#and before anyone jumps on him for the bag i highly HIGHLY doubt he knows anything about that man

[ashzukerman]

Ash on the SAG-AFTRA picketline

[allthingsfangirl101]

Top Gun - Baby Mav Chapter 20: Where Not Thinking Gets Us

Masterlist

Maverick woke up to a pounding headache, a sore body, and a cold face. He thought he heard something but ignored it.

Until it got closer.

He sat up quickly when he recognized that sound. He tried to get up and run, but he was still attached to his parachute. He disconnected it and ran as he heard the helicopter warming up its guns. He dove behind a fallen tree right as they started firing.

Suddenly, the firing stopped. He let out a sigh of relief as he sat up. That sigh was interrupted when the helicopter flew around and got him in their sight. Maverick watched as the guns moved so they were pointed at him.

There was an explosion but not the one he thought. Instead of him, the helicopter was the one that exploded. Maverick watched as a certain F-18 flew by.

"Oh, no, no." He mumbled. Rooster flew by, briefly forgetting about the SAMs. Maverick jumped when Rooster's plane was hit.

~ • ~

"Dagger Two is hit," the comms officer said slowly.

That did it.

Maddlyn couldn't hold back her sob anymore. Hondo jumped up and wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed.

"Dagger Two is hit."

"Dagger Two, come in. Dagger Two, do you copy?"

Maddlyn grabbed Hondo's radio before anyone could stop her. "Rooster? Rooster, answer me. Please. Bradley?"

Maddlyn's sob came back the longer it took for Rooster to answer her. With the radio still in her hand, the trainees could hear her break.

"I lost them," she whispered. "I lost both of them."

Hangman couldn't listen to this.

~ • ~

Maverick instantly started running towards the crash site when he saw the parachute. He ran through the woods, focusing on where Rooster landed.

"You all right?" He asked as he ran to him.

"Yeah, I'm good. You all right?"

The second he got to him, Maverick allowed his anger to push him down.

"What the hell?" Rooster yelled as he threw off his helmet and jumped up.

"What are you doing here?" Maverick shot back as he threw his own helmet down.

"What am I doing here?" Rooster repeated.

"You think I took that missile so you could be down here with me?" Maverick scoffed. "You should be back on the carrier by now!"

"I saved your life!"

"I saved your life. That's the whole point," he said, calming down. "What the hell were you even thinking?"

"You told me not to think!"

Maverick studied Rooster as he threw his hands up in defense. They both breathed heavily as they tried to catch their breaths.

"Well," Maverick sighed, "now we need to think."

"About how to. . ." Rooster started to agree but Maverick cut him off.

"Maddy."

"Shit," Rooster mumbled as he ran his fingers through his hair. "She thinks. . ."

"We both went down," Maverick finished for him. "Now, we need to do everything we can to get back to her."

"And fast," Rooster agreed. "So what's the plan?"

"Working on it."

* * * * *

As they hid on top of the ridge, Rooster knew Maverick was crazy. They looked down at the runway the ship had blown up.

"You're not serious."

"Unfortunately," Maverick sighed, "if we want to get back to Maddlyn, this is how."

Maverick got up and started jogging down the hill. Rooster watched him for a few seconds, his mind on the woman he loves back at base who is trying to put her mind around the idea that her father and the boy she loves are gone.

Rooster jumped up and followed him. They were able to take cover right at the edge of the woods.

"You've got to be shitting me," Rooster scoffed. "An F-14?"

"I shot down three MiGs in one of those," Maverick shrugged.

"We don't even know if that bag of ass can fly," Rooster added. "I highly doubt we can get back to Maddy in that thing."

"Let's find out."

"Mav!" Rooster yelled as Maverick jumped up and ran towards the F-14. "Okay," he sighed as he started running after him.

"There's guys up there, Mav," Rooster warned as they ran across the runway.

"Yeah," he said, sounding like he wasn't phased.

"There's more over there."

"Okay."

"And you don't seem worried," Rooster sighed.

"Focus on Maddy," he instructed. "Focus on her and you won't worry about them."

"Focus on Maddy," Rooster repeated. "Maddy. Right."

They ran into the hangar, Maverick instantly looking at the controls. Rooster, on the other hand, kept nervously glancing over his shoulder.

"Once I give you the signal for air, you're gonna flip this switch until the needle gets to 120," Maverick instructed. "When the engine starts, you got to pull out the pins and disconnect everything. You understand?"

"Yeah."

Maverick started powering it up, holding his breath as he waited for the plane to kick on. "Yes!" He laughed. "Once I'm up, stow the ladder."

Maverick climbed up the ladder and got into the seat. "Okay," he said under his breath. "Wow. It's been a minute. I could really use you right about now, Mads."

He powered it up and sent Rooster the signal. Rooster instantly turned and flipped the switch that Maverick told him to. As soon as the engine turned on, Rooster ran and disconnected the plane from the fuel line. Once it was all disconnected, Rooster jumped onto the wing and got in the other seat.

"This thing is so old," he mumbled.

"All right," Maverick sighed as the plane rolled forward. "Canopy?"

"Clear."

As they pulled onto the taxiway, the canopy shut. "Um, Mav? Both runways are cratered. How are we gonna get this museum piece in the air?"

Without saying anything, Maverick pushed the lever that activated the wings.

"Why are the wings coming out, Mav?"

Maverick didn't respond. "Mav, this is a taxiway, not a runway," Rooster warned. "This is a very short taxiway, Mav."

"Just hang on."

"Holy shit!" Rooster yelled as Maverick didn't ease into taking off.

"Come on," he mumbled. "Needle's alive. Come on."

"Mav?" Rooster questioned when he saw the giant fuel tanks blocking the rest of the taxiway.

"That's it," he mumbled. "Come on, come on! Alright."

"Mav!"

"Here we go." Maverick pulled back, making the nose of the plane lift.

"Holy shit," Rooster gasped.

They both let out relieved laughs as they barely made it. As they went up, Rooster sent a signal with his ESAT.

~ • ~

"Sir," a comms officer back at the base said, "we're receiving a signal from Rooster's ESAT."

Maddlyn froze. She looked up at the screen, barely able to see Rooster's signal on the screen through her tears.

"Bradley," she whispered. "He did it."

Hondo tightened his arms around her.

"Of course he did," he whispered.

"He couldn't have done it alone," Maddlyn started to say before the comms officer interrupted her.

"But there seems to be a malfunction."

"Have you lost him?" Admiral Bates asked quickly.

"No, sir. He's supersonic."

"He's airborne," Admiral Bates mumbled.

"In what?" Admiral Simpson couldn't help but laugh.

"Sir," another comms officer said. "Overwatch reports an F-14 Tomcat is airborne and on course for our position."

"It can't be," Admiral Simpson said slowly.

Maddlyn started giggling. Her laughter made Admiral Simpson know exactly how Rooster was still alive and how he was in an F-14 Tomcat.

"Maverick."

~ • ~

"Okay, Rooster, get us in touch with the boat."

"I'm working on it," he said, his thoughts only on hearing Maddlyn's voice. "Radio's out. No radar. Everything's dead back here. What do I do? Talk me through it."

"Okay, first the radio," Maverick started. "Throw the, uh-- the UHF-2 circuit breaker. Try that."

"There's 300 breakers back here," Rooster sighed. "Anything more specific?"

"I don't know. That was your dad's department."

"I'll figure it out."

Rooster started scanning the different breakers. Something out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention.

"Mac, tally two, 5:00 low. What do we do?"

"Okay, listen. Just be cool," Maverick said calmly. "If they knew who we were, we'd be dead already."

"Well, here they come. What's your plan?"

"Just put your mask on," he said as he did the same. "Remember, we're on the same team. Just wave and smile."

The two waved as one of the planes came up next to them. Maverick tried to signal that their radio was down. The other pilot signaled back.

"What's that signal?" Rooster asked. "What's he saying?"

"No idea," Maverick sighed. "I have no idea what he's saying."

"What about that one? Any idea?"

"No, never seen that one either."

"Oh shit," Rooter mumbled. "His wingman is moving into weapons envelope."

"All right, listen up," Maverick instructed. "When I tell you, you grab those rings above your head. That's the ejection handle."

"Mav, can we outrun these guys?"

"Not their missiles and guns."

Rooster slowly tore his eyes away from the planes. "Then it's a dogfight," he said under his breath. "I'm sorry, Mads."

"An F-14 against fifth-gen fighters?" Maverick asked. "I'm sorry too, Maddy."

"It's not the plane, it's the pilot." Rooster recited. "You'd go after them if I wasn't here."

"But you are here," Maverick sighed. "And I promised Maddy. . ."

"Come on, Mav," Rooster pushed. "Don't think. Just do."

Maverick thought about it, weighing his options. The one thing that finally made him snap out of it was the thought of Maddlyn having to go through the rest of her life alone.

Rooster gasped as Maverick rolled the plane to the side. He rolled over one of the planes, setting off his guns.

"Tell me when you see smoke in the air," Maverick said.

"Smoke in the air! Smoke in the air!"

"Hang on."

Maverick moved so that the missile hit the plane that shot them.

"Yeah, Mav!" Rooster laughed. "Splash one! Splash one! Here comes another one."

Maverick pulled up. He waited until they were going straight to tell Rooster to send off their flares.

"Splitting the throttles," Maverick said going into autopilot. "Coming around. Give me tone, give me tone."

Maverick smirked when the target locked.

"You got him, Mav! You got him!" Rooster cheered.

"Taking the shot."

They watched as the plane dodged the shot.

"What the. . ."

"Holy shit," Rooster gasped. "What the hell was that?"

"Hang on. We gotta get low. This terrain will confuse his targeting system."

"Here he comes!"

As they flew through the canyon, Maverick was right. The lower they flew, the more it confused the other plane's sensors. They grunted when the other pilot just started firing.

"Talk to me, Rooster. Where is he?"

"He's still on us!"

The pilot lined up behind him and took the shot. "We took a hit!" Rooster yelled. "We took a hit!"

"Damn it!"

"Come on, Mav," Rooster said as they barely got away from the pilot's next couple of shots. "Do some of that pilot shit."

"Brace yourself," Maverick warned. Maverick got out from in front of the other plane and was able to line them up behind it.

"I got the tone," he said once his target locked. "Taking the shot."

"Damn it!" Rooster yelled when the guy shot their missile.

"Out of missiles," Maverick said. "Switching to guns."

Maverick didn't keep track of how many rounds he had left as he held down the trigger.

"Come on, Mav," he mumbled to himself.

"You got him, Mav!" Rooster cheered when Maverick finally hit the guy.

"It's not over yet," he sighed. "One last chance."

"You can do this."

Maverick finally hit the plane, letting the bullets string across the back of the plane. They watched as the pilot ejected and the plane crashed against the mountain.

"Yes!" Rooster cheered. "Splash two!"

Once they were safe, Rooster resumed his search for the radio. He sighed in relief when he pushed a button and the system powered up.

"Mav, I got the radio on."

"Outstanding," he chuckled. "Get us in touch with the boat."

"Copy that."

Suddenly an alarm started going off. "What the. . ."

"Are you kidding me?" Rooster scoffed. "Where the hell is this guy?"

Maverick's stomach sank when he found him. "He's on our nose." He tried to start shooting but the clicks were empty. "Damn it, we're out of ammo."

His stomach sank even lower when the plane in front of him sent off a missile. "Smoke in the air! Rooster, flares!"

Maverick turned them as Rooster released the flares. They both sighed in relief as their flares took out the missile.

"That was close," Rooster said. They gasped when the plane flew a little too close to them. "We're out of flares, Mav. Shit, he's already on us."

The chase was easy for the enemy but tough for Maverick and Rooster. It didn't matter how good of a pilot Maverick was, he couldn't shake an F-18 in an F-14.

"We took another hit!"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Maverick mumbled.

"We can't take much more of this," Rooster warned.

"We can't outrun this guy," Maverick sighed. "We gotta eject."

"What?"

"We need altitude. Pull the ejection handles the second I tell you."

"Mav, wait!"

"Roosters, there's no other way. If we want to get back to Maddy, we need to eject."

Before Rooster could try to talk him out of it, Maverick yanked them backward and made them go straight up.

"Eject, eject, eject! Rooster, pull the handle. Eject!"

"It's not working!"

The higher they got, the harder it was to breathe. Maverick knew he couldn't get them out of this.

"Mav!"

"I'm sorry," he said through his heavy breathing. "I'm sorry, Goose."

Suddenly, the F-18 was hit by a missile and exploded. Rooster and Maverick both turned around to see a different F-18 flying through the smoke."

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen."

"Son of a bitch," Rooster laughed. Maverick shook his head as Hangman put his plane next to theirs.

"This is your savior speaking," Hangman continued. "Please fasten your seat belts, return your tray tables to their locked and upright positions, and prepare for landing."

"Hey, Hangman," Rooster smirked, "you look good."

"I am good, Rooster," Hangman said instantly. "I'm very good. I'll see you back on deck."

The two laughed as Hangman turned his plane around. "Come on, Mav," Rooster chuckled. "Let's get the hell out of this fossil."

"We're on our way, Maddy."

~ • ~

The Admirals quickly ran to the bridge as Hangman landed. Admiral Simpson grabbed some binoculars and watched the F-14 come into view of the ship.

"Maverick is downwind," Maverick told the ship. "No front landing gear. No tailhook. Pull the cable and raise the barricade."

"Foul deck! Foul deck! Raise the barricade!"

Maverick flew around as they got everything ready for them. Something exploded, making the whole plane shake.

"Please don't tell me we lost an engine," Rooster sighed.

"All right," Maverick cleared his throat, "I won't tell you that."

"Okay."

There was no turning back now so Maverick went ahead and landed on the boat. They landed rough, but the barricade caught them.

"You good?"

"Yeah," Rooster said. "I'm good."

Maddlyn looked up at Hondo with tears in her eyes. "Are they. . . Did they. . ."

Hondo walked over and kissed Maddlyn on the top of the head.

"They made it, kiddo," he whispered. "Let's get you to that tarmac and you can tell them how unbelievably stupid they were."

"I like that plan," Maddlyn said, her voice getting caught in her throat. "But I might need you to push me. My arms feel like Jello."

"I got you, kid."

[loserforeddie]

Shot In The Dark (Male/GN Reader)

(yes again the song is based on the Ozzy Osbourne song. But it makes sense trust me)

Summary: When the popular good-grade student y/n start to talk to Eddie Munson, he thinks it’s too good to be true. They become quick friends, but when y/n asks him out, learns that it was too good to be true...

Eddie Munson x Male!/Gn! reader

Warnings: Bullying, Eddie thinking he got asked out by the reader as a joke, Eddie not understanding feelings, shy reader

Word count: 3.3k

SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG YALL. also this is gonna be two parts! 

Fem version!

. . . . . . . . . 

Eddies eyes followed you as you walked down the aisle of the cafe. Your tray in one hand and an English book in the other.

He watched slowly as your eyes pointed straight ahead, not even glancing at him. Not that he had expected you to. 

You, being “Hawkin’s Pride and Joy” would never give him the time of day. Not with your grades or social standing. And it was pathetic of him to even hope you would.

And yet still, you had given him the time of day. 

Four weeks ago, to be exact. 

He was in the library, a place he rarely was, trying so hard to study for Mrs. O’Donelle’s next test. It was getting late, nearing eight, and he knew he should get going. 

But still, he had no idea what this test was even on. He stared blankly at the test review page in front of him. Hoping if he stared long enough, it would somehow make sense. 

But, it didn’t.

He let out a long, dramatic sigh. Flinging his head back and rolling his eyes.

Normally, he was sure someone would have shushed him or given him a dirty look for all the commotion he was causing. But no one was in the library at that time, he knew that no one would be as dumb as him to stay this late-

“Excuse me,” a voice behind him said, “Is that seat taken?” You asked so politely as you pointed to the seat next to him.

He jumped, startled by your voice.

Your eyes stared down into his, your hair perfectly framing your face. Your eyes shone as you stared back into his. You wore something so casual, a normal every-day-outfit, but still, everything about you screamed polished, pristine. 

He gulped, nodding before saying, “N-No, it’s not.”

You gave him a small smile before setting your bag and books down next to him.

Up until that moment, he had never truly given you the time of day, never looked in your direction, never even thought about you.

And yet, here you were, sitting next to him, almost elbow to elbow.

You turned over to him smiling, “My name is Y/N, and you’re Eddie right?”

He gawked at you for a minute. You remembered his name? What mythical world was this?

After a very strange and long silence, he finally said, “Uh-yeah, yeah that’s me. Eddie.”

God, he wanted to shoot himself. 

But you just smiled at him, “That’s cool. What test you’ studying for? Mines for Pinleiy, his class is seriously kicking my ass.”

His eyebrows quirked up, he didn’t expect someone like you to swear. And yet, he also didn’t expect you to sit with him. 

“O'Donnell,” he said, a bit quietly.

You groaned, “Oh my god, she’s such a bitch! I hated her class. She made everything so difficult for everyone, those homework assignments always kicked my ass.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. Where you, Y/N L/N, really trying to start a conversation with him? 

He paused for a minute. 

“Yeah, she sucks man. I failed her class twice.”

You looked over your shoulder, checking to see if anyone was there. Before looking back at him smirking, “Don’t tell anyone, but on her last final I totally cheated!”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up, “No way, the Y/N L/N? Na, I ain't buying it.”

You giggled, “It’s true! I wrote my notes on my arm.”

Eddie scoffed, “Please, that’s the oldest shit in the book. You probably got caught but Mrs. O’Donnell let you get away with it because of how much of a goody-two-shoes you are.”

You gasped at him, “I’m hurt! I’ll have you know I was super slick about it!”

Eddie let out a laugh, a genuine laugh, “Please, I highly doubt that.”

You huffed, “You know, I was going to ask if you needed help studying, but after this, I will no longer be offering my services.”

He chuckled, “You? Help me? Come on, this has to be some sort of sick joke.”

But you shook your head, “Nope. I mean it, if you want, I can help you. Seriously.”

He looked at you, your eyes twinkling with sincerity. 

He let out a sigh, “Yeah, I mean if the smartest dude in Hawkins offers to tutor you, you kinda have to say yes, right.”

You giggled, “I don’t know if I’d say I’m the smartest-”

Eddie let out a laugh, “Oh come on, don’t be so modest. You and that Wheeler girl are like, stupidly smart. And popular, Jesus what a match.”

You rolled your eyes, “I’m not popular-”

But Eddie cut you off again, “Uh-huh, you tell yourself that.”

You shook your head, “And for the record, Nancy and I aren’t dating.”

Eddie cocked an eyebrow, grinning, “Good to know, sweetheart.”

At the mention of the nickname, he notices your composer shift, only for a moment. You become flustered, your calm and charming exterior cracked for just a moment. Replaced with someone shy and flustered.

“But,” Eddie continued, “yes, I would appreciate any help.”

After he said that, you perked up. 

“W-well, um, let’s get started!”

You two stayed for a while until he felt confident about his ability to actually pass this upcoming test. 

He beamed at you, “Wow, thanks Y/N. Damn, might even get myself an A.”

You giggled at his pride, your eyes shining with admiration. “You worked hard, I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Eddie gave you a goofy grin, “Na, I could never get this far without you…thank you Y/N.”

He saw your eyes dart away from his, face flushed, “Oh yeah, yeah don’t even worry about it. Just think of it as..as a favor.”

Eddie cocked a brow at you, “Damn, one heck of a favor. You know you didn’t have to do this, right? I mean, we don’t even know each other.”

You smiled at him, and a felt a small pull in his gut. 

“I don’t know, I thought it would be nice. And besides, I had nothing else going on. And you’re pretty good company, Munson.”

He didn’t know why, but he felt his heart start to race in his chest, and the feeling of his stomach doing jumping jacks when your eyes met his. Had you always been so pretty?

He gulped down his nerves, “You’re not so bad yourself, Y/N.”

You smiled at that, “Glad you think so.”

. . . 

After a few days, you talked to him again.

He was at one of his favorite music stores, He lost his favorite tape of Iron Maiden (Piece of Mind) and realized he needed it in order to be able to jam out properly.

And he loved this little music shop. Notably, it had mostly rock and metal songs, but it also had popular and more mainstream artists as well. He grimaced at the Beatles and Bowie cover next to his beloved Black Sabbath. 

He sighed, finally finding the album he needed. 

Just as he was about to head over to the counter, he heard the door open followed by a familiar voice.

“Pardon me,” he heard you say, “do you happen to have any Metallica tapes? For a walkman?”

He swore his heart did a double-take, seeing your pretty face in such a dark place as this small music shop, really made you stand out.

Not to mention, you had just asked if they had any Metallica. That was enough to get his heart pumping louder than it had before.

As one of the employees showed you the way to one of the metal sections of the store, he followed you.

“Right here. We even got the newest album, let me know if you need any help,” the employee said politely, before walking away.

As you searched, he came up behind you.

“Didn’t realize you liked Metallica.”

He saw you jump at his words, your face shooting back to his.

“Wow!” He said, “Easy there! Didn't mean to frighten you.”

You shook your head, “Sorry I just didn't see you there. And um… I'm not a Metallica fan. I just- I just heard they were good.”

Eddie nodded, smirking, “Well sweetheart, you heard right. Metallica is pretty good man, especially if you just trying to get into metal. But you don't really seem like the metal type.”

At that, he saw your face flush, “I wanted to try something new, I guess.”

He smiled, “Hey no shame in that. I respect it actually.”

He looked around before pulling a tape out of his pocket, “Here, take this one so you don’t have to pay for it. Just give it back whenever.”

The album was Master of Puppets. It was new, considering the album had just come out, so it was in pretty good condition. 

Your eyes widened as you took it, “No, I couldn’t-”

But he just smiled, “I insist. Just give it back to me the next time you see me, alright? I’m returning my favor, from when you helped tutor me remember?”

You nodded, smiling, “Well, that’s very generous of you, Munson, I appreciate it. And yes, next time I see you, I’ll give it back.”

. . .

And he did see you again. In a place that he least expected.

His band was playing at the Hideout, a not-so-popular bar in town. The crowd is may be filled with four or five drunk old men, and the smell of cheap booze lingered in the air.

But I didn't care, he played his guitar until his fingers felt like they couldn't strum a single chord anymore. He played until he physically felt like he was going to fall off his feet.

 And when he finished playing, the one thing he least expected to happen, came true.

Applause was heard in the bar, from one pair of hands.

His eyes widened, seeing your pretty face beaming up at him.

You were seated in a booth, near the back of the bar. You were dressed in a normal, comfy outfit. But still, it made his lungs run out of fresh air.

 As you continue clapping, you looked up at him smiling, a genuine smile.

 He felt his heart do a flip.

 As the band started to pack up their equipment, you made your way over to him.

“Wow! You guys are so good!” 

Eddie’s eyes widened, where you really here for them?

As if you could read his mind, you said quickly, “I-I just came in because I was studying nearby and saw you playing. But wow! I didn’t even know you played!”

Eddie could feel his heart skip at your praise. 

“Ah, well. Thanks, sweetness, but we don't really get that much of a crowd.”

Eddie gestured around the bar where most of the men were now almost completely passed out.

You smiled, your eyes locking with his, “Maybe you’re just ahead of your time, Munson.”

He could feel his cheeks becoming hot, and he had to look away from your eyes so you wouldn’t notice. 

He coughed and laughed slightly, “Yeah..yeah I guess you could say that.”

Before you could respond, one of Eddie’s bandmates made his way over to you two, “Hey man, the vans all packed up,” he looked over at you, raising an eyebrow, “Sorry was I interrupting something?”

Eddie paused, but you shook your head, “No, I was just saying how good you guys were! You’re the drummer, right? You did really well! I’ll have to come back again and listen to you guys more.”

Gareth gaped at you, eye’s in disbelief.

You shuffled awkwardly, before saying, “Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name Y/N L/N, I think we had English together last year.”

As if broken out of a trance, Gareth nodded vigorously, “Um-yeah. English…yeah with Mrs. Kelly. Yeah, I remember, you were my partner for a project. Something about The Great Gatsby?”

You laughed a bit, and Eddie was suddenly very aware of his fist clutching his guitar pick so hard he felt a sting of pain in his palm.

“Yeah, I remember. We had to make a poster about the life-changing aspects of the 1920’s. Oh my god, it was so boring.”

You and Gareth laughed at a shared memory, and Eddie decided that he had had enough.

He tried his best to sound nonchalant, but he knew he just came off brash, “Here man, take these and get the van started.” Eddie handed him his keys, “I’ll be out in a sec.”

Gareth took the keys from Eddie, giving a knowing smirk as he walked away. Eddie could have even sworn he saw him wink at him as he walked off.

You shifted nervously from foot to foot, before Eddie finally piped up, “So um- you liked the show?”

Your eyes lit up, “Yeah, I really did! Oh my gosh, and you’re guitar playing? It was so sick!”

Eddie laughed, “Wow, you might be our first-ever fan, Y/N.”

You smiled up at him, lashes fluttering lightly, “Then I hope to stay your number one fan.”

He smiled at that. How cute, he thought.

Your eyes lit up, and you reached into your pocket, “I almost forgot!”

You pulled out a tape, handing it back to him, “You were right, the album was so good! I loved every second of it. Thank you for letting me borrow it.”

Eddie nodded, “Yeah I mean of course. I have a few other recommendations if you’re ever not too busy-”

“I mean, I’m not busy right now?”

Eddie smiled, preparing fully to blow off his band mates, “Well then, sit down sweetheart.”

. . . 

You too continued to talk more and more after that, mostly out of school. And most of the time, you’d somehow find him.

And yet, he couldn’t get you out of his brain.

It had actually started to interfere with his life. He couldn’t write any new D&D campaign ideas because all he could think about was your smile, he couldn’t play his guitar because all he could think about was how you praised him that night at the Hideout.

He had even stopped making a commotion whenever you were around, choosing to stay quiet whenever you entered a room.

But that was because he normally couldn’t take his eyes off of you.

And yet, for the last few days, he had heard nothing from you. Not a nice small conversation, a “how are you”, not even a few glances at him. Nothing. 

He normally wouldn’t have cared, who was this guy? Some dumbass prep? Why should he care if you came up to him and started talking to him again? 

But he did. He cared. He wanted to hear your sweet voice again. To watch your pretty eyes light up when you were working on homework. He wanted to see you smile up at him, to feel his heart beat out of his chest. He wanted desperately to walk up to you himself. 

But he stilled himself. He knew that he probably shouldn’t read into anything, he didn’t want to seem desperate. Even if he found himself falling for someone he desperately wish he didn’t.

He sighed, walking to his next class after lunch was over. 

He spent the whole period thinking about you, which wasn’t uncommon for him anymore, he’d usually think about you for most of the day.

He hated how he couldn’t just go up to you. Why’d he have to wait for you? Why couldn’t he just stop being a pussy and start a conversation with you?

But he knew the answer, it was because he was a coward. 

He sighed as the final bell rang.

“Finally,” he muttered under his breath as he left the school, walking over to his van.

But as he got closer, he saw a familiar face.

He felt his feet hiccup on the ground, the air flying out of his lungs.

But your face lit up as he approached, eyes sparkling under the sun's light. Your beautiful face illuminated by the sun's light made his heart momentarily stop working.

God, you were driving him insane.

This was definitely new, however, you would never approach him at school. He tried to calm himself down as he approached you, trying his best to become more nonchalant. 

You waved at him, “Hey Eddie!”

“Hey there sweetheart, what are you doing here?”

Your eyes faltered, looking down at your shoes. “Well- I,” you breathed in heavily, hands fidgeting lightly.

He raised an eyebrow, why were you suddenly so nervous? You had been waiting by his van after all.

“You alright, Y/N?”

Your eyes looked up quickly, you bit your lip shyly.

“I-um…I had a question…for you.”

He gave you a confused look, “Alright, shoot. I’m not gonna bite,” he said laughing.

Your hands shook and somehow you found your voice, “I was wondering if…maybe you’d wanna…go on a date?”

Eddie immediately felt like he had been shoved to the ground, the air in his lungs escaping him as he gaped at you. Eyes blew wide as he tried to comprehend what you had just asked him.

He, go on a date, with you? This couldn’t be real, like some sort of dream, or-

And then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw them. Your friends, pointing and laughing, at him.

Suddenly, it all made sense. 

Of course, you’d never ask him out, of course, you’d never actually have any sort of feelings for him. You avoided him like the plague at school, why would you ever want to be seen with him? And why right now? You would never go out with a freak like him.

Of course, this was some sick joke, it was so obvious. He had just been so blind by his own feelings that he pushed reality aside.

And when they saw him staring back, your friends continued to point and laugh, giggling at his dismay. 

“Eddie?” Your sweet, soft voice called back to him. Your eyes were looking at the floor, leg bouncing anxiously, “You don’t have to say yes, I understand. It’s fine, I just wanted to be able to tell you that I-”

Eddie cut you off with a cold laugh.

“Whatever Y/N. You can drop it now.”

Your eyes shot up, looking at him confused, “Wha-”

Eddie shook his head, a mad grin plastered on his face, “I knew that someone like you couldn't be so nice. So what was it then, a dare? A bet? Come on sweetheart,” the nickname dripped with venom, “you don’t have to pretend anymore. I saw your little friends laughing over there. Don’t play so innocent.” 

He pointed over to your friends, watching as they stumbled back with laughter. 

Your eyes widened as you saw your supposed friends (the girls on the cheer squad that you would sometimes sit with at lunch) laughing at you two.

“Wait, Eddie, please I-”

But he shook his head, “I don’t want to hear it Y/N.”

He started walking away, towards the door of his van, you protested as he did so.

He snapped, turning around to you, “You know, I thought you were different, I thought you were nice. I thought…hell, I don’t know what I thought. But you seemed so genuine. But I guess that was all an act, huh? Should have known, yeah I should have known. Stuck up Y/N, so much better than everyone. Such a dick and everyone knows it,” he hated seeing the hurt in your eyes, but he kept going, “such a goddamn stuck-up priss, a goddamn people pleaser. An attention whore. I should have known better.”

He hopped in his van, slamming his door as he refused to listen to your pleas.

“Eddie stop! Really, I meant it!”

But he had already started driving away, leaving you in the dust of his tires and tears running down your cheeks.

[twjournals]

All For Good Reason

Warning: dark!Peter Parker x reader, both characters are of age, eventual dub-con, stalking, assault, violence

Word Count: 1.6k

Summary: You have noticed something is not quite right about Peter Parker. A squeaky clean image, but always disappearing at the first sign of danger. You are determined to find out whatever he is hiding. Peter notices your interest in him. He thinks this is a game of cat and mouse. After all, you have your reasons and he has his.

This will be a new upcoming trilogy I will be working on! This will be a dark story so keep that in mind for future posts.

"Parker..." You tsked as you stared through the binoculars at him in the distance. "What are you up to?"

It was not what it looked like, well it was but it wasn't. One might call it stalking, but if you were being completely honest it was all for good reason. Ever since you had moved to Queens, you settled in quite nicely but one thing that did not settle right with you was your next-door neighbor, Peter Parker. There was nothing necessarily wrong with him, at least not as far as you knew, but there was certainly more to him than what was on the surface.

He had always been nothing less than nice whenever you encountered him, in class and outside of it. Well, when he did come to class or stayed through a one. It surprised you how Peter was even passing college. Your family had even gone as far as inviting him and May to dinner on a few occasions, almost every time ending early with Peter hauling ass get out of there and into the night. That was the thing about him. He was almost always in a hurry to be somewhere. Maybe that was where you just needed to mind your own business, but you could not help but wonder why he was always in a panic.

That was how you ended up here sitting in your car, staring through a pair of binoculars for the second time since this week. You had to get to the bottom of his madness. It was dark out, the only source of light being the street lights and the lights to very few businesses that were still open on this street. You did not understand why Peter would come out to this side of the city. You did not feel comfortable being out here even if you were locked up in your car.

You watched as Peter disappeared down a dark alley casually. You dropped your binoculars with a sigh, setting them in your lap as you stared at the dark path he went down. Why did he seem on a mission? What could possibly be down there? You leaned back in your seat, propping your knees up against the steering wheel. It was time to play the waiting game.

You sat in silence, keeping an eye out for him but you never saw him again. You were at mental war with yourself. Should you go looking for him at this point? What if he was hurt? But he was fine the last time you followed him here. What if he was in trouble? He was more capable of taking care of himself rather than you trying to help.

Fuck, why would you come out here? You thought to yourself. You could have just minded your own business, but no you just had to know what Peter Parker was up to.

The clock on your dash rolled as time went on. You gave in. The last time you had left, but this time you were more curious than ever. You were mentally cursing at yourself as you opened the car door. What were you thinking?

You started across the street, walking toward the alley and hugging yourself from a mix of fear and the chill of the cool night. The street was quiet. The silence made it creepier than it would have if people were on it. You peaked down the alley but it was empty.

You forced yourself to keep moving, walking into the alley and looking around you, taking in the overstuffed dumpsters and open air. You sighed, letting your arms fall as you gave up your search. He was gone wherever he was.

You snapped from your thoughts when you heard tires shrieking nearby. You panicked as they began pulling down the alleyway, quickly ducking behind one of the dumpsters and trying to stay as quiet as possible.

You listened to the slide of the van door and the sound of multiple men getting out.

"What are you doing?" A deep voice harped.

You heard a gun cock and you quickly covered your mouth with your hand to keep silent. You suddenly regretted ever leaving the house. "I thought I see someone."

"Stop fucking around. We have work to do." The man snapped, throwing something at the guy. At this point, you were holding your breath. "Probably just a raccoon or something."

The guy finally gave in and you had no choice but to listen as a lock broke off one of the doors to a building.

"Come on. We don't have all night."

The men hoarded into the building, filling their bags full of everything they needed. All you had to do was wait and they would be gone before you know it.

"Well well, what do we have here?" You jumped when a man spotted you out with his flashlight, pointing his gun at you. "Go on. Come on out." He demanded, nudging his gun.

You were scared to move. You couldn't seem to get your feet working properly to carry you.

"Let's go!" He raised his voice and you flinched, quickly sliding out from behind the dumpster. He grabbed your arm, gripping onto it as he pulled you close to him. His gun pressed into your back.

"Hey, boss! Look what we got here." He stiffened a laugh as he dragged you along toward the entrance.

The boss man came out of the building, his eyes falling on you and taking you in. You could feel his eyes scanning along your body. The longer he stared the more naked you felt even though you had clothes on.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here all alone?" He smiled a smug smile, circling around you as he kept his eyes on you.

"I-I-"

"Now don't be scared. We're not gonna hurt you. We just wanna talk." He assured you.

You swallowed the lump formed in your throat. "I was just looking for my friend." You answered honestly.

"Your friend? Out here?" He looked around, stretching his arms out with a stiff laugh. "I highly doubt that."

The man at your side pressed his nose into your hair, breathing in your sweet scent. You tried to move away, but he pressed the gun harder against your back.

"You can consider me your friend." He smirked as his head was still pressed to yours.

"I won't tell anyone. I honestly didn't see anything I swear." You started to plead but the man in front of you put his hand up to mute you. You closed your mouth instantly. You did not want to push your luck.

"Trying to leave so soon hm?" You watched as he stepped closer to you, closing the open space between the two of you. "Not having fun?"

He pushed the guy off of your side. "Go make yourself useful."

He scowled as he walked off to help the other men. "You always get all the fun."

You looked down as he towers over you. "Please don't hurt me." Your voice was quiet as you spoke. You could not bring yourself to face the consequences of coming here.

"Don't you worry that pretty little head of yours. I'll take good care of you." He smirks as he pushes you up against the brick wall behind you and pinning you there. You definitely had been at the wrong place at the right time. You made a mental note if you even made it out alive, you would never follow Peter here ever again.

"Please..." You closed your eyes tight as his hands rubbed up the curves of your body.

Before his hands could get any higher, you feel a gush of wind knocking the older man off of his feet onto the pavement. You fluttered your watery eyes open, blinking back the tears and looking around to see what was going on.

He groaned as he shuffled back to his feet and grabbing you by your throat, squeezing it tight. "Do you think this is a fucking game? Who else is out here?"

"I-I don't know." You clawed at his wrist, pleading to him.

"Don't lie to me!" He yelled as he pulled you off the wall in an attempt to slam you back against it.

"I swear, I don't-" You begged but a flash of red and blue cut you off, sent him flying against one of the dumpsters nearby.

Your eyes stared at the person in front of you, dressed in a red and blue suit. Spiderman. You tried not to be in such shock, but you could not help yourself. You had always heard of the hero, but never had you seen him this close.

His stunt had gained the attention of his other men. Spiderman shot his webs, trapping the older man to the dumpster when he tried to get back to his feet.

He turned to look at you, noticing the other men resurfacing from the building. "Go." He instructed.

He didn't have to tell you twice. Your feet had found the strength before you had even found them. You ran as quick as your feet could carry you out of the alley, stopping for a moment to glance back at all the commotion. You had to make sure he was at least okay even if your mind screamed for you to keep going. You were impressed at the sight of all of the men webbed to the van after they had taken their beating. Spiderman shot his last web over the man's mouth who yelled threats at him before turning to make eye contact with you.

You wanted to thank him, but your voice was lost behind all the adrenaline pumping through your veins. For if it wasn't for him, your own stupidity would have had you dead.

He stood up straight while trying to catch his breath. Even though you could not see his eyes underneath the dark fabric, you knew his eyes were staring right back at you. You gave him an apologetic smile before you ran back to your car, vowing from this point forward, you would never follow Peter Parker into the dark again.

[writings-of-a-british-fangirl]

A Lesson In Traditions [Din Djarin x Reader]

Title: A Lesson In Traditions Summary: After the brief spark, you felt between you and Din, you are longing for it to be recreated. And, maybe a shiny trinket from Mandalorian tradition can help you with that. Warnings: None I don't think ? Request: N/A

A/N: Some of you wanted a part two to A Lesson In Mando'a so here's the follow up! I might make this a series if anyone is interested

A/N 2: I made up the idea of betrothal necklaces. I don't think these exist in Mandalorian culture, but I took inspiration from water benders in Avatar the Last Airbender, because I thought the idea was cute! So credit to that series!

PART 1: A Lesson In Mando’a PART 2: A Lesson In Traditions PART 3: A Lesson In Touch

Din Djarin~A Lesson In Traditions

It had been a while since Din had told you what cyar'ika had meant, and ever since then the two of you had been dancing around each other. Surely, he knew you liked him by now- you had tried to hint at him several times: lingering touches, longer conversations, closeness to him. And, yet the Mandalorian remained oblivious. You supposed that no matter the species or creed, men were all as dense as each other.

        You huffed as you held the child on your lap.

        "I don't know what I'm going to do, little one," you murmured, "I think I'm having more luck communicating with you, than I am with your dad. ...Maybe I should just give up. He has his creed to follow anyway..."

        The child looked at you, his head slightly tilted. His big eyes stared up at you. Despite not saying anything at all, you knew he was understanding you. He was a pretty great listener, even if he was only a youngling.

        "You know, you're right. Maybe I- maybe we just need a day out. Some fresh air. What do you think? Do you want to take a little trip? We need some more supplies anyway, I'm getting sick of rations, and I'd like some fresh food. What about you?"

        The child perked up at the mention of food, and you smiled.

        "I'll take that as a yes," you giggled, "Let me go speak to your daddy."

        You placed the child gently down in his bed, and made your way up to the cockpit, where Din was flying the ship. Your head peeked up from the ladder, and you clambered up and stood awkwardly for a second at the back of the room. Din heard you enter, and waited for you to speak. He turned his head ever so slightly, his beskar glinting from the faint light the stars around the ship were producing.

        "Hi," you murmured, wandering over to where Din was sitting, "How far away are we from the next stop?"

        "About an hour," Din replied, "Why do you ask?"

        You fold your hands neatly in front of you, you shift your weight slightly forward, and almost rock on the balls of your feet.

        "Well, I was thinking that I- well, us... You, me and the kid could take a trip to the local market on our next stop. It's just we need more food anyways, and I'm going a bit stir crazy. It'll do us some good to get some fresh air, especially the kid. He can't spend his whole life in this ship."

        Din contemplates for a second.

        "I know what you're going to say- It's dangerous, we're being hunted but-"

        "-I was actually going to say okay."

        "Really? I mean, great. Thank you!"

        Din smiles under his helmet, not that you can tell, and continues, "As you said, we need food anyway, and the next planet we're going to land on is remote enough. It's definitely not Imp friendly either."

        You nod, and flash Din a smile. The tension slowly builds in the room; you can feel his eyes on you. Despite not being able to see his eyes (hell, you didn't even know what colour they were), you could sense them: trained on you. You coughed awkwardly.

        "I'm going to go check on the kid. Uh- Give me a shout when we're about to land."

        "I will, cyar'ika."

        Your heart jumps at the nickname.

~~~

As soon as you landed, you grabbed your bag, your gun and a set of knives. Despite not technically being employed by any bounty hunting guilds right now, it never hurt to be prepared: especially when the small green creature you were travelling with had such a high price on his head. And, then you turned to Din. He was also carrying his fair share of weapons, and of course the child. He was situated in Din's bag, his cute little face peaking out over the top. You smiled at him, before beginning to walk down the ramp.

        The Mandalorian made his way into the town, with you by his side, and his small son literally at his side. He didn't feel uneasy about this place- it looked relatively safe, but he was still on high alert. And, he wanted you to be as well.

        Despite having only known you a couple of months, he didn't dare think about the possibility of something happening to you. He knew he had to protect the child, that was a given, but the growing affection he had for you was uncharted. As a boy, he had learned about Mandalorians caring for foundlings (just as they had done with him as a boy), but romantic relationships were something out of his reach. He knew they occurred; they had to. The Mandalorians, while being a creed of highly trained soldiers, still held family at their core. After all, how were they to make more warriors without romantic relationships. But, truthfully, they were something unfamiliar to him. It had never been possible in his life, not with the creed. With you, his thoughts had begun to wander more and more lately. About you being next to him, being his family. He knew Mandalorians were allowed to take their helmets off for family, for those in their Clan. The more time you spent with him, the more he considered you to be apart of his Clan... He shook himself slightly. 'Stop,' he thought, 'You shouldn't have this on your mind. Y/N doesn't think of you that way. They're here for the child. That's it.'

        If only Din knew how far from the truth that was.

        "I need you to take him," Din says to you, carefully taking the child from his bag and handing him to you, "I'm going to go into the cantina, and see if I can find me- us some work. I trust you can manage to get us some supplies?"

        "You insult me, my love," you laugh, holding the child in your arms, "I am more than capable. I hope you save me at least one good bounty. I can't let you have all the fun."

        "I'll keep an eye out. Meet me here in half an hour."

        "Will do, my love," you smile and walk away from him.

        Din was glad for the distance being put between the two of you, because he was sure if you were any closer to him, you would be able to hear his heart racing behind his beskar. 'My love,' he pondered. He quite liked the way that sounded rolling off your tongue, perhaps even more than he liked hearing you say his own name. He gave one last look over his shoulder, just to make sure you were okay, before heading into the cantina.

~~~

You'd successfully made it to the market, and had made your way around over half of the stalls, and you had basically bought all the food for you and your Mandalorian. As you continued walking through the market, most of the stalls you passed by were food, but some were trinkets, toys, and even weapons. You'd hesitated by one particular booth. They were selling crystals, luxury cloth, and jewellery. Usually, you weren't one for such fine things (in your life style, things like that would end up ruined, stolen or pawned), but you'd been drawn in by one particular necklace. The chain was made up of two types of metal from what you could tell: a shinning silver, and a deep, darker grey. Attached to the chain was an unfamiliar symbol. It curved into a symmetrical shape, one that looked like two halves of a whole.

        "That's real beskar, you know," the seller assured, "It would look beautiful sitting around your neck."

        The seller was an older woman. She wore blue and purple robes, dirtied only a little by the sand- no doubt from the extensive sand desert that lay just outside the town. She had a kind face, her eyes smiling up at you. You'd almost forgotten to reply.

        "What do you say? Can I interest you in such a fine, unique piece?"

        "Oh, I'm not sure-"

        "-I'm sure your husband would like it: it would match his own armour after all," the lady added, taking the necklace off of its stand and presenting it to you.

        "Oh, he's not- He's not my husband. We're just travel companions, that's all."

        "Someone should tell him that. The way he looks at you... Only few people are so lucky. Looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky."

        "How do you know that? His helmet-"

        "-There's some things you just know with age, dearie. Love is one of them."

        You were rendered speechless. Did he really look at you like that? Was is that obvious? Did his heart beat for yours the way yours beats for his? You hardly had time to process the thought of you and Din together that close, as spouses, before the seller spoke again.

        "So what do you say? Can I tempt you with this necklace? I can even throw in a free toy for the little one," she smiled, cooing to the child from across the table.

        You looked at the seller, and then down to him.

        "What do you say, little guy? Do you want a new toy?" you murmured to him; when you saw his eyes gleam with excitement, you knew it was all over.

        "I think he said yes," the merchant laughs.

        "I think you're right," you reply, reaching into your bag for your purse, "I usually wouldn't spend credits on a thing like this... But, it is quite beautiful. And, you do deserve a new toy."

        You handed the lady her credits, and took the necklace from her. She'd placed it into a small, black, velvet box. The box had small silver hinges and a clasp at the front. You felt a little giddy. It had been a while since you'd made such an unessential purchase, and there was a small part of you that hoped if you wore this you might get the attention of a certain masked warrior. You shook your head, granted it was a little desperate, but you figured worth a shot.

        The child also received his gift too. It was a small figurine of an animal. You weren't quite sure which one, but he seemed to like it, and that was good enough for you.

        You slipped the velvet box into your bag, and caught a glimpse of your watch. Fuck, you were late. You jostled the child closer to your chest and began to almost sprint back to the cantina: you did not want to have to deal with a grumpy Mandalorian, least of all if you were the cause of his grumpiness. The closer you got, the easier it was to make out his figure.

        "Look, before you say anything, I'm sorry I'm late. Time must have slipped my mind, and I ran into a strange lady at one of the stalls, and she sold me this- You know what, you probably don't need to know all that. Just know we've got enough food to last us at least a month, and the child had fun."

        "He has a new toy."

        "I- Yeah," you replied, "Not exactly an essential, I know, but don't worry I used my credits. Besides, it'll hopefully stop him wrecking your cockpit for a toy."

        Din nodded. You don't know why you expected him to say more. He wasn't a man of many words, and you were apparently no exception. You made your way back to the ship with the Mandalorian in silence. It wasn't unpleasant by any means, but also it felt like you both had lots to say: you just didn't know how to say it.

        "Did you buy anything for yourself?" Din asked, looking over to you as you reached the ship.

        How did he know?

        Din obviously sensed your confusion.

        "I- You said that a lady sold you something, that's all," Din clarified.

        "Oooh, oh that," you said, looking down at your bag, "Yeah, I did. A bit of an impulse buy if I'm honest, but the lady was too nice to deny. She sold me a necklace. Maybe you can help me put it on."

        Din nodded; that should be easy. It was just a necklace after all. He'd fought off enemies twice his size, survived when the odds were against him, and was one of the best bounty hunters there was... It should be easy. So why was his heart racing?

        You placed the child down on the floor of the Razor Crest, and reached inside your bag for the box. Your hands traced the inside of your bag blindly, before feelings the soft touch of velvet. Carefully, you took it out of the bag, and revealed the box. Din's eyes watched with intrigue. You unfastened the clasp and opened the box. It snapped back on its hinges, and revealed the chain.

        Din's eyes registered the metal before his brain could even process it: a betrothal necklace.

        "The lady said it was genuine beskar, but I'm not so sure. I think it's just silver, probably some iron too- but it's pretty either way. Do you mind helping me put it on still?"

        Din's mind was still racing. He'd heard about the tradition of giving a betrothal necklace from urban tales and word of mouth from other Mandalorians, but he'd never actually seen one this close. The tradition stated that the Mandalorian proposing would take part of their beskar and part of their riduur-to-be's beskar and melt them into a necklace, with the two swirling around each other before eventually combining into a symbol at the bottom. Usually it was a good luck symbol, or for fertility. Something along those lines. It felt almost surreal seeing one close up.

        "Are you alright, Din?" you ask, "Is something up?"

       He wasn't sure if he should mention the tradition, what the necklace meant to the Mandalorians... It was basically a dead tradition now, anyway. There was no harm in not telling you, right? After all, there were very few Mandalorians left, and even fewer that managed to have the privilege of finding a riduur: you didn't need to know..

        "No, no... I'm fine," he reassures, "I- Hand me the necklace."

        Din took the necklace from you and instructed you to hold your hair out of the way. You obliged, and felt him lace the necklace around your neck before fastening it in the back. There was a small pause, where the two of you just stayed there: in the moment. It took everything in you not to shiver as you felt a rush down your spine. The sensation of Din's hands on you, even just for a moment, was almost too much. You turned around to face him.

        "Do you like it?" you ask, holding the pendant of your new necklace between your thumb and your index finger.

        "It suits you," he affirmed, "Mesh'la."

       "Thank you," you blushed, making a mental note to ask what 'Mesh'la' meant at a later date, "I- I'm going to go put the food supplies away."

       Din decided against telling you about the origin of your neckalce; you looked far too radiant wearing it for him to say anything that may shift the tone. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, so he just let you walk past him. Part of him felt guilty for not saying anything, but another part of him selfishly thought it looked beautiful sat around your neck. For a moment he could almost imagine that he had given you that..

       ...That you were his riduur.

[skellebonez]

Could you do number 46. They have amnesia? With Monkie King and MK If you’re still doing the request/prompts

You didn't say who had to have amnesia, anon. Spoilers for episodes up to S2E6 inside.

They have amnesia?

"How is this even possible?" MK asked softly, not wanting to be heard but knowing that Wukong’s superior hearing would pick up most of what he was saying. Though given how distracted he was...

"It shouldn't be!" Tang exclaimed equally as quiet, watching his hero with a mix of curiosity and dismay. "He's the Monkey King, nothing should be able to hurt him like this."

"Maybe he wasn't hurt," Mei offered, watching Wukong herself as Pigsy held up another photograph and only recieved a confused look in response. "Maybe it's magic. He can be affected by magic that isn't directly hurting him, right? Even if it takes something big to hurt him physically a spell or curse could still something."

"That is a possibility..." Tang muttered under his breathe. He ran his hand through his hair, sighing as Pigsy seemed to exhaust photographs and illustrations to show the Monkey King. Sandy stood beside them both, Mo curled up in Wukong’s arms instead of his usual place on the big guy's shoulder, and said something in hushed tones that made the Monkey King's ears pull back. "There are no shortages of either that could cause memory loss, hopefully for us temporarily so. And he didn't seem injured in any way when we found him outside the shop... though he shouldn't even be here, he was on vacation! Wouldn't he have told you he was coming back?"

"Maybe..." MK started slowly, watching as Pigsy held up a group of photos and Wukong pointed to one of them excitedly. "But he's been acting... weird since he left anyway. Like he was distracted. I kinda just tried not to worry about it but..." He trailed off, jumping as a loud snap was heard and then wishing he had the staff out in his hands to wrap them around it instead of the mop he just snapped in two. "... crap..."

"You're worried," Mei said softly, laying her hand on her best friend's shoulder. "I am too, even though I may not know the Monkey King that well. But once we find out exactly how much he remembers we can find a way to help him."

"Yeah, about that," Pigsy's voice broke through their conversation as he made his way over. The chef looked perturbed. "So we went through all your pictures MK. He remembers going on the journey, though the details of it are lost, and he knows Mount Huaguo like the back of his hand. But he doesn't remember like 99% of the journey, can't remember any of his monkeys, can't remember us, can't even remember that he's the Monkey King or what that title means." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his snout for a second before continuing. "What he does remember clearly is that he lives alone on an island and that it's the modern day, he went on some big journey he barely recalls... and that he knows MK and that MK is important."

"What?" MK looked away from where he had glanced over to Wukong, staring at Pigsy in disbelief. "Wait, you're telling me I'm the only person he remembers!?"

"Barely!" Pigsy elaborated with another sigh. "Kid, whatever happened to him really messed up his memories. He knows your name and face and that you're important. He kind of remembers training you. But that is it. He doesn't recognize anyone else. And I don't know him that good, but he doesn't seem to be acting like his normal self either."

This was bad. There was no other way to put it. And they needed to figure something out fast.

"MK?" Wukong said suddenly, having wandered up to the group. He still had Mo in his arms, the cat looking up at him in concern. "Is everything alright, Bud?"

It most certainly was not.

~

"This is my house?" Wukong asked softly, one of the first things he had said since MK and he had arrived back on Mount Huaguo. Getting him home was easy enough, one of the few things he remembered was where he lived after all, but he seemed confused regardless. Perhaps he didn't remember the mountain as much as Pigsy thought he did. "It's... cozy!" He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "When your boss told me I was a king I kind of worried that... well, I don't know why, I was just worried for some reason. Weird."

Weird didn't even begin to cover it.

Pigsy wasn't lying when he said that Wukong hadn't been acting like his normal self. Instead of the loud and boisterous and kind of, admittedly, self important Monkey King MK expected, Wukong was oddly subdued. Maybe it was the amnesia making him weary, but he was acting so much like he had for just the shortest moments at the Lunar New Year festival (both before the fireworks had cheered him up and after the fight with the Spider Queen) that MK was starting to wonder...

"I really do live alone except for my monkeys, huh?" Wukong said softly, one of the aforementioned monkeys looking at him in their own concern.

When he saw them face to face he seemed to recall at least a bit. That he cared for them in some capacity both as an actual caregiver and as "I guess a King is right" as Wukong put it. But while he knew each one on the island by name before he couldn't recall a single one now. But MK remembered that the little one that followed them inside was called Yue, partly because he had been the one to help name her.

Knowing that Wukong likely didn't remember that day, let alone how important it had been to him to include his student in this endeavor, made MK's chest hurt.

"Yeah, it's, uh... yeah," MK attempted to confirm, coming off as awkward as he felt internally. Everything about this was awkward. But MK could not, and would not, leave his mentor while he could only barely recall how to navigate his own home island. "So... we didn't exactly get that much to eat at Pigsy's... you hungry?"

~

The two ate in moderate silence. MK didn't want to force Wukong to feel awkward by asking him about topics he couldn't remember (the last few confused and then apologetic smiles made him feel too bad to try again). He managed to find something, at least, however small it was.

Wukong seemed to remember little bits and pieces about himself. Not everything, obviously, but he remembered some important things. He knew he was immortal and invincible. He knew that he was very very old. He knew he was technically not a regular demon monkey but a stone monkey born out of a... well, a stone. And he remembered his dietary preferences.

This last one was news to MK, who had never actually seen him eat more than peaches and peach chips and food made from his own hair (which was not something he was looking forward to trying again). But it made fashioning something for them to eat easier. Something simple, rice for both of them with fresh peaches (he had so many of these things in his fridge and MK did not know how they lasted without spoiling, but he did not ask) for his mentor and rice with some tofu and green onions for MK (simple, but with seasoning and sauce that for some reason had his own initials on it tasty, he had to remember to ask about that... after).

It was... kind of nice, the situation aside.

"... am I your... absentee dad?"

And there that went right out the window and right into the volcanic inferno of the flaming mountains!

MK nearly choked on his rice, barely managing to chug a glass of water before managing out a "HWUH?" in his mentor's direction.

"I-I'm sorry!" Wukong stuttered out, the uncertainty in his voice sounding wrong. "I just... I thought... there's stuff in here with your name on it but there isn't a place for you to stay, the second room is just storage, so I thought..." He trailed off, biting his lip before sighing. "You told me you were my student. But that... it's doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel wrong but it feels... sorry."

Taking a moment to breathe in deeply, MK steeled himself.

"No, don't apologize," he started, setting his bowl to the side and staying quiet for a moment. "No, you're not... my dad. But I noticed those things too. I've never really been inside your house all that much, only a couple times before you left and only twice since. You don't..." He paused, trying to find the right words to express himself. "I guess I'm just realizing there's a lot of things you don't tell me."

"... it'd be kind of awkward if I just ruined some kind of big thing I was gonna tell you when I got back," Wukong said through another bite of a peach.

"Yeah, I doubt you were gonna tell me you'e adopting me," MK laughed out awkwardly... but that awkwardness lingered long after the conversation moved on to how much of the stuff in the house he remembered.

~

MK woke up in a sleeping bag in a room that didn't belong to him. He was confused at first, sitting up quickly and looking around before realizing that he was just in Wukong's house. On the floor of Wukong's bedroom, actually. The Monkey King had insisted that he could not sleep on the couch, comfortable as it looked, and they looked around in his storage room for any alternative until they found this.

It was comfortable enough. But not so comfortable he slept through what had woken him.

It sounded like crying.

Not loud, not enough to wake most people. But MK was already highly stressed from the situation and had developed much better hearing since obtaining the Monkey King Powers (how he had thought he needed to learn super hearing that one time he did not know now that he thought about it). So he picked up on the soft sniffs and whimpers and shakey breathes and now he would not be going back to sleep until he figured out what was up.

"Monkey King? You sure there isn-" MK froze as he turned to his mentor's bed, only to find it empty.

Well. Shit...

That probably answered that question.

MK wasted no time in jumping to his feet rushing out of the room and toward the crying before freezing in the door way to he living room.

Monkey King was sitting on the floor, TV on and VR set still strapped to his head.

"Oh... no..." MK muttered softly, making his way inside to stand behind Wukong. "Hey... Monkey King? What are you doing?"

Wukong flinched, he'd never seen him do that before, and gripped his controller tighter. He heard it creak worryingly under his grip.

"I... I saw this game earlier," he started slowly, and MK didn't need him to explain which one it was. The case, familiar to him now, was sitting in plain sight on the floor before them. "I dunno, it just... it felt important. And I couldn't sleep so I decided to go through some more of my stuff and... and..." He took in a shakey breathe, putting the controller down and taking the VR headset off. "I... it was weird looking at myself. Listening to myself tell me what do to. But it felt familar. So I kept playing and..."

MK put a hand on his mentor's shoulder and looked at the screen. He'd made it to the in game store, the temple. There Tripitaka, Tang Sanzang, resided to give the player passive abilities. "How long have you been playing?"

"An hour maybe?" Wukong offered, wiping the tears from his face. "I made it to Zhu Ganglie but I. I couldn't. I didn't want to... MK, I feel like I should remember these people. I can't look at them without feeling... sad. Guilty? I can't help but feel like I did something wrong to them?"

And MK's chest hurt once again, knowing that somewhere deep down in Wukong he hadn't completely forgotten his companions from his journey centuries ago. He should have pieced it together when he played. The art, the dialogue, the placement of the monk... he'd never seen the game on store shelves before either, never even heard of it.

But Sun Wukong had played this game for 10,000 hours.

"They're, uh... They're the people who were on your journey with you," MK started as he sat on the floor by his mentor. "You haven't gotten to Sha Wujing, but he's there too. So was Bai Long Ma. I could... tell you about them? I don't know all the stories by heart like Tang does, but I can try."

"You don't have to do that," Wukong said much more assuredly and firm than before. "If I did something that made me feel like this that should be my own burden to bear, not yours."

"Yeah... but I want to help you anyway."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Wukong stood and made his way into the kitchen. He returned a moment later with a small bowl of peaches and a wrapped pack of pears (once again with MK's initials on it). He sat on the couch, gesturing for his student to join him before he spoke.

"I appreciate the offer, I do... but I'll be able to learn that on my own before my memories return," Wukong said, biting into one of his peaches with a sad smile. "You said Tang, the guy from the noodle shop, knows them. I can ask him tomorrow... well, later today. But as I said before, that isn't your burden to bear. And I don't want to put that on you. And even though I remember you the most out of everything it feels like I don't know you as much as I should. So, if neither of us is going to sleep again any time soon... tell me about MK?"

"... When I moved into the apartment above Pigsy’s I took on MK as a nickname."

Wukong looked up in confusion for a moment before his eyes widened and he put all his focus on his student with a soft smile. "OK..."

The two talked for only roughly another hour, Sun Wukong listening to MK tell him anything he felt comfortable telling him. When he woke up he was back in the sleeping bag, the soft snores of the Monkey King resounding above him.

As he laid awake, the small monkey Yue having made her way inside to sleep on his chest making a good excuse to not get up, he wanted to mull over everything he had learned. He'd learned more about his mentor in the 6 waking hours they spent together in his home than he had his entire apprenticeship, and the same went the other way.

MK wondered just why Sun Wukong hid all this from him so far. For so long. And he knew now he couldn't have possibly been on vacation. Not when it resulted in this. The Monkey King had been hiding so much from him and it clearly wasn't limited to what he was doing behind his back.

But right now Sun Wukong trusted MK, him coming back with him to Mount Huaguo was evidence enough of that. And MK trusted him as he was now... but didn't know how much of Sun Wukong from the past to trust anymore. He needed to get his mentor's memories back. And he needed to get answers.

Sun Wukong slept on, oblivious to the conflict in his student's head.

[hamburgerhelpersotherhand]

Infatuation P11

Joe Goldberg x Reader x Love Quinn

Warnings: Violent scene description, death.

Notes: Wow, this seems really out of nowhere to post. Anyway 🤪 I don’t want this sitting in my drafts anymore so I’m going to let you all know if I edit it before the next update. Just... take it.

I spent the better half of the day looking over my shoulder as I worked. Candace’s sudden reappearance isn’t going to be swept under the rug just like that... she’s a dead girl walking and I’ve never been a fan of the zombie genre.

By the time I was counting the money from the cash register, Love seemed to have grown a smile. Though, I could still see the sleep deprivation in her eyes.

“Will,” She leaned forward on the counter, perching her head up on her hand. “could we do something tonight?”

At that moment, I really wish I could’ve said yes. But... I couldn’t afford to get distracted.

“Maybe another night? I’m...” I thought quickly, placing coins down and counting.

“We need to talk.” She leans forward to catch my sight. About what exactly, I want to ask but before I can even get a word out, Forty walks in with his mouth open.

“Will, would you be a doll and help me with something.”

I don’t say anything, only thinking to myself: why here and now? Forty has some of the worst timing... and then I spot Candace. Right behind Forty, with a white smile I hated to see.

“Oh, Will. This is Amy.” Love gestures toward Candace and my stomach turns and probably does some flips while it’s at it. If I wasn’t so used to staring into the face of death, I would of probably thrown up by now.

But, there’s no way.

“She’s Y/N’s friend.” Forty finishes. I bite the inside of my cheek. No fucking way she’s here unprompted. I’ve been so incredibly meticulous about everything including my online presence.

I look to Love’s face and she seems to spot something.

“Are you okay? You look kind of pale.” What? She’s not going to ask if I’ve seen a ghost?

“Yeah— no, yeah. I’m alright.” I smile wide, wiping my brow as I do. “It’s just—“ I turn to ‘Amy’. “Is Y/N still in town?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m here.” She looks me in the eye. For a moment, I feel myself crack under the pressure.

Hold me back, I might just kill her now.

“What do you mean?” Love looks to her.

“I was supposed to pick her up the other day, but she hasn’t responded to my messages since.” Candace looks at me with those dead soulless eyes of hers.

So, she’s the mysterious driver. When did she start driving that type of car? Since she’s decided to pursue a career in stealthily ruining my life?

What the fuck am I going to do about her and what the hell am I going to do about you?

“Will,” Love suddenly says, bringing the conversation back and snapping me out of my thoughts. “didn’t you see Y/N?”

“Y— no. No, I know it was late by the time I got there, but I passed a bus on my way.” I remember the way your soft face felt in my hand. “Could she have taken public transport? Maybe a cab?”

“I highly doubt it.” Candace replies immediately. I’m sweating, but I’m trying not to lose my cool.

I finally finish sorting through the change, no doubt making some mistakes. But with that done and out of my way, I need an excuse to slip through the cracks.

“Listen, I’m sure she’s just disappearing again. You’ve told me she’s done it before, I don’t see why she wouldn’t do it again.”

Love shifts around, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. “I’m calling Lucy.”

And there she goes. Love leaves the room after her statement, and I know she’s feeling worse. Why did you even bother coming back? You’ve literally disrupted everything in our lives... it’s going to be difficult to fix, Y/N. There’s no simple way around this, we just have to make it through alive.

~

Love remained in another room at Anavrin until it closed and the street lights turned on. She quietly spoke into her phone, observing the floor pathetically.

She spoke with Lucy openly, though she avoided the topic of your sudden disappearance.

The conversation eventually dies down, and she says her goodbyes.

“I need to show you something.”

Love sets down her phone and looks to Amy. She hadn’t noticed her enter the room.

“You surprised me. What is it?”

She continues once Love’s attention is on her. “I know we don’t know each other that well, but do you mind if we discuss it in the car?”

~

And just as expected, Forty’s one-off comment about needing help wasn’t easily forgotten by himself. I was dragged out of Anavrin rather quickly. Though, in a way, I appreciated the easy excuse to get away from such a venemous snake as Candace.

Forty never let up, no matter how obvious I made my lack of care, he remained just as motivated and just as annoying.

“Listen, this is probably my most prestigious and ambitious project to date.” Forty’s arm swings itself over my shoulder, bringing me in as he repeats the same garbage he always does. I’m glad to see that spirit remains.

“They’re wanting to make it into a movie, can you believe that?” Forty’s arm lifts itself, only to fall down on my shoulder like a pat on the back.

“I’d love it if you could... you know... help me out. A genius writer isn’t a genius without their ghost writers!”

That’s... not what that is, but I get his point.

When I looked at him, his eyes were wide and his bottom lip stuck out comically. He was pouting? No, it’s more of a puppy dog look. The lazy man’s pretty please.

I should have time for this, even if I’d rather stop by the nearest gas station and get you dinner.

“Earth to Will, I need you focused!”

~

Love wraps her arms around herself, feeling very out of place.

Amy continues to fumble with the lock, until she hears a click. She perks up and gives Love a nod.

The storage lockers were easy to access, surprisingly so. But none of this felt right.

“Wait.” Love says suddenly, halting all movement. “I don’t want to do this.”

“But you’re just a door away. Please, Love, you’ll want to see this side of him.” Amy pleas.

What side of him? The side that owns this locker she so happened to know about?

“No, I don’t. And I don’t care for it either.” Love says, though she looks unsure of herself as she fiddles with her bag. Perhaps a part of her would rather be unaware of something as vile as Any had dared describe in the car.

“Do you hear yourself? You sound ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous? Thats coming from someone with bold claims.” Love retorts. She catches herself for a moment, seeing a glimpse of someone she repressed long ago. She’s not that person anymore, she swore to herself she never would be.

Despite Love’s reluctance, Amy lifts the door up and pockets her bobby pin.

Hearing the doors roll up, you had expected Joe to step in. But he was nowhere in sight. Instead, you jumped at the image of Love and Amy, pinching yourself to truly believe they were really standing there.

You wanted to speak, to shout, to cry out... but your voice was far too gone. Your throat was hoarse and bone-dry.

“Oh my god.” Amy hurried, observing you inside the glass box. “You’re still alive— she’s still alive!”

Love remained silent, her jaw hung open in utter disbelief. Will... Will had told her you left.

He lied? Or Amy isn’t who she says she is.

But why would he? It... it must’ve been for a good reason, right? Will isn’t this kind of person, right? Maybe— maybe he got himself into something. Love clutched her keys between her fingers, her knuckles turning white as she focused her burning stare into the back of Amy’s head.

“Y/N. Can you hear me?” She says, hitting the glass.

You’re barely responsive, a mixture of dehydration and lack of nutrition hitting you all at once. The sheer excitement from seeing them took a lot out of you.

“We’ll get you out of there.” Amy states, turning her head to face Love.

Love jumps at her sudden movement, grip shaking as she stares into Amy’s eyes.

“Help me, would you?”

Love slashed her keys in Amy’s direction and she tumbles back. Without a second thought, Love does it again, this time catching her straight in the neck.

For a moment, Love realizes what she’s done. With the way you began to pound on the glass and the look of complete and utter fear Amy is giving her, it’s kind of hard not to. Love stares at her keys, stuck inside the side of Amy’s neck as a thick stream of blood flows downward. She grips her own neck, holding tightly as her mouth puckers like a fish out of water.

Amy doesn’t want her to pull them out—the keys- and Love notices that. But she does. She yanks the keys toward herself and watches Amy slap her hands down around her own throat.

She’s silent, surprisingly silent despite the gurgling.

Love watches Amy hit the ground and crawl toward her feet, all the while a pool of blood forms beneath herself.

When Love looks toward you, you’re curled up in the corner of your glass cage, arms covering your eyes as sobs shake you violently. She didn’t want you to witness this side of her, truly. But even more so, she had never wanted it to come out again.

However, Amy was a threat to the three of you. Love knew you were locked up somewhere, how could she not? She knew that Will— Joe- had done this in the past, but it could be different now— it could be better. A private detective isn’t just for show. But Amy didn’t have to get involved— didn’t have to go sniffing around and finding your location before she could.

When she notices you peek past your elbows, she feels her gut clench at the sight of the way you cower at the sight displayed by her feet. Watching someone bleed out is hardly a pretty sight and Love understands.

Knowing full well that she can’t turn back, Love wipes her keys and drops the rolled up door.

[drowsy-writer]

I Can't Stop— regulus black x reader

Summary: An unmovable object vs. an unstoppable force (aka Reader tries to get Regulus to bed) 

Warning:  cursing, angst, bittersweet fluff, crying

Notes: Reader has she/her pronouns and is a Hufflepuff; this can also be read as either romantic or platonic also yes I sometimes face claim regulus as Benjamin Wadsworth pls don’t @ me i’m new here lol

Hogwarts 1975

Every Hufflepuff knows that when 10:00 hits, the kitchen goes silent. No pots boil, no ovens switch on―without the house elves, the place is as silent as the library on a good day. The alluring scents of the day’s meals would linger in the air, hitting the face of every Hufflepuff who entered eager to make it to their common room and call it a night.

Tonight the smells of roasted chicken and creamy beef stew were replaced with the stingy aroma of coffee as two students sat at the end of the kitchen’s massive table, books spread out amongst themselves. Two gigantic porcelain mugs were placed within arms reach and a fresh pot of coffee sat between them.

“Find anything yet?” the Hufflepuff asked. Her [h/c] curls bounced slightly as she looked up from her piece of parchment, observing the pale Slytherin boy across from her scrunch his brows.

“No,” Regulus shut another book and tossed it on top of the stack next to him. He reached over to his mug, which embarrassingly had an orange flat-faced kitten painted on it, and downed its remaining contents. He then slammed the mug on the table and ran both of his fingers through his short ebony locks,” nothing. Yet.”

“House elves are bound to wake up soon,” [Y/N] mused. She cocked her head towards the tiny door sitting next to the fireplace,” maybe we should call it a night.”

Regulus groaned as he reached for the pot of coffee and poured himself another cup. The pot shook a bit as Regulus poured it, the bags underneath his eyes growing darker. [Y/N] looked at her friend and sighed.

“We’ve gone through almost the whole library, Reggie,” [Y/N] said. Regulus took a quick swig of his refilled cup of coffee and cracked open another book,” look! That’s even the same book you opened last night. Cover and all!”

“Nope,” Regulus held up the book and tapped his pale finger on the cover where it read Volume 2. It was [Y/N]’s time to groan as she took her own mug, this one with a silly looking dog on it, and sipped at the now cold contents. Her face scrunched up as she placed the mug down,” Zatara might’ve been a loon, but he was Bullock’s assistant. He probably hid something in here so Dumbledore or anyone else couldn’t find and burn it..” 

“What makes you think that Volume 2 is gonna have something when the first one didn’t?” [Y/N] had got up from her chair, cold cup of coffee in hand, and dumped it down the drain of the sink behind her. She turned the faucet on, rinsing out the mug and gently putting it back on the drying rack. When [Y/N] spun around, she was met by Regulus’s signature scowl,” don’t get your knickers in a twist. You know I’m right. I’m always right with these sorts of things.”

“I know,” Regulus hissed. He looked back down at the book,” but right now, I’m hoping you’re wrong.”

[Y/N] huffed as she sat back down on her chair again. A small yawn escaped her lips but she knew it’d be a while until Regulus decided to pack his stuff and leave. This was the case every night since 2nd year where Regulus and [Y/N] would stay up right before the elves came back in to prep for breakfast, reading and discussing topics both school related and pure nonsense. Neither knew how this little tradition started and, quite frankly, neither cared. It was a breath of fresh air for [Y/N] and a sense of normalcy Regulus craved for within his ever turbulent life. 

As of recently, however, their midnight meetings were overwhelmed with a sense of dread. It had been months since Regulus had properly been exposed to the world of the Death Eaters and of Lord Voldemort, courtesy of his mother. From then on, he had been put into an almost inescapable hole, one that he was intent of crawling out of. Regulus might've not had the luxury of running away like his brother, but he sure as hell wasn't going to give in without a fight.

“So if I am wrong, what’s gonna happen next?” [Y/N] asked.

Regulus quirked a brow as he stopped reading the passage he was on. Not even bothering to look up, Regulus clicked his tongue in thought. He then, to [Y/N]’s annoyance, shrugged his shoulders and continued to read.

“I don’t know. Haven’t thought that far yet.”

“What do you mean you haven’t thought that far yet? We’ve been looking into Horcruxes for the past three months and you haven’t the clue as to what you’ll do next?!”

“Something like that.”

“You're so—,” [Y/N] let out a muffled scream as she buried her head in her hands,” you're insufferable, you know that? Why am I even friends with you?”

“Haven't thought that far yet either,” Regulus smirked. 

“Very funny, Reggie. Now c’mon,” [Y/N] motioned towards the stack of books,” let’s stash these away. We’ve got a Potions exam tomorrow morning, remember?”

“Yes, I remember.”

Regulus didn’t make an effort to get up and continued to read through the book. As Regulus flipped through another page, [Y/N] muttered underneath her breath as she jumped down from her seat and walked over to the Slytherin’s side.

“Alright. That’s it.”

Before Regulus could make sense as to what was happening, [Y/N] wrapped her hands around his waist and hoisted him up from the seat.

“[Y/N]?!” Regulus sputtered, dropping the book from his hands,” let me go!”

“Oh shut it, Black! You need to get some sleep!”

Still in her arms, Regulus tensed as their bodies pressed against one another. He cursed himself underneath his breath as his face flushed red.

“Just put me down. Now.”

“No.”

“[Y/N]—!”

[Y/N] tightened her grip as Regulus squirmed within her hold. She dragged him from his chair to the middle of the kitchen where he finally pushed himself off.

“What the hell was that for?”

“You need to sleep, Regulus! You can’t keep burning the candle at both ends. You’ll fall back if you keep doing this.”

“Well what else am I supposed to do, then? Run away from my problems like my brother? Ignore them? I can’t just turn away from my family and pretend nothing ever happened!” Regulus shouted. His breathing turned ragged, as if he just finished yet another Quidditch match, “what would you expect for me to do?”

“I—I don’t know! I don’t have the answers for everything!” [Y/N] retorted. Regulus groaned as he turned around, intent on picking up where he left off in his book,” but I do know that when the time comes, whatever remnants of a plan you do have, you’ll be too exhausted to do anything about it!”

Regulus stopped in his step as he stared at the rack of spices before him, afraid of meeting his friend’s eyes. He took a deep breath, composed himself, and turned around. His eyes had yet to meet [Y/N]’s as they shifted throughout the room.

“Why are you—ugh,” Regulus sighed as he ran his hands through his hair,” I just—this is how I work, [Y/N]. You’ve known it since 2nd year. Even when I stop, I can’t stop. When I go to sleep at night, my mind is still racing with all this bullshit about purebloods and Muggles and—.”

“But you can’t just—.”

“—And the fucking potions test you won’t stop telling me about! There’s so many things in my mind that I think Bellatrix’s head looks healthy compared to mine! I can’t stop thinking about my family, my house, even Sirius for Godric’s sake! I can’t stop worrying that if I were to put a pause for even a sliver of a second, everything I’ll ever love will cease to exist. I can’t risk that [Y/N]. Not for a second. Not when I have so much on the line.”

[Y/N] looked down at the floor as her friend’s words ran rapid through her head. She touched her forehead with the palm of her hand, dragging them down until they met the bridge of her nose. 

“Fucking—I know that, Regulus. I just—,” [Y/N] gave a pained expression as she pinched the bridge of her nose,”—fuck! I just want you to be okay, ok? You’re my friend. My best friend, actually. It hurts like hell because there’s nothing I can do about it. I can get you as many books as you want, sneak out around the castle as much as you want, lie to as many people as you want , but I can’t—no. I won’t stand here and watch you whittle away. Not when I can do something to prevent it.”

Regulus swallowed hard as his eyes met [Y/N]’s and the pit that had been growing inside his chest began to increase, pushing painfully against his rips. He felt his lungs constrict and if Regulus didn’t know any better, he’d say someone casted a Crucio curse on him and it was slowly ripping his body from the inside out.

“I just can’t let him win, [Y/N],” Regulus mumbled. He leaned back on the table and pressed both hands to his face, rubbing at his eyes as tears began to build up in the corners,” I can’t let that thing win, no matter what.”

Shielding his face from [Y/N], Regulus quietly sobbed as his friend stood in front of him, tears threatening to pour out from her eyes as well. Taking a deep, shaky breath, [Y/N] slowly walked towards her friend and gently wrapped her arms around him. Despite the slight size difference, [Y/N] was able to situate her friend so that his face was buried in the crook of her neck. She combed a hand through his inky, black locks.

“I know won’t,” [Y/N] said,” but I highly doubt snake face over there is going to wait for you to take a quick power nap. We’ll beat him, but not like this.”

Regulus’s grip tightened around [Y/N] and she felt his lips pull into a smile as a low chuckle emitted from him. 

“It’s amazing how you’re not a Ravenclaw with how much wisdom you spout out.”

“Well I’m far more interested in my friends then a bloody book,” [Y/N] stepped back, hands still wrapped around Regulus, and smiled,” now let’s clean up and head to bed. You deserve at least one good night’s rest.”

[booksarelife-stuff]

Dancin’ is a Dangerous Thing

James Potter/Lily Evans Potter (jily)

The moments in which James Potter and Lily Evans danced with each other. Pure fluff. 

Word Count: 2,556

Read on AO3

The first time Lily Evans danced with James Potter, it was a complete accident. 

It was fifth year, Gryffindors had not only won the Quidditch Cup, but the House Cup as well. The music is loud and blaring some wizarding band that Lily thinks is trying way too hard to be Queen. 

She’s tipsy, but not drunk. Her fingertips are tingling and she knows her face is flushed. She just finished her second firewhiskey of the night before Mary pulled her to the part of the common room where most of the other Gryffindors were dancing. 

She’s passed from partner to partner. She remembers Sirius at one point, watching him trying to teach Peter how to swing his hips. She laughed hysterically before Marlene pulled her back in.

She was sweaty when she spun right into James’s chest, almost knocking him over. He grabbed on to her to save himself from falling, his hands on her back, Lily’s face in his chest. 

“Oof,” Lily said. 

“A bit drunk there, Evans?” James asked as Lily pulled away.  She was so close he could hear him over the music. 

“Nope,” she said, stumbling. He snorted just as a new song started. This time it was Killer Queen. 

“I love this song!” she yelled. Lily would deny that she was the one to grab James’s hand and pull him in to dance, but all she could remember was the warmth of his hand in hers and how she laughed when he twirled her. 

The second time started with a question. 

“Do wizards even have their own dances?” Mary asked, scrunching her nose. All the sixth year Gryffindor’s had snagged a table in the common room and were quietly doing their work until Sirius asked a question about Muggle traditions for his Muggle studies class. 

“Nah,” James said from beside Peter. His feet were kicked up on the table as he leaned back in his chair. Alice had been doodling on his shoes, which Lily was sure James knew, but didn’t tell her to stop. 

“I mean, we have the same,” Sirius said with a shrug, “Just use them in different places.”

“These pureblood boys had to take dancing lessons,” Marlene said, smugly.  Sirius scoffed. 

“Yeah, so we could dance with whatever cousin Mummy and Daddy picked out for us,” he said. 

Lily blanched at that. 

“Mum made me do it to get out my energy,” James said. “Never worked. I would just waltz around until I broke something.”

The table laughed. 

“Lily, don’t you know how to waltz?” Mary asked. Lily sighed and nodded. 

“We learned in primary school for some reason,” Lily said. “Like anyone one of us in Cokesworth was going to need that knowledge.”

“Show me,” James said, his bright hazel eyes meeting hers. Lily raised an eyebrow at him. 

“What?” she asked, feeling the heat of a challenge from him. He smirked at her, a hand reaching up to his hair to mess it up. 

“You said no one from Cokesworth was going to need that knowledge,” he said. “So I’m asking you to show me.”

She knew what James was doing. It was plain as day. It was either a challenge or an excuse to dance with her, but frankly, she really didn’t care which it was, based on the way the butterflies erupted in her stomach. 

“I need a partner,” she said, sticking her hand out towards him. 

“You’re on,” he said, closing his book and dropping his feet to the ground. 

The warmth of his hand made her whole body tingle and she hoped her face wasn’t bright red as she felt his other hand appear on the small of her back, the starting position. Lily wondered when he got so tall, as she would have to crane her neck up to look at him. She decided to stare at the knot of his tie that was peeking out from his gray jumper. 

Marlene started humming, and they started off clumsily, but it was fine. 

“So, um, bad time to tell you Evans,” James started, glancing down at their first. “I’m bloody rubbish at dancing.”

He stepped on her foot and punched him in the arm. 

~~~

The third time they danced, Lily realized she was in bloody love with the bloke. 

Seventh year had brought a lot of surprises to Lily, including James as the head boy. It seemed since he walked into the prefect compartment on the very first day on the train, he was all she could think about. 

But they were just friends, she reminded herself every time he would playfully knock her shoulder during patrols, or stay up past midnight talking. 

When Petunia’s wedding invitation arrived at breakfast, Lily didn’t want to go, but an accompanying letter from her mother confirmed that Lily had no choice in the matter, but she could bring a date. 

When she asked James to go, her palms were sweating and her heart was jumping in her throat, but he had said yes, like it wasn’t a big deal. 

Petunia's wedding was on New Year’s eve, going into the new year. Lily had been in a bad mood as a result of her family bossing her around to get the wedding all ready. 

But when James arrived, everything seemed to change for Lily. He was dressed in nice muggle clothes and Lily could tell that he had tried to manage his hair. She hugged him tightly. 

He charmed her whole family in minutes, besides Petunia. Whether because he was a freak like Lily or because he had brown skin, Petunia glared at him constantly, her mouth pinched in a sour expression. 

Lily wanted to apologise for even bringing him into the situation but he wouldn’t hear of it. She instead, grabbing his hand, lacing her fingers with his, and didn’t let go of it once. 

During the ceremony, Lily could only focus on James’s hand in hers. He had always been fidgety, normally bouncing his leg, up and down, but he instead used Lily’s hand. Either drawing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb or just playing with her fingers. Lily didn’t mind it one bit and she realized that she let him do it forever. 

At the reception, Petunia and Vernon cut the cake before quickly going to their first dance. James leaned over from his spot next to her. 

“I thought Muggles smashed the cake into each other’s faces,” he whispered. Lily nodded. 

“Yeah, sometimes, but I highly doubt Petunia would go for that. Especially with how much her dress cost,” Lily replied. James pouted a little. 

“I came to see cake smashing,” he said. “I was going to write a whole paper on it for Muggle Studies.”

Lily laughed, causing a few people to give her some nastly looks because Petunia and Vernon were still doing their dance. 

“I’ll gladly smash some cake in your face,” she said. James squeezed her hand. 

“Save it for the wedding, Lils,” he whispered. 

If Lily’s heart could have leaped out of her chest, it would have in that moment. 

When James pulled out to the dance floor, she knew that she was in trouble, especially when a slow dance came on. She couldn’t help herself as she got closer to him, their bodies touching. 

“I don’t want to step on your feet,” he said, his hazel eyes sparkling as he looked down at her. 

“I don’t care, James,” she replied. “I wore closed toe shoes for a reason.”

He chuckled, Lily feeling his chest move. 

“Sorry I’m a horrid dancer,” he replied. “I practiced with Mum yesterday and I about broke her toes.”

“You practiced with your Mum?” Lily asked, feeling like the whole world stopped. 

“Yeah,” he replied. “I didn’t want to make you look like a bloody fool out here.”

She loved him, every doubt leaving her body. She stopped their lazy swaying and pulled away to look up at him, smiling like a fool. James, who had no idea what Lily was thinking, smiled a little confused. 

“Evans?” he asked. “Everything alright?”

“I bloody love you,” she replied. His eyes widened for a second, but they quickly closed as Lily pulled him into the best kiss of both of their lives. 

~~~

James’s hands were sweating profusely the next time they danced. 

Their small little cottage in the village of Godric’s Hollow was slowly becoming more like home to them, despite the random boxes that still linger two weeks after they moved in together. 

It had been a learning experience for both of them, despite the fact that they practically stayed with each other every night since they graduated Hogwarts some six months ago. 

Lily was a bit messy, rivaling James’s need for clear space. Lily walked through the house on light feet, but James seemed to make as much noise as possible, despite his efforts to be quieter. But all in all, they were happy and adjusting to each other. 

James did a once over of their house again, making sure things were in place. He used his mirror to talk to Sirius and Remus, basically nervously rambling until Remus looked James in the eye and told him he needed to calm down. 

But when the fireplace turned bright green, James quickly stuffed the mirror under the couch cushions and waited for Lily to emerge. 

He smiled widely at her when she stepped through. Her robes were covered in stains and she had a smear of something on her face. She immediately sat her bag down and started taking off her robes. 

“You would not believe what happened today!” she said, barely looking at James, who was smiling like a fool. 

“Was it that Cormic fellow?” James asked. Lily gave him a look, expressing her exasperation. 

“I have no idea how he even got this internship!” she said, her robes finding the ground. “He tried to put mercury in a pepper up potion. Literal poison James!”

Lily stepped forward, hugging James tightly. He squeezed her. 

“And when I put a gram of extra valerian root to increase the time of a pain relief potion, I have to write a whole report to justify it so I don’t get fired. I’m sick of it!”

“It’s absolutely not fair love,” James replied as Lily buried her face into his chest. He ran a hand through her hair. “Why don’t you go unwind in a bath, and I’ll take care of dinner, yeah?”

Lily nodded against his chest. Once she was up the stairs, it was go time. 

James quickly went to the kitchen, and lifted the spells that were keeping the smell contained. He knew if Lily smelled his Mum’s special curry when she first got home, she would be suspicious. The treacle tarts, Lily’s favorite, were kept warm in the oven. 

James quietly transformed their living room, dimming the lighting and starting their fireplace instead. He turned their coffee table into a dining room table, and shrunk the couch, placing it on the mantle for it to return to its normal size later. 

Lily was never long for baths, as she hated getting pruney, but he was adjusting the candles on the table when Lily descended down the stairs. 

“James?” she asked, causing him to jump. Lily was standing on the bottom step, nothing but her dressing gown on, which was tied tightly around her waist. 

James felt a lump in his throat as he took her in. She was so gorgeous and even though James had explored every part of her body, he still felt giddy. 

“I thought a romantic evening would be nice,” he said, gesturing around. Lily smiled. 

James went to the stairs and offered her his arm. 

“What is on the menu tonight?” Lily asked, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment. 

“Euphemia’s special curry and rice, along with a treacle tart dessert,” James said. 

Lily beamed at him as he pulled out her chair. 

It wasn’t until the plates were empty and her dad’s old record player was playing an Elton John record. 

Just as Your Song by Elton John started, James finally mustered up the courage to start speaking. 

“It’s weird how we’ve been together for less than a year,” James said. Lily hummed in question. 

“Why?” she asked, snuggling up to his chest as they swayed back and forth. 

“It feels like we’ve been together forever,” he said. Lily thought quietly for a second. 

“Yeah, I feel that way too,” she said. “It’s weird. How we went from barely standing each other to missing you every second we’re apart.”

“Still can’t believe we thought we could live apart,” he said. Lily laughed again. 

“Won’t happen ever again, that I’m sure of,” she said. James' heart fluttered happily and the weight of the ring in his pocket seemed a thousand times lighter. 

“Living together forever, then?” he asked softly. 

“I plan on it,” she said, confidently. 

James released her. She looked up with questions in her eyes, but they quickly got the answers as James got on one knee. 

“I plan on forever too,” he said, looking at Lily who’s eyes were filled with tears. “We’re not even 19 yet, but Merlin Lily, I can’t wait. I can’t wait to start the rest of our lives together. I just know that you are the only person for me.”

He pulled the ring out of his pocket. It was a family one, but one that his mother had brought from her own family in India. Euphemia had insisted that this was the right for Lily. It was a simple opal ring, with an intricate band.

“Will you marry me?” he asked. 

Lily nodded, words failing her. She practically tackled him to the ground with kisses. 

~~~

Lily’s eyes opened up. She couldn’t identify the source of what woke her up, but as she turned over on her other side, there was no James besides her. It took a second before she heard the creak in the floorboard, coming from Harry’s room. 

She got up, knowing that Harry normally slept through the night with no problem at his age of a year and a half. The last time he woke up in the middle of the night, he was sick. Lily slipped on her slippers and walked down the hallway. 

Standing in front of the window was James’s silhouette, swaying back and forth. She could see Harry on his hip.

“You just wanted someone to cuddle, did you Harry?” she heard James whisper. Lily smiled widely.

James started humming as he rocked Harry back and forth. He pressed kisses to the top of Harry’s head.

Lily stepped forward, the wood creaking beneath her. James turned around. 

“Did we wake you?” James whispered to her as she crossed the room to him. 

“Probably,” she whispered, a smile on her lips. “But it’s fine.”

She wrapped her arms around the side of James that wasn’t holding Harry. She rested her head against his chest, coming face to face with wide green eyes. She joined in on their swaying. 

“Hi Harry,” she whispered, taking the hand that wasn’t wrapped around James to pat Harry’s back. His eyes started to flutter close. 

“He really just wanted to snuggle, huh?” she asked. 

She felt James chuckled. 

“And dance with us,” he said.

[dindjarins04]

CHAPTER TWO

I AM NO JEDI MASTERLIST

You yawned and stretched as the sunlight seeped into your room. Groaning, you sat up, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. You waited for your eyes to adjust before slipping out of your nightwear and into your Jedi robes.

You attached your two lightsabers to your hip before walking out to be greeted with Padme. You gasped at the sight of her suddenly being right in front of you.

"Morning!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Morning...aren't you supposed to be at the Senate?" You ask tiredly as she loops her arm around yours.

"Yes, but I'm here today to be with my best friend!"

"Really?" You raise a brow as she leads you into the cantine where you pick up a tray of assorted foods.

"Okay...well...I actually need a Jedi for protection and I really want you to be there instead of some random Jedi," You chuckled and shake your head as you find a seat as she takes the opposite one.

"Padme, I highly doubt my Master will let me protect you. We have a lot of training to do-"

"Exactly, this can be a part of your training! Look, I really don't want to have protection but they are insisting it happens," She sighs and rubs her temples. "Please, I'll even have another Jedi there if it makes Qui-Gon happy," You chew on your food while tapping your foot, thinking about it before sighing.

"I suppose Qui-Gon has a lot of paperwork to do and if I say this will help with my training...he may let me do it,"

"Yay!" She squeals with joy as more Jedi come into the cantine for their breakfast.

"So what's the threat anyway?" You ask, drinking from your cup.

"Oh, someone is just trying to kill me," You choke on your drink and look at her with a confused expression.

"You say that like it's just another Tuesday," She nods at your statement.

"It was expected,"

"Expected?"

"In my position, many people would want me dead, it was only a matter of time before someone attempted to do so," You nod and then see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan enter the room. Following behind them is a young boy who looks familiar. He has a long braid and short fuzzy hair. You smile at him, he was fairly attractive. "Someone caught your eye?" Padme's voice says as she looks in your direction. "Staring at someone in particular? Let me guess...him!" She points at Obi-Wan and you shake your head.

"Padme, firstly, he is my Master's former padawan and secondly, I'm not looking at anyone," She rolls her eyes and turns back around to face you.

"Please convince him to let you protect me," She begs, her hand reaching out for yours. "I'll even stay to add my opinion,"

"I'll do it," You say as Obi-Wan and the cute boy sit at another table while Qui-Gon comes to you. "Master,"

"(Y/N)," He sits next to you and nods his head at Padme. "Senator," She smiles fondly.

"Padme is here to ask me to protect her from the threats," You begin.

"Obi-Wan and Anakin have already been assigned to that job," Padme sighs and her head drops while you try to remember the name Anakin. It sounds so familiar. "We have training,"

"Please Master, this will be a big part of my training! And Padme came to me...I'll even work with Obi-Wan and Anakin so you can get all that paperwork finished!" Qui-Gon sighs.

"She's right, I would rather have three Jedi protecting me than two...and I already know and trust (Y/N)...I would feel much more comfortable if she was here to protect me," She says in her politician's voice. Qui-Gon chews on his food thoughtfully before nodding.

"I suppose if the Senator wishes for this, I will have to accept," You smile widely and so does Padme. "(Y/N)...if you do this, the Jedi Council may see you in a better light," He says and you beam.

"Yes, Master," You grab your empty tray and Padme walks with you as you discard it.

"I now have a meeting with the Chancellor, it will be about the vote. Pack your things and meet me back at the Senate, I will inform them of you becoming my protector too," She kisses your cheek before running off. You sigh before walking to your room to pack some belongings you may need while being at the Senate.

‡★•~~~•★‡

You finish packing when a knock at your door startles you. You walk over and open the door to see Obi-Wan and the boy you saw earlier there.

"Hello, Master Kenobi and..."

"This my padawan, Anakin," He says as you step aside to let them in. Obi-Wan walks to your window while Anakin hangs back at the door. "We have been informed that you will be protecting Senator Amidala with us," You nod your head in agreement.

"She requested that I was there, she would feel more comfortable with someone she knows," You say as you finish zipping up your bag.

"Well, Anakin and I are about to head down to the Senate, do you wish to join us?" He asks.

"Sure," You respond before picking up your bag and following them out of the Temple.

‡★•~~~•★‡

It is evening when you exit the Temple with Obi-Wan and his padawan Anakin Skywalker. You drop back to walk next to Anakin.

"So, Anakin Skywalker...name sounds familiar," You begin.

"Of course it is, I'm the Chosen One," He says with a smug grin as you follow Obi-Wan to the speeder.

"Really now?" You say with a small giggle.

"Yep, I am said to bring balance to the force," He says with a smirk that you find attractive.

"Wait..." You stop in your tracks. "You're Obi-Wan's padawan...which makes you that little boy I met after Luminara died," You said, finally realising who he was; the boy who helped you recover from the death of your Master.

"So that would make you...(Y/N)?" He says and you nod. "Wow...it's been what...9 years?"

"10 years," You say and he nods.

"Wonder why we never saw each other," He mutters so you can't hear.

"You've grown...I like your hair," You comment.

"You've grown too..." He says as you climb onto the speeder next to Obi-Wan. "Um..."

"I've got the front seat," You say smugly.

"Exactly-"

"Anakin, just sit at the back," Obi-Wan said tiredly. You giggled as he grunted and moved to sit in the back.

‡★•~~~•★‡

You finally reach the Senate apartment blocks after half an hour of driving through the traffic of Coruscant. Anakin's string of complaints coming to an end as he jumps out and walks inside. You slowly get out and follow him. You see him waiting in an elevator and your heart flutters when he smiles. You don't know why but you cool yourself down before following him, Obi-Wan right behind you.

"So, (Y/N), how's training going?" Anakin asks as the elevator slowly moves.

"Very well, I just hope the council sees it," You say, sighing slightly.

"Don't worry, you're not the only one the council doesn't like," You raise a brow and turn to face him.

"You think the council doesn't like me?" Anakin laughs, shaking his head.

"The council doesn't like anyone who lost their Master at a young age or started their training too old," He points to himself. "I apparently started my training when I was too old and you lost your master when you were too young-"

"Anakin, that's not how the council works," Obi-Wan interjects.

"That's because you don't see what we do," He mumbles just so you hear. The elevator doors finally slide open and you are instantly greeted by a Gungan.

"Obi! Obi! Obi! Mesa sooo smilen to see'en yousa. Wahoooooo!" The Gungan says enthusiastically when seeing Obi-wan and he smiles in response as you all exit the elevator.

"It's Good to see you, too, Jar Jar," He responds politely and the Gungan then slaps his head.

"Oops! Wheresa mesa manners? Excuse me, Master Obi-Wan. I completely forgot myself for a moment there. I have had to learn Diplodiaclect... speak it like a native now. Don't really see the point, actually, but members of the Senate seem to prefer it..." You giggled and he finally notices you and Anakin, but his bulging eyes land on Anakin. "...and this, I take it, is your apprentice... Nooooooooo! Annie? Noooooooo! Little Bitty Annie?" He stares at Anakin. "Nooooooo! Yousa so biggen! Yiyiyiyyi! Annie!! Mesa no believen!"

"Hi Jar-Jar," He then looks at you.

"Nosa! litta(Y/N/N)! Me rememberen when yousa were a small child wit Lumarina trainen yousa! Yousa have grown tup so mui!" You smile, vaguely remembering this Gungan, he was probably the one who travelled to Tatooine with you, your master, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. It's all coming back to you now. You've tried so long to forget that painful time.

"Jar Jar Binks...I remember you...you were the one who kept saying my robes were too big for me,"

"Yousa were such a small Jedi!" He exclaims and you giggled.

"I'm perfectly average height," You then feel someone leaning against you. You cock your head to see Anakin resting his arm on your shoulder.

"No, Jar Jar is right, you're so small," He teases and you hit his arm causing him to laugh. Suddenly, Jar Jar pulls you both in a large hug.

"Mesa missed yous so mui," He exclaims. He then begins to lead you to where Padme is. You brush down your robes and Anakin looks at you oddly.

"What?" You ask.

"Getting cold feet in front of the politicians?"

"I want to look professional," He scoffs and waves his hand. "At least I don't look like a stray Loth Cat," He turns and sticks his tongue out before following Obi-Wan. You roll your eyes before entering, Captain Typho nodding in respect when seeing you while Padme beams at you, ending her conversation with Obi-Wan. She hikes up her skirts and pulls you into a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm so glad you came! I was beginning to worry it was just these two," She mumbles and you laugh, playfully pushing her off you. "I still believe all this protection is unnecessary,"

"I'm sure the Jedi council have their reasons," Obi-Wan negotiates. She sighs and then locks eyes with Anakin.

"Annie??" She stares "My goodness you've grown," You look down. So they have history. You keep your cool as they look at each other for a long moment. Anakin smirks and tries to play smooth.

"So have you... grown more beautiful, I mean... and much shorter... for a Senator, I mean," Obi-Wan looks disapprovingly at his apprentice. You narrow your eyes at Anakin's poor attempt at small talk. However, Padme laughs and shakes her head.

"Oh Annie, you'll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine," You remember again. Everything begins to come back. The time you spent on Tatooine. You didn't spend much time out though. You were on the ship with Obi-Wan for most of it. But then the images of Darth Maul slaughtering your Master comes back. Her dull eyes, her blood-smeared hand caressing your face as she whispers her final words, telling you to trust in the Force. You release a shaky breath. You always tried to block out that part of your life. It makes you vulnerable, it makes you have feelings; fear of losing Qui-Gon, fear of losing Padme. Overall fear. Something that leads to anger that leads to revenge that leads to the dark side. You finally refocus on your group.

"I don't need more security, I need answers. I want to know who is trying to kill me," Obi-Wan and Anakin proceed to talk to her while Typhoo pulls you to the side.

"It's been a long time, (Y/N)," He says with a smile.

"It has, I barely remember anyone here, Typhoo,"

"I'm still sorry for what happened to your Master...all of this...all of these people must give you bitter memories," You look around at everyone; Obi-Wan, Anakin, Padme, Jar-Jar and the other Senators.

"Call it bittersweet," You say.

"Two sabers?" He notices and you nod.

"I'm glad you can count," He laughs fondly at that and you smile.

"I see your attitude did not perish," Your attention is then drawn back to the room.

"Why else do you think we were assigned to her, if not to find the killer? Protection is a job for local security... not Jedi. It's overkill, Master. Investigation is implied in our mandate," Anakin says with impatience.

"We will do as the council has instructed, and you will learn your place, young one," Obi-Wan scolds.

"Perhaps with merely your presence, the mysteries surrounding this threat will be revealed. Now if you will excuse me I will retire," She turns to you. "Come, (Y/N),"

"Yes, Senator," Everyone gives Padme a bow as you follow her out. Once in her room, she sighs angrily.

"Honestly, Obi-Wan doesn't even want to start an investigation," She rants, going behind a changing curtain to slip into her nightwear.

"The council did grant us permission to protect you, not to investigate," You say.

"Really, (Y/N), you too?"

"I...I really want the council to see me in a different light. Perhaps if I listen to them...maybe they'll like me," You say as you sit on her bed. She sighs and comes out in her nightclothes and brushing her hair.

"I understand,"

"But..." You smirk. "Maybe Anakin was right. To protect you...we need to know who we are going up against to know the best way to protect you," She too smirks.

"I like your thinking," She says.

"I'll bring in R2, he'll set out lasers on the floor so if any assassins come through, they'll trip the alarm," You say and she nods.

‡★•~~~•★‡

You and Anakin sit quietly in the living room. You are on a holopad while he looks at you.

"Why do you have two lightsabers?" He suddenly asks.

"I work better with two," You answer, responding to messages Qui-Gon sent you.

"The council allowed you to train with two?"

"No, Qui-Gon allowed me to train with two," You finally look up and you watch Anakin's face flush as you catch him staring at you. "See something you like?" You tease and he laughs, embarrassed.

"Shut up," You shake your head, laughing before looking down at your holopad.

Dammint. You think. Now is not the time to catch feelings!

[lesdemonium]

romtober day 16: right person in front of them the whole time

Rating: T Ship: Geraskier Word Count: 2019 Summary: Geralt and Jaskier do not have the best luck when it comes to dating. At least they have each other there to make up for bad attempts.

read on ao3

“Oh no,” Jaskier said in lieu of a greeting as he answered his phone. “If you’re calling me, that must mean things are not going well.”

“Her wallet is filled with pictures of her cats,” Geralt answered with a huff.

“You love cats!”

“She has at least ten. She lost count.” Geralt did not sound amused, but Jaskier could not hold back his snicker. “She told me all of their names, and each one was more ridiculous than the last.”

“Okay, you can’t judge her on that. You’ve named every cat you’ve owned Roach,” Jaskier countered.

“I’ve owned two. At different times!”

Jaskier snorted and, though Geralt couldn’t see him, he rolled his eyes. He leaned back into his couch and balanced the phone on his shoulder as he tried to eat the noodles he had prepared. It wasn’t going well, but he hadn’t expected it to.

“So, are you coming over, or what?” Jaskier asked with a mouthful of noodles, which mostly made it to his mouth. Who was going to judge him? Geralt?

“Yeah. Open your door.”

Jaskier jumped a little at the rap at the door. As he got up, and put his dinner down, he ended the call and fixed Geralt with his best withering stare as he pulled the door open. “You know, it’s a little suspect that you manage to get inside the security door every single time without my help,” Jaskier said, though he stepped back to let Geralt in.

“You spilled something on your shirt.”

Jaskier huffed, but it was largely for show. Seconds later, they were sat on the couch together, their bodies so close they touched every time either one of them moved. Geralt moaned about Jaskier eating messily, and Jaskier ate even messier just to bother Geralt. It was nice. It was far better than Jaskier’s plans of a night to himself watching trash T.V.

“So, she wasn’t the one?” Jaskier asked, some time later. Geralt only snorted in answer.

--

Jaskier was more than a little drunk. And more than a little sad. And setting his drop-off address for the Uber to be his best friend’s apartment probably wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had, but it also wasn’t the worst. The jury was out on which of his decisions was the worst, but Jaskier was sure Geralt and Yennefer both had a few ideas, and it was definitely not this particular decision.

It was the decision that made him feel the most comforted, however, and that was what Jaskier needed right now. Even if Geralt took a little too long to open the door after Jaskier knocked. He grew anxious, in that time, and began to bite on his thumb nail as he considered his options. He couldn’t call another Uber--his phone was about dead. He couldn't walk home, it was entirely too far. Jaskier knocked again.

Geralt’s glaring face greeted him a second later.

“It’s the middle of the night, Jas--”

He barely got the words out before Jaskier forced himself past Geralt and into the apartment. Jaskier stopped, though, because really his plan had only gone as far as to get him inside, and now that he was standing in the entryway he didn’t know what to do with his hands, his body, anything.

“I think I’m going to be alone forever,” Jaskier finally said, and his shoulders slumped.

Geralt hesitated a second, then Jaskier heard the door close. “Come on,” Geralt said, taking Jaskier’s forearm and pulling him to the couch. He sat Jaskier down on it and handed him a blanket. The only way he could have made Jaskier feel more like a child would have been by laying the blanket out for him, but Jaskier found himself comforted rather than condescended to. It was nice.

“You and Virginia broke up?” Geralt asked some time later as he sat on the couch beside Jaskier and handed him a cup of tea. Jaskier nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

So they didn’t. Instead, Geralt told Jaskier all about Ciri’s middle school drama and the dog he had helped rehabilitate that day. Jaskier didn’t tell Geralt about anything of consequence, only listened quietly--unless the story called for an interruption, as middle school drama often did--until he drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up, he was in Geralt’s bed, and the apartment smelled like pancakes and syrup.

--

He hasn’t shown up.

Jaskier didn’t often use punctuation in his texting--that was more Geralt’s bag. But this situation called for punctuation. Of course his first attempt at a date after his breakup would result in Jaskier getting stood up. It only made sense. Still, it was embarrassing, and Jaskier kept ducking his head to avoid the pitying glance his waitress gave him.

When were you supposed to meet? Geralt sent back.

Jaskier huffed. Half an hour ago. This was stupid. I knew it was too early, too unlikely. He could probably smell the desperation.

Where are you at? The restaurant still?

Yeah. Though I’m about to leave. I can’t take the shame anymore.

Give it ten more minutes.

When the waitress came back, Jaskier offered her an apologetic smile. “No, sorry, still not here. Might as well just--”

“Sorry I’m late.”

Jaskier looked up, astonished, to see Geralt sliding into the chair across from him. Geralt hardly looked at Jaskier, though. Instead, he smiled at the waitress and ordered a bottle of wine and an appetizer Jaskier hadn’t even looked at.

“Geralt,” Jaskier said, once the waitress had left. There was a bit of a spring in her step now, as if she was pleased at the way things turned out. “What are you doing here?”

Geralt shrugged, then took a sip from the water in front of him. All the ice had melted and it was close to overflowing. “No sense in wasting an evening. I was hungry.”

Jaskier beamed at his friend and rolled his eyes, but let the matter drop entirely. This was a far better way to have dinner, anyway. Jaskier probably wouldn’t have wound up liking the guy. And Geralt had much better taste in appetizers, Jaskier was sure.

--

Geralt didn’t even bother knocking before he opened the door. Jaskier only just barely masked his shriek with a gasp, but didn’t manage to do the same with his jump, and as a result banged his head on the cabinet he had just opened. He wasn’t sure which look was more unimpressed--Geralt’s or his own.

“Who just walks in like that, Geralt?” Jaskier demanded, crossing his arms.

“Who just leaves their apartment door unlocked?” Geralt countered.

Jaskier shrugged, and instead of pulling out one plate for himself, he pulled out two. He put his dinner--a pasta dish, and really he needed to figure out cooking something other than carbs, but they had to stop tasting so good--and held it out as a silent offer to Geralt. As Jaskier suspected, he took the plate, then sat at Jaskier’s very-unused table. Ugh. That meant Jaskier would have to sit there, too.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Jaskier asked as he sat across from Geralt. “Didn’t you have a date tonight? I thought this one was promising.”

Geralt shrugged and didn’t even look up from his plate. “I cancelled. It didn’t seem worth it. The last four dates haven’t gone well, why would this one?”

“You didn’t even give him a chance,” Jaskier said, pointing his fork at Geralt. “What if he was the one?”

Geralt snorted and finally met Jaskier’s eye. “I highly doubt he was the one. I’m taking a break from it all. I only signed up for the stupid app in the first place because you and Yen wouldn’t leave me alone. I’m just… not interested.” 

Jaskier sighed dramatically, but pressed no further. Geralt seemed as if his mind was made up, and nothing Jaskier said at this point would change it. As he thought on it, though, Jaskier wasn’t sure he even wanted to change Geralt’s mind.

--

Geralt was definitely ignoring him. Jaskier was standing there, dressed up, holding dinner from Geralt’s favorite restaurant and a bag of goodies, pounding on the door, and Geralt was ignoring him. Jaskier refused to let this happen, however.

“Geralt, I know you’re in there. Ciri told me you were home tonight!” Jaskier called through the door. He had paused his knocking just long enough to say that, but he started up again, this time with far more force than was necessary. So much force that when Geralt swung the door open, Jaskier staggered forward, caught off guard.

“Jesus, Jaskier, what?”

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” Jaskier asked, straightening up and grinning at Geralt.

Geralt glared at him for a moment, but eventually he stepped back and motioned for Jaskier to enter. Jaskier set down his bags of goodies and turned to Geralt, suddenly flustered beyond belief.

“Right, well…” he started, then trailed off. He hadn’t let himself think of his speech--it made him too nervous. But now that he felt woefully underprepared, he wished he had run through it in front of the mirror a few times.

“What, Jaskier?” Geralt asked. His eyebrow raised and he looked over at the bags, then up and down Jaskier himself. “Are you okay?”

“I brought--” Jaskier started, then paused. He cleared his throat, then motioned toward the bags. “I brought food. And. Some other things. To make this… big gesture. But, I have to get something out first.” Jaskier stopped, then met Geralt’s eye. Geralt just watched him expectantly. “You’re not dating anyone.”

Geralt clearly hadn’t expected that, judging by the way his face scrunched up in confusion. “No, obviously I’m not.”

“Do you--want to date me?” Jaskier asked, then winced. Fuck. That hadn’t been part of even his hasty planning.

“Jaskier, what--” Geralt asked, his eyes wide, but Jaskier barrelled on.

“You’re my best friend. And. And I love spending time with you, and things are so easy between us, and whenever I’m upset, you’re the only one I want to see. Whenever I’m happy about something, I want to tell you first. Nothing has ever worked, no other relationship I’ve had, but this one always works. And for the longest time, I was afraid that… pushing things further would ruin things for us. That if we brought feelings into this, that we’d lose what we have.” He paused, and took a deep breath. “But I’m not afraid anymore.”

Geralt watched him, but his face betrayed nothing to Jaskier. Except maybe a bit of disbelief. That was okay, Jaskier could give him time to process this. After he finished.

“I think I love you. I think I’ve loved you for a really, really long time. I think you love me, too. I think that’s why you decided to stop dating.”

Jaskier stepped closer. He walked right up to Geralt, then stopped when there was just an inch between their feet. Geralt could close the gap, or not, with very little effort. If only he took it.

“That’s… an interesting conclusion to come to,” Geralt answered, and his voice was the picture of calm and collected. The way his eyes darted around Jaskier’s face told Jaskier a different story. Jaskier grinned.

“It’s the right one.”

“You sound sure,” Geralt answered. Jaskier saw the barest hint of a smile, right there, at the corner of Geralt’s mouth.

“I am.”

Geralt stared at him a moment longer, and Jaskier let out a huff.

“Geralt, I don’t mean to push you, but I kind of bared my soul there. If you could throw me some kind of bone, or kiss me, or--or do something other than just stare at me like a--”

Geralt’s answer was to cup Jaskier’s face between his hands and drag him in for a kiss. Jaskier didn’t mind being interrupted. He also didn’t mind that their food grew cold; he barely even noticed. All that mattered was that he was right, and Geralt was a fantastic kisser.

[sup-hoes-its-me]

A Hero (Shinsou x Reader)

A/N: okay so shinsou is such a cool character, kinda relatable tbh, so here we go. Friends to lovers, lots of fluff, cuteness. It took a lot of strength to take a break from writing my fav bakugo lol.

tw: you almost get assaulted

word count: 4400

Part One/ Part Two/ Part Three

So technically, Y/N wasn’t related to the Bakugos at all. She was the orphaned child of a family friend, who died a horrific hero’s death when she was only a couple years old. Without any other relatives in the area to adopt her, Y/N’s mother’s best friend took in the two year old, despite the trouble of raising two toddlers being quite daunting. Yet, her quirk wasn’t very dangerous nor special like Katsuki, so she wasn’t hard to manage in that area. Just a shy little girl, confused at the transition after the loss of her parents.

Y/N was never very strong willed like her new family. She was passive, the perfect representation of type B personality. Dependent, reliant, and fearful of adversity. The only reason she was never mercilessly bullied in her primary days was a result of her “brother’s” unrelenting defensiveness. He was an asshole, very much so, but he never let anyone pick fun at the girl. Not only did he kinda, sorta love her unconditionally as a silbing should, but his mother would murder him for not standing up for her.

But when they both got into U.A, suddenly the two weren’t equals anymore, nor would he always be by her side to watch out for her. Y/N was left behind in class C, while he soared into the top hero course. Y/N was support for the soon-to-be pros, not that she minded. The girl knew how weak she was, and unless she had a change of heart and decided to work harder on her quirk, she would never be able to succeed. She wasn’t motivated like those in Class A. Y/N never wanted the responsibility of being so good people relied on her, civilians putting all their faith into her. It was nerve wracking.

On the first day of class, Y/n said goodbye to her parents and walked to class with her brother. He carried both their bags, one on each shoulder, eyes staring straight ahead, brows furrowed with irritation as per usual. She kept her hands clasped behind her back, wandering slowly next to him, head hung. 

She was scared, admittedly. This school was huge and so prestigious. How could she ever compare to the others there? It was impossible.

“Stop being such a baby.”

“Katsuki-”

“You’re gonna be fine, and you know it. You’re more powerful than those losers anyway, if only you tried,” he grunted, turning the corner to see dozens of other students in their uniforms walking around and entering the school. She bit her lip and sighed, wringing her fingers out of nervousness. “Seriously, don’t make yourself out to be a weakling. People will target you if you do.”

She paused, not taking another step as she confessed, “I know what I should do, it’s just putting that ideal into practice that gets me everytime.” 

Time was running close to class starting, and he rolled his eyes down to her slightly quivering form. Handing her her bag, he told her calmly, “Listen, if anyone bothers you, I’m two doors down anyway. Just call me right after class if something happens, got it?” With a nod, he patted her on the head and walked away to the main entrance. 

Her eyes drew up the high building, taking in all the shiny windows and the huge shape of an H made out of the numerous floors. This place was bigger than she had ever imagined, and that only scared her more. Yeah, it was bigger because it housed a lot of students who needed room to exercise their quirks, plus they were a very wealthy institution. 

She had to tell herself that just because the building was scary certainly did not mean that the people inside were just as bad.

So she held her head a bit higher and walked through the crowds of students. She tried to remember where the counselor told her her classroom was, so she didn’t embarrass herself by getting lost on her first day. 

Yet, that was exactly what she did. The school was just too big, and she was too anxious about her first day to think properly. So, with tears gathering in her eyes, she watched at the time ticked by on the clock. Her nightmares were filled with this scenario. Showing up late on her first day and everyone in the class laughing at her. 

“Are you lost?” a voice deep and smooth spoke up behind her, and she jumped a couple inches in the air, placing a hand over her heart after it started to rapidly beat with shock.

She turned her head, brushing her loose hairs from her eyes. He stared down at her with an almost bored expression, just as his voice had sounded. He was tall, and very purple. Dark undereyes, wild violet hair in every direction. She didn’t really know what to think of him other than he was unique, dare she even say attractive in a strange way. He looked older than her, probably 16 or 17 even, based off his height and old soul aura he radiated. One thing she did notice about him though, was he felt gentle, passive and even a bit dismissive. It wasn’t the least bit intimidating, and she relaxed. 

“Yeah…” she mumbled, a bit embarrassed.

He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Seems we’re in the same boat.”

“Where are you headed?”

“Class 1-C,” he hummed, beginning to walk forward again. She told him meekly that she was going to the same class, and he raised a brow. “Really? What’s your quirk?”

“My quirk is kinda lame.”

A small smile crept at the edge of his lip, her embarrassment and shy attitude amusing him. “And what would that be?”

“Well, it’s kinda weird so don’t make fun of it. I can um- well, my blood is highly basic and burns any skin issue it touches,” the girl mumbled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. Her cheeks burned so much she felt like she had a fever. This is why she never liked to talk about her quirk. It was just plain absurd and kinda disgusting. Every time she used her quirk she had to slice her skin and sprinkle blood everywhere. “But, like, it does so much damage to me to lose blood that often I can rarely use my quirk.”

He nodded. “That’s definitely strange, you’re right,” he stated bluntly, and her heart stopped beating for a moment. “But useful. Really don’t know why you’d be embarrassed about it. Just because you don’t have endurance doesn’t mean strategy and technique can’t make up for that.”

Y/N caught up to him, walking at his side now although his strides were longer and harder to keep up with. She looked up to him, feeling a bit at ease seeing as he wasn’t rude about her quirk. “What’s your quirk?”

He didn’t miss a beat, his gruff voice sounding bitter and angry with his next words, “Something I’d rather not talk about. Don’t want you to spread rumors and lies about me.” 

She had never heard someone so visceral about their own quirk. It couldn’t be that terrible, not to mention she wasn’t rude like the people he must have encountered before. She felt a pang in her chest, knowing that this reaction was no doubt from prior experience being hurt. 

With a short shake of her head, she replied, “It’s okay, if you don’t tell me, but I wouldn’t judge you for your quirk, and definitely not gossip about it. I don’t have the social skills to do that kind of thing.” She laughed awkwardly. The bell rang overhead, signalling the beginning of the first period. They were officially late. “Oh, crap. We better hurry.”

“For what? We’re already late, doesn’t matter if it’s by a minute or ten.”

“I-I don’t know about that one.”

As they entered the stairwell to head up the stairs, he turned to her and paused, staring into her eyes deeply. She blinked, seeing so much purple looking in her direction. Quickly, she averted her gaze, and tucked her hands behind her back out of nervous habit. 

“I’ll tell you about my quirk if you promise me one thing.”

She opened her mouth to agree but then shook her head. Don’t just make promises to strangers, Y/N, so stupid. “Um, depends on the promise.”

He took a deep breath, never taking his eyes off of her own averted ones. Waves of pain radiated from his form, hitting her square in the chest. “Just don’t call me a monster or shit like that.” And that was the moment she felt her entire heart crumble in her chest for this boy she had just met. He expected her to think of him like a monster for something as silly as his quirk? She wanted to cry for him, being as sensitive as she was. 

“I promise.”

He started walking up the stairs again, done with his intense observation of her face, except it felt to her like he was examining a portion of her soul, her compassion. It seems he saw something he liked in her. 

“My quirk is brainwashing, or mind control, if you want to call it that.”

Her eyes widened at the words, not believing that someone so powerful was right beside her, in the same class as her even. “Like, what do you do?’

“If a person verbally responds to me, I then have complete control over anything they do.”

“That is so sick,” she whispered under her breath, but he still heard her. His brows quirked up, and he gazed down at her.”Sorry, I just think that’s a really amazing quirk.” She smiled sheepishly, her eyes reaching his. He almost had to look away once he saw the sparkle of excitement and admiration in her gaze. Those emotions were directed towards him…

As they walked past a classroom, a loud voice called from inside the room. “Bakugo Y/N and Shinsou Hitoshi. I believe you’re late to my class.”

She rushed into the classroom in front of him and he followed. They conveniently were directed to the back of the classroom, two seats directly next to each other. She took a seat in hers and he slumped down in his, rolling his eyes at the glare the teacher had given him. 

He looked over at the girl beside him, who he now knew as Bakugo Y/N. She peeked over at him, and a small smile grew on her soft lips, the bit of sparkle still present in her gaze towards him. He smothered down the urge to smile back, just lifted the corner of his lip in return. 

Shinsou wasn’t exactly interested in making friends. He didn’t need them. This girl, though, he wouldn’t mind if she stuck around.

______________________________________

“So, uh, Y/N, do you need someone to walk you home?” Shinsou asked as they shuffled out of the nearly empty classroom save for a few stragglers. “Not that you aren’t capable of walking yourself home, it’s just that-”

“It’s fine. And actually someone already walks home with me, so no.”

He cringed, feeling awkward now. He shouldn’t have been so forward with this impending friendship. They had just met, she probably didn’t want some weirdo knowing where she lived either. “Oh, gotcha.”

“In fact, there he is,” she smiled, waving to a particularly angry blond walking down the hall with his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his sagging pants. Shinsou cringed even harder at this point, not expecting her to already have a guy walking her home. She probably didn’t have much room for another good guy friend in her life, he thought, obviously overthinking things. “Katsuki! How was class?”

He frowned, shaking his head. “Deku made a fool of himself as usual, but it wasn’t awful,” the boy replied as his eyes slid from his sister to the daunting guy beside her. “Who’s this?”

“This is my new friend, Shinsou. He helped me find the classroom this morning since we’re in the same class.” Katsuki blinked in surprise, definitely not expecting his shy little sister to already have made a friend. It took her years of middle school just to have a few close acquaintances. 

“I gotta get going. My mom is expecting me home soon,” Shinsou told the girl, even if he was lying. He could go home at any time he wanted, he just didn’t want to feel awkward anymore. This guy was obviously close to her, and was giving him the evil eye for a minute now. Possessive much?

“Wait, before you go, let me introduce you to my brother.”

“Brother?’ he asked aloud. They didn’t look alike, like, at all. Nor did their personalities seem to resemble each other in any way.

“This is my brother Katsuki. He’s a class 1-A hot shot.” A pang of relief turned his stomach.

“Yeah, uh, nice to meet you.”

The blond rolled his eyes, gruffly brushing off the purple haired boy’s greeting.“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Y/N, are you ready to go?”

Y/N sighed, waving softly to Shinsou, a smile ever present on her lips when she looked at him. She mouthed as she walked away, ‘sorry’, and he just waved. 

Maybe he was a creep for watching her as she left, waiting for her to turn a corner before he let out a breath of air. All he knew was that he felt as if he was sucked in a trance. His heart felt heavy in his chest, as if it were about to explode. The feelings were so foreign but pleasant, some of the best he had ever experienced.

It just felt so good to see someone’s warm smile directed at him, not an ounce of malice behind a guise.

Yeah…He really, really liked her. 

_____________________________

The pair were friends. Honestly, Y/N was the only person you could get him to admit, albeit begrudgingly, that she was his friend. They trained together, and he assisted her a lot with her quirk. There were times when they were training alone and she lost too much blood that she would pass out and he would carry her to the infirmary. Time and time again though, teachers told him in private to monitor her. It was unhealthy to constantly lose pints of blood, and she wouldn’t be able to do it on the daily even if she wanted to. Since he and her brother were the only people she truly listened to and appreciated advice from, Shinsou recognized it as a sort of duty to take care of her.

Yet, with a bit more encouragement at the new school from dozens of teachers and other students, she actually improved on her quirk quite a lot. It wasn’t as if she had a useless quirk; it was very powerful in fact. She could burn directly through someone’s skin and the bone if enough blood was spilled. Therefore, the quirk could only be exercised in moderation.

For the first time in his life, someone actually trusted him. Not once did he consider using his quirk on her. Not only was she perfect on her own, but if he betrayed her trust like that, he might lose his closest friend. She was kind, but he wasn’t sure where her limits lied.

“Are you sure you’re okay walking home alone?” he asked his friend, who sat beside him packing up her books. Katsuki was out for the day with the flu, so she would be walking back home alone. He was kinda worried about her. She never walked by herself, always having the protection of her brother. 

But she was a strong girl. There was nothing to worry about. He had seen her fight and she was definitely capable. It was just overthinking that sent his anxiety through the roof.

“Yes, I’m totally fine,” she laughed, finding his concern humorous. “You live in the opposite direction. I’m not gonna make you walk me 20 blocks out of your way.”

Although he nodded in understanding, he definitely did not agree. He would walk all over the city for her if she needed him to. Still, when it came time to part ways on the sidewalk, they waved and went in opposite directions. It was only after five excruciatingly long minutes that the lanky boy turned and started walking in the direction of her home. Even though he shouldn’t have, and easily could have texted her, he wanted to make sure she made it home. He knew the general direction of her house, and if he walked moderately fast, he could catch up to her. 

So what if she didn’t want him walking an extra 30 minutes? If that made her annoyed, so be it.

Y/N walked slowly down the street as she usually did, her feet tapping lightly against the sidewalk. If she were being honest, she was a bit disappointed in herself for refusing Shinsou’s offer to walk her home. They would have a lot more time to talk in person before the weekend, and she never wanted to miss a beat with him. 

Maybe it was stupid of her to be so attached but she thought of him as her best friend, practically the only true one she ever had. Dozens of people came and went from her life, but this friendship felt so special. It would last a long time she thought, and hopefully she was right.

Unfortunately, she was too lost in her own dreamy thoughts to notice someone standing right at the edge of the alley she walked by in a particularly deserted area of town. A hand reached and snatched up her arm swiftly, yanking her into the darkness of the alley and covering her mouth with his other grimey hand before she could make a sound.

Her back hit the cold wall behind her, feeling the rough bricks scratch her shoulder blades through her uniform. Her wrist felt like it was on fire, burning from the harsh grip of the snatcher. Using his knee, he pinned her other hand to the wall at her side,  completely immobilizing her. She could have used her quirk, if she was able to produce some sort of blood-pouring injury, only she was trapped.

“Don’t fucking scream, you hear me?”

He removed his hand from her mouth for a moment to reach for his pocket, and as he did so, she let out the loudest scream she possibly could. Just as the sound came from her mouth, a cold object pressed against her throat and her heart stopped beating in her chest from sheer terror. 

To think she was a hero in training at U.A., and she couldn’t even defend herself from a quirkless criminal on the street. She felt like crying, feeling a knife against her throat, wrists held down. If only she was just a little smarter or a little stronger; anything to get her out his mess. The air was tense and heavy, and she could barely get a breath in without feeling the bitterness of the blade against her skin. 

She prayed, closing her eyes and letting the hot tears drip down her cheeks. If only someone would come and help. All Might was always there to help people, wasn’t he? Where was he? She couldn’t hope for her brother to back her up as he was sick at home, and she definitely couldn’t text Shinsou to come get her. Her phone was tucked safely in her backpack where she couldn’t dream of reaching.

God, she was hopeless. 

The thug opened his mouth to say something else no doubt cruel or vulgar, but just as the first syllable fell from his chapped lips, a shocked voice echoed down the alleyway.

“Y/N?”

Her eyes widened at the voice, relief running throughout her entire body. 

“Dumb punk, kid, just run off now.”

“No.”

“You don’t want to mess with-”

That reply was all it took for Shinsou to take control. The thug felt all control of his body lost in the air and a sort of tenseness to take over. “Drop the knife,” the student commanded, and the man indeed dropped the rusty knife to the ground, a metallic clang rang out in the darkness. “Now back away.” And so he did. 

Tha man sputtered, not knowing what was happening to his body or why he was doing these things. His face turned a bright shade of red and he threw a dirty glare at Shinsou Hitoshi, hating him with every sense of the word for making him look this pathetic. 

“Now stand still right there like the piece of shit you are. Move, and I will kill you,” he said calmly. Before turning to Y/N. “I’ll be right back with someone to help. I saw an officer go into the coffee shop across the street.” 

When he left, she inched away from the man, watching as he couldn’t do more than just stand there and look completely bewildered. A mind control quirk definitely wasn’t something you see everyday. Plus, he probably was facing the realization that he would be arrested and sent to jail to get his ass kicked by quirk users there.

He came back with a couple officers and pointed out the situation, explaining what he saw when he came to the alley. They asked Y/N for a quick statement and she just reaffirmed what Shinsou had told them and added how she was walking home alone and he grabbed her when no one was looking. And so they took him away, thanking the kids for helping catch the guy, who apparently had tried to assault and rob other women in the area recently.

That was a close call, the closest one she’d ever encountered actually. 

As they exited the alleyway, she felt sick to her stomach from what had happened, stress filling up her chest and threatening to burst out in the form of tears, only she composed herself the best she could to be strong. There really was no need to be strong. Shinsou was her friend. He was kind and brave and very intelligent, but most importantly he was kind to her. If she cried, he wouldn’t shame her. But she still felt the pressure to keep them from falling. “Shinsou-”

“I’m so glad I turned around to follow you. I swear, it’s almost like I knew something bad was going to happen, I just knew it,” he mumbled more to himself than her, really. He looked down at her finally, his eyes searching hers for any sign of distress. She looked terribly shaken up, but no tears were falling. “Are you okay? Did that guy hurt you or anything?”

“No, nothing else happened,” she told him. “I-I can’t believe you came to save me. I’m so grateful, I don’t even know what to say. I felt so helpless back there without my quirk at disposal.”

“It’s okay. It’s over now, and you’re alright. That’s all I could really hope for.” He looked down the street and then back to her, flashing a weak grin. “You wouldn’t mind if I walked you home from here, would you?” he asked, to which she silently shook her head. So, he began walking and she followed very closely behind, so close that he could feel her arm brushing against his. He figured she was scared enough, a little bit of  friendly comfort was going to help her out. She obviously didn’t want to speak, too shocked to say anything much.

After a minute or two of walking, he felt her hand slip its way sneakily into his own, tightly grabbing on as if he was going to yank it away from her. Although he could feel how shaky her hand was, it was so warm and soft against his cold and rough hands. Her fingers fit perfectly between his own. It was sappy of him to think, but jeez, it felt like those hands were meant to interlock. It just felt so fucking good. 

He shoved down those selfish feelings. Y/N was just attacked, and he was thinking about how he felt. He shook his head subconsciously, knowing that he was being rude. She was holding his hand because she desperately needed to feel safe and comfortable, not because it necessarily felt nice. She would probably hold the hand of any random dude that saved her like that. Jesus, Shinsou, so dumb. Get a damn grip, you sap.

He squeezed her hand back reassuringly. He wasn’t sure what she was feeling, but he hoped he was helping.

Her house was relatively close to the spot she was grabbed, so it was a short walk. Part of him wished it had been longer so he could have spent more time with her hand held in his. As they stopped at her doorstep, she dropped his hand and went to grab the strap of her bookbag anxiously, eyes hidden from his view. 

“Shinsou, thank you for stepping in back there. I really can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate that.”

With a wave of his hand absentmindedly, he brushed off her praise and thanks. “Don’t thank me. Anyone would have done the same, you know.” he didn’t feel like he deserves any thanks. He barely did shit back there except say a few words, and she was thanking him. Anyone would have done the same. He wasn’t special. He wouldn’t be special with the quirk he possessed. 

But god, the way she looked at him in that way, adoration and admiration staring into his eyes, completely entranced with him; it made him feel invincible, like he was on top of the world for a lifetime. He would never forget the shine in her beautiful e/c eyes in that moment, he swore it. That was a memory he’d hate to lose.

“I-I know- It’s just that…well…” Her words trailed off into silence before he felt her reach up abruptly to wrap her arms around his shoulders, falling to rest against him. He caught his balance last second, not expecting that of all things. Her head rested snuggly in the meet of his shoulder and neck, hot breath tickling his skin there. He tensed at the sudden embrace, but nevertheless wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her closer. He could feel her shaking once again, and her rapid heartbeat pounded against his quickening one.

“Hitoshi,” she whispered, “You are my hero.”

Shivers ran down his spine at those simple five words, laced together by the most angelic voice he’d heard before.

That took his breath right from his lungs. He was her hero. A real hero. That was all he wanted in his life, to show people that he could be someone’s savior. The feeling of the one person he cared for more than anything saying those words to him. The feeling was unbelievable.

She pulled away after a silent moment, and waved to him gently, taking a step up to the entrance of her house. “I’ll see you on Monday, okay?” she said sheepishly, feeling something weird herself after that hug. Her skin felt all warm and gooey, like she was going to fall apart at any moment or her knees would collapse beneath her.

“Y/N, if you need anything, you know you can call me night or day, I don’t care,” he called after her. “I swear, anything for you, Y/N.”

“Thank you, Shinsou-kun.” 

“Bye, Y/N.”

“Bye.”

“You’ll call me sometime, right? So I can make sure you’re feeling better?”

“If you want.”

“Of course.”

“Okay. I promise I’ll call.”

“Yeah, well, bye then.”

“Yeah, bye-bye.”

She shut the door finally, catching the eye of her brother immediately.

Katsuki stood in the living room of their home, sipping some soup with a spoon, blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He raised a brow when she peered over at him, obviously having seen what happened outside through the front window. “What was that about, Y/N? Care to explain why that boy was all over you?”

“Shut up, Katsuki.”

He grunted, rolling his eyes at her reply. “Hey, I’m just worried for you. You can’t trust teenage boys. Take it from me since I am one. ”His voice was quite hoarse from the sore throat he had that morning, and he sounded like a frog whenever he spoke. How could she possibly take him seriously? 

“He’s just my friend. You really don’t have to lecture me on anything,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Sure, sure.”

She waved off how annoying he was, and walked down the hall to her room. When she shut the door behind her, she finally felt herself heat up with embarrassment. Shinsou Hitoshi held her hand the whole way home. He saved her like the glorious hero he always wanted to be. The feeling of relief she felt when she heard him enter the alleyway and call for her, it made her heart melt. She would definitely take up his offer and call him over the weekend, just to hear his soothing voice in her ear. Just hearing him, or even thinking about him made a smile grow on her cheeks. 

She wasn’t sure what she felt for him. If it was simply a friendship or if her attachments were growing into something more.

Y/N just really, really liked him.

_____________ 

 Part two coming later this week. Should it be angst or fluff? I’m torn

[forever-rogue]

could you possibly do 142 and 145 for Javier Peña, all the angst /hurt no comfort (depending on how you feel 🙂)

Prompts Used:

142. “I waited and waited, but you never came back.”

145. “I wasn’t going to wait around for you forever.”

Pairing: Javier x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: language

MASTERLIST

JAVIER MASTERLIST

»»————-　♡　————-««

Javier swiped a tired hand over his face as he looked around your apartment. It was immaculately clean, which wasn’t far off the mark for you, but it was also empty. Now that was definitely wrong and cause for suspicion. He’d come to yours for dinner, like it had become his custom to do most nights when he wasn’t out working until the wee hours of the morning but this time was different. This time there was nothing he was coming home to. You were gone, all of your things were gone, no note, no call, nothing. It was like you had up and disappeared without a trace.

In his frantic efforts to soothe and ease his anxieties and worries, he had gone back to his apartment to see if you were there for some reason. Hell, he’d even called up Steve and asked him if he’d heard from you or anything. He was growing desperate. You were so open and communicative normally this was highly unlike you. At least he knew you were more than likely safe; it didn’t seem like anyone associated with Escobar knew who you were or that they would just come and pack up your things and take you. No...this was considerably more calculated and cunning. This was something that had been planned. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. That’s what it made it hurt so much worse; that’s what made his stomach twist and churn and his heart constrict. This was something that you had obviously been planning for a while.

He leaned against the wall before sliding down to the floor and looking at the ceiling as he tried to ground himself. His dark eyes were bloodshot and prickled with the unfamiliar sting of tears as he tried to figure what could have possibly happened. What changed so suddenly?

Javier had been so careful over the years, building so many walls and barriers to protect and guard himself. He’d steeled his heart and cut off displaying most emotions in order to preserve what little feeling and emotion he had left within himself. It seemed to dwindle to less and less every day. 

But then he’d let you; completely by chance and utterly by accident at a bar where he aided in protecting from a man that was relentless in his pursuit of you. You’d approached him with wide doe eyes, mouthing something he couldn’t quite make out - was it the noisy bar or the several drinks he’d already knocked back? - before throwing your arms around him and kissing him till you were both breathless before loudly declaring him your boyfriend for the other man to overhear. 

It wasn’t long after that before you really were calling him your boyfriend - and meaning it. For whatever reason, it was you that had been able to break down all of his walls and defenses, caringly and lovingly day by day. And while it terrified him, he let it happen little bit by bit until he realized why; he loved you. The realization had come to him slowly but surely and then it had hit him like a freight train. At first it had scared him to death; he never thought he’d experience those feelings again and yet here they were. And it all felt so easy, so simple and that’s how he knew. And when those three little words left his lips at the end of a quiet evening, while you two were just relaxing and watching an old film while knocking back a few beers, he didn’t mind at all. The way you’d looked back at him with those sweet, wide eyes and how softly you repeated it back had been everything to him. He hadn’t regretted the decision at all and for once in life, he was happy to be all in. 

But then...why had it led to this? There had been no major fight, no big disagreement that could have explained any of this. But you were just gone. 

A long, deep inhale and exhale escaped past dry, trembling lips. He’d been working more lately, that was for sure. The closer and closer they got to Escobar, the less and less time he’d had for you. And for the most part, you hadn’t questioned him, or anything of the sort; you’d expressed concerns for his health - physical and mental - and his safety, and pleaded with him to slow and not rush into things heads on, but he didn’t listen. Of course he didn’t. And you understood for the most part; he job was in no joke, no walk in the park. But still didn’t make things easier. You tried to be there for him as much as possible in whatever way he needed, but over time it became increasingly difficult. 

Nights spent together turned into Javier slinking into your bed in the early mornings and then leaving again before you were even up. He’d shown up on your doorstep injured more than a time or two, luckily never anything permanent, but it still hurt your heart. Even your weekend outings were becoming less and less frequent, turning into a relic of the past while you just missed him. If there would have been a way to help him, you would have but he had made it a point to keep you a separate part of his life. You didn’t know the horrors and never deserved too, he always claimed. What had started as something unstoppable and wild slowly fizzled into dying touches and unspoken words.

“Fuck,” he sighed to himself more than anything as he buried his face into his hands, “fuck.”

Javier remained there for a few moments, trying to gather his racing thoughts and come up with a logical conclusion on what could have happened. He was a smart man, and it really shouldn’t have been difficult for him to piece together. And then all at once, it hit him.

“Shit,” he jumped to his feet as he grabbed his keys and ran out to his car, ready to race to the airport. He was willing to pull any stunt to keep you grounded until he at least had the chance to speak to you. There was no doubt in his mind that you were planning an escape; from him and Colombia.

»»————-　♡　————-««

“Hey!” Javier held up his DEA badge as he ran towards the terminal he had learned you were at. Boarding was set to begin in a few minutes so he was brazenly running like his life depended on it in order to get to you on time. He received more than a few curious glances as he weaved his way through people, his gaze honed in on you. You’d been sitting there, quietly reading, but as soon as you heard his shouts, you’d looked up in horror. He had the sneaking suspicion that you had hoped he wouldn’t put two and two together or if he did, that he wouldn’t find you in time.

“Dulzura!” he stopped directly in front of you as a hand clutched at his chest, his heart beating wildly and practically threatening to burst through, “I waited and waited and you never came back. Figured it out - what are you doing?”

“Javier,” you hissed as you slammed your book shut and put it away in your bag. Curious onlookers were almost staring at the two of you as you put a hand on his shoulder and dragged him off to the side, “what the hell are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” his dark eyes grew wide as he looked at you suspiciously, “what the hell are you doing here at the airport? Your whole apartment was packed and now you’re here?”

“My internship at the University ended last week,” you reminded him as a surprised look crossed his features. Of course he’d known...he was supposed to remember anyway. It had been marked on his calendar, but he’d been so damn busy with everything else he’d completely overlooked it. You’d even had plans to go out and celebrate...but instead he’d forgotten and you’d come home to a dark and empty apartment. 

“I-I knew that…”

“Did you?” you didn’t intend for your response to be so harsh, but it was venomous and biting “because you didn’t say a word. I didn’t even see or hear from you that day.”

“Dulzura, I’m so, so sorry. Please let me-”

“I have nothing keeping me here in Colombia anymore, Javier,” you told him quietly, and you loathed how horrible it sounded. You were trying to get a point across, but wished it didn’t have to be like this, “I’m going back home to the states.”

“You have nothing...you have me,” he reminded you, shock and horror marring his features as he tried to reach for you. You recoiled out of his touch for the first time, shocking you both, "please let me explain…"

"There's nothing to explain, Javier," his name was a soft sigh as you hung your head. Your heart was always feeling heavy as you looked at his crestfallen face, "its just...its not the first thing you've forgotten lately. Our anniversary, my birthday, now this."

"Dulzura-"

"I know your job is important, I know how much this means to you," a shaky exhale left your lips as a single tear rolled down your cheek, "that's why I haven't really complained. But I can't...I can't do this, where I'm the fourth or fifth priority in your life. I know your job needs you, and so many people depend on you. But I need you to be present too. Sometimes I feel like I'm alone more than I'm not. You're here but you're not really here. I know that it sounds selfish but I want you too."

"I know things have been crazy lately," he was tempted to reach up and touch your cheek but stopped himself. He wasn't sure if he could take more heartbreak, "but they’ll settle down...they'll get better and it will all be over soon. I swear it. I just need a little more time."

"And that's what you've been saying for months," it was a sharp, cruel reminder of how things had really been. You didn't want to be mad at him or end up resenting everything about him, which was partially the reason for how things had turned out, why you'd made your decision, "its like there's a whole part of you I don't even know, that happens to be a majority of your life."

"I just want to keep you safe," he huffed, running a hand through his already messy hair, "that's all. It's-"

"Dangerous," you finished for him, "I know, and I get it. I do but I just...I can’t do this anymore. Where I only get half of you, or even less. I know it’s horribly selfish and I might be the worst person alive, but I can’t...I can’t do this anymore, Javi. I want to be able to get all of you, and to know you’re safe and sound and that I don’t have to worry about...you getting hurt...or worse.”

“It won’t always be like this,” he insisted softly, as you nodded in agreement. One day things would come to a head, whether or not they were in his favor was yet to be determined. And you did love him, more than anything. More than life itself, and the idea of having to watch him get hurt over and over or worse...was too much to bear. And while it sounded cruel and horrible, you’d rather create a distance between yourselves and cut ties rather than deal with the insurmountable loss and grief of Javier, “I just need you to hold on a little longer…”

“Javier...I love you, but I...I wasn’t going to wait around forever,” you sighed lightly, “we both knew that my time here wasn’t permanent and we thought..this would be over by now. If I knew, or you could guarantee me that there was a way this would be over soon and you’d be safe, I would stay. I would. But right now there’s no way to know, and you’re getting further and further away from me and that scares me to death. I-I can’t protect you. I can’t do anything to help and I don’t want to be the one to…”

Deal with your death. 

“Okay,” it was a small sound of defeat as he fought back a whimper that threatened to escape past pouted lips. He knew you were right; gods, you deserved the world and he couldn’t even give you himself or even a semblance of a clear future together. He wished things had been different; and he was mad and angry, not at you but at the cruel world that had allowed him to experience a taste of such saccharine bliss before taking it all away again. He knew there was nothing he could do to convince you to say. None of the arguments were in his favor. He took a step back, lightly nodding at himself, trying to remain composed, “I get it. I do. I’m just sorry I wasn’t able to be there for you how you needed. I’m sorry I couldn’t be enough.”

“You are more than enough, Javier,” you promised, reaching for his hand as you offered him a gentle touch, “it’s just the situation - the reality of things. I guess we’re not allotted the things we want in life, huh? I wish things were different. I-I wish I was strong to stay here and wait for you. But I can’t…”

Waste years of my life wondering if you were dead or alive. Worrying about my safety and yours and remaining helpless.

“I know,” he took his chances and leaned over, placing a kiss to the side of your head, “you’re right. You should go.”

“Javier,” you leaned into him, tears cascading down your cheeks as you wished you could hold onto him and never let go, “I’m sorry, I really am. I love you, more than you'll ever know. But I just...I tried to tell you I was leaving. But every time I did, you weren't really there or the time wasn’t right. I’m sorry.”

“I love you,” he promised softly, “that’s why this hurts more than anything else. I… can’t stop you and you need to do what’s right. This is right. So...go home and be safe. Maybe one day…”

“We’ll see each other again, I promise. One way or another, in this life or the next,” you tenderly cradled his face in your hands before kissing him one last time, “but right now I have to go. I love you.”

“Yeah,” he agreed softly as you let go, almost jumping at the boarding announcement. Pulling back, you offered him the ghost of a smile before grabbing your bags and heading to check in. 

Javier didn’t turn around to watch you go, instead hanging his head before exhaling loudly, attempting to shake off this situation. He steeled himself again, willing the Javier he used to be to come back up before he walked away and out of the airport, never so much as casting a glance back.

This part of his life was over and done with and he was going to let it die like so many other things.

»»————-　♡　————-««

Permanent Taglist: @secretsweetscollectionblog  @sheridans-dynamos  @queenbbarnes  @persephonesnebula   @ah-callie  @blushingwueen  @thisis-theway @rosetophighlander  @rae-gar-targaryen    @hiscyarika  @readsalot73  @huliabitch  @ollyoxenfrees @coffeeandtodd  @beepbeepsephy   @scarlettwitcher  @nerdyknightwritersblog  @choicesarcade  @arrowswithwifi  @everythingaboutnothingstuff  @suckerfor-fanfics  @bestintheparsec @javihoney  @aeryntheofficial  @hail-doodles @engineeredfiction  @asgardianvamp21  @keithseabrook27  @karmezii  @dearspacepirates  @thatsuitlooksgoodonyou  @paintballkid711 @mrpascals @lv7867 @artsymaddie @gooddaykate @rosiefridayrogersunday @heyitmelexie @criminalmind1927 @justanotherblonde23 @coni-martina @thewayofthemandalorian @phoenixhalliwell @lucifer @cosmoschick @kochamcie @linkpk88 @leaiorganas @nikkixostan @haley-the-comet @chibi-yuki @computeringturtle @4ng3lf43 @intu-witch-tion @wondergal2001 @gingerbreadandpaper @willowtheewisp @milkxxkookies @smollpinkgirl @zukoyonce  @boomtownboy @velia27 @discowitchyy

[butteraway]

when time runs out | iv

⋆ summary:  A young girl has fallen deeply ill with an unknown disease in her, so with all her free time spent in an empty hospital room, she spends it online playing video games. That's until she meets her cousins friends, one spiking her interest with his extremely vulgare language.

pairing: bakugou katsuki x reader

word count: 2.5k

warnings: none

authors note: I wanna say im so sorry for lying to yall about that extra chapter KJDFFF😭😭 ALSO @chibiiichann I APOLOGIZE FOR SPAMMING YOU WHENEVER I REPLIED TO YOU💀 A DIFFERENT ACC WOULD POP UP BUT THE FIRST CHAPTER WAS AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER EXPLAINING THE OC'S CONDITION JFJDJD

"HAHA! I GOTCHU NOW LOSER!" Y/N smashed the buttons on her controller, basically on the edge of her bed. A grunt was heard through her headphones, then a loud bang with laughing in the background. Y/N felt her stomach turn at the sound of this, feeling a little left out, but smiled nonetheless.

"HOW'D YOU EVEN DO THAT?!! YOU’RE DOING SOME HACKING MY GUY!" Denki yelled through the laughing in the background, hands pulling at his hair. He seriously couldn't believe it!

"I'm not! I just wanted to show Sero I'm way better at this game than you are. And turns out I am!" Y/N let out a loud laugh, falling backwards onto her pillow. After finding out that 'Tape Dispenser' went to her cousin’s school by hearing his voice in the back of Denki's room, she got to learn more about this Sero dude. She already knew this after their last game a few nights ago, but he was so chill. It was still insane for her to find out that her cousin and online friend went to the same hero school. The coincidences in this world. Y/N thought as she grinned.

"It's okay Kaminari, you still lasted a long time! But you did get brutally beat by Y/N at the end though..." Sero said, trying to raise Denki's low spirits, but only succeeded in making him more miserable. Rustling was heard through Y/N's headphones, making it obvious that there was movement happening.

"You don't understand Sero! THIS IS THE ONLY GAME I COULD FULLY BEAT THIS GIRL IN!" Denki shook Sero by the shoulders, quickly doing the action. Cackling was heard through the speakers while the girl wiped a tear from her eye. Sero laughed along, as he was pushed to the ground by Denki. His arms were crossed as he looked away, upset that Y/N managed to finally beat him in every game they played.

"It's okay Denki, not everyone can be as good as me!" Y/N exclaimed, getting up from her bed to start taping specific parts of her room. Kaminari continued to complain about his defeat to Sero, who only chuckled in response. As she finished taping the bottom of the walls, Y/N sat back on her bed, sighing in content.

"So, how are you? I'm doing terribly after being utterly destroyed by you, by the way." Said Kaminari, opening his water bottle and taking large gulps from it. Y/N felt her face light up as she remembered to tell Kaminari of her future activity.

"Bro, you won't believe this! So, basically, they're actually letting me paint my room! All by myself! How fricking cool is that?!" The girl laughed out loud, jumping on her bed in excitement. Kaminari's eyes widen, in surprise and slight fear, sitting up and taking in the new information.

"Wait, really? But isn't that like extremely dangerous? Cuz of the chemicals and what not??" He tried his best to keep his voice leveled, not noticing Sero look at him weirdly. That guy had no idea what was happening.

"Well, they said that they were gonna do something to the paint so it won't hurt me or anything, I don't know what, but-" Y/N was cut off by an extremely confused Sero. "Wait wait wait, hold on. I don't understand what's happening. How can paint harm you? Besides like...eating it. And what do you mean by 'finally getting to paint your room?’ Silence was the only answer he got. Sero gulped in embarrassment, thinking he asked a really personal question.

"Um, it's nothing du-" A loud 'shhhhhhh' was heard from Y/N, who let out a shaky breath. She never really told anyone, it's not like she could either way, being confined in the hospital room for a long time. She pushed a loose strand of her away from her face, preparing herself to tell Sero.

"Well, the reason is because I basically live in a hospital. I can't go outside, or have 'unpurified' air, as the doctors like to say, meaning my interactions with people and the outside world are extremely limited. That means anything that's not cleared of dust and germs, I guess, can be extremely harmful for me? As pathetic as it sounds, it could actually kill me, haha." It was quiet as Sero took in the information, a large wave of emotions crashing on him. A person shouldn't have to be locked in a room for the rest of their life. Especially someone who is such a sweet person like Y/N.

"I-I'm so sorry to hear that Y/N. If you don't mind me asking, how...how long have you been in the hospital?" The young girl answered with a quick 'Two years', and that's when Sero felt his stomach twist uncomfortably. Kaminari abruptly got up and headed towards his door.

"I'm gonna get something to eat, you want something dude?" Kaminari's voice was low and trembling. It didn't take a genius to see that the blonde haired boy needed some time alone. "No thanks." Kaminari let out a hum, quickly exiting his room and closing the door shut. Sero heard the loud sniffs that slowly faded away, as he hung his head down.

"Hey, you good Sero? That was probably a lot to take in, sorry." Sero shook his head, letting a sad smile adorn his face. "It's fine, really. I actually feel honored that you're comfortable telling me. Feels like we're getting closer, to be honest." He smiled happily, meaning every word he said. And Y/N knew that. "Ha, we are though!" The air was tense, despite the two teenagers being in different rooms.

Y/N went to clear her throat, but was interrupted when a light knock echoed throughout her room. "Someone there?" Sero asked, noticing her silence and hearing the very faint knocking.

"Yeah, um Sero, I'll call you guys later, my doctor wants to talk." Y/N quickly replied, seeing Receen open the door and walk in with his thin suit on. Sero let out an ok and they hang up. Y/N finally took in how the doctor looked, noticeable eye bags under his blue-grey eyes, from lack of sleep. His dark hair slightly tousled, probably from putting on the protective helmet that came with the suit, and a small smile on his welcoming face. And a large container of paint in his left hand. Her eyes immediately lit up.

"What’s up doc? I see you have something in your hand, can I see it closer?" The small girl asked, getting up and making a grabbing motion with her hands. Receen chuckled, lifting up the paint for Y/N to see. Even if he were to hand her the container, she wouldn't be able to hold. She was just too weak. Said girl let out a high pitch 'OOOO ' in excitement.

"I'm not sure if you wanted more, but we managed to get you your favorite color! This should be enough to paint the room, you can even put a second layer if you want." Receen walked over to where Y/N put all the equipment, opening the container of paint. And with a low grunt from him, the lid was opened. Y/N watched with amazement as the doctor poured the soft looking paint into a tray. She picked up a roller near her, and drowned the roller in paint, the white fluff getting covered in color.

The two began painting, Y/N's hand shaking every now and then. After painting half the room, they sat in silence, resting for a while. Receen seemed to be tense, though Y/N didn't seem to notice since she was too happy to speak. Receen let out a breath, breaking the silence, causing Y/N to look towards him.

"I didn't get to ask you how you were, did I Y/N? How are you?" Said girl let a beaming smile spread on her face, causing Receen to slightly squint his eyes from the intensity of her smile. "Honestly, I haven't felt this happy in a very long time! I actually still can't believe you guys really let me do this! Thank you so much!"

Receen gave her a small smile while rubbing the back of his neck. "It's not a problem, you could’ve asked sooner and gotten this done a long time ago. You've been here for two years, so please don't be afraid of asking for things!" At the mention of her time spent in the hospital, Y/N lowered her head, causing Receen to wince. Well, might as well tell her. The doctor cleared his throat and began to talk.

"Y/N, as you are aware, I, along with many other doctors and scientists, have been working hard for you to be able to go outside again. To see your family, hug them, be a normal kid again." There was a pause and that alone caught Y/N's attention. She looked up at him. "There is a way for you to finally do that, Y/N."

Shock evident on the girl's face, she abruptly stood up and faced the doctor. There was absolutely no way anyone could have found a cure for someone like her. Someone who had an incurable sickness. Someone who was too sick, to even have medicine. He's lying. Y/N narrowed her eyes at the grown man sitting in front of her.

"With all due respect Doctor, I highly doubt that ​​that's possible. Cuz, y'know? I basically have an incurable disease? I mean, like, even if you did manage to find a way for me to leave this place, how do you even know it's gonna work? I don't think you've tried this medicine since no one in recorded hospital documents in the past have had people like that checked in before-"

"How do you even know that?"

"-so how do you truly know it'll work?" Y/N quickly finished, completely ignoring his statement. Receen sighed, scratching his head. "We live in a world where quirks exist. Would you believe me if I told you centuries ago that the human race would evolve to have super powers? It's kind of like that, but not really." Y/N eyed him suspiciously. He's avoiding the question.

Receen looked straight at the girl standing in front of him. He felt slightly intimidated by her piercing gaze. He quickly looked away and got up, towering over Y/N's small frame. Then he smiled. "Y/N, you are a very sweet girl, no doubt about it. I know how much you want to get out of here, and I want to help you. My team has created this almost perfect pill, especially suited for your sickness. I know you're very cautious, just like your mother, but I can only reassure you, that these are your ticket out of here." He pulled out the bottle from his protective suit, shaking it in front of [Y/N].

Her eyes widened as she restrained herself from reaching out and snatching the bottle. Her eyes slightly narrowed as she pulled herself together. Crossing her arms and slightly tilting her upwards, she looked into the doctor's bright eyes. "There's always a catch when it comes to these kinds of things. What's the price if I take these? My lifespan shortens, I only have five hours to go outside, it drugs me or something?"

"I'm hurt you think I would just give you these without setting out the consequences." There was a slight glint in his eyes before it quickly disappeared. Y/N hummed, urging the doctor to continue.

"There are exactly 15 pills in here. And consuming just one of these bad boys right here, would allow you to go outside! Though, time is very important when taking these. You'd have 10 hours before the pills effects wear off. These would dull your hypersensitive senses, but not to a point where you can't feel, smell or do anything. No no, it'd just be like how you were before. You'd feel slightly dizzy and be a little itchy, but besides that, nothing too extreme. It just dulls all your body senses down." Receen gave Y/N a small smile. She looked a little weary, unsure if what he said was true. She looked at the bottle then back to Doctor Receen, fingers twitching every now and then. Breathing in and letting it out slowly, Y/N stared straight into the doctor's eyes.

If I take these, I can finally go out. I can hug mom and dad, I can be around Denki again. I can meet Sero face to face and feel the grass again! I can be... happy again. But if these don't actually work, I'd immediately die on the spot. I'd be able to go outside though. Aah, so much going outside, I can meet new people! I don't wanna spend the rest of my days slowly rotting away in here anyway.

"So Y/N, are you going to take them or let all our time go to waste?"

Sero looked at his hands solemnly, thinking about what Y/N had told him. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat, then lightly slapped his cheeks to stop the wave of emotions from spilling out.

"Yo, you good dude? It's not everyday I see someone willingly slapping themselves." Kaminari chuckled, walking in and closing the door with his foot as he carried a soda bottle and a bag of chips towards the boy sitting on his bed. Sero grinned, feeling the sadness of everything wash away.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. But what about you though? After we had that conversation, you were, well, umm... kind of out of it." Kaminari froze, letting a dejected smile appear on his face. Dragging a hand down his face, he let out a sorrowful laugh.

"She's my best friend. My first real, true friend. She's basically my sister at this point. So when she collapsed that day, I felt my whole world crashing down. She is the sweetest, the most kindest, person I have ever met. She never let me degrade myself, alway cheered me up when people called me stupid." Kaminari rubbed his eyes, opening the bag of chips and plopping one of them into his mouth.

"It hasn't been the same ever since she left, her parents barely come over anymore, and they're always so sad whenever I see them. My own parents aren't the same either, they treated her like their own daughter. I can't even begin to imagine how Y/N feels about this all. She was the top in our grade, highest scores in our test. No one could compare to her. M-my heart breaks for her. She lost everything." Sero let that information sink in, thinking about how she was before. He smiled as he saw Kaminari's shoulders begin to shake. He cares so much for her.

He put his hand on his shoulder, watching Kaminari slowly lift his face towards him. "Come here you emotional ball of feelings." Being the friendly guy he is, Sero gave the sobbing boy a hug, cuz hugs fix everything.

"No homo though bro." And with that, they both laughed out loud, continuing their bro day.

[mirasolis]

My Star, Your Light

Punz x Reader

Tangled AU

Part Two

★──────────★─────────★

This is just you and Punz thrown into the world of Tangled, as requested by @thequeenofuwu . We are both Punz simps, I know it.

This is going to be in several parts, and I will link each part when I finish them under here.

Part 1 Part 2

Enjoy!

★──────────★─────────★

3rd POV…

Punz was slowly coming into consciousness when a sudden force shoved his head to the side. His eyes shot open and turned to see a rainbow—coloured sheep on his shoulder.

“What the?!” The sheep hopped off, walking to the shadows. Punz noticed that he was sitting in a chair, his movements restricted by…

“…Is this…hair?”

(Y/N) held the pan close to her, shuffling in the corner. “You…you can’t escape! I know what you want!”

“W-what?”

(Y/N) slowly emerged into the light, pan ready to knock out the man in front of her. “Who are you, and how did you find me?”

Punz just looked at the woman in wonder. Her hair was exceptionally long, being the length of her body several times over.

(Y/N) impatiently demanded an answer. “Who are you, and how did you find me?!”

Punz cleared his throat and declared, “I know not of who you are, nor how I came upon your home and you. But may I just say…Hi.” He smirked cockily. “How you doing? The name’s Punz.”

“Does anyone else know of my location, Punz?”

“Alright girlie-“

“(Y/N).”

“Right. Here’s the thing. I was in a predicament. Galavanting through the woods on an…adventure. I came across this tower and-hold on a damn minute?! Where is my satchel?!”

“Oh, that bag of yours? I’ve hidden it! And no matter where you look, you won’t find it!”

Punz looked around for a while, before settling his sights on a little decorative pot. “It’s in that pot, isn’t it?”

CLANG!

(Y/N) just knocked him out again, and hid the satchel elsewhere, and instructed Puffy to wake the mercenary again. Once again the sheep rammed into Punz’ head and woke him up. He shot up, startled, and glared at Puffy.

“Stop doing that,” he stated plainly.

“Now you can’t find it. So tell me what you want. Do you want my hair, to cut it? Sell it?” (Y/N) interrogated Punz.

“Why would I sell it?! Listen, the only thing I need to do with your hair, is get out of it!” Punz claimed.

(Y/N) looked at him, puzzled. “You, don’t want…my hair?”

“Why would I want your hair?! Look, all I did was find your tower, and climb it, that’s all!”

“For real?”

“YES!”

(Y/N) looked at him hesitantly, before picking up Puffy to discuss with her. “Well, this could be the perfect opportunity. Puffy, I know he’s a stranger, but this is my chance! I think he’s telling the truth, what choice do I have if I want to see the lights?”

She turned back to Punz. “Okay, Punz. I am prepared to negotiate with you.”

“Negotiate?”

“Something brought you here. Call it as you see it Punz. Fate, destiny…”

“A horse?” Punz deadpanned.

“But listen to me when I tell you this; You can tear this tower apart as much as you want. You are not finding that satchel without my help. So you are going to take me to see the special stars tomorrow night. After that, you return me. Then, and only then, will you get your little purse back at all.”

“Those stars are actually lanterns, and I can’t exactly do that. I am a mercenary that stole something from the kingdom, so arrest on site for me it is.”

“Lanterns! I knew it! And my deal still stands. Bring me to see the lanterns or you get nothing.”

Punz shook his head around. “Okay, you’ve forced my hand. I have been left with no choice.”

Punz hangs his head before lifting it dramatically, showing that he bit his lip slightly while looking at (Y/N) with hooded eyes, trying to give off a sexy smoulder. She wasn’t impressed.

Punz held his face while speaking. “This is…kind of an off day for me, I usually don’t have to do this to anyone…FINE, I’ll take you to see the lanterns.”

As soon as he said that, (Y/N) squealed excitedly and accidentally let Punz fall on his face. She apologized profusely, let him free, and he began descending the tower.

(Y/N) tied Puffy to her body securely, as she prepared her hair to jump down to the world below. She heard Punz call to her, but all she could focus on was the green ground below. Taking a deep breath, she leapt from the heights and dropped. She shut her eyes tightly, feeling the wind rush against her body, curling up, and then she stopped.

She opened one eye, and saw the ground so close beneath her bare feet. Cautiously, she pointed out one foot to touch the grass, feeling its ticklish caress on her feet. Giggling, she planted her feet firmly on the ground, setting Puffy down as well. She wriggled her feet between the grass, and began dancing around. She was free! She could finally go and see the lights!

(Y/N) then proceeded to give herself emotional whiplash, switching between being happy and being depressed over the fact that she would upset Dream. Fun times.

Punz, seeing this as a perfect chance to get the crown back, leapt in for the final strike. “You don’t want to ruin your brother-sister bond with your older sibling, don’t you? That’s way too precious! So, I return you to your tower, I get my satchel, you get a healthy family relationship, and everyone is happy again, yeah?”

“No! You are taking me to see those lanterns Punz! And I will use this,” (Y/N) said while raising her frying pan.

There was a rustling in the bushes, and she jumped on Punz’ back, frightened. “What is it? Ruffians? Thugs?!”

A rabbit hopped out of the bush. “Ahhh,” Punz exclaimed in a dead voice. “You seem to be frightened easily. So it is probably best to avoid the ruffians and thugs, ya know? Oh, it just occurred to me, I know a great place for lunch. You hungry?”

Somewhere else in the forest…

Dream was walking through the forest with George. “So George, you’re clear with the plan?” Dream asked.

“Of course I am! We must accomplish this fast if we are to take over the kingdom,” George responded.

As they continued walking, the duo heard leaves moving, and were instantly on guard. They pulled out their weapons, only to find that it was a horse that stumbled upon them.

“Oh, a horse.” Dream overlooked the horse, seeing that it had reigns on it. Even worse, he recognized the horse as that belonging to the crown prince Technoblade.

“George we need to go back now!”

Dream wasted no time in sprinting back to the tower, with George following him close behind. They scaled the tower, but once they entered it, it was devoid of life. It was dark and quiet and Dream began to grow angry.

“Woah Dream, calm down!”

“Don’t tell me to calm down George! My 18-year plan is about to go to shit! Where the hell is she?!” In his rage, he noticed the light seeping from the cracks in the wooden planks of the stairs. Lifting it, he found a satchel with a crown inside it, and a poster with Punz’ face on it. He was determined to put his plan into action. He would have power over the kingdom, no matter what.

Somewhere in the forest...

Punz and (Y/N) were walking along the forest path, when they came across a run-down pub in the woods. It was called the ‘Chuckle Sandwich’.

“Hmm. Seems friendly enough,” (Y/N) pointed out.

“Yep, this deep into the forest I highly doubt that you’ll find any ruffians...or thugs, to scare you,” Punz goaded. He laughed in his mind. This’ll get her to return the crown to me, he thought.

“Well, I hope they make good sandwiches,” (Y/N) chimed.

“Great! Well let’s go inside!” Punz declared. He opened the door and escorted her inside. “Your finest table, please!”

(Y/N) reeled back at the sight before her. All there was, were just ruffians and thugs. As Punz gently pushed her through the pub, (Y/N) held out her pan in front of them, hoping to ward anyone off.

“You smell that? Ya really gotta inhale through the nose! Let it seep in! What kinda scents are ya getting? I’m getting an overall man smell but also just brown!” Punz ranted.

A random patron grabbed onto (Y/N)’s long hair and she grabbed as much as she could and ran off to find a safe place, Puffy following close behind.

“That’s a lot of hair,” the man holding her hair said. Punz nodded in agreement, walking towards (Y/N) as she backed up against a wall.

“You don’t look so good. Maybe we should bring you home,” Punz said as he began guiding (Y/N) to the door. “Maybe you can’t handle this place, and by that logic, the outside world! You should probably be back in your tower!”

Punz was cut off from leaving the pub. A man with ram horns and sideburns held the door closed, with his hand covering the face on Punz’ wanted poster.

“Is this you?” The ram asked sinisterly. Punz squinted at the hidden parts of the poster, lifting the ramhead’s fingers to see that his face was just even more messed up.

“Now that’s just rude,” Punz stated.

A man with a hat covering the majority of his hair agreed. “It is him, man! Connor, find some guards!” The man named Connor ran out the door. “That money’s gonna get me some new beanies! Capitalism!”

A man with glasses and green attire spoke up. “Nope! I’m gonna use it for something much better!”

The patrons of the pub began fighting to keep hold of Punz, pulling him back and forth. A man in a multicoloured tunic said, “What about me? I’m broke!”

Several more people joined in, including a man with a shaved head and red and blue glasses, a man with fox ears and a tail, a whole cat man, and a man in a maid outfit. Just...why?

(Y/N) tried to reach her guide, to no avail. “Hey! Leave him alone!”

Over the ruckus (Y/N) could not be heard clearly, so she got the crowd’s attention by pulling back a branch in the rafters and letting it hit the ram headed man. “PUT HIM DOWN!!”

They all quickly turned their heads to her, anger fixed onto their faces. “Okay, I don’t know where the hell I am, and I need this guy to take me to see the lanterns because I’ve been dreaming of them my whole life!! Can’t you understand? Haven’t you guys ever had a dream?!”

The horned man walked towards (Y/N), grabbing an axe. She shied away from his approaching figure, then he threw the axe at a scrawny accordion player. “I had a dream, once.”

A slow upbeat tune filled the tavern as the man narrated his story. “My name is Schlatt. I’m malicious, mean; I can be scary. In terms of violence, I don’t have clean hands at all. But even, despite my unsightly horns, I’ve always wanted to perform for the masses as a comedian! I mean, who wouldn’t laugh at my (sometimes) out of taste jokes?!”

The beanie man stood up next. “Well, the name’s Quackity! I’ve always wanted to be a pianist! I’ve been practicing here for years! I know so many songs like that iCarly theme song!!”

“ICarly theme song?” (Y/N) asked.

Green man went next. “Well the name is Charlie Slimecicle!! I know that many find me unsightly, due to my terrible appearance!” He was saying that way too positively. “I dream of one day finding love!”

Everyone was taking their turn, talking about their dreams. Multicoloured tunic man, named Karl, wanted to create the best future for his friends. The man with red and blue glasses called Jack Manifold, wanted to become a well-renowned demolitions expert. The fox man, named Fundy, wanted to launch a bakery with his friend, a woman named Niki Nihachu. The maid outfit man, HBomb, wanted to become Fundy’s maid. Why? IDK maybe he’s kinky.

As everyone took their turn, they let Punz talk about his dream. “Oh no, fellas. I don’t have a dream.”

Several swords pointed at his throat later, he ranted about a dream where he had boundless amounts of money.

Lame.

(Y/N) sprung up onto a table, speaking starry-eyed about the lanterns. “I am so glad I left my tower! I can finally see the lanterns!”

Everyone cheered, celebrating the endless freedom that their dreams explored. Suddenly, Connor burst through the door. “I found the guards!”

Everyone stared in shock, and (Y/N) and Punz were tossed over the bar, just as Technoblade came in with the castle guard. “Where is that mercenary Punz?! I know he’s in here! I won’t stop until I have the thief that stole my sister’s crown!”

Punz peeked over the edge of the bar, seeing his former colleagues in chains, ducking down right after. Punz and (Y/N) shrunk into the bar to hide, when Schlatt pushed aside a crate to reveal a secret passage. “Go, live your dream.”

Punz responded, “I will.”

“Not you, I was talking to her,” Schlatt said pointing his head to (Y/N).

“Thank you Schlatt,” (Y/N) thanked, and gave him a kiss on the forehead. She followed Punz through the passage as Schlatt returned to help distract the guards.

The patrons tried their best to distract the guards, but Technoblade was not buying it. He turned his ear to the door, and Carl burst through, sniffing the air. He easily found the secret passage, and Techno gathered his men, leaving one to guard Purpled and Ponk.

After Techno left with Carl, Ponk knocked out their captor, and freed Purpled, letting him do the same for himself. “Let’s go get the crown.”

Fundy, currently drunk off his ass, stumbled outside, seeing a man in a green cloak with a mask. “Woah, god you are so damn hot!”

Dream giggled. “You’re making me blush.” He pulled out his sword. “Where does that tunnel lead?”

[abluescarfonwaston]

Black Locks

“Chief. Mia. Please.”

Wright stood in front of her. Fists clenched. Jaw locked. Plead. Plead the same way he’d plead to lead the Steel Samurai case all those months ago. The way Maya had described him pleading to lead her defense against the attempted murder charge against her.

“Wright what makes you think he doesn’t have an attorney?”

“Please.”

And this was how she ended up sitting across from Miles Edgeworth in the detention center on Christmas morning.

He refused them even as he admits no one will take his case.

“-A wet behind the ears lawyer with three cases under you belt? I’m not that desperate yet.”

“I could lead the defense, if you’d prefer.”

Not that she wanted to. Not that she believes in his innocence.

Wright sat next to her, after she was released from the hospital and slurped his much delayed celebratory ramen. He'd won two cases and they hadn’t had the chance to celebrate even one. He told her why he became a lawyer.

There’s someone I want to save.

He’s told her this before. While swallowed glass settles in his belly. But now it has a name. A face. A smug smile.

She hates that brat. She doubts there’s anything worth saving. Wright just stared mournfully into his ramen like he doubted it too.

Edgeworth grit his teeth. Glared at the wall. “Stay out of this Ms. Fey.” But he offered no counter argument to her offer.

“The lake is a long way away from your offices and the court... Why were you down there?” Wright probed instead.

“I see no reason to tell you.”

She crossed her legs. Leaned back in the chair. What a waste of a morning.

“Edgeworth!” Wright slammed his hands down on the table. Pleading and irritated and desperate all at once.

“… Gourdy.”

“…?” She raised her head to study him. The eyes hidden behind his bangs. The deep purple bags under his eyes. They’re almost satisfying. Knowing he’s enjoying firsthand what he’s done to so many others. Guilty or not.

“I went to see Gourdy.”

The room went dark. Heavy with the slide of chains as they drag over the floor and up to his heart.

There are so many. Bleeding red like his bloody heart.

“But... you didn't do it, right? Right?”

The locks faded as the conversation moved on. But the detention center was far colder now that she knows they exist. She braced for the lie Edgeworth will shovel down their throats and she’ll drag Wright away with an apology about how his friend cannot be saved.

“... Think what you will. I have only one request.”

He hadn’t answered, so he hasn’t lied. She swallowed the irate sigh. What does he want now?

“Stay out of this case.”

She jolted. Back suddenly straight. Her feet click sharp against the floor. “What?! He’s trying to help you!”

Not that she has much proof there was anything worth saving. An objection and aid during a single case did not undo the years prior. There was character evidence piled high enough to kill.

Guilty or not, it probably will. If no one took his case.

“I know...! I know that! But I don't want your help, okay?”

“Why not?!”

His shoulders curve inward. “... Look, just go away, and leave me alone!” He snapped sweeping his hand out with a snarl.

His eyes are red. Bloodshot – although there’s no chance it’s from tears.

“It’s because you did it, didn’t you?”

And somewhere in that black heart of his he knows better than to drag Phoenix down with him.

“Mia!” Wright snaps in a rare displace of force. “Let’s go investigate elsewhere.”

“Wright…”

He stood. The chair screeches against the floor and she watches Edgeworth flinch at the sound.

Fine.

Fine.

Edgeworth’s detective claimed the man spoke highly of them. Seemed truly dumbfounded that they were turned down. Doesn’t stop him from trying to help.

He hands over a picture of the deceased.

“That’s Robert Hammond.”

The case unraveled before her.

They sit in front of Edgeworth and there are so many locks that there is no way they have enough. But Wright speaks and all the red locks rattle. Like Edgeworth wants to tell him. Longs to tell him.

She wonders, in a passive sort of way, if Wright held the magatama would he see only one?

“DL-6.”

There is a sharp exhale. His head falls forward. The red locks shatter.

“The ‘DL-6 Incident’... was when my father died. Right before my eyes... He was shot and killed, and I saw it all.”

He spoke. Her stomach knotted. DL-6. She wasn’t the only one who lost a parent from that incident.

“My memories from that time are... foggy. I suppose it's a self-defense mechanism. In any case, a suspect was arrested... a man. It's pretty clear he was the only one who could have killed my father.”

Foggy. The room goes dark once more. The slide of heavy chains. Red. She expects red.

They are black. Every lock is black. Dark. Cold. Filled with despair.

A lie he keeps even from himself.

“The spirit medium they used to talk to my late father said the same thing.” Her Mother. “It was an attorney by the name of Robert Hammond that cleared the suspect's name.”

“And Hammond... is the victim in the Gourd Lake murder?”

“Correct.”

There is a danger to black Psych-Locks. That removing them by force will damage the keepers mind.

Blocking out memories in self-defense. He even explained it himself.

The earthquake rumbles but it is the violent rattling of his locks that causes her pain.

He curled up on the floor. Quaking. His locks rattle and in the shaking of his hand and the gasping of his rapid breaths she can see every time they tear at the fabric of his mind.

Worse yet, there is nothing they can do except watch as the guards drag his limp form back to his cell.

 Edgeworth warned them about what they’re up against. Von Karma.

It’s not like she hasn’t faced him before. Once. Twice. She doesn’t allow her concern to show but if she gripped Wright’s lapels and shakes him a little harder than she should when she scolds him it’s probably because she knows what a battle this will be.

Wright doesn’t though. He’s blissfully unaware of the nightmare ahead of them. How even getting their legally required cross examination will be an uphill battle.

She really hopes this isn’t how he learns why none of the other attorneys would defend Edgeworth.

What was it he’d said? They ‘Lacked confidence because he’d had all their defendants convicted?’

Edgeworth was lying about that part. And Von Karma was far worse.

 “Why did you pick up that gun anyway?!”

He grimaced. Hand digging into his elbow. “I don’t know. I was in a daze when I picked it up.”

Black slide into place. She braces for the cold chill this time.

There is one less locked in place.

Removing them forcibly can damage the owners mind. They were created to protect them after all.

“I know those interrogations can be brutal, how are you holding up?”

He glares at her. The bruises under his eyes speak to his lack of sleep. To the way this has been eating at him.

She hadn’t removed the lock. Neither had Wright.

She wondered who had.

 The second day is brutal. They’d almost lost. But as it stood now it looked like they would win.

The locks rattled. Volume growing as it had throughout the entire trial.

“Hey, Edgeworth…”

He didn’t respond. The locks rattled louder.

“Edgeworth!”

He jumped. Dazed eyes focusing on her. “D-did you say something?”

(Oh we were just discussing your case- no need to pay attention. It’s not like it matters to you at all!)

“Come on! Stop looking so pained! At this point we’ve got it in the bag!” She slapped his shoulder. He side stepped away from her. “Relax.”

“… I’m sorry… But… I fear it’s not over for me yet.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

The locks rattled. The chains shook. The truth he hid from even himself.

“Wright... There's something that's been troubling me for a long time now. And I don't know whether or not to tell you...”

Black locks clicked into place. Only three remained.

What had happened to the others?

“No... there's so little time left. I want to tell you, to get it off my chest, but...’

“What is this about, Edgeworth?”

She drew back. Let herself sink into the background.

He saved me Mia. If you could have seen him back then-

I know somethings wrong. I want to pay him back.

He stared down at his attorney’s badge. Closed his fist around it.

I became an attorney because of him. So I could see him again.

Gaaaaaay.

Chief!

Sorry.

If anyone can reach Edgeworth it was Wright.

“... It's... a nightmare I've had. A memory of a crime... that I committed.”

Those locks shake. The heavy grating sound of metal pulling at his mind.

Sometimes people forget things to protect themselves. In self Defense.

“A memory... of a murder.”

“What?!”

They yank and jerk against the chains. Trying to rip free by sheer force.

You’re hurting yourself! She does not object.

“I… I want to tell you but…”

The bailiff doesn’t give him a chance. He’s escorted away.

 They stared down at the letter.

“But it says ‘get revenge on Edgeworth’… Why would he want to take revenge on you?”

One lock. Black as total darkness slides into place.

He closes his eyes and it shatters.

There is no evidence of the pain it causes. No bleeding wounds or pained cries.

But he opens his eyes and she is certain something within him has died. He tells them about his nightmare.

Innocence. The illusion of innocence has died.

“But that’s just a dream!” Wright objected when he fell silent.

“… That thought is the only thing that has kept me sane for the last 15 years. But what if I’m wrong? What if it’s real? They say sometimes people shut out memories in self-defense. Maybe it was I who killed my father.”

It’s the truth.

“If you think about it that way, this letter makes sense. Think about it. Yogi was really innocent. That’s why he wanted revenge on me.”

When he confesses on the stand none of them are surprised. Not even Von Karma. How many of those interrogations did they spend together? Did he spend ripping apart the protective locks around his own protégée’s mind?

Wright and her walk home after the first trail.

“You wouldn’t prosecute me, right?”

“Well I’m not a prosecutor so…”

He sinks further into a gloom.

“I’m joking!” Shoulder checked him. “Obviously not.”

Edgeworth is in awe of Von Karma. Awe being a fitting word. Referential respect of both wonder and fear.

Fear.

“You were a child.”

“Accidental murder is still murder Ms. Fey.”

Edgeworth might have given up but Wright. Wright has not.

Trust. Trust your client until the end. This is what she’s taught him.

But… Phoenix. Sometimes the guilty are guilty.

He looked up from the case files. Smiled with a confidence that wasn’t just a bluff.

“I’m sorry but I don’t believe in your nightmare. It’s just a bad dream.”

There are heavy black locks around Edgeworth’s heart. Protecting him from a ‘truth’ too terrible to believe.

But testimony is flawed and just because he believes in one explanation of events doesn’t make it the Truth.

The truth will set you free. Of the black locks around your heart – she’d thought.

Phoenix does something truly amazing then.

He saves him.

“You are innocent Mr. Edgeworth. You were innocent.”

“… Thank you, Your Honor.”