#and i agreed much too enthusiastically. completely unsubtle

[wingsandpetals]

good news everyone it does get better at least a little and after thinking about it i'm not quite as miserable or in despair as i thought i was.

[breanime]

Rumors

A fluffy, post-Azkaban Sirius fic that came out of nowhere! Lemme know what you think! 

*gif by @siriusblackfoot*

It’d been a busy few weeks for Sirius—for all of them, actually. After Peter betrayed the Potters and tried to have them killed and frame Sirius, it was nothing but trials and publicity until finally James and Lily (haven made sure that Harry was somewhere safe) were able to come out of hiding and vouch for Sirius. Remus, of course, had been on his side from the beginning, as well as most of the Order. It still pissed Sirius (and James, and Remus, and Lily…) off that Dumbledore took so long to make a statement on Sirius’ behalf. James said that was due to (newly turned double agent) Snape’s influence, but Sirius was pretty sure Dumbledore was just waiting to see if he had bet on the right horse…or dog, to be more accurate. His family, of course, doubled down on the disownment, and he’d been called a blood traitor so many times that it became a badge of honor. Old friends, teachers, complete strangers all knew who he was, and everyone had an opinion about his innocence—even now, after it had been proven that he hadn’t done anything wrong, people still looked at him suspiciously. He’d been getting hate mail (from both sides, actually) for weeks now. But finally, the trial was over, he’d done everything he could to help track Peter down, the Potters were safe, and they were all about to be released from the safe house and go back to their lives.

“Are you nervous?” James asked, lying on his stomach on a bench because he could never sit correctly.

Sirius answered with a shake of his head, unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. He was incredibly nervous. Before they could leave the safe house, they had to be transported to another location and have a protection spell put on them all. And as talented as they all were, there was one witch in particular who was a genius with protection spells, and she just happened to be one of the few people—besides the Marauders—who’d believed in Sirius this whole time, the one person who’s memory was enough to keep the Dementors at bay while he was in Azkaban, the only woman Sirius had ever truly loved… You.

“I think he’s nervous,” James said, looking over at Lily.

“Stop it, James,” she admonished him lightly, “he’s every right to be nervous.”

“”M not nervous,” Sirius spoke around his cigarette, “Why would I be nervous?”

“Because you’re a newly released, notoriously famous blood-traitor convict?” James supplied.

“Because you’re about to be reunited with your lost love who you haven’t seen in years,” Lily added.

“And you haven’t even had a proper haircut in all that time,” Remus reminded him.

“Not that you need one, darling,” James said sincerely, “You look good no matter what.”

“Thanks, babe,” Sirius said back, distracted as he continued to stare over at the door. Due to their collective level of importance and celebrity, everything they did had to be shrouded in secrecy, meaning not even they knew exactly when you would be arriving. Dumbledore had sent word saying you were coming and what day you were coming, so they’d all be ready, but—in true Dumbledore fashion—he hadn’t given any more detail than that.

Sirius, ignoring his friend’s ongoing discussion about his nerves, took a second to look away from the door to glance down at himself. His hair was longer than it’d been at Hogwarts, and he had facial hair—you’d never seen him with facial hair. James, as concerned as a doting mother, had nearly cried when he saw Sirius after Azkaban, apparently, he’d lost some weight. However, Remus said he didn’t look so bad. His exact words had been “you couldn’t look worse than I do after a full moon”, which had made Sirius laugh. Lily had brought him a bag of clothes and other toiletries when they got there, so now instead of his prison robes, Sirius was wearing his favorite pair of dark jeans (complete with a chain wallet that he, a wizard, did not need), a black button-up that was not all the way buttoned up, his silver necklace with his prison number that he, James, and Remus had made a few nights ago, and a gently worn leather jacket with black boots. He frowned, running a hand through his hair. Maybe he should have dressed up? Except that wasn’t him, and you knew that. But what did it matter, anyway? You were probably seeing someone, and even if you weren’t—you and Sirius had been friends at school, dated throughout your 5th, 6th, and 7th years, broke up at the end of the school year, kept hooking up for a while afterwards, and then amicably parted ways as you both fought in the war—so why would you be interested in an old flame like him?

“You look wonderful, Sirius,” Lily said, practically reading his thoughts.

“’Course he looks wonderful, he’s Sirius Black. Look at that face!” James said proudly, bringing a grin to Sirius’ face. “And that hair! And the legs! Give us a twirl, darling!”

Sirius, never one to disappoint his fans, put his arms up and twirled around, making sure to flip his hair to give his modeling the full Sirius affect. James clapped enthusiastically while Lily and Remus laughed, rolling their eyes.

“I see some things never change.”

Sirius froze, back to the door and arms still out. He knew that voice. He dreamt of that voice. He’d memorized the sound of that voice laughing, and moaning, and whispering his name oh so sweetly.

“Y/N!” Lily cried, running past Sirius to tackle you in a hug. Remus followed, giving Sirius a small smile that clearly said “sorry you embarrassed yourself in front of the love of your life, mate”. James straight up laughed in his face.

Sirius turned on his heel, and he took in a breath as he saw you. How could you be even more beautiful than you were the last time he’d seen you? How was that fair?!

You looked over at him from behind James’ shoulders, and wow… did he miss those eyes of yours.

“Hi Sirius,” you said once James released you. You offered him up a small smile, and Sirius felt himself melt.

“Hi. Hey.” He put a hand up in greeting before awkwardly dropping it to his side. “Hi.” He heard James giggle and Lily shush him.

“You—it’s good to see you,” you said.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you, too. You look—you look good.” Sirius cleared his throat. Why was this so hard? Back at Hogwarts, he’d been able to charm you effortlessly (after a short learning curve, of course), now he felt like he did 4th year when he realized he had a crush on his friend Y/N.

You smiled, a real, full smile, and Sirius had to remind himself not to swoon. “Thanks,” You pulled out a cracked, ceramic coffee mug from your bag, “So we’re going to be traveling via Portkey,” you explained, “The Order has safe houses all over the world, of course, but we’re going to my place until everything dies down a bit.” You turned to address the Potters. “They’ll be bringing Harry to us before the day is over,” you smiled warmly when you saw the looks of pure bliss on their faces, “I thought you’d like to be with him right away.”

“Thank you, Y/N,” Lily sighed out, “I can’t tell you how happy that makes us.”

“Of course,” you said, shrugging one shoulder, “I know how hard it can be to miss someone,” you glanced over at Sirius, and his heart skipped a beat, “Anyway, my place is secure, it’s set up with a variety of complex protection spells, so everyone will be safe.” You held out the mug. “Shall we?”

Remus, James, Lily, and Sirius all came up to you and put their hands on the mug. Sirius vaguely registered that familiar tug that came with traveling this way, but his main focus was the feel of your hand—so soft and smooth—underneath his.

In a second, you five were standing in the entry way of a home—your home—and you ushered them inside. Once the door was locked behind you all, you got to work setting the protection spells on them. You started with Lily (“have to protect Mommy,” you had said cheerfully), then James, and then Remus. Each one took a few minutes, and Sirius watched; entranced. He was in awe of you, of every flick of your wand, every complex mixing of spells that passed your pretty lips, every small frown or satisfied smile as you finished a particular tricky spell—it was incredible.

You were just finishing up with Remus when James put his arm around Lily and said, “Thanks so much, Y/N! We really are so lucky to have you! Is there a room we can go to freshen up? Maybe get an owl to Harry—he can’t read yet, but he’s a right good listener.”

You laughed. “Sure, your room is at the top of the stairs to the right, and Remus is right across from you.” You stepped back from Remus. “You’re all done, you can go get comfortable if you like. I’ve an owl named Ninny, and another called Nessie, and I put invisible ink, parchment, and quills in all the rooms.”

“Oh, thank you,” Remus said, “But you know, I’m actually quite interested in these spells you’re doing. I noticed you seem to have combined—”

“—Now, now Moony,” James interrupted, “They’ll be plenty of time for shoptalk later, let’s let Y/N work on Sirius.”

“Oh,” Remus grinned, “Right. Of course.” Sirius had to fight down the urge to facepalm. “I’d like to send a few words to Harry, now that I think about it…”

“Yes,” Lily agreed, already leading the two men up the staircase, “we’ll just go and do that now—you two take your time! And Sirius, I’ll tell Harry you send your love!”

“Thanks, Evans,” Sirius grumbled, calling her by her surname due to force of habit.

Lily winked at him, James have him a VERY unsubtle thumbs up, and Remus pushed them both up the stairs.

And suddenly you two were alone together.

“So,” you said casually, coming to stand in front of Sirius so you could start the process, “I hear you’re Harry’s godfather.”

Sirius smiled. He doted on Harry—but then again, they all did. It had caused him so much pain to think that little Harry would grow up thinking his godfather killed his parents, but thankfully, that terrible scenario hadn’t happened, so Sirius decided not to dwell on it. “Yeah,” he answered, “He looks just like James—with the hair and everything. Except he’s got Lily’s eyes, and probably her badassery, too.”

“The badass gene does come from the mother,” you said.

“Then where’d mine come from?” He said back.

You laughed—he’d made you laugh!—and walked around Sirius for the next spell. “Don’t move,” you said. The command was unnecessary. He wouldn’t have moved away from you for anything. “I also heard you got Muggle tattoos after school.”

He nodded. “D’you know they do them with needles? It was bloody torture,” he shrugged, “I mean, I would still take that over the Dementors any day, but…” He saw you frown as you moved to stand behind him. He needed to change the subject. “…I heard you were offered a position at Hogwarts.”

Your eyebrows went up as you came to stand in front of him again, wand up. “How’d you hear that?”

Sirius smirked. “How’d you hear about me?” He asked back.

You smiled, looking away from him in a way that just made him want to kiss you. “I may have asked around.”

“That’s exactly what I do—did,” he confessed.

“I’ve also heard some rumors about you,” you said, moving around him again. Sirius twisted around, trying to keep you in his sights. “I’d like to know if they’re true or not.”

He licked his lips. His name had been in the papers a lot recently, and the reviews weren’t all glowing. But he knew you, and more importantly: you knew him, and Sirius had no doubt in his mind, now that you were standing with him, smiling at him like that, that you would never let your image of him be swayed by the tabloids. “Well, today’s your lucky day,” he grinned, “You have me all to yourself: ask away.”

“All to myself, huh?” You gave him a smirk that had his body tingling with excitement. “About time…” Before Sirius could even unpack that, you were behind him again, whispering out another spell before you spoke again. “I heard you escaped on a Hippogriff.”

“True,” Sirius smiled fondly, “Well—I didn’t escape on him, but he was my ride out. What else?”

“I also heard you have a hippogriff tattoo.”

“Where?”

“Where did I hear that or where do you have it?” You asked back.

Sirius’ smile widened. “Where did you hear I have it?”

“Rumor has it that you have the wings between your thighs,” you giggled, circling back around to his front.

He barked out a laugh. “That’s an incredible idea!”

“I knew it was fake!” You laughed back. “Joanna Rawlins said you got it during 6th year, which was obviously a lie.”

Sirius made a face. You had been together 6th year. “How would she even know?”

“She tried to make it sound like she’d seen you naked,” you huffed, “Even though I know for a fact that you can’t stand her.”

“I wouldn’t get a tattoo there anyway,” he said, “Why ruin perfection?”

“Exactly!” You agreed.

Sirius cocked an eyebrow. “So you think I’m perfect?” He asked, grinning.

You rolled your eyes, but he saw that smile as you stood behind him. “Hush, I have to do this spell.”

“Interesting,” he went on, starting to feel more like himself than he had in weeks, “You know, I was quite worried about seeing you again, but now that you admit you think I’m perfect—”

“—I never admitted that.”

“—I’m starting to feel a little better.” He turned, smirking over at you. “So what is it about me that’s just so perfect to you?”

You put his head in your hands and turned it so that he was staring straight ahead and not at you. “You’re insufferable, you know that?”

“C’mon, Y/N, tell me all about how you’ve been pining for me, wishing we would cross paths again and that I would bless you with all of my divine perfection.”

He could practically hear you rolling your eyes. “Sounds like you’re the one who’s been pining.”

Sirius felt his heart skip a beat—you had no idea how right you were. Truly, you had a gift for reading him without even knowing you were doing it. He swallowed, thinking back on those days when you were his, how happy and free he had felt when he was in your arms. Life had dealt him a shitty hand, it’s true, but Sirius also had a lot of happy memories, memories that he used to keep the Dementors from literally sucking the soul out of him—and quite a few of those memories were of you. He couldn’t deny that he loved you; he had and always would. And maybe… as you walked around him, wand up and voice low as you concentrated on performing the proper spells, maybe you still loved him, too. “I suppose that’s true,” he said quietly, glad that his back was to you now, “To be honest, the memory of you—of us—is pretty much what kept me going in Azkaban.” You stopped your rotation around him, standing in front of him with caring eyes. “I know I haven’t done a good job of keeping in touch, but I hope you know… I think about you all the time. And I’m…grateful for having been with you, for having those memories with you.” He looked away, down at his feet and then over to the wall. “Hell, I’m even grateful for the rumors you’ve just told me,” he said with a shallow laugh.

You took a step back, pocketing your wand. “There’s still a few more that we haven’t discussed,” you said, voice serious.

“…Okay…”

“I heard a rumor,” you said slowly, carefully, as if you didn’t want to startle him away—as if he hadn’t been dreaming of being this close to you for years now, “that you still have feelings for me.” You put a hand up before he could even open his mouth to respond. “True or false?”

“True.” He said, not wasting a second on hesitation.

You nodded, a small smile building at the corners of your increasingly kissable lips. “I also heard that you hadn’t been in a relationship since we broke up.”

“Also true.”

“Because…?” You prompted softly.

“Because I love you,” Sirius answered easily, “And only you. If I can’t be with you, then there’s no point in dating at all, is there?”

You were full-on smiling now, and so was Sirius. “I suppose not,” you said back. “You know, I heard another rumor that you were going to ask me out,” you shrugged, feigning causality, “And that you were going to stay here with me for a while, I mean—as long as you’d like to…”

“I’d like to stay forever,” Sirius blurted out, not at all embarrassed by his eager reaction, “And you know what, Y/N? I think that’s the most accurate rumor I’ve heard about myself in weeks.” He grinned. “I know we’re supposed to be laying low and what not, but would you like to go out with me? I can take you to the patio, or upstairs, or even to the kitchen!”

“Why yes, Mr. Black,” you stepped up to him with a smile, “I’d enjoy that very much.”

Sirius put a hand on your hips and pulled you to him, and he knew in that moment that you belonged at his side, always. “Then it’s a date,” he said back, leaning down slowly.

“HELL YEAH IT’S A DATE!” James yelled from the top of the staircase, making you and Sirius pull back, cheeks warm.

“James!” Lily scolded him.

“Really, Prongs?” Sirius yelled back, unable to keep the smile off of his face. “Aren’t you lot supposed to be writing Harry?”

“Harry would like to know that his godfather is getting back together with his badass pseudo-aunt,” Remus replied.

“And there’ll be a wedding soon!” James added excitedly.

You laughed, and Sirius could drown in the sound. “Don’t start spreading rumors, Potter!”

Sirius pulled you back to him, eager to have you back in his arms again. “Give it a few years,” he said softly. Your eyes widened, and Sirius leaned down and kissed you, melting against you as his mouth worked over yours. Lily, James, and Remus—parents and professionals all—were cheering and clapping above you, but Sirius was used to ignoring their dramatics by now. As he held you, Sirius knew that this was the start of the rest of his life; he wasn’t feeling completely whole yet—though he was certain the arrival of Harry was all that he needed to get there—but he was feeling good. Happy. Safe and loved and incredibly lucky to have such great friends in his life, and such an amazing woman in his arms.

And really, as he thought about rumors of weddings going through their circle of friends, and then probably the Order, and then to the entire Wizarding world as well, Sirius had to say…

…rumors weren’t always so bad after all.

*******************************************************************************************

I think I may be ready to write more for Sirius... maybe. I want to write something for my James x reader x Sirius verse (shameless plug for my fic In Sync!) at some point, too. 

Thanks for reading!

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[secret-engima]

Snippet of AUW One-Shot

(okay so- this will not be posted for a WHILE as I want AUW to catch up, buuttt I couldn’t resist sharing a little XD)

     It was warm for a late November day, the air was just crisp enough to be refreshing without forcing Wren to find a jacket. Lovely day for doing something … though supervising a sparring match —massacre— between Erza, Natsu, and Gray was definitely not what she’d had in mind. Gray and Natsu made a show of warming up their punching arms as they stalked out of the guild on either side of the icily fuming redhead. Erza eyed the two boys as they stepped out and formed a loose triangle, “So today it’s both of you at the same time?”

     The two boys grinned wildly —clearly they hadn’t learned from the literal months of abuse they had put themselves through this way— and Natsu stamped his feet enthusiastically, “Just me is enough!”

     Gray shook a fist in Natsu’s direction, “You took the words right out of my mouth!”

     Wren whistled sharply to catch their attention before they could start punching each other again and signed, “Focus! It’ll be two on one, the two of you against Erza. That means no punching each other until one of you has defeated Erza, got it?”

     Gray and Natsu nodded emphatically, already shouting about how they were going to be the one to defeat Erza, not the other boy, and Wren almost missed the sound of a strangled whisper from off to the side under all of their noise. She didn’t quite miss it though, and spared a moment to look around in confusion. There seemed to be no one else in the street though… She narrowed her eyes and decided to deal with it after starting the sparring match. Raising a hand to the sky, she counted down with one whistle, two whistles, a trilling three and then dropped her hand down in the signal to start.

     Both boys sprung forward at the same time with identical shouts of, “Today, I’ll beat Erza for sure!”

     The sound of metal impacting skulls repeatedly never did seem to get any less brutal. Especially since Erza clearly wasn’t even winded. Not for the first or last time, Wren wondered if it had really been such a good idea to let Laxus help train Erza. It had improved her skills with her chosen magic in leaps and bounds yes, but it also made Natsu’s and Gray’s attempts to defeat her even sadder than in the anime.

     A high pitched “eeeh!” Off to the side distracted her from Erza’s taunting question of whether the boys were done already. She almost would have thought she imagined it … if she hadn’t looked over to the tent and crates Master Makarov had set up to stash their extra supplies while the storage unit was rebuilt and seen a collection of very familiar heads sticking out from behind them, watching the chaos.

     She stared. Those couldn’t be who she thought they were. Right?

     Two indignant, completely unsubtle cries of, “What are you doing to the younger me, Erza?” Confirmed what she hadn’t wanted to be true and she facepalmed. Hard. Why. Just …. why? How did they even get here? Wait, dumb question. She glanced over at the younger trio to see that they were all still completely preoccupied by their spat —well, more like Natsu and Gray were trying to recover from their concussions and Erza was subtly gloating—, and hadn’t even noticed the shouting going on just a few yards away.

     Wren slipped away from the arguing trio and discreetly slipped over behind the boxes to observe the older group from behind. It consisted of Erza, Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Lucy all looking as if they’d just stepped out of the anime. Also in their group, to her faint surprise, was a calm blond with shaggy hair and black-rimmed glasses that could only be a teenage Pauz. Pauz was —not surprisingly— the only one who was staying quiet, but even he was too busy watching the mini-trio to notice Wren watching them from behind.

     Older-Erza’s face had taken on a reverent look as she stared at her younger self, “I still remember this day,” she murmured softly, “Get up … stand up … the younger me will say these things…” Older-Gray and Older-Natsu gasped and turned reverent eyes on the scene in anticipation. Wren just narrowed her eyes in confusion. The scene felt oddly familiar … but also didn’t sound like something the Erza she currently knew would say at all.

     Erza drop-kicked Gray and Natsu into the air, eyes flashing with wrath as she roared, “Get up! Stand up!” Thought so. That’s the Erza I know.

     “It’s not like your memory at all!” And that would be the older Ice and Fire duo, showing off their sparkling skills at subtlety and discretion by screaming their heads off at the abashed Older-Erza. How did they expect to not be noticed again? It was truly a miracle that Erza was too busy chasing Natsu and Gray around trying to achieve justice for her missing cake to notice the yelling. Wren made a note to work on the three’s awareness training later, because that kind of volume really shouldn’t have been ignorable.

     At least Older-Pauz agreed with her, shushing the older duo with a mild little, “Gray-kun, Natsu-kun, they’re going to notice us if you keep screaming like that.”

     Lucy giggled from where she was standing in plain view —obviously stealth was never going to be a part of the Team Natsu skillset no matter what changes to the timeline Wren might make—, “Still, everybody seems so cute at this age.”

     Older-Natsu flinched as he watched his younger counterpart barely avoid a vicious kick to the head, “Erza’s always been ferocious. Even when she was small…”

     Older-Gray cringed as Erza finally caught up with the duo, “What, had you forgotten that already?”

     Happy waved his arms and —in a stunning display of discretion that made Wren facepalm— cheered, “Run away, Natsu!”

     Older-Erza shushed Happy, “Now’s not the time for that. We have to find a way back to our own time.”

     “Why? This looks like fun! We should stay for a while.”

     Older-Gray grinned at Older-Natsu, “Good idea.”

     Older-Erza leveled a glare at the guild building, “Idiots, haven’t you ever heard of a time paradox?”

     Happy made a confused noise and Lucy, Older-Pauz, and Older-Erza began to explain the theoretical dangers of time paradoxes and accidental alterations of the future … while Happy, Older-Gray, and Older-Natsu up and ran off, muttering to each other about disguises. Wren watched them go —they still hadn’t noticed her, she wasn’t even in Shadow Form for Pantherlily’s sake— and considering stopping them but … nah. For one, she distinctly remembered an episode —or had it been an OVA— in which this happened. It had been one of the most entertaining ones of the entire show, so despite the years Wren actually remembered it fairly well. Well enough to know that Older-Natsu and Older-Gray running off would work out somehow, so long as they were found before the timer ran out on the spell that brought them there.

     For another, Wren had enough trouble corralling their younger counterparts, she really didn’t need to add corralling their hormonal teenage time-traveling versions to her to-do list.

     Older-Erza, Lucy, and Older-Pauz finally noticed the absence of the idiots and Lucy shrieked, “Seriously? They’re already gone? Even Happy?”

     Older-Erza exploded, “Those guys … I never thought they’d do something THAT stupid! Idiots!”

     Older-Pauz frowned, “It would probably be a really bad idea for anyone in the past to see us … I thought even Gray-kun would know that…”

     Older-Erza nodded imperiously, “Exactly. Lucy! Wear this!” Wren blinked and, yep, Older-Erza had somehow just changed everyone’s outfits into animal cosplay. Lucy shrieked over her bunny suit, then over Older-Erza’s catsuit, while Older-Pauz just sighed mournfully at his floppy puppy ears and onesie-style costume. Older-Erza steamrolled over the protests, “It’s a disguise, Lucy. No one will recognize us now! Now, you and Pauz will go search for the others and bring them back while I decode the book. And remember, don’t let anyone from Fairy Tail see you! Even with your disguises. We can’t have them have any memories of what we’ll look like the future. Just in case.”

     …And the stupidity had just become too much to resist. Wren coughed pointedly from where she was still standing in plain sight, then deadpanned at the girlish shriek that came from all three persons there. Really Pauz? And puberty was so kind to you physically. The three time-travelers stared at her with wide, horrified eyes. Wren deadpanned back. Older-Erza twitched guiltily, Wren merely crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

     Older-Pauz seemed to be speechless at the moment and Lucy was quite clearly freaking out inside her own mind, so it was Older-Erza who coughed and woodenly said, “Hello there … random person I … do not know … at all … can we … help you somehow?”

     “Hello, kohai.”

[khrsecretvalentine]

KHR Summer Exchange: Haru/Tsuna for @lighteningdancer

Notes: My entry in the 2nd KHR Secret Summer Holiday! This is for Laura http://lighteningdancer.tumblr.com, and the pairing is Haru/Tsuna as requested.

~.~.~

“Hey Tsuna! You wanna hang out on Sunday?”

Normally, Tsuna would have happily accepted Yamamoto’s offer. Having actual friends who wanted to spend time with him — and not even just because they had nothing better to do — was still something new and wonderful, even though Yamamoto had been his friend for over two years.

Now, however, Tsuna’s smile was strained as he replied, “Sorry, but I already have plans. Next week?”

“Sure thing!” To his credit, Yamamoto didn’t give an obvious pause before delivering the socially-expected response or, worse yet, start wailing and demanding to know who had ‘monopolized’ Tsuna’s attention.

Gokudera had been the first of Tsuna’s Guardians to call, and his reaction had left Tsuna’s ears ringing for at least half an hour afterwards. Panicking, Tsuna had admitted that it was Haru he had already agreed to spend time with. That had been the end of the conversation as Gokudera hung up abruptly. It was terrifyingly possible that his Storm Guardian had run off to challenge her to a showdown for Tsuna’s time and attention.

But in the other hand, maybe not. After all, Haru was afforded some special privileges in Gokudera’s view… being “the boss’s woman.”

It was still hard to believe, but Haru was his girlfriend.

Just thinking about it had Tsuna’s face heating up, and he stared dazedly at the wall, phone still clutched in his hand. A dopey smile tugged at his lips.

Dame Tsuna had a girlfriend — a very cute, sweet one at that. Who genuinely cared about him and wanted to spend time with him.

When Haru asked him out the first time, he’s agreed mostly on the reflex of a total doormat, his mind going blank from shock. He’d had every intention of breaking it off after their first date, enforced by Reborn’s unsubtle threats about growing a spine. And, predictably, that first date had been a disaster in the way only Vongola could manage.

And yet. Spending time with Haru had been… nice. At the end, he’d realized they had been holding hands the whole time, and the feeling of her fingers interlaced with his had been…

Haru had been nearly in tears over the fiasco their date had become, but maybe Tsuna had gotten used to his famiglia’s a brand of chaos, because he had just smiled.

“I had fun,” he said, and meant it.

Maybe he’d never really thought about Haru like that before. Maybe he’d never really considered dating her. But wasn’t dating supposed to be about finding out more about each other to begin with?

He wanted to try.

He wanted—

Tsuna yelped in surprise as the phone he was still clutching started to vibrate again. It slipped out of his grip like a bar of soap, leaving him frantically scrambling to catch it in the world’s worst, saddest show of juggling.

When he finally answered, it was to a deafening roar — as expected of Ryohei. “Sawada!! Let’s hang out on Sunday! Extreme training time!”

Tsuna groaned.

~.~.~

What Haru invited Tsuna to was a pair costume contest at the beach. She had promised to take care of the costumes herself, so Tsuna would only need to wear her creation. This, admittedly, should have already set off some alarm bells, given his prior experiences with Haru’s… unique… sensibilities.

Tsuna could admit that he’d been perhaps excessively distracted by the “beach” aspect.

He couldn’t help it! Haru had always been cute, if a little too scary for Tsuna to really notice it beyond a vague factual awareness. But lately, she seemed to somehow keep getting cuter and cuter. And the beach was… well, the beach — aka swimsuits.

Would she go for a bikini like last summer? Or maybe something with frills or ribbons? Of course, there was going to be the costume aspect too. A hula skirt? An apron? Would she stick with the ponytail, or let her hair down? Maybe a few flowers?

There were so many possible fantasies Tsuna had absently considered since they’d made their plans.

None of them matched reality, of course. As he really should have expected.

Haru met him in jogging shorts and a tank top, which was… fine. Very cute, actually. “Over here! Tsuna-san!” she called out, standing on tiptoes and waving enthusiastically over the heads of the other beach-goers. “Come on, we need to start getting ready! Haru’s got everything at our locker backstage!”

The costume contest was being held at a temporary stage, set up next to the boardwalk. A labyrinth of narrow passages and small cubicle changing rooms, separated by cloth walls, all under a mishmash of several broad tent roofs, served as the backstage.

It was already teeming with contestants and their helpers, a dizzying array of bright fabrics, sequins, and flowers, along with an assortment of truly puzzling one-off additions — Tsuna couldn’t help craning his neck to stare at a woman in a feathered headpiece that was almost as tall as her, even after she disappeared into the bustling crowd.

Haru tugged him along by the hand — When had she taken his hand to begin with? N-not that he was against it, it felt rather nice, warm and soft… — toward a slightly less chaotic corner. She waved a greeting to what must have been another contestant pair, who had been watching over a cloth-wrapped bulk that was too large to fit in the narrow lockers set up for their belongings.

Probably, this is the point where Tsuna really, really should have caught on. But instead what came out of his mouth was—

“That looks heavy. You didn’t have to carry it by yourself. I’d be happy to help.”

That was what you did for your girlfriend, right? Carry stuff and open doors?

Probably, since Haru blushed happily. “Hahi! It’s okay, Tsuna-san! Haru carries around costumes all the time. Now, let’s try them on! Haru thinks they turned out especially great this time. Haru will be the dolphin, so Tsuna-san will be the orca!”

…wait.

With a speed that would have impressed Reborn, the master of costumes himself, Haru seemed to put hers on in the time it took her to turn back to Tsuna. And it was, indeed, a dolphin costume. A very large, thickly padded mascot costume of a dolphin, with Haru’s face sticking out of a hole in the dolphin’s… chin? and her bare arms and legs extending from its sides.

Tsuna’s thoughts were roughly like this:

But, bikini? Bikini??

Daydreams of his cute girlfriend in an array of cute swimsuits vanished into smoke. “What do you think, Tsuna-san? Cute, isn’t it?” Haru asked. Well, she was — with her dimples and shining eyes. But the costume… “And here’s yours!”

She held up a lump of white and black — the supposed orca costume. Tsuna’s brain stuttered to a stop.

‘Actually, it’s kind of creepy. It’s not cute at all.’ That would have been the honest answer. But Tsuna knew without a single doubt that there was no way to say that. And what would the point be, anyway? It wasn’t like they could change costumes right before the start of the contest. Haru had worked hard on them, and she was happy, so wasn’t that the important part?

And it wasn’t like Tsuna was unused to public humiliation. Getting laughed at would be a familiar experience, at least.

Fixing a strained smile on his face, Tsuna nodded. “S-sure thing,” he said. “I’ll put it on right away.”

~.~.~

They were entry number 7. It wasn’t a large event, so that put them close to the end, when all the contestants lined up at the stairs up to the stage.

It seemed that everyone else had shared Tsuna’s view of the contest theme — namely, swimsuits with some extra bits. A bride in a white bikini and a veil, with a groom in black swimming trunks and a lone bowtie. A waitress in a onepiece and an apron, her partner in a long apron as well. A… fruit lady(?) in a colorful bikini and a giant pile of (fake) fruit on her head…

Most of those in line were too focused or too busy to pay them much heed, but the snickering was already starting as several pairs snuck jeering glances at the mascot sealife duo. Haru didn’t seem to notice, all but vibrating with excitement, and Tsuna struggled to keep his unconvincing smile in place for her sake.

Sweat beaded on his neck — all over his body, actually. The costume was heavy and thick. How did Haru stand it….?

Another wave of applause and cheers rolled over from the stage, almost drowning out the announcer’s slightly staticky voice. There was no one left in front of them on the stairs up.

‘Hiiieeeee—! I can’t do this after all!’ Tsuna wailed mentally, tearing up.

Haru gasped excitedly, squeezing his hand. “We’re next!” she beamed. “Are you ready, Tsuna-san?”

…Fuuta was completely right, he was a complete doormat. “Yes,” Tsuna lied.

“And now, our next pair — Number Seven!” the old speakers boomed scratchily. “Come on out!”

The exact moment when the crowd caught sight of them was obvious — the polite clapping jarred into confused silence, followed by a few puzzled murmurs. “Hi, everybody!” Haru greeted the audience with blissful cheer, holding up her and Tsuna’s joined hands. “We’re number seven, Haru and Tsuna! And our theme is ‘a show at sealand!’ I hope you enjoy our performance!”

“…Right! What a… summer-appropriate theme!” the announcer quickly rallied, almost fumbling the microphone.

Someone laughed. It was like the opening of a floodgate, and the next moment, the entire crowd was howling. Even Haru, for all her ability to completely misread the atmosphere, could tell it wasn’t friendly laughter, and her smile wavered.

Tsuna’s cheeks were burning with humiliation, but it was admittedly hardly a new experience. Compared to running around in his boxers, head on fire as he screamed about his dying will, a silly-looking mascot costume didn’t come anywhere near his worst experiences ever. It was his turn to squeeze Haru’s hand in reassurance.

“Hahaha, yes… Hehe, th-thank you for the warm welcome to our, haha, contestants,” the announcer tried to keep his own laughter down — and failed. “They are certainly a, hehehe, unique pair! Quite the—”

From somewhere in the crowd, something came rocketing toward the stage.

It was a completely normal flipflop, but it had blazed past with the speed of the fastest possible baseball pitch — or a cannon shell. It had also cut barely past the announcer, ruffling his hair and making his gaudy sunglasses slip.

All noise cut abruptly, and the crowd instinctively parted, revealing the perpetrator… and his accomplices. Well, Tsuna could guess which one of the young men left standing in the clear had done it. Mentally, he groaned. He should have seen this coming too.

Gokudera, oversized sunglasses doing nothing to hide his distinctive hair. Yamamoto, doing a passable job hiding with a baseball cap pulled low over his face, at least until he started radiating menace in a way only a natural born hitman could. Ryohei with his hood up, somehow looking more like a gangster than the actual mafioso next to him. Kyoko, smiling blandly next to him (her too??). And now that Tsuna scanned the surrounding area, he could see a glimpse of awfully familiar red, a pineapple shape, and other such telltale signs.

He had honestly thought his Guardians and assorted other friends stopped following him on dates after the third one. But Reborn had probably encouraged it behind his back, citing something about their duty to protect the boss or whatever.

“What the hell you losers laughin’ at?!” Gokudera roared like the delinquent he was. “Huh?!”

“That’s not extreme at all!” Ryohei agreed, punching one fist into the opposite palm threateningly.

Tsuna groaned and facepalmed. “Why….” he muttered to himself. Why was it always like this? The orca costume’s nose bobbed up and down as he shuddered.

“Maa, maa… Let’s continue the contest, okay?” Yamamoto pretended to be the voice of reason, but the look he shot the announcer was downright chilling. Especially when he held up the matching flipflop to the one he’d thrown like a cannonball.

“Ye-ye-ye-yes! L-let’s keep continue!” the announcer stammered out. “L-l-let’s see Number Seven’s skit!”

“Go, Number Seven!” Kyoko cheered, her smile entirely benign and unwavering. Creepily so, given the circumstances.

Tsuna turned slowly and unwilling. He was afraid of what Haru’s reaction to all this might be. Surely, she would eventually get tired of the third ring circus every aspect of his life inevitably became. Who would be okay with every date being a fiasco? So, was this finally the day…?

“Pffft!”

The corners of Haru’s mouth had curled up as she struggled to stifle a giggle. …Right. Tsuna’s circle of Guardians and assorted other friends included her. She was more than accustomed to the chaos. In fact, she must have enjoyed it at least a little, to stick through with them through everything.

“Hahi! OK! Please watch Haru and Tsuna-san’s show!” she declared, holding up the colorful beach ball she’d been carrying.

~.~.~

They won. By cheating via intimidation, to be perfectly frank. Tsuna didn’t see his friends giving the judges grief, but he had faith in their lack of proper moral compass.

“I’m so sorry,” he moaned into the cheap plastic table as he and Haru treated themselves to celebratory shaved ice afterwards. “It always ends up like this. I’m really sorry, Haru.”

She laughed, her tongue deep blue from the raspberry syrup she’d chosen. “It’s okay, Tsuna-san! It was nice of everyone to come support us!” Haru beamed. “And, um… thank you for going out with Haru…” Her blush was really cute.

Really, his girlfriend was just so cute. Despite the mortifying heat burning away his ears, Tsuna couldn’t help grinning too. Ducking his head, he hesitantly slid his hand across the table and curled a couple fingers around hers. “Thanks for inviting me. I’m, um…. really happy to spend time with you, Haru.”

Haru averted her eyes, her smile softening shyly. They were both leaning in now, slowly. Tsuna’s mind had blanked again, aside from a continuous sort of ‘hiiiiiiieeeeeeee——’ This was it, it was really going to happen—

Something prinkled at the back of his neck, and Tsuna froze.

He turned to look over his shoulder, already dreading what he would find. It was exactly what he expected — although they tried to duck behind the corner, he still caught a glimpse of silver hair, baseball cap, bandaged nose. On the opposite side of the street, there were others too, diving into hiding as he swept his gaze toward them.

Could he have one moment of privacy? Was that too much to ask for?

Unfortunately for him, dating the Vongola Decimo involved functionally dating all of Vongola.

Realizing belatedly that he’d left Haru in leaning in for a k-k-k-kiss, Tsuna spun back around, apologies already on his lips. But instead, he was greeted with a peck on the cheek that brought him up short. Smiling, Haru dropped back in her seat and took another big spoonful of her shaved ice.

Fortunately for him, he was dating a girl who didn’t mind getting all of Vongola as part of the package.

~.~.~

From @kyogre-blue to @lighteningdancer

[theysentushope-blog]

But For The Fall (Cassian x Reader) [Part Two]

Part One

By the time Y/N had wrapped up her dealings on Vostriq, Jyn and Cassian were long gone. She punched in the coordinates for Yavin and set the ship on autopilot once she left realspace. Checking her supplies as a way to keep busy, she tried not to think about why she had let herself be so easily convinced to join in the Alliance’s problems once again. This time, she wasn’t even getting paid.

As the ship alerted her that she was nearing the Yavin system, she found that it was too late to change her mind. Once she left hyperspace, she was almost immediately greeted by one of the stern voices of the rebel’s communications team.

“This is the Alpha Dawn requesting permission to land. Transmitting clearance codes now.” Y/N replied to the harsh request for passcodes. A few tense moments passed - her codes were older, and she wasn’t sure if they would give her time to contact Jyn or Cassian before trying to blow her out of the sky.

“You’re cleared to land on landing pad eight. Welcome home, Alpha Dawn.”

Y/N raised her brow at their standard greeting, but guided her ship into Yavin IV’s orbit and finally to the assigned landing pad. She was surprised to find Cassian waiting alone for her, watching her as she hopped down off of the exit hatch.

“Where’s your better half, Andor?” Y/N asked, swinging her bag over her shoulder as she stepped up to him. She watched as Cassian rolled his eyes before cocking his head back toward the entrance to the base.

“She’s in a conference with the rest of the Council, assigning scouting missions to the remaining pilots.”

“You’re not a member of the Council?” Y/N asked curiously, and Cassian shook his head.

“I committed treason by going on the mission to retrieve the Death Star plans. They couldn’t exactly honor that action by promoting me.”

“Jyn went on the mission too, though.”

“Jyn wasn’t a member of the rebellion until after the Battle of Scarif.”

“Seems like Imperial-level bureaucratic bullshit to me.” Y/N replied, and was surprised that Cassian actually chuckled at that as they moved down the busy halls of the base.

“I am happy not to be a member of the Council.” Cassian replied, opening the door to one of the many small rec rooms that dotted the base. “I am more useful where I am.”

“Y/N!” Another familiar voice greeted, and Y/N saw Han sitting at a small table with Chewie and Luke Skywalker.

“So, you’re still here, huh?” Y/N asked as she took the empty seat next to Han. Chewie growled a greeting and Y/N sent the Wookie a wide smile.

“They haven’t kicked me out yet.” Han replied smugly. “You’ve met Luke, right?” He added, gesturing to the blonde man sitting next to Cassian.

“Not officially, he was too occupied with welcoming Jyn home at the time.” Y/N replied, smiling as she saw Jyn’s boyfriend’s cheeks grow red. “Y/N Y/L/N” She said, extending her hand to Luke.

“Luke Skywalker.”

“Of course, everyone knows you. The Savior of the Rebellion and all that.” Y/N watched as Luke shook his head and shrugged off the title, and she decided immediately that she liked the kid.

“Hey, I was there too, ya know?” Han responded.

“Yes, and you have the shiny medal to prove it.” Jyn interjected, forcing herself into the small space between Luke and Cassian.

“How was your meeting?” Luke asked, and Jyn nodded enthusiastically.

“It went well, we should be ready to leave the base in about a week or two.” Jyn replied. “We’ll be ready to send the scout ships out first thing in the morning.”

Y/N perked up at that, ready to finish her favor to the rebels and get back on her way.

“Any idea where I’m going?”

“Sorry, need to know.” Jyn replied, shaking her head. “You and Cassian will be getting the coordinates once you’re in the air.”

“Wait, me and Cassian?” Y/N asked, giving Jyn and Cassian a confused stare. “Isn’t Cassian a pilot? Why isn’t he going on a scouting mission? One that isn’t mine?”

“I...may have had an incident during our last mission.” Jyn replied.

“She crashed Cass’ U-Wing into the swamps of Anthea after he was injured and couldn’t fly it himself.” A new voice interjected, and Y/N looked up to see a tall, skinny young man with long, scraggly dark hair and large, expressive eyes. He took the empty seat on the other side of Han and extended his hand. “Bodhi Rook.” He introduced, and Y/N shook his hand.

“Y/N Y/L/N.” She responded. “You’re one of the Rogues, right?”

“I’m the pilot.” Bodhi responded with a smile that Y/N returned.

“Where are the others?” Y/N asked.

“Baze and Chirrut are on a mission, they should be back in time to help with the evacuation.” Jyn responded.

“So that only leaves…” Y/N trailed off, just in time for the rebels to stand at attention. Y/N looked over shoulder and found herself looking at a young woman who could only be.

“Your Royalness.” Han greeted, and Y/N watched as Leia playfully rolled her eyes.

“Hi Leia.” Luke greeted, pulling the woman into a quick hug before giving her a seat next to him.

“You must be the smuggler we’ve heard so much about.” Leia greeted.

“That’s me.” Y/N responded. She didn’t miss the completely unsubtle shift as Han draped an arm along the back of her seat, nor the sudden fire in the princess’ eyes at the move.

“My condolences on the loss of your planet, Your Highness.” Y/N said, hoping to distract the royal from whatever game Han had decided to start playing. “I traveled to Alderaan once, it was one of the loveliest planets I’ve ever visited.”

“Thank you, Y/N.” Leia replied, giving her a small smile. “And thank you for agreeing to this mission.”

Y/N nodded her head at the princess, and from there the conversation descended into something decidedly more jovial, the rebels clearly basking in the rare chance to simply relax and enjoy their time together. Y/N sat back in silence for the most part, struck by the clear bond they all shared - particularly, Han, Leia, and Luke, which was something she was going to have to ask her old friend about at some point. They were clearly a good influence on Han, a steadying one in fact. Even Chewie seemed at ease with them, having apparently adopted the two as belonging to him in the same way that Han was the Wookie’s responsibility.

By the time the evening meal rolled around, Y/N found herself growing weary of being surrounded by so many people. She typically worked alone, and spent much of her time in solitude. To suddenly be surrounded by so many people - even people she admitted to liking - was proving exhausting. Gathering up her things, she said her goodbyes, Cassian hot on her heels as the one who volunteered to show her to her temporary quarters.

“I can just sleep on my ship, Andor.” Y/N argued as he led her down the halls toward the barracks. “I do it every night.”

“The princess ordered that rooms be set aside for you and the other scouts, even on a temporary basis.” Cassian replied before his face grew grim. “And...we have the room.”

“Okay.” Y/N replied softly, realizing that this was something important to Cassian and Leia, and probably the others.She followed him in silence, until they reached a nondescript door in the middle of a nondescript hallway.

“I’ll never find my way back.” Y/N joked, and Cassian turned and pointed to the door directly across the hall.

“That’s mine.” He replied. “When you’re ready in the morning, just knock and we can go down to the mess hall together.”

Y/N nodded and turned back to her own door, entering the access code Cassian had given her. The door opened with a quick ‘swoosh’ and Y/N turned back to Cassian.

“So, I’ll see you in the morning, I guess.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.” Cassian replied. “And thank you.”

“You all really need to stop with the thanking every five minutes, you’re going to give me a complex.” Y/N said, earning another chuckle from Cassian.

“I’m fairly sure you already have one.” Cassian teased, and Y/N leaned against her doorway with a fake-offended look of shock on her face.

“Why, Cassian Andor, I am positively wounded!” Y/N exclaimed.

“Something tells me you’ll get over it quickly enough.” Cassian replied, moving toward his own quarters. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight.” Y/N said quietly before moving into her temporary rooms and shutting the door behind her.