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#and also sorry this is such a late reply i have been sooo exhausted and burnt out and also probably ill but im still in denial about that s
sugarsnappeases · 3 months
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PLEASE tell me about marytunia. i have to know what this is
hi lovely!!!!
okay marytunia have recently been SO on my mind bc i saw @fernhelm tag a post w them the other day and i was like HOLD ON!! I SEE IT!! and THEN i had a vague recollection of jen talking about them one time last year at some point so the two of them have been subjected to some of my ramblings bc i was struck down by divine intervention like last week and have been obsessing a little....
but okay so for me the general vibe is very tangled up w the evans sisters dynamics and just lily in general which is all v ouch. i kinda see them actually as two parts of her life like petunia is a huge part lily’s childhood and mary is a huge part of lily’s time at hogwarts so she’s this presence between them even if she’s not actually there and there’s a lot of like resentment and yearning and jealousy etc etc
like petunia is fighting w herself the whole way through it (nothing i love more than some good old internal conflict) bc she shouldn’t want this!! she’s planned out a nice, perfect, normal life for herself that she’s convinced herself she has to like, she will like it, which doesn’t involve magic or witches or her sister and mary is really putting a spanner in the works and petunia shouldn’t want it, she can’t want it, but there’s just something so magnetic about mary that she can’t quite seem to escape, and it’s like maybe magic can be good?? can be beautiful?? bc mary is so beautiful?? but then also i think mary has complicated thoughts about magic which i’m not gonna get into here lol
but anyway mary is maybe just kinda curious at first i think. like maybe there’s some unrequited marylily so she has a bit of a crush and just wants to find out everything about lily and she has this sister and petunia’s just so interesting and it’s fun to try and get her to laugh at her jokes when she’s obviously trying to completely ignore her and she just finds herself slowly trying to get her attention every time she’s at the evans’ house, like she’s going there to see glimpses of petunia rather than to spend time w lily and she’s suddenly like oh!
and idk they’re just very interesting to me bc as i said resentment longing jealousy and like there’s vernon and dudley and the war and lily’s death and i just. like they really compel me yk??? there’s a lot of complexity there that i just wanna like dig my fingers into
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anxiouswriter0 · 2 months
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The Voice | Paul Atreides
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Paul and Chani, along with Lady Jessica, were camping in the vast desert of Arrakis, surrounded by golden dunes and the eternal silence that characterizes that arid and desolate world. In the afternoon, as the three of them were in the tent, they were suddenly startled by joyful shouts and laughter echoing in the distance.
Alerted by the noise, they stepped out of the tent and found several Fremen, desert natives, waving their arms in the air with expressions of happiness directed towards a figure standing not far away. Among them stood a young woman unfamiliar to Paul and Lady Jessica, but not to Chani.
Chani, with a smile on her face, joined in the joy of the Fremen, while Paul and Lady Jessica watched with confusion. They didn't understand what was happening, but they could still feel the joy radiating from the group.
When she finally reached the group, the Fremen surrounded her with joy and warm hugs, while that person received those gestures with affection. Paul observed how Chani wrapped her arms around that person, not wanting to let go. Paul understood how that person had somehow managed to connect with the very essence of the desert and its people.
—you must be exhausted from the journey. why don't you rest?— Chani suggested, catching the attention of Paul and Jessica.
—Yeah, maybe a little rest sounds good —she replied, following chani.
As they approached the tent, Paul and Jessica called out to them, grabbing both their attention.
—I'm sorry, the excitement of the moment almost made me forget —chani smiled, while the girl also smiled. —(y/n), these are lady jessica and paul atreides —chani introduced them, —they are one of us.
from his position, paul watched (y/n) attentively as she removed her cloak, revealing sparkling eyes and a serene presence that took his breath away. her (h/c) hair gently waving in the desert breeze.
—It's an honor to meet you, (y/n), —Lady Jessica speak.
—A pleasure to meet you —Paul said.
(y/n) responded with a respectful nod.
—The honor and pleasure are all mine, Lady Jessica, —she said, looking at the named person and then moving her look to the young man, —Paul.
Paul, surprised, looked up at her in disbelief. Lately, he had been dreaming of a similar voice calling out his name.
a voice that was now in front of him.
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↳ Note: Hey, this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction... sooo... I have several unfinished drafts. Maybe with this one, I'll make a sequel... Maybe... I don't know ↳ p.s: this was something quick that came out of my head, while I was watching the new Dune movie
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honeypiehotchner · 3 years
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My Deep Blue Love (Tom Hiddleston x Fem!Reader) -- Soulmate AU one shot
This was 100% born out of boredom and loneliness and those damn Soulmate AU POV Tiktoks that I have seen practically 24/7 for the past WEEK on my fyp
(I’m not sure if I’ll do a part 2, rn I have no plans for it)
quick note on the technicality of this one: you lose all ability to see colors when you turn 12 and you don’t regain the ability until you meet your soulmate. but! you have to meet them in person and it has to be a mutual eye contact. pictures/videos of them don’t work, and if you just saw the back of their head or something in person, that doesn’t work either. it’s all about the shared eye contact babeyyy
small disclaimer: Brie Larson is mentioned in here and she has a wife, but that is very much only in this fic, and as far as i know Brie doesn’t have a wife irl lol (i also don’t know if she’s spoken about her sexuality at all so what i’m saying is take it with a grain of salt ok)
Summary: Everyone around you is meeting their soulmate, but you still see in black and white. You’re ready to give up, and basically have, when you lock eyes with your soulmate.
Warnings: None! Just a bit of angst, lots of fluff toward the end 
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You knock on your mom’s bedroom door at 4:58am. She’s already awake, sitting up in bed, ushering you over.
With tears in your eyes, you crawl onto her bed, snuggling close to her chest.
“I don’t want to lose my colors,” you whimper.
“I know, baby,” she whispers, kissing the top of your head. “It’s okay.”
You were born 12 years ago on this day at 5:08am, so in a few short minutes, when you officially turn 12 years old, all color will drain from your life.
Or the colors could stay, but that’s only if you’ve somehow already met your soulmate. And that’s rare, nearly impossible.
You squeeze your eyes shut at 5:07 and you don’t open them again until 5:10.
The colors are gone.
+++
twenty years later
You sigh heavily as you receive yet another wedding invite. You are invited to witness the official beginning of Olivia and Jeffrey’s lives together as husband and wife, soulmates for all of time.
The glitter sticks to your fingertips, tiny black dots against your skin. Your friend told you it’s gold. You barely remember what that looks like.
Lately it seems like everyone has been meeting their soulmate. Just yesterday, you were having coffee with a friend when she looked up at the girl sitting behind you, and boom.
“It’s like the world just exploded,” she had said. Colors were everywhere. She immediately left you to go talk to the girl.
You don’t blame her for that. If you had met your soulmate, you probably would’ve done the same thing. But you can’t say for sure because you don’t know.
You wouldn’t be so cynical of it all if your boyfriend of five years didn’t meet his soulmate while the two of you were out at dinner. You wish you could say that he was faking it. But it was clear from his face (and the girl’s) that he wasn’t kidding. It was real. He had met his soulmate, and it wasn’t you.
It’s never you.
You’ve had guys cut off dates before they even start, all because they didn’t see colors when they laid their eyes on you. They refuse to even be friends with you.
All anyone is doing anymore is searching for a soulmate and it’s exhausting when none of them are yours. When all of your friends see color now. When everyone assures you that it’ll happen soon. What does soon even mean?
You grab your ice cream from the freezer and fall onto the couch, flicking to whatever channel has late night shows that aren’t complete garbage.
As usual, you find yourself watching a talk show, and tonight Tom Hiddleston is one of the guests.
You’re sort of familiar with him from a few movies, but other than that, you hardly know anything about him.
“So, Tom, we’ve all been wondering what’s going on with you and Brie Larson?”
“Brie?” Tom asks, clearly shocked to hear this question. “We’re just good friends, that’s all.”
“Oh, she doesn’t make you see any colors?”
“Ah, no, actually, she does not,” Tom chuckles, but doesn’t sound sad at all, surprisingly. “Her wife does that for her, not me, I’m afraid.”
“Oh really?” The host brushes past the mention of Brie’s wife and keeps the focus on Tom, of course. “So is that true, you still don’t see color?”
Your ears perk up at the mention of someone else not seeing in color. It’s rare for anyone to talk about this on television. Most celebrities don’t talk about whether or not they’ve found their soulmate, but more often than not, those that have are quite loud about it.
“Yes, that’s true,” Tom answers. “I still see the world in a lovely black and white.”
You snort, harshly jabbing your spoon into your ice cream. Lovely. Yeah, right.
“Do you really think it’s nice? Do you not miss the colors?” The host asks.
“No, no, I do. I do,” Tom admits. “But I like to think I’ll see them when the time is right.”
You groan, going to Google to look up his age. And when you see he’s 40, you groan even louder. He’s older than you and he still hasn’t met his soulmate. That’s just depressing. How can he sound so optimistic?
“Alright, well, if there’s one thing you wish you could tell your soulmate, what would it be? Maybe they’re watching right now, you never know.”
Tom smiles wide. “Maybe, maybe, um… Oh, so many things,” Tom exhales deeply. “I guess I could be cliché and say I can’t wait to meet them and wait for me, but I think I want to say… I think I want to say I understand. It is frustrating, still seeing in black and white, but our paths will cross soon, I’m sure of it. Until then, my eyes are blue.”
Blue. Blue.
You roll your eyes. You don’t even remember what the color looks like.
+++
seven months later
“I am not going to a movie premiere. You’re insane!”
“Please!” Your friend, Catherine, cries. “You’ll love it, I swear.”
You glare at her over your coffee. “That just makes it sound like you have a trick up your sleeve.”
“I don’t,” she says. “I just want you to take advantage of this and come with us! When will you ever have the chance to go to a movie premiere again?”
She has a point. Dammit. “Touché. How did you get tickets, anyway? Please tell me you didn’t spend thousands for this.” You wouldn’t put it past her, even though you tell her not to every time before she does something like this.
“God, no, Joe surprised me with them earlier. He said he went to school with the lead.”
“Oh. Cool. Who?”
“Tom Hiddleston, I think. Have you heard of him? He’s British, but that’s about all I know. Joe just said they ran into each other the other day and reconnected.”
You stop halfway through a sip of coffee, careful to not choke on it. Slowly, you nod. “Yeah. I...I’ve seen him in a couple things.”
“Apparently, he hasn’t met his soulmate either…” Catherine trails away, raising her eyebrows at you.
You roll your eyes. “I heard,” you set your cup down. “He’s probably met them by now though since he blasted it on television like that.”
“Or he’s still searching and you’re still being too cynical.”
“You’re probably right,” you chuckle.
“Sooo, you’ll come?”
You sigh heavily. “As long as you help me pick something to wear.”
+++
“I’m regretting letting you talk me into this already,” you mutter when you nearly trip in your heels.
“Oh, hush,” Catherine swats your arm. “It’s an excuse to get dressed up and look hot for no reason. Take it.”
“Fine.”
Catherine’s soulmate, Joe, was whisked away almost as soon as the three of you stepped inside the venue by some director (you think), but he promised to return in a few minutes. Catherine told him not to worry. She’s used to him being dragged away for conversation. You can see from her face that she’s more proud of him than anything, and not at all annoyed.
Currently, you and Catherine are standing near the small bar, waiting for them to announce that it’s time to take your seats. You desperately want a drink, but part of you knows it would be a bad idea.
One glass of wine can’t hurt, though. Maybe it’ll take your mind off the pain in your feet.
You peel away from Catherine when you see Joe coming back, and you flag the bartender down quickly.
After ordering a glass of white wine, you wait patiently, wishing you had chosen a dress with sleeves. It’s fucking cold in here.
“Darling, you’re shivering, are you alright?”
Your head turns toward the smooth voice, face set and mind trying to decipher whether or not it was a sincere or creepy comment when the world quite literally explodes.
There, standing beside you, concern written all over his face, is Tom Hiddleston. Only now the concern has washed away into awe when your eyes lock with his.
“Oh my god,” he whispers, stumbling even though he’s standing in place.
“Blue,” you murmur. “Your eyes are blue.” Without even thinking or asking, your hand lifts to cup his cheek, and then you pull back, “Shit, sorry—”
But he grabs your wrist gently, placing your palm on his cheek. “It’s alright.” His thumb strokes the back of your hand. “I have been looking everywhere for you.”
“I thought you didn’t exist,” you whisper in reply. But here he is. His eyes are blue, his lips are pink, he has tiny brown freckles all over his rosy cheeks. You look back to his eyes, narrowing your own. “You liar. Your eyes have green in them, too.”
“Do they really?” Tom chuckles. “I never would’ve known.”
“That’s why you have me,” you tease, and you don’t know where any of this is coming from, yet it doesn’t feel like you’re pretending. It feels like you’re finally yourself.
His other hand tangles with yours as he nods. “That’s why I have you, indeed.”
At this time, the lights in the theatre begin lightly flashing, signaling that it’s time for everyone to begin making their way to their seats.
But neither you or Tom move one inch.
The only issue is people are beginning to stare.
You notice it first, so you slowly pull your hand from his cheek. This movement shocks him back to reality, too, and he blinks a few times, yet he doesn’t let go of your hand.
“I, um, I have to make a speech,” he says. “But then I can come back to you. Will you save me a seat?”
“Don’t you have to sit up front?”
He nods. “I do, but—”
“Then I’ll come with you.” You aren’t sure if it’s the fact that he hasn’t let go of your hand yet, or if it’s because you’ve been waiting so long that now you don’t want him to be further than an arms length away from you, but you mean what you say.
“Are you sure?” He asks, but you both need to make a decision quickly because you can see someone waving from the wings, most likely trying to get Tom’s attention.
“I’m sure.”
He doesn’t question it, in fact, he grins, and brings your hand up to his lips, kissing your knuckles. “Let’s go, then.”
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gummy-friend · 3 years
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23, 45, and 50 with piglin hybrid Techno and tiny avian hybrid Phil? ‘v‘ you don’t gotta do all or any of these! ALSO I WANNA SAY THAT I LOVE YOUR WRING SM ❤️💕💖💕❤️
Thank you so much, I'm happy you like my writings!!!! :DD
So sorry for the late answer, but know that I appreciate your ask so much
———
• "You're going to be okay, I promise"
• "Shhh, just sleep, you're safe"
• "No one is going to hurt you again"
Piglin hybrid Techno and Tiny avian hybrid Phil
Content warning: Calling a person as "It" and language
——————
A gunfire shot echoed.
"There it is!" A shout echoed, a man pointing towards high trees. A dark green shadow— No, not leaves— floating limpingly amongst the brown of the branches and trunks.
"Is there a net?!" another shout. Another man. Panting as they chase the tiny flying figure.
"The last net has been fired two shots ago!" the first one called out
"Fuck— It's a hybrid tiny, too" A huff, a big one. Two people in arms finally stopping, holding their knees in exhaustion. "Damn it, that'll sell so well"
They stopped.
But not the tiny, though.
The occasional sharp small branch sticking out, the leaves that's positioned unfortunately fit for a papercut, and the eventual large branch finally hitting the golden haired avian hybrid tiny in his head. The injuries came together, the no-longer-shiny black wings finally gave up, and the flying figure of a tiny avian hybrid fell down. Now stopping after the hunters has stopped.
ooo
Being a piglin hybrid has its perks, Techno thinks. The piglin on the nether wouldn't go exactly after you unprovoked, you can still live in the cold (not advised, by the way, it sucks in the cold), and you can adapt to the overworld just fine— well, excluding the townspeople avoiding you, at least.
Of course, the good also comes with the bad. The piglin back at home absolutely despises you(because you look 'too human' or whatever), the nether temperature eventually became absolutely unbearable, and..
"Oooh, gold" The lingering feeling of attraction to gold. Except this time, it's not gold.
But a golden-haired tiny.
Listen, Techno's not heartless, there's no way he'll abandon another living being in help, no matter how awkward it may be— imagine waking up to a giant piglin hybrid, if that isn't awkward Techno doesn't know what it is (No, it's absolutely not fear, what do you mean) — So Techno took the tiny in.
After leaving the nether dimension, Techno tried living in a tundra biome. But it didn't work for him— he's not used to the cold— So he tried to live in the forest. It's a decent place, he figured out he can grow crops for a living— trading is also a steady source of income in the overworld. But getting back on the topic— Techno lives in a cabin in the woods, and is currently carrying a tiny home. It's a questionable situation, but hey, it's the thought that counts right? (or however the overworld saying goes)
Techno inspected the unconscious tiny— He's still breathing, fortunately. Techno doesn't know how to feel if he picked up a tiny corpse— Several cuts are visible on the tiny's skin. It doesn't look that bad— excluding the large cut on his side and the practically broken right wing— M-hm, not that bad.
Step one, Washing your hands before cleaning the injury. It's a fairly-large wound for someone so small, and fortunately, the wound has stopped bleeding, so Techno shouldn't worry about that.
Next step, applying antibiotic. Techno's certain he has a bottle of antibiotics— yeah, he has one— an almost brand-new bottle of antibiotics, he's glad he bought one yesterday.
As soon as the antibiotic made contact with the tiny's wounds, though, the tiny shot up with a hiss of "Fuck—!"
。。。
Phil woke up when Techno was washing his hands.
He had heard a stream of water and several footsteps— he thought he fell unconscious near a river. It doesn't matter, he can get up later, he's too hurt for getting up.
Until the stinging pain emerged from his side.
"Fuck-!" Phil cried out, moving away from the supposed source of pain
That fumkign hurts. Phil doesn't know what happened, it may be a bee— but bees doesn't attack unprovoked, then, what?
With each second passing Phil's head pounded even more, forcing him to focus and unfocus on his surroundings. A Wooden floor— Polished wooden floor, not the usual tree bark footing he occasionally sees— Unfamiliar surroundings— No trees or the usual greens he sees everyday, no, it's a human furniture surroundings.
As if his mind is saving the worst for last, Phil's vision finally focuses on the giant figure in front of him. The figure of a giant piglin hybrid.
Instantly, Philza's mind clicked. Human— no— hybrid furniture surroundings, him being unconscious, the stinging pain on his sides— Fuck— The piglin was going to eat him.
"Fuck no—" Phil breathed out, scooting backwards. Unfortunately, it's futile, as he quickly reached the edge of the wooden table. Phil looked at the drop, and fumk, it's a fucking high drop— his- his wings are broken
"Uh—" The piglin hybrid called out. Phil's head turned to look at him— head still pounding too hard to focus on the piglin hybrid's expression. "You're... you're hurt." The piglin hybrid gave Phil a sad excuse of an explanation. No shit, sherlock.
"S-so?" Phil glared, trying so hard to not fall off the table— or should he? Is one wing enough to shield his fall..?
"I'm... I'm trying to treat your wounds..?" the piglin hybrid said. Another look from Phil and he saw a white bottle of whatever— it's suspicious "Look, I found you unconscious on the forest floor, I'm just trying to heal you"
Phil is not listening to the guy, still scanning the things on the giant piglin hybrid's hands. A white suspicious bottle, a clump of cotton possibly doused in the suspicious bottle's content, and a wide, white, suspicious rope(..?) On the other end of the table.
"I'm not going to hurt you." the sudden voice from the piglin hybrid startles Phil. Maybe it's because of the reassuring tone of the man, suddenly, Phil's mind starts to focus more "You're going to be okay, I promise"
With that, the giant lowered the things in his hands. First, the suspicious white bottle. "Antibiotics" it reads.
"It's for cleaning your wound— it stings, that's why you woke up— but it's not a bad thing" The piglin hybrid explained, noticing Phil's confused expression (Antibiotics sounds fuckinh suspicious) "And to apply the antibiotics, I used the cotton" He lowered the cotton near the 'Antibiotics' bottle— but not too close to Phil. "see, I'm not trying to hurt you"
"...and that rope?" Phil questions. He's convinced about the antibiotics, but not the weirdly-shaped rope
"...rope?" The piglin hybrid blinked, confused.
"That!" Phil pointed at the weirdly-shaped rope "That weirdly-shaped rope!"
"You've... never seen a bandage before..?"
"...what?"
"That's- that's a bandage— it's for keeping the wound clean and preventing it from opening up again" He explained, a hint of amusement behind his confusion. Okay. "Are you satisfied now?"
Maybe it's because of embarassment, maybe it's because of finally feeling convinced, but Phil nodded to the human's word.
The consequence of agreeing fucking hurts— Fuck, it hurts.
The antibiotics really does fucking sting.
"Fuck!" another shout, and Techno— Phil had learned his name in the middle of the stinging pain (Saying Piglin hybrid man is too long and well, rude)— Techno finally finished applying the antibiotic.
"Done." Techno said, tone light like he never stung Phil. "You can rest there, I think I still have spare cloths for you to sleep on"
"Wait, sleep?" Phil spoke up, bewildered. Sure, he's exhausted after all of the things happening today, but that doesn't mean he want to sleep in a human— wait, no, Hybrid— but still, a Giant's house. That's a death flag right there.
"Ya" Techno said, Another light answer. "your body need to rest to have the energy to heal. Also, the bandage will need to be changed"
"Sleep here?"
"Ya" Techno's response is light. So light, no care for Phil's bewildered tone as he stuffed the tools he used to treat Phil back to wherever it belongs.
"And you're not going to hurt me?" Phil asked. No way. He's a fucking giant.
"That just sounds abyssmal— I've just healed you" Techno said, his tone still light as he rummages around his furnitures, looking for something.
"So then.. what are you going to do?" Phil asked, staring at Techno as he stacked several cloths together (what the fuck is he doing..?)
"Sleep, probably— I was actually going to trade new seeds since new season is coming up, but then you happened sooo" Techno trailed off, concentrating. "Done. Here— you can sleep here" Techno's figure moved away to reveal what Phil assumed was a bed— It's actually just several cloths stacked together— but it's nice.
"You made a bed for me?" Phil asked, looking at the bed Techno just made
"Yeah— do you need help getting here?" Techno gestures towards Phil's stature— small and has a broken wing
Phil looked at where Techno is gesturing. "..yeah"
"Should— Should I just.. pick you up at the back of your clothes or...?" Techno asked. He was expecting Phil to elaborate on how to pick a tiny up without being rude— but Phil's lack of elaboration speaks volume.
It ended up with Phil asking for Techno to give him his hand for platforming— Which after Techno quickly replied with a "sure", Phil became very anxious about standing on a giant's hand— Fortunately, Techno didn't try to hurt him or anything (Maybe it's Phil who scratched him— Bird claws as feet and all) and Phil reached the bed.
It's a fairly-nice bed, In Phil's opinion. Because it is practically just a ton of cloths stacked together, it became a very comfy bed. So when Phil rested his body on it, his exhaustion and thought caught up to him.
It's a first time for Phil. Being inside a giant's house, and.. being this near a giant. He's restless— he can't fucking sleep— he shouldn't sleep. The possibility of the giant hurting him, the possibility of another giant barging into this house and catching Phil... He's scared.
"Shhh, just sleep, you're safe" a sudden voice from Techno startled him. Was Techno there the whole time? More than that, did Techno realized Phil's worry? "I'm not going to hurt you— Like I said. You're going to be okay," Techno said, taking a seat beside the cabinet Phil's bed is placed.
What is it? Maybe it's because Techno sounds so.. reassuring, but Phil's heart solidified at Techno's word.
"No one is going to hurt you again" was the last thing Phil heard from Techno before Phil falling asleep.
Maybe it's trust that made Phil believe in Techno.
———
The dialogue prompts are from here, send in some prompts! :D
Masterlist (If you're interested in my writings! :D)
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peach-pops · 4 years
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Amorentia || Kuroo Tetsurō
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summary: amorentia has a different scent or aroma for anyone who smells it and the potion, if done correctly, can remind the user of things or more specifically someone they find most attractive, even if the said person is oblivious in their attraction. 
word count: 3.1k
warnings: none 
authors note: i dont know why i always end up writing for kuroo but this dude just speaks to me on an inspirational level ya know? kuroo is a ravenclaw in this but the reader is gn and i didn’t specify what house the reader is in to make it a bit more inclusive. credits to @rhymewithrachel​ for the picture of kuroo which you can find here and pls check out their page for more amazing art! also i def feel like i’ve written the last few lines on like another piece i’ve done but oh well if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it
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The library was eerily still for a Thursday morning but you relished in how quiet it was. You had found the perfect sweet spot; not too late where you would forget breakfast but early enough to where you would avoid the morning rush of students who would try to find a quiet spot to study. 
The lowly lit lanterns were useless since the sun was beginning to peak its way through the windowpane behind you and the small semblance of light drew your attention to the dust that was floating lazily in the air.
Even though there were hardly any students around you, you felt as though you were tucked away from the world as you spread your legs out against the leather couch with a Magic Potions: Basic for Beginners textbook settled in your lap. Besides the ever so often sound of a few students rustling their papers, it was truly peaceful. 
“ Good morning beautiful, mind if I join you?” 
Bloody hell. 
You looked up from your textbook to see Kuroo standing over by your legs that were neatly crossed over each other. You would be lying if you said you weren’t slightly taken aback by seeing him so early in the morning but even if he did manage to wake up on time for class, his hair was still a disheveled mess from his horrid bedhead. 
“ You’re up early,” You replied normally as you turned your attention back to your book,” by the way, your tie is crooked, might want to fix that, yeah?” 
You and Kuroo were both in the same year but you two didn’t officially get acquainted until your fourth year when he had “accidentally” spilled butterbeer all over you and then attempted to wipe it off with his bare hand. 
“ Shit, I-I am so sorry! Let me just-”
“ Can you stop feeling me up and get me a napkin instead, you creep?” 
“ A creep? I’m nothing short of a gentleman- speaking of which, are you dating anyone by chance?” 
“ Are you joking? As if I would be under the accompaniment of a clumsy Ravenclaw like yourself.” 
Your vow was fully ignored and by some weird alignment of the planets, you two had been inseparable since. Of course, Kuroo still spent his time over the past two years trying to woe you in some way and while you used to find yourself flustered over his charm, you managed to get used to the constant flirting between the two of you. 
Who were you kidding, the flirting was mostly one-sided unless you weren’t exhausted trying to think of witty comebacks to try and get him stumbling over his words like the first time you two met. 
However, you weren’t blind. You were bold enough to admit to yourself that over the years, Kuroo got progressively wittier, taller, and yes, possibly more attractive. You would never admit it out loud but there was a slight possibility you were starting to see him in a different light.
Nonetheless, you figured feelings like those would just come and go, and surely you didn’t actually have feelings for him. 
Kuroo looked down at his tie and shrugged nonchalantly before fixing it,” I was tossing and turning all night, poor Akaashi had to sleep in the common room because I was keeping him up too. Quidditch tryouts are this afternoon and I’m hoping we can get a strong team together so we can keep up our legacy.”
“ First-year as captain and you’re already nervous,” You clicked your tongue against your teeth as you took another bite of your raspberry scone, utilizing the silence between the two of you as you finished chewing,” hopefully Ravenclaw will get some wins this year. You know, for your own sake and my sanity.” 
“ Okay ouch, first of all, you know you’re not supposed to eat in the library it’s forbidden,” Kuroo crossed his arms playfully over his chest as you only hummed in response,” and second of all, maybe if I had someone special cheering me on, I would do immensely better.”  
You knew he was only being smug since you always showed up to his games but nothing was more entertaining than watching Kuroo practically gush over Quidditch only for you to act somewhat disinterested. 
“ Aw, do you want me to show up with some blue and bronze paint over my face? Maybe even bring a poster with your name on it with little hearts decorated on the border because I have sooo much free time on my hands?” You teased as you played with your hair while pouting back up at him, relishing in the way he shifted from side to side,” honestly Kuroo, you know I have better things to do than to watch you fly around like a lunatic.” 
Kuroo smirked to himself but said nothing to retaliate as he offered his hands to help you out of your seat once he saw the time,” Come on, you know Slughorn will throw another fit if we’re late again and by the looks of it, you can’t afford falling behind.” 
For a moment, you thought that maybe you had gone too far. His response was almost disappointing in contrast to how he would usually retort with something wittier of the sort but it was out of your control now. 
You closed your textbook and grabbed Kuroo’s hands so he could help you off the leather couch but once he got you up to your feet, his strong grip on your hands didn’t release. 
Your chests were almost touching and the distance between you two was so small, you could distinctively smell his signature vanilla aftershave that he put on every morning. You looked down at your hands that were fitted perfectly against his as Kuroo leaned down close to your ear, his breath tickling your neck.
“ Don’t act so coy, Y/N. I know you would love nothing more than to wear my jersey so that everyone else could know you like me.”
You could feel the heat rise from your chest to your ears as you slipped your hands out from his to hold your textbook to your chest, as if it would cool you down. You fiddled with the spine of the textbook as a distraction as Kuroo smiled back innocently at you to give you time to compose yourself. 
“ D-Don’t say things like that, you’re my friend and that’s all,” You stammered as you slapped his shoulder to make the tension less thick,” and wipe that grin off your face, you look like an idiot!” 
Kuroo laughed, easing whatever tension was left in the air as he bumped your shoulder with his, “ Fine, fine, I’ll stop but only because you’re my special friend.”
“ You’re the worst.” 
“ And you love it.”
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“ Are you sure we’re doing this right?” You asked Kuroo as he sprinkled in the powdered moonstone while you stirred the concoction slowly. 
You surveyed the room as you watched your fellow classmates fail miserably at the assignment at hand, some being greeted with thick clouds of smoke while others potions just combusted into flames. 
You flinched at the sound of shrieking and looked up to see Sugawara and Daichi backing away from their cauldron as a mass of black tar started to slither out towards them. Slughorn had warned everyone that this potion was tricky to master but you didn’t think it would be this difficult and as time passed, the more anxious you grew. 
Kuroo, as unbothered as ever, looked down at the instructions for a moment before turning his attention back at the cauldron,” Yep, triple checked it and everything. You sure are nervous today.”
“ I’m always nervous during this class, you know I’m awful at potions. Plus look what happened to Oikawa, he’s in the hospital wing because of this lab.” 
“ He’ll be fine, the flames weren’t too high, he probably just lost an eyebrow,” Kuroo teased, trying to keep your mind at bay,” are you sure you’re not nervous because we’re concocting Amorentia?” 
You continued to stir the mixture carefully as you only scoffed,” Why would I be nervous of a silly little love potion?” 
“ First off, Amorentia is one of the most powerful love potions in existence so show some respect,” Kuroo said as you only rolled your eyes back at him,” And second of all, maybe you’re nervous because this will finally prove that you have feelings for me.” 
“ Knock it off before I send you to the hospital wing nerd,” You replied hastily as Kuroo put his hands up in defense,” Are you sure you’re not the nervous one? You’ve been acting weird since class has started...like more mouthy than usual.” 
If you didn’t know any better, you could’ve gone the whole lesson completely oblivious to Kuroo’s nervous tics, but after years of being friends, you knew better than to pass them off as normal tendencies. 
Kuroo rubbed the corner of the textbook page between his fingers as his eyes read the directions over again to try and ground himself in his thoughts. He had re-read the same step of the last instruction for the past couple of minutes to look occupied but his facade was starting to fall apart. 
“ If you paid more attention to the assignment instead of me, maybe you would pass the class, huh?” Kuroo smirked to try and ease your mind but the action only made you feel more annoyed. 
“ Enough with this back and forth, are we almost done? You’ve been reading the last step for a while now, is it that hard or are you just stupid today?” You nudged Kuroo out of the way and bent your body over the table to read the last step, wanting nothing more than to get this class over with. 
Kuroo watched as you began to stir the concoction slowly, his eyes trained on the top of the cauldron to watch for any sign of steam. 
“ What color are the spirals supposed to be?” You asked as a dark, pink-colored steam started to slowly rise from the mixture,” did he say pink was right or purple? Maybe red I don’t even remember.” 
Kuroo carefully leaned closer beside you to get a better look at the steam,”Looks right to me. You smell anything?” 
“ The only thing I can smell is that god awful aftershave of yours so back up.” 
You leaned your forearms on the table and took in a deep breath of the potion. Almost instantly, you felt a comforting warmth spread throughout your body that started in your chest and moved all the way down to your head and toes. You felt your body completely relax and it felt almost similar to the feeling of submerging yourself into a hot bath after a long day. 
It would make absolutely no sense to describe the scents as something so oddly familiar and distinct while not being obvious at all yet that was where your headspace was as you tried to identify the scents. 
Almost immediately, once you pinpointed one scent, the rest came flooding in one after another,” I smell something like cinder-a burning logfire...and....I know what this is it’s kinda like- oh, broomstick polish!” 
You took into another deep breath to try and identify the last scent but you couldn’t put a name to the scent which only made you more frustrated. 
“ Kuroo, can you help me? I can’t figure out the last scent,” You sighed as Kuroo closed his eyes to take a turn, even though he could already pinpoint a few scents from his spot,” do you smell the logfire too?” 
Kuroo only smiled to himself as he felt the warmth spread across his body before shaking his head,” That’s not how it works. Our scents would be different for example, I smell…freshly clean linen, old parchment paper, and… butterbeer froth.”
Once the words left Kuroo’s mouth, he opened his eyes and turned to you to read your reaction. He looked for something, anything behind those eyes of yours to watch it all click in your head but as usual, you were completely oblivious to the huge hint he had given you. 
“ Lucky you, I wish I could smell what you can- this is harder than I thought,” You pouted as you noticed some of your other classmates were getting distracted by you and Kuroo’s Amortentia,” maybe we did this wrong.”
“ We did it right, don’t worry,” Kuroo cleared his throat as he gave you a nudge with his shoulder which only made you nudge him back even harder,” maybe you should try again, think really hard. Try to see where you recognize the scent instead of what it is.” 
You closed your eyes and just like before, the same warm sensation flooded your body but this time, you could feel yourself leaning closer and closer to the cauldron, almost as if the potion was pulling you in deeper. 
“ Burning logfire, broomstick polish and…” You took in another deep breath but you were only meet with more frustration,” for the last time, can you give me some space, Kuroo? I swear all I can smell is your-.” 
You opened your eyes and practically pulled yourself away from the table once an unsettling realization had started to develop quickly in your mind. You knew exactly what the scent was but there was that lingering sensation in your mind that still tried to convince itself that for once, maybe you were wrong. 
Kuroo let out a breathy laugh as the back of your neck and ears began to grow hot,” Something the matter-”
Without thinking, you grabbed Kuroo’s collar and pulled him down to your eye level. Kuroo’s face started to grow red as you brushed your nose against the side of his neck to get a better smell. You had to be going crazy, there was no way- it all had to be a trick. 
“ Are you sure we did this right? You’re absolutely positive?” You asked softly as you let go of his collar. 
Kuroo smoothed out his collar and nodded as he looked back at the cauldron,”I’m absolutely positive- why are you freaking out?” 
Because I smell your stupid vanilla aftershave. 
“ I’m not freaking out,” You lied through your teeth as you turned your attention to Slughorn as he dismissed the class for the day,” You know what, I’m actually not feeling well- Can you clean up for me? I’m feeling a little lightheaded.”
“Y/N-”
“ I’ll see you around,” You gathered your things quickly but as you reached for your potions book, Kuroo snatched it off the table and held it behind his back,”enough Kuroo, give it back.” 
“ Clean linen, parchment, and butterbeer froth,” Kuroo listed as you tried to grab your book from behind his back but Kuroo was quick to hold it above his head,”did you hear me?” 
You looked up at how high he was holding your textbook and as embarrassing as it was, you decided to hold on to the little dignity you had left and not jump up and down for it. 
“ Yes I heard you but I don’t care.” 
“ You do care and you’re not listening to me. I smelled clean linen, parchment paper, and butterbeer froth so now it’s your turn, what did you smell?” Kuroo asked, this time a bit louder. It was obvious in the way he was enunciating his words that he was trying to lead you down a certain conversation but you were slow to pick up on it. 
You didn’t want to tell him, all you wanted to do was go back to bed and pretend as though this day had never happened. The idea that all this time you actually had real feelings for Kuroo only made you feel flustered. 
It wasn’t that you were ashamed of liking someone like him but for years, you had convinced him and seemingly everyone else that you would never have feelings for Kuroo. In reality, you couldn’t have been more wrong. 
“ Do we have to do this right now?” You asked softly as you nodded over to Slughorn who was dusting the corners of his desk but it was obvious he was eavesdropping on the conversation. 
Without missing a beat, Kuroo nodded and lowered your textbook back down to hand it to you.
“ You’re right, we should discuss this someplace quiet and private, how does dinner sound?”
You shook your head at the boy as you tried to grab your textbook from him but you couldn’t pry it off his strong grip,“ Quit flirting with me, now isn’t the time.” 
Kuroo couldn’t take it anymore; the years of endlessly flirting and being ignored was taking a toll on his pride and he couldn’t stand it. He knew you were prideful but this was on a whole different level.
“ Now is the perfect time since now I know you like me after all.”
“ How- I do not-”
“ You’re a terrible liar Y/N, the aftershave was a dead giveaway and I don’t know whether or not I’m more hurt by the fact that you’re too embarrassed to admit you like me or that you think my aftershave is god awful,” Kuroo said as he loosened his grip on the book so you could take it from his hands,” aren’t you tired of pretending you don’t have feelings for me?” 
You carefully took back your textbook as if it was a fragile vase and held it close to your chest as if you were shielding your heart. 
“ For the record, I don’t think it’s god awful, I just think you put on way too much,” You mumbled as Kuroo stood up straighter,” and I’m not tired of pretending, maybe I don’t like you or maybe I do have feelings for you.”
“ But maybe you like me more than you dislike me, am I right?”
You opened your mouth but quickly closed it after thinking his words over for a moment,“Emphasis on maybe...but don’t let it get to your head. You get one date so don’t ruin it.” 
Even though it wasn’t the confession Kuroo wanted, it was the only confirmation he needed to hear from you to let him know that the feelings were mutual. 
Kuroo couldn’t help but wear a huge goofy smile on his face as he collected his things and followed your lead as you both started to walk out the classroom. You and Kuroo politely nodded and said goodbye to Slughorn, who was pretending to read the textbooks along the shelves. 
Once you two left the classroom, Kuroo’s hand slide down beside yours and started to play with your fingers carefully. Your hand recoiled from the feeling but once you made sure the hallway was clear of any onlookers, you let your hand slide back down and let his fingers intertwine with yours. 
“ You know, I knew you really liked me, I called it since day one-” 
“ Okay, that’s enough Kuroo.” 
“ You said and I quote,’As if I would be under the accompaniment of a clumsy Ravenclaw like yourself’ and look at you now, holding hands with one!”
You shook your head at him and wondered to yourself if this is how things would be now yet you still couldn’t bring yourself to hide the small smile on your face,”You’re the worst.” 
Kuroo squeezed your hand in his and shared the same lovey-dovey grin on his face,” and you love it.” 
taglist: @goopyartiste​, @sugas-sweetheart​, @kirislut​, @estridries​, @hannahalanib1​, @art0saurus​, @shoutamajiki​, @yee-harr​, @animatedarchives​
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arvandus · 3 years
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CONGRATS ON 500 OMG 🎉🎉🎉 IT'S MORE THAN DESERVED!!!!
Can I put in a request for All Might, #35 with a fluff ending?
Sooo.... I’m gonna be honest, I was so excited when I saw this request because.... angsty dialogue with a happy ending?  That shit is my jam.  And with All Might?  Perfect.
 A couple things before we get started: I went with All Might in his skinny form, cuz the prompt lends itself to that (so sorry if you were hoping for buff Might!) Also, took the artistic liberty of giving reader a healing quirk for this one called ‘Cat’s Cradle.’ You’ll (hopefully) see why it’s called that when you read it…
 I hope you enjoy, and sorry it’s taken so long to get this out!
 Um... Warnings: Blood (sorry, it’s Yagi... kinda a given), angst + happy ending
 Word Count: 3,223 and no regrets!
35. “I can’t sit here and watch you destroy yourself.”
 There was a familiar knock at your door, and in an instant you knew exactly who it was.  Your teeth clenched, your jaw stiffened.
 You weren’t going to answer it. Not this time.
 Knock knock knock
 You waited, frozen, unwilling to move, yet listening intently.  The sound of wet, guttural coughing reverberated through the wooden barrier.
 God damn it.
 When it came to a certain world-famous hero, it didn’t really take much for you to give up your resolve.  You made your way to the door and peeked through the peephole.  Yagi supported himself with one hand against the door frame as his other hand clutched at his chest.  The front of his shirt was bunched in his grasp, blood coating his pale hands and the white fabric beneath it.  A curse fell from your lips as your hands unlatched the lock on your door, swinging it wide open.
 Yagi looked up at you with grateful blue eyes, sunken deep into dark pits. His wild, blond hair stuck to his ashen face with sweat, his brow furrowed in pain.
 “Hey,” he greeted with a lighthearted grin.
 “Jesus Christ, Yagi…” you growled.
 You grabbed him by the elbow and ushered him into your space before closing and locking the door behind you.
 There was no time to rush him into the bathroom like you normally did.  Instead, you had him sit in a dining chair and began to peel off his blood-soaked shirt.  Just as the fabric lifted off his head, another round of coughing doubled him over, blood splattering the tiled floor.
 “Shit…” Yagi muttered.
 “Don’t worry about it.” You replied.  But it was hardly convincing.  Your tone was cold and hard with frustration.
 You weren’t mad about the floor, though… honestly, you couldn’t have cared less. What mattered was the man currently looking like he was on Death’s doorstep.  It pained you to see him so clearly suffering, his skin covered in sweat and blood even as he tried to smile reassuringly at you.  It didn’t matter how bright his smile was; it held little weight against the scar carved into his side, or the atrophy that stretched over his bones.
 Your heart couldn’t handle much more of this.
 Gently, you pressed your hands against the front of Yagi’s shoulders until he was sitting up, back straight.  Even without his buff form, Yagi was tall.  With your body so close to his, you could feel his ragged breath on your cheek, hear the air rattling from his lungs like leaves.  You couldn’t help but look him in the eyes then, and a faint flush crept across his sallow cheeks that made your own skin feel hot.
 “Stay still.” You instructed.
 You carefully placed one hand in front of his chest and the other behind his back, your fingertips hovering over his body.  Glowing, translucent-white threads emanated from your fingers, passing through him to connect together deep within his lungs. Slowly, you began weaving, fingers dancing and flicking like a game of Cat’s Cradle as your quirk stitched and healed the damaged tissue.  It was painstaking work, what was left of his lungs already in poor condition, and the more he pushed himself past his limits, the harder it was to repair what he’d repeatedly broken.  Sweat beaded your brow as you worked, your hands moving meticulously.  One wrong move, one wrong stitch…
 But you’d done this countless times over the years.  It was nearly second nature to you now… you knew his body nearly as well as your own.  You stared at the glistening red staining from his lips to his chest as you worked, your vision blurred as you focused on your quirk’s senses.
 Slowly, you could hear Yagi’s ragged breaths begin to improve.  His gasps for air filled deeper into his chest, expanding his rib cage.  His exhales followed clean and steady.  The tension in his face relaxed, his brow smoothing over as he closed his eyes.
 Finally, you broke the connection and slumped into your own chair, exhaustion overtaking you.  It was far from perfect, but it was the best you could do given his level of deterioration. You watched Yagi take a few more deep, experimental breaths before he looked up at you.  You opened your mouth to scold him, your brow furrowed into a frown, but froze as soon as you saw his gentle expression become guarded as he prepared for your verbal onslaught.
 An ache filled your throat where your words were supposed to be, and you closed your mouth.  How easy it was to revert back to old habits when you were together.  The two of you were broken; the same old wounds seeping red because they were never given a chance to properly heal.
 You weren’t going to go through it again; not this time.  You were too tired.  And it wasn’t like it made much difference anyway.  It didn’t matter how much you begged, cried, or yelled.  Yagi wouldn’t stop.  He couldn’t stop.
Silence fell between you as you both stared at each other, the space between you feeling empty. No doubt your hurt was evident in your face, your body language, your eyes.  And if there was one thing you knew Yagi hated, it was seeing you upset.  He wanted to hold you.  You could see it in the way his body leaned towards you of its own accord, arms shifting just the slightest bit closer to your torso.  You could see the words on the edge of his tongue too, suspended between parted, bloodstained lips.
 Don’t. A part of you begged.  You didn’t want his comfort.  You didn’t want his excuses.
 Just as his mouth opened wider to speak, you averted your eyes and shifted your body away from him.  It was difficult – painful, as if you were a plant being pulled from the earth, fragile roots breaking in the soil.
 “You should go clean up.” You said quietly.
 Another long pause greeted you before he finally spoke.  “Yeah.  Okay.” He stood.  “Do you still have my clothes?”
 “Yeah. Dresser, bottom drawer.” You replied.
 Yagi excused himself, and a moment later you heard the sound of running water in the bathroom.  You stared at the bloodied floor and the stained shirt balled up on your table.  Nausea filled you, twisting your gut.
 Quickly, you grabbed your cleaning supplies and set to work, watching as the blood soaked into the white paper towels like an inkblot test.  Each fresh bloom of crimson spelled the foreshadowing you tried to erase, until you were wiping and scrubbing at the floor in frantic anger, tears dripping from your lashes.  It felt futile.  No matter how many paper towels you used, you always seemed to need more.
 By the end of it, the trash can was full, the roll noticeably smaller than when you had started.  You added Yagi’s ruined shirt to the top of the pile and stashed the bin away out of sight beneath your kitchen sink.  You’d take it out as soon as he left.  
 You could still hear the shower running in your bathroom, so you went to your living room and slouched onto your couch, waiting for Yagi to finish.
 You had hoped that cleaning up the mess would help reduce the severity from the situation, help you mask your growing fears.  But it was too late.  All you could see was red.  The red on his lips, the red on your floor, the red in the paper towels...
 The emotions you had hoped you could suppress until he left began to crest in you, and you vacated the living room in favor of the privacy of your bedroom. Maybe if you could let a few tears out during his shower, then you’d have enough composure until he left.  You curled onto your bed, your pillow clutched tightly in your arms as you buried your face into the plush fabric.
 For so long you’d held out, hoping that one day he’d understand.  That he’d see the damage to his body, see how quickly he was deteriorating.  That he’d see the fear in your eyes every time he showed up on your doorstep needing your help.  You’d hoped that your countless conversations would eventually amount to something, your words secretly unravelling the veil he chose to wear over his eyes as he fought battle after battle.
 It was that pesky, lingering hope that had been keeping you going.  Hope that eventually, there’d be an end to it all. Hope that Yagi could finally stop killing himself for the sake of the greater good.  Hope that the two of you could eventually pick up where you’d fallen and live a happy life.
 And it was hope that made you open the door for him each time.
 But now, that hope was finally gone.  You were done trying.  You realized it as soon as you’d finally given up talking to him – finally given up trying to save him.
 An emptiness took its place, cold and heavy.  Its absence gave no place for your love to nest, no place for your dreams to take root.  All you had left was the heavy, gut-wrenching reality that eventually, inevitably, you’d lose him.  Either he’d die in battle, or worse… He’d show up at your doorstep, his body beyond repair, and the only thing you’d be able to do is hold him as his lungs filled with blood.
 Your chest constricted so tightly at that single, horrible thought that you couldn’t even breathe, your lungs burning in a frantic need for oxygen.  There was nothing in the world worse than that single moment coming to life.  But you couldn’t erase it, couldn’t run from it.  It sat there, as real and permanent as the blood-soaked rags lurking in your kitchen trash.  You tried to suck air into your lungs, but the knot in your throat didn’t allow it, a suffocating sob lodged like a rock.  Your arms tightened around your pillow.
 You were going to lose him.  And there was nothing you could do about it.
 Grief settled itself onto your shoulders, heavy as an anchor.  Grief for a future that could never be. Grief for the death of a love that never fully had a chance to bloom. Grief for a man who would eventually slip through your fingers to become bones and dust, leaving nothing but the ache of his memory upon your soul.  You buckled under its weight, the heavy sob finally spilling from your parted lips as tears soaked into your pillow.
 You didn’t even notice as Yagi entered the room to find you curled up in your bed, sobbing.
 “Hey…” He whispered as he rushed over.
 His arms were around you in an instant, pulling you up against his bony chest, your head tucked under his chin.
 “Hey, hey…” he soothed as he held you.
 You leaned into his embrace, letting his presence envelop you.  Maybe you should have fought it; pushed him away instead of letting yourself indulge.  But it felt too good, too safe, and your arms tightened around him selfishly as you cried.  It brought back familiar memories of a time when the two of you had been happy, surrendering to your feelings for each other, before it all fell apart.  
 God, how you missed this.  Love had never been the issue for the two of you.  No, that was the easy part.  But it wasn’t enough.  Not when all of Japan rested on his shoulders, leaving little space for you no matter how deeply he cared for you.
 He held you as you cried, silently holding the space for you, his arms a safety net for all of the emotional weight you couldn’t carry alone.  Your tears soaked his shirt, your arms wound tight around his ribs, as you wished for nothing more than the power to change what was.
 “I don’t want to lose you…” you sobbed.
 “You won’t.” He replied.
 His words were meant to be comforting, but their effect was the opposite, making your heart ache even more at his inability to address the issue head on. He always was an optimist when it came to things of the heart.  It was part of what made him such a great hero.  But optimism wouldn’t save either of you here.
 You pulled away from him slightly, already missing the closeness of him.
 “Don’t…” you pleaded.  “Don’t do that.”
 Yagi looked down at your tear-stained face.  “Do what?”
 Quietly, you grabbed a tissue from the tissue box on your nightstand and wiped at your nose.  The material crumpled into a ball within your fist and you stared at it, your vision already blurring with fresh tears.
 “Don’t try to give me hope.” You replied.
 Yagi stared with wide eyes before withdrawing his arms. His expression fell, wounded by the truth in your honesty.  
 You struggled not to let it sway you.
 “I… I can’t keep doing this.” You whispered as you wiped the last of the tears from your cheeks. “Every time you show up on my doorstep, you’re worse than before. I won’t always be able to help you.”
 He watched you in silence for a moment before looking away in shame, his fingers interlaced in front of him as he leaned forward.  “I know.” He replied.
 Regret filled you at rejecting him.  You wanted him to touch you, to hold you. To have his presence surround you. To feel him alive beneath you, whole and here.  But you had to set a boundary.  You had to stop following him, stop hoping… if you didn’t, it would destroy you.
 Instead, you sat with your arms wrapped around yourself, a pitiful defense against the familiar allure of the man next to you.
 “You keep wanting me to save you, Yagi… but how can I save you if you won’t save yourself?”  You looked at him then, your eyes locking with his.  “You keep choosing to fight, to push yourself well past your limits. And you keep coming here, because you know that I still love you and won’t turn you away.”
 Yagi sucked air into his lungs, his posture going stiff at your words. You were right.  He knew you were right.  His inability to counter your statement was evidence enough of that.  Disappointment and guilt filled you as you broke eye contact to look at your shaking hands.
 “But… I can’t sit here and watch you destroy yourself. And you shouldn’t expect me to.” You whispered.
 The words were heavy, filling the empty space between you with their finality. You refused to look at Yagi; you knew he’d be hurt.  You knew his shoulders would slump in defeat, his mouth pulled into a deep frown.  Guilt filled you, making your hands fidget and your shoulders tense as you waited for his response.
 “You’re right.”
 His words were a whisper and your eyes snapped up to stare at him, bewilderment on your face.  He’d never said those words to you before... not about this.  His mask had cracked, and you could finally see his emotions flashing across his face as he struggled to transform them into words.  Remorse. Panic. Love. Fear.
 He cleared his throat and repeated himself.  “You’re right.  I have asked a lot of you.” His brow furrowed.  “I don’t know why I keep coming back.  I guess I just get… homesick.”
 Your breath hitched in your throat as your heart pounded like a battle drum in your chest.  You opened your mouth to respond, but the words were stolen from you when Yagi’s eyes met yours, deep and familiar.
 “I miss you.” He stated.
 “Yagi...” You cupped his cheek in your hand.  He leaned into it briefly, before removing your hand from his face and holding it within his own.
 “Listen... I... didn’t intend to come here for your help.  Not this time.  But you know how these things are...” He explained.  “I was on my way over when a villain showed up, and...” Yagi’s words faltered as he saw the expression on your face begin to fall.  He was doing it again, getting caught up in his work, making excuses... hurting you.
 He cleared his throat. “It’s... not important.  The point is, is that there was something I wanted to tell you.  But... I’m not sure it’ll make much of a difference.” He averted his gaze, his brows pulled together pensively.
 Your own brow furrowed in response, confused by his ambiguity.  A part of you was hesitant... you’d truly felt that you were done, that you’d reached your limit.  But could tell that whatever it was, it was important to him, and it was something that he wanted to share specially with you.
 “Just... tell me.” You said quietly, as you emotionally braced yourself.
 His blue eyes looked back at you, and he took a steady breath.  “Alright...”  He took your other hand in his own.  Now he held both of your hands between you as he sat with you on your bed.  “I... found a successor.”
 Your eyes widened, as you felt overcome with dizziness.  You were lightheaded, suddenly floating on his words that still lingered in the air like morning mist.
 “W... what??” you choked out.  Your heart pounded wildly as your hands gripped his, the warm, firm touch barely grounding you.
 “I found a successor.” He repeated, a slow smile starting to spread across his lips at your dumbfounded reaction.
 A smile began to spread across your lips.  “Does that mean... you’re retiring?”
 “Yeah-”
 Your lips were on his before he could say anything more, your arms flinging themselves around his neck.  He laughed against your lips as he returned the kiss, his arms wrapping around your waist to pull you into his lap.
 You pulled away for a moment and stared into his eyes. They sparkled with mirth, blue as a summer’s day.
 “Well, that went better than I expected...” Yagi teased.
 “Tell me it’s true.  You’re really done?” you asked.
 “Well, I still have to train my apprentice... he’s got a big heart and a strength in him that I don’t think he even realizes he has yet.  But it’s going to take some time for him to learn how to wield all that power.”  Yagi’s expression turned from happy to serious.  “And... I have to admit that I can’t retire just yet.”
 You opened your mouth to protest, but he covered your lips with his finger.
 “Hang on a second, firecracker.” He grinned.  “I will retire. But I still have remnants of One For All in me, and I need to protect this kid until he’s able to master that power.  I’ll still be All Might until that last spark leaves me. I’m sure you understand that much, right? I have a responsibility to him.”
 You brushed aside his long bangs, relishing in the feel of the golden locks between your fingers.  Of course, you understood.  You’d never expected it to be immediate anyway.  But at least things were in motion.  All he had to do was survive.  And if Yagi was good at anything, it was surviving.
 You had to believe in him.
 “Yeah...” you whispered.  “I understand.”
 Now it was Yagi’s turn to be surprised. “Really?”
 You smiled and kissed him again.  “Really.”
 You had hope.
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angstyaches · 3 years
Note
my fatal flaw is loving fluff more than whump, but i love whumpy nightmare scenarios…? so…what about charlie having a bad nightmare again, either due to being sick or resulting in getting sick, and being so distressed that he has to call shayne? the reverse scenario (shayne calling charlie) would also be so good but i feel like he’d be more hesitant to do that 🤧 i’m imagining lots of shaking and shaky breathing and self-loathing remedied just a little with some physical comfort? like being held idk. ANYWAY this is my request hehe
I spent ages trying to figure out a scenario where Charlie could call Shayne and Shayne could actually get to him, but when they’re apart, it’s hard for Shayne to spontaneously decide to go to Charlie’s. I could have swapped Shayne in for the sickie but I wanted to do Charlie. Sooo, the comfort is mostly verbal, although Charlie recalls physical comfort from the past. I'm sorry if it's not what you had in mind! Feel free to request more nightmare whump anytime, because I adore it.
The events of this fic are referenced (sorry for the first-person POV lol I was trying something out when I started this blog)
CW: nightmare, emeto, crying, anxiety, brief referenced past violence and blood.
___
It was the middle of the night, and the only thing Charlie could hear was the sound of the toilet tank refilling. That, and the tiny gasps that escaped him every now and then as he tried to catch his breath.
His stomach muscles were practically on fire from clenching, and he was still getting his breath back as he leaned against the side of the bath and held his phone to his ear.
The light bounced against the tiles and burned his eyes, but it was better than the dark. The dark had sprouted wings in his dream, along with a set of claws.
Charlie gasped and shook his head, burying it quickly between his knees and trying to get the image out of his head. His spine felt like his skin was crawling all over it.
“Charlie?”
His heart felt like it was going to slip up his throat at the sound of Shayne’s voice on the phone. He had to clamp a hand over his mouth to stop himself from whimpering with sheer relief. He hadn’t quite acknowledged it, but part of him had been terrified that Shayne wouldn’t answer the phone at all.
He’s okay…
“H-hey.” Charlie cringed at how badly his voice was shaking, and it echoed against the empty bathroom shelves just like his retching and coughing had done a few minutes ago. “I’m – I’m sorry.”
“Hmm? What’re you sorry for?” Shayne mumbled on the other end of the phone.
“You were probably sleeping, I – I just…” Charlie rubbed at his eyes, desperate to get them dry. Nausea was still trickling lightly through his stomach, and he wondered if he’d have to rush back to the toilet bowl sometime soon.
“What’s wrong, what happened?”
“I got sick…” Charlie pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his forehead against his bare knees. His voice almost disappeared completely down his throat. “I… don’t feel well.”
“Shit. I thought you were finished with all that.”
It took Charlie a moment to realise that Shayne was referring to the food poisoning Charlie had accidentally given himself (and Rin) the day before yesterday.
He swallowed thickly, pulling a face at the memory. He’d felt so much better before going to bed; in fact, he’d been starving, his body feeling hollow and achy after purging itself for a day and a half. He’d cooked an entire bag of chicken nuggets from the freezer, made himself four slices of toast, finished off a tub of Ben and Jerry’s, and had gone to bed feeling blissfully better.
He struggled to find a way to gently tell Shayne that the problem that had woken him at 4am had less to do with his stomach and more to do with his brain.
Although the amount of heavy food in his belly admittedly may have contributed somewhat.
“Charlie, you okay?”
He started a bit, realising he hadn’t replied in a while. “I’m – no. Not really,” he whispered, a sharp sob jerking his ribs and scraping at his throat.
“Put me on the, um, the video thing.”
The phone jingled beside Charlie’s ear, telling him that Shayne was requesting a video call. Charlie made an attempt to clean his face off with his pyjama top before accepting it, propping the bottom of his phone against his knee.
“You know, you sound sixty when you call it ‘the video thing’,” he said, trying to sound upbeat.
“Really?” Shayne narrowed his eyes into a glare as soon as he appeared on Charlie’s screen. “Would you say that to my face if it was actually this close to you?”
Charlie managed a weak smile. Some of the tension bled out of him just at the sight of his boyfriend and his sleepy brown eyes. His chin wobbled uncontrollably as emotions swelled in his belly and chest. “I wish it was this close to me.”
“Yeah. Me, too.” Shayne folded one arm behind his head and leaned back against his pillow. His room was mostly dark, but he seemed to be lying on his back. “Wait, are you real-crying? Not just throwing-up-crying?”
Charlie sighed shakily, rushing to rub away the tears that had sneaked up on him. He felt his lips quiver as he tried to keep the smile from turning into a grimace.
“Did you have a bad dream?”
Charlie gulped and nodded. “How could you tell?”
“Give me some credit. I feel like I know you pretty well by now.”
Charlie’s eyes were drawn towards the shrunken image of himself in the top-right corner of the screen, and tried to hold back even more tears. In his own – admittedly warped – opinion, he looked about as disgusting as he felt. He hated that he felt trapped in front of the camera, forcing Shayne to look at him in this state.
“Charlie,” Shayne murmured, his eyes softening in the light of his bedside lamp. “Talk to me, yeah?”
“They’re get – they’re getting worse,” Charlie breathed, burying his face in one hand. It felt a little silly to keep his phone held steady in the other, camera trained on himself even as he covered his eyes and wept, but he didn’t want to cast Shayne aside either. He peered out over the top of his hand, still covering his mouth to try to keep the volume under control.
“I know, but they’re just dreams, remember? They’re not real.”
A gag pulled at Charlie’s throat and he had to shut his eyes. But it was real…
“Deep breaths,” Shayne said, his tone in complete contrast to Charlie’s sobs. “You want to count back from ten with me? Sometimes I need some help. I can get to nine, and then I just get confused.”
Charlie almost laughed through the tears. He wondered if he should have been insulted by Shayne’s attempt to use Charlie’s own method on him. He decided to humour him though, rasping out numbers while thinking that it would never work because he was thinking too hard about it, but by the time they got to zero, he was able to take a breath without his chest hitching.
Shayne said nothing for a few seconds, watching to see what Charlie would do next. He frowned when Charlie shuddered harshly, making the picture wobble.
“You cold?”
Charlie nodded.
“Then go get into bed, idiot.”
He did his best to keep his phone elevated as he walked, but in his exhausted state, Charlie probably gave Shayne a prime view of the stubble under his chin as he made his way back to bed. He shakily propped his phone on the nightstand, next to Vincent the teddy bear, and went to grab a fresh t-shirt from the drawer. He’d sweat through the one he’d fallen asleep in, ruining it even before it had vomit and tears on it.
He finally crawled into bed, his stomach letting out a hollow, unhappy groan as it settled into the new position. Charlie groaned too, reaching out to take his phone in his hand again. He hated how the bedside light made his face look haggard and washed-out.
“All good?” Shayne asked.
“All good,” Charlie slurred, his eyes drooping already. “I miss you, though.”
“I miss you too, love.”
Charlie pulled his blanket tightly around himself, keeping one arm outstretched with his phone so that he and Shayne could still see one another. His sheets had cooled down a lot since he’d flung himself out from between them earlier, and after crouching on the tiles for so long, it was nice to be surrounded by something soft and pleasant.
Shayne tilted his head slightly as they both lay in silence for a moment, just looking into each other’s eyes through their cameras. “How’s the nausea?”
“A little better,” Charlie sighed. “My tummy just kind of hurts.”
Shayne clicked his tongue. “Fuck. I wish I was there with you right now.”
“No.” Although his chest panged with longing for the same thing, Charlie shook his head. “You’re better – you’re safer there, and I don’t –”
The whoosh of dark, leathery wings in the night and the splatter across the hardwood flashed in Charlie’s memory. In the dream, the blood had been Shayne’s; Charlie had watched as Watson had torn his heart right out of his chest before dragging the rest of him away into the sky.
In reality, the blood had been mostly Charlie’s; he’d cut his hands on the broken glass left behind by Watson’s exit through the window.
“Lately, I just…” Charlie swallowed sickly. “I can’t stop thinking about that – that night, remember? When Watson came to my room to find you?”
Shayne fell silent for a moment, seemed to shift position slightly. “Mmhmm.”
“I was dreaming about – about that, but… worse.”
“He won’t come for you,” Shayne said. He seemed like he was gritting his teeth. “If he or Madelyn even try to get near that house, they’ll –”
“I know.” Charlie chewed the inside of his lip. He ducked his face below the blanket and quickly dabbed at fresh tears that were starting to form. “But I was so… I was so useless, Shayne, I knew I could have stopped him, but I didn’t, I was frozen solid, I –”
“Ssshhh…” Shayne whispered, the sound crackling gently through the phone’s speaker. “Charlie, love, come out.”
Teeth chattering in his head, Charlie sniffled from under the blanket.
“Please, I want to see you.”
When he crinkled the blanket into his fingers and revealed just the top half of his face to the camera again, Charlie wished he hadn’t gone into detail about the dream at all. Not only did he look like a mess, now he sounded like one, too. He felt himself blush when Shayne’s eyes lit up on the screen, realising Charlie had come out from behind the blanket.
“You know what I think of when I think of that night?”
Charlie swallowed thickly, shaking his head.
“I think about the way you let me fall asleep on your bed, even though I was being an asshole to you.”
He couldn’t help nuzzling his head against the pillow where Shayne’s head had been that night, while Charlie had sat lengthways with Shayne’s legs across his lap. He’d had crazy butterflies in his stomach, barely able to believe that his crush had shown up in the middle of the night, unconsciously looking for comfort from him.
“It was the first night we fell asleep together, too,” Shayne said.
Without realising it, Charlie had slid one hand around the side of his own neck, fingers running lightly through the hair at the back of his head. Shayne had never touched him before that night either, but he’d ran his fingers through his hair as though he’d been doing it for years. Light shivers of pleasure trickled over Charlie’s skin. The panicked pounding in his chest was starting to slow. “That’s true...”
“You’re anything but useless,” Shayne murmured, turning onto his side and adjusting the angle of his phone. His eyes were starting to close. “I think that’s what my point was. I forgot.”
Charlie gave a light, breathy laugh which was cut off by a deep yawn. He hid his face from the camera again, to avoid giving Shayne a view of his tonsils this time. By the time he looked at the screen again, Shayne was struggling to keep his eyes open, but neither of them said anything.
They never found out whose phone dropped out of whose hand first.
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mountainsluna · 4 years
Text
wanna be loved
Tumblr media
request: “an angst with a fluff ending”
pairing: San x Seonghwa x Reader (female)
genre: angst + fluff
word count: 1.25k
✩ [author’s note] writing this hurt my heart sooo much, i’ve never really written angst before. poor babies just wanna be loved :<
✩ masterlist
✩ requests : check bio or masterlist ♡
“Babyyy, cuddles please.” San called as he walked through the door with Seonghwa behind him, making his way into your arms.
The tone of his voice letting you know he wasn’t feeling okay. In fact, every day this week was the same thing. His insecurities had him feeling down and with the comeback coming up, he was even more stressed. His days becoming routine. He’d wake up early, practice all day, come home late and get his cuddles. You didn’t complain as you loved giving San cuddles but since Seonghwa also came home at the same time as San everyday, his clinginess was leading your other boyfriend to feel neglected.
Seonghwa wasn’t the type to let things like that effect him. He knew you loved him just as much as San and he knew how clingy the smaller boy was, especially when he wasn’t feeling himself. 
It was okay though, he could handle a little less attention as he knew San needed extra comfort. You two still had your mornings together as San always tended to sleep in a bit longer than you both. Sharing quiet, peaceful moments on the sofa or on the balcony of your apartment, talking about anything and everything. Or just sitting in comfortable silence, his hands grazing softly over any skin his fingers could reach.
However, being pre-comeback season, those mornings were being cut short. The boys would leave before you even woke up for work and return as you were getting ready for bed. But that was okay too, because you still had your one hour drama time with him before bed.
That was, until this week, your nightly routine of laying in Seonghwa’s arms as you two watched an episode of a drama while San played video games on his own, had also come to a halt. Lately, once San was in a comfortable position in your arms, he refused to get up, so Seonghwa would just go to bed on his own. He didn’t want to admit how badly it was effecting him, worried he’d hurt San’s feelings but, he needed you to know his feelings too.
He actually hadn’t realized how upset he was until one day that week when he accidentally snapped at San as they were walking home. They were both tired and exhausted from practicing for over 12 hours. Seonghwa was dying to have you to himself for a while even if it was just for 5 minutes, he needed to be held so bad.
San sighed loudly next to him as they walked, complaining about a part of their choreography that was giving him trouble, “I just can’t wait to lay with y/n I’m so tired.” Seonghwa felt all the heat in is body rush to his head.
“She has another boyfriend too, you know! So maybe back off a bit!” His words shocking them both, stopping the younger boy dead in his tracks. Seonghwa turned to him, regret written all over his face, he couldn’t believe he had just said that to San. “San I’m so, so sorry I didn’t mean-”
“Yes you did. And I deserved it.” San replied, his eyes never looking up from the sidewalk as he began to walk ahead of Seonghwa, feeling heart broken and not knowing what to say to him. If he was so upset, why hadn’t he brought it up to him sooner?? But he knew deep down that Seonghwa wasn’t the confrontational type and he felt bad for not catching onto his feelings sooner, not only was he your boyfriend, he was also Seonghwa’s. He never realized how much his selfish actions had been taking a toll on Seonghwa and the older boy had every right to be upset at him for hogging all your free time.
“San! San, wait please let me talk to you!” Seonghwa followed after him desperately, San’s gaze never shifting.
As they approached the apartment door Seonghwa grabbed San by the shoulders roughly, forcing him to face him. “What Hwa? What else do you have to say??” San asked, tears brimming in his eyes as he tried his hardest to hold them back.
“I want to say I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have snapped at you, I should’ve talked to you sooner, I promise I never meant to hurt you. That’s what I was trying to avoid this whole time but it just made things worse…” His voice faltering a bit at the end, not being able to look San in the eyes anymore. All he wanted was to feel loved and make sure you and San felt loved too. His heart was too big for his chest and that’s what hurt him the most. San rushed into his arms, letting his tears fall silently as he held onto Seonghwa. “I love you so much, Sannie, I really do. Please forgive me.” Relief filling his body as he heard San’s muffled I love you too as he spoke into his chest.
Hearing the commotion from the living room, you opened the door slowly, revealing a sad looking Hwa and a sniffling San. “My babies, what’s going on?” You looked at them worriedly, moving to make room for them to enter, locking the door as they made their way to the sofa. Seonghwa explained to you what happened and how he had been feeling and you almost broke down crying yourself. You loved them both so much and although you did notice the distance between you and Seonghwa recently, it never dawned on you how sad he must have been feeling.
San excused himself to the bathroom to clean off his face and you went to sit in Seonghwa’s lap, holding him tighter than you ever had. “I’m so sorry, my love, you’re always so strong in front of us I forgot how much I needed to care for you too.” His arms wrapping around your midsection as he buried his face in your chest, already feeling so much better than he had all week. San returned, sitting next to you both, his hands in his lap, not wanting to interrupt.
“I see the food’s ready, I’ll go set the table and you two can join after-” Seonghwa pulled him by his shoulder, closing the gap between you three. You moved your legs so that they were on both San and Seonghwa’s laps.
“We can all eat together in a minute and then maybe we can watch a show before bed.” You suggested, one hand stroking Seonghwa’s hair, the other caressing San’s arm that was holding onto your legs. They both agreed softly, you three lingering in each other’s embraces for a bit before getting up.
Once you all were done clearing off the table, Seonghwa made his way to the living room, getting your drama ready as he laid against the armrest of the sofa. You joined him in his arms, your back laying against his chest, just how you two used to be. San was about to head to the bedroom when he heard you and Seonghwa calling after him. “Baby? Are you not going to join us?” You asked him.
“I…is that okay?” He watched Seonghwa’s expression as he spoke.
“Of course, baby boy.” Seonghwa reassured him and he practically dove into your arms nearly falling off the sofa as you giggled at his eagerness.
The amount of love and happiness you all felt for each other was enough to last lifetimes.
“Not that I don’t absolutely love this but maybeee we should move to the bedroom.”
256 notes · View notes
hurricanery · 3 years
Text
i get by
A/N: Here’s a little something I wrote combining elements of this prompt, this prompt & a few other prompts sitting in my inbox requesting sleepy Amelink featuring Jo. Please continue to send prompts! I’d like to get a few more out this week. And feedback is always appreciated! Also, can you tell I love incorporating songs into my writing....? If you have songs that remind you of Amelink pls send them my way!!
_______
Oh, baby I get by
(By with a little help from my friends)
_______
“Amelia,” Link’s tired voice breaks through the quiet of the kitchen, making Amelia jump slightly from her standing position, where she’s swaying gently back and forth with Scout in her arms. “What are you doing up?”
Link flips the overhead lights on, illuminating the room, and the both of them squint at the sudden change of brightness. Amelia glances at the clock on the wall. It reads 3am.
“Scout was crying,” she whispers gently, looking down at the newborn's wide eyes and curious expression. “I can’t get him back to sleep….so we’ve just been strolling around the house. Didn’t want to wake you.” She smiles tiredly and looks back up at Link, who still stands in the doorway. Concern takes over his features as he crosses the kitchen towards the pair. He rubs Amelia’s shoulder gently, and looks down at their bright-eyed son. He can’t help the smile that creeps across his face.
“Here, let me take him,” Link reaches, “I’ll put him down and meet you back in bed, ok?” He looks pointedly at Amelia, who only takes a moment to think before reluctantly passing Scout off.
Once her arms are empty, Amelia stands up on her toes to reach and place a chaste kiss to Link’s cheek, smiling at him gratefully. “Deal,” she mumbles. “Meet you back up there.”
_______
When Link re-enters their bedroom 15 minutes later, he’s met with the sight of his girlfriend sound asleep, sprawled across the center of the bed, passed out on top of the covers. He laughs to himself quietly before encroaching on her blissful state.
“Amelia,” he whispers, shaking her arm gently. “Amelia scootch over.”
“Hmmm?” She mumbles sleepily, lifting her head slightly and peering up at Link.
He laughs at her confused expression, starting to lift some of the blankets as he slides in next to her. “Here, get under the covers.”
Amelia seems to shake completely from her reverie, now fully awake. “You got Scout to sleep?” she sighs as she pulls some of the covers over herself and snuggles into Link’s side, head falling onto his chest.
“Yes, indeed,” he replies smugly, reaching to push back some of the hair covering Amelia’s face as she rests against him, then letting his fingers run through it in a repetitive motion.
Amelia’s eyes fall shut again but she speaks quietly into the room. “Scout’s just like me,” she mumbles. “Likes to be awake when the rest of the world is sleeping.”
Link laughs under his breath at this, and Amelia loves the feeling of it in his chest.
“Well I hope Scout is like you, because-”
Link’s words get cut off suddenly by the sound of Scout’s cries over the baby monitor.
“Ugh,” Amelia groans in response, starting to sit up. She swings her legs off the bed and starts to get up.
“No, stay. I’ll get him,” Link assures her, also beginning to climb out of the bed.
“Link,” Amelia stares at him incredulously, moving toward the door. She turns back to him. “It’s my day off tomorrow, not yours. Get some sleep.”
Link collapses back down in the bed. “Fine. But tomorrow night I’m on duty.”
Amelia smiles at this for a moment, before she’s interrupted again by her son’s cries. She turns back toward the doorway as she hears Link mumble sleepily “he’s sooo needy.”
Amelia laughs as she makes her way into the hallway. “Like I said.... He’s just like me.”
_______
Link is surprised the next morning to see Amelia moving about the kitchen making coffee and breakfast. He enters the room fresh out of the shower, dressed for work.
“Why aren’t you sleeping in?” He asks Amelia. “Scout’s still down. Now’s your chance.”
Amelia turns toward him with two cups of coffee in hand, passing one to Link. “Eh, I couldn’t really get back to sleep last night.”
Link raises his eyebrows at this, taking a sip of coffee.
“He was fussy the rest of the night,” Amelia continues. “We ended up down here on the couch. Infomercials are really interesting in the middle of the night, by the way,” she smiles sarcastically, nodding toward the TV.
Link sighs at this, putting down his coffee and gripping Amelia by the shoulders. He studies her expression, noting how truly exhausted she looks. Dark circles and unbrushed hair. Amelia avoids his gaze until he places a finger under her chin, forcing eye contact.
“You need rest,” Link says sternly.
“I’m fine,” Amelia brushes him off, stepping out of his grip. She busies herself by finding a travel mug for Link to pour his coffee into.
“Amelia,” Link says slowly, watching her get his coffee all set.
“Link,” she retorts.
“I’m serious. You should try and get some sleep while the baby’s still down.”
And just on time, Scout’s cries flow through the house, originating from the second floor. Amelia raises her eyebrows at this. She moves toward the stairs, patting Link on the back as she passes him. “Welp, someone’s probably hungry,” she sighs.
Link watches as his girlfriend disappears, calling after her. “Please, try to relax today Amelia!”
He doesn’t get a response. He shrugs on his jacket and grabs his keys. In a last effort before leaving the house, Link grabs his phone and opens up his contact list before dialing a familiar number.
_______
Amelia feels like she’s blinking manually against sleep as she sits up against the cushions of the couch, repositioning her shirt before trying to get Scout to latch on. She’d been having so much trouble feeding Scout lately and it feels even more exhausting when she’s by herself. Without Link’s positive affirmations to encourage her, she feels less motivated than ever.
Three harsh knocks against the front door shock Amelia from her thoughts. She frowns before slowly standing up, placing Scout in the bassinet in the corner and adjusting her shirt, Amelia walks toward the door. Scout immediately begins crying at the loss of contact but Amelia pushes forward.
She unlocks the door and pulls it open, surprised to see Jo Wilson standing before her.
“Jo?” Amelia greets her, bewildered. Jo looks almost the way Amelia feels, she thinks, as she takes in the woman’s appearance. Makeup free, hair unkempt, dark circles under her eyes.
“Hey,” Jo smiles, but the smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
The two stand awkwardly. Amelia still blocking the doorway. Scout wailing desperately somewhere behind them.
“Link isn’t here, ya know,” Amelia explains. “He’s at the hospital.”
Jo looks unphased. “I know that,” she states matter-of-factly. “I’m here for you.”
Amelia just frowns at this, completely confused. Jo grows more impatient as Amelia’s uncertainty grows.
“Well, aren’t you going to let me in?”
_______
“Link called you?!” Amelia questions harshly as she busies herself in the living room. Picking up blankets and random toys. Fluffing the pillows on the couch. Jo watches from the opposite corner of the couch, where she’s now sat holding Scout, rolling her eyes at Amelia’s restlessness.
“Mhm,” Jo mumbles, glancing at the baby adoringly. She gently rubs a finger against Scout’s cheek, smiling widely at the baby’s expressiveness. She looks back up just as Amelia begins pulling the vacuum into the room. “Amelia what are you doing?”
“Cleaning,” she responds curtly. “I never have time for this,” she nods toward Scout resting peacefully in Jo’s arms, “so thank you.”
“Amelia,” Jo exclaims in disbelief, blinking toward the ceiling and trying not to laugh. “Link sent me here so you could relax, not do all of this!” She gestures with her free hand toward Amelia’s path through the living room.  Scout coos slightly at the movement and Jo quickly readjusts, resuming her fingers pattern against the baby's tiny features.
Amelia sighs, truly considering her options right now. She finally collapses into the opposite corner of the couch, smiling at Jo gratefully.
They weren’t that close. Jo and Amelia. But this was one of Link’s best friends. And Link was Amelia’s best friend. So there was commonality here somewhere down the line.
Comfortable silence falls between them and Amelia begins to feel her exhaustion catch up with her again. In an effort to stay awake and not be completely rude to her unexpected guest, Amelia reaches for the remote, clicking on the TV, hoping it will distract her from totally succumbing to sleep.
She settles for a random baking show, and realizes that Jo is completely infatuated with Scout, not paying any mind to the TV anyway. Amelia smiles to herself sleepily as she settles deeper into the cushions, her back against the end of the couch, she pulls her feet up to rest between them.
“He’s just perfect,” Jo mumbles, mesmerized.
“Ha,” Amelia laughs sarcastically. “Only when he lets me sleep through the night.”
Jo turns toward Amelia. Fatigued eyes meeting fatigued eyes. Amelia smiles wearily.
“I’m sorry, Jo,” Amelia murmurs. “About what happened with Alex, I….I never had the chance to tell you that.”
Jo shakes her head, dismissive. “We don’t have to talk about that.”
Amelia frowns slightly.
“Thank you, though,” Jo mumbles. She looks back down at Scout in her arms. “Ah, he fell asleep.”
Amelia blinks, readjusting, “I should probably get him upstairs.”
“I can do it,” Jo pipes up.
And Amelia accepts the help, settling back down onto the couch. She smiles up at Jo appreciatively as Jo stands, turning toward the front staircase.
Amelia only dozes off for a couple of minutes before she’s startled by Jo’s re-entrance. Jo places a baby monitor on the coffee table in front of them before she resumes her position on the opposite end of the couch.
“You can sleep,” Jo laughs. “That’s why I’m here.”
Amelia laughs under her breath. “Mhm, I might.” She closes her eyes but her face doesn’t quite relax. “Ugh, this couch is going to kill my back, but I just can’t bring myself to move upstairs right now,” she mumbles.
Jo giggles at her in disbelief. “Well, you are half-sitting. Here, slide down,” she offers as Amelia adjusts herself to fully lay down on the couch. As Amelia does this, Jo reaches forward to pull Amelia’s feet onto her lap.
Amelia opens her eyes only briefly, peeking at Jo amusedly. Jo squeezes her fuzzy sock-clad feet in response.
“You can sleep,” Jo repeats.
Moments later Amelia’s breathing evens out in a way that can only signify deep sleep. Jo leans her head back against the cushions, looking up at the ceiling. She slowly lets her own eyes shut, too.
_______
Link returns home to an oddly dark and seemingly empty house. He enters through the back door, setting down his keys and coffee mug from the morning, then tossing his jacket over one of the kitchen chairs.
He slowly moves throughout the first floor of the house, entering the dimly lit living room and letting his eyes adjust. The light from the TV illuminates a scene on the couch in front of him that he wasn’t expecting. That of his girlfriend sleeping soundly, feet resting in the lap of his best friend, also sleeping. A smile spreads across Link’s face as he takes in Jo’s grip on Amelia’s feet. He doesn’t realize he is laughing out loud until Jo stirs from her sleep, head lifting up from the cushions as she looks at him bewildered.
“Oh, hey,” she mumbles, voice still laced with exhaustion.
“Hey,” Link laughs.
Jo continues to readjust her position, shifting forward and placing Amelia’s legs down gently behind her.
“We fell asleep.”
“Yeah,” Link agrees, “I’m jealous. You’re kind of in my spot.” He then nods toward Amelia. “Looks like you were a fine replacement, though.”
Jo smiles, and this time around it begins to reach her eyes.
“Scout asleep?”
Jo nods, stifling a yawn. “I’m going to head out. I didn’t realize how late it was.”
Link nods at this, glancing again at his girlfriend, who somehow remains asleep despite the conversation happening around her.
“Thanks for calling me today, Link,” Jo adds, shrugging on her jacket. “I….somehow kinda needed this,” she smiles. “You can call me to come over and hold your baby anytime. I’ll be here.”
Link smiles at her gratefully as she makes her way to the front door. Jo turns around to give a quick wave to Link, before nodding toward Amelia on the couch. “You need me to carry her upstairs, too? Or you got that part?” She questions sarcastically.
“I got that part,” Link laughs.
_______
Amelia wakes with a start as Link places her gently in their bed.
“Huh?” she mumbles, “Link?”
“Go back to sleep,” he murmurs.
Amelia takes a moment to gather herself. “Did Jo leave? Where’s Scout?”
“Jo left. Scout’s still sleeping. You should be too.”
Link climbs into the bed next to her. Amelia turns to him. After another moment she speaks again into the space between them. “Thanks for calling her today. I kinda needed that.”
Link smiles, facing her, tucking a stray chunk of hair behind her ear. “We all need a little bit of help sometimes.”
_______
Gonna get by with my friends
(Try with a little help from my friends)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna try
(Try with a little help from my friends)
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youtuberswithalex · 4 years
Text
Period
Summary: Swallowing his panic, he tried his hardest to take a deep breath. He grabbed a wad of toilet paper and wiped, hoping to scurry to his room and get rid of the evidence of any injury before anyone could find out, but it came back soaked in just as much deep, dark blood as before. Tears sprung to his eyes as he let his hyperventilating take over. 
“Daaaaaad!”
(Trans!Virgil; Adoption AU; Romantic Logicality, Paternal Moxiety, Brotherly Prinxiety, Creativitwins)
Warnings: Blood, periods, crying, explanation of the menstrual cycle, brief mention of sex, implied/referenced past child abuse, brief mention of past character death, Remus Antics (brief, non-graphic mention of a gory scene in an old movie)
Word Count: 2316
A/N: So, this has been a fic I’ve wanted to write for 12+ years, a fic that’s transpired fandom after fandom after fandom: an explanation of what a period is, to help others who won’t get/understand an explanation from other sources. I know this gets a little info-dump-y, but I tried to make it understandable. This fic is for you kids who are nervous about getting yours for the first time, like I was, and I hope seeing characters you love going through it, too, can help!
This is also the first fic I’m posting, I guess, of this Adoption AU I’ve had in my head for a while! I’ve got a couple other ideas in mind, including a part 2 to this focusing more on Roman and Virgil, sooo hit me up for some AU questions, if you have any!
-----
It was true that Virgil hadn’t really been feeling well in the past week.
He didn’t know what it was, but everything just felt… off. He didn’t want to socialize with anyone; being around people had been making a fire of rage burn in his chest, and the fact that he didn’t know why just made it ten times worse. He was exhausted to the point of nearly falling asleep in class, and would have slept through his alarms twice and been late if it hadn’t have been for Roman waking him up when he didn’t come for breakfast.
Speaking of, he hadn’t had much of an appetite, and he’d hardly been eating because of it. Even the idea of eating anything had made him feel a little gross. And his stomach had been cramping a lot.
Realistically, Virgil knew this was something he should tell Patton or Logan, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. It didn’t matter how many times Roman reassured him that their dads wouldn’t be angry at him for getting sick; until he saw it for himself, he wasn’t going to be able to believe him. So what if Patton was a nurse? So what if Roman and Logan had butted heads dozens of times since Virgil had moved in, and it had never dissolved into a screaming match? That didn’t mean they wouldn’t turn on him, or that he was a good enough kid to avoid getting on their bad side!
Besides, he wasn’t throwing up or running a fever! He was just going to waste their time if he said anything. They had more important things to worry about than him. It’s not like he was dying or anything.
…Or, so he’d thought, until Thursday afternoon when he went to the bathroom and found his underwear covered in blood.
Virgil almost screamed at the sight. As soon as he recovered, he frantically searched his body for any sign of a scrape or scratch that could have left such a mess. There was nothing. Maybe… Maybe it had already healed?
Swallowing his panic, he tried his hardest to take a deep breath. He grabbed a wad of toilet paper and wiped, hoping to scurry to his room and get rid of the evidence of any injury before anyone could find out, but it came back soaked in just as much deep, dark blood as before. Tears sprung to his eyes as he let his hyperventilating take over.
“Daaaaaad!”
Footsteps came rushing to the door faster than he’d ever heard in this household. “Virgil, are you okay?”
He choked back a sob. “I-I’m bleeding…!”
“Okay, it’s going to be okay, kiddo,” Patton soothed. “Can I come in?”
Virgil looked at himself, still on the toilet, and set the wad of toilet paper on the tank. He scrambled to stand and pull his pants up before whimpering out an “Uh-huh”.
Patton calmly came in and shut the door behind him. “Alright, where are you bleeding?”
“I-I don’t know!”
“You don’t know?” he asked with a frown.
“I…” Virgil picked up the toilet paper and showed it to him, lowering his voice to a whisper despite no one else being in there with them. “It was all over my underwear,” he explained. “And when I wiped, I…”
He trailed off as Patton tilted his head to inspect the blood, and then understanding faded onto his face as he looked away in thought. While it was only a few seconds, it felt like an eternity; his stomach started to cramp again, and Virgil found himself trembling.
“I-I haven’t been feeling good this week,” he admitted. “My stomach’s been hurting, and—and all I want to do is sleep, and I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to bother you guys, and I’m sorry, I should’ve said something, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to be sick, I don’t want to have to go to the hospital, please—!”
Patton shushed him and ran his fingers through Virgil’s hair. “Hey, hey, relax, it’s alright! You’re okay, Virgil. You’re not going to die, trust me. Especially not on my watch.”
He leaned over, put the toilet lid down, and gently pushed Virgil to sit on it before kneeling in front of him. He took a few seconds to chew on his lip in thought.
“Virgil,” he started, “At your old school, did your teachers ever take an afternoon to talk to you guys about puberty?”
Virgil shook his head.
Patton let out a breath and nodded. “I guess they probably think it’s a little too early to talk about it, huh?” he muttered. “Am I allowed to touch your stomach, honey?”
Virgil hesitated, but he nodded after a moment. Patton reached up and placed his hands on Virgil’s lower belly. When he flinched, he used his thumb to rub gentle circles into it.
“Okay, so, in your body, right down here, you have this thing called a uterus,” he softly explained. “When people are pregnant, that’s where the babies grow before—”
“Am I PREGNANT?!”
“No, no, no—!” Patton had to hold back a laugh, taking his hands away to cover his face for just a second before returning them to their original position. “You’re not pregnant, Virgil, don’t—don’t worry about that!”
Virgil snapped his mouth shut, lower lip still trembling. Patton offered him a reassuring smile as he continued.
“Your uterus has these two things connected to it called ovaries.” He used his two index fingers to draw out where they would be. “They hold a bunch of tiny little eggs inside of them that eventually would turn into people—but only under certain circumstances, at certain times, usually involving another person. If you were to get pregnant, you’d know, understand? It’s not going to happen randomly.”
Patton didn’t move on until Virgil nodded.
“Okay. Now, about once a month, one of these two little guys is going to let one of their eggs go,” he said, “and it sticks to the wall of your uterus. And your body goes…”
Patton threw his hands into the air and waved them around. “’Yay! We’re gonna have a baby!’” he cheered in a cartoony voice. Virgil let out a weak snicker. Patton counted it as a win.
“It starts to get ready for this potential baby by building up this lining around the walls, so that it’ll be extra protected from harm. And for a little while, if you… Ah…” Patton’s face turned red. “Do… certain things, with certain people, that egg might get fertilized, and that’s how pregnancy starts.”
“Like… kissing?”
Patton hummed. “No, you’d have to do a little more than that. More, uh… adult stuff.”
Virgil nodded, looking at the floor very seriously. “Taxes.”
It was a fight to keep his laugh in. “R-Right. Taxes.” He cleared his throat and continued. “Um, anyway, if that egg doesn’t get fertilized, your body says, ‘Oh, darn! Well, maybe next time!’, and it gets rid of the egg, and then it gets rid of that lining so it can make a fresh one for the next egg.” He pointed to the bloody toilet paper still gripped tightly in Virgil’s hands. “That’s what that blood is. It’s not a cut, and it’s certainly not an omen of death. It’s just a sign that you’re growing up.”
Virgil stared at the toilet paper for a long moment. “…Am I going to have to do this every month?”
“Well, not at first,” Patton replied, putting his hands on his knees. “This is a brand new feature in your body right now, so it’ll take a bit for it to fall into a real cycle. For a little bit, you might have a couple within a month, or you might not have it for another three after this. But, eventually, yeah, the body will balance itself out.”
“How long is that gonna take?”
“It depends on your body. If it takes a while, or it doesn’t seem like it’s going to balance at all, we can look into some options to help, like birth control or hormone therapy. Modern medicine is a great thing,” he said with a wink. “How about we save that conversation for a little later, though? See how this pans out for now?”
There was a beat, and then Virgil slowly nodded. He shifted and tipped his head away. “What do I do about my underwear?” he whispered.
Patton hummed and sat back, looking up at the ceiling. “Well… I’ll be honest, kiddo, I can talk your ear off about anatomy and the medical side of things, but I don’t have a clue about the products and stuff. How would you feel if I called Remus’s mom and asked her to come explain that stuff to us?”
Virgil wiped at his eyes. “Okay.”
Offering a gentle smile, Patton held his arms open; there was a moment of hesitation, and then Virgil leaned forward and wrapped his smaller arms around him. Patton held him tight and rubbed his back.
“Thank you,” he whimpered.
“Of course, sweetie. That’s what your Pop and I are here for,” he reassured. “And don’t you ever worry about bothering us if you’re not feeling well, okay? We care about you more than whatever silly things we might be working on. We want to take care of you, okay?”
Virgil shuddered in a manner that was suspiciously similar to that of a repressed sob; when he spoke next, his voice was tight and high-pitched. “Okay.”
They sat like this for a moment, with Patton holding his son close, rubbing a hand over his lower back, until he pressed a kiss into his hair and pulled back.
“Alright, Virge, I need to go call Mrs. Drake,” he said. “Is your stomach still hurting? Or anything else, for that matter? I can get you some medicine to help, if you want.”
Virgil nodded, scrubbing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
Patton nodded and climbed to his feet. “Okay. I’ll be back as soon as I can, promise.”
He stepped out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and leaving Virgil alone with his thoughts again. He was still shaking, yes, but the terror of thinking he was going to die was settling into the more manageable fear of learning a new routine…
And maybe, a little, the risk of starting to put his trust into someone.
But maybe there wasn’t so much to fear in that one.
Virgil leaned forward and finally dropped the bloody toilet paper into the trash.
----------
The front door slammed open; Logan and Roman both nearly jumped out of their skin from where they sat at the dining room table.
“Virgil, we got your little butt-diapers!”
There was the sound of a light swat, and then the snatching of a plastic bag.
“Stahp, Remus, he’s already having a hard time with it!”
Snickering echoed through the entryway as the two climbed the half-flight of stairs leading to the main floor. As Remus made a beeline to tackle Roman out of his chair, Logan adjusted his posture to be more formal and nodded at Mrs. Drake.
“Good afternoon, Alya,” he called.
“Hi, boys,” she quickly responded. “Are they still in the bathroom?”
“I believe so, yes.”
Mrs. Drake nodded and hurried off just as Roman wrestled Remus off of him. He glanced at the hallway, and then between his twin and his father.
“Wait, what’s going on?”
“Your baby bro’s anus is bleeding for the first time!”
“No, Remus,” Logan scolded. He turned to Roman. “He’s experiencing his first menstrual period. Your father called Mrs. Drake to help teach him the technical aspects of how to best handle it.”
Roman blinked and sat up straight. “Oh! Is he going to be alright?”
“Yeah, Mom brought a bunch of stuff to help,” Remus replied, waving his hand as he plopped into the open seat next to Roman. “Pads, painkillers, heating rice bag sock things, the whole shebang. And a bunch of chocolate and candy and stuff!”
“Ah, good. I’ve seen studies that dark chocolate helps with cramps,” Logan stated.
Remus sighed. “A shame. I was hoping we’d get to see Virgie’s tiny baby rip out of his stomach. Like that scene in Aliens!”
Roman let out a whine and swatted him. “Dude, that’s my little brother!”
“Oh, come on! Your other dad’s a nurse! He could stitch him back up in no time!”
“That is not how nurses work!”
Logan hummed and adjusted his glasses, turning back to the papers he was grading. “Astounding. In less than two minutes, you’ve expressed your ignorance in both anatomy and the careers of the medical field. I suggest you brush up on them both if you truly wish to study in the field of dentistry.”
“Haa, brush up,” Roman laughed.
Logan shot him a glare over the rim of his glasses; Roman and Remus high-fived.
“Do your homework, Roman.”
Roman grinned and turned back to face his homework, but his mind instead floated back to Virgil’s condition. He bit down on his lip and shifted before looking up and tapping his pencil end against the table.
“Seriously… Virgil is going to be okay, right?” he asked.
Logan let out a soft breath. “Your brother is going to be just fine,” he gently reassured. “This is a natural thing for many people who possess uteri. He might be in pain for a little while, but ultimately, he will be alright.”
“My mom deals with it every month, and she’s not dead yet,” Remus pointed out. Then, with his grin fading a bit, he added, “Our mom probably had them, too. She must’ve, if she had us.”
Roman watched him for a long moment, and then he nodded, swallowing the lump that had snuck into his throat.
“Okay,” he whispered. “Okay.”
---------
Second A/N:
Hey, folks-- So, as it turned out, I made a bit of a mistake in explaining this. So sorry about this! Thank you so much to @romanslunchbox​ for pointing this out and correcting me:
“ It isn’t a huge mistake. However, in your fic you stated that the egg gets stuck in the lining of the uterus. But that is only possible with a fertilized egg. An non-fertilized egg dies in the oviducts before it can even reach the uterus. After the egg dies certain hormones are released to start the menstruation about 2 weeks later (how that works is an entire shit show of hormones and stuff). It takes a while for these hormones to be released, so the uterus keeps producing more lining for the egg to get stuck in. When the uterus finally gets the signale that there is no pregnancy, that is when the menstruation starts. “
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onechicagorpf · 4 years
Text
Equal Justice Under Law
Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader (Prosecutor)
Requested? Yes -  Are you still accepting requests? If you are can you do one where the reader is a prosecutor and working a case alongside intelligence. She gets in trouble and jay is the one to save her?
Warnings: Mentions of sexual abuse and murder. Swearing, the usual cuss words.
A/N: Okay so this is HELLA long. I really meant for all my requests to be blurbs (i.e. short fics) so please note that future requests will probably be much shorter than this! I just got carried away on this one! 😅
Also I realise the anon asked for the reader to be working alongside Intelligence, but in mine she’s kinda taking over after the police case is done, which is what happens in the episodes of Chicago Justice most of the time so that’s what I had it my head - hope y’all still like it! I also tried to switch it up this time and write in past tense, which I realise is sooo not my thing because I kept instinctively writing stuff in present tense and then having to go back and change it lol Let me know if you have a preference one way or another because I’m very curious as to how people feel about this! 
Up next? 3 more  Jay x Reader requests to fill!
PS: Send me asks/messages/leave a note if you liked this and want to see more!
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You sighed, dropping your face in your hands. Some days, you wished you hadn’t taken up the job as the Cook County Assistant State's Attorney. The late nights and high stress situations sucked, but more than that your job had a way of bringing to light the worst things about humanity.
Looking down at your desk, you ran your fingers across the scattered pictures. Amelia Langstrom, age 16. Pamela Park, age 18. Lacey McDonald, age 19. Julia Sanderson, age 15. Maggie Thane, age 16. Every photo of the girls, smiling at the camera, came with another one. This other photo wasn’t as well-lit, as happy, as pretty. It was an emotionless, clinical photo taken of their naked bodies, covered with injuries and bruises and cuts, surrounded by leaves or trash depending on where they were dumped.
It was an awful, awful thing. 5 young girls, all missing for over a week before their bodies were found. All with signs of sexual assault, yet no DNA left behind to trace back to the killer. All of this, by itself, would be enough to turn your stomach over. Which it did, but above that, watching your boyfriend come home every night with his head down, shoulders sagging, looking completely distressed as he and his team were no closer to finding the perpetrator of these crimes…it was terrible.
“You guys will get him. I know you will, Jay.” You said, brushing his dark brown hair out of his eyes as the two of you laid in bed together. Your boyfriend’s green eyes, usually bright and full of life, were dark and distant in a way you hadn’t seen in a long time.
“How many more girls does he have to kill before we find him?” Jay whispered, not even looking at you, as his frown - one that seemed to have made itself at home in his forehead over the last two weeks - deepened.
It was a week later when Anna Valdez, your second chair, knocked on your door. Her face was dark, and her lips were tight.
“Another girl?” You asked, your voice cracking.
Anna shook her head. “Intelligence got the guy.” She replied, still looking troubled.
You frowned, tilting your head at her. She paused, crossing her arms across her chest, trying to shrink herself. Like as if she didn’t want to say the next words. You stood up, now beginning to fear what was coming.
“What is it?”
Anna swallowed. “They’re saying he confessed.”
***
“Jay - ”
“You don’t believe me?! Seriously?!” Jay’s eyes were wide with outrage on the other side of your desk.
“It’s not about whether I believe you! It’s about - ” You lowered your voice, remembering that there were many, many people who were working right outside your office. “ - it’s about the fact that Voight is saying this guy confessed. Hank Voight. He’s not exactly a shrinking violet. And all this on top of the fact that - ”
Jay opened his mouth to cut in, but you silenced him with a raised hand and bulldozed onward.
“ - On top of the fact that there just so happened to be no one else in the room with Voight when Dylan Rhodes confessed? Hmm? And it happened in a - in a cage that’s in basement of your district? No cameras, no audio, no video?” You glared at Jay, barely hiding the seething rage that was boiling under your skin. You leaned across the desk, shoulders tight, voice now raised without a care about what anyone outside was going to hear. “Not to mention he’s got cuts and bruises all over his face from ‘resisting arrest’ even though he’s a 20 year old who’s maybe 120 pounds soaking wet and there were seven of you cops, all armed with guns when you went to arrest him!” You yelled, flinging several of Dylan Rhodes’ mugshots across the table, some of them flying all the way over to hit Jay’s body and land at his feet.
There was nothing in the air but the soft whirring of the ceiling fan, and the squeaking of wheels as you dropped back into your chair, exhausted.
Jay called your name, his voice different now - softer and sweeter. You tried not to look at him, tried to let him know just how angry you were…but you weren’t angry at him. Not really. You were angry at the man he worked for. When your eyes connected back with Jay’s, you could see that he knew that. He placed his palms on your desk and leaned towards you.
“You know that I have issues with Hank sometimes, with the way he does things. You know that. But Y/N, you gotta believe me on this one. I looked in that kid’s eyes. I know he did this.” Jay whispered, and you ducked your head, letting your vision graze over the one remaining photo of Dylan Rhodes on your desk.
You just sighed. Looking back up at him, you shook your head.
“It’s not about him, Jay. I know he did it too, I can feel it. But if I’m putting him away, it needs to happen the right way.” You offered, your voice almost didactic.
Jay’s jaw clenched. “Needs to happen the right way, or not at all?” He straightened, pulling away from you. The look he was giving you was one that you could only describe as fervent disapproval. Like he hated what he was seeing in you.
You decided you were done with the argument. Leveling Jay with a cold, emotionless stare, you spoke.
“Yeah. Because there’s some of us who still believe in the law. Who choose to serve and protect in the right way.”
The words spilled out of your mouth so matter-of-factly that they became so harsh. Jay was speechless, and in the beat of silence that followed, you regretted your words.
Your door opened and you jumped, too absorbed in your tête-à-tête with Jay to even give notice to the outside world. Anna looked over you and Jay - who was staring at his feet, jaw tight - with concern in her eyes.
“What is it?” You asked Anna for the second time in a day, just as terrified as the first time.
“Defense counsel just filed a motion to suppress the confession.”
***
“Mr Howard, if you’re ready we can begin - ”
“Sorry to interrupt, your honour, but it won’t be necessary.” You announced, standing up in the courtroom. Everyone’s eyes were on you, even the court stenographer’s.
The judge raised his eyebrows.
“The People will not object to Mr Howard’s motion to suppress the defendant’s confession.” You said, and a flurry of excitement broke out in the gallery - reporters shouting questions, members of the public yelling, camera flashes going off.
“So,” Anna began, facing you as you stopped to grab a cup of water from a dispenser in the hallway. It’d taken about five whole minutes of gavel banging by the judge to settle everyone down, before she dismissed the session. “Your boyfriend and some of his coworkers are at the end of the hallway, and they keep shooting us looks but no one’s coming.”
You tipped the paper cup into your water, swallowing the ice cold water, flinching a little at the tingly sensation it left in your mouth.
“Do you want to go the other way, or do you want to go talk to them? To him?” Anna asked, softly. If anyone else had been saying it, you would’ve snapped at them to mind their own business. But it’s Anna - Anna, who from day one has been by your side, who’s practically made it her mission to be the person you count on.
You shot Anna a gentle smile, squeezing her shoulder. “I’m good. I’ll take the south exit. Meet you back at the office after lunch?” Anna nodded, trying but failing to hide the concern in her eyes.
Side-stepping her, you walked down the hallway, away from where Jay and the rest of Intelligence must be gathered. A part of you hoped, strangely, that he’d come after you, even though you knew that there was no way he wouldn’t be pissed at you. You’d been with him long enough to know how he operated. How he felt everything so intensely, how he was wired through the heart. Jay lived and died by his instincts and his emotions, and there was something to be said about the simplicity of it. The man was a soldier, and maybe in war you didn’t have the time to think about procedure and precedent, about the sharp edges of red tape and the rules and regulations in a bureaucracy. The cosmetic battles didn’t matter to him – he didn’t care what something seemed like, he cared what it was.
But you weren’t Jay. You loved him, but you were not him. You weren’t a soldier - you were a lawyer, and your battle was in the courtroom, not Afghanistan. And in the courtroom, almost just as much as what something was mattered, what it looked like mattered too.
Dylan Rhodes had to be brought to justice, yes. But it had to be done the right way, not by way of coerced or falsified confessions. Equal justice under law was what you swore to uphold, and damn Voight if he thought you couldn’t put Dylan away while doing your job the right way. And damn Jay too, then.
***
“So, how’s the case coming along?” Will Halstead asked, pouring maple syrup over his waffles.
You leaned against the red leather seats in the diner, in an example of truly terrible posture. Shrugging, you answered him: “You know I can’t really talk about that.”
Will scoffed, picking up a fork and knife. “I think you’re allowed to tell me how you’re doing.”
You raised at eyebrow at the doctor, a smile starting to creep onto your face. “But those aren’t the exact words you used, and you actually asked me something completely different - ”
Will threw his hands in the air:‌ “Okay, we get it, you’re a lawyer and I shouldn’t argue with you.” He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, and you laughed, leaning forward to swat at his arm.
“Really, though.” Will said eventually, and you just nodded. “I’m feeling good. I think I’ve got motive, and I think I can get him to snap if I put him on the stand.”
Will smiled wide. “Attagirl.”
As you sipped your coffee, you kept going over your question in your head, trying to find the best way to phrase it. But just like his brother, Will could practically read your mind.
“Jay’s…you know how he is.” Will said, in a gentle tone.
“Stubborn, adamant, refuses to think he’s wrong about anything, ever?” You shot back in a grouchy tone, and Will raised his eyebrows. “Wow, you just said the same thing three ways - you must be pretty pissed!” He commented dryly, and you glared at him. Chuckling, Will waved you off before leaning across the diner table. “Y/N, he knows he shouldn’t have pushed you the way he did. He knows that. And he’s sorry.”
“He can’t come say that to me? Send me a message, come by my office, come home? He’s still gotta crash on your couch?” You shook your head, struggling to contain the hurt in your voice.
Will shot you a sympathetic look. “You know us Halstead boys; it takes a little while before the mea culpa can come out of our mouths.”
You stirred the spoon in your coffee, watching the little bits of foam go round and round and round, before dragging your spoon across in the opposite direction. The foam still swirled around a few times before stopping. Too slow.
“My bed’s been empty for a week, Will. I miss him.”
Will didn’t say anything; the good doctor just slid over a piece of tissue, and that was when you realised you’d started crying.
***
“You’ve got this.” Anna whispered, as the defense attorney took his seat. The judge turned to you and called for you to make your closing argument.
This was usually your favourite part - getting to talk directly to the jury, showing them the facts of your case, walking them through every step of the process with all the detail in the world so that they could get to the conclusion that you knew to be true.
But today was different. You shoved your hands in your pockets to hide that they were shaking. And when you looked over your shoulder at the gallery, you couldn’t see Jay.
He’d never missed any of your closing arguments. Ever.
Until today.
“Ms Y/L/N? Can we begin?” The judge tossed a concerned look your way.
Your eyes landed on Dylan Rhodes, who was smirking at you like he’d won.
Smiling back, you calmly turned to the judge. “Let’s begin.”
Starting from Dylan’s teenage years, where he racked up countless misconduct records in high school for all sorts of problems, you traced the development of this man, this awful human being. You painted a portrait of him as needy, sad, and lonely, and connected that to his need to hurt and attack girls who were otherwise unattainable for him. As you spoke, you could see the jury process your words and go where you were taking them.
Dylan had, by this point, dropped the cocky smirk. Instead, his face was red, his jaw was clenched, and veins were popping in his neck. You knew you had him - you knew it was over.
“Members of the jury - I have just one final request to ask of you. Today, you have the opportunity to see that justice is served to a man who more than deserves it. A man - a boy, who decided that raping and killing girls was the only way he could live with himself, because that was the only way he could have these girls.” You paused, turning to look at Dylan, who was shaking with rage.
“A boy who decided to hurt girls to cover up the fact that he is so weak, and so pathetic.” You punctuated the tense air in the courtroom with words so sharp they felt like the final nail in Dylan Rhodes’ coffin.
There was a moment of bliss, you knew you’d done your job, you knew you’d brought the jury over, you knew you’d succeeded - but just as quickly as things came together, it all came crashing down.
It happened so quickly - Dylan roared, lunging over the table towards you. Everyone started screaming, and you froze in shock and in fear.
The bailiff intercepted Dylan on his way over to you and tackled him to the ground. It all seemed settled for a second, but they kept struggling on the ground, and all you saw was Dylan’s hands reaching around the bailiff’s and - and his fingers wrapping around - oh god - 
“Gun!” Anna yelled, and the release of that one syllable was followed immediately by a gunshot. And then another.
***
“You gonna talk to Y/N? She’s closing the Rhodes case today, you know?” Hailey Upton asked, lifting her feet up to place them on the dashboard of the GMC Sierra.
Jay shrugged, fiddling with the radio in his hand.
“This is the part where you use your words.” Hailey remarked in a slightly sarcastic tone, smiling and Jay just shot her a look. Reaching over, he shoved her feet off the dash petulantly, and Hailey laughed.
Moments later, she turned back, cheek pressing against the headrest of her seat. “Jay.” She said, her tone gentle but still a little pushy. It was what he needed then, and she knew it. The last few days had been tough on him - he hadn’t talked to her about it, other than updating her that he was staying over at Will’s, but his entire demeanour was off - he’d been down and depressed.
Jay shrugged again, frowning. “I don’t know what to say. I screwed up, and I know it and she knows it and - I don’t know. I’m starting to think…” Jay ducked his head, eyes scanning his fingers as they traced the outlines of his radio. “…starting to think maybe she can do better than me, you know?” When he finished, his voice was much lower, much softer than it was when he began.
“Oh, she can definitely do better than you.” Hailey grinned, her dimples showing and Jay just reached across, punching her shoulder. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Hailey chuckles, before turning to face her partner again.
“Seriously though, I’ve seen the way she looks at you - that girl is one hundred percent in love with you.”
Jay’s heart felt full hearing that, and he knew it to be true, too.
“So get your shit together, stop sleeping on your brother’s couch, go back to her and apologise for being an idiot.” Hailey advised. Before Jay could say anything, his radio went off.
“10-1, 10-1, shots fired at the Third Municipal District, hall 5! Dispatch, get Intelligence on the scene now!”
“Isn’t that where - ” Hailey started to ask, frowning. She didn’t have to finish her question, because she got her answer when Jay, who suddenly went as pale as a ghost, turned on the lights and sirens and floored it.
***
“Dylan…just - think about this, okay?”
Your hands were out in front of you, shaking.
Dylan Rhodes was about 10 feet from you, with a gun in his hand. The gallery had cleared out and the people on the jury had managed to escape to their deliberation room, separated from the courtroom with a thick wooden door. The only people who were left with you and Dylan were the judge, Anna and Mr Howard.
Your eyes flickered down to where the bailiff laid in a pool of his own blood. Dylan had fired two shots straight through the bailiff’s chest. You didn’t need to be trained in medicine like your boyfriend’s brother to know that the bailiff was dead.
You’d said hi to him once, in an elevator. He’d smiled back, and asked you how your day was.
You can’t remember what you told him.
“You’re scared now, aren’t you?” Dylan asked, and you snapped back to him. He had a deranged smile on his face.
“Dylan, please, it doesn’t have to be like this - ” You started speaking, but the judge - Judge Kinnaman - cut you off.
“Son, I swear if you don’t drop that gun now, you will never see the light of day. I will personally ensure that.” Judge Kinnaman’s voice resounded in the empty courtroom with authority. Dylan turned to him, gun following his line of sight.
“Fuck you.” Dylan punctuated his words with a squeeze of the trigger. Anna screamed, and you heard a loud thump. When you turned over your shoulder, you couldn’t see Judge Kinnaman at his seat behind the counter anymore - all you saw was blood splatter on his chair and the wood behind him.
The numbness you’d felt until this point suddenly gave way to waves upon waves of fear. It felt like a chill going down your spine - your body was cold, your mind was racing, and you were absolutely terrified.
“Dylan - Dylan, listen to me.” Jon Howard, the defense attorney, spoke softly from the defense table. “Just - just put the gun down, okay?”
Dylan’s eyes practically went red with rage. “You - you fucking…you’re useless, you’re pathetic, you know that?” Dylan swings back around, yelling at you and Anna. “He asked me to make a deal! A deal! What kind of a shitty lawyer gives up before he even tries to win, huh?!” He yelled at Jon, spit flying out of his mouth. Jon flinched, leaning back as Dylan moved closer to him.
Suddenly, a voice on loudspeaker boomed from outside the closed doors of the courtroom.
“Dylan Rhodes! This is Jay Halstead of the Chicago Police Department. We have the courtroom surrounded!”
Your knees almost buckled as you heard Jay’s voice. Relief flooded your veins, but you were still scared as you watched Dylan suddenly turn around, eyes wide.
“We do not want you or anyone in there to get hurt, okay? Just let the people in there come out, and I swear I will help you.” Jay finished, and Dylan just grabbed his head in his hands.
“No, no, no, no!” Dylan whispered to himself, tears springing out of his eyes. You turned to Anna, both of you equally terrified. Suddenly, Dylan raised his head, almost like a lion that had suddenly spotted a gazelle over the lines of grass.
Dylan surged towards you. Screaming, you flattened yourself against the witness stand, but it was to no avail - Dylan’s left hand grabbed your throat, and he pulled you to him, turning you so that you were in front of him, his left forearm like a bar going across your neck. You felt the cool metal of the gun against your temple, and you gasped.
“I have a hostage! I’m coming out, and I want everyone to stand back!” Dylan barked, before walking you to the door. You were shaking against him, tears streaming down your face at this point. The pressure of the gun against your head seemed to be drilling into you. As you reached the door, and Dylan instructed you to open it, all you could think about was that at least you’d get to see Jay before you died today.
The door opened with a loud creak, and you were stunned to see so many fully uniformed police officers with assault rifles standing right outside. Per Dylan’s instructions, they were all standing back, but still it was absolutely terrifying seeing all those guns pointed at you.
Your eyes immediately found Jay, who had his head tilted, looking down the sight on his rifle but the moment Dylan had brought you out, he picked his head up. His mouth was open slightly, his eyes were wide and wet, and he looked to be completely distraught.
Seeing him finally after days apart…it made every argument you’d ever had feel so inconsequential. You were so full of love for him and the only thing you wanted to do was run, run to him and wrap your arms around him. Unable to do any of that, you just mouthed “I love you” as you tried to hold back sobs.
“I want a car, and - and I want a - a jet fueled at O’Hare!” Dylan shouted.
Jay just shook his head. “You need to let her go first, alright?”
Dylan tightened his hold on you. “I’m not a fucking idiot!”
“We know that, okay?” Hailey spoke up, from a few feet to the right of Jay. “We don’t think you’re an idiot. We just want to make sure you don’t do anything you don’t want to do.” She said, putting her rifle down. Raising her hands, she took a couple of steps towards Dylan, who at this point had completely turned to face her.
“No - no, I don’t want you to move! Just - just stay where you are!” Dylan snapped, his voice raging. Your heart was beating so loudly that you could almost hear it in your ears. Closing your eyes, you just prayed silently.
“I know you don’t want to hurt her. So let’s just make sure - ” Hailey spoke gently, but Dylan cut her off, laughing sharply.
“You stupid bitch! You’re all stupid bitches! Damn right I want to hurt her! This bitch - ” Dylan shouted, pulling in his forearm, the immense pressure against your neck strangling you, “ - called me pathetic! I’m gonna show her how fucking pathetic she is when I get her somewhere alone and I - ”
A loud bang goes off, and you jumped. Your eyes flew open just in time to feel Dylan sag against you, and you instinctively leaned out of the way so that he fell to the ground. 
Arms wrapped around you, and your first reaction was to flinch, to scream, to turn with eyes wide, trying to claw away from whoever it is. But then you heard his voice.
“Baby! Baby - it’s me, it’s Jay!” Your boyfriend’s eyes were wide and teary. His eyebrows were furrowed deeply, and he looked like he was in pain.
Everything clicked in your head.
“Jay,” You moaned, shaking fingers clutching his vest as you engulfed yourself in him. Jay’s arms wrapped around you tightly and you soaked in his scent, his warmth, his safety. Sobbing into his neck, you refused to let go, still not really believing this to be real. Jay didn’t say anything for a while and you weren’t sure why. But then you heard him crying into your hair, and you pulled back to see him. His eyes were wet, pooling with tears, and you immediately brought your hands up to hold his face. Jay leaned down as you got on your tip toes and you kissed, wet and soft and scared. Jay’s hands cradled your face, and when the two of you eventually split to breathe, you just looked up at him, speechless, shaking your head.
“I’m so sorry,” Jay whimpered.
“It’s okay. We’re okay. Just - just come home, please,” You begged, running your thumb over his jaw.
“Of course. Of course. I’m never leaving you like that again, okay? No matter what. Y/N, I love you so much. When he came out with you - I - I almost died right where I stood.” Jay told you as his face contorted into something painful. You pressed your lips to his again, quick and chaste. Pulling back, you smiled up at him.
“I love you too, Jay.”
The rest of the day was a mess - the cops moved Dylan’s body, as well as the bailiff’s and Judge Kinnaman’s, while paramedics cleared you medically. You flung yourself at Anna when they brought her out, swearing to her that you were okay and asking repeatedly if she was fine. The two of you held on to each other, crying, as Jay kept rubbing your back. In fact, he never left your side, not even for a second. After you were done giving your statement, Jay took you home, and the two of you got undressed and sat in a warm bath together for a while. You kept thinking at times that you were fine, but then you’d remember the feeling of the gun against your head, or the way the bailiff slumped over, and you started crying again. Jay brought his arms around you, pulling you to his chest and peppering your face with kisses as he soothed you.
At night, you curled into each other. The two of you drifted asleep, in the safety and warmth of your embrace.
*** Please leave a comment/like/reblog!
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maggies-scribblings · 4 years
Note
Ladynoir, thinking post-reveal pre-relationship but idk whatever makes you happiest: “I’ll kick his ass if you want me to.”
I decided to make it a continuation of this. Hope you like it, and sorry it took me so long. 
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Ass-kicking
It was the first Saturday afternoon after the night they found out about their identities, and Adrien and Marinette were at the Historical Library. They were working on an ongoing History project with Alya and Nino, meeting there every weekend.
“Oh, great!” Marinette huffed, looking at her phone screen. “They just bailed.”
“Really?”
She showed him the message on her phone. 
[Alya] Hey sweetie, sorry, we can’t make it today. Nino’s family is away and I need to help him with his French homework.  
“French homework, huh?” Adrien said as he returned the phone.
“Somehow I doubt that.” 
“There will probably be French involved,” he quipped, waggling his eyebrows, “but definitely not homework.”
Marinette had to cover her mouth as she snorted. 
“How about we investigate that other subject?” he leaned over the table and whispered conspiratorially. 
The library was mostly empty, but Marinette still shushed him. 
“What? Here?”
“Where else? We can check out books about ancient languages, history…”
“Hmm… I don’t know… what if someone sees us? Won’t it be suspicious?”
“We’re still working on a project, right? I know! You’re applying for fashion internships in the summer, right?” She nodded. With a playful smirk, he pointed at himself with his thumbs. “Who better to help you with a fashion presentation than your friend, the actual haute couture supermodel?”
Marinette giggled softly while Adrien winked and made finger guns, in full-on Chat Noir mode. Her laughter made his heart sing. 
“Okay, actual supermodel. Where should we begin?”
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A few weeks later… 
[Alya] Hey there gorgeous! Girls’ lunch today? 
[Marinette] Hey Alya! No can do, project work all day. 
[Alya] Secret project again, huh? 😉 
[Marinette] Quit it Alya, I have to go. Raincheck?
[Alya] How’s Sunday? 
[Marinette] Great! Text me in the morning. xoxo
[Alya] Yeah, right… I’ll drop by to wake you! xoxo
Alya sighed as she put her phone away. Marinette had been acting weird for some time now. Ever since that day she showed up at school with dark circles under her eyes and with a silly grin on her face, which she explained away with some excuse about good news from her Chinese relatives, and staying up late on Facetime to talk to them. 
After four years of BFF service, Alya could tell when she was making up stories… and yet, even when caught in a lie, there were some things Marinette just wouldn’t share. It was frustrating, but Alya was respectful of her friend’s privacy. Well, most of the time, anyway.
It was also weird that she was hanging out with Adrien so often, seeing that not so long ago she had trouble even maintaining a simple conversation with him. 
“Sooo, giiirl…” Alya playfully asked, before taking a bite of her kebab. “Got anything you want to share with meee?... ”
“Share?” Marinette looked genuinely confused. “What about?” 
“Don’t play innocent with me, sweetie. You thought I wouldn’t notice you and Adrien sneaking around on breaks, going to your place after school?”
Marinette’s reaction was even stranger. Instead of her usual sputtering and denial, she coolly replied they were working on a project together, refusing to add any other details. And yet, Alya couldn’t resist some gentle teasing.
“So, does this… erm… project include any nookie?”
“A-Alya!” There she was. Blushing, stuttering Marinette. “No-nookie? No! This is strictly professional!”
As it was, Marinette refused to discuss the project any further, except to add it had something to do with fashion and her application for summer internships with established designers Adrien knew. It was the exact same explanation Nino had heard from Adrien… almost verbatim. Her reporter's sixth sense was tingling, but she let it go. If her best friends were seeing each other in secret there probably was a good reason for it. 
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“Alya’s on to us.”
“What!?” Chat Noir almost spit out his palmier. “She knows?”
Ladybug shook her head and corrected herself. 
“No—not that! I mean she’s not buying the story about the…”  she gestured air quotes, “‘fashion project’!”
“Oh. That.” After licking his fingers, he took another cookie from the box Ladybug had brought to patrol. One of the best perks of the job, and now much more frequent. “Nino was also acting weird about it.”
“What do you mean, acting weird?”
“He was all like, oh, you dog, finally saw the light, took you long enough, whatever.”
Ladybug swallowed her juice quicker than she should, breaking into a coughing fit. Chat Noir tapped her back, which was no help at all but made him feel like he was doing something. As the coughing stopped, the pats turned to gentle rubs. 
“He did?”
“Yeah, he was so… smarmy about it. Like he knew something I didn’t.”
“Huh.” Ladybug scooted away from him and went very quiet. 
“Are you alright?”
“I… I just need a minute, okay?”
Adrien was confused by her reaction. Sure, things were different after that night. Since then, Ladybug seemed slightly more restrained around Chat Noir. Although he had toned down his banter, she seemed more embarrassed whenever he made some flirtatious joke. 
The civilian side of their lives was altogether a different story. After a few days of mutual awkwardness, working together on the grimoire brought them closer than ever. 
Of course, they had been friends for a long time — well, except for that time in the beginning, when she had been so uncomfortable around him. The gum incident when they met was probably a bad start, and there had been ups and downs between them ever since. He even asked Nino if she had something against him, but he wasn’t any help. 
Eventually, that bashfulness faded as they grew older. Marinette started going out with Luka, much to the joy of their mutual friends and his own inexplicable chagrin. Adrien and Kagami were also dating within the confines of their controlling, yet approving, parents. After that, whenever they hung out there was a relaxed familiarity that made her open up more, and Adrien considered her one of his best friends. 
Now that he knew she had been Ladybug all along, he couldn’t help but feel the bitter twinge of regret. What would—could—have happened if he knew then what he knew now? 
“You really don’t know why Nino teased you?”
“No—I don’t.”
“They think we’re, you know, dating in secret.”
“What? Why? They think you’re cheating on Luka?”
“No! Not cheating… Luka sorta dumped me six months ago.” 
“Luka dumped you?” Adrien was totally confused. How could anyone dump Marinette? “I’ll kick his ass if you want me to, Milady.”
“Nah, it’s okay,” she chuckled sadly. “It wasn’t working out anyway.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, you know. He has his music, I have all of this,” Ladybug sighed, pointing at her suit. “He wanted me to be more present, and I just couldn’t. It’s like we were always out of sync.” 
“—out of sync,” Chat Noir ended the phrase with her. “I know what you mean.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it was the same with Kagami,” he admitted. “She wanted to do, you know, couple things, when I was exhausted from all of this. She needed me to be there for her. By the seventeenth time I ditched her during an akuma alert with a lame excuse, she was done and ended everything.”
“You still seem hurt about it.”
“I think I’m over it now,” he shrugged. “It’s been almost a year. I just couldn’t be the kind of boyfriend she needs and deserves, so…” 
Ladybug was silent for some minutes. When she spoke, Chat Noir jumped a little. 
“I can’t believe she dumped you,” she said indignantly. “She was so in love with you…”
“How do you know that? She’s usually so reserved.”
“Well, besides it being written all over her face when she was near you? She told me. Well, actually she told Ladybug.”
“She told you that? When?”
“Oh, it was a while ago, the last time she was Ryuko. She said you were made for each other.” 
“Oh yeah, when you saved her from Heart Hunter. They were after people who were in love.”
Ladybug cringed with embarrassment, then sighed and straightened her back, psyching herself up.  
“I—I need to be honest with you, Adrien… I didn’t exactly save her. I chose her that day because I was jealous.”
Chat Noir nodded, but she wouldn’t look at him. 
“Jealous?” he cleared his throat. “Of… me?”
“Yes.” She uttered a sad chuckle, shaking her head. “I was so confused back then. So tired. I liked Luka, but I was so obsessed with Adrien-you, and I was trying not to like Chat-you. Then you and Kagami looked so happy that day… I tried to walk away, but jealousy got the best of me.” Ladybug covered her face with her hands. “I made so many stupid decisions that day. I almost ruined everything.”
Chat Noir pulled her into his lap and hugged her. 
“Hey… hey… It was a tough time for all of us, with Hawkmoth chasing Master Fu—”
“—and I led him straight to where Master Fu was! It was all my fault.”
“No.” He gently lifted her chin to meet her eyes. “It’s all his fault. Hawkmoth’s the one who’s caused all this. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Ladybug nodded, sinking into his arms and pulling him closer. 
“You can always count on me when you feel overwhelmed,” Chat Noir whispered, kissing her forehead. “Or if you need me to kick some ass.” He felt her chuckling softly into his shoulder. “Now you always know how to find me. Any time, day or night, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And we’ll talk about that other thing another day. I’m still annoyed with our so-called best friends and their teasing.”
“Okay.” This time there was a hint of laughter in her voice. “Please don't kick their asses.”
“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t… Now, let’s clear this up so I can take you home.”
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To be continued? Let me know! 
Thanks to @chanceuseladynoire,  @zenmisery and @nomolosk for the beta read.
Asked for a sequel and/or to be tagged: @miraculous-elcie-fanfics @ao3bronte @bowser14456 @alexseanchai @delectablycoolscientist @lecolibribleu @omgpercabethadrinette @damelicorne
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riverteatime · 4 years
Text
A night with my Moon-boyfriend (Moonjumper x Reader fic)
-and also a bit of Snatcher too-
Author note :
*inhale*
Aaaaaaaaaaa-
I'm back
I just want to say that they have not enough fic of the Moonboy. I may be a Snatch lover but there have also a big place in my heart for MJ (plus the fact that I will make MJ route before Snatcher in ADIT because he is a pure boi).
No trigger warning just fluff and love ! Also I am sorry but it's not really gender neutral. And also MC is shy.
And also next fic will be sick!reader or nightmare x Mj. (Maybe both in one fic)
Also Imma give a hug to the Moonfreak--
------------
You are exhausted. It's one of those days you hate because it's sooo hot outside. And it's been two weeks since the last time you have 'a cool day' (a day in which the temperature is not too hot or too cold). Luckly for you, you spend a good time at Subcon Forest each days. This place have many trees (even if they are more dead than anything) but the heart of the forest is also in a perpetual night so this place is more pleasant in a time in which the desert and Mafia Town are literally 'hell' places. Plus you have a little further the 'ice biome' like you like to call it. But the last time you tried to go and 'cool off' you have seen a headless statue at the distance. Even if it was far from you, you just decided to return in the forest while you say to yourself "Nope. Not today!". And your 'task', like your boss (aka: Snatch the noodle ghost) love to call don't help. Every day you have something to do : searching for a lost subconite (every day), murder the fire spirits (once a week), delivering mail (once - twice a week), playing with Hat, Bow and Mu (once - twice a day and even more if you make a sleepover), be present for the Death Wishes... So many things to do. Every days you have to run in all Subcon Forest. At the end, when you have finish your job, you want to jump in the puddle of water in front of Snatcher's house.
Anyways, you finished your work earlier today. So now it's time for the best part of the day, it's time to go see your boyfriend Moony. It's now more than one month you started to go on dates with him. Due to his gentleman attitude, he brings you to fancy restaurants. But you always wonders something : where do his money came from. He is a corpse and dead livings have no use of money after their life. He is indeed a prince (or was), sure, but this fact don't stop you of thinking.
Today, you want to ask him for a date. Normally, it's always him who ask. But this time you want to change things. And also you are worried that he will run out of money with all the stuff he buys to you. And you have an idea.
You know oh so well the path that brings you to your beloved. With no time you arrived at the 'Mj's forest part'. And he didn't seem to have sense your presence or he will be already running (or floating) at you.
"MOONY!?" You call, almost screaming at the trees.
With no time he answers you "Darling! You are here?! Can you wait a little?"
"Are you busy? I can pass at another time if you want." You say, a bit disappointed.
"Nonono- I already finished, I just have to make this thing here and-. Ok!" He mumbles to himself
You were trying to watch the tops of the trees, hoping you will be able to see where he is hiding. And you see him, going down slowly at you like an angel. You cannot keep your mounth shut by how etherial he is. Your jaw is now wide open. Even it's been now one month you date him, and more you know him, you cannot help yourself to fall in love harder. Mj's body is now floating at some feets from the ground, he watch your stunning face with amusement. His small chuckle brings you to the reality.
"What is this visit worth to me?" He say with his oh-so-lovely smile.
"I-..." You shook your head for escaping your daydream. "I just want to talk with you about our next date"
"Hmm? I didn't set out where will we going next time. I'm little busy with Snatcher these days. Sorry..."
"No! I... Uh... I was thinking with the whole thing that you are always the one who invite me and pay for fancy restaurant..." You start shyly.
"You don't like it?" He asks with a concerned voice.
"No! Uh... Yes...Uh... I like it but I was asking to myself where all this money come from 'cause you're a corpse..." You stammer.
"Darling! I'm a prince!" He says while a small laugh.
"I know but... I cannot stop myself to think about that" You tell to him
"My little MC, you know that I will buy the world for you if I was capable. Don't worry about the money I have more than you though. And you deserve this my sweet doll. You deserve all the money of the world." He answer smiling smugly
The fact that he calls you doll -even if he calls you that ANYTIME he see you- make you blush a little. You shook your head for trying to make disappear the blushing (the keyword is trying 'cause you're always blushing with him). "...anyway! I was thinking maybe for our next date we ... can make -a- a movie night... in my spaceship and... m-make a sleepover ?..." You say so shyly that you are asking at yourself if he heard it. You are now just a blushing mess that want to hide somewhere.
Moonjumper sits on the ground to look into your eyes and asks "Is that an invitation ?"
"....yeah .... I think... B-but if you are busy we can make this another time...." You continue always blushing.
"I accept ! And no need to be so shy with me, my doll." He says happily. "How about tomorrow evening?"
"o-ok" You say shyly to him. Peck! Why it's always difficult to say things with him. Anyways, you succeed to ask him and it's truly something.
You stay with him for one hour, watching him re-arranging his home, sometimes telling him some stuff like the new restaurant you have seen in Mafia Town, the ideas of Conductor and Grooves for their next movie, the book you are reading when you are alone in your spaceship... Sometimes he answer you, sometimes he just hums. After some time, you decide to call it a day and to return in your spaceship after saying "see you tomorrow".
-------
The next day you awake from your sleep, your morning alarm already ringing. You take a quick shower and prepare breakfast when you remember something you have totally forgot. You have a date with your boyfriend. Remembering this make your face all blushy and you even almost chokes on your breakfast.
"Just don't think about Moony" you mumble to yourself. But then your brain thinks about him and his charming persona so you blush even more. In fact you are already as red as a cherry.
After finishing your breakfast you go to the forest making Snatcher's work.
--------
"Boss ! I found the subconite !" You say to Snatcher while you walk at his tree-house. "He was stuck at the swamp." It's now the third subconite you found lost in the forest in a week. Geez, they cannot stay at their work. Snatcher, already busy with one of his books (like always), waves his hand for showing you he have somewhat understand, and dismiss you in the same time. But you stay, because you want to ask something, and the simple fact you're not going out bother the purple man.
"What !?" He asks you a bit angry while placing a bookmark at the page he was reading.
"I need to ask something !" You answer
"I'm already listening" He tells you, proving you that he is really listening to your request for once.
"Cool ! So, I need your opinion for something. What type of movies MJ likes. I don't know what to show him and I'm thinking because you are his other half maybe you know. Hattie have inviting you and him for watching movies, right?" You tell maybe a bit too fast because you are just excited.
He closes his eyes and inhale. "Listen! It's not because he is my other half that I know all the things about him. You are his boy/girlfriend so it's more YOU who must know that." He says pointing at you with one of his finger. "And yes, the hatted brat invited me and Moonboy at her 'movie night party' so many times. Just don't show him a horror movie or he will scream like he will be killed for the second time. I also recommend to you to not show him a dramatic film or he will cry during all the movie."
"So no drama and no horror movies. I got it ! Thanks Snatch, you're the best !" You say happily while waving to him to say goodbye.
"Whatever... And don't call me 'Snatch'!" He yells from his chair at you while you are already far enough for not to be killed (in the figurative sens of the word).
---------------
So now it's currently the evening. You though about making a dinner for your boyfriend but you remembered he is a corpse so he don't need to eat (and also because you talked with him today in the forest and said that he will be alright). Anyway, for killing the time you though about what you will wear, took a shower and checked if everythings was alright (at least ten times for an hour). It will be the first time you will spend a night with your bf at home so you are stressed, anxious but also happy. For movies you choose classics : Disney movies. They have a lot of romantics stories with princes and princesses and you hope that your bf will like (and also searching movies in space is kind of looking for a needle in a hayshack).
So now you wait (and checked again a last time). You know that he will not be late, he is always at time for dates. But you cannot let your eyes see another thing than the needles of your watch on your arm. You even seem to hear the low ticktock of it.
Then you sense a little gust of cold wind. It's the signal.
"Hi Moony!" You say showing your more beautiful smile.
"Good evening my beautiful doll! You're splendid tonight!" He say while appearing from his glitch dimension (yeah I headcannon that he can go in a glitch dimension for long travels)
You blush and you whisper "You're the beautiful here". He place his hand on your head and reply "No you!". Like always you cannot win this argument. Then he grab something hiding in his coat and give you a small plush of your favorite animal (you can choose, but for me it's cat and red panda).
"Sorry to not give you a decent gift. The last time I gifted flowers... You know what happen" He tells to you. But for you this is more than a decent gift. So you do what your brain say, you hug Moonjumper and tell him that you are happy.
You stay some minutes like this. But you remember that you have a movie night to do. You take his hand and lead him to your 'movie place' (that is just many pillows, a pile of blankets, some bowls of popcorn and a pile of movies in front of your TV.). You said to him to make himself at home while you pick a movie. And you don't see your favorite Disney's movie (again you can choose the movie) so you dive (literally) your head first in one of your closet where your movies should be. Meanwhile your boyfriend Moony have set his eyes first one your little form disappearing in the closet, then on the delicious pop-corn you prepared for this occasion. What is this thing, again? He saw that when the hatted child (Hattie) invited him at a party. He picks one piece of pop-corn and hold it between his fingers for inspecting this. But then you find the precious movie and you come out from your closet. You see him with his pop-corn.
"Moony? Did something bother you?" You ask while walking to the TV
"Yes... I've seen this when I was at the hatted child's party..." He says.
"What? Wait! You don't know what is pop-corn". He shakes his head at your ask. "Eat it" You tell him. He tilts his head and look at you with a confusing and surprised look. So you grab a bunch of pop-corn and swallow it in no time. It's when he sees that you're not dying (so it's not poisonous) that he eat the small pop-corn. At the first time, anything happen, then a big smile appears on his face.
"You like it?" You ask. He continue to smile for saying yes. "You can eat more. All of it is for you"
"But you?" He ask a bit concerned about the fact that you will not eat
"If I eat all of the pop-corn I'm sure my dentist will not be happy". You reply while turning on the TV and putting the channel on 'DVD player'.
Soon, the movie starts. You sit next to your boyfriend. But then, the corpse start to watch you rather than the TV and thinks about something.
"My Angel?" He ask you
"Yeah?" You reply, not paying attention to the nickname he told you because you are so absorb on the movie, even if it started just some minutes ago.
"Perhaps it will be weird but can you rather sit on my lap?" He asks you shyly
You take some time before realising what he ask you but when your brain understand this...oh god... You are now as red as a cherry. You turn your head at the opposite direction because you don't want your Moony to see how you are madly blushing.
"....Yea...Sure". You say before you sit on his lap.
He traps you small form between his arm, hugging you tightly like a small child do with a plushy, but also paying attention that it's not too tight "Much better~!" He whisper to your ear. He cuddle you, resting his head in your shoulder while you are just a blushing mess who want to crawl in a hole like a mouse.
But after some time, you are used to his cuddling. He can be cold because he is a living corpse, but the heat of your body plus the blanket warms you and your boyfriend. One hour watching the movie and you start to be sleepy, even you miss the end because you have somewhat fell asleep on MJ's lap. It's at the credits that Moony realize that you are sleeping quietly.
"Awww~! What a cute and beautiful sight!" He says to himself "It's a pity that I have not a camera for taking a photo of this cutie~~".
He grabs the TV remote control press the big red button, turning off the TV. He then pick you in his arms (like a baby) and walks (floats) to your bed. He gently lie you down puts the blanket on you. But when he is about to floats away, you grab the sleeve of his coat.
"What is it little puppet?!" He asks you gently and also smiling (*cough*like an idiot*cough) due to your cuteness.
"Can you stay for the night, please?" You ask after yawning.
"Anything for you princess~~" He reply. He gets in your blanket and lie next to you (or maybe he lie behind you and you lie on him if you have a small bed). He gently pats your head with one of his hands while you hug him like a baby koala. Then, he place a chaste kiss on your forehead.
"Goodnigh' Moony... Love you..." You say half-sleeping.
"Goodnight my little MC. I love you too" He whisper before falling asleep.
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mbeebowriting · 4 years
Text
draco malfoy x reader
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warnings: none other than a kinda ooc draco!
word count: 1.8k
notes: okay this is very specific and super self indulgent but also really sweet and cute so!!! enjoy!!! (also this is unedited bc im too antsy and excited to post it
     the past 2 weeks had overwhelmed you. tests, papers, concerts, forced social gatherings- your energy had just run out. you still had another week to go before any kind of break though- so the timing of your burnout was less than ideal. at this point, you barely had enough energy to talk to your friends, so when draco malfoy tapped on your shoulder during class, you whirled around, ready to fight. what you weren’t expecting was his question.
     “can you help me with this?” you blinked in surprise. she you had short conversations before class, but it still shocked you a little bit.
     “yeah, sure. i’ll show you.” you walked him through the spell a few times, until he was able to execute it well enough to pass. 
     “great, thank you!” he said with a smile. his politeness threw you off, and all you could do was smile and turn back around. what you didn’t see was how his smile fell after that.
     the next day, for whatever reason, he sat next to you, but you were still feeling equally as drained as the day before. at the end of class he stopped you from leaving with yet again, a small conversation.
     “do you think we could meet out of class to work on these charms? you seem to really understand it and i could use some help.”
     “im sorry draco- my schedule is completely packed until our break.” you replied with a sad smile. “i’ve actually got another performance tonight for the staff dinner.”
     “hm. what about after that? we could grab some dinner and study.” you were taken aback again. why was he being so nice to you? you couldn’t turn him down after he’s showing you kindness you’ve never seen before. plus, he was really cute, you’ve always kind of had a thing for him. 
     “alright, how about 8 o’clock in the great hall?”
     “great, it’s a date.” he said with a wink before leaving the class- leaving you flustered and unsure of what just happened.
     after you had finished your performance, you made your way to the great hall, spotting draco on the way. you chatted idly while grabbing some food and a table. draco sat to your right and your textbooks piled up to your left.  once you began studying, you felt the weight of the day hit you, and you ended up zoning out and staring at your textbook. you laid your head in your hand and decided to close your eyes for just one minute. unsurprisingly, you fell asleep. when you woke up, you and draco were the only ones in the room.
     “good morning.” draco said. it was at this point that you realized the position you were in, in your sleep, you had shifted so that  your head was resting on his shoulder. you immediately lifted your head up and avoided eye contact with him. 
     “what time is it?”
     “11:30-ish.”
     “you let me sleep that long?’ you exclaimed.
     “you just seemed so tired and like you needed a break. and plus…” he trailed off. “nevermind.”
     “no no, wait. plus what?” he became visibly flustered.
     “nothing, there is no plus!”
     “tell me what the plus is or i’ll ditch you and hang out with potter instead.” his eyes widened- did that actually make him mad?
     “fine. i was just going to say you looked cute on my shoulder like that.” now it was your turn to be flustered. suddenly your textbook was incredibly interesting. you could feel him smirking beside you, but couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. he leaned into to your ear and sent chills down your spine as he spoke. “but to be fair, you look cute all the time.” you covered your face with your hands to hide your blush. he went to pull your hands away, and chuckled as you swatted them away. “hey, you asked for this! why are you so embarrassed anyway, i’m just stating facts.” you sighed in response, but couldn’t hold back a smile. 
     “i need to go draco, i have another concert tomorrow and i need to be at my best.” your smile fell.
     “alright. i hope it goes well.” you gave him a sad smile and couldn’t stop the tears from pricking at your eyes. “hey woah, what’s going on? are you okay?”
     “yeah.” you said shakily and unconvincingly, to which he gave you a look. “i’m just exhausted and… i really wish my family could be here for this concert.” you were so focused on talking without crying your barely noticed draco’s hand holding your own. “everyone else’s families come for this concert, it’s our last one, but my parents decided… they would rather visit my sisters than me. i just wish someone would come support me at this last concert.” one tear was set free as you blinked. it rolled down your cheek and dropped onto draco’s hand. he was clearly caught off guard by your sudden change in emotion, but his voice was steady when he spoke.
     “what time is it?”
     “no, draco-”
     “and where?”
     “draco you don’t have to come out of pity, it’s okay. this is how it’s always been, i’m used to it. i stopped looking for familiar faces in the audience years ago.”
     “what? that’s not okay! when and where is it. i’ll be there.” you studied his eyes before answering.
     “it’s here, after they serve dinner.”
     “i’ll be there.” 
     “...why?”      “because you deserve to have someone in the audience-”
     “no, why are you being so nice to me? this feels so… out of character for you.” his eyes darted around the room, looking anywhere but your own. 
     “i- you just haven’t done anything wrong for me to… uhh…” he struggled to find the word. “tease you for.” you couldn’t help but feel disappointed at his response.
     “well, thank you for that i guess. but we should really get going. it’s late.” he agreed with you, so you packed up all your things and went your separate ways.
     “(y/n)!” your roommate shouted as you walked in. “where on GOD have you been? don’t you have a concert tomorrow and classes all morning?” you flopped down on your bed.
     “yeah, since when do you track my schedule?”
     “you were complaining about it in charms.”
     “fair enough, that does sound like me. but why are you so worried about this suddenly?”
     “hmm, not worried, just curious.” she said, sitting next to you on your bed. “i happened to walk by the great hall just an hour ago,” your eyes went wide. “and saw you with none other than the prince of slytherin himself: draco malfoy.”
     “don’t jump to conclusions, we were just studying.”
     “for god’s sake (y/n), you were asleep on his shoulder! did he ever say it was a date? i bet he did.” 
     “well yeah, but i thought he was just teasing. he does that.” she gave you the same look that draco had given you earlier. “okay and he also called me cute and is coming to my concert tomorrow but don’t read into that, he probably wasn’t serious!” 
     “guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
     “what?”
     “well if he has a thing for you too, he’ll be at the concert.”
     “too? excuse you?”
     “i love you to death (y/n) but you’re a terrible liar, and you’re not very subtle.”
     the day’s classes had flown by- it was concert time. you arrived early, helping set up the chairs and music, and once you had settled into your spot and people had filled in, you couldn’t believe what you saw. what seemed like the entirety of the slytherin house was packed into the front section, with one familiar asshole front and center. he caught your eye and sent you a smile. you couldn’t even think of what to do back, you were too shook.
     the concert itself went by quickly. you played beautifully, and all of your emotions poured through your instrument. by the end, you were shaky, emotional, and nervous to see draco after. you didn’t have much time to compose yourself however, as he was the first person you saw as you walked off stage. before you could say anything, he wrapped you in a hug (but quickly pulled away once he realized people were staring).
     “you did incredible!”
     “thank you- how did you… why are there… what?” you could barely get a sentence out.
     “i just asked some people to come and support you, you deserve a big cheering section.”
     “draco, i…” suddenly you were aware of everyone standing around you two. “can we maybe go somewhere a little quieter?” he nodded and pulled you through the crowd, out the door, and down the hallway into the courtyard. he sat down on a bench and motioned for you to sit next to him, which you gladly did. you took a deep breath before speaking, trying to kill your nerves that arose with the thought of sharing your feelings with him. you were so in your head, you barely processed what he said when he spoke.
      “you really did well up there today. and you look stunning too, by the way.” again, no thoughts heady empty, you could not think of a response for the life of you. he chuckled. “i’m sure you’ve figured it out by now, i’m not just nice to you because you ‘done nothing wrong’ or whatever i said yesterday.” he stared at you, waiting for a response, but all you could do was smile and let your palms sweat. “are you really gonna make me say it? it’s because i like you (y/n).” the final twist of the knife. there were simultaneously one million and absolutely no thoughts swimming around your head, but when you didn’t respond he started to lean away and looked hurt.
     “wait no- i’m sorry! this is just a lot all at once! i like you too draco.” you rushed out. he returned to your side, eyebrows raised.
     “yeah?”
     “yeah. you must have charmed me or something, because i really do. somehow.”
      “hey! first of all, rude. second of all, i’m terrible at charms. you know that.” you two joked back and forth until the moon shone brightly up above. after you both agreed it was time to head back to your respective dorms, a nervous silence fell. 
     “sooo…” you drawled on. “good night i guess?”
     “good night to you too.” silence again. “do you have time for another study date tomorrow? i spent most of our last one being nervous and trying not to wake you up.”
     “yeah! i’m free tomorrow night if you want?”
     “alright, it’s a date.” he said for leaning down to kiss you, and walking away. leaving you flustered and unsure of what just happened for the second time that week.
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diyunho · 5 years
Text
The Joker x Reader - “ Nobody” Part 1
After not feeling well for months, The Joker finally found out why: the life threatening condition is so serious there’s only a 50/50 chance of survival.  Dealing with a brain tumor is not going to be easy, that’s why The King of Gotham asked his half-brother Arthur to help Y/N while he’ll undergo treatment.
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The Joker yawns, repositioning his head in your lap.
“You want a small pillow?” you pause the movie you’re both watching and he refuses.
“No,” J stretches on the couch. “These are soft enough,” he pokes your thighs and you squirm, ticklish to his touch.
Suddenly, the cell phone chimes and J reaches his hand to grab it from the table.
“Arthur is here,” he announces. “He wasn’t in a hurry, hm?” The Joker mumbles while getting up.
You decline to comment and do the same because you can hear the elevator going up to the Penthouse. You could say the anticipation is making you a little bit nervous: you’ve been with J for about 10 months but you’ve never met Arthur. Probably it’s safe to assume they are not very close yet soon after finding out about the illness, The Joker contacted his sibling to let him know and sure enough he agreed to come over and help.
Although Mr. Fleck is three  hours late, it doesn’t mean he is trying to back out on his promise.
The elevator opens and Arthur emerges dressed in one of his red suits, anxiously passing his fingers through his curls. J wants to criticize and his brother is in no mood for a lecture:
“Before you lash out, I was delayed by an unexpected issue!” he keeps talking and walking in your direction. “My apologies.”
“What issue?” J growls and Arthur extends the palm of his hand, firmly shaking yours, definitely not waiting for an introduction: “Hello there,” he smiles. “I’m the older, smarter, funnier and more charming version; you must be the better half.”
“Riiiiiight…” The Joker rolls his eyes, annoyed.
“Y/N,” you smirk at the man’s remark and he lets go of your hand, explaining his delayed arrival:
“Don’t get worked up, kid. One of my projects required immediate attention and I had to sort it out.”
You expect The Joker to protest the nickname but he doesn’t mention anything: Arthur always called him that since they were teenagers and your boyfriend is used to it. Doesn’t bother him at all.
“Do you want a drink? Are you hungry?” you offer and he nods a no.
“I’m good; thanks,” he takes a sit on the nearest armchair and the couple reprises their position on the sofa.
A few moments of silence before Arthur decides to talk about the reason why he’s at the Penthouse.
“Sooo… What did the doctors find out? How bad is it?” he inquires and you unconsciously cling to J’s arm, not willing to hear about it again.
“The brain tumor is too big, I can’t have surgery yet. I already started with lower doses of medication 20 days ago, I have to gradually build up to the higher doses so my body can handle it. Soon I’ll have chemo every 3 weeks, then every 2 we…”
A low chuckle and Arthur covers his mouth in horror.
“Sorry…” he has a chance to whisper before bursting out laughing.
“Here we go…” The Joker crosses his legs, patiently waiting for his brother to finish his outburst. The King of Gotham may not be an accommodating individual, but his sibling’s condition is something he has always tolerated without any problem.
“I’m very…” Arthur tries to speak but the strenuous sounds he makes at the end of each cackle prove how much he’s struggling to control his inappropriate amusement. “…s-sorry,” he continues to snicker while digging in his pocket for a small piece of laminated paper. He finds the item and hands it over to you; you curiously inspect the writing: it basically explains his neurological disorder in a few words.
“It’s fine, J told me,” you return the information to its owner.
“I can’t believe you still have that,” The Clown Prince of Crime huffs as Arthur is slowly regaining his composure.
“I’m very sorry,” he emphasizes his regrettable outpour. “You were saying?”
J deeply inhales and reprises the briefing:
“I’ll have to do chemo every 3 weeks, then every 14 days until the tumor shrinks enough to be operable. I guess I have a 50/50 chance of surviving the whole thing, that’s why I asked for your cooperation in helping Y/N oversee my affairs. I will get worse before I might get better, thus here we are.”
Arthur pulls tissues out of the box next to him and gives them to the devastated Y/N: The Joker didn’t notice you are quietly sobbing by his side.
“Please stop crying,” he kisses your temple, avoiding your emotions like he regularly does. The best option is to divert the gathering towards another topic. “We got ready one of the bedrooms upstairs for you; I hope that’s up to your standards.”
“My standards are normal,” the truth is blurred out. “You’re the fancy one, kid. That’s why you’re The Joker and I’m Joker; I don’t need any glorification. Plus, I didn’t oppose when you picked this half of town and left me the other.”
“You’re an idiot!” the green haired man stands up from his spot, wanting nothing more than to retreat to the master bedroom after an exhausting day.
“Runs in the family,” Arthur nonchalantly hints and you snort, blowing your nose in a tissue.
“Keep your mouth shut!” J advices and you have no clue he’s referring to more than just the constant bickering going on between them. “I’m calling it quits, are you coming?”
“I’ll have a smoke on the terrace first, “Arthur searches for his pack of cigarettes and you believe this is the perfect chance to chat with him:
“I’ll stay with our guest, alright?”
“Suit yourselves,” The Joker grumbles and you follow his brother outside on the huge patio.
“I forgot how nice this is from the 30th floor,” Arthur stirs the conversation while lighting up a cigarette.
“Yes, it’s a lovely view,” you wipe your tears and he resentfully mutters:
“I fucking hate this town…”
You sigh, not wishing to interrupt in case he has more to add and the plain inquiry catches you off guard.
“How are you holding up?”
The question resonates in the awkward stillness and Y/N elects to bring him up to date.
“I’m doing the best I can under the circumstances. He’s not doing well…” you sniffle and Arthur pays attention to your confession. “The medications may be in low amount, but they are strong; they make him very confused at times, plus the side effects of the tumor… he forgets things, he has no idea where he is or… or… who I am. The doctors advised that when it happens we have to go with the flow and not push for him to recall details. His brain is under a lot of pressure and this is only the beginning.”
Arthur blows smoke up in the air, displeased with the news about his younger sibling.
“Shit, that’s rough…”
That’s surely the understatement of the year for the heartbroken Y/N.
“When he doesn’t recognize me, I tell him I’m nobody, just a person taking care of the place and he doesn’t even know the difference. I suggest you avoid any type of confrontation while he’s like that; please generalize everything you articulate and don’t complicate the situation.”
“Of course… Yeah, yeah, of course,” he is fast to agree with your guidance.
“Thank you,” you sincerely show your gratitude because you appreciate his presence. “I think I’ll join him upstairs; tonight he’s beginning higher dosage on his pills and he might have a reaction.”
“I’ll stay and finish my cigarette,” Arthur scratches the scar above his lip. “Which bedroom is mine?”
“Fourth one on the left.”
“Perfect, I’ll find it,” he waves as you return inside, eager to check up on The Clown Prince of Crime.
**************
“What the … t-the hell?” The Joker stutters, groggy from the strong medications swallowed a few hours ago.
You barely distinguish his wobbly silhouette standing by the bed.
“What’s wrong?” you turn on the lamp on the nightstand, instantly aware of his wet boxers.
“I d-didn’t make it to… to the bathroom,” J seems out of it, yet at least he realizes that much.
“Oh, it’s totally fine,” you maintain your cool and jump off the sheets, rushing to help him. “The doctors warned accidents could happen since the drugs are making you dizzy and super drowsy. Let’s step in the bathtub, shall we?”
You take his hand and lead a compliant boyfriend to the master bathroom; sometimes it’s easy to deal with him in this state, sometimes it’s not.
Luckily tonight he’s obedient.
You turn on the water and he tightly holds his boxers while you attempt to yank them off him.
“Who…who are you?” The Joker sulks, unhappy with your movement.
“I’m nobody,” you reply and manage not to cry at his disorientation. “I’m here to help you, ok?” you calmly try to reason with his baffled mind.
“I… I… I don’t want you to see me naked,” he complains and Y/N has an easy solution for the apparent controversy.
“I’ll close my eyes, deal?”
You do as vowed and J lets you undress him, finally ending up in the bathtub for a quick, relaxing soak.
“You want bubbles?” you glance at him once the body is submerged under the warm water.
“No…” he yawns and you fold a towel, placing it under his head in case he’ll pass out.
“Where… where am I?...”
A faint knock at the door and Arthur talks in a low tone:
“Everything good?”
“Yes, we’re fine,” he distinguishes your reply; he just returned from the underground garage with his suitcase and discerned the commotion: made him wonder if his assistance was necessary.
“Who was that?” The Joker enjoys being pampered by the stranger he doesn’t recognize for the moment; apparently forgot about shyness also because he has no objection to the sponge bath now.
“The maintenance guy,” you lie without blinking while pouring more shampoo over J’s toxic green locks.
*************
10 am
Arthur joined you and The Joker in the kitchen less than 5 minutes ago; he positioned himself against the counter, this way he has a broad perspective of the whole space. He sips on the fresh coffee, observing the scene unfolding at the table:
J is reading a magazine and you feed him breakfast, caressing his hair every few seconds. You didn’t mention anything about last night; he woke up feeling a bit better and it’s safe not to agitate him with useless facts.
“Are you hungry?” you address Arthur and he lifts his shoulders up, undecided.
“Maybe… I’ll munch on something shortly.”
“Hurry up before it gets cold,” you encourage him and The Joker is already as crabby as he can be.
“Stop bugging him! If he wants to eat, he’ll eat!”
“I’m not bugging him,” you defend your action, upset at J’s feisty attitude.
“She’s not bugging me,” Arthur tucks a rebel curl behind his ear, disapproving of his brother’s assumption.
“I’m not,” you sweetly smile and The Joker slaps your fingers away from his hair.
The cheerfulness dies on your face and you get up, kicking the chair in the process.
“I’ll bring your morning meds,” you enunciate and leave the kitchen in a hurry.
“Goddamn irritating,” J hisses at your behavior and Arthur can’t zip it.
“Are you stupid?” he sucks on his cheeks and that definitely gets your boyfriend’s attention.
“What did you say?!”
“I’ve been here for minutes and she didn’t take a single bite out of anything, too preoccupied with making sure you eat. Do you even notice how she looks at you?” he raises his voice. “So I’m asking you again: are you stupid?”
“Excuse me?!” J abandons his seat and the threatening demeanor queues Arthur about the imminent scuffle, not that he’s willing to avoid it.
“I wasn’t clear enough?” the latest provokes his sibling. “ARE. YOU. STUUUUPID?” he repeats, cracking his neck with anticipation.
You are coming downstairs with the meds and the ruckus happening in the kitchen makes you speed up.
You are certainly not disappointed at the show: J and Arthur are wrestling on the floor, relentlessly hitting one another.
“Stop it!!” you shout and your plea is ignored. “Stop it!” you insist when you detect Arthur’s bloody nose and J’s busted lip. “Are you deaf?! Stop it!!”
This is the last drop: after another shitty night and the stuff you endured recently, you are completely lacking any kind of patience for anybody’s nonsense.
You toss the vial with The Joker’s tablets on the counter, snatch the ice bucket from the freezer and fill it out with water. The ice cubes float in the clear liquid: the 8 gallons metal container is pretty large since it’s used for J’s grape juice cans.
You thud on the marble floor and dump the freezing concoction on top of the two heated fighters, the sudden shock from the unexpected impact being enough to halt the brawl.
“Ugg!!” J rolls on his back while Arthur crawls by the stove. “What are you doing, Y/N?!” he yells and you storm out, firmly squeezing the ice bucket to your chest without realizing.
The loud bang of a shut door bears witness of your justified rage concerning the altercation; how can you not get mad at such crap?!
Arthur seeks for his beloved cigarettes in the interior of his orange vest, triumphantly lightening one after failing the first trials.
“I like her,” he puffs the fumes out, leaning towards his brother because J is gesturing for the bud.
The Joker takes a deep drag, admitting for once:
“Me too.”
“I thought you quit,” Arthur points out.
“I did,” his brother answers, glaring at the ceiling. “Clean up this mess!” he orders and continues to smoke.
“Nope, we should let fate determine,” the older sibling suggests and J falls into the little trap.
“Rock, paper, scissors?”
“Ready?” Arthur smirks and counts. “1…2…3!”
“… … … Dammit!” The King of Gotham cusses.
“Have fun, kid!” the winner plucks the cig away from J. “Gimme, these are bad for your health!”
**************
“Are you in here?” The Joker sneaks in his office and watches you patrol around the desk, still vigorously attached to the infamous ice bucket.
The lack of reply makes him approach the distressed woman; you avoid gazing his way at all costs.
“I need my pitcher,” he sniffles and Y/N disregards his sentence. “You’re aware I like to use grape juice on ice for those bitter capsules. There’s no bucket and no ice in the freezer so… what am I supposed to do? Skip my morning remedy?”
A hint of lowered resistance and he’s taking advantage of it.
“My lip hurts,” he rubs the swollen, red spot. “I need ice for this too.”
You place your precious bucket on top of some folders, cautiously examining the superficial cut.
“Stitches won’t be necessary,” the obvious result updates a pouting J.
“Are you sure?” he plays dumb and wraps his arms around your waist. “Take a closer look, I can’t afford to walk around with chipped dignity.”
You peck the unharmed corner of his mouth, mad you’re giving into such cheap amendments.
“I’m positive…”
The Joker grins and kisses you, entirely convinced it wasn’t hard to get under your skin.
“You’re not going to leave, are you?” he rests his forehead on yours and Y/N is speechless at the question. “This is the tumor talking, obviously,” J fixes the tiny mistake when he sees your reaction.
“Obviously…” you whisper, sadly reckoning he purposely avoids any type of sensitive debate about your future together.
The Joker though is carefully listening to Arthur mumbling on the hallway, suspicious at the meaning.
“Is he eavesdropping?!” you focus on the faint words also and it clicks for J.
“Cut it out!!!” he screams while Mister Fleck is not phased, joyfully concluding the ceremony the couple didn’t agree to.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you Nobody and Joker!”
“What was that?!” you crinkle your nose, puzzled.
“He has a minister license and never used it; he tried to hitch me with my ex too,” J clarifies his brother’s odd conduct.
“You may now kiss the bride!” Arthur shouts and The Joker had enough:
“Shut the fuck up!!!”
“What am I supposed to do with my license then?!” the wavy hair pops in the door frame.
“I don’t care!” J snarls, fed up with his sibling’s persistence. “Go pester someone else!” the door is slammed in Arthur’s face; fortunately the 42 years old is not the type of man to be easily offended.
He adjusts the pieces of tissue sticking out of his bloody nose, proudly holding the minister accreditation at eye level.
“I got myself a sister-in-law,” Arthur chuckles at his achievement, impatiently searching for a pack of cigarettes in the pocket of his red jacket.
 Also read: MASTERLIST
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veeeffvee · 4 years
Text
Static (a Ghost and Pals fanfiction)
Word Count: 3187
Summary: While watching TV alone and staying awake far too late at night, you accidentally stumble upon a TV show that you have never seen before. Unbeknownst to you, this particular TV show would entail much more than mere entertainment. [A COLORBARS-inspired fanfic, set in an AU that has almost nothing to do with Communications Case 2 aside from Kennith being a major character.]
A/N: Here’s to loving life COLORBARS’ anniversary! This is yet another fanfic that I wrote on a whim, but unlike COLOR-TV, this one will stay a oneshot. Now, a couple of things to keep in mind are that 1) this isn’t COLOR-TV related, and 2) this is a reader-insert fanfic. Also, you know how COLORBARS and BROADCAST ILLUSION have two different stories but they both feature Kennith? Well, think of this AU as my interpretation of COLORBARS if it had a story completely different from Communications Case 2. That’s all I’ll say about the fanfic for now, though. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy my newest addition to my collection of AU Kenniths: Kennith the Static Ghost!
It was a Saturday night, and you were alone in the house.
It wasn’t as exciting as it sounded. Sure, you had access to all of the food in the house, you could do stupid dances without anyone watching, and you were free to scream your lungs out to whatever music you listened to. But even you got tired after dark. Although you had exhausted all of your energy, the last thing that you wanted to do was nothing, so you entertained yourself in the remaining hours of the day watching TV.
Unfortunately, you were quite the insomniac. Nighttime turned to midnight, and midnight slowly crept into the early morning. A glance at the clock told you that it was about 1:55 A.M.
You groaned. Curse these awful, depressing thoughts, swirling about your mind. They made it hard to sleep, you told yourself. That, coupled with anxiety, didn’t exactly help matters much either. Maybe you should have exhausted yourself while you still could. At least then you would have no choice but to sleep. 20/20 hindsight, really.
Wrapped up in a blanket and curled up on your bedroom floor, you stared numbly at your TV screen. You weren’t really paying attention to the show (you thought it was some kind of old sitcom?), but it was nice to look at something instead of the empty darkness of your room. Not that you were afraid of the dark, but you enjoyed the mild entertainment, even though your mind was wandering off somewhere else.
The moment that the clock turned to 2 A.M., your TV screen suddenly filled with static.
You sat up straight in alarm. What happened? Did something mess up the signal or something? You couldn’t see outside right now, but you could have sworn that there wasn’t a storm or anything going on.
You hardly had time to ponder the cause of the disruption before the static flickered out, revealing what appeared to be an entirely new TV show.
Surrounded in a pastel yellow background, a teenage boy stood with his arms spread out and poised. The boy had short peach-colored hair and pale skin. His eyes were salmon-colored, or at least his right one was. His left eye was obscured by his hair. He wore a white sleeveless shirt with yellow, green, and purple sectioned off at the top, green accents on the collar and placket, and yellow buttons. He also wore a pair of shorts that seemed to be divided with two different patterns for each leg: pink with white polka dots on the right leg, and plain blue on the left leg. The boy had his left hand open, palm side facing up. Meanwhile, his right hand held a microphone, the wire of which circled him and appeared to float weightlessly around him.
With a smile, the boy announced, “Hello everyone, and welcome to C-O-L-O-R! I’m your host, Kennith Simmons!” After he spoke, theme music began playing through the speakers.
You stared blankly at the screen. What the hell was this? You’ve never heard of this show before. Not that you watch TV this late at night normally, but you should have seen or heard about it somehow in passing. Confused but intrigued, you decided to stay up a little bit longer to watch the show.
After his initial greeting, this “Kennith” character went on to explain the type of show that he hosted, which was in his words: “basically a variety show.” And a variety show it was, as he introduced a cast of several guests onto the show, all just as colorful and bright as he was. They weren’t famous people, at least not any that you would recognize. The cast then proceeded to perform several challenges, ranging from baking, to building, to teamwork-based games—all of which roused cheering and applause from an off-camera audience. Although he was the host of the show, Kennith regularly participated in each of the challenges, even though there would be no point if he were to win. But he looked like he was having fun.
You blinked. They all looked like they were having fun. All of the cast members were happy and smiling, and were never even discouraged whenever they lost a challenge.
Vaguely, you wished that you could be that happy, and have that much fun. It looked like they were all having the time of their lives on this show.
The show continued to run for about an hour, and towards the end of it, your eyelids were starting to droop. It looked like you were finally worn out, all thanks to watching this exciting TV show. Maybe now you could finally fall asleep. That seemed nice. You liked sleeping.
“Hey there!”
It wasn’t like staying up was particularly healthy, either. You were probably going to wake up tomorrow in a daze. Not only that, but your parents would probably yell at you for waking up in the afternoon again. As annoying as it was, you supposed that it was starting to become a habit.
“Hello?? Yoo-hoo!”
Your eyes slowly began to close. You were tired. You wanted to sleep. Finally, after all this time, you could—
“HEY!! Wake up sleepyhead, I’m talking to you!”
You jolted awake, eyes darting to the TV screen. There, Kennith stood with his hands on his hips, looking impatient and staring directly at you.
After a moment, you answered, “...Me?”
Kennith threw his hands up in the air. “Yes, you! Geez, I’ve only been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes!” he exclaimed, clearly aggravated.
You stared blearily at him. “Why?”
“Uh, ‘cause you’re falling asleep in the middle of my show? It’s kinda rude,” Kennith continued, borderline yelling. “I put a lot of time and effort into running C-O-L-O-R, so I don’t appreciate it when my audience is drifting off on me!”
You were at a loss. “...I’m sorry?”
“You better be!” Kennith huffed, folding his arms. Somehow, he wasn’t tangled up in his microphone’s wire. “I expect an apology. If you don’t like my show, you could either say so or just change the channel, not ignore me to my face!”
Your gaze then wandered to the TV remote beside you. You reached for it.
Kennith noticed this. “Wait wait wait—don’t do that! I was kidding! I was kidding!”
You stopped, looking expectantly at Kennith.
Kennith forced out a laugh, holding his hands up defensively. “Y-Yeah, it was just, just a joke! Yes, we love jokes here on C-O-L-O-R. And that was one of them! So... please don’t change the channel,” he pleaded.
“Okay.” You gingerly leaned back, away from the remote. “I won’t.”
“Really? Oh, thank you so much!” Kennith beamed, switching his attitude at breakneck speed. “You won’t regret this, dear viewer, I promise! Say, what’s your name anyway?”
You didn't answer.
“...Not much of a talker, huh? That’s okay. I’ll do most of the talking.” He curiously leaned forward, supporting himself with his hands on his knees. “So! How are things?”
“...Good.”
Kennith hummed thoughtfully. “Hmm, really?”
You furrowed your brow. “Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” you repeated. Why was he so persistent?
Kennith narrowed his visible eye skeptically, still wearing a smile. “Are you absolutely sure?”
You frowned, narrowing your eyes as well. However, unlike Kennith, your expression was more of a glare.
Kennith continued, “Are you sure you’re sure?”
“I’m gonna turn off the TV.”
“Hey!” Kennith put his hands up in a placating gesture. “I’m just asking! Nothing wrong with asking, right?”
“Why do you care?” you asked, your tone much more biting than you meant it to be. But hey, Kennith was being annoying right now, so who could blame you?
Kennith made a grand gesture as he put a hand to his chest. “Oh, I care about the well-being of all my audience members! My audience’s pain is my pain!” He leaned forward again, this time to the point where he was about to tip over. “Sooo, what’s up?”
You stared at Kennith suspiciously for a moment before curtly replying, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
You knew that your answer made you sound like an angsty teen. And maybe you were one. But that didn’t mean that you felt like sharing your problems with this… thing.
Kennith hummed thoughtfully again. “Why not?”
“Oh, I don’t know, because you’re a TV character?” you snapped. “Because you’re a complete stranger? Because all of this is insane?” You held a hand to your forehead, exasperated beyond belief. “God, I’m either going crazy or this is some kind of dream…”
Kennith fell silent, his smile finally dropping. He looked at you with a blank expression, and honestly, it was more unnerving than everything else. You and him held eye contact for a while, and still, Kennith chose not to say anything.
Despite yourself, you gulped. Did you anger him somehow? What were the repercussions of that? You had no idea what to expect.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Kennith spoke.
“Mind if I come in?”
You didn’t have time to ask what that meant, and Kennith didn’t leave you any room to answer. As quickly as he had asked his question, Kennith reached through the TV screen, his hand moving through it as if it wasn’t even there. He then held his other arm out, and after getting a good grip on the frame of your TV, he hefted himself up and essentially threw himself through the screen, landing on your bedroom floor with a loud thump.
Naturally, you screamed in horror and retreated to the back wall of your room. Kennith looked just as bright and colorful as he did on TV, almost appearing to glow in the darkness of the bedroom. However, the most unnerving part was that he was slightly transparent.
After groaning in pain for a good few seconds because of his rough landing, Kennith jumped to his feet and rushed over to you, speaking in a hushed tone. Despite everything, he looked genuinely worried. “Don’t panic, it’s okay! This is totally normal!”
You were hysterical, leaning as far away from Kennith as possible. “No, it’s not! Y-You just climbed out of my TV!”
“I know.” Kennith grinned. “Cool, right?”
“No! You can’t just—”
“Hey hey hey, just calm down, alright?” Kennith went on, acting as if nothing were wrong. “It’s not like I’m gonna hurt you.”
“I don’t know that,” you protested, continuing to glare at him.
Kennith rolled his eyes (or, at least, the one eye that you could see). He slowly backed away from you with his hands up, trying his best to appear harmless. “Well, I’m not. I just wanna talk.”
“Talk?” you echoed incredulously. “We were talking just now!”
“Yeah, but it was really one-sided. I figured that if I was up-close and personal, you would open up more!” Kennith declared, clapping his hands together. “So! Is it working? Feel like talking yet?”
You paused. What the actual, literal fuck is wrong with this guy.
Instead of answering his question, you asked, “Why me?”
“Hm?”
“Why talk to me of all people?” you clarified.
Kennith appeared to consider this, as he rocked on his heels in thought. He tilted his head before answering, “I see every single person in my audience at all times during the broadcast. You, of all people, seemed a little off. So, I got concerned.”
That explanation only made you more confused. “How did I seem ‘a little off?��” you asked.
Kennith’s expression suddenly turned sympathetic. “Well, when you’ve seen enough faces, it’s easier to tell which ones are happy, and which ones are sad.”
You fell silent again.
In some kind of miracle, Kennith finally sensed your discomfort. “...Okay, you don’t have to talk about it. I just thought I’d offer,” he said before sighing in disappointment.
Kennith stopped talking after that. It felt like all energy had left your body after what Kennith had said, and so you slid down the wall you were leaning against in order to sit on the floor. After taking a few cautious steps towards you, Kennith copied your actions, kneeling down to sit beside you. You didn’t protest at this.
This is much better than talking, you thought. This mutual silence. With you, curled up comfortably in a blanket, and Kennith, patiently sitting next to you, finally and thankfully quiet.
Of course, all good things must come to an end. After a long while, Kennith said, “Hey, have you ever wanted to be on TV?”
You didn’t answer. It had never occurred to you whether or not you wanted to be on TV, and it certainly didn’t occur to you now. The question seemed so out-of-the-blue that it kind of threw you for a loop. So, you were left unable to say anything.
Kennith waited for a response, but he didn’t react when he didn’t receive one. Instead, he continued, “I think it would be really fun if you were a part of the show. C-O-L-O-R is always looking for new cast members! And hey, it might even cheer you up!” he suggested.
The idea of you starring on a TV show seemed so far away from you that you could hardly wrap your head around it. But you entertained the thought anyway, deciding that you might as well play along with all of this. “Thanks, but… I don’t think I’m really cut out for TV. I’m not that great at anything,” you muttered.
Kennith scoffed. “Do you think any of the guests on the show are special? Well, guess what: they’re not! They’re all just regular people who happen to be fans of the show! Really, all you have to do is show up and participate,” he encouraged.
You paused again. This sounded too good to be true. “How would you even bring me there?” you asked tentatively.
Kennith smiled. “Same way I got here. Through the TV.”
You turned and stared at Kennith like he had two heads.
Kennith couldn’t help but laugh at your reaction. “Oh, come on, it’s not that weird! I’m sure you can fit through the TV!”
“It’s not that,” you said, and then you reconsidered it. “...Well, that is one thing I’m worried about, but—” you shook your head, “—this is just. Crazy. I don’t even—okay, will I be able to come back? Preferably before morning?”
Even though this situation was nothing short of bizarre, you had to set some things straight.
Kennith grinned. You guessed that it was because he seemed to be convincing you. “Why, of course! I can bring you back whenever you want!”
“Then…”
You thought it over for a moment, and then decided that this couldn't be real. It was impossible. Talking to a TV character, having them walk right into the real world, and then having the chance to enter theirs? This had to be a dream or… something. Surely this was all fake.
So, you reasoned, there’s no harm in this. There’s nothing to lose.
You sighed. “...Okay, fine, sure. Let’s do it,” you replied with hardly any enthusiasm.
Kennith jumped up from his seat, nearly knocking you over. “Oh, you won’t regret this, dear viewer! This’ll be so much fun, I promise!”
He offered a hand to help you up, and you took it. Strangely enough, his hand felt warm and fleshy, like a human being's, despite his unnatural appearance. You would be lying if you said that it didn’t freak you out just like everything else.
Kennith then led you over to your TV, and without further ado, he climbed through it headfirst and fell to the floor at the other side of the screen, off-camera. He just as quickly stood up and flashed you a smile that was just as bright and lively as the yellow background behind him. “Okay, now it’s your turn!”
Understandably, you hesitated. After all, you've never climbed through a TV before. You gingerly pressed your fingers to the screen, and gasped as they phased right through the clear plastic. Feeling bolder, you then experimentally stuck your arm into it, and sure enough, your arm went right through the screen as if you just reached into a window.
Yeah, this was definitely a dream. So fuck it.
After discarding the blanket on your shoulders onto the floor, you mimicked Kennith's actions, getting a good grip on the frame of the TV before climbing into it. Thankfully, you could fit through the screen. You quickly found yourself falling to a yellow floor, just like Kennith did, and you grunted in pain. From just a quick glance around, you saw that you were surrounded in what appeared to be a yellow void. There was no studio set, no equipment, and no audience. The TV from which you came from was only a square of static behind you, and it looked completely out of place, like a hole through the fabric of reality.
Kennith laughed as you got to your feet. "Yeah, that doesn't get any easier no matter how many times I do it. But how can you blame me? Everyone has different TVs, in all shapes and sizes!"
As he spoke, he took your hand and led you deeper into the yellow void. It was eerily quiet here, with you and Kennith's footsteps being the only noise aside from Kennith’s voice. You looked back, watching the square you crawled out of slowly get smaller and smaller.
"Right. But anyway, when does the show start?" you asked idly. Your screen was nothing but a dot in the distance now.
Kennith turned to you, looking confused. "Huh? What do you mean? It just ended.”
You blinked. "What?"
"Well, yeah, you think I'd just stop in the middle of a segment to tend to one person?” Kennith scoffed. “That's just bad showmanship."
You stared at him. "I thought you said I was going to be a part of the show."
"You are! Just not today's episode,” Kennith clarified. “Maybe not even tomorrow's episode. I don't know, there's a whole waiting list of people that want to be on the show, so..." he trailed off with a shrug.
"Wait." You stopped walking and yanked your arm back, nearly pulling Kennith along with it. "I'm not going to stay here waiting for my turn to be on the show. That’ll take way too long, and besides, you said that you were going to bring me back before morning."
"Ohh, did I?" Kennith asked, feigning innocence.
He paused. The two of you had a good staring contest for a minute.
Then he dropped the act. "...Actually, I guess I did. Yeah, okay. I said that I could bring you back at any time."
The expanse of yellow around you suddenly turned black, as if lights were switched off. The dot behind you—your distant TV screen—was the only source of light in the void. You couldn't see Kennith, but you could hear a grin in his voice.
"I never said that I would."
With that, the square of light disappeared, leaving you in pitch blackness.
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