray, and you take the cup from Kun's hand to put it down too. Kun is startled, but when you get back on the bed to sit on his lap, he doesn't say anything more. He puts his hands on your hips to keep your from tipping back, and he tilts his head. "Hi." you roll your eyes. "Hi yourself." you put your hands on his shoulders. "Are you going to tell me why you are looking at me like that?" he shakes his head, and you pout. Kun is a simple man, and when you pout, he gives you what you want. Usually.

You see Kun's gaze slide over your lips and giggle softly. "Because you are beautiful?" you wrap you arms around the back of his neck to play with his hair, and that's enough to make Kun's head straighten up. "You're not too bad either." his fingers slide down your sides, and he tilts his head. "Can I kiss you?" he asks in a low voice, and you nod. Is it for the mission, or because you are actually craving it? Who knows, not you anyway.

Kun leans in and rests his lips on yours for a simple kiss, but in to time, the kiss becomes much more fiery. You nibble Kun's lip and he opens his mouth slightly, and you take advantage of it, finding his tongue, tasting the coffee he was drinking. The hero's fingers tighten around your waist, and instictively, you roll your hips, causing the young man to growl. "Do you know how bad I wanted to do this." he whispers against your lips, you did not know, but you are happy to know that you can have that kind of effect on the hero.

"I don't know, tell me." you whisper, and is surprised when Kun rocks you onto the bed to straddle your hips. He bends down, and runs the tip of his tongue over your lips, and the contact is gone as quickly as it happened, which makes you sigh, much to Kun's delight. "You wanted too, I know that." he seems so sure of himself that you roll your eyes. "What makes you say that?"

His lips slide slowly down your cheek, your jaw, ending in your neck which he kisses warmly. "I see you, you know. I see you looking at my lips when I speak. I see the way you look at me when I get out of the shower." You could laugh, really, because even though you are here for the purpose of betraying Kun, you are human, and the hero's body was sculpted by the Gods, there is nothing you can do about it if your eyes slide over his chest from time to time.

"Because you don't?" you ask, but your sentence is cut short when Kun bites the skin of your neck. He licks the wound, and he sits up, caging your face in between his hands. "Of course I do. It's hard not to." so much for being professional, you think, rolling your eyes. You push him to the other side of the bed, and it's your turn to be on top, your legs on either side of Kun's thighs, Kun who looks at you with a smirk.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asks, and you shrug, rolling your hips very lightly against Kun's crotch. "I was thinking of watching a movie." Kun sits up, his torso against your chest, and he smiles. "I do not think so, no." he puts his lips on your throat which he kisses several time, biting the skin a little harder each time, enough to make you buck your hips. "Eager, aren't we?"

He takes one of your ankles in his hand to maneuver your leg so that it is on the other side of the leg you are already standing above. He makes you sit, and when you roll your hips again, he clenches the muscles of his thighs, and it is enough to make you moan softly. "Are you so need that you are going to use my thigh to get off?" he scoffs, and you put a hand against his mouth. "Shut up Kun."

The friction of your clothed clit against Kun's thigh is something you cannot describe. It is rough, but good at the same time. "If you want to get off like this, you should at least do it properly." his voice against your ear makes you whine, tears already forming in the corner of your eyes with the pleasure flooding you so suddenly. He moves his hands on your waist to move you quicker on his thigh, the tense of the muscle against your heating core is absolutely delicious.

You try to bite your lips to quiet your moans, but it is useless, especially when Kun bites your lower lip, forcing your mouth open. He kisses you, swallowing all of your moans. He feels uncomfortably tight in the confines of his boxers, but he does not say anything. "You are doing so well baby." his mouth his hot, and you close your eyes shut. Seeing Kun's face, and his smirk would only bring you quicker to the edge.

He feels the way your thighs are shaking, and he scoffs. "Already ready to cum? Good girl." you are making a mess of his leg with your juices, and if normally you would be embarrassed, you can't find it in yourself to be right now. "Come on, cum for me, show me how good you can be." his voice is low, and honey-like. And like that, you feel your climax hitting you. And it hits harder than ever. You see stars behind your eyes, and you are pretty sure you black out for a minute or so.

"That's it." Kun whispers, and when you body falls limp against him, he rubs your back, kissing the top of your head. "You did so well." you feel the beads of sweat rolling down your spine, and you grimaces slightly. Without a word, and still out of breath, you take your shirt off under Kun's hungry gaze. It's when you move to sit back on his lap that you see and feel the tent in his pants. Poor baby must be so hard right now.

"I can take care of it." he whispers, his lips finding their way to your naked shoulder to kiss and bite as he wishes. "Let me." you say, and he helps you take off his boxers by lifting his hips from the bed, and when you are finally back in the same position, you take his hard and leaking member in your hand. You use the pre-cum to make the slide easier, and immediately, the boys huffs, eyes closing. He's been waiting for his release that he doesn't know how long he'll last.

You kiss him, all teeth and tongue, it is sloppy, disgusting, with drool running down your chins. Kun bucks his hips, fucking into your hand and you move quicker, twisting your wrist in a way that makes him moan. It's obsene the sound that come out of his mouth, but you love to hear him, so much. The hero is usually so composed, that seeing him coming undone because of your hand is a good ego boost.

"Fuck, I'm going to-to cum." he groans, and you smile softly, biting on the lobe of his ear. "Are you?" he nods with vigor, and you drop your head, opening your mouth big enough for a bead of spit to drop on the top of his dick, to make it extra wet, and with how he reacts, that's how he likes it. You run your finger in the slit, and with your free hand, you fondle his balls, and when you feel him tense up, you watch as rops of sticky cum dirty your hand. "Good boy." you say like he did earlier, and he smiles, completely blissed out.

"Gross." you say looking at your hand, and you rub it clean on Kun's abs. The hero winces at the feeling of the cum when it starts to dry on his skin. "You are gross." yeah, you are. You yelp when he takes ahold of your thighs to get out of bed, not letting go of you. "What are you doing?" you ask with a laugh. "We need a shower."

And if he showed you how wet he likes things in the shower, then so be it.

When you open your eyes, the first thing you notice is the warm body against yours. Kun's arm is firmly around your waist, and you feel his breath against your neck. It must have been barely two hours since you fell asleep, which means the sun is still shining outside, and you still have time to enjoy the day. Well, if you can. Because when you try to stand up, Kun's arm pulls you closer to him, and you sigh weakly.

If the boys knew what you just did, they would be pissed off. It was definitely not in the plan, but it takes what it takes to make Kun more open to you, more vulnerable. Enough to break him more easily, you think, looking at the ceiling. You remain motionless for a few more minutes, letting yourself be lulled by the hero's regular breathing, and after a while, he finally releases his grip on your waist to turn his back to you, you take the opportunity to get out of bed.

Your clothes have been thrown haphazardly around the room, and it takes a moment for you to find everything. But instead of putting them on, you throw everything in the laundry basket in the corner of the room, and you take a clean t-shirt and pants from the section of the wardrobe reserved for you in the guest room. When you return to the hero's room, you observe Kun. He is always so peaceful when he sleeps, and you have to refrain yourself from running your fingers through his soft hair.

In another life, you think.

There is a reason you didn't let Kun convince you to show him your powers. You needed to save it, to regain strenght so that you could use it as much as you needed. You walk over to the window and push the curtains so that the bedroom is completely bathed in sunlight. Even though the shadows are stronger at night, they are easier to manipulate and recall when there is natural light.

You call a single shadow. The one who is the most obedient, the one you spent all your childhood manipulating, the only one who does not torture you at the first given opportunity. "Prevent him from moving if he wakes up." you articulate without any sound coming out of your mouth, and the shadow nods. You walk out of the room, and with a silent step, you stop in front of Kun's office door. It is not difficult to enter, since he has nothing to hide, so the door is not locked. You only need one thing, the key to the agency.

And when you find it, you refrain from making a sound of victory, you do not have time for that. You pick up your phone, and open the conversation with the boys. You could call them, to make it easier, but you do not want to risk waking Kun up, or getting his attention.

To The cheap villains alliance: Are you there? From The cheap villains alliance / Ten / Doyoung / Taeyong: Yes! To The cheap villains alliance: Perfect. I have the key to Pyro's agency. The details of Lucas's arrest are out there, but to get there on my own, I need your help. I need chaos. I need all of the agency's heroes, Kun included, to be on the streets. From The cheap villains alliance / Taeyong: You can count on us. When do you want to do it? To The cheap villains alliance: Tonight. Wait until night has fallen. From The cheap villains alliance / Ten: The festivities will begin at 9 p.m.

You smile, you knew you could count on them. And they are the best at creating chaos without actually causing injuries. You do not want that, you do not want innocent blood on your hands. You just want the heroes out of your reach. You quickly leave the office, stuffind the key in your pants pocket. For Kun not to notice, you'll need to keep him occupied until it is time for him to go, and leave you alone.

So you go back to the room where Kun is only waking up. The shadow sees you, and it disappears with the blink of an eye. And you sit on the edge of the bed, you hand resting on Kun's cheek. "Hello sleeping beauty." he smiles, his dimples deep and tempting. You take advantage of the sight given to you by a very sleepy Kun, because it is certainly the last time you will see him like that.

From The cheap villains alliance / Ten: Let the show begin.

From where you are standing in the living room, you smile when you see the message. You do not know what they are going to do, or whatever they are going to do it themselves or ask some trusted villains. But you think it will be the latter, the safest option. It would be silly to get caught by the police when they are so close to getting Lucas back.

To The cheap villains alliance: Be careful, kids.

You put your phone in your pocket, and you settle down next to Kun. The hero has spent the last twenty minutes searching for a movie on Netflix. He puts his arm around your shoulders, and you move closer to him, close enough that your thighs are touching. The movie begins, and when his phone rings on the coffee table, you try not to show your excitement.

"Sorry." he mumbles when he sees Johnny's picture showing up. He picks up the phone, and he leaves the living room to answer. You do not move, even though you are dying to know what they are saying to each other, but when he comes back to the living room, he is much more agitated. "I have to go." he says, and you stand up, frowning. "Is something wrong?" he shakes his head as he walks to his office. You follow him closely, and you watch him put on his costume.

"Villains have decided to fight in town. They need every hero they can get." oh, so that's it. You know that this is Ten's idea. The latter loves to create conflict between villains just to see them fiight, to see the strenght they really have. Little shit. "Be careful, Kun, please." you say in a low voice, and he turns to you. He cups your face and kisses you. "I promise you." he turns around you, and without another word, he leaves the apartment.

You have no time to waste, because you do not know how long it will take Kun before coming back. You dial Taeyong's number, and the man answer almost immediately. "So? Is he gone?" he asks, and you nod as you pull on your coat. "Yeah, just now. A brawl of villains, really?" the man laughs as you leave the apartment. "You have to ask Ten, I have nothing to do with it."

Yeah, that what you thought. You go down the stairs at full speed, while being careful that the neighbords do not see you go. "They haven't gone there, hopefully?" you ask, and the noise he makes does not bode well. "Ten wanted to go up there to watch, and Doyoung followed him to stop him from doing anything stupid." fuck.

"Yeah, that's Ten. If either of them gets hurt, or arrested, I swear to god I'll find them and kill them myself. I think being suffocated by your own shadow is a good way to die." you mumble, and Taeyong laughs softly. You know he must be rolling his eyes. "Is Renjun home?" Taeyong does not respond, and you hear the sound of doors opening on the fly, and you stop dead in your tracks.

"Taeyong? Taeyong, is Renjun home?" when you hear nothing but silence, you start to build up in tension. You do not know if it's worry, or anger with Taeyong who does not tell you anything. "Lee-Fucking-Taeyong, if you don't answer me right fucking now, you're going to die too." when he picks up the phone, he is out of breath, he must have run down the stairs to check the bookstore.

"He is not here."

"Taeyong, you only had one thing to do, and that was to make sure Renjun was home!" you say with clenched teeth. You want to yell at him, make him understand that the situation is much more serious now, but you cannot be noticed by passers-by. You probably already look stupid standing in the middle of the sidewalk. "The villains don't know Renjun, they won't know they have to be careful is he ever passes by."

It is not for nothing that they are villains. They don't care about anything. They only live to hurt heroes, and to cause chaos. If they have to hurt a teenager to beat a hero, or a cop, they'll do it without a second thought. Renjun cannot defend himself, at least not against them. "I thought I heard him in his room when Ten and Doyoung left, that's why I didn't check." Taeyong says in a quick voice, and you sigh.

"Call Doyoung, tell him Renjun is not home. Tell him to find him and bring him home. Ten too. That they don't stay outside, it's too dangerous." you are about to hang up when Taeyong speaks. "And you, are you going to continue the mission?" good god, you want to hit him right now, he wastes the little time you have. "Taeyong, Renjun trusts us to protect him, and take care of him, we don't have time to talk, you fucking stupid leader, call them!"

You hang up without thinking about what you just said to Taeyong, or the time you actually lost just to insult him. Renjun is important, and so does the mission. You cannot favor one in spite of the other. You've made up your mind, not only are they going to bring Renjun home, you are also going to get Lucas out. You shove your phone in your coat pocket, and run to Pyro's agency. As you predicted, the agency is empty, and silent. You close the door behind you, and walk to Kun's office.

No one has ever dared to break into an agency, and the heroes all trust each other, so you do not have to worry about cameras, since they don't have any. In the office, you rummage in the drawers, and cupboards to find the keys that will give you access to Lucas.

See, it's not for nothing that this date is so important. If this month is so important. A month ago, you were sitting in the back of the bookstore with the boys, and you were watching the news when Lucas's picture popped up on the screen. A hero, Pyro, spoke up, so proud of himself when he announced that Lucas would be sent to a higher security prison the following month. He also said that in the meantime, the boy would be kept by the heroes in the underground cells at the agency. That day, he spoke without knowing that his words were not going to be forgotten by three people eager to find their friend back.

"Is that what you are looking for?"

The voice is followed by the sound of keys. And when you turn, you tilt your head when you see Kun with the keys leading to the underground cells. You shove your hands in the pockets of your coat, your head bowed. "How did you know?" you ask, and for a second, the hero is taken aback by the lightness with which you speak, as if you had just asked him to talk about the weather. "I always knew."

"What do you mean?" you ask, frowning. The hero sighs, and he doesn't show the slightest sign of a struggle, which means he has not visited the other heroes. "I knew it the moment I saw you, on that street, when you passed out. At first, I thought you had really been attacked by the Beast. And then in the second attack, I heard him speak, I heard him call you the shadow handler, and the contract. That's when I found out." what follow does not bode well.

"All the heroes know you. You, and your little friends. You had caused quite a stir after the arrest of Red Arrow, and that's how I made the connection. Why did the famous shadow handler would come out of her hiding place if not to help her friend escape." you run your tongue over your dry lips and take a step in the direction of Kun who is not moving.

"So, why did you save me? Why did you ask me to live with you?" even in the dark of the office, you can see Kun's cheeks turn red. "Because it was the best way to keep an eye on you, but I guess I was wrong. You are way smarter than you seem." you and your friends are very smart, and you have a lot of resources.

"What are you going to do?" you ask, and the hero lets his shoulders drop. "Are you going to stop me? Are you going to lock me up with Lucas? Oh maybe you will kill me?" he shakes his head, and the sound escaping his lips is almost painful. "See, I knew you were manipulating me the whole time, and yet for a while, when I saw that nothing was happening, I really thought you had changed your mind about Red Arrow."

You roll your eyes as you look around. "Kun, a villain cannot change. Once they start doing evil, nothing can bring them back to the right path. You have said it yourself, and more than once." he approaches you in turn, and he is so close that you can smell his perfume, the smell of embers which clings to his costume. "But maybe you could have? You and your friends are not the worst villains we've had to deal with, quite the contrary. You don't do anything for fun. You don't hurt citizens, and you only tackle the heroes when you really have no other choice."

You know all this. You know the boys and you are not the worst. You do what you can to survive. The proof, what villain would open a bookstore for the love of books, and what villains would "adopt" a child without a family because they can't stand the idea of him being alone as they have been for too long. "Lucas has not done anything wrong. When a hero can't control their powers and hurts a citizen, we don't lock them up for the rest of their life! So why him? He never did anything bad in his life!"

Kun hears the emotion in your voice when you speak, you are really affected by Lucas' situation, and he understands, really. "I had no choice. It's the rules, Y/n." you laugh coldly, closing your eyes to keep the tears from running down your cheeks. "Your rules are stupid." you both remain silent for a little while, but your attention is suddenly drawn to the window when you hear an explosion. "So what are you going to do?" you ask with a sigh. You are tired of this situation.

"If you want to stop me, do it now, because the others are going to be here very soon, and really, you don't want to compete with them." Kun takes the last step between you, and he puts his cold hands on your cheeks. You do not move, because you know he will never hurt you. You've seen it in his eyes so many times over the past few days. He won't do anything to you, except if he has no choice. Being a hero means putting aside your human side to be able to make the best decisions, and the hero will have to fight against the villain.

"If you get Lucas back, whare are you going to do?" he asks, and you are surprised at his question, so you shrug. "We don't want anything other than to give him the house he hasn't had since he got locked up, Kun. We are not going to go out in the streets to make the heroes pay for the time we lost with him. Like you said, we are not like other villains. I just want to be reunited with my family." you whisper.

Your family, yes, that's what they are. A found family is sometimes much better than the biological one. Blood is thicker than water, it is true, but sometimes a found family is so much more. "And me?" he asks, voice barely above a whisper. "Did you never feel anything for me, or were you just looking to see me weak to take advantage of it?" that's the question you unfortunately do not have an answer for. Feelings are not something you like to dwell on. Love attracts nothing good.

"What would that change? You won't let me go anyway." you respond, and Kun leans in to kiss you. And you are weak, so you respond to the kiss. But rather than delve deeper into it as Kun so desires, you close your eyes, focus, and let the shadows do what you can't do on your own. They pull Kun back, preventing him from moving. He is immobilized by invisible forces. You take the keys that have fallen on the floor, and before leaving the office, you give him one last look. "In another life we could have been happy."

The hero doesn't even try to struggle, he lets the shadows hold him in place, and all he can do is watch you go without a word. His heart is breaking, of course, but it's all his fault. He knew what you wanted, and yet, he let you get under his skin, he let you make him weak.

On your way to the underground cells, you pull out your phone, and the relief you feel when you see Taeyong's message telling you that Renjun is home, and that he is fine, the boys are fine is so strong that you could cry. Before losing the already weak signal, you send a message to Taeyong.

To Taeyong: Take the car, and be in front of Pyro's agency in 5 minutes. Don't ask question, and be ready to go.

If he answers, you don't know, since your phone stops working, possibly due to the technology used to keep the villains and their powers at bay. Lucas is not the only one here, all the cells are occupied by villains who seem to be asleep, or drugged, you do not know. "Lucas?" you ask, but get no answer. Good god, who would've thought the underground prison would be that big.

The prison does not only belong to Pyro, but to all the hero agencies in town. They all have access, so while Kun doesn't try to stop you, it's not a given, who knows if a hero is not going to descend on the other side of town at any time. It takes you a couple of minutes to find him. "Lucas." you sigh.

The boy doesn't react immediately, but when you approach, his eyes lift up to you. At first he is not sure what he is seeing, he thinks he is dealing with yet another mirage. "Lucas, we are leaving." he frowns and gets up on shaky legs, and walks over to the bars. "Y/n, what are you doing here?" his voice is so weak, your heart breaks a little. "I'm taking you home." he tries to smile, but you see that he is too tired to do so, but you know he is grateful to see you.

Opening the cell is another story.

You are not familiar with the tech they use, but if the villains are kept in a constant state of fatigue, it doesn't have to be that complicated, right? A computer and several monitors are close to the door that leads to the agency. Cameras that monitor all the cells and buttons. So many buttons. "Fuck." it may take some time.

"The green button." you turn when you hear a voice. That of a villain. "What?" you are not stupid, you are not going to be fooled by a villain. "If you want to open your friend's cell, you have to press the green button closest to his cell's camera." he explains, and you frown. "Why are you helping me?" you ask, and the villain shrugs in defeat. "He is young. He does not deserve what awaits him in prison." you agree completely.

The thing is, villains are vicious, who says that by pushing the button you won't open all the cells and release the villains in town? You want your friend, not to create chaos in the city. But you have no choice, if you call the shadows to bring Kun back here, he will certainly change his mind and prevent you from doing what you want to do. So you find the screen leading to Lucas' cell, and you press the button.

At first, nothing happens, but after a few seconds, a metallic noise is heard and Lucas's cell opens. "Oh fuck, thank you!" you run toward the boy who seems reluctant to come out, as if expecting to be attacked, or laughed at at his idiocy before being locked up again. "Come on, Taeyong is already waiting for us outside." at the mention of the leader, his eyes brighten and you help him walk. Lucas is tall, like really tall, so it's hard to keep him from falling, especially in the stairs, but you get there.

"Wait." you whisper as you lean him against the wall so he can hold himself up while you lock the door to the cells. The freezing cold of the underground has seeped into your skin, and you begin to shake, so much that an easy task becomes difficult. "Come on." you mumble, but Lucas puts his hand on yours. "Let me do it." and he does.

"Let's go home." you put Lucas's arm around your shoulders, and you walk toward the door of the agency, but first, you stop by the office. Kun is still there, held by the shadows. When he hears the footsteps, he looks up at you, and.. and he smiles sadly. "Be happy." that's all he says before you force the shadow to release him. When the shadow disappear, you also disappear.

He will soon hear the sound of an engine, and that of a car racing away. And he will be alone. Alone with his broken heart, a bunch of villains to calm down on the streets, and a lot of explainations to give. Love brings nothing good, you were right about that.

In another life, you both think.

#cznnet #nct imagines #wayv imagines #nct scenarios #wayv scenarios #kun imagines #kun scenarios

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kamenriderlogik27 · 3 years

Text

Kamen Rider headcanons part 1: Saber meets Ex-Aid!

I've been thinking about this for a while. Not sure why my brain chose Ex-Aid though. Just kinda happened. hehe. It took me a lot longer to write than I was hoping 'cause I ended up getting writer's block somewhere near the end, and didn't entirely know how to end it. Not much action either since I can't write action scenes, but hopefully ya'll will like it!

- It was a bright, sunny day with no sign of megido activity. Touma and Mei were traveling to Tokyo due to Touma having a book reading scheduled at Seito University Hospital. Rintaro, intrigued by the idea of finally being able to visit a grand medical institution, decided to tag along under the guise that it'd be better for him to go as backup just in case something happened.

- Upon arrival, the trio run into Ogami and his son, Sora. Who the latter is scheduled an annual check up at the hospital and was following a nurse.

- After hearing about Touma's book reading, Sora begged Ogami to let him stay so he could join them. Ogami gave no hesitation in giving his son permission to stay after his check up. This actually played in Ogami's favor 'cause he had something to do down the street (probably to get bakery sweets for his son and wife or something.) So he asked Rintaro and Mei to help Sora with his check up, and left before hearing their response.

- A bit dumbfounded but not surprised, Mei quickly told Touma to check in at the front so a nurse could escort him to set up, then she and Rintaro both took Sora's hands and followed the (surprisingly patient) nurse to their assigned hospital room.

- On their way to the room, the nurse quickly stopped near a scale, asked Sora to take off his shoes and started taking his height and weight measurements. Mei had to stop Rintaro from taking off his second shoe (he already had the first one off) as he thought that they all had to get their measurements taken.

- As they waited for the doctor to come, Mei and Sora talked and played while Rintaro took his time looking around the room at all the different equipment and posters with fascinated eyes.

- It wasn't long a wait. However, as the doctor opened the door to enter, he accidentally (somehow) tripped and face planted the floor.

- *Que overly shocked and confused Mei face and sounds, and an unimpressed Sora*

- Rintaro was the only one who asked if the doctor was ok and if he needed help. This caused the doctor to inwardly blush in shame a bit.

- The doctor (if you couldn't tell by now) is Hojo Emu, as said by the patient nurse who sighed "Not again, Emu...."

- Sora took a quick liking to doctor Emu as he was really nice and tried to make the check up feel like a game. However, Emu was a bit shocked to say the least when he tried to bond with Sora over video games and Sora said that he likes reading more. (score one for Touma!)

- As the check up went on, Emu ended up having to juggle with doing his job as well as try to answer the many questions that Rintaro had. (i.e. Is that a stethoscope?! How clear are you able to hear a heartbeat with it? May I perhaps try it out myself? Do doctors really keep a jar of tongue depressors at their desk? That's amazing! you can also use a stethoscope to hear a person's breathing pattern? etc.)

- After the check up, Emu told Mei and Rintaro that Sora was in extraordinary health, especially for such a young child. (score one for the best Kamen Rider dad!)

- Since Emu had no more scheduled appointments for the next hour or two, he and nurse Asuna both ended up escorting the three to the book reading. They were also really curious as to who this 'Touma' person was that Sora and Mei talked excitedly about.

- The book reading was held in a wide open area outside in the courtyard, right next to a huge wall made of windows. Touma had brought a total of 10 picture books to read to his audience; which consisted of mainly hospitalized children, and Sora sitting in the front row.

- Emu and nurse Asuna were both, to say the least, really impressed with Touma's reading skills and interactions with the children. To them, it almost seemed as if Touma was truly taking them on a magic carpet ride or journeying through the decade a jungle.

- Emu mumbled something about looking up Touma's books one of these days, which Mei over heard of course, giving her the opportunity of handing him Touma's business card which had the bookstore's phone number and address printed on the back.

- Just as Touma is about to finish his last book, screams are heard coming from nearby and Mei's white book starts glowing. Nurse Asuna is the only one that notices the book however since Emu is already running towards the chaos, Rintaro and Touma hot on his heels. Nurse Asuna has so many questions, but Mei just awkwardly smiles and runs to Sora so they can help the children and other patients back inside.

- Once Emu gets to the source of the screams, he finds a huge, bug-like monster with a book on its chest attacking people with its long, blood-sucking spear. Emu gets confused at what he was looking at since the monster didn't look or seem like a bugster. Before he could observe further, Touma and Rintaro rushed past him, both putting on their drivers and shouting "Henshin!" before swinging out what seemed like swords and transforming.

- although super confused at these two new Riders, Emu decided to wait to ask questions and jumped into action himself by pulling out his gashats and gamedriver, wanting to transform into Kamen Rider Ex-aid level 2. However, upon further observation of the scene, he could see people kneeling/laying on the ground, groaning in agony and pain. He would have to rely on the strange Riders for the moment as Doctor Emu was needed, Genius Gamer M would have to wait.

- the two SOL Riders noticed the Doctor by now, with Rintaro gasping and trying to tell Emu to get away before he gets hurt. This attracted the megido's attention and it quickly brushed off the Rider's swords, jumped high into the air and aimed it's spear at the doctor who was now trying to help a poor old lady to stand up.

- Before it could hit the doctor though, a very large, heavy sword blocked it's path causing the megido to fall back, clutching it's spear-nose in pain. Emu looked at the huge sword in shock, before glancing at the wielder next to to. Which happened to be an untransformed man with a smirk on his face.

- "Ogami-san! Nice save!" Touma yelled with relief.

"Huh? OGAMI???" Emu said to himself, putting the pieces together "Eh??? Sora-kun's FATHER?!" Noticing that the man he saved was a doctor, due to Emu's white coat, Ogami-san understood what was going on and told Emu to keep doing what he was doing. "Don't worry, I've got your back!"

- While Emu depended on Ogami-san to protect him and the patients, the other Rider doctors had came to help. Kiriya was helping anyone that could still walk, Taiga and Nico were attending to those that couldn't, and Hiiro took the chance to look into and see if the bugster virus was related.

- The megido took account of the situation and, seeing as he could continue his job else where, started to fly away. But not before seeing a curious Sora staring right at him and deciding that "one more couldn't hurt." and dove down to the boy. But before it could pierce Sora's skin, a frantic Mei pushed him out of the way, getting pierced by the megido's spear in the process.

- I think ya'll can imagine the way Touma and, especially, Rintaro screamed Mei's name right at the moment. Gives me chills just thinking about it.

- The megido quickly flew away before the riders could reach them. But Rintaro quickly de-henshined and rushed to Mei's side, quickly, but as gently as possible, picking her up in his arms and checking to see if she was alright. On the outside she seemed fine, there wasn't even an open wound, but then an electric-like ripple coursed through her body and she gasped in pain. Hiiro was at their sides in an instant, using his Game Scope to assess the situation.

- Emu, who was checking to see if Sora was alright, quickly squatted next to Hiiro and furrowed his brows at the screen. there was a new type of Bugster running through Mei's body. In fact, everyone that was attacked by the megido had been infected.

- They took Mei back to the hospital (Rintaro carrying her with the excuse that it'd be faster for him to do it, when in fact he just didn't want anyone else to carry her.) and set her down in the Ex-aid HQ center (I know it's officially called something else, but I'm tired and have no time to look it up at the moment.)

- Now Emu's a bit overwhelmed 'cause there's a very sick Mei, 2 very worried riders asking questions, another rider who's also a bit worried but is also trying to calm his heart down after getting the scare of his life when Poppy suddenly costume changed next to him without warning, and everyone is just super confused about what the monster is. He literally has to yell "shut up!!!" for the room to quiet down enough so he can add "How about we just take turns asking questions, yeah?"

- and that's what they do, Emu starts by asking Touma and Rintaro what the monster is. So Rintaro quickly explains the SOL organization, swordsmen and the megido. Then Rintaro asks Emu what's happening to Mei and if she'll be ok. Emu, along with the other doctor Riders, started explaining Bugsters and the Game Disease. Emu explained that since they've been battling the virus for years now, and have advanced the treatment extraordinarily well that Emu is confident that they'll be able to heal Mei.

- Even though still worried, Rintaro and Touma visibly relax, the latter starting to think about the megido. He had a suspicion of what the megido could be and wanted to go back to the bookstore to check. Knowing it'd be a long drive back however, Ogami quickly pulled out his book-gate WRB and created a doorway that links the hospital to the Northern Base. Touma and Rintaro head through it without a second thought, shocking the doctor Riders.

- At the Northern Base, the duo find Daishinji who's been trying to track the megido for some time now. As they talk, Daishinji cuts off what he's saying halfway and adverts his eyes due to the doctor Riders suddenly appearing.

- Turns out that Parado had come back after playing games with some of the children in the hospital, saw the doctor Riders staring at a door that he'd never seen before. curious, he opened the door (despite Ogami yelling and Emu trying to stop him) which resulted in him and Emu getting sucked into the vortex-like path between the destinations. The other riders too as they either tried to save the duo or they got pulled in by others *cough!* Kiriya *cough!* trying to save themselves.

- The doctor Riders suddenly finding themselves to be in a library of sorts makes them shocked to say the least.

- By the time Ogami catches up, Rintaro is busy explaining that they're now at the North Pole while Touma has gone off back to his bookstore to look for a specific book.

- Emu had followed after Touma and was amazed by how homey and comfortable the bookstore felt and looked.

- As Emu looked around the bookstore (low-key spazzing about how cool the diorama was), Touma rummaged through a pile of books until he came across a book on insects. He skims through it and confirms that the bug-like megido is a mosquito, which is known to spread viruses like wildfire. Excited, the two go back and inform the others at the Northern Base of what they found.

- Everyone then spends the night doing what they can to help. Ogami found and dragged Ren out to help him look for the megido with Kiriya and Parado offering to help. Parado's involvement caused Nico to see this as a game, so she forced Taiga to help search as well. Hiiro went back to his other patients, checking in every now and then to see if the Bugster in Mei had grown.

- Touma and Rintaro also thought about searching, but then Emu and Poppy mentioned how the Bugster Virus reacts and grows via stress. What stresses Mei the most is 1. Touma not finishing his drafts on time and 2. not seeing her friends. So they decided to stay by her side with Rintaro watching over her, and Touma taking up the nearby desk so he can work on drafts for the next two+ months.

- Seeing Mei so pale and frail broke Rintaro's heart. She looked like a different person entirely, as if her warm smile had been stolen. Somewhat tired and worry clouding his mind, he started speaking his thoughts out loud, so loud that Touma could hear.

- "Why can't I do anything?" "What if we can't defeat the megido?" "What if we DO defeat the megido but can't defeat the virus?"

- Touma has to firmly tell Rintaro that they will save Mei, no matter what. He's so adamant about it that he ends up promising Rintaro that they'll both defeat both the Bugster and the megido.

- Emu, who was observing them from afar, takes note of their promise before heading up to the main office of the ward. There, a new face, Kento, is standing next to the window and gazing down at the trio.

- Alarmed, Emu asks who Kento is and how he got in. But Kento doesn't reply, and instead mentions how this wasn't supposed to happen, that this wasn't something he foresaw. He looks back at Emu before opening a black portal and disappearing through it.

- Sometime during the night, Hiiro checks in on Mei, and has a chat with Rintaro about her. He warns the swordsman about waiting and not taking action before leaving him to his thoughts.

- The next morning, Emu finds Touma and Rintaro both asleep. The latter hunched over the desk full of written drafts and the former upright in a chair with his hand clenching Mei's. Poppy, who had came in right behind him, loudly gasped in delight at the cute scene, causing the two Riders to wake up in alarm. Touma ended up falling from his chair while Rintaro awkwardly jumped with embarrassment after realizing he was holding Mei's hand, especially so tightly.

- Emu checks Mei's temperature and vitals. When she wakes up, he asks her how she feels which she groggily explains that she feels way better than when she was turned into the cat megido. Turns out that the boys staying with her and seeing that Touma got a lot of work done really did help in de-stressing her.

- Just then, they get a call from Ogami, informing them that the megido has been spotted. Quickly reassuring Mei that they'll defeat the Megido, the two left to aid Ogami.

-Them leaving however, caused Mei to grow worried and stressed. Resulting in the Bugster Virus inside of her to grow and finally form outside of her body. The form that the Bugster took, was of her Megido monster form, the cat megido. Which slashed at Emu and Poppy before fleeing from the hospital.

- Emu and the other doctor Riders chased after it, bumping into the SOL Riders on the way. This results in them fighting together AND having the SOL Riders react to seeing the doctor Riders transform for the first time.

- "eh?! you guys are Kamen Riders too?!" "What?! B-but! I thought that only SOL swordsmen can be called 'Kamen Riders'?! I have to ask Sophia-sama about this..." "Oi.... What's with the cartoon eyes...? and... is that HAIR?"

- They also run into more bugsters as well, so they break up into teams to fight them off. Touma and Emu vs the megido, Rintaro and Hiiro vs the cat megido bugster, Kiriya and Ogami vs. a megido bugster, and Taiga and Nico vs. another megido bugster and Ren and Parado vs Bugster mooks.

- After defeating them all, the one behind this mess reveals himself; Dan Kuroto with one of Zoous's Alter Ride Books. (possibly given to him by Storious)

-This leads to another huge battle between Kuroto (who fused with the alter ride book) and the Riders (plus Kento who'd been watching the whole thing), which ends with Kuroto being defeated and disappearing, and Mei with everyone else that caught the megido bugster virus to be fully cured.

- Mei reunites with Touma and Rintaro at the hospital, which Rintaro smiling to himself. (He now fully realizes his feelings for Mei and is planning on confessing soon.)

-Later on, Emu, Poppy and the other doctor Riders visit the Kamiyama bookstore, which results in an amusing event.

#kamen rider #kamen rider saber #kamen rider ex aid #crossover #i tried my best #i still want to try and write a real fanfic about this #head canons

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skrltwtch · 3 years

Text

Scent

Prompt: a & b have been friends since they were children — but they’ve gone their separate ways during college. during that time apart, muse a and b were attacked by a vampire and werewolf respectively, undergoing a transformation they never expected. they kept it a secret from each other, hoping that this doesn’t change their friendship — until they meet up over summer and … holy fucking shit why do you SMELL like that? (Source in master list)

Word count: 5,123 words

Genre: Romance, supernatural

Warnings: Blood

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Impatience composed the rhythm my fingers were drumming on the table. Late. As always. The optimist in me would say it was comforting to know that some things remained the same after all these years. The pessimist in me, the unspoken captain of this ship, wondered why it had to be this gross habit that weathered the winds of change. He suggested this time and place. He had been insistent on meeting in the evening. I didn’t mind either way. I simply figured that being fussy about what time to meet meant that he’d put some effort into being on time.

Because the bar had a flood of new patrons and a dearth of ones contented enough to leave, I went inside and got a table for us first. I didn’t want to have to think of a new place for us to go if the place was packed by the time he got here — whenever that’d be. Time check: fifteen minutes and counting. He was such a lovely friend, and may God never fail to bless every brown hair on his head for every second of his life, but this was infuriating. Not even a text to tell me where he was and what was holding him up. Morgan, please!

His arrival melted away all the indignation I was feeling — and made every hair on the back of my neck stand.

No, that was the pins and needles from sitting cross-legged for too long.

‘Ellie?’ Confusion squinched his eyes. I expected this. The last time he saw me was in college, i.e., some twenty kilograms ago. I wouldn’t have pitched a fit if he’d thought the pictures I used were the result of Photoshop, Facetune, and/or angles. In contrast, he looked exactly as he did when the pictures he used were taken — in college, albeit maybe with a little less baby fat in his face than I’d remembered. Damn. Well, how much could a person change in three years? It wasn’t like he ever needed to lose an ounce of weight, too, let alone twenty kilograms.

When I confirmed I was the same Ellie he’d had the privilege of knowing since childhood, he enveloped me in a hug. I did what had been conditioned into me by the ‘dog’ that I told people was responsible for the scar on my arm the time I went jogging at night because I thought the full moon was bright enough to keep me safe. People were more keen on lecturing me for daring to have that train of thought as a woman in London than questioning what kind of dog it was exactly that could leave a scar like the kind I had, perfectly vindicating my choice of cover for what really happened.

His scent was like a bat to my face. I’d never smelled anyone like this before. People smelled like their diets, their emotions, their likes and dislikes, their best and worst memories: all that made them, them. The scents I’d have associated with him would’ve been the crisp brininess of sea air and the comforting sweetness of chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. Instead, he smelled like blood, yet it didn’t smell like it belonged to him — or in him. I was also discerning a discomforting whiff of inhumanity, like something in him had been switched off. On top of that, he was clammy to the touch, and, most damningly of all, perhaps — no, no ‘perhaps’, as I pressed my ear to his chest, I couldn’t hear a heartbeat.

I put on my best poker face and released myself from his embrace. ‘You’re late.’

‘I know. I’m sorry.’ He sheepishly ran his hand through his hair. ‘God, it is so good to see you. It’s been so long. And look at you! I couldn’t recognise you. (Is it gauche to say that was why I was late?) I only knew — I only had a feeling it was you because —’

‘Because …?’

He clicked his tongue. ‘That’s not important. Listen, I don’t know what I was thinking, asking to meet in a crowded bar … Do you want to go somewhere quieter? So we can talk better without having to shout?’

I downed the last of my drink, which I’d been forced to get earlier than I wanted so the staff wouldn’t kick me out for taking up a table in one of the more desirable corners of their establishment. I agreed with Morgan on the condition that he thought of where to go next. I hated crowds to begin with, and now that I was hypersensitive to all that the five senses encompassed, crowds were, to put it simply, a fucking nightmare. I should’ve put a kibosh on his suggestion to meet at a bar when he made it. I’d be comparing apples and oranges here, but not liking crowds was normal, whereas smelling and feeling like a dead person wasn’t.

We went for ice cream. The first thing he asked me was how I lost the weight. Had we not met on an app meant for matchmaking, his first question would likely have been something else entirely, something to do with what it was that had us seeing each other for the first time since college. I told him what I did to get in shape, which was to watch what I ate and move farther and for longer than the trips I made from my room to the kitchen or bathroom, or from my desk to the pantry or washroom, throughout the day. What I left out was how I’d been maintaining despite having ordered something as indulgent as three heaping scoops of gelato with chocolate brownie pieces and hot fudge sauce: catch something from an animal bite that counted an enhanced metabolism needed to sustain monthly bodily trauma among one of its many symptoms. It really was easy as that.

We opted for takeout and a walk around Hyde Park to pad out our evening. The open space did nothing to defuse his strange scent. It was all I could focus on, and I needed all the brain cells I could get to the office on such short notice focus on our conversation. We’d gotten the answers to simple questions about our lives over text prior to tonight: what we did after college, what we were doing now, how our families were doing, so on and so forth. You know, small talk bullshit. I hadn’t doubted that we’d broach the subject of our break from each other at some point during our reconnection. The elephant had made itself comfortable in the room the instant I received the notification he’d swiped right on me. The thing was, the elephant couldn’t stop another one of its ilk from invading its space, and now they were both arguing over which one of them deserved our attention better.

The almost pristine three-layered sundae drenched in strawberry sauce in Morgan’s hand provided the perfect icebreaker for me to possibly appease either elephant. ‘Are you okay, Morgan?’ I said. ‘You’ve barely touched your ice cream.’ Conversely, I was halfway through mine, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I had hot fudge sauce smeared across my lips.

It wasn’t only his restraint from inhaling his ice cream, the single course of action the Morgan I knew, the one who wouldn’t be smelling like a mortuary, would’ve carried out ages ago. He had been looking out of sorts the entire evening. Even softballs were answered with skittishness and reserve. Really, why’d he agree to meet if he wasn’t entirely over what happened all those years ago? If that was what this was about, that is. Did seeing me in person make him realise that it wasn’t the best of ideas to attempt to rekindle a friendship that’d turned awkward from differing expectations? It didn’t bother me in any way, but that was easy for me to say, considering the role I played in all this.

‘I’m fine.’ He gulped down a giant spoonful of ice cream without flinching. He and I understood the concept of ‘fine’ very differently. ‘Ellie … we’re friends, right?’

He’d wanted to be more than at one point.

‘Yeah,’ I said as deadpan as I could to prevent him from reading too much into my answer. I mean, I would if I were him.

‘We can tell each other anything.’

We sure did.

‘Promise me you won’t take this the wrong way,’ he continued.

I stared at him blankly. Caveats never came before anything good.

‘… Why do you smell like that?’

Wow, what the fuck. I should be the one asking that question, not him!

‘Like what?’ Still as deadpan as humanly possible. Disregard the fact that I hadn’t been human in a while.

‘Like … fuck, I can’t. This was a bad idea.’

‘No, tell me. Like what?’

‘Like the forest. Moss. Tree bark. Leaves. Dirt. And a little bit of raw meat.’ There were no pauses between his words, though the sounds were disparate enough to identify them as actual words. ‘No, a lot of raw meat. No, forget I said anything. Sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me tonight.’

‘Just what has gotten into you, period? Why do you smell like spoilt wine — like blood?’ I wanted to ask as well why he didn’t seem to have a heartbeat. I remembered in time that a stethoscope was required to detect that sort of thing, and I had no business owning one. I wouldn’t even know where to get one, short of robbing the doctor the next time I had to go in for a check-up.

‘Something happened to us, didn’t it? Other than the obvious.’

‘I think so. Say it together on the count of three?’ I needed the countdown to convince myself that whatever had made him like this hadn’t made him cruel. He hadn’t said or done anything that’d wound me. No, what was I thinking? This was Morgan I was talking about. What sacrilege to think he could hurt a living being. I should apologise to him for this.

He agreed to my proposition.

I started the countdown: ‘One — two — three —’

‘I’m a vampire.’

‘I’m a werewolf.’

Together: ‘What?’

‘Are you messing with me?’ he said.

‘Are you messing with me?’

‘Have I ever?’

He had a point. I really needed to apologise to him. ‘How did it happen?’ Why play dumb? I turned into a hulking wolf-woman hybrid once a month. There were obviously others like me. It stood to reason that vampires would exist as well.

‘I … met someone after college. She and I had … stuff in common. I thought she was kidding when she asked if she could feed on me the first time. I let her anyway, and so much about her made sense immediately. I asked her to turn me eventually. Being vampires together was fun at first … and then it wasn’t. I don’t regret it, though. Okay, I do regret not being able to really enjoy food anymore.’ He cast a wistful stare in the direction of his sundae. It was a milkshake by now. ‘You?’

‘I was bitten while I was hiking at night. It was an accident. He’ — I paid no attention to the wince he made — ‘realised what he did and brought me to safety. He revealed himself to me the next day. He taught me everything about being a werewolf. Of course, one thing led to another, and …’

‘He was your ex,’ he said stiffly. For the first time tonight, I smelled something other than blood on him: bitterness.

‘Yes, the one I told you about on Tinder.’ Because he asked. His responses in that part of the conversation, as brief as it was, had borne little to no emotion. Jude and I ended things on a good note. I made that clear to Morgan. There was nothing for him — as a friend — to have strong feelings about. ‘Please, Morgan.’ Us coming across each other and reconnecting on a dating app meant — was supposed to mean — nothing.

‘You’re right. I’m sorry.’ He pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘I’m sorry for what happened in college. I’m over it, I promise. The time and distance apart helped. I don’t want us to not be friends anymore because of this — because of what I did. I’m happy we got to meet again after so long … and after everything that happened.’

‘It’s okay, Morgan. I wasn’t — I’m not — upset about what happened.’ I wasn’t really anything about it. Okay, I might have been surprised that the roles had been as they were: Morgan glowed up toward the end of secondary school, a development that didn’t go unnoticed by most of the female population wherever he went, whereas I was pudgy, socially awkward, and not the right amount of weird for it to be seen as quirky, and would therefore be likely to latch on to my sole source of male attention. (I was now two out of three of those things.) ‘Things happen. We don’t get to control this kind of thing. I’m happy, too, that you’re back. I missed you. I’m happy you got to work things out and want to continue being friends. Let’s just put this behind us and move on, okay?’

I hugged him. Relief and cheer emanated from him, alleviating the musty scent that made sense to belong to a vampire.

‘I missed you, too. On the bright side, it made the vampire–werewolf confession easier to stomach, didn’t it?’ His grin revealed pointed canines.

I chuckled. We could compare our fangs sometime. ‘What do you do for food?’

He guzzled the entirety of his sundae-milkshake in one drag. I envied the apparent departure of the concept of brain freeze from him. I should learn more about vampire lore from him and see what Hollywood had gotten right and wrong. (It was mostly the latter for werewolves: we were underrepresented and misrepresented. I just could never get a fair shake on the big screen.) ‘You’d be surprised by how well vampires have modernised and worked the Internet to their advantage. Blood bag delivery services, forums and apps for vampires and … vampire enthusiasts to connect. How about you? What do you do on full moons?’

‘I drive out to the woods whenever I transform — whenever I want to. That’s a thing.’ Jude and I spent a lot of our nights together as wolves. I did miss that sometimes. Jude never prepared me for how lonely being a werewolf could be until it was too late. ‘I hunt. I play. I explore. I haven’t killed anyone to the best of my knowledge.’

‘I want to make a “good girl” joke, but you can literally tear me from limb to limb.’ I nodded with a slight air of pride. ‘This is so fascinating. Vampires are pretty straightforward. What you see in movies and on TV is what you get — mostly.’ Ah, hell. ‘Hey, can I tag along whenever you transform? So I can learn how to hunt animals. Blood bags are actually kind of shitty, and I’m trying to keep biting people to a minimum. I — um — I don’t want to accidentally go too far and turn or kill someone.’

I was deeply relieved that he was still the same caring, thoughtful person I knew in spite of the faint unfeelingness I sniffed earlier. I wouldn’t think twice if it were another vampire: maybe that was what was needed for them to survive. I mean … who was I to judge? I gave in to feral thoughts occasionally. Given a choice, the only thing I’d choose to hunt was the perfect red velvet cake. But this was Morgan, the same person I needed to apologise to for thinking he’d say something mean to make me feel bad on purpose.

‘Of course, I’d love to show you the ropes! Just don’t judge my wolf form, okay?’ I said.

‘Shut up. I’m sure you look great. Would you prefer being called cute or ferocious?’

‘Both, please.’

‘I figured. Can you believe I was afraid to tell you about this? I didn’t know how you’d react, especially after …’

‘Same.’ The club that knew what I was, was a highly exclusive one, consisting of only two members at the moment and for the foreseeable future. I didn’t dare tell anyone else. Just how would this come up in a normal conversation? ‘I know we can tell each other anything.’ We did. We were in a world where asking a friend to be more than friends was less cause for concern for one’s mental health after all. ‘And nothing’s come between us. Not even —’

He nodded emphatically.

We found a place to sit in the park and continued talking, sharing stories about our new lives and recounting those from our old ones. Time became inconsequential, as did the fact that it had done so on a weeknight. We left only because the park was closing soon and I got hungry, because enhanced metabolism. A Lebanese takeaway near the park was my saviour. Our conversation persisted into the wee hours of the morning and a long way away from where we’d started. As he turned down my request to have breakfast together before heading home almost at the crack of dawn as we were wont to do in our early college days (and he did so patiently, which was more than what I deserved for being a forgetful idiot), it hit me for a moment that being friends with a vampire might pose a challenge to scheduling, as if his chronic lateness wasn’t already a thing. Then I realised it didn’t matter. I was simply happy to have him back in my life, and while anything about us could change at any time, one thing was for certain: our friendship would be everlasting.

✦✧✦✧

It happened again.

I fell in love with her again.

As soon as I felt the same tingle in my stomach that gave rise to our long separation in college, I knew I had to call our friendship off for good. This couldn’t keep happening. She needed a friend she could count on to be there for her because he wanted to out of cordiality, not one whose intentions she’d constantly be second-guessing. She had to know something was up. She had to have sensed my feelings for her. What could that nose of hers not detect? No, we agreed not to read each other’s emotions using our sense of smell. We weren’t at that level of intimacy with each other, as much as I desperately wanted us to be.

And hell, did I ever want it so terribly. Being what I was, everything I felt was intensified. I didn’t know what I might do to her if I continued to be around her while she didn’t reciprocate my feelings, and I didn’t want to find out. I was prepared to spend all of eternity without her. There’d come a time anyway when she wouldn’t be in my life anymore. Werewolves weren’t immortal. I’d have to watch her grow old — at a slower rate than humans, sure. So that’d buy us at least a decade or two. So what? I’d still have to watch her die. The sooner I ended things, the better it’d be for the both of us. She could get a head start on the life she deserved, one free of a perpetually lovesick wanker.

I’d do it tonight — under the stars at the beach, the breeze appreciable but not disruptive, the waves lapping the shore with calm strokes, the waxing gibbous moon bathing us in a warm, tranquil glow. It was fucking perfect … for what I wished this was instead of what this was supposed to be. It didn’t have to be tonight. Did I want to ruin this lovely picnic she’d so eagerly planned and looked forward to? It had to be tonight. The longer I spent in her company, the more I feared I’d do something that’d push us beyond the brink of repair.

Desire and disquietude were making it difficult to focus on her words. She was talking about … her latest project at work or the 22nd and 23rd cats her sister had just adopted … or something. Her lips were mesmerising to watch. They must feel just as nice to kiss. Jude was bloody lucky to be the only person to know for sure. Fuck. Fuck, Morgan. You’d fucking lost the plot. This shit was exactly why you needed to get away from her. Fucking knob. Fucking loser who thought ‘once bitten, twice shy’ didn’t apply to him. She’d think you were a fucking obsessive creep, and she’d be right.

‘— I can’t stand to visit her. I don’t need to be a werewolf to think that the smell of twenty-something cats in an okay-sized flat is horrendous. And no one would dare call her out on it. You know what she’s like. It’s how she has twenty-something cats to begin with. She wasn’t even a cat person before. Anyway’ — Ellie held up her hands, the movement stealing my attention from her lips, ‘low contact, as it is with the rest of them.’ She popped a pie bar in her mouth. ‘And I just spent the last five minutes ranting about my sister and her lack of self-control. Totally the best thing to do at a time like this, right?’

I could listen to her spout off about the most mundane thing possible all night and find it all so riveting.

I sipped my drink — badger blood to bring out the sweetness of the fruit-heavy dishes and complement the fowl-based sandwiches she packed. I never would’ve thought of pairing the blood of different animals with human food to make the latter more palatable. She revived in me the thrill of being a vampire after two years of languishing under the spell of ennui and regret for an existence spanning all of eternity cast on me by the desolation of my split from Lorelai. And I was likely going to go down that rabbit hole again after tonight. It was for a good cause. I’d rather be miserable than be the source of her headache.

‘Morgan? You’re — um —’ She made a circular motion at my upper body, and then heaved her shoulders in an amused shrug. ‘I wish you all the best in getting all that out.’

I looked over what she’d gestured at. ‘Fuck it. I’d been meaning to toss this shirt anyway.’

I soaked up what I could with a napkin — or five — and took off my shirt before I’d retch from the smell. I practised controlled feeding for a reason. Now I was shirtless and a little bloodied, just in time for one of the most important conversations in my very long, soon to be very lonely, life to take place. Terrific.

‘Ellie, I — I have something to tell you.’

‘I fucked up the dip, didn’t I?’

‘No, it’s not that — it’s delicious.’ For something that didn’t come from a vein, at least. ‘Ellie … I love you.’ Again. Because I was a stupid fuck.

Her lips formed an O. Stop fucking looking at her lips!

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I thought I’d gotten over it the first time.’ It sucked that there was now a ‘first time’. ‘I just get this feeling when I’m around you. I feel safe, happy — I feel like I’m alive again. I don’t have to hide anything about myself. I can be me, yet you make me want to be the best I can be for you. But I can’t keep doing this to you and myself. I don’t want to settle on being friends this time. I know that part of me won’t let me either. And I don’t know what that part of me would do if I continue to be in your life like this.’

‘Morgan —’

‘I shouldn’t have come back. I’ve enjoyed the past year tremendously. But I think — I know I have to leave now while things are still … good between us. It’d be for the best. I don’t want to fuck up what we had since we were kids. I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry. I truly am.’

She simply stared at me. She must be thinking why the fuck she’d been saddled with a right prat for a friend. Where did things go wrong? Did I knock back too many whiskey shots on my 18th birthday? I vaguely remembered her asking me to stop after my eleventh. Why wasn’t she still saying anything? Did I break her?

‘No, Morgan’ was what she said at last — and the only thing she said for the longest time.

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Don’t leave.’ Her hand hovered over mine. Uncertainty swam about in her eyes. Her dilemma was plain to see. I took her hand and locked our fingers together. This was the only time I could get away with being this forward. I wanted to savour her warmth as well for as long as I could; I’d miss it so much.

‘I have to. It’s not safe for you to be around me.’

‘But … I want to be with you. Not as friends. Morgan … I’ve fallen in love with you, too.’

‘What are you saying? No, don’t — that’s not —’ Had I put her under some kind of glamour without realising it? Was she humouring me? Every fibre of my being yearned for what I heard to be true. Nothing I’d seen in all the time we spent together suggested the possibility. Nothing we did together seemed out of the ordinary.

‘I’m — I mean it. I should be the one apologising, I think. I’ve felt this way for the last couple of months. I look forward to being with you all the time. I love receiving your texts throughout the night and waking up to them in the morning. Nothing feels like it’s happened until I tell you about it. I get these butterflies in my stomach every time you smile at me and touch me. You remember these small details about us from so long ago. I think the moment I knew was when I was having a tough time transforming for whatever reason and you were just … there for me, holding me, talking me down. I love you. I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you sooner. I didn’t know how. I didn’t know how you’d react because of — because of what happened in college.’

She sniffled. Seeing that I was the reason for her tears stung my heart. I wiped them away for her. ‘I love you. I always will,’ I said.

Then our lips met. I’d waited so long for this, and it was both everything I dreamt of and like nothing I could’ve ever imagined. Her lips were so warm, so soft, so sweet. I tasted the tartness of cherries and apples, the smokiness of turkey, the acidic sharpness of vinaigrette, on her mouth, notes I thought lost to me forever. An indistinct thumping sounded deep inside my chest. Her fingers slid into my hair, making waves of it. I pulled her closer to me, my hands gripping her waist, in the hope that the rush of her skin against mine would allay my doubts that this was all just a dream. But how could it be a dream when everything seemed to finally make sense? While Lorelai had promised a life anew in death, Ellie was the promise of a life renewed and delivered from death.

I didn’t want this moment to end. It had to, as my body was beginning to respond to the call of her blood.

She pulled away. No, I wanted to cry out. She must’ve sensed my thirst.

‘It’s okay if you want to,’ she said. ‘I’m not afraid.’

She bared her neck for me. My nostrils flared. I could smell her blood — like red hot ambrosia. Her heartbeat pounded in my ears, growing louder with every second I dithered. Why was I hesitating? I wanted her. I needed her.

I sank my teeth into her neck. She shuddered; a soft moan fled her lips. Crimson flowed out of the punctures I made. Everything I’d imbibed prior paled in comparison to what I was now partaking of: little explosions of flavour — syrupy, racy, robust — went off in my mouth. I feared nothing else could do it for me after this. I lapped up every drop of ruby as if it were exquisite manna; I made sure none of it went to waste. The blood I ingested was making its way south, making a signal for another kind of craving to be met. Not now. It’d be too soon for us. I had all the time in the world to get to know her better.

Her scent and whines were becoming too hard to ignore. I stopped for fear that I was misinterpreting them out of my own bias. I found myself staring into enlarged amber irises in pools of black. Claws had popped out from under her fingernails. She, too, was sporting fangs. Her chest, lightly shining with sweat, rose and fell sharply. The changes reversed themselves in short order. Red spread across her cheeks in uneven blotches.

‘I’m sorry. I —’ she said.

I cupped my hand around her cheek. ‘You can let go if you want to. You don’t have to be shy around me.’ She’d always been sheepish about her wolf form and the lengths she went to for its emergence around me. The incident she referred to had only been allowed to happen because her panic attack drowned out any embarrassment, any diffidence, she harboured about the process. That was the only time I saw her in that state.

She shook her head. ‘I know. I just — I’d want to experience that — our first time — as myself, and I don’t think I can do that now. I hope that’s okay.’

I wiped my mouth and gave her a light kiss on the lips. ‘Of course. We don’t have to rush into things. We have a lifetime ahead of us’, and I wanted every second to be as special as the last. She smiled in agreement and enfolded me in a tight embrace. It startled me how much she felt just like home in my arms. I could do this with her forever, and for a fleeting moment, as I fingered the now unblemished skin where my teeth had pierced, I wondered if there would ever be the chance of her wanting to share in my idea of forever.

#exophilia #terato #werewolf #vampire #monster love #monster romance #mine

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