#and now there's going to be an apartment inspection tomorrow and a water pipe inspection friday

[hairtusk]

I'm one more minor inconvenience away from an actual, fully-fledged nervous breakdown

[naraven]

water of all life

this is. so long. im going to die I DIDNT MEAN FOR THIS TO GET THIS LONG someone hold me back.

wc // 1.4,,, 1.4k words,,,

tw // mentions of dissolving

Evil is a constant in this world.

Ven is a testament to this. They have seen and even been used to impart cruel, unjust acts upon others. After all, selfishness in the Akademiya was often seen as the norm for a long time.

So to say they were unfamiliar with these kinds of crime would be like saying they could understand the minds of those they deemed “evil.”

“Do you still have some of the primordial water left anywhere? Stored?”

“Yes, I left my drink as it is in case this happened. I hid it here, please wait a moment.”

They close their eyes as the lady walks away, presumably to grab the drink her husband gave her. The Steambird commission detailed how a woman suspected her husband of giving her primordial water of Fontaine’s ancient springs mixed in with her drinks. Intrigued, Ven came to ask the commissioner more about the details.

“Here it is. This is the mix of tea that I enjoy and the one mixed with the primordial water.”

She hands it over to them with two hands, careful not to spill any. Ven nods at her in thanks as they start inspecting the cup. A porcelain yellow cup, probably part of a set with other cups and teapot. The liquid looks normal, and no ordinary person could tell if it had been mixed with anything other than the tea.

“Why did you suspect your husband of doing such a thing?”

The woman fidgets with her hands. She takes a deep sigh before spilling out her thoughts.

“He was watching me more closely than usual. I wouldn’t recommend it, but the tea also tastes rather odd. Usually, the water from our pipes tastes a bit different, and the case of the primordial water dissolving people has spread all throughout Fontaine. I suppose you could chalk it up to paranoia, but I can’t help as though he’s hiding something from me. He’s been going out more and more and claims he’s been forced to work overtime, but his boss says that he goes home at the usual time.”

Ven nods for her to continue. She inhales and exhales deeply for a couple moments and proceeds.

“He’s been acting out more and more as well. Usually we would talk and laugh easily but he’s more irritable now. He raises his voice and sleeps elsewhere in the house. I’m scared that he gained the water somehow to get rid of me quietly, but I never told him that I was actually from Snezhnaya.”

“And where is your husband now?”

“I don’t know. I think that… He knows that I know what he was trying to do. I haven’t seen him since the day before yesterday. I thought that maybe he was just feeling guilty, but I’m getting worried for him now.”

Ven pats the woman on the shoulder as she curls up in her chair. Her near silent sobs pierce the tense air in the house.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. We’ll get to the bottom of this soon, I’m sure.”

She takes one last intake of air before looking up at them with water in her eyes.

“Do you have any idea where he was conducting all this?”

“I… have no clue. I’m so sorry, I have no idea where he might be.”

“Then I will start the search tomorrow. Please, sleep tonight knowing your husband is still safe.”

They bid her goodbye, leaving a handkerchief in her hands. Her eyes were dark, almost angry at what had happened to her husband.

But Ven was determined to hand her the truth.

~~~

Ven’s first on the list to seach for the missing man was in the old couples’ apartment they had moved out of a year ago. Upon entering, Ven had carefully made sure nothing was disturbed as they stepped from room to room.

However, the search ended up with nothing turning up. No matter how many surfaces they checked under, inspecting each and every corner of every room and closet, nothing.

Almost as if nobody had been in there in a very, very long time.

The silence felt tight, like it was about to snap had Ven moved a bit too quickly. Every step they took echoed, solidifying that they were all alone.

Until it was very evident that they were not.

“Ma’am, I can hear you.”

A shuffle, before silence returned to the apartment. Ven pinches the bridge of their nose in annoyance.

“I know you are in the boiler room. Please come out already.”

This time, there is no noise.

“Alright then, I’ll open the door to where you are now. Don’t mind if I do.”

They make sure the person inside the tiny space can hear their footsteps. Heavy and dark, just the woman’s eyes from earlier.

“Stop!”

Before they could even twist the handle, the door bursts open itself. The wife of the culprit stands before them.

“How did you know?”

She breathes heavily. As before, her darkened eyes peak form behind messy bangs.

“It was rather obvious. You were the one who dissolved your husband, not the other way around.”

She looks terrified. Her horror is exemplified by her appearance, which was barren yet looked as though she had run through a hurricane.

“Since you look like you aren’t in any proper way to respond, I shall explain. Firstly, your husband was missing. Conveniently, despite your husband being the one to try and dissolve you, he was the one that was missing. Odd, yes?”

Ven starts to pace around the room, the lady’s eyes following their every move on the creaky wooden floor.

“Second, and the most obvious clue, was that you claimed your tea tasted odd. Perhaps not bad, but you insinuated that you didn’t like the taste. In truth, another Mondstadt woman who was a victim of being dissolved claimed the water tasted rather sweet. But you wouldn’t have known that since you never drank the water.

Third, you claim not to know where your husband is. However, this place stood out to me because of the lease you still have on this place. If you both had moved out and had no use for such a place, why the lease? Unless there was some use for this place to be used as a scapegoat plan.”

They approach the woman, who’s quivering against the boiler room door.

“You knew, everything…”

“Indeed. I also knew about the lie that you told me of you being Snezhnayan. Looking into the commission more, your birth certificate is in this very nation. You and your husband had met when you were teenagers.”

The woman stills, barely even twitching. Her body was stiff, tense as all the muscles in her body tightened.

“With all that, I believe we have the whole case wrapped up, Duke Wriothesley.”

The front door of the apartment creaks open, and the woman falls to the floor. Her knees lapse, kneeling in a rather uncomfortable position.

“Right you are. Please come with me, Ma’am. If you resist, I will make sure that you serve an even harsher sentence.”

Luckily for everyone, the woman is barely conscious. She hangs like a ragdoll as a couple meka handcuff her and lead her away.

“Thank you for the tip, Ven. We will make sure that everything else is handled from here.”

Ven nods, drained from this whole commission.

This one took a bit too long.

~~~

“Heyyy, it’s Ven again!”

“Hello, Ven.”

The synthetic being turned their head around to find the iconic silver and gold duo waving at them. They wave back with a lot less enthusiasm.

“Good day, you two. Now then, I’m off to rest.”

“Ugh-wait! It’s rude to just walk off like that.”

Before Ven can even take a step toward the hotel, Paimon’s tiny hands grab at the back of their coat.

“I’m just tired is all. If you have anything important to say, let me know tomorrow.”

“We do, in fact, have something important! From the Dendro Archon herself!”

Ven freezes, all tiredness draining away at the mention of Buer. They weren’t in trouble again, were they?”

“She sent a letter, but all she told us was that ‘Ven will know what I’ll be writing.’ What does she mean by that?”

Aether pats Ven on the shoulder as they slump.

“Don’t worry, Paimon, it’s just her checking up on me. I just hope she isn’t too insistent on me working in Fontaine again.” They sigh for a bit too long.

[infernal-fire]

TAU (1/2)

Summary: Steve Rogers traps you inside his mansion. Your only means of escape? The naïve A.I., Bucky, that is designed to kill you if you ever step out of line. 

Pairings: Dark!CEO!Steve x reader, A.I!Bucky x reader, Bucky x reader

This is part of a series of works (not interconnected). I highly suggest you read the description of the series master list to better understand the premise of this story. 

Warnings: swearing, kidnapping, mention of sedative, technical Lima syndrome, psychological abuse, violence, blood, character deaths, injuries, mention of depression, suicide & poverty

The chair was on the brink of collapsing, yet Martha folded her arms and leaned back into it anyway. You internally grimaced, waiting for her to fall flat on her ass or give you the bad news. It had to be bad news. You had done this enough times to know that she periodically bounced her right leg only when there was bad news. These days, that was often. 

You huffed once, loud enough for her to hear, hoping to hint that you were hanging by the threads of your patience. She took the hint, finally throwing open the drawer in front of you with excessive force. Pens rolled and a notebook slid towards her amid the force. Again, another piece of furniture that was ready to give in. For someone as stingy as her, you aren’t surprised that it hasn’t been replaced - just wondering why she’s treating it like it won’t disintegrate any second now. 

Martha’s plump fingers slapped a couple of bills onto the table, her seedy eyes challenging you to pluck them from under her hand. You wrestled the bills out of from under her palm and diligently counted them, only to shake your head defeatedly. 

“That’s it?” you snarled.

“Steal better shit next time,” she replied, shrugging. 

You slowly sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose, refusing to open your eyes and face her.

“I really need the money.” 

When you open your eyes again, it’s because you hear the roll of her weathered chair. Now standing full height, the middle-aged woman shook her head softly, a hint of a smirk playing out on her lips. 

“Like I said; steal better shit.” She turned to leave before facing you again. “You could always come and work with our girls.”

She glanced through the door that was cracked open, eyes resting on the table situated in the corner of the adjacent room. Around it, a group of girls set down cards while pushing poker chips around. 

“Sell my body? I’d rather die,” you scoffed. 

“Suit yourself. Now, get out.”

“Was planning to.” You flipped her the bird, knowing that she was watching you leave.

“Real classy,” she called after you. “You gotta come back here for your next week’s dinner, you whore!”

“That’s all you,” you smiled at her before slamming the door closed on your way out. Oh, the satisfaction of pissing someone off; unparalleled. 

Placing your measly wage into a makeshift purse, you made your way back home. You hugged your frame tightly, keeping your head down and pacing through the dilapidated neighbourhood. 

Once upon a time, when you were new to the shadier areas of town, you affirmed to yourself every day that this situation was temporary. The hope for a better job, better apartment and better tomorrow kept you going for a long time. Deep down though, you knew it wasn’t temporary, and now you were being proven right every day. What was keeping you going these days? Multiple times, you delayed the contemplation of that question, knowing that if you thought about it… well, it’s better to not go there. 

You were careful to double-check the lock on your door and windows when you stepped into the cramped shower. Today, you thanked God for hot water, even though you were sure he didn’t exist. Mind empty like a brand new chalkboard, you shuffled around your one-room housing and put together something edible to appease the churning stomach.

Your ear perked up at what sounded like the creaking of the fourth floorboard from your bed. You locked the door. You were sure of it. 

Still, you peeked over the short dividing wall that hid the view of your bed from the kitchen. Nothing. You shook your head at your paranoia and turned back to get to the less-than-appetizing meal waiting for you. 

Steve jammed the needle into your neck, expecting you to fall back into his arms. Instead, your forehead hits the edge of your counter and you slump onto the floor. Your eyes shutting down and head throbbing, you reach out to feel your attacker and touch Steve with saucy fingers. He groans in annoyance as he picks up your whimpering form. 

Thump, thump, thump.

The nightclubs you frequent were full of snobby, rich kids who didn’t know the value of wealth. You stole to survive. They could survive without their wristwatch for one night. 

Thump, thump, thump.

Music turned the speakers inside out, deafening those closest to it, but the youth are resilient to damage in any form. For you, though, it was too loud; too much. It wasn’t uncommon of you to walk away from the scene with a pounding head. 

Thump, thump, thump.

The inside of your head resembled the thumping of club speakers. Jaw slack and eyes foggy, you tried to rub your temples. But your arms wouldn’t move. 

Sitting up the best you could, you looked down at your hands to see them bound by zip ties, sitting on your lap. It was joke-worthy how your captor thought they could bind you with zip ties, of all things. He would have to do better than this. 

You tugged on the end of the tie using teeth and tightened it some more before huddling your knees up to your chest. Bringing your hands down as hard as you can against your kneecap, you awaited the snapping sound of the zip tie. Nothing came. You look at your hands again, realizing that they were still bound.

“Don’t do that,” a voice piped up from the dark corner of the room. Startled, you look to the source of the voice but no light fell in that direction. For the first time, you took in your surroundings: half of the room was divided by a set of bars. The other side had large machinery with wires running towards the jail section. As you trailed your eyes across the wires, you noticed a closed door. 

At least you knew it was possible to escape now. 

Quickly turning to the place the voice came from, you scooted backwards some more and anticipated the arrival of your captor. 

A woman crawled forward slowly with bounded legs and arms like yours. 

Seeing that it was just another prisoner, you tightened the strap of your zip tie again and tried breaking it one more time. It snapped. Rubbing your wrists where they were bound, you got straight to undoing the bind on your legs. Beside you, the girl moved closer and repeatedly begged you not to free yourself. 

“Shut up, Brit,” you mumbled, referring to her accent.

The bind on your legs gave away and you stood up and stretched. Tentatively stalking around the cell, you noticed the toilet and sink. Why would he have those amenities in here if you were tied up anyway? When you went to touch the bars separating the room, the girl cried out again. 

“Stop! Don’t!” 

You rolled your eyes and touched it anyway. Electricity surged through you and you yelped, pulling back immediately. 

“Could’ve told me it was an electric gate,” you snapped. 

“Don’t try to escape.” 

You looked at her incredulously. “And sit here like ducks, waiting for him to kill us?”

“Someone will find us!” she pleaded. 

“Look at me! Look at you! No one is looking for us. The police won’t blink twice if people like us are gone. And he knows that.” You eyed the door that was inside your cell and looked to the other one outside the bars. 

“Do you want me to remove your binds or not?”

The girl sheepishly looked down before sticking her arms out for you. 

“My name is Peggy,” she offered as she stood up. She held your arm for support when blood rushed to her head. You shot her a withering look in response and she took her hand off. 

“I don’t think we can leave. He can probably hurt us with these implants.” Peggy pulled her hair to one side and showed you the nape of her neck. A glowing red triangle shone from under her skin. 

Your eyes widened, immediately reached for the back of your head. You felt around and touched the area that stung a little when you touched it. You compulsively hissed, realizing that your implant was fresh and the skin around it had not healed yet. 

“Has he done anything to you using the implant?” you held and shook Peggy’s shoulders while you questioned. 

“No, no, but he said it collects brain data and that it was connected to my spinal column, so I shouldn’t try anything.”

“He spoke to you?”

“Once. It’s Steve Rogers, the inventor guy on the cover of all the Forbes magazines.”

“Brain data,” you silently repeated as you look to the other side of the cell again. 

“I have an idea. Rip your clothes like this,” you demonstrated.

Using the rags ripped off from both of your prisoner uniforms, the pair of you created a long rope-like contraption with a loop on the end. You stuck your hand through the gaps in the cell and tried to fling the loop to a nook in the machinery. Failing hurt, your arm accidentally brushing against the metal once or twice before the loop finally caught onto a crevice. 

“That’s the wrong part,” your fellow inmate breathed.

“Yeah, but that’ll work too.” You pulled as hard as you could and a section of the machine broke off, sparks flying from the source. It crackled and caught on fire. 

Peggy was pulling the cell door open, grunting as she tried her best. It gave way and you both looked at each other briefly before dashing out of the room. The jail room went up in flames behind you. Peggy looked over her shoulder, but you yanked her arm, signalling her to keep running. 

You flew up stairs and through doors, finally making your way into a clearing. Peggy rushed to what seemed to be the entrance door and frantically banged on it. 

“HELP!”

“That’s not gonna work!” you rushed to the door and inspected the lock. On the right side, there was a screen that displayed a handprint. 

Do not try to escape. Only Steven can leave the premises. 

“What?” you whispered. The new voice was coming from all around you, seemingly through fixtures in the ceiling and walls, but you couldn’t be sure. The situation was tense and you were scared the whole house was going to burn down.

Before you could catch her, Peggy planted her hand on the screen which scanned and turned red. Suddenly, all the lights emanated red, accompanying a booming alarm that blared through the house. 

In the distance, what you assumed was a statuesque décor piece, came to life. It reminded you of the spiders from the Maze Runner. A motorized killing machine. It stalked towards Peggy and you with pincers appearing from its side. 

Screaming, Peggy ran. So did you, but you weren’t sure if you were screaming. You couldn’t hear through the noise your friend was making on top of the deafening alarm. 

The spider machine stuck out its knife-like hands, trying to stab you. As you ran into another room, you frantically searched for an exit. Right now, your priority was to survive this thing.

You pulled open a cupboard in what appeared to be the study and instructed Peggy to climb in. The monster was coming. There wasn’t much time to hide. 

You shut the closet door and hid behind a lounging chair in the corner. 

The machine came in and scanned the room, looking for your heat signatures. It could see Peggy.

The cupboard door flung open and Peggy shrieked, crawling out of it in attempts to move out of the line of attack. She took 4 steps on her knees and looked straight into your eyes. 

“HELP ME-”

You screamed when she was dragged back towards the machine. You couldn’t save her anymore. You mobilized and ran back to the living room area, not even turning back to address blood that splattered across your back. It wasn’t in your best interest to find out how she was killed. 

“Aries!”

Frozen in fear, you look to your right to see the entrance door open. There stood your captor, staring at the machine that was now hovering over you. 

“Stop,” he muttered and set down his briefcase. 

Aries retracted its pincers, making its way back to the little pedestal it was perched on before. It powered down just as the CEO stepped into the house and glared at you.

For a split second, the doors were open, and you considered tackling past him. 

“Don’t even think about it.”

You collapsed onto the floor where you were already lying down. Getting out was going to be a lot harder than you anticipated. 

Your hands were bound again, but this time, behind you. You were seated on a pedestal like the one Aries was on, except this one had an ugly glass décor piece that extended to the ceiling. You tugged on the bonds, hoping for some leeway, but Rogers had learned his lesson. 

You shook your head side to side, trying to get pieces of hair and blood off your face. Eventually, you had to give up, slumping into the post your arms were tied to. 

“You cost me 7 million dollars worth of tech,” Steve’s voice sounded from another room. 

“If you let me go, I swear on my life I won’t tell anyone. They won’t believe me anyway.” 

He appeared in front of you and placed both hands on either side of your thighs. 

“Things will work out for you, if you just… shut up.” 

You exhaled and turned your face to the right, hoping he’d stop invading your personal space. 

“Just… please, untie me.”

He stood back and considered your request before rounding the side of the pedestal and untying you. 

“Bucky?”

Yes, Steve.

“Activate Aries if she moves a single inch from her spot.” He eyed you at the end of his command and sauntered away to god-knows-where. 

You hoped it wouldn’t be pushing your luck to stand up and stretch, so you did. You mentally considered the various stretches you did as a child, during gymnastics. It had been years since you recalled those, so you did them to the best of your ability. It’s funny how life works. One day you were among a row of girls, learning how to do a cartwheel and before you know it, you’re in a psycho’s mansion as a lab experiment. 

About 30 feet away from this pedestal was Aries.  

Cautiously, you took a few steps away from your place. No reaction from Aries. That meant ‘Bucky’ and Aries weren’t the same thing. You could also deduce from Steve’s command, Bucky was capable of conversing.

Do not take another step forward, Subject 10. I have been told to inflict pain if you move from your position.

You took another step anyway, wondering how much you could test the limits of this A.I. 

Do not take another step forward, Subject 10. I have been told to inflict pain if you move from your position. 

You considered making a run for it but reconsidered. Aries would activate in less than 5 seconds and Steve was still in the house somewhere. You needed to play this better. Besides, you didn’t even have an exit point. 

You went back to your pedestal and sat down, drawing patterns on the ground with your feet. It would help to know the time or date. A part of you wondered if anyone was looking for you, but you yourself had answered that question long ago. No one looks for people like you or me. 

It could’ve been hours or minutes, but finally, Steve called you into a different room. You observed your environment as you stalked towards the kitchen area where the inventor was seated. 

“Sit,” he motioned at the chair that was on the other end of the table. 

As soon as you sat, tiny robots flew to your seat and placed food in front of you. It was some sort of soup with a side of bread, the only utensil he gave you being a spoon. Smart bastard. 

You wanted to hold off on the food; you really did. But you didn’t even get to eat the sandwich that you were putting together before the kidnapping. So you began devouring the meal, ignoring his pointed stare at your lack of table manners. It was only when you were halfway through the meal did you realize that the food may be drugged. Too late now.

“You killed my only other test subject and rendered her data useless.”

“I didn’t kill her.”

Steve dropped his steak knife and fork, shooting daggers into your eyes.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he began. Clasping his hands together, he leaned forward, supporting his weight on his elbows. You could tell by the way he talked that he was used to getting what he wanted. He relished in it.

“Every day, for the next two weeks, I’m going to leave for work. And every day, you’re going to complete the puzzles and tasks that Bucky tells you to do.”

“And if I don’t?”

“It won’t take me more than 10 minutes to kill you, clean up the mess and dispose of your body.”

“If you could kill me, you probably would’ve. I know you considered it,” you remarked, leaning back into your chair and folding your arms.

“Now, why would I waste a perfectly good test subject?” It was his turn to mimic your body language. 

“If you want me to do what you need me to do, I need three things,” you announced. 

“It’s funny how you think you have any leverage in this situation.”

You kept your face stoic, trying to prove that you were serious about the negotiations. If he didn’t allow you these requests, you would never escape. 

“Okay, go on,” he said, clearly amused. 

“I need clothes. Regular clothes, not prisoner uniforms. I need to shower. And I need proper food, like what you’re eating.”

“That’s quite the list.” he laughed. Abruptly, his features turned serious. “I hope you know that you don’t hold any cards against me right now, and if I allow any of those things, it’s out of the kindness of my heart.”

It was your turn to laugh. “The kindness of your heart,” you wheezed between laughs. “Sure, okay. Yeah.”

He swallowed the last piece of his meal and gestured towards the sofas. 

“Bucky will be guarding you throughout the night. Don’t think of trying anything.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” you beamed at his sour expression right before leaving the table.

Masterlist

[honeydarlings]

Can you please write a one shot about yandere!All Might in his hero form stalking the reader (knows their schedule, habits, etc.) and in his mind, he’s just protecting them? Then later on, he notices the reader isn’t back home at their usual time and finds them hurt after being mugged in an alley way. Perhaps he takes them back to his place to fix up their wounds and when they want to leave, he won’t let them since he’s overprotective.

First request !!! I hope you like it !!

I'm Doing this for You

TW || Stalking, kidnapping, manipulation, drugging, gore and violence.

7:30pm, you walked through the front door to your apartment. Right on time, as always. Whenever you got home after work you would tie your hair back just to get it out of your face as you started cooking dinner. All Might loved the way you looked with your hair back, he got to see more of you. He sat atop a building right across from your apartment window with a pair of binoculars. Everyday he watched you. He would watch you wake up, take the train to work, eat lunch, return home. Almost everywhere you went he was watching. “7:45, you always turn on the radio.” The hero mumbled to himself as you turned on the small radio sitting on your kitchen counter. He smiled, happy to know your every move. At first he was unsure about following you, worried he would be found out by you or another hero. But then he realized he was doing this for your sake, to protect you. It’s a dangerous world out there, especially for someone as delicate as you. As 8:15 rolled around so did your dinnertime, you sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. “True crime.”He muttered. True crime indeed, you turned on one of your favorite true crime shows as you began to eat. Suddenly All Might’s phone buzzed, startling him a bit. “All Might we have a situation downtown, we need you here” The text read. “Damn.” All Might huffed, couldn’t it wait until after you went to bed, so he knew you were safe?. Another text came through, “It’s urgent.” He scowled and got to his feet, leaping off, leaving you all alone.

8am. He barely made it, watching you wake up was one of All Might’s favorite things. Your messy hair and groggy face. You were so damn adorable, he couldn’t help but smile. Everything you did was absolute perfection to him and he wanted nothing more than to stay by your side and keep you safe. You departed for work, walking to the train station. All Might following close behind, leaping from building to building. He made sure that you safely boarded the train before going off to do hero work. After all, even though it tore him up, he couldn’t watch you all day, he was still a hero.

By the end of the day, All Might was exhausted but he still rushed to get to your window to watch you come home. 7:30, on the dot. He sat, staring at your front door. It didn’t open. He felt a pit form in his stomach. “Maybe they’re running a little late.” He reassured himself, trying to stay calm. He waited five more minutes, still no sign of you. The panic had now settled in, All Might quickly stood and raced to find you. He followed your exact route to the train station, you weren’t there. He scrambled to the small library where you worked and peered through each window, you were nowhere to be found. He quickly made his way to the train station, checking every shop. He had never felt like this before, he had never been this panicked fighting villains or saving others. He reached the alleyway you always cut through and was met with a sickening display.

You were sprawled onto the pavement, covered in bruises and blood. Soft whimpers escaping your lips. A tall lanky figure stared down at you with a led pipe in their hand, your bag in his other. “What the hell is going on here.” All Might boomed, trying to maintain his composure. The figure looked up at All Might with fear and then took off in a sprint, dropping the led pipe but still holding your bag. “Bastard.” All Might growled, chasing after him. It didn’t take long to catch up to the criminal, seeing as All Might was much faster and could cover more ground. He grabbed the thief’s shoulder and pulled him downwards onto the pavement. He landed on his back, knocking the wind out of him. All Might made sure that he was out of your sight, then picked the man up by his head, gripping it tightly. He started to squeeze. The man screamed, clutching All Might’s massive hand trying to pry it off. “You are lower than scum.” All Might snarled as his hold tightened. A crack rang out through the alley. Blood started pooling out of the man's eyes, nose and mouth as All Might continued to squeeze. Another loud crack followed by silence as the criminal's body went limp. Blood and teeth were splattered onto the ground as the man’s corpse hit the pavement. The blonde hero shook drops of blood off his hand then wiped the rest off on the corpse's jacket.

All Might returned to you, your bag in hand. “Are you alright?” He asked softly. You slowly shook your head, unable to get any words out. “Please, let me take you back to my home, I can patch you up and keep you safe.” He gently wiped your tears from your cheeks as you nodded. He smiled and picked you up bridal style. “You don’t have to tell me what happened yet, we can wait until you’re all fixed.” You nodded again, clutching his chest. Once the two of you reached his house was when you managed to speak up. “Thank you, All Might.” You said in an almost whisper. The hero’s stomach fluttered, you were so damn cute! “Of course, anything to keep you safe.”

He walked you through his massive mansion, up the stairs and into his bedroom. He set you down gently onto his large bed. The sheets against your bruised skin was like heaven, you’ve never laid on anything softer. “Wait here while I get my medical supplies and something to drink, I shouldn’t be long.” All Might said as he exited the room. You laid in silence, still trying to process everything that had happened. You were mugged, some creep attacked you with a led pipe and took your bag. Good thing All Might showed up when he did, if he was even second later you could have been killed. The thought made you shudder. You looked around his large bedroom which was surprisingly empty. Nothing except a bed, dresser and a TV mounted on the wall. You were still trying to process the fact that you were inside the number one hero’s home. Does he give treatment like this to all civilians he finds injured? Your thoughts were interrupted by All Might entering the room holding a tray with painkillers, bandages, tissues and a tall glass of water. He set the tray down and grabbed the tissues. He lightly brushed the soft paper against the semi dried blood that gushed out of your nose earlier. “Is it broken?” You asked. “No, but pretty close. You’re lucky I showed up.” He said. He sounded stern and a little bit angry. “Here, take these. I’m sure those bruises are hurting.” He said handing you three small pills and a cup of water. Without hesitation you swallowed the pills with a big sip of water. All Might continued to work in silence as he bandaged your hand, suspecting it to be sprained, and cleaning out the scrapes that covered your hands and knees. As he worked you started to feel dizzy. All Might noticed as your wrist went limp in his hand. “Feeling sleepy, y/n?” He asked. “H-how do you know my name.” Your speech was slurred as your body relaxed into his bed. He brought his hand up to your face and caressed your cheek. “Y/n, sweetheart. That’s not important right now. You should rest. I’ll finish patching you up.” Suddenly all the worry you just felt went away as you drifted off. “You’ll be safe here, y/n. Safe with me.” All Might whispered as he gently kissed your forehead. “I’ll be back in about an hour, my dear.” He stood and planted a kiss on your limp hand. He picked up your bag and fished out your keys. He sighed and shrunk down to his small form, leaving his house and catching a taxi.

The blonde hero stood outside your apartment fiddling with your keys, trying to find the one that fit into the keyhole. “Bingo.” He muttered with a smile as a silver key slid in perfectly, unlocking your door. He stepped into the darkened room and inhaled. He couldn’t believe it, he was in your house! It smelled just like you. He rushed to your bedroom excitedly. He stepped inside and grinned. The whole room just screamed “you”. Even your bedsheets reflected you. All Might grabbed a suitcase laying on the floor and began to pack things for you, inspecting every single one. He smelled every shirt and sweater. After a few minutes he closed the suitcase and was about to head to the bathroom to pack more but then he noticed something on the top shelf of your closet. It took no effort for him to grab it, seeing as he was still massive, even in his small form. A small All Might plushie, a soft shade of pink dusted his face as he held the stuffed toy. You were his fan. He toyed with it before gently placing it in the suitcase. He then made his way to the bathroom grabbing your toothbrush and toothpaste placing them in a plastic bag and then inside the suitcase. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time. 9:01. “Shit! They’ll be waking up soon!” He rushed out of your front door, quickly locking it behind him. Once he reached the street he changed back into his muscle form to get to you quicker.

You slowly opened your eyes. You were still in All Might’s house. Why would he keep you here for so long? Footsteps quickly approached the bedroom. You groaned and sat up, still groggy. All Might burst through the door. “Ah you’re up! How did you sleep? Feel better?” He questioned as he rushed to get by your side. “I slept well, and I’m feeling a lot better, thank you.” You smiled. “I should probably start heading home soon though. It’s really late already and I have to work tomorrow.” You swung your legs off the side of the bed and tried to stand. All Might jumped in front, knocking you back onto the bed. “I can’t let you do that, y/n.” You stared up at him, wide-eyed. A pit formed in your stomach. “What the hell do you mean?” You shouted, instantly regretting when you did. “I can’t let you leave. It’s way too dangerous for you out there. I’m the only one who can keep you safe.” You tried to stand again only causing All Might to push you back down. “Please listen to me y/n. I’m doing this to protect you!” You were too scared to move anymore. “Wh-MPH!” All Might pressed his thumb over your lips, shutting you up. “The only place that you’ll be safe is here, with me.” Tears stung the corners of your eyes. He pulled his thumb away, letting you speak. “You’re scaring me.” You whispered. All Might’s face fell. He was scaring you? “Darling, I’m so sorry. I just want to keep you safe! Isn’t that what you want? To be safe? To be with me? I planned everything out! Here, I’ll show you!” He ran out of the bedroom only to return with your suitcase in hand. “I packed all your clothes and I even brought your All Might plush!” He held up the small toy, smiling wide. You started sobbing. “I want to go home. Please just take me home.” You choked. “Darling. I don’t think you’re in the right headspace right now. You’re still a bit woozy from the sleeping pills. You can’t possibly be thinking straight right now. How about you sleep on it again and then we’ll discuss this again in the morning?” He picked your legs up and placed them back on the bed, pulling the soft sheets over top. You were frozen with fear. He kidnapped you. He drugged you. “You’re a monster.” You whispered as he placed a kiss on your forehead. “It might seem that way right now darling but, in time, you’ll see that I’m doing all this for you. We’ll speak more about this tomorrow.” He smiled and left the bedroom, locking you inside. He had you now. And he would never let you go.

(This was so fun !!! Feel free to request as much as you like while they’re open !!)

[plant-gt-thought-box]

Tom and Jerry but its Wilbur, Tommy, and Tubbo- aka Mole AU

So fun story this is my first ever AU and I just forgot to post the story- I hope you all enjoy the antics that comes with this and send in some ask if you want!

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Niki finished up her little bit of breakfast she'd made herself and grabbed her gardening hat and watering can. She’d been growing quite a big garden in her backyard for about 2 months and the garden had already taken up basically the entire backyard.

However, Niki left one area untouched by the garden; a small area with a few tables and a wooden chest that held blankets. So if anyone were to sit on the ground they didn't have to sit in the mud.

"Aw, I can't wait until all my flowers come in, then the others and I can have a picnic!"

Niki filled her watering can up at the outside faucet she had and started walking over to the tulips she grew in the garden. As she got closer she noticed a few holes in the two of the flowerbeds and a few of the tools even dug up 

"Huh? Oh, that’s not good" she quicken her pace a bit and sat down on the ground to inspect the holes and flowers, yep there is no doubt about it it looks like she had a mold problem, she now considers herself a bit lucky that Wilbur just opened up a service to get rid of rodents.

Niki headed back inside her house and grabbed her phone "Hello Will! Yay I'm good, I have a small rodent problem-No they're not in my house they're in my garden. I think it's moles? Yes they ripped up some of my tulips already- Ok see you in a little bit! I'll have some cookies ready for you"

----

Wilbur pulled into Niki's driveway parking his car and quickly got out running up to the front door, he started knocking are Niki door extremely excited "Niki! Let me in!"

As Niki open the door she was greeted with a big hug from her friend and started apologizing for getting him covered in flour "You actually made cookies??? In the time it took me to get here???" Wilbur looked at her amazed "Yup! It's your first time doing something like this, and since you're refusing to let me pay you I thought I could pay you in cookies!"

Wilbur went out to the garden and started setting his stuff up "Ok moles, time to meet your maker" "Um Wilbur could you maybe do this in a more humane way? I don't want them to rip up my flowers but I don't want them to die either..." Niki looked up at Wilbur with a pleading face her lip quivering a bit "....Niki how dare you use my greatest weakness against me-" "So you won't kill them?" "No but-" "Ok! I'll be inside making some lemonade! Have fun catching the moles!". And with that Niki headed back inside her house trusting Wilbur wouldn't hurt the moles

----

Tommy poked his little head out of the Tulip he was sleeping in once he heard the commotion of people "Tubbo! Wake up we got to go!", Tubbo poked his head out of the Tulip right next to Tommy's "Why? it's morning, we sleep during the morning!" Tubbo complained as he's Mouse ears wiggle to get some of the pollen off of them. "Yay we usually do, but look!" Tommy pointed over at Wilbur he was setting up a what look like metal boxes and a few sticks that have strings tied to them and we're hanging in trees

"Oooh right Dream said if we saw any humans besides the cotton candy one we had to go tell him!" Tubbo find out of the two of the pillows and slid down the stem down to the ground Tommy following close behind "Yup! C'mon! I don't want to give him another excuse to get mad at us".

The two field mouse scary away running to the closest Mole Hole and follow the tunnels leading to where all the moles were having a meeting, Tommy went straight over to Dream and tugged on his hoodie "Hey! We sew a new human-" "See!? You ripping up those damn tulips was a mistake!" Eret, the king of the mole colony, yelled as he started walking closer to Dream.

Dream grabbed Tommy by his ear so he can't try and run "But your majesty as far as we know it could just be the humans friend! Boys, did the human bring anything special into the backyard?" Eret crossed his arms waiting patiently for Tommy and Tubbo's response

Tubbo quickly piped-in grabbing Tommy's hand to reassure them that they would be okay "Um yay! He brought weird metal boxes and put some rope in a tree! It kind of looked like he was trying to make a swing with it!" Tubbo nervously chuckled as Dream and Eret's expressions with quite dark

"See Dream? you trying to play Hero and impress George got an exterminator called on us!" Eret freed Tommy's ear from dreams hold "You two go watch the human and make sure he doesn't find any of our holes, understood?". Tommy and Tubbo simply nodded their head and quickly ran off heading back to the surface, Eret looked over to Dream "I can't believe I'm saying this but we might have to go along with your idea..." Dream smiled putting an arm around Eret "Hey just remember there field mice, no one's going to miss them if they get killed", Eret ignored the bit of guilt he felt in his stomach as he watched the two boys run off

----

Tommy and Tubbo watch the strange human as he set out more metal boxes and strange rope swings "Tommy what's an exterminator?" Tubbo asked His companion finally breaking the silence. Tommy just stood there and thought for a moment "I actually have no idea...Eret is the only person I've ever heard use it" Tubbo started picking up a few of the small shiny rocks that littered the garden floor "Hmm well he doesn't like to see whatever exterminators are".

Tubbo and Tommy continue to discussing between each other trying to figure out what an exterminator was and why Eret didn't seem to like them, the two were so engrossed in their conversation they didn't notice the shadow that slowly crept behind them.

"Huh quite talkative for mice" the two boys froze as they slowly turn their heads to see the human looming over them, without much thinking Tubbo started throwing the shiny rocks he was carrying at the human which caused him to drop the metal boxes that he was carrying.

Tommy grabged Tubbo's hand and started running towards the tall willow tree that rest in the middle of the garden "Look! We can use the rope swing he made to get up to the top!" Tubbo let go of Tommy's hand and started running on all fours quickly climbing up the Rope.

Tommy stopped when he noticed the circle that was at the bottom of the rope and moved it over a bit, he quickly started running up the Rope behind his friend

----

Wilbur went into a a MadDash when he noticed the two were escaping up into the tree, but as he was about to grab the blond Mouse running of the broke his foot tripped somehow getting stuck in his own trap, he watched the two mice get flown into the air by the rope and safely land on a branch up in the tree "OH THATS BULLSHIT!" Wilbur yelled in frustration as he tried to get his foot free.

Niki poked her head out of the kitchen door when she heard Wilbur yell "You ok Wil? You didn't get your head stuck in one of the cages again did you?" Wilburs face turn to hot pink from embarrassment as he looked over at Niki "N-NO! I just tripped I'm fine!" 

"Ok! Don't overdo yourself Wilbur!" Niki returned her attention to the cake she was making "I hope Wilbur's not giving those moles too hard of a Time"

----

Wilbur violently shook the cage that had gotten stuck on his hand as he continued chasing the two mice through the garden "GET BACK HERE!!!!" Of course the mice did not follow this order and instead split apart from one another, Wilbur had already been duped by the blond Mouse so he followed the brown one

-----

Tubbo continue running on all fours trying to get away from the angry human, he spotted one of the metal boxes up ahead and quickly do been to it, the human Wil-Bur fell to the ground and quickly closed the door behind Tubbo "AHAHA! I got you now!" 

Tubbo just stared up at the human a little confused as he very easily walk through the bars of the box and started running again, "HUH!?" Wilbur brought the caged up to his face opening the door to try and figure out how the mouse got out.

Tommy swing on one of the ropes kicking the cage so Wilbur dropped it causing it to land on his head and get stuck there "AH! NIKI! HELP!"

Niki ran out of the kitchen and stopped in her tracks when she saw Wilbur state "....Pff-" "Don't laugh at me! help me!!!" Wilbur said in a bit of a whiny tone

----

Tommy and Tubbo dove into the closest mole hole and started doing their best to catch their breath after all the running and climbing they had done, the two simply sat there in silence for sometime.

Until Tubbo started quietly chuckling and Tommy soon after joined him, "Did you see he's face!?" "Omg he was so mad!" "well that's what he gets for trying to grab us!", they continue to burst out laughing

"So that's what the Exterminator is?" Tubbo asked wiping some tears from his eyes "Haha yeah I think so, that was so much fun!" Tommy declared happily "Do you think we can do it again tomorrow?" Tubbo asked Tommy

Tommy thought for a moment "Maybe? If the human comes back sure! He seemed to be having fun in his own way to!", the two then had a brilliant moment

"Thats why Eret doesn't like exterminators! They're fun!" Both of the boys said at once "Omg Eret is such a stick-in-the-mud that he hates anything that's fun!" Tubbo slowly started piecing the puzzle together in his head "Well we're definitely not going to let him ruin our fun!"

Tommy stood up and helped Tubbo to his feet "let's go ask Dream give us the rest of the time the exterminators here off so we can play more games!".  the two mice ran down the tunnel and quickly a stream that question before they were sent off with a very confirmed yes

----

"Dream... we can't just let the Exterminator kill them" Eret said a part of him already knowing Dream's response "Hey I'm not the one who thought it'd be a good idea to steal two kids from an Owl, besides this makes it so they're finally useful for once" 

Eret look down at the ground ashamed "Look" Eret hesitantly looked up at Dream "You heard what those two did today and they're still alive! We'll just let them play their little game with the Exterminator so we can do whatever we want in the background, besides it's easier to steal food during the day when there are no Predators around"

Eret just stared at Dream for a few minutes before he slowly nodded his head "Fine...But if we're going through with this plan we need to give them extra rations so they can keep their salmon up", Dream Shrugged his shoulders "Sure, I'll go give them their dinner now".

Dream walked into the direction towards the boys room as Eric was left all alone "...they're just field mice, the safety of the colony comes first" Eret continues to repeat this sentence in his head as all the other moles came into the courtroom to enjoy dinner together

[prettywordsyouleft]

The Cowboy - Part 9

Summary: Leaving the city for a rural area called Blayne seemed simple enough. Your task was to convince the people to agree with selling their land for a resort redevelopment. But once there, you soon realise that your city ways are entirely different to theirs. Winning their trust was going to take some effort, and when you start to fall for a local cowboy, you wonder if you really needed Blayne more than the city life after all.

Pairing: Jung Jaehyun x female reader

Genre: cowboy au / drama / romance / if you squint there’s some enemies to lovers up in here.

Warnings: Jung Jaehyun is a cowboy, need I say more? (a bit of angst and drama, and it sometimes might feel like you’re reading a Nicolas Sparks book, so I’m told lol)

Word count: 2332

This series will be updated every Thursday and Friday.

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

“Just one more,” you murmured, pressing your lips into Jaehyun’s before he could object.

He didn’t hesitate to kiss you back, chuckling softly when he separated. “You’ll have me late if you keep this up.”

“It’s not even light out yet,” you complained groggily, your hands blindly searching for a place to anchor onto.

“That’s the point. I need to get home, so I’m back in time to start the day when dawn arrives,” he reminded, reaching for those travelling hands and taking hold of them.

Your eyes had since adjusted to the dim lighting in the bedroom, and you noticed the embers from last night hadn’t yet been put out within Jaehyun’s gaze. You stoked the fire a little more, shifting your leg to nudge his.

Jaehyun groaned. “You’re tempting fate, Y/N.”

“I’m attempting something,” you mentioned demurely and shook your hands that Jaehyun still held.

“Not even my Mum has made me turn up on that yard late, I’ll have you know. I can’t be having you ruin my good reputation.”

You pouted, but nodded the further your slumber rolled away and your mind became alert. Unhooking your leg from his, you sighed. “Your career is important. Go be the best cowboy you can be.”

“You’re so cute, you know that?” he breathed, grinning from your supportive statement.

“I aim to be everything you need,” you announced and Jaehyun, who had pulled himself to the side of the bed and reached for his jeans, halted his movement, glancing over his shoulder in thought at you. You reached for your hair, assuming he was taking in your abominable morning state. “What? Do I look ugly?”

“No. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid my eyes upon.”

“You better go before my heart starts ruling over this head of mine and I take back about being supportive of your needs and aim to satisfy mine,” you confessed, and Jaehyun shook his head, discarding his attempt to leave and kicked his pants off.

Crawling back to you, he gathered you up in his arms, a giggle leaving you when his hands brushed along your sensitive sides. Once fully captured within his arms, he kissed you passionately.

“Even if I’m late, you’re well worth putting in the extra effort this morning with.”

After Jaehyun had gone, with a final kiss exchanged at your front door and a warning about not answering the door looking like that to anyone but him, you headed back to your bed, nestling in under the warm covers in just one of Jaehyun’s t-shirts.

You were extremely happy right now.

And had been for the past month too. Everything was working well. You woke up most mornings feeling warm and appreciated, kissing Jaehyun off to work before eventually getting up and starting your own. You so far had acquired two signatures of landowners in Blayne over your proposal for redevelopment and was certain you’d have three more by mid next week.

You had chosen to go this path first before confronting Mr Jung with your proposition. Word travelled all too easily in these parts for you to rely on what was spoken was kept confidential. Part of you hoped for this to happen. If you got enough people talking about the redevelopment positively, you believed that would shape the head of the town’s opinion too.

It was a gamble, though, and the longer you spent racking up other names and parts of the land as opposed to the one Pierce instructed you to get meant you would be running out of time to convince Jaehyun’s father if he initially rejected your proposal.

You had confidence in your decision.

And that confidence clearly shone in other ways now too. “You know, I haven’t seen you this dressed down since you came to Blayne, Y/N.”

Glancing up at May as you stopped in for lunch with Reg, one of the landowners you were meeting with, you laughed lightly. “I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“You finally look like one of us, is what she means,” Dorothy, from the table over, chimed and you grinned at her.

“Do I? I wonder how I managed that, being a city-slicker and all.”

“I don’t think it’s about how, but rather whom,” May concluded, and you bit your bottom lip, trying not to smile with the image of Jaehyun surfacing in your mind.

“We had it pegged that it’d be Avery,” Reg chortled, and you spluttered on the water you had taken in, looking up and apologising profusely. The older man held out his hand to May. “Well, it’s not him. Pay up.”

“Not my boy? Surely it’s him that has you enjoying Blayne. Out of us all, he’s the most understanding to newcomers.”

“Are you making bets on my relationship status?” you asked, and the patrons of the diner all chuckled in one way or another. “Well, I’m sorry May, but I’m not dating Avery.”

“You didn’t deny dating someone else,” Josie, the only waitress, piped up and there was immediate silence as everyone stared at you.

“I’m dating Blayne,” you answered cheekily, and they all groaned with protest. “What? Call me a sucker for what I’m trying to do out here, but this place has changed me.”

You left out the part about a certain cowboy that had as well.

Word travelled too fast around this place.

“Avery is disappointed, you know,” Jaehyun mentioned when he stepped through the front door of your home later that evening. You glanced up at his arrival, dropping your laptop onto the couch and moved into Jaehyun’s waiting embrace.

After kissing Jaehyun in greeting, you smirked. “Word sure doesn’t struggle to get around here yet mobile data does.”

“You completely ruled my cousin off your it-list. The elders are scrambling about trying to figure who’s left to catch your fancy.”

“Have they suggested you at all?”

Jaehyun grinned and shook his head. “Not Jung’s boy.”

“Because you’re so exclusive.”

“I’m destined to marry a Blayne Belle, apparently.”

“So you’re either going to wait another six years until Melody is legal or pick up Josie? I mean, she looks great for forty.”

“Don’t!” Jaehyun exclaimed, encircling your waist with his palms. They felt hot against your barely covered skin. “Where are your clothes by the way?”

“I’m used to the summer weather being removed by air conditioning in my apartment,” you admitted, gesturing to your singlet and shorts with a sly smile. “And this is more than what I had on when you last saw me.”

“Wicked woman,” he stated and went over to a panel on the wall.

You followed Jaehyun and pointed at it. “I tried to turn it on, but it’s ancient and doesn’t have any instructions.”

“You’d be lost without your damn instructions, wouldn’t you?” he teased, and you rolled your eyes, peering around him to inspect his efforts.

“Do you know where the toolbox is in the truck?” he soon asked, and you nodded. “Can you get it for me?”

“Why, are you going to be Mr Handyman instead of Mr Cowboy to me now? Perhaps Avery might be a better option after all.”

“Har-har. If you want to learn how hellish this summer is going to get in the countryside when the heatwave hits next week then-”

“Toolbox. Onto it!” you cried, dashing outside into the humid evening and over to Jaehyun’s truck. After spotting it nestled just behind the passenger seat, you went to reach for it but stopped, your eyes travelling to the papers sitting on the chair you had just leaned over.

Picking them up, you read the contents and returned inside with the toolbox in a daze. “Thanks, Miss City. I’ll have you feeling cool in no time.”

“Were you going to tell me about the rodeo tour?” you queried in a small voice a moment later, and Jaehyun stopped looking through the box for what he needed and up at you.

He shot you one of his lopsided smiles, though his eyes were hesitant. “You’re concerned already? The rodeo season is basically over for this year, don’t worry.”

“I know. This is for next season, but the qualifiers are tomorrow.”

“I was planning on telling you tonight.” Standing back up and wiping his hands on his jeans, Jaehyun gauged your expression. “You know I do them from time to time. Old Joey from the county over popped by and offered me a horse to ride. It’s a real nice horse, gave him a test-”

“What about Blaze? What will he think?” you cut in and Jaehyun frowned. “He’s your riding horse.”

“He’s a work horse. And horses don’t really get offended if you ride another. You’re being weird about this.”

“I’m just confused. This morning I woke up thinking this weekend we’ll be going to the farmer’s market and maybe ride over to the lake and take a swim or something. Now I’m going to be on the sidelines of some rodeo? What do they call them? Rodeo Bunnies? Don’t expect me to become one.”

Jaehyun laughed heartily, scooping you up into his arms in a warm embrace. “You’re coming?”

“Of course. I have to.”

“Why?”

“Why are you asking why? I’m supportive of your endeavours,” you answered, puzzled by the smile spreading Jaehyun’s lips out further. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like a girlfriend would support me?”

“Girlfriend?” you echoed and let out an awkward laugh.

“Is it more for you now, Miss City? A whole month of you and me having this secret rendezvous and you might be feeling something deeper than my skin for me, huh?”

“Do-don’t you have to fix the air-con? It’s hot in here.”

“Stifling.”

“And if you’re going to some rodeo thing, don’t we need to sleep early or something?”

“Are you flustered, Y/N? You’re awfully good at not answering my question.”

“What question was that now?” you diverted, slipping out from under his strong arms and over to the toolbox. “Which one do you need?”

“All of you. That’s all I need,” Jaehyun confirmed, coming back to your side, kissing the top of your head before taking the tool you held in your left hand and got to work.

You arrived on the Jung’s property around six the following morning, travelling in your car separately. Whilst June was aware of your ruse, and no doubt Avery had strong suspicions, Jaehyun had asked to keep your relationship on the low for now. At first, you had agreed. You had a job to complete and complicating that with personal affections could ruin your credibility.

Still, it was hard to keep your hands off of Jaehyun when he came out from his room above the stables. “Wow, you know I’ve been calling you a cowboy from day one because of the hat and boots but I didn’t realise just how much this shirt was missing from the picture until now.”

Jaehyun glanced at his rodeo shirt, tassels and all, before shooting you an embarrassed smile. “Get a real good look at it today, Miss City. I don’t dress up like this often.”

“Another reason why he’s single, I’m sure,” his father gruffly mentioned, patting his son on the shoulder. You realised the older man was proud for some reason. All this time, you assumed he only cared for Jaehyun by the level of work he did around the farm.

Perhaps that was because Jaehyun was adamant that was all he cared about. However, as you watched the interaction fondly, you realised the man had a lot of love for his son. Jaehyun mentioned he had been on the sure-fire track to going pro as a teen on the rodeo circuit last night. You wondered if Mr Jung wanted that for him and felt guilty for needing him to help on the farm.

Either way, it warmed your heart to see a nervous Jaehyun, and his father equally acting out of character for once.

“Don’t you go worrying about marriage for our son today,” June fussed, straightening out Jaehyun’s collar as you had been itching to do. She smiled up at him. “Come home in one piece.”

“Of course, he will. We can’t be having Y/N’s first rodeo dashed with any hospital visits,” Avery commented, arriving at your side and slinging an arm over your shoulder. “You and I need to do some talking about the earful I got from my mother last night.”

You giggled awkwardly. “I’m sorry about that.”

“You’ll be sorry when they start trying to hook you up with all the eligible men in Blayne. Dorothy is convinced you’d suit her boy, Jacob.”

Jaehyun snorted. “Y/N’s a little too high maintenance for Jacob.”

“Am I now?” you retorted, waving off Jaehyun’s parents who were staying behind to look after the farm. Hopping into the cab of Jaehyun’s truck and looking at Avery who got in after you, you scoffed loudly. “If I was too much high maintenance, I’d recommend we take my vehicle over this one. At least, I’d be convinced we’d get there on time, for one.”

Jaehyun glared at Avery’s somewhat stifled snort before patting the steering wheel of the truck. “Don’t you worry. This old beauty of mine will get us there with ease. It’s you we have to concern ourselves over.”

“Me?” you wondered, and Avery nodded. “Why me?”

“Rodeos are a whole other world, Y/N. I bet you won’t be ready for what’s about to happen.”

“It’s people riding horses and taking on cows or something with ropes. I’ve seen it on TV,” you assured the cousins, who looked at one another with loose grins forming.

“She’s not ready for this.”

“Nope. Not a chance.”

“Would you two just shut up, and Jaehyun, start driving. Watch me prove how-”

“Adaptable you are,” both boys chimed, and you rolled your eyes, trying not to smile as Jaehyun finally threw the truck into reverse and headed down the driveway towards your first rodeo.

_________________

Part 10

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[marshmallow-phd]

Bottom of the Glass

Genre: Bodyguard!AU, Angst

Pairing: Jinyoung  x Reader

Summary: It’d been almost ten years since you left the life of glitz and cameras behind, never looking back. But someone refused to let go. When danger comes knocking, your father insists on hiring the best to keep you safe. Reluctant, you agree. Park Jinyoung is constantly by your side, but as the stalker gets closer, will he be able to keep you safe without getting too close himself?

Part: 1 I 2

**

Dan pouted at your lack of enthusiasm to go along with his joke. Jinyoung seemed to find it somewhat amusing, given the smirk on his face. But he got over it fairly quickly.

“If you don’t mind, Daniel, I would like to talk to Miss (y/n) about the measures we’ll take to ensure her safety.”

“Absolutely,” Dan agreed. He looked at you and then back at Jinyoung. “I’ll leave you two to discuss… safety measures.”

You rolled your eyes as your friend’s retreating back. Not waiting for Jinyoung to start his no-doubt rehearsed speech on how he was going to upend your life, you went back to your desk and cleaned off the food and napkins that covered the surface. You finished your glass of wine and sat down in the chair. Jinyoung remained standing, the smirk gone, nothing left but a blank, distant expression. With no prompt from you, he got started.

“Your father has already provided me with a key to your apartment and I’ve met with the security staff there. I will have access to the cameras from my phone both for the apartment building and the hotel. I will drive you wherever you want to go, but for the time being you should limit your activities to work, home, and grocery stores. If you can work from home, that would be even better. There are agencies that will pick up your groceries and deliver them. That should be an avenue to utilize. I’m currently running background checks on employees, apartment staff and your close friends.”

“What?” A few drops of the water you had taken a sip from to counteract the wine you’d chugged found their way down the wrong pipe in your throat. “You’re looking into my friends?” You scoffed. “That’s how you knew about Dan’s line.”

“One can’t be too careful.”

“It’s Dan. He runs away from fireflies and organizes his clothes by color than by season. “Fake, pig, or otherwise, he wouldn’t have the stomach to go anywhere near blood.” If there was one person you could trust not to be behind all the phone calls and the bloody package, it would be Dan. And you refused to let this overreaching, overpaid babysitter make you paranoid and isolate everyone in your life.

Jinyoung shrugged, unmoved by your argument. “It’s the job. I can’t rule anyone out, no matter who they are to you.”

“Who’s next? My cousins?”

The silence was enough of an answer.

Leaning back in your chair, you closed your eyes and rubbed the space between your brows. “Listen. I am not working from my apartment. I have too many meetings and too much work to stay on my couch in my sweatpants. If there’s a function that requires my presence, then I’m going to go.” To let him know that you were completely serious, you opened your eyes and held his gaze. “You’re here at the insistence of my father. I’m tolerating this for his sake. But - and I will keep saying this - I’m not going to let that weirdo who is obsessed with a long forgotten past mess up my life now.”

Seconds of silence ticked by. Jinyoung kept your gaze, unmoving and unreadable. The more you stared back, the more you saw what Dan possibly saw.

This bodyguard was nothing like you had expected. He was on the shorter side, not intimidating at first glance. If you looked too long at his face, as long as he wasn’t smiling, then maybe he could insight… some sort of emotion. But you felt nothing. Nothing but annoyance, that is.

As both an actor and a director in this company, you’d learned to read people. You’d learned to search their faces for the emotions hidden underneath, to pick apart what they otherwise wanted to hide. But it was baffling to you how cutoff Jinyoung was. You saw nothing in his eyes that gave away the thoughts in his head.

Shifting minutely, he finally said, “But what is a life that’s a little out of order compared to no life at all?”

A bit of... an eccentric way to put it. “Poetic.”

He let out a fairly short laugh. “It’s been known to happen.”

You were still skeptical. You still didn’t want your life to be whirled around like you were caught in a tornado. But he had a point - the winds were already coming. And you couldn’t outrun a storm.

Crossing your arms and legs, you gave a smirk of your own. “You are certainly… not a cliché.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What were you expecting?”

“I don’t know. Something more of a Dwayne Johnson type?”

“You need speed, not strength.”

“Did you just insult The Rock?”

Over the direction of the conversation, Jinyoung sighed. “Are you done for the night? I need to inspect your apartment.”

Oh, gosh. You rarely had strangers over. Was your place even clean? Were there dishes in the sink? Fresh clothes that still needed to be put away? It didn’t matter if your apartment was pristine or in shambles like a hotel after Spring Break, you knew the bodyguard was going to force his way in. So you gave way, nodding and standing up from your desk. What was left could wait until tomorrow.

 A short car ride followed up a brief yet heated conversation in the parking garage as to who was driving. Jinyoung all but implied that he was the better driver with faster reflexes while you insisted that no one knew your car as well as you did. A pitiful argument. Your car didn’t have special modifications or a tricky gear. It was a standard, newer model that drove basically like any other motorized vehicle. It was nothing more than your first powerplay – and Jinyoung had won.

If your stalker wanted you to feel like that teenage actress again, they were succeeding.

Back then, you weren’t allowed to drive either. Too risky since teenagers had a tendency to get into more accidents and – whether it was your fault or not – whatever fender-bender you got into would end up in the tabloids. Add in the fact that you were usually in cities that you weren’t entirely familiar with and it was just best to be chauffeured whenever possible. At least this time you were able to sit in the front seat.

You handed Jinyoung the keycard that granted access to the parking garage and guided him to your assigned spot. No more words were spoken as the two of you got out of the car and headed inside.

The lobby was the only entrance to and from the garage for “security” (a word that you were going to get really tired of here soon). Once your feet hit the transition from concrete to polished tile, you headed for the elevators. Jinyoung, however, steered you away with a hand on the shoulder. His destination was the front desk where the doorman sat behind a marble barrier.

“Ah, you must be Park Jinyoung,” Walt, the doorman, greeted with a smile. He stood from his chair and leaned over the barrier to shake Jinyoung’s hand.

Walt was the doorman that you liked. He always wore a smile and had a gentle, uncle-like feel to him. The kind of uncle you enjoyed being around, not the annoying, obnoxious kind that you steered clear from at family gatherings. That title belonged to Newman, who mostly worked the late-night shift. For good reason.

“Your firm head met with us yesterday and went over the broad stroke of things. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to sit in on the meeting with our security staff earlier today with you present.” Walt didn’t seem effected by the news of your new bodyguard in the slightest.

“That’s alright,” Jinyoung nodded. “I’m sure they went over the briefing with you?”

“Absolutely. All packages for Miss (y/n) are to be collected here and left for you to inspect before being passed on to her. I’m to notate any strange behavior I see, both from strangers and from other residents.”

“Good. Good.”

“How’s your mom, Walt?” you asked, hating the feeling of being talked about like you weren’t standing right there. You just hoped that no one else living here was overhearing this conversation. You doubted that they would take too kindly to being watched and investigated like this.

Walt smiled. “She’s doing good. Has her bad days though where she forgets what year it is or that she’s not in the country anymore.”

“I’m sorry.” Your heart went out to Walt. His situation wasn’t the easiest to handle.

“Alzheimer’s?” Jinyoung guessed in a tone that still managed to be sympathetic.

Walt nodded. “It’s slow going, though, so that’s a small blessing.”

“That’s good.”

“Have a good night, Walt,” you said. You were currently fighting back a yawn. Wine always made you tired. You don’t know why you let Dan talk you into having a glass at the office. Maybe it was the stress of your predicament that made you give in so easily.

“Good night, Miss (y/n). Get some rest.”

The smile dropped from your face as soon as the elevator doors closed. Now more than ever, you just wanted to slide between your sheets and go to sleep. There was even a little bit of hope that you would wake up tomorrow and this would all be a dream and Jinyoung would just be a face that your brain chose after seeing him in some designer clothes commercial. If the bodyguard noticed your change in posture or expression, he made no mention of it.

Getting your key into the door was a struggle, but eventually the lock clicked, and you were able to go inside your home. A sense of relief flowed over you when you closed the door behind you.

“You should get some rest,” Jinyoung suggested. This, you would not argue over. He started making rounds through the apartment, looking out the windows and checking the shelves for things you preferred not to think about. 

Grabbing a fresh towel from the hallway closet, you entered your bedroom and straight for the shower. It was twenty minutes of uninterrupted thought-processing. You talked yourself into temporarily thinking that maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

Yes, it was going to suck. Yes, you were going to get annoyed and probably fight with Jinyoung a few more times. But this was just another obstacle life was placing in your way. It was going to be a long hard climb, but you’d make it over sooner or later. As far as you were concerned, this “stalker” would eventually get bored and move on to some other has-been.

Much more relaxed, you got out of the shower and slipped into your sleepwear before going to check on Jinyoung. You found him out in the main living room fluffing up a pillow on the couch. His shoes and jacket were off but you didn’t see them in the immediate vicinity.

“What are you doing?”

He didn’t seem surprised by your sudden appearance, not even looking up at you as he answered, “Getting ready to sleep.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Out here?”

“Yes.”

Maybe he thought that the couch was his only option. Obviously your bedroom was off the table and down the hall. “I have a guest bedroom.” Well, two really, but one was being used more as an extra office-slash-storage space.

“If someone breaks in, I’ll know sooner and can respond better out here.”

You weren’t even going to try and argue. You shrugged. “Okay, have it your way.”

Not being completely heartless, you went back to the hallway closet and got out an extra blanket.

He revealed a small grin when you handed it over. “Thank you.” He sat down on the couch, eyes roaming over the room. His gaze lingered on the entryways and windows. You always kept the curtains closed, except for when it was raining or snowing. Regular sunlight was too bright for your liking and created a glare on the TV. Also… you didn’t like the idea of someone in a building across the way possibly looking in.

Okay, so maybe a little part of your brain had always been paranoid, and you just never wanted to admit. You still refused to do so out loud.

“You can go to bed,” Jinyoung chuckled. “You don’t have to watch over me. That’s my job.”

“Right.” Could you be even more awkward about this situation? Turning to go, you almost took that first step to head to your room, but then another thought jumped into priority. “Are you seriously going to sleep in your suit?”

Jinyoung looked down at his shirt and then back up at you. “Yugyeom will drop my suitcases off tomorrow. This will do for tonight.”

You snorted. “Let me guess, your luggage will contain all white button downs and perfectly tailored slacks.”

“That’s the uniform.”

Shaking your head, you turned to go. And then whipped right back around.

“I can look after myself, you know.” It was your last-ditch effort to get him to ease back. Pointless? More than likely. But you wanted Jinyoung to understand that you were not a poor damsel in distress who couldn’t tie her own shoes. You were used to taking care of yourself, doing what was best for you. The decisions in your life had been yours, for the most part.

Jinyoung’s usually stoic expression softened, if only by a fraction. “No one is doubting that. But two sticks are harder to break than one.”

Unsure of how to respond, you nodded. Now you made it to your room. Leaning back against the door, you blew the air out of your lungs. You still weren’t completely on board with this. You flipped back and forth between accepting it and wanting to fight it.

You had control issues; you can admit to that much. That was what made working in your father’s company so much better for your personality than acting. Or maybe it was because of your famous youth years that you were now obsessed with maintaining control. Whatever the reason was, that didn’t change how you are.

Bright side, (y/n). Think of the bright side.

At least he didn’t seem brutish. He was going to be stubborn on doing things his way, but he wasn’t cruel about it. So far.

He’s just doing his job.

That you didn’t necessarily hire him for.

But your father did. And it eased his worry and therefore would be better for his overall health.

“Just think of it as another acting project,” you told yourself, cringing in the process. “Act like you’re okay with it. Maybe eventually you will be.”

Eventually. Yeah, okay.

Pushing off the door, you shuffled over to the bed and slipped between the covers. It took almost an hour of tossing back and forth, crumpling your sheets and tucking your comforter in the process, but you fell asleep. Eventually.

**

Noise from the television woke you up the next morning. With a groan you flipped over to check your phone that was charging on the nightstand. It was only five-forty in the morning. Who the hell in their right mind was up this early?

Unable to fall back asleep, you gave up and crawled out of bed. After a quick maintenance run in the bathroom, you ventured outside to the living room.

Jinyoung was sitting up on the couch, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. His brow was furrowed from concentration. The news didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary to you, but Jinyoung was entranced. The anchor was giving an update on the military conflict in another country. It was sad and depressing. You tried not to think about it too much.

“Did you actually sleep?” you asked in an effort to distract yourself. Still waking up, you wrapped your arms around yourself and let free a yawn.

“Eight hours,” he replied. You had a hard time believing that. Next to him, the blanket was folded with precision, lying neatly on top of the throw pillow. Tonight you would have to remember to get him a real pillow from the guest room to sleep on.

“It doesn’t feel like it.”

Jinyoung glanced at you over his shoulder. “You can go back to sleep.”

You shook your head. “I can’t sleep with noise on.”

“Sorry. I’ll mute the TV.” He started to reach for the remote.

“It’s alright,” you stopped him. “I’m hungry now and won’t go back to sleep with a growling stomach. Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet.”

“I’ll make breakfast.”

“Thank you.”

You shot his back a curious glance before continuing to the kitchen. Although there was no reason to, you’d expected him to decline. Oh, well. Making breakfast for two shouldn’t be much harder than breakfast for one.

It took about fifteen minutes to put the food together. By that time, your stomach was growling viciously, and you could feel your blood sugar dropping dangerously low. To help stabilize it, you shot down a glass of orange juice. That calmed the stormy waters long enough to finish up. You took a plate out to Jinyoung first, along with silverware. He thanked you for the meal.

“Do you want anything to drink?”

“Do you have coffee?”

You nodded. You were already brewing yourself a cup. “What kind do you like?”

“I’m usually an Americano guy, but I’ll take whatever you’ve got.”

“I can do an Americano,” you said. You, erm, splurged on a nice coffee machine that basically does it all. You like your coffee fancy, as embarrassing as it is. Plain black with just creamer or sugar wasn’t enough for you.

The Americano was easy enough to make. You even had a little teal to-go cup with a lid and straw for Jinyoung to use. He half-scoffed, half-laughed at the thing when you brought it out to him, but he thanked you nonetheless. Now it was your turn to sit and eat. Usually you ate at the table, but Jinyoung was still out in the living room and you felt too awkward to eat in there when he was out here, so you joined him, taking a spot on the recliner. Tucking your feet under you, you began to break your fast. The news had moved on to a lighter, humanitarian topic, so you gave it part of your attention.

Knock, knock, knock.

Jinyoung froze. Slowly and quietly, he put the plate down on the coffee table. His hand slid under the pillow and pulled out a firearm. Now it was your turn to stiffen.

He walked slowly over to the door and peeked through the small peephole. Then his shoulders relaxed. Sliding the gun between his waist band, he opened the door with a huff.

“You’re supposed to call that you’re on your way.”

In stepped a much taller, lankier man than even the one that came with Jaebeom the other day. Though still in a suit, this bodyguard was still very boyish, smiling and giggling as he came into view. His black hair wasn’t perfectly smooth like Jinyoung’s. “I forgot. Bambam was in a hurry to get to his favorite café.”

“Now isn’t really the time for him to be flirting with the baristas,” Jinyoung deadpanned. He reached out and took the suitcase that the other one had rolled in.

“You’re just jealous that he’s better at it than you.” Noticing you, the other bodyguard waived. “Hi! I’m Yugyeom!”

You waved back sheepishly. “Hi.”

“If you get tired of this one watching you,” he jabbed his thumb in Jinyoung’s direction, “I’ll gladly take over. I’m much more fun than hyung here.”

“Yugyeom….” Jinyoung warned.

Yugyeom was undeterred. “He’s already got you up early. He tried to do that with me and Bambam, but we like sleeping. You know, like normal people. Next time, though, you should try to get up before him. He may look scary now, but when he’s sleeping, he’s actually kind of cute—”

“Yugyeom!” Jinyoung snapped. “Don’t you have a briefing to get to?”

The latter checked his watch. “Not for another hour, but I should probably wrangle Bambam away from the café before he busy the place out.” Still giggling, Yugyeom waved to you. “Nice to meet you, (y/n).”

“You, too,” you said with a laugh of your own. Jinyoung all but shoved the poor guy out the door. Once it was shut, he sighed, leaning his forehead and forearm against the wooden barrier.

“One day, I will kill him,” he whispered.

You would be lying if you said that you weren’t enjoying this a little. Jinyoung huffed and turned back to you.

“Eat your breakfast.”

He rolled the suitcase down the hall to the spare bathroom and shut the door. In a much better mood than how you woke up, you picked your silverware back up and ate happily away. If Jinyoung ever got on your nerves, you knew exactly who to contact.

[maira-writes-shit]

You look cute

Tanizaki Junichirou x Tachihara Michizou

Tattoo parlor x Flower shop AU, meeting, fluff

Junichirou was a very simple person.

He loved his sister, his friends and his job.

He was a florist for one of the best flower shops in town.

Junichirou was currently working on a arrangement for one of their frequent customers. It was a old man that came by every week or so to get a small arrangement for his wife. They had been together for over 50 years now.

The redhead smiled down at the arrangement he just finished.

Their relationship is so sweet...I wish I could have that...

“Tanizaki! You’re back here, right?“

The man in question turned around to see his best friend Atsushi waving at him from the front of the shop.

The redhead nodded and walked out of the back room to the front the shop.

It wasn’t the biggest size wise and it was stacked with plants but it felt as much as home as the little apartment he and Naomi lived in.

„Aku is taking me out on a date. Could you cover my shift for today? Only if you're finished of course!“

„Sure thing, Atsushi! Don’t worry you’ll be fine!“

“Thanks you’re the best!“ the white haired boy then vanished into the back with a big smile on his face.

The older of the two looked at the closing door with a soft smile.

He had sadly been on the receiving end of most of his coworkers rants about this guy he constantly butted heads with but still somehow thought was kind of cute. It actually hadn't been that long ago when Atsushi had finally mastered the courage to ask Akutagawa out.

Junichirou was happy for him (also maybe because he wouldn't get random 3am calls of Atsushi screaming about said boy anymore...hopefully).

Since it was the late afternoon the shift didn't have many customers.

There was the old man coming to get his arrangement, a young man buying the classic (roses), a bride that came to check up on a few things and a mother and her little daughter who bought a couple of single flowers.

Junichirou helped them all and then sat back just scrolling on his phone.

He was just looking at the clock and realizing he should slowly start to close the shop, when the little bell above the stores door jingled.

The florist looked up to see a man standing slightly awkward in the door.

...a very handsome man.

He was around Junichirou's hight, with red hair some shades darker than Junichirou. The man wore a cropped green jaket and a white V-neck shirt as well as...a band aid on his nose?

Wierd fashion choice...b ut it doese look good on him.

He'd look good in everything.

Jun we don't even know his name!

I'm just saying!

Junichirou shook his head to get rid of his thoughts as he put on a smile again.

"May I help you?"

The man jumped a little but then went up to the desk at which the other redhead was sitting.

"Uh yeah. I think you can." Junicirou chuckled. "And how?"

The man rolled his eyes but his cheeks were tinted a light pink.

"I just need an arrangement for the front window of the place I work at." "Oh so you can say stuff that makes sense!"

Junichirou was usually not like this, especially to customers. He didn't know what it was about this guy that made it so easy for him to tease and joke but if he was honest...he liked it.

The redhead in front of him snorted and raised an eyebrow.

"So now that we've established that-" Junichirou stood up and grabbed his notebook and pen. "-what's the style you're going for?"

"Well it's a tattoo shop-" "The one down the street?" "-Uh yeah. Do you know it?"

The florist tapped his pen on the notebook.

"Yeah my coworkers boyfriend works there..." ,he mumbled as he walked over to some of the flowers in he coner that might be of intrest for the man.

"Oh-um well then if you've been there before you should know what type of aesthetic, I guess, we are going for, right?"

Junichirou hummed.

"'kay so I have some ideas. The thing is just you came very shortly before closing and frankly I have a sister at home that will beat the shit out of me if I'm not back on time so-"

The redhead went into the back to get his bag.

"_don't worry I'll have the arrangement finished tomorrow at noon. I'll just need you to write down your name and if you want it to be brought to the shop of course where the shop is. Please make it fast I can't be late."

The taller man in front of him looked slightly speachless but then seemed to regain his mind because he started writing the information down on the pice of paper JUnichirou had given him.

Tachihara Michizou, huh?

I'll remeber that...

Tachihara seemed to linger for a few seconds too long until he then turned around and walked to the shops door.

"Oh yeah by the way."

JUnichirou looked back up.

"You look cute." ,he winked. "Well see ya sometime, Red!"

JUnichirou just looked at the door closing with his mouth open.

"Wha-what the fuck just happned?!"

Honestly Junichirou was just confused.

He walked the short way to his and Naomi’s apartment without paying attention to anyrhing, nearly getting hit by a car.

He was so distracted that even completely ignored his sister who jumped to hug him the second he opened the door, which wasn’t good.

“Hey! Are you ignoring me?!“

“H-huh? Oh! Sorry Naomi!“

“Something must have happned at work today.“ the redhead could feel his cheeks heating up. „So I’m right!“

“Yeah ok ok you’re right.“ Junichirou walked around his sister into the kitchen, where he opened the cupboard to get out two bowls.

“So tell me!“

„You‘re a noisy one, aren’t you?“ „Hey! Don’t be mean to your adorable little sister!“

The siblings sat down as the water started to boil.

There was a comfortable silence between them even if Junichirou could practically feel Naomi‘s questions floating in the air.

“Ok it has to do with a customer.“ Naomi gave the happy little squeak she always gave when he told her, as she called it, „The tea“ from work.

“So I was just about to close where this guy came in.“ his sister seemed to visibly get even more intrigued.

„He was like really handsome. He was tall, had red hair, intense eyes and I’m pretty sure he wore eyeliner. He had an interesting fashion style and had a bunch of tattoos, because he works at the tattoo parlor Atsushi‘s boyfriend also works at.“

Naomi hummed with a smirk on her lips, as she held her head in her hands.

“Well he walked in last minute and asked for an arrangement for the front of their parlor. And of course I was like: „sure I’ll do it. It’ll be done by tomorrow just give me the name of the place and I’ll deliver it“, right?“ Naomi nodded.

“And everything is fine everything is normal.“ his sister raised an eyebrow. „Ok normal with a little bit more blushing.“

“Anyway! He walks out but just before he leaves he turns around to me and says, and I quote: „You look cute.“ and then he winked at me and left!“

The black haired girl in front of him gasped. „He winked?! No he didn’t!“ „Yes he did!“ „Oh god!“

The water was finally done boiling so Junichirou stood up to get it and finish their dinner.

“Well he seems to like you. Wait- did you get his name?“ „Uh- yeah I did. I need it for the delivery and everything, remember?“ „Yeah yeah. So what is it?“ „Tachihara…Michizou Tachihara.“

Even if Junichirou didn’t like the expression on his sisters face he just ignored it and sat down in front of her with the food.

„Good Morning Jun!“

„AHH Oh god Naomi don’t scare me like that!“

“Yeah yeah whatever. Come on I need to show you something!“

„Wait don’t I need to go to-wait it’s 6am. What the fuck Are you doing awake?“ „Pssst!“

Naomi basically ran through their small apartment dragging a very tried Junichirou behind her.

On the small couch the siblings own sat a girl with red glasses, long brown hair and tried looking green eyes.

Haruno, his sisters girlfriend.

„Good morning Haruno.“ „Good Morning Junichirou“, she said giving him a small smile. They suffered together by the hands of the one, Naomi Tanizaki.

“We found something out. Sit down.“ The black haired girl grabbed to open laptop sitting on the table in front of the couch.

With „we“ she probably mean Haruno, and she was just cuddling her half the time…

“Michizou Tachihara, 22 years of age, Tattoo artist. He’s currently single and a bisexual. He has been working at Port tattoo for about 2 or 3 years, not sure about that one. He’s pretty good friends with someone called Gin Akutagawa, but don’t worry they have a girlfriend.“

“Also before you ask: yes Gin is related to Atsushi‘s boyfriend. They are siblings“, Naomi‘s girlfriend piped up.

Junichirou was just stunned.

“Wha-what? When? How? Did you guys even sleep?!“

“No we did not but that is not important! What’s important is that we now know that he is single and probably attracted to you.“

He had no words.

Junichirou was distracted again.

He was just working on an arrangement for a handsome bisexual guy who told him he looked cute…

What the actual fuck?!

He took a step back.

The arrangement was beautiful, one of his best works he’d say.

A lot of dark blues and purples.

The hyacinths blending beautifully with the cornflowers. Just all in all pretty.

Sure he thought it was kind of embarrassing adding the cornflowers, he knew a lot about flower language after all but most of his customers didn’t really care especially for these types of jobs so the redhead bushed those thoughts to the back of his head.

Junichirou took a deep breath.

Lets do this!

Be confident!

He took the arrangement.

The walk wasn’t going to be long so it was fine for him to just carry it.

“Ok I’m off, Atsushi! See you in a bit!“ „Yeah sure thing, Tani!“

…

The walk to the tattoo parlor was blurr and now he was standing in front of it.

Oh fucking god-

Deep breaths Junichirou

Deep breaths

And he walked in.

“Hello how can I help you?“

The woman at the front was a little older than him, had blond hair that she had in a bun and had warm brown eyes. She looked nice.

“Uh I need to talk to uhm Tachihara?“

She eyed him a little bit visibly inspecting the vase in his hand.

She gave him a smirk.

“Yeah he should be free I’ll tell him.“

“Thank you…“

He had only ever been in here once. He had to wait in the front room as Atsushi and Akutagawa were at each other’s throats agin. Oh how happy he was they were dating now. Less fighting…less.

The place looked nice though.

Even if it had a rather cool color palette with a lot of blues, purples and blacks it still seemed very cozy and the seats were the softest things Junichirou‘s ass had ever touched.

Some of the work by the artist that worked here was displayed on the walls. These people were so goddamm talented.

[zelenacat]

When We Were Young- An Obitine Story- Chapter 5

“Satine?” Obi-Wan whispered.

“Hm?” 

“I’m going to wipe the guards’ memories.”

Opening her eyes, Satine sat up. Obi-Wan was already dressed.

“And then I’ll have to go.”

Satine drew her knees up to her chest, “I’m going to miss you, Ben.”

Obi-Wan leaned in and kissed Satine.

“We’ll see each other again, Love.” he whispered when they separated, their noses inches apart.

Satine nodded and Obi-Wan left, quickly the Duchess dressed and made her way through the servant’s passageways to her quarters.

“You need to get better at sneaking around.” Fesma observed from behind her.

Opening a painting, Satine gestured for Fesma to go first. The lady smiled and passed her, breakfast tray in hand.

“Obi-Wan will be leaving soon,” Satine said, going straight to her closet, “I want to see him off.”

“Where is your lover now?” Fesma teased.

Satine crossed her arms, “Erasing the memories of people who might’ve seen us.”

Fesma snorted.

“Well,” Khaami said, entering through the front door, “that must be very convenient.”

“It is.” Satine grinned.

Once she was dressed, Satine shoved a piece of toast in her mouth and ran down to the landing pad. Obi-Wan was waiting by the ship.

“Your Grace,” the Jedi bent down and kissed Satine’s hand, “thank you for kindly showing me your home.”

“The pleasure was all mine, Obi-Wan.”

“I’ll see you again, my love.” he whispered.

“I do hope so, Ben.” the Duchess smiled.

The Jedi had a gleam in his eye when he strode back to his ship and took off. Satine on the other hand, felt a terrible weight settle on her chest.

“Come,” Fesma wrapped a hand around Satine’s arm, “you must eat more before you attend your council meeting.”

Over breakfast, Satine recounted the tale of her first kiss with Obi-Wan.

“He had just saved my life,” the Duchess reminisced, “and we were still separated from Master Qui-Gon. It began to rain, but before we ran to the cave, I kissed him.”

“You,” Fesma questioned, “the perfect Duchess of Mandalore who’s never done wrong in her life-”

“Kissed a Jedi?” Khaami raised her eyebrows.

Satine sighed.

“When we were eight you cried when Bo-Katan killed your pet frog.” Fesma grinned.

“I know,” Satine bit her lip, “but hey, if I was going to do something bad, why not do something really bad?”

Khaami laughed, Fesma shook her head.

“Are the servants saying anything?” Satine asked, suddenly serious.

The ladies looked at each other.

“Tell me.” Satine surged. “People are still suspicious of you and the Jedi.” Fesma confessed.

Satine found out exactly how suspicious the palace was at her afternoon briefing.

“Perhaps, Your Grace,” a male minister smiled politely, “it is time you think about taking a husband.”

Satine’s mouth fell open.

“If I may, Your Grace,” a female minister interrupted, “my colleague only suggests such as it would strengthen the duchy and give the people something to celebrate.”

“Are we not doing well,” Satine asked, “are the programs we instituted to help rebuild the economy and the planet not working?”

“We are doing well, Your Grace,” said Prime Minister Djarin, sliding Satine a graph, “but a husband could be of assistance.”

“Could,” Satine emphasized, “I can’t have a power-hungry man on my hands who doesn't have the peoples’ interests at heart.”

“No,” the Prime Minister agreed, “you can’t.”

The Duchess crossed her arms, her point made.

“A husband would put the rumors to rest about you and your Jedi companion.” the male minister from before spoke up.

Satine tilted her head, “I thought you held a better opinion of me, Minister.”

“Your Grace, I meant no offense-”

“Then perhaps you should think before you speak,” Satine stood, frowning, “I shall take a husband when I choose.”

The Duchess left her advisors speechless, Her Grace had never walked out of a meeting before, she was quite agreeable and wanted what was best for her planet. Though, this was a matter of personal nature.

“I won’t marry.” Satine vowed to herself in the mirror.

“You may fall in love again.” Khaami suggested from her left.

Satine glowered at her lady and the woman shoved a fork of dinner into her mouth. They were sitting in her personal parlor eating.

“Perhaps,” Fesma began, “if we threw more social engagements, people might think you’re open to the idea.”

“Or I could give speeches.” Satine suggested.

“Both would be best,” Fesma continued, “this past week you were a little withdrawn.”

“I was busy.” 

Khaami huffed, “No kidding.”

The next day at her council meeting, Satine announced that she was going to hold a ball for her twentieth birthday.

“May I ask what caused this change of mind, Your Grace?” asked an advisor.

“I will attempt to find an ally among the noble youth,” Satine crossed her arms, “and if I discern any of them worthy I shall consider marriage.”

The Prime Minister smiled, “Yet you don’t think you shall find anyone.”

“No.”

The advisors looked at one another.

“I also would like to attend more social engagements.” Satine announced.

Half of her advisors were at a loss for words.

“Perhaps, Your Grace,” a female advisor piped up, “an afternoon with the betterment society helping plant trees or other humanitarian work would please you.”

“I would certainly make for good press.” added the Prime Minister.

“Then let’s fill my schedule,” Satine decided, “planting trees, helping with animals, cleaning public parks.”

The Duchess kept herself busy for the next month until her twentieth birthday, she took philanthropic photos, gave speeches at volunteer societies, and made a couple donations. It was a great way to keep her mind off Obi-Wan, and it made it easier to bear missing him.

“I wonder what he’s doing now?” Satine mused one day at dinner.

They were eating in the dining hall now, just Satine and her ladies.

“It’s not good to indulge those thoughts.” Fesma advised.

“Probably meditating,” Khaami answered, “or whatever else the Jedi do.”

Satine smiled at the difference in her ladies’ answers.

“We do have a big day tomorrow, though,” Fesma interjected, raising an eyebrow, “someone has a birthday.”

“Ah, yes,” Satine sighed, “small talk and socializing.”

“Do you really think you’ll find a new beau?” Khaami questioned.

“No,” Satine shook her head, “but it gives the impression that I’m thinking about it.”

The Duchess felt slightly guilty as she was readying for her birthday ball. Was she prideful, because she enjoyed being pampered. In the early morning after breakfast Satine and her ladies got their nails done with some of the other noble ladies. At first, there was an awkward silence when Satine came in.

“Don’t let me interrupt you,” the Duchess smiled, “I too enjoy good conversation.”

The women looked at each other.

“What color, Your Grace?” asked one of the attendants.

“Violet.” Satine answered.

The girls immediately started whispering to one another.

“Is that the color of your gown, Your Grace?” piped up a young noble daughter.

Satine winked, “You’ll see.”

The conversation turned to the beau’s of noble sisters and what lord was the most handsome.

“What about you, Your Grace,” prodded a mother, “any noble son you have your eye on?”

It was subtle, but Satin knew what the woman was asking.

So with a sigh, she answered, “It’s such a difficult position to be in, though I suppose I would like a husband who speaks eloquently.”

“What an interesting choice, Your Grace.”

A beat of silence.

“Satine,” Fesma began, “if your preference hasn’t changed since we were twelve I daresay you’ll fancy half of Mandalore.” 

Khaami giggled.

Satine blushed, “Oh, Fesma, it’s true I like blue eyes, but what do I know?”

“Blue eyes?” questioned a young noble daughter.

“I find them dreamy.” Satine confessed with a smile.

That immediately got the ladies whispering, and satisfied, Satine leaned back. After her nails were dry, Satine and her ladies went to inspect the jewel room.

“What colors are you wearing, Your Grace?” asked the attendant.

“Gold and violet.” Satine straightened her shoulders.

“Lovely,” the attendant paused for effect, “and your ladies?”

Khaami gasped, Fesma’s eyes looked like they were going to fall out of her head.

“Blue and silver.”

The attendant bowed, “Let us browse, Your Grace.”

“We’re going to wear jewels!” Khaami squeaked.

“You’re my ladies,” Satinie smiled, “you have to look the part.”

Khaami ran into Satine’s arms and kissed her cheek.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The Duchess laughed.

“You’re so kind, Satine.” Fesma’s eyes watered.

“We’re friends,” Satine held out her hand, “I realized I haven’t yet thanked you for your service to me.”

Fesma took the Duchess’ hand and squeezed, “Thank you, Satine.”

Once the proper jewels were chosen, Satine bathed, and while a maid began working with her hair, Satine dismissed Fesma and Khaami to get ready themselves.

“You have glorious hair, Your Grace.” commented the maid.

“Thank you,” Satine smiled, “I’m glad I inherited my father’s color.”

“If I may say, Your Grace, I believe the Duke was as well.”

Thinking of her father made Satine remember the day he was killed. She hadn’t seen it, as she was rushed outside, but she’d heard the shot, and that was enough.

“Your Grace?”

“Oh,” Satine sighed, “I was just thinking of the difficult task ahead of me.”

“The system will adore whoever you choose to wed, Your Grace.”

Satine looked at the maid in the mirror, “Thank you for saying as much.”

Khaami and Fesma returned just as the maid, whose name was Parna, opened up the box that held the jewels Satine was going to wear.

“You look lovely, ladies.” the Duchess smiled.

“I feel like the belle of the ball already,” Khaami grinned, “and it hasn’t even started yet!”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Satine smiled, placing a crown on her head, “you're going to help me manage my dance card.”

“Oh my,” Fesma clicked her tongue, “what a task.”

The announcer was more than thrilled to announce his Duchess and her ladies, but the ballroom was more receptive. As Satine walked by whispers reached her ears, she was gorgeous, she was young, she was looking for a husband.

Satine stood gracefully in front of her throne.

“I would like to thank you all for coming on this special day for me,” Satine began, “I am extremely grateful to the extensive work you all have done to help me rebuild are planet, and tonight, I would like to celebrate that work.”

The Duchess paused and the crowd clapped politely.

“On this occasion, my twentieth birthday, I am reminded of how fortunate I am,” Satine swallowed, grabbing a glass, “and so tonight is as much of a celebration of yourselves as it is of me. I would like to make a toast: To the good of Mandalore!”

“To the good of Mandalore!” the crowd agreed.

Satine led the way into dinner, her ladies behind her, and, beyond her ladies, found herself seated next to Count Tarrei Vizsla and Countess Ursa Wren. 

“Happy birthday, Your Grace.” the Countess smiled politely.

“Thank you, Countess Wren,” Satine smiled, “I do hope you enjoy the evening.”

“What a wonderful speech, Your Grace,” the Count commented after a beat, “it’s wonderful to see humility reflected in a government.”

“Why thank you-”

“I wonder is it a trait you learned from the Jedi?”

Satine raised an eyebrow, “I think not, my father, the late Duke, was a firm believer in a moral compass and loyalty to one’s country folk, I think such traits are honorable, don’t you, Count Vizsla?”

“I do, Your Grace,” the edge of the Count’s lips twisted, “the late Duke was a man of honor.”

Satine wondered if the Count was implying that she wasn’t honorable. Instead, she smiled and daintily spooned some soup into her mouth.

After dinner, Satine looped her arms between her ladies and let the guests lead the way into the ballroom. Characteristically, the first man to approach her waas Count Vizsla.

“Your Grace,” the man bowed, “may I present my son, Pre Vizsla, Earl of Larrayne.”

Pre Vizsla was neither handsome nor ugly, but when Satine looked into his eyes she saw ambition, and right then she knew that the count Vizsla could never be her father in law.

“Your Grace, would you like to dance?”

Politely, Satine smiled, and held out her hand, “Of course.”

The Duchess and the Earl kept up a polite conversation, but there were stagnant pauses that made both of them despise the other. After the dance, Pre Vizsla bowed and the Duchess was surrounded by a sea of men.

Next, Satine danced with the Viscount Saxon, the Count Awaud, and the Lord Eldar. Although, on the latter, Satine noticed how their conversation kept turning to Khaami. After the dance, Satine took the Lord’s arm and led him to where her ladies were socializing.

“Khaami,” Satine smiled, “May I present Lord Eldar.”

Their eyes met, and Khaami blushed.

“Would you like to dance, Lady Khaami.”

Khaami looked to Satine, who nodded.

“I would love to.”

Satine took Khaami’s glass and joined the conversation, looping her arm through Fesma’s.

“Have you any favorites yet, Your Grace?” winked a noble daughter her age.

Satine swirled her drink, “Unfortunately, I found I have lost some faith in the male sex this night.”

Fesma snorted.

“Don’t worry, Duchess,” a lady said earnestly, “the night is still young.”

“Your right,” Satine took a sip of her drink, “perhaps we’ll all get less intoxicated as the night goes on.”

Fesma giggled.

“I suppose then, Your Grace,” another lady ventured, “that you’ve already made up your mind?”

“Well,” Satine hesitated, “I suppose I wouldn’t mind being swept off my feet.”

“By a blue-eyed gentleman.” Fesma added.

“A romantic gentlemen.” Satine corrected.

“Oh,” agreed a young noble daughter, “wouldn’t we all.”

The ladies giggled.

The dancing went on late into the night, though Satine only danced a couple more times, she and Fesma were fed up with pleasantries. Khaami however, had a wonderful evening in the arms of Lord Eldar.

“He’s my boyfriend now.” Khaami told Satine and Fesma that evening.

“Really?” Fesma grinned.

“Yes, Warx asked me and everything.”

“Warx?” Satine raised an eyebrow.

“Lord Eldar.”

Satiine smiled, “Ah.” 

Fesma returned all the jewels while Khaami helped Satine into her nightgown.

“I’m sorry you had to put on this ruse.” said the lady.

“It’s what’s expected,” Satine replied, knowing exactly what she was talking about, “falling in love with a man I can’t have, that was unexpected.”

“Still, I’m sorry, Satine.” Khaami included.

The full weight of missing Obi-Wan fell on Satine, it had been a week since he’d left, and the Duchess was beginning to wonder what it would be like if he never came back.

“Satine, maybe you should ask about Tyra,” Khaami suggested, “I’m sure Master Qui-Gon would be kind to you.”

“He would’ve,” Satine agreed, “but Master Qui-Gon’s dead.”

The Duchess dismissed Khaami to the room she shared with Fesma and climbed under the covers. Guilt gnawed at her, Satine couldn’t give her children the lives they should’ve had, yet she wanted to keep them close. Satine cried on and off for the next few hours, but eventually fell into a restless sleep. Awaking before Fesma and Khaami would come with breakfast, Satine stared at the ceiling and thought about what Tyra’s life must be like at the temple. Then she thought about Korkie. He was beyond the point of waking up in the night to cry, but he still needed loving care and attention. Something she wasn’t really able to give him with her busy schedule.

“Satine?”

Swallowing, the Duchess sat up and turned to Fesma.

“Are you,” the lady paused, “alright?”

Satine nodded, but said nothing. Fesma stepped forward and set down Satine’s tray, Khaami soon followed with purified water. Satine grunted a thank you.

“I’ll go,” Fesma looked around, “pick out your outfit.”

Khaami sat down on the edge of the bed, “Satine, what’s wrong?”

The Duchess sighed, “I miss Obi-Wan, that’s all.”

“We could arrange time for Korkie in your schedule if you like, Satine.” Fesma added, coming out of the closet.

“I’d like that.” the Duchess admitted.

After she ate, Satine let her ladies help her dress, and escort her to the council meeting.

“You don’t need to worry,” the Duchess told her ladies, “I’ll just say I’m hungover.”

Khaami and Fesma shared a look.

“Okay, okay,” Satine sighed, “I’ll try to smile.”

Fortunately enough for the Duchess, today’s topic was very interesting to her.

“Naboo and Cerea are unhappy with the new tariffs,” the Prime Minister announced, “and both have requested audiences with the Duchess to negotiate new terms.”

“Parliament will dislike that.” observed one advisor. “Perhaps,” Satine spoke up, “I could visit Parliament and see what they feel strongly about, then I would be better prepared for the meeting.”

“Your Grace is willing?” questioned an advisor.

“Yes.” Satine nodded.

The meeting scribe jotted something down. After Satine had dismissed her advisors, the Prime Minister pulled her aside.

“Parliament is a lion’s den,” said Jaru Djarin with care, “you must be prepared to growl when you go in there.”

“I will,” Satine nodded, “is there anything you recommend?”

“Become the crown, a statue, be everything Parliament was made to serve,” at seeing Satine’s look, the Prime Minister added, “I shall be there as well for assistance.”

On the day she was going to Parliament, Satine dressed as if she were going to war. Enrobed in a white and gold dress with the Kryze colors on a royal sash across her chest, Satine looked much like she had when she was crowned.

“What crown shall I send for, Your Grace?” Parna asked, appearing in the doorway.

“The golden warrior’s eye,” Satine decided, “the one that looks like the sun.”

Parna curtsied, “Yes, Your Grace.”

When she’d left, Fesma turned to Satine, “Going to make an impression, are we?”

“My father wore that crown to his most important state affairs,” Satine stated, “I want to show Parliament that I am like my father.” 

Fesma nodded, “It does bolster male egos to see a man in charge.”

“True,” Khaami agreed, “shall we do your hair in a braided bun?”

“Yes, I think so.”

When Parna returned, she gently held out a golden box to Satine.

“The Jewel Master wanted me to tell you he thinks you’ve chosen wisely.”

Satine took the box, “Thank you, Parna, do tell him later that I appreciate his sentiment.”

Parna smiled, “I will, Your Grace.”

Satine’s ladies helped her to the carriage, but from then on she was on her own. When they arrived at the Parliament building, Satine noticed some photographers outside.

“It’s not everyday the Crown visits Parliament, Your Grace.” observed the driver when he caught Satine’s eye.

The door opened and a hand was offered to help the Duchess out of the car. When she stepped out, chatter stopped, the cameras flashed.

“Duchess Satine,” the Prime Minister appeared on the stairs above her, “may I escort you in?”

“I would be delighted.” Satine smiled, gracefully ascending the steps and holding out her hand.

The inside of the Parliament building was decorated with chiseled busts of important leaders, symbolic paintings, and marble pillars that, combined with the marble floor, caused Satine’s shoes to echo with every step.

“The Honorable Prime Minister Djarin and Her Grace, Duchess Kryze of Mandalore.”

Satine felt every pair of eyes in the room on her, she hadn’t graced Parliament with her presence since she’d opened it when she was a new Duchess. 

At the end of the room there were two chairs which Prime Minister Jaru led them towards, one a wooden throne, elegantly carved, sat on the left of the center throne, which was marble. Ascending the dias, Satine turned and sat gracefully on the center throne, once she was fully seated, everyone, including the Prime Minister, followed.

“Our monarch is here today,” began Jaru Djarin, “to hear your reasoning behind the strict tariffs on Cerea and Naboo, she would like to open the floor to discussion and hear what you feel strongly about.”

Satine studied the room, Mandalore had four political parties that each held an amount of seats in Parliament, the long hall had four seating areas against the walls, and each group sat under a flag of singular color. Red, orange, yellow, and white.

“Your Grace,” a minister from the red group stood, “we have just been through a terrible ordeal, and Naboo and Cerea, our closest trading partners, certainly wouldn’t mind helping us.”

Chatter rose up around the room.

“Unfortunately,” the Duchess began, speaking as loud as she could while remaining dignified, “they do mind, and feel they are being treated unfairly. If we wish them to help us, we must give them something in return.”

That certainly sparked whispers. 

As more and more ministers stood, Satine saw where the argument split, the red and yellow parties were on one side, while orange and white were on the other. The red and yellow parties felt that they should be aggressive with the tariff negotiations, the orange and white parties disagreed, and thought the opposite.

“Perhaps,” Satine began, trying to calm the uproar that had suddenly erupted, “we should stand firm on our implementation of the tariffs, yet be lenient and willing to negotiate on some of the principles.”

The room went silent.

“What principles do you suggest, Your Grace?” asked the Prime Minister.

Satine straightened, “We lower the percent of tax down from twenty five percent to fifteen, yet we ask for a loan to be repaid without interest.”

The ministers whispered among each other, the Prime Minister smiled. It took an hour to hammer out the rest of the details, yet all of Parliament agreed that the Duchess had divulged a good tactic.

The next morning, Satine woke to a squeal from Khaami.

“Satine!”

“Sh, Khaami-”

“Satine, you won't believe it!”

Sighing, the Duchess sat up.

“They’re calling you the She-Wolf of Mandalore!” Khaami giggled.

“Your performance yesterday was spectacular, Satine.” Fesma agreed.

Grinning and giggling like a little girl, Satine asked to see the holonews.

“She-Wolf of Mandalore,” Satine smiled, “I like that.”

[yoontopia]

Could you pleeeaseeee do one where (idol) Yoongi gets jealous of his (idol,bts) best friends esp, JK and Namjoon, becoming close to you?

here you go! it got a little long dfhjkfd I’m sorry! Thank you for requesting!

You tried to ignore Yoongi’s piercing glare from across your living room. Briefly you wondered what had got your boyfriend into such a grouchy mood. Usually he was good-natured, and it took him a long time to get angry. You were the hot-headed one in your relationship, with Yoongi’s cool head keeping you grounded. He never raised his voice, and when something bothered him, he spoke up on it right away. It was one of the many things you loved about him. This was brand new territory, and considering you had company over, you couldn’t really bring it up either.

“Is this the popcorn?” Jungkook’s voice piped up from the kitchen. You turned your head to see the younger boy holding a bag of instant popcorn.

“No there’s one with extra butter, use that one instead,” You told him and he flashed you a bright grin that had you smiling fondly. Out of all your boyfriend’s group members, Jungkook was your favorite. Being the youngest of the group, he had been the shyest of the members when you’d first been introduced. But years into knowing him, he had opened up to you and now was one of the boys you would consider yourself the closest with. Not that you’d tell the rest of them that you were picking favorites of course. “There should also be a big bowl in the bottom cupboard!”

You heard Jungkook make a sound of acknowledgement before turning back to focus your attention to your TV. It was break season for the boys and they were spending their last day, for some reason, at your apartment marathoning all the Marvel films. Jungkook had insisted that they be watched in chronological, and not the release, order. The eight of you were currently halfway through the very first Avengers movie.

“I’m still gonna stand by what I said,” Hoseok said, from his position on the floor. “This was the best Avengers film.”

“You’re mental,” Taehyung yelled sitting on the other end of the couch you were perched on. “Tell me what can possibly beat Infinity War.”

“Infinity War was overrated and so was the one that came after it – what was it called?”

“Endgame!” Taehyung, Jimin and Jungkook said in unison, Jungkook’s voice floating in from the kitchen, indicating he could hear the whole exchange. Hoseok scowled. Taehyung laughed.

“You’re so uncultured,” he said, making Hoseok’s scowl deepen.

“I like Guardians of the Galaxy,” Namjoon piped up from next to you, and six heads turned to him, except for Yoongi, who was still staring daggers at the you. “What? The little tree guy is cute.”

“You may be most uncultured out of us,” Taehyung muttered, patting Namjoon dejectedly on the shoulder. You snickered.

“Did I say something wrong?” Namjoon whispered to you after everyone’s attention was back on the movie.

“Who knows? I don’t know the first thing about Marvel – I haven’t even seen all the films.” You answered him, watching Jungkook as he traipsed back into the living room holding a giant bowl of warm popcorn. He sat down on the couch next to Yoongi, placing the popcorn on your coffee table for everyone to share before grabbing a handful himself and sitting back.

“That’s why we’re doing this,” he said, munching on it. “When you said you hadn’t seen them all we decided it’s a crime!”

“And when did you tell them that?” Yoongi asked, voice tight.

“A couple months ago? I came along with Hobi and Namjoon and we went for coffee, didn’t we?”

“Coffee? The four of you?”

“Same aged friends gotta stick together, y’know?” Hoseok said, giving you a fist bump which you returned grinning. “Dunno why the kid tagged along though.”

“I wanted to hang out with her too!” Jungkook complained before sending you the most adorable smile.

“I see.” Yoongi said, and you shivered at his tone. None of the other boys seemed to notice anything was off, but you had known Yoongi longer than any of them and could sense when something was off. Jungkook, being the most oblivious, ploughed on as if nothing was wrong.

“I like her more than Jin’s girlfriend,” he said, nodding matter-of-factly making Seokjin sit up from where he was lying down next to Hoseok.

“Hey!” he yelled. “Keep Sooyeon’s name out of your mouth.”

“Sorry,” Jungkook grinned, lifting his hands up in defeat. You laughed.

“You’re my favorite too Kookie,” you said, and he shot finger guns at you before helping himself to more popcorn.

“Hey what about us!” Hoseok yelled, gesturing to himself and Namjoon. “We’re the same age!”

“She likes me more than you Hobi,” Namjoon said sagely, making Hoseok protest even louder. “We’ve established we’re best friends – and what was it she said it to me the other day?” By this point you had dissolved in a fit of giggles. “Oh, that’s right – she said we vibed on a whole other level.”

“What?” Hoseok screeched, making Jimin and Taehyung jump.

“It wasn’t anything serious!” you said, still laughing. “Namjoon just made me a playlist and it somehow included everything I liked – he’s a mind reader.” Namjoon flashed a superior smile at Hoseok, who spluttered.

“I’m not gonna stand for this favoritism. I’ll make you a playlist too just you wait! The amount of absolute bops it’s going to have – you’re gonna be blown away!”

“Well I look forward to it,” you said the same time as Yoongi snapped, “Focus on the film you idiots.”

That shut everyone up and the rest of the night passed by quietly. You finished the Avengers film and decided to call it a night. The boys left one by one, some of them giving you a hug and the others merely patting Yoongi on the back before heading out. Once the last boy – Jungkook – had left, after giving you a big bear hug and a tight squeeze, you shut the door and locked it, sighing to yourself.

“Every year they get more and more rowdy,” you joked, watching Yoongi as he padded his way into the kitchen. “You making coffee? I want decaf.” You followed him into the kitchen before collapsing in a chair at your small dining table. The clock above the microwave flashed 1 AM.

“Do you have practice tomorrow?” you asked conversationally, watching your boyfriend tap a spoonful of instant coffee into two mugs and putting water in the electric kettle and switching it on. He didn’t answer you, so you pressed on, “Yoongi?”

“I have meetings all day tomorrow,” he mumbled, leaning against the kitchen counter while he waited for the water to boil. “Share some early drafts on potential tracks.”

“Hmm,” you answered. There was silence after that, and not the good kind. “You okay? Yoongi?”

When he didn’t reply, you stood up, making your way to stand right in front of him. Snaking your arms around his thin waist, you buried your face in his chest, inhaling deeply.

“Why didn’t you invite me out to coffee with the guys?” he asked suddenly, his hands still jammed in the pockets of his hoodie. You looked up at him in surprise.

“It was just a spontaneous plan,” you said sheepishly, and Yoongi glared down at you. Upon closer inspection, he looked tired. You knew that despite being on break, your boyfriend had worked tirelessly to write lyrics and mix some beats. “Nothing special.”

“You’re way too friendly with the guys,” he mumbled. The only other sound in your apartment was the low bubbling sound of the water in the kettle.

“Are you jealous?” you asked jokingly. When he didn’t answer, you stared. “Wait-- really?”

“We barely spent any time together on this break,” he said. “And you went and spent it with them.”

“It was one time,” you said, letting go of his waist, frustration creeping up in you. “And whose fault was it that we didn’t spend time together? You holed yourself up in your studio the whole time!” Yoongi spluttered back at you.

“I’m your boyfriend,” he argued, and you groaned.  

“Did I ever insinuate otherwise?” Yoongi stared wordlessly at you and you groaned again. “You’re being so childish right now.”

“I know I am!” he snapped. “I can’t help it alright? You’re mine.” You sighed in defeat.

“Not that humans can just belong to anyone but,” you said quietly, wrapping your hands around him again, “you do have my whole heart.”

Yoongi’s expression softened and he returned your embrace, resting his chin on top of your head.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I couldn’t help it.” You giggled.

“I’ll tell you a secret,” you said, planting a chaste kiss on your boyfriend’s lips. He blinked down at you once again confused. “But promise you won’t tell Namjoon and Hobi.”

“Huh?”

“The only reason I met them for coffee that day,” you started, your hands reaching up to entwine themselves around Yoongi’s neck, playing with the hair at his nape. “Was to help them buy you your birthday gift.” Yoongi was staring at you, mouth slightly open, and you threw your head back and laughed. “So, you better act surprised when they give it to you in a couple weeks.”

“You’re obviously my number one Min Yoongi,” you whispered. “You always have been.”

And then Yoongi dipped his head down to press his lips against yours in a heated, urgent kiss, walking you backwards into your bedroom, the hot water and coffee were left all but forgotten in the kitchen.

[dub-me-the-mother-of-dorks]

You don’t mind, do you?

For Tsukiyama week - Day 1

Prompt used: Fake relationship

Pairing: Tsukishima Kei x Yamaguchi Tadashi

Word count: 1,627

....

“Eh?”

Tsukishima kept scrolling through his phone, seemingly unaware of the absolute shock in his friend’s voice, “Yeah, it’s just to keep that Miki guy at work off my back. You don’t need to do anything, don’t worry.”

Yamaguchi squeezed his fingers into his palms in a desperate attempt to calm himself down. He knew Tsukki was only asking him because he wouldn’t say no, but this couldn’t have come at a worse time. As of late, Yamaguchi had actively been trying to come to terms with the fact that his feelings would always remain unrequited – to him, it seemed like the mature thing to do at this stage. So having Tsukki show up to his apartment today after work (as was the usual routine) and ask for such an unfair favour was simply unhelpful.

“Sure…I guess,” Yamaguchi muttered, glaring down at his empty mug, “You already told him that we’re dating anyway so I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“Sorry about that. Miki just wouldn’t stop pestering me about taking him on a date and you were the first person I thought of,” Tsukishima rambled on, half interested in his own words, “We’re always together anyway so I suppose it makes sense, plus he’s seen you visit the café a few times. I just don’t get what that guy sees in me.”

Yamaguchi forced himself to not reply.

“You don’t mind, do you?”

With a small, yet genuine smile, Yamaguchi simply said, “Not at all,” and got up to wash his mug. However, his mind couldn’t stop buzzing with ideas of how to be the most effective fake boyfriend Tsukki could ever need.

.....

The bell above the café door rang as Yamaguchi tried to slip in unnoticed. He slid into the nearest booth to catch his breath, useless bell, he thought bitterly. The café was nearly empty which made Yamaguchi even more on edge; all of Tsukishima’s other colleagues would catch sight of him easily at this rate. The last thing Yamaguchi wanted to do was embarrass Tsukki at work.

“Why am I so nervous?” Yamaguchi hissed, using a napkin to dab rainwater off the front of his clothes, “I hope Tsukki won’t be mad at me for coming...”

“Yamaguchi?” came Tsukishima’s voice from the counter.

Yamaguchi took a deep breath and peered out of the booth, immediately locking eyes with his “boyfriend”. Standing close beside Tsukishima was a shorter guy whose eyes seemed to have locked onto Yamaguchi too as he carefully made his way over to them.

“Hey! How’s work going?” Yamaguchi beamed cheerfully.

Tsukishima had raised an eyebrow, but didn’t seem particularly pleased or displeased, “It’s been kind of slow today, to be honest.”

“Ah, it’s probably because of the rain,” Yamaguchi hummed with a nod, “I didn’t think you’d taken an umbrella so I brought one for you.”

“Aw, that’s nice,” the shorter guy cooed loudly.

Yamaguchi glanced down at the guy whom he assumed to be Miki. He was definitely the pretty boy type, but his eyes - wide and disturbingly piercing - had not stopped inspecting Yamaguchi even once.

Miki leaned over the counter and rested his chin on his knuckles, “You’re such a good friend.”

“Boyfriend,” Tsukishima and Yamaguchi said at the same time, making Miki narrow his eyes a little.

Tsukishima turned back to Yamaguchi, “Thanks for the umbrella, I appreciate it. I finish up in an hour-”

“Great, I’ll wait around then.”

“Oh- wh- um- you don’t have to.”

“It’s fine, you’re coming to mine afterwards anyway right?”

“…Yeah.”

“We’re having pizza tonight so we can pick it up on our way home.”

Tsukishima swallowed, trying to hide the confusion on his face, “If you’re waiting around then make sure you get something to drink.”

Yamaguchi flashed a bright smile, “Okay! Could I get a really milky coffee, please Tsukki.”

Miki’s eyes continued to wander around and across Yamaguchi’s face as Tsukishima took his order. Was Miki seeing right through the act? Was Yamaguchi not being convincing enough? Had he overstayed his welcome by saying unnecessary things? Yamaguchi was beginning to sweat.

“So, Mizoguchi-”

“Yamaguchi.”

“Oh right, sorry,” Miki said with a watery grin, “I had no idea you and Tsukishima were dating.”

“We like to keep our private lives private.”

“I understand that,” Miki nodded, “He never talks about you at all though, like, never.”

Ah, I see what he’s trying to do, Yamaguchi thought with an inward groan.

Tsukishima gave Miki a hard nudge, “Oi, stop causing problems and go and get his coffee, Miki.”

“What? I’m just saying!” Miki stood up straight, his eyes still drilling holes into Yamaguchi’s face, “I hope it’s not that you’re embarrassed of your cute little boyfriend here, Tsukishima.”

Tsukishima took Miki’s shoulders and roughly guided him towards the kitchen area, “The only thing I’m embarrassed of is you not doing your job. Get the coffee.”

“A really milky coffee, please!” Yamaguchi called after him, “Oh and one more thing.”

Miki’s head peered from the doorway to the kitchen, his eyes locking back onto Yamaguchi.

“Please blink, just one time, so I know you’re normal.”

Miki pursed his lips and sank back into the kitchen.

“If that guy is handling my coffee, I’m not drinking it,” Yamaguchi mumbled, “Also, sorry for showing up without warning you first.”

“No, this is perfect,” Tsukishima smirked, “Go and sit down.”

 .....

It wasn’t long before Yamaguchi was scrolling through his phone over an untouched cup of coffee, occasionally glancing over to Tsukishima working at the tills. Yamaguchi couldn’t help but feel a little stupid though. Tsukki had already said that nothing needed to be done on Yamaguchi’s part and yet, here he was with an umbrella and a silly story about pizza at his place. I took this way too far, Yamaguchi thought miserably.

Worse still, by the time Tsukishima’s shift was over, the rain had stopped. I’m never visiting Tsukki at work again. This is so embarrassing!

When Yamaguchi saw Tsukishima and Miki approaching him after their shifts, he took another deep breath and stood up with an enthusiastic smile, “You’re finally done, Tsukki!”

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Tsukishima huffed, looking exhausted, “Come on, let’s go.”

Miki piped up again with a mocking tone, “Aw, Tsukki, it stopped raining in the end. Poor Kawaguchi wasted his time.”

Who the hell is Kawaguchi and WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING TSUKKI? Yamaguchi’s eyes widened as he tightly clenched the two umbrellas he’d brought.

Tsukishima was sure that those umbrellas were now Yamaguchi’s weapons of choice so he carefully took one of them out of his hand and calmly retorted, “Yeah, but you don’t mind, do you, Yamaguchi?”

Yamaguchi turned to his “boyfriend”, relaxed his face and simply said, “Not at all.”

With that, Tsukishima took his remaining free hand to gently hold Yamaguchi’s chin and bring it to his. It was a soft, quick kiss that, frankly, no one present was expecting.

“See you tomorrow, Miki,” Tsukishima deadpanned, proudly taking Yamaguchi’s hand and walking out into the cool evening.

.....

The two walked in silence for a little while, both avoiding eye contact and trying to hide how pink their faces were. Eventually, Yamaguchi perked up.

“So, er, for…for how long are we pretending to date?”

“A little while longer please, if you don’t mind.”

Yamaguchi nodded slowly, “Yeah, I don’t think Miki has got the point yet.”

“Then we’ll need to think of other ways to show that we’re dating,” Tsukishima said trying to look nonchalant, “Like using each other’s’ first names and stuff.”

“Eh?”

“Since Miki has started calling me Tsukki now – because of you might I add – you may as well call me Kei.”

This was getting too much for Yamaguchi, his rib cage was ready to rupture, “Sure…I mean…we’re still holding hands from when we left the café so…I guess I can do something as simple as calling you Kei.”

Tsukishima tried desperately to hide the soft blush clouding his face, “It was just in case Miki had decided to follow us, that’s all,”

“Right.”

“Another thing,” Tsukishima enunciated cautiously, “Since we’re pretending to date for a little while longer, come to the café as often as you’d like but-”

Ah, here we go, Yamaguchi thought sourly, allowing his shoulders to drop in disappointment.

“-We should probably practice kissing properly, so it’s a bit more natural next time we do it in front of Miki.”

Yamaguchi peered up at Tsukishima, who had let go of his hand to adjust his glasses. “Gee, Kei, you seem to care an awful lot about what that Miki guy thinks of you,” Yamaguchi pouted.

Tsukishima frowned, “It’s not so much that I care what he thinks than it is that I want to make sure I show you off properly, Tadashi.”

“Show me off?”

Tsukishima didn’t waste any more time before carefully cupping Yamaguchi’s face in his hand and kissing him longingly.

When they parted, their eyes glazed over, Tsukishima turned away to continue walking like nothing had happened. However, Yamaguchi wasn’t having it.

“Wait a minute, Kei!” Yamaguchi snapped, “I don’t mind doing this as a favour but this is hardly a favour anymore; this is a full-time job. Wouldn’t it be easier for us to just…to just date…for real?”

Tsukishima glared at Yamaguchi over the rim of his glasses. This. This is exactly why he’d fallen in love with Yamaguchi in the first place - his honesty, his sincerity and his unfailing loyalty. Perhaps this fake relationship was just to mask his fear of being rejected, to test out the waters first or something. Tsukishima gulped.

“I mean…if you don’t-”

“No, I don’t mind!” Yamaguchi blurted, a warm smile illuminating his face as he grabbed his boyfriend’s hand, “Not at all.”

[bluesfortheredj]

Hitsuzen.

Hitsuzen - A naturally foreordained event. A state in which other outcomes are impossible.

Chapter 8.

Monday morning always came around a little too quickly for your liking, but on the plus side you’d heard that Adam had called in sick so you could go about your day without having to suppress the urge to punch him in his smug face after his comments at the pub. You almost skip down the corridor at the school to your classroom and you can hear Sarah’s laugh behind you as she watches you full of enthusiasm for the day. The students question Adam’s disappearance but you quickly make the excuse that he has the flu and it’s as if he was never needed in the first place as you get on with your day leading the classroom once more. The smile barely fades from your face even at the last lesson of the day and you’re sat there beaming when the final student leaves the room; proud of what you’re achieving with Adam out of the picture.

“You coming?” Sarah asks as she pops her head around the door while you’re tidying up the classroom.

“Yeah, I’m just going to set some things out for tomorrow then I’ll be off. You go ahead and I’ll meet you at yours,” you grin.

“You’ve really taken to this like a duck to water haven’t you?”

“Well, I’m not one to brag but… yeah, I feel like this is what I was meant to do,” you agree.

“Looks like there’s more than just this that’s coming together in your life,” she winks.

Your phone begins to ring and you slip it out of your pocket to see Charlie’s name at the top of the screen, “speaking of which...” you chuckle.

Sarah gives you a wave before hurrying off to pick up the kids from the babysitter, then you answer your phone with a joyous hello.

“Ah! So your day went just as you imagined then?”

“It did indeed! Funny how everything runs so smoothly without Adam here.”

“Pretty difficult teaching a class from a cell,” he laughs.

“No! He’s there with you?!”

“Yep, came in last night, drunk again, and ended up falling into some poor woman’s front garden smashing a couple of plant pots as he went… she wasn’t best pleased so we took him in to sober up over night.”

“Shit,” you chuckle, “that’s bad. Not for me… but for him, definitely. How come he’s suddenly coming undone since this friend of his was found? What’s going on here? There’s something more to this, I just know it.”

“Alright Miss Marple, calm down,” Charlie teases, “leave it us, I don’t want you getting into any trouble because of this okay?”

“Okay,” you sigh, “how’s your day going anyway?”

You get up from the desk and begin to place worksheets on the students’ desks for morning, then head into the supplies cupboard where you kept donated lengths of fabric and other tools for the kids to use as you continue to chat to Charlie. You’re squatting down on the floor to find the spare glue gun sticks when suddenly the door slams shut and you hear the turn of the key locking you in the small space.

“What was that?” Charlie asks.

“Umm, I think I’ve just been locked in the cupboard...” you say quietly before calling out to the mysterious person, “hello? Who’s there? This isn’t funny, you need to let me out now.”

You wiggle the handle then bang on the door but the person hovering around outside doesn’t make a noise as they open up the vent just above the door frame.

“What’s happening?” Charlie questions, now panicked.

“I… Hey! What are you doing?! Let me out, now!” you demand as they poke a small piece of pipe through the vent, just out of your reach no matter how high you jump, “let me out! What are you doing?”

You throw your body against the door in an attempt to open it but it doesn’t budge, then as Charlie starts shouting down the phone at you, you begin to feel woozy from whatever was being fed into the air around you.

“(Y/N)! Talk to me!” he urges desperately.

“I think you need to get here,” you slur, “quickly.”

The phone drops from your hand onto the floor as you begin to slide down the door then your head hits the carpet and your eyes quickly close while your whole body becomes limp.

“We’re on our way! (Y/N), we’re coming!” Charlie reassures even though you can no longer hear him.

Him and John arrive within a matter of minutes, his long legs carrying him through the corridors to your classroom with ease, then he quickly unlocks the door to find you on the floor, your body completely still apart from a few shallow breaths. John rings for an ambulance as other officers arrive to inspect the scene then makes a quick phone call to Sarah to let her know you were being taken to hospital so wouldn’t be there to pick up Evie. Charlie attempts to bring you round and although there are some incoherent noises coming from you now that you’d been taken out of the enclosed space, you’re still not fully conscious.

“How long will the ambulance be?!” Charlie shouts exasperatedly at no one in particular.

“Nelson, it’s on its way” John says calmly as he kneels beside you and pushes your hair back from your face, “she’ll be fine.”

He was saying it to comfort himself as much as Charlie as well; you were like family to him and he was as concerned about you as he would be about his own daughter in all honesty, and Charlie could see it in his eyes, the worry and the pain at seeing you like this, knowing that someone out there had done this to you on purpose. The paramedics soon come hurtling into the room, ushering Charlie and John out of the way while they do a quick assessment of your vitals before getting you onto a stretcher and wheeling you out.

“You go, I’ll stay here,” John nods to Charlie before he bolts out of the room to catch up with you, “right, we need this place searched top to bottom; bins, drawers, everywhere! Does the pipe have fingerprints on? Where did the gas canisters come from? We need answers as soon as possible,” he instructs to the remaining officers.

Charlie remains by your bed side in the A&E department while they carry out tests to figure out what had got into your system, and your semi-conscious state is signified by quite a violent bout of vomiting with Charlie holding the bowl in one hand while his other one tries to scoop up as much of your hair as possible.

“Is she going to be okay?” he asks with a concerned frown at how much you’re being sick.

“This can be a normal side effect of inhaling so much isoflurane and nitrous oxide,” the nurse nods, noting Charlie’s utter confusion at the use of technical terms, “…otherwise known as anaesthetic gas.”

“Oh, right.”

“Luckily you got to her before she inhaled too much of it. She should be fine, but we’ll be keeping her in overnight as a precaution. I guess you’ll be informing her family?”

“I am family,” Charlie automatically says before clarifying, “I’m her boyfriend, I mean.”

“Then you’ll have to make sure to take good care of her when she gets home; she may be a little unsteady on her feet for a few days.”

“Of course,” he nods.

The nurse leaves with the now full sick bowl then Charlie’s phone begins to ring and he answers it to Sarah’s worried tone, “how is she?”

“She’s… uh, she’s okay. Not fully awake yet,” he says as he sinks down into the seat next to your bed, “she’s been sick a few times but can’t quite wake up.”

“Do they know what it is she breathed in?”

“Anaesthetic apparently, a mix of two gasses. She’ll be off work for the rest of the week.”

“Of course,” Sarah sighs, “at least it wasn’t anything more toxic. Uhm, can you speak to Evie? She’s getting a little anxious after we said mummy wasn’t well and I told her you were making sure she’s okay.”

“Yeah, absolutely, put her on.���

“Charlie?” Evie’s timid voice questions as Sarah puts the phone to her ear.

“Yes darling, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m having dinner.”

“Oh, what are you having?”

“Pasta!” she says excitedly before turning serious, “where’s mummy?”

“Pasta sounds yummy, I’m sure mummy will want some when she feels a bit better. She’s at the hospital with me and some very nice doctors who are making her well again, she’s safe sweetheart, don’t worry,” Charlie reassures with a smile as he takes your hand.

“Is she coming here soon?”

“She will come there tomorrow Evie, I promise.”

“Will you come as well?”

“Of course! I won’t be leaving mummy’s side until she’s all better, okay? Tomorrow we will both come to Sarah’s and you can tell her all about the fun things you’ve been doing with Betty, yeah?”

“Okay. Can you give her a night kiss from me?”

“I sure will! And she sends one right back to you, and so do I.”

“Thankoo!”

With that Sarah takes the phone away and speaks one last time, “you look after our girl Charlie.”

“You know I will.”

He slides his phone back inside his pocket then pulls his chair closer to the bed so he can lean over and kiss your forehead.

“That’s from Evie,” he whispers, then kisses your lips softly, “and that’s from me. Evie’s at Sarah’s eating pasta and playing with Betty so there’s no need to worry about her. She knows you’re not well but she’s looking forward to seeing you tomorrow when I can get you out of here. Then I think we should all get some pizza in and watch a film of Evie’s choosing… what do you think?”

A small smile appears on your lips at the sound of Charlie’s voice and you nod in answer to his question even though you didn’t quite have enough energy to open your eyes and talk yet, but a quick squeeze to his hand is all he needs to know that you can understand what he’s saying.

You’re soon wheeled up to a ward where there’s a room waiting just for you, and Charlie flashes his badge as an excuse to stay the night with you even though he’s sitting in one of the most uncomfortable chairs he’s ever sat in before. It’s around 4am when you finally start to properly wake up and as your heart rate quickens with the sudden awareness that you’re in hospital, a nurse comes in to check you over and wakes Charlie in the process.

“Your boyfriend flashed his badge to get to stay here with you, y’know?” she smirks as she takes your blood pressure, “I’d say he was a keeper that one.”

“Yeah,” you chuckle, “he’s alright.”

“Must be strange for your daughter to not have mummy or daddy there tonight, but I bet she’s enjoying her sleepover,” she smiles.

“Oh, I’m not-” Charlie starts.

“Step dad,” you interrupt, “but yeah, she’s probably had a whale of a time without us and getting a load of treats!”

“Whenever my little boy returns from my mum’s house, he’s weighed down with sweets in his pockets!” the nurse laughs, “better check hers tomorrow, just in case.”

“Remember that Charlie, check her pockets,” you nod.

“I’ll pat her down, don’t you worry!”

The nurse leaves, shutting the door gently behind her, then you turn to Charlie with an inquisitive look on your face, “boyfriend?” you ask.

“Step dad?” he questions back.

You shrug, “quicker and easier than explaining the whole situation.”

“My thoughts exactly,” he winks.

He drags his chair nearer to you as he slips his hand over yours then explains the events that had happened in the lead up to the present moment, filling you on every detail down to what Evie was having for dinner, and even though you’re a little concerned about what happened to you, you know that you’re in safe hands with Charlie.

@lv7867 @lovemarvelousfics @fuckyou-imspiderman @aynsleywalker @timeandpixiedust @the-baby-bookworm @pink-lemo @chlobo6 @queenslandlover-93 @misslolasworld @killer-queen-87 @drivenbybri @itsametaphorgwil @what-wicked-delights

[roggenmuhme]

Strawberry Colada

The Pearls x Reader Summary: You get drunk and your unsuspecting gem girlfriends have to deal with it. There's always a first time for everything, right? [A series of short one-shots/Human Antics series] Wordcount: 2.3k

I hope this whole collection isn’t too ‘out there’ for you to enjoy, a lovely person on discord had this prompt idea and it … just took over. I legit couldn’t stop thinking about this, so here goes nothing. So far I have Jasper, Bismuth and the Diamonds planned; if you have any input/ideas, I’d be glad to hear them! (But I can't promise anything, some characters are incredibly hard for me to write unfortunately) As always, feel free to contact me for anything really - imbutahumblefarmer#5583 on discord! Also tumblr is being weird with the format again - can also be read here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23864869/chapters/57363457

Warning: Detailed descriptions of nausea, along with the more uncomfortable feelings of being drunk. Be careful, please (no vomiting)

Dedicated to that one time I fell asleep cuddling a clorox bottle. The hot, humid air around you quickly became overwhelming as you pushed past a couple standing irritatingly close to the exit. Your hand clenched around your smartphone, the only thing grounding your upset stomach right now. You definitely had had one shot too many with your friends an hour earlier and the wild dancing afterwards didn’t help either. As you fought to keep the bile down, you swore off Jägermeister for at least a month. Pushing open the heavy, black door, you greedily breathed in the cold air. It felt almost as good as the ice-cold glass of water you had downed minutes ago, a desperate attempt to keep the nausea at bay. Stumbling away from the entrance, you hastily looked around, searching for any sign of your girlfriends. You had texted them fifteen minutes back, when it became obvious to you that you had to end the night early, too sick to continue. They had answered in seconds, you knew how vigilantly Pink Pearl watched her phone (she had been enamored with the device ever since she got it, because it meant constant and fast communication with you) and now all you had to do was wait for them. Easier said than done, in your drunken stupor all of your thoughts flew to your gut, you knew you had to keep moving or else its contents would soon find another home on the streets - and you hated vomiting.

Pacing around in front of the dimly lit club entrance, the dulled bass soon blended into the background and seconds turned into hours. You cursed yourself for being so careless with alcohol this time, falling victim to the peer pressure of your friends. In the end, it was your fault for accepting too many drinks and you knew tomorrow wouldn’t be fun. But right now, you had different problems on your hand. Just as you were about to check your messages once more, someone yelled out your name as if it wasn’t two in the morning and they hadn’t seen you just hours ago. Quick steps followed and soon an enthusiastic Pink hugged you from behind, her arms digging into your stomach. As much as you wanted to appreciate the sweet gesture, you nearly expelled  your hearty dinner in that moment. “H-hey”, you croaked, slowly turning your head to meet a loving gaze. “C-could you let me go?” In an instant her arms were gone and she appeared next to you, a sweet smile on her face. “Hey!” You tried to reciprocate her grin, but it looked rather pained. Somebody pointedly cleared their throat behind you and you didn’t have to turn around to know who the culprit was. Although you were slightly compromised right now, you still made a show out of turning around slowly, clearly trying to annoy Yellow Pearl. When you finally faced both Blue and Yellow, the latter rolled her eyes at your antics, but you knew she didn’t really mean it. Blue Pearl promptly rushed over to you to greet you with a gentle hug, her voice nearly too quiet to be picked up by your abused ears. “I’m so glad you want to go home so early.” You forgot your upset stomach for a moment as you patted her back, melting into her touch. It was adorable how they all missed you the instant your back was out of the door, even grouchy Yellow. Said gem brought you back to reality with a snide comment, one hand touching her chin. “You look absolutely disheveled, what have you been doing?”, she leaned in to inspect you closer, only to recoil in horror. “Stars, you reek!”, her tone was seriously offended, her face scrunched up as she blinked rapidly. “Oh...”, was all you could muster, suddenly aware of you unkempt your whole presence was. A wave of nausea forced the thought into the background, a hand flying to your mouth as your cheeks comically puffed out. “Oh no”, Blue put a hand on your shoulder, as did Pink. With two concerned pearls to either side of you, you only managed to blurt out a ‘let’s go’, hoping you’d make it to your apartment without any accidents. As you tried to power-walk your way back home, the alcohol hit you once again, making you stagger with each step. Blue and Pink stabilized you with a surprisingly firm grip (sometimes you forgot how strong they could be despite of their slender builds) while Yellow took the lead, arms crossed behind her back, throwing you a glance every couple of minutes.The silence was overbearing and your mind too focused on that dreadful feeling in your gut. You couldn't take it any longer.

"Please…", you huffed out. "Tell me something. Talk to me."

Next to you, Pink piped up, her voice excited. "Blue and I made a batch of your favorite cookies!"

An image of said cookies flashed through your head and your stomach turned at the thought. As much as you loved a homemade batch, food was the least appealing thing you could imagine right now.

You made the most disgraceful gurgling sound. "About anything else, please? No food, I beg of you…", you heaved out.

Pink let out a surprised noise, seemingly at loss for words. Even in your inebriated state you could feel the guilt creeping up, they had no clue what you were going through (not that you could explain it right now, anyway) and were just trying to help you. “Ugh”, you tried talking through a surge. “S-sorry, I can tell you why tomorrow, but I’m j-just not up to speed.” Blue clutched your left arm a little harder and Yellow looked at you a little longer than necessary. Yes, they were definitely worried for you. “B-but it’ll pass”, you took a deep breath. “Promise!” Pink gave you a small smile at that, but you could still see concern in her eyes. You owed them a detailed explanation tomorrow. The chatter picked back up, Yellow and Pink taking turns. One was more or less bickering, the other eagerly talking about the evening they had spent without you. Blue practically hang from your arm, slightly massaging your tense muscles when she felt another tremor working its way through you. You got accustomed to walking after a while, your overloaded brain phasing in and out of the situation. When you finally arrived at home, it felt like you had teleported to the location. Your aching feet told you otherwise. To your amazement, the nausea had died down a bit, probably due to time and fresh air. You’re were still hammered though.

As the Pearls ushered you as quietly as possible into your shared apartment, you could feel the exhaustion creeping up your eyes instead. Your walk became even more sluggish, you barely managed to kick off your shoes (much to the displeasure of Yellow, who gave you an indignant sigh) and you blindly wobbled to your bedroom, all three of them following you. As you simply face-planted into the incredibly soft bedding, Yellow was getting winded. “No, no, no!”, she picked you up by the back of your shirt, hauling you back into consciousness. “You’ll ruin the sheets.” Struggling to find your footing, she only released your top after you were out of the door, the soft giggling of Blue and worried gaze of Pink following you. After closing the bathroom door forcefully behind you, she left you alone. Now it was only you and your haggard reflection in the mirror. “Goodness”, you steadied yourself on the sink while you poked your eye bags. You looked very… unfavorable, to say the least. Nothing a full night of sleep couldn’t fix, though. Sighing, you sat down on the toilet lid to wrestle yourself out of your clothing - all those zippers and hooks had been easier to put on a couple of hours ago. Somewhere during the struggle - probably between wiggling out of your socks and fighting with some knots in your hair, your eyes simply clamped shut. You fell asleep then and there, outfit still on, slouched on the toilet seat. After ten minutes of no noise - especially not the tinkling of the shower head -  Yellow decided to check up on you, the other two in tow. As the three of them peered into the bathroom, Yellow had to suppress a groan at your sight, while the Pink and Blue laughed silently. Rolling her eyes, she strode up to you, lightly touching your shoulder, trying to wake you up. Your head lolled back in response, eyes flickering open for a moment, promptly closing again. She tapped your chest with her index finger once, as if to chastise you. “You should feel honoured that you’re my human”, her voice was barely above a whisper as she lifted you up with a sour expression, the others quick to help her. Together, they carried you back into the bedroom, freeing you of your restrictive clothing. Pink and Blue quickly found their usual places right next to you, cuddling up to you with ease. Your subconscious made you curl into the both of them, Pink lovingly stroking your hair away from your face. Yellow sat on the edge of the mattress, frowning while she watched the three of you. “Why don’t you join us?”, Blue’s voice was hushed, trying not to wake you up. Yellow raiser her chin in response. “And dirty myse-” She didn’t get to finish that sentence as your hand shot up and pulled her towards the cuddle pile with an iron grip. “C’mere.” She squealed in surprise, face immediately on fire. After a minute of adjusting herself, she eventually settled into a comfortable position and reluctantly drifted off, as did the others. You woke up to the sound of soft breathing and an unfamiliar pressure on your stomach. Looking down, you first saw Blue resting on your chest and further down a lightly snoring Yellow. Pink’s face was nestled in the left side of your hair, her breath warming your scalp. Groaning as quietly as you could, you strained your neck to take a look at the time, only to be greeted by Blue’s head shooting up, a tired smile on her lips. “Morning”, you grinned at her, promptly pressing your hand against your mouth. You had the most terrible morning breath, even you could smell yourself. A wave of humiliation washed over you, along with an agonizing headache. She only giggled and pressed a kiss to your forehead instead, then quickly got up to wake the others. After Yellow basically propelled herself out of bed in shock and Pink finally (after many gentle words and loving touches) was ready to let go of you, you were forced to take a shower and brush your teeth, no matter how bad the headache was. To Yellow’s credit, you did feel better after getting clean. The sun was still painfully bright and your head wasn’t done with throbbing to the beat of some imaginary techno tune, but you felt like you could at least stomach some food now. The smell of your favorite breakfast hit you as soon as you left the bathroom, guiding you to the kitchen, where an excited Pink Pearl prepared a hefty plate for you and Yellow and Blue sat at the kitchen table, a hushed conversation going on between the two. As soon as Yellow caught your eye, she crossed her hands over her chest, her voice shrill in annoyance.  “Well, why didn't you tell us you were drunk?”

"Uhm…", you blinked at her for a second, a bit lost. "I thought you weren't familiar with the concept and I swear I didn't plan to escalate like this yesterday. I'm so sorry."

You looked down to your hands, nervously fiddling around with the hem of your shirt. It wasn't like you were lying, in all your excitement you had forgotten to warn them - going out was such a normal thing in life and you weren't usually one to get that wasted. This didn't absolve you of your guilt at all, you had probably scared the ever-loving shit out of them still. They were a trusting bunch that believed you when you told them something - that was perhaps why they hadn't fussed over you yesterday. You had assured them that everything had been alright, after all. Pink sat the plate down at your usual place, a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

"We know you didn't mean to hurt us. But we were worried!"

You said nothing, your face hot with shame, hands now tightly clutching your shirt. “Come, sit down”, Pink lightly pushed you towards the table and you reluctantly plopped down, your non-dominant hand immediately clasped by Blue. She gently stroked it with her thumb, a gesture of reassurance. It helped a bit. Yellow rolled her eyes at your sorry form. “Stars, you are so dramatic!” “It really isn’t much of a problem”, Blue piped up next to you. “Just tell us next time, okay?” One shy glance at each of them later, you reluctantly nodded. “I’m still sorry I fucked up.” “It’s okay”, Pink giggled a bit at your puppy eyes. “I think you’re paying enough already.” As if to illustrate her point, your head throbbed once again. “...Maybe.” As you finally dug in, one last thought got the better of you. Something didn’t really add up here."Wait - how did you know I was drunk?", you asked perplexed, the fork in your hand coming to a grinding halt. Yellow didn't say anything, she grabbed something from her lap instead: Pink's smartphone, cluttered with a million stickers. Holding it between her index finger and her thumb, she began to waggle it in a 'gotcha' motion, her face the ultimate deadpan. The google logo was displayed on screen."You know, your human communication devices aren't that bad after all."

[rocksandrobots]

Of Rocks and Robots Ch. 2 - The First Night

Varian landed ungracefully on the ground. He looked up to see if any of the knights had seen him fly off the slide, but none were around. He picked himself up and inspected his surroundings. He stood in an alleyway between two tall towers; the crystal slide he had just slid down attached to the side of one of them.

A few moments passed and he nervously began to shift his weight from foot to foot as he waited for someone to appear. Just when he had started to think that the people he had met had abandoned him, he saw the green knight, Wasabi, exit out the front of the building. He turned to find Varian and upon seeing him he smiled and waved. Varian returned the smile and jogged over to where he stood. 

“Have fun?” The tall man queried. Varian nodded a reply, out of breath from both the ride down and from running. The man just smiled back at him and then motioned for Varian to follow. He led them to another alley a short ways away. In it was parked a strange metal vehicle on wheels. It looked similar to the ones the men in blue had rode in, only smaller, with no flashing lights on top, and was painted green. 

“Wow!” Varian exclaimed as he ran to inspect the new machine. “What is it?” 

“Uh…A car.” Wasabi replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, but Varian was too excited to notice that he was coming across as weird to the stranger. 

“How does it work?” He eagerly asked. 

“Umm... Well it runs on a combustion engine. Do..do you not have cars in your world?” 

“No.” Varian replied glibly. “Everyone just either walks or rides a horse.” 

“Oh, wow, uh..no one’s ridden a horse around here for over a hundred years.” He said with an awkward laugh. He then cleared his throat and asked Varian if he wanted to go for a ride in the fantastic invention.

“Would I ever!?” Varian gleefully exclaimed and with that grabbed the handle of the door, flung it open, and hopped inside. Varian looked in wonder at the dashboard, at all the knobs and dials, and tried to mentally guess what each may do. Wasabi entered from the other side and sat in front of a wheel that Varian guessed was for steering.

“Now the first thing one must always remember to do when riding in a car,” Wasabi instructed with a serious air, "is to strap in one’s seat belt.” With that he grabbed the aforementioned “seat belt” and pulled it over his shoulder buckling it into the metal buckle on the opposite side. Varian dutifully mimicked his action and once completed looked up at the larger man and shyly smiled; looking for acknowledgment that he did it right. The knight smiled back at him approvingly. He then took a small key from his side pocket, placed it in a keyhole next to the wheel, and gave the key a turn. The car roared to life and Varian couldn’t help but giggle in excitement.

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

Ruddiger hid himself inside an alleyway, tucked up under the open lid of a large box. He peered out at the strange people dressed in blue, wondering what they might do, praying they would just leave already. He didn’t know where he was, but it was loud and unnaturally bright. Worse, his boy, who he had arrived with, had been carried away by a strange creature and five other oddly dressed people. He had to get back to him. But how? Where would he even begin to look? 

Finally the people in blue piled back into their noisy carts and rode away. He waited for several minutes to see if they would return. When they did not, Ruddiger ventured to poke his head out of the alley and look around. He was rewarded with the sight of Varian walking around the corner into another alleyway. He excitedly took off after his owner. Upon reaching the other alley though, he was greeted with the sight of Varian entering a green cart with another human also dressed in green. Ruddiger recognized the human as one of the ones who had dragged his boy away to start with. 

The cart began to move, backing out of the alley, and Ruddiger had to scramble out of the way. It then stopped and turned to face the direction of the street. As it began to speed away, Ruddiger ran after it, made a flying leap, and landed on the back bumper. He then held on as it sped down the road.

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

Varian pressed his face to the window of the car. His nose smooshed up against the glass as he tried to get a better look at the tall buildings as they passed by. Wasabi was off to the side steering while also explaining the various rules and regulations about driving the vehicle. Varian only half way listened. Not because he didn’t care, he did. He found the machine fascinating and wanted to know more, but he also found everything else fascinating too. 

Everywhere he looked there was something new to gain his attention. It was honestly a little overwhelming because he couldn’t focus on just one thing. As soon as something grabbed his interest it would slide out of view and another thing would come along and catch his eye. He just sat in silent awe, his head swerving every which way, unable to verbally formulate the millions of questions tumbling through his mind. 

Eventually as they went along the buildings got shorter and shorter and further and further apart. After a time Wasabi turned the car into a smaller side street next to a large building with multiple windows and off in the distance Varian could see other shorter but nevertheless still quite impressive buildings with well manicured lawns. Wasabi then pulled the car to a stop alongside several other similar vehicles. 

“Well here we are! The San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, also known as SFIT.” Wasabi proudly proclaimed. 

“This is a university?” Varian asked in wonderment. Schools of higher learning were rare and expensive places. One had to go outside of Corona to the larger cities and kingdoms to find them and only the richest of nobles and royals got admitted. Varian always knew that attending such bastions of knowledge was a mere dream for a poor farm boy, though he had always hoped to at least see one someday. And here he was about to spend the night at one! “Can I look around?” 

“Well maybe tomorrow, or the day after, but the school is closed for spring break so not much is going on right now. But in the meantime it’s getting late, so let’s get cleaned up and get some sleep.” With that he stepped out of the car and Varian followed after him. 

They walked into the closest building; the tall one with all the windows. Once inside they then walked up a couple of flights of stairs which lead to a long hallway with doors on either side. Wasabi stopped at the third door on the right which had the number 303 painted on the top. He pulled out another key and unlocked the door and walked inside. Once inside he took off his helmet and flipped a switch next to the door. The room flooded with light revealing a type of living quarters. 

“Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourself at ho–” Wasabi stopped mid sentence as the light above him began to flicker off and on. He turned to see Varian switching the light switch up and down with a look of intense interest on his face.

“Fascinating.” Varian said with awe. “The switch appears to be connected to the light above. What connects them and what powers the light?” 

“Uhh…..wires and electricity?” Wasabi said completely caught off guard by this new line of questioning. 

“Electricity? Like from lightning? How do you harvest lightning?” 

“From a power plant” Wasabi said slowly trying to find the words to explain what was, to him, a part of everyday life. 

“A plant that generates electricity!? Oh, what kind of plant is it? Like a flower? Or a vine? Or-” 

“No, not a living plant.” Wasabi interrupted. “A power plant, like a factory. They use turbines to generate electricity and use copper wires to carry the current to various places. Let me guess, you don’t use electricity in your world either?” 

Varian shook his head, suddenly aware that he was completely out of place in this new world and beginning to feel more than a little awkward. He tried to curb his questions and act nonchalant in order to avoid any more embarrassment; placing his hands behind his back and taking a look around at his new surroundings. 

Wasabi’s dormitory was comprised of two rooms. The first was simultaneously a sleeping quarters and living space. There was a bed and a dresser in one corner of the room and across from it a small table with kitchen supplies. Next to that was a work desk and then next to it, across from the door, a small yellow sofa, at the foot of which there laid a small green rug. There was a window above the small kitchen area with curtains to match. There wasn’t much room, but it was kept clean and neat and was obviously enough for a single occupant or two. The second room was even smaller and covered in white tiles. Upon inspection Varian deduced it was a type of washroom, but the various bits of furniture within were unlike any he had seen before and his curiosity was piqued once more. 

“You can take a shower first if you want.” Wasabi offered. 

The shower that he pointed to was a small tiled basin with a drain and a curtain around it, on the side of the wall was a knob and a metal bit of pipe that hung down. Varian turned the knob experimentally and water began to pour from the pipe into the basin. 

“Woah” Varian breathlessly laughed as he began to turn the knob in different directions to see what different results it would produce. He was met with different increases in the water pressure and flow from the pipe.  

“You gotta turn the faucet all the way to the right for the hot water” Wasabi instructed as Varian fiddled with the shower. Varian promptly followed this advice and the water coming from the pipe started to admit steam indicating that the water was indeed getting hot. 

“You know, I once tried to build a hot water system like this for my village a couple of years ago using steam” Varian began to brag but his pomposity quickly deflated when he had to recount how he was unsuccessful in this attempt, “Sadly it didn’t really work out.”

“You don’t have running water, either?” Wasabi asked with a look of concern on his face. 

“Well, we had a well and the river,” Varian offhandedly explained, trying to shrug off the larger man’s worry. That’s when the strange seat on the other end of the small room caught his eye. 

“Oh, what’s this?” He exclaimed as he pushed down a small lever on its side. He heard a flushing noise and he looked down to see water draining out of the seat portion of the odd chair. He looked back up and immediately knew he had done something wrong when he noted the look of horror on Wasabi’s face.

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

Wasabi scurried about the dorm, dusting and cleaning where he went. The stranger was in the other room taking a shower and Wasabi took this time to organize both his home and his thoughts. Cleaning and organizing was something he enjoyed. It helped him to unclutter his mind and de-stress from the day’s events, and boy what a day this one had turned out to be! 

The arrival of the stranger from another world was already weird enough, but the constant new revelations about said world were starting to unnerve Wasabi. Teaching a grown teenage boy what a toilet was not something he had ever considered he would have to do in his life. What kind of hellish nightmare world didn’t have indoor plumbing anyways? He shuddered at the thought. 

Soon Wasabi ran out of things to clean. He kept his room so meticulous at all times that there really wasn’t much left to do. He sighed and then decided to turn his attention to the laundry. He changed out of his armor, which was covered in dust and dirt from the explosion, and into some pajamas. He couldn’t just throw said armor into a washing machine, but he could polish it off while the other clothes were washing, so he placed it into the laundry basket anyways. He then picked up the stranger’s clothes that he had left outside of the bathroom door. They were also covered in grime and dirt from the explosion from earlier and so Wasabi had agreed to wash them as well. However he remembered that without running water or electricity there undoubtedly weren’t any washing machines in the stranger’s world either. There was no telling how long he had worn these clothes without cleaning them. Wasabi grimaced and gingerly held the articles of clothing between his forefinger and thumb as he placed them into the basket with the rest of the laundry.       

Before he could head down to the dormitory’s laundry room though he needed to find something else for the boy to wear for the night. So Wasabi went scrounging around his chest of drawers to see if he could find anything that might fit. He eventually pulled out a pair of old jogging shorts. He hoped that the drawstring on them could be tied and tightened enough so they wouldn’t slip off the other boy’s small waist. In addition to this he pulled out one of his old hand knitted sweaters. He had made it back in high school and it was getting to be a little too tight for him but it still would be baggy on the kid. Wasabi shrugged. Oh well, it was just to sleep in anyways, the boy’s real clothes would be clean and dry by morning.

Wasabi looked up from what he was doing when he began to hear singing coming from the other room. The kid was taking a while, but Wasabi supposed if it was his first ever shower he would take forever too. That’s when his stomach began to growl. It’d been hours since he’d last eaten and there’s no telling how long it’d been since the stranger had eaten as well. He looked at the clock on his nightstand. Two in the morning; not much left still open except the local pizzeria. Being right next to a college they were open twenty four seven.  

“Hey! I’m going to order us a pizza, do you like black olives?” Wasabi yelled through the door. 

“Love them!” the boy yelled from the other side. 

With that Wasabi folded the clean clothes and laid them on the sofa and then went to call in the order. He had just finished placing the call, with the man on the other end promising to deliver in five to ten minutes, when he turned around and was greeted by the sight of a raccoon clawing at his window. 

Wasabi screamed. The wild creature had begun to lift up the bottom panel of the window in order to get in and was squirming his way through. Wasabi rushed over to the window to stop it, tossing his phone on his bed in passing. 

“Oh no you don’t!” Wasabi barked while trying to shove the raccoon back outside. That’s when the stranger came out of the bathroom. 

He stood there dripping for a few moments, towel wrapped around his waist, trying to process what he was seeing. Suddenly recognition swept across his face and his mouth split into a big grin.  

“Ruddiger!” he yelled with joy and then ran up to the window and scooped the raccoon into his arms, bringing him inside and nuzzling his face in the creature’s fur as if it was a pet cat or dog. 

Wasabi looked on in silent horror and confusion. Out of all the odd things the kid had done or said today this was the most baffling and disturbing to Wasabi. 

“Nope! Unh-uh! No way! We don’t allow wild animals inside dormitories around here!” 

“Rudggier’s not wild. He’s tame.” The boy replied with a laugh, still cooing over the masked critter. 

“Rudggier? It has a name?” Wasabi asked in disbelief. “Well does it also have it’s shots?” 

“Shots?” The boy echoed in confusion. 

“Yes. Shots. As in Vaccines.” The boy just stared back at him blankly so Wasabi continued, “You know medicine that’s supposed to prevent you from getting sick?”   

“You have medicine that stops people from ever getting sick?” Varian responded in amazement. 

This sent Wasabi into a fresh new wave of panic. The kid had no concept of modern technology, hygiene, nor medicine, and here he was snuggling with a diseased ridden vermin claiming it as his pet. Wasabi bit his fist and took deep breaths to try and keep himself from hyperventilating. Once he thought he was calm enough to speak again he continued with his argument.  

“Look, pets or any other kind of animal isn’t allowed on school campus so he’s just going to have to go back outside.” 

“No.” The younger boy backed away and clutched the raccoon tightly to his chest in a defensive manner. “If Ruddgier goes then I go too.” 

“Go where!? We’ve already been through this. You can’t sleep outside.” Wasabi was quickly losing what little patience he had left. He couldn’t understand why the kid was being so obstinate.

Varian was also losing his patience. “I do it all the time. It’s no big deal.” He said with an eye roll.

“Why!? Does everyone in your world live like cavemen!?” The boy looked really offended at that comment but Wasabi didn’t give him a chance to retort back. “Look this isn’t up for discussion. Raccoons aren’t pets and they don’t belong inside. End of story. I don’t even know why you’d ever want that thing around anyways?” 

“Because he’s all that I have left!” The boy yelled back ferociously. 

Wasabi was taken aback. Not just by the intensity of the boy’s voice but also by the complete change in demeanor. All of the previous wonderment in his eyes was replaced with anger and pain and upon his face was a scowl fiercer than any wild animal. He looked feral and cornered, like he could attack you and/or bolt from the room at a moment’s notice. Then the actual words the boy had said began to sink in; “all that I have left.”

“Oh man.” Wasabi whispered to himself and hung his head in shame. This poor kid was lost. Nothing in this world was familiar to him and his family was a world away, and what had Wasabi done to actually help? Tell him to send away his pet; the one thing that reminded him of home. He sighed and swept a hand across his face, as if the action would wipe away his anxiety and embarrassment. “Look, I’m sorry.” 

“What?” The boy responded in disbelief. Whatever he had been expecting the older guy to say, an apology wasn’t it. 

Wasabi sighed again and calmly repeated his apology. “I’m sorry. All this time I was thinking about myself and what I was comfortable with, and I didn’t take into consideration your feelings. That was selfish of me and I apologize.” 

The teen just continued to look at him with a mixture of confusion and distrust, so Wasabi pressed forward. “Look, perhaps we can come to a compromise.” He slowly suggested, trying to mentally figure out what that compromise might be. However, before he could continue on, there was a knock at the door.

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

Varian watched as Wasabi talked with the man at the door, only paying half attention to their conversation. His brain was still reeling from the fight that had just occurred. Varian wasn’t used to hearing apologies, not sincere ones anyways. There wasn’t a single person in his life who hadn’t let him down before. They would feign interest in his well being only to abandon him later or go back on their word. Therefore, Varian didn’t know what to make of Wasabi. He sounded honest but so had they. Yet, none of them had taken him into their home and offered him help when he needed it either.  

Wasabi finished giving the man at the door some green slips of paper, took from him a flat brown box, and wished the man goodnight. The box must have contained some sort of food as Varian could smell roasted garlic and other spices emitting from it. 

“Now as I was saying,” Wasabi turned to him, “maybe we can work out a compromise. We really can’t just let a raccoon roam free around the apartment complex, but if you don’t want him to sleep outside, then I can make him up a bed in the bathroom and he has to stay there for the night.” 

Varian mulled over the proposal. It seemed fair. Ruddiger would be safe and he wouldn’t need much for the night; just a blanket and some food. Varian began to nod his agreement but Wasabi was already continuing on before he could say anything. 

“He can stay, that is, only on three conditions. One, I call the vet in the morning and schedule him a check up and they’ll undoubtedly give him the shots he needs.”

“What’s a vet?”

”An animal doctor. Two, also in the morning we swing by the pet store and buy him a leash, a carrier, and a cage for him to sleep in.” 

“A cage!?” Varian was less agreeable to that last condition. 

“Yes, a cage. He can’t be wandering around the halls and he can’t be outside unsupervised. You saw all those cars on the road on the way over here, right?” Varian nodded. “Well there’s even more of them going about during the day and you don’t want him to get run over do you, or get lost in the big city because he snuck out during the night?” 

Varian looked forlornly down at his pet as he held him. No he didn’t want either of those things to happen, and this was a whole new world, no telling what other dangers existed for a raccoon. But he just knew Ruddiger would hate being stuck in a cage. He sure did. Varian nuzzled his face into the raccoon’s fur, unsure what to do.

“Don’t worry.” Wasabi tried to encourage him ”You can let him out whenever you’re here and can take him outside as long as he has the leash on.”

“Ok.” Varian said softly, his face still buried in his pet as he hugged him. 

 “Aright, last condition, we can not let any of the Residential Advisers know that we’re keeping a wild animal in the dorms. I can’t afford being kicked out of student housing. So we have to keep him hidden from the higher ups.” Wasabi pointed right at Ruddiger as he said this to emphasize his point. “Got it?”

Varian was surprised. He didn’t realize that Ruddiger could be such a risk to Wasabi. He also wasn’t expecting anyone to go to such trouble just for him and the realization that this man was willing to risk his home just to keep Varian happy was humbling to say the least. 

“Got it” he repeated back, vowing to himself not to let that happen. 

“Great! Now that that’s settled, here’s the pizza if you’re hungry.’ Wasabi sat the box down on the table. “I’ve also laid out some clean clothes for you to sleep in, they’re on the couch, and I’m going to go downstairs and throw the laundry in the washing machine.” With that he  picked up a basket full of clothes and walked towards the door. 

“You also have a machine that washes clothes!? Can I see it?” Varian asked, his curiosity piqued once again. 

“Sure, we can go down together when it’s time to put them in the dryer. That gives you some time to eat and change clothes.” Wasabi struggled a bit to open the door as his hands were full, but no sooner did he get it open, was he then stopped by Varian’s voice. 

“Hey, Wasabi.” 

“Hmm?” Wasabi turned around and stood in the doorway to look at him. 

Varian was shuffling his feet and looking downwards trying to form the right words. 

“Thanks. For everything, for helping me, I mean. Not a whole lot of people would go out their way to do that and you didn’t have to, so, ..thank you.” Varian looked up at those last two words, emphasizing how much he truly appreciated all that was being done for him. 

“Naw, don’t mention it. After all, what are friends for?” 

Varian didn’t know the answer to that question. He had never had friends before; not real ones. Not ones that would go through any pains to help you out because helping was just the right thing to do. But apparently this was a rhetorical question, as Wasabi only stood around long enough to give Varian a smile and then turned to leave, closing the door behind him. 

Varian stood still for a few moments, looking at the space where the older teen had stood, mulling over what had just happened. But soon enough Ruddiger was getting tired of being held and was struggling to escape his arms, distracting him from his thoughts. He put the raccoon down and then went to change into the clothes Wasabi had given him. 

They were far too big on him. The short britches had a drawstring to tighten them with but even when pulled as tight as they would go they hung loose upon his hips. The jersey was no better. It hung down to his knees and the sleeves went several inches past his wrists, completely covering his hands. But he dealt with ill fitting clothes for most of his life. Usually just re-purposing his father’s old hand-me-downs, re-patching or hemming as needed. So Varian just rolled up the sleeves, deciding to make do; at least these clothes were well maintained and didn’t need any repairing.    

He then turned his attention to the food. He had heard of pizza before, it was apparently popular in Italy according to the sailors and traveling merchants he sometimes talked to. A must have if one were to visit say Naples, not that Varian ever figured he would. He had never traveled further than Vardaros, a city outside of Corona’s walls that his dad would sometimes go to market to. 

The pizza consisted of flat bread covered in olives, onions, and entirely too much cheese that overflowed in stringy pieces when he picked up one of the pre-cut slices. He took an experimental bite. Under the cheese there was a type of red sauce spiced with garlic and other herbs. It wasn’t bad, though not what he had been expecting. He curled up on the sofa, sitting cross legged, and eating the rest of the slice, pulling off pieces of the runny cheese that was falling off to give to Ruddigger. Who grabbed them from his hands and gulped them down eagerly. 

After finishing a slice Varian decided he had had enough. Ruddiger apparently had not and ran up to the table to grab his own slice from the box. Varian watched the gluttonous raccoon with amusement but then soon found himself yawning. He stretched, feeling sleep catching up to him after the day’s events. This, though, seemed to be a signal to Ruddgier, who immediately dropped the piece of pizza he was eating and sprinted back to the window. 

“Ruddigger?” Varian called out in both confusion and alarm. Worried that his pet would leave so soon after they had just been reunited, he got up from the couch and followed. 

However Ruddiger only went as far as the window sill. He picked up something in his mouth and then turned back around and trotted back to where Varian was standing, proudly holding his head up expecting Varian to take the item from him. 

“Whatcha got there buddy?” Varian asked as Ruddiger deposited a yellow bit of rock into his hand. Like a puppy dog who just fetched a stick and was entirely too proud of itself for completing such a simple task, he sat back and eagerly waited for his master’s approval. 

Varian’s heart skipped a beat. It was a piece of amber, the amber. It was roughly four inches in length that tapered to a sharp point. It’s sides were uneven and craggy but it was entirely flat and smooth on one end, as if it had been cut. But the amber couldn’t be cut, unless….

Varian’s pulse began to race as his mind ran through the possibilities. It must have come through the portal with him, which meant that the portal itself must have cut the piece off when it closed. Which made sense as it wasn’t a physical force that ruptured the surface of the unbreakable rock but an absence of space itself. What this meant for his father and how he could go about implementing this knowledge was invaluable and the first real break though he had since the accident. Now if only he could get back to his lab…

Varian stopped his run away thoughts and looked around at the unfamiliar apartment. But he wasn’t at his lab, or Corona, he was here. And he didn’t even know where here actually was, or how to get back, or even if he could get back. 

Varian slumped back onto the sofa, tears filling his eyes. The full enormity of what had happened to him finally sinking in without anything else to distract himself with. He would never admit it to anyone, but he was scared. Scared that he may have lost his dad for good. He couldn’t stop the tears now. Varian couldn’t tell you how many times he had cried since that fateful snowstorm but for a while he had believed he had no more tears left to shed. Apparently he was wrong, just like how he was wrong about so many other things in his life. 

He wiped his eyes and laid upon the couch, turning his head away from the door and curling up in a fetal position. He didn’t want Wasabi coming through the door and seeing him awake and distressed. He no longer cared about washing machines and pizza and whatever other wonders this world may hold, he just wanted to sleep and to dream about happier times in his life. Lucky for him the sofa was cushiony and soft, far more comfortable then what he had been sleeping on for the past year or so, and it therefore lulled him to sleep soon enough and he was blessed with the sweet relief of unconsciousness.

[mycupoffanfiction]

His Favourite Gal: Part 3 A Bucky x Reader Mobster AU Fic

An eventual mob!Bucky x Reader fic

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6

The reader begins working as a waitress at Bucky Barnes’ favourite club in town. Little does she realise that working on mob territory owned by the infamous King of New York, Bucky Barnes, comes with it’s quirks as the reader is slowly pulled into the mobster life. Warnings: Not so platonic fluff, some violence, reader experiences anxiety, guilt and shock in this one.

Word count: Approx 5500

Hello! This one has a bit more action than the previous two parts, things are starting to get a bit more serious now. Let me know what you think and if you want to be tagged for the upcoming parts! Enjoy!

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You woke up the next day, full of excitement and giddy anticipation for your date with Bucky. You felt like a teenager again, it was odd, feeling this excited about someone, it was unfamiliar after all the bad occurrences with previous attempts at dating. Perhaps this would actually go somewhere, you dreaded to think about if the date failed. Keeping your anxious thoughts at bay, you chilled out to your favourite music as you got ready.

 You were pulled from your thoughts as a knock at your door came. Rushing to answer it, you smoothed down the red dress you’d picked out one last time and opened the door to see Bucky stood leant up against the door frame with a bunch of flowers. “Hey sugar.” Bucky drawled, looking at you through hooded eyes as he handed you the bouquet. “You look beautiful.” Bucky gave you his lopsided smile, his eyes shone with excitement. “Thank you, you look,” You paused, looking at his deep blue suit and black tie, his hair was scraped back into a low bun with a few strands loose around his face. You could see his metal hand peeking out between the details of the leather glove he wore on his left hand. “Very handsome.” You finished, allowing a nervous smile to play on your lips. You moved away from the door to let him in while you found somewhere to put your flowers.

 Bucky entered your apartment and waited for you to dig out your vase. He wandered around a bit, inspecting your sorry state of a living space. Living in a bit of a bad neighbourhood, your apartment had more than seen better days. It was a little dingy, dark, constantly had new cracks in the walls and ceiling, not to mention the exposed, old pipes on your walls which seemed to tick and creak every time you used the water in your apartment. “You never told me your place was in such a state of disrepair.” Bucky remarked, leaning over some furniture to study a large crack that ran up nearly the entire length of the wall. “Uh, yeah, it’s not the nicest place, but it’s liveable.” You replied, turning on the tap to fill up the vase, the pipes jumping to life and making a symphony of noises. Bucky scoffed. “Liveable.” He shook his head, smiling over at you as you arranged the flowers in the vase. “Come on, doll, best get going.” Bucky moved across to you, holding out his arm for you.

 You made your way down to the car that waited outside of your building for you both. Bucky had insisted on not allowing the driver to open the door for you so he could do it himself. You were flattered by his insistence to be a gentleman to you, enjoying the chivalrous acts. You got comfortable in the plush backseat of the car when Bucky reached over and took your hand in his. You locked eyes, blushing a little before looking down and smiling at how tiny your hand seemed compared to his. You could feel the coolness of his metal prosthetic through his glove, but you didn’t mind, it felt nice on your hand, which felt boiling and clammy from your nerves.

 The car eventually pulled up outside of a classy restaurant, which appeared to be quite empty, at least from the outside. Making your way indoors, hanging off Bucky’s arm, you both strutted into the building. You immediately noticed Clint off to the side occupying a table with Steve. “I’d like to say that Clint and Steve are also on a date, but I have to assume they’re here to make sure we’re safe?” You piped up upon seeing them. Bucky chuckled and shook his head slightly. “Oh no, they’ve been dating for a while, doll.” Bucky chuckles, poking you in your side playfully as you watched the waiter approach you both. “But joking aside, they are here just to make sure there’s no trouble. I promise they won’t get in the way, just pretend like you didn’t see them, you won’t even know they are here.” Bucky assures you as you follow the waiter to your table, which was off to the side, away from the other customers.

 Bucky ordered you both some drinks and appetisers to start, insisting you could have whatever you liked and as much as you liked. “You know, doll, I feel like every time I tell you to dress real fancy, you just upstage yourself each time.” Bucky chuckles to himself as he trails his eyes over your dress, making you giggle a little. “I wanted to impress.” You admit, letting the blush creep onto your cheeks without hiding it. “You do more than impress, sugar.” Bucky says in his gruff, low voice. God, how does he do it? How is he so smooth? How is his voice like liquid gold? You involuntarily let out a little hum in reaction and by the time you’ve realised the sound you made; Bucky is looking at you through hooded eyes, enjoying the reaction he’s getting out of you.

 Smooth jazz begins to play in the background as your first course is brought out to your table. You take great delight in how good the food tastes. It feels fresh and expertly made. “So, Bucky.” You begin, taking a bite of food from your fork. “Is this a one-time thing?” You ask, fluttering your lashes at him, hoping to dear god that it isn’t. “Only if you want it to be, sugar.” Bucky winks at you. God, you can feel yourself melting under his gaze. “I just can’t get enough of you, (Y/n), I don’t want it to be a one off, if you’ll let me take you out again of course.” Bucky’s face goes serious as he speaks, his eyes softening. “Good, because I’d love to do this again.” A little smile graced you lips as you spoke and Bucky looks at you like you’ve just told him he’s won the goddamn lottery.

 You both finish up the first course, your conversation is easy and smooth, as it always is with Bucky. Bucky orders a main meal for you both and you enjoy the wine served to you. He was so easy to talk to, so charming and it really felt like he hung on every word you said. “What’s your social life like?” He asks, picking up his glass of wine and swirling it around a little before taking a sip. “Besides the socialisation I get at work, non-existent.” You scoff, laughing it off, knowing how pathetic that probably sounds. “Not a party girl?” Bucky chuckles. “Not in the way the other young people party, no. I don’t do nightclubs, not a fan of crowded bars, that sort of thing. It’s too hectic.” You explain, clutching your wine glass. “How would you feel about accompanying me to some of my social events throughout the day? I have to see clients, but they always bring pretty girls with them, perhaps it’d be nice to have a pretty girl with me for a change.” Bucky suggests. “Hm, you want to show me off, Barnes?” You say smugly, smirking at him as you bring your wine glass up to your lips. “Maybe I do.” He chuckles, leaning back in his seat as he eyes you. “You are gorgeous, (Y/n), and you can tell me if there’s any more shady business men around, you seem to be good at spotting them.” Bucky tries to add a reason to it, but you know he likely just wants to have you around to hang off his arm. “Are you asking me to be your waitress and a spy?” You ask, dramatically clasping a hand over your chest in mock surprise, which elicits one of his deep, rumbly chuckles from Bucky. “I can pay you extra.” He tries to sweeten the deal. “Please, it’s not like you have to ask twice. I’d jump off a bridge if you asked me to.” You say under your breath, realising you’d just said that out loud, you look up at him and blush furiously. “Sorry, it’s just- I, uh.” You frown, trying to find an excuse but Bucky cuts you off with a hearty laugh. “I didn’t know you had it that bad for me, (Y/n). Although I did notice the way you look at me, the way you blush when I flirt with you.” Bucky says confidently, sitting forward again and grabbing your hand. “You’re the sweetest dame I’ve ever met.” Bucky says sincerely as he squeezes your hand.

 The date goes smoothly and as soon as you realise it’s coming to an end you feel a pang of sadness. You weren’t ready for it to end quite yet, but all good things must come to an end. Bucky paid the bill and waved you off each time you tried your best to make him let you pay for your food, despite it costing literally an arm and a leg. “I have to go and take care of some business this afternoon, sweetheart, but I promise we’ll have our usual meal and a drink tonight, alright?” Bucky held your hand while you exited the restaurant. “Alright.” You nod. “How about another date, perhaps tomorrow?” Bucky asks. You don’t respond as you watch a fleet of three all black cars with tinted windows round the corner at the end of the street and speed sloppily down the road towards you. “Sugar?” Bucky grips your shoulder before following your line of sight to the cars speeding down the road. As they screech to a halt right in front of the restaurant, Bucky grabs your arm and pushes you behind him into the alleyway next to the restaurant. “Wait here for Clint, don’t move, alright?” Bucky barks an order at you and you look at him a little shocked by his assertive tone. Nodding you duck behind a dumpster and watch helplessly as Bucky is approached by the men hopping out of the vehicles.

 You spot Steve joining Bucky at his side and you clock Drax approaching with a few of their men from across the street. They must have been around in case something happened and you wondered how often showdowns like this really happen and if you are just that unlucky that you got caught up in one. You turn to see Clint coming round the back of the restaurant and signalling for you to join him. You get up, staying in a crouched position as you hear the shouting match going on between the two groups of men on the main street. When you reach Clint, he takes a hold of you and escorts you around the back, keeping a gun drawn just in case. The pop of gunfire fills your ears and the shouting gets more intense and you feel a rush of adrenaline and fear pulse through you. “Fuck.” Clint swears under his breath, glancing over his shoulder before looking ahead and stopping to help you climb over the back fence. Once you’re over, he vaults over to join you and grabs your arm, running you away from the gunfire. You heave in a breath, thinking the worst that could happen. Bucky could die. He could get seriously injured. You’d never see him again; you didn’t even get to kiss him. Christ why were you thinking about that now? Clint practically drags you down the street, but decides after a few minutes that you running in heels is not fast enough and without warning, picks you up, throwing you over his shoulder like you weighed nothing and bolted down the street.

 Bucky’s black SUV pulls up and Clint all but throws you in the back seat before getting in the front passenger seat. You buckle up and look out of the window, waiting to catch a sight of what’s happening as you try to regain your breath. “Is being in a mob always this dramatic?” You ask. Clint huffs out a laugh as the SUV weaves in and out of the traffic. A gunshot sounds close and you look out of the back window to see another vehicle in pursuit of yours. “Shit, got one on our tail.” You shout, way louder than needed, but you’re starting to panic. “Stay calm.” Clint throws a look of worry over his shoulder at you. Stay calm? That just makes it worse! A bullet hits the back window, making you squeal and recoil a bit. “Fuck, (Y/n) get down!” Clint shouts. You do as you’re told and duck down on the back seat.

 Scott throws the SUV around the corner as more bullets hit the car. “Why the fuck are they following us?” You yell, peaking up enough to see the car behind you. “Probably think you’re someone important to the boss.” Scott replies as he floors the accelerator on a quiet stretch of road, throwing you back into the seat with a thump. “I’m just a fucking waitress.” You respond, not really aiming it at anyone. Clint chuckles and you wonder how he’s finding any humour in this situation at all. The tires screech as Scott rounds a bend, expertly missing another car and you chance a look over the back of the seat at the vehicle again. Shoving your hair out of your face, you take in a panicked breath. Scott approaches the end of the road, ready to turn again when you see the car behind you speeding up. “They’re gonna ram us!” You scream. Scott ignores you and slows slightly to turn the car and as he does you brace yourself as the vehicle behind you smashes into the side of the SUV. The sound of metal scraping on metal and the glass cracking from impact fills your ears. Clint took the brunt of the hit; you head throbs and you realise you’ve hit it in the crash, but you feel the dullness the adrenaline provides. You can see the men approaching from behind, jumping out of the car. “Clint!” You scream, reaching forward. “Fucking Christ, Clint! Scott!” You scream their names but there’s no answer or movement from either of them. They’re out cold. You reach forward, hands shaking as you search for the pistol you knew Clint had on him. Pulling it out of his waist holster, you take off the safety like you’d been taught in the past. Just as you’re sliding back into the back seat, the door is ripped open, the man from the car behind reaches for you but you quickly hold up the gun and fire a shot, curses absentmindedly falling from your lips as he falls back, clutching his stomach as the blood stain spreads on his torso and he begins to gurgle blood. The second of the pair of men yells and fires towards the back of the car, the bullet whizzing straight through the broken windshield and impacting somewhere in the car. You stifle a scream as you duck out of view, holding up the pistol to shoot him when he comes into view. A few more shots hit the car, but thankfully your assailant can’t see exactly where you are. The sound of sirens becomes apparent in the distance. As the second man approaches, everything feels like it goes into slow motion as you fire three shots at him in quick succession, letting out a blood curdling scream as adrenaline courses through you.

 And then the silence came. He slumps to the floor, and everything feels cold and dead for a moment, the ringing of gunshots in your ears as you begin to shake uncontrollably. You click the safety on and your shaking hands drop the gun, it lands with a thud and you jump at the noise. You sit and wait as the sirens draw closer and you look out of the open door, seeing another SUV round the corner and come to a halt. You can hear and feel your heart beating in your ears and everything sounds a bit muffled. It’s Bucky. He has Steve, Drax and Sam with them and they all file out of the car, running straight for the crash site.

 Bucky locks eyes with you and you hear him scream your name but you don’t react, you just stare at him completely bewildered, heaving in deep breaths. He runs up to the open door and reaches in over the dead bodies, grabbing you and pulling you out of the car and into his arms. He cradles you as you begin sobbing when the realisation hits you that you’ve just killed two men. Two human beings. “I’ve got you, sweetheart. I’m here.” Bucky coos softly in your ear as he pulls you away from the scene. You stutter out his name between shaky breathes and he holds you tighter. “I- I killed.” You can’t even finish your sentence before collapsing into a sob. “I know sweetheart. I’m sorry. God I’m so sorry.” Bucky strokes your hair as you wrap your arms around his neck while he carries you away from the crash. “Are you hurt?” He asks. You shake your head into his neck as you sob. “I need you to use your words, sweetheart, are you hurt?” He asks again and you let out a pained “I don’t think so.” Before another sob wracks your body and you bury your face in his neck, letting your hair fall over your features. Drax immediately runs to the wrecked vehicle, calling out for Clint and Scott before pulling the passenger door open and ushering his men over to help.

 Bucky gently helps you into his SUV and Steve brings you a fresh bottle of water from the boot of the car. You take a few small sips and try to regain control over your shaking frame. “Steve’s gonna take care of the police, okay? I’m going to get you somewhere safe, alright?” Bucky explains, glancing across at Steve when he mentions him. You nod, and choke out a thank you to Steve, who gives you a tight lipped smile. Steve reaches forward and grips your hand, squeezing gently. “You alright?” He asks, you only nod and let out another shaky breath before taking another sip of water. “Get her to a safehouse Buck, I’ll meet you there later once I’ve taken care of things here.” Steve instructs, giving your hand one last squeeze, letting go and gripping your shoulder, looking you in the eye one last time before letting go and leaving. Bucky closes your car door and gets into the driver’s seat next to you. He waits a moment for you to put on your seatbelt but when he realises you’re in too much shock to really even think straight, he reaches across and does it for you, clocking your shaky and erratic breathing. “Come on sweetheart, I need you to sit back,” He begins, gently pushing you flush against the seat. “And I need you to slow down for me, take deep breathes, alright? Can you do that for me?” He asks, leaning to get a glimpse of your eyes, forcing you to focus on him. You nod and melt into the seat. “In…” He speaks softly, keeping eye contact with you. “And out.” He coaches your breathing and then takes hold of your hand. “Alright, (Y/n), I’m going to put some nice music, and we’re going to have a comfortable, calm drive to a safehouse.” Bucky tells you before turning on the stereo and picking out some calm jazz.

 Bucky begins driving, glancing over at you now and again as he slowly takes you through the streets of New York. “Sweetheart, tell me how your date went, what did we do?” He asks, trying to keep you from experiencing more panic and anxiety by making you focus on something else. “Better yet, you still want to go on another date?” He adds. “Yeah, I’d like that.” You swallow thickly. “I hope I didn’t scare you off.” He chuckles, hoping to lighten the mood. “N-no, you didn’t.” The corners of your lips curve a little. “What do you want to do on our next date then, sugar? Tell me and we’ll do it.” He grins across at you. You think for a moment before looking over at him. “I’d like a night time picnic, I want to watch the stars with you and I’d like to…” You trail off, lowering your voice to a mutter, so quiet he doesn’t hear you. “What was that last part, doll?” He asks, keeping his eyes on the road as you exit the city. “I’d like to kiss you.” You mutter, if it weren’t for his reaction to turn the music down, Bucky wouldn’t have heard you. He flashes that beautiful grin at you and you turn to mush, blushing bright pink. You look down at your hands and fumble about with them for a moment. “I’d like to kiss you too, sugar.” Bucky beams at you. “We’ll do all of that for our next date, how ‘bout that?” Bucky grins to himself, keeping his attention on the road. “Perhaps try and get a little rest in, doll. It’s gonna be a few hours before we get there, alright?” Bucky suggests, gripping your hand and squeezing before letting go and putting both hands on the wheel.

 You sit for a while, watching the occasional car pass and watch as the autumnal trees blur into a beautiful mix of reds and yellows as you whiz by them. The gentle hum of the car and the smooth jazz playing softly through the speakers slowly lull you to sleep and you slump up against the passenger door into a blissful slumber.

 You started to wake when you felt Bucky’s chest press up against you. You quickly realise you were in his arms and he was carrying you. You breathed in his scent, right now he smelled of his cologne, it was a warm and comforting spiced, woody smell. Opening your eyes, you saw it was nearing twilight and you wondered just how long you’d been in the car for. “Hey sweetheart.” Bucky carefully put you down, still holding onto you. “Didn’t mean to wake ya.” He spoke softly. “We’re here.” He says into your hair as he pulls you close, resting his arm around your shoulder. You melt into his side and bask in the comfort of his presence. Looking around you take in your surroundings. It seems to be lost in the middle of a forest, with trees all around aside from the mud track behind you where Bucky had driven in. The safehouse was a beautiful cabin, it was simple, but it looked cosy and inviting. “Let’s get you indoors.” Bucky smiles down at you before guiding you up to the front door and letting you both in.

 The inside of the cabin nicely decorated, it feels homey and welcoming. It’s small and it feels quaint, but you don’t mind, it’s still larger and more comfortable than your apartment and that’s all you could ask for. Bucky brushes by you gently and moves to turn on the wood burner, collecting together the materials for a fire. “How about you get yourself cleaned up, (Y/n)? I’ll get the fire going and I’ll find you some clothes, alright?” Bucky points at the door to the bathroom and you thank him before walking across the hardwood floor to the restroom.

 It was just as nice in there as it was in the rest of the house, the shower was however, unreasonably large, but perhaps you were just too used to the tiny, cramped one in your flat. You undressed yourself, your dress was likely ruined with blood stains and debris from the crash and shooting. The faces of the two men flashing across your mind as you thought about it. You turned and caught a glimpse of your face in the mirror, seeing blood splatter on your cheek. You felt sick. The realisation that you’d killed someone came back to you and desperately tried not to let it over take you like last time. “It wasn’t my fault.” You whispered to yourself as you clutched the edge of the basin, looking at yourself in the mirror. “God you’re well and truly in it, (Y/n).” You told yourself. Heaving a sigh, you turned to the shower and got the water running, getting in and letting the warm water wash over you. The showerhead was large and made the water feel like blissful, gentle rain on your exposed skin. Scrubbing away the blood, you tried to wash away your stress and fear from the last few hours with it, wishing it would all just disappear down the drain.

 The shooting replayed in your mind and you felt a rush of grief. “It’s not your fault. Not your fault.” You tried to tell yourself, you didn’t realise, but you’d spoken it out loud and when it reverberated off the tiled shower walls, you were sure Bucky could hear your voice from the other room. You spent a bit longer in the shower, not really paying attention to cleaning yourself and rather staring at the same spot your eyes had settled on. How had you ended up like this? Only a couple of months ago you’d been working at a rundown bar and as soon as you set foot in Stark’s Club, your life had gone from zero to a hundred in a few short seconds. Was it worth it? Would you face repercussions for shooting to protect yourself? Was Clint okay? What happened to Scott? Why did those men follow you? You’re just a waitress. You’re just- a knock at the door interrupts your thoughts and you turn, instantly clutching your hands to your chest. “(Y/n), doll, you been in there a while, are you alright?” Bucky asks. “Y-yeah.” Your voice fails you completely and what was supposed to come out confidently, came out as a whimper. “You sure?” Bucky asks through the door. You realise you’ve been crying when you taste the saltiness of your tears on your lips. “I, uh, I’m alright.” You choke out. You hear a sceptical humph from the other side. “Let me know if you need anything, your clothes are across the hall in the bedroom, sweetheart.” He calls through to you before he falls silent and you know he’s walked away.

 You finish up your shower and towel yourself off, keeping the large fluffy towel wrapped around you. You open the door and exit the room, looking over at Bucky who looks across at you from the living space, his eyes trailing over you. You don’t mind his gaze; he always looks so captivated when he sees you. This is probably the most bare he’s ever seen you, the towel only just covering your butt. Bucky clears his throat, uttering an apology for staring and shifts his gaze back to his book, chancing one more sneaky glance at you. A little smirk plays on your lips before you head into the bedroom. You spot the little pile of clothing on the double bed in the middle of the room. The room is a bit of a tight space, enough room for the bed and a few storage units, but it feels homely.

 Walking back into the main living space to join Bucky, you occupied the space on the sofa next to him. He looked up from his book and shot you a little smile. “Steve said he won’t be joining us; he’s got everything under control back home but he wants us to lay low for a couple of days while he takes care of a few loose ends.” Bucky informed you, closing his book and setting it down. “Am I in trouble for shooting those two guys?” You ask, your voice still a bit shaky. “No sweetheart, I promise.” Bucky reaches over a grips your shoulder comfortingly. “What happened wasn’t your fault. I’m so sorry you had to defend yourself like that. I never wanted to put you in that situation.” Bucky let the words fall out of his mouth followed by a string of apologies as he shifted to face you. “Although I am impressed by your quick reactions while you were in shock.” He added, giving you a tight lipped smile. “I know they tried to kill me but I just feel so bad.” You closed your eyes and swallowed thickly before flitting them open again to see that Bucky had scooted closer to you. “C’mere sugar.” Bucky held out his arm, leaving his side open for you. Without hesitation, you moved next to him and rested of his chest, melting into him instantly. The gentle beating of his heartbeat soothing you as his metal arm snaked around your back and held you close. “You’ll be alright doll. We’ll be alright. I totally understand if you don’t want to be seen around me in public anymore though.” Bucky spoke into your hair. You lightly smacked his chest in response. “I’m not limiting my already limited social life just to make some rival group think I’m scared into submission or something.” You mumble into his chest. Bucky had since changed his clothes and his shirt was so soft against your cheek. You grab at his shirt and smooth the material over with your fingers as his warm breath fans over the shell of your ear. “God, you really are something, doll. Most people would’a booked it by now.” He chuckles. “I’m stubborn.” You shrug, relaxing into him more as his right arm comes up to hold you tighter.

 Truth was, you were starting to realise how in love with Bucky you were, not only that, but if you walked away now from all of this, you’d have no one there for you to help you go through what had already happened. You were slipping deeper into Bucky’s world and you were not afraid to fall even further in.

 The evening drew on, the two of you made a simple dinner with the small supply of food in the cabin and you spend the rest of the evening in front of the log burner and leaning into Bucky’s side with a book in your hands. After a while, you lowered your book and shift to look over at Bucky. “You know, I used to think I was crazy for thinking you liked me.” You broke the silence. You see him shift his head to face you. “I still think I’m crazy, I’m just your waitress.” You smile to yourself. “Nah, you’re my favourite gal, sugar. Have been since the moment I set eyes on you.” Bucky nudges you playfully. “God, that was the most awkward interview ever.” You groan, laughing a little at the end. You feel a chuckle rumble through Bucky’s chest. “Hiring you was the best decision I made. I do feel awful that I put you in danger though.” Bucky heaves a sigh, turning back to look at his book before he closes it.

 “Even though this is slightly terrifying, I’ve never had this much excitement in my life.” You say light heartedly. You know the pain of what happened earlier today won’t leave you anytime soon, but you know if you use humour and appreciate the other parts of your situation that it could help, at least to ease the weight of it. “Bucky, why did that gang attack us?” Your tone becomes serious. “Christ, (Y/n), m’not sure I wanna drag you further into this.” Bucky whispers. “That’s a bit late, isn’t it? I’m already in it. If you didn’t want me in it, you wouldn’t be letting me cuddle with you and taking me on dates.” You answer matter-of-factly. Bucky hums in response. “I suppose you’re right.” He agrees. “Can I tell you tomorrow? I promise I’ll tell you everything, but it’s not really a conversation I want to have in the middle of the night when you’re already trying to process what happened today.” Bucky’s voice is soft and low. “Alright.” You nod.

 Settling into his side, you rest your head on his shoulder, draping your hand over his middle. You feel Bucky press a gentle kiss to the top of your head and before you know it, your eyelids become heavier and heavier until you can’t stay awake any longer and you relax fully into Bucky’s gentle embrace, allowing sleep to take you.

____________________________

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[allsortsofgeekery]

One of Us is Lying: Chapter 1

Synopsis: Five high school students, all from different social groups and ranks in the popularity hierarchy, walk into detention on Monday, September 24; only four walk out. Remy Kallagher was murdered, and the surviving four are all suspects. But who did it—Logan, the valedictorian and student council president, Roman, the star athlete, Patton, the adorable member of the homecoming court, or Virgil, the infamous school drug dealer on probation?

🚨IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS🚨

I do not own this story or these characters. This fanfiction is based off of the novel, “One of Us is Lying”, by Karen M. McManns. I do not claim ownership to anything.

This fic will be dealing with lots of heavy and upsetting topics, so it is VERY IMPORTANT that you read the trigger warnings before you read.

The ending of this fic will be slightly different from the original book.

Word count: 1,750

Trigger Warnings: poisoning, drug mention, cursing, severe allergic reaction (let me know if I’ve missed anything!)

Pairings: eventual analogical

Without further ado, let’s get to the story!

Logan

2:55 PM

Monday, September 24

“NF better end it with her boyfriend, JG, because one night away from her and he’s already sleeping with his girl on the side, KT. Sorry, babe!”

“Turns out the adorable little bookworm WC isn’t as do-no-wrong as we thought. Give her the shot, and she’ll steal your man—which is exactly what she did to her “BFF”, LJ. Turns out, hooking up with your best friend’s boyfriend doesn’t do wonders for your friendship—or your reputation. Back to the books, WC.”

“We’ve all heard about JK’s one night stand with QD from a post a few months back—but it’s apparently not so one-night-standy after all. The two were caught making out in the closet at Q’s Halloween party, making everyone wonder if they’re still going strong. Trick or treat?”

Logan Sanders stood at his locker, scrolling through the day’s most recent gossip posts. The lengths he’d go to to stall today. He usually pretended he didn’t care about the posts—most of the time, he really didn’t—but sometimes he couldn’t help himself. Besides, he’d do anything to delay what was about to happen.

“Hey, bitch,” a voice said from behind him. Logan cringed inwardly. He tried to close out of the app, but it was too late. Remy Kallagher had already reached out, hand closed around his wrist and eyes set upon his phone screen. “Reading my very own posts?” Remy asked in a mock-flattered voice. “I’m honored, Mr. President. But it’s old news. Just you wait until tomorrow. You’ll love it.”

Remy’s eyes glinted in a way that Logan didn’t like. He yanked his wrist out of Remy’s bone breaking grasp and shook his head. “Believe me, Remy, my reading your posts is a very rare occurrence.”

Remy grinned like a Cheshire cat. “It won’t be for long.”

Logan’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to—“ he was cut off by a small buzz from his phone. There was a single message from Valerie Rosario, a girl on the Mathletes team with him.

“Hey! Are you coming to Ellen’s Coffee for practice today?”

A bubble that showed Valerie was typing appeared in the bottom corner of the screen, and then a second message was added:

“Jared’s here!”

Logan felt his face grow hot. Of course, he realized fully that among all of his extracurriculars and classes, it would be pointless and silly to pursue a romantic relationship. Even though Jared Williams had perfect, toothpaste-commercial teeth and polo shirts with his initials monogrammed into them and may very well be the first hot mathlete ever.

Regardless. Logan definitely didn’t care that stupidly smart Jared Williams was at Mathletes practice today. And he definitely didn’t care that he couldn’t make it today.

Remy leaned over and grinned his catlike grin. “Jared Williams, huh? Spill the Tea material or no?”

Logan went hot. “Spill the Tea” was Remy’s gossip app that the entire school read. He claimed he posted all of the gossip there to help people, but he really held it over everyone’s heads and used it to keep them in line. And it worked—ever since he had started the blog, nobody ever crossed Remy, because they knew he could dig up dirt on them. The whole school read “Spill the Tea”, no matter how much they hated it, though—it was their number one source of gossip and news. Even Logan wasn’t above it.

Logan had never been featured. Obviously. There was only one thing that could have possibly made it onto the site that concerned him, but Remy couldn’t know about that.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Logan said, shouldering his backpack and shoving past Remy. He couldn’t be late for his sentence. His unfair sentence, he reminded himself. To his annoyance, Remy still tagged along, a pest that Logan couldn’t seem to shake.

“So, where’re you off to, Mr. President?” Remy asked, employing the nickname he had been using since Logan had been elected Student Council President. It was beyond infuriating. “Off to one of your extracurriculars?”

“Don’t I wish,” Logan muttered under his breath as he came to a stop in front of Professor Walker’s door. Remy looked at him expectantly, willing him to move. When Logan stood his ground, the color rising in his cheeks, Remy suddenly burst out laughing.

“You?” He said between snorts. “Oh, sis! What’d you even do?”

“Nothing,” Logan replied, his tone and expression even. “I was falsely accused.”

Remy wasn’t having it. “Sure, okay, whatever you say, Prez,” he said between snorts.

Logan opened his mouth to respond, but Remy had already pulled the door open and stepped into the lab.

Logan took in the odd gathering. Definitely not the type of people he had been expecting—well, except for one. Virgil Macauley, the school’s notorious drug dealer, grinned like he had just won the lottery when he caught sight of him.

“You make a wrong turn?” He remarked, a shit eating grin on his face. “This is detention, not student council.” Logan flushed a fire engine red.

“Mr. Macauley,” Professor Walker said from behind the teacher’s desk. “This is not the time for commentary.” Virgil tipped his chair back and rapped on the desk with his fingers in reply.

Logan took a quick inventory of the other delinquents stuck in detention; other than himself, Remy, and Virgil, there were only two others: Roman Prince and Patton Hart. Neither seemed like the type to get a detention to him, but he supposed the students from the popular group were all wild cards. It was odd seeing Patton without his boyfriend. Even now, he looked utterly lost without him. Logan wondered bemusedly if it had taken a crowbar to pry them apart.

“Mr. Walker,” Logan began once he took his seat. Professor Walker looked up and quirked an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. “Please. There’s been a mistake, sir. I don’t know how that phone got in my backpack, because it does not belong to me. This is mine,” he said, pulling it out of his backpack and showing him. Mr. Walker sighed and steepled his fingers.

“Mr. Sanders,” he began. “These are the facts. You are not supposed to have a phone in my classroom. I found a phone in your bag. You broke the rules, you suffer the consequences. Case closed.”

“But sir—“

“I trust I should not have to repeat myself, Mr. Sanders, unless if you would like a second visit?”

Logan fell silent, but the others—save Remy—were now staring at him with a newfound interest.

“Mr. Walker, I think we’re being pranked,” Roman declared. He brushed a sandy curl out of his eyes. “The phone you found in my bag wasn’t mine, either.”

“Mine, either!” Patton piped up, looking between the two of them with wide, curious blue eyes. “I always keep my phone in my locker, I promise!”

Patton looked so earnest that even Logan had to admit that Mr. Walker was being stubborn when he shook his head.

“Boys, you knew the rule. Put the conspiracy theories to rest. In the meantime, you are all to write a five-hundred word essay about how technology is destroying the fabric of society as we know it,” Mr. Walker said, handing out notepads and pens. Patton’s brows furrowed again.

“But...Mr. Walker, if we don’t have computers, how do we know when we hit five hundred words?” His soft features scrunched up in confusion. Walker merely tapped a finger on the pad.

“Count, Mr. Hart.”

Roman

3:07 PM

Monday, September 24

He could hear the sounds of baseball practice going on outside without him. Roman rested a hand on his cheek and gazed at the clock. He had only been in here for less than ten minutes? Good god, he didn’t know how he was going to make it until four. He had just started his third paragraph--written in perfect, loopy cursive--when Remy raised his hand.

“Yes, Mr. Kallagher?”

“Can I get some water?”

Mr. Walker rubbed his temples. “Don’t you have any with you?” Remy smirked and shook his head. Walker heaved a sigh. “Very well. There’s a sink with some cups by the wall. Be quick.”

Remy saluted lazily and got up. Roman turned his attention back to his essay--or tried to, rather, because at that very second, the sound of screeching tires squealed from outside. Already on his feet, Roman raced to the window.

There was a red Camaro that looked as though it hadn’t been used in years that had crashed into an ordinary gray Volkswagen. The accident looked minor, probably nothing more than a fender bender, but it was enough to get Mr. Walker moving.

“Mr. Sanders, keep the room contained. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said to Logan before rushing out the door to inspect the damage. But by the time they even turn to look back out the window, the cars are already pulling out of the lot.

“Huh,” Virgil breathed, pressing a hand to the window.

“Well...at least nobody’s hurt…” Patton started unsteadily. He bit his lower lip.

Remy had already backed away from the window and perched himself on a desk, picking up his cup of water. “Bitches. This is perfect.”

Roman quirked an eyebrow. “How’s that?”

“You ever seen ‘The Breakfast Club’? This is, like, real life Breakfast Club.”

“I don’t understand what you’re referring to, Remy,” Logan said in his monotonous way of speaking. Remy rolled his eyes.

“Sure you don’t. Think about it. You’re all, like, walking movie stereotypes. The nerd,” he said, pointing his chin at Logan. “the homecoming prince,” nodding at Patton, “the jock,” a pointed glance at Roman, “and the basket case.” This earned him a growl from Virgil.

“Even so,” Logan started, his arms folded across his chest. “What does that make you?”

“The nuisance,” Virgil muttered from the far corner of the room. Remy narrowed his eyes at him for a split second before turning his attention back to Logan and grinning almost wickedly.

“I’m the omniscient narrator, Prez.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “In ‘The Breakfast Club’? As far as I know, there was none.” Remy’s almost-evil grin widened.

“Maybe not in ‘The Breakfast Club’,” he conceded. Then he grinned and held up the cup in a strange sort of toast to the five of them. “But there is one in life.” Then he drained his cup.

Roman glanced at Patton. Patton looked back, looking thoroughly confused and possibly a little disturbed. Roman opened his mouth to tell Remy to stop being weird, but Remy dropped his empty cup to the ground.

His eyes bulged, and he clawed at his throat. Roman at first thought that he was joking, but suddenly the others were standing, too, staring at him with looks of concern.

“Remy…?” Patton began, but Remy didn’t show signs of responding. Instead, he fell off of his desk and hit the ground with a thud.

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