#and mentally hearing myself break out into nervous laughter inside my head

[venndaai]

…

[inkblot22]

Play Hard Games, Win Soft Prizes

Gonna be absolutely so real with you, I have no idea what that title means. Maybe it'll make sense to someone. This is a request from @whenwewhereyounger. If you'd like me to remove that tag, I can do so, just let me know. Like I do for Leona fics where Farena and his canonically unnamed wife show up, I made up a name for Ruggie's grammy, just like her appearance.

Shoutout to my girlfriend for helping me with a concept that I was struggling with in this fic! Woohoo! I did so much freaking research for this one, scarred myself for life tbh, but hey, I found out a lot. So much. Also: does Ruggie's UM focused on physical or mental control, and, depending on which one, does it matter if the subject(s) are alive? Dividers by @/cafekitsune

This fic is for: Anyone who can handle it! The reader does have hair, but the length is never specified. Reader is Yuu/MC, like usual in my fics, but it is mostly implied more than anything else.

TW for: DEAD DOVE, DO NOT EAT, straight up murder and stalking in this one, everyone. Non-sexual nudity, blood and explicit gore, questionable usage of magic. Also so many words. There are 8763 words in this fic.

Ruggie is a mite conniving. You’d be lying if you said that most of Savanaclaw wasn’t, but Ruggie specifically is a calculating little bastard.

That’s rude. You know that’s rude. Ruggie does what he needs to do in order to survive. It’s something that has been drilled into him from the moment he saw the world, but you just wish he wouldn’t have invited you out here since he knows this area isn’t the safest.

Grim decided to hang out with the Octavinelle guys and you went with Ruggie for spring break. It was kind of nice, the trip there. The Afterglow is beautiful. You enjoyed yourself, it was fun and Ruggie has a wonderful sense of humor, or perhaps his laughter is just contagious. That and the sun on your skin as you traveled made for a wonderful time, actually.

No, your problems started when you got to his hometown. About as soon as you entered, something already felt off, like there were a hundred eyes watching you, waiting for something. Perhaps it was the odd shadow that seemed to be laying over the entire place, or maybe it was the occasional snicker or whisper that you thought you could hear in the eerie breeze. Whatever it was, you kind of felt like an asshole for judging his hometown so swiftly. He was sharing something deeply personal with you by even bringing you here. Ruggie is very emotionally intelligent, though, despite him being a piece of shit, so when he noticed your trepidation, he reached out and squeezed your hand.

“Are you nervous? Shyeheeheehee, don’t worry. I’m right here.” And he smiled, and you felt sort of relaxed. His smile always made you feel relaxed.

Nothing could be as relaxing when he showed you to his little home. It was nice, the walls made of dirt and a few very beautiful rugs on the inside, from what you could see. The roof was thatched, but beyond the light being streamed in by the afternoon sun, you couldn’t see very well inside the place after Ruggie opened the door. He poked his head in and pressed a hand against your belly, a silent “back up.”

You took a step back and sharply turned your head to the sound of a twig snapping. There wasn’t anything there, but you also couldn’t see the twig. For a place called the Afterglow, this area was honestly kind of shadowy. It was pretty unsettling, like a blanket that had a spider hidden in it somewhere, but you didn’t know where. You stared out into the dim distance and a gentle touch on your arm scared you out of your skin.

Ruggie’s hand retracted as he looked at you as though you'd lost it, “What’s wrong?”

“I- Sorry, I thought I heard something.”

“You did? I didn’t hear anything.”

You gave him a wide-eyed stare and he gave you one of those big grins that makes you feel like everything is going to be okay. His hand rested on your arm and he gave your bicep a gentle squeeze.

“Relax, okay? I’m right here.” With that, he led you inside and snapped his fingers, a few lights flickering on, “Grammy doesn’t seem to be home, which means you get to help me with dinner.”

“H-huh?”

“You can cook, I’ve tasted your food before, shyeheehee. C’mon.” He looped his fingers through yours again, leading you deeper into the house. As you walked, the lights behind you turned off so the ones in front of you could turn on. You belatedly realized that the electricity is reacting to Ruggie.

“No, I just- I don’t know what I would make. I mean, what does your grandmother even like?”

Ruggie gave you a sort of odd look and showed you to a kitchen, a basket with some fresh vegetables sitting on the counter. Ruggie opened the fridge and you stiffly approached the veggies.

“Hmmm, oh… Looks like we’re making pasta today. That sound good?” He asked you.

You nodded, still feeling a bit out of your element. Ruggie pointed to the veggies and smiled kindly.

“Do me a favor and start washing those? I can do most of the rest until Grammy shows up.”

You calmly looked around the kitchen for a large bowl and some baking soda, glancing back at Ruggie as he retrieved a pan and a few seasonings, clearly planning to brown the… honestly somewhat suspicious-looking slab of meat on the counter. He carefully cut the striped fur and underlying skin off of the steak and rubbed some seasonings into the meat itself, his ear twitching as he glanced back at you.

You fill your bowl with cool water, salt, and baking soda, then start washing the vegetables, “So… where is your grandmother?”

Ruggie snickers under his breath, “I’m not all-knowing.”

“Well… yeah, but I just figured she would have told you?”

“Nah. She’ll probably be back soon. Make sure you wash that celery twice, okay?”

You nod obediently and diligently tackle your task, only pausing as Ruggie plops the meat into a pan and leans back on his heels, whistling as his arms rest behind his head. He looks way more casual than usual, which is especially funny to you since his uniform is usually in some form of disarray because he moves around so much. You smile to yourself and re-wash the celery, then rinse all of the vegetables.

Ruggie’s whistling cuts off abruptly and his head jerks towards the direction of the entrance. You turn off the water, your blood chilling as you hear soft footsteps headed towards the kitchen. In other words, there was someone walking towards you. Ruggie went back to his lazy grin as he watched the meat, flipping it over a bit as a large, sinewy woman steps into view. 

She looks incredibly serious, and there’s a scar lining her face, from her jaw, straight across her nose and splitting the start of her left eyebrow. She has a pair of fuzzy, round ears, similarly to Ruggie, and freckles along her forearms. In her hair, there’s streaks of gray, but other than that, her hair is a soft, mousy brown. Just like Ruggie, she has those pretty crystal gray eyes, like the sky just after a nice rain. 

She curled her lip in a grin and pinched Ruggie’s side. He yelped, even though it didn’t look that harsh, but it must have surprised him.

Her voice is brusque, like she might smoke or she’s a lot older than she looks, “You didn’t tell me you were bringing your cute buddy along, whelp!” If you didn’t know any better, you’d say you saw Ruggie’s tail wiggle. From what you’ve understood, that tends to be a sign that he wants to remove himself from a situation. The lady, who is very obviously Ruggie’s grandmother, approached you and jerked out a very firm looking hand as Ruggie awkwardly turned back to his cooking meat.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Vittoria Bucchi, though most folks around here call me Vita or Grammy. And you are?”

You stuttered out your name, tentatively grasping Vita’s hand in a handshake. She’s kind of a mountain of a woman. She’s a good handful of inches taller than Ruggie, and if she’s taller than Ruggie, she’s definitely taller than you. She’s got to at least be 6 feet tall.

Vita’s grin grew wider and she turned back to her grandson, scooping him up in what appeared to be a bone-crushing hug and kissing him on the cheek before she placed a small paper sack on the counter and took a step back. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the sight of the two of you, and then she let out a sigh and put her hands on her hips.

“Well done, you two, but you both stink. Ruggie, darling, why don’t you take your little friend out to the showers? Grammy can take over from here.”

Ruggie seemed grateful for the out. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he was blushing. He grabbed your hand and gave you a very unconvincing grin. Of course you followed him.

As soon as you’re in what you assume is the bedroom (there only seems to be one of those) he let out a little sigh and chuckled, “Uh… heh, sorry. I forgot to warn you that Grammy is kinda…”

“Energetic?” You offered, then shook your head as you watched Ruggie pick out some clothing, “I don’t mind. She seems really sweet. I was pretty scared when she just walked in and stared at me for a moment, but she’s very cool…”

There’s a moment as Ruggie doesn’t say anything. You felt the horrible need to fill the silence, so you continued speaking.

“Uh, I can… I can see where you get it from.” Your voice came out as more of a mumble, but you know Ruggie heard you. He has good ears.

He stood up and grinned, rubbing the back of his neck with two towels and some clothes rolled up inside of them, “Oh, you think so? Shyheehee, my cute underclassman thinks I’m cool!” He was teasing you, but the butterflies in your stomach didn’t account for that. Your mouth went dry and he nudged you with the back of his hand, guiding you to follow him.

The neighborhood kind of grows on you. Several kids ran up to Ruggie, all of them sporting the too-big ears that you often see on wild hyena pups and very shaggy hair. They cheer and dance around him and he takes it in stride, waving them off with the same thing his grandmother told you two, that he stinks and needs to take a shower. The kids all intermittently say that the water is probably going to be cold by now, but Ruggie shrugs.

You’re not mad about that. It’s honestly fine. Ruggie pulls you into a somewhat creepy, kind of large stall, and you can see a rather frightening-looking dead moth underneath the dividing wall. There’s no way that the water reaches all the way to the opposite wall, but it kind of makes sense, since there’s only tile just in front of the two shower heads before it transitions to the same wood that the stall walls are made of. There’s hooks on the wall opposite the shower heads, with nice little baskets underneath them. The heavy wooden stall door is locked securely. It’s a little strange that the wall with the door is a full-length wall, but the walls adjacent to it, other than the shower wall itself, only come down part way. There’s no roof.

When you turn back to Ruggie, he’s already hung up the towels, put the new clothing down, and is buck ass naked and fiddling with the shower controls. You stifle a gasp and his ear swivels towards you.

“Everything okay?” He asks, ever so innocently.

You are the one being weird. What’s a shower with your close friend? Nothing is going to happen. So you stripped down as well, stepping towards Ruggie as the water turned on. 

As soon as the water touched you, you squealed. It was, quite literally, a jet of freezing cold water on your bare ass. Ruggie bursts into raucous laughter and lathers his hair like the cold water doesn’t even bother him.

It took you a moment to get acclimated. There was a rattling at the stall door and Ruggie didn’t even bother turning around as he rinsed his hair, his hands keeping the water out of his ears, “Ocupado!”

Whoever was on the other side didn’t move until Ruggie walked over to get his towel, a kind of unimpressed look on his face aimed towards the door. The shadow under the door retreats and you bring your shower to an end and dry off as well. Ruggie leaned against the door, clad in a pair of loose shorts and a kind of baggy shirt, waiting on you. He’s been very long suffering with you, thus far, but he’s very easygoing, so you’re unsure if you can do much to change that. Not that you want to.

He’s offered you some of his own clothing, to borrow. Most of his stuff is a bit… the wrong size? So you can wear it comfortably enough. He’s not bulked up or incredibly tall like Jack, so it’s a nice, cool change to your school uniform that fits you well enough.

He smiled as you approached him, sighing airily as he grabbed your hand, “Ah, I feel so refreshed after that! Usually I get water in my ears, but I guess you’re my lucky charm today, shyeheehee!”

“I bet that’s even less pleasant when your hearing is so good.” You supplemented, politely making conversation.

Ruggie shrugged, lifting his arm to rest his hand in his wet hair, “Eh, it’s not that bad. Now, a bug flying in there is a completely different story.”

“Oh, I bet. I wish I could wiggle my ears like you can.” You’ve always admired Ruggie’s ears, but not really because you wanted to have your own look like that. You just thought they were a friendly shape. Ruggie’s honestly very cute.

He gave you a pleasant, closed-lipped smirk and opened the door to his home. It smelled amazing in there. Ruggie wandered to the bedroom and you followed the smell. Vita grinned at you as you entered. She’s got a gap in her front teeth, and cute little fangs like Ruggie has.

“You’re just in time, kiddo! Ruggie come back with you?”

“Uh… yes?”

She giggles, much like her grandson, and plates up the creamy-looking pasta, “Well, you better go get ‘em.”

You had no idea where to look, but you obediently went looking regardless. Your search through a dark house was not particularly fruitful. The lights didn’t turn on for you, as you have zero magical ability, so you crept through the house. This house is not particularly large, and as you walked, you made a mental map, of sorts. The main hallway opens into the living area, which is attached to the kitchen. The kitchen has two entrances, one that goes into the hallway and the other that is attached to the living area. In the hallway, there is at least one door. As you feel around for the second one, you stumble blindly into a dark room because there was no door. Your toes hurt from the way you stumbled. You regained your balance, and after taking a step, you heard a soft click, which made your blood freeze. You went stiff, waiting for a second click or some other noise, and then something touched your back and you shrieked.

Ruggie took a couple steps away from you, raising his hands as you shot him a nasty look.

“Where were you?” You frowned.

He simply laughed and grabbed your hand, guiding you back to the kitchen. Vita was waiting, patient as can be. She smiled and took a seat. Ruggie followed suit, and you followed Ruggie.

As you ate- which, by the way, was amazing even though you were certain the meat came from a zebra because it tasted gamey- you listened in on the conversation that Vita and Ruggie shared. You felt like a bystander, but a welcome one. This was a pocket of domesticity, despite how unusual it felt to be here.

“So, how’s school going, whelp?” Vita asks between bites.

Ruggie swallows and tilts his head so he can look at his grammy as he shovels food into his mouth, “It’s going okay. No trouble.”

“Mmm. You’re getting good grades?”

“Of course.”

You quietly ate as Vita’s eyes turned to you. Her eyes narrowed as she smiled, flicking between you and her grandson, “And you scored yourself a nice partner. They’re so polite!”

Ruggie coughed, then sat up a lot straighter than you’ve ever seen him sit up, “Uh, heh- Grammy, we aren’t dating.”

“You aren’t? What a shame. Maybe things’ll change soon.”

It was your turn to cough. You choked and a noodle came out of your nose. Ruggie and Vita just stared as you intensely wished to be anywhere but your seat at the table, and then Ruggie, very gently, incredibly gingerly, pulled the noodle out of your nose. It burned, but not as bad as the embarrassment, but Vita and Ruggie went back to eating as though that didn’t happen at all.

After dinner is over, Ruggie washed the dishes and you dried them. He kept laughing to himself. 

“What’s so funny?” As soon as the words left your mouth, you wished you could take them back.

Ruggie glanced up at you, those pretty sky-after-rain eyes narrowed in mirth, and then he did not mention the noodle incident at all, instead pointing at the little knob of bone that was inside the zebra steak earlier on a single plate. It’s fully cooked.

“Grammy left it out, ‘cause you’re human. I just thought it was funny.”

“I- I mean, I guess I could have eaten the marrow?” You placed the dishes in their places and Ruggie shrugged.

“Do you want the marrow?” Ruggie asked, a sort of sardonic tone to his voice.

“Not really.”

He nodded, then picked the little bone chunk up and popped it in his mouth. He casually grabbed the plate it was on and washed it. For a moment, you thought he was just sucking the marrow out of the bone, but then a horrible crunch resounded from his jaw and you just stared for a moment.

“Are… you okay?” You asked quietly.

Ruggie politely finished chewing, handing off the now-clean plate to you, and turned around so his back was to the counter, “Yeah.”

Okay. So he just… crunched on a bone. Wonderful. You silently made a note to never put your hand in his mouth and put the final plate away.

There was a comfortable silence as Ruggie stared out the window, and then he broke it, “So typically, Grammy takes one cot while I take the other. Do you want your own cot?”

“What?”

“To sleep on.” His lips quirked into a smile and you blinked a couple times.

“I don’t need my own cot. I usually sleep with Grim on my head anyway.”

Ruggie nodded and covered his chin with his knuckles as he snickers, “Shyeheeheehee! Well, I’m not as cute or compact as Grim, but if you want, we can share a cot.”

The two of you already shared a shower. Sharing a cot is honestly something of a step down, “That’s fine.”

Ruggie gives you that soothing grin and grabs your hand, “Promise I’m not a sleep fighter like Grammy. Let’s get to bed. Tomorrow I wanna give you the grand tour.”

So, of course you found yourself lying against Ruggie as he quietly snored. His grammy doesn’t snore, but you actually couldn’t tell if she was asleep or not. Before the two of you laid down to go to sleep, it was mutually and silently agreed that neither of you wanted to be a spoon, so you decided to lie shoulder to shoulder, but Ruggie is apparently a bit of a sleep cuddler, since as soon as he fell asleep, you were bundled against his chest. 

You weren’t really complaining. Ruggie is a piece of shit and emotionally intelligent, so you harbor the belief that he knows. You weren’t really subtle about your affection for him, but you weren’t overt either. You would share your lunch with him. You would forage on your down time, just hoping to catch a glimpse of him but often bumping into Jade. Whenever Crewel decided to have a shadowing class, where you had to look at what your upperclassmen were doing, you’d go to Ruggie’s side as soon as humanly possible. And now, here you were, having decided to stay the whole week of spring break with a guy who probably saw you as some kind of younger sibling.

Oh well. You closed your eyes and heard that clicking noise again. You sat up and Ruggie’s eyes opened, but you didn’t really think he was awake, since they closed after a moment of him staring through where you were. It was that thing that you’ve seen so many animals do. Grim did that too. It’s that protective thing that animals do when something slightly disturbs their rest. You had the thin hope that you didn’t fully wake him up as you stared into the darkness near the doorway. There was nothing there, and you’re not stupid enough to go wandering into the dark and chasing a noise. You laid back down, shutting your eyes as your head rested on Ruggie’s arm and shoulder.

Sleep didn’t come easy. It hadn’t ever since you ended up in Twisted Wonderland. You attributed this to the stress, honestly. You dreamt about the darkness, spreading like ink through cloth. It bleeds into the world around you and you see it crawling up your feet and ankles, as though you’re a ragdoll, something soft and made of cloth and being tainted. When it reaches your elbows, you felt something heavy in your stomach, bringing you to your knees. The ink crawled up your shoulders, to your neck, and your mouth opened, darkness spewing out of the depths of your very being. As you looked up into the dark sky, you had a resounding, loud thought within your dream, “Is this what overblotting feels like?”

You woke up to the sound of sniffling and someone shushing someone else, as well as a soft, rolling massage against the base of your ear. As you woke a bit more, you realize that you were the one crying, and Ruggie’s hand is massaging your neck as he shushed you like he was talking to a distraught child. 

“Shh, shh… It’s okay, you’re alright.” He whispers.

You rolled onto your back and looked up at the sunlight coming through the window, then back at Ruggie’s soft smile. Your head hurt, “What…?”

“You were crying in your sleep. Are you okay?”

“Oh. Yeah. I’m good.”

Ruggie very obviously didn’t believe you, but he moved back and Vita appeared in the doorway, holding a steaming cup. She smiled and passed it down to Ruggie, who passed it to you.

It’s just hot water, but it’s relaxing and your headache eased as you sipped it, offering a sheepish grin to Ruggie and Vita, “Sorry. The… The crying doesn’t usually happen.”

Ruggie tilted his head and Vita’s ears flicked as she sighed. Both of them are wearing different clothing, Vita was wearing a sleeveless shirt and a pair of loose khaki shorts and Ruggie was wearing a sports jersey and a pair of basketball pants. 

Vita mumbled something about getting to work and left the room, and Ruggie placed a hand on your wrist. His hands were warm and he tilted his head, his voice soft, not even above a whisper as he gently squeezed your arm.

“You’re safe. With me, you’re safe.” He let go and stood up, stretching with a little whoop on his tongue, “Well, lemme find you something to wear. We gotta go soon!”

You stood up as well, far more comfortable in the house now that the shadows clung strictly to the corners of the walls and behind the doors, and took your still-warm, empty cup to the kitchen sink. You washed it, drying and putting it away before you returned and Ruggie promptly passed off a bundle of clothing to you and tweaked your nose.

“I’ll be right outside, okay? Shyeheeheehee, don’t have a heart attack without me.” He slumps out of the room.

Ruggie is a chronic sloucher. You thought it was kind of funny, really. He’d look a lot taller if he stood straight, but it was kind of cute. He doesn’t walk, he lopes. It’s cute.

You paused your fuzzy thoughts as you pulled the sweatpant shorts up your legs to shoot a look at the window. You could have sworn that you saw something from the corner of your eye. You stared at the window a moment longer, then quickly finished dressing, putting on the old tank top that Ruggie lent you.

You left the room in a bit of a haste, slamming into Ruggie. The impact knocked both of you down and Ruggie shot back up to help you up.

“Hey, what’s the matter? Are you okay?”

“I, uh, I saw something in the window?” It sounded stupid when you said it. You swallowed and shook your head, “Nevermind, I- it’s stupid, I’m just… seeing things.”

“It’s not stupid.” Ruggie reassured you, a smile on his face as he grabbed your arm to steady you, “You’ve got to trust your eyes and ears, right? What’d you see?”

You shook your head, “I didn’t get a good look.”

Ruggie nodded so understandingly that you almost burst into tears, his hand snaking down your arm so he could grasp your hand, “Alright. That’s fine. C’mon, I gotta show you around. You’re gonna feel something today, shyeheeheehee!”

You followed him around as he showed you the neighborhood. It’s actually rather large, considering. He explained that this section was mostly hyena beastmen, which might have been why you felt so freaked out at first. A lot of the littler neighbors, the kids, were more or less nocturnal. It’s a thing they grow out of as they adjust their schedules to tasks that usually operate during the day. The dim haze in the area persists, despite it being broad daylight out. 

Ruggie showed you to the showers again, then to the somewhat sparse community garden, where Vita happened to be. She waved and Ruggie squeezed your hand as the two of you waved back. A lot of these houses were falling apart, plenty of the neighbors wandering around looking overworked and overtired. You noticed some older kids, the human one looking kind of familiar with shaggy blond hair and green eyes while the other has black-streaked brown hair and hyena features and wide brown eyes, getting into a fist fight. You took a step forward to stop them and Ruggie stopped you with a hand on your belly.

“It’s fine. They’ll figure it out themselves. C’mon.” He led you away.

That didn’t sit well in your stomach, but this was Ruggie’s turf. Who knew? Maybe you’d have gotten stabbed by one of those kids. Anything can happen.

A chill runs up your back and you look around, noticing a man leaning against the shower stalls. You furrowed your brow and Ruggie turned to look at whatever had caught your eye.

“What is it?” He asked.

You shook your head. It wasn’t worth making a big fuss about some dude just minding his business. Ruggie showed you some kind of herb shed next? It was kind of hard to explain, but top to bottom, it was drying racks for herbs and mushrooms. And almost everything else is either houses or someone else’s property.

“What do you think?” He asked you with a kind of lopsided grin. 

“It’s not what I was expecting,” You admitted. This place was a part of Ruggie, of course it was, and even though this place wasn’t perfect, you don’t imagine the guy you have a crush on would be who he is without it, so you tack on, “It’s very home-like. People working together for the community. Plus, those were some really bomb herbs.”

Ruggie’s grin turns into a beaming smile and he tilts his head, his fist coming up to his chin as his shoulders jerk and he contains his giggle, “Shyeheehee, that’s big, coming from you. Well, since we’re up, we better get moving. There’s a nice little spot over there and I’d bet that there’s something worth foraging there.”

“I can forage!” The words spilled out of your mouth, making your cheeks burn, but Ruggie laughed it off, tweaking your nose again.

“I know that. C’mon.”

Ruggie walked off, and you followed him, that prickle on the back of your neck fading as you entered what seemed like an oasis in the middle of the desolate land that everyone lived in. There were a couple little kids napping in the two trees, two to a branch. You didn’t think he had seen them at first, but as he scanned the ground, Ruggie called up to them.

“Your parents wouldn’t be too happy if any of you fell.” He said, his tone rather neutral. 

The kids groaned but filed down the trunks regardless. There were eight of them, six girls and two boys. They’re all skinny and dirty, and a couple of them are tugging on their ears, a couple others sucking on their thumbs, some of them doing both. They’re the cutest little things you’ve ever seen. 

Ruggie spread his hands, “Not in the mood to play today, guys? Shyeheehee, I would think a bunch of active kids like you would be running around like crazy!”

All of the kids shook their heads, one of them, a sort of tall girl with her hair cropped short, spoke up, leaning back and forth with her arms limp in a dramatic display of exasperation, “No. It’s too hot today, Ruggie.”

“Too hot?” Ruggie said, sort of exaggeratedly.

You piped in, “Well, this area doesn’t have any scary crocodiles or whatever. How about hide and seek? Ruggie and I will look while we’re foraging, and you guys can go hide.”

Ruggie shot you an alarmingly pleased smile and nodded, “Shyeheehee, of course. But if we find you, you gotta help us find the rest of you… and help us forage.”

The kids didn’t seem very impressed. You smiled, “It beats doing nothing, doesn’t it?”

They seemed to concede, more or less, and you turned around to face one of the trees and started counting while Ruggie started looking for good forage. 

Once you got to twenty, all of the kids were gone. You walked over to Ruggie, who stood up, holding what appeared to be some kind of onion or leek, and nudged you with a dirt-covered hand. “Quick thinking.”

“Not really.”

Ruggie smirks and hunches back down, “Well, if you wanna go look for kids while I grab these onions, you can go ahead.”

Ruggie didn’t correct you when you said that this area wasn’t dangerous, so you chose to believe the implication. You wandered casually around the bushes, spotting four of the littler kids almost immediately. One of the boys fashioned a sort of breathing tube from a chunk of dried reed, but he seemed to forget that water is see-through, so when you reached in he jumped out of the pond and stomped his foot, shaking the water from his ears as he pouted. 

So, now that you had a troupe of five kids following you like ducklings, you wander towards the edge of the oasis. From where you stood, you could see that one of the boys and another girl had gotten bored and decided to help Ruggie dig up onions, but were mostly just making mud castles, which left just the big girl.

There weren’t really many places for a gangly kid to hide, but you looked up and, sure enough, you spotted her. You grin and point up at her.

“Alright, found you! But you won!”

The big girl doesn’t respond at all. She was staring away from you, into the brush and bramble. She just stares into it, flinching as the sound of a twig snapping crackles through the silent and still air. She quickly dropped down and cowered against your side. Children are familiar little creatures and can make friends as easily as breathing, so you weren’t entirely shocked by that, but her tail wagged once and the other five kids rushed towards where Ruggie was. You hold her as close as you can with mobility and rushed back toward Ruggie again.

Once you’re near Ruggie once more, you bent down and looked into the kid’s eyes, “What’s the matter?”

She looked up at you, her right ear twitching towards the direction she was staring in, and very solemnly whispered, “I heard someone in the leaves, new friend.”

You nodded, just as seriously, and squatted down so you could get more on her level, “I believe you. But I bet it was just someone looking for something good to eat later, like us. Are you still feeling hot?”

She nodded slowly and swiveled her torso side to side.

You smiled at her and tilted your head towards the gaggle of other kids all playing in the mud, “Your family might make you clean up before you go inside, but I bet that mud is nice and cold… And it makes some really nice castles.”

She gave you a sort of blank look and a soft little smile lit her face before she went over to bury her hands in the mud as well. You watched her go, Ruggie’s eyes catching yours in the corner of your vision. Was he watching you?

By the time the sun was high in the sky, Ruggie seemed satisfied with all the forage that you had collected, and the kids were sleepy and ready to go back to their respective homes. Whatever the big girl had seen in the bushes never showed itself.

That didn’t change the uneasiness that settled in your gut as you looked back towards the oasis. The kids ran ahead with Ruggie, who laughed and dodged their filthy little hands, and you cast one last look at the oasis.

You didn’t see anything. It was all greenery against the dim sky, nothing but green and the murky blue of the sky.

The sound of your name pulled you out of your staring, and you turned to see Ruggie standing a little ways away. He gave you a very sweet, concerned look, his eyes wide and ears pointed towards you. 

You shook your head and walked towards him. He was using his shirt as a makeshift basket, humming to himself as he led you back to the neighborhood.

Once the two of you got back, he put you on veggie-washing duty again while he made a quick roux. 

“Ahhh, what a good haul! I told those kids to come by later to get some soup. This is gonna be so good!” Ruggie sighed, very obviously pleased with himself.

“Oh? This is a lot of onions.”

“Yeah. We’re making onion soup. Don’t worry, it won’t be too pungent, shyeheehee!”

You heard the end of your sentence before you managed to register what you said, “Well, just don’t kiss me after you eat this.”

As soon as the sentence is punctuated, you paused, your movements halted entirely as your muscles locked and you glanced at Ruggie from the corner of your eye. The discomfort of stretching your eyes in that direction without turning your head made the whole thing more embarrassing. 

You let out a stilted laugh, “Uh, well, haha, I don’t- I mean-”

“Do you want me to kiss you?” There had to have been a shit eating grin on Ruggie’s face. You weren’t looking at him, but you can hear it in his voice, “Shyeheeheehee, my cute underclassman wants me to kiss them?”

That had you turning to face him, just in time for him to lean up on his toes and plant a kiss on your forehead. And then he laughed and turned back to his roux.

You liked Ruggie. He was a piece of shit, but he was emotionally intelligent, so you were certain he knew. As you carefully chopped up the wild onions and Ruggie stirred in some kind of broth and the other already chopped foraged vegetables, you thought about how you could still feel his lips on your forehead despite him standing several feet away from you. Being around him made you feel like a total space-case, your head floating up in the stars and the clouds, looking at the way the world glitters. Your feet were on the ground, of course, but you felt lighter when you were near him. 

These thoughts carry you as you took a seat next to Ruggie after the soup was done. You sat on a blanket that one of the kids brought over. One of the other kids managed to convince their mom to let them bring some bread out to enjoy the soup with, so in the center of your circle sat a chipped old porcelain plate with a small stack of sliced, white bread on it. The kids all chattered between themselves and Ruggie, but you were stuck, thinking about how soft his lips were on your forehead and how nice he always was to you. Perhaps it was just a habit for him to always be polite, but politeness didn’t usually consist of someone inviting you to stay spring break in their hometown. 

You tapped your fingertips on your forehead and the big girl from earlier tugged on your elbow.

“Friend, can you go get me just a little, itty bitty piece of sage? Please?” She asked, her bottom lip poking out.

You glanced at Ruggie, who shrugged and nodded, so you ruffled her hair and smiled, “Yeah, okay.”

The herb shed isn’t that far away. It’s out of sight of the picnic blanket, which did kind of frighten you, but you weren’t as freaked out as you were the first night. You opened the shed and jumped in fright as someone cleared their throat behind you. 

It’s that guy who you noticed earlier during Ruggie’s tour. He gave you a broad smile, the dim sunlight shining off of his bald head. He’s more ape than hyena. You offered him a polite smile and stepped to the side, holding a shriveled up sage leaf. The man didn’t enter the shed, simply looking at you.

“Hard out here for us.” He said.

You didn’t know what that meant. The way the man’s kind-looking eyes stared through you was disturbing, so you laughed awkwardly, “Uh… yeah. I’ll get out of your way.”

He nodded and you returned to the blanket. You couldn’t see the shed from where you were sitting, but you could almost still feel the strange man’s eyes on you.

You finished eating and helped clean up. You nearly dropped a bowl and Ruggie looked kind of concerned, but didn’t say anything about it. As you just stood there after putting away the last of the dishes and the kids all ran off, Ruggie rested his knuckles on your forehead.

“You’re kind of warm. C’mon, let’s hit the showers.”

“Oh, okay.”

Just like the first night but far more comfortable, you showered with Ruggie. The water was lukewarm this time, so it was a lot nicer, and after you got out, you did feel a lot cooler. The sun was low in the sky, just resting on the horizon. Ruggie grabbed your hand, squeezing it as the two of you walked back to his home.

Vita was back by now, but she had a few other ladies in the living area playing a card game. You stood by, idly, listening as they talked about Ruggie with him right there, asking him about sports but not listening to his answers, really. Vita’s eyes laser-focused on your hand in his and she shot you a grin before going back to scowling at her deck of cards.

About as soon as you got back to the bedroom, you noticed that you forgot your borrowed shorts.

“Ruggie, I forgot something.” You said, stowing the rest of the clothes.

Ruggie gave you a wide-eyed look and turned back to dressing up the cot, “Alright. You should hurry and go get them then. Grammy’s gonna be out tonight, so it’ll just be us.”

You were a bit curious, but you went back out to the showers. The sky was that same pitch black that it was on the first night, and as you walked, you felt those prickles on the back of your neck, like you were being followed. You looked behind you as you got to the showers. The single, weak lamp in front of the stall felt useless in the dark like this. You grabbed the balled-up shorts and stepped out of the safety of the light and into the inky blackness of the night.

Almost immediately, you felt like you were suffocating. It was like your nightmare. You could see a little bit in front of you, the moon affording you just the outline of the buildings. You tripped over your own feet as you stumbled into a run and returned to find Ruggie’s home completely dark.

You took a deep breath and reassured yourself that he had just decided to go to bed before you got back. Your hand presses against the wall as you walk, the only way for you to tell where you’re headed. Something in that room made a soft clicking noise. You froze for a moment.

When your blood stopped roaring in your ears, you whispered, “Ruggie?”

There was no response. A pressure against your back, like a weighted blanket and a harsh grip on your chin prevented you from trying to call out for Ruggie again. Your silent assailant swiveled and turned you so you’re facing the now open door.

You recognized the silhouette, the friendly shaped ears and messy hair, the sort of gangly build with the skinny limbs, but it’s his eyes that made your heart beat faster.

You didn’t know he had these. Tapetum lucidum, the lining in the back of his eyes that gives him a biologic advantage over stupid creatures that can’t see in the dark. It made for an eerie sight, though. He was a shadow standing in the door with two bright green, glowing dots for eyes. You wondered if this is what prey animals felt like when they saw wild dogs. He raised his hands up to put them behind his head, just a shadow in movement, and let out a big sigh.

“Grammy’s gonna be real mad if you get blood and whatever all over her floors. Let’s take this outside.”

The calm tone of Ruggie’s voice paired with his rather jarring appearance set a pit in your stomach. You couldn’t stop the sob that punched out of your chest.

You sounded as betrayed as you felt. “Ruggie? What’s-”

The man holding you clubbed you with something harder than a fist and dragged you out of the house, following Ruggie.

You cried the whole time. You didn’t even know where they were taking you, but this felt worse than a usual betrayal. You thrashed and sobbed and begged, only getting a quiet, “Knock it off,” from Ruggie’s direction.

You knew. You knew Ruggie was a duplicitous little snotbag and that he would eventually crush your heart in one way or another, but this is not the way you wanted. You wanted him to hurt you in a way that meant you could still be friends, where he told you that he didn’t see you the same way, where he tweaked your nose and watched as you cried. Not like this, not being dragged off by some stranger to who knows where. Your bawling was cut short by Ruggie clicking on a light and you being unceremoniously dumped on the floor.

You rolled over and shot the individuals looming above you the dirtiest look you could manage. Of course, one of them is Ruggie, staring down at you with the light above his head almost mockingly making him appear like a heavenly being. One of his eyes looks like it usually does, only a bit more dim, while the other only has that reflective lining in the back of the pupil visible, that eerie green glow pinned onto your face. The other individual is the bald man from earlier. You appeared to be in a sort of shed-like building. There was a shelf, casting the absence of light over you, as though you’d been covered in paint and left to rot.

Two shadowed figures and shadows below. It’s similar enough to your dream, the one where the darkness swallowed you whole.

Ruggie nudged the man with his elbow and held out his palm, his fingers waving back until the man dropped a stack of cash in it.

Your heart pumped so hard you could feel it in your throat and stomach simultaneously, “You sold me?”

“No.” Ruggie responded, flicking through the wad of money, “Just your organs.”

As if it wasn’t crushing enough. Your lips parted and your eyes were dry, but you felt as though a bucket of ice had just been dumped over your head. The bald man’s grin looked silver in this light as he angled his hand to reveal a standard kitchen knife, glinting in the shitty light of this shed and primed to slice into you.

You couldn’t take your eyes off of Ruggie as the man squatted down to sit on your stomach, couldn’t look away as the man crushed your windpipe with his giant hand.

You couldn’t stop looking at Ruggie as he leaned against the wall to watch for a moment, then cleared his throat and stood up straight, as though he was putting on a show for you in your final moments. Your vision was spotting out, considering that the bald guy was strangling you, but Ruggie spread his arms and grinned.

His voice was startlingly loud, overshadowing the sound of your own pulse as you struggled to breathe, “Both kings and hyenas are my friends! Laugh With Me!”

The man on top of you stiffened, then his hand on your neck relaxed as he sat up, his free hand joining the one on his knife as he raised the blade above his head.

As you stared up at the stranger, the creases in his jacket creating splotches of shadow that hid more of his face from your view, you tried to quickly come up with a way to brace yourself for the pain you would soon experience. Betrayal and heartbreak are not the same as getting your ribcage cracked open, not that you had extensive experience with one or the other. You squirmed, trying to get your arms out from under the man atop you, your eyes glued to the light streaked along the knife. The looming figure of the man atop you is stiff, and… you saw Ruggie doing much of the same from the corner of your eye.

For a moment, you thought that this is maybe what you deserve. You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. You grow a festering affection for someone without integrity, he sells your organs and kills you so he doesn’t have to watch the guy supposed to be doing the job choke you to death. You let another powerful sob punch out of your chest and writhe, shutting your eyes so you don’t get tears in your ears from crying on your back.

You heard a dull noise. Kind of like a slab of meat getting cut, or someone putting their hand into a bag of pudding. Maybe the two of those noises combined. You waited for the pain, because you could feel something warm spreading along the base of your ribs. Maybe it just didn’t really hurt when you got stabbed. You’d be willing to accept that.

There was a moment before you opened your eyes. The first thing you saw was the terror in the bald man’s eyes as he sat on top of you. He sputtered and blood sprayed over your face. It cools on your face as you gape up at him. His knife is buried in his own gut.

In the still moment, you heard a quiet little laugh. It bounced off the walls until you couldn’t hear anything but the laughter. You turned your head and noticed Ruggie, his hands pressed fist to fist to abdomen, his face stretched in a hellish grin as he cackled. You can still only see one of his eyes clearly, the other still that little dot of reflection, a glowing green facet, looking right at you. His laughter calmed as he looked at you, a serene smile replacing the maddened grin he was wearing moments before. He made a quick jerking motion, pulling his hands up so his hands rested at the base of his own ribs, still holding an invisible knife. 

The man atop you spluttered again, pitching forward a bit as his blood gushed over you. It got in your eyes and nose, covered your mouth and ears, tainting your perception with a bitter copper coating. 

Ruggie theatrically threw his invisible knife to one side and tilted to the other. You weren’t sure if it was the motion Ruggie started or if it was the man just being dead, but you attacker hit the ground hard, the knife skittering to a stop on the other side.

The human body is fascinating. It always has been. You, having had a degree of understanding, thanks to being born into such a form, weren’t prepared at all to have a man disembowel himself while sitting on top of you. The sight set you into a hysteria. 

You could hear your own breathing, the reedy gasps for air you sucked in as you stared at the bald man’s organs and blood spreading across the floor. In all the scientific diagrams, they looked so different. The lungs were red, the heart was pink, the intestines were orange and purple. The diagrams lied to you, or perhaps you were too stupid to realize that the very simple vector diagrams that you’d always seen were color coded for your ease. The slick sacks of flesh spilling onto the ground before you with their sheen of blood were all varying shades of flesh. No bright colors, just peaches and reds and pinks, a thick, puss-looking yellow being tainted on the sides of the gash. Adipose resembles lemon curd, sort of. You could hear soft footsteps coming towards you. You had nearly forgotten Ruggie was here, even though he was the very maker of this nightmare. You felt one of his hands turning you over, rolling you so you were looking up at him.

The smile on his face was so sweet and kind, the type of smile you’d expect to see on a kid who had just gotten a kitten for their birthday. He brushed a hand along your hairline, his eyebrows furrowing. It made him look concerned. 

“Did you really think I’d trade you for money?” His smile took on an uncanny, eerie edge, and his eyes narrowed, “Shyeehee, maybe I should become an actor.”

You didn’t respond, staring up at him as he helped you sit up. He pressed a hand against your collarbone, sighing at the sanguine dampness left on his hand afterwards.

“Aw, that guy made such a mess. Don’t worry, we can take another shower.” Ruggie curled one of his arms around your shoulders, the opposite hand tilting your chin so he could look at your face. “I bet you’re pretty mad, huh?”

“Wh-What… why did you…?”

“I didn’t. The man who paid me for your organs has had his sights on you since we got here. Guess he got cursed or something and needed a fresh human heart.” Ruggie wrinkled his nose before smiling at you again, his fangs looking even sharper in this low light, “Grammy even noticed him. So yesterday morning, before you woke up, I tracked him down and made a little deal. He gets you, but I wanted to watch. Of course I was gonna just bleed him dry, shyeheeheehee!”

You had no idea what to say to that. You stared at Ruggie and he leaned close, his lips brushing against yours for a moment. The blood transferred from you to him resembled a kind of sick, clumpy lipgloss. Knowing that it’s blood makes it all far worse.

Ruggie sighed and leaned against you, still crouched beside you as you lay partially sprawled on the dusty floor, trying not to think about the dead body less than a foot away from you. His cheek pressed against your forehead, and he sighed again.

“Of course I couldn’t go through with it.” He almost sounded like he was more so talking to himself than to you, “You’ll always be safe with me.”

[milf-bait]

Earworms

I couldn't solve it. All this power within my fingertips, all these years of research and magical practice - and still I couldn't remember the damned name of that song my head decided to put on repeat. It was something slow, I knew that. Slow and sweet. Something that could have been a breakup song, or maybe just a regular love song... It was something that filled me with this sense of familiarity, which was ironic. It flowed into itself so easily in my memory, and honestly offered the perfect pace for a slow dance. My fist gently tapped at the side of my head, pushing what my Doll had called my "big brain hat" onto an angle. I didn't bother to fix it as I went through CD after CD, scouring the tracklists and playing short sections of ones that seemed familiar. None of them satisfied the song in my head. None of them matched, though some came close. I began narrowing the selection by artist, by genre... That's when I heard the song. Not mentally, but audibly. Hunched over my collection of CD's, my attention was brought towards the hallway. I could hear it being hummed. It was soft and sweet, and coming from the only other being that could be home. I practically launched from the floor onto my feet as I tracked my Doll down. It was, as expected, within the living room. The little thing flinched into an upright standing position upon seeing me, a squeak matching the click of its Mary Jane's colliding. I'd forgotten I'd gotten it a black sundress. It kind of conflicted with the straw hat it liked so much, though... At least it kept it from trying to take mine. I must have scared it from my sudden entrance. And with how I'd sprawled myself out within the doorway to keep from flinging my body into the room. "Sweetheart... My dear Puppet... What were you singing?" My question must have just made it more nervous. The poor thing was just a head shorter than myself, but it felt even smaller as I spoke. "I-I found a CD you had..." It started speaking in a low voice. I eased myself from the doorway and tried to relax despite my excitement. "I liked one of the tracks, so - I found it online, and..." "Can I see your MP3, love?" I didn't mean to interrupt it, but I couldn't wait much longer. It gently pulled its earbud out, letting the wire fall down the inside of its dress. I forgot that dress had pockets. I must have looked crazy imputing my old lock code on the screen. But the sigh of relief that sounded off seemed to relax the both of us. Although, I could understand its confusion when that sigh lead into a gentle laughter. "THAT'S what's been on my mind? Small Demons by Hip Hatchet?" I thought it would have been something from some small electronic-heavy transgirl I found through autoplay, not something so based within country music. "I-I really like it, okay!?" Though, my Doll must have thought I was making fun of it. I gently hushed it, reaching to take its shoulder in one hand and the feather duster in the other. "I know, I'm glad. It's sweet, isn't it? It made me think of you, so I was kinda desperate to remember what song it was." I don't know if it was my new closeness, or the fact I was holding it in a form, but I could have sworn a blush hit my Doll's face. Its MP3 player was snug between its shoulder and my hand, the feather duster set on a nearby table so I could work at the attached ear buds. I started to ease one into the appropriate ear for myself. "Tell you what? As a sorry and a celebration, why don't we take a break?" It gave me a slow nod before I slipped the earbud into its ear. The song was set to repeat, and replayed before I slipped it into its pocket. "I think a break is well deserved, for us both." It spoke quietly, removing its hat to set that aside as well. I already knew why. Without a moment of hesitation, it had pressed itself against my body, sliding an arm around my waist as the other took my available hand. I'd never fully get used to feeling its porcelain against my skin, but... No maybe it was my magic playing tricks on me. Even though I'd found the song that plagued my memory, there was still one mystery I couldn't find an answer to; how something like this Doll of mine could not only feel so warm, but make me feel so at home. Maybe I don't need to understand. I think I'll just enjoy it.

[kunimikat]

hi! i'm having a hard time mentally lately and i recently found out that i kind of erm,,,,, when my mental health is really bad my brain is like "no!😀" and skyrockets me into absolute baby mode and just want cuddles and love and i feel really lonely and don't talk a lot. bokuto is my comfort character so if you woudlnt mind could you do some headcanons or whatever you want- about him helping? feel free to ignore this i know it's a bit strange💔 but i thought i'd throw it out there :) 💞

I really hope it gets better for you, I hope my shitty HCs somehow makes your day a little better. Lots of love 🥺🤲❤️oh and this might’ve come off more angsty but I promise I put fluff at the end. And listen to this while reading cause it just makes this- 💔🦟🦗🦟🦗❤️

Requests are open! And if you have requests like this I’m happy to do them :)

Also proof read but still might be mistakes.sorry, there might be some triggering things in here, but there is nothing crazy so I think it’s ok 🧍

Before you guys even got together he’d always check up on you.

To the point were he subconsciously did it anywhere, and anytime

He’d give you small owl knickknacks or a snack before school started, or when it ended. Making sure you ate something that day.

Or he’d just try to make you laugh as much as he could during then

But sometimes he’d drop everything, and just give you a tight hug. Anywhere, no matter who it was in front of. Holding you close to him, not saying anything but you could hear him tripping over the words he wanted to say but just couldn’t.

He could tell it was a bad day where you’d come in and just sit on the benches or bleachers with both in mind but staring at the bright fluorescent gym lights. Where you’d just zone out mid-conversation and look at your feet or phone in disinterest. When you’d throw in a sarcastic self-deprecation joke when someone would ask if you’re ok.

Or when you’d have days where you’d stay up studying, doing your homework, and not sleeping for who knows how long when you come in with the energy drink in hand. Or the days when you’d get nothing done, and just sleep everything away and just deal with it the next day.

It didn’t take a therapist or a mastermind to tell you weren’t ok.

The nervous tics, the small lip bites, the impulsive “Let’s do something and think about consequences later!”

Bokuto knew he was just like the latter but at least it wasn’t all the time, so when he saw his bestfriend and crush slowly killing themselves mentally (and maybe physically, he was hoping not), yet cracking jokes about it the next second. All he wanted to do was run in and kiss you until all you felt was loved.

He just wanted to see you happy again

He felt like fainting everytime he saw you giggle or laugh at his antics(knowing Bokuto that has probably happened)

Or when you and Ahgkaaashi would hang out with him at the Owl section of the Zoo and pick out your favorite ones

When you two would try cooking some dish either of you couldn even try pronouncing and it ending in a mess. One he didn’t mind cleaning up when he got to talk to you throughout the whole time.

The times you’d have to turn in your work a little late because you were helping Bokuto cope after losing a game, which he felt bad about but you brushed it off with a genuine smile saying “I can’t leave poor Akaashi with Bokuemo for the rest of the week can I?” “H-Hey!”

When you and Bokuto would hang out in the bird themed cafe on the end of the street from school. And just be yourselves without having to impress anyone.

How you excuse yourself from the group of people you barely knew the names of, to go cry in the bathroom then come back as if nothing happened.

Times where you both forget your in highschool with insecurities, voice cracks, stress, and having to make a decision regarding the rest of your life by the end of it. And just laying in some random parking lot, staring into the blaring street lamp light and the stars behind it.

Bokuto loved it when you didn’t use the jokes to cover up how you felt. Or how you jumped to another subject when he would ask. When you tell him everything you’re feeling.,

The confusion, the way you didn’t know why your mind worked the way it did and why you felt horrible all of a sudden but fine the next.

You wanted it to stop, to have an explanation for the way you think and why. Yet now you’re telling no one, and clearly holding it in. Bokuto was now watching you letyour emotions eat you alive from the inside out.

He just wanted the you he knew. The you that he had so many fun memories with. Not the forced persona you played when you needed a cover up for how you truly felt.

This wasn’t the way he wanted to confess but it was getting all too much for Bokuto to watch,

Bokuto’s tears were streaming down his face as he had you held out in front of him. His body was trembling and his grasp was so shaky it was easy to break away. But you knew you could ever do that to him, or yourself. He clenched his jaw , not being able to lock eyes with you, a painful tug at his heart everytime he locked eyes with your hopeless look. You felt tears brimming your eyes yet you didn’t even know why he sat you down here. But you felt it was your fault, so immediately you let out a ‘Sorry-‘

Instead of an answer Bokuto pulled you toward him, pushing your head into the crook of his neck. You let out a choked noise as surprise, instinctively wrapping your arms around his waist.

“Why...why’re you saying sorry Y/N? I should be saying sorry for not helping you, I-“

Bokuto lost his breath for a second as a silent sob wracked his body, bringing you closer to him. Tears were falling down from your eyes but you could barely feel them as they became a stream.

“Y/N, I love you, I love you so, so much. Why are you doing this to yourself? You know you could come talk to me, I-I’m not the the best therapist but,-“

He let out a shaky breath, pulling you back out to look at you directly. You squeezed his arm that was holding you, reassuring him you felt the same way, but also to go on. Puffy eyes and a tear stained face looked at you sternly. “Please, please don’t keep these feelings to yourself Y/N. It hurts, it hurts me so much when I see you like this. Especially since you feel like you can’t come to me. I-, I-“

Bokuto bit his lip, clenching his eyes tight, forcing the tears that were already threatening to fall out. “I don’t want to see you like this. I love you, I love you.”The only thing lacing his tone is the sincerity in it.

He says it again to make sure you understood every word that came from him. But he didn’t need to. His grip so tight on your arms it almost hurt. But in a way, you didn’t mind it as it showed you how much more serious this was to him.

“You have me, Kaashi, the team, and honestly anyone! We all love you and what you have to say!”

You both give small shaky laughs, despite the situation, the tension slowly melting. He wipes the tears that were flowing down your cheeks, kissing each one after he did. You held each one of his hand. Squeezing them to give yourself courage, and to know this was all too real.

“Bokuto...I’m so sorry to you and everyone else. I- I locked myself away because I thought I would be bothering you and everyone and could just get over it then push the feelings down. But now seeing you...seeing you so much...pain, someone I love hurt because of me. I...I really realize how I was affecting everyone.”

Bokuto tried denying but you shook your head, your eyes that were looking down were now up at him.

“I’ve come to reality especially after seeing you like this Bo, I love you too, and I want to make it up to you this whole week! No, month...year? Whatever. I’ll be better for our future. And you know what, why don’t I help you with that math homework so we’re both gonna get better at something by the end of the week!”

Laugher filled the once cold room with a feeling of warmth that you couldn’t explain. Bokuto leaned in and gave a small peck. You were about to give a small hum in happiness. Until he pulled far back away from you in panic.

“I-Is something wrong Bo? Does my breath stink-“

“N-NONONO NOTHING LIKE THAT. ITS JUST...I just kissed you without asking...a-and I read in a magazine you’re supposed to do that or your crush won’t like you back!”

Silence.

But you interrupted it with your laughter, holding onto to one of his shoulders to not fall over. He had a confused look on his face as he fidgeted, not knowing what to do. “Y-Y/N! What?”

“You’re so stupid Bo,”

And like that you pulled him into a kiss, one he quickly melted into. He made a small surprised noise, but that was the only noise of complaint. The kiss turned into Bokuto giving you pecks all over your face. A giddy feeling in your stomach with each one. Between the kisses you say “Y’know I’m surprised you decided to sit down and read a magazine without testing on the real deal.” His face has a small flush, instead of saying anything he just kisses you aggressively all over, causing you to reel back and laugh harder. He pulls away from the assault and grabs your hand. He leads you over to the couch and hugs you as you both flop onto the couch. You looked at him confused, “Bo?”

But he just turned the TV on, clicked through the channels, until he found one he liked. He looked over at you excitedly, “Let’s cuddle and watch the movie I was talking about last week!”

The genuine excitement in his voice was all it took to have you wrapped around his finger. So now it was getting late and you were falling asleep to Bokuto gently rubbing his hand in circles on your back. And his faint smell of cologne luring you to sleep.

Hey! Sorry if this is on the shorter side, but I tried packing as much emotion as I could into it to make up. I hope you enjoyed this, cause I added a few of my little issues into it so I hope you don’t mind. (Also along with some people ik) I really hope it gets better for you, hopefully by now even though this came out late (sorry really busy this month for some reason🧍) if you need anyone to talk to I’m always open to hear❤️..

[tomurasprincess]

Villain Deku with 12. I’m so happy you finally wanted to take a picture with me! They can go right next to all of the ones of you sleeping.

Pairing: Villain Deku x Reader Quote: I’m so happy you finally wanted to take a picture with me! They can go right next to all of the ones of you sleeping. Word: Stalking Warnings: Noncon, drugging, stalking, manipulation, yandere

Prompt Masterlist

You smile at the green haired man in front of you as he orders his usual, a plain black cup of coffee. You’ve been a barista here for several months now, and the man has become one of your regular customers. Although somewhat shy and awkward, he is friendly and pleasant to talk to, and you have come to really look forward to his visits.

He gives you a small smile back as he reaches for a sugar packet, but otherwise makes no comment to you. You mentally frown at this, as he’s usually so overflowing with conversation that you can barely keep up.

“Hey, are you doing okay,” you venture to ask the question that’s making you worry for him a bit.

He perks up at the comment, eyes lighting up at your concern. “I’m okay, really! Just some problems with work.”

“Oh really? What work do you do?” Even though he’s a regular, coming in at the same time every day for weeks, you don’t really know a lot about him. You’re excited to finally have an opportunity to learn a bit more.

His gaze darkens just a bit, his smile fading slightly, so subtle that you’re not even sure you saw it. But then he’s back to normal and you realize that you must have imagined it. You’ve been a bit on edge lately, constantly feeling as if someone has been watching you. You’ve considered going to the police, but ultimately decided that they wouldn’t take you seriously.

“Oh, I run my own business. Things have been crazy lately, but I think I finally got them settled down. Now I have time to focus on my more personal projects.” He chuckles at that as he glances at you.

“I’m glad to hear that!” You smile at him before turning back to your work, beginning the long process of ending your shift. The man had shown up much later than usual, and it was almost closing time. At his questioning look, you explain yourself. “Oh, I have to get ready to close up the store. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t mean to walk back to your place in the dark, do you?” His face twists into a look of worry. “There are a lot of villains in the streets lately.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I walk home at this hour all the time. I’ll be fine,” you wave him off.

“No, I insist. I need to walk you home.” You’re surprised at the change in his tone. He suddenly sounds completely in control, no hint of the awkward man who sometimes stumbles over his sentences and mumbles to himself.

“I - I guess if it’s that important to you.” You suddenly didn’t feel comfortable at the idea of walking alone in the dark with him. Something was rubbing you the wrong way, and you weren’t sure what. But you had no reason to decline, and the man in front of you didn’t look threatening at all. So you accept the invitation. It might be nice to have company on your walk home, anyway. Maybe you’ll feel less like someone is following your every move.

“Good! I’d hate for you to get snatched up by some villain,” his bright smile turns slightly sharp. Dangerous looking. It’s enough to make you reconsider, but the man seems to notice your hesitation as he begins to rush you through your closing procedures of the store. He grabs your arm, not enough to harm you or bruise you, but hard enough that you couldn’t begin to get away.

As he almost drags you out of the store, you decide to make conversation to try and calm your nerves. “I’m sorry, I’ve been really rude. What’s your name?”

“You can call me Deku,” he chirps happily. The name strikes you as odd, somehow familiar. You can’t quite place it, no matter how hard you try.

You open your mouth to tell him your own name, but he cuts you off mid sentence. “You don’t have to tell me your name, I already know it.”

You freeze in place, mind running through so many scenarios of how he could know your name. “Don’t be nervous! It’s on your name tag.”

You relax just a bit, as you try to avoid thinking about how you lost your name tag several months ago and were never able to find it. Something is wrong about this man, and you know you made a mistake following him. You just want to get safely into your apartment, away from him, until you can figure out what to do.

But then it hits you. Your apartment. You never gave him directions to your apartment, and yet he’s following the exact path you take to get there, turn for turn. You’re unable to hide your panic now, mouth opening to scream for help. But you never have the chance.

A scarred hand clamps down on your mouth as he drags you into a nearby alleyway. He gives a long suffering sigh at you as you struggle to break free. You feel something cold press into your throat as he grins down at you, and you realize it’s a knife. “You just couldn’t behave a little longer, could you? It’s okay though! I have no problem doing this here.”

“Please stop, I don’t have anything you want,” you whimper in fear. The knife gently glides down your neck, pressure firm enough that you can feel it but not enough to cut. He pauses as he traces your collarbones with the weapon, and hums as if he just thought of something. “You know, I’ve always wanted a picture of you since the first day I met you.”

Your haste to get out of this situation overpowers how strange the request is, and you find yourself babbling your agreement. “Yes, you can have a picture of me, I don’t mind! Just please, let me go home.”

He laughs at that as a hand dips down into your pants. “Oh, that’s not all that I want.” He wastes no time sliding a finger in between your folds as he grazes your clit. He works tight circles against the bud, moaning into your ear as he begins to kiss and suck at the pulse point on your neck.

“I’ve wanted you for so long.” he murmurs in your ear. “But I’ve been so busy running my organization that I just didn’t have the time. Had to content myself with watching you from afar. Until now.”

It suddenly hits you like a bolt of lightning, where you heard his name. Izuku Midoriya, the fallen hero. He graduated from UA at the top of his class, was even expected to take All Might’s place as the Symbol of Peace. But he vanished without a trace. There had been rumors that he was sighted in areas of heavy villain activity, but they were dismissed as just that. Rumors. There was no way anyone chosen by All Might could go villain, after all.

And yet the proof stands pressed against you, fingers rubbing your throbbing clit as he bites and sucks at the skin of your neck. You can feel yourself getting aroused, lubricating his talented fingers with your juices. He gathers it on his fingers as he presses two of them inside of you, rubbing the bundle of nerves with the palm of his hand.

“No, oh god, please stop,” you plead with him. “Deku, just let me go, I promise I won’t - ahh - tell anyone I saw you.” You let out an involuntary groan as he thrusts his fingers inside of you, grazing your g spot with every thrust and making you see stars. You hate that you’re getting so aroused by him finger fucking you.

“Oh, did you finally figure out who I am?” He chuckles as he presses the point of his knife into your skin, barely grazing you but still causing your blood to drip down your collarbones. He eagerly laps at the blood as his fingers pick up the pace. You feel the coil inside of you tightening and realize you’re about to cum. “Deku, shit, oh god please.”

“Shh, just cum for me doll. Cum all over my fingers.” He coaxes you into an intense orgasm, causing you to let out a squeal as your walls clamp down hard around his fingers. You’re still riding the high of your climax when a slightly wet rag is placed over your mouth. Your eyes widen as you try not to breath in, but it’s too late. You inhale one sharp breath and your system is instantly being flooded with the clothform.

The effects are quick, too quick, as you feel yourself dragged down into unconsciousness. Your head feels like it’s in a fishbowl as you hear the click of a camera and Deku’s delighted laughter. “I’m so happy you finally wanted to take a picture with me! They can go right next to all of the ones of you sleeping!”

But before you completely pass out, you have the chance to think one last thing.

You really should have trusted your instincts.

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ ❋ ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

Tags: @thewheezingwyvern, @animewh0re, @monst, @lildreamer93, @marlowewrites, @redbeanteax, @kittygonyan, @bat-eclecticwolfbouquet-love, @daedaep69, @heyybrittannia, @groovydreamertrash, @hisoknen, @chou-maitresse, @shoutogepi, @togasknifes, @kingtamakimurder, @league-of-thots, @shigaraki-is-my-master

[george-fabian-weasley]

George Weasley — Wonder Part 1

Summary: Best friends since the Sorting Hat, you have developed a curious feeling towards George Weasley recently. And you wonder, what it's like to be loved by him.

Words: 2,951 words

Warnings ⚠ : Slow-burn, Angst (kinda)

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"What does that one looks like?" You said, pointing to a constellation in the sky as you laid down onto the grass, right in front of Hagrid's hut. Beside you left and right were Fred and George Weasley.

You three had snuck out of the Gryffindor common room in the middle of the night to watch the stars. They have been exceptionally bright these days, so you figured why not.

Hagrid didn't mind you three, in fact he even prepared three mugs of hot chocolate in case you get cold outside.

"Kinda looks like an elephant, don't you think?" Fred mused, squinting his eyes hard to see the imaginary lines connecting to each star. "More like a dog to me." George chattered, clearly enjoying the cool breeze of the night.

"What do you see, Meredith?" Fred asked with a mischievous smile. You rolled your eyes, he used your middle name even when he knew you hated it as a tease sometimes. "Well, Gideon," Fred instantly groaned in cringe while George laughed in satisfaction, "I see a bloody goose." You laughed and high-fived with George.

"Never again am I telling my middle name to you." Fred chuckled in defeat, yet grinning as you out-teased him, as per usual.

You cackled in victory, "Ha, the sweet taste of victory sure taste good." You laughed again, holding your stomach. The twins had known that you were the type to be amused easily, and this was one of those moments. They watched you laugh with a few chuckles out of them themselves, sometimes your laugh were contagious.

After you had calmed down, the scene was serene again. "I wish we could do this more often." You muttered loud enough for the boys to hear. "Hmm, I dunno, Y/N. Reckon doing it more often would be quite boring, wouldn't it?" Fred spoke, the look of slight disagreement rested on his face.

You pouted slightly, not that you minded. Fred has always been an outspoken person, this is normal to you.

"Maybe next time we could do a night picnic? Sneak some food out from the kitchens, bribe the house elves not to tell a soul, and voilà." George offered an idea, his eyes occasionally glanced at you, then looked back to the stars above.

You widened your eyes in surprise as you quickly sat up and turned to his direction with twinkling eyes, "Really? We could do that?"

George scoffed a smile at you and slightly chuckled, "Of course we could do that, why couldn't we?"

Suddenly the time seemed like it stopped. You blinked at George, whoa okay since when did he look so good? He was smiling at you with his arm supporting his head while the other rested on his stomach, unintentionally flexing his outer-line biceps as the sweater Molly had given him last Christmas had become a little small.

Wait, what?

"Y/N? Y/N Meredith Y/L/N, do you hear me?" You blinked back to reality as Fred called your name. "Blimey, you really found the galaxy in George's eyes, didn't you?" Fred teased.

Before you could even answer, the voice of Mr. Filch was suddenly present, "Who's there?"

"Shit, hide, hide." George instantly helped you up and ran to hide behind Hagrid's hut, you and Fred were hot on his tails.

As Filch knocked on Hagrid's door, the half-giant opened it sleepily, "Oh, Argus. What do you want?"

"I hear students around your hut, you're not hiding them, are you, Hagrid?" Mr. Filch said and you three heard the change of tone in Hagrid's voice, "... Why don't you come in first, Argus? Have some tea."

You knew that was a sign to run once Filch had entered the hut. You made a mental note to yourself to thank Hagrid the next day for helping you three escape. As soon as the old squish entered Hagrid’s hut, George took a hold of your hand suddenly and ran to the castle’s direction. 

Was his hand always this big?

As soon as you three arrived to the hallways, you wheezed for air. Bloody Fred and George were nearly nowhere from huffing their breaths heavily, clearly their athletic bodies could handle a little run. But you, being a tad shorter than them and obviously not athletic, it was killing you. 

“Sorry, Y/N. You alright there?” George said, chuckling as he watched you wheezed an answer, “A minute...”

“Alright, you monkeys. Let’s go back to the common room now.” Fred hollered, clearly had already recovered and was walking, leaving George and you behind. George watched you take a deep breath and exhale, “Okay, I’m fine now.”

George was obviously entertained by your little show a few seconds ago, and you rolled your eyes with a lazy smile in your lips, “Amused now, are we?” You slurred boringly, earning a toothy grin from George, “With you, Y/N, always.”

You shoved him off, “Shut up, Weasley.” in hopes that could conceal the sudden heat rising up to your face. You two began to walk in silence, while watching Fred walking alone at the front. It was a comfortable silence, and the aura around you two were just too homey to break out of. 

You have a habit where you would hold your friends’ pinkie while you walk, and your entire friend group knows that. You couldn’t say why, maybe it brings you comfort that someone was beside you. So there you were, walking slowly to the common room while holding George’s pinkie.

When you three arrived to the common room, you felt your hand lost its warmth that George provided a few seconds ago as he pulled away...What the bloody hell?

“See you tomorrow, Meredith.” Fred called out while walking to the boy’s bedroom followed by George, you smiled and bidded your goodbye, “Goodnight, boys.”

Next morning came and you groaned in annoyance. After getting dressed, you walked down to the great hall for breakfast. You sat across the already-finishing-half-of-their-plates twins. “Merlin, Y/N, did you not sleep last night?” Fred laughed at you as soon as he saw the eye-bags beneath your eyes. 

“I can’t bloody sleep, you wanker. Dunno why, though.” You gruntled and began to eat your cereal. Ohoho, but you knew exactly why.

All night you were thinking of George Weasley. Since when did everything he do seem so attractive to you? Like that night when he was laying on the grass with one of his arm supporting his head while his other arm on his torso, how the hell did he pull that look off? Why did he look so good doing it? Or the time when he held your hand to run from Filch, and you remembered how visible his veins were, and how warm his hand was... what the fuck? Bloody hell, you were almost certain you’re going crazy.

And then you remembered how he let you hold his pinkie while walking last night. Suddenly your chest felt fuzzes and buzzes, and you heard your heartbeat clearly, whoa am I okay? 

The said boy waved his hand to you, snapping you out from dead-staring at your cereal, “You alright?” George asked, eyebrows slightly furrowing at you in concern. You blinked at him and coughed a bit, “Y-yeah, just remembered something.”

“Blimey, Y/N, your face is bloody red! Should we send you to the hospital wing?” Fred widened his eyes at you, munching whatever it was he was eating. You felt a hand touching your forehead, it was George’s. He stood up and reached over to touch your forehead, “I think you have a fever, Y/N.” 

You flinched from his hand as you suddenly realized something. Fuzzy chest, heart beating fast, heat up to your face whenever you think of George, can’t stop remembering how good he looked like?

Merlin’s bloody beard, you like him.

“I-I gotta go.” You said abruptly, running your eyes everywhere but George’s. “What, to the hospital wing?” “You need us to walk you there, Meredith?”

“No need! Uh, see you in Potions.” You shouted as you ran out of the Great Hall and to the bathroom.

'What the hell was that, what the bloody hell was that, oh my god-' You can't stop freaking out in your head, this feeling was foreign to you. Not that you've never liked someone before, it's just that you've been so comfortable with the twins it almost sounds completely and maniacally absurd to suddenly like one of them.

You ended up avoiding the twins for the whole day that day, trying to process your own feelings because Merlin, if even one of them found out you like the other, it could be the end of your long years of friendship as a trio.

As you returned to the common room after an exhausting day of avoiding the Weasley Twins as if they were plagues, you sighed.

You could remember the confused and slightly hurt expressions of the two boys, they knew something was wrong with you but they just couldn't pinpoint what it was.

And after a long day being alone with your thoughts, you have come to terms with your feelings. You do like George Weasley, in a romantically way. That-that shouldn't be a problem now, should it?

"Oi, Meredith."

You flinched and turned around, the twins had just arrived to the common room. "Heyyy, boys..." You put out a nervous laughter and an awkward wave.

"What's the matter with you today? You've been avoiding us for hours." Fred scowled. One thing about Fred is that he is very clingy with his friends, not that you minded, it just shows that he cares. And while you knew George is the same as his older brother, he tend to keep it hidden inside, in order to not offend anyone.

George was beside him, looking quite hurt also but concerned as well. Their eyes were on you, and you weren't sure which pair of eyes you want to look at.

You sighed, "I'm sorry boys, I shouldn't have avoided you like that. I just need some time alone with myself, to..." You trailed off, eyes glancing at George for merely a second before looking away, "... To think."

"You could've told us. Georgie here was worried if the fever you had this morning got worse." Fred pouted, before smiling slightly at you. Your heart beats significantly faster at the mention of George, yet you brushed it off.

Nothing will change this friendship. Not even this feeling.

"Awh, aren't you boys adorable." You cooed and laughed before settling down, "I'm fine though, the 'fever' I had is already gone, so no worries."

George smiled at you, "Well, glad that you're fine, but you could've told us earlier!"

"We were worried!"

"Sick!"

"And here I thought we did something wrong!"

"Well we're bloody done for if that's the case."

"Totally."

You laughed loudly, these were the times where the Weasleys would finish each other sentences, clearly shows how aligned their minds work together. And sometimes they didn't even notice.

While you were laughing, the Golden Trio came in. "Hey, everyone." Harry greeted, looking at you as your laugh took his attention. "What's Y/N laughing at?" Ron, the twins' younger brother, asked with amusement.

George shrugged with a smile, "Who knows."

"Y/N laughs at everything." Fred continued.

"Just your brothers being clowns as always." You mused, finally calming down. Ron snorted loudly, "As if they've stopped being clowns for even a second."

Everybody laughed, Fred even pulled Ron into a headlock and messed with his hair, "Ickle Ronniekins is starting to be funny, eh?"

The next few days came like a blur.

You and the twins reconciled as if you've never had any misunderstandings before. You were back becoming the three infamous Hogwarts prankster trio. Just this week, you three had received 4 detentions, 2 by Snape for simply talking in his class (typical), and 2 by Professor McGonagall for sneaking a Puking Pastille into one of a Slytherin's drink during lunch.

Poor guy had to have a bucket around him for a few hours.

Fortunately, the detention was held at the Astronomy Tower, Professor McGonagall had informed that the tower needed some cleaning to do due to some owls inhabiting there for a while. While Fred was brought down to the tower stairs, George and you were instructed to clean the top floor.

"Did you see his bloody face? Boy was as pale as a paper!" You cackled in joy, moping the floor while talking to George. George joined your laughter, adding something too, "If it weren't for the bucket he's holding, pretty sure Snape would've written something on his face."

Your laughter doubled, somehow it echoed through the whole tower and you heard Fred downstairs whining, "You two lots aren't having fun without me, are you?"

"Us?" You looked downstairs, Fred was looking up looking dissatisfied that he's not up there. "Never." You and George said in unison, yet the tone in your voices obviously stated otherwise.

You quietly laughed at Fred's face, he's clearly annoyed now. "Pretty sure he's gonna sulk later on." You muttered to George, who nodded in confirmation, "Yeah, reckon would take a while to talk him out of it, eh?"

You chuckled, "Just give him some fireworks and he'll be fine." George chuckled and shook his head, looking at his older brother lazily sweeping the stairs.

As you two continued to clean, suddenly the sky turned orange. Not orange specifically, more like the combination of blue, purple, pink and orange.

Ah, the sun is setting.

You were frozen on your feet, somehow the Astronomy Tower gave a perfect view of the sunset. The orange orb slowly going underneath Black Lake, and the water just reflected all of the giant star' light. It looked so ethereal, you simply forgot how to breathe.

You went and sit at the edge of the tower, your legs dangling at the dangerously high height. Yet you feel no fear, only warmth filled your heart. "It looks amazing, George." You breathed out, your smile was as wide as a door.

George came and sit beside you, only a few inches and his fingers would caress yours. "It looks really beautiful." He sighed, enjoying the warm sunlight that kissed his skin. You turned your head to him, watching George close his eyes and just enjoying the warmth of the sun, with a soft smile on his lips.

His skin, kissed by the sun, gives off a soft golden colour, and his red hair shine gently with it. His eyelashes somehow sparkled and the whole view just took your breath away.

Not the sunset, no. George.

When he opened his eyes and looked at you, as if you were in a trance, you couldn't pull away.

"Has anyone ever told you, that you're beautiful, George?" You breathed out, regardless of how breathless you feel under his stare.

"People had called me handsome and dashing before. But beautiful?" He slowly smiled, "... Not yet."

You blinked and looked away, nervously laughing. "W-well, you are. And so is Fred, and so am I." You covered up, your eyes watching the sun that is now getting smaller by time.

"Everyone knows you're beautiful, Y/N."

You snickered, "What was that supposed to mean, Weasley?" You teased, yet the heartbeat in your chest started to pick up its pace.

"Anything that you want it to be, sweetheart."

Your heart, as it seems, had plummeted to the center of the Earth. The heat in your face seems to double up, reckon that it's not the sunlight.

"Aren't you a bloody flirt." You shoved him to the side, chuckling. He joined as well.

As you looked at the sunset, suddenly there is this bravery inside of you. "Hey." You called. George looked at you, urging you to continue.

"I have someone that I like."

George's big eyes was so mistake that he was surprised. Y/N, the kid who has been growing up with them since babies, is liking someone?

"Who's the unlucky lad?" George asked excitedly. You rolled your eyes in playfulness. While your heart screamed, "IT'S YOU, YOU MONKEY!", you simply said, "None of your business, Weasley."

George scoffed, "Then why bother telling me." He said in a fake-hurt tone, and you chuckled. "Because it's not a big deal. I just... want to let things out."

"Well, let it out then."

You smiled, realizing George was looking at you, yet you kept your eyes to the slowly dissipating sun. "I wonder what it's like to be the one he loves."

"Ah, it's a he." He teased. You laughed and swatted him playfully, "Let me talk, woman."

"I wonder how he would be with his lover. Would he bring them to late night dates at Hogsmeade? Would he sneak into their dorm just wanting to cuddle?" You softly smiled, your heartbeat was increasing per second.

This is like an involuntary confession.

"Would he bring them home during Christmas to spend time with his family? Or would he give them gifts, no matter how many times they say it's okay. Would he... give his affection in public? Or in private because he's a tad shy?"

The surroundings turned quiet, and the orange sky had turned purple, the sun was no longer present, instead the little stars started to come out and play.

Suddenly the emotions came swarming at you, making you choked up. Tears were threatening to fall from the bridge of your eyes to you cheeks, and you cursed under your breath. "W-would he... give a chance to me? And let me see by myself if my wonderings are correct?"

You looked at him, George who was dumbfounded and looking stunned, and you smiled with teary-eyes, "I wonder."

PART 2: READ

(You can go to my masterlist to read other fics! Masterlist is in my bio :D)

[echo-hiraeth]

Hi! I was wondering if you could write either a peña or pike x agent!reader with “Where doesn’t it hurt then?” Where she’s been hiding direct threats to her safety?

Blind Dates - Marcus Pike x F! Agent Reader

The ending scene and prompt in and of itself were heavily inspired by this scene from “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” as it’s one of my favourites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFzxuEm9MyM

Prompts:

49: “Where doesn’t it hurt then.”

Masterlist

“Hey, I’m headed out for the night. Think you can manage on your own here?”, you asked, flashing him a smile.

Marcus looked up from his desk, mouth slightly agape. “N-no late-night hangout tonight?”

You slowly shook your head, approaching his desk. “While I’d love to spend the evening here with you, I happen to have some plans of my own."

He raised a brow at you: “Is that what that dress and lipstick is all about then? Who’s the lucky guy.”

“It’s not like that, Pike,” you chuckled, sitting on the edge of the surface of his desk. “Believe me I’d rather be stuck with you all night.”

“Your friend set you up again?”, he grinned, clearly amused over the fact that you were so visibly annoyed.

You threw your head back, letting out a whine. “I promised her I’d let her do one more of these. Fucking regret it though.”

“Oh poor you, having to have dinner at some fancy joint”, he mocked, leaning back in his chair to get a better look at you. “I’d kill for some of that right now.”

“By all means, fill in for me”, you smiled, hopping off his desk. “See you tomorrow?”

He bit his lip as he tried to bite back a flirtatious comment. “Yeah, be safe!”

You gave a small wave and walked out of his office, the smirk on your lips seemingly etched there. Marcus tended to have that effect on you, making you act like some crazed teenager when he’d join you at your desk late at night. But you’d promised your friend you’d go out with the guy she’d been raving about all of last week. So that’s where you set out to go.

Back in his office Marcus found himself extremely distracted. Because no matter how many times he tried to get back to the report he was reading, he just couldn’t get your crimson lips out of his head. Over the course of the last few months the two had gotten much closer, often spending late nights together at the very same desk. He lived for those nights where the two of you would get take-out and just enjoy each other’s company. It was all fine and in good fun until he started to develop these feelings for you. Every bone in his body was head over heels for you, but the fear of being rejected yet again and losing you was bigger than his desires to hold you even closer.

The fact that you were going out tonight made him even more nervous. Surely you wouldn’t just spend the night with your boss? There had to be some reason, some ulterior motive. Maybe you wanted a promotion? Your pay was good though, so it made no sense. Whatever it was, it was absolutely killing him.

As Marcus sat and contemplated every single thing about the past six months, you got out of your cab. The restaurant looked nice, nothing too expensive, just a casual outing. Taking one last deep breath you opened the door, crossing the threshold at last, there was no going back now. The waiter lead you to your table, where you were met with a handsome man, tan skin and a mature little stubble covering his sharp jaw. He looked just over thirty and seemed to be everyone’s dream but yours. It’s only for tonight – you thought to yourself, walking over and extending your arm.

“Was afraid you wouldn’t show”, he chuckled, shaking your hand as he went to stand.

You put your purse on the ground, moving to take a seat. “Got a little caught up at work.”

Well, that was a lie, unless contemplating on how to tell your boss and partner of a year that you had fallen for him. Before you waltzed into his office you’d spent just under an hour in the bathroom thinking of ways to hopefully talk to him about it and maybe even ask him out. But you’d chickened out as soon as you saw him through the cracked door, biting at his fingertip as he was sunken in thought. God, he was so handsome when he shifted in that work mode.

“Wine?”, your date asked, holding out a bottle to you.

“Yeah, sure”, you agreed, shifting your attention back to him once more, something about his face and voice seemed familiar but you couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.

You made some small talk with the guy, finding out that he was independent business owner, what of you hadn’t a clue seeing how you couldn’t stop thinking about a certain someone. Dinner was good though and despite everything you ended up enjoying yourself but no matter how hard he tried, you knew he wasn’t it for you and that there was something off about all of it. At the end of the night he offered to split a cab, politely dropping you off first and parting ways with a kiss to your palm. You’d given him your number as a courtesy, not really expecting him to act on it.

Once back in your apartment you decided to go straight to bed, not wanting to think about it any longer. You were woken up early in the morning by a knocking at your door. Grabbing the nearest hoodie you slipped it on and headed for your front door, opening it to reveal:

“Marcus.. what’re you doing here so early?”, you questioned, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

He stepped inside when you moved off to the side, letting him pass. “Well you didn’t text me back last night and I figured you’d appreciate some breakfast”, he reasoned, holding up the bag of bagels.

A content moan left your throat at the sight of the glorious buns. “You’re the fucking best”, you mused, pressing a kiss to his cheek before snatching the bag from his hands.

The morning was filled with soft laughter and a lingering brush of your fingers once or twice. The two of you internally screaming as you went into your bedroom to get changed. Marcus was beaming by the time you remerged, taking a mental note of how beautiful you looked in the early morning.

“You can ride with me if you’d like”, Marcus offered, nervously shifting with his hands in his pockets.

During work the two of you didn’t see much of each other, seeing how Marcus would be briefing to and with his higher-ups and how you were stuck researching the next group of art smugglers you’d be dealing with. You looked through heaps and heaps of paperwork; pictures and recordings. And that’s when you spotted him. That’s where you recognized him from, he was the son of the orchestrator of the smugglings.

You had to tell Marcus, you were fucking screwed if you were right. You tried desperately to get a hold of his phone but he seemed to have left the office early without saying goodbye. That’s when you started trying his personal number, fingers trembling as you stepped outside the building, calling over a cab. You got in without really looking, Marcus finally answering. When you blinked your eyes open and looked to your left you spotted the man, a handgun held in the palm of his hand.

“Hello?”, his voice sounded from your phone speakers.

He gestured for you to put him on speaker and talk to him.

“H-hi”, you answered, voice trembling.

Marcus huffed out a breathy laugh. “Six missed calls, did the office burn down or something?”

You let out a forced laugh. “I-I found a break in one of the cases but I forgot you were leaving for that conference”, you lied, screwing your eyes shut as you focused on not breaking down into sobs.

“I’ll be back by this weekend, we can meet at your place and you can tell me all about it”, he suggested and you could hear the smile on his lips through the phone.

A sniffle broke through as you went to answer him. “I’d like that.”

“Hey what’s the matter do you need me to-“

“Goodnight Marcus”, you interrupted, ending the phone call abruptly.

The man pressed his gun to your temple. “Fancy a second date?”

 You were bound to one of your own kitchen chairs, eyes red from all the crying and pain you’d undergone at that point. The man Jacob Linetti, had been trying his hand at getting all the information you had on them out of you.

“What’s Pike’s next move?”, he asked, flipping a chair and having it land in front of you. “C’mon sweetheart, don’t make me hurt you even more.”

“I don’t know”, you lied, “I’m just his secretary, I just take care of his schedule.”

He struck you across the cheek, making you wince. “Don’t lie, bitch. I heard what you said in that fucking car. Now think again, Pike’s next move.”

“We only just got the case handed to us, we barely have anything”, you cried out, a new bruise already starting to form on your face.

It went on like that for a couple hours until finally he deemed you useless.

“Listen up princess. You will do as your told. Whatever happened here and will happen stays between us.”

You whimpered at his words, entire body shaking with fear despite the exhaustion you were experiencing.

“You call him tomorrow evening and tell him to meet you here. If you snitch on us I’ll slit that pretty little throat of yours and put a bullet through Pike’s skull myself.”

 Meanwhile in his hotel room Marcus sat on the edge of the bed. That call was so fucking weird not to mention unlike you. He’d tried texting you but you once again didn’t reply. He just assumed you’d gone to bed. Well, that’s until you texted him back, at three in the morning.

Hey sorry, everything’s fine, just got caught up and fell asleep in front of the tv xx

He shook his head. You never watched tv, said it was too boring and that the commercials were too bothersome. But having been in the field for quite some time, he decided to play along.

It would be in your best interest not to text back, whether you were in danger or not, he’d wait until the morning and go from there.

You barely slept a wink, the bruises and contusions painfully distracting. Glancing in the mirror you noticed how beat up you actually looked. There was no way you could possibly play that off, so he made you call into work. It didn’t take a lot of convincing, your voice barely above a whisper from the intensity of last night.

His words rang through your ears. You didn’t want to put this on Marcus, you didn’t want him to come over, you didn’t want him to be in danger. But you soon realised that it didn’t really matter you did, he’d end up in the middle of this regardless.

Mind swinging by for a drink tonight?? Xx

His reply came quick.

Course not, see you later tonight x

As soon as he replied you felt terrible. It was a fucking set up and you knew it. But with the other man in the room, you knew you couldn’t do shit about it. Soon he snatched the phone out of your hands, leaving you a sobbing mess.

By that evening you’d been tied down, thrown onto your couch with three sets of eyes glued to you. They’d told you the plan more than once at this point and you knew it word for word. They untied you when one of their other informants texted them to let them know he was coming up. The familiar set of knocks at the door set your adrenaline off and as you reached to open the door you only opened it the slightest bit, gasping when you met his eyes.

You couldn’t think in that moment and just pleaded with him. “Run Marcus! Run!”

“You fucking bitch!”, Jacob snarled, yanking you to the floor by your hair.

Marcus kicked the door open, weapon pointed at one of the other two men. “Back up’s on the way over here, I suggest you drop your weapons.”

He knew he was in a tight spot, he’d need to stretch time for a couple of minutes and from the looks of it, Linetti and his gang were rather impulsive. It was at that moment you felt the ice cold feel on a gun being pressed to the back of your neck, Jacob hauling you in front of him, using you as a shield.

“This is what’s gonna happen, you’re letting me walk outta here or little miss sunshine gets lead.”

Marcus glared the man down, keeping his other eye on the two other men in the room. “I’m sorry pal, but that’s not gonna work out for me. Like I said, back up will be here any minute, whether you’re apprehended here or in that lobby, you’re not going anywhere.”

You opened your eyes, looking over at Marcus. “Please just-just let him Marcus.”

He looked at you for a split second, his heart aching at the sound of your voice. It was then he noticed one of the other men drawing a weapon of his own, without hesitation he shot him in the arm, causing all hell to break loose.

Jacob shot into the ceiling, while punching you in the gut, making Marcus turn his head in your direction once more. It was then the third man grabbed a hold of him, trying to disarm him. It was then Linetti was caught off guard, as you elbowed him in the chest. Marcus was preoccupied with fighting himself free of the other man’s grasp, intent on helping you. Jacob aimed his weapon at your partner and you quickly grabbed his wrist, yanking it away, another bullet whizzing through your small apartment. It was then Marcus yelped, throwing the man over his shoulder, making you look over. Before you could turn your head back around, Jacob hit you on the side of head with the butt of his gun, effectively knocking you out.

That was the last straw, Marcus charged at the criminal, tackling him to the ground as more FBI agents barged in through the door. As the man was pinned down by some fellow agents, he rushed over to you, kneeling down by your side and taking off his jacket to put it under your head.

“She got shot?”, one of them asked.

“No, but call in an ambulance just to be sure.”

When you came to you were laid on a stretcher outside of an ambulance, with two paramedics tending to you. You surged forward immediately, waving the two away.

“Alright, alright, let’s give her some room”, one of them said to the other, taking a few steps back.

You looked around you, noticing Marcus sitting on a curb, a light being flashed in one of his eyes. Your lip started trembling as you tried to call out to him, but you couldn’t manage to say anything, your throat dry and impossibly tight. He looked up and locked eyes with you, immediately excusing himself. He practically ran to you, wrapping his arms around you. It hurt – a whole lot – but you needed him more than anything else in that moment. You hid your face in his shirt, letting out a loud sob. Marcus felt like he could finally let out the breath he’d been holding, rubbing his one hand up and down your back as the other cradled your head.

“It’s alright sweetheart, I’m here now, I’m gonna keep you safe.”

After a few tests back at the hospital you were finally discharged. You’d gotten off easy, a broken nose, some minor fractures and a lot of bumps and bruises. Marcus himself had sustained a cut on his face and a sprained wrist, but other than that he seemed to be just fine. In the emergency room he’d suggested you stay over at his and with some convincing you’d agreed. Since the both of you were in no shape to drive, a cab escorted you back to his.

“Remind me to never let my friend set me up”, you joked as you picked up a spoonful of pasta.

Marcus huffed out a breathy laugh, tilting his head at you. “So you won’t be parading around the office in pretty dresses anymore?”

You rolled your eyes. “Wouldn’t want to keep you from your work.”

Despite it being a playful quip, he couldn’t help but feel a little flustered. “I’m gonna miss it. They suited you.”

Now it was your turn to blush, bashfully looking away as you tried to hide it. “You flatter me Pike”, you murmured, smiling at him with your eyes.

“Want some more pasta? Water?”, he asked, his hands getting more clammy by the minute.

You let out a soft yawn, slowly shaking your head. “I’m okay, thanks.”

He carried your plate to the sink, glancing over his shoulder as you went to stand, a look of discomfort etched on your face, despite the heavy amount of pain medication coursing through your veins. “How about you get some rest, let those painkillers kick in?”

“I’d like that, have a spare bedroom?”, you questioned.

Marcus let out a prolonged sigh. “Well no- but I was planning on taking the couch anyway”, he rambled, gesturing towards the beat up couch with both arms.

You mouthed an ‘oh’, too scared to ask him if he’d just sleep alongside you. “Are you sure? Because I don’t mind.”

“No, no, no! You take the bed, you need all the comfort you can get right now.”

He followed you down the hall, showing you to the bathroom while he disappeared in his bedroom to make the bed for you. You shuffled into the room, a change of clothes held in your hand.

“I uh- I can’t quite change out of my shirt, if you wouldn’t mind?”

His eyes went wide as he looked at you. “Uh, sure.”

It was a little awkward, Marcus requesting you stood with your back to him as he didn’t want to invade your space. It made for a weird angle and soon you doubled over in pain and he got you out of your dirty shirt. He quickly walked around, supporting you, landing him another moan.

“Shit – I’m so sorry!”, he sputtered out, throwing his hands over his eyes as he realised you were in fact topless.

You huffed out an awkward laugh, using the awkward angle to get one arm in the shirt, covering up your chest. “I’ll need you to do the other arm, just make it quick, it’s gonna hurt no matter what.”

He did as he was told, carefully yet in a fast motion (with closed eyes of course) guiding your arm through the whole and tugging it down for you.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you-“, he started after you told him to open his eyes.

“Marcus”, you smiled, “It’s not your fault, I’m black and blue, it was bound to happen.”

He nodded slowly, giving you a once over. “Well, if you need anything else, just let me know.”

As he turned to walk out the door you clenched your fists. “Actually”, you called out, “would you mind staying with me? It’s just that I don’t want to be alone.”

To say that he was taken aback would’ve been an understatement. “Of course! Yeah, just get settled, I’ll get ready for bed.”

You smiled before getting into the bed, biting your lip to stifle any further sounds or indications of pain and/or discomfort. Meanwhile Marcus was furiously brushing his teeth with his good wrist, freshening up and combing through his hair before coming back. He wore actual pyjamas, not wanting to make you uncomfortable by just being in briefs. When he climbed in next to you he made sure to do it slowly and carefully, not wanting to dip the mattress too much.

“How’s this?”, he asked, pointing towards the space between the two of you.

“If I’m asking too much just tell me, but.. do you think you could hold me?”, you asked quietly, anxiously awaiting his response.

His stomach was doing summersaults as he nodded, a grin spreading across his luscious lips. As he scooted closed he noticed the way your jaw clenched.

“Fuck – I don’t want to hurt you though.”

You splayed a hand across his chest as you let him come closer. “It’s okay, pretty much everything hurts, I’d rather hurt in your arms.”

He gave you a curious look, a hint of mischief sparkling in his gorgeous brown eyes. “Well, where doesn’t it hurt then.”

You wiggled your fingers, sighing: “My hands are doing pretty good.”

He took them in his, pressing a kiss to each palm. “Where else?”

The blush you felt creeping up was not to be denied at this point. “My elbow.”

He gently manoeuvred your arm around, pressing a lingering kiss to the skin of your elbow. “Hmm?”

“Here”, you whispered, laying a finger on your lips.

One of his hands cupped your jaw as he leant over you, closing his eyes before tenderly pressing his soft lips to yours. “How’s that feel?”

“Better. But you might need to do it again”, you answered, lips curling up into an adorable smile.

“Say no more.”

[rhenuvee]

The Heart in You pt2 (Fred Weasley x reader)

Request: Could you do something along these lines? Love you soo much <3 your imagines make me happier. It would mean the world to me if you could do this!! Request: Could you write a Fred Weasley imagine where the reader is Fred's best friend but they never really show affection, they insult each other all the time and occasionally Fred flirts, teasingly. But Fred gets all nervous and goes soft when y/n is visiting their home since its so small and you know.. they're poor and stuff... thanks <3

Link to pt1: Here

--------------------------------------------------

You were peacefully walking through the corridors, ready to spend a cozy Sunday afternoon being warm from the cold with your friends. It was quite surprising how little disturbance there was, as if you were in a scene in a movie. 

That is, until you heard the sudden roars of laughter, clapping, and awe. You gritted your teeth- you knew that the peace was too good to be true. You decided to change your direction, hoping that this path would bring an end to this once and for all. 

This was something you’ve been dealing with for the past week, and it’s been pissing you off. You found the source of the crowd of noise, seeing that it was coming from out in the courtyard. It was just as you expected. 

“-and then there I was, cornered! Like a poor gazelle standing out in the open!” narrated a voice you knew too well. You stood watching from a distance with your arms folded, seeing as a specific redhead told a story you almost knew by heart by now.

Just as rehearsed for the past seven days a week, you saw the same dramatic gestures by none other than Fred Weasley. His stupid chocolate brown eyes which you couldn’t bother to look at, his stupid smile which you swore he had on 24/7- Although you had to admit, something even more stupid was the first and second years genuinely interested and believing in his anecdote. 

“I almost died, but I stayed strong!” you facepalmed as he scrunched up his face way too dramatically. “She- the lion, sneaking up, ready to jump out and-”

“WEASLEY!” you yelled interrupting him, hearing enough of his crap. It seemed to scare some of the first and second years as they jumped and turned to see you.

“It’s the lion! Run!” shouted Fred. The kids yelled their lungs out and ran in all different directions all to get away from ‘the lion’. You marched your way to Fred, trudging your way towards him. You didn’t care about your shoes getting wet from the snow, all you cared about was slapping that smirk off his face.

“Yes?” he said rather casually from his spot, leaning against the wall.

“Yes? That’s all you have to say to the ferocious lion?” you asked incredulously. He chuckled.

“Actually, I do have something to say, though we may need a spell to translate between your roaring.” You scoffed at his terrible joke.

“I hate you.” 

“We know that’s a lie, love.” You rolled your eyes. You knew that the reason the story started in the first place was because of that day you asked him to the yule ball. He tricked you, and his ego was just getting bigger. 

“And what makes you think that?” you retorted.

“You’re the one who asked me to the ball, love.” he said scoffing. You mentally slapped yourself for having a question with an obvious answer. The term of endearment definitely didn’t help in trying to hide your embarrassment. 

“I was drunk.” you replied quickly. Fred in turn laughed at your quick statement, causing you to laugh a little.

“Really? Then you should get drunk more often.” 

“I think you’re drunk, gazelle.” you said poking his chest then turning to leave. Though, this didn’t stop him from hopping from his place and catching up with you.

“Am I now?” he asked pressing further.

“Yes Fred, bye.” you said as you were about to leave him and turn a corner.

“Alright, don’t miss me too much darling!” 

“Fred!”

---

“Hey (y/n)!” called someone from behind you. You stopped and turned to see George who was slowing down to stop near your spot. 

“Hey George. What’s going on?”

“Are you doing anything this holiday?” he asked.

“Hm, probably just gonna go home for the break, same as every year... why?” 

“I was wondering if you’d like to come to ours for Christmas.” Your eyes widened at his offer. You had never been to the burrow before.

“You don’t have to, but I know it would make a certain gazelle really happy.” he teased. You rolled your eyes.

“If it would make him happy, why couldn’t he ask me himself?” 

“Well riddle me this, would a gazelle purposely perch itself out in the open where any predator- ow!” You playfully punched George in the arm, seeing as the story was starting to rub on him.

“Sorry- what I meant to say was, it would also make myself, Ginny and Ron really happy. You’re our best friend (y/n)... also, mum’s been asking for you as well.” 

“Your mum? Asking about me?” you said shocked.

“You’ve been mentioned here and there.” he said casually. You bit your lip, trying to supress a smile. You were invited to the burrow, which you’ve heard only good things from Harry and Hermione. 

“Alright, I’ll send an owl to my parents and ask them.” you said. He nodded with a grin, knowing his twin would be ecstatic to hear this. 

---

Your parents were a little surprised that you were going to spend the holidays at the burrow. They’ve never met the twins, just like how Arthur and Molly only heard a few things about you. Nonetheless, they were glad to see you so happy to be with your friends. On another note, you were very very nervous. Maybe it was because of seeing the rest of the Weasley family, but also for very stupid reasons. 

“Oh (y/n), it’s so good to finally meet you dear! Come inside now!” You were welcomed by Molly herself, engulfing you in a tight and warm hug.  You smiled, instantly relieved that Molly liked you enough to hug you.

“I’ve heard so many things about you.” she said maintaining a bright smile. 

“And I’ve heard that you heard many things, all good I hope.” you said.

“Only the best.” she said swiping your cheek then turning to lead you deeper into the house. You walked in, and your eyes couldn’t help put to move left and right. 

“(Y/n)!” You then saw Ginny appear, running as fast as she could down the stairs, then jumping and hugging you just like her mother did. You both squealed in excitement. 

“Hey idiots! Your favourite person is here!” Ginny yelled calling for the twins. 

“Ginny!” scolded Molly with her arms crossed. You giggled. You watched as the two tall figures stepped down to where you were.

“Well look who it is.” George said smirking and leaning in for a hug. Once you pulled away, you saw Fred, but you couldn’t help but notice something was weird about him.

“Hi.” he said curtly, but with a small smile. 

“Hey...?” you greeted, letting your confusion be slightly present. He also went in for a hug, though it was a lot lighter than the ones you’ve received so far.

“Do you want any food?” asked Fred. 

“Um sure.” you shrugged. You thought it was a little strange that Fred was being so ‘nice’ to you. I mean, like George said, would a gazelle let itself stand in the open and offer food for a predator? But you decided to brush the thought off, besides, you really ought to get that dumb story out of your head.

The first evening with the Weasley’s went well. You were able to meet the rest of the family as well as Harry and Hermione which you realized later that they were here. Molly’s cooking was delicious, and you were glad to be apart of the holiday gathering. You were glad that everyone was willing to welcome you, despite being new to the burrow. 

It wasn’t until a couple hours after dinner, when it was late and you spotted Fred and George sitting on the couch, fiddling with what you expected was some of their future joke shop products.

“Hey.” you said heading over to sit with them. George smiled, then quickly jumped up to leave.

“I gotta go to the bathroom. See ya!” he said a bit too joyfully. I mean- tis the season, but one could not be that excited to go to the bathroom. You then scooched closer to Fred, and he noticed with a small grin. 

“Hey you.” he said bringing his lanky arm to wrap around you and bring you even closer. You blushed at the extremely close proximity between you two, but if you were being honest, you didn’t mind one bit. This was secretly what you wanted, right?

You remembered the day you asked Fred to the yule ball quite clearly. After that incident, he was a huge ball of chaos and energy. You remember him skipping down halls, and how you had to chase him to shut up when he started the gazelle story.

And when the night of the ball finally arrived, you were a big bundle of nerves- and Fred was being a cocky little shit as usual... but aside from that, there were things he did that made you have the most fun you’ve ever had in your life. You didn’t forget how much he made you laugh and smile that night. 

And now, you let the thought of his silence creep over again. He spoke and cracked jokes during dinner, but he was still quieter than you’ve experienced. You sat in the same silence as he seemed to be fixing a product.

“Fred...?” you said looking at him, a little surprised that your faces were closer than you expected. 

“Hm?” 

“Uh, are you okay?” you asked. You tried to ask it in the most subtle way possible. He only looked at you with an unreadable expression. The weirdest thing being that he had no witty comeback, or any line to start your typical banter. 

“Yeah.” he said giving a closed mouthed smile again, then looking back at the joke products. Jeez, why did boys have to be so hard to read? To you at least. 

“I just, ‘m surprised you accepted when George invited you here.” he muttered, but you heard it loud and clear. 

“And why would you be surprised?” You didn’t know what to feel. His head pointed downwards- suddenly this moment felt really familiar. You were a bit skeptical if you were being truthful. After a long pause, he suddenly chuckled awkwardly to himself and sat up, leaned back until his head was tilted back on the top edge of the couch.

“I’m mad for you.” he said shifting himself so that his head was still tilted back but facing you. All your jumbling thoughts couldn’t force itself out of your mouth. You just sat there, your eyes bulging out of your head, and mouth in an o shape.

“W-what?” you managed to say. Now you were very very skeptical of what was to happen. You do not want to be tricked by him again, and leave you a blushing mess. 

“I’m mad for you- do you need me to spell it out?” he asked. With the dim lighting you couldn’t see the slight flush of red on his cheeks. He brought his hand to cover his eyes, still showing his lips which were curved up in a flustered smile. 

“I- are you being serious?” you asked in confirmation. 

“Am I- yes I am (y/n), I’m mad for you. I said it three times, now you gotta believe me.” he said taking away the hand covering his face. You didn’t even try to hide the pink tinting your face. You shook your head, not knowing what to say.

“You still don’t believe me do you.” he deadpanned. You didn’t answer to that. He chuckled, already knowing your answer. In one swift motion, he cupped your cheek with his hand and brought you in closer for a kiss. You closed your eyes as his lips pressed against and moved in sync with yours. 

You moved so that you were able to put both your hands on his shoulders to bring him closer. You could feel the hum from his lips when he heard you let out a little noise. Both of you were speechless blushing messes once you pulled away with the ‘smooch’ sound.

“Believe me now?” he said in almost a whisper. You nodded frantically, earning a smirk from Fred, as well as a beckoning gesture to ask you to cuddle next to him. You followed, snuggling up to his side, resting your head on his shoulder.

...

“I always knew you had a heart in you.” 

...

“Excuse me?” 

You tried burying your head further inwards, as you attempted to stifle your giggles about to erupt. Yes, you really did just pull that card on Fred Weasley.

“What did you just say?” asked Fred ducking his head to your level, trying to get a glimpse of what he hoped did not just come out of your mouth. 

“Nothing!”

“You did not say nothing, princess.” he said trying to pry your hands clutching your face as you finally gave in and let out your laughter. You made the split second decision to bolt out of the living room and into the dining room to run away. Fred of course had no problem running after you. 

You were both giggly as heck as you both circled the dining table, which happened to be the only thing protecting you.

“Take it back!’

“No!”

And once you said that, he made a dash for the tight corner and was able to capture you from behind. You squirmed with your legs kicking out as he held you tightly and swung you in a circle.

“Take it back!” he said in your ear.

“I won’t! This is what you get Weasley.” 

“What I get? For what?”

“For...-” You realized then that if you said the reason, he would know that he was the reason you got flustered in the first place.

“What? Am I too handsome for you?” he asked as he placed you down, but still pinned you to the counter. 

“In your dreams!”

“And in real life too.” 

“Ugh, you’re so annoying.” you huffed crossing your arms. However, your attempt at trying not to smile failed horribly when you turned your head away from him.

“That means I won, princess.” he said smirking and tilting your head back to face him.

“Oh shut up Fred, you-”

“Make me shut up-”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” You and Fred both jumped when you saw George and Ginny intrude. And worse, when you were both getting riled up at each other. 

“There will be no ‘make me shut up’ in this house.” said George mockingly as Ginny stood next to him laughing. You deadpanned at Ginny clearly not helping the situation.

“You’re not going to encourage them? It’s about time.” said Ginny.

“Gin, if you knew me, you’d know that I’m not even surprised.” replied George sarcastically.

“Oh sod off, both of you. Bein’ two creeps.” said Fred shooing them away. George and Ginny gave each other a knowing look and did as told. Fred then immediately turned back to focusing on you.

“So, what were you thinking on making me shut up?”

[trashdeviant]

Chapter 2

Venom/Eddie x Reader

Tw: cussing

Your fists are trembling before you realize that you were clenching them enough to dig into the palm of your hands. As much as you considered laying your hands down flat to calm down, you could only unclench them in a gesture of stress before balling them up again. You had barely made it outside of the building when you rested your back against the wall.

“Fuck…” You rasp.

It was so infuriating when he decided to come at you with this passive-aggressive shit. Almost like he saw you as the problem. He loved Jessie and really missed having that shit-faced motherfucker in your life. Raf acts as if you betrayed him when you decide that you never wanted to come in contact with that childish low-life. You had plenty of names for Jess, but you really needed to shake them out of your head for now. This is about Raf stepping out of line with you.

Good. Great. Wonderful.

You felt like so much shit at the moment. Whenever things got rough you would always storm into the apartment to hug him and cuddle until he helped you calm down. A searing hot tear glided down your cheek, although your face was emotionless. It hurts.

Hurts to know that you couldn’t go to him this time. This is what you get when you refuse to spend time outside of your home. You’re not really sure how long this was going to last either. But you were as stubborn as you were torn between apologizing and finding another place to sleep tonight.

Finally your brows invert in anguish and you look up in a poor attempt to stop the tears from pouring. Your arms felt as heavy as your chest. It’s times like these that make you wonder if Raf even liked being your friend.

“You don’t get to fucking call me that…” It was more of a breath than a whisper, but it was an effort to try to keep youself from spiralling into thoughts that degraded you into thinking this was all your fault and that you were a terrible person.

Maybe you were, but at the moment you weren’t in the mood to hear it from yourself. Growing up you had to teach yourself to keep out of that spiral or you would do something drastic. It doesn’t always succeed and yet it was at least an effort being made.

This time your brows furrow as you aggressively wipe away tears on either side of your face before cracking your knuckles. You need to try to ground yourself and shake off some bad thoughts before you could hear them. That sounded weird. Now you rush out of the area to keep your mind running just as you were rather than focus on the bad thoughts. Sometimes you would pace around the apartment when you were alone just to think of things to defend yourself or think up whatever you could for a distraction. The latter being less useful than the first.

Right now you were jogging across the street to head to whatever seemed familiar. You had to be careful as you had the tendency to get side tracked and get a little lost in a street you rarely traveled.

Raf had no place to guilt trip you into even being friends with someone that cheated on you. Jess could never gather enough humanity to even acknowledge what you had gone through in that relationship. ‘Yeah I understand your decision…’ you scoff at the thought. Raf told you all sorts of shit like that after the break up. A few months later and Raf develops this little habit of scaring off anyone you would bring around him and later talk up your ex like a car salesman. You still haven’t felt like you needed to talk to Jess. As a matter of fact, you owed neither of them anything. Regardless of the fact that you three used to be an inseparable trio.

You grit your teeth.

Rafael is a selfish naive piece of shit if he thinks he will ever get you to crack and open up your life to that whore. You are not obligated to talk to them; that is that. If Raf can’t come to peace with you cutting a whole motherfucker out of your life then that was his own problem.

Fuck.

“Fuck!” You grunted silently to yourself-punching a nearby surface that seemed to be a wall.

The mere voice in your head that reminded you of his constant excuse made you cringe in a sudden wave of anger. ‘I’m stuck in the middle’, was short for, “You’re not being fair! Stop being the problem and make up with Jess so I can enjoy myself in the presence of both of you!”

First of all-Raf isn’t in the middle of anything! He is a grown man and can go see Jessie whenever he wants to or even invite him in while you’re out! He is the only one making everything such a big deal. ‘News flash, Raffie, you’re no peacemaker here!’, your blood boils at the fact that he couldn’t treat you two as separate friends. Even Jess was able to understand you wanted no part of them!

You cut people out of your life for a reason! Not only did they cheat on you, but was generally an asshole too! Just because Raf can’t gather the strength to end something completely does not mean you had to adapt to what he wanted! It is not illegal to cut someone out of your life and it could be perfectly healthy for you, even! Regardless if your circle has only gotten smaller and smaller over the years...

“I don’t need any of that shit! If I have to I’ll move, Raf!” Your voice hissing his nickname,”If you can’t live without that bitch and me then I’ll do you the fucking favor of cutting myself out of your life! Who the fuck says I need either of you!?”

You stop dead in your tracks and look down at your shoes. There was guilt and suffering swelling inside of you. You had only said that because you couldn’t think of any other way out of it than having him hate you. Hot streaks of tears return as you lower yourself into a crouch and hold your head. You don’t bother to fight the urge to pull your hair.

‘I do-I need you…’

A pathetic plea that lands on nobody’s ears. This was going to be the death of you if you keep going down this path. The sun was beginning to set. Orange and pink flourishes across the skies. Sobs rake through your body as you hide yourself into the alleyway. What the literal fuck? You could knock a man into a coma and here you were weeping like a lonely child. ‘You’re a selfish piece of shit-go to hell-he tries hard for you and here you are talking shit-what kind of friend are you-what kind of a sibling-a waste of a contact-a waste of a life-a bastard-motherfucking piece of-’

Your heart was stuck in a traffic of emotions. The selfish asshole doesn’t realize how badly you wish it could go back to the way it was too if it made things any easier. But like hell if you were going to ruin yourself again for the sake of his comfort. ‘Be the bigger person’ was such a load of bullshit. A ticket for the other to avoid consequence if he asked you.

A nervous hand is offered to your trembling form before you even realize there was anyone walking towards you, “What are you doing in here?”, he begins his question with your name, which was enough for you to snap your head up at him. ‘Eddie?’ You had forgotten how burnt up your eyes must have looked. Dropping your head in embarrassment you hide your bruised up features and take his hand. “Not having a good night.” Your own voice repulses you and you have to stop yourself at choking up as another wave of self-loathing thoughts creep up on you.

There was no lying to him considering you couldn’t think of a good cover story for crying in an alley in the dark. The least you could do was keep it vague to spare him from listening to you gripe about something so irrelevant to him.

“Need me to walk you home?” Panic surges through you for less than a second at his question.

“No! No-thank you. Uh…” You mentally shake yourself before you continue, ”Um, do you mind if we just walk to your place?”

A sigh leaves you when you relish in his nod. You fail to notice how he had helped you up and draped his jacket over your still trembling body as you walked. Eddie most likely thought you were shaking from the cold rather than your little meltdown. How cute.

After a moment of nothingness that leaked into you like acid, you decide to open your mouth despite how your sore throat protests, “Thank you, Eddie.”

“It’s no problem.” He says it so casually it almost makes you nauseated with guilt.

There was another silent pause, “So…” You began, “How did you… find me?” That insinuated that he was looking for you, but you didn’t know what else to say after half of that question had already left your mouth.

He purses his lips for a second. Then proceeded to do something that finally had you smile at him and even muffle the wrenching ache in your heart. Eddie stammers and stumbles over a word or two as visual warmth creeps up his ears. You ponder what he was hiding before he is able to speak again, “We-I-I forgot our-my tater tots and I ran back to your place and your brother answered and told us to come find you here…”

“Okay…” that made you stare wide eyed. He was kind of a shitty liar considering Raf doesn’t know where you are.

He stirs at your silence and leaves your gaze about forty times in the matter of two seconds. To his shock you begin giggling. Then you began to chuckle. Followed by some laughing that was hard enough that you had to hold your stomach. He holds you still as you take a moment to recover. ‘Damn, wouldn’t it be crazy if he was some psycho stalking me or whatever?’

Maybe your laughter was contagious or you just looked stupid, but he begins to cackle along with you. You both probably looked pretty stupid. With a careful step you continue the journey back to his place the moment your laughter slowly dies down.

“You’re weird” You wheezed through a last few fits of giggling that left you breathless.

Eddie was just as bad as he wipes away some water building up in his eye, “You don’t know the half of it.”

The bad thoughts push at your neck and build a little pressure in your chest as a harsh reminder that you shouldn’t be enjoying yourself. You smile through the pain, yet he asks you if you’re alright and if you’re hurting somewhere. His voice goes soft with an undertone of concern. You couldn’t swat at the butterflies that shift in your organs.

“I’m fine. Just shit hit the fan back at my place.” You wince in disgust when you reveal that little detail. Eddie notices and offers implied choices, “Want to talk about it?”

You could either walk in more awkward silence or you could awkwardly blow up on him. Much to your own displeasure you settle for the latter.

“Do you believe in shit like ‘being the bigger person’?” You curl your fingers to make air quotes around your words as you speak. You didn’t want to be talking to a brick wall of morals after all.

Unsure of what you were expecting, you turn to look at him, “Not really. I mean… Past experiences makes that kind of complicated to answer, but… not really.”

Sighing, you look forward to avoid eye contact; naturally as the coward you were, “Raf only blew up on you because he thinks you would ruin the chances of me focusing on a friendship with an ex of mine.” He scoffs, but you continue before he could say anything, “But Jess is kind of a shitty person and I really don’t care about bringing that fucker back into my life for his sake-uh since me Raf and Jess were all friends once…” You stopped there deciding last minute to keep a lid on it.

“Does Raf know you don’t want to be friends again?” You didn’t expect him to actually say anything after that. Nobody really ever did aside from Rafael.

“Yeah, it’s been almost a year already, but it still comes up.”

“Wait-why does he care? Can’t he still be friends with Jess and be your brother?”

Eddie seemed genuinely confused which was actually kind of adorable, but you ignored that thought, “Because he feels like he’s stuck in the middle of us. He wants it to go back to how it was when all three of us were together and tearing shit up.”

“So it’s really about him then?” More of a statement than a question. It made you look up at him in realization. The only feeling that lingered from your meltdown was the guilt of being a selfish asshole. You almost forgot to be a little pissed at him by the time you were mostly out of it.

He takes note of your reaction and speaks carefully, “I’m starting to think you two have really different feelings going around about different parts of this situation.” You nod in affirmation.

“So that’s probably why you two haven’t figured a way around any of this. Like you both rely on one of you just clicking and finally getting it so one of you can have it your way. But if you don’t then it’ll just come back up again later, right?”

You nod again, mostly in a daze. He was actually making sense to you somehow.

“That is so unfair...”

That actually makes you huff out a bit of laughter, “Tell me about it.”

You two finally make it to his apartment complex. By the time you two make it to the door of his apartment he’s already pushing you inside. Playfully of course. In his defense you were acting like a vampire that needed to verbally be invited in.

You stand politely next to his couch before you hear him scoff jokingly, “Do I look like the Queen of England?” When you don’t respond he steps into your view to hold your arms comfortingly, “Relax. Sit.”

Offering an apologetic smile you add onto you nervous behavior, “I’m sorry I’m just kind of… It’s been a while since I’ve…” You didn’t want to sound all that depressing, “Look I’ll try to…” Jesus fuck this was a disaster, “Ugh… I-I’m…” You wish you hadn’t said anything at all at this point. Huffing in defeat you finish your thought, “I’m just tired. I’m sorry.”

Eddie looks at you closely as if to inspect you.

The silence was always weird. What was he thinking and why did it always take this long? Was he thinking of a way to kick you out? Your internal stress was rudely interrupted when he places something in front of you. The smell of cupped noodles pushes your embarrassment down your throat; almost forgotten. You didn’t seem to understand right away. Did you look hungry? Was your stomach making weird noises? Enough!

You took a forkful and hummed thankfully.

He takes his place next to you with a cup of his own. Perhaps he could sense that you were still bothered by your situation, or maybe he was just curious, you weren’t sure which as he begins to inquire, “Does Jess know you don’t want to be friends?”

Nodding, you swallow whatever is left in your mouth, “Yeah. I mean sometimes I hear from Raf that Jess would rather talk it out and I don’t know. Explain what happened that night maybe. Raf tells me that things have changed and how Jess changed, but I don’t… I don’t actually want to find that out for myself.” You couldn’t help but shrink at how horrible you were beginning to sound now that it was all being said out loud.

More silence.

“Should you really have to?”

There was a second before you choke up dryly at your next thought, “If I don’t then I’m just a coward and Raf is going to give up on me and won’t talk to me and-” Scorching tears return at full force by the time you feel yourself shaking against someone’s chest, “-I’ll be alone and I don’t want to be-not like this-I don’t want to be-” Arms tightening around you never made you feel so small. Your voice was growing less and less coherent and yet you pretended otherwise as you kept babbling on about fearing yourself. Does Rafael really think you don’t care enough about him if you don’t go back to being friends with your own fucking ex? You ball yourself up and cling to his jacket as if you would slip into the void if you let go.

‘Back at square one’ your mind jested. How would he ever talk to you again after this? Eddie was probably thinking ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ right about now. You were a wreck basically the first day you’ve met him! At least Raf didn’t have to worry anymore considering you ruined this poor dude’s night. A devastated smile tugs at your lips. His seriousness wavers at the feeling.

“What?” He has to pull away to look at you.

Your eyes were puffy, skin slick with tears, bruises still evident. Not only were you disgusting, but tears had soaked through his jacket, much to your embarrassment. You naturally avoid his gaze for the millionth time that night, “I’m sorry for fucking up your night.”

For a minute he seems to be at a loss for words. You mentally slap yourself for even saying anything and putting him in such an awkward position. Just as you were about to fill in the gap with more gibberish and half baked thoughts, he retorts, “You didn’t fuck anything up.”

You blink up at him to see that he was smiling down at you.

“Okay, sure, you’re crying on my couch and I don’t really know what to do with my hands-” His face almost beams when you snort weakly at his comment, “-but I would rather have you here than crying alone in some ditch-or alley in the dark.”

Then suddenly, something hit you. You wouldn’t be crying in his arms tonight if you just kept your conversation light. If you didn’t blurt out each and every little detail. Mostly because it was weird to do to a stranger you met just that day. Even most friends would look for distractions as an answer. He asked about your situation and kept prying. He was looking for the smaller details. Because he’s a reporter.

Or maybe he was just that nice of a person.

You move one hand to hold your side as you begin another contagious wave of laughter that resulted in you hiding your face in his shoulder. It was more down-played than the last, but still unrelenting. You weren’t sure why, but it all just seemed weird enough to you to be laughable. Not too long after were there strings of laughter rumbling throughout his body. For some reason, the bouncing of your head against his quaking shoulder was automatically hysterical to you. Your laughter grew by the second. This had to stop.

“What’s so funny?” Eddie snickered.

Only after a humiliating snort or two did you answer, “You!” the mirth finally dives back into calmness as you provide some clarity, “You’re just,” your words were broken by a lingering breath of laughter, “so weird…”

A nervous chuckle draws your attention, “Weird good or weird bad?”

“I don’t know,” a bit of mischief teases your lips when you see his reaction, “You go looking for me in an alley after the shitty breakfast I gave you and let me into your apartment all ugly with tears.”

Slowly, joy kicked at his lungs. His laugh was cute. Man, if this dude turns out to be a murderer just lurring you in, you were going to be pissed.

“Yeah… I think you’re a good weird.” You didn’t realize how close Eddie was to you until you sneak a peak of his deep smile.

He seemed to realize it too as he takes the opportunity to lean a little closer and wipe away any lingering tears off of your face, “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Your voice was coated in honey when you decide you want to meet him halfway. You begin slow. He was so close to you; his breath easily warming your skin and sending goosebumps up your arms. Suddenly you were cold.

You blink at the view of him continuing to eat his leftovers.

“Your soups gettin’ cold.” The shit-eating grin that he bares was enough to light a fire under your ass.

Shock was written all over your face, nevertheless, you grab your soup and continue to eat. There was some silence that weighted the atmosphere. Maybe he was expecting a different reaction out of you, you weren’t sure, but nobody was about to be playing hard to get with you right now. You cackle internally.

“So do you-”

A smile that could sell for innocence graces your features.

He swipes his tongue over the corner of his lips slowly to catch the drop of soup from the small corn you had flung at him. It catches your gaze through the corner of your eye. Feeling like you’ve won, you continue to eat.

Unfortunately you only had half a minute to mentally brag. A lukewarm piece of noodle smacks lamely into your jawline before falling into the remainder of your soup. You gasp and shoot an infamous glare which slowly falters beneath the playful grin that surfaces.

With a flick of your index finger you move another piece of food on the tip of your fork. In a flash, you bring a fist down on the handle and launch a small piece of partially soaked chicken right into what would have been his chest.

What happened instead was actually quite impressive. Your eyes widen to see Eddie lunge forward and catch the food in his mouth. For a second you swear you see his teeth sharpen, but dismiss it as a mere exaggeration of his action. You raise your hands to defend your face as he chuckles and flicks another one at you.

You cry out in laughter and launch it back at him; hitting his nose. Another one flies at you, but you slap it out of your way. It splashes into your soup and further dirties your hoodie. At the moment you didn’t really care. That being said, a few more minutes into your little warfare and your hoodie was as bad as your crying face was a few moments ago. Eddie wasn’t as bad after catching two more when they were just a little too overhead.

“You want me to wash your hoodie for you?” He gestures to the filth that caked the fabric. He looked smug albeit a little apologetic.

“Nah it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” An eyebrow raises and you cave, “Uh… I would take it off, but I didn’t bring a shirt…”

Humiliation manifests on your face just as Eddie raises a brow. There’s no issue when it came to Raf seeing you shirtless, but with someone so new? It was weird. You can’t help but be a little insecure. He scratches the back of his neck in thought before offering another option, “I could give you a shirt, no problem.”

You were going to decline, but you could feel something slick and cold sticking to your stomach. Shivering you nod gratefully, “Please?”

Keeping close to him you follow towards a closet full of clothing. Eddie pulls his shirt over his head. Your eyes immediately trace the muscles that flex and contour his back. Fuck, it actually makes you want to cry. You play it off as a sigh and peel your eyes away from him as he slips into a clean shirt. Were you making things weird? No he probably didn’t notice anything. He hasn’t made a sound yet anyways. Yeah-no it’s nothing. He can’t possibly see that look on your face! Did you see those tattoos? Wipe that drool off your face, he’s turning around!

He places a soft fabric into your hands and points to the bathroom. You were still too ashamed to meet his eyes and notice his smug expression. Instead, here you were in his kind-of-gross bathroom. Stripping off your hoodie you pull the shirt over your top half. If you were being honest, you wish you were out there in front of him. Your mind went into the gutter while you imagine trying to show off your muscles and whatnot.

“Everything okay in there?” You jump and reflexively grab your hoodie off of the sink.

“Y-yeah. I’ll be right out.”

Anxiously, you pull at the collar of the shirt. You couldn’t stop yourself. Pulling it closely to your lips, you inhale lightly. His scent was almost like its own spice. A sweet musk with enough zest you sweep you off your feet.

You hear him shuffling around in his living room and quickly make your way out. The shirt was an easy fit on you, actually. Eddie was a pretty big guy anyways so you were grateful for the size. Your eyes glaze upon the shirt he wears now. Imagine tearing into such thin fabric… You catch yourself before getting lost in the figuration again.

“Thanks. I’ll give it back-”

“Don’t worry about it. Looks better on you.”

‘Smooth Criminal’ was written all over him, “Not as good as you look right now.”

“You think I look good?” He stalks up to you and you feel your heart flutter.

“Didn’t realize I stuttered.” You hum, amused.

Before things could escalate, Eddie clears his throat. He seemed to be keeping himself back. It was absolutely annoying…

“You stayin’ the night?”

“Only if you’ll let me.” There’s some hopefulness in your words.

He catches it and feeds you a promising grin, “Guess you’re stayin’.”

The rest of that night was a blur. But much to your displeasure you two didn’t do much of anything. You could tell because you were both leaning against each other on his couch with the TV on. The urge to kick something in frustration was strong enough to pick Eddie as a target. Not that you didn’t have a nice time, but you would rather be walking off a pair of sore legs right about now. He stirs next to you and leans his back against the couch; taking some weight off of you.

You desperately want to move, but not off of the couch. You wanted to lay your head in the crook of his neck and you weren’t even sure why. That was weird. He literally met you yesterday…

‘What the fuck.’

Your head was comfortably tucked against his toned thighs. Too busy being stuck in your thoughts you fail to notice you were slowly being pushed into his lap. You really needed to stop daydreaming because you are doing things you basically tell yourself not to do.

Eddie was already waking up before you could fix your mistake! Quickly shutting your eyes, you pretend to be asleep. A moment later and Eddie was shifting beneath you in contempt of trying to control your breathing. Were you being elevated? You refused to face the music by opening your eyes just yet. Not even when you felt his seemingly huge hand caress the back of your head.

He does lean down to you though. Your heart comes to a screeching halt in hopes of him leaning down to kiss you. However that does not happen. You could feel him. Eddie was taking in your scent, greedily. You miss the chance to stop yourself from shuddering. This almost made you feel vulnerable. But worst comes to worst, you could take a hit and dish one out too.

There was an animalistic rumble that has you peek through your lashes. It was horrifyingly good and ran up your spine better than any man’s “lower” voice. The subtle clicking was weird but did wonders to your core. In spite of peeking, it was just Eddie’s nervous face.

The jig is up.

You squint at him-as if you were just waking up-appearing tired and disoriented, “Dude,” You couldn’t help throwing in a drowsy chuckle before continuing, “are you sniffing me?”

Mentally jumping for joy at the fact that it took the attention off of you for sleeping on his lap, you watch in amazement as he stammers with an excuse and chokes up on nothing. He was as nervous and messy as you were.

In the end he comes up with nothing short of, “I just… thought you smelt nice… is all…”

As nice as it was to see him sweat over anything, you crack a smile and offer some honesty, “Thanks. I think you smell nice too.”

Shit was so awkward it was just easier to laugh at each other at this point. You sit up and make a bit of a show at stretching. With your arms raised, you make sure to flex. The shirt was a little on the thinner side which made it easier to tease your little audience as it left almost no secrets and gave just enough details. You finish with a scripted yawn that flows into a soft moan and rest your hands behind your neck. Lasty, you blink away your bedroom eyes to see him still staring. You almost laugh at him when he opens his mouth to close it again.

‘How pathetic is that?’ You chuckle to yourself.

He looked frazzled and scared to say anything. You feel a surge of energy and confidence the moment he practically turns around to run away. There was no way in hell you didn’t just hear him whimper.

Laughing only when he makes it into the safety of his bathroom, your phone nearly vibrates off of the table.

[R: Aye call me or get over here]

[R: Cause I just got you a fight]

[R: Its flashin’ big money]

[Y: How big?]

You two may be fighting, but when it came to you fighting other people, it was an implied compromise that you two still work together.

[R: Call me or smthng]

Eddie was just coming out of the bathroom. His bed head looking more like it was on purpose than an accident.

[Y: Can’t rn… I’ll be over in ten]

[Y: Ttyl]

Pocketing your phone you look at Eddie bashfully, “Hey… big guy?” oh god-no awkward…

“Big guy?” His grin was already talking dirty.

“Careful-I know where you sleep.” You point at him accusingly before laughing it off, “Anyways…” ‘You’re stalling…’

“This was fun… and you’re really nice. So thank you…” He at least seemed pleased by your words so far, “But, Raf texted me so…” Until now. His face was weirdly disappointed. All you could do was sigh mentally, ‘I don’t want to go either…’.

“Are we going to see you again sometime or?” You gave it some thought. You didn’t actually have a job with your winnings mainly covering the rent. Not to mention, Raf was the one working at the bakery on 24th street. Memories flash you with images of you lounging on the couch or working out. You had all the free time in the world.

For a second, you twist from side to side indecisively. You kind of wish for a way to attach him to you hip. You liked him and despite all the teasing and whatnot, he seemed as shy and weird as you were. Just as lost.

“Hm… What are you doing tonight?” The smile he answers with was rewarding.

“Don’t know yet… You tell me…” Jesus fuck, did your heart just float away?

Keeping your cool you place your palm against his bicep, “I know a cute little place we could meet up.”

You give him the location of a sweet little cafe that was open in the late hours. He was familiar with it and called it a date. A swift hand grabs your hoodie. You quickly toss it onto your shoulder and poke some fun at how you may just keep the shirt. It felt softer than any of your shirts. Everything felt like it was lingering, “You want me to walk you home?”

“I’ll be fine.” Punctuating your words with a shameless flex of your bicep. You really didn’t want to go, nonetheless, you bid him farewell after a bittersweet chuckle, “Anyways-Got to bounce. Ciao.”

He waves you off and closes the door behind you. Your heart needs a moment to deal with the loss of company. As you move down the hall to exit the building you hear Eddie’s muffled voice, “Wh-God shut up V.”

He seemed irritated, but he was chuckling. Strange. Who was he talking to?

You pay it no mind for now and focus on your journey back home.

[jinkicake]

Seeing Them After A Breakup

Running into Oikawa/Tendou/Kuroo/Ushijima after a breakup.

I am president of the post-breakup company, the amount of iwaoi fics I have read with this trope is more than all of my current textbooks combined. 

Also. Please stay safe wherever you are! I hope you’re alright! </3

WC - 2,213

~~~

“Oikawa?” A soft voice Oikawa keeps hearing in his dreams calls out to him and he nearly trips on his face as he turns around to face you. His light eyes nearly pop out of his head when he sees you actually standing in front of him, looking as timid as the day he met you. The sour thought that it shouldn’t be like this runs through his brain and he smiles at you to try and hide the hurt he is facing. 

“What are you doing here?” You ask quietly, gripping the bags in your hands tightly. Oikawa looks down and notices the grocery bags in your hands, making the realization you must’ve come back from shopping after school, it truly is a small town.

“Just dropping Takeru off at practice.” His voice comes out hard and you slightly flinch. Oikawa mentally slaps himself at how cold his tone sounds and he notices you twirl a strand of hair around your finger, something you always did when you were nervous. It shouldn’t be like this.

“Oh, you’re not watching his practice today?” Your voice keeps drawing Oikawa back from his thoughts and he reaches to take the heavy bags out of your hands, surprised that you actually let him. 

“No, I was going to go and practice by myself.” Oikawa has had the problem of pushing himself lately, he puts his all into volleyball practice and when he’s not actually practicing he’s thinking about practice. If he stops to think about anything else then his thoughts will drift back to you and that won’t end well for the setter. Guilt fills his chest when he hears your disappointed sigh and he notices your stare on his knee, his injured one. He can tell by your irritated expression that you want to tell him off and he is internally begging you to do so, one last time for his sake. 

“Y-you shouldn’t push yourself so hard To-“ Your eyes fall to the ground and you quickly correct yourself. “You shouldn’t push yourself so hard Oikawa.” Crossing your arms over your chest you look away from him, embarrassed at your slip up. Even at the utter of his name the boy nearly collapses begging you to take him back, if only he could be so selfish. Baby steps, he tells himself. 

“(Y/N) can I walk you home?” The handsome boy asks you and you feel your heart flutter in your chest, holding onto hope that something will rekindle between the two of you. That idea is stupid and you keep telling yourself that but, with a bright smile you nod and take Oikawa’s extended hand in yours. 

~

Tendou drags himself into the convenience store, looking for something to fill his after-practice monster appetite. His eyes lower to the shelf of hot meals and his long taped fingers reach out to place two different meals in his basket before turning around to the ice cream cooler. He fails to notice the girl on the other side of the cooler, just as she fails to notice him. 

Tendou reaches out to grab the last chocolate ice cream and instead of grabbing the cool plastic he meets a smaller hand. With an annoyed sigh, the middle-blocker rolls his shoulders back, standing up to his true height to try and scare whoever is in front of him into giving him the treat. When his red eyes finally lay on your shocked face they widen and he has the same level of shock twinkling in his eyes. A deep pang settles in his chest when you shyly laugh at the ground, clutching your skirt in your fist before holding the ice cream out for him.

“Here, it’s your favorite anyway. I was only getting it because-“ Confusion etches onto the boy's face when he notices your smile falling and your eyes dropping back to the ground. Because I was thinking of you, you wanted to say but, how weird is that to say to your ex-boyfriend.

“Oh, thanks.” You visibly flinch when his taped fingers brush against yours to take the now, probably, unfrozen ice cream cone. 

“Volleyball isn’t treating you any better huh?” You finally look back up at the redhead and give him a smile, hoping to hear his laugh one more time. 

Tendou only looks at his fingers before looking back at your face as he lets out a shaky laugh. God he is pathetic, the boy scolds himself. Despite all the negative thoughts flooding into his mind just telling him to leave, to leave you alone, he can’t help but need to have you in his arms again. 

“You can’t get any more injured, it’ll be a pretty boring game if you’re not on the court.” You tell him, trying to mask the pride you feel for him during his matches, as you wave and walk towards the counter. Tendou only stands frozen as you walk away from him and he feels his mind slowing down as he can only focus on one thing. He notices the rice ball and drink in your hands and his eyes shine bright. 

“Do you want to eat together?” His voice surprised you and you can’t help the smile that breaks onto your face when you notice him holding up his basket way too high. With a more than necessary nod you finish paying and wait for him to do the same. 

~

The warm spring air kisses Kuroo’s bare skin as he walks towards the train station. How he got roped into hanging out with Yamamoto in the city, he doesn’t know. The night is still young and the stars are starting to brighten as the moon lifts higher into the sky. Kuroo releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he looks up at the night sky, something you used to make him do all the time. He lets out a low laugh because once again for the umpth time that day you stormed into his mind unannounced. It's been like this for two weeks, he just can’t get you off his mind. 

“Yes, mom I’ll be home in like thirty minutes.” Kuroo saw you before he heard you, your small frame brushing past him like he was another stranger amongst the crowd. “Yes, I was hanging out after school with friends. What were we doing? Mom we were studying.” Kuroo can hear the irritation in your voice, your mom always had to ask more questions than necessary. “No mom he was not there.” He watches with curious eyes as your shoulders fall and you practically slouch over. 

“No mom I am not going to invite him over because you want to see him, we broke up!” Kuroo knows for a fact you’re talking about him, he almost feels bad for eavesdropping but that doesn’t stop him from blending into the busy train station. “Huh? Yes, mom, I do miss him but,” You let out a sigh and shake your head. “Whatever it doesn’t matter, I’ll be home in thirty.” 

Kuroo can’t help the laugh slip out as he watches you violently hang up and throw your phone into your bag. The small smile etches onto his face as he stares at your back and thinks about the relationship the two of you shared. It seems impossible but every day Kuroo knows he falls in love with you more and more, even broken up. Despite his cool head, he can practically feel his heart jumping in his throat as the train approaches. Remain cool, remain cool. He tells himself over and over as the crowd moves into the packed train. 

An elbow is shoved into his side and he lets out an annoyed sigh to glance down at the drunk old man jumping off the train at the last minute. Kuroo looks around the train car again to try and find you but he loses you, if he doesn’t feel like a complete idiot right now. Rolling his eyes the tall boy leans against the door of the train, failing to notice your small frame already there. 

“Hey!” You squeak out pushing away his side that is crushing you against the door. Your glare falls when you meet Kuroo’s eyes and a blush paints over your cheeks. Nervously you drop your gaze to the floor and grimace at your shoes. 

“Sorry you’re so small I didn’t even see you.” The teasing tone causes your eyes to narrow as you try to hide the smile on your face. Kuroo nearly kicks himself but your smile is worth it, it will always be. You cross your arms over your chest and let out a sigh, knowing that your eyes show the exhaustion you’re facing. “Rough day?” Kuroo has to ask, drag the conversation along no matter how stupid he will look. His shoulders drop in relief when you laugh and shake your head.

“One like you wouldn’t believe.” You run your fingers through your messy hair, freezing when your fingers get caught in the knots. Subtly you try to release your hand from your hair but it doesn’t go unnoticed by Kuroo. He tries to mask his laughter as he gingerly untangles your fingers out of your hair and you give him a pointed look. “Don’t say anything when your hair looks like that.” The teasing nature surrounds the two of you in a close bubble, and your heart starts to relax at the comfort. Kuroo wraps his hand around your own and you raise an eyebrow at him.

“Do you wanna, maybe, look at the stars?” His question causes an embarrassed flush to spread across your face as you recall your first efforts to try and ask him out. Instead of instantly hitting his arm like you normally would, all you can do is smile and nod.

“I’d like that Kuroo.” 

~

With an annoyed sigh, you drop the heavy bag to the floor, ignoring the empty water bottles clashing around inside of it. Sakunami comes up beside you and grabs the bag, hiking it over his own shoulder.

“Sakunami, it’s okay, give it to me.” You try to get the bag back from the first year but he only shakes his head. Sakunami was always helping you out whenever you needed it, he picked up on most things the other players didn’t when it came to you since you were closest to him on the team. 

“Manager let me help.” He stubbornly yanks the bag from your reach causing a sigh to drop from your mouth as you let out a soft ‘fine’. Sakunami wanted to press and ask if the reason you were upset today was because of your ex-boyfriend. Before he gets the chance to ask you, a tall figure looms over both of you. The tiny first-year instantly steps in front of you protectively and looks completely stupid trying to take on Ushijima. The ace only stares down at you, waiting for you to look back at him but your eyes remain glued to the ground. “Manager I can-“ Sakunami tries to stand up for you but is instantly shot down by the bigger player. 

“Leave.” Ushijima wasn’t going to ask twice and his glare pierced the first year on the spot. The tone of his voice causes you to look up at him, an anger in your eyes that is rivaling his own.

“Don’t be such an ass Ushiwaka.” You practically spit before lightly placing your hand on Sakunami’s elbow. “It’s okay, I’ll meet you out front in a few minutes.” The first year looks between the older pair and his eyes filled with worry. “Don’t worry.” You softly consult him and he walks away, but not without another glance back at the two of you. 

“What do you want, Ushijima?” Crossing your arms over your chest you stand defensively, not wanting to hear anything come out of his mouth. It’s hard looking him in the eye so you resort to looking back down at the ground.  

“I’m sorry.” His apology is crystal clear and your eyes widen in shock slightly but remain to stare at the floor. “I never meant to neglect you the way I did. I let you down.” Disappointment is heavy in his voice and you bite the inside of your cheek, slowly raising your gaze to look up at him. Ushijima has the same rest face full of intimidation but his eyes hold regret, hurt swirling around his olive eyes. 

It’d be a lie to say that Ushijima treated you as his top priority last month, things began to slip and he treated you like a background figure. When you finally dumped his ass he took it hard. “I hate having you mad at me.” His low voice turns soft and your frown deepens, itching to reach out and grab his hand. 

“Ushijima.” The sigh leaves your mouth and you’re biting the inside of your cheek, wondering what to say next. “I accept your apology. I miss you.” His eyes widen as a flush paints over your cheeks. Gently his hand scoops up your own and you smile softly at the action of his skin brushing against yours. “You should call me later tonight Wakatoshi.”

[oumiyuki]

Rikyako’s Feelings

Summary: Rikyako may or may not have a crush on Aikyan. And she has a hard time coming to terms with it and on what to do. So she seeks advice from one of the members of Aqours!

Pairing: Rikyako x Aikyan (KyanRika), hints of AnShuka too ;)

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Developing Relationship and Frienship!

Words: 2460

Author’s Notes

Bet y’all weren’t expecting me to write KyanRika! Wahahaha!!!! XD

May you enjoy~ XD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rikyako sighs in between catching her breath, wiping her sweat off her face with a towel in hand as she walked to an open seat in the gathering room with the long white tables.

I’m exhausted…

Rikyako notices that Aikyan sits directly opposite of her and she feels her heartbeat speed up when it should be slowing back down after their dance practice.

Ah… Aikyan is…sitting in front of me… Wiping her sweat…smiling…

“…might not be getting that part right?”

To Ainya.

Laughter bubbles out of Aikyan as she shakes her hand, reassuring Ainya and agreeing at the same time. “Yes, you should probably turn a little slower and then…Ha!”

“Ha!” Ainya mimics as taught then giggles.

Aikyan laughs along and turns back in front, catching Rikyako staring, their eyes meet and Rikyako hopes her face is still flushed from earlier instead of being caught blushing because she was staring at Aikyan.

Gosh, what do I do when I keep blushing just from our eyes meeting??

Rikyako raises her towel to use wiping her sweat as an excuse for breaking the eye contact. When she hears Aikyan talking to Ainya again, she sighs under her breath turning her head again to see that the other girls were drinking sports drinks and cooling off.

Some even wiping each other’s sweat – and by some – it was Anju and Shuka, smiling tiredly but blissfully as they pushed the towel on each other’s exposed skin to clean the sweat off, laughing about whatever they were talking about. Rikyako felt a tinge of envy.

Anchan and Shuka look so cute together… I mean they are and… If only I…

Rikyako looks back to the person who comes to mind whenever she thinks of a romantic partner and when their eyes meet again, Rikyako drops her head immediately to stare at a space on the table.

Eh!? W-Was Aikyan looking at me? Am I imagining things?

Ainya for once was sharp and noticed something going on between Rikyako and Aikyan, or perhaps it was her spot-on gay sense tingling again, but the small and cute singer asks, “Is there something you want to say to Kyan, Rikyako?”

“Eh? No…I… No?” Rikyako smiles a confused smile to Ainya, trying and failing to not let her eyes peek back at Aikyan to see her face, that beautiful porcelain face and just to see if she was looking.

If Anchan and Shuka are literal magnets, my eyes and Aikyan just might be the next magnetic thing since I cannot seem to not look. At. Her!! Aaahhh!

Rikyako kept up the serene smile while she panicked on the inside. Conflicted at how badly she wants to openly stare at Aikyan whom she has a crush on and wanted to not admit to it. Or not admit it to the world.

Ainya hums thoughtfully. “Hmm… You’ve been looking at her though.”

“N-No. I was not!” Rikyako feels her cheeks grew hot again at being called out for her blatant staring.

Ahh, was I that obvious about it??

“Hmm… Lately, you’ve been doing that a lot.” Ainya pushes.

“You’re misunderstanding things…” Rikyako does look to Aikyan again, however, and quickly averts her gaze when their eyes meet, causing Rikyako’s heart to skip a beat again.

What is with those eyes and their magic capability to make my heart do those somersault kinds of things!!

Averting her gaze by turning her head away again, Rikyako happens to make eye contact with Shuka on the left side, just done giving Anju some headpats for doing well in today’s dance practice; the leader of Aqours giving a silly “Heh heh heh” to Shuka.

Ah… I wish I could be as honest as Shuka…

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rikyako manages to avoid having to explain her obvious staring and constant fidgety behaviour around Aikyan and with everyone changed out of their practice wear and into their casual clothes; everyone was free to leave the dance studio and do what they want for the rest of the day.

Maybe I could ask Shuka for advice…

Rikyako has been thinking long and hard about this, ever since she realized her growing feelings for her groupmate who was also her subunit mate, all the time spent together and the impossible heart racing she had to live with when they were close..! Rikyako wanted some progress and felt like it would be best to confide to someone.

Shuka is always such a good listener to what I have to say…

But getting Shuka alone was hard. Shuka was almost always with someone if not Anju!

Gosh, are you forever with Anchan or what??

When resting, she was with Anju. When changing, she was talking to Anju. When walking about she was chilling with Anju! And on other times when Rikyako thought Shuka was alone, the girl was chatting with another member!!!

When will Shuka give me a chance to get her alone..! Mou!

Shuka was just about to flutter over to AiAi to chat when she lets out a surprised yelp as she was pulled by her arm backwards. “Rikyako? What’s up?”

“Can we talk for a bit? I…need your advice on something.” Rikyako blinks nervously as she blurts out her intentions.

Shuka smiles a wry smile, seemingly having a hunch on what is up. “Your treat?”

She’s a literal little sister.

“Fine.” Rikyako returns a relaxed smile at Shuka grinning cutely to get treated.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the café, Rikyako chose a corner of the store where it was quieter and less busy to sit at. Not wanting any possible eavesdroppers and also not wanting to get overly conscious about people’s gazes.

Shuka scoots into her spot and grins. “I’ll have a Chocolate Chip Crème Frappuccino and a…Blueberry Crumble Muffin!”

Rikyako chuckles. “Sure, sure.”

Hmm… What should I get..?

Rikyako heads up to the counter, with one person ordering in front, she took the time to browse the menu and display of pastries.

What should I ask Shuka first..? About how to be confident about my feelings..? Or about how to confess..? I guess this should be obvious.

It was her turn to order so Rikyako steps up with a soft smile greeting the cashier. “May I have a Chocolate Chip Crème Frappuccino, a Mocha Frappuccino, and one Blueberry Crumble Muffin?”

“One Chocolate Chip Crème Frappuccino, one Mocha Frappuccino, and one Blueberry Crumble Muffin. And the name..?”

“Ah. Ka-chan.” Rikyako says and lowers her head as she remembers how she thought the rest of the girls were calling her mum when they meant to use the ‘ka’ in her Rikako.

The cashier lady probably did not think much about it but Rikyako still felt slight embarrassment from her silliness.

Maybe I should have said RKK.

Rikyako makes the payment and decides to wait about instead of going back to her seat; wanting just a few more minutes to think of what she might want to ask Shuka for help with.

It’s this day and age already and yet… I can’t help but feel that there’s a chance that Aikyan might not like me that way…

Rikyako shakes her head lightly.

No, that’s not it… I’m worried…about what others would think. Everyone seems open-minded, especially seen with Anchan and Shuka’s relationship reveal…

Rikyako closes her eyes as her eyebrows knitted together.

No… There’s no point lying to myself. The problem here is that… I’m worried about what the world thinks about me being in love with another girl…

Rikyako sighs just as her name was called.

“Ka-chan.”

Rikyako puts on a smile quickly as she took her orders onto a tray and returns to Shuka who pushed her phone to the side and gave Rikyako a smile and thanks.

Somehow… I don’t feel as scared about these feelings when looking at Shuka.

“Ooh~ This looks yummy.” Shuka held the fork in hand as she eyed her dessert. “Oh, you didn’t get yourself something?”

“No, I got to keep my calorie count checked.” Rikyako smirks and Shuka laughs.

“Right, right. There was that.” Shuka takes a bite and elicits a happy sound.

So carefree…

“Were you texting Anchan?”

“Mm. Was it that obvious?” Shuka nods, swallows, and replies.

Rikyako sips her drink. “Now that I think about it, it was quite the redundant question since you two are always texting when apart.”

Shuka’s cheeks pinken slightly. “That’s not true.”

Rikyako shakes her head with a fond smile at the younger girl’s bashfulness. “Did you…tell Anchan that you’re with me?”

Shuka seems thoughtful for a moment before nodding. “She was going to take me out on a date after all.”

“Oh.” Rikyako’s eyes widens slightly. “I’m sorry, if you got something on-”

“Was.” Shuka repeats then smiles widely. “Anju texted me that she can’t believe she got beaten by you in asking me out~”

Oh… So they have yet to make plans… Thank goodness.

“It is truly hard to believe since you two are stuck together like glue!” Rikyako shakes her head again, giving herself a mental pat on the back for being able to get Shuka alone.

Shuka laughs. “It would seem to be the case.”

“It is the case!” Rikyako chuckles at Shuka’s funny smile and shaking of her head, pretending to be in denial.

Granting some silence to munch on the muffin and drink their drinks, Rikyako fidgeted with the paper that once held the straw till it was all crumpled up nicely.

“Shuka…”

“Yeah?”

“How did you decide that…you are 100% gay for Anchan?” Rikyako squishes the paper in her hand tightly, nervous about whatever answer she could be getting, nervous about the topic.

Ahhh.

Shuka looks right at Rikyako before reacting. “Pfft, how I fell in love with Anju? That’s easy-”

“The being gay part is important too.” Rikyako hurries to emphasize.

“I know. And you’re overthinking things, Rikyako.” Shuka had a gentle smile on her lips and Rikyako felt her tenseness reduce a little.

“Love is love. Regardless of gender. Anju is Anju. So… I fell in love with her.”

Rikyako nods, listening intently.

Love is love… Anchan is Anchan and so… Shuka who is Shuka. Fell in love with Anchan…

“And Kyan is Kyan. You’re in love with Kobayashi Aika-san. Correct?”

Kyan is Kyan. And I’m in love with—

Rikyako’s eyes bulged and her mouth fell agape in surprise as Shuka had a big smug grin, looking ridiculous as she waggled her eyebrows teasingly at Rikyako.

“H-How did you..?” Rikyako’s face was hot and red.

“Call it women’s intuition!” Shuka cackles.

Rikyako snorts. “Even though you’re a kid.”

“Hey! I’m already an adult!” Shuka puffs her cheeks out indignantly at Rikyako who forgets about her own crush problems as a tease bubbled in her mind and out her mouth.

“Anchan made you an adult?”

“Wha— T-That’s not the point!” Shuka blushes immediately causing Rikyako to blush a little more too.

“She did, huh…” Rikyako looks away and so does Shuka.

I guess that should be expected but aahhhh..!! No, don’t imagine it, Rikako. Shuka is too pure to be…to be… by Anchan…! No stop. The images. Aaahh!

Shuka fidgets with the straw in her drink, stirring the contents randomly. “Can we not talk of that right now?”

With extra reddened cheeks, Rikyako nods and mumbles. “Looks like I will need to look for you for help again if I can…come to terms with myself and find the courage to…”

Confess…///

“R-Right. I’m here for you, Aida.”

“Saitou.”

Rikyako and Shuka share a staring match before bursting into laughter.

.

.

.

Shuka was finished with her blueberry muffin when she props her chin on her hand. “So…Do you think you will be able to confess to Aikyan?”

“Don’t think so…” Rikyako sighs as she glanced at Shuka and back down at the table.

I know I’m in love with Aikyan but how am I supposed to even go about confessing to her???

“Rikyako.” Shuka calls for the older girl’s attention.

When Rikyako looks up into earnest brown eyes, she could not help but sit up straighter.

“Tell me who you love.”

“Eh? You already know..?” Rikyako’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“Tell me who you love.” Shuka repeats with a small nod, trusting that Rikyako will catch on.

Oh… She wants me to say it aloud.

“I…” Rikyako begins and finds her voice stuck.

“I… I love…” Rikyako licks her lips and grabs her drink to help with this sudden dryness of her lips.

Why is it so hard??

Shuka waits patiently, subtly placing her drink to the side, giving Rikyako her full attention.

“I love… …”

Rikyako wanted to let out another sigh, wanted to give up and say it was too difficult for her to do so right now. Maybe she needed another day. A few more hours. Some alone time to pep-talk herself. But before she could—

“Riiikyako.” Shuka drags the first syllable for a bit and Rikyako looks up to see that patient smile again; the magic of Shuka’s smile already stealing some tension away from Rikyako’s creased eyebrows and heavy shoulders. “Just think about her. Don’t think about anything else. …Then tell me who it is.”

I love… the one I love…

“She’s lovely.”

“I’m sure she is.” Shuka’s lips pull higher as she knew it was working.

“She’s kind. And patient.”

Shuka nods and Rikyako feels something bubbling inside her – the desire to talk about the person she loves.

“She’s silly and funny. And she makes me laugh and knows me. Like, like no other…” Rikyako unknowingly lets out a dreamy sigh as she thought of her crush.

Shuka nods encouragingly.

“She’s someone that I wish to be able to…be together more. And to… h-h-hold hands with… Like you and Anchan do.”

Shuka chuckles softly. “I’m sure you’ll get to.”

“And…maybe get a kabedon or two…” Rikyako scratches her pinkened cheeks at the idea.

Shuka giggles. “She’d get embarrassed too though.”

“Very much so.” Rikyako giggles along.

“I love that about her too.”

“Me too…”

“Who is this wonderful person~?” Shuka sing-songs.

“She’s… Kobayashi Aika. I’m sure you know her too.” Rikyako grins, a glint in her eyes and a weight off her chest.

“I love Aikyan…” Rikyako says aloud, in a gentle tone, in a voice filled with so much love that it surprised herself.

Shuka beams from ear to ear. “Now go tell her that!”

“O-One step at a time!” Rikyako covers her face with both hands; failing to hide the wide smile she could not help but smile at admitting the enormous love she feels for Aikyan.

Confessing was a hurdle for another day. Right now, Rikyako simply felt lighter, like she could float up into the air with just these feelings of love she has for Aikyan. And she loved the feeling.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Notes

PAAAAART ONEEEEEEE!!!!

Yes, you heard that right! There’s going to be another chapter of KyanRika in the near future!!! *O*

And I do hope y’all look forward to it~ XD

But first..~ How did you like this first chapter? OwO

I thought it’d be cute to touch on Rikyako being a little unsure about…admitting her feelings. It’s something that isn’t easy after all! And even if it’s so freaking obvious that she has a big crush on Aikyan, it doesn’t mean that Rikyako herself wouldn’t be worrying about it~ :))))

Also since Rikyako loves mentioning how much she likes that Shuka listens to her talk; why not let Shuka be the wingwoman while I have some of my favourite AnShuka in this right? Hehehe~ UwU

Leave a comment if you like! ^w^ Let me know your favourite parts! :D

And see you next chappie~ ;D

[ayellowcurtain]

could you pls write Kieu accidentally stumbling upon Fatou’s workplace and them kind of recreating Romeo&Juliet aquarium scene (also would be nice if finally explained her behavior and apologized for ghosting her).

Kieu My is running out of time and options. She knows she made several terrible mistakes not only about Fatou but with her friends too, with Ava, letting Constantin and Ismail say whatever they felt was funny and still be their friend. And she’s trying but Fatou won’t give her half a chance after everything that happened. 

They spent a lot of time together the past few weeks, studying and making their presentation but it was always very formal and cold, with no place for small talk, and it wasn’t for the lack of trying on Kieu My’s part. Fatou barely looked at her and Kieu My wanted to leave and cry hiding somewhere where nobody would see. It’s hard to explain what the fuck is wrong with her even for herself, so it’s impossible to explain it to Fatou. 

She decided to talk to Ava first, it sounded so much easier right now. The situation presented itself when she was at their place and Zoe was arguing again with Finn over the phone, quickly leaving her lunch behind to go hide in her room to finish the conversation, leaving Kieu My alone with Ava in the kitchen, finishing their lunch, Kieu My more like playing with her food than eating, too worried about whatever is happening between her and Fatou. In between all the mess that is her head, she’s sure she just wants Fatou to like her, to talk to her again. 

“I’m sorry.” She blurted out when the silence started to make her more anxious, looking at Ava over her long lashes. 

Ava lifted her eyebrows as high as they could go, shrugging a little. 

“What?” 

“About what happened last year. I was horrible to you, was too happy to be praised by the boys, and the cool kids and I was mean to you when I shouldn’t. So I’m really, really sorry. I know it doesn’t erase the stupid things I did or said, but I think it’s a way to start.” 

It wasn’t enough, obviously, and Ava wasn’t impressed with her either, but she felt good saying sorry. It was in the back of her mind for so long, especially now that they’re spending more time together even if they don’t mean to. 

“Okay...” She nodded her head, trying to move on with the conversation rather than actually to start any type of relationship between them. Kieu My assumed her behavior had a lot to do with Fatou too, “You know I’m not Fatou, right?”

Kieu My looked at her food getting cold in her plate, feeling her cheeks heat up instantly. 

“She hates me, I get it. And I gave her reasons. But this has nothing to do with her, I promise.” Kieu My rests against the back of her chair, looking at Ava for once, trying not to feel too embarrassed or confusing, “You’re so cool, so beautiful. Even if we’re not friends, we are constantly running into each other these days and so I wanted you to know I’m trying to be better and how amazing you are even though I’m sure you don’t need me saying that, but I honestly wish I was as brave as you. I still fuck up, clearly, but...I’m a mess and I get too inside my head sometimes, deciding to keep things to myself instead of using my words, of calling people out when they’re being assholes, disrespecting you.” 

“I know someone who can get too inside their heads too so I get it.” Ava presses her lips together, nodding her head and Kieu My has to bite her lip not to ask about what to do about Fatou. 

- 

She stops outside the store looking inside, the blue hue painting everything like it’s a huge aquarium with smaller aquariums inside. There are so many things inside, but Kieu My finally finds a human, walking in between the tall shelves, mesmerized by the aquatic beings, smiling to the fishes. 

There’s no real excuse for her to be here, especially not this late - Kieu My tried to assume the hour Fatou would be almost free to go home - but she decided against all her insecurities and came anyway. 

Just tell her how you feel. About her, about everything, how stupid you are. 

Kieu My takes a few steps back, standing in front of a wall instead of a long glass window and she fixes her hair and her coat over her shoulders, taking a deep breathe in and then out before taking a bee line to the door, knowing there’ll be a bell that will reverberate her arrival. 

Fatou appears from behind one of the shelves and Kieu My looks at her, holding her own hand, pinching the soft skin of her finger with her thumb and index finger. 

“Hi...” 

Kieu My’s heart skips a beat and she tries to keep herself calm but the second she manages to whisper “Hi...” back she hears her voice breaking and she curses under her breath. 

“How can I help you?”

As she’s there, staring at Fatou, Kieu My wishes she never gave up on drawing. It was her favorite hobby growing up and she stopped when she started worrying too much about looks, about what other would think. Now she thinks about Fatou’s facial features, her face in the shape of a perfectly smooth peach, her high cheek bones, the long lashes, rounded and soft, pink lips. She would do a terrible work at trying to recreate it, but it would give her something physical to put her attention and mental notes on. 

Thinking about Fatou is not enough and that’s all she has right now since Fatou is so hurt by what she did when she was drunk and scared. 

“Hm, I came to talk to you...” Kieu My decides to walk around the place. Some distance sounds better than having Fatou’s hurt eyes staring at her, quietly asking for her to leave Fatou alone. 

She doesn’t get any answer so it’s best to just say what she came to say in hopes it’ll help Fatou understand her a little bit. 

“I don’t regret kissing you. Even though thinking about it now, I feel like I jumped you, not giving you much of a choice...so I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention, I was just extremely nervous.” 

She stops in front of one of the biggest aquariums and Fatou is on the other side, following her with her curious eyes. 

“You were the first girl I’ve ever kissed. And the only one. I had never thought about it before. I mean, I thought about it, but never thought I would actually have the courage to do it.” 

Kieu My pinches the skin of the her finger tighter, feeling so dumb and childish for stuttering so much just because she’s thinking and talking about kissing a girl that she has a big crush on. 

“I know you know this, how terrible I am with words and how confusing I am...” 

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.” Fatou finally says and Kieu My looks at her, the water moving and the blue lights making everything so dreamy and calm. She sounds soft and understanding like always and Kieu My smiles, thinking about their kiss and how happy she was that Fatou didn’t push her away. 

“But I want to. I know I was stupid and rude before and so I want to try and explain myself as best as I can.” 

“Okay...” Fatou whispers in a playful way and Kieu My continues exploring the store while Fatou stands there, watching. 

“Even though it was just one kiss I was overthinking it for days, not sure what your reaction would be. Because you said you didn’t date your friends...” 

“And we weren’t friends.” 

Kieu My stops behind a shelf filled with fish food and she closes her eyes. Of course Fatou wouldn’t think they were friends. Kieu My mistakenly thought they were while talking and watching scary movies together. And that made everything messy in her head.

“I was having a bunch of stupid...family drama and I held on to the idea of kissing you, like you being the first girl I ever kissed or have feelings for and when we were that close and I was so happy - and drunk - that we were getting to know each other...I just did it and got scared of your reaction.”

She goes around the last aisle and turns on her heels, walking back and forth three times before starting making her way to the front of the store, walking down every hallway again to buy her late night visit more time. 

“I was afraid of what you would want to talk about that night, I was afraid that you would tell Nora or Zoe. Not because I’m ashamed, but just because...I’m a mess, Fatou. And I drunkenly kissed you on New Year’s Eve of all nights. I actually thought about doing it at midnight...but that would be way too much, even for me.” 

She hears a laughter and she tries to listen to it carefully, in between the fishes swimming, searching for food on the surface and the tiny engines making the water move. 

There’s only the big aquarium between them again and Kieu My quietly bends down a little to see Fatou sitting on the counter, probably the same height as Kieu My now with her tall boots... 

“I never meant to seem that I didn’t care, that it was just a one night mistake type of thing. People always assume I’m so cool, that I always know what to do or how to say things. But that’s the complete opposite. I’m terrible at expressing myself. And I’m so afraid of being judged.” 

“You used a lot of words tonight already. Can’t believe you would be bad with them.” Kieu My stops next to the aquarium, watching Fatou with no water filter in between them, just the blue light that makes Fatou look like a dream. 

“I had a lot of days to think about what I wanted to say. And you were mad at me and I wanted to fix it.” 

Fatou nods her head, swinging her legs in the air, one sock a dark pink and the other one a burnt orange, matching her white jeans. 

“You’re forgiven.” She smiles shyly, her soft cheeks getting more rounded with her lips going up a little bit. Kieu My exhales and smiles at her too, hoping she feels the same Kieu My does when she smiles. 

“Thank you...” 

“No problem.” 

Kieu My looks down at her boots. Everything she planned to say is more or less out, but she wants another chance, she wants to spend more time with Fatou...

“Ismail told me about the turtle you guys are taking care of...” 

Fatou nods her head, a lot more excited to be talking about the child she shares with Ismail of all people. 

“Maike, yes.” 

“...Can I meet them?” She tries, putting her hands inside her pockets so Fatou doesn’t see her shaky hands. 

“You want to meet Maike?” She asks so surprised and excited and Kieu My lifts her eyebrows, nodding her head. 

“Yeah, if you’ll let me.” 

“You can meet Maike if you want...I’m hiding them in my house though...”

Kieu My thinks about going to Fatou’s house, exploring her bedroom, learning more about her by just watching how she decorates her private space, spending more time with her always sounds like the best thing ever. 

“I would love to meet them.” 

“Good! We can go after school tomorrow...” Fatou sort of asks, assuming Kieu My will say no, probably. 

“Yeah...hm, of course, I’m so excited!” 

They both laugh the awkwardness off and Kieu My moves her weight from one feet to the other, offering to help Fatou close the store tonight. 

[cheri-translates]

[CN] Gavin’s Misunderstandings Date (Eng Translation)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a date which has not been released in English servers! 🍒

Edit: It has been released in EN as of 13 October!

This is only the second time since they reunited that Gavin and MC are meeting for non-work purposes.

While MC is on her way to meet Gavin at the park, she notes how scorching the heat is, and that if she had known that the weather would be this hot, she would have picked an indoor activity instead. 

However, since they’re already at the park and there are periodic gusts of wind, she feels it’s a suitable day for boat rowing. At the same time, she’s worried that Gavin wouldn't find boat rowing interesting.

She sees Gavin in the distance and hurries over to him:

Before she says anything:

Gavin: You want to do that? We can do it together.

Even though the intimidating aura around him has lessened, I’m still at a loss and don’t know how to get close to him.

I want to try understanding what interests him, but he doesn’t speak much.

Seeing that I haven’t given him an answer, he repeats the question, once again leaving the choice to me.

Gavin: Do you want to do this, or look around?

MC: It just brings back a sense of nostalgia. When I was young, I would do this with my father. I think I haven’t done it ever since I got older.

Looking towards the little boats, Gavin hesitates for a moment. It’s clear that he is about to say something, but he swallows it, shutting his lips.

If it wasn’t for his odd behaviour, I wouldn’t have realized that the topic I brought up had struck a nerve…

Gavin seems to have a tense relationship with his family, and I rarely hear him bring them up.

I hurriedly rack my brains, thinking of ways to salvage the situation. Surprisingly, Gavin is the one who breaks the silence.

Gavin: You have such a good relationship with your family. My family usually doesn’t go out, maybe once a year to the park.

MC: I see… Then again, it’s rare to bring boys out for such activities.

Gavin: Really? I’m not so sure. I just wanted to try doing it with you.

Hearing this and thinking about how I’ve never seen him react to trying something completely new, I start to feel excited. I begin imagining his reaction to stepping on a boat for the first time – would he still remain as stoic as usual?

MC agrees, but the queue for the tickets is incredibly long so tells her to find a place to sit while he gets the tickets. After a long wait, Gavin returns… with fishing equipment. 

It turns out Gavin and MC had misunderstood each other:

Gavin: I misunderstood. I noticed you looking towards the lake, so I thought you were interested in fishing.

The laughter of the surroundings float towards us, a stark contrast to Gavin’s awkward solemnness. Tickled by the look of embarrassment on his face, I can’t help but let out a laugh. The more he confusedly asks me what happened, the more I laugh, to the point where I begin tearing up.

Gavin: What happened? Is it really that funny?

MC: No, nothing, haha. I just find this misunderstanding amusing.

With this, he lets out a breath, a smile in his eyes.

Gavin: While I was in the queue, I even pictured how you looked like fishing as a child.

MC: How can children have the patience to fish?

Gavin: If it were a normal child, that would be true. But you shouldn’t have a problem with it.

MC: Are you saying that I have the mentality of an old person?

Gavin: No, that’s not what I meant. In high school, you…

Upon bringing up high school, he immediately shuts his mouth, stiffly changing the topic.

Gavin: It’s fine, I’ll go back to get the correct tickets.

MC tells him that since the tickets have already been purchased, they should just try fishing. Since they rarely come here, they should create special memories:

Gavin: Even through fishing?

MC: Of course! This is the first time we’re both fishing, so it’s a worthwhile memory! Let’s set this day to be our “Fishing Anniversary” every year.

Gavin: Fishing Anniversary? Sounds good.

MC: I just spouted it randomly…

To hide the blush that is slowly creeping up my cheeks, I lower my face, snatching the fishing rod and bucket from him.

MC: All right all right, if we wait any longer, all the good spots near the lake would be taken!

Gavin: Okay. Give the things to me, you can pick the spot?

Out of nowhere, his fingertips brush the back of my hand. Warm, refreshing and dry, just like a summer wind. We both retract our hands at the same time, as though shocked by an electric current. After hesitating for a few seconds, he takes the fishing equipment from me.

Gavin: Oh right, the path to the lake is a little slippery, so hold onto me.

Looking at his outstretched palm, I nod my head and place my hand atop his. With my hand in his, he clasps our hands together a little tighter.

He follows my pace, and at certain points specially turns around to give me directions on which areas are safer to step on.

Since we’re at the lake and sheltered by shadows cast by the trees, logically speaking, the temperature here should be cooler than other places. Yet, I only feel my face heating up unnaturally, perhaps even hotter than being under the sun.

Although this is their first fishing experience, Gavin is surprisingly adept. He patiently shows MC what to do and warns her to be careful not to cut herself on the fishing line.

Without realizing it, I move closer and closer, until I hear a light cough from above my head.

Gavin: …If you can’t see it clearly, I can go even slower.

It is only now that I notice that I’m as good as glued to Gavin’s arm. Upon this realisation, the skin that made contact with his became even hotter than my head which has been under the blazing sun. Even my face starts to feel warm. My deafeningly loud heart beats block out all the sounds from my surroundings and even his voice.

Gavin: Are you feeling unwell? Your face is very red.

MC: No, not at all! The weather is just a little warm.

With exaggerated movements, I fan myself with my hand in an attempt to hide the redness of my face brought about by shyness.

Unexpectedly, he lifts the back of his hand to my face, checking if I am running a fever.

His drooping eyelashes soften his gaze, and his gentleness is comparable to the peaceful stirring of the lake, creating ripples on my heart. All hopes of calming down are gone, and I feel like I am going to explode amid the heat.

Gavin continues being blissfully unaware that he is the culprit of my plight.

He stretches out his palm in front of me. The originally stagnant air starts moving under his direction, brushing past the trees, brushing past his tidy short hair, and brushing past my crimson cheeks.

The heat is no longer unbearable.

Through this whole process, Gavin’s amber eyes remain fixed on my dazed face, his expression worried and serious.

Gavin: How is it? Feeling better?

MC: Much better. Thanks to that gust of wind!

Right after the words leave my mouth, the originally gentle wind suddenly shifts chaotically in all directions, like a beast with the lock of its cage removed. My hair ends up splayed all over my face. Through my messy hair, I can see Gavin looking frantic.

The chaotic wind stills, and he hurriedly and carefully helps me tidy my hair.

Gavin: I’m sorry, I lost control for a while.

MC: It’s not your fault, it was the wind after all.

Gavin: So… it is my fault.

They start picking up the fishing equipment that got splayed around, and Gavin seems to be searching for something in particular. Suddenly, they find themselves within nose-touching distance:

Our breaths are mixed together with the heat waves of summer, causing our faces to feel hot. I unconsciously shrink backwards, but his hand wraps around my back, holding me tightly in his arms.

Gavin: Wait, don’t move.

Nervous to the point where my eyes forgot how to blink, I watch as he moves forward.

He gazes at the side of my face, both hands hooking something onto my earlobe. I can feel his fingertips on my earlobe, and heart threatens to leap out of my chest.

The wind has become stagnant, the air completely still. His movements seem to be in slow motion and crystal clear.

After a relatively long time, he shifts some stray hair behind my ear, and opens the front camera of his phone towards me.

Gavin: It’s supposed to be worn like that, right?

MC: What is it?

Gavin: Ear cuffs. They were blown away just now.

Half of Gavin’s face appears in the phone screen, a serious expression on his face as he points to the ear cuff on my ear.

Clumsily, I accidentally pressed a button on his phone, and my dazed face is immediately saved in Gavin’s phone.

MC: Ah! Wait! Let me delete that photo!

Gavin: It’s fine to keep it. It’s cute. You look good with those ear cuffs.

Even though I can’t tell if he is complimenting the ear cuffs or me, it doesn’t stop my face from heating up several degrees.

They continue fishing, with him giving her tips on what to take note of. MC ends up catching three fishes while Gavin catches none. MC thinks that the fish can probably sense Gavin’s intimidating aura, which is why no fishes have come near.

After a while, MC can’t help but pat his shoulder and comfort him. Just as she finishes talking, Gavin’s fishing rod finally latches onto something heavy – a big tortoise. As he retrieves the tortoise from the hook, blood starts running onto Gavin’s arm.

While MC panics, Gavin calmly washes his hand in the lake.

Gavin: The one who got hurt isn’t me, it’s the tortoise.

I turn my attention to the tortoise which has hid inside its shell. Sure enough, its front leg has been cut.

MC: It looks like it’s in a lot of pain…

Gavin: I’m not sure how to stop the bleeding. Let’s bring it to the park helpers.

While he speaks, he takes off his white jacket without a moment’s hesitation and wraps the tortoise in it.

MC: Your jacket! Wouldn’t using a towel be enough?

Gavin: It’s all right, let’s bring it to the park helpers quickly.

His tenderness is so selfless, whether towards humans or animals.

They bring the tortoise to the park helpers, who assure them that it would be fine. They head to the washroom to clean up, and MC sees Gavin at the water cooler:

The crystal-like column of water sprays onto his lips, and the sweat dripping off the side of his neck shines in the sunlight. In a moment, his clean and cool breath is carried by the breeze into my heart.

There is a small patch of mud on his face, but he doesn’t seem to notice. I straighten my hand to wipe the stain off him. He immediately turns around, eyes filled with consternation.

Perhaps it is just the red flowers of the trees above, but I think I see a crimson flash on his face. I feel slightly embarrassed.

MC: Erm… Your face is dirty, let me help you wipe it off.

Gavin: Oh, so that’s what you were doing… Thank you.

MC: It feels like we keep misunderstanding each other today…

Gavin: Yeah. I’ll do my best to prevent it as much as possible next time.

MC: Huh?

Gavin: Although I don’t really understand the hearts of women, yours is the only one I don’t want to get wrong. So give me some time to figure it out, is that okay?

Even though it is meant to be a question, he says it with complete resolution, accompanied with a tone and gaze that cannot be denied.

It is so endearing that it stirs one’s heart.

MC: Of course you can!

No matter how much time you take, it’s fine with me.

No matter how long you need, I am willing...

[Note] In Chinese it‘s phrased like she’s accepting a marriage proposal

~

The date concludes with Gavin and MC back at the park after a year. Gavin notices that MC is deep in thought.

Gavin: Seeing that you’ve been trying to suppress a smile… Are you thinking of something happy?

MC: Yes, it’s something that makes me incredibly, incredibly happy. It is the thing that makes me happiest on earth.

🐟

Calls: First // Second

[logical-little-lies]

We Have to Hide Again- Agere!AU (part 41)

A/N: Y’ALL EMILE AND REMY ARE FINALLY HERE- there’s not any little sides in this one (besides a mention of little remus), because this chapter is meant to advance the story. This is the start of the end, really, but I can definitely stretch it out depending on how I order the plotlines and how many filler plots I can stuff in between every. 

also spoiler warning for the most recent asides episode, because I used stuff introduced in that episode as a way to make this plot so much simpler then it originally was gonna be. 

please let me know if you liked the chapter (sorry that it’s kinda short)!

--

"ROMAN! I can't even-"

"I know!"

Virgil and Roman were completely enthusiastic after the day they had. They really hoped that things would go well with Nico, and both of them were pretty excited about this.

"Will you two stop screaming for two seconds? You sound like teenage girls," Janus laughed, giving them a look from his spot on the couch.

Virgil's head snapped over to Janus, giving him a playful glare.

"Let them have their fun, I don't think they've been this happy since..." Logan trailed off, thinking for a moment, "Since we started talking to you two again."

Virgil and Roman went back to talking, moving out of the living room and into the hallway. They were probably going off to Virgil's room to hang out for a while.

"Speaking of Remus, where is he?" Janus questioned, looking at Logan.

"Pretty sure he regressed, he was happy because his brother was happy and that triggered his headspace. Patton's taking care of him." Logan explained.

It had been just a week or so since Remus first regressed. He insisted on avoiding conversation about it when he came out of the headspace, but reassured from the others made sure that he knew he was safe to regress. It was weird, not having gross thoughts for a bit and just letting go. But it was nice. He got to depend on others and just play.

It was relieving.

"Let's go play with him! This is his second time regressing, and we need to get to know little him more!" Janus encouraged, standing up and stretching a bit. Logan agreed, jumping up and following him.

Initially after that day at the mall, everyone was pretty happy. Virgil and Roman spent some time together as a couple, gushing about how Thomas might finally have someone, just like they had each other. Patton, Logan, and Janus kept Remus busy as they teased and played with him.

And Emile and Remy realized that they were going to have to start working with the core sides again.

Of course, none of the core sides had come to this realization yet, but Emile's shared job of empathy and emotions with Patton connected into Thomas's romance life. And if Emile was going to be around the core sides more, then so was Remy.

Remy insisted that he stuck by Emile most of the time. He was sensitive, and he needed to be there to protect him if he needed it. Maybe that protectiveness was because he was his boyfriend. Maybe it was because he was also his caregiver. Maybe it was both.

Who knows?

--

Everyone had been sitting in the living room when they heard a knock sound at the door. Patton was the first to speak.

"Isn't everyone here?" he looked around the room. He glanced over the faces of Virgil, Roman, and Logan next to him. Then, he looked at Remus (who was now big), and Janus.

"It has to be Emile or Remy!" Logan pointed out.

"But why are they her-" Roman's words were interrupted by more knocking.

"Just a second!" Patton called out. Virgil jumped up, running out of the living room and disappearing into the hallway that led to their bedrooms.

"Start hiding the little stuff, quick!" he directed, just moments later when he came back, a box in his hands. Everyone seemed to come to a realization, getting up and helping him.

"I'll keep them at the door as long as I can," Patton told them, before getting off of the couch and going to the door. He heard the sounds of everyone running around behind him as he opened the door. As predicted, the two neutral sides stood on their porch step. They never showed their faces anymore, so it was shocking that they were here.

Once, a while ago, Remy and Emile worked with them all the time. They weren't core sides because their jobs were either shared with other sides, or it didn't directly tie into Thomas's personality, but they helped when they could.

Then, Virgil started working with them, and the two of them backed away and started working from a distance. They stayed in their little cottage in the Vineyard Village and did their best to work by themselves. Back then, Virgil was different, more gloomy. Neither of the neutral sides enjoyed being around him, and they just decided to leave. And once Virgil started changing, they felt like it was to late to drop back in.

Of course they felt bad for judging Virgil so harshly, but the decision had already been made and they couldn't take it back now.

Though, both Emile and Logan knew that logically, they'd have to come back eventually. So here they were, deciding that now was the time to come back.

"Hey!" Emile greeted.

"Hey..." Patton smiled awkwardly, glancing behind him for a moment. "What are you two doing here?" he questioned.

Remy's head perked up when he heard a crash behind Patton, and a shout that sounded like Remus's voice calling out "i'm okay!". "What's going on in there?" he chuckled, trying to peek over Patton's shoulder.

"Why don't," Patton paused, standing on his toes so that he blocked Remy's view of the inside of the house. "Why don't you answer my question first?"

"Oh..um, remember the romance committee? Me, you, and Roman are in charge of Thomas's romance life. And since he's finally met someone he likes, I figured it would be fairly soon that I'd have to work with you guys again." Emile explained. Patton looked to Remy for his reasoning to be there.

Patton was really just trying to stall, and this was the only way he knew to keep the conversation going.  

"I'm here for him. But also, there's the Dream Team. Roman's supposed to help me create Thomas's dreams and stuff? And you're supposed to help walk me through Thomas's emotions so I can let them influence the dreams he has?"

"Oh, okay." Patton nodded. He really didn't know what else to say. In any other case, he would've let them in by now.

"Our jobs really depend on information from you guys," Emile elaborated, seemingly confused and why he hadn't been let inside yet. "Working apart has been basically impossible. It's about time that we came back and started holding meetings again, yeah?"

Patton nodded again, "I suppose so."

"Can we come in?" Remy questioned, still confused. Patton looked behind him, getting a thumbs up from Logan and nodding as he looked back to the other two.

"Yeah, welcome back." he stepped away from the door, allowing them to walk in.

"This place has changed a bit," Emile commented, smiling as he looked around. "It's nice, I like it."

Emile and Remy took seats in the only empty parts of the couch. The core sides living room was technically made to fit all of them at once, because they were all supposed to work together. But that hasn't happened in a while. "Hello Janus, Remus." Emile awkwardly greeted.

"Hello." Janus had his arms crossed.

"So...let's get down to business, right?" Logan was the first to speak, redirecting to situation from the tension between the neutral sides and the dark sides, to the discussion they had to hold.

"To defeat the huns!" Emile and Roman quoted Mulan at the same time, breaking out into laughter.

They did kinda miss this.

--

"So..the neutral sides don't hate me, which is cool..." Virgil pondered, taking a bite of his food. The neutral and dark sides had headed back home, and the core sides were having family dinner.

"What's on your mind, love?" Roman questioned. He had noticed his nervousness, and how disappointed he had been when he had to store away all his little stuff so that Emile and Remy didn't see it.

"Well..if you guys are going to start working with them again, that means they're gonna be here a lot, right?" He asked, seemingly nervous to hear the response.

Logan sighed, "Yeah, you got it right."

"That means that we're gonna have to start hiding all the regression stuff again. Just when I was getting used to the idea of being open about it!" Virgil groaned, seemingly annoyed.

Since they told Janus and Remus, they had stopped trying to hide the littlespace dynamic within their family. Coloring pages were on the fridge, sippy cups and bottles sat in the cabinet, certain toys were stored in the living room. Looking around, you could tell that a child, or someone on the same mental level as one, regularly stayed there.

And now that they finally got to that level of comfort, treating their regression like an every day normal thing, they were put in a situation where they had to hide it once again.

"I know, sweetheart. It sucks. But, we can always figure out ways to bring it up! If we tell them, then we'll know for sure that everyone knows!" Patton pointed out.

"You know how hard it was for me to even tell my brother? I didn't, really. He just caught me in littlespace and I had to explain myself. We haven't seen them in forever, and Vee barely knows them...we're gonna have to start hiding everything again. At least for now." Roman wasn't happy about this either, but he didn't know if they could do anything about it.  

"Well, they most likely won't be snooping in bedrooms without permission, so when they're here, we'll just have to take our personal agere stuff and store it in our rooms. It won't be that hard." Logan tried to sound hopeful, but it didn't come out great.

"We'll figure it out. It's just a few meetings a week," Patton assured.

"Yeah, we'll figure it out. For now, let's enjoy Patton's food, yeah?"

For now, they weren't going to worry about it. But this change was going to be rather stressful on them. Yeah, Emile and Remy were nice sides, but they had no idea how they'd react to something like this. So until they got a better idea on how they could react, they'd have to go back to hiding and being secretive.

And this change was only part of it, there was still more to come.

One last big change before this story comes to a close, but we still have a bit to go before we get there.  

Let's just keep telling this story and see what happens to the sides.

To Thomas.

--

A/N: another spooky ominious ending? oooh. 

Some people have been pointing out that I’ve been hinting to some big change, so here it is! Kinda...there’s still more to come. This little plotline of everyone trying to hide the agere thing from Remy and Emile will be the focus for a little while, and then right as it starts to get resolved....BOOM! Another change. 

Hope you’re ready.

-Apple

[ptergwen]

starting at the end

warnings: nope

summary: peter takes you to a new year’s eve party

a/n: hey hi i hope everyone’s christmas was lovely if you celebrated! this is gonna be my last post of the year which is so ??? i just want to say thank you for reading my work and in general being so sweet to me always. i really do appreciate all of you and i’ll talk to you next decade! and as always enjoy <3

—

peter is nervous. not that that’s anything he isn’t used to; being nervous is one of his personality traits. but this kind of nervous? it’s different. it’s the kind of nervous he gets only because of you. the amount of butterflies he has right now makes him feel like he’ll burst into millions of tiny pieces the second he sees you. he just really wants tonight to be perfect.

flash is throwing a new year’s eve party, and peter asked you to be his date. he’d been working up the courage for months now to ask you out. what convinced him to finally do it is that it’s the last day of the entire decade. he doesn’t want it to end without you knowing how he feels. now or never situations always give him the push he needs.

peter’s day is spent getting ready. he has may teach him new dance moves, calls ned for last minute tips on flirting, and does his hair the way you like it. you told him once before that his curls are “too pretty to drown them in so much gel,” then used your fingers to fix them. ever since, peter decided that would be his new hair style.

never having been to a new year’s eve party before, he texts you at some point to ask what he should wear. you’re pretty much his personal sylist. he brings you shopping basically every time he goes. it makes him all blushy when you watch him try on clothes, getting him to do a spin in them. peter always thinks the smile on your face is worth it.

you text peter back saying to dress how he usually does and rememeber to be at your apartment at seven, with a smiley face. his heart practically pounds out of his chest when he looks at the time and sees it’s a little past six thirty. your first date is happening so soon.

wanting to wear something you’ll like, peter ends up choosing a blue and white flannel you picked out for him. he throws on the rest of his clothes and shoes, then checks his hair one last time. may hugs peter and asks him tell you hi for her before he leaves to pick you up.

the walk to your apartment doesn’t take too long, which peter loves, except for tonight because he’s freaking out and has to keep wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. he goes over all ned’s advice while taking the stairs. when he makes it to the front door he’s been through so many times he can’t count, he just stands there. he uses the time to give himself a mental pep talk.

you got this, peter. it’s just y/n.

taking a breath, he knocks on the door. your dad opens it shortly after.

“hi, mr. y/l/n. how are you?” peter shakes the hand your dad extends. they’ve met a few times before. from what peter can tell, he likes him, or at least doesn’t mind him. “i’m good, thanks. how are you?” “i’m good, too. is y/n ready?” your dad glances back into your apartment. “i’ll check. do you want to wait inside?” he gestures for peter to come in. peter nods.

“sure. thank you, sir.” he follows with a small smile. peter hears you listening to a playlist he made you from your room. his smile gets even bigger at that. “y/n? peter is here,” your dad calls from in front of your door. “i’m coming!” the music shuts off, followed by fast footsteps. you spot peter right as you open the door. all of his nerves melt away when you make your way over to him.

you’re one of his best friends, what was there to ever worry about?

“hey!” you open your arms with a grin. peter dips down to give you a hug. “were you just listening to back in black?” “yep.” you tug at the bottom of peter’s flannel. “is this the one we bought you last weekend?” “mhm,” he hums proudly. the exchange makes your dad crack a smile from where he’s watching.

“you look... really good, peter. did you do your hair, too?” you bite your lip. the fact that you noticed makes him happier than probably ever.

“i thought you’d like it.” he offers you his (mostly dry) hand. taking it, you lace your fingers together. it’s not your first time holding hands, but there’s something new about this. a good new. “and you look beautiful, y/n.” “thank you,” you giggle. “we should probably go. wouldn’t wanna keep dj flash waiting.” peter laughs and nods. you turn to face your dad.

“bye! i’ll try not to be back too late.” “have fun, and stay safe! you too, peter. i’ll see you next year.” he waves goodbye. you wave back with your free hand, peter doing the same. the two of you leave your apartment, erupting into another short fit of laughter.

“dad jokes,” you sigh. you’re leading the way down the stairs. “that was nothing compared to the ones may makes. she says hi, by the way.” may is the sweetest. she’s always checking up on you. “aw, tell her i say hi back.” “yeah, of course.” peter gets more comfortable holding hands with you like this, running his thumb along the back of yours. it just feels right.

walking outside and into the windy night, you pull your phone out of your pocket. “flash texted me his address. i can navigate.” you wave your phone around to show peter the screen. “go for it. i have no idea where he even lives,” peter chuckles. you click your tongue at him jokingly. “oh, peter.”

there isn’t much to talk about on the way to flash’s apartment, since you and peter have hung out or facetimed every day of your winter break. the two of you communicate mostly by making weird faces at each other and pointing out random things that you see. as navigator, you also have to stop peter from walking in the wrong direction a couple of times. he doesn’t know where he’d be without you. literally.

it’s obvious which apartment is flash’s without even going inside the building. there’s blasting music and colorful lights showing from where you are. “i don’t know how we’ll ever be able to find flash’s place,” you say sarcastically, peter opening the door. “it’s almost like he doesn’t want us to,” he jokes.

you hold peter’s hand tighter as you two skip up the few flights of stairs it takes to get there. giving each other knowing looks, you both step inside.

“y/n and parker! you’re here!” flash leaves his dj table to greet you. he looks down at your intertwined hands. “guess i won’t be getting a new year’s kiss from you, huh?” your mouth drops open, you pushing flash’s shoulder. “get out of here, flash.” “i would, but i actually live here. gotta go queue up requests. you two lovebirds have fun!” he winks and points at peter before walking away.

“we will,” peter says just to you, laughing at your moment with flash. “he’s so...” “out there?” he finishes your sentence. “that’s one way to describe him.”

taking your other hand, peter tilts his head towards the crowd of people. “dance with me?” “god, yes.” a smile lights up your face as you pull peter further into the room until you two disappear into the crowd. peter twirls himself around you with your hand, wiggling his eyebrows at you. “not bad, peter.”

“thanks. may actually taught me how to dance a little bit.” he’s too pure. you put your arms around peter’s neck and move in closer to him. peter’s arms hug your waist. “really? what other moves did she teach you?”

peter dips you suddenly. you let out a small gasp, your breathing getting heavier as he holds you in place. he looks from your parted lips to your eyes before bringing you back up. “damn. can may give me a lesson sometime?” the two of you laugh breathlessly. peter moves his hands to your hips and sways you both. “if you’re serious, she definitely would.” “i’m so serious.”

you and peter spend so much time jumping around while flash plays the hits of the decade through his speakers. the only time you take a break is for snacks and soda, then it’s right back to dancing and singing along. you never want to leave peter’s arms. he never wants to stop holding you.

as it gets closer to midnight, flash puts on more chill songs. your head is resting on peter’s chest with your arms around his torso. he’s looking down at you, pulling you closer by your waist and moving you side to side slowly. “i’m really happy you asked me to come with you.” “me too.” peter gives you a tired smile.

“i was gonna ask you out myself if you didn’t ask me first.” “you were waiting for me to do it?” “yeah, peter. i like you a lot.” you close your eyes, sighing in content. “i like you even more,” he murmurs and closes his own eyes.

“one minute to midnight!” flash announces before either of you know it. people start scrambling to find who they want to be with when the year ends. you and peter stay right where you are. all you need is each other.

the one thing peter forgot to do was plan if and how he would kiss you. he doesn’t want to freak out and ruin the moment, so he tries to think of what may would tell him. something about not thinking at all. everybody is counting down from ten now, you included. peter just watches you.

“three, two, one, happy new year!” he hears. you’re about to say something, but peter’s lips on yours stop you. you kiss him back instantly, him leaning into it. you both pull back after with huge smiles. even though it didn’t last long, it was everything you’d ever hoped for. “what’s your new year’s resolution?” you yell over the noisemakers and cheers of people around you.

“to ask you to be my girlfriend,” peter surprises himself and you by saying. you take a step back to see him better. “that’s a dumb one.” peter’s nerves come back just like that. did he say the wrong thing? is he moving too fast? like you can read his mind, you peck his lips and hold his hands on your waist.

“resolutions are supposed to be goals you haven’t accomplished already.” he’s pretty much in shock at this point. “are you... are you saying you wanna be my girlfriend?” “i’m saying i really wanna be your girlfriend.” peter kisses you again without a second thought.

who would’ve guessed that the year ending would be the beginning of everything else?

[quicksiilver]

In My Fathers Eyes

All Parts: Here

Also now on AO3: Here (I’ve wanted to do this from the start!  Finally did it.)

Part Four: The People In the Dream

Word Count: 4k.

Chapter Summary: Rachel reencounters the boy from downstairs.  A familiar piece of art is brought up, and her uncle identifies their type immediately, which gives Rachel just a taste of what she’s really in for.

Getting off the elevator I followed Thors directions and went straight down to the end of the hallway passing by rooms that were full of scientific equipment and important things that I wouldn’t understand.  This must’ve been the science fair Natasha was talking about and I smiled to myself thinking about it, shoving my hands in my hoodie pockets.

She seemed so cool and so chill.  I wondered if she was the only girl on this team because she’s the only girl Avenger I’ve heard about so far.  Black Widow, I thought, how cool it would be to be Black Widow.  I smiled again and shook my head.  Just wait until I tell Shaun that that thought just crossed my mind.

“Yeah, downstairs,” I heard a voice say as I reached the end of the hall.  Peering into the room I found Tony, Steve, Bruce, Thor, Natasha and the guy I ran into on the first floor who was the one talking.  I cleared my throat to subtlety announce my arrival and sure enough everyone's heads snapped to look at me.  Natasha and Steve were smiling at me, but Thor got up and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.  I gave him a smile.

“See?  Told you there was no need to rush.  Everyone is here, everyone is patient,” He gestured toward the group.

They were all sitting around different tables that used holographic computers or something.  Tony was using a touch screen but it was in midair.  I broke away from Thor and weaved my way through the tech, admiring it all.

“Yeah, patient,” Tony muttered fiddling with three different sets of codes, his eyes not leaving the screen, “Rachel we gotta talk.”  Turning to look at Tony I shrugged my shoulders to let him know I was ready and then I looked to the boy next to him who was already looking at me.  He seemed a little nervous so I smiled.

“Hi,” I said quietly before my face twisted with confusion, “Wait- how’d you get up here so fast?  You were on the stairs...”

“Uh, yeah,” He started and shrugged his shoulders twice, waving a hand at me as if to tell me to ignore him.  The boy clearly had trouble with words, but he was cute if I had to admit it.  He was as tall as Tony and gave off a sweet energy.

“He’s Spiderman,” Tony said flatly, still not looking away from his screen.  My jaw dropped only a little in shock, “Peter, this is Rachel.  Rachel, this is Peter.” He waved a single hand between us before returning it to the table.

“So you’re just going to give me up like that, then?  Again!?” Peter raised his voice, annoyed by Tony.  I laughed to myself, gaining Peter’s attention again.  He gave me a small smile and laughed with me.

“Nice to meet you,” He nodded.

“Nice to meet you, too,” I said.  We shared eye contact for another moment, just taking each other in before Steve started to speak and took me away.

Behind my back Natasha was watching Peter, and once Peter noticed her stare he pulled a face of disgust.  Natasha rolled her eyes, flickered her eyes between Peter and I, and then winked at him.  He was flustered, and looked away, but then turned back and shook his head trying to throw her off.  She nodded her head slowly and raised her eyebrows pointing at me once before giving her attention to Steve.

“Now that you’ve gotten to know Uncle Thor-“ He began, but Peter quickly cut him off.

“Uncle!?” He exclaimed, his eyebrows were raised so high as he watched Thor seeming more shocked than I had been.

“No Uncle,” Thor smiled, but squinted his eyes and we both shook our heads trying to dismiss the name we both decided didn’t fit.

“Okay, not Uncle Thor,” Steve said unsurely quizzing me with his eyes, “We figured now that you know some information we could possibly get started on what we need to do to... you know, save the world,” He sighed and sat down in a chair beside Natasha folding his arms across his chest.

“Funny, Cap,” Tony said as he stepped away from his tech, “You said you didn’t want to take the reins on this one.”  Steve took a deep breath looking at Natasha before turning to Tony.

“Then be my guest, Tone,” He said saltily, turning the air bitter.  Somewhere in my heart it felt unfitting for Captain America, a man who lived in the 1940’s, to treat someone with a little disrespect like that.  I glanced to Peter who was pressing his lips in a firm line obviously holding back a laugh.  My lips slowly grew into a smile even though I tried my best to repress it, and Peter’s did the same.  Not even a second passed before we both burst into laughter, the adults in the room turning to look at us.

“Children? For one second can you let the grown-ups have a moment?” Tony threw out a hand and talked with it.  Peter shut down quickly, but I let out another giggle as Tony turned back to face Steve.  He glanced at me only once more at the sound, and when he did I lowered my chin and narrowed my eyes watching him do a double take of disgust.

“Can you, please!  Please do not look at me like that,” He brushed his shoulder off with his hand as if to brush me away.

“Look at you like how?” Peter asked.  Keeping my chin low I faced Peter to let him have a look.  From Tony, to me, to Tony, to me, his eyes were dancing.

“I don’t get it,” He shook his head.

“He doesn’t know who that is?” Bruce spoke up.  Peter shook his head again.  I sighed and crossed my arms, copying Steve who looked to me humorously rolling his eyes in agreement.

“Listen, Cap,” Tony caught him in the act, “I wasn’t about to involve the entire team in this yet,” He gestured to Peter vaguely, “Let alone Peter, when we have no idea what this mission is going to do to us.”

“What mission?” Peter asked, getting no answers to any of his questions.  Tony and Steve broke into an argument that Natasha did her best to break up, and when she failed Thor stepped in and pushed Tony backward with a giant metal hammer that seemed to appear out of nowhere.  The Asgardian had business written on his face as we all watched the two of them stare at each other.

“That is my brother's daughter,” He spoke softly, but the strict tone was eminent.  After he said that Peter looked at me, still confused.

“If you all are not going to treat her with respect and thank her for coming here to help us, then I will take her home myself and make sure she lives the happiest life now that I know who she is,” Thor tapped Tony’s chest with the hammer again, “And I’m talking about you, Stark.” Tony looked between the hammer and Thor with minimum expression on his face.

“What will you do?  Lightning strike me into oblivion?  You guys need me, you wouldn’t do a thing,” Tony said. Thor pressed the hammer against him completely.  My mind was blown, it was as if this hammer weighed thousands of pounds yet Thor was able to just carry it around.  Tony let out a few noises to alert us that he was uncomfortable, and Peter looked concerned, but I watched with content.  Tony had been nothing but rude to me since I met him, I didn’t see anything wrong with giving him a little push.

“I could do it,” Thor agreed, “But I won’t,” He turned to me and I gave him a thankful smirk, then he looked to Tony once more, “Without you we won’t be able to find Loki.  We wouldn’t have found Rachel.  I need my brother to be safe, and she needs her father to come home.  Loki... Loki needs to be here,” His voice fell soft at the end, “He needs to be with her.” The room was silent for not even a minute after Thor’s touching speech, that did pull at my heart a bit.  Hearing that my father could be in danger if Thor said he wasn’t safe, and hearing that he needed to be with me, something stirred inside of me.  It felt like a longing, a need to know someone, a need to help someone.

Now it was Peter’s turn to get the attention.

“Loki?  You’re his daughter?” He asked me.  Nodding, I shrugged my shoulders.  My go-to for when I didn’t feel like admitting anything out loud, or apparently when the Avengers were driving me nuts.  I waited to see if Peter's face gave any hints as to how he felt about that information, but he just looked down to his hands and messed with them.  His eyebrows were pushed gently to the center of his forehead as he looked up at me, but he didn’t expect me to still be watching so he quickly looked back down.  Turning completely toward the adults I found Natasha watching me with a small smile.  Returning it I sighed and took my hoodie off completely, tossing it over a table to my left.  The white tank I had beneath it would do, I was comfortable being chilly anyway.

“Okay,” I said gesturing my hands around at them, “I’m ready.  Use me.” I said sarcastically.  Thor eyed me curiously, but proudly as I offered myself to them.  He had a plan of keeping me away from this tonight, but I decided now that I was going to get this over with.  Bruce stood up and held out a hand.

“Bruce Banner,” He said.  I shook his hand and nodded.  Hulk, I said to myself in my head, big green guy.  I mentally noted to always be nice to Bruce.  There was something about knowing he could turn into a monster in a split second that just freaked me out to my core.

“Rachel Andrews,” I said and let go, holding my hands behind my back.

“Nice to formally meet you, Rachel,” He said with an emphasis on the word formally, getting a quiet rise out of Tony, “You’ll be doing a lot of work with me... and Tony to start out with.”  Thor released the man who came a few steps closer to us.

“Hi, Rachel,” He said in the same tone he’s been using, “Yes it’s been great to meet you, but I’ve just been stressed the hell out.  These superhuman’s don’t understand that I can’t punch or break something to simply figure out how...” He paused and internally seemed to tell himself to stop talking.

“Can I tell you what we need to do?” He asked me and I gave him the famous shrug, “You know you do that a lot.” He mumbled and turned around motioning for me to follow him.  Just when I thought Tony could’ve redeemed himself in the slightest, he ruins it with a snide comment.

“Guys, Steve and I are going to go meet Wanda downstairs,” Natasha said, starting for the door with Steve behind her, “Peter?” She paused for a moment looking to the boy who was still standing there quietly.  He looked up to her.

“Are you going to come with us?” She asked him, her tone insinuating something.  Peter shook his head and then cocked his head toward Tony.

“Nah, I’m going to stay and help,” He said.  Natasha eyed him, then left with a grin on her face.  

Tony brought me over to the table he was standing behind when I first came into this room and he started to explain what I was looking at on the screens.  It was insane, when I was behind the screen I could see right through it, but looking at it from here it was like a solid page.

He told me that he and Bruce needed to, ‘explore the valleys of my hippocampus’, to see if they could find any leads on my father and where he could be or what he could be doing.

“You realize I’ve never met the guy?” I said, stating the truth.

“Seems as though you’ve met something related to him,” Tony said and I pulled a face.

“Yeah, Thor-“ I started to catch an attitude, but he shut me up.

“Not... Thor,” He held out a hand before reaching for his phone in his pocket, “Banner, I didn’t show you this yet.” Tony scrolled on his phone for a minute and then flipped the screen around for Bruce to see.  His eyes nearly bugged out of his head, and Tony vocally agreed with him.

“What is it?” Peter asked coming close to peer over Tony’s shoulder, “Whoa, is that paint?!” He exclaimed.  Reaching out a hand without thinking twice I snatched Tony’s phone from him with force and saw a photo of my painting from this morning on the screen.  I could feel my blood start to boil.  Nothing made me anymore angry than non consensual art being flaunted around, especially if it was mine.  In sixth grade a drawing of a girl I had a crush on was spread around the school and I was made fun of for weeks, so I’m pretty sure that’s where this trauma stems from.

“You think this is okay? Stealing peoples art and hard work?” I spat, sliding his phone back to him on the table, “I worked for hours on that.”

“And it’s great, really,” Tony praised, “I didn’t take the picture to steal your art, kid.  Can I ask what it is?  Who are they?”

I peeked at his phone again, looking at the blue figures I had painted onto an icy background.

“I know who they are,” Thor said, making us all jump, because I think we all forgot he was here.  He walked toward us, stood behind me and reached over my head for Tonys phone.  I looked up at him genuinely shocked.

“What!? You do?” I asked, “These are things I’ve seen in my dreams my entire life.  How do you know who they are?” Thor looked to Tony who looked to Bruce.

“Go ahead, she’s going to need to find out anyway,” The scientist rolled his eyes.  Thor placed a hand to my shoulder as usual and walked me away from the table.  Once we were across the room he showed me my own painting again.

“Yes, I know,” I nodded, “Blue people, red eyes, ice world.” Thor laughed under his breath.

“This is a place close to Asgard,” He began, his words freezing me in my place, “We used to be at battle with them, the Jotun’s, for millions of years until my father... ended it.  It’s called Jotunheim and these people are called Frost Giants.” My eyes were glued to my painting and my stomach was starting to feel nauseous.  My entire life I had believed that this was a made up place that my six year old brain created, and then continued to create when I needed something to get me away from what is now my traumatic backstory.

“You’re looking like him again,” Thor whispered, mentioning the clear discomfort I was wearing on my face, “The place was silent for a long, long time after my father created peace, the Jotun’s leaving Asgard alone, however... today battle is on the horizon.  It has been for a while now.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked up to my uncle.

“Are you alright?” He asked genuinely, a hand touching my cheek.  I started to nod slowly.

“I mean... yeah, if you consider the fact that I have no idea who I am anymore,” I said at merely a whisper, “This has to do with my dad, right?  All of it?  Why else would I be dreaming about another planet?”

“This is why we’d like to explore...” Tony sang out from the other side of the room, letting his voice trail off obnoxiously after his little song.

“Maybe, possibly, somehow some of it wasn’t a dream... It was real,” Bruce said.

“I’ve NEVER met my father,” I clenched my fists and watched Tony flinch, my voice raising a bit as I stared Bruce down.

“Maybe it wasn’t your father,” He said simply, not even reacting to my state.  Squeezing my eyebrows together I quickly crossed my arms over my chest hoping to physically fix the emotional hole that was just opened.  My body was turning warm, I could feel the heat rising from my bones and it started to make me shake.  I turned to Thor and shook my head nearly pouting my lips.  He rested a hand on my arm and pulled me in to hug him.  His hold was strong, but comforting, and as he hugged me he told me quietly that he was not going to let anything or anyone hurt me.

“And I mean here, too,” He lifted a finger to my head implying mentally.  Bruce and Tony had turned away and were talking to one another focused back on a screen.  Peeking out from under Thor's arm it seemed as if they didn’t care that this day has been the third most overwhelming day of my life.  They both just tapped away at their work with their fingers and spoke a second language of smart people’s lingo to each other.

“Hey,” Peter said from behind Thor and I.  Suddenly realizing that he was still here I stepped back from Thor rubbing my eyes clean of any subconscious tears that may have fallen before turning to look at him.  I took a deep breath as he stepped close to me.

“I don’t really know what you have to do,” He started, and I nodded in agreement because I had no idea either, “But Mr. Stark and Mr. Banner can be nice sometimes.  They can even make me laugh sometimes,” He spoke lightheartedly, watching me curiously.  Then he spoke quieter, keeping his words between us, “If you wanted, I could totally stay here, if that’s okay with you, and maybe even help them and you, of course.  You barely know me, but somehow I feel like I get you.”  Tucking my dark hair behind my ears I glanced to my feet feeling something stir in my center again as I stood here in front of Peter.  

It was a feeling I had felt for the first time in sixth grade, and another time when I first met Shaun.  Shortly after getting to know Shaun and who he was it was settled that I’d have to get over what I was feeling, fast, or else we wouldn’t have become the friends we are today.  I had never dated anyone before, and I wasn’t sure that something along those lines was even written in the stars for me.  The thought of someone coming into my life and disrupting the way I live it made me uncomfortable.  I work too hard to be able to survive the way I’ve been, and any time Shaun asks to set me up with someone I decline.  He loves to tell me I enjoy shutting people out, and have a talent for not opening up or speaking my truth.  Although for Shaun that’s never truly an issue.  Our other friends however couldn’t tell you a single thing personal about me.

As I looked back up to Peter these thoughts washed away and all that remained was my gut instinct to shut it down as fast as possible and run the other way, but then I figured I could use a friend while I was here.  Shaun was at home, possibly still at mine, and I was here by myself completely vulnerable to a handful of Gods, superhuman’s and shape shifting human beings.

“Sure,” I answered Peter with a small smile, “You can stay.”  He smiled in return, his eyes looking to me happily.  Flutters in my stomach.  Breaking my gaze I sighed and turned back to Thor who was waiting attentively.

“You can do this.  In the end everything will be fine.  Even better than fine,” He said grinning, “Peter, Spider-boy,” He said.

“Uh, Spider-man... Thor, sir,” Peter said too respectfully.

“Right,” Thor laughed, “You’ve always been someone I trusted these few years you’ve been with us,” Peter’s smile grew, “Can you promise me something?”

“Of course,” Peter nodded quickly.

“Good, now, please,” Thor paused and closed his eyes.  I turned to Peter for a moment, both of us questioning him, “Please promise me that if I am not around... if I am not in sight, and this one is in danger,” Thor pointed to me, “Promise me that you will protect her.  Whatever it takes.”  Peter stepped around me and held out his hand for Thor to shake, and when the god grabbed it he nearly lifted Peter off the floor.

“I promise,” Peter said genuinely.  Thor nodded and looked between the two of us satisfied with himself.

“Good, good,” He mumbled, “That is my niece,” He said to Peter who nodded, understanding, “And this is my friend,” He said to me, gesturing toward Peter, “Don’t get too comfortable.” He whispered harshly, laughing at the cringe reactions he got out of both of us.

“I will be leaving for a moment, will you be alright?” Thor then asked me.  Nodding my head I glanced to Peter, then to Thor and smiled, “Great.  Take care of her, please.”  He said to Peter before heading out the door.

“Rachel, can we do a test run to see if we have everything working right?” Bruce called over to Peter and I.

“Sure,” I said knowing that I didn’t have another option, but Thor's threat to Tony about him taking me home did sound pretty nice.  Walking toward the geniuses I say down in a comfortable chair right beside the table Tony was working at.

He handed me two tiny earbuds and explained to me that I needed to put them in my ears like I was wearing headphones to listen to music.  I hesitated at first, questioning Peter with my eyes, but he just gave me a shrug, so I stuck the little oval shaped beads into my ears.

“Alright,” Tony’s tone turned to excitement, “Let’s see how well our four month prototype works out, Banner.”

“Prototype?!” I nearly shouted and lunged forward in the chair making Tony jump and stumble backwards.  The sight of his frightened face confused me once again, yet it always seemed to bring me a but of joy, “You’re really scared of me, aren’t you?” I asked quietly, my voice lowering immensely, some humor detected behind it.  Tony came back close to me and ignored the question, giving me the answer I was looking for, and started tapping away listening to Bruce’s instructions.  Peter had himself sitting criss-cross on a table top when I looked back to him.  His hands were in his lap and he was watching the guys work with interest in every move they made.  His eyes found me and he smiled again, shooting me a look that was asking me if I was okay.  I sat back against the cushion once more and nodded as I rested my forehead on my fist, the feeling of a headache brewing and on its way.