#and like yep definitely could’ve done that with the stop sign

[fruitless-vain]

TIL I didn’t need to spend two days hand sewng that stop sign I totally could’ve filled it using the machine and not had lines show up too much

Did this with a scrap to test it and I like it so now I need to come up with text for this one cause I don’t want to waste it and don’t want a repeat patch

Probably going to have to go on my backpack???? Cause we running out of pup space

[symwinter]

HBIC Marinette – Chapter Two

Taglist: @ladybug-182 | @our-preciousss | @woe-is-me0 | @vroomtaka | @lady-bee-fechin | @ramos123 | @itsmeevie01 | @chaoticstarworld | @vixen-uchiha | @seraphichana | @pleaseignorejustheretoread | @basenikon | @bread-loving-mess | @walkingthroughonautopilot |

Sorry it took so long for the next chapter. If I stop writing I have to go back and read what was there and it just reads so badly to me so I have to start over. To make up for it, I tried to make this chapter extra long, but I don’t know if it came across that way.

First - Last - Next

Hell hath no fury like Marinette scorned. On the outside she appeared calm, almost peaceful, but on the inside she was plotting. She doubted the class would take the fallout quietly so she needed to be prepared. The bell on the door jingled as she stepped inside. Her maman perked up hearing the bell. “Marinette! How was school today?” “Eventful,” she replied, “can I talk to you and papa about something? It’s important.” “Of course,” Sabine replied, “please flip the sigh to closed will you?” Marinette nodded and flipped the sign, locking the door for good measure. From there she was ushered upstairs.

“So what do you need to talk to us about? Did you find your sketchbook?” Sabine inquired, her hands folded gently on her lap. “You remember Lila right? The girl who falsified my expulsion?” “She’s the one with the lying disease right?” Tom replied. Marinette forced herself to not roll her eyes. Lila literally said she had a lying disease and was still believed. “Yes and yes. Lila was the one who took it and tore it apart,” Marinette pulled the broken sketchbook from her backpack. Sabine gasped. Tom rubbed her shoulder. “Most of my class did as well. Except for Adrien, Chloé, Sabrina, and Nathanael.” Sabine frowned. “Was it your commission book?” “No, thankfully. That one’s still here. This one was just doodles.” Marinette put the sketchbook down on the table. “But I refuse to leave this unpunished. I just thought I’d let you know.” Tom grimaced but object. “Normally I would be against this,” Tom said, “but if you think it’s necessary then you have my support.” Sabine nodded in agreement. “Is there anything we can do to help?” “Outside of Chloé, Adrien, Sabrina, and Nathanael I don’t know who helped tear it apart and who tried to take it away so it wouldn’t get damaged,” Marinette began, “so until then could you refuse to serve anyone from my class that isn’t those three? Or at least not give them a discount? Or let them see me?” Not that anyone but Nathanael would visit from that small group. “Of course Marinette,” Sabine said, “we’re your parents. It’s our job to be there for you.” Marinette didn’t comment about how they believed Lila when she was expelled and instead shot herself into her parents arms, pulling them into a hug. “I’m going to go salvage what I can from this.” She said, picking up the sketchbook. “Let me know if anyone stops by.”

It took longer than Adrien would like to admit to pick out which sketchbook to buy for Marinette. This was the third shop he went to. “Oh for the love of god Adrikins will you just pick a sketchbook already?” Chloé snapped from beside him. Adrien staggered slightly before looking at her. “It’s not just a replacement but an apology.” He replied. “It needs to be perfect.” “There’s only so long before you father comes a calling and then you can’t give her the sketchbook at all.” She retorted, crossing her arms. Sabrina appeared next to the two blondes holding a 12 by 9 inch sketchbook. Adrien took it from her hands and inspected it. The cover was rather bland, only being a dull dark brown, but the quality of the paper was rather nice. It looked like something his father would use. He didn’t know Sabrina as well as he did Chloé but she clearly had an eye for these things. He supposed being friends with Chloé helped in that regard. “I also considered the idea of getting flowers for Marinette,” Sabrina added, “maybe they’ll act as a nice icebreaker before giving her the sketchbook.” “Sabrina, when you get married I will happily pay for the wedding.” Adrien said. Sabrina smiled. “I’ll hold it to you.” “Great we have a sketchbook can we go already?” Chloé hissed, clearly annoyed. “Yes Chlo, we can go pay and head out.” Adrien paid for the expensive sketchbook before hopping into a flower shop nearby, much to the chagrin of Chloé. One bouquet later and they was off to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

“Welcome! How can I-” Sabine paused looking at the odd trio in front of her. Adrien, Chloé, and Sabrina, only two of which had ever been over. “We’re here to see Marinette.” Adrien replied, giving an awkward smile. If Sabine did know about the sketchbook, it’s possible she wouldn’t let them visit. Chlo�� and Sabrina’s less than perfect history with Marinette certainly wouldn’t help. “Of course, you remember how to get inside don’t you Adrien?” He nodded and slipped past the confused Sabine. Tom was equally as confused. “You’re here to see Marinette?” “Yep.” Adrien replied, popping the ‘p.’ “Feel free to grab something then, you’re practically skin and bones.” “Model diet,” Chloé retorted, as Adrien slipped the sketchbook under his arm. Marinette’s parents made the best baked goods. The trio moved efficiently through the house before sending Sabrina to knock on the trap door. A simple ‘who is it?’ rang from above. Sabrina pushed the trap door open. “Adrien and Chloé are also here.” Marinette ushered the three up. Adrien practically shoved the flowers in front of her. “Are these-” Marinette began. “Flowers? Yeah. Sabrina suggest I get some along with this,” he held the sketchbook out. Marinette placed the bouquet on her desk before delicately taking the sketchbook from him. She inspected it but found no price tag. “I heard the class damaged your sketchbook so I found it right to get you a new one.” “I can’t this accept, ugh I mean, I can’t accept this.” “Yes you can. You deserve nice things Marinette.” “Adrikins practically dragged me around Paris to find you that sketchbook. Take it.” Chloé said, inspecting her nails. “Ignore her,” Adrien replied, “it was my fault that you’re sketchbook got torn in the first place. I didn’t know how awful Lila could be.” “But you didn’t. I didn’t tell you that she threatened me-” Adrien, Sabrina, and Chloé’s heads whipped to look at her. “She threatened you?” Adrien’s voice was cold. It almost reminded her of M. Agreste’s during the brief time he heard it. “When exactly did she threaten you?” “When she first got back. In the bathroom. And she kind of did when I got briefly expelled.” “Well then it was definitely the wrong advice. I thought she was just lying for attention, not threatening you. That’s serious. I would’ve never made that deal if I knew how awful she was. I could’ve, I should’ve-” “Wait deal?” This time Sabrina spoke up. “The reason Lila works for Gabriel is because I made a deal to get her to lie Marinette back into class. I swore I told her to leave you alone to. It’s all my fau—why are you crying??!!”

And lo and behold, large tears dripped down Marinette’s cheeks, which she wiped away. “You did that for me?” “Of course, you’re my friend.” Adrien replied, pulling her into a hug. “And that’s what friend do right?” “Okay great, dirty laundry has been aired or whatever but can we get to the point people?” Chloé sniped. “What’s the point?” Marinette asked, stepping out of the hug, albeit reluctantly. “When you go maul the class to death, leave Sabrina, Adrikins, and I out of it. We’re not friends, but even I know not to ruin your stuff.” Marinette put the sketchbook down. “I will but I get to slap you with no consequences.” “You’ve got to be joking.” “You made my life hell and that’s getting off easy for the amount of crap you put me though.” “How about instead, I cover whatever expensive fancy fabrics you can’t buy for the next two months. I’d have to explain the smack to daddy after all” “Hm, make it four months.” Marinette replied. “Three.” “Deal.” Chloé turned on her heel. “Sabrina, let’s go.” The redhead followed but paused to wave goodbye. “I guess that’s my cue to leave as well.” Adrien replied. “And again, I’m sorry I didn’t help you sooner.” “You didn’t know. But you’ll stand up for me now right? When Lila opens her mouth to spew more lies?” “Of course Mari. I’ll be your alibi until the foreseeable future.” He pulled Marinette into a hug again, and impulsively kissed her cheek before leaving the building. It wasn’t until he was standing on the street, phone in hand to call the Gorilla did he realize what he had done.

“Oh god.”

[vivianweasley]

Pride and Prejudice (Chapter 6)

Summary: Your father is Lucius Malfoy’s cousin, and after the war, it was really difficult for you to find a job because of your last name. So your mother and Mrs. Weasley came up with a crazy idea. A fake marriage between you and Fred Weasley.

Last Chapter! (I combined the last chapter and the epilogue cuz they are not too long.)

Pairing: Fred Weasley X Malfoy!Fem!Reader

Warnings: food mention, mention of divorce, people pretending to choke, proposal.

Word Count: 1.8k

Disclaimer: photos used in the header are from Pinterest. Credit goes to the original owners.

Please do NOT repost or translate my work on any platform! Thank you! Reblogs and comments are always welcome:)

Pride and Prejudice Series Masterlist

Fred walked downstairs, noticing a faint smell of apples in the joke shop. “So are we selling apple juice now, Georgie?” he joked.

But George looked confused, “What apple juice? I could only smell caramel-” And then the answer finally came to George, “Amortentia!”

Fred followed George to the shelf displaying amortentia and immediately realized a firecracker just exploded next to this shelf, causing at least four bottles of amortentia to break and the love potion inside to spill.

George waved his wand and cleaned up the mess, but a satisfied smirk soon appeared on George’s lips, “Strange. Didn’t know you liked apples this much.”

“Shut up and go back to work!” Fred raised his voice, covering for the fact that he’s a complete mess now. 

That fainting smell of apple that’s still lingering in the shop also had a dash of the scent of book pages in it. And this combination could only remind Fred of one person. 

You.

The person whom he married out of a dare. The person who he fell in love with during the process. The person who just walked out of his life.

George noticed the change in Fred’s expression. How defeat was now written all over his face. “Mate, you need to do something. You can’t just let her walk away like that.”

“What can I do?” Fred sighed, “Maybe she’s been waiting for this all the time.”

George sighed with Fred. This wasn’t like his brother. Soon the lingering smell of amortentia caught his attention, and a brilliant idea popped into George’s mind. “She has feelings for you too, and I can prove it to you!”

~

You pushed open the door of the joke shop. George just called you claiming that there’s an emergency, so you rushed to the joke shop immediately after work.

George approached you with a small glass vial, “Y/N, this is the new perfume I just made. I need your opinion.”

So this is the emergency??

You looked at George, couldn’t decipher what his smile meant. But you did know one thing. In fact, everyone who went to school with the twins should know the rule: be careful of what they handed to you. So you stepped away from that vial and asked with caution, “When did the joke shop start selling perfume?”

“Oh, we are always trying to expand our business,” George noticed how you became alert, so he added, “I swear to Merlin, this is not a prank!”

Still finding his smile suspicious, but for Merlin’s sake, you still decided to take the vial.

“Does it smell good? What does it smell like?” George asked carefully.

“Hmm...” The perfume did smell very good. You could smell the sweetness of cinnamon, a dash of gunpowder, but it also smelled so familiar. It smelled like...Fred’s cologne? “George, I’m pretty sure someone else has already made a perfume like this.”

“Really? How so?” George felt his heart beating at his throat, so scared that you might say another person’s name.

“Isn’t this just Fred’s cologne?” You were finding this unbelievable. How could George not recognize his own twin’s cologne?

“Oh really!!” Hearing a definitive answer from you has made George so happy that he pulled you into a hug. “Got it! Thank you for your opinion! You’re the best!”

“You’re welcome...?” Watching George being so happy that he could start dancing at any minute, you were beginning to think that the chemicals in the perfume were toxic. How could making a plagiarized perfume make a man so happy?

~

Two days later, you apparated to the joke shop again. It was raining outside. Maybe the weather was trying to set the tone for what was about to happen next. After taking a deep breath, you knocked on the door of the twins’ apartment, the apartment that you called home for the past year.

Fred opened the door, letting you in without saying a word. You tried not to look at him so you could appear indifferent and won’t be affected by his expressions.

“Here’s the divorce document,” you said as you took out all the paper in your bag. He took the documents and flipped through the papers quickly, still not saying anything at all.

You couldn’t tell if his silence meant he’s also not ready to say goodbye or he just had nothing to say to you. But you tried not to overthink as you continued, “Oh, before you sign it, you still have one wish left. What do you want me to do?”

“What if I said,” he finally looked at you, his eyes capturing yours, “I don’t want you to go?”

His words were like a drum in your ears, rendered you speechless. Before you could fully process what he just said, Fred continued, “It might sound crazy, but for the past few days, I realized I just couldn’t imagine a life without you anymore.  I know I’ve lived 20 years without you perfectly fine, but now that I’ve had you in my life, I don’t ever want to live without you again. I know I could be insensitive sometimes, and I probably did something stupid that made you mad in the past year, but I’m willing to change if you tell me to.”

“All I’m trying to say is,” he took a deep breath and continued, “Please allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. And please don’t divorce me.“

You finally let out a soft laugh. That’s Mr. Darcy’s line in Pride and Prejudice. You remembered reading this part to him during Christmas, and you couldn’t believe that he actually memorized this line.

Fred panicked when you weren’t talking, “But of course, if you really want to, I wouldn’t stop you. I-“

“You know, you don’t have to use your last wish on this,” you stopped him, “I was going to say yes anyway. But If you insist, that won’t be a problem with me.”

Fred’s eyes widened as he processed your words, “Wait, does that mean-“

You answered his question by pulling him down and pressing a kiss on his lips. He was shocked by your sudden action but soon kissed you back with his hands finding your waist and pulling you closer to him.

So this is what it feels like to kiss him, and it’s so much better than how you’ve imagined it would be. It started a soft kiss but soon became more passionate, as if you were making up for all the time you two spent on being oblivious.

“Should’ve done this earlier.” A smirk appeared on Fred’s lips when you finally pulled away.

“Idiot,” you rolled your eyes, but your cheeks were still heated.

He chuckled before giving you another soft peck on the lips. His hands were still resting on your waist.

“And you’re still this idiot’s wife.”

～(warning: people pretending to choke, food mention)~

“Y/N, there’s a Mr. Weasley looking for you,” the receptionist raised her eyebrows and smiled at you.

“Thanks! I’ll be done in a minute!” You quickly finished the last sentence and looked at Luna from across the table with your puppy eyes.

She chuckled, “Alright, you can leave early today.”

“Thanks, Luna, you’re the best!” You flicked your wand to pack up your bag before running to the door.

“Tell Fred I said hi!” you heard Luna’s voice behind you.

“I will!”

A month after your fake marriage ended, you quit your job at Whizz Hard Books. You didn’t want to work in a place that wouldn’t accept who you really are.

Ginny introduced you to Luna Lovegood and The Quibbler. You immediately fell in love with the whimsical ideas and style of The Quibbler, and Luna gave you a new job as you two hit it off very quickly. So this is where you work now. No need to hide your background and use a fake last name. This place accepted you for who you are.

Fred was at the door, opening his arms when he saw you running to him. “Happy one-year anniversary, darling!”

You giggled as you ran into his arms, “and this time, it’s real.”

“Yep,” he pressed a kiss on your forehead, “ready?”

You nodded, and the next second you two apparated to your favorite restaurant.

The dinner was delicious, and for dessert, Fred ordered your favorite cake. But when you were enjoying the cake, you suddenly felt something hard inside. This was extremely dangerous, for you could’ve swallowed it if you weren’t paying attention. You were just about to complain when you finally realized what it was.

It’s a ring!

You were surprised. Was Fred trying to propose? But last time you checked, you two were still legally a married couple.

But this also seemed like what he would do on your one-year anniversary. You were sure he was waiting to see your surprised face, and an idea soon came to you.

You pretended that you were trying to pick up your spoon because your elbow “accidentally” swept it down on the floor a few seconds ago. When you were sure Fred couldn’t see you, you slid the ring on your finger. Then you got up and took another bite of the cake like nothing out of the ordinary happened.

A few seconds later, you started coughing. Your brows were furrowed as your hands reached for your neck like you just choked on something.

Fred was freaking out, knowing that he’s the reason behind all this, “Darling, are you alright?”

The only response you could produce was a few glottal sounds and you looked like you were almost crying.

Fred ran to you as fast as possible. He wanted to help, but he had no idea what to do as his brain was in an absolute mess now. The only thing he could manage to do was apologizing again and again, “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have done that. Baby, I’m so sorry…”

The noise you two were making attracted the other customers’ attention, and you saw a waiter approaching you with his wand, trying to help. You knew it’s probably time to stop this prank.

“Are you talking about this?” You finally stopped acting and waved your left hand in front of him.

Fred’s expression froze, still trying to recover from the terror of accidentally hurting you. After a few moments, he finally realized, “Wait, does that mean…”

“YES!” You chuckled.

Fred’s furrowed brows finally unfolded as a bright smile appeared on his lips. He picked you up and spun you around, “She said YES!”

The crowd around you was clapping and cheering while your husband was cheering himself as well.

You giggled, “Freddie, you know we never went through with the divorce, right? So technically, I’m still your wife.”

“I know, darling, but I figured that I owe you a proper proposal,” he said while pressing multiple soft kisses on your face, “Plus, I just want to make this official. I love you, darling.”

“I love you too,” You smiled as your lips found his again, “I love you most ardently.”

A/N: I can’t believe I really finished this series asdfgfgjk Thank you guys so so much for reading, reblogging, commenting, and liking this series. I can’t tell you how much your support means to me❤️

Series Taglist: @ifilosemyselfagain @theweasleytwinsgirl @bookworm06 @unabashedbookscollector @txtdreamss @sagittarius-flowerchild  @rsheridan @ovrwd @anywherebuthere @allaroundaddict @jeminila @secretsofageek @magical-spit @freddieweasleyswife @lilypad-55449 @hufflepuffzutara @honey-honey-5644 @kyloren-peterparker @treblebeth @kyloren-peterparker @fred-sux @rodrickmalfoy @liliputbahn @its-yasbxtch @daydreamgirl8​ @305weasley​ @awritingtree​ @lucymfer​ @bberree​ @malfoy-wife15   @weasleyxmalfoyxstyles  @justfollowtheroad​  @nojamsonmytoast​  @amc723​ 

(If your name is bolded, Tumblr wont let me tag you. And I’m really sorry if I forgot you!)

(General taglist in reblogged post cuz it can’t fit in one post)

[mypoisonedvine]

Love, Theoretically | Sebastian Stan x reader (Chapter 1)

for @evnscvll​​‘s 3k celebration challenge, I immediately broke the rules and took only one prompt: Love, Actually.  then I made it into a series.  oops.  but she made me that lovely moodboard anyways!

summary: having lost your husband, sister, and best friend all to the same extramarital affair, you ran away to a secluded villa in the Hungarian countryside to write and get a little time away from the life you’d left behind.  you were only looking for peace and perhaps some inspiration for your novel, but instead you found an unlikely connection with the immigrant repairman-- even though the two of you don’t speak the same language.

word count: 2.3k

warnings: mention/description of infidelity, awkwardness, me teasing y’all by making this a slow burn

(quick note: I’m not fluent in romanian but I did my best to translate the dialogue as accurately as possible, rather than as literally as possible.  if you don’t speak it I would recommend not translating seb’s lines so you get the full experience of having no idea what he’s saying just like the reader in the story but I won’t tell you how to live your life)

You usually trusted your intuition, but up until now you'd convinced yourself that you were being paranoid by worrying about your husband.  Trusting him was more important than anything, and definitely more important than a strange feeling in your gut that something was wrong. 

The sad thing is, you would've never guessed that he was having an affair with your sister.  Not in a million years.  All the sneaking around, the strange stories that didn't add up… you would've put your money on a secret gambling addiction (pun unintended but welcome), or maybe that he'd secretly lost his job.

But even with all your suspicion, all your low self-esteem, all your fear that he was too good for you… nothing could've prepared you to walk in and see him with his face between your sister's legs.

He didn't even do that to you; he said he didn't like the taste.  You realized now, as you stared out the window of the train at the trees flying by, that that should've been a red flag from the start.  For a man who had claimed to be a feminist, things were never really equal in your house.  You both worked full time but you were saddled with more chores; you made more money than he did, but for some reason, you found yourself asking for his approval on large purchases; and of course, whenever you'd talked about children, he'd always just assumed you would stay at home forever and do most of the child-rearing.  He told you that you'd need to handle them when he was too tired from work-- but what about when you were tired from watching them all damn day while he was working?

God, you needed to stop thinking about this.  If you cried on this train people would probably look at you funny and you did not need that right now.  You couldn’t take any more reasons to believe people dislike you.  Even as much as you wanted to say that you didn't want or need your husband’s approval anymore, you still felt so shitty, so fundamentally worthless that he'd chosen your sister over you.  He hadn't wanted to touch you in months.  You wondered if it had been going on longer than that: when you'd blown him after that company party half a year ago, were you putting your mouth on something that had been in your sister's--?

"Something to drink, madam?" the attendant asked as she rolled by with her cart, pulling you from a very dangerous cycle of thought.

You jumped a little and looked over to her as she smiled at you-- no hint of judgment or confusion as you wiped a tear away.  In her shoes, you would be nosy and want to know more about the woman crying on the train.  Then again, maybe it was obvious to her: a woman, alone, who bought the last ticket just before the train left, carrying only a small briefcase and a few hastily-packed suitcases… a woman with nothing to lose, going nowhere as fast as possible.  Could it be anything but her having been done wrong by a man?

"Tea, please," you nodded with a smile of your own-- weaker than hers, more awkward.  You'd make a bad stewardess.

"Black or green?"

You didn't trust them to steep the green tea at the proper temperature, so you asked for black and nodded in thanks when she handed you the warm paper cup and rolled on by to the next passenger.

What really made your head spin, you considered as you sipped at your drink, was not your husband’s actions but your sister’s.  You remembered when you were both teenagers and her boyfriend had cheated on her, she’d gotten so upset with the girl he’d done it with rather than him.  You had thought that was ridiculous because the girl didn’t owe her anything.  You understood better now, and of course, your sister did owe you something.  You two had had your rough patches but overall, she’d been your best friend for most of your life.  So much so that she was the one you went to when you were worried about your husband.  She told you to give him space.  You would’ve never imagined that was her way to get you to back off, to cover her own sins and give her more freedom to shag your husband in your goddamn bed.

Yes, that was the real betrayal.  Lots of people have ex-husbands, but you couldn’t exactly turn her into an ex-sister.  You were stuck with her, but you had no plan as of yet to face her again.

The night in the sleeper car was restless, literally.  It was so dark out that you couldn’t see the trees or mountains anymore, but if you focused really hard and made sure to turn off every light in your room, you could just barely see the stars in the sky.  You hoped that you would have plenty of time to spend looking at the stars once you reached your destination.  As much as you’d loved the city lights of London for the past several years, you really needed to be somewhere that was actually dark at night.  And where the air was clean.  And, best of all, where nobody knew who the fuck you were.

You stepped out of the train and onto the platform, feeling very much like you were surrounded by people ending their stories-- reuniting with loved ones, finishing vacations-- while yours was just beginning.  Well, you supposed it made sense that most of the people travelling from London to Nyíregyháza, Hungary were probably from Nyíregyháza, Hungary.  Unlike you, who had only been here once while backpacking through the area in college and fallen in love with it.  You were lucky that the owner of the secluded cottage you’d crashed at back then had picked up the phone when you called from the train; you were especially lucky that she was willing to pick you up from the station, you not being quite dressed or prepared for backpacking.

Exiting the station and finding the cobblestone street, you were nearly tackled by a portly old woman as she tried to get your attention.

“Mrs. Alberti?!” you asked with wide eyes.

“You should at least pretend I haven’t aged a day,” she frowned, her words coated with her thick Hungarian accent.  

“I was just surprised that you’re still running the cottage!  I figured you and Mr. Alberti retired ages ago,” you explained, following her back to her car and putting your luggage in the boot.

She seemed a little crestfallen, wistfully considering your assumption.  “Well, it’s not quite what it used to be but yes, I am still the owner.  Sadly, Mr. Alberti passed away several years back.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” you replied, hoping to be as comforting as reasonably possible, “he was such a sweet man.”

“Yes, but he had a long illness-- and before that, lived a very full life,” she smiled confidently, walking to the driver’s seat as you followed along the other side and got in the passenger.

“It’s too bad he won’t get to see you again, though,” she continued as she started the vehicle.  Considering how old it looked, you were impressed that it worked on the first try.  “He would’ve been amazed to have a repeat customer from somewhere so far away.  I certainly am!”

“Yes, well, I have great memories from staying in the villa, and decided to go in search of some of the lust for life that I had back then-- chasing after youth never backfires, right?” you joked.

“I wouldn’t know,” she replied with a smirk.

You knew you were getting close to the old house when the roads turned from asphalt, to cobblestone, to gravel, and finally to dirt.  As much as you figured trees and grass looked basically the same everywhere, you appreciated that it somehow managed to look totally different than England.  Maybe it was the scattering of blue wildflowers, or the way the wilderness was dominating the few signs of human existence rather than the other way around.  Driving it was different than hiking it, certainly, and you wondered if you would find the time or energy to climb the foothills on the other side of the lake like you had before.  Maybe you didn’t want to find out how much athletic ability you’d lost since college…

“Here we are!” she announced as she made one last turn and yep, there it was: a lonely stone cottage, with flowers all along the walls and pink wooden shutters.  

You could tell it had aged since it had looked how you remembered, but if anything it had gained a quaint charm, with its moss and ivy and old trees which sagged under their own weight.  Figuring you would have more time to take in the scenery in the indefinite time you planned to spend here, you decided to make good time and gather your things first.

As you opened the boot and reached in to grab your luggage, someone appeared beside you and pushed your hands aside, saying something that you couldn’t parse at all.  You stepped aside and realized that it was a young man-- not horrifically young or anything, but certainly… strapping.  He shot you a smile, and you couldn’t think of the last time somebody had looked at you with so much joy on their face.

“Oh, thank you,” you nodded, letting him lift your suitcases (which he did with ease, just to make it all extra cruel).

“This is Sebastian-- he lives here and does odd jobs for me,” Mrs. Alberti informed you, "Don't waste your time talking to him; he doesn't speak a word of English."

"Oh, he only speaks Hungarian?"  You turned to him again; "Szia, hogy vagy?"

He shook his head and smiled awkwardly.

"No dear, he only speaks Romanian," Mrs. Alberti explained with a laugh.  "Can't you tell I can only afford to run this place by using cheap immigrant labour?"

"Salut," he greeted.  At least you could figure what that meant.  You chuckled uncomfortably and looked to the ground.  

You followed Sebastian and Mrs. Alberti into the house, admiring how little the interior decorations had changed-- it was all macrame and flowers in old-fashioned ceramic vases, with lots of oddball Hungarian trinkets to round it all out.  Perhaps the only thing you could notice that was different was new floorboards.

“You like the new floor?” Mrs. Alberti asked, as if she were reading your mind.  “Sebastian put that in for me.”

Sebastian seemed to perk up as he set your bags down briefly, clearly aware he was being talked about.  

“Remember?” Mrs. Alberti addressed him, motioning to the floor.  “You put in the new floor, huh?  Új emelet?”

You wondered why she’d seemed to laugh at you for trying to speak Hungarian to him, when she was doing the same thing.

“Da,” he smiled, pressing his shoe down onto the floor to apparently demonstrate the lack of creaking.  “Ți-am făcut un etaj nou.”

“Alright, go ahead and take her bags upstairs,” Mrs. Alberti instructed him, motioning to the luggage and then to the staircase.  He nodded and picked them up again, starting to walk across the room.  “He knows where your room is, just follow him,” she told you.  

The stairs, unlike the new floor, did creak, and you weren’t sure how far behind you were supposed to be on the staircase to avoid having his ass right at eye level.  You didn’t want to stare at it… but either the jeans were doing him a lot of favours, or Mrs. Alberti’s ��odd jobs’ do a body good.  Maybe a little bit of both.

He used his back to push open the door to your room, setting your bags just inside before turning to leave again, like he thought it would be rude to step inside.

“Wait,” you requested, but he kept going-- probably the whole ‘not understanding English’ thing.  God, you were going to look so stupid at least a few more times trying to get through to this guy, you could sense it.  Forced to get his attention another way, you reached out and grabbed his arm; not hard, but it was definitely a slightly aggressive thing to do anyways.  It worked, though, and he turned around with an expectant look.  “Could you help me unload?” you asked, gesturing towards the bags.  

His brow knitted with confusion as he tilted his head.  You sighed, not sure exactly how to pantomime this.

“One of my bags,” you began, pointing to one of them, “is heavy--” a lifting motion-- “could you--” you pointed to him-- “unpack it?” 

That seemed to make more sense to him, and he stepped back into the room with you.  “Voi încerca,” he said, somewhat to himself, as you opened the suitcase.  Inside was your typewriter; he nodded with understanding and scooped it up.

“Unde?” he asked, and regardless of what it meant, you were going to show him where to put the typewriter anyways.  

“Just over there, the table by the window,” you pointed to it.  He nodded again and walked past you, setting it down, and even adjusting it a little to make sure it was centered.

“Thank you!” you piped up when he turned back to you.  And just like that, you were plunged back into awkward silence.  You pointed to him, and then the typewriter as you pantomimed typing.  “Can you type?”  He seemed to understand what you meant.

“Nu,” he shook his head, “când eram mic, trebuiau înregistrați anual.”

“...huh,” you mumbled, not sure what to do with that.   

“Plec acum,” he announced as he started to step past you again.

You cleared your throat and let him walk out the doorway.  “Right, um, have a good afternoon…”

He gave a little wave as he walked down the hall, and you sighed once he was out of sight and making his way down the creaking stairs.  You impressed yourself with your ability to embarrass yourself constantly, even with total strangers.  But, all that aside, you were finally ready to settle in and properly enjoy your change of scenery.

[peach-pops]

Confessing to their Roommate HC

Request: Can I please request a follow up to your roommate headcanons where Bokuto and Kuroo fall for y/n? Oikawa too if you want even though she seemed more interested in Iwa. Thank you💚💚💚 ||  Can you write pt 2 for roommate hcs and make it romantic? Thanks!

Author’s Note:  Thank you so much for the request! I still decided to write for Oikawa too cause I can’t help it I love him just as much. These two parts aren’t connected but if you haven’t read the “platonic” roommate version, read it here! Also someone asked for NSFW but I changed it to be more SFW! Hope that’s okay! 

Warnings:  mentions of sexual partners, naked shower interaction, sexual innuendo

Pairing: Kuroo || Oikawa || Bokuto 

-Kuroo

Okay, so you know how Oikawa developed feelings for you while living together? Well my boy Kuroo isn’t as slick, this boy willingly moved in with you KNOWING FULL WELL he had feelings

And this boy had been crushing on you for years but has ever admitted it to you because he values what you two have. This doesn’t stop him from leaving little signs that are painfully obvious

It was about to be exactly one year since you two moved in together so Kuroo decided to do something special. You came home from hanging out with your friends to find him setting up a flower arrangement in the kitchen 

“ Who are the flowers for?”

“ Oh you know, just a special something for a special someone.”

“ Kenma’s birthday isn’t until October.”

“ What? No these aren’t for Kenma, these are for you!” 

Your heart fluttered at the thought because hmmmmmm maybe you had a tiny little crush on your roommate and best friend but ha that was a crazy thought

From that day forward, the ~vibes~ in the apartment were different. Kuroo could feel himself warming up to the idea of telling you his feelings but he was still nervous that you didn’t feel the same way

This didn’t stop him from trying to flirt with you/win you over but you were none the wiser

“ Wow, you look really pretty today.” 

“ Aw thanks, you too buddy.” 

OUCH

“ I was thinking we could head over to that new restaurant by Kenma’s place. It was named ‘the most romantic dinner date in Japan’.” 

“ Really? Sure lets go! I think Kenma and Yaku live over there, we should invite them to come along!” 

OUCH OUCH 

Don’t get me started on the time where you two were watching a movie in the living room after you had a long day at work. You could barely keep your eyes open but Kuroo hardly seemed to notice

“ Y/N, I’ve been meaning to tell you something. I don’t want you to freak out but I-”

* cue light snoring coming from your side of the couch*

OUCH OUCH OUCH 

This went on for a while and one day, Kuroo just couldn’t take it anymore. He had just gotten back from the gym with Bokuto ( his own personal hypeman) so he was fully ready to tell you

You were on the couch with your laptop in your lap when Kuroo came home eager as ever

“ Oh hey, how was the gym-”

“ I love you.” 

“ ….. “

“ ……”

“ ……”

“ …. I’ll be in the shower…” 

Kuroo headed to the restroom to turn on the shower and left you there on the couch in a state of shock. Like surprised Pikachu but like 10x more if that makes sense

Your mind couldn’t even comprehend the idea like whaaaa????? LOVE??? Like what does that even mean??? Love like a friend? Like a best friend? Love like love love?? 

Yep you definitely needed clarification because if what he was saying was true, then you needed to confess your feelings to him too

Kuroo took off his gross sweaty ass gym clothes and stepped into the shower. He was relieved that he got it off his chest but goddamn why was it so awkward why didn’t you say anything why-

You pulled the shower curtain back all the way, causing Kuroo to yelp and grab the curtain away from you so he could cover himself

“ WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I’M NAKED!” 

“ Nothing I haven’t seen before- look how can you just drop a bomb like that and leave like it’s nothing? You said you loved me and your first thought after was to take a shower?” 

“ Y/N, please-”

“ I love you too. I love you Tetsuro, I mean it.” 

Kuroo could’ve had a stroke right then and there. His heart swelled as he smiled widely back at you UNTIL you stepped into the shower with all of your clothes on

“ What the hell are you doing you weirdo?”

“ I’m trying to kiss you, you big dork. Or would you rather me wait until after you shower?”

Kuroo moved his wet hair away from his forehead and while one hand was still covering himself with the shower curtain, the other wrapped around your waist and pulled you into his chest and pressed his lips against yours

You kissed the droplets from his lips as the water from the showerhead poured down onto the two of you and for a moment, you two both forgot where you even were

You were the first one to pull away even though Kuroo felt himself lean into you for another kiss

“ Um, is it okay if we continue this after?”

“ What? I thought you didn’t mind getting a little wet? ;)” 

“ But my socks are soaked :( “ 

“.....okay get out”

-Oikawa-

Moving in with you was one of the best ideas of Oikawa’s life cause he thought of how perfect things would be rooming with one of his best friends.

You two had always gotten along and he thought things would be ridiculously easy living with you. He couldn’t have been more wrong

 He never really planned on ever falling for you but because you guys lived together, it was a slow build-up of “ oh shit I think I caught feelings for my roommate who lives in the room across from me” 

He just finally wakes up one day and when he sees you sleepily making breakfast in the kitchen, his heart feels funny and his hands get clammy which rarely ever happens for Oikawa

Even though you had just woken up, your hair was pointing in every direction, and you were just wearing an oversized shirt, Oikawa’s breath hitched in his throat because he thinks you’re absolutely gorgeous 

“ Morning Toru, can you do me a favor and help me with the dishes- why are you looking at me like that?” 

“ L-Like what? I’m just looking at you normally!”

“ Oh okay, then come over here and help me.”

For the next couple of days, he watches you more closely than before and goes out of his way to show little acts of affection. Bless Oikawa’s heart this dude risks his own health to clean your room for you even though it resembled Chernobyl

One day as yall are wearing facemasks, he tells you a funny story where he accidentally saw Mattsun’s bare ass during a tournament and you laugh so hard to where you’re clutching your sides gasping for air. It makes his heart go flippy floppy because he loves hearing your laugh and oh no he’s really falling for you now  

It eats away at Oikawa for not days, not weeks but MONTHS! He is terrified of you ever finding out that he has feelings for you because you two had been friends since middle school and this would surely ruin your relationship with him

PLUS you two live together! If he admits to you that he has feelings and you don’t feel the same way, it would ruin your living situation and he would surely have to move out

It didn’t help that you shamelessly thirsted flirted over his other best friend Iwa and that only hurt him more

You had your own life and own problems you were going through but even you noticed that Oikawa wasn’t being his usual self

Oikawa wasn’t a slut but he used to have a few fuck buddies but you hadn’t seen any girl come over in months. You were so curious that you even messaged your old friend who was Oikawa’s fuck buddy and she even told you that Oikawa said to her that he’s completely done with all of it and he’s trying to settle down with another girl

This shocks you completely because you were sure Oikawa would’ve said something to you about trying to get serious with a girl. 

You couldn’t help but feel jealous, deep down you had feelings for Oikawa so to hear that he was reading for a relationship with a new mystery girl hurt you so much 

This prompted you to call up Iwaizumi for advice because he was always fairly neutral like Switzerland

“ I think you’re overreacting. Why does it matter if he’s seeing someone else?” 

“ BECAUSE!!!! I don’t know, I thought he trusted me but I guess not....You don’t understand Hajime, he’s been so different lately, something is off about him and I’m worried. Can you please talk to him for me?”

“  I don’t think I should get involved-”

“ OKAY GOTTA GO BYE!” You hung up the phone as Oikawa walked back into the apartment with dinner

“ Who were you on the phone with?”

“ Oh just Hajime. We were talking about um...Switzerland.” 

Oikawa just shrugged it off but in the back of his mind, he felt his heart break even more because of course you were talking to Iwaizumi. He didn’t know how much longer he could ignore his feelings for you and he felt like he was a ticking time bomb 

You watched from the couch as Oikawa quietly set up the table and you couldn’t help but ask him what was wrong

Oikawa reassured you that everything was fine but you knew better

“ Toru, are you sure? You’ve been acting weird for the past couple of months, you know you can be honest with me.” 

Oikawa scoffed, this dude SCOFFED AT YOU and you’re like??? Why you pissy??? Why the sass?? 

“ Okay, be honest. Do you like Iwa-chan?” 

YOU??? LIKING IWAIZUMI???

Okay you lowkey understood where he was coming from but come on, it was incredibly easy to flirt with Iwa because he always gave you NOTHING in return and it was just fun to mess with the dude

You shook your head as you got up from the couch and walked over to where Oikawa was standing in the dining room 

“What? No of course not!” 

“ Then why do you always flirt with him in front of me? ~ Oh Hajime, my room is always open for you!~ Hajime, this is the ring I would want if you proposed~ Hey, Hajime-”

“ I don’t sound like that and why does it matter if I flirt with Hajime?” 

Oikawa doesn’t even think twice, the words flow out so easily from his mouth and he doesn’t have time to cut himself off

“ Because I’m jealous and I have feelings for you.” 

You could hear a pin drop in the room that’s how eerily quiet it was. Oikawa kept his intense gaze on you and you were absolutely stunned

“ You have feelings for me?” 

Even saying it out loud feels weird but oddly comfortable coming our from your mouth

Oikawa nods after a moment and sighs dramatically,” I’ve liked you for months now but damn it, I think I’m actually in love with you. And I’m sorry, I’m really sorry if this ruins everything. If Iwa-chan makes you happy then go for it. I think you have questionable taste in men but-”

You practically threw yourself at Oikawa and you kissed him so hard to where he bumped the table, causing some of the takeout to spill onto the hardwood floor

My dude doesn’t even hesitate to kiss you back because oh yes, sweet relief he is actually kissing you. His head hurts from bumping against the wall and he’s sure you just stepped in a glob of noodles but you don’t even care because you just needed to shut this fool up and show him how much you care about him

“ Wait, does this mean you like me? And not Iwa-chan?” 

“ I just kissed you and you have the audacity to ask if I like Hajime?” 

“....You’re right, can we go back to kissing now?”

-Bokuto-

Bokuto my love my boy my rock 

He would handle his crush on you way different than Oikawa and Kuroo

When you two moved in together, he didn’t have feelings for you but overtime, he found himself excited to come home to see you and would always look forward to hearing about your day

I don’t even think he would realize his true feelings for you until he took a water break from practice to call Akaashi. They talked about the Black Jackals and their upcoming game and somehow, you were brought up 

“ Oh Y/N? She’s great, she’s been working a lot lately and it does get kind of lonely without her around the apartment. I miss her when she’s away and since I’m always at practice, we haven’t been able to spend much time together and it sucks because I care a lot about her. But she said she would come to my games and that’s exciting cause if she comes, I know I’ll play better since she can cheer me on…”

This goes on for some time and Akaashi patiently listens to his senior even though it’s obvious that Bokuto has a crush on you

“ Bokuto-san, I think you have feelings for Y/N.” 

“ You think so!? You know, now that you mentioned it…” 

Bokuto thought back to all the times you two hung out alone and smiled as he vividly recounted all of the memories you two shared

Now that Akaashi had brought it to his attention, it did make sense why his heart would ever skip a beat whenever he saw you and why his mouth felt dry whenever you called him sweet names

You would think Bokuto would rush to the apartment to confess to you his feelings but just this once, he takes a bit of time to think things over in his head. He realized that deep down, he always had feelings for you ever since the two of you were in high school

He wasn’t sure why it took him so long to realize that he cared about you more than anyone else

Unlike Kuroo and Oikawa, Bokuto was ready to tell you exactly how he felt that night. Even if he wasn’t sure if you would share the same feelings for him

He practically barged back into the apartment but stopped in his tracks when he saw that you were curled up on the couch fast asleep 

Your fingers were barely hanging on to your textbook as you snored quietly. Bokuto smiled to himself as he walked over and carefully took the textbook from your hands and bookmarked your page for you before scoping your body up into his strong arms

You tensed up in his arms but once you heard Bokuto’s comforting voice that reassured you it was him, your body relaxed into his touch 

“ Ko, you’re finally home,” You yawned as he led you back to your bedroom,” did you have fun at practice?” 

“ Mhm, lots of fun. What are you doing up so late? Don’t you have class tomorrow morning?” 

“ I do but I wanted to stay up to make sure you got home okay.”

You always had a soft spot for Bokuto, he was your best friend after all but ever since you two had moved in together, you felt something shift in your friendship. 

You found yourself going out of your way to stay up at nighttime to make sure Bokuto got home from practice safe and even though it messed up your sleep schedule, you wouldn’t have had it any other way

Bokuto dipped your body into your mattress and moved the covers up to your chest before he sat on the edge of your bed. 

Even though you were tired, you could still tell that something was different about Bokuto. He was usually more talkative but as you watched him play with the hem of your blanket quietly, you knew he was deep in thought

Now that you were in front of him, he was nervous to confront you about his feelings. He was terrified that you wouldn’t feel the same way about him and the thought of you not being in his life because of it made him emo to the max

“ Is everything okay Kotaro?” You hardly ever used his first name and even Bokuto was caught off guard

“ Can you promise me something?” Bokuto asked softly as you sat up from your bed and scooted closer to him

“ Of course, what is it?” 

“ Don’t be mad at me okay? Promise me you won’t get mad and leave me alone.”

OUCHHHHH MY POOR BABY! 

“ Kotaro, I would never be mad and I would never leave you,” You said, a bit wary since you had never seen him this serious before,” what’s wrong? What happened?” 

Bokuto bit the inside of his cheek and once he opened his mouth, he couldn’t bring himself to stop talking

“ I feel like an idiot because, after all this time of us being friends and living together, I just realized tonight that I think- I know I have feelings for you. I’m in love with you but I understand if you don’t feel the same way and if you want me to move out I completely understand. The last thing I would ever want is for you to feel uncomfortable in your own apartment.”

Your heart BURST cause your best friend, your roommate, your secret crush was admitting and confessing to you that he loved you 

“ You’re not playing a trick on me right? Because I want to tell you that I like you too but if you’re just saying this to be funny than I’m gonna be mad.” 

You inhaled sharply as Bokuto squeezed your had that you didn’t even know he was holding before he looked back down at you,” I’m not playing a trick...I can prove it to you if you’ll let me?” 

Bokuto took a quick glance at your lips and back up at your eyes to wait for your approval and once you nodded, Bokuto slowly leaned his head down and pressed his soft lips against yours

He smiled against your lips once he felt your body melt into his and he couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle when you pulled him closer to your frame

“ You’re still sweaty from practice,” You finally said as you pulled away for a moment so you could catch your breath

“ Oh my bad, I can go shower right now-”

“ Mmm just five more minutes.”

[noonmutter]

Revelation pt. 2

Daily Writing Challenge 2021 Day 17: Spellbinding/Disappointment

It took very little time before parts of his skin were burnt to an unnatural crisp. Terry knew a lot of injuries very well, burns among them; human flesh didn't do this when it was burnt. Not outside of an incinerator, anyway. He reflected that the Ember Ward might well qualify; the sheer intensity of the heat from the light might well just be that hot. But then he remembered that all he needed to do to counter the instant scorching was some clothes or one of those ridiculous parasols he'd seen, and that went out the window. Yep, just magic bullshit. He could sort out what it did, but he'd never be able to sort out why it worked.

He would have been content to hole up in one of the destroyed buildings, but they were, unsurprisingly, all claimed or constantly drawing in hopeful tenants. Terry was not up for that kind of fighting, not anymore. His body simply hurt too much, and he could feel himself moving slower and awkwardly to accommodate his wounds. He hadn't missed having a gun so badly in a very long time. None of these fancy morons had firearms, he would've been set for life. Or, well. Whatever this was. Unlife? Eternity? Whatever it was, it sucked. It sucked, and he was hungry.

And thirsty. He'd been offered tea by a particularly giggly venthyr with some insane hair and no shirt, but he wasn't about to trust that. He wouldn't have trusted that from a normal venthyr, he wasn't about to trust it from one that laughed that much. The guys with bags on their heads seemed safer, and following them had led him to insect hives that he'd been willing to risk. He couldn't identify them, they weren't tasty, and even a handful of them didn't amount to much, but Terry had very little left to lose. If he shat himself to death, he'd be very disappointed, but hey. At least he'd be done with this.

He hadn't been counting on hallucinating, though he probably should have. It was awfully mild, as bug-induced hallucinations went; just noises, a rising and falling ringing in the ear like he'd taken a blow to the head. Nothing visual, at least not that he'd been able to catch. It didn't interfere with his ability to move any more than he'd already been impaired, so he moved on, seeking more shelter. There was a temptation to either dig a hole and bury himself, or, more concerning and more powerful, to throw off the coat and just let the light take him. He ignored both of those with a quiet grumble of "Bugger tha'" and trudged on.

---

Terry found himself wondering for the thousandth time how long he'd been doing something, in this case, walking. It was maddeningly dull: Find a shady place. Rest a minute. Look for another shady place close by. Check clothes for holes. Go to new shady place. Repeat. Sometimes he'd have to fight someone or something off; sometimes he simply had to run to a new spot on the fly, earning a new scorch in the process. And all the while, he wondered where he was going. It was hard to remember what his original plan had been; was that the fault of the heat, or was that just part of the torment of the Ember Ward?  

The damn ringing noise had only gotten louder as time went on, which just seemed unfair. It was really the only solid proof Terry had that time HAD gone on, though, aside from touching his face to check for stubble. For the thousandth time, he reached up to do so, but this time, he spat a curse and tried to scoot back before he realized how stupid that was; he couldn't distance himself from his own arm by backing away from it. The newest burn had left a nasty, rip-like line of blackened, papery skin on his forearm, but this time, he spotted the angular golden lines and circles emerging from it.

He hadn't seen those in quite a while, as he thought back on it. For a brief moment, he felt comforted by it, but he chased that thought away with a hard shake of his head. Just because it was familiar didn't mean it was good. It was still someone else's mark on him, a visible sign of interference in his life, of subverting his will, and dammit, now the ringing was even LOUDER.

embrace it

Oh good. It was a voice now. Terry covered his ears with both hands, knowing perfectly well it wouldn't accomplish anything but needing to do something. Defiance was rapidly becoming his only salvation. He had only survived as long as he had by refusing to die, refusing to be beaten. Shouting "No" to the universe was the mental equivalent of punching himself in the thigh to dull the pain of a bullet in the shoulder.

Heat surged against his face, and he forced his eyes open, worried that he'd accidentally put himself out in the light again. Instead, the light had come to him, coalescing slowly into a humanoid head and torso, though it lacked a face beyond a pair of white eyes nigh-indistinguishable from its glowing golden frame. Terry froze; it didn't, raising a hand toward the sky and drawing energy into its palm.

With an irritated, incredulous "Shit," Terry bolted.

---

What had he done to this fucking thing to piss it off this much? Why wouldn't it give up? He'd already run so far, ducking under crags, diving behind walls, hiding under bridges, and even climbing a tree once. It had found him eventually every time (the tree was just idiotic desperation, really), announcing itself with a blast of light that rarely hit its mark, but was steadily burning away more and more precious cloth with each near miss. Terry was too slow for this, especially when every scrap mattered. If it weren't for the damned light he would have thrown the coat at the elemental and made a sprint for it ages ago. It felt like hours, it could've been minutes for all he knew.

His legs burned, his lungs burned, his whole body burned, literally in many places, but all he could do was run and hide. The stolen rapier had predictably snapped the first time he'd tried to use it and done nothing but earn him a direct blast to the chest for his troubles. Nobody he passed had any interest in lending him a hand. One of the little runty guys had yelled a request to keep his shoes when he died. In a better time and place, Terry might've shouted back an agreement, but he couldn't spare the energy.

let go

And that damned voice wouldn't shut up. Every time he narrowly avoided a beam, every time he caught a glimpse of his skin covered in glowing yellow circuitry, every time he had to flee, it chimed in. Almost literally, it was like a great bell by now, trying to rattle his brain and make everything even harder. Embrace it, let go, stay; it wanted him to burn, and he refused all the more. He'd rather have shat himself to death after eating demon bugs than choose oblivion willingly.

When a second elemental appeared, he realized he might not have to anyway. As ever, he clung to his defiance to find the energy to run, but he could feel himself running on fumes. He'd already been weak to begin with, and it had been a long, long chase. Even a madman spurred by sheer spite like him ran out eventually. Admitting it was the first step on the final decline, but he couldn't stop the thought from coming.

He was losing.

let it save you

He was tired. He was tired of running, tired of hurting, tired of fighting, tired of longing, tired of loneliness, tired of hunger, tired of nightmares, tired of fear, tired of suspicion, tired of dying... He was just so tired. He was tired of thinking, and thinking ahead, and overthinking, and re-thinking, and questioning thinking, and--

He caught himself losing track of the now, but it was too late. His ill-fitted boot caught on a rock, and Terry pitched forward, head over heels, feeling the coat tear away in great hunks. It took some skin with it before he could bring himself to a stop, narrowly avoiding rolling off the edge of a cliff.

He tasted blood. That, like the lines absolutely covering his body by now, was familiar, but it wasn't a good familiarity. An exhausted, distant part of his mind that had already thrown in the towel was kind of impressed he could still bleed. As more of his flesh burned, the handful of elementals converged on him, and he looked back over his shoulder. It was a long way down, enough that the bottom blurred into an indecipherable grey mass. He'd probably die if he jumped. But maybe he wouldn't?

He was definitely going to die if he didn't. If the sky didn't do it, the elementals would. They were gathering energy in unison like a creepy glowing firing squad, and they stared straight through him while they did it.

But in that moment where he tensed his legs in preparation to launch into the unknown, he hesitated. The bell sounded again, thundering loud enough that his ears bled and he nearly fell ass-first off the edge anyway.

a leap of faith

A dry, crackling wheeze of laughter escaped him. With one last look at the firing squad as they brought down their hands, Terry tore off the last tatters of the coat and fell backward into the abyss.

( @daily-writing-challenge​ )

[dc41896]

Extra Help

Pairing: Teacher!Chris EvansxBlack Reader

⚠️: None, all fluff💕!

You weren’t quite sure what to expect when your best friend called needing you to fill in for her at the monthly parent teacher conference. Ronan wasn’t a bad kid by any means, so you doubt that it was about him being disruptive or getting into a fight. Then again, like any 10 year old boy, he could have his moments, bringing you back to square one wondering what would be discussed at this meeting.

Reaching the wooden door, you turn the handle revealing a childlike, decorated classroom brightly lit from the remaining sun shining outside before it was due to set. Various drawings from stick figures to flowers littered the walls along with scholastic posters showing the water cycle and how to use the infamous PEMDAS, just to name a few. There were also posters of superheroes and even some of puppies that made you softly smile.

“Auntie Y/N!,” Ronan smiles hopping up from his desk to hug your legs. “Mom’s not coming?”

“Not this time, she had to work late. Now what did you do that we have to have this meeting?,” you ask eyeing him suspiciously making Ronan giggle.

“Nothing bestest auntie.”

“Bestest auntie? Now I know you definitely did something,” you respond tickling his sides.

“Hi! You must be Ronan’s godmother.” Red plaid button up hanging over his dark jeans, a man who you assume to be Ronan’s teacher emerges from his office with black frames resting on his cheeks and impeccably clean white sneakers on his feet. His gold pendant gleaming in the light only brings more attention to his broad chest, and rolled up sleeves display his muscular arms. “I’m his teacher Mr. Evans.”

His hand envelopes yours in softness and warmth as he greets you with a handshake. The bright smile on his lips not only captures you, but somehow brings comfort even though you only just met. Ronan had told countless stories of his favorite teacher, Mr. Evans, and how he was so cool, funny, and smart.

The figure standing in front of you now compared to who you envisioned then, though, was definitely not the same.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Y/N,” you smile back. “Nina apologizes again for not being able to make it.”

“She doesn’t have to apologize, I completely understand. Please have a seat at my desk and we can get started.” Pulling up one of the bigger chairs for you as Ronan gets one of the student chairs for himself, you both sit in front of the mahogany desk soon meeting with his welcoming blue eyes.

“Is everything okay with Ronan? He hasn’t been any trouble has he?”

“No! No, behavior wise Ronan’s one of the best in my class! He’s polite, always tries to help out, follows the rules.”

“That’s great!,” you smile lightly nudging his arm making him shyly look down to his feet. “And what about his work?”

“For the most part it’s good, but that’s the main thing I wanted to discuss. In his other subjects, Ronan completes his assignments with no problems and participates in our class discussions answering every question I give him. However, I’ve noticed with science he struggles a bit and will kinda close off, not even wanting to try when he doesn’t understand something.”

“Why don’t you ask for help Ro? That’s part of the reason your teacher’s here.”

“I know, but I want to try to figure it out on my own. By then, everyone’s moved on though so then I can’t catch up.”

“Well that’s when you ask for help. And if you don’t want to ask in front of everybody ask after school or during downtime. Or you can always ask me or your mom. Does she already know about his science grades?,” you ask looking back at his teacher who was lightly scratching his thick beard.

“That’s um the other thing I wanted to discuss...”

“Mr. Evansss,” Ronan whines attempting to talk in a hushed tone clearly forgetting you were sat right next to him and could hear every word. “You said you wouldn’t tell.”

“I said I wouldn’t tell your mom bud, not your godmom,” he replies in the same hushed tone nearly making you laugh from their interaction. “If any of the kids have a C or lower, I make a note on their progress report or report card and they have to give it back to me signed. The last report card and past two progress reports Ronan brought them back signed and everything was fine. I ran into his mom at the store one day and she asked why did we switch to having grades online rather than physically handing them out, which confused me until I put it together and realized someone had been forging his mom’s signature.”

“Ronan Michael..”

“You do it all the time though auntie!”

“Yea to send off bills your mom may forget to sign or to get packages for you guys, which she knows about me doing! You signing for your grades is definitely not the same and wrong Ronan, you know that.”

Guilt apparent from his deep brown eyes to his pouted lips, he lightly swings his legs back and forth with hands placed under his thighs. “I was gonna bring my grade up so then I wouldn’t have to do it anymore and then mom wouldn’t know. No harm done.”

“While that’s a nice plan, you still weren’t getting any help though. So what would’ve happened if your grade didn’t get better?”

“....I uh didn’t really think that far ahead,” he answers shrugging his shoulders.

“Okay well since we don’t have a plan for that, here’s what I think. Everyday after school, you meet with Mr. Evans to go over your science lesson and do that until your grades get better and stay that way,” you suggest before once again meeting the soft eyes of his teacher. “But what do you say Mr. Evans? I don’t want to take away from your personal time or home life.”

“I don’t have a problem with it. Plus it’s just me and my dog, who I’m sure wouldn’t mind me not being there to annoy him,” he lightly chuckles making you smile. “And in fact, you and Nina are both welcome in to hear how it’s going so you don’t have to wait outside for him.”

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to let her know. Mostly it’ll be her coming, but the days she can’t make it I’ll be here.”

“Sounds good,” he smiles drumming his fingers on the desk. “Well that was pretty much everything I wanted to discuss. Do you have any questions for me?”

“No, at least not right now.” Scribbling his information down, he peels off the sticky note containing his number and email address before handing it to you.

“If anything comes up just give me a call, or you can email me. I usually respond back the same day if I have time.”

“Thanks, I could’ve gotten all this from Nina though. You didn’t have to waste a stick note on me.”

“Um right,” he sheepishly states, cheeks turning a light pink as he nervously chuckles to himself. “Well one less step then.”

Looking between both your laughing faces, Ronan wasn’t quite sure what was going on between his favorite teacher and bestest aunt, but he didn’t like it.

The weeks that followed, he met with Mr. Evans as he was told usually being joined by his mother who would sit beside him making sure he really understood what was being taught. You would show up sometimes also sitting next to him making sure he got everything, but he couldn’t help but notice Mr. Evans smile a little brighter when you walked in the room. Similar to how he would get excited when his mom would say they were having pizza for dinner. And he was more talkative too, asking about her day which would eventually turn into a random conversation about things they liked or some other topic.

“So, um we’re having a field trip to the planetarium next week and I was wondering if you wanted to come along?,” he asked one day trying to be quiet as Ronan answered his last couple questions.

“To chaperone? I’d love to help out but honestly if I have to look after more than five kids, it’s gonna be a disaster,” you answer making him laugh.

“You don’t have to worry, on paper yea you’re a chaperone but really you’ll just be with me. And since we’re not having class after and the kids can go home as soon as we get back, I was thinking we could go grab dinner at that place I was telling you about.”

You tried to hide your face so he wouldn’t see the giddy smile forming on your lips, but from his own deep chuckle and his fingers briefly grazing yours resting on the table you knew you weren’t quick enough.

“I’m hoping that smile means yes?,” he whispers.

“Done!,” Ronan interrupts before you can answer, quickly gathering his backpack before pulling your hand. “Cmon auntie I’m starving.”

“Hold on Ro, we have to see if your answers are right first then we can leave,” you giggle.

“But I know it’s right! I’ve been doing really well, even Mr. Evans will tell you.”

“Yep everything’s right, and that is true he is doing much better.”

“See? Now time for food! Bye Mr. Evans!,” Ronan rushes pulling you behind him.

“Bye Ronan,” he chuckles before looking at you. “I’ll see you next week?”

“Yea, I’ll let you know if anything changes though.” With a final wave, you feel your heart swell with excitement for your upcoming date as you walk down the hall. Ronan, on the other hand, hoped for anything to stop you from going with his teacher next week.

———

“Hey what’s up with your godmom and Mr. Evans?,” Sarah, one of friends, asks as they watch the two giggle while going over the constellation map shining on the wall.

After getting all the students organized in their groups with their chaperones, and saying everything he needed to, the both of you had been connected at the hip walking around and exploring everything the exhibits had to offer. Ronan wanted nothing more than to go home so he wouldn’t have to see you two together.

“Nothing.”

“Because they look at each other the way my parents do. All lovey dovey and cutesy like.”

“They’re just friends,” he answers, a little annoyed by everything going on around him.

“Well if they do get together,” Zach, his other friend begins, “say bye to your aunt.”

“Say goodbye?”

“Yea. It’s like with my older brother, he got a girlfriend and now I barely see him.”

“Ooh and if Mr. Evans becomes your uncle, he’s gonna be tougher on you,” Sarah adds. “My grandma was my mom’s teacher and she said she was so hard on her she couldn’t even make a B and if she did, she got in trouble.”

Ronan knew his teacher and he’d never do that. He was like a friend and friend’s wouldn’t be mean to each other. Plus his godmother would never let him treat her precious godson that way. Watching the two of you walk to another exhibit, he began to think though, what if you forgot all about him now that you had Mr. Evans?

What if his friends were right and you dating him caused all these bad things to happen? He didn’t know how he would do it, but he had to stop this quick before things got worse.

———

“Did you know Jupiter is so big, 1000 Earth’s can fit in it?,” Chris asks as you both walk through the life size replica of the solar system.

“No, I didn’t know that.”

“And the sun makes up 99% of the solar system’s mass, which is crazy since what can be seen in the sky is just a small dot. And although we know about our own galaxy, there are so many more we’ve discovered, and have yet to, possibly with various planets of their own that have their own unique properties, which just astounds me and-.”

Hearing your slight giggle, he turns to see your brown eyes on him now realizing how you probably felt like you were back in elementary school yourself from his information dump.

“S-sorry about the rambling. I know it’s probably boring, and I’ve been told I really need to stop-.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not boring at all! I’d actually like it if you keep going,” you shyly smile holding onto his hand. Thumb rubbing against the back of your hand, he slowly steps closer to you stopping inches from your chests being pressed together.

“Okay well let’s see. Both Neptune and Uranus have rain storms of solid diamonds. And while I’m sure that would be a beautiful sight, it’s nothing compared to what’s in front of me right now.”

Before you can speak, you both hear approaching small footsteps making you separate to find Ronan grabbing his stomach as if he was in pain.

“Ro you okay? Why are you holding your stomach?,” you ask walking up to him with Chris following close behind.

“No, it hurts auntie. I think I need to go home.”

“Well the bus is our ride back, do you think you can hold on until it’s time for everyone to go?”

“No, I think I need to go now,” he groans rubbing his stomach.

“Alright, let me call your mom and see if she’ll come get you.”

“I want you to come too though,” he whines hugging your mid section as you dial your friend’s number.

“Ro your mom can handle it. I’ll come by and check on you later though okay?”

“No, you have to leave when I do!,” he protests hiding his face in your abdomen as you rub his back confused by his outburst and sudden clinginess.

Clearly something else was going on here besides an upset stomach.

“Hey, can you give us a minute?,” you ask Chris, to which he nods his head giving you a sympathetic smile.

“I’ll be outside if you guys need me.” Sneakers squeaking against the tile floor, you wait until he leaves before squatting down to meet Ronan’s red eyes and tear stained cheeks.

“What’s really going on Ro? Is somebody bothering you?,” you ask wiping his tears.

“Yea, Mr. Evans.”

“How is he bothering you?”

“Because he’s gonna take you away and we’re never gonna see each other again. Then he’s gonna be mean to me for making less than an A and-,”

“Whoa whoa where is all this coming from?”

“Well...i-it’s what my friends said,” he responds making you softly laugh.

“Honey no one will EVER take me away from you. Not Mr. Evans or any other guy that may come along. And your teacher would never be rude to you like that, he cares about all of you guys and just wants to make sure you do your best. Look how much he helped you get your science grade back up.”

“Yea but that’s before you get married and he changes,” he sniffles.

“What all do these kids talk about?,” you wonder as you shake your head. “Buddy I can promise you marriage is definitely a far far FAR off topic that isn’t in sight anytime soon,” you softly smile. “But from what I’ve seen, even if we did get married, he would still be that fun teacher you always say is your favorite. You don’t need to worry about that though okay? You keep focusing on being the funny, smart, amazing kid I know and love.”

“Okay, and you promise nothing’s gonna change?,” he asks with those big brown eyes that could turn stone into the softest powder.

“I promise with every breath in my body.” Hugging him close, he giggles as you repeatedly kiss his cheeks squeezing him tight.

“Auntie I can’t breathe!”

“Too bad because I’m not letting you go,” you both laugh as you hug each other.

“Hey they’re about to start loading up the buses soon so we can go back to school,” Chris says walking up to the both of you. “Your stomach still hurt Ronan?”

“No, it’s better now. Just a false alarm.”

“That’s good, if it starts again though let one of us know and we’ll call your mom okay?”

“Okay,” he smiles up at the much taller man. “Um Mr. Evans?”

“Yea bud?”

“It’s okay if you and my auntie like each other. I’m fine with it now.”

“Oh, um, well thank you for your blessing,” he chuckles looking at you softly laughing yourself.

Proudly nodding once, he walks to the door with you and Chris not that far behind.

“What was that about?,” he asks still amused by what he just witnessed.

“I’ll tell you later,” you giggle joining hands as you both walk out side by side.

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[prophetparadox]

DMC OC Week Day Three: Past/Future

Back at it again with another contribution to @dmc-oc-week​! Even though the prompt is past/future, this is...just a snippet from Kay’s past. Specifically, how she and Dante met! Which I was gonna write at some point anyway, so here it is. Enjoy watching Dante adopt I mean hire Kay into the business.

“Hey! That was my fucking kill, asshole!”

Dante turned his head at the sound of a voice he didn’t recognize. He’d dealt with a lot of angry women, but this wasn’t one he recognized. Turning away from the freshly killed demons, he found himself face-to-face with a girl.

The girl was much younger than him, probably still a teenager if he had to guess. She looked like a mess, her brown hair was frizzy and unkempt, her clothes were riddled with holes and stains, and there was dirt all across her face. Her hair fell in front of her left eye, which seemed to be further obscured by one of those medical eyepatches which was also probably filthy if he had to guess. She was also rather thin, he couldn’t tell if she’d had anything to eat recently. Despite her frail form, in her hands was an axe that had extended towards him, an axe that was unmistakably clean aside from some recent looking bloodstains. Must be some kind of Devil Arm, but how’d this girl get it in the first place? Though an even better question was why she was here.

The nearest town was miles away, unless there was some house out here no one had told him about. Though she also could’ve followed him out here from town, in which case where were her parents? And what the hell was she doing bitching about him killing demons? He needed to get to the bottom of this.

“Woah there, kid, slow down a sec. Just what’re you doing waving around something like that? You could hurt yourself, you know? Assuming you didn’t already, that is.” he said, gesturing towards her eye. The axe getting shoved closer to his face told him he should’ve left out that last comment.

“Shut up! Don’t fucking mock me, you prick!” The girl shouted. “Those demons were mine! I would’ve had them if you hadn’t shown up!”

“Sorry kid, but I got paid to hunt down these suckers,” he said, poking a demon leg with the edge of Rebellion. “That’s my job after all.”

“I saw them first! Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?!” she yelled.

“The name’s Dante, perhaps you’ve heard of me?”

“Why would I?”

“Because I’m something of a legend, fyi. And I’m really good at my job.”

The girl began to growl. “I’m good at this too! Don’t underestimate me!”

Dante raised an eyebrow. “Really now? Because I got years of experience under my belt, kid.”

“So do I! I’ve been doing this since I was a kid!”

“Uh-huh, and how old are you exactly?”

“I’m seventeen! Why does it matter?!”

Dante froze. If she was being truthful and not just exaggerating out of frustration, then she took this up at a much younger age than he ever did. And that was enough to cause concern. “Alright, and what’re you doing out here then? In case you haven’t noticed, these things aren’t small fry,” he glanced back at the corpses, large and covered in spines and scales. “Shouldn’t you be back in town, safe at home and going to school like most kids your age?”

For a moment, he could see the mask of anger slip as her mouth hung open and her glare turned away from him. That wasn’t a good sign. She quickly returned to glaring at him, gritting her teeth in the process. “I don’t live there! I came here because I heard there were demons that needed to be killed!” Definitely not a good sign.

Dante’s features hardened, he was gonna have to get serious if this was going anywhere. If his hunch was right, he couldn’t leave this girl here alone. “Kid, where’re your parents?”

“Shut up! Stop asking me all these stupid fucking questions!” she screamed, her glare turning sharper. “What does any of this have to do with you killing my prey?!”

The look in her eye, he knew exactly what that was. He’d seen that anger so many times, always directed at him through icy blue eyes. He didn’t know what she’d been through, but he could take a well-educated guess. He might not have been able to save the last person who had a fire burning in them, but he could at least help her.

“It’s not your fault, what happened to them.” he said.

The fire in her eyes burned out, her grip on the axe faltering. “Wh-what’re you talking about?” she asked, her angry facade betrayed by the stutter in her voice.

“Your parents,” he said, holstering the Rebellion. “If I have to guess, something happened to them when you were young. And that’s why you’re fighting demons, right?”

“I...I don’t…” Her aggressive stance began to slip up.

“I don’t know what happened to ‘em, but whatever happened wasn’t your fault. Now come on, I’m gonna-”

“What would you know?!” The girl screamed at the top of her lungs, tears threatening to break through. “You don’t know me! You don’t know anything about what I’ve been through! You couldn’t even begin to understand what I’ve been through! Why do you even fucking care?!”

“I understand exactly what you’ve been through, kid,” Memories flashed through Dante’s mind. His mother going off to find his brother, Vergil remaining in the Underworld, seeing Nelo Angelo unmasked… “And I’ve seen what happens when that anger consumes someone. I ain’t letting that happen to you if I can help it.”

The girl looked shocked, any trace of anger vanishing in an instant. “I…” she began, but the words were caught in her throat.

“What’s your name? Gotta call you something other than ‘kid’.”

The girl wiped the tears from her eyes before they had the chance to spill. “...Kay.” she said, her voice sounding so tired and defeated. Dante had a feeling this wasn’t her real name, that seemed to happen a lot in this line of work, but he wasn’t gonna pry further right now.

“Alright Kay, how’d you like to work for my demon hunting business?”

“Demon hunting business?”

“Yep, Devil May Cry! Not like you have anywhere else to go, so might as well stick with me!” He figured now he could bring back the bravado. “What d’ya say?”

Kay stood there in thought for a moment. “...Alright, I don’t have anything else to do.”

Dante held out his hand, happy to see her give it a shake. “Just gotta wrap up the job here, and then we can head back to the office and get you-” The feeling of her axe rushing past his head cut him off. He turned around behind him, seeing the axe lodged in the head of one of the demons he thought he’d killed, which had gotten back up while he wasn’t looking and was ready to attack him. The axe retracted and the demon fell to the ground, truly dead. He looked back to see Kay smirking at him. “Huh, guess it was playing dead there.” he joked.

“Maybe you should pay better attention next time, old man.” she said, looking rather pleased with herself. Oh yeah, she’d fit right in.

“Hey now, I’m not that old!” he said, mock offense in his voice. “Anyway, hope you like pizza, because once we’re done here I’m ordering you a large one!”

The girl’s eye widened. “Seriously? A whole pizza?” she asked, looking like she would start drooling at any moment.

“Seriously. Only the best welcoming party for our newest member!”

“If pizza’s part of the deal, then I’m definitely in! Come on, let’s go kill the rest of those demons!” Kay said, rushing off with axe in hand as the promise of food motivated her. Dante just laughed at the antics of his newest employee, or rather family member, as he followed behind her. Someone had to keep her out of trouble, and it was going to be him.

[sexyshakespeare]

Kurodai Day 5: Ass-assination

[Prompt: Locked in]  -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kuroo was woken up by the loud clangs of the cell door. What now. Jesus, can’t a guy get some shut-eye in here. Well, he should’ve thought about that before embezzling from the JVA. At least that’s the voice in his head said, for the first time that day, and not for the last. It had been 5 months in here already, and he was slowly settling into a routine. It was bad, but not quite that bad. He tried to keep his head low, not say much to anybody, mind his own business. He’d manage to keep out of trouble for months now. The only exception being that time he fought that fucker for getting his chocolate confiscated by blowing the cook or whatever he did to make it happen. Fuck that guy and his greasy hair, fork-tongued motherfucker.  

Kuroo sat up in his bunk, wondering who his new inmate was. Broad shoulders, brown hair, and ripped. Shit, he better not get on his bad side huh. He watched him quietly from his side of the cell, waited for the last pat down from the guard- who nodded towards Kuroo, handed him his cigarettes, and headed out, locking the door in place. The man sat down on his bunk. He looked like he’d lost a lot of sleep lately. Tetsurou looked him up and down, sizing him up for his crime. Most likely battery, maybe arson. He looked deadly enough to do it. Or maybe he was just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time- like him. A rich person’s worst nightmare- Kuroo liked to believe he wasn’t a criminal, just a businessman. That was probably why his sentence was still as long as it was. There was absolutely no remorse behind his sweet smiles and promises to live a good, honest life when he was out of here. Fuck that. He wanted that villa in the Caribbean. “What are you in for” Kuroo directed the question at the other man. The mysterious man built like a goddamn grizzly, looked him straight in the face, the look of a killer in his dark eyes. “This ass-“ . .

.

Tetsurou stared at him for a good minute watching him as he laid back in his bed, folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. Alright. Alright, that’s how he was going to be?  Being in-mates and everything, hey, he’d hoped they could’ve been friends. Fine, fucker didn’t want to share? Fine, he’d be smoking this entire pack of cigs by himself, he thought to himself and laid back on his bed as well.

Weeks went by the same way as they always had- and rookie here didn’t need much help around the place. Funny. It was like.. he’d been to prison before, or at the very least, knew how they worked inside-out. Kuroo kept a close eye on him as he ate at his table with his regular group. It was purely a protective group he hung around, they weren’t exactly friends- definitely not anyone he’d keep in contact with once he was out of here. In fact, he was hoping to ditch his name altogether if he did get out of here. Big goals, big dreams. Before long, he’d learnt his name- since he hadn’t offered it on his own. He was lucky he was such good eye candy, and by default maybe had a soft spot in Kuroo’s generous heart. He even saved him some chocolate one time- offering it to him in the cell. “Don’t like chocolate” Kuroo’s eye had twitched when he said it, the way he said it. But the time he heard his name- was when they were receiving mail. Kuroo never got mail- his friends were ashamed to be associated with him. His dad had disowned him altogether. Well, Kenma did come visit him last month- telling him he’s done waiting and he’s moving on with his life. Which meant, of course, that he was finally going to admit to sleeping with Hinata behind his back. Kuroo couldn’t have cared less by then, he’d let him go a long time ago. Daichi. Sawamura Daichi was his name. And it was called out every week, sure enough- there was a care package of sorts, from somebody, that came through every week. “Daichi..”, he ventured one night when he was in bed. The man grunted in response, signalling that he hadn’t slept yet. “You really got into prison cause of that ass?” Not a moment’s hesitation, or any sign of his gruff, sleep ridden voice wavering as he said, “Definitely” And that was that, the days following that night, Kuroo was off at lunch time telling the story of how Sawamura Daichi got his ass thrown in prison- quite literally, for it being a goddamn menace. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday passed- and the rumors were flying- Did you hear? Sawamura smuggled coke into the country in his ass for months before getting caught- No no- Sawamura was the personal security guard for the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, who committed crimes against his country by allegedly tapping that ass, then flat out handing him the royal throne in marriage. Come Thursday and Daichi had finally caught on with what was happening. He walked up to Kuroo’s table where he was animatedly explaining the cause of his demise to his companions- and everyone hushed. Almost instantly looking a little pale when they saw the bearish man walk up behind Kuroo, who might easily lose a fist fight against him. Tetsurou stopped talking then- turning around to see the man, staring down at him. Then without another word, he put his tray down on the table next to him and sat down heavily. He nodded at Kuroo, then began eating his rice quietly. “Go on- tell them how it really happened-“, he said in a deep voice that would bring chills to anyone who heard it. The guys looked spooked, and Kuroo- well, he got less chills, more thrills. And he was happy to oblige.   With a little smirk on his face, he turned back to the table and continued, unfazed, “Sawamura was a security guard at the governor’s last speech- the one he died at-“ “Yeah, didn’t he get shot?” “Nah nah man- they cover all that shit up in the papers-“, Kuroo waved his hand at the guy, “Yeah the media guys getting their cocks sucked by the governor’s PR team to cover it up-“, Daichi answered without skipping a beat, nodding seriously as he slurps up his gravy like a hungry beast. Kuroo nodded, his hands coming into action as he hunched over the table conspiratorially, “Yeah so, he was head of security right- and the governor knew his face, he’d been in town for a while right-“ The silence around this table now. Kuroo felt like a star, his story was reaching hundreds- he was making history right now. “Daichi here, bless him, he bends over right- and what, you were going commando that day you said?”, a nod his way as Tetsurou feigned asking for confirmation. “Yep yeah- hot day, May’s just fuckin murder-“ “Yeah so my guy turns from the podium for a second to check if his deputy had the perimeter secure- he bends over to talk to the guy standing down the stairs- and his, will you believe it- his pants rip” At this point Kuroo gives a grin- not too big a grin, just a shrug of his shoulders like, ‘hey it happens’. “His pants rip- and he ends up mooning the governor- who was, looking DIRECTLY at him when he was giving his speech-“ Daichi smirks at this point, agreeing in full. “And the governor.. trips- over the wires on his podium- and falls-“, Kuroo’s strong fist smacks hard into his palm, “Head-first into the concrete 3 feet below-“ At this point, the entire table was staring hard at the two men- waiting for the punchline to this joke, waiting for a crack of laughter, a smile- a flash of tooth. They got nothing. Kuroo shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head at his tray and biting on his bread. “Damn tragedy- wrong place, wrong time, man..”, he finished in a low voice. Sawamura glared at them, daring them, any one of them to laugh. Not a soul dared. And then the man finished his meal, smacking his lips, slurping up the rest of his gravy and scarfing down his fish. And with that, the duo of Kuroo and Sawamura exited the scene, making it back to their cell in one piece. Once inside their cell- they exchanged one look, and were falling all over the floor, Daichi clutching at his stomach, Kuroo pounding the floor with his fist as they laughed their hearts out. “My ASS IS MAKING ROUNDS BABY” “FUCK YEAH IT’S MAKING ROUNDS- YOU SEEN THAT THING? YOU PACKING BACK THERE MY MAN” Hi-fives were exchanged- the two men slapping each other’s backs as loud as thunder- till they heard a loud yell from their floor guard, and tried to choke back their laughter, giggling like a couple of schoolboys as they watched each other. Each one with some wonder in their eyes as they did. “Man.. you’re alright-“, Kuroo said with a big grin thrown his way. “You’re.. brilliant- did your mouth get you into prison?”, Daichi leaned back on his bedframe, stretching his legs out in front of him as he asked. “You could say that-“ “Bet it could get us out of prison too-“ “I’m not blowing any guards again man-“ “..that’s not what I.. again..?” Kuroo took his pack of cigarettes out from under his blanket- waving them at him like it should’ve been obvious. “..you a lawyer?”, Daichi asked now. He chuckled at him, his body vibrating as he lit his cigarette with the lighter he would have to chuck down the toilet when they checked the cell this weekend. “You know, I could’ve made a great lawyer.. made more money like that too probably-“, he shrugged his shoulders, taking a long drag. “So- did you?”, Tetsurou looked back at him with teasing eyes, a smile on his face, “Did I what-“, he answered, his face was considerably softer on him now. He had a handsome face, especially when he smiled. Kuroo reckoned he’d like to see more of that over the next few months. “Get in here for your ass-“, he said as he stretched his arms above and behind his head, a little too suggestive a look on his face. He fully expected Daichi to close up again, turn a cheek- or maybe give him a hard punch to his exposed ribs. But instead, Sawamura looked him in the eye, a growing smirk of his own on his lips, “Why don’t you find out..”

[akp-1327]

nerves (ajay bhandari x reader)

Hello! I’ve been wanting to do a drabble for *the cutest ship* lately. I reached the point where the MC and LI become official in book 2 again (🥺)…so I couldn’t not write another scenario. This is a little different than my other works, but I still hope you like it! :)

Pairing: Ajay Bhandari x Reader

Word Count: 1.7k

Synopsis: Your nerves about wanting to make your relationship official with Ajay are absolutely maddening…but are they even necessary? 

(rewrite of Book 2 Ch. 15 diner scene!) (I also bet you know how this works already, but in case you don’t… Y/N = your first name. :)

Your foot tapped restlessly against the tile of the Golden Griddle floor, a stack of innocent-looking heart pancakes doused in a “healthy” amount of strawberry slices, strawberry syrup, and whip cream. It was almost like they had eyes and they stared straight into your soul. Or was it your overreacting nerves? You, in all honestly, couldn’t tell. You felt like you were being watched…by something.

When your twin encouraged you to make things official with Ajay, you never thought it’d be like this. Your head was filled with all the happy scenarios at first; he smiles at you with that adorable little smirk, he says yes, and then he kisses you breathless. It played on repeat in your head…all up until you got to the diner. That’s when the realistic thoughts came to your head and muted the happy ones.

What if he doesn’t want this? Am I being too straightforward? Are the pancakes too much? Oh my god, what if he hates strawberries? What if he hates the hearts? What if he has something going on? He’s going to hate something. Oh gosh, wait, do I have anything in my teeth?

The thoughts built and built as the clock ticked. You texted him about fifteen minutes ago - right before you ladled the pancake batter onto the griddle - and expected him to give a usual snarky response instead of him just leaving you on read a few minutes after. It was unlike him, so you hoped he had some form of reasoning.

You pushed your phone to the side and focused all your attention on inspecting yourself, starting at your tapping feet.

Shoes, check, you thought. Your eyes wandered up your legs, making sure nothing was loose, awkwardly tight, or out of the ordinary with your outfit that he’d notice. Okay-looking clothes, check.

The clock relentlessly kept ticking away. Fifteen minutes became twenty, twenty became thirty, then thirty almost became forty before there was a small chime that came from the direction of the entrance.

Your eyes snapped up and instantly softened at the sight of Ajay, his cheeks rosy and his glasses foggy. He was covered in snowflakes, his black hair seemingly full of dandruff (ewww, why was that your first thought?) and his black pea coat looking the same. He met your wandering eyes as he quickly shed his coat and hung it on the coat hanger next to the door. You quickly took a deep, reassuring breath as he hurried over. 

Now or never, you thought.

“Hey, Y/N,” Ajay breathed, sitting on the stool beside you. It squeaked and you jumped a bit. “Whoa, you okay?”

You rushed a nod before remembering the pancakes, your eyes flitting over to them. You slid the plate in front of him and watched the hint of a smirk tug at his lips.

“I made these for you! You…you do like strawberries, right?” You nervously asked, watching his eyes for any trace of distaste. Before you could whip the plate down the counter and start on another batch, he smiled gratefully.

“Love them,” He hummed, eyeing the pancakes thoughtfully, “these look delicious.”

You couldn’t hold back a smile (or a blush) when he looked over at you, his eyes adoring before they lost their sparkle in the next moment.

“I’m so sorry I was late. My car wasn’t starting, so I had to wait for my mom to get home and drive me.” Ajay sighed, his tone overflowing with disappointment. He averted his eyes from yours as an embarrassed flush of pink intensified the color of his chilled cheeks. You couldn’t help but silently let out a sigh of your own, but instead of it sounding upset, it was brimming with relief.

“No worries,” You smiled, poking his shoulder to make him smile again, “sorry that your pancakes are a little cold.”

He grinned at you. Full of happiness, full of life. It was beautiful, as it always had been. You never grew tired of his smile.

“You made them. I would enjoy them regardless,” Ajay quipped, bumping your upper arm with his elbow. You laughed as you watched him reach towards the fork, but then suddenly stop short. Nervous goosebumps shot through your entire body, hoping he didn’t change his mind about the strawberries or the pancakes or…or you.

“What’d you need to talk about? Your text sounded like an emergency.” Ajay asked, cocking his head to the side slightly in question. It was a normal thing he did, but right now…it just seemed more intense. More serious. More full of…something. Curiosity, maybe?

“Oh! Um, it…well…I, uh,” You stumbled, looking down at your hands, “I’ve been wanting to ask you something for a few weeks.”

Ajay visibly relaxed, sure, but he became more observant. You felt his eyes roam around you, scanning you for any bad sign or any wince.

“Oh, yeah?” He questioned, gesturing for you to continue. And so…you did.

“Yeah. So, well, I think we both know what’s been happening between us lately…” You felt your entire body heat to a temperature you never thought was humanly possible, “and I think it’s time we…kinda…fixed that. By…becoming official.”

Once you stopped blabbering, all you heard was silence. You were too damn nervous to look him in the eye, so you focused your gaze on the counter. That was before you felt a warm hand on your shoulder, prompting you to look at him. The air was swept right from your lungs when you saw the pure look of affection swirling in his light brown eyes.

“Hmm.” Ajay hummed, trying to sound stoic with a dorky smile on his face. He reached for your clasped hands in your lap and, despite how sweaty and gross they were, took them in his own. “You think so?”

The heat that was everywhere around your body started to become scorching at his question; no, wait, his snarky response. The one you were desperately missing earlier.

“Yep. You?” You chirped, the thought of him being on the same page as you easing your nerves…for good this time.

Ajay bit his bottom lip in a way that was so, so adorable that you couldn’t quell the sheepish giggle that escaped your throat.

“Yes,” Ajay breathed, smiling so brightly that you thought you could’ve gone blind. It was the happiest you’d ever seen him; his stern and apathetic director’s persona nowhere in sight. This was just raw and unfiltered Ajay; your Ajay.

“I’ve been waiting to ask you, but I was always so nervous that’d you say no. I thought I’d explode whenever I thought about it–” Ajay rambled mindlessly, his own nerves catching up with him. Before he could go any further or before you could chicken out, you screwed your eyes shut and eagerly pressed your lips to his, hoping your practice of kissing him over the past few months would come in handy. And, boy, did it. You knew you hit the nail on the head when you felt his soft lips against your own.

He let out a squeak of surprise before immediately melting into you, his hands loosening around yours to move up your forearms. You took the hint and moved your own to his lean shoulders, gently squeezing them before you laced your fingers into his velvet-like hair. His hands, you felt, ended up clasped at your waist. Before you could even comprehend it, he was pulling you closer; fast enough to make you stumble off your stool.

Air was scarce in your lungs when you finally pulled away, standing on your feet between his legs, your eyes still closed and forehead pressed against his.

“Whoa,” Ajay whispered, his voice as smooth as honey off his tongue, “that was…whoa.”

You hummed in agreement and finally opened your eyes to look at him. You didn’t think you’d ever seen him so…relaxed. This could only make you smile widely.

“Yes, yes it was,” You sighed softly, your tone thick with admiration, “boyfriend.”

Ajay gasped again, though this time, it was louder. His hands tightened on your waist and pulled you even closer to his body.

“Wait, say it again, but slower.” Ajay mumbled, his lips now an inch from your own, and you let out a breathy laugh.

“Boyyyfrie–.” You drawled quietly, though before you could finish, he was kissing you again. A little rougher this time, as if he didn’t get enough of you. Couldn’t get enough of you. Wouldn’t get enough of you.

His hands moved from your waist and up your cheeks, his thumbs brushing against the smooth skin of your cheeks in a way that made you swoon. It was something he’s done a bazillion-and-one times, but somehow, it felt like something new. Everything about this (and him) felt new.

Just after a few seconds of his lips crushing against your own, you were breathless. You pulled back to breathe and saw him smile, guessing your face reflected his when he had that soft look in his eye.

“Yep, this is definitely happening, mhmm,” Ajay laughed, the sound of his voice full of unbridled joy and wonder. “We’re really dating, Y/N. For real. Officially.”

You snickered, nodding your head playfully. “We really are!”

He basked in the sound of your laugh for a moment, gazing at you wondrously, before pressing a light kiss to the tip of your nose and reluctantly pulling away.

“Help me with these pancakes?” Ajay asked tenderly, watching you sigh.

“I made those for you, silly. Not for me.” You teased, wrapping your arms around his when he frowned slightly. “Get used to it, though. I’m going to spoil you rotten, boyfriend.”

“Not if I do first, my dear,” Ajay mocked teasingly, eliciting a fond laugh out of you. 

You pulled back and gestured for him to eat his pancakes as you sat back on your stool, watching each delighted reaction he had. It was enough to make your heart melt into a puddle of goo, but that was unimportant. What was important, however, was how you got to share this moment with him as his significant other. Officially.

[kingneptunesthinninghead]

How much do you weigh? what a weirdly personal question

If you are outside, what are you most likely doing? sitting in the shade reading a book

Do you think you can love someone without trusting them? yes but not in a way that will ever be truly fulfilling

What’s your opinion on people who go hunting for sport? i live in a very rural area so i grew up with hunting for sport extremely normalized but once i actually developed and used my critical thinking skills i realized how morally reprehensible it is. literally just begging these people to use their brains.

Do you have a fairly fast or slow internet connection? eh its pretty fast

Have you ever been someplace tropical? florida lmao

Are you sensitive to caffeine? somewhat. i dont really consume it that much

How do you usually get around? driving myself

Have you ever been accused of being too clingy? no bc i’m generally pretty independent unless i reallyyyy like someone

What do you think about Kim Kardashian? neutral

Can you speak any French? je parle un peu français

Favorite yogurt flavor? i’m lactose intolerant so i recently tried dairy free yogurt and i hated it sooo i guess none

How much money do you have in your wallet right now? i dont have any cash in my wallet rn lol

What bottled water brand do you like? deer park or aquafina

Your favorite way to eat chocolate? brownies

How often do you listen to country music? sometimes.

Linkin Park or Avenged Sevenfold? neither

Last surgery you had? my wisdom teeth surgery

Have you ever played guitar? no but i wish i could

Is there someone in your life whose career/life choices you find immoral/unethical? Have you ever told that person your views? Do you find it difficult to support them (emotionally or otherwise) because of their choices? um i dont think so

What trait do you feel you lack that you wish you possessed? a little more confidence

Have you ever considered writing your memoirs? maybe

Do you find it difficult to stay invested in online relationships? i dont have very many online friends anymore but when i had a bunch i loved talking to them

Are you the type of person who pays close attention to the release dates of movies, music, etc., and will, for example, go see a movie or buy an album on the date it is released? If so, when is the last time you did so? only for something i really like.

Do you have any stickers on your laptop? a bunch

Would you rather have a job for which you had to go in early in the morning or one you had to stay late into the evening at? early in the morning so then i have the rest of the day to myself when i get off

Do you use any apps to track your health or medications? i have a workout app but that’s it.

Whose opinions/recommendations do you value most? my mom, sister, and my 2 best friends

If you could’ve been at any historical event, which would you have liked to witness firsthand? probably the women’s suffrage movement or the civil rights movement

Is there something that you really want to do but are afraid of doing? If so, why are you afraid of doing it?i want to tell him how i feel but i’m afraid i’ll ruin the friendship

What is something society “expects” you to do that you don’t want to do and/or don’t plan on doing? wear a tampon i’m sorry but i can’t do it

Have Jehovah's Witnesses ever come to your door? no

Are you well-known by people in your area? eh somewhat

Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? no and i dont want to

What's your favourite type of bird? owls!!

What tv show(s) have you been watching currently? i’m watching loki, hsmtmts, planning to watch s2 of never have i ever, and i started one piece but i haven’t watched in a while

Have you ever dated a smoker? no but that might change😳

Do you share a middle name with any of your siblings? no

Have you ever been a member in a band? No.

Can you cry on command? If so, have you ever used it to your advantage? No.

Do you have separate emails for personal and business? i have my school email and personal email

Have you ever missed a flight? no

Have you ever seen a lunar eclipse? i think so.

Have you ever taken a ride in a convertible? i literally rode in my best friend’s convertible last night lmao

Why did you last need to use a band-aid? i dont remember

What fruit do you eat most often? bananas and clementines

Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? maybe my great uncle?

Has someone ever tried to start an argument with you over Facebook? What happened? no but i’ve been in a few on insta and twitter.

Have you ever had an unusual type of milk (eg. oat, rice, almond)? i don’t straight up drink milk but i love things made with almond milk.

If you could experience life as a Disney princess for a week, which princess would you pick and why? elsa i want ice powers

When you’re at home, do you spend most of your time in your room? sometimes but normally during the day i’m in the living room with my family

If you like to sleep in late, have your parents ever told you off for doing so? No.

Do you find piercings attractive? Yep.

Do you like potato chips? Loooove 'em.

What’s the most stalker-like/creepy thing you’ve ever done? If you don’t think you’ve done anything like that, what’s the most stalker-like thing someone’s done to you? i’ve looked up a few people’s houses on zillow in my day.

Do you think it’s a double standard that a woman can hit a man and expect to get away with it, but if a man hits a woman it’s assault? absolutely, you shouldn’t hit anyone

What’s your favorite old Disney movie and favorite new Disney movie? my top 3 are princess and the frog, tangled, and frozen 2. i also love the little mermaid

Name something “trendy” or popular that you dislike. idrk

“Dirty talk” in the bedroom…love it, like it, don’t care, dislike it, or hate it? it depends on what it is. it should also be mixed with some loving or praise talk imo

What is/are your favorite type(s) of ethnic food, and what’s your favorite food within that type? i LOVE italian food specifically fettuccine alfredo and i also love asian food such as general tso’s, sweet and sour chicken, lo mein, shrimp fried rice, LUMPIA 🤤

How would you describe your relationship with your hair over the years? i’ve always liked my hair color and thickness. i always go back and forth between growing it out long and cutting it short bc i can never choose which i like more also it has lots of red undertones so i’m thinking about dyeing it a deep red

How do you feel about your SO daily/regularly checking up on a couple of his exes on social media? hypothetically it would be a red flag to me. a clear sign they haven’t moved on from the past

Do you prefer your guy to wear cologne or not? a good smelling cologne on a man will quite literally make me bust a nut.

Ladies, how important is it to you that your SO wears/would wear a wedding ring? i’d want them to unless it didnt fit or something

What was the turning point that led you to decide for or against having children? i’m very close with my family so i’ve always loved the idea of having one of my own with my future spouse

Is having your “dream” wedding really that important to have? i definitely have ideas for my wedding and i would want it to go a certain way according to our plan but in the end if things go wrong or plans change it wouldn’t matter as long as i’m marrying the loml.

Do you consider it cheating if your SO goes to a strip club and then doesn’t tell you? i wouldn’t consider it cheating if he was just watching but i would be angry that he hid it from me

How old is too old for trick-or-treating? i dont think it matters unless ur posing a danger to little children

Do you sleep with your arms over or under the covers? depends but mostly under

Do you own any t-shirts of your favorite band? i have nsync and harry styles shirts but thats it

Fries or onion rings? Fries.

True/False: you’ve had an odd dream this week. all the time but most of the time i forget them right after i wake up

Do you find tattoo sleeves attractive? depends

Do you like carving pumpkins? Yeah.

What’s an animal you want to have as a pet but can’t? i think raccoons are adorable but its kindaaaa hard to domesticate them

Have your parents ever caught you drinking? no bc my parents let me drink in the house and i’ve told them abt every time i’ve drank at college

How would you react if your celebrity crush came to your door? i would absolutely piss and shit on myself.

Has your mom/dad ever walked in on you kissing or anything more with someone? no

The person you have a crush on is drunk and goes to kiss you, you know they don’t realize what they’re doing, but do you kiss anyways? i would stop it even if i want to bc i don’t want them to regret anything and i wouldn’t want them to kiss me if they don’t like me bc it would hurt too much.

What would you prefer to get from a guy/girl: flowers, a hand written poem, a picture he drew of you or a nice night out? i would love them all but something abt a guy taking the time to write a poem for me makes me melt

Do you any shirts with any kind of images of food on them? no.

Which holiday is the most fun to decorate for? halloween

What was the first website you had an email account on? gmail

Have you ever written a fanfic? YES AHSHDH.

Tattoos or piercings? tats for sure.

What’s the last gross movie/show/video you saw? the scene where alexei breaks the inmate’s wrist in black widow is SO GROSS i cringe every time

Would you rather live in a huuuge house or a little cozy one? definitely a little cozy one

Do you have a tutor for anything? No.

Who’s the best kisser you know? i’ve only kissed one person.

Has anyone ever threatened you with a knife? No. I'd like it to stay that way.

(If you’re a girl) Has anyone ever called you "shortie" instead of girl? no and i hope they dont

Do you have a deep voice? not really

Do you play games with boys/girls, like 'hard to get’? no thats dumb

Is there a Sonic where you live? yes i’m a whore for sonic

What do you like on your pizza? pepperoni or sausage

[ramblinganthropologist]

N7 Challenge Day 30 - End

Summary: Well... Alistair’s dying again. At least this time, he took the Reapers out with him.

(Mentions of blood, some limb loss without description) 

---

Yep... he was dying alright. This was definitely the worse of his two deaths.

Alistair could barely groan as he lay there among the rubble, coughing up what was probably blood. It was hard to see then... one eye was definitely fucked up, possibly gone. Ironically it was the one he had lost the first time. Talk about things coming full circle.

At least the Child was gone.

Yes, there in the ruined Citadel chamber, he was finally alone. The conductor lay smoking in the distance when he had finally managed to shoot something from a distance. Things had gotten crazy after that... now he was laying in a pile of rocks, actively bleeding out.

And he had thought the crushing pressure of space was bad.

Somewhere nearby lay the modified body of the Illusive Man. Had he the strength to get up, he would've gone over to give the corpse a good kick. Then again... Anderson was close at hand too. He shouldn't see something like that.

Well... he would be joining him soon.

“Least it's over...”

Blood bubbled at his lips as he gazed up at the ceiling. It was starting to get hard to see – probably the blood loss. Either that or the massive ache at the base of his skull that could have only been a malfunctioning biotic amp about to blow. Part of him wanted to see what would kill him first. Either way, he was about to be the third body.

At least he would be the last body of the Reaper War.

Even though he couldn't see it, Alistair felt it. That one shot had ended it all. The Reapers had lost at last, after untold millennia of fucking up sentient species for the hell of it. They had lost to an idiot with limited depth perception, generalized anxiety, and an inability to control his blood sugar.

Take that, you synthetic fucks.

He coughed again – it was getting weaker now. His vision was starting to fade even more. Maybe he had a minute or two left before the end. Alistair wondered if he shouldn't have been more upset, but then again this wasn't his first time dying. He had been living on borrowed time... now it was his chance to return it.

His only regret was never getting to see Bo or Garrus again.

That hurt almost as much as his amp overloading. His last memories of either of them were on the chaos of the battle for Earth. Hell, for all he knew they were dead. The Reapers could have shot the Normandy down when they were evacuating and he just hadn't seen it.

If it had... well... he was in for some nasty words on the other side. At least he and Joker would be even at one death a piece.

“I wish I could've said more...”

It was getting harder to speak now. The overwhelming, unbearable pain in multiple parts of his body was starting to ebb away. No doubt about it, this was the end. All he could do was prepare for what was to come.

At least he closed his eyes. He had never liked coming upon bodies all splayed out, wide-eyed and staring at the living. It was kind of gross. Then again, Alistair doubted anyone was going to be able to find him before he was a skeleton.

Maybe that was for the best... bodies got kind of gross.

As his world went black and all feeling ceased, Alistair had one last thought. The sun was going to rise on Earth tomorrow. It was still there, even if he wasn't. They had managed to do what not even the Protheans could. It was over.

It was over... and so was he. So he let himself go, floating away to wherever he went the first time. At least this time, there were no Collectors.

---

The funny thing about dying was that it wasn't supposed to fucking hurt so badly.

'You aren't through yet.'

Shut the fuck up and let him die in peace... noisy ass ghost or god or whatever.

'Strange, you aren't normally this rude. Oh well... they're waiting for you.'

A haze of dull agony surrounded him like a blanket. Funny, the first time he had died it had been over rather quickly. One moment he was floating in the blackness of space as pressure crushed him like a tin can... and then he was waking up on a Cerberus base as it all went to hell.

…

Fuck you have GOT to be kidding him. Was he ever going to get to die in peace?

The first feeling he got back was the tips of his fingers. Toes came back too, not enough to wiggle but he felt the pain no matter what. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was get him some fucking pain medicine or finish killing him.

There was noise somewhere, he wasn't sure where. It sounded...

“Folks, it's the bottom of the 7th inning, the bases are loaded and the score is tied 5-5. Batting fifth for the Luna Bats is Luna colony's very own Jim O'Reilly.

Like a baseball game. And if he heard that score right, his Bats were tied with their best pitch hitter up!

“I can't believe he's fucking missing this.”

“So if he hits the ball and nobody catches it, that means they run around the squares and score?”

“Bases, Mandibles, I already explained it to you. Damn it, Al, you got me explaining baseball now.”

He knew those voices. They belonged to Bo and to Garrus. Unless they were all dead and watching baseball from the afterlife, then they were alive and well enough to complain. Given the fact his sister hated baseball... that was another point to him being alive.

That's a strike.”

“It's a ball, it was outside the box.” Another groan. “For fuck's sake.”

The count is now 3-2. And the pitch-

Alistair could feel his heart pump faster at the sound of a bat somewhere cracking when it made contact with the ball. He could picture it, flying far off into the center field stands and above the head of the outfielders.

And he was missing it...

“Fuck... it's a grand slam.”

Miracles did happen. Not only had they saved the universe from the Reapers, but his Bats had pulled a grand slam out of their ass.

By now, there was more feeling in his body. He couldn't move, not yet anyway. However, he was starting to get the feeling he could make his mouth move. It took effort, far more than he had, but he managed to get a sound out. He would have called it a groan, but that was being generous. A death murmur was more like it... only he wasn't dead.

Slowly, he managed to maneuver his eyes to opening. Then he shut them – too bright. Wherever he was glowed brighter than when he had shot to end it all. Now he was starting to get a headache – what a thing to add to his problems.

He still couldn't sit up... but he could probably try to talk.

“Are we winning?”

That sent crazy amounts of motion into play. Someone – he assumed Garrus from the sound of talons on tile – ran off to probably get a doctor. Something landed heavy at his side – that was probably Bo. She was close enough that he could feel her shaking.

She was pissed.

“I can't fucking...” despite that, she laughed. “Fucking Luna Bats, I should've known that would bring you back.”

Alistair's head was pounding, but he could still talk. “How long?”

It had to be some time – before the Bats had suspended their season due to the war, it had been at the very beginning. From the sound of things, they were going into a playoff run. At the very least... months. Possibly years, if they were finally good.

Nah, probably not years – O'Reilly probably only had two seasons left in him at this rate.

“Over two months, you asshole. You died twice.” Her voice was thick with emotion she was barely containing. “And in the end it's the fucking Luna Bats that bring you back. Not me, not Garrus, but the Bats!”

She was laughing still, despite how annoyed she sound. It was probably the best sound Alistair had ever heard. He would have probably laughed too, but it fucking hurt too much. Hopefully wherever his boyfriend was, he was getting a doctor with some heavy duty pain medicine.

“It took a miracle I guess...” he cracked one eye open. “What's their record?”

It was a miracle he didn't get socked in the arm, but Alistair quickly realized that was because he didn't have one. It had just been a brief glance, but there was definitely something missing on his right side. No wonder he couldn't wiggle his fingers on the right side: they were gone.

But... if their record was winning.

“I'd say your priorities were fucking awful, but you did kind of save the universe so I'll give you a pass.”

“Thanks.”

Couldn't move the toes on his left foot either... bad sign there. At least he still had all his fingers on his dominant hand. The universe had been kind for once.

Still... it was true. He was in a hospital, there was a doctor coming with hopeful amounts of pain medicine to help him. All of this  meant one simple thing: the Reapers were gone. Well, either that or they also liked the Luna Bats.

It was maybe the only thing they agreed on.

“So... we won then.”

Bo sounded calmer as she got up – probably for whatever medical staff was coming. “Yeah. We won. We won and we got you back. Forget hamsters, you're a fucking cat with how many lives you got to burn there.”

Well, he was good at stopping at life 4 or 5. Dying was unpleasant and he had done it way more than anyone had right to do and still come back. This was the last time, he promised to whatever universal figure was listening.

Still, as the medical staff freaked out around him upon his waking up, Alistair found he was pretty relaxed. Whatever happened, nothing could have been worse than facing down the Reapers and making the choice left to him. He could get past anything after that.

But... yeah... the pain meds would definitely help. His brain was throbbing. At least he was pretty sure his amp hadn’t exploded, because then yeah he would have definitely been dead...

Honestly, an injury update would have been lovely, if just to know how many parts he was missing and what he had broken in his final hit on the Reapers. At any rate, he was going to need to know how bad off he was once he put his papers in. After all, if he was going to live... might as well do it as a free man.

It wasn’t quite the end he had expected, but it was his. At least he had most of his limbs? Or at the very least half... he would have to ask about that later, once it was easier to see in a bright room.

Again, pain meds, great idea...

[wheikouo]

Beginnings...

The two ducklings ran across the halls, both holding fake guns loaded with foam bullets. They smirked at each other when they came to the door they were looking for, “shhh! We gotta be quiet or else our dads or uncle Donald will hear us!” Everly held on tightly to the gun in her hand as she eyed her cousin down “calm down Everly! No body will hear us, besides it’s not like they know what we’re doing” Amelia smiled brightly at her, but the smile soon became a straight line when they both heard a cough from behind them.

Slowly they turned around to be faced with their uncle. “Hey uncle Donald!.... what’s up?” Amelia laughed nervously, “what do you two girls think your doing?” Donald looked over at them and then the guns, Amelia shut up and looked towards Everly. “Sorry uncle Donald, we didn’t mean to bother you- we just wanted to play a prank on our dads and-“ she was caught off guard when Donald started laughing “a prank?, wow it’s been a while since that’s happened...” donald frowned a bit “you know what, pass me a gun.” “W-what?” Everly was shocked, Amelia just smiled brightly before passing her gun over to him. “The boys have pranked me way to many times when they were your age, it’s about time I got my payback.” He smirked before kicking the door down and shooting bullets at his nephews who were enjoying the time to themselves.

Amelia screamed a battle cry as she ran into the room shooting another fake gun, Everly followed close behind smiling brightly. Dewey and Huey didn’t even have enough time to react before they instantly dived to the ground, spilling their tea and coffee in the process. “What the heck!?” Dewey screamed as he grabbed the table in front of him, moving it so that it covered himself and Huey. “uncle Donald!? kids!?” Huey was just as shocked as his brother was but he was to focused on saving his own tail feathers from the flurry of bullets coming from the three ducks. “This is payback for uncle Donald!” Amelia screamed and Everly giggled from behind, what definitely caught them off Guard however was when the two adults pulled out their own guns from behind the table.

“Two can play it that game!” Dewey smirked as he started firing bullets from the table, the two ducklings screamed and smiled as they ran to find their own hiding places, Donald ducked quickly before hiding behind a chair. “Everly quick! We gotta get to uncle Donald so we can create a plan!” Amelia looked at her and then back at the outside world, to get to Donald the kids needed to pass the ‘no man zone’ a place where open fire and defeat is inevitable. Everly stared for a bit before nodding “alright, you go out and I’ll follow behind. Make sure you don’t get distracted” Amelia nodded before running outside, a wave of bullets came coming towards her but everly was quick enough to shoot them away. she didn’t even notice Huey come up a few feet away from her and shoot a bullet.

Donald watched from the other side of the room, he and Dewey were throwing bullets at each other, occasionally throwing playful insults at one another as well. he looked at Amelia who was running towards him dodging bullets swiftly with Everly keeping her back safe. He did however notice Huey who was creeping up behind Everly, Donald gasped loudly as he sprinted towards Everly jumping in front of her like a shield.

“Uncle Donald!”

Everly shouted as she watched in horror as her uncle fell to the floor. “No!” Amelia rushed next to her side, the two ducklings were looking at their uncle who lay on the ground “it’s okay kids.... I just have one request from you....” Donald coughed dramatically “we’ll do anything uncle Donald!” Everly and Amelia spoke in sync. “Please.......whoop.....their....butts....” he then closed his eyes and created a sound before acting dead “NOOOOOOOOOO!” Amelia screamed as she got up from where she was sitting “I WILL AVENGE YOU!” She shot a foam bullet at her fathers chest. Everly laughed as she got up as well doing the same to Dewey.

“Oh no! You got us!” Dewey said sarcastically while pulling the bullet off his chest, “Unca D! You can stop being dead now.” He practically laughed as Donald sat up from where he was, a bullet stuck to his stomach. “Alright you two.” Huey walked over to them, his own fake gun tucked away. “Mind explaining why you wanted to do a nwearf battle?” Amelia jumped up and ran towards her father “we wanted to prank you! we found the guns in the basement and-“ she was cut off when Huey gasped. “The basement? Didn’t we tell you not to go to there? That place is dangerous!”

“..sorry papa..but we didn’t get hurt see!” Amelia waved her hand rapidly demonstrating. Huey sighed as he smiled a bit. Everly looked towards her own Dad, she saw a slight bit of pain in his eyes before he returned to his normal over confident ones. “Am I in trouble for going in the basement with am?...” she fiddled with her fingers, Dewey took a deep breath “of course not eve... it’s just.. the basement is dangerous. who knows what’s down there..” he gently put a hand on her head, ruffling her hair a bit “just.. promise me you won’t go back down okay?” Everly smiled while laughing a bit “I’ll try but I doubt I’ll be able to keep that promise!” Dewey gave her a sad smile before looking towards Huey.

Huey looked back and got the message, he kissed Amelia on the forehead before following Dewey out. The two children looked at each other in confusion, was it something they said? The thoughts were interrupted when they remembered Donald was still there with them. “Uncle Donald?..” the two watched as he looked at them “do you know why our dads acted so weird when he said we went into the basement?..”

Donald flinched slightly “I... girls.. it’s best if you don’t ask questions... your fathers are just trying to protect you..” Donald smiled a little before patting their heads and leaving the room. “So....” Amelia started “we’re definitely going into the basement now right?” Everly nodded “yep definitely, dad is hiding something..” “are you sure? Uncle Dewey is not much for secrets..” Everly took her hand and started walking “yep! Dads never done that before. But anyway.. we should probably hurry, we don’t wanna get caught by uncle Donald again.” Amelia nodded and the two made their way to the basement doors.

Everly pushed the door open, a puff of dust hit her face. “Alright cuz! Lets start looking, there must be answers in here!” The two split off into different parts of the basement, Everly looked on the left and Amelia on the right. 20 minutes go by and the cousins are back at the middle “did you find anything?” Amelia shook her head “I found nothing either. Everything here is either old stuff or random pieces of junk... there’s not dangerous here!” Amelia sighed quietly as she sat down on a box “were never going to find anything now! It’s been 20 minutes and I’m hungryyyy.....” Everly ignored her whines as she looked around. As she looked she realised a few box’s were lined up with each other. “Amelia! Quiet.. I think I found something”

She looked a little more, before climbing onto a box. “Wait eve what are you doing?-“ Amelia stood up from her spot her hand clutching her chest. “Don’t you see it am? The boxes create a bridge of some sort! It has to lead to somewhere!” Everly continued to follow the path when she hit a wall. she placed her hand on one of the tiles when it suddenly sunk in. “Everly?, hello you there?” She heard Amelia from the ground, but she was too focused on the box that was hidden in the wall. “Hey am! I think I found what we were looking for!”

The two girls sat in the of amelias room, the box in the middle. “Whatever’s in this box might lead to what’s been happening..” “on three?” The two nodded in sync.

“One....” “two...” “three!” They both opened the box at the same time, they looked inside to be met with.. a phone and a hoodie? “What? Who wears green in our family?....” Amelia looked at her cousin as she picked the hoodie up. “Uncle Gladstone wears green? Maybe it’s his?...” Everly picked the phone up, it was old and dusty, but over all the Small piece of tech was still in tact. “Do you think it’ll turn on?..” she tilted her head as Amelia pulled out the charger that was also in the box

“let’s find out!”

Amelia plugged the charger into the wall, she then grabbed the phone and plugged it in. She smiled brightly when the phones screen lit up. “Amelia take that thing off! Who knows how long that could’ve been In there!” Amelia was wearing the hoodie, it fit her but it hung loosely around her waist and arms. “Aww but it’s comfy! and besides... it’s smells familiar...” Everly shook her head as she grabbed the phone and turned it on, the lock screen was blank but she didn’t mind and continued to unlock it. “Well what’s there?” She continued to look through it, there wasn’t anything besides the notes and photo album.

“That’s weird? There’s nothing but a bunch of notes and a photo album...” Amelia grabbed the phone and clicked on the photos, “these photos date back to 12 years ago!.. these are ancient!” Everly rolled her eyes as she took the phone back and looked at the very first photo that was in the album “hey here’s uncle Huey and dad! they look very young...” “there’s somebody else in the photo as well! He’s wearing the exact same hoodie as the one I’m wearing right now!” Everly looked closer, Amelia was right. Behind Huey and Dewey sat another duck, his arms was crossed but he was clearly smiling. “He looks a lot like our dads!” Amelia pointed that out “he does..” she kept browsing the photos, each one had the same green clothed duck.

Everly mumbled something under her breath before she opened the notes. She went to the most recent note and skimmed over it. ‘Day 55, August 3rd 2010. Dewey has still not noticed I stole his flight licence and replaced it with a laminated meme, it’s quite amusing honestly, he shows it off to everyone he meets! Anyway that’s all I got for now, Louie duck signing off.’ “Louie duck? but that’s our last name...” Everly repeated, “Our dads would have mentioned if we had another uncle right?... they wouldn’t lie to us right?...” Amelia fiddled with the hoodie strings getting nervous. “Maybe its just a coincidence, there’s no way we could have another uncle!” She tried to reason with herself but it was clearly failing. Everly went back into the photo album, she skimmed through all the pictures again when she came across a video. Without a second thought she pressed play.

—

the screen was black “Is this thing on? How do I know if it’s on Louie!” A voice echoed out from the phone, another voice could be heard chuckling in the background. “You’ll know it’s on when the red dot is blinking!” Another voice was heard, this one was unfamiliar. The screen turned white when the duck in front of the phone moved out of the way, they were now able to see three younger looking ducks sporting lab coats with shirts the colour schemes of red, blue and green. “Hello! My name’s Huey and these are my two brothers Dewey and Louie! We are currently researching the wonders of the multiverse! and how it might affect our worlds timeline!” Huey smiled brightly as he backed down from the camera, allowing Dewey to step forward “Each-“ Dewey paused as he looked down, “Sorry what was I gonna say again?” A sound of distress and laughter echoed through out the video. “This is the 5th time Dewey! memorise your line!” “Huey calm down it’s only a line! He’ll eventually get it.” The unfamilar voice came again, the cousins suspected this was the Louie duck that the notes mentioned.

“Yeah Huey! Calm yourself!” Dewey laughed as Huey jumped on him, causing both of them to fall to the ground. The phone tilted and showed the two brothers pulling fists at each other. More laughter came out before Louie grabbed the camera and shut it off.

—

The cousins were silent, their suspicions were true. They both had another uncle and none of their family members told them. “we need to confront them about this. We deserve to know.”

[shadowthrone-ammanas]

well hat kid got her ghost dad to therapy now to get her bird? uncle to go too, actually both bird uncles because grooves has some stuff to work out too

Thank you for the request! Obviously a sequel to the Snatcher goes to therapy drabble called Therapy.

Double Therapy

“Uncle Grooves!” Hat Kid called as she poked her head into Grooves’ dressing room. Why she insisted on thinking of him as an uncle he still wasn’t sure and had long since given up trying to get her to stop.

“Hello darling,” he said, lowering his coffee cup. “Come on in I guess.” He didn’t mind his break being disturbed by her.

With a large smile she hopped in and pulled the door closed behind. “All right so a few weeks ago I convinced Snatcher to go to therapy in the little town just outside the forest. I kind of had to almost threaten to cry to get him to go but he did and he’s gone every week since. Which isn’t many yet but still good especially since I think it might be helping him, even if it’s not a whole lot yet. But anyway because of how well that’s working out I realized he’s not the only one who needs therapy. Which is what brought me here, I need you to help me convince the Conductor to start going to therapy.”

First off, the thought of the infamous soul eating Snatcher going to therapy was comical. The fact that he’d adopted Hat Kid and was supposedly being a decent father to her was already the kind of thing Grooves would’ve never believed in a million years if it hadn’t been Hat Kid telling him about it. Second, Grooves couldn’t believe he never thought to convince the Conductor to seek professional help because he needed it; he’d been through some things and was handling it and life in general less than well. So…

“Of course I’ll help with that,” he said as he got up from his chair. He quickly downed the last bit of his coffee before putting the mug back on the table, he’d deal with putting it away later. “He should be in his dressing room so let’s go have a chat with him.”

Hat Kid stepped out with him and stuck by his side as they made their way over to the other side of the studio. The owls glanced up as they crossed the border but didn’t approach. They were used to Grooves coming over by now because of the collab movies he and the Conductor had worked on, there were even plans for another in the idea stage, not yet public though there were no doubt rumors floating around.

When they reached the dressing room door, Grooves knocked. He and the Conductor had unofficially established specific knocking patterns to identify themselves without words so they wouldn’t have to ask when they visited each other.

“Come in,” the Conductor called through the door.

“Hey,” Grooves said as he stepped in with Hat Kid, letting her close the door. “How’s your day been so far Con darling?”

The Conductor was seated at the table, facing the wall. He had a cup of coffee in his hand and a bottle of whiskey on the table in front of him, implying the coffee was probably spiked. “Eh, ‘bout as good as one could expect I guess,” he said with a shrug before taking a drink from the mug. “But hey little lass, good to see you again.”

“Hello Uncle Con.” Hat Kid raised a hand to give him a small wave before skipping over to sit next to him at the head of the table. Grooves followed suit, sitting across from him. How this conversation would go he had no idea so he’d let Hat Kid lead, it was her idea after all.

“So,” she began, “I convinced Snatcher to start going to therapy. He’s been going every week for a few weeks now and it seems to be helping. It’s fantastic. I think you start going too.”

“Uh… me?” The Conductor gave her an incredulous look as he lifted a hand to point to himself.

“Yep. I think you could really benefit from some professional help.”

“Why?”

“Because you need it,” Grooves answered for her because he was much more aware of the Conductor problems and how poorly he was doing. “You’ve been through a lot and…”

“I don’t need therapy,” the Conductor interrupted. “I’m perfectly fine and well adjusted. All I need is me train and I’m happy.” He took another drink from his mug.

“Uh… Con darling, you know that’s a lie, a poor one too. I’m not going to go into details about stuff that you’ve done or about the kind of thoughts I’m pretty sure you sometimes have, not while the little girl is here listening but you know the kind of things I’m thinking about.” All the drinking, frequently to the point of passing out. Which sometimes happened on the train tracks if front of his train, whether those times were intentional or he just happened to fall there was impossible to know but with the amount of times it happened the former definitely had to be the case sometimes. Especially when considering the occasional dangerous stunt that could’ve easily ended with at least the Conductor dead, probably more too. And perhaps least of all but still not good, the comments about life not being worth living without his train or words that indicated he thought he’d be better off dead or that everyone else would be happier if he died.

Grooves had wanted to help him for a long time, especially ever since they’d started working together and were more friends than rivals now. He’d always cared about the Conductor, initially as a friend but lately perhaps something as a bit more. Why he’d never thought to suggest therapy was probably a sign of how little experience he had in such matters. But thankfully Hat Kid was here to do it instead, she was a smart kid.

“So please,” Grooves said “for me?”

The Conductor scoffed. “As if I’d do anything for you.” He still liked to put on a front of not liking Grooves sometimes, normally when it came up somehow, even though no one in the studio would ever believe it anymore.

“For me then?” Hat Kid cut in.

The Conductor frowned at her. “Why are you both so insistent on this?”

“Because we care about you,” Grooves replied. He wasn’t afraid to admit it, though he wasn’t ready to admit in just what way he cared about the Conductor.

The Conductor put down his mug and crossed his arms as he slouched back into his chair. He pouted in silence for a few seconds before finally speaking. “Fine, I’ll go to therapy but only if Grooves starts going to.”

Grooves opened his mouth to respond but Hat Kid beat him to it. “Perfect,” she said. “After we were done convincing you to go, I was going to ask you to help convince him to go too. So?” She turned to look at Grooves, smiling wide.

“I don’t need therapy though.”

“Really huh?” the Conductor said. “You were so upset about losing so many times in a row that you let a magic hour glass get to you head, leading to you trying to kill a child. You even stole a bomb from me set to do it. Who knows what might’ve happened if I hadn’t run in and defused it?”

Grooves flinched, that was true. It was mostly the Time Piece’s fault though and little to do with him… right?

“At least I never did anything like that,” the Conductor continued with a smugness that was irritating especially since it wasn’t true.

“Yeah sure, you almost blew up your train with her and a bunch of owls on it because you trying to kill yourself. And let’s not even mention the contract you signed with the Snatcher to try to kill her. So don’t go saying you never did anything like that.”

“That first one was a stunt for a movie and the second one I had no choice and you signed the exact same pecking contract, meaning you tried to kill her twice. So don’t you pecking…”

“Stop it!” Hat Kid slammed both palms down on the desk as she stood up. “You guys are friends now so no more fighting. You both need therapy because you both aren’t okay. I don’t know any of even the broad details of it like I do with my dad but I know you both aren’t in a completely good place mentally right now so I want you both to start going to therapy, okay?”

Grooves sighed as he relaxed back into his chair, ashamed of the things he’d said so…

“Fine, I’ll go,” he said in near unison with the Conductor. He paused and turned his head to look at the Conductor was doing the exact same thing. Turns out it wasn’t either of them convincing the other to go to therapy like Hat Kid had wanted but just Hat Kid convincing them both at the same time.

Hat Kid let out an audible relieved sigh as she lowered herself back into her chair. “There we go, thank you. I actually have you both booked for appointments on the weekend.” She pulled out two small sheets of paper and handed one to the Conductor, the other to Grooves.

It had a date, time, and location printed on it. Grooves pocketed it with a sigh. Maybe he really did need professional help. He didn’t have it as bad as the Conductor but that didn’t necessarily mean he had it good. So perhaps they did both need help. … Even if he didn’t though it couldn’t hurt and it’d be worth the hassle if it meant the Conductor would stick to going too.

“Thanks lass,” the Conductor grumbled as he pocketed his slip of paper too. “But uh… anyway, ‘bout your dad, how’d you convince him to go, he don’t seem the type to agree to that kind of thing.”

“I had to beg him and threaten to cry if he didn’t. Now I just need to convince Mu and the Captain to seek professional help and everyone I care about well hopefully be getting the help they need. And then they can get better and hopefully be truly happy again.”

What about her though? Hadn’t she been though a lot too? More than Grooves could probably ever guess. Surely, she needed the help of a therapist too. … Maybe she was seeing one? Maybe that’s what led her to convincing Snatcher and then from there the two of them to go? Grooves would have to somehow find out for sure later. If she wasn’t, he wasn’t sure what he’d do exactly but he try to help her if he could.

For this drabble event.

[tnystrk-exe]

Learning to Live 4

Tony Stark X Reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

He walked out of the hospital, hand in hand with you, the security he ordered had just pulled up the car. There was a sea of pushy people and flashing lights. Everyone asking something, wanting answers from him. What was he gonna do? The ball was in his court. Was he too much of a coward? Did Iron Man have what it took? 

Tony opened the passenger door for you and shut it. Just keep quiet. Move on. Think things through and work with all the information later.  It’s all he had to do, but he was never good at that was he?

“Hey, Mr. Stark! When is somebody gonna kill this guy? Just sayin',” That’s all it took to set him off and light the fire.

“Is that what you want?” Tony asked, turning around, a phone immediately shoved into his face. “Here's a little Holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now. My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body. There's no politics here; it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon; it's just you and me. And on the off-chance you're a man, here's my home address: 10880, Malibu Point, 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked.” Tony grabbed the phone and threw it into a polar, the pieces shattering onto the ground, “Bill me.” He got in the car and peeled off. It was done, he did it, he had to deal with it.

“Tony what did you do?”

“What I had to.”

You shook your head, “That was completely out of line!”

Tony drove as quick as he could, there wasn’t any time to waste. “What the hell was I supposed to do, YN?”

“Not giving out where your address to a terrorist, sounds like a pretty basic idea. Your daughter sleeps there, Tony, what the hell were you thinking?”

“She’s not home. It’s fine.”

“But do you think they would care if she was or wasn’t? You put her at risk. To what? Prove your ego?”

“They attacked us. They already have. So what if this is or isn’t a personal attack? Happy got hurt. My face is already out there. Who do you think could’ve been the next target? Should I have let them figure out where to attack next or just risk the idea that your hospital or one of the companies be bombed? Ro’s school, maybe? Risking me is better than risking any of you.”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking you’re gonna do, but you’re definitely not. We’re going to pick up the important things and then we’re leaving. You’re gonna fight this fight. What I say doesn’t matter, I know that, but at least get some type of back up.”

“I'm taking care of it now. They all know where the fight is if they want to get it on it.”

“God. It’s like you get off on stressing me out.” You leaned against the headrest, closing your eyes. “I think this is the closest I’ve ever been to hating you.”

“Oh, come on, I could do much worse than this,” he said, attempting to lighten up the atmosphere. He knew he fucked up in a bit of rage, but it was said and done. Nothing could stop what was coming now. 

“Is there anything worse than risking Ro, Tony?” You asked, fixing your gaze on him. “I understood when I said yes to you that risk were involved. You’re Tony Stark. Iron Man. Risk came hardwired. But you put her there, now, willingly. You didn’t even think about it.”

“Goddamn it, YN.” His fist clenched around the wheel, the car sped up. “She’s safe as can be. She’s not going to be home. The two of you are going to stay somewhere hidden for while I sort this all out. Nothing’s going to touch her or you.”

The rest of the ride home was silent. Both of you split up the second you stepped inside the house. Tony went down to his lab. You went up stairs. You filled duffle bags with clothes and important papers. Tony and J.A.R.V.I.S. looked through the crime scene. The doorbell going off brought the two of you out of your train of thoughts. 

You heard Tony talking to a woman downstairs as you brought the three bags to the balcony. Apparently from the woman’s side of the conversation an old fling. 

“....I'd go for that sort of thing, but now I'm a one girl kinda man. You know, trying out the wife and kid life. Well she’s not technically. Yet. Look I got bigger fish to fry right now,” he told her, turning to walk to the living room. The duffle bags landing directly in front of him. “And that’s the future missus.”

“That future isn’t in the cards at all right now,” you answered from up stairs. “Who’s here?”

“You rock my world too, baby. Um, it’s Maya Hansen. Old botanist pal that I used to know, barely,” Tony stepped out of his suit, “Please don't tell me that there is a twelve year-old kid waiting in the car that I've never met.”

“He’s thirteen,” she replied, satisfied with his scared reaction. “And no, I need your help.”

“What...what for? Why now?”

“Because I read the papers, and, frankly, I don't think you'll last the week.”

“I'll be fine.”

“That’s what he always says,” you rolled your eyes. “With everything happening I didn’t know we were expecting company. Especially not an ex girlfriend. Really packing it in today, aren’t you Tones?” You shook Maya’s hand. 

“She's not really.”

“No, not really. It...it was just one night.”

“Yep.”

“No. I know. Heard your usual jerk move of don’t remember you,” you smiled at Maya, “Well, you definitely made a good choice.”

“I did.”

“I wish I had decided on a one and done deal, but no. Took a look and thought ‘why not go on that ride as long as I can?’”

“My way does seem much easier,” Maya laughed. 

Tony looked between the two of you, “Wait, what’s happening here?”

“I’m feeling intense pangs of jealousy over Maya’s life choices,” you sighed. “Grab the bags, we’re picking up Ro and leaving town.”

“We’ve been through this already. Nope.”

“We’re leaving immediately and going off the grid until you get this sorted out.”

“The man says no.”

“The man,” you scoffed, “Nice going Howard.”

“Don’t compare me to him.”

“Oh right, because he wouldn’t have put us in this position.”

“I got kidnapped three times!”

“Let’s be fair here that third time could have been avoided if you listened to Rhodey.”

Maya’s attention was torn away from your bickering and to the tv. Helicopters were making a beeline to the mansion, the two of you too absorbed in each other to notice. 

“Guys can we um....”

Tony looked over at her, “What?”

She pointed at the tv, a bomb coming in quick. Before anyone could react, it crashed into the home. Tony motioned for the suit to protect you from the fall. The impact made his vision go blurry for a second. Glancing around he noticed Maya unconscious. A cracking sound made him look up, a piece of the roof caved in.

Tony braced himself. You made it, just in time to save him. “I hate you,” you panted. 

“I’m sorry.” Tony scrambled up, “Like I said, we can’t stay here.” Another missile crashed through the house, flinging Tony over the couch. He rushed forward, but stopped short when the floor crashed down into the lab. “Keep moving. I’ll find a way around. Grab her and get out.”

The two of you shared a quick look that said enough before you nodded and went to work. “Maya, honey, come on we need to get you out of here.” You urged her up. The suit was too awkward to walk quickly. You managed to work a repulser enough to get the two of you clear from the mansion. A few scrapes and bruises but that was better than the alternative of still being in the crumbling building. “Tony! J tell him to call the suit!” Immediately the suit started to come apart, flying back into the home. 

It all happened so quickly. All you could do was watch. Watch as a helicopter crashed into the home and more missiles showered down on it. The last of the ruins fell into the ocean and you couldn’t help but run to the edge, looking for any sign of Tony. The final helicopter disappeared in the distance. 

Around you there was hardly anything that resembled the home. Ro’s piano she was obsessed with, the Christmas tree the three of you had put together not too long ago, and no comforting voice of J.A.R.V.I.S.. There was the wall Tony and Ro had taken to marking her height on since she could stand. You trailed your hand along the marks, you needed to get to your daughter. 

“Do you think he’s okay?” Maya asked, pulling you out of your shock. 

You let out a shaky breath, “I have to hope...” He wouldn’t leave this way. Tony always came back. Always did, no time to question it. 

It wasn’t long before the reporters and emergency services came to the location. You refused to talk to the press and answered the cop’s questions as well as you could. Workers spent hours clearing out the wreckage. You had hoped to leave hours before but people kept holding you back. 

All you wanted was your little girl. 

“Hey, ma’am?” A crewman waved a bit to grab your attention. “You want this?” He held up the  Iron Man helmet he had found in the pile of rubble. 

You nodded, walking over to him, “Thank you.”

The man walked away, leaving you alone. You traced over the panels of the mask. Hating that the last thing you had told him was that you had hated him. It was just frustration with nothing behind it and you knew he had known. Still it had been wrong. 

You kissed the helmet’s forehead, pulling away when you heard a faint beeping coming from the inside. Turning around you saw a red flashing light. The helmet opened for you and you pulled it on. 

“Stark secure server. Retinal scan verified.”

“YN,” Tony’s voice started, “what I did was stupid and selfish. I put you and Ro in unbelievable danger, it won’t happen again. If you really do hate me I wouldn’t blame you. Hell, I put you through a lot. You know, I’ve hit a whole other low today too? I had to steal a pancho off a wooden Indian...what am I doing? I don’t have much time...Tell Ro, dad’s sorry. Please. I don’t think I’ll make it to Christmas in time...I’m sorry, YN, I love you. Get Ro and go somewhere safe. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”

You took off the helmet and let out a sigh of relief. Your body finally relaxing for the first time in hours. He was okay. Who knows where he was, but he wasn’t hurt. That was better than the unknown minutes before. 

Slipping away from the wreck and people you managed to get in Tony’s car undetected. You didn’t want to answer anymore questions or see anymore reporters. As you turned on the car, a knock on the window startled you. 

“Hi,” Maya smiled at you pleasantly, “I know it’s probably not the best time, but my taxi ditched when everything went...well you were there. Can I get a ride back to my place?”

You contemplated just leaving, there were more than enough people that could help her around, but the woman had been through a lot already. “Yeah, sure. Hop in.” Your phone rang as Maya got in, “Just type in your address.” 

“Hi mommy,” Ro greeted excitedly, “Picking me up tonight with daddy?”

“Yeah, baby, I’m gonna come get you. Daddy can’t come tonight.”

“Aw no! How come?” She asked, some disappointment in her voice. 

“Um...the Avengers needed dad for a secret mission. Okay? He said he’s sorry he might not be back for Christmas.”

She sniffled, “It’s okay. Can you tell daddy I love him and we can wait for Christmas when he comes home.”

“Yeah, Ro. I will. I’ll see you later. Listen to Mrs. H and be good for a little while longer. I just need to do one thing and I’m heading straight for you.”

“Okay, mommy, be fast. I miss you! Love you! Bye!” Ro hung up before you could respond. She always saw the end of phone calls as a race of sorts to see who could press the button quicker. 

“So...your daughter calls Tony dad?” Maya asked, attempting to make conversation.

“Yep,” you sighed, ready for the usual bout of questions. 

“How come?”

“Does it really matter to anyone else but us? Especially now?”

“You’re right, sorry. Really personal considering everything.”

“The papers are full of it lately, it gets to be a lot. Having to hear he isn’t her father constantly.” You looked her over, she seemed nice enough. “It’s not just because we got in a relationship. Trust me, I’m not willing to let just anyone around her . Tony and I have always been close, not couple close but good friends. I had a kid. Tony was always around. She started talking and called him dad and it stuck,” you rambled, part of you happy to talk about it for once. It was rare you ever did. 

“Tony doesn’t seem like the fatherly type. Then again, I only knew him for a night.”

“Lots of things about him that nobody could learn in a night. He wears fatherhood as well as any of his suits. Man’s an absolute natural.”

“Tony Stark has a soft side.”

“Why did you need to talk to Tony today of all days?” You asked the question that had been biting at you.

“I think that my boss is working for the Mandarin,” Maya cut to the chase, “So, if you still want to talk about it, I suggest that we get

ourselves to my place.”

You looked at her, “You think your boss works for the Mandarin? But didn’t Tony say you were a botanist?” 

Maya rolled her eyes, angry to be reduced to something so little. “What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of 40 out of a privately funded think tank. But sure, you can call me a botanist.”

“Who’s your boss?” You asked, fully intending on passing on the information to Rhodey the second you were clear. 

“Aldrich Killian.”

Stopping in front of her place you weighed your options. You could go or you could try to get some more information. Tony and Rhodey were bad influences. “Let me walk you up.”

Maya led you up to her place and the two of you found yourselves on her couch. She started telling you about Wernher von Braun and his dreams before he lost his vision. “...See, we all begin wide-eyed. Pure science.

And then the ego steps in, the obsession.And you look up, you're a long way from shore,” she sighed, visibly disappointed in herself. 

“You never know what’s happening in the dark, Maya. The research went to a think tank. No way you could have thought this would happen.”

“Yeah, but Killian built that think tank on military contracts.”

“That’s what Tony would do, Howard too,” you shrugged, “Don’t judge yourself. We all do what we have to do sometimes.”

Maya flashed you a grateful smile, “Thanks, YN, I really appreciate that.” Someone knocked on the door. “Yeah! Come in!”

The waiter opened the door and pushed his cart in through the door before a man walked up behind him. The snap of the waiter’s neck was the only sound that filled the room. Then the drop of dead weight. 

“Run Maya!” You stopped in shock as something about the man looked familiar. “You were at the Christmas party?”

“I was,” the man smirked, “Enjoy that on the spot distraction? Had to research personal ties a bit more. You or Pepper. I guess I didn’t have to after all since, he went running to you after nearly dying. This one was intent on that route, but I didn’t see it panning out too messy. Now...well, why not use you since you’re already here?”  Killian wrapped a hand around your throat before you could process what was happening. “Now, Maya, care to explain why you were at Stark’s mansion last night?”

“I'm trying to fix this thing,” she answered, her tone almost bored. “I didn't know you and the master were gonna blow the place up.”

“Oh, I see. So, you were trying to save Stark when he threatened us?” 

“I've told you, Killian, we can use him.”

You gasped for breath, clawing at Killian’s arm. “Stop,” he demanded, his hand tightening even more. 

“Look, if we want to launch product next year, I need Stark. He just lacked a decent incentive. Now, he has one. You may think it’s messy, but he’ll do it. They have a daughter together too. That much leverage gets us what we need. I can’t do this alone.”

“Killing her at this point wouldn’t be any useful. I guess we’ll use her as a little lab rat. Doubt she’ll be able to handle Extremis.” You passed out, the lack of air getting to you. “The brat can be a carrot to dangle in front of him. He can give us what we want, then she’ll be the final experiment.”

Maya snatched the phone out of your pocket, calling the last number received. “Hello...Yes, Ms. LN was injured. We’re sending out a team to pick up her daughter. So if you could please give us your address. Any concerns can be handled in person.”

-

Ro finished up icing a cookie. They were supposed to be for Santa, but she would eat them instead. Santa shouldn’t come if daddy wasn’t gonna be home for Christmas. “Mrs. H?” She called for Mrs. Herrera’s attention as the older woman hung up the phone, “Is my mommy coming to get me now?”

“No sweetheart. I think I’d like you to stay with me for a little while longer. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Ro pouted, “Yeah, but I miss my mommy and daddy. I love you too, but I really miss home.”

“I know you do, but mom got called into the hospital.”

“She’s saving people like daddy?” Mrs. H nodded, “Then I’m not so sad...can I go watch tv with Mr. H?”

“Go right ahead. I’ll join in after I clean up this mess.” 

Ro ran into the living room, grabbing her well worn Tony Bear before jumping onto Mr. H’s lap in the recliner. The older couple were like her grandparents having watched over her since she was a tiny little thing. Safe to say they were her favorite really really old people to hang out with.

“Hey, Roro,” the old man kissed the top of her head, “How are the cookies looking?”

“Really yummy! When she isn’t looking we can sneak and take them.”

He chuckled, “Do you think we can make it past her. She’s pretty crafty.”

Ro nodded enthusiastically, “I’m staying more! So when she’s sleeping we can watch more movies and eat them! We can even have some chocolate milk!”

“Under the cover of night? Sounds like a good plan.”

“What are the two of you talking about?” Mrs. H asked, handing Ro a juice box. 

Ro smiled sweetly, “I wanna watch Polar Express, but he wants to watch the Grinch.”

“How about we watch the Polar Express and we let you open up your Christmas present early?” A pick me up for the disappointment the child had faced today. Ro had been talking about going home the whole day. 

“Yeah!”

“But you can’t sneak out and eat all the cookies when I’m sleeping.”

“Oh, okay,” Ro’s face fell at being caught, “I’ll be extra good. Promise.”

“Go on, grab yours. It’s the one with the Buzz Lightyear wrapping.”

Ro stood and ran to the tree. A couple of presents crowded it, most of them for out of state grandchildren. Grabbing hers, Ro shook the box. She liked surprises and drawing them out was always fun. “I love it!”

“You haven’t even opened it yet,” the old man laughed.

“I know but I’m so excited!  It’s gonna be so cool!” Ro started shredding up the paper, doorbell ringing before she could open up the box to see what was inside. 

Mrs. H waved it off, “Open your toy. I’ll answer the door.” Mrs. H opened the front door, two men blocking the entrance, “Can I help you?”

“We came to pick up the kid,” one answered simply.

“No. She’s fine here. No use in taking her anywhere else. Ro’s comfortable and safe here.”

“My wife is right. She isn’t going anywhere,” Mr. H chimed in, getting up from his chair. 

“Let’s make this nice and simple, okay? Give us the kid so we can be on our way,” the other piped up.

Ro looked between all the adults. The two men looked too big and scary. She never ever went with strangers. “I don’t wanna go with them,” she started, tears already in her eyes, “I wanna stay here.”

“Don’t worry, Roro you won-“ before Mrs. H could finish, a loud bang sounded out through the small living room. 

“Ro run!” Mr. H pushed her small body away, already reaching for the gun he kept near the recliner.

Ro stared shell shocked at Mrs. H on the floor. Red leaking on to the carpet. She didn’t noticed the splattered bits of red staining her Pikachu pajamas. The sound of more bangs made her run. Bigger footsteps chasing after her. Running outside, she crawled into her usual hiding spot. The bear was clutched against her chest as she crawled under the house. Her head not quite grasping what had happened at all. They were all safe and happy just a little bit ago. Mrs. H was just playing a mean prank. She’d tell the big men to leave and give her a cookie. Then Ro would cry, but Mrs. H would hold her and she’d be safe.

“Where did the kid go!”

“Fucking find her or that’s our asses.”

Ro felt scared, but she didn’t want to cry. If she cried she’d make loud sounds and she didn’t want them to find her. She finally made it to the trap door. The one that popped right up into the living room closet. Dropping her bear she pushed it up and climbed up into the closet. 

Her hand landed on something wet and warm. She sat on the edge of the hole and reached down for her bear, cuddling into it for comfort. Through the slits in the door she could see Mrs. H on the floor next to the closet and Mr. H next to the Christmas tree, her new chemistry set crushed under him. They’re eyes looked scary. Too scary. She wanted her mommy and daddy.

The tears started falling and she couldn’t help the sounds. Her mommy and daddy would save her, they always saved people. They’d save her too. They had to. Daddy always said he’d keep her safe. She hugged her bear tightly, hiding her face against its fur, it helped quiet her down some. 

“You’re fucking shiting me!” A man yelled getting back inside the house. 

“Little girl, come out! We know your mommy and daddy. We’re their friends!”

No, they weren’t. Mommy and daddy didn’t like mean people. She didn’t dare speak. 

Their footsteps could be heard going towards the rooms of the house. They wouldn’t find her in her closet. She wouldn’t move. She was too scared to even attempt it even though the front door was so close. 

How come mommy, daddy, or Rhodey haven’t came to save her yet? She tried to remember how Happy taught her how to fight, but she was too little and Happy never wanted to hurt her. The scary men would hurt her.

It felt like forever. All she could hear were the men pushing things and saying bad words. Ro shut her eyes tight, not wanting to see Mr. and Mrs. H. Their eyes felt like they were burning into her.

“How’d we lose that dumbass kid? How old is she four?”

“I don’t fucking know. The house ain’t that big and it’s dark out. She didn’t leave we’ll find her eventually.”

They rummaged through the kitchen for a while. One walked back into the living room, munching on a cookie she had made. He gave a kick to Mr. H’s head as he passed by. The sound of the crack making her flinch. “Not very many places to hide kid,” he called out, “We’ll take you to mom and dad all you gotta do is come hug uncle Davy.”

A woman walked onto the scene, undisturbed by the gore surrounding her. “That sounds kinda suspect don’t you think?”

The man aimed the gun and fired, the red haired lady dodged it easily, and Ro let out a squeak at the sound. Both men stared at the door and ran for it. Only the small woman in between Ro and them. Ro could hear nothing but screaming and hitting. They were gonna take her away. She crawled deeper into the closet, trying to hide under the hanging coats. 

Not too long after it was quiet, if you didn’t take into account the young child’s crying. She heard a steady clack, like the heels Pepper liked to wear, heading for the closet. The door opened and a woman crouched down to look her in the eye. 

“Hi, Ro,” she smiled, “I’m Natasha.”

...N-Natasha?” She asked unsteadily. 

“That’s right.” Natasha held out her hand, “Do you mind stepping out here?”

Ro nodded, trying to be smaller. “I don’t want you. You can lie. I want my mommy and daddy. I just want my mommy and daddy.” She started to cry loudly, the cry where it felt like you couldn’t catch your breath. 

Natasha reached for the child and picked her up, “You’re safe now. I’ve worked with your dad before. I’m an Avenger like him. My friend Nick there worked with your grandpa. See? We’re safe.”

Ro clung to Natasha, needing the comfort she was providing. If Natasha was an Avenger then she was safe. She could vaguely remember seeing a picture of her in papers in Tony’s lab when he worked on the other’s suits. “Are my friends okay?” She hiccuped, the words difficult to decipher but enough for Natasha to understand. 

“They’re hurt and we need to take you out of here. Let us take you somewhere safe.”

Ro shook her head, not understanding. “Are mommy and daddy going to be there?” She sniffled, “Tell them they need to keep their promise and make me safe.”

“As soon as we can find them,” Natasha reassured the child. Natasha pressed Ro’s face against her shoulder, making sure she wouldn’t see anymore of the grisly scene. It was probably in vain but she had to try something. When they were clear, Natasha helped her into the SUV, other S.H.I.E.L.D agents on the scene. 

“He’s all dirty and bloody…” Ro sniffed, not realizing her own appearance gave Tony Bear a run for his money.

“We can get you a new one sweetheart.”

“But daddy gave this Tony Bear to mommy. He’s special and I messed him up. I was supposed to take care of him. And Mr. and Mrs. H are so bloody too,” her breath started coming in short, “I don’t know where mommy and daddy are and uncle Rhodey is fighting. I’m all alone.”

Natasha took the small child’s face into her hands, “Shh, look at me,” she waited until Ro stared at her, “Breathe in and breathe out.” The pair continued the exercise until Ro calmed down. “You’ve been through a lot tonight.”

“....is this what happens where you’re an Avenger? I told daddy I wanted to be one…”

“You want to be an Avenger?” Natasha asked, bypassing the first half of the question, “That would be cool. Too many boys on the team already. Do you have a favorite?”

“Daddy. He keeps me safe all the time. He’s supposed to….Where am I gonna go?”

“Well, we found a nice family that can take care of you until your mom and dad come back home,” Natasha answered, moving Ro’s hair out of her face. “Why that face?”

“I don’t like strangers,” she answered, staring at the house, “Can’t I stay with you? I feel safe with you and daddy knows you, so you’re safe. We can even stay in my little house.”

Natasha was on the verge of saying no. There were things she had to do, but all she could think about was how she had grown up. The smallest bit of niceness would have done wonders. She looked at the frail, small thing that was covered in dirt and blood. “Maybe a couple of days couldn’t hurt.”

Ro shot up to wrap her arms around Natasha’s neck, “Thank you.”

“Yeah, kid,” Natasha patted Ro’s back. Another child wrapping her around their fingers. 

-

“Wakey wakey,” Killian said, slapping your face to get you to rise, “There she is.”

You groaned, opening your eyes. Looking down, you noticed they changed clothes and there were restraints kept you from so much as budging. “Whatever you want...I’m not the way you’re gonna get it. We’ve had this talk before.” And you had as grim as it was in the throes of the honeymoon phase. Tony and you both agreed no matter what he wouldn’t be used to hurt anyone no matter what the risk. You knew Tony would try like hell to save you, of course he would, but if it came down to it well... “He won’t give you what you want.”

“We’ll see about that. Won’t we?” Killian looked toward one of his lackies, “Your kid should be joining us soon enough. What the status on that?”

“They made it there at 10 pm. Still no word, but it’s an old couple and a kid. How hard could have that been?”

“No. No! Leave her alone. She has nothing to do with this!” You shouted, trying in vain to fight the restraints. “Leave her out of this Killian. She’s just a child.”

“Maybe you do have some fight in you after all” he commented on your outburst, otherwise undisturbed, “Might help you with Extremis.”

Maya started setting you up with an IV. “This half is more his idea than anything,” she stated, “I just wanted you and the kid.”

You flinched away from her, “I’m telling you he won’t help you. He’d let me die before he lets another thing he made kill people.

“Well, we’ll just have to bank on you being wrong.” Maya injected the serum into the line. 

There wasn’t time to so much as think before you started screaming. You wanted to be stubborn and hold in the screams. Anything other than giving them the satisfaction, but this was worse than anything you had ever experienced. The liquid felt thick as it moved through your veins. The serum quick to contaminate every inch of your body. A fire had been lit inside of you. Any worries you had trickled away as it was replaced with physical pain. 

Killian took a couple minutes to appreciate the view. “Hasn’t gone boom yet. Might just survive. We should get this show on the road already. The other two and the kid can catch up.”

Everything Tag:

| @sophiatomlinson23​ | @cannonindeez​ | @memyselfandmaddox​ | @mendes-marvel​ | @space-helen​ |

Marvel Tag:

| @asguardiansoftheavengers​ | @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​ | @lovely-geek​ | @atomicfandombomb​ |

Tony Stark Tag:

| @bit-bot0711​ | @tonystarkxreader​ | @mikariell95​ | @genzparker​

Learning To Live

| @editsbyjenny | @vesta-ro | @princess76179​ |

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Lost one sibling, gained four more; Queen x teen reader pt.1

*Author's note*

Can this be true? Two updates in one day?! Well you better damn BELIEVE IT MY PEOPLE!!! I just got this request FINALLY done after working non-stop when I could and finally I had time to just sit down and finish it. So I'd love to thank the requestor for being SOOO patient. And yes this request is VERY long so this is just Part one, pt.2 will be posted immediately after this so just hang tight my darlings :)

So warnings include: INSANE FLUFF, cancerous sickness (leukemia), some angst (but not in the part but buckle up for pt.2), and the lovely and nasty Queenies :) Hope you all enjoy this fic as much as you've enjoyed the last one :)

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

@geek-and-proud

@platawnic

@queendeakyy

@coolcxt

______________________________________________________________

*Tokyo, Japan 1974*

Being here in Tokyo, Japan has been such a thrill. Even though the boys weren't overly popular like the Beatles or Elton John just yet back home in England, at least here in Japan they've greeted them like royalty. There were screaming fans everywhere to greet us at the airport holding up pictures, drawings and signs welcoming the guys to their home country.

The boys had a press conference earlier today and now we were in a special garden just behind the Tokyo tower for the tea ceremony. It was such a beautiful day for such a ceremony and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

As I looked at the boys I could tell they were extremely happy to be here. I looked down at my art book and went back to sketching the boys who were all sitting along the blanket holding their Japanese teacups. Making sure to get each detail of each of their features, and the last detail like the wind blowing their hair down just right.

Oh I should introduce myself; my names (y/n) (l/n). I had gotten a job being an assistant to the band's lawyer Jim Beach just before Queen began recording their 3rd album "Sheer Heart attack". Since joining the boys over a year ago when I was just 16 years old, they have become like a second family to me.

And it's exactly what I needed because—well I've been dealing with some hardships in my family as of late for the past few years now, so being with the guys has really helped brighten my day.

As I watched the boys play with their gifts given to them by the Japanese fans and giving them a recorded message, curtesy of the Japanese press that had joined us along with the ladies who help run the tea ceremonies for only the elite politicians of Japan.

God were they ever silly, Roger photobombing behind in almost every message, Deacy being a secret cheeky guy, Freddie interrupting Roger's greeting, and Brian stepping in when he felt like it during Fred's message. I continued my outline of the boys on the blanket with the Tokyo tower in the background, when I felt something touch behind my ear.

"A blossom for our blossom." I softly grinned and turned around to see Freddie and Deacy standing behind me. I lifted my hand to see just what he had done but he told me, "No, no darling don't touch it. Deacy darling, take a picture of us two."

I blushed and tried to bury my face into my hands.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no love not this time. You've been avoiding all pictures ever since we got here. I deserve at least one with you in it for myself." Deacy said as Freddie pulled me close onto his lap and leaned his head against mine.

"You guys are nuts, you know that?"

"But you love us dear." Freddie said as he gave my temple a quick peck.

"Yeah, guess I do."

"Alright you two look this way." Deacy said as he prepped his camera. We turned to face Deacy and I wrapped my arms around Fred's neck and his arms went around my waist as we leaned our heads against each other's. Deacy got in a few pictures and he said. "Beautiful."

"Tell me we can see the blossom in her hair Deacy."

"Yep, got a clear picture of that." I gently removed the twig from my hair to see a multiple line of cheery blossoms. I smiled and that's when Fred grabbed my art book.

"Working on some new sketches darling?"

"Yeah, Japan's definitely given me some beautiful inspiration. But most of it is still a work in process, so no lookies."

"Aww c'mon dear let me have a sneak peek, please? From one designer to another?"

"No not even if you were my professor Freddie."

"Oh you better hand over the sketch book (Y/n) darling, if you know it's good for you." He playfully threatened. I gripped my book tightly to my chest and that's when he said. "Fine, you leave me no choice. Roger!"

"Shit no!" I took off running and before I even knew it, Roger quickly swooped in and swung me around and he said.

"Might as well give up lovie, you know it's useless to get out of my grasp." He emphasized his point by nuzzling my head like a cat and peppering my face with slobbery kisses.

"Eww Rog! Cut it out!!" I tried to escape his grip but as always it was pointless to escape the arms of Roger Taylor. He kept peppering kisses all over my face, even poking me in the sides slightly tickling me till the grip on my notebook was just enough for it to fall.

Deacy caught it and handed it to Fred.

"Thank you my darlings."

"Deacy, Rog, you both are on the official hate list. I no longer like you two." I huffed.

"Aww, that hurts poppet, that really hurts." Deacy mocked using the puppy dog eyes on me that he knew I couldn't resist.

"After all we've been through (n/n) you'd just dump me like that?" Roger faked cried.

"You are such a drama queen Rog." He grinned and playfully ruffled my hair and that's when Freddie said.

"Ohh (y/n) darling. These are—there's not even a word that can describe what I'm looking at. The realism is uncanny down to the last detail. You even got Brian's hair right and not even I can do that."

"I'll admit, even though I'm no artist that these pictures look like a photograph being developed. You're truly talented (y/n)." Deacy praised me as he looked over Fred's shoulder. Brian soon came up and he said.

"I must admit Fred's right. Every hair detail for all of us is down to the straight detail. Do you—think I could get a signed copy of this?"

"Not if I take one first Brian." Roger spoke up.

"I swear darling, you should go to the university I went to; Ealing Art college. They'd be soo lucky to have you."

"Well.....I mean they're okay but I don't think they're worthy of that university." I muttered.

"Don't be so modest darling, I'll even give you a recommendation. As an alumni I can have the rights to help you get in." he decreed.

"Well I'll—I'll think about it Freddie. Right now I just want to get through secondary school and graduate from that." After that conversation, the five of us continued to have a fun time in the Japanese garden.

After the tour in Japan, I arrived back in London and as the guys were piling in the cab Roger said.

"C'mon love let's go."

"Actually I promised my mum that I'd wait here for her. She said she was gonna take me home."

"You sure?" asked Brian.

"Yeah, she might be waiting outside right now. You guys go on ahead I'll see you guys next week."

"Alright, thanks for coming with us love."

"Thank you guys for inviting me. I had a wonderful time."

"You always make our tours and trips more memorable (y/n) dear. Drive safe." He came up and kissed my cheeks and hugged me. I hugged each of my boys and they piled into the cab waving goodbye to me. I blew them a kiss goodbye and they took off in the cab.

About five minutes after they left, my mom's van pulled up. I smiled at her and picked up my luggage and headed towards the car. I placed them in the backseat and I hugged my mum.

"Did you have fun love?"

"Ohh Japan was so beautiful, I wish you and Kay could've been there to see it."

"I'm sure your sister would've loved to have gone with you."

"How—how has she been?"

"Well we—had a bit of a scare just the other week, but she's stable now."

"What? What happened to her?! Why didn't you call me?"

"I tried but each time I did no one was answering. Plus with the time difference and this internship I didn't want you distracted."

"Mum, if something happens to Kaylee, I deserve to know." She cupped the side of my face and said.

"You're right I'm sorry. Do you wish to see her?" I nodded and said.

"I still gotta give her that gift I promised her." My mum shifted the car into drive and drove us out of the airport to London hospital.

Once we arrived at the hospital, my mum checked us in and we headed towards my sister's room on the 5th floor. Now you remember me mentioning about the family turmoil right? Well it all has to do with my bestest friend in the whole wide world, my older sister Kaylee. See about 4 or 5 years ago we noticed how she'd always get high fevers and suddenly seemed to be losing weight.

At first I thought she was going anorexic but when she passed out and my mum and I saw the bruises forming on her arms, we immediately rushed her over here to the hospital where they diagnosed her with acute myeloid leukemia.

It devastated the whole family and it really began to take a toll on my mum and now we're hardly able to afford my sister's medical bills to pay for all the chemo she has to go through. That's why I got the job with Jim in the first place.

Any checks I get from him, go straight to my sister. Not my college fund. In fact I'm not even going to college, cause I want to continue to fund for my sister's health, and finally get her the cure she deserves.

When we got to her room, there she was lying on her bed, beanie on top of her head to cover her bald head. She turned over to me and smiled tiredly.

"Hey (y/n)." I smiled and rushed over to her and hugged her without hurting her. "How was Japan?"

"It was beautiful. Maybe once you're out and better we can take a trip there."

"I hope so."

"Oh hey, I got you what you've been asking for." I went into my bag and pulled out a poster of the Queen 2 poster that had all the guys' signatures on them. I had asked them while we were in Japan if they could sign this for me. Easily able to trick them, I told them to write it for Kay, telling them that it was a nickname of sorts.

"Oh my god." She squealed softly as she took the poster in her hands and looked at it. See she's the reason why I got into Queen. Since she's two years older than me, she first heard about the first Queen album and kept playing it on repeat.

Liking the music I was hearing, she gave me a brief education on Queen and ever since then, we've been fangirls of Queen ever since. They're music has really helped my sister a lot especially since her leukemia has seemed to be getting progressively worse in the past year.

"Thank you (y/n). You are so lucky that you get to work with them."

"Well it's mostly just doing stuff for their lawyer. I don't actually help make the songs."

"Still, you're living every girl's dream right now at the chance of even being close to them. Are they nice?"

"Oh Kay, nice doesn't even begin to describe them. They're so sweet and down to earth. Cheeky at times especially Roger and Freddie, but they are all so supportive and treat me like I'm a part of their little family."

"I'm glad they're treating you right." I then showed her some of the pictures that I had drew while I was there and some of the photos I took. "God (y/n). I envy you for your drawings. And the fact that you were in Japan. You know I always wanted to go there."

"Well—maybe when you get out, we can take a trip there." Unaware of my mum's solemn attitude, my sister smiled and said.

"Yeah. Maybe we can make it just the two of us squirt." She playfully shoved my head, our friendly little gesture of affection since we were kids.

"Hey I'm 2 years younger than you."

"Still a squirt compared to me." She teased.

After about a week of being back home, I went between my final few weeks of home schooling, the studio and the hospital. Right now I was sitting with my sister, the two of us having the boys' "Sheer Heart attack" album playing in the background as my sister and I were chatting away.

"Okay so FMK; Paul McCartney, David Bowie or Elton John." I asked my sister.

"Oh Goddamnit (n/n) why make me choose those three. I love all of them!" she whined.

"Cause I'm evil like that. No c'mon you made me have to kill Brian the last time so this is payback."

"Okay, okay. So.....ugh I hate you. Okay I would marry Elton, fuck Paul and I'm sorry David. God I hate you so much!"

"Haha!"

"Well don't let David hear you say that darling." Oh god it—it can't be. We suddenly looked up and there stood Brian, Freddie, Deacy and Roger.

"Oh my god what are—what are you guys doing here?"

"You left your journal at the studio last night. We called your mum to see if we could give it to you at the house but she told us you were at the hospital." Answered Deacy as he held up my art journal.

"At first we got worried that something bad had happened to you, but then she explained to us what was going on." Continued Roger.

"So you must be the real Kay." Freddie pointed towards my sister.

"Guys I'm—I'm sorry I tricked you, I just....."

"It's alright love. There's no need to explain. It's sweet you got something for your sister after all you've done for her. But we figured maybe a visit from the real band might make her day a bit better." Brian said with a soft smile.

"I—I....." Kaylee started as the boys all came in and sat around us.

"So Kaylee darling, which of our three albums is your favorite?" asked Freddie.

"Uhh well I—it's hard to pick but I guess your recent album Sheer Heart attack is probably my favorite."

"Do you have a favorite song from the album?" asked Brian.

"Oh god uhh—can't I say I love them all? It's so hard to pick a favorite song of yours."

"That's understandable." Replied Deacy.

For the rest of the time, my sister got to ask the guys so many questions about how their musical processes, how they choose which lyrics work the best, how the arrangement works when performing, how they all got together, everything she had been dying to know since she was a music nut.

And bless the boys they answered all her questions no matter how ridiculous or embarrassing they were. Soon a nurse came in to tell me that visiting hours were over.

I hugged my sister goodbye and even the guys gave her a hug and kiss goodbye, which made her heart meter skyrocket, especially when she got a kiss to the cheek from Deacy.

I walked out with the guys and we all piled into the car and I said to them.

"Thanks you guys."

"For what lovie?" asked Roger.

"For—being nice to my sister. You four.....have made her happier than my mum and I have seen her in years since she's had to go back and forth between home and the hospital."

"You're family to us (n/n). And if we could give a little bit more back to you, it's always worth it. We're honored that you let us in on this personal matter of your life. Thank you for letting us have your trust." Said Brian.

"Just—promise me that none of this gets leaked out."

"Don't be ridiculous dear. We wouldn't dare proclaim this secret of yours out to the public. Your sister's secret heath crisis is safe with us." Freddie said as he stroked down my hair. I smiled and thanked them once more.

One year later in 1975 I was with the boys, Mr. Reid, Paul Prenter and my boss Jim Beach. We were currently in Ray Foster's office waiting for Freddie to arrive for the meeting of the next hit album. I leaned my chin against my palm as I drummed against the armrest of the chair I was sitting in.

Finally Freddie walked in greeting us with a hello.

"You're late." Said Mr. Foster.

"Am I?" questioned Freddie.

"Saved you a seat." Paul said as he gestured at the chair I was sitting at. He then glared down at me ordering me to move. I sat up but then just before I could walk away to stand beside my boss, I was pulled onto the couch and saw that it was Roger who had pulled me in to sit on his lap. He winked at me and placed a quick peck on my forehead as Mr. Reid introduced my boss to Ray Foster.

"You must stop calling him that." Freddie said as he lit himself a cigarette.

"That's his name." said Mr. Reid.

"No we cannot keep calling him Jim Beach. No that's absurd not to mention unspeakably boring." He breathed in a quick drag before proclaiming. "Miami. From now on; I dub thee, Miami Beach." My boss chuckled then said a quick little teasing joke of Miami Beach.

Truthfully I liked it, hopefully I can have the honor of calling him that one day but for now I'll just settle on Mr. Beach as I have been referring him as.

"Right now that everyone's got an acceptable name let's get to it. Look; we just really need something special. More hits, like "Killer Queen", only bigger."

"It's not bloody widgets we're making. We can't just reproduce Killer Queen." Said Roger as Freddie sat up and walked towards Ray's record player taking out a record from his bag.

"No. We can do better." Said Freddie as he placed the record on the vinyl and turned it on. He lifted the needle and placed it at a specific point and soon coming out of the speakers was the famed song from Carmen. I grinned and as Freddie gracefully walked around moving his finger around to the tun, Mr. Foster bluntly stated.

"It's opera."

"Opera!" exclaimed Mr. Reid.

"Opera." Echoed Paul.

"Ahh there seems to be an echo in here." Deacy stated which made me choke out a laugh. As the song continued, when it got to the big crescendo part of the song, Freddie went all out waving his arm in tune before on the final note, slamming his hand down on Foster's desk. He almost couldn't contain his excitement as I chuckled softly.

Brian, Rog and Deacy were also in tune to the idea as they with less enthusiasm as Freddie but the same interest followed the next crescendo of the choir. Freddie turned the volume down as Brian said.

"See we don't want to repeat ourselves. The same formula over and over."

"Formulas are a complete and utter waste of time." Freddie stated bluntly.

"Formulas work. Let's stick with the formulas. I like formulas." Mr. Foster said.

"We'll call the album......A Night at the Opera." Hmm after a Marx brother's film. Sounds interesting.

"Are you aware that no one actually likes Opera."

"I like it." I said to myself, but I guess it was loud enough because Mr. Foster looked right at me through his shades and asked skeptically.

"Do you?"

"I do as well." I heard my boss say. I looked at him and he gave me a slight nod. God he was such a cool boss.

"No don't misunderstand darling, it's a rock and roll record. With the scale of opera. The pathos of Greek tragedy, the wit of Shakespeare, the—unbridled joy of musical theatre. It's a musical experience. Rather than just another record, something for everyone something—something that will make people feel belongs to them. We'll mix genres, we'll cross boundaries, we'll—we'll—we'll speak in bloody tongues if we want to."

"There-there's no musical ghetto that can contain us." Proclaimed Roger.

"That's it." Freddie pointed towards Roger.

"No one knows what Queen means because it doesn't mean one thing." Deacy pointed out.

All was quiet, man I have a feeling that this album was gonna be the one that would put Queen on the map of the entire world, that after this they were gonna change the name of music forever.

"What do you think John?" Foster asked Mr. Reid.

"I—agree with the band."

"Of course you do." He then turned towards me and asked, "How about you uhh—" I was shocked that he wanted my opinion. I looked to the guys and they gave me an encouraging nod.

"(Y/n). Well—fortune favors the bold, does it not?" I felt Roger pat my shoulder. Freddie then leaned against Foster's desk as he said.

"Surely a man of your—unique taste. Isn't afraid of a little risk?" Foster debated before finally saying.

"Please don't make me regret this."

"You're fun." Freddie pointed out with a grin.

After the meeting, Jim called me into his office and I said as I peeked into it.

"You wished to see me sir?"

"Yes c'mon in (y/n). Have a seat." I took a seat in front of his desk. "Alright (y/n), now it's come to my attention that since you and the boys have gotten so close with each other since you started working here, I feel it's best that since I can't go with them to Rockfield due to my legal matters here as their lawyer, that I'm electing you to go with them to keep an eye on them."

I was flabbergasted. Me? Go with them to Rockfield studios?

"M—Mr. Beach....."

"Miami." Wow he did he really just ask me to call him that. "Freddie's insisted that you refer to me as that from now on." Ahh that Freddie Mercury.

"Miami. I mean it's an honor but I—I don't think I can go away for that long. I mean....."

"Please (y/n). You know as well as I do that Paul has no good intentions when it comes to Queen." That I do. Ever since working with the boys, I've had a sickening feeling about Paul Prenter. There was just something about him that felt—slimy, ill, almost like a virus.

"Yeah."

"There's no other person I would trust more to go with the boys to the farm. Plus they all believe that you should go with them anyway so it's out of my hands either way."

"I'll think about it."

"Just make sure you tell them in two days' time when they leave for the recording." I nodded and stood up. "Oh wait, one more thing. Your paycheck." He then took out his checkbook and wrote down my pay for the 2 weeks. I thanked him but when I looked down, my eyes widened.

"Wait uhh—Miami. This....this is double the normal amount you pay me."

"I know."

"I agreed to be paid 500 pounds."

"It's come to my attention there's some financial struggle you're going through. The boys wouldn't explain it in full detail but they made me aware that you were in dire need of it. Plus I know they can be a lot to handle, so you deserve 1000 anyway." I looked down but couldn't help the small smile across my face.

"Thank you—Miami." He smiled and nodded at me and I left his office with my raised paycheck. As I walked across the hall, I saw the boys go from the snooping position to trying to act nonchalantly, like they weren't spying on me. "I know you four had something to do with this." I said raising my check.

"We have no idea what you're talking about (n/n)." said Brian as he looked over his six-pence coin that served as his guitar pick.

"So you're coming with us right?" asked Freddie.

"I—I'll get back to you on that. I—I need to talk to Kay about it."

"I'm sure she'll let you come with us. C'mon love just say you'll be coming with us." Roger said as he came up and wrapped his arms around me.

"Besides you'll be much better company than Prenter. I'll go mad if I have to see him every day while we're there." Said Deacy.

"Exactly Deacy!" agreed Roger.

So that night after work, I was in Kaylee's room and I told her about what I was going to do for the summer and she was psyched for me.

"I say you go!" she proclaimed.

"But what about you?" I asked. She reached over and took my hand and she said.

"You've been doing too much for me. You've always put me over yourself. And this is your last chance to be a free kid before you start thinking about college. So please for my sake go with them. If not I'll never let you live it down. Ever."

"Okay, okay. I'll give Fred a call tomorrow and tell him."

"Call him tonight."

"Fine. And you're sure you'll be fine."

"Yes. I've got mum to look after me. And I expect new drawings, pictures and lots of stories from you when you get back."

"I promise Kay, thanks girl." She smiled as I leaned forward and we hugged each other.

In two days, the guys picked me up right at 4am on the dot so that way we'd get there by sunrise to the farm. Deacy put my bags in the trunk while I hugged and kissed my mum and sis goodbye.

"Now be sure to be good for these boys (y/n)."

"I will mum. Promise me to keep me updated on everything?"

"You know me, I'll be calling you every night." I smiled and separated from my mum before finally standing before my sister.

"Don't do anything insane till I get back." I told her. She smiled and scoffed playfully.

"How can I? You're taking all the insanity with you." I grinned back at her and the two of us embraced each other. "Have fun tigress."

"Be strong lioness."

"Oh come on let's get a move on! Anymore wasted time here and we'll be late!" I heard Paul cry out.

"Piss off Prenter! Let her say goodbye to her family." Brian sneered.

"Go on, don't want you to get into trouble." Kay said as we separated. I waved bye to them one last time and I got into the car with Rog and Deacy and soon we drove off.

"Since it'll be a long drive and it's still pretty early, why don't you try and go back to sleep (y/n)?" suggested Deacy. I nodded and leaned my head back against the car, but Deacy offered his shoulder for me to sleep on. I took his offer and in his playful jealous tone, Roger spoke up.

"What about me?"

"You fidget around too much on long car rides." I moaned tiredly.

"Why you little—"

"Face it Rog, she loves me more than you do when it comes to sleeping buddies. Isn't that right love?"

"Yeah." I heard Rog huff but then he said.

"Well at least I provide the best blankets." He emphasized that point by draping his fur coat over my shoulders as a blanket.

"Won't deny that though. You both take such good care of me."

"Only the best for you love." I nuzzled into Deacy's shoulder and exhaled tiredly through my nose and began to fall back asleep.