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ahamasmiyodhah · 1 year

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Flood Of Emotions

"My Akka is disappointed in you."

Vanathi was sitting at the thick railing of the gazebo in anthapuram, after everyone departed for the sleep. The full moon danced along with the stars with all his glory, its cool rays bathing over her beautiful skin draped in a dark yellow dress. All jewellery discarded, Vanathi had left a few necessary jewellery on hr body while her Alta painted palm played with the water.

"Why?"

"For your ridiculous vow." He replies with a frown.

"How is it ridiculous? I don't want the throne of Chola Samrajyam, I never had." She said matter-of-factly.

"But she wishes to see you beside me as Queen." Vanathi lowered her head at this sentence. "I won't become Queen of someone who doesn't want me to be their Queen. And even if such a situation occurs, I won't be their Queen." She says and adds, "Also, as I told Akka in your presence, it doesn't matter to you what I do or How I am."

Her cold words felt like ice at his skin. "It does matter Vanathi! You are just being unfair." He says. "How?" She asked.

"Who said I don't care? You are my Akka's uyir Thozhi."

"Yes!" Vanathi suddenly hopped off the railing. "I am just your sister's closest friend. How does it matter to you then? I am just her friend." She said.

Stupefied at the sudden movement of Vanathi, he recollected himself. "Did you not call me Yaanai Paagan?" He asked and Vanathi immediately turned red with embarrassment.

"I-- I apologize for that Ilavarasae, I didn't knew you were the Prince of this glorious dynasty. Please forgive my atrocity." Vanathi said.

"No no, that's not the problem. But why did you changed after that?"

"Don't you, don't you hate me?"

Confused, he said, "No, why would I? I have no reason to hate you."

"What? Then why did you acted as if I never existed at Nandhi Mandapam?" Vanathi said and immediately looked down realising she sort of accused him. "I am sorry."

"It's okay. Its your right to ask questions." He said and added. "Also, I was just teasing you."

"Then tell me." Her demanding voice took him by surprise. "Why did you do that? And then out of nowhere you cameand swooped me like a hero when you were still weak! Why?" She said.

"Di you want me to let you die?"

"Illai. I mean why did you save me when you were still weak? Do you want to die on my accord?" Her heart skipped a beat.

Wondering where she had been hiding this side of hers, he replied, "I wouldn't have died Vanathi, I knew I will survive. I was scared you would die. What would happens if the jewelled lamp of Kodumbalur Clan extinguishes?" He said softly and this sentence made her tear up.

"That would have been better. I was born with the curse of misfortune, I think. Please, I beseech you, do not think I wish to gain sympathy by saying thus, I am merely stating truth." Vanathi said.

"Why do you say so Vanathi?" Arulmozhi was surprised. "You are the very fortune of Chola Kula along with my Akka. How can you be a curse of misfortune?" He asked. Vanathi looked up and his breath stuck up in her throat upon seeing her eyes rimmed with tears.

"My father died soon after I was born, went to heaven upon dying a noble death in Eezham. My mother couldn't handle the grief and left me all alone. I dropped the Valakku Pattu when you were leaving, and you got caught in a deadly disease. How can I not be Ayya?" She said in a tearful tone.

"I survived because the light you had lit didn't extinguish when you dropped the plate. Ups and Downs are a part of life, Vanathi." He said. "As for your parents, your father did attain veera gathi, though that isn't much of a comfort." He said and Vanathi looked away, speechless. "Why are you here Ayya?" She asked trying to change the topic.

"To talk about your vow."

"What about that?"

"It had made Akka very disappointed, and I can't bear to see her thus." He said.

"Akka can find more suitable Princesses for you." Every word pierced like needles in the heart of Vanathi as she said those words, unknown that other side had same effect too. "And I am very much not going to break my vow, even if you marry me. Also, I can't bear anymore accusations on my back and especially at my face." Her words turned bitter remembering Samudhrakumari.

"What accusations" His eyes narrowed.

"That I want to sit on the throne of this glorious dynasty and be your Pattamagishi."

"And you don't?" He purposely asked.

"No, I don't even love you." Her words felt like someone just ripped his chest apart with sharpest of swords. "Is that so?" His voice came out quite, and hurt. "Then you won't mind?" He asked.

"What I won't mind?" She asked.

"If I marry someone other than you?"

Her heart almost stopped beating at the mention of his marriage to someone else. Those words felt like hot molten lead in ears. Unknown to her, he also felt same when she uttered those words. Her eyes burned as she turned away from him, her tears silently slipping out. Unknowingly sobbing hardly in she said, "Of course! Why should I?"

"You have, after all, been talking about me and Samudhrakumari as often as you can." He said trying to comfort her, but those words worked like kerosene on fire. She whirled around, her eyes red with anger and sadness and tears. "why won't I? After all, she managed to win your heart!" Her voice rose.

And he was unable to stop himself from smiling.

"But she did not! It is true that I did and still possibly do have affections for her, but affections do not mean winning my heart." He said softly.

"But I do not own the affections I meant you had for Samudhrakumari. You too think I want the throne." Vanathi said.

"Vanathi.. I was wrong, I wasn't sure about it. But the things I was told..." Arulmozhi looked away.

"You ever asked me whom I loved? I don't love you, I love my Yaanai Paaga, who came on a huge elephant just to save little chicks." Vanathi wept softly and Arulmozhi felt his heart crumble at her tears.

"The Yaanai Paagan and I are not different, Vanathi.." Arulmozhi said and acting upon his instincts, moved closer to her.

"No," Vanathi said. "My Yaanai Paaga felt the same, I don't think the Prince does." said she.

"Your Yaanai Paagan still feels the same.." He said and wiped her flowing tears. "But the Prince can be idiot sometimes." Vanathi laughed softly at that. "If you feel same then why you never confronted me Ilavarasae?"

He frowned. "When I was supposed to Vanathi? When I heard you were the Kodumbalur Ilavarasi, I couldn't but hear the words everyone was speaking. Akka also adored you even back then, and praised you all the time, even when you weren't there. And when I tried to find you, you were never there. Akka just said you had a timid nature." He said. "Why didn't you came to meet me, when everyone else wanted to?"

"I was afraid..."

"Why?"

"I-- I called you Yaanai Paaga."

"I was glad you did call me so. I knew then you had no idea who I was. And for someone who has always been known as Prince, it was refreshing." He smiled fondly, remembering it.

"Then, you don't dislike me?"

"I never disliked you." A charming smile appeared on his face, and Vanathi burst into tears. He pulled her in his embrace, and she cried hard on his shoulder.

"I love you so much Ilavarsae!! I don't care what my Periyappa thinks. He may want to see me on the throne of Thanjai beside you but all I care about is a elephant right by your side." Vanathi cried, sobbing hardly in end.

Her pure confession brings him to tears and he tightens his hold. "I hav been in love with you since we met, I think. But I never allowed myself to feel."

"I felt like dying when I heard about your drowning, after seeing you alive and safe I cried out of joy, knowing that you won't be hearing it."

"The world would have lost light if something happened to you." He inhaled the sweet scent of her hair.

"And I would have lost my life to be with you by jumping in River Ponni, if something had happened to you." She replied.

"Vanathi..." He shivered at that, his tears finally escaping. "Don't say that." She wipes his tears and says, "Don't cry. No one can harm you until I am standing in Yama's way. He should take me before you."

"Don't say that Ilavarasi." He clamped his palm over her lips.

"Ayya, you must marry someone before me. Or else my vow will be broken." She said.

"I won't." He replied stubbornly.

"I can't be your Pattamagishi Yaanai Paaga."

"You can't be my Pattathu Arasi but you can still be the head of my family. And I will not give that position or that of standing on my left to anyone else." He declared. "I would forsake the throne rather than you."

"How can you say that Ayya? After your illustrious Thamaiyan, it's you who should take the responsibility." Vanathi gasped.

"Vanathi, Anna is the Crown Prince. I would rather be free from the burden of the throne. And I have no necessity to take more than one wife." His words made Vanathi's heart flutter.

"You don't know how happy I feel now. I can finally have you for myself, and can sit beside you on elephant." She smiled leaning her head on his chest.

"So you just want the Elephant ride, is that it?" He asked teasingly making her look at him innocently. "Of course, what else?" Laughing loudly at her innocent reply, he embraced her again and the two lovers bathed themselves under the Full moon.

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A beautiful collab with @thatacademic Akka <3

#ponniyin selvan #arulmozhi #arulmozhi varman #vanathi #fanfic #i love them so much

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poesbeforeprose · 4 months

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Chapter 5: Spoiled (NSFW)

Something about her scent stuck with me hours after she left. I laid in bed in a restless stupor trying to convince myself that everything she consisted of was the antithesis of me. She debriefed me on what she and Price discussed and I was floored by her tenacity. In a flurry of words and motions she described her balls to the wall idea and I couldn’t help but feel exasperated. However, seeing her with that feral grin, brushing her hair out of her face passively, I was completely enamored with her. It was endearing to see that after being threatened and intimidated by her, deep down she had such a dark and concerning childlike joy to killing and planning.

To have the mission be perfectly executed, we needed to decide on a few things. First I was to be placed deep within enemy territory. I was then given a fake name and identity to go by. All of which was provided by Nyx and Task Force 141. I was lucky enough to then be dubbed “Vaslov” for the time being. The process itself only took a few days to get me by. Teach me a few phrases, get me used to the sights and parts of the culture then boom. Before I knew it, I was an almost believable in my persona of being a very shitty Russian. It also helps with never being “from the Mother country” and being a tourist on sabbatical. It all seemed pretty squeaky clean.

I was sitting across the cafe from a cluster of men with sharp crew cuts, well pressed suits and concealed weapons. Absolute overkill for anyone getting their macchiato for the morning. The target was one of Makarov’s small lieutenants. The part of Vaslov was to be set in a situation where he would be at the right place at the right time. My heart was hammering in my chest when one of the burly bodyguards made eye contact with me. He looked over his black shades at me and sneered. I nodded my head, and appeared to look busy on my laptop. Although I was admittedly scrolling through useless blogs and pretending to research.

Yuri “The Silencer” Sochev was not some bloody butcher unlike his predecessors and peers. No he was a man who, much Ghost and Soap, dealt in information and manipulation. He was not a man who got his hands dirty but if he wanted the truth out of someone, he would get it one way or another. However, most of the heavy lifting was done by the thugs that often accompanied him. The four of which were sure to make it known that anyone who got too close to Yuri would definitely not have a cappuccino anytime soon. One of which, the tallest of them, approached me and took the chair away from my table as they waited. He sat down, crossed his legs and I noticed a small hitch in his ankle. His shoes were wearing his feet down raw and he definitely didn’t want his buddies to know at this moment.

“Just stay calm. Soap and Ghost are right around the corner.” Nyx whispered in my ear. “Nod if you understand.”

I bobbed my head forward randomly then rolled by head to crack my neck. I made sure not to snap a glimpse at Cross Leg Joe to my immediate right.

“Smooth. I think he bought it.” She finished. I could almost hear the grin in her voice. My blood felt like needles in my arms.

The next part of the plan could have been simple. The key word being “could”, but if it’s one thing I could trust in the world, is how shit could go sideways so fast for Nyx and her crew. I tried not to look too much into my messenger bag, seeing the butt of the pistol I was given just peeking out of the side. Instead, I fiddled with my laptop just as an alert rang out from it.

In a fucked up synchronicity, the ping from my laptop caused the four bodyguards and Yuri to jolt upright. As I was apologizing profusely, the door bell chimed as Soap and Ghost walked in brandishing black pieces of iron.

“For the glory of Makarov!” Soap shouted in a terrible Russian accent.

Gunfire rang out and in quick succession, the four bodyguards were put down and Yuri was clipped in the arm. The waitress who was an innocent bystander was not harmed whatsoever. Now the next part of the plan was the least likely to be believable with those knowing the truth nature of Soap and Ghost. As the would be assassins laid waste to the coffee shop, it was now my job to jump in as if to save the day. I leapt from the table just as Yuri started to take a dive and I shouted a string of Russian slurs and curses towards the two.

We had planned for this to be a hit and run operation but as I was getting from the table, Ghost put himself between Soap and I. The original plan was for me to cold cock Soap across the jaw with as hard a hit as I could manage. Instead, he took it upon himself to call an audible. Masked or not, my adrenaline didn’t know the difference, but there was a small glimmer of joy from his choice. After all, there was a compromising interest between the two us. Fuck you Simon, I thought just as my fist collided. I felt a small pang jolt up my arm and his jaw cracked underneath my knuckles.

Ghost whipped back around both shocked and furious with the shot and we stood there in silence. Soap had his eyebrows on the top of his head and his only thought was to grab Ghost by the shoulders and haul him up away from the scene. After all, I still had clean up to do and a place to prove. As they left the cafe, I turned to the carnage and although it was tactical, it still proved messy. Perfect. The four bodyguards were down effectively and the waitress was currently calling the authorities. Suddenly a hand was wrapped around my ankle. The huge sausage like fingers belonged to Cross Leg Joe who was currently bleeding out from a massive wound in the neck.

He looked me deep in the eyes and all I could see was fear. Afraid of death, of his light going out. I hardened myself to this look as best as I could. All I managed to say to him was, “I’m sorry.”

The waitress was now finished with her phone call and I could hear sirens in the distance.

“Get to work there lieutenant. Be seeing you.” I heard Nyx said and then my earpiece went silent.

I jerked the bud out of my ear, tossed it into the trash and looked at the waitress. Now my turn began.

“Water!” I shouted to her, slowly getting the jacket off of Sochev to get to his wound. His eyes were rolled up in his head and I felt for a pulse. It was extremely weak but it was there.

Just as I got his arm propped up and ready for cleaning, a piece of steel was pressed to the back of my head. My heart leapt into my throat and I slowly raised my hands. Whoever was behind me was speaking in Russian in a deep and unsettling tone. I couldn’t understand a word her was saying and even though I looked at the waitress for help, she was practically relaying his message as an echo. She was frantic with the blood and glass around her.

“American! American!” I shouted in response, praying to whatever God above that he understood me.

“Don’t touch him. Hands off.”

“Medic. I am medic.” I said trying to keep my composure while using my accent as best as I could.

The gun pressed harder against my head, “He dies. You die.”

Fair enough, I had slid my bag over to me. Casually peering at the pistol resting in the bottom of the bag for a moment. I lifted one of the flaps of the outer pocket and pulled out a few things that wouldn’t completely be out of the ordinary for someone who traveled with an emergency kit. Bandages and so on were scattered about the floor. In the meantime, the man behind me patiently watched me work. Although I never saw his face, I could sense the finger itching against the trigger to do away with me altogether. Honestly I couldn’t blame him because with all things considered, I can guarantee he was wanting a little revenge right now.

I found myself sitting in the backseat of a blacked out sedan as we drove through the dying light of Russia. A few things had taken place between the cafe and now, but most importantly was that I had been blindfolded. My knees knocked the gentleman who had threatened me earlier to my right and I sat up a little straight. The slumped body of Yuri was strewn out over the other seat and the silence in the cab was deafening. All the while, I felt a wave of exhaustion hit now that the nerves were gone.

The first part of the plan was done, but now came the hard part. Getting into Yuri’s good graces or at least impress him enough to get the team a little closer to Makarov. Right now I was just trying not to get killed. I could hear Yuri coming to as he groaned once again. After a moment he sat up and began speaking to the man. With a few lines between them, eventually he changed his tune to a little more focused American. Not perfect by any means to someone back home, but his accent couldn’t be removed.

“So Dimitri tells me you saved my life.”

I turned my head to his voice, “Yes sir.”

“You are also American.”

“Dah.” I said with my make believe Russian accent.

Dimitri and Yuri had a small chuckle over this and spoke between themselves again.

“What do you wish of me?” Yuri finally said as the car came to a stop.

“I’m sorry?”

“A life saved is rewarded in kind. Unless you meant to end my life until Dimitri intervened.” Yuri replied.

A bead of sweat threaded through my brow, “Ah. No. I meant to save you. Part of my oath.”

“Ah, your oath as an American? Or as a doctor?”

“I believe doctor is universal, especially now.” I muttered. I could hear Yuri chuckle again.

Suddenly, Dimitri was shoving me out of the car and I collapsed onto the grass with a thud. I managed to get my feet underneath me as I was pulled up and the blindfold was torn off.

The manor before me took my breath away. It was a sight to behold and seemed to leap from a Dostoevsky page. A sprawling estate complete with gravel driveway, fountain, staircase that led to large doors. Dimitri took the binds off of me as well and gave me a gentle shove up the steps. Yuri was shaking off the grogginess as he made his way up. The doors opened as a butler was already taking his coat from him and welcoming me with a short bow and gesturing me into the foyer.

There was a staircase in the center of the foyer that went up to the second floor which doubled back above us to the left and right into a row of rooms. I was standing there awkwardly until Yuri turned to Dimitri speaking in Russian. After a little bit, he disappeared and Yuri changed to English.

“Don’t worry, he is going to get you a gift from me. I will pay you a meal and a night sleep here for saving my life. Consider it a courtesy.”

“Absolutely. Thank you sir.” I managed and couldn’t decide to bow or not. I opted to shake his hand.

The butler, well into his fifties, motioned me to follow him. Although we didn’t go up the stairs, I was led to a smaller room on the bottom floor. As the door swung open I saw a four poster bed, two large dressers and an armoire to my left.

“Enjoy your stay sir.” The butler said with the doors closing behind me.

In the span of a few minutes, I was given a meal and the suspicion was gathering. I had no contact with the team but now that I was well behind borders, I prayed that they would reach me somehow. After my dinner was delivered, the butler told me that he was preparing dessert as well. He also instructed me to get comfortable and see myself to a bath if necessary. I didn’t want to be rude so I managed to sit in the claw footed bath and eventually found my way back to the room with a towel draped around me. A swift knock was at the door.

“Come in.” I said out of necessity. What came next, sent me spiraling.

Walking through the doorway, with a lustful sway of her hips was a gorgeous blonde woman. She was smaller than me and was wearing a tight fitting dress and her heels softly clicked on the tile floor. I felt my cock budge against the soft fibers of the towel and I did my best to cover myself. It wasn’t until she was closer that I lost all control and felt all of my blood rush to my loins. Her dark eyes met mine and I realized who I was staring at. I was sure of it.

Nyx Stevenson, ever the surprising act, had somehow managed to work her way through whatever defenses Yuri possessed and got to my room. Before I could even say anything she was within a foot of me. Her finger gently pressed to my lips.

“Don’t speak. I’m your gift.” She said, her voice masked with a seductive Russian accent of her own. My eyes rolled back as her voice curled in my ears.

She pushed me back to the bed and when I landed my towel became threatened to be undone. It also didn’t help that my swollen member was trying to make his way out of containment. Nyx took a step back and toyed with the side of her dress. In a flourish of her tender hands, she slinked out of the attire and let the dress hit the floor. I had to have looked ridiculous because I could feel my mouth hanging open.

Her body was beyond anything I could’ve imagined. Perky breasts with petite nipples already harder than I expected. She stood there to let me admire her a little longer. Her hands curved down the shape of her body until she hit the hem of her underwear. I could feel a small dribble of precum leave me sticky underneath my towel at the display. After her underwear fell, she left the heels on and began to straddle me.

“Ny-“ I began.

“Nikita. Nikita Petrov you’ll call me.” She cut me off.

Her naked breasts touched my chest and the contact sent an electric charge through my body. It was if I was electrified in that moment and my cock was begging to be released. Her lips slowly caressed my neck. She kissed my earlobe and just under her breath she spoke again.

“The room is bugged. Be careful of what you say.”

Before I could even process the information she worked her lips across my chest and up the other side of my neck. She hadn’t even done anything to me and I was already swimming with pleasure. My heart was racing at the impossibility of this as she spoke again. I slowly wrapped my arms around her, softly cradling her perfect ass in my hands.

“We’re being watched. Yuri gets off to watching.”

“Ny-Ni-. Please I can’t handle it.” I moaned.

Her free hand slipped down past my waist until the palm of it was grasping the base of my cock. It bucked once at her touch and I could instantly feel a small release. There was no way I was going to last long with her.

“Fuck. I-.” I started but before I could say anything else she had my towel splayed on the bed and was looking down at every inch of me.

“Nikita wait, I…”

Nyx looked at me, a small look of wild pleasure in her eye. With a flick of her wrist, I was inside of her.

Every inch of her felt molded to my throbbing cock in that moment. I could feel my heartbeat against her walls and how delectably slick she was. I had trouble believing all of this was for me, but that first initial push was soul-stealing. She slowly slid herself down on top of me as far as I could go until our hips were locked in the grasp of sweat of fluids.

“Fuck.” I whispered. My eyes furrowed with a mix of emotions. Worry, pleasure, lust, and longing all came flooding through my mind. I could barely focus on the woman I would ever want the most dominating me for the sake of a mission. This couldn’t be real. She slowly rose up from the base of my cock and then lowered herself back down. The first stroke made me gasp.

In seconds she was slowly rising in speed and ferocity. With her stroke she was riding harder and deeper on me, her eyes staring deeply into mine. One hand was on the bed and the other was tangled in my hair on the back of my head. It wasn’t until she moaned once for me and it was over.

“Oh my god I…” I moaned and I felt myself come inside her. Several throbs bounced against her soaked walls as my warm load filled her up. When I gasped in release we were staring at each other and I was exhaling directly into her mouth. She was stealing the very voice from me with how close she was to me.

“Fuck.” I whispered.

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viky2318 · 2 years

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Oh boi. My little foolishness is back.

The four of them slowly got up from the floor of what appeared to be a kitchen.

Muffet leaned on a tiny rectangular wood table and tried to heal her wound with green magic. Maddy got up and looked around.

The kitchen was all in the tones of wood. It wasn’t too big, but it had enough space for a little dining table (the one where Muffet was leaning on). The place felt oddly familiar, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it.

The cat looked at Sam, who was helping Grillby get up. God, didn’t they notice the fact that they were forcing him to stand up on a broken leg? Ewh, the wound was pretty deep.

When the human let him go, Grillby almost fell back on the floor. Geez, were they stupid? Maddy tried to walk towards them, but a sudden pain on her side got her.

Wait-pain? She wasn’t supposed…

Did she fuse with the body without even noticing it??? The hell was going on? Maddy huffed quietly, and leaned on the table too.

God, pain was so bad.

She looked at the human again. Oh, they noticed the wound. They made him sit on a chair and got out of the room, searching for bandages.

Now the three were alone again.

Muffet threw a fist on the table, cursing under her breath. Maddy commented sarcastically: “joining the swear side dear? Just kidding, just kidding” she quickly added when she met her irritated glare.

Maddy, as she always do when a part of the body gets broken, took a needle and some sewing thread from their pocket and sewed back the hole they had.

From this side, it was good to be made of wool. In the meanwhile she kept talking, just because the silence was irritating.

“So… Did someone understand what happened? Because I'm sincerely confused”, she started.

Muffet answered uncertainty, but at least glad that she could distract herself from the wound: “uhhh… fought against a crazy guy with anger issues, fred a monochrome human and defied laws of physics? Because, yanno, usually people don’t travel through holes in the air”.

“They were, like, portals? That's something that you usually find in sci-fi films and stuff like that, no? And then, what the hell was that place?” the cat asked. Muffet shrugged.

Sam finally came back with an aid kit.

"Apologies'' they started. "It's been a while since I had to use these things, and I didn't remember where I put them. I'm a little bit messy".

They opened the kit and gave the two wounded monsters some bandages, then asked Maddy: "need something? you seem quite ok, but i prefer to ask". The cat shook her head, then noticed something.

"Wait, you said you usually don't use the aid kit. you never use it for yourself?".

Now that she was thinking about it, Sam appeared to be hurt too when they got in the room, but now they didn't have a single scratch.

The human smiled and explained: "no, I usually don't. I'm used to just bringing back my HP to the max, and when you do that the wounds close themselves immediately, disappearing".

Ok, now that really made her confused. The other two monsters seemed in her same situation.

Muffet immediately asked: "HP? What are you talking about?".

The human tilted their head. "you don't know about them? Well… that's quite surprising. Well, HP stands for Health Points or Hit Points, depending on what you prefer. The HP's are how much strength you still have in yourself. When they reach zero, you are dead. If you have a broken limb or something that limits you, your HP's will temporarily lower their max. Usually people discover this stuff at the first check, but it seems like no one ever checked anyone here… let me show you".

With that said Sam pointed a finger at Muffet, and her soul came out. And with that one, some sort of… dialogue box?

There was her name, the HP the human told them about (it was stuck at 1024/1250), but there was also ATK (38.8) and DEF (18.8). On the bottom, there was written: "Too much for one day, don't you think?".

"Uhhhh... what is this stuff?" The spider asked, visibly wary.

Sam explained: "Those are your stats. Everyone has their own. ATK stands for Attack, that is how much damage you can cause at someone or something. DEF is Defence, that is how much damage you can deal without lowering your HP. The sentence on the bottom is kind of a description of what you're thinking".

Grillby asked: "how can you change those numbers? You make it sound like a game, and this doesn't make any sense. Can you change someone else's HP?".

Sam nodded. They stayed silent for a few seconds, then exclaimed: "oh shoot, I didn't think about it! Sorry".

They left Muffet's soul and moved their hands in the air as if they were typing something on a keyboard.

The wounds of the two monsters disappeared as if they never existed. Even Maddy's momentaneous seam disappeared, replaced by her original fabric.

"I beg your pardon, but I'm not used to having people at home. Uh… I suppose you want to go home now. Let me open a portal for you". They again typed stuff in the air, and a portal opened.

On the other side you could see the echo flowers of Waterfall. The three of them thanked the human and got in the portal.

Before closing it, Sam said: "if you have any other problem of this kind, just call me. Usually I don't do anything much, so it won't be a problem".

Without waiting for an answer, they closed the portal.

The three monsters stood there in some sort of awkward silence for a good two minutes, thinking about the fact that the last… minutes? Hours? Day? Of their life, was spent inside of something that none of them understood, and they would probably never understand.

Suddenly, Grillby turned around and looked at the echo flowers with a concerned frown. Maddy tried to look in the same direction, and then... she noticed something.

There was silence.

Not a single flower whispering.

No one was around, listening to them.

Only the sound of water and the howling wind.

Also Muffet seemed to notice it, because she started looking around nervously. “C’mon… we just got out of a mess and now we found another one?” she commented.

“Maybe they’re just… somewhere else” Grillby tried to assume.

They decided to stick together for another while, and started looking around for all Waterfall searching for someone.

Anyone.

Even Jerry would have been more than welcome.

They looked around the quiet area, the labyrinth of bridges, the garbage area, the Temmie Village.

But nobody came.

They went to Snowdin Town.

It wasn't the first time for Maddy, so she didn't have any problem with the weather, but Muffet seemed freezing.

Oh well, she will probably remember to wear a jacket next time.

Suddenly, Grillby started running.

Out of everyone, him? That was more than surprising. But if she remembered correctly, he had a bar or something around there. He must have been worried about that.

The fire man stopped in front of a small building.

Once it probably had a warm aura, with the cheering voices of the customers coming from inside and the smell of delicious food.

Now, the only feeling that the building gave you was abandonment and a thin layer of dread on the cold, dusty snow.

The single, low voice coming from inside didn't help at all. Maddy couldn't figure out what whoever was there was saying, but it had such a chill tone that gave her a shiver where usually beings with a skeleton have the spine.

Grillby hesitated a second. It seemed to recognize the voice, but Maddy just couldn't understand if he was scared or reassured by it.

He took a deep breath (how does he breathe? He doesn't even have a nose) and opened the door.

A bell rang and the voice shut.

There was no one in the place, except for a person.

They were sitting on one of the stools, leaning over the counter. It had an old blue hoodie with a gray hood, a red dusty scarf, a pair of black shorts and some… pink slippers?

Grillby looked at the person and called their name. "...Sans? What is happening?".

The person, who appeared to be a skeleton, turned around. Their eyes shone of a reddish light, red like the human's blood.

He smiled in a sickeningly sweet way. "Oh, hi Grillbz. Thought you were dead. Who are the buddies with you?" The skeleton asked.

Grillby insisted: "don't act dumb. I made you a question. What. Happened".

"Heard him Paps? He asked what happened" Sans said at the air near him. His smile disappeared for a few, brief seconds. Then it came back as if nothing.

The two monsters stared at each other for a while. They both were quiet, controlled. They both gave off an aura of repressed anger.

But while Grillby was serious and completely sane, Sans gave off the feeling that for him, all of this was a huge joke.

He gave you the idea of someone who made something extremely stupid and harsh, and he was not regretting it at all.

"Are we going to stare at each other until one of us falls dead?" The skeleton asked ironically. "Don't make me come to conclusions myself, Sans. You know it's better if you tell me" Grillby stated.

Sans snickered. "Are you referring to that time when I didn't pay the bill? C'mon, you're not that stupid. I know you already understood what happened. Ya just want me to admit that I did wrong, that I was bad and blah blah blah. But I assure you, it's better to die because of me than because of the human".

It probably would have been better if the skeleton stayed silent.

The fireman tensed, the heat of the room slightly increasing.

A bad feeling got Maddy, and she instinctively prepared to fight. Muffet seemed to get the same feeling, because one of her pair of hands slowly turned into some sort of sharp spikes.

Nobody understood who started throwing attacks.

The cat only knew that a second before there was tension, and the second after there were fireballs and bones flying all around.

Grillby was surprisingly an incredible fighter. While Muffet and Maddy were mostly shielding themselves, he was perfectly able to throw multiple attacks at the skeleton and avoid every of his attacks.

Also Sans appeared a good fighter. Sans seemed to base his strategy mostly on his strength, throwing attacks that went straight, and teleporting around to avoid the man’s fires.

Grillby was clearly less strong, but more strategic. The attacks that he sent moved following the skeleton’s movements to a certain extent, even when he teleported. The man seemed almost dancing in the air while dodging.

None of them appeared to be winning on the other. Suddenly, a bone almost cut Maddy’s head off. “A’ight. That’s it” she exclaimed.

She took her staff and got near the guy. He just teleported away, but Maddy didn’t care. "Barely touching" was close enough for her. She snapped her fingers, and Sans’ soul became two different colors, red and blue.

She then threw a bunch of attacks, some of them blue and others red. The skeleton couldn’t teleport anymore. He started dodging normally, and even if he wasn’t as fast as Grillby was he was perfectly able to handle both the two monsters.

But could he handle three monsters? Muffet finally added herself to the fight, using a ‘touch and run’ method. She quickly got near, tried to cut him in half with her six spike-like hands, then jumped away.

Sans couldn’t keep the focus on everyone.

Then, everything stopped.

One of Grillby’s fireballs hit the skeleton, burning his chest.

He smiled at all of them, then stared at the fire man and said: “oh well. Looks like I got banned from the bar. I’ll just… find another place…”. The skeleton fell on the ground and dusted in the blink of an eye.

The three monsters were tired, wounded and in the worst mood.

Again.

The place was a mess. Muffet sat on the ground. “... What now?” she asked.

Maddy shrugged. “There is nothing left here. We could call the grey human…-”. “and then what?” Grillby interrupted her.

A familiar voice behind him answered: “you could help me get rid of all the alternatives of the murderer you just killed”.

They turned around to see Sam looking at them with a very serious face. “You saw everything and did nothing?” Maddy asked.

The human shook their head. “Only the last part. I wanted to be sure you were ok, but it looks like this Sans finally showed himself for what he was. I would have interrupted the fight, but I... got distracted. You three are just so good at fighting! You are perfectly able to fight alone or to cooperate! And-... Oh, I'm sorry, I was rambling”.

Muffet asked: “what do you mean by ‘alternatives’?”. Sam smiled. “Ah, come with me. I’ll explain everything to you…”.

End of chapter 2

The buddies are gonna live with Sam for a while, and then... The serious stuff will begin

Dust/Murder sans © @ask-dusttale

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#undertale #ut #utau #utmv #ut muffet #muffet undertale #muffet #ut grillby #grillby undertale #grillby #ut mad mew mew #maddy #mad mew mew undertale #mad mew mew #sam the human #Dust sans #another story #edit from 2024 that nobody will read: I changed the position of the sentences- like breaking some paragraphs. hope it's more readable.

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ladyanput · 3 years

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Ok so this is the third time that I'm sending you an ask tonight. (or is it night time in your country?) I'm being annoying right now but whatever. So I've been cackling about those salt fics you wrote because they are just amazing. I have a request, though it is up to you to write it or not. So, can you write a salt fic where someone got an interview with Ladybug (probably Aurore) and then they ask her why they replaced the old heroes like Rena Rouge, Carapace and etc. and LB is just like I don't work with dumb shits or somethin'. Then there is also a new Black Cat (Probably Luka, Felix, or Damian) because Adrien here is an asshole and this fic is saltier than salt water. Then LB also insults Alya's blog and their school. Those foolish mortals get some lawsuits and the rest is up to you. (This request is probably messed up since it's already midnight here and I can't sleep.)

You're never annoying, I just apologize that it took me so long to get to you. I do hope you don't hold it against me, darling.

A one on one interview with Ladybug was basically unheard of if you weren't the Ladyblog or Nadja Chadwick. Ladybug had made it firm that she wasn't a celebrity, she was a hero. She wasn't there for clout, for attention, for fame or fortune. She just wanted to keep Paris safe.

That's was Aurore admired about her. And why she felt queasy as she sat across from the heroine, who had given her of all people an interview. But she got ahold of herself, taking deep breaths as the cameraman began counting down. And when he hit 'one', she put on her best smile and straightened in her seat.

"Hello Paris! Welcome back to 'Latest Buzz'! I am your lovable host, Aurore Beauréal. Today I am here with a very, very special guest, our very own heroine of Paris; Ladybug!"

Ladybug beamed right at the camera, but gave a shy little wave, giving away the nerves she obviously had.

"Now, Ladybug, I'm so glad you requested to be on the show. You know, I initially thought I had misheard when Estelle told me. Usually you're not big on personal interviews." Aurore gave her full attention to Ladybug, but keeping the bright, friendly smile and perfect posture.

"Well, I tried a few times actually. But when I did, none of them were really great experiences." Ladybug admitted and both girls immediately thought of that disastrous Face-to-Face interview. It left a bitter taste in their mouths. "My issue is that misinformation has been spread around a lot recently. It's made me realize that I need to find more trustworthy sources."

"Ladybug. I vow on my integrity as a host and Estelle's reputation as a journalist that we are people who research facts. We don't ambush our guests, we respect them." She said, placing a hand on her heart. Ladybug saw an honesty in her eyes that she hadn't seen in such a long time. It honestly made her feel.. Respected. "Now, Ladybug.. We both know you have a lot of fans. A lot of admirers. False information can be spread so easily these days, which sources specifically are you telling people to avoid?"

"Well.. With Face-to-Face, I found that I was entirely ambushed in that interview. I wanted to speak about my hero work, but instead Nadja kept trying to needle her way into my personal life. That picture she had shown in largely out of context; when Dark Cupid attacked and Chat Noir was under his spell, it was the only way to get him free."

"Yes, I remember watching that. I'll be honest Ladybug, I felt bad for you." Aurore bit her lip, but smiled a bit when Ladybug nodded. "I mean, Chat Noir wasn't helping either. He seemed to be trying to push this narrative forward that you two are a couple."

"And we're not!" Ladybug burst out before she could stop herself. Everyone in that studio could hear the utter stress and frustration in her voice. "I've begged and begged Chat Noir to stop with the flirting, the 'telling people we're dating', everything! I just wanted him to focus and he couldn't seem to do that!"

"Is that why you replaced him? Because of his slacking off and refusing to take anything seriously?" Aurora sat up an bit straighter, her eyes going wide.

".. Not exactly, no. It was a bunch of issues that eventually piled up and boiled over." Ladybug made some gestures with her hands, trying her hardest to find the words but just letting out a long and pained sigh in the end. "I do enjoy my new partner now. He is more serious, more stable. I know he won't go off and pout if I deny something he wanted. I needed an entirely new team, as a matter of fact."

"Well I am going to say, on behalf of everyone here, that we're glad. We swear on our integrity as journalists that if such rumours were to ever surface again, we will do our proper research." Aurore beamed and many of the staff and crew behind the cameras nodded and gave Ladybug their thumbs up. Honestly, it warmed Ladybug's heart to see such support.

When had been the last time someone had supported her like this? Sure, her parents supported her, but her friends..? Her peers? No, none of them had supported her in a long time.

"Speaking of research, I'd say to stay away from the Ladyblog." It burned to say it but it had to be said. Alya had crossed so many lines it wasn't even forgivable at this point. She had gone too far, had betrayed too many.

"Wait, what?" Aurore nearly jumped out of her seat but quickly composed herself, taking a deep breath. "Pardon me Ladybug, but the Ladyblog has been a vital source of information since the very beginning."

"And I'm not denying that!" Ladybug quickly held up her hands, her eyes desperate now. "But please let me explain. The Ladyblog was amazing in the beginning, but like all things, it started to go astray. It was things like trying so hard to find out my identity. Trying to push that narrative of that whole superhero couple thing.. Ladyblogger Alya Césaire has proven time and time again that she is not trustworthy. I mean, I thought she was my biggest fan. Why does she keep pushing my words aside?"

Many people who watched the interview would agree. If you idolized someone, respected someone, truly looked up to them.. Why would you push aside their words, their wishes to try and push the narrative you're so convinced is true, but isn't there?

"And don't get me started on the whole Lila Rossi craze she seemed to be on now." At Ladybug's mention of Lila Rossi, both Estelle and Aurore had to keep from rolling their eyes. They knew all about the girl.

"You speak as if you are quite frustrated, Ladybug. What an odd reaction to your best friend." Aurore leaned forward a bit in her seat. Everyone else got to the edge of theirs. Ladybug only shook her head, looking utterly defeated.

"That's the thing, she isn't my best friend." It took everything to keep from satin that she hated her, that she had taken away her friends and her life. "The only times she's met Ladybug is when she's been akumatized, which has been around six or seven times at this point. And the other things she's claiming are so outlandish! Saving Jagged Stone's kitten from a airport runway? Clara Nightengale stealing her dance moves? And the Ladyblog just posts it out there, claiming every single story is true. I'm just scared that people are taking this one hundred percent seriously. That's why I had to drop Rena Rouge and Carapace from the team as they believed Lila Rossi over me. They didn't even try to confirm these rumours! And it hurts to think that one day, someone will take Lila's words seriously and get hurt. What if she says it's safe to dip strawberries in bleach? Or tells someone that she found a way to tame some kind of wild animal? Someone would get hurt because they believe her story and try it out for themselves!"

"My goodness, I can definitely see how that is a problem. Misinformation is very easy to spread thanks to the internet, so you being worried is a very relatable thing." Aurore nodded, then tilted her head ever so slightly. "Ladybug, do you know anyone who has taken her word seriously? This is besides the Ladyblog of course."

Ladybug closed her eyes briefly, mentally debating with herself before finally giving in. These things needed to be said.

"Collège François DuPont. Now I wasn't there personally, but I heard about this situation and looked into it. The entire situation was appalling. Apparently a student was found to have cheated, assaulted another student, and commited thievery. But the thing that stuck out is only one person saw her do all of these things; Lila Rossi. No investigation was done, no questioning other students. This student was then expelled immediately. Her teacher and her principal didn't even give her a chance. And from what people have been saying, Miss Rossi's behaviour is actively encouraged in that school. She misses countless days, no, months of school, claiming she's traveling. But when she was supposedly in Achu, doing whatever it was she was claiming with Prince Ali, I was fighting her akuma here in Paris on Heroes Day!"

"I was at school the day that happened. I knew the student that happened to. They're the nicest person in that school! Never a bad thing to say about anyone, always willing to help! I agree with you on how things were handled, it's a level of incompetence that is baffling." Aurore's hands slowly curled into fists as she remembered it all. She slowly shook her head. "The principal, their teacher, their class who backed up Rossi. It must have hurt them so much, made them feel so alone."

"That's why I want people to be more careful with what information they take as fact. It's so important, because stuff like that can lead people to a desperate place. They feel alone, like the entire world is against them. I wouldn't have let the principal and the teacher get away with that gross negligence in their jobs." Ladybug leveled her gaze directly to the camera. "People of Paris, please listen to what I am saying. I am here to be a hero, to protect you from the terror of Hawkmoth and to defeat him. But please, do not be like Principal Damocles, do not be like that teacher and her class at DuPont. Do your research, look up your facts. Do not let a liar lead you to do something dangerous and hurt yourself as well as others. Respect each other, talk and be honest. I swear on my life that I shall do the same. You are the people I swore to protect and I love. I am saying this all to protect you. And I'll hope you'll all forgive me for not protecting you sooner."

...

The interview rocked Paris. Ladybug speaking so openly about her frustrations, about the discrepancies in the Ladyblog and Lila Rossi had many people double checking the sources of everything they learned from that blog.

Alya could barely show her face as she made her way though the school hallways. Her reputation as a journalist had gone down the drain. People had basically started boycotting her blog, harrassing her, or trash talking her on other forums and sites. Even a lot of news outlets picked this up.

What hurt the most from that interview last night was Ladybug's words towards her, both as Rena Rouge and as Alya. Surely the heroine had to be mistaken, she had never beytrayed Ladybug! And that Oblivio incident, it was just to show Chat Noir and Ladybug that they were meant to be together!

Her family was upset with her. No, upset was too tame of a word. They were pissed.

"I can't believe she lied to us.."

"Well what do you expect from someone who keeps harrassing Ladybug?"

Alya flinched when she heard the whispers and rushed into Miss Buster's class. The entire class was there, all seated, all looking utterly miserable. Many of them looked as if they had been crying all night. A lot like she had.

"W-where's Miss Bustier?" Alya asked when she eyed the empty desk. Many of her classmates shot her glares, but didn't say anything about the interview last night. After all, they had no room to talk.

"She and Principal Damocles are with the school board now. We're getting a new teacher." Adrien was the one that spoke up. He looked utterly miserable. So unlike his usual self.

"Lila isn't coming back. She was pulled from school when her mother found out what happened." Alix muttered from her seat, arms crossed and shoulders hunched.

The class went quiet as they all internally contemplated how things had gotten like this. Their eyes focused on the door when it abruptly opened and Marinette came strolling in, carrying a box.

"Good morning everyone!" She said brightly, pretending not to notice the downcast expressions on their faces. She set the box on the teacher's desk before she turned towards them. "Oh? What's wrong everyone?"

".. Did you not watch the interview with Ladybug on 'Latest Buzz'?" Alya stared at Marinette, a bit dumbfounded by her friend's lack of awareness of the situation. She had been expecting Marinette to rush in with support and a fiery vengeance against those who had humiliated her best friend, maybe even a fresh pastry. But instead she was greeted with empty hands and a cheerful hello?

"Oh, well I haven't really had the time to watch much television. I mean, with my transfer papers, needing to plan out my new schedule with all of those new classes. Busy as a bee, that's me!" Marinette just beamed, giving Adrien a playful wink that had his stomach churning.

"Wait, transfering?" It was Rose that spoke up, her large eyes seeming impossibly large now. "Transfer what?"

"To my new school, of course." Marinette giggled and clasped her hands together. "I start on Monday."

"New school?!" Alya was on her feet and rushing towards Marinette. The others quickly followed, crowding around her. "What do you mean new school?! When did you ever say you were going to a new school?"

Marinette blinked, as if stunned, then tilted her head ever so slightly.

"I told you all last week, don't you remember?" Marinette tapped her lower lip, seeming to be wracking her brain before she abruptly snapped her fingers. "Oh! I forgot, you all were deep in conversation with Lila about her upcoming event with Jagged Stone and Clara Nightengale. You know, the one she said she'd be attending with Ladybug, since they're such good friends. Did she ever say how it went?"

All of the students shifted uneasily, suddenly seeming to refuse to meet her face.

Alix murmured something so barely audible, Marinette held a hand to her ear and leaned closer.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Lila was lying to us!" Alix snapped as her cheeks went a flaming red.

"About everything! She never knew Jagged Stone!" Juleka spat out in fury.

"Or Prince Ali!" Rose sniffled.

"And she wasn't friends with Ladybug? They were barely acquaintances!" Alya wailed out as tears welled up in her eyes.

But Marinette hardly reacted the way they were expecting. She just gave them a small smile and nodded.

"Oh, yeah. I know."

Alya sucked in a breath sharply.

"You knew..? But why did you never..?"

"Oh Alya, you silly forgetful thing. I told you the day she returned from her long 'trip', remember? I told you she was lying." Marinette gave Alya a smile that said 'oh you silly thing'. "But you told me that I should really check my sources. And I got tired of trying to bring up any lies, since that was always your response. So I decided to just stop. I mean, since you're such an inspiring, honest journalist you must double and triple check every source you come across and found every story to be true!"

Alya flinched and looked away, feeling the churning feeling in her gut again. No, the Ladyblog had been the only source for the stories. The. Only. One.

"And I'm sure all of you knew what you were doing! I mean, it makes sense; trusting the words of a complete stranger over someone you've known for a while now. Some of you since we were in diapers!" She focused her gaze on Nino and Kim, who had the grace to at least look ashamed.

"Marinette, you really should-" Adrien began, reaching out for the girl, but was cut off by her clapping her hands together.

"But it's alright! I decided that fighting with you all wasn't worth it, so I took Adrien's advice and took the high road! Don't bother exposing Lila, she isn't hurting anyone!" Marinette announced brightly, giving her hands a little wave.

The temperature in the classroom dropped by several degrees.

".. Adrien, she's kidding, right?" Nino glanced over at his friend, his eyes pleading for him to deny it all. But the sight of the blood draining from the model's face and the sweat starting to bead at his forehead told him everything he needed to know. "Dude.."

"How could you?! You knew this entire time and didn't even try to tell me?!" Alya rounded on Adrien, fury in her eyes.

"Now, now, don't get mad at Adrien. I'm sure he knew you all were going to do you research. Besides, it's not like this did anything bad for anyone." Marinette pressed a hand to her cheek, still grinning. "I mean, it's not like you all took her advice without doing any research. You didn't try the things she suggested without actually checking them out to be true, right? No one lost any scholarships or job opportunities. No one's relationships were ruined. No one was hurt."

The nauseous feeling spread to all of the class as the reality of everything caught up with them.

"I'm sure everything will go back to normal, right? I mean, I'm sure that that woman from the education bureau isn't here to fire Damocles and Bustier for their severe neglect in their duties. Expelling me with the most mediocre and shaky proof. Surely that's a school I should feel safe in! That I should be proud to be a part of. But alas, my preparations for my new school are already done, so oh well."

Marinette shrugged and adjusted her purse strap.

"Anyhow, I wish you all luck with the amazing things Lila has helped you to do! I know it must have been worth ignoring me and convincing me I was crazy. With all of the free time I've had, with you guys practically replacing me with Lila in the group, I've had tons of time to spend with my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?!" Alya's eyes went owlishly wide as she gaped at Marinette. "But what about Adrien?!"

"Oh Alya, I fell out of love with Adrien forever ago." Marinette shook her head in an almost patronizing way that had Alya's cheeks burning with embarrassment. They didn't even pay attention to Adrien's noises of surprise. "I mean, you claimed I was jealous of Lila getting close to Adrien, that I should let the jealousy go. And you know what? You were right! So I decided Adrien wasn't worth the stress, the embarrassment.. I mean, I couldn't even talk to him straight. I thought he was the most perfect guy in the world! Goodness, did I learn my lesson!"

She giggled as if she found the entire thing amusing. She then beamed at the class.

"Well, ta-ta! I need to get back home and make sure everything is ready to go. I wish you all the best, I really do!"

They all watched, shellshocked as Marinette breezed out of the classroom like it was nothing. Like she wasn't leaving her friends, her school, her life behind. And they all would wonder exactly how badly they screwed up, if she could walk away do easily, without a care.

Permanent Taglist: @vixen-uchiha @ravennightingaleandavatempus @2sunchild2 @crazylittlemunchkin @bee-wrecker @souleateralicestein @loysydark @kceedraws @realrandomposts @alienjoyful

Salt Taglist: @virgil-is-a-cutie @sidessunnybumblebee @persephonebutkore @18-fandoms-unite-08 @suzen23smith @luciferge @theelventhgod @noirdots @space--butterflies @ghostglaceon @magicalfirebird @goggles-mcgee @chocolate1721 @minightrose @bookcrazybby @cupcakeandkisses @mewwitch @adrestar

#ml salt #miraculous salt #alya salt #lila salt #marinette deserves better

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silverflame2724 · 3 years

Note

Accidental Martial God WWX

That was exacty what I meant actually but I do have a few more povs if you want.

LQRs reaction to a demonic cultivator ascending, JGS and JGY reaction to the Yin Tiger Tally moving completely out of reach, WQ pondering the true requirements for ascension given WWX doesn't have a golden core yet ascended, WWX musing on Godhood and on his new followers both the good and the more disturbing worshipers.

Maybe LWJ protects the Wen Remnants because WWX asked him to in a dream and after he succeeds (13 years later) he ascends and is finally reunited with WWX.

Lan Qiren did not know what to think. Wei Wuxian, his most troublesome student, a demonic cultivator, had ascended. He’d ascended. How was that even possible? Were the Heavens blind? Why would they allow someone like Wei Wuxian to ascend?

From what Lan Qiren had thought, only those who are righteous and followed the correct path in life like the Lan clan’s founder, Lan An, would be worthy of ascending.

Either the qualifications for ascension were lower than he thought or Lan Qiren had been horribly mistaken about Wei Wuxian’s personality and motivations for using demonic cultivation. That last thought made Lan Qiren feel very uncomfortable.

He’d always been harsh on the boy and disregarded him, even - he ashamedly admitted - punishing him harsher and more frequently than others.

He’d thought he was in the right because of how Wei Wuxian was but…..

But if he was wrong then Lan Qiren owed him an apology.

………………….

Jin Guangshan wanted to scream out in frustration seeing Wei Wuxian ascend. That brat had the Stygian Tiger Seal on him - according to his spies - and now that he ascended, the Seal went with him.

He had had so many plans on bribing Wei Wuxian to his side or killing him when he refused - as well as stealing the Seal - and then taking over the cultivation world, lording over it as he was always meant to be.

Now those plans are ruined. He sighed. Hopefully that bastard son of his can finally prove his usefulness and give him countermeasures or he might retract his favor from him.

……………………

Jin Guangyao’s first thought upon seeing Wei Wuxian ascend was: Oh shit. I have to go make up new plans to help Father.

He knew his father wanted Wei Wuxian and the Seal and didn’t really care how he obtained both or either, just as long as no one traced it back to him. He sighed. This was going to be a big headache. But at least the plans on putting his father as Chief Cultivator were going smoothly. He could only imagine what his father would do to him if even this failed.

..............................

Wen Qing had still been in Yiling, making plans to relocate her family, when the news that Wei Wuxian had ascended had reached her.

Her first reaction was, That’s impossible.

Because it was, right? Wen Qing should know. She cut out his core, after all. But to think he was still able to ascend while he was a demonic cultivator made her wonder what the requirements were for ascending. Perhaps it’s an honest heart? Self-sacrificing tendencies? Or is it a sacrifice of some sorts? She paused. What if.....it was a trial? To test a person’s will? What Wei Wuxian had suffered was.....horrible. Could it have all been just a test from the Heavens?

If that was so, the Heavens really are cru---

“A’ Jie, we have to go! Some Jin were spotted nearby!”

Wen Qing gritted her teeth. Members of the branch families of Qishan, regardless of whether they were innocent or not, were captured and subsequently tortured to death by the Jin and sometimes the Nie. Because her family was all in Yiling, they were safe.......but only for now. They had to hurry and escape.

Wen Qing sent a quick prayer to Wei Wuxian, hoping for her family’s safety, and tucked the rest of her belongings in her qiankun pouch, remembering to wrap her arms in bandages to hide the needles she might need to paralyze any Jin that came close.

....................................

Wei Wuxian’s first thought when he landed in the Heavens was, What the fuck.

Then he looked around and looked taken aback and wary at the unfamiliar faces around him. Where the fuck am I?

“Hello.” A rather stoic-faced man greeted.

“Hello.” Wei Wuxian parroted back. The person in front of him didn’t seem to be a threat so he felt a little tension loosen from his shoulders. “Um, Xiansheng? I’m afraid I don’t know where I am?”

“You have just ascended.” The man replied, throwing Wei Wuxian aback.

“Are you pulling my leg?” Wei Wuxian asked. “How is that even possible! I don’t even have---” He swallowed. I don’t even have a core.

“I do not lie. Come, we are wasting time. We must get you washed up and dressed for the induction ceremony.” Seeing Wei Wuxian still frozen, the man sighed, signalled for some people to pick Wei Wuxian up and dragged the struggling man to some quarters.

After absentmindedly washing, drying and changing himself, Wei Wuxian noticed some differences in his body. He wasn’t....cold or hurting anymore. And - he touched his back - he could feel his back! After having his muscles and nerves shredded by Zidian, he didn’t think he’d ever be able to sense touch on his back or even move without pain! But now he can!

He heard the urging of some people and grumbled.

“You will become a god of demonic cultivation.” Was the first thing he heard when he stepped out of the room.

Wei Wuxian choked. “Excuse me?!”

“I said what I said. Now then, if you would please concentrate, you should be able to hear the prayers of the people below.”

Wei Wuxian felt like everything was moving a little too fast for him, but nevertheless complied. Immediately after, a flood of prayers hit him at full force.

“Wei Wuxian!” That was Jiang Cheng! “….Have some fun up there.”

“A’ Xian, do be well. Shijie isn’t there to take care of you so do be well.” Wei Wuxian refused to cry.

“Wei-Xiong! I hope there’s someone up there to supply you with you know what *winks*”

How does someone even wink in their prayers? Wei Wuxian thought amusedly.

“Wei Ying.” That was Lan Zhan. “Wei Ying, I will—be well.”

Ah, Lan Zhan. Always concise even in your thoughts.

Wei Wuxian was a little teary. As much as he was glad to not be a part of the cultivation world considering all the rumors, he did regret leaving behind those that cared for him.

That thought was much more cemented upon hearing…….

“Ah, Lord Wei, the pinnacle of evil, the role model of all demonic cultivators!” Wei Wuxian’s eye twitched. “Please hear my plea for more power! I need it, I need it to destroy everyone who harmed me!”

“Wei Wuxian, I wish to gain power over resentful energy so that I may tear my enemies limb by limb!

“Give me money! You’re a god, aren’t you? Be useful for once and give me some gold!”

“Tch. If I’m going to pray for anything, then it’ll have to be the Seal. You’re a god, now, right? So you have no need for the Seal. Just give it up.”

No matter the good or bad, Wei Wuxian heard the wishes and prayers of the people down below and while some were innocent enough, there were those that wished for death, destruction, tools for torture, power, money, women…….you name it.

It made Wei Wuxian feel a little disgusted with humanity. He cut off his focus from the bad and focused on the prayer he received from his friends and family.

“Wei Wuxian, I heard you became a god.” It was Wen Qing. He hadn’t heard her voice in a long time. “I know this might seem shameless of me after all I did to you, but please. Please guarantee the safety of my family. We’re being hunted down and—”

Her prayer was abruptly cut off, before coming back in full force with notes of desperation. Her family had been captured and taken to Qiongqi Path! Wei Wuxian panicked. He didn’t know how to escape from this place and try to go help her.

The…..person who was watching over him evidently knew what he was thinking about and merely stated that gods cannot interfere with the mortal realm. So he was stuck.

But that didn’t mean he was out of options.

It took a few days, but he managed to wheedle out how to help: via dreams. He merely needed to get into the mind of one of his followers and tell them to help. Much like those prophetic dreams Wei Wuxian had read about as a kid.

So he buckled down, thinking of the best candidate to help him.

……………………………

Lan Wangji looked at the landscape around him and concluded that he was dreaming. Though, it was a little odd that he was aware that he was dreaming. Not that he hasn’t realized he was dreaming before - especially in those many fantasies he had of Wei Ying - but to be aware that this is a dream and to see nothing but a flat landscape was pretty out of the ordinary.

Anyway, he digressed. What was going on?

“Uhh, Lan Zhan? Can you hear me?”

“W-Wei Ying?!” Lan Wangji couldn’t be blamed for stuttering. He wasn’t expecting this!

“Phew. Oh good, you can hear me. Anyway, Lan Zhan, I gotta be quick about this because I’m kinda sorta bending the rules here, but do you think you can go to Qiongqi Path and rescue Wen Qing and her family?”

“Okay.”

“Huh? Just like that? Not even going to ask me for a reason, er-gege?”

Lan Wangji’s ears flushed red at the address. “If Wei Ying wants to save them, you must have a good reason. That’s enough for me.”

“Ah, Hanguang-Jun.” The title was spoken fondly. “Always so good. I’ll tell you anyway. Wen Qing and her family sheltered Jiang Cheng and I after Lotus Pier fell and even brought back Jiang-shushu and Yu-furen’s bodies! That’s a debt I cannot repay.”

“I understand. I will help.”

He couldn’t see Wei Ying, but could practically feel the amusement from him.

“Wei Ying.”

“Yes?”

“Are......Are you well?”

“Of course I am. I’m actually feeling so much better than before.” Wei Ying grumbled, “I’m not even in pain anymore.”

“You were in pain?” Lan Wangji asked worriedly. “Wei Ying, why didn’t you say anything.”

“Lan Zhan, there was nothing you or anyone else could do to alleviate my pain. It doesn’t matter now. I’m okay.”

Lan Wangji was still worried and wanted to speak to him more, but---

“Ah! Looks like my time’s up!” Wei Ying exclaimed cheerfully as the dreamscape wavered. “See you, Lan Zhan!”

Lan Wangji nodded. “See you, Wei Ying.” I’ll catch up to you soon.

And 13 years later, Lan Wangji kept his promise.

___________________

I didn’t edit this so I’m hoping there’s not too many grammatical errors lol.

#mdzs #wei ying #wei wuxian #lan qiren #jin guangshan #jin guangyao #lan zhan #lan wangji #wen remnants #wen remnants survive #JGS and JGY can no longer scheme against WWX :)#LQR is kinda an asshole #but at least he sorta admits it?#hurt wei wuxian #implied chronic pain

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peachbear88 · 3 years

Text

Dental Terrors

A/N: Who would've known the lovely, terrifying, petite assassin was afraid of the dentist?

Pairing: Yelena Belova x Reader

----------

"Lena, if you don't loosen your grip, my hand is going to come off." You tease, watching as her eyes never leave the dentist's figure. "Lena?" She gulps and her eyes widen as the dentist pulls out a pair of menacing looking pliers, flicking the tip of the needle. "Hellooo? Earth to Belova?" She stares at you, her eyes pleading.

"Please, please, please, get me out of here." She begs and you shush her, stroking her cheek gently.

"Yelena, listen to me. If you be good and don't thrash around, I'll buy you a frozen yogurt and we can watch a Mission Impossible movie." Her eyes light up as you lock eyes with the dentist, giving him a subtle nod.

"Really?" She exclaims as the dentist sneaks up behind her, gently pricking her neck with the needle. "I thought you hated-" Her eyes roll up to the back of her head, her body slumping forward.

"Alright, do what you gotta do Doc."

-----------

"Y/N?" A voice slurs and your eyes shoot open. A dopey looking Yelena stares into your eyes, her hands raised in front of her, making grabby hands.

"Hi sweetie," you smile tiredly at her, picking her up. Her arms wrap around your neck, her legs clinging to your back.

"You betrayed me!" She pouts adorably, littering kisses atop your head, making you giggle.

"Did I really?" You boop her nose gently.

"Yes!" She giggles, burying her face in your shoulder. "You said you wouldn't let anyone hurt me!" You stiffen at her words but she remains oblivious. "You let the mean needle man touch me."

You stroke her hair, smiling when a small purr escapes her throat.

"I'm sorry." It comes out as a whisper. "I'm sorry for letting the mean needle man touch you." She smiles devilishly at your apology.

"Does this mean I'll get an extra scoop of ice cream?" You gasp dramatically, flicking her forehead and eliciting a giggle from her.

"You're milking my apologies for a second scoop of frozen dairy?" You shake her head, swinging her body over your shoulder. "And to think I was actually being sincere." She screams when you slap her ass playfully before hauling her towards the car.

"Let me gooooo!" She whines and you shake you head.

"No can do ma'am. You shouldn't have tried to milk my sympathy for an extra scoop." You gently deposit her on the seat, strapping her in. She pouts, crossing her arms over her chest as you strap yourself in.

"I want my girlfriend. She's always so much nicer." You stifle a giggle as Nat peeks out from the driver's seat.

"Oh really? How so?" You challenge and Nat quickly whips out her phone, recording the moment.

"Yeah! She'd give me as many scoops of ice cream I want!" Nat snorts, catching Yelena's attention. Her eyes widen before she lifts her feet up, kicking the head of Natasha's seat with both her feet. "Stranger danger!"

Nat's head flings backward, smacking her head on the glass windshield. You gasp as Yelena claps her hands happily.

"I removed the stranger!" Yelena exclaims proudly but you pay no attention as you rush out of the car, racing towards Nat's limp body in the drivers seat.

"Oh my god, Nat are you okay?" She stares at you, wincing as she rubs the back of her head.

"Remind me to never talk to Yelena when she's on meds." You chuckle, moving to sit next to Yelena when she grabs your arm. "Hold on. You really want to sit next to her when she just kicked me thinking I was a stranger?" You pause.

"Good point." She smirks and you move to strap yourself in when a pair of arms grab you from behind, hauling you over the center console and into the back. "Augh-"

"There you are!" She nuzzles her face into your shoulder, wrapping her arms around you. "You can't run from me!" You shiver as she leans in, whispering in your ear, "You're stuck with me forever."

"I-I'll keep that in mind." You smile meekly at her before she rests her head on your shoulder happily.

"I want mint chocolate chip ice cream."

"Yup."

"Two scoops."

"You got it honey."

"And Mission Impossible marathon."

"You're the boss."

"You're so whipped." Nat smirks and you glare at her.

"If you even mention it, I'll let Yelena kick you again." You gesture to your happily oblivious girlfriend. Nat immediately raises her hands in surrender before returning her attention to the road.

---------

"Y/N?" You look up from your bowl of melting ice cream.

"Yes?" She rests her head on your shoulder.

"I wanna go to sleep." You smile, taking the bowl from her and placing it on the bedside table before readjusting the pillows and tucking her in.

"Alright, I'll go put the bowls in the sink." She pouts, making grabby hands at you.

"Noooooo stay with meeeeeeee." You shake your head amusedly before setting down the bowls and sliding under the covers.

"You want me to stay with you?" She nods. "Then you'll have to stay with me forever!" You reach out, tickling her aggressively. She screams, writhing around in the sheets till you finally stop.

"I love you so much." You smile, pressing a gentle kiss on her shoulder.

"I love you too."

---------

When Yelena wakes up, the meds have worn off. She groans, gently massaging her jaw. You let out a little whimper, pulling her attention back towards you. She admires you, your hair splayed out on the pillow, a small smile on your face.

So peaceful. So quiet.

"It's not nice to stare you know." She almost doesn't hear it, seeing as your face is buried in a pillow.

"I wasn't staring. I was admiring." You chuckle, slapping her with a pillow.

"Stalker."

"Ow!" You instantly jump up, inspecting her face.

"Lena, I'm so sorry! I forgot all about your jaw." You can see the tears forming in your eyes and you panic. "Jesus, I'll get you your meds." You move to grab her meds but are quickly pushed down.

She swings a leg over your hip, effectively trapping you. The tears are gone, replaced with a wicked smirk.

"Nowhere to go little one," she taunts you and you gasp.

"You tricked me!" She smiles.

"Of course. How else would I break the news to you?" You frown, arching your eyebrows.

"What news?"

"Your dentist appointment's next week."

--------

"Lena, c'mon, let's think about this!" You plead, watching in complete terror as the dentist procures a wicked looking instrument from his table.

"Sorry sweetie but this is necessary," she replies, mock sympathy dripping from her words. Closing the office door behind her which effectively mutes your screams, she plops down into a chair next to Tony.

"This is gonna be so fun!" Tony cackles wickedly as Yelena smirks.

--------

Taglist: @username23345 @musicinourlips @gingerbreadcookieforlife @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @trikruismybitch @ima-gi--na-tion @nicole-rayleigh-hot @olsensnpm @peabrain-likes2read

#yelena belova x reader #yelena belova x you

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thefanficmonster · 3 years

Note

Hey, I'm the 3word anon! I guess to make this easier, you call call me 📚🌻

I just wanted to say that you did an amazing job! I loved reading what you've done! You said that you wanted more words so here it is your next words: tradition, needle and tribute

Love, 📚🌻

I'm so glad you liked it dear 📚🌻 ! I absolutely love this challenge and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it hehe. Hope you enjoy this one too!

Freedom

Pairing: Rick Flag x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of drug use, Mentions of injury Spoiler Free 😊

Genre: Romance, Humor

“Flag, I have someone coming on-board with you.“ Waller’s voice comes in through the radio of the jet colonel Rick Flag was about to take off with, taking the Suicide Squad on their newly assigned mission.

He rolls his eyes, engine of the jet roaring to signal it’s ready to lose contact with the ground and rise up into the skies - much like Rick, who’s already fed up with the Squad’s members who are explicitly annoying and pesky today, promising him a ton of headaches in the near future. With that in mind, these news Waller has given him so suddenly, he’s not particularly excited to welcome another lunatic on the jet. Another lunatic to deal with.

“Who the hell are you sending? Don’t you think my hands are already full enough?!“ He yells at the top of his lungs in order for his voice to overpower the engine’s loudness.

“I’m here to help you, you ungrateful piece of shit!“ This voice, familiar voice, doesn’t emerge from the radio, instead it’s coming from right behind him and is equally as strained as his due to the loud, ear-bleeding surroundings.

Before Rick can even comprehend the presence of another person, said person gets seated on the copilot’s seat, equipping a pair of headphones so the two can communicate without pushing their lungs to the brink of giving out.

“What the hell are you doing here, L/N?“ He asks, his eyes unable to hide even a little bit of the confusion that the girl’s presence has brought upon him.

Contrary to his seriousness and shock, the girl gives him a bright, almost teasing smile, “Oh come on, Flag. I have a soft spot for you, you know, I like helping you.“ She tilts her head ever so slightly, “And I don’t feel like giving Waller the pleasure of detonating this bomb at the back of my neck.“

“Thought so.“ He scoffs, watching Y/N’s movements out of the corner of his eye as she straps herself in.

She rolls her eyes, cracking her knuckles before turning to him, deciding to pick up on this petty war, just to make matters worse for Rick and more amusing for herself, “Aren’t you gonna shoot me? I mean, it’s our tradition.”

Rick cringes, recalling the exact event - or rather events, plural - she’s referring to: the night he arrested her and a few others, all henchmen of the Joker. Unlike her co-workers however, Y/N put up one hell of a fight while those fuckers chose flight. Their decision didn’t get them far while hers led her to the hospital wing of the Belle Reve prison, a bullet in her side fired at her by colonel Flag. Seeing the report files on the altercation, Waller immediately knew the girl was something else and recruited her for the Suicide Squad.

Unfortunately, her first instinct when her eyes first landed upon the colonel was to pounce at him, despite her low chances of succeeding in her intentions considering there were guards and soldiers literally everywhere, all with guns ready to fire. Yet still, Flag was the one who shot her yet again, this time less dangerously close to fatal.

Yeah, she has a right to be pissed and a right to call it their tradition, but it’s also safe to say that their dynamic has improved. They went on to go on a few more missions together without any complications or unwanted altercations. Sure, there were snide remarks and petty comments here and there, but those could be considered compliments when compared to the shootings.

“When are you gonna let that go?“ Rick snaps, his eyes remaining fixated ahead while the jet slowly ascends, “I got you off the streets. I freed you from that psychopath. The last thing you should be is mad!”

There is a long pause between the two, leading Rick to sneak a glance at his co-pilot. She appears to be deep in thought, staring ahead much like he’s supposed to be doing right now. She doesn’t seem like she’s conjuring up a sarcastic response which would be totally up her alley, but oddly enough she seems to be genuinely thinking about what he said. He starts feeling a bit shitty for having snapped at her like that - she wasn’t completely wrong to keep rubbing it in his face, she did suffer two gunshot wounds from him, after all.

“I’m not mad.“ Y/N finally speaks up, not sparing him as much as a look, “I’m grateful. The Joker isn’t the only thing I was trying to escape. One half the day I was doing his dirty work, the other half I had a needle stuck in my arm or was out cold in a drug induced half-coma.“ This time she does turn to take in the expression change that’s happened on his face and she seems pleased with the shock and confusion she sees. “Bet you didn’t know that, did ya?“ Contemplating her next move for a second, she plays with the belts of her bulletproof vest and gear before seemingly deciding on what to do. Her fingers quickly undo the belts and buttons of the gear that’s covering her torso, removing the strong and dense protective material to expose the skin of her side where there’s a scar where she had to have surgery to get the bullet removed. Around the scar there’s a tattoo of a peculiar looking flower, masking the line as a part of itself, “I got that tattoo as a reminder of that night. A tribute to more than one freedom coming to me at once.” She quickly readjusts her gear, and slumps into the seat with a sigh of a deflating balloon. “No longer a slave, no longer an addict. Though, addicts are slaves too - slaves to our own brain’s dependency on a substance that’s destroying us.”

Rick is at a loss for words. He wasn’t expecting that, never did he think Y/N was an addict as well prior to being a henchwoman and then a prisoner. That’s probably due to the fact that she’s always been in a great physical shape, ready to take on the enemy whenever and wherever. “Damn, fucking hell, I’m sorry you had to go through that, Y/N...“ He really doesn’t know what’s there to say when he now feels even shittier than he did before.

He almost jumps out of his skin when he feels her hand on his bicep, “I would still be going through it if it wasn’t for you. In fact, come to think of it, I should apologize for pouncing at you like that when all you did was do me a favor.” She giggles quietly before adding, “But I won’t.”

He too allows himself a small laugh, “I wasn’t expecting you to.“

Of course he wasn’t, he’s come to know her well. And he also knows it’s nothing personal - Y/N is simply not the type of girl who apologizes. That he can stomach, but imagining his co-pilot seat unoccupied on the way back from this mission he cannot.

Damn it, Flag. God fucking damn you, you’ve done it again haven’t you, he asks himself, knowing the answer perfectly well already.

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equestrianwritingsstuff · 3 years

Note

More drugged villain please?

Okay so I did not know if this was an ask for a new piece, or a continuation of Paying For It. Because I already am planning on Paying For It Part 2, this is going to be a new piece, so ladies and gents I present to you *drumroll*...

Villain Pursuit

@shydragonrider

Warnings: drugged whumpee, tranq dart, needles, fever, tired characters, chasing of whumpee, bullet wound, guns, infection, descriptions of injuries, knocked out by blunt force, kidnapping

*not edited, sorry*

"He is getting much weaker," Hero reported as she stood in front of her boss, Superhero. "His right leg is very swollen and he can hardly walk, much less run. I believe it is infected and-" a yawn "- and he can hardly walk in a straight line anymore."

"Then, why didn't you grab him if he is this easy?" Superhero asked, ignoring his employee's obvious signs of exhaustion- it has been a long, rough two weeks of chasing a villain across multiple states. One of the other heroes managed to shoot his leg in hopes of incapacitating him, but the slippery villain somehow walked it off. Or, he did and now the wound was badly infected.

"He disappeared into a crowd," Hero replied. "I think it's time to chase him down and sedate him or something. If he continues like this, he is going to die."

Superhero nodded curtly in agreement. "Okay," he sighed. "We go out there and we do not rest until Villain is safetly behind bars."

Hero narrowed her eyes at the bluntness in Superhero's voice, but decided that her boss was just tired. She also reckoned that was the reason he didn't mention the infirmary as Villain's first destination after capture.

He was just tired, right?

《~~》

"Okay," Hero said, adjusting the tranq gun on her belt. "There he is."

Villain was laying against the steps to a door in an alleyway. His head was thrown backwards against his shoulder, eyes cracked open in semi-consciousness. His injured leg was stretched out whereas the other was curled up in an attempt to use some leverage to support himself. One arm was propped to keep himself upright, the other strewn to the side.

"He looks horrible," Teammate commented, chewing nervously on his lip. "I doubt its going to take much to put him out."

"Yeah, me neither," Hero agreed, feeling a rising nausea in her stomach. The pair crept towards the injured villain. Hero glanced over to see more heroes also advancing to corner the man.

But, at the last moment before Hero was able to shoot the dart, Villain saw them. He scrambled up his feet, leaning heavily against the door and swaying wildy. He looked over all the heroes, before turning and running off.

Hero cursed under her breath and sped after the hobbling villain. For a moment, she felt absolutely sorry for him. He could hardly stay on his feet, his right leg not even stepping that much on the ground. She could hear his pained groans from where she was.

Hero stopped running and drew out her tranq gun. Whispering an apology, she let the dart fly.

The feathered dart hit Villain directly in the side of his neck. He stumbled a bit, the drug already taking effect. He made an awkward circle- more of an oval- before collapsing backwards on the ground, his arms limply trying to break his fall, but they failed. His head crashed into the ground, leaving him laying in a motionless heap.

Hero grimaced. She never saw someone go down that quickly from the tranq gun before.

She walked up to the villain, crouching down and staring at him. An odd mixture of defeat and relief expressed itself on his unconscious face. Hero sighed, running a hand through her hair, before taking a look at his swollen leg.

The bullet that previously imbedded itself in his leg was gone, leaving a very infected gash. His whole calf was twice the size it would normally be- due to the infection and the fact that he seemed to have a badly sprained ankle.

"Finally!" Teammate exclaimed, sitting down exhausted next to Hero. "I was getting to the point of just shooting him and being done-"

"Look at this," Hero gestured towards his leg. She pressed into the flesh, it wasn't like he could feel it. It was burning hot.

"Yeah, looks nasty. I'm gonna call Superhero and then let's get him to the infirmary," Teammate said and went to call their boss.

Hero positioned herself by Villain's head and placed it in his lap. For some reason, even though he was incapable of realizing her presence, she felt a call to comfort him.

"It'll be okay buddy," Hero whispered, brushing the unwashed hair out of Villain's face. "Just hang on for me, will you?"

Superhero came within a few minutes, oddly without the aid of doctors and nurses. Hero watched with a perplexed look on her face while Teammate shrugged, also very confused.

Superhero smirked down at the unconscious man, nonchalantly using his foot and shoving his shoulder over. Villain rolled deeper into Hero's lap, his muscles devoid of any resistance.

"Well good job my heroes," Superhero said in an annoyingly chirpy voice. "Help me get him into my car, and I'll take him to the, uh, infirmary."

Hero nodded curtly, but really she found this odd. Why was Superhero taking Villain? What if Villain woke up? Maybe he meant for Teammate and Hero to join him in the ride and just harmlessly forgot to mention it?

Teammate and Hero loaded Villain into the back of the car and buckled his limp body up. They had him in a sitting position with his leg dangling over his chest, arms lazily lying at his sides.

"Thank you so much, guys. Really, great job," Superhero applauded in an interestingly quick voice. Hero smiled back and prepared to ride shotgun.

"Wait! No, no, no," Superhero chuckled nervously. "Honey, why don't you and Teammate go home and get some sleep. You two have been working incredibly hard."

Hero detected the tension in her boss's voice, but chose to ignore it. Truthfully, she was too tired to argue and the thought of collapsing on her bed and sleeping was too tempting. She stepped back and Superhero got into his car and drove away.

《~~》

"It's been a week Hero," Teammate spoke over in between sips of his morning coffee. "A week and no signs of Superhero, we can't visit Villain, and the agnecy is a mess."

"Yeah, kind of odd," Hero agreed, looking out the window and across the busy street. She took a lip of her own coffee and glanced bavk over at her partner. "Maybe we should call him."

"Yeah." Teammate nodded, then a mischievous grin dawned on his face. "You do it," he challenged.

But Hero was not in the mood for games. She flipped out her phone and dialed her boss's number.

"Hey Hero, how are-" cough "-you." The superhero on the otherside of the line sniffled.

"Are you sick boss?" Hero asked, brow furrowing in concern.

"Yeah, just the flu. Nothing serious, just miserable."

Was it Hero's ears playing tricks on her, or did Superhero's voice seem suddenly much less congested?

"Oh well I'm sorry. Rest up and we'll see you next week."

"Is everything okay Hero?"

"Yep all good."

It was not all good. Hero hung up and looked over at Teammate. A wordless conversation passes between them and they both hustled to their feet and practically ran out the door.

Superhero lived on the outskirts of the city in a vintage farmhouse. Hero's sport car felt very out of place in the picturesque view of the red barn and old tractor.

Teammate knocked on the screen door and stepped back. Hero tried not to notice, but he had a gun with him.

"Coming! I'm coming!" Superhero's clearly not sick voice rang out. Hero heard the poudning of footsteps before Superhero, dreased in a sweatpants and a tank top, opened the door.

His face paled at the sight of his employees.

"Oh, hey ack. What brings you here? I said I was totally good," Superhero chuckled, tapping his fingers against the doorframe.

"Cut the bull Superhero." Teammate drew his gun. "Where is Villain?"

Hero was shocked. She didn't really piece two and two together, but it seemed like Teammate did.

Superhero had Villain.

"No where. What makes you think-"

Teammate brought the barrel of the gun to Superhero's temple, knocking him out. He immediately rushed over and stuck his boss with a needle.

"What?" Hero asked, astonished.

"I'm always prepared. Never trusted that guy anyways," Teammate replied, turning his nose up slightly at Superhero's sleeping form in amusement, before rushing into the house. Hero followed.

They found Villain unconscious on the floor of the basement. His arm was strewn over his face, bruised and bloodied.

Hero ran over and took one look at the villain an immediately knew that he was in reallt bad shape. The original infection seemed to be drained, but it was still quite pussy. Also, the swelling did not yet go down.

Teammate grabbed Villain's arm and turned it over to reveal tiny holes. Hero swallowed. He has been drugged, she realized with a shudder.

Teammate, without another word, scooped Villain into his arm and carried him back up the stairs. Hero followed, stunned into silence.

When they came across Superhero's peacefully sleeping form, Hero brought her heel down onto his nose. With a satisfying crunch, it broke.

"Serves you right," Hero whispered, voice dripping with malice.

Teammate had Villain lying in the backseat of the small car, his bad leg resting against his jacket as a pillow. Hero scooted in next to him, laying his head on her lap. "Okay, let's go," she said and Teammate droved to her house.

The first thing the two did was get the disgusting, soiled articles of clothing off Villain's partially starved body. He immediately started to shiver, convulsions overtaking his body.

"Okay, he need to be warmed up," Hero said. "Bath?"

"No, wrap him in warm blankets and then sit with him on the couch. I need to tend to this leg ASAP," Teammate said, voice completely focused and monotoned.

Hero did as she was told, swaddling Villain in a fluffy beige blanket. She laid his upper body across her lap as Teammate went to work on properly draining the abscess. Villain didn't stir and Hero got worried. She checked his pulse finding it too fast and erratic to be normal.

"Okay done." Teammate cleaned his hands off on a paper towel and doused the wound with antiseptic. When that was done, he wrapped the gash in thick bandages.

Hero clutched Villain, dragging him closer to her. Waking up slightly, he nuzzled his face into her arm. Then, he stilled again, asleep.

"What are we going to do about him?" Hero whispered. "Superhero won't let us get away..."

"I know." Teammate rubbed his eyes. "That's why I am going to pack and we are running away."

#villain whumpee #superhero whumper #hero caretaker #teammate caretaker #hero x villain #drugged whumpee #drugged villain #evil superhero #guns tw #unconscious villain #kidnapping #injured villain

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fanmoose12 · 3 years

Text

catch me if you can

Сharacters: Hange Zoe, Levi, Erwin Smith, Kenny Ackerman

Genres: Mystery / Romance

Summary: The Ackerman duo. Just the mention of this name filled Hange with so many feelings. Mostly, when she reread the files of their cases over and over, until her eyes watered, she felt pricking annoyance. Sometimes, when she stared at the dead bodies of those scarce unfortunates who stumbled upon their crimes, she was filled with hatred and a pushing need for revenge. Hange couldn’t deny, however, there were times when she marveled at the impudence of their crimes. And, when she was investigating the Ackerman’s cases and saw just how meticulously planned they all were, she couldn’t help but feel something close to fascination.No one knew who they were. No one had seen their faces, no one knew their true names. Almost everyone knew of their crimes.Hange was determined to unravel every last one of their secrets. She will put an end to their crimes and then she will get the elusive Ackermans behind bars.

Chapter 12/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Сhapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

“Oi, lady, have you gone mute? Or did you call just to give me a silent treatment?”

Kenny, that voice belonged to Kenny. Kenny was just on the other line, Levi had finally found him, in the most unexpected way, in the most unexpected place.

Levi wanted to say so much, wanted to yell and scream, wanted to curse at his uncle before his throat was dry. But his tongue felt heavy, stuck to the roof of his mouth, and in that moment, the only thing he could manage was a breathy whisper,

“Kenny?”

The only reply he got was silence, which grew in intensity with every passing second. Levi could sense Hange’s bewilder and shock, her hard gaze was burning the back of his head. But Levi ignored her for the time being. He’d deal with her later, after he’d get out of Kenny just where the fuck he was hiding.

However… Kenny still didn’t give an answer. The bastard was going to end the call and throw away that phone, he was going to slip away and disappear again. Levi couldn’t let him. He was sick of chasing Kenny, of being three steps behind him.

It was time they talk, whether Kenny wanted to or not. Levi tightened his hold on the phone, lamenting that he couldn’t fist his hands in the lapels of Kenny’s stupid long coat to give him a firm, rough shake. Then, perhaps, Kenny would finally get his head out of his ass.

“I know you’re still here,” Levi gritted, his exasperation slipping through, “So stop fucking around, and start talking.”

Finally, that earned Levi a reaction. Kenny sighed, the sound alarmingly weary. “I told you to quit, didn’t I?”

“I couldn’t, and you know that.”

Kenny let out another sigh, this time accompanying it by a colorful curse. “Are you still running around city with that detective in tow?”

Levi chanced a glance of Hange. She was staring back at him, impatience written all over her face.

“Yes. What of it?”

“Can you shake her off?”

Could Levi do that? Possibly. But did he want to do it? Not particularly. He and Hange had an agreement, after all – Levi gets his uncle, Hange gets her missing girl. Fair and square. He wasn’t going to lie to her again, even for his uncle’s sake.

“I can’t. And cut the bullshit, Kenny. Tell me where the fuck are you.”

There was another beat of silence, this one was aggravating Levi a lot more. He meant to snap at Kenny again, but just as he was opening his mouth, a vile curse on the tip of his tongue, Kenny said,

“Remember the house we used to live in? When you mother was still alive? You will find me there.”

Levi took a deep breath, a million of questions ready to spill out. The call was disconnected before he could utter a single word.

Of course, what else he was expecting from his uncle? Cooperation? Clear communication? That was never their way.

What he found surprising, however, was that Kenny was hiding in their old house. Levi would have never suspected it as his hiding place. He didn’t know that house still existed at all, he thought Kenny had gotten rid of it a long time ago – sold it away or destroyed.

But he hadn’t. And now Levi didn’t know what to think of it. He also wasn’t sure how he felt about going back to his childhood home, a house he shared with his mother, a place where he had spent the happiest of his years, before the biggest tragedy of his life struck.

Would be overwhelmed with sweet nostalgia? Or be struck by immerse grief?

Or, maybe, he would be too occupied with yelling at his uncle to notice any kind of different, more solemn feeling. The third option was certainly the most preferred one.

Turning to face Hange, Levi was meaning to explain everything to her. But as their eyes met, the quiet of the night city was interrupted by a shrill sound of her ringtone.

Hange winced, silently apologizing, and took out her phone, putting it to her ear. Levi frowned, wondering who could call her this late in the evening. He had his suspicion, of course…

It was confirmed when Hange answered the call with ‘Erwin! Is everything alright?’.

Puffing an annoyed breath, Levi paced a few steps away, giving Hange at least the illusion of privacy. But as his legs carried him away from her, his ears strained, catching every bit of conversation that he could.

However, understanding what Hange and her boss were talking about proved to be quite a task, when her replies consisted mostly of ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘Huh? What do you mean’ and ‘It can’t be!’. Hange ended the call in less than a minute, finishing it with a decisive ‘I’ll be there as soon as possible’.

She approached Levi immediately after.

“We need to go to the precinct.”

What? Like hell they did, they finally found Kenny, what could be more important than this?

“Reiss showed up there.” Hange explained, answering his unasked question and furious expression. “He wants to give a statement about Historia’s disappearance.”

Well… that changed the outset a bit, Reiss’ statement was if not useful, then certainly intriguing, but they found Kenny. In Levi’s eyes, that was still the more important clue. Not to mention… that was his initial and only goal.

“I know where Kenny is,” he told Hange, expecting it to change her plans completely.

He should have known that steering Hange away from something she had already set her mind on wouldn’t be so easy.

“We’ll go there right after I take that statement from Reiss.”

She looked so calm and rational, a stark contrast to the storm inside of Levi. Did she really not understand how significant their finding was? Levi was ready to growl from frustration.

He took a step forward, his eyes narrowed. “Hange—”

“Levi.” she moved closer as well, almost invading his personal space. “We will do this my way, or you will do nothing at all.”

Oh, so she was threatening him now? As if that would ever work on him.

“Alright,” he conceded, crossing hands on his chest. “Let’s split up then. You go to Reiss and your darling boss, I go to Kenny.”

Levi thought he’d struck gold with his suggestion. Both of them would get what they wanted without sacrificing precious time. It was perfect, wasn’t it?

Hange evidently didn’t think so. She laughed in his face, stating, “Don’t take me for a fool. Do you really think I’d let you go to see your uncle all by yourself?”

So that was it. The good old argument making a return.

“Really, Hange? After everything we’ve been through, you still don’t trust me?”

Perhaps, some of his hurt had reflected on his face, because Hange suddenly deflated, something close to shame flashing in her eyes. “It’s not about you,” she mumbled, looking to the side.

“Not about me?” this spurred his anger even more. “Then, who is it about?”

Hange clenched her jaw. “It’s about your uncle, Levi. I trust you, but I cannot and will not trust him. Would you have felt differently, if you were in my place?”

Hange’s concern and doubts were certainly… reasonable. He knew Kenny would never hurt him, not intentionally, but would he feel the same if he didn’t know him his whole life? If they weren’t family?

Of course, he wouldn’t. And Hange had even more reasons to distrust him, fighting her on that was futile. He could try some more to convince her, could try and make a run for it, but he’ll just end up wasting even more time that was now so precious.

“Alright,” his shoulders slumped, as he surrendered. Arguing with Hange had a way of making him extremely exhausted. “Let’s go to your shitty precinct.”

“Really?” Hange raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You agreed that easily? I thought I would need to handcuff you…”

Well, wouldn’t that be an interesting twist of events. Maybe, he would have enjoyed it. Once the embarrassment wore off, of course.

“Thanks for sparing me then.”

“Mm,” Hange patted his shoulder with a smile. “Don’t do anything stupid, and you’re totally safe.”

Ah, what a relief.

“Shall we go, then?” she started walking, her arm already lifted to hail a taxi. She didn’t even wait to hear his answer.

Levi cursed and hurried to catch up with her.

___

The whole time they spent in the car that was headed to the fucking police precinct, Levi felt like he was sitting on needles. There was another reason why he wasn’t crazy about going to that place, and, although, it was nearly not as important as his primary one, now it was making his anxiety rise to drastic heights.

Here he was, semi-willingly heading to the police precinct again. To the place that swarmed with cops, where some of Hange’s colleagues were probably aware that he was a criminal, where he would once again meet with Erwin fucking Smith.

Their last interaction ended somewhat amicably, but what could guarantee this one would be just as successful? With man as cunning as he was, who could be sure what was going inside that big brain of his?

Besides… there was another problem, hanging heavily on his mind. And in the silence of the taxi car, Levi decided to try and deal with it.

“Hey,” he started cautiously, attracting Hange’s attention. She shifted in her seat to look more comfortably at him. Despite that, Levi kept his gaze trained forward. “We’re going to meet Kenny soon, and, hopefully, untangle all this mess, so… have you decided what will happen with him afterwards?”

What will happen with me afterwards, was the question Levi wisely chose not to voice out.

“What will happen to your uncle?” Hange pursed her lips, a point finger tapping at her chin. “I don’t know yet. I guess it depends on the solution to this riddle.”

“And his…” theirs, “previous crimes? Are you going to just forget about them?”

“I can’t really do anything else about it. Technically, we have no suspects or any kind of damning evidence. Technically, that case has been closed almost two months ago.”

“So…” he put his hands into fists, keeping them from picking at the fabric of his pants. He still didn’t lift his face, reluctant to look into her eyes. He still didn’t ask the question that tormented him the most, afraid to hear the answer.

“After all of this is over… you’re free to go,” apparently, Hange knew what he was thinking about, even without him asking the question out loud. “Like I said, there is nothing I can do to pin those thefts on you or your uncle, and since, unlike your uncle, you haven’t kidnapped a young girl…”

“Oh. So you won’t try to put me behind bars anymore?”

He was almost disappointed to hear about it.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Hange protested. “I would love to do that, but I have no means to do it.”

“The horrible bureaucracy saved me?”

That earned him a delighted chuckle. Levi’s chest swelled with pride because of this little achievement. “Unfortunately, you’re not the only criminal that got away because of it.”

“All the more reasons to thank it then.”

“Or curse it vilely.”

Levi shrugged, his lips curling in a smirk. “Depends on the point of view, I guess.”

There was a pause in the conversation, and when Levi chanced a glance at Hange, he found that she wasn’t looking at him anymore. Her face was turned to the window, her fingers drumming on the seat between them in a slow, irregular manner. She seemed pensive. Levi wondered about the reason for it.

“Hey, since we started talking about it…” the rhythm created by her fingers grew stronger, more erratic. “Have you decided what are you going to do after we finish the case?”

Had he thought about? He hadn’t had the time. But even if he had, what was there to think about? He didn’t have a lot of options.

“I remember you mentioning some kids from Singapore,” Hange continued. “Are you going to go back to them?”

Going back to the brats? That didn’t sound all that bad. Just this morning they’ve sent him a photo of the three of them, telling that they’ve settled comfortably in Jean’s summer house. They said that they’ve missed him. Levi was feeling the same. But was that enough to build a life there, so far away from his home?

He could stay with Kenny, but what if Kenny went to prison? Would there be a reason for Levi to stay then?

“You know… I think we made a pretty good team. So if you ever tire of being a vile criminal…” Hange trailed off, letting Levi fill the blanks himself.

If he understood what Hange was offering correctly, then… Oh. Levi felt his chest warm up, moving downwards, spreading that pleasant fluttering to his stomach.

Hange still was staring at the window, refusing to meet his eyes. Her reflection, however, was perfectly visible to Levi, and the slight rosy color on her cheeks made his own heat up.

“What, are you proposing I become your crime solving buddy?”

Hange shrugged, feigning disinterest. “I could use some of your skills.”

“I’ll think about it then,” he said, mirroring her detached voice.

Hange faced to him with a beam shining on her lips. It was enough to make Levi smile back.

___

Despite the late hour, the precinct was bustling with activity. Remembering his last visit and the half-dead building he found that time, Levi wondered if he just caught the police station on a particularly slow night, or if that was how it always operated, and the amount of officers running around that they saw now was unusual.

"So Reiss is actually here," Hange muttered. "Or something really bad has happened. Can't imagine what else could cause this commotion."

Oh, his assertion was correct then. The precinct was so active just because of Reiss’ arrival.

Hange walked through the precinct with confidence in her stride. She greeted every officer they passed with a quick nod, they answered her in kind, and, thankfully, most of them were too busy to pay attention to Levi. He would love if it stayed that way for the rest of their visit.

They took the stairs, crossed a couple of hallways, turned a few corners, and there they were - walking up to Hange's office. There were a lot more familiar faces there - Levi could see Nana— something, talking with two officers, and Mike, leaning against the coffee machine at the other side of the room.

Hange immediately changed their trajectory, heading to him.

"Mike!" she shouted, causing him to turn in their direction.

As they approached, Levi raised his hand in greeting. When they were close enough, Mike raised his hand too, but instead of a friendly salute, Levi received a dizzying, lip shuttering punch.

Woah, apparently he was not only a towering height, but a mountain of muscles as well, the force of that punch reverberated through his skin and almost sent Levi flying through the air to land right on his ass. Mike certainly wasn't going easy on him.

Comprehending what was going on around him became a vexing task after that hell of a punch, but Hange's loud, laced with anger voice still cut through the fog.

"Mike! What the fuck? Have you gone mad?"

Mike's answer was much quieter, Levi only barely managing to catch 'You're the one to talk..."

Whether Hange heard her tall friend or not, she gave no reaction to that line. Instead, her strong arms wrapped themselves around Levi's shoulders, making the ache in his jaw turn into a barely noticeable dull. She made him face her, her fingers gripping his chin. Despite the outrage swirling in her gaze, her touch was gentle, more like a caress.

"God, Han, he's alright, it was just a punch, I'm sure he had worse. And, he more than deserved it."

Hange looked up at Mike, long enough to give him a death glare and hiss, "Shut the fuck up now."

When her eyes were back on Levi, her voice softened considerably. "Hey, Levi, are you alright?"

He gave her a nod, tenderly clenching and unclenching his jaw. Seemed like... Mike was right. He did have it worse.

Besides... having Hange so close, seeing that worried look in her beautiful brown eyes was... extremely pleasant. Enough to make him want to remain in this position for a while longer, just to enjoy that blessed feeling for another moment.

"I told you everything was fine with him," Mike grumbled suddenly, startling Levi. With Hange in front of him, the rest of the world was left in blurs, even the man who assaulted him had faded to the background. "Now, leave the thief alone and hurry to Erwin. The big man is already in his office."

That got Hange's attention. "By the big man you mean..."

"Yep, it's Reiss. I’m sure I don't have to tell why making him wait is extremely unwise."

"Got it, got it," Hange pushed the hair back from her face, taking a step back, much to Levi's disappointment.

"Don't you worry, I'll take care of your buddy," Mike reached out to Levi, and the arms that Hange still had around him tightened. Levi felt an illogically massive amount of pleasure.

"Mike, don't you even think—"

"I won't hit him anymore. I swear," he added, when Hange just kept giving him a look full of skepticism. She left it on for another second, and then nodded, letting Levi go.

She marched off to the office without another word or even glance. Without her, Levi was suddenly too cold. And the jaw ache returned with vigor.

"Here," Mike thrusted a handkerchief in Levi's hands, pointing to his still bloodied chin. Levi accepted it with a grateful nod, wiping the blood with a disgruntled grimace.

"Now let's go, I won’t waste my smoke break babysitting you." Mike pushed him forward, back to where Levi and Hange had come from.

As he finally got a good look around the room, Levi noticed that they had an audience, quite big and intrigued one. They kept staring at him as Mike led him to the elevator. Thankfully, no one uttered a single word, or, god forbid, a question.

Levi would have breathed out in relief once the elevator doors closed, if his companion wasn't so... unnerving. Mike didn't say a word, didn't as much as glance in his direction while they rode the elevator. He was silent when they left the elevator. He was silent as they moved towards the exit. He was silent as they walked outside. He was silent when he lit up his cigarette, was silent when he offered another one to Levi. Mike was silent before he took his first drag and after he let the smoke out. He inhaled deeply through his nose, and only then he fixed his eyes on Levi.

Levi held his breath, the tips of fingers trembling in anticipation for what was to come. Hopefully, not another punch.

"I was with Han, you know? When she found that note of yours. When she realized who you actually were."

Oh... Then Mike's ire was more than justifiable. And Levi digressed – a punch would be probably a less painful option than having this conversation.

"Did she..."

"No. I've never seen Hange cry, but—" Mike put cigarette back to his lips, inhaling it slowly, as though calming himself down. Levi waited for his answer with a bated breath. "I've also never seen her look so lost. At first, she wasn't even angry or hurt, just confused. I couldn't bear to see that look on her face. So when today I saw you waltz in our precinct like that, with Hange by your side..." he trailed, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry." Levi said.

He really was. He didn't mean to, didn't wish to hurt Hange. That was never his intention. And yet, he still did hurt her. That mistake would weigh on his soul forever.

"I know you are," Mike replied, surprisingly easy. "I used to think you're a scumbag and that my nose has failed me…"

Shit, he was really serious about this whole nose thing?

"But it turns out you're not that bad. You did lie and broke Hange's heart," and for that, Levi already received a punch in the face. "However, Erwin told me what happened yesterday. You really called him and asked to take Hange home?" Mike chuckled. "Man, that took some balls."

...To put it lightly. The memories of his last clash with Erwin still elicited a shiver from him.

"I was actually worried he'd throw me in jail," Levi confessed. "I'm surprised he didn't."

"Oh, believe me, he was very tempted to." Mike revealed.

"Then why didn't he?"

Mike shrugged, shaking off the ash from his cigarette. "Because it wasn't his call, it was Hange's. Whatever that she sees in you, it is enough for our Han to trust you. And Erwin respects her enough to not get involved in that."

Oh. That was actually reassuring. Perhaps, now Levi could stop feeling like a naughty schoolboy in Erwin's presence.

"But if you make the mistake of hurting Hange again," and just like that, the reassurance was gone. "We will make sure that you regret it. Next time, I won't be pulling back my punches."

So that hit was Mike going easy on him? Fucking hell. Levi hoped he wouldn't anger that man again. His skull may not survive it.

As Mike grew silent once again, Levi finally remembered the cigarette he was still holding in between his fingers. It almost burned out, he hurried to take a drag before it went out completely.

He regretted his decision almost immediately. Mike had a fucking terrible taste in tobacco.

Discreetly, he put the cigarette out and threw it into a trashcan.

"What do you think they're even doing there?" Levi raised a finger in the general direction of where Hange, Erwin and Reiss were. "Reiss showing up, it's a big thing, isn't it?"

"The biggest one we had in a while. Have you seen that shit inside? The precinct isn't that lively even during daytime. The bigger commotion would have happened only if we got you Ackermans in handcuffs."

Luckily, that would never happen.

"And? Do you think something... useful might come out of his visit?"

"Don't know," Mike stared down at his cigarette, rolling it between his fingers. "To be honest, I thought that Hange's new case was just another dead end. But now guy as big as Reiss gets involved? I guess it's more complicated than I expected it to be."

Complicated? That was one way to put it. Levi was still baffled by the notion that Kenny was working with Frieda Reiss. Clearly, this case was much, much more complicated than they've anticipated. Clearly, he needed to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.

As though hearing his thoughts, Mike put his cigarette out. "C'mon, let's get you back before Hange bites my head off."

"Doubt that four-eyes will care so much about me."

Mike raised an eyebrow, his face screaming bullshit. But he said nothing, only smiled enigmatically and patted his shoulder.

"Whatever makes it easier to sleep at night, man."

___

Inside of Erwin's office was brighter than Hange had ever remembered seeing. Usually he used only two sources of light - his battered desk lamp and computer screen. But today, the ceiling lights were on. Hange didn't know that he even had them.

What's more, for the first time in a while, the leather couch standing beside his desk was occupied - by Reiss and a woman Hange had never seen before. Although, Hange had never seen her, that didn't mean she didn't know her. The hair color, the face structure - it was almost identical. Eyes, however, were different. Historia had definitely inherited them from her father.

Compared to Reiss’ bright ones, Alma’s eyes seemed practically lifeless. Her expression was completely neutral, like she wasn’t entirely there, her thoughts a long distance away from Erwin’s office.

So that woman was the mysterious mother? Hange longed to hear what she had to say.

"Sorry for the wait," she flashed everyone in the room a smile and swiftly strolled inside, taking a seat across from Erwin.

"You're dressed very smartly this night, detective Zoe. I do hope I didn't interrupt your date."

The smile didn't slip of her lips, as Hange shifted, facing Reiss. "I appreciate the concern, but it is uncalled for. Nothing more important than my job."

"Your date must be very understanding. Is that the same fella I saw you with last time? I thought you'd broken it off."

Ah, so Reiss was keeping tabs on her? Lovely.

Luckily, Hange was keeping tabs on him as well. She shifted her gaze to Reiss’ companion.

"And can I ask you who is that, Mr Reiss? Is this your—"

"That's my secretary," Reiss' smile became just a fraction more strained. Hange internally cheered. "Alma."

The same name that was listed in Historia's birth certificate. That bit of doubt Hange still had, now vanished without a trace.

"She's got valuable information regarding your recent case. And since you and I are already acquitted, I decided to accompany her."

"How nice and generous of you," Hange told Reiss, before returning to his secretary. "It's nice to meet you, Alma," she put her hand out for a handshake. Alma accepted it, albeit weakly. And only after receiving a nod from Reiss. Interesting. And creepy. "Why have you come to see me?"

The question was directed on Alma. But Reiss was the one who answered it.

"Alma has something to share regarding the disappearance of her daughter."

"Oh?" Hange shared a look with Erwin. His bush eyebrows were up to his hairline. So he had no idea about it, huh? Well, wasn't it good to finally be one step ahead of him?

But for the moment, Hange had to feign shock as well.

She cast her eyes down, hands dropping to her lap. "I was under the impression that Krista was an orphan." Then, with a slight frown, she added, "Why didn't you report her missing then? We caught news of her disappearance almost a week later."

"I..."

Alma paled, her hands began to tremble. Hange's grin began to spread, she almost got them—

But then Reiss— damn him— interfered. He covered Alma's hands with his, holding them gently, like a caring father.

"Alma and Krista had just recently reconnected," he explained in a quiet, saddened voice.

"Yes," Alma confirmed. Seemed like Reiss' support has given her the needed strength - she sounded surer now. But her gaze kept its strange detachment. "Krista and I rarely talk. I had abandoned her at the orphanage when she was just a newborn, so there are obviously... some tensions between us."

Despite the emotional flavor of her story, Alma was anything but. She was talking about her missing daughter and the rocking relationship that bounded them, yet nothing of it was mirrored in her. Her voice didn't waver, no muscle twitched on her face. Alma looked bored, like she was talking about something more trivial than even weather. Damn it, even Ackerman would have done a better job at pretending.

Although, perhaps, Hange was judging his acting skills a little too harshly. Earlier that evening, his kiss was more than just convincing. Hange felt tingle in her lips at the mere thought.

The sound of Erwin clearing his throat brought her back to present, rather abruptly.

"That is a very tragic story, Miss... Alma, but what is the reason for your visit?"

"Oh right," she freed her hands from underneath Reiss' and grasped her purse, opening it. "I found this on my lawn."

After a moment of rummaging through the purse, Alma laid before Hange a phone that was wrapped in a cellophane bag. Huh, for a simple secretary she knew more than enough about preserving evidence. Not to mention that if Hange found the phone of her missing daughter lying on the lawn, preserving evidence would be the last thing on her mind. But, oh well, what wasn't suspicious about that woman?

Reaching out to Erwin, Hange silently asked him to pass the sterile gloves. Any other day she wouldn’t think twice about simply grabbing the piece of evidence, but if that's how they wanted to play, she would have to indulge them.

Once the latex was pulled onto her long fingers, Hange took the phone - eagerly, impatiently. It all might be just a ruse, and she'd be damned, but she was intrigued by it.

The phone wasn't in the best shape - a large crack ran through the screen, the sides of it were covered in bumps, and at the bottom of it— oh, just a speck, but it was undeniably blood.

Hange shivered at the thought about its origin.

Once unlocked, the phone destroyed the little doubts she had. It really belonged to Historia, the picture on the lock screen confirmed it. The photo showed Historia, who was smiling at the camera with all of her loveliness, and Ymir, who was facing away, her lips at Historia's cheek. Ah, so that's why she was so dead set on saving her? Interesting. And so romantic. Hange didn't expect such a thing from Ymir.

"You found it on your lawn, right?" Erwin asked, signaling Hange to pass him the phone. Once she did, he looked at it, with both skepticism and curiosity.

"Yes," Alma said. "I called Mr. Reiss as soon as I did."

"Alma hopes that the phone would shed some light on where Krista disappeared."

"Hm." Hange couldn't shake off the feeling that she was walking straight into a trap. Why did Reiss decided to finally act, and why today of all days? Was he aware that they got to one of his daughters, and now were close to finding another one? Did he even care? And what was the importance of the phone? It was some sort of distraction or diversion, Hange was sure of it. But for now, it would have to remain a mystery. As suspicious as Reiss' actions were, there was a more pressing matter now. They had to get to Kenny Ackerman, and get out of him everything he was willing to share. Hopefully, with Levi by her side, he'd be much more amenable.

"Thank you for your cooperation," getting out of off her stupor, Hange smiled and shook first Reiss', then Alma's hand. "If we find anything regarding Historia's whereabouts, we'll alert you immediately."

"Krista." Reiss spoke in a voice so low that Hange had to take a double take to confirm that yes, that scary tone was coming from the honest, kindhearted, absolutely innocent politician.

"What?"

"Krista, Alma's daughter is named Krista. And you were just talking about some Historia."

Some Historia, huh?

"My mistake," Hange chuckled, rubbing her neck. "It was a long day, sorry."

"Forgive that slight mishap. Detective Zoe works day and night to find your daughter." Erwin chimed in, calming everyone down with his soft, unassuming smile. Hange could barely keep her delightful giggle.

Your daughter, Erwin said, while looking Reiss in the eyes. So he already caught on? Hange wasn't surprised.

"Thank you for the visit and have a good night, Mr. Reiss, Miss Alma. My assistant will walk you to the door."

Reiss nodded, his eyes still darker than a night's sky. He helped Alma get to her feet and led her to the door, where Nifa, Erwin's assistant, was already waiting with a tired gaze and polite smile.

They left, without looking back even once. Alma didn't say goodbye to Hange, didn't grab her arm and beg to bring her daughter back home. God, that woman could have at least tried to do a more believable act.

Once the door was closed, and they were left alone, the amicable expression was gone from Erwin's face. His jaw was set, his lips pressed in a line, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I hope I don't have to tell you that you're walking on a thin ice, Hange. And that this endeavor of your—"

"I know."

"And working with that Ackerman—"

"I know." Hange repeated, firmer this time. She knew the dangers, knew about possible consequences. Last night, Erwin made sure to explain it to her in vivid details. "But this girl is in trouble, Erwin. I can't let it go before she's safe."

"Your heart was always your biggest weakness," the stoic mask on his face hardened, and then cracked, revealing a fond smile. "But it's also your biggest strength. Don't lose it."

Standing up, Hange hid Historia’s phone inside the pocket of her jacket, then flashed Erwin a cheeky grin. "Is that an order, Captain?"

"It absolutely is, detective. You may go now. Someone is very impatient."

Hange followed Erwin's gaze, turning to the door. Even through the closed door, Levi's silhouette was transparent. He was pacing back and forth, and Hange could bet that he was scowling. She confirmed that guess as soon as she left Erwin's office.

"What the fuck had taken you so long? C'mon, four-eyes, we have to hurry."

Right, Kenny Ackerman was waiting for them. Kenny Ackerman who most definitely had the answers, who probably knew where Historia was. Hange couldn't allow another second go to waste.

She quickly skipped to where Levi was standing, prompting him to start moving.

"Let's go then! The solution awaits!"

___

"Wait!" Hange stopped them as soon as they were out of the precinct. "We need to call Ymir."

Levi groaned. Why, oh why, would she want to call that impossible brat?

"We wouldn't have found your uncle if it wasn't for her help. The only thing she asked in return is to find Historia. We owe her that much."

Perhaps, that was true, but Hange hadn't considered one very important factor - Levi really, really didn't want to face Ymir again. The last embarrassment was still too fresh in his mind.

"We haven't found Historia yet," he tried to argue.

"But we're as close as ever," Hange chirpily replied, overthrowing his whole reasoning with just one hopeful sentence.

Well, his battle was doomed before it had even begun. Levi lamented this loss with a sigh. "You're too kind, four-eyes."

"And you're too cranky," she retaliated, following that devastating blow with a mighty clasp to his back. "Call taxi for us while I talk with Ymir, okay? You know where to go, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded, sobering a little. Amidst his banter with Hange, he had completely forgotten that right, he was going to visit his childhood home, the same house where he had found the breathless body of his mother at the ripe age of nine. The feelings this trip was awakening in him were still unclear.

"And where exactly are we going?" whether his face, voice or general stiffness betrayed him or Hange was just that attuned to his emotions, but worry took residence in her gaze. She froze with phone raised to her ear, waiting for his answer.

"It's at the edge of the city."

"Near the docks? Some kind of abandoned warehouse?"

"Um." Something pointy stuck in his throat, making it hard to speak. However, Hange's gaze didn't waver, as she continued to expect a continuation from him. Swallowing his discomfort, Levi muttered, "We're going to my childhood home."

"Oh." The hand holding the phone lowered. Hange took a step in his direction. For one terrifying second Levi thought she was going to hug him. But, apparently, she decided to spare him from further embarrassment and concluded that gripping his shoulders tightly was enough. She stared straight at him, and in the darkness her eyes shone with sincerity. "If you want - or need - to talk about this, I'm ready to listen. If you—"

Fucking hell, compared to Hange, every other human seemed like an utter piece of shit.

"It's fine, four-eyes. It's just the house where I found my dead mom."

Saying that was obviously a mistake. Hange gasped, her eyes widening. Her hands on his shoulders tightening. "Levi, that's—"

"Yeah, one hell of a traumatic experience, especially for a brat who barely turned nine."

Another wrong line. Now Hange looked close to tears. Levi didn't know what urge was stronger - to wrap himself around Hange and ask her to never let go, or tear his hair out.

"Listen, I've dealt with it a long time ago," he didn't, hadn't even tried, but today and right now was very obviously the wrong time to go soul-searching and uncover what consequences his mother's death had on his psyche. "Don't worry about it."

"I can't help it, but if you insist..."

With that lost expression on her face, Hange looked so damn adorable, Levi was pissed off at himself for being so unwilling to look away. Thankfully, she saved him from this heavy duty by being the first one to turn around, the phone back to her ear. Levi turned away as well, escaping temptation. His finger was just hovering over the order button, when it dawned at him.

"Wait!" he pulled Hange back to him. "Did you just call me Levi?"

It wasn't the first time this evening as well, but all the previous occasions had him too occupied with something else to notice that slight change.

"Where did the damned Ackerman go?"

"Um." If he hadn't spent the previous two days learning just how bold and forward Hange was, he'd say that right now, she looked ashamed. The red in her cheeks certainly spoke in favor of that theory. "I'll be dealing with two Ackermans from now on, right? So to avoid any confusion..."

That was a very logical, reasonable explanation. So why Levi wanted it to be something more— personal?

"The taxi will be here in five," he said, distancing himself from these pointless, foolish thoughts.

"Ymir said she'll be waiting there for us," Hange nodded readily. "Shall we go?"

And so they went.

___

By the time Levi and Hange walked out of the taxi, Ymir was already waiting for them. She was standing near the sidewalk, leaning against a shiny black motorcycle.

Levi rolled his eyes at the sight of it. Of course, Ymir rode a motorcycle. As though she wasn't already a personification of every possible lesbian cliché.

"Oh what a baby!" squealing, Hange ran up to the motorcycle, looking it over with eyes burning from excitement. "I'm sure Historia would love to take a ride on this beast!"

"What can I say?" Ymir huffed, puffing her chest. The smirk on her face was absolutely horrendous. Even Kenny couldn't quite recreate a look of that much self-confidence. "Chicks dig bikes."

"That they certainly do."

Aha, so Hange liked motorcycles. Levi made a mental note about that.

He then left behind Hange's shrilling coos and Ymir's bratty replies, taking a step closer to the house he had grown up in.

It was dark now and seemingly empty, but years ago it was always filled with light. It was filled with life - his mom's cheerful laughter, his uncle's merry jokes, Levi's own insistent, curious questions about everything he encountered. It was filled with love— but now, it was just a house - old and cold.

Although, other than that, it looked exactly like Levi had remembered. A light green house in the suburbs, with a garden, little white fence and even playground, all of it was a gift from Uri Reiss, the only real friend his uncle had.

Oh, how his mother loved that house. How she enjoyed tending to the garden, how she laughed when she watched Levi play on a swing. They were happy in this house, the happiest Levi had ever been.

Standing before it now, after so many years, felt strange. Noticing all the little signs that someone had been looking after the house - the lawn was moved, the trash sorted and neatly packed, even the lane was swept - was even stranger. And he used to think that Kenny had sold the house long time ago. Evidently, the old bastard was more sentimental that he let on.

"Hey," a gentle voice was in his ear, strong hands on his shoulders. "Do you need a moment or—"

He was grateful for Hange's concern. But that concern - as sweet as it was - was misplaced. They didn't have time for it.

"I'm fine," he assured, lamenting that he was too prideful to take Hange by the hand. Not that he needed it, but— it certainly would make him feel better. "Let's get moving."

They did, all three of them in perfect unison, and be it her detective's sense or simple intuition, or, perhaps, Hange really could read him as easily as a book, but she took her hand in his, squeezing his palm reassuringly. It certainly worked, her touch was like a magic that chased away the tense feeling in his muscles. Now, Levi could almost breathe freely.

When they reached the door, Hange lifted her free hand, probably with intent to knock. What a dork, Levi thought fondly. Pushing her aside, he kicked the door open with one mighty hit of his leg.

"Levi!" Hange yelled in shock. "You can't just—"

"My house, remember?"

Without another word, Levi passed the threshold, Hange and Ymir trailing after him.

Even engulfed in darkness, the inside of the house looked just like he remembered - soft, crème carpet under their feet, fern that had grown so much bigger standing near the door, a photo of—

Oh. Levi averted his eyes with lightning speed. The last thing he wanted to do was to start crying. Especially with Ymir present.

The house seemed emptier with each step they took. Doubt started to arise within Levi, and along with it - his anger. If that son of a bitch lied to him—

But then he heard it. Just at the edge of his hearing, but that sound was as familiar as it was unmistakable. The sound of Kenny playing with his lighter.

He hurried in the direction of that sound, it led him to the living room. The room was dark, the only source of light was the old TV-screen that did a very poor job of illuminating the rest of the room. Levi could barely see the outlines of the couch, but the figure lying on it— oh, Levi knew it so well.

The sight of Kenny with a bottle of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other was all too familiar. And just as infuriating. Still holding onto Hange, Levi marched to his uncle with the full intent of kicking his insolent ass.

Kenny shot to his feet moments before they reached him.

"Levi!" he spread his arms in a greeting gesture. Levi's scowl darkened. "You brought friends!"

"Kenny—"

"And before you or your detective—" Kenny swept his eyes all over Hange, his grin growing, "friend punch me, let me show you something."

"Something?" it came from Hange, who sounded simultaneously intrigued, cautious and fucking furious.

"Someone," Kenny corrected with an enigmatic wink. Before Levi or Hange could force him to explain, he shouted, his voice carrying over the entire house, "Girl! Come here, you have guests!"

There was a beat of silence, then, they heard a sound of hurried footsteps that came from the upper floor. Levi held his breath. Hange did too, and, holding her hand, he could feel her pulse beating strongly.

At last, the door to the living room opened.

"What the hell do you want from me again?"

Levi's jaw dropped. Dressed in lilac top and shorts, with her hair up in a messy ponytail she looked a bit different from the perfect girl from the photos, but truth was impossible to deny.

Before them— in the flesh, stood Historia Reiss.

#fuck i don't have a silly joke this time soooo just enjoy?#levihan

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eirikaanemo · 3 years

Text

His Fight

Venti x GN!Reader

1.9 Words

Warnings: Frostbite, assault (not sexual), near death experience

Part 1: His Lyre

His kiss to your cheek was quick but sent a warmth blooming across your face, contrasting with the coolness of his lips.

“Of course,” you mumble, embarrassed. “It was your lyre anyway.”

“It was,” he agreed. “But you believed me. And that really does mean a lot to me. Thank you, really.”

“I’ve always believed you, Venti,” you tell him softly, “both Venti and Barbatos. I believe in you. Even if you didn’t bring the lyre back in one piece, you brought yourself back. And I know you tried your best. You always do, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”

Venti chuckles out a nervous, “ehe~” and rubs the back of his head sheepishly. He doesn’t try to hide the blush dusting his cheeks at your sincere words. “I’m not sure I deserve that, but thank you anyway.”

The two of you stand in silence for a little while after that. It’s not uncomfortable silence though. There’s a pleasant and kind of tingly feeling warming you from head to toe. Venti’s humming a little song and staring thoughtfully out into the distance; and you’re working up the courage to try and hold his hand.

Then your eyes accidentally meet the Traveler’s. Thankfully they seem to have been busy with Paimon while you and Venti were talking, so things aren’t as awkward as they could have been. They’re still kind of a third wheel though, and you’ve done that enough times to know how awkward it is.

Both of your eyes are caught by movement to the right of Traveler. Venti’s still oblivious, but it was enough of a tell for Traveler to be ready when two fatui pyro agents burst out of the brush. They drew their sword and stood their ground despite being outnumbered. Knife met sword as they exchanged blows.

While the fight attracted Venti’s attention, you took the chance to scan the area. It was uncommon for fatui agents to attack like this. Especially in a public area like the cathedral, and… there!

You push Venti out of the way just in time for the blast of ice to miss him, though it hits you dead on. The strength of it had both knocked you off your feet and frozen you solidly to the ground. Squirming some to test your cryo prison, you found an arm and both your legs to be solidly frozen to the ground. A hiss leaves your mouth as the cold starts to seep through your clothes and all the way down to your bones. Frostbite.

A sultry chuckle escapes your attacker as she approaches the two of you, with two cicin mages at her heels. “How touching,” she coos. “You sacrificed yourself for his sake.” She comes to a stop a couple feet away. Venti has very carefully not tensed up, pretending to not be affected, but you can see the wary look in his eyes.

Glancing over at Traveler, your heart falls. They’re still being held up by the pyro fatui agents. There will be no help from them.

She turns to Venti and smirks. “At last, Mondstadt’s rodent ruler in the flesh.” Step by step she draws nearer. “Scurrying through the streets, looking for leftovers.” She passes you, not giving you a second glance. Tilting her head, she quirks an eyebrow and gestures at Venti. “Mondstadt calls this a god?”

Oh she did not just go there.

You may be stuck in ice, and it may be slowly freezing you, but you’re not helpless. Your anemo vision is a weight against your chest. Most may choose to flaunt their visions, but you choose to wear it like a pendant but under your shirt. It may garner less respect, but it also garners less attention. Which is really helpful in situations like this.

The first thing you have to do is take out those cicin mages. With slight hand movements you slowly steal the air out of their lungs- and keep it there. If you’re careful enough, and you are, you can knock them out without them making a sound.

While waiting for them to drop, you keep an eye on Venti and the lady’s exchange.

“Resident rodent beats invasive vermin,” Venti quips.

The lady’s face darkens with rage. “Don’t you dare speak back to me, insolent bard.” She responds, stretching out her arm and summoning a gust in another attempt to freeze him. Crossing his arms, Venti launches himself into the air to avoid it. In return, he reaches for his lyre, which transforms into a bow, and he lets a volley of anemo arrows fly.

She easily knocks each one aside with a volley of ice crystals. “Look at you, absentee archon of Mondstadt… how impotent you have become.” Another barrage of ice rushes towards him with another gesture from the lady.

Venti easily knocked them off course with a blast of wind. “That smirk of yours looks out of place. Did you steal it from your master’s face?”

At that moment you realized three things. The cicin mages are knocked out so you should probably let them go before you kill them. The lady just got angrier than before. Not good. And you’re losing feeling in your legs. That’s definitely not good.

You let out a quiet sound of pain as the pins and needles reach further up your chest towards your neck. The moment he hears that noise, Venti’s attention snaps to you. He freezes. Your lips are blue and your skin is growing pale. He has to do something, fast.

“Cicin mages, attack!” The lady commands, trying to take advantage of his distraction. When nothing happens she turns around to find them where you left them on the ground. A growl escapes her throat as she turns on you.

“I thought that was enough to keep you down and out of the fight,” she said darkly. “Apparently I was wrong. I suppose I’ll need to put you down permanently.” Grabbing a dagger of ice out of thin air, she went for the throat.

“Hey, keep your eyes on me!” Venti calls. “This is my fight!” A flash of turquoise light lit up the area, blinding her and giving her pause. Immediately Venti was at your side, melting the dagger with the warm west wind and pushing the lady away. He donned whites and golds now instead of greens and browns. Feathery wings stretched out behind him. Before you stood the anemo archon, Barbatos. And he was angry.

“How dare you,” he hissed. “How dare you attack them! Leave now, before I truly lose my temper. I do not delight in bloodshed, but blood will be shed if you continue. Begone. And tell Tsaritsa that she had best watch herself. I may not be as powerful as she thinks I ought to be, but I am powerful enough to protect myself and my city.”

And with that, beaten but spiteful, the lady left. “Vanessa,” he spoke. “Would you make sure she leaves? We wouldn’t want her to get… lost.” A hawks cry echoed through the plains as she accepted his request. After all, this was her land too and Venti is her friend.

With that taken care of, all of Venti’s attention is on you.

Usually this would be a good thing, but this attention is because you’re turning blue and starting to lose feeling in your chest. He melts the ice and sweeps you into an embrace, wrapping his wings around you, partly for comfort and partly for warmth. “Thank celestia you’re okay,” he murmured. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. And I’m so glad I haven’t lost you like I did my friend all those years ago.”

You hum wordlessly in response and huddle closer to the warmth he provided. “I’m glad you’re okay too,” you whisper quietly.

Then Venti looks up. The flash of his transformation drew quite the crowd. But, most importantly, it drew Barbara out of the Cathedral.

“Barbara, I am not able to fully heal them myself. The frostbite has gotten too far. Would you kindly lend your assistance?”

“Of course, Lord Barbatos!” She exclaimed, hurrying forward to help heal you.

“Venti, Barabra,” he gently chastised. “I may be Barbatos, but I far prefer to go by Venti.”

“Venti it is then,” she concluded. “I… I believe we owe both of you an apology,” she admits as she focuses more on healing you. “You were telling the truth the whole time, Venti. And they were the only one to believe you. And we can see how that turned out.” She lets out a sigh as she pulls her hands away. “That should do it. How do you feel?”

“I’m still a little cold, but I’ll be okay,” you inform her. Venti holds you a little closer in response. Your skin is still a shade paler than it should be and you’re shaking with cold. But you can feel even your toes and fingers again. Everything will be okay in time.

Over the next few days as you recover, the news of Barbatos’ reappearance and his true identity spread throughout the town. While Venti’s power and ability grew significantly, the revenant and awed looks he received in public made him uncomfortable. Things did get better but it took a while.

“Do you regret doing it?” You asked him one night.

“Revealing my identity as Barbatos? Kind of,” he confessed. “But saving your life? Never. And there wasn’t another way I could have done it. My form as Venti is not able to wield as much power as I can in my winged form. Without revealing myself, I would not have been able to save you. So no, I don’t really regret it. I never could.”

You snuggle closer to him on the couch and entwine one of your hands with his. “Thank you,” you whisper.

“Anytime,” he responds back, just as quietly. He gently squeezes your hand. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’ve just brought such a bright light into my life since I met you. I’m not sure I could handle the dark anymore.”

You feel your face flush with warmth and he laughs a little in response. “Aww, did I fluster you?” He teases, poking at your cheek. You groan and let go of his hand to bury your face in your hands. He frowns a little. “How now, you don’t need to hide.”

When you peak out from your hands he gives you a wide smile. “See? It’s just me. It’s okay!”

As soon as your hands are away from your face he reaches forward to cup the side of your face. “Hey,” he says softly as he looks into your eyes. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes,” you breathe back. And just like that, his lips are on yours. It lasts an eternity and is over in a second as he pulls away. Now he’s the one who’s shy, looking away from you with pink dusting his cheeks. “Was that, um- Was that okay?”

“Hmm,” you ponder. “I don’t know. You may need to try again.”

Surprised, his head snaps back to face you. “Really?” He squeaks a little too quickly.

“Really,” you confirm, tugging on his braids to bring him back in for another kiss.

Neither of you are sure how long you spent kissing on the couch, but both of you will remember this moment fondly for the rest of your lives.

#eirika writes #venti #genshin venti #venti x reader #genshin impact x reader

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ikeromantic · 3 years

Text

Uncomfortable Questions

A Mitsuhide Akechi fanfiction occurring after the events of the romantic epilogue! Approx. 3000 words of fluff and stuff.

First: Mitsuhide and the Maiden

Previous: Friends and Frenemies

Miyake was nervous. He did his best to hide it. His job today was to stay with Lady Akechi, to keep her safe and happy. Normally, he’d consider it an easy task. A pretty girl, a new place to explore . . . but this was his Lord’s wife! And . . . other complications.

He swallowed.

“Do you want to go shopping too, Miyake? I see you’re wearing another of Sasuke’s t-shirts.” The lady smiled back at him as she asked.

“Nope! I’m good. I like this shirt. And the ninja took me out for some pants that fit too. I'm just here to keep you safe.” He glanced up at the tall tall buildings to their right and left. “Where, uh, do you want to go?”

Her shoulders sagged. “It’s not so much what I want to do as what I should. I need to stop by the clothing designer here - the place that hired me. To apologize for disappearing like I did.”

“Think they’ll be mad?”

“I hope not.” She mumbled something else, something Miyake didn’t catch.

“What was that?”

“Oh. Ah, just that I imagine they won’t be nearly as hard to apologize to as my family.”

Miyake nodded. Families were tough. He’d left his own to go serve Akechi, and never looked back. Not everyone could or would do that.

The lady stopped at a gift shop to pick up flowers for her former co-workers. Miyake didn’t let her lift a thing. Better safe than sorry. He even offered to carry her bag - her purse, she called it - but she wouldn’t let him.

Then they rode the train - which would have been fun if there’d been a seat for the lady. Standing, Miyake spent the whole time worried she might fall. Every little lurch made his jaw clench.

She seemed to notice his concern, and when they got off the train, stopped. “Miyake, I’m not that fragile. I don’t know what Mitsuhide threatened you with, but I promise, I’m perfectly capable of carrying things, walking, and standing on my own.” She laughed. “I’ve been doing it for years.”

“I know, my lady. But it just seemed like . . . in your uh, your state . . .” He gestured helplessly. Neither the lady nor his lord had said a word, and it seemed wrong to just put it out there before they did.

“My state?”

Miyake tried to hide behind the bouquets in his arms. “Ah, maybe it’s the wrong word. But hey! Isn’t that the shop you’re looking for?” It was a two-story building. A large sign hung above the double glass doors, with a spool of thread and a needle.

The lady turned. “Yep. That’s the place.” She squared her shoulders like a soldier going into battle. “Let’s do this.”

Grateful for the topic change, Miyake followed her across the street and inside.

The woman at the front counter recognized her immediately. Rather than anger, her face lit up with a big smile. “You’re ok!” She called out, “Hey ladies, our new hire just showed up six months late.”

Lady Akechi blushed deeply.

Three heads peered past the corner and then the other designers filed into the room. Besides the young lady at the counter that recognized Lady Akechi, there was an older woman with red cheeks and a round face, a short, thin girl with ponytails, and a tall woman that looked like she might arm-wrestle in her spare time.

There was a round of re-introductions between the five of them, hand shakes, and bows. Lady Akechi apologized several times, and then came the barrage of questions.

“Is this the guy you left us for,” one asked, coming over to inspect Miyake.

“N-no, he works for him though. Oh! And those flowers are for you.” She gestured for Miyake to hand them out.

He dutifully gave out the bouquets under the speculative stairs of four strange women.

“Huh,” said another. “So you found some rich guy and now you don’t need to work? Lucky!”

“This one’s pretty cute though,” the older lady said.

The short one with her ponytails smiled bashfully. She hid her smile behind her hand.

Lady Akechi stumbled over her words. “Oh - oh, I still work. I just do commissions now. And ah, ah, that’s Miyake.” She pointed to the older woman. “Miyake, this is Aiko.” She gestured to ponytail girl, “And Masako.” She nodded to the girl from the counter, “Takara,” and then to the tall woman, “And that’s Kei.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Miyake bowed. He felt himself blush under the weight of their gazes. He hoped this apology and leave-taking wouldn’t take too long, but that was a futile dream.

The women invited them out for tea, and promptly closed the shop. They walked, chattering together, to a cafe nearby.

Masako hung back to walk beside Miyake. She kept glancing up at him, shy but forward. After a block or so, she shoved a piece of paper into his hand and then hurried back up to join the other women.

Miyake looked at the paper. It had some numbers on it. Some sort of code? Was Masako a kunoichi? He studied the paper. Ten digits. Three numbers and a dash, three more numbers, a dash, and then four more numbers. The number 2 repeated. Huh.

He put it away when they got to the cafe. The place smelled strongly of coffee, a bitter beverage that people in this era seemed to enjoy. Miyake preferred tea. There were glass cabinets with sweets on display too. Things he didn’t even begin to recognize.

“What would you like,” lady Akechi asked. “I’m getting a cold coffee and some financiers.”

Aiko laughed at the expression on his face as he scrutinized the display. “You look like you’ve never been to a French bakery before.”

He nearly admitted he hadn’t, but he knew better than to give information away. Instead he just smiled. “It all looks so good. What do you recommend?”

Takara shrugged. “If you like sweets, the macarons are great. Otherwise, get a croissant or some brioche.”

“I like the crepes,” Mayako added.

He wound up getting the crepes and a tea. While the girls continued their chatter, now asking lady Akechi about her whirlwind romance and her future plans, he focused on his plate. Miyake prodded the food suspiciously. What was a crepe made of? What was in it and on it?

Miyake picked up the fork the way Sasuke taught him, cut off a piece of fluffy golden crepe and some of the fruit and poofy white stuff inside, and then stuck it in his mouth. The flavors hit him all at once. Sweet and buttery, the texture smooth as velvet, contrasting with the tart fruit.

“I think he likes it,” Aiko grinned.

“I know how to make crepes,” Mayako spoke up.

Takara elbowed her.

Kei laughed. “Men don’t usually order stuff like that here. Glad you’re not shy about what you like.”

Lady Akechi gave him a gentle pat on the arm. “He doesn’t go out for sweets often.”

Miyake nodded, feeling his cheeks flush again. Going into battle was easier than sitting through tea with a bunch of women, he thought.

When the ladies returned to their conversation, he felt safe enough to polish off the crepes, and order a second round. By that point, Aiko and Kei were giving lady Akechi tips on how to keep her man, and Miyake wished he could turn his ears off.

The conversation finally wound down, and the group returned to the clothier shop.

“You know,” Takara said, eyeing lady Akechi, “if you’re going to be around at least a few weeks, I have a commission or two you could pick up. Since you’re still working.”

“I’d love that!” The two of them headed to the back of the shop, and Miyake followed.

Masako gestured for him to stop. “That’s not for customers.”

“I’m not a customer.” He stopped though. From here, he could see lady Akechi and the other woman chatting beside some bundles of fabric.

The girl squinted up at him. She was, he thought, exceptionally short for a grown woman. “Are you some kind of mafia guy? Yakuza? Are you in a gang?”

“What?” Miyake’s eyes widened.

“I won’t tell anyone. Just me and Kei thought, the way you follow her around, you must be hired muscle.”

“I work for Lord Akechi,” he said slowly. “He is not . . . any of those things. I think.”

Masako frowned. “Fine. Don’t tell me. At least, don’t tell me yet.” She tugged at a ponytail, pulling it over one eye. “Maybe you can tell me when you . . . when you call me.”

From behind them, Kei snorted. “That is not how you flirt, Masako. You sound like a salesman.”

“I do not!” The shorter girl bristled. “Just because I’m not pushy like you!”

“Guys like pushy. Makes it easy for them to say yes.” She was standing pretty close, Miyake realized. She’d come up behind him and now he was trapped between the two women. He turned to look at Kei.

This was the wrong thing to do.

When he turned, she grabbed the back of his head and kissed him. It was . . . not a bad kiss. She was clearly experienced. Still, he gently pushed her away.

“See? Now if I gave him my number, you know he would call me.” Kei smiled smugly.

Masako looked furious. “I can’t believe you just did that!”

Mikaye understood now that he was the cause of this bizarre argument. A few days ago, he might have enjoyed being fought over by two attractive women. Not today. Today, he knew who he was going to marry and it surely wasn’t either of them. “I’m sorry ladies. I am already spoken for.”

“Oh sure! All the hot guys already have girlfriends.” Masako threw her hands up.

Kei chuckled. “What she doesn’t know, hm?”

“I ah, appreciate that, but -” He looked down the hall toward lady Akechi. She was lifting one of the cloth bundles. “My lady, no!” Miyake pushed past Masako. He lunged into range and grabbed the cloth out of her hands.

“What are you doing?” She looked stunned. A few bits of thread still stuck to her fingers.

Miyake grimaced. “You can’t be picking things like this up, my lady. It’s not safe for the baby.”

The four shop women all gasped at the same time. “You’re pregnant?” The question was a chorus of sharp disapproval to happy surprise.

Lady Akechi’s hands went to her hips. “No! Not, not as far as I know. Miyake?” One eye brow lifted and the expression was so like Mitsuhide’s that Miyake nearly handed back the bundle of cloth, certain he was wrong.

But he knew she had to be with child. Otherwise the dates wouldn't add up. “I - sorry my lady. I know you didn’t announce it yet.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Miyake took a deep breath. “Well. Yesterday, you know how I got quizzed by those professors?”

“Mhmmm.”

“They said I’m going to marry your daughter. Lord Akechi’s daughter, I mean. So I assumed . . .”

The four women burst into a whole new round of excited questions and now Miyake was the focus.

Lady Akechi came to his rescue. “I think Miyake’s just being . . . metaphorical. Yes. Not literal. Because I’m not pregnant. And anyway, ah, it really is time for us to go! But I’ll be back in a few weeks with the evening gown you commissioned. Thanks for that!”

Saying goodbye still took half an hour more, but they did get out and back onto the street alone.

Miyake snuck a look at his lord’s woman. She looked angry. Or worried. Maybe both. She kept touching her belly as if to be sure there was nothing new there.

“I’m not pregnant,” she said after they’d walked a little way back toward the train station. “I think I’d be able to tell. I mean, Mitsuhide and I, we don’t . . . you know, we just . . . but it takes awhile to make a baby, right? Like, lots and lots of . . .”

He swallowed. “Uh, sure? I mean, I knew some girls that got babies after one night with a man, but, I don’t know?”

“But not me. I'd know,” she said more firmly. “But . . . let’s stop at a pharmacy before we go home.”

***

Mitsuhide was having a fantastic day. He and Sasuke were riding the train out to the university. He tried to memorize the map of train stations, and even took a snapshot of it on his phone before Sasuke showed him how to download the ‘app.’

“Are you planning on traveling places on your own? I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Mitsuhide smiled obliquely. “I don’t know yet. But that is the problem for me here. I don’t know many things.”

After a moment, the ninja nodded. “And that is also why you agreed to come with me today.”

“Yes.”

Sasuke bowed slightly. “It would be my honor to teach you whatever you want to learn in this modern day.”

“You have me at a disadvantage but do not seek to exploit it?” One white eyebrow lifted in a gesture his fiancee was mimicking half a city away.

“No. I wouldn’t do that to the man my modern era bestie loves.”

Mitsuhide pressed. “This, despite working for my sworn enemies, Takeda and Uesugi?”

Sasuke’s shoulders tensed. “Yes. And technically, they are Nobunaga’s sworn enemies, not yours. And in this day, they are dead.”

“I see. You are desperately balancing your allegiances and rationalizing your actions to suit the situation and your preferred outcome. Are you sure you aren’t interested in a job?”

“You aren’t in a position to hire me.” Sasuke’s mouth quirked into what Mitsuhide was realizing was his smile.

The warlord nodded. “True. Perhaps I will ask again when we return home. Which will be . . .”

Sasuke flushed. “I am not certain. Perhaps, three months? The magnetic device I put together to predict and to enhance the conditions surrounding the wormhole was destroyed when we were pulled through.”

“So we could be stranded here.”

“Yes.” Sasuke’s voice was very quiet as he agreed.

“You seem unusually disturbed by that. Yet, this is your home?”

The ninja shrugged. “It was. We should be going now. The professors will be waiting for you, and we still need their help.”

Mitsuhide knew he hadn’t gotten to the reason for Sasuke’s unhappiness at their current predicament. He needed to know why the ninja was perturbed, but good intel took time. Instead, he spent the rest of the trip to the university solving the mysteries of bank cards and how to operate a smart phone.

The university was a pleasant surprise. A vast complex of buildings dedicated to furthering knowledge and culture. There was one entire center given to poetry and literature. Another to medicine. One to agriculture. Walking through them made Mitsuhide miss his friends. He thought of Ieyasu and Mitsunari, of how they would enjoy the time to page through these endless shelves of books and scrolls.

He thought too, of his lord, and the oceans of blood they shed to reach this place. This time. Mitsuhide could not help but wonder if there was ever another way to get here, to this, or if war and sacrifice was the only way forward.

It was with these troubling thoughts in mind that he sat down across a desk from two aged men. One of them looked deeply distrustful, while the other seemed excited. The excitable one was Sasuke’s contact, and they greeted each other familiarly before the ninja introduced him.

“Professor Fukuda, this is Akechi Mitsuhide,” Sasuke bowed to his friend. “And this is Professor Sakai.”

The men greeted one another and then the questions began.

“So you claim to be the historical figure, Akechi Mitsuhide? The traitor of the Oda?”

“I do.” Mitsuhide smiled sharply.

The enthusiastic professor Fukuda nodded, interrupting. “No need to be hostile to the man. Just ask your questions. For verification.”

“Hmph. As if I can verify an impossibility. But . . . the other one, Hidemitsu, he was very convincing. Alright.” And he proceeded to ask about minutiae. Random details. The color of this, the material of that, the name of this or that scribe, and so on.

Mitsuhide wore his patient mask. The face of the eager servant, he called it. He answered the questions as fully as he could until finally, the skeptical Sakai ran out of steam.

“Are you satisfied, sir? Do you believe me now?” Sasuke waited for a reply.

“I suppose I have no choice. Besides, Professor Fukuda was showing me the formula for your time travel theorem. I’m no physicist, but it looks solid. And . . . Mister Akechi answered everything correctly. Down to the last detail!”

Mitsuhide took a breath. That was one obstacle down. “Now that I have your confidence, are you willing to make a deal with me?”

Fukuda took a breath. “Sasuke already gave us a list of your needs -”

“Yes. He provided the beginnings of our requirements. There is more.”

“Well? Go on then,” Sakai gestured.

Mitsuhide nodded. “I require unrestricted access to your libraries and data - databases. I will require an assistant to teach me how to navigate your net-work, and may also need to use your laboratories, which you will allow with proper safety measures in place.”

The two professors exchanged a glance and then nodded. “Done. Is that all?”

“No. I’ve one more request. I may at some time, need,” he glanced to Sasuke, fishing for the word from his new vocabulary. “Scholars. Scholars’ ships.”

“Scholarships. For special situation admittance,” the ninja added helpfully.

“Yes, that. Three of them.”

Fukuda leaned forward on his elbows. “Is it for more of you people from the past?”

“No. Let’s say, as a reward of sorts for some of those assisting us. I am not in a position here to offer them places in my retinue or at my castle. But I will provide for them.” Mitsuhide’s eyes were hard. This was not a negotiable point.

“Why not,” Sakai waved toward the window. “We have people drop out of programs all the time from the stress of studies. It shouldn’t be a problem to put three people in.”

Mitsuhide relaxed back into his chair. “Then we have a deal.”

*In IRL history, Miyake marries Mitsuhide's daughter and takes the name Akechi Hidemitsu so I decided to include that tidbit!

Next: In the Spotlight

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen mitsuhide #mitsuhide akechi #ikesen sasuke #otome guys #otome #fanfiction #fanfic #fluff #hc

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a-game-of-stars-and-ink · 3 years

Text

Ashes to Ashes - Chapter 4

Warnings: Fever, needles (IV), unrequited love, anxiety, fear. Argument, mentions of kidnapping, mentions of assassination attempt.

Tag list: @shydragonrider, @equestrianwritingsstuff, @teheranb, @the-three-whumpeteers, and @whumpwillow and @brutal-nemesis (Hope it was okay to tag you.)

Chris sat beside Steve, trying to think of what to say to him. Rejection was never easy, and he’d had a crush on Zion for years.

“Your sister gives one hell of a slap.”

“Oh. So that’s what happened to your cheek?”

“Yeah.”

“Why’d she hit you? I mean, given all the fights she got into in school, I’m fully aware that she packs a punch… But I am surprised you were on the receiving end.”

“I told you. I got macho with that asshole Ryler.”

“Just how macho are we talking?”

“I grabbed his neck, well, under his jaw, and she clobbered me.”

Chris winced.

“It bothers me more that she was defending that bastard than the fact that she belted me.”

“Well… She’s always been empathetic.”

“But he nearly killed her.”

“Yeah. And she shot him.”

“He got what he deserved. Why is she helping him?”

Chris swallowed, wishing he could forget what Zion had said that day. Right after she’d injured Ryler and he’d stumbled out, running off into the woods.

‘I know it sounds weird… but I felt… I felt almost some kind of connection to him. I could understand him.’

‘He’s a killer.’

‘I don’t think he enjoys it.’ Zion had said, hugging her arms.

“Well… she did say something about him.” Chris muttered, hesitantly.

“What?” Steve looked up, his light brown eyes full of confusion. “What did she say?”

“She said that she thought they had some kind of connection. She understood him.”

“Isn’t that Stockholm syndrome?”

“No. She didn’t fall in love with him. If she had Stockholm syndrome, she wouldn’t have resisted, or shot him. And twelve hours isn’t long enough for someone to develop Stockholm syndrome.”

Twelve hours. It hurt Steve to think of how Zion must have felt during those hours, stuck in a train cabin with him.

He’d wanted her to be his cover. His way of getting on to the campus to assassinate a visiting politician.

Except Zion had broken free at the train station, and ran. He’d chased her back to the house, but she’d managed to grab the Glock that she’d bought for protection, and shot him in the ribs. When Steve had come home, there had been police cars everywhere, and Zion had been giving her statement.

She’d been praised for her bravery, and the police had immediately begun a manhunt.

Steve, after hearing the story, had hoped to Heaven that he’d never see Ryler again, at least, not outside of police custody.

“She should hate him.”

“Mmhmm, but she doesn’t.”

“And neither do you.” Steve pointed out bitterly. “He almost killed your sister, Chris.”

“I know. But for her sake, I’m trying not to think about that right now.”

“How is this helping Zion?”

“It’s giving her some form of closure.”

“We have to turn him in.” Steve snapped.

“That makes me an accessory.” Zion’s voice replied. “Aiding and abetting a felon. So, I go to jail too. All of us do, actually.”

“Zion-”

“Enough, Steve. You have no reason to be jealous of Jackson.”

“He’s taking you away-” Steve cut off, realizing what he was saying.

“Taking me away? From who? You? I was never yours. I was never going to be yours.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t love you. Not that way. I’m sorry, I never have. I never will. I love you only like a brother.”

Steve swallowed, nodding once.

“But it has nothing to do with Jackson.”

“How can you even say his name?” Steve demanded, rage knotting his insides.

“It’s not that hard to pronounce, Steve.” Zion snarled, all traces of softness gone from her voice.

“You know what I meant. Fucking hell, Zion, you have no idea what you’re doing.”

Her silvery-blue eyes narrowed in anger.

“Oh, so what? I need you to guide me through life? Fuck off.”

“Guys…” Chris was saying.

“This needs to be said, Chris.” Zion sighed. “Now, Steve, if my presence here is painful for you, I can go with Chris. If he’s okay with my bringing Jackson.”

“You don’t have to go, Zion.” Steve sighed. “I just worry about you.”

“I can handle myself.”

“I know you can.” Steve managed to smile. “Fuck it, give me a hug, girl.”

She did, a small giggle escaping her lips.

Just because she doesn’t love me that way, doesn’t mean I can’t be happy as her friend.

It felt good to not be angry anymore. Zion glanced at Steve, who was helping Chris set up an IV drip of over-the-counter antibiotics to help deal with the infection of the gunshot wound.

The assassin murmured in his sleep, curling his legs up slightly.

Zion sat beside him again, lost in thought.

When she’d first met him, he had been quite charming.

Zion had bumped into a middle aged man, wearing a suit, tie, and a briefcase.

“Watch it.” He’d snapped.

“Sorry.” Zion had replied, doing her best to put on a polite smile.

“You should learn to watch where you’re going.” He’d scolded.

“And you should learn how to stop being a jerk.” A new voice had said. Zion had turned, rather amazed to see the handsome stranger behind her. “She’s already apologized.” He went on.

The man huffed, and moved on.

‘Thanks.’ Zion had said.

‘Any time.’

She was brought back to the present by her brother’s voice.

“Ready.” He was saying.

It took less than a minute for Chris to expertly insert the IV line in the inside of Jackson’s elbow.

The assassin barely even flinched. His brow furrowed slightly, but he did not wake.

“Hopefully, this will help fight the infection, and kick his fever.” Steve was saying.

Zion nodded, looking down at Jackon’s sleeping face.

It was dark out when Jackson woke up, the only light came from a lava lamp on the bedside table.

Zion was curled up on the other side of the bed, asleep. It took Jackson a moment to realize that he had an IV drip, attached to his arm. He didn’t want to risk any kind of drugs or poison entering his system, and immediately reached to pull it out.

“Leave it.” Zion’s voice said. Jackson twisted to look at her.

“How did you know?”

“Light sleeper.” Zion smirked, sitting up.

“What time is it?” Jackson rasped.

“Almost two in the morning.”

Jackson dropped back to the bed with a sigh. “What’s in that?” He asked nervously.

“Over the counter antibiotics. Nothing dangerous.”

Jackson winced.

“Just relax, I won’t hurt you.” Zion murmured. That was the last thing her heard before sleep claimed him again.

#assassin whumpee #villain whumpee #assassin whump #feverish whumpee #feverish assassin #sick assassin #feverish villain #injured villain #infection #wounds #Sick villain #argument #mentions of kidnapping #gun mention #mentions of assassination attempt #gunshot wound #tw gunshot wound #unrequited love

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bbywonu · 4 years

Text

secret santa. jaehyun.

masterlist

a/n: just a little fluff for christmas <3 hope everyone has a safe and awesome holiday break !

requested: no <3

summary: jaehyun and y/n have a little crush on one another, but both are too oblivious to notice it, that is until he becomes her secret santa.

word count: 1.4k

“He’s going to hate it. I love it!” Hye-Jin said from beside me as she held up a “World’s Best Dad” mug. Two weeks ago we were told to pick names out of a cup to play Secret Santa. Fortunately, I got an easy pick, seeing as I already knew what the person wanted. Unfortunately for Hye-Jin, she got her ex-boyfriend Suk, who had just previously broken up with her the day before.

“Hye-Jin! You can’t give him that! He’s going to know it’s you! Plus, he’s going to actually think he’s a dad.” I shook my head as I chuckled in disbelief. Sometimes she really made me question her, but there is nothing that I would change about her.

“Oh, come on! It will be hilarious. Besides, he was the one who had the audacity to break up with me, as if he was the one who had just gotten cheated on!” She scoffed as she stuffed her Secret Santa gift back in the bag.

I just laughed as I cocked my head to the side. On one side, he would probably be sweating pins and needles if he even for a quick second thought that he could possibly be a dad. As for the other side, I kind of liked the cruel gift that Hye-Jin had bought, as he was an awful person and an even worse boyfriend.

“Hello? Earth to Y/n. Are you in there? I bet you were thinking about Jaehyun again.” She gave me a smirk as she winked at me. She knew that I had had a small little school girl crush on Jaehyun, and that she always bugged me to do something about it. To be fair, I just didn’t think that it was worth it to confess my feelings to him. We had talked more than a few times, maybe even earning the title of friends, but I always felt that if I confessed to him then I would get rejected, so I refrained from doing so.

“No, Hye-Jin. You, more than anybody, should know that that ship has sailed.” I looked up at her only to be met with her rolling her eyes at my statement.

“Oh, come on Y/n, I bet both of you are going to kiss on New Years, just wait!” She shot me a mischievous grin. I rolled my eyes back at her in response as she stuck out her tongue.

“Anyways, I’ve got to get home. My mom is coming over for dinner tonight.” She said as she began to pack up her work space.

We said our goodbyes as I decided it was probably time for me to head out as well. Once I had packed up all of my belongings, I began walking down the cold corridor, making sure not to bump into anyone on the way out. My plan turning sour when a body suddenly collided into my right side, knocking me back a few steps.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry Y/n. I just didn’t realize how fast I was going.” A breathless Jaehyun stood in front of me, with his arms intertwining mine, in an effort to help me from falling. We stayed like this for a few moments more before I realized that there were people staring at us.

“Uhm.” I said as I looked around and then to the ground, trying to find anywhere but him to look, as I was feeling quite awkward. There had always been awkward moments when we would talk but they usually wouldn’t last very long, thankfully none as bad as this.

“Oh, right. I just saw you leaving and I remembered that I had to give you your Secret Santa gift.” He said as he rubbed the back of his neck looking at me.

I gave him a lopsided smile as I looked at him curiously. In this moment, he looked like an adorable little puppy. I found myself giving him a small smile before realizing what he had said.

“Wait, what?” I said as I let out a laugh. “Do you know how Secret Santa works?”

“Well, n-no. Not-not really.” He blushed as he gave me a small smile. I let out a laugh seeing as he had just ruined the surprise factor of the game, which I didn’t mind. I was glad that he was my Secret Santa, but I was more curious to see what he had gotten me.

“You’re not supposed to tell me silly.” I grinned at him as I ruffled his hair for added effect, making him let out a low chuckle as he mumbled an apology. I looked down at the wrapped gift that was in my hands. I began to tear at the gift wrap before being stopped by him.

“Wait! Don’t open it here!” He said as he held both of his hands out signaling for me to stop. He looked slightly in a panic as his face turned a shade darker. “Just trust me, I think that it will be more meaningful if you open it at home.” He shifted on his feet as he started acting more nervous.

I gave him a sideways glance at his sudden odd behavior, but agreed to only open it when I arrived at my apartment. Though, I have to say that this was the first time I had ever seen him this way before. It was kind of strange to see him in this kind of light, though he still looked as handsome as ever.

When I got home, I immediately went to my bedroom as I put the box anxiously down in front of me. The whole way home I was pondering ideas of what had made Jaehyun so nervous to give me the gift he had so desperately wanted to give me. Maybe he didn’t think that I would like his gift? I crossed that off of my list, since he should know me pretty well by now.

I began to tear the paper without a second thought, excited at the thought of Jaehyun’s gift to me. As I ripped off the paper, a small card fell out as it revealed a slender black box behind it. I picked up the card as I opened the box. I gasped as it revealed an elegant silver heart-shaped locket inside. I glanced over the locket once more as I quickly opened the card.

Y/n,

I remember the first time you started working here. You had this special glow about you, one that I couldn’t really put my finger on. I knew that I had to get to know you as soon as the staff introduced you. It took me two months to even get the courage to talk to you. As soon as I started talking to you, I regretted that I hadn’t talked to you sooner.

I remember the first time we talked. I know I didn’t show it, but I was nervous to talk to you. You were and still are the prettiest person I have ever seen. I knew I fell for you when your eyes shined when you smiled. I knew I fell for you by how kind you are to everyone around you. I knew I fell for you when you made me stumble on my words even after we had already met. I won’t admit it, but I probably fell for you the first time I ever laid my eyes upon you.

I remember the first time I ever saw you upset. You had just had a bad day at work and to make it worse, you had spilled coffee on yourself. It hurt me inside knowing that you weren’t having the day that you deserved. I had given you my sweatshirt to help cover it up, and even when you were pouting you were still such an angel.

I remember when you told me how much you loved your family. You told me that your grandma had given you a locket before she had passed, and how you were devastated that you had misplaced it. I could see the sadness in your eyes and I felt that little ping in my chest again. I had always planned on buying you this locket, but the Secret Santa was just an added bonus.

Y/n, I know this is forward, but would you like to get hot chocolate sometime?

- Jaehyun

I looked up as a tear sat in the corner of my eye. No one had ever written me anything as meaningful as this. I was in shock as I held the locket in my hands, scanning over the letter again. All this time I had thought that my feelings for him were one-sided. I knew what I had to do as I picked up my phone and sent a text to Jaehyun.

“I could really use a hot chocolate right about now :)”

#jaehyun imagines #nct imagines #jaehyun imagine #nct scenarios #jaehyun scenarios #nct fluff #jaehyun fluff #jung jaehyun #nct blurbs #jaehyun blurbs

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jengajives · 4 years

Text

So I know canonically Barahir and Finrod probably never met again after the Bragollach but I just WANT THEM TO

(My personal hc for Barahir and Emeldir is that they’re Gay Besties and her sweetheart died years ago and he never found the man for him but they both really wanted a child so they had Beren and raised him together as friends, and all the people of Dorthonion totally knew what was up but played along anyway.)

Also excuse my Sindarin, i am awful at languages

“My lord.”

The voice seemed deafening in the chamber of Finrod- the quiet space he sulked in when all of Nargothrond’s riches seemed empty and lifeless to him. When the company of his brother, his niece, and all his people just wasn’t enough.

He turned from his tapestry slowly, almost unwilling. If Celegorm and Curufin wanted another counsel, he had run out of excuses to deny them. All he wanted to do was stand around looking at the tapestry of Tirion he kept on the wall to substitute for a proper window.

“What is it?” he asked tiredly, unable even to muster the energy for a proper hello. The attendant bowed anyway.

“It’s the border wardens, your Highness. They’ve apprehended a trespasser on the eastern marches- a Man. He carries your ring, sir. He’s requested an audience.”

It seemed as if everything went utterly still and for several long moments Finrod could not speak.

He had to rub his eyes to ensure he was awake and hearing correctly. This wasn’t just the dream that had haunted him more years now than he could count.

“By all means,” Finrod said in a strangled voice, “bring him before me.”

It isn’t. It can’t be. He’s dead.

The attendant bowed again, all low and respectful. “I’ll let you know as soon as they reach the city, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, yes, thank you.” Finrod wasn’t paying attention properly anymore; he was suddenly very worried about what he was wearing, how he looked. The way he dressed around Nargothrond was very different than his war attire, and it was very concerning when he worried whether Barahir would even be able to recognize him.

No, no. Barahir was dead five winters now. It didn’t matter whether he looked familiar or not, he was dead.

Still, though. There was a chance.

Finrod threw open his wardrobe with something akin to panic.

The woods of Dorthonion were dense and dark, with occasional beams of golden sunlight filtering through the high pine trees and turning the bed of needles to luminous white. There wasn’t too much undergrowth, which made it easy to ride through, and Finrod did so with as much speed as his mare could manage, flying over falling trees and secret glens that few among the Elves had ever looked on, thundering across rushing mountain creeks with all the speed of the Valar. He held his arms out to the wind and let his golden braids flow loose behind him.

When he at last came to the little green valley he’d been directed to, he slowed his mare to a stop and stood there a moment on the ridge. The people of Bëor lived in small homesteads spotted over the highlands, and here a number of them gathered together alongside a cool, fresh creek to graze their animals on its fair grasses. The largest of the wooden homes was nestled just beneath the rolling, forested hills, sheltered by the river’s curve and somewhat apart from the others. It was here Finrod rode, galloping eagerly across the meadows of the basin.

A handful of sturdy horses grazed on the green pasture in front of the house, along with a pair of cows and one freshly-sheared sheep. Finrod rode along the tree-lined lane until he came to the house itself.

It was single-storied, made of finely hewn logs painted with red and gold, and a thatched ceiling that looked freshly lain. On one side stood a small barn for the animals, and on the other a woodshed that had seen better days. Finrod dismounted took a moment to take it all in. A warm smile crossed his face.

At once, the worn blue door opened, and a Man came hurrying out. He was dressed in simple work trousers and a maroon shirt that wasn’t tied all the way and showed off the warm brown hair of his chest, but he was hastily throwing a fur coat over the top of it all as he stumbled down his stairs.

“King Felagund!” he choked, obviously out of breath. Finrod noticed a gleam of gold on his middle finger. “We- I- This is most unexpected!”

“I must apologize for the intrusion, Barahir,” he said with pity. “I was riding back from Hithlum and I became… sidetracked.” Then he smiled again. “I hope it’s not too much trouble?”

“Trouble!” Barahir shook his head a little too energetically. “No trouble at all! It’s just… “ He motioned helplessly to the house behind him. “t’s not much. Certainly nothing like a prince like yourself would-“

“Barahir,” Finrod said, bold enough now to take the Man’s hand in his own. “Your home is beautiful.”

Barahir visibly relaxed. His face went soft.

“It is… very good to see you again, Your Majesty.”

“To you, it’s Finrod.” He gave the hand a squeeze. “You have more than earned that right.”

Barahir’s tawny cheeks went red.

Finrod thought he would have kissed him then, if it had been for the little voice that interrupted them.

“Papa!”

Immediately Finrod straightened up and looked over Barahir’s shoulder to the doorway.

A small, brown face peeked out from inside. Just a beam of light caught on dark curls and turned them shining auburn.

Finrod’s expression went slack for only a moment before the corners of his mouth began to peak upward.

“Who’s this?” he asked eagerly. The child stuck his head out further to show two gleaming dark eyes.

“Are you one of the Valar?” he called, somewhat shyly.

Finrod smiled.

“No, child. Why do you think so?”

The little one gave a sheepish shrug. “You’re glowing.”

“Am I?” Finrod looked down. His tunic was indeed embroidered with gold and there were jewels in his hair. The thought of this innocent child mistaking him for a Vala was a very fond one, though.

“Beren,” Barahir called. “This is King Felagund. He’s a very powerful and noble Elf. Come over here and give a him a nice bow.”

Beren slowly moved onto the steps and made his way over, still cautious. He was wearing a green shirt that was too big for him and clutched a stuffed hound in one hand. Immediately Finrod saw the likeness with Barahir; other than the boy’s darker shade of hair, the two were nearly identical.

Finrod glanced at Barahir as the child approached.

“Yours?”

“Yes, he is.”

When Beren reached his father’s side, he shut his eyes tight and performed a bow so deep he nearly toppled. “At your service, King Felagund, sir!”

Finrod laughed and dropped to one knee so he could look the boy in the eyes. “An honor, Beren, prince of Dorthonion. I could not ask for more steadfast a Man!”

Beren cracked one eye, then the other. He gave a cursory glance to his father, then pointed at the great palomino mare waiting patiently on the lane.

“What’s your horse’s name?”

Barahir clicked his tongue. “Beren, be polite.” Finrod chose to ignore him.

“She is Glânhen, Brighteyes,” he said to Beren, as if he were sharing a secret. “She very much likes to eat. I think she might let you ride her if you find space for her in your pasture.”

The boy’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I can do that, sir!” He squinted up at the horse. “Where’s her bridle?”

“She’ll follow you,” Finrod said. He told the horse something in Quenya and she nickered, and then he straightened to let the bouncing little boy hurry past, motioning to the mare eagerly.

“Follow me, Glânhen! I’ll find you the best grass we’ve got!”

The pair of them trotted off together- the massive steed of Valinor, and the little woodsman’s boy leading her like an obedient pup. Finrod got distracted a moment just smiling at the sight, until Barahir chuckled behind him.

“Well, I… I didn’t know you were fond of children.” He paused, obviously bashful, before he slipped out the name like he thought it might bite him. “Finrod.”

“Very fond. He’s a wonderful boy, Barahir. How old?”

“Five this spring.”

“My.” A wistful smile crossed Finrod’s face. “You must be very proud.”

“I am.” A silence passed, but it was broken when Barahir reached out and took his hand. “Will you come in?”

Finrod turned and the joy he felt looking at that gentle face was unlike anything he’d felt for countless years.

“I would love to.”

Felagund paced his throne room, back and forth, an anxious rhythm like the thudding of his own heartbeat. The tapestries and jewels felt suddenly profane. Would Barahir know him here? Surrounded by wealth and finery and all the glory of the princes of the Noldor?

Of course he would. Barahir would know him anywhere.

But it wasn’t going to be Barahir who walked through his doors. Dead five years at least, cut down in the highlands of Dorthonion all alone and friendless.

Finrod’s fault. He had tried to send help, tried to send forces through to reinforce the outlaws or bring them back, but no one had been able to brave the Haunted Wood. No one could get through. And Barahir had died alone in the mud, because Finrod’s strength had failed.

No. It could be him. He could have escaped. None of the Eldar were there to see him fall. It could be a mistake.

The golden doors swung open.

Finrod turned, suddenly frozen, as a company of his march wardens stepped inside with a Man held between them like some lesser prisoner. He was so thoroughly surrounded that Finrod couldn’t get a good look at him.

“Leave him,” he called, irritation wearing his voice thin. “He is no trespasser here if what I am told is true.”

The wardens bowed, and moved aside, and there in the center of the room stood Barahir son of Bregor with the cares of many lifetimes etched across his face.

The air left Felagund’s lungs.

He looked just as he had the very last time they had seen each other.

Tears blurred his vision, and when he wiped them away, he saw through new eyes, and the Man he saw was not the one he had dreamed of.

The curls were too dark. The build too tall. The face alike in almost every way, but there was something there now that made it painfully obvious Felagund had been mistaken. He deflated at once and collapsed back into his throne, face in his hands, floundering just a moment in defeat.

“King Felagund, sir,” called the Man. “I thank you for your hospitality. I wouldn’t have come if there was any other way, but I need-“ Abruptly, the trembling voice broke on a sob and trailed into tearfulness. “I- I need your help. Please.”

Finrod looked up again and his eyes softened, recognizing the sensitivity behind those eyes. He rose and stepped slowly down until he stood before the Man with pity in his heart and tears running down his face.

He put a hand on the rough-clothed shoulder.

“Beren,” he said softly, as fervent as he could manage. “I will do anything within my power to help you, no matter the cost.”

When Beren at last looked up to meet his eye, it was the same face of the shy woodsman’s son he had met all those years ago, and Finrod decided then that he would go gladly to his death if it would bring Barahir’s son to the fulfillment of his errand.

#jenga makes junk #fanfic #fic #writers #silmarillion #finrod x barahir #finrod #finrod felagund #barahir #beren #emeldir #lay of leithian #the valar #nargothrond #dorthonion #I just want them to be happy is that too much to ask

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