#anyways i wanted to have this done for valentines and failed miserably

[ratrrriot]

“Wishes”

little comic based on that one line Sonic might say when it rains in Frontiers. (you know the one).

[octanesprohoetype]

no strings attached – genji shimada

NSFW!!! MINORS DNI!!!!

a/n: hello, first post on my new blog >:3 this note is gonna be long and ramble-y so feel free to skip it. to begin with, everything about this fic was unplanned. i never planned on my first post here being overwatch related, nor did i plan on it being porn, but here we are with overwatch porn. and then, i was only trying to write a short 1-2k word valentine's day smut, but it is 2 days after valentine's and this fic is 5.5k words long with layers like a cake. this is the first thing i've written for overwatch, and also the first smut i've written in 2 years, so i may be rusty. i hope you enjoy it anyway.

word count: 5.5k

tags/summary: porn with plot (kind of), mild angst?, idiots in love. you invite genji over, hoping that having sex with him would help you get over the annoying feelings you have for him. that doesn't happen for you.

warnings: no pronouns used for reader, female genitalia is vaguely described tho, unprotected sex

edited to add: this fic is now on my ao3 as well! thanks to @smol-dragon for reminding me :3

"damn it. fuck."

you lock your phone and squeeze your eyelids shut, forcing the screen out of your vision, and throw your head back against the pillow in frustration. this is so, so stupid, you tell yourself, and it is stupid, yet you can't let it go.

you were an adult– you shouldn't be having inner turmoil about how you wanted to have sex with someone. it wasn't anything you hadn't done before, but for some reason, it was suddenly impossible to navigate.

"damn you, genji," you mutter, slapping one of your hands against your forehead.

this was all his fault. you'd never felt the urge to have sex with a coworker, honestly, the thought had never even crossed your mind... or at least, that was true until you met genji. you ignored your attraction to the cyborg at first– sure, he was nice to look at and had an alluring air of danger about him, but he was no different from cassidy in that regard. you figured whatever attraction you had to him would quickly dissipate into nothing, as it did with the cowboy, but to your dismay, it only grew stronger.

at first, you found yourself admiring the intricacy of his cybernetic body parts, and then his combat style. then, you found yourself staring at him for much longer, entranced by his form and the way he spoke.

genji himself did absolutely nothing to alleviate you of your newly-contracted disease. in fact, it almost seemed that he intentionally made it worse. he'd jump to your aid in combat, ghost his fingers across you in passing, and you caught him casting you lingering glances, though you could never tell what thoughts were going on behind his actions.

you told yourself it was probably nothing, that you were being delusional and trying to convince yourself that your crush (if you could call it that) was reciprocated. you were almost successful in convincing yourself to let it go, but the interaction between the two of you today not only reignited your thoughts of him, but intensified them.

genji had been in one of the sparring ranges at headquarters, dutifully practicing his aim, though you didn't really think it was necessary. you were observing, over-exaggerating your interest in his technique as an excuse to be around him, and offhandedly made a comment about wishing you could use a sword.

"i'd be happy to teach you," genji had replied.

you jumped at the offer, but severely overestimated yourself in terms of your sword-wielding capabilities. it looked easy, but maybe that was just because you'd only ever seen genji do it, and he made it seem effortless. after failing miserably, you were ready to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment, but genji seemed determined to teach you.

he'd walked up behind you, using one hand to correct your posture, and the other to guide your hands into the correct position along the sword's hilt. you were almost literally on fire underneath his touch, and it was suddenly very difficult to focus on what you were doing.

"i think this might be a waste of time," you'd commented, staring down intently at the sword in your hands so genji couldn't see how red your face was. "i'm afraid i may be a difficult person to teach."

"i'll gladly teach you about anything you want to learn," genji said, standing entirely too close to you with his hands on your shoulder and wrist. "no matter how difficult you may be."

(y/n.exe has stopped working.)

you stared back at him, wide-eyed, with every functional part of your brain failing you. fortunately for you, your phone rang, interrupting the uncomfortable sexual tension that had suddenly filled the room. mercy was calling, requesting your help with something 'important'. after pretending you were really sorry for leaving so abruptly, you practically ran out of the room, silently thanking the doctor for calling you at the best possible time and giving you a get-out-of-jail free card.

you sat through the tactical meeting with mercy and tracer, though you had absolutely no helpful feedback to offer. your mind was fixed on genji the entire time, and your skin still felt hot from where his hands had been. i really need to get laid, you thought, this is pathetic.

now, even though it was hours later, you were still in the same predicament. try as you might, your brain absolutely refused to focus on anything or anyone besides genji. your television had long since blurred into background noise, bits and pieces of some stupid rom-com becoming the soundtrack to your turmoil.

maybe i should just text him... you think, for the millionth time. it was easy, or at least, it should have been easy. finding someone to screw wasn't usually this difficult for you, and you usually didn't care one way or another, but the thought of genji rejecting you was terrifying. even worse was the thought of having to see him again afterwards.

your mind goes back to the sparring range, and you swallow harshly. 'desperate' was never a word you'd use to describe yourself before, but now... when it came to genji, it was kind of an understatement.

"fuck it," you say aloud, swallowing your pride and unlocking your phone.

- hey. are you busy?

he starts typing immediately. how scary.

- i am not. do you need something?

- kind of. i have... a question.

"i am such a fucking loser," you mutter as you watch genji's text bubble appear on the screen.

- what is it?

suddenly, you didn't want to ask anymore. maybe you could go out for drinks with cassidy instead of doing this. you stare blankly at the screen for a while.

- ???

- actually, nevermind. it's embarrassing.

- surely no worse than your attempt at swordsmanship?

- sorry, that was a joke.

- wow, okay. definitely not asking now :'(

- come on.

- okay. do you wanna...

- have sex? with me?

you watch in horror as he starts typing, then stops, then starts again.

- are you serious?

- that is entirely dependent on your answer.

- why... are you asking me?

- i don't know how to answer that.

- i'm definitely taking that as a no.

- i didn't say that.

- well, you didn't say yes either...

- i'm not sure i understand what you're getting at here

- not sure what you mean by that. i'm just asking to have sex

- for the record, i'm not expecting you to be my boyfriend or anything

- just a one time thing. no strings attached

- no strings attached? lol

- okay

okay? okay? what the hell was 'okay' supposed to mean?

- are you there?

- yes. an answer?

- if you're gonna say no i'd like to go ahead and get it over with so that i can go get drunk enough to forget my shame lmao

- that won't be necessary.

- the answer is yes. obviously

your heart almost stops beating for a second. surely this, too, was a joke.

- seriously? like... actually?

- ...

- yes?

- wow! unexpected.

- are you free? like... tonight, maybe?

- i'll be there. 20 minutes?

twenty minutes? was that enough time to prepare? you immediately scramble out of bed to your dresser, searching for something risqué to wear. you owned an obscene amount of lingerie, but for some reason, none of it seemed good enough for the occasion.

you knew enough about genji's past to know that he'd been with more than his fair share of people, and though you weren't inexperienced by any means, it had been a while– most of your time had been dedicated to overwatch lately. you were sure that the names and faces of genji's old lovers blurred together, and although you specifically said 'no strings attached', you wanted to make the best possible impression. even if you never slept together again, you wanted to be memorable, at the very least.

eventually, you realize you're running short on time and opt to put on your personal favorite set. it had never steered you wrong before. you quickly change into it and throw on an oversized hoodie with some random game logo on it– very basic, you noted, but you didn't want to look like you were trying too hard, although you definitely were.

after checking the time, you wander aimlessly around the house waiting for genji to arrive. you definitely weren't nervously pacing from room to room, overanalyzing every aspect of this situation– no, that is not at all what you were doing. before long, you hear a knock at the door. your anxiety spikes through the roof, but you do your best to get a hold of yourself as you walk to the foyer to let genji in.

when you open the door, you see genji, as expected, and he looks the same as always. there was nothing special about his outfit (because why would there be?) and you're very glad you didn't decide to wear something over-the-top. he's also wearing a mask, as usual, but you can actually see his eyes with this one.

"i like your shirt," he says casually. "good game."

you blink at him, having been completely lost in the crimson pools of his irises.

"oh, yeah, it is," you reply, nodding in affirmation. "um, come inside."

he laughs quietly as he steps through the doorway, and you furrow your brows at him in confusion, but decide to ignore it and move on. you lead genji through the house, mentally grasping for straws as to where to go from here. to be honest, you didn't think you'd get this far, so you're at a complete loss.

"sorry, i feel like this feels really weird. i don't usually... sleep with my coworkers," you explain as you reach the bedroom.

genji's eyes are fixed on you, and despite having a clear view of them, you still can't tell what he's thinking. it proves to be very anxiety-inducing.

"i didn't think you did," he says.

"thanks? i think?" you reply, unsure of how else to react. "i'm going to warn you that this might actually go really, really badly, because i haven't slept with anyone in a while, and you kind of make me really nervous, and i also don't–"

you're cut off by genji moving closer to you and moving his hand towards your face. the action causes your words to vanish and your train of thought to come to a screeching halt. you stare at him with wide eyes as he moves a stray strand of hair from your face and brushes it behind your ear.

"i make you nervous?" he asks, an amused tone to his question. "you? nervous?"

you can feel heat rush to your cheeks, and you're hyper-aware of his hand lingering near your face, but despite this you try your best to sound cool. "yeah, i know, it's pretty hard to believe! but it's true."

genji laughs. "you're funny."

"i am?"

"yeah," he replies. his dark eyes are sparkling a bit, and although you can't see it, you can tell that he's smiling beneath the mask.

you look away from his face, your gaze falling to his hand. it's still in the air, close enough to your cheek that you can feel the warmth, but not quite touching you. he seems... strangely hesitant to touch you, so you decide to take the initiative.

genji's eyes widen a bit as you reach out and cup his face, brushing your thumb across the sleek metal of his mask.

"are you planning to keep this on?" you ask.

genji freezes in place, visibly caught off guard by your question. "i–"

you giggle at his reaction. "hey, no pressure. it doesn't matter to me. i'll still think you're hot either way."

"i fear you'll change your mind about that," he mutters.

you frown, unsure of what to say. "there really isn't anything that could make me change my mind about you, genji. but seriously, do whatever you're comfortable with."

he makes a quiet noise in response, and you can see in his eyes that he's thinking carefully about what to do. after a few seconds of silence, he holds your wrist and moves it away with one hand, then carefully removes his mask with the other. you can't help but stare, not only because you're surprised that he actually chose to remove his mask, but because he's even better looking than you had imagined– scars and all.

he looks at you, eyes filled with uncertainty, and clearly a bit uncomfortable.

"you're staring. sorry to disappoint. i can put it back on, if you'd prefer..." he says quietly, as if he's ashamed. it's sad, enough so to distract you from your mission of keeping things clean and simple.

you shake your head and wrap your arms around his neck, staring up at him with a reassuring smile. "i'd prefer if you didn't, actually. i can't believe you didn't tell me you were so good-looking underneath that mask."

"i... don't think that's a term i'd use. not anymore, at least," he says, not meeting your gaze. "but i'm glad that you think so."

genji hesitantly puts his hands on your hips, his eyes fixed on the logo on your hoodie. he doesn't seem to know how to react to your compliments, but there's a shy smile on his face nonetheless.

"i mean, i thought you were hot enough before. it never occurred to me that you could manage to be even hotter," you tell him with a smirk.

he looks up at you, blushing profusely, and you're filled with a sense of satisfaction. "i, um, didn't realize you felt so strongly about me."

you look away, deciding to ignore that comment, and begin to trail one of your hands from his neck to his collarbone, then down his abdomen, which was unfortunately covered by his clothes.

"well, the mask is off. that's one thing down," you say, toying with the hem of his hoodie. "just a few more to go."

genji doesn't hesitate to reach down and tug off the hoodie, discarding it on the floor. he wasn't wearing a shirt underneath, and he also wasn't wearing his usual metal plating. his right arm and part of his right upper torso are still made of flesh, as well as most of his midsection. the left side of his body is cybernetic, but it ends just above his hips. you find yourself staring at the intricate and seamless fusion of metal and muscle, your attention focusing in on the sharp outline of his hip bones.

a question pops into your head, but you don't have the audacity to say it out loud– is his dick cybernetic? the thought had never occurred to you before, but you also had never seen just how much of him was still made of skin and bone. honestly, it didn't matter to you either way, but it was an interesting thought. guess i'll find out soon, you think.

genji is staring at you with a strange look on his face, and you're suddenly worried you may have said something out loud.

"something wrong?" he asks. "you look... confused."

"i do?" you ask, surprised. "i was just... curious. about the cybernetic stuff. i've never really seen it up close."

"i see."

you walk over to the bed and climb on top of it, beckoning genji over to you. he follows, but stands still beside you.

"come here," you say, reaching for his hand. "i want a closer look."

he smirks and nods, quickly climbing into the bed and positioning himself on his knees between your legs. you trace the outline of his abs, running your fingers along the border of skin and metal, taking in every detail, and then you realize that he's staring at you again.

"what?" you ask.

"you're overdressed," he says. "i want to look at you, too."

"oh," you pause, realizing that you were in fact still (mostly) fully clothed. "you can take the hoodie off."

genji's hands immediately move to pull at your top. you reposition yourself to make it easier, and you watch as he tosses it into the now-growing pile on the floor alongside his own jacket.

you can hear his breathing grow shallow, and you look back up at him nervously. he's staring down at you with wide, dark eyes, with his hands clenched into fists atop his thighs.

"damn," he breathes. "you're... really the most attractive person i've met."

it's not as though you had notably low self-esteem or anything, but genji's reaction was far more than you expected, and the attention makes you feel embarrassed.

"that definitely feels like flattery, but i'll let it slide," you reply. you're mostly teasing him, but you're also kind of serious– 'most attractive person i've met' is an extremely bold statement to make, especially coming from someone with a track record like genji's.

"flattery? you really think so?" genji asks, seeming to be genuinely taken aback by the accusation.

"mm, it doesn't really matter," you reply, desperate to cut this conversation off before it derails. come on, y/n do not get your feelings involved in this, damn it.

genji leans over you, propping himself up with one arm and lifting your chin with the other. he stares at you with an intimidating intensity, but you can't bring yourself look away from him.

"i'm not that kind of man anymore," he says, his tone serious. you look down at his lips, and before you can form a response, he kisses you.

the kiss is just as intense as the stare he'd been giving you, and it takes a moment for you to register that it's even happening. once you kiss him back, it grows into something more needy. his tongue finds its way into your mouth, and you try your hardest to suppress a whine. you reach to tangle your fingers in his hair and subtly pull his body closer to yours, while genji cups your face with his free hand, the cool metal a stark contrast to the heat radiating from your cheeks.

the kiss seems to go on forever, progressively becoming more sensual. you're so lost in the moment that you temporarily forget that you need to breathe. eventually, both of you pull away for air, lips slightly puffed, and eyes half-open, filled with desire.

you press one of your hands against genji's chest, the other still toying with his hair. he's slumped against you, now leaning against his elbow instead of his hand. your body is flush against his, and you can feel his hard-on pressing against you. you softly grind your hips against him, creating just enough friction to cause you both to inhale sharply.

genji looks down at you, his eyes slowly grazing over your body. he sits up, leaning back on his haunches, looking as though he was deep in thought.

"genji?"

your voice doesn't draw his attention back to your face, but he responds, brows still furrowed. "yeah?"

"touch me," you tell him, almost begging. "please."

he smirks. "sure."

he leans back over you, his face so close to yours that you can see every detail of the scars that paint his skin. the two of you stare into each others eyes, and he pushes your underwear aside without even glancing down. his human hand cups your face, and the metal one assumes its position between your legs.

the sensation of cool, smooth metal against your clit elicits a gasp from you, and genji seems hesitant. he draws his hand back, staring down at it with a forlorn expression.

"sorry," he says. "i... kind of forgot."

you reach for his wrist and pull his hand back to where it had been, shaking your head.

"no, it's fine. you don't need to apologize," you tell him. he still looks unsure, but he doesn't argue.

genji toys with your clit with expert precision, and as much as you enjoy it, your patience starts to wane. as if he can tell, he directs his attention elsewhere, carefully and almost hesitantly inserting two of his fingers into you. you whimper at the feeling, clenching around the unfamiliar texture. it's an entirely new feeling– putting metal there was never something you thought to do, nor did you ever really imagine what it would feel like– but it's good. it's obvious that genji is worried he'll hurt you, or that you won't like it, and you have what you hope will be an easy solution to his concerns.

you bite your lip, looking up at him with your best 'fuck me' eyes, and let go of the restraint you were trying to show. you didn't want to look desperate, but clearly he needed more reassurance that you wanted this– that you wanted him. a string of swear words, interrupted by panting and lewd noises, leaves your mouth, and you rut your hips against his hand, urging him to go deeper.

it seems to work. the dark look that was lingering on genji's face was replaced with a spark, and his movements become more free, no longer limited by the shackles of his insecurity. his well-earned confidence starts to shine through, and you smile in satisfaction, but only for a moment. with genji now seemingly returned to his former playboy glory, you find yourself unable to think straight, too busy writhing under his touch, crying out his name and clenching at the sheets.

"i could get used to hearing you say my name like that," genji comments, a teasing grin on his face.

oh god, please shut up, you think. it was almost as if he wanted you to fall in love with him or something, which was definitely not a part of your plan– in fact, it was the exact opposite of what you wanted.

"don't... say– fuck," you want to tell him not to say things like that, but you're overwhelmed with the feeling of your fast-approaching orgasm. what unfortunate timing. "gonna cum."

genji picks up the pace, unable to decide if he wants to look at your face or at his fingers as he pumps them in and out of you. you attempt to clench your thighs together, though genji's body blocks the action, and as you come undone, he decides the best thing for him to look at is your expression.

you squirm beneath genji, eyes squeezed shuts and knuckles turning white from the force with which you're grasping at your bedsheets. he watches carefully, taking in every minute detail of the way you look when you cum, while still fucking his fingers into you as you ride out the high of your orgasm. once you still, he slides his fingers out, the matte grey now slick and shiny. you open your eyes just in time to watch him pop his fingers in his mouth. he looks back at you through half-lidded eyes, a devious smirk on his face as he watches your already blown-out pupils widen at his actions. to add icing to the cake, he licks his lips, and suddenly you think 'wow, i'd let him do anything to me'.

"god," you mutter, shifting awkwardly. you were trying to rub your thighs together at the thoughts coursing through your mind, but genji was in the way.

you trail your eyes along his body, coming to a halt at the bulge in his joggers. you reach for the waistband of his pants, tugging them down to the middle of his thigh, but the position he was sitting in prevented you from getting them any further. genji climbs off of the mattress and yanks his pants and boxers off himself, then proceeds to do the same with your underwear. the intensity of the hunger between the two of you was so thick it was almost physical, and you can't pull your eyes away from him.

to your surprise, his dick was made of flesh. not that you had any complaints either way– it was just unexpected. you take a moment to admire him, then reach out to pull him back into the bed with you. genji resumes his position between your legs, lifting them up so that your knees are at your chest. the two of you both look down, watching in anticipation as he slides inside of you. he slowly pushes himself in farther, continuing until he bottoms out.

you both moan, almost in sync, at the sensation, and make eye contact again. genji positions his arms on either side of your head and touches his forehead to yours, staring into your eyes, as you dig your nails into his shoulder. one of your hands finds its way back to his hair, gently tugging at the spiky black tufts, keeping him as close to you as you could.

it doesn't take long for genji to find a good rhythm, his thrusts deep and and on the slower side. each movement coaxes noises out of you– his name, mostly, but a few mewls and downright pornographic-sounding moans as well. he kisses you again, lustful and passionate, and slides his hand into your hair to cradle your head. he pulls away, trailing kisses from your jawline to your collarbone, a few of which will surely leave some faint marks. you're not worried about that though– the only person who'd have the gall to comment on it was cassidy, anyways.

"you sound so pretty," he mumbles into your neck.

your breath catches in your throat at his words, and your grip on his hair tightens slightly. he sounded so so hot, it sent a shiver down your spine. "mm," is the only response you can manage.

one particular thrust hits perfectly, and you short-circuit, digging your nails deep into genji's shoulder and whimpering his name. he lifts his head to look you in the eye, his eyes honing in on your lips. his movement becomes more insistent, and he kisses you again, muffling your moans.

for the next few minutes, the only sounds in the room were that of your needy whines, genji's panting and occasional grunts, and the soft skin-on-skin contact. genji was surprisingly much more gentle than you'd anticipated, affection dripping from every action. it was enough to make you start to feel a bit of regret about the whole 'one time only' spiel, but you couldn't really focus on that when he was looking at you, and touching you, and fucking you the way he was.

with the stimulation of genji inside of you, and the way he was purring praise and sweet nothings into your ear in between the barrage of kisses, it didn't take long for you feel your climax coming up. from the way genji was beginning to become more shaky and haphazard in his movements, you could tell the same was true for him.

"genji," you whisper. "i'm gonna cum."

he hums in response, furrowing his brow. "me too."

a few seconds of silence pass, and then genji looks... lost. "uh, where should i...?"

"wherever you want," you say, not really thinking. 'inside' was the first thing that came to mind, but that felt weird to say. was it weird to ask your coworker cum inside you? yeah, probably, but it couldn't be any weirder than the fact that you were having such intimate, needy sex with your coworker in the first place, right?

genji slows down and looks at you with wide eyes. "what? no preference?"

"um, i mean," you cut yourself off, biting your lip to suppress a moan. "i was gonna say inside, but like... up to you."

"are you serious? you want me to..."

so it was weird, you think, instantly regretting that you spoke. "do whatever you want."

genji stops moving, and you let out a pitiful involuntary whine.

"i'm asking, what do you want?"

does he want me to spell it out for him? you wonder. fuck it.

"i... want you to cum in me, genji," you say, looking him in the eye with a serious expression. you ignore the fact that your cheeks are almost literally burning, and also opt to ignore the little voice in your head chastising you for being so awkward.

a choked noise escapes him, and his face turns pink. he promptly hides himself in the crook of your neck again. after a few more thrusts, you can feel the burning pleasure of your orgasm reaching its peak, prompting you to cling tightly to genji. he leans back to watch, and as you clench around him, he loses his composure as well. a soft chorus of each others' names and 'fuck' fills the room as genji fucks you through your orgasm, neither of you breaking eye contact. genji leans in for another kiss as he cums. this time is somehow even more passionate than the others, and you immediately miss him when he leans back and pulls out.

you almost let an 'i love you' slip out, but immediately realize how stupid that would be, and opt to just shut your mouth entirely instead. a silence falls over the room, with the both of you breathing heavily and casting shy glances at one another as if you didn't just have passionate, unprotected sex. genji moves first, sliding into the bed beside you and propping his head up on his hand.

this is definitely going beyond what this was supposed to be, you tell yourself, but really, you're not mad about it. sure, the plan was originally for you guys to have meaningless sex and then pretend it never happened, but that plan started to crumble almost as soon as he walked through your door. you were still worried that you were reading too far into it– maybe he was like this with everyone he slept with.

"can i... be honest with you?" he asks. you nervously look over at him, an overwhelming sense of dread filling your stomach.

"yeah, of course," you reply casually. acting calm and collected when you were pretty sure you were about to hear something you really didn't want to hear was a trait you'd quickly adapted as an overwatch agent, and damn, were you thankful for it right now.

"i... haven't been with anyone in a long time," he admits. "like... since the accident."

you stay quiet. you're unsure of what to say, and you can tell he's not done talking, anyway.

"i couldn't fathom anyone wanting to be with me, considering... you know," genji sighs and averts his eyes. "i've liked you for so long, but i didn't think you'd be interested in me at all. i'm... barely even human."

you're still quiet, trying your best to process what he's saying.

"oh, yeah, sorry. i know you said this was a one time thing, and that's fine. i just thought you should know that you treating me like a person... and making me feel wanted... it means a lot," he continues. "even if it was just sex, i enjoy being around you."

"i'm... really in over my head," you mutter, mostly to yourself. "this is really unexpected, honestly. like, all of it. everything."

genji's face falls, and you realize that you misspoke. he shifts uncomfortably and starts to sit up, obviously preparing to leave. you reach for his arm, wrapping your hand carefully around the metal.

"not unwelcome, just unexpected. i... didn't want to get feelings involved because i was sure they wouldn't be returned," you explain. "you seemed kind of unapproachable. i was taking a shot in the dark."

genji laughs a little. "i seem to give that impression. it's not really the case... or at least, not with you."

you gently pull him back to your side, holding his face in your hands and giving him a quick kiss. you can't find the words to convey the emotions you feel, so you hope that touch would suffice. he presses his forehead against yours and wraps an arm around your waist, and the two of you just lay there, basking in each others' presence. this was... an unplanned turn of events, but you were much happier with this outcome.

"hmm. so much for the whole 'no strings attached' thing, huh?" you say quietly. "looks like there's definitely strings. lots of them."

genji laughs again, and you find your heart skipping a beat at the look on his face. yeah, there were so many strings tethering this man to your heart. you wanted to tell yourself that weren't sure how exactly you ended up like this, but the moment you saw him take off his mask and show you his most well-kept secret, you knew there was much more than sexual attraction there, and that there was no going back.

"thank you," genji says, pulling you out of your trance. "for... overlooking my flaws, liking me as i am. you're truly the most beautiful person i know."

you smile at him, feeling your heart quite literally melt at the way he's looking at you.

"you're beautiful, genji," you tell him. and he was. the scars and metal that made up his body weren't flaws– they were a part of him, therefore they were beautiful, too. they weren't something you had to overlook to find him captivating, but you'd tell him all about that at another time.

[scarletsaphire]

Hey folks! This is my fic for the @valentines-core-exchange, going to @ghostypeppers! I did Johnny/Kitty, before they died. I hope you like it!

Johnny wasn’t one for reflection, or introspection, or really any of the -tions. At least none that he could think of, which was admittedly just those two. It just wasn’t in his nature to think back on things, or think things through, or think about what he really wanted, or think at all. It took too long, and he was never good at it anyway.

He always tried for Kitty, though.

He didn’t do it well, and he certainly didn’t do it as often as he should have, but he tried. It was why he stayed in their hometown so long, couch surfing with whatever pitiful mother would let him stay for a few nights before kicking him back on the street like his own pops had done. Johnny wasn’t about to leave her, and he wasn’t going to make her drop out just to stay with him. She deserved a chance at a good life, even if he’d given up on his.

It didn’t stop either of them from burning rubber the moment she had her diploma in hand, tearing across the country with nothing but the few bags they could fit on his bike and her arms wrapped around his torso. It had been their dream, ever since they started dating, to leave that shit hole of a city behind them, to never look back, even for a moment.

Johnny thought that would’ve been easy. There was nothing fond to look back on, not for her and certainly not for him. As far as he was concerned, the only good thing to ever come out of that place sat in his lap, with the scent of just-bleached hair clinging to her skin.

On nights like this one, it was harder said than done.

It was raining. It had been for the better part of their day, and both they and their stuff were soaked completely through. Maybe if they had a place to stay for the night, it wouldn’t have mattered as much. Sure, they didn’t need an excuse to sleep naked with each other, and they’d certainly done more than just “sleep” in the past, but having one didn’t hurt any.

But they didn’t have a place to stay. Every motel, hotel, and hostel had been either booked full or charged more money than either of them had seen in weeks, so instead they were stuck outside. Johnny’d tied the tarp he covered their bike with up against a lamp post and a stop sign off in the corner of the parking lot, giving them the illusion of cover if nothing else. There was hardly enough space for the two of them, even with Kitty in his lap, and the ground was wet and cold and hard beneath him. To say the experience was miserable would be an understatement.

Even he couldn't resist looking back on life when things went like this.

He didn't regret leaving. Johnny couldn't imagine ever regretting that. It was the closest thing to a life goal he'd ever had, and he'd take a thousand nights on the pavement over another week in the house he'd been raised in, because at least in the morning he knew he'd be able to get off the pavement. What he regretted was dragging Kitty down with him.

He wouldn't take credit for how things turned out for her. Mostly because she'd slap him if he tried. She always said that she worked hard to fail this spectacularly, but he wasn't an idiot, no matter what everyone already told him. He knew that if he hadn't shown up in her life, she might be at home safe, or at least making dumb decisions at three in the morning with a home to go back to.

He first met her under the bleachers during 3rd period. He intended on taking a smoke break, probably until lunch, when he could slip back into the building to grab whatever slop they were serving up. He'd figure out if he'd stick around for the rest of the day after that. He hadn't expected for someone to already be hiding out down there.

At the time, Kitty's hair was long and blonde, pulled back into a high ponytail. She had nice clothes, and neat makeup, and beautiful brown eyes that hardened into a glare the moment he walked into sight. He remembered just standing there, the cigarette he'd already gotten out nearly falling out of his hands. She was gorgeous. Breathtaking. The hottest chick he'd ever seen. Or at least, the hottest one he'd seen today.

Her attractiveness was only magnified by the venom that seemed to drip out of her voice. "Oh, you are turning your ass right around, do not even think about trying me."

It took Johnny a minute for his ears to catch up with his brain, and then another minute where his mouth did nothing but flop open and closed like a fish. When he finally figured out how to work his mouth again, it twisted into a smirk. "Well, I'd much prefer it if you turned your ass around, but if you insist I put on the show..."

She sputtered. "What did you just say to me?"

"I'm saying that if you want a look at my ass that bad, you only need to ask, kitty."

"Oh, so you're going to pull that card huh?" She took a step towards him. "Well, if you want to play like that, you should know that this kitty," she spat the pet name out, "has claws. And I'm not afraid to use them."

Johnny let out a low whistle, and held up his hands. "I can recognize a no when I see one. I'll find somewhere else to smoke."

He turned around, lifting his leg to climb out of the bleachers, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wait," she said, and Johnny turned back around with one eyebrow raised. "Do you have another?"

"Maybe," Johnny said slowly, lowering his leg back to the ground. "If you pay the right price."

She removed her hand from his shoulder and held it out to him expectantly. "What I'm willing to do is let you stay here instead of having to wander across the football field in plain sight of the teacher's lounge."

Johnny weighed his options. He was normally after actual money when he sold cigarettes to students. "You know what?" he said finally. "You got yourself a deal, doll." He passed the cigarette he was still holding into her waiting fingers, before pulling out another for himself.

"I do have a name you know," she said, lowering herself to the ground. Johnny followed suit.

"Not one I know of," he said. "So until then, I get to call you whatever I want, sugar."

She opened her mouth to answer with what he assumed would be her name, before closing it slowly. "You know what? Call me Kitty all you like. It ain't like you're going to need to know my name anyway." She held her cigarette out for a light, and Johnny obliged before lighting his own.

"And here I was hoping I'd be able to see you again. Maybe tonight? The place on 8th street?"

Kitty snorted. "In your dreams. You're lucky you're getting to see me now."

She brought the cigarette to her lips, and Johnny watched how her lips pursed around it as she inhaled, parting a moment later to let the smoke billow so gently from her mouth. "Damn right I am," he said, lifting his own cigarette. Before it reached his face, his arm was knocked off track. "Hey!" Johnny exclaimed. “You punched me!”

"Yeah, and I'll do it again if you aren't careful."

Johnny swallowed hard. "Understood." This time, he was able to smoke unimpeded. Neither of them said another word, not until the faint echo of the bell marking the end of the period came from the school, and Kitty stood up.

"You heading out already?" Johnny asked without moving from the ground. "And after everything you did to make sure that this spot stayed yours."

"Yeah, well I'm done with it. If you want my sloppy seconds that bad, you can have them." Kitty didn't bother looking behind her, just waved him off as she climbed through the bleachers.

"See you around, Kitty," Johnny called just as she was about to disappear from view.

"In your dreams, dickhead," she called back, and then she was gone.

The cigarette Johnny held now was not the brand he liked, and it left a foul layer of something coating his tongue and teeth. But unlike the rest of their things, it was dry and warm and best of all, they'd gotten it for free, a pity gift from the clerk at the last hostel they tried.

"You two look like you need it more than I do," he'd said. He'd been right.

It took a few tries to get his lighter to work. He lit Kitty's first, just like he always did, and then lit his right after. The soft, orange glow that lit up their faces was a nice reprieve from the torrential rain.

"You're thinking," Kitty said.

"That doesn't sound like me," Johnny replied.

"Yeah, that's why I know you're doing it. I can hear the rust in your brain."

Johnny laughed. "Damn. Shows what I get for forgetting I had one."

"Yep," Kitty said. "So, are you gonna tell me what you're thinking 'bout, or will I need to pull it out of you?"

"Well, that entirely depends on how you're doing this pulling." Johnny couldn't see her face, not with how she was positioned in his lap. He didn't need to; he could envision the way she raised her eyebrow, the quirk of her lips in a smirk, the slight roll of her eyes. He could see her hair clinging to the side of her face, the green streaks of hair dye the rain had washed out covering her cheeks and forehead. 

She grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked in one smooth, practiced motion. "Like that."

"Fine, fine!" Johnny called out. She let go, and he moved his hand off of her hip to rub at his scalp. "You know, I'm normally a fan of hair pulling."

"I think you're a fan of the things that happen alongside hair pulling," Kitty corrected. "Now, spill."

He held his free hand up in the air in surrender, before letting it settle back into her lap. "Fine, fine." He took a deep drag of his cigarette, coating his mouth in the flavor and smoke. He held it in a beat longer than he normally would, before letting the smoke curl past his lips. "Do you... ever miss the life you were supposed to have?"

Kitty snorted. "What, churning out babies for some bastard like my sister’s doing? Not a chance."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Like always," Kitty added immediately. For a few moments, there was only the sound of their breathing and the pounding of rain against the tarp above them. "You're still worried about something."

"Who, me?" Johnny asked.

"Yes, you. Fess up."

He took a deep breath, this one not carrying any nicotine with it, before answering. "I wish things weren't like... well," He gestured with his cigarette at the parking lot they were in. "...this."

He felt rather than saw Kitty nod her head. "You know, my parents always warned me about guys like you," she said. "Always said that someone like you would come into my life, seduce me, and then leave me high and dry on the side of the road with nothing to my name, and when that happened, they wouldn't let me come crawling back to them. They were right. You're a mess. You have no money, no prospects, no job, and even if we were in any town long enough for you to get one, we both know you wouldn't be able to hold it down longer than a week."

Johnny waited as she puffed her own cigarette. She wasn't finished. At least, he hoped she wasn't finished. "It'd be easier to count the number of waitresses you haven't flirted with while we traveled than the ones you have," she continued. "We fight all the time about anything and everything. And then I leave. But you know what?"

She ground the cigarette butt into the ground next to her, casting it to the side without a thought. "You've never once been the one to leave me. Even when I yell that we're done and run off into whatever city we've found ourselves in, you always hang around until I've come back around, even though staying in one town too long makes your teeth itch. And every time we're anywhere new, you insist on bringing me to a pet shop to 'meet the natives,' and last week when we arrived in Scottsboro you had me pick up Chinese for us because that calico decided you were the perfect nap spot for like, three hours. I have to admit, she has good taste. "

Kitty spun around in his lap so that she was facing him now, wrapping her legs around his waist. "My parents were right. Running away with you means we're never going to be anything important. If I had stayed at home, maybe I'd be married to a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant or any kind of respectable job, and maybe I wouldn't be freezing my ass off out here. Maybe you did ruin the life I was supposed to live. I would've hated it anyway. At least this way, I get the chance to actually live , not just slog through the life someone else picked for me."

She leaned closer to him, lifting her face so he could smell the smoke on her breath. She looked exactly as he knew she would. "We're never going to amount to anything, but if we were to die tomorrow, the only thing I’d regret is not running away with you sooner."

Johnny smiled, extinguishing his own cigarette without breaking Kitty's gaze. "Careful, kitten. It almost sounds like you love me."

"Well, maybe I do," she said. "You just need to shut your brain back off and realize it."

"That is something I can do," he replied, just barely above a whisper, before leaning in and capturing her lips against his own.

She was right. They were never going to amount to much of anything. They were never going to be good people. They were never going to have a normal life.

That was fine by them. Normal never suited them anyway.

[sins-of-the-sea]

angst: 🤔 😶

The Angst Meme

🤔: Any angst tropes you’re not really fond of?

//I've answered this one before here, so this is a different answer.

I am not a fan of angst that has no impact on the character or story. I'm not saying that we are not allowed to have a character that overcame angst and healed from it by the time we meet them (in fact, I find those fascinating!), what I am saying is that the angst seemed to have been tacked onto a character for the sake of…. well, angst. And then nothing being done with it beyond just angst. I mostly see this in fanfiction circles where fanfic writers tack on a tragic backstory to a character that canonically does not display a behavior indicative of that past. Now I am not AGAINST giving tragic backstories to canon characters at all (I'm guilty of it myself). It's when they transfer this habit to their ORIGINAL CHARACTERS--muses the writers have 100% full control of writing--that drives me up the wall. And this is a habit I am seeing even today.

On a related tangent, I am not fond of "conga line" trauma in angst stories. Even with the Seven I try to mellow out the number of tragedies they encounter; though then again, I have the excuse that they are centuries old (so it is possible to have enough tragedy to last several generations and lifetimes). The closest I got possibly to this is how Josep had some tragic event every summer for several years straight, but even then this DOES have a narrative purpose: it forms how he becomes the Sin of Wrath. Otherwise, I abide by a rule when I write angst for my characters regardless of story: If my character can't heal or overcome this, then I am not writing it. This rule is also how I draw the line when interacting with other muses in the amount of angst I am willing to tolerate. But I cannot tell you often this line is crossed anyway.

😶: Got any future thread angst hidden up your sleeve?

You think Guy's misery is going to end after Sinfully Valentining 2?

I kid no I'm not maybe. But besides Guy, my brain lately has been focused on the other members of the Crew. At last, we are getting stories for the Razing of Guangzhou (Canton), the biggest tragic event not only to affect the Seven, but all of Devil's Eye. For this blog alone there is angst in Josep and Abena losing Arcelia, Rashid losing a chance at another happy life of settling with friends and family, Phoebus failing people once again as a healer, Ruixiong losing his first real connections with China in a century, and Giovanni dealing with the guilt of being the reason the Razing happened at all. Guy losing his love in San-Gwong is only one out of seven major angst plotlines when it came to Guangzhou. And that's just this blog.

As far as threads go with other RPers, well, interacting with the Seven will always be inherently angsty. The Master makes sure his thralls are miserable, and he reminds them of their misery deliberately as to make sure they also remember why they came to him to begin with. Moments of happiness distract the Seven, so he will yank their chains to bring them back to reality. And of course, the Master wants to 'break' his thralls like one would 'break' a horse. The more unquestionably compliant, the better.

Some examples, for fun:

Annalise ( @dragonskxn ) finding out Giovanni is the reason behind the Razing of Guangzhou

Sacara ( @thelittlestdemon ) or Taryn ( @rxdhairxdsirxns ) finding out that Phoebus ran out on his bride Deborah Conrad at the altar in 1721.

Cayla/Orquidia ( @orphanedwolfandfriends ) finding out about Arcelia and she is almost being unwittingly treated like a "replacement goldfish" for Josep and Abena

Marshmallow ( @rosegoldkingdom ) being the object of Guy's affections, except Guy is scared he'll hurt him or lose him like he lost San-Gwong.

Rashid and Ruixiong don't have future angsty thread ideas, as Rashid already went through a truckload and I'm honestly really really really really REALLY ready to move on by now, whereas Ruixiong has yet to have a focus relationship that isn't built on antagonism or comedy.

[saviorbook]

Valentine's Day

I couldn't resist! The cheese was just too strong for me to pull away from, so that's what you get for the lovely, final day of @fransweek

“Hey, do you guys celebrate Valentine’s Day?” Frisk floated upside-down, in front of the asteroid Sans was sitting on, with a quizzical look on her face.

“what’s valentine’s day?” Sans raised a skeptical brow before pulling the floating human down to sit next to him.

“Guess that answers my question!” She let out a small giggle that made Sans’ eyelights turn to hearts, which was such a typical occurrence around her, she didn’t question it.

“It’s something we celebrated back on Earth, and I was wondering if you guys do, too.” Sans jumped a little when he heard bring up her old home.

“why are you bringing it up? are you homesick?” His face grew serious with a slight edge of sadness and bitterness nestled in his usually cheerful voice.

“Stars, no! I didn’t even really celebrate it myself. No one would have wanted to be my Valentine anyway…” She paused for a second longer than she meant to. “Um, as I was going to say. Valentine’s Day is just to celebrate the people you care about. You give cards, sweets, and flowers to the people you love.”

“oh. so, if you were to give a card to tori or paps, they’d be your valentines?” Sans’ demeanor completely changed once he was sure Frisk wouldn’t be going anywhere; he wasn’t sure his soul would be able to handle her leaving.

“Kind of. I mean, I view it as a more romantic holiday, so I think I’d want to give them something more friendly. I would probably give them something sweet with a little card that was less personal than what I’d give someone I had more romantic feelings for. Does that make sense?” Her head was lowered, so she had to glance up at him.

“so, if someone were to give you flowers, sweets, and a personalized card, you would think it was a more romantic gesture?” He had turned his head away from her to try to hide his blush and couldn’t tell if he had succeeded.

“Yeah. Exactly that, but I wouldn’t want the sweets. I’ve never had the biggest sweet tooth.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and had also turned away to hide her own blush.

They both sat on the asteroid like that for what felt like hours until they were interrupted by the ringing of Frisk’s phone. Frisk made a mad dash to get it out of her pocket, knowing that it was Toriel calling.

“Hey! Yeah, I’ll be over in a few minutes. Love you, too! See you soon!” She glanced at Sans as he looked at her expectantly.

“Sorry, she didn’t tell me what it was about, but I’m planning on going over to your place later anyway. Paps said he had something planned for me, whatever that is, so I’ll see you later!” Frisk started up her jet pack and headed over to Toriel’s place.

“see ya!” As soon as Frisk was out of sight, Sans made a call to his younger brother.

“hey, bro! what did you need frisk for later, and do you mind if i steal her from you for tonight?” His foot started tapping the asteroid that he still sat on.

“OH! YES, OF COURSE! I DON’T MIND ONE BIT SO LONG AS YOU CONFESS YOUR FEELINGS TO HER TONIGHT.” Sans froze.

“what feelings are you talking about, bro? we’re just friends.” He could hear Papyrus sigh heavily on the other side of the line.

“SANS, YOUR EYELIGHTS TURN INTO HEARTS WHENEVER SHE’S AROUND. I WOULD SAY I’M SURPRISED SHE HASN’T CAUGHT ON YET, BUT THIS HAPPENS EVERY TIME, SO I CAN’T BLAME HER, TOO MUCH.” Sans tried to fight the blush that was crawling its way up his cheekbones, but to one’s surprise, he miserably failed.

“okay, fine! that was kind of the plan anyway… she told me about this earth holiday, and now, i want her to experience the romantic side of what she talked about.” He tried to sink into his the poofiness of his jacket, wanting to disappear the more he thought about actually telling her how much he liked her.

He shook his head a little, trying to regain control of his composure. He had a few things he had to get done, so he had to get a grip of himself.

First, he had to sneak his way past Toriel’s house to get a hold of some of the flowers Frisk had crash landed on. It wasn’t the hardest thing to do since both women were preoccupied with some mysterious project inside.

He then went to Steeler, one of Muffet’s many cousins, in order to get an echo pendant. It was fairly simple in design, a small circle with a glass dome that would sit against her collarbone due to a thin silver chain. The design within the glass dome was anything but simple, though. The colors of the galaxies that surrounded them swirled together and were the backdrop to a black tree that stretched towards the sky, it’s branches weaving together to create intricate swirls.

The other oddity that befell the small trinket was the ability to capture a singular phrase and keep it, unlike the echo flowers that changed their words depending on the last thing they heard. He whispered sweet nothings to the small pendant, noting to himself that he would have to teach Frisk how to use it, given she accepted his confession.

At last, he went home. He wanted to make a card that was as special as she was. He asked Papyrus if he could borrow the supplies his little brother typically used to design traps and puzzles with and got to work. Eventually, he had to settle for something he wasn’t very proud of. Frisk was scheduled to arrive at any minute, he still had food to make, and he had such high hopes for this card, the message became muddled and the rest of the card, messy.

He heard a knock at the door and went to answer it, but Papyrus beat him to it.

“HELLO DEAR HUMAN, FRISK! I AM VERY GLAD YOU COULD JOIN ME. HOWEVER, I REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT I CAN NOT STAY, FOR UNDYNE NEEDED MY HELP WITH ROYAL GUARD TRAINING THINGS. I’M SURE MY BROTHER WILL MAKE FINE COMPANY THOUGH, SO I AM SAD TO SAY THAT I WILL HAVE TO SEE YOU AT A DIFFERENT TIME. TRY TO NOT BE SADDENED BY THE LACK OF MY PRESENCE!” Sans shook his head at Papyrus’ attempt to be subtle and tried to finish the quiche that was in the oven.

“Hey, Sans! I told you I’d be over later, and here I am.” She rounded the corner to the kitchen, where the smell of not spaghetti wafted through the air.

Sans heard a small gasp of shock come from behind him.

“What is all of this?” A vase of white flowers sat in the middle of the table, while a card and thin box sat on one end.

“a valentine’s celebration?” He took the quiche out of the oven and gestured for Frisk to sit down.

“In that case, I should probably gives these to you.” She put the gifts she had gotten him on his side of the table.

“since, i now know the significance of these, i take it you like me?” Frisk bit her lip.

“Only if you like me back.” Her hands played with her hair as she waited for his response.

“considering, papyrus called me out on how obvious i am, i’d say i’m pretty hooked.” He glanced at the gifts that were next to his plate. There was a handmade card, written in cursive, a small, heart shaped box, and a small bouquet of ceramic echo flowers; he could feel magic coming from the delicate flowers.

“That’s good. You know, Papyrus was the one that convinced me to do this. I mentioned it to him first, wanting to gauge his reaction. Your name came up somehow, and then, Papyrus called me super obvious and helped me get everything. I even got Toriel to teach me how to collect edible stardust, so while I never got to try that fried stardust you tried selling me when we first met, I figured you might like it smothered in chocolate. I knew that you had pretty atrocious allergies to most flowers, so seeing these on the table were a real surprise. Anyway, I got you special echo flowers. They’re pollen free because they’re made of clay, and they repeat what I told them to. Papyrus said you would already know how they work, and I have no clue. I just told Bell what I needed, and they did the rest.” She looked at her own gifts, admiring how ‘Sans’ the card in front of her was, while he smiled softly at her.

“so that’s why you had to leave, huh?” She glanced up at him, gave a sheepish smile, and nodded.

“i think you should open the box.” She looked at the small, navy blue box and opened it carefully.

“It’s beautiful! Can you help me put it on?” He went to her chair and clasped the necklace around her neck.

“now, rub the back of it with your thumb.” Sans had made his way back to his side of the table and watched her look of confusion turn to one of surprise.

“D-do you mean all of that?” Tears had started brimming at the corners of her eyes.

“i wouldn’t have said it if i didn’t mean it. i love you, frisk. will you be my valentine?” Frisk stared into his eyelights, trying to detect any ounce of the usual humor he had, but when she found none, she nodded her head ecstatically.

“can i go one step further and ask you to be my girlfriend, too?” Frisk stood up from the table and ran at him, engulfing him in a large hug.

“Of course!”

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

A little funfact, Bell and Steeler were named after the diving bell spider and the yellow garden spider (it goes by so many other names, you have no idea). The diving bell spiders are known for being the only spiders to live almost entirely underwater, and I used this spider because it's most commonly found in swamps, and I couldn't find a spider that lives in clay. The yellow garden spider was chosen, simply because it's pretty.

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket, SE03, Ep1

I’m here! The final season continues from where se02 oddly left, right in the middle of a conversation! XD.

-Tohru’s crushed heart (scarf): Excellent symbolism!

Tohru, burdened with trying to lift the curse of teen & adult sohmas, is now also troubled by trying to help Arisa’s romantic life is sad for akito! Too much for compassionate selfless tohru. Unable to help, protect & erase the pain, tohru crumbles. Freezes. Her white scarf (heart) flies away, gets crushed by cars & becomes dirty. But here comes a boy ( who thinks himself a monster) picks it up, cleans & returns it back. He thinks nothing of his deed. nothing heroic abt saving a scarf, really. But do we need to be heroes to save others? kyo saves tohru by being kyo. Not the zodiac cat & not the menacing monster. Her heart is saved by him, shown much care & returned back. Mind you, the heart (scarf) is not brand new after the delima. It’s not very clean after being crushed, some marks remain, but these are marks of growth!!! you walk away after hardships carrying minor scars of victory. This scene solidify kyo’s role in tohru’s life as an equal companion. Not a heroic prince charming. It is the little things he does that shows who he is. kyo isn’t abt big soft words, he doesn't say the best things. he is a man of action. His care, love & compassion comes so very easily & naturally to him thro actions. This is what yuki meant by saying he’s jealous of kyo. Yuki over thinks his steps & doubt everything before he acts. Kyo acts spontaneously then doubts himself later. He saves the scarf (heart) then tells her directly to buy another one if she feels it’s not clean. He failed to see how this trivial action meant the world to tohru. Tohru smiles lively cuz her heart is back to her.

Why is the scarf scene so important? (aka furuba’s best usage of symbolism yet!)

It symbolizes tohru’s toxic flaw that she must overcome! It represents tohru’s tormented heart over other ppl’s pain with severe neglect to her own problems & issues. Arisa’s love life shouldn’t be tohru’s delima, nor Akito’s complex or Kureno’s or the damned curse. Tohru toxically chooses to bear other burdens’ until they crush her.

Hana can’t come to save tohru from pain each time tohru indulges in it. Tohru must realize her own flaw & grow up beyond this toxic type of kindness. Feel & help others, but don’t use them to escape your pain & don’t indulge in their own struggles & neglect yourself. There is a reason hana’s knowing of tohru’s pain is thro “magical” waves, to symbolize that this can’t become a norm, not real. You can’t depend on magic to grow. I love that!

The white scarf bearing smudges of the tires even after kyo washed it shows that kyo’s love & care can’t magically heal all tohru’s pain. It parallels kyo’s words from se01, ep,24 when he said tohru didn’t heal all his pain, but he feels better simply cuz she stayed by his side. Tohru now is feeling better cuz kyo chose was there for her. Love doesn’t magically heal you, kids! But it sure puts you on the path! Also, this once again adds more depth to the (tohru/kyo) equal give & take dynamics.

This scene deconstruct the image of Tohru represented as an angelic mother throughout 2 seasons. Instead, It paints her as a real flawed girl with much need for growth. Exactly, like how we have learned by now that kyo isn’t a horrible monster nor a prince charming saving the day, but a flawed boy with much need for growth. However, these two push each other forward in a subtle way through daily situations! Excellent writing!!

-Kureno. (aka. who tohru should never become):

The harmful kindness: Kureno is someone who hurts himself & hurt many others (akito, arisa, shigure, & consequently the rest of the zodiacs) by giving the harmful types of kindness to akito, by completely erasing his own needs, desires & living for the sake of someone who would be far better without him. Kureno is who tohru might have become if she selflessly continues fighting solely for the sohma’s sake & trying to break the curse while ignoring her own life. She’ll become as miserable as kureno & the zodiacs will become dependable on her.

The destructive pity: Kureno pities this tormented child (akito) & chooses to stay with her until her tears dry. This pity is destructive cuz it is done while he wishes to be miles away with Arisa & it encourages akito to stay as she is. Look, a child whose mom hates her deserves pity. But an adult woman needs to learn to build relationships based on mutual affection & respect. This talk of pity reminds me of kyo & kagura. Kagura pitied the cat zodiac. The relationship was doomed cuz kyo refuses pity. It doesn’t matter if her pity turned into love later. Kyo doesn’t want that from her or anyone. There is NO equality there. We know tohru came to love kyo for all the times he was there for her & all the times he pushed her to improve, to complain, to want things! she said so in se01, ep, 24. But we also know that young baby tohru pitied the cat when her mom told her the zodiacs story. what if kyo thinks tohru’s affection is pity???? that’s a big NO for him & for every person. I really want tohru to be as far from any kurno’s traits as possible!!!

-Akito, the pitiful woman:

Akito was born a girl, forced to be raised as a boy by her mother’s demands? where is the father?? she was hated by her mother. why? she also hates her mom. (hate your child & they’ll hated you). So, akito is doomed by her mom. Akito tries to prove that she’s loved by the zodiac “she specified the male zodiacs” interesting! we saw how she hates both Isuzu & kisa & doesn’t give a damn abt kagura. This woman, forced to pose as a man, actually desires to be treated as a woman. As for the other zodiacs:

No worries abt hatori leaving cuz he’s 24/7 attending to her health.

Ayame makes tea exclusively for her & hatori.

she thinks Ritsu is too timid to attempt leaving.

Hiro’s a baby, momiji is hated cuz she can’t break him.

Kyo is destined to be locked. but Why she cares abt the cat anyway?? She publicly hates him & feels disgusted by him.

She used to control yuki but can’t anymore.

she uses intimacy to bound those who “can” leave her the most: kurno! & shigure? she sleeps next to shigure in the valentine ep. hatori remarked: don’t let akito catch cold. We saw the sexually charged rage in se02, ep10. So, she isn’t faithful to kureno. They don’t have a relationship. She doesn’t even have a relationship with shigure, either. to her, sex is a tool to tie them both to her?

It is ironic that the person who said she despises woman & accuses Isuzu of seducing hatori is herself seducing others. Except, tragically, kureno isn’t with her for herself, but cuz he pities her. We saw her slapping & embracing him. Next scene; her bare shoulders & his unbuttoned shirt clearly implies they got intimate which is what akito does to feel secure in kureno not leaving her. Kureno is not even interested in her despite submitting to her advances, needs & orders. He does it out of pity. Truly the most tragic form of physical affection: sex for pity. wow... how tragically pitiful is the abusive ruler of the zodiacs who looms over them & demands respect & eternal bonds. How can she find someone who’ll love her for herself, if she doesn’t learn to show good sides of her? Yuki wasn’t loved for who he is in school, but for being the “prince”, he showed his real character & got himself true friends & soon a lover!!!  Kyo, was feared & pitied for turning into a “monster”, but once he showed his kind & harmless self, he got himself true friends & a girl who loves him for his actual personality! Who will love akito for who she is if she only shows a spoiled child, horrible family head or a pitiful woman? What does shigure love in her? he doesn’t seem to pity her nor pamper her much, does he?  perhaps we’ll know more abt the real akito later.

Side notes:

Akito’s mom reminded me of kyo’s dad. Abused children, who are hated by their parents, don’t let go of the hurt easily. they’ll always try to either get their approval, show them they were worthy of their love, or they’re NOTHING like their parents think they are. eg: Kyo’s biological father’s hate has destroyed kyo. Kyo have kazuma & tohru & he still wonder why they love him. It took kyo 17 years to actually promise to call kazuma "dad” one day in se01 finale. You need time to heal the wounds inflected by the ones who should love you the most. Being loved by others doesn’t magically heal you! You need to take few steps forward.

Isuzu is Ren’s clone! finally understanding why the severe hate from akito towards Isuzu. I’ll wait for more Ren/Akito content before analyzing their relationship.

Ren is so sexy. ngl, the scene of the zodiacs touching her belly after she just *conceived* akito is so creepy~ ew! 

Hana picked up tohru first before kyo, cuz this show isn’t exclusive for romantic love as much as it isn’t exclusive for friendship. There is balance. 

Tohru needs her own future, so does Arisa & hana! Learn to accept the limit of what you can do as a friend, tohru.. forever loving furuba for steering away from “friends stay together forever~yay” anime trope! Furuba is abt independent & individual adult life! building your own future! Epic writing!

Forever fascinated by how much the little small ordinary daily life things has really built kyo-tohru love! It feels so real & very uniquely built! Excellent writing!

Arisa is stuck with an adult man trapping himself in the most unnecessary love triangle. Kureno’s cage is self made, no curse. A very sheltered boy/man not living in the real world. Only two options for kureno if he continues this path: he’ll hurt akito, or akito will hurt him. We know the answer from the trailer, don’t we?

Arisa letting go of kuron is growth! Let go & live, girl!

There is a subtle theme of learning to let go in furuba~

Yuki is the biggest kyoru shipper!

Tohru intentionally hitting kyo with scarf’s pon-pon is my fave side of her! intentional flirting shows change from her little girl’s good girl attitude to her own type of a feisty woman! after all, she’s nearly 18!

The way the camera moved when kyo spotted the scarf was so good!

The director is obsessed with flying!! did he work on attack on titans? cuz the Ren-akito flying fight reminded me of Titan Eren strangling Titan Annie in AOT se01 finale! but chibi version! XD. I’m sorry for akito’s pain, but I was distracted by laughing! XD

look, if you plan to dramatize a situation, know your budget & your skills. Obviously, the director knew the scene is badly done, hence, the wide far away, dim lit shot to hide as much as it can. Couldn’t he do without it? let akito strangle her to the ground without flying!

oh well~these over-the-top shots are now a furuba trade mark~ just praying they stick with one weird shot per season.

[yacoka]

FIFTY FIRST DATES, AND THE FIRST REAL ONE

──⊱ for my one and only, wee to my woo, love of my life — @doughnuts-5ever

pairing — kuroo tetsurou x reader

genre — angst but it ends very fluffily i swear on my doggie socks

beta(s) — @sugasugawarau @taiyaki 

kisses — hello i am,,, not back,, but here's a little thing that i did for my cow and it might as well be a valentine's day fic bc why not xoxo see y'all in a few days (psps sorry to everyone to has messaged me on discord or here or anything, i haven't been on tumblr or discord in a bit i'll be back sOON)

You sat at the dinner table, staring down at the meal laid out before you. It was by far the best thing you had ever tasted, and yet, it was bland. So, so bland and bitter, that you hated it. Nevermind that it was your favorite dish made by your mother the other day, nevermind that you always loved it better as leftovers. It tasted bland and bitter, and you couldn’t help but wish what he was eating tonight was too.

It was pathetically selfish of you - you knew. But how could you not feel that way when the man you loved was out on a date with some stranger he met on the internet? He had left the house in a burgundy button up that looked like it was made for him, paired with black slacks that made him look like it should be illegal for him to be out in the streets without a warning sign.

It was his first attempt at online dating after having miserably failed at picking up girls from school. And now here he was, out with some chick with a name you could barely pronounce, and the stereotypical description of her bubbly personality that loved nature and volunteered at the animal shelter. Oh, and lets not forget, she’s a gemini!

You rolled your eyes, stabbing your fork into the now cold dish. Stupid boy, with his stupid date, with that stupid red shirt, and with his stupid personality.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. That’s what you were for falling in love with a boy who never saw you for more than another pity project, the pathetic little thing that needed friends but never had any guts to make one until he came along.

You picked up the container of food and stalked over to the bin, dropping its contents into it. You weren’t going to eat it anyways, especially not after how you had  massacred it.

After you left the dirty container in the sink, you flopped onto the couch, sighing heavily as you sank into the worn sofa. It smelled like Kuroo’s body soap, though from the amount of time he’s spent lying on this couch, it was to be expected.

You leaned forward, hand outstretched for the remote. Just a little further, a little more-

The door slammed open and you lurched forward, landing on the ground with a thud.

“It was horrible. She came into the restaurant and she looked amazing, but then we started talking and oh god, I don’t think I can be with someone who thinks that only the rich should be allowed to do whatever they want just because they’re rich.”

“Well hello to you too, Kuroo,” you grumbled from your spot on the floor, flipping yourself over to face the ceiling.

He jumped over the sofa arm, landing perfectly on it like he always does.

“I mean, how can I accept that? That’s just morally wrong and if her basic morals are wrong, what about other more important things? I walked out right after that, that doesn’t make me an asshole right?” His head popped out, brown eyes staring down at you. The cologne he wore tonight drifted down, washing over you and clouding your mind with its deliciously warm and thick and-

“I mean I did pay for the meal before I left,” he mutters, dropping his head onto the cushion, voice muffled slightly by it. “So it counters the fact that I left, right?”

The sigh that begs to pull its way out is caught by you, stuffed into the depths of your stomach in exchange for a soft pat on his head and words you know he wants to hear.

“No, you’re not an asshole. Maybe that was an asshole move, but that doesn’t make you one. Besides, her lack of a moral compass cancels out any asshole you might’ve been.” You combed through his hair, drawing it out of the careful style he had forced his bed head into. “This hairstyle though? It makes you look like an extreme asshole.”

Kuroo scoffed indignantly and his head popped back over the edge once more, brown eyes glaring at you. “I worked hard on this!”

“Doesn’t make you look any less of an ass.”

“The date was incredible.” He sighed dreamily, leaning against the counter with his chin in his hand. The temptation to throw your fork at him increased, and it took every sane cell in your body to set it down on the table instead, albeit rougher than you intended.

If Kuroo noticed your intensity, he didn’t mention it, instead continuing on to sigh and gush about the wonderful date he had last night with this amazing woman at this delicious place.

For someone who was incredibly perceptive, he could be incredibly dense as well. You wonder at his obliviousness to your feelings, to the poorly concealed hurt that peeked through in every little move of your body.

All you wanted to do was scream at him, to wake up, open his eyes, and see you.

You, who had been there since the beginning, who had watched him grow from the shy, introverted kid to this cunning, charismatic man who excelled and went beyond what had been expected of him. You, who had seen him at his worst, and still stayed, patching him up and helping him to his feet. You, who knew who he was to the core, every detail, every fact about him.

But it seemed he didn’t know you as well.

“That’s great,” you interrupt him. He glanced at you, surprised by your abruptness. “I gotta go get some work done, I’ll talk to you tomorrow morning.”

“Wait, did I do something wrong?” He called after your retreating back. “Hey, I’m sorry if I pissed you off.”

“No, it’s nothing!” You slammed the door shut, slumping against it. God, you were a fool to have fallen for an idiot. Dashing away the burning tears that slip down your cheeks, you gathered just enough strength to crawl beneath onto your bed and beneath the covers.

The cat plushie he got you a long time ago sits at the bottom of your bed, staring at you. You glared at it, before giving in and grabbing it, tucking it into your chest. Stupid Kuroo with his stupid face and this stupid cat. You hate him so much.

(No, you don’t, you really don’t. And it hurts so much more to know that.)

You’re back here once more, glaring daggers at the clock. The slow ticking of the hands pisses you off, every second gone is a second more Kuroo’s out there, with another girl, on another date. With the number of bad first dates he’s gone one, you’d think he’d give up. But no, this man was persistent, and he wanted to “experience life!”

Well, he was going to experience death soon if he didn’t come back home soon. Your vigil continued, all the way till three am where you gave up and went to bed, your exhaustion outweighing your annoyance and worry. He’s a grown man, there was no need to worry about him.

Honestly, you didn’t know how you got here. To this suffocating silence that rested upon your chest, pinning you down as you listened to the sounds of cars rushing past and the occasional laughter that seeped through the walls. To where you spent your nights alone in your shared apartment, waiting for Kuroo to come home from yet another date. Like some married person waiting on their cheating husband, you smiled bitterly at the ceiling.

Only you weren’t married to him, and you certainly weren't his anything.

If only you were less of a fool, you might’ve moved on long ago. Maybe you might have even found someone who might be just as in love with you as you were with them. You might have already been in a happy relationship, going out on dates, spending your nights with them, being loved. But you were a fool, a fool in love with another fool.

So you continued to lie there, the infinite weight of your one-sided love pressing you into the ground, holding you prisoner to Kuroo Tetsurou.

“Hey, do you wanna go get dinner?” Kuroo called out. “There’s nothing left in the fridge, maybe we could get groceries after.”

You ignored him, focusing on the dimly lit screen of your phone. There hadn't been a proper conversation with him in a while, and you were content to leave it that way if only it meant you didn’t have to hear about his dates with those seemingly perfect women and their seemingly perfect food.

Kuroo called out once more, and you burrowed beneath the blanket, curling up into a ball.

No, you did not want to get dinner with the man you’re so desperately in love with it almost hurts to even breathe in his presence.

The door creaked open, and you could see his shadow stretch out across your bedroom floor, casting its shape upon your walls. It took everything in you to tear your eyes away from it and back onto your phone, though it lingered in your peripheral, taunting you with the way it twisted and leaned closer to you, the scent of his cologne growing stronger by the second, until it almost felt like he wa-

“Why are you ignoring me?” Kuroo whined into your ear as he draped his body over yours, strands of inky hair tickling your cheek.

“Ku-roo-” you gasped out, fighting to twist your body out from under him. “Can’t- bre-breathe.”

He groaned into your ear, dropping even more pressure down. “Don’t care, you ignored me.” He sulked as he burrowed his head into the crook of your neck.

A blind kick to his legs has him flopping off you, spread eagle on your too tiny bed.

“You’re too heavy to be pulling this crap,” you snapped at him.

“And you’re too old to be ignoring me when something’s wrong,” he shot back just as fast, and you were left stunned. To be fair, you should have expected it, Kuroo being one of the most perceptive people you’ve ever met.

(Not perceptive enough to see the deep feelings you harbored for him though.)

“So what’s wrong?”

‘Everything,’ you wanted to scream. ‘You, those stupid dates, my feelings, every god damned thing on earth.’

Instead, what came out was: “I’m just stressed. Work, you know?” You shot him an unconvincing smile.

Kuroo frowned, his lips pinching as he stared at you. He knew better than to push you though, and settled with a curt nod, a forced smile slipping onto his face. “So…. dinner?”

You sighed in exasperation, and let him yank you up and out of bed. The way his stiff smile melted into an easy, fond one was enough to wash away your hesitance, and temporarily dam up the river of doubts that threatened to drown you.

Just for tonight, you’ll enjoy his presence, before he gets caught up in another’s embrace.

(You let yourself get swept up in him again, chasing after the ebb of his warmth when his encompassing presence surges away from you. But you find that you don’t really mind drowning in him, not when the peak of the surf reveals such beautiful sights in the form of lazy smirks and sly hazel eyes.)

It’s another failed date that sends him home in a fitted suit, one that you had turned your nose up at. Kuroo doesn’t understand what’s going wrong, why he never felt like the date was right. The people he had gone on dates with were nothing short of amazing, with the exception of a few. But they just lacked… something. And so he always leaves them with a grateful goodbye and an apologetic smile, returning home to the apartment he shared with you alone.

He’s spent nights and days trying to convince himself that they were an ideal candidate to date, listing out their positive notes to you, and somehow he can’t seem to find the thing that made him just click with them. It’s bordering on frustrating, really, and Kuroo is more than ready to relieve some of the building tension in his body by hanging out with you.

His entrance home is muffled by the sounds of music blasting through the apartment, and it’s a wonder the neighbours haven’t complained yet. He’s about to call out for you as he drops keys on the coffee table, one hand loosening his tie when he catches sight of you dancing in the kitchen.

And everything clicks in place.

It’s a stunning clarity that leaves him reeling, and he wonders how he could have missed it in the first place. It’s a simple truth: Kuroo Tetsurou was completely, utterly, irrevocably in love with you. And it only took him fifty bad first dates to realize that the only person he wanted to go on a date with was you.

Objectively speaking, you look like a complete mess, but to him, the sight of you twirling around in sock clad feet in an oversized shirt with a lame chemistry joke printed across it was infinitely better than any of the people he had gone on dates with. You’re absolutely perfect to him, yelling out lyrics to a song that’s blasting at full volume from the living room.

There isn’t a moment’s hesitation as he surges forward, a force tugging him to you. And like just like two opposing magnets, you spin around just in time for him to collide into you, his head hazy as his mouth crashes down upon yours.

You taste of leftover pizza and something sweet, and he thinks it might be the best damn thing he’s ever tasted. The shocked gasp that escapes you is swallowed by Kuroo as he deepens the kiss, arms winding around you to pull you impossibly closer. And he isn’t sure why he’s so surprised when you reciprocate the kiss, melting into him as your hands grip the lapels of his blazer.

It feels like an eternity spent wrapped around each other, the beat of the music matching the rhythm of your hearts, and the warmth of each other.

Kuroo pulls away first, only because rationality comes sinking back into his muddled brain, and there’s a brief moment of panic when he stares down at your flushed face, lips swollen from his sudden attack. But the absolute relief and love in your eyes has him calming down, and the soft peck you deliver next settles those doubts.

“It’s been you all this while,” his voice cracks, and he winces. “You’re my best friend, and I’m in love with you.”

The smile that breaks out across your face is everything he’s been looking for, and he feels like a fool for being so blind. You’re everything he’s wanted, and everything he’s needed.

“I’m in love with you.” He repeats louder, an incredulous laugh bubbling out of him. “I’m in love with you!”

“I’m in love with you too!” You yell back, and in his excitement, he can’t help but twirl you around, and you burst into giggles. There isn’t a better sound in the world than this, he thinks.

“Be mine.” He catches you by the shoulders, face alight with adoration.

“I’ve been yours for a long time now.” Your answer fills him with a rush of delight and guilt, and he’s ready to spill apologies and promises to make it up to you when you yank on his tie hard, pulling him into another kiss. Every unspoken word, every drop of emotion that has ever begged to be exchanged between you two is said with a simple kiss.

Kuroo thanks the heavens for you, for blessing his life with someone who is more than he deserves. The weight of you in his arms is a comforting pressure, and there he has his last first date, at the beginning of a new chapter in the story of him and you, eating leftovers and dancing to songs of your childhood.

He’s in love with you, and you are with him too.

[dajaregambler]

HeliosR - Dino Albani Card story “Lend us your wisdom♪”

Translation of Dino Albani’s 4* “Sweet Chocolate Spell” card story from ‘Helios Rising Heroes’.

Dino: ~~~♪

Dino: (I’ve been all over the place preparing for Valentine’s and Faith’s birthday party, but that doesn’t mean I should slack off with training.)

Dino: (I’ve been eating chocolate non-stop because of the ‘En Ciel’ collaboration too, gotta work out and burn some fat off.)

Oscar: Huff.. huff….

Dino: Oh! Encountered a wild Oscar♪

Oscar: Dino-san. Good work today, are you here to train too?

Dino: Yup yup. ….Ah, sorry for interrupting you though

Oscar: Not at all. I am finishing up my routine right now.

Dino: Right, good work then…. man, your muscles never fail to impress me

Dino: I’m gonna be doing a bunch of training too but mine get nowhere close to that…. In the end it boils down to how everyone’s different, right

Oscar: Indeed. It depends on one’s physical constitution, as well as differences in one’s lifestyle.

Oscar: I’m impressed by how you’re able to eat as much pizza as you want and maintain your physique, Dino-san.

Dino: Really? I never paid attention to how much pizza I eat though?

Oscar: Ah…. That reminds me, may I ask something?

Dino: What’s up?

Oscar: You see…. it’s Faith-san’s birthday on the 14th of February, right? Has your team planned to do anything as a celebration?

Dino: Of course♪ The LOM’s on the same day as Valentine’s but we thought of surprising him after it’s done

Dino: Which is why we’re preparing life sized chocolate as a big surprise for him

Oscar: L-life sized chocolate…..

Dino: Anyway, what about Faith’s birthday?

Oscar: Ah…. Actually, I’ve been thinking of wanting to celebrate it too….

Oscar: I suppose I should keep my distance on the day itself after all…. When I had asked Faith-san about it, he told me that there are no plans.

Dino: Eh, really?

Oscar: He hadn’t mentioned the LOM either, perhaps he thought it’d be troublesome

Oscar: There’s a possibility he was on guard in case Brad-sama would get brought up….

Dino: Oooh, you wanted to get Brad involved too, huh

Oscar: Of course. Both of them don’t quite meet eye to eye unless there’s an opportunity like this one. 

Dino: Right. The only way to get them near each other is when others make it happen, eh….

Dino: Oh, hold on. If you guys are up for it, wanna come to the birthday party?

Oscar: Eh… I mean, it is something that your team has arranged….

Dino: It’s all good. The more the merrier, as they say

Oscar: I-if it would be fine….

Oscar: However, in the worst case, something could happen between Brad-sama and Faith-san which could ruin the mood.

Oscar: Rather than just for me, it’d end up being an inconvenience for everyone present, and Brad-sama would take it into consideration.

Dino: Huum, yeaaah, that’s not easy….

Oscar: Indeed….

Dino & Oscar: Hmmmmm……

???: Oi, you two. The hell are you mumbling around for. Get outta my way

Dino & Oscar: !! Asch…!

Asch: Goddamnit…. you know we're in a gym here? If you ain’t here to train then fuck off

Dino: Perfect timing, Asch

Asch: Haaah?

Dino: Why don’t you give us your opinion as an outsider?

Dino: It’s something Brad said back when we were rookies. “With three you’ll have the wisdom of Monju”, a saying that comes from Japan.

Oscar: …..Monju ?

Dino: Yes! On your own you won’t be able to think of a solution, however with three people then it could work out… kinda like that.

Dino: I remember how Brad found out about it from a book, and at the time happily told me about how it was perfectly fitting for the three of us.

Dino: And considering the situation now, it’s perfect for us now too right? C’mon Asch, lend us your wisdom!

Asch: ……What?

------

Oscar: ----And that concludes it. I’m troubled over how I should celebrate Faith-san’s birthday.

Dino: But I think it’d be okay to just join us with celebrating it….What do you think, Asch?

Asch: Dumbasses...

Dino & Oscar: !?

Asch: Your brains are miserably tiny. Man, I swear these simple minded people…. 

Asch: Basically, you have planned a party but you’re worried about stirring trouble due involving others, right.

Asch: The fuck’s all of this…. You know you can also hold one the next day?

Oscar: ….The next day?

Oscar: But wouldn’t it be tiring for Faith-san to have parties back to back...

Asch: Tiring? What the hell kinda parties are you commoners holding...

Asch: Spending money, eating and drinking as much as you want, doing whatever you want… If it ain’t making you feel refreshed, can you really call it a party?

Asch: Well, sometimes there’s some idiot that can’t take a hint and it’s a nuisance, but you can throw them out or make ‘em a target for darts, whichever works. Heh… 

Dino: What the hell kind of parties are you holding, Asch?

Dino: But, maybe you have a point there….

Dino: There’s no need to force yourself to go out of your way on the day itself, if someone were to celebrate my birthday the day after too I’d still be super happy♪

Asch: Exactly. Holding parties every night is the way to go about it.

Oscar: I see…. Then perhaps that’s how it should be taken care of.

Oscar: Seems that I was being a bit narrow-minded. I’m glad you told us what you thought, Asch. You have my gratitude.

Asch: ...Hmph, more than your brain it’s the damn path that’s narrow. You standing doing jackshit is blocking my way, piss off

Oscar: Oh, sorry…

Dino: Amazing! Monju’s wisdom did come through!

Asch: …..What?

Dino: It’s great that as soon as Asch showed up we we’re able to get our answer but… If anything, I’m more happy about how we solved it all together

Dino: Alright, Asch, Oscar! Let’s hold a pizza party as a commemoration! 

Asch: Wha….

Dino: It dawned on me that we haven’t held a pizza party with the three of us yet. And I always wanted to do it with you guys

Oscar: That’d be nice. I had thought of how I wanted to sit down and leisurely talk with you since your return, Dino-san

Asch: Oi stop, why the hell are you telling me what to do. I’m gonna be training now-------

Dino: I’m going to train too, so around after we’re done… what about gathering at the lounge in about an hour?

Oscar: Very well.

Asch: Gh, I said that I’m-

Dino: Asch, it’s what you mentioned earlier though? Like, holding parties every night is the way to go about it♪

Asch: !?

Dino: Your favourite’s fried chicken, right. It’s on the side-menu so order lots of it

Oscar: I’ll be taking care of the orders, both of you please focus on your training. Now then, I’ll be seeing you two in an hour again.

Asch: Gah, wait Oscar! I ain’t gonna forgive you for this------

Dino: Nihi, looks like we’re gonna have fun tonight♪

-

Notes:

About Monju, copy pasted from wikipedia: Mañjuśrī is a bodhisattva associated with prajñā (wisdom) in Mahāyāna Buddhism. His name means "Gentle Glory" in Sanskrit (...). This bodhisattva is known as “Monju Bosatsu“ in Japanese. The saying in Japanese goes as “三人寄ればモンジャの知恵“, which comes down on “two heads better than one”. Shout out to this website for having a literal translation because without it, it’d be stuck on figuring out how to say it haha

[flamehairedwritings]

The Fire In Your Eyes: Chapter Thirty

Characters: Arthur Morgan x Original Female Character

Rating: The whole series will be E, 18+ ONLY for violence, gore, character deaths, animal deaths, parent deaths, swearing, grief, sexual themes and unprotected sex, mentions of miscarriage, hanging.

Summary: Saved by Arthur Morgan when her town is attacked, a young woman’s past comes back to haunt her when she has no choice but to join the Van der Linde Gang.

Some scenes and dialogue have been taken from the game!

Read on AO3

The Fire In Your Eyes Masterlist

Please don’t copy, steal or re-post my work; credit does not count.

Epilogue

The sky was beautiful, a light blue and a dusky pink in some areas, orange in others.

Ada gazed at the colours, watching the sun slowly set behind the hills far away. All around her, crickets trilled gently and birds whistled softly. It was so still, so peaceful. 

Folding her arms, she rubbed at one of them lightly, looking towards the faint outline of the mountains beyond the hills, Mount Hagen somewhere amongst them.

She hadn’t wanted to die. The moment the bullet had passed through Dutch to her, the numbness had fallen away, crumbled, and she knew she wanted to live. So fiercely she wanted to live, and it was all that had gone round and round in her mind as Arthur had taken her down to Valentine. Coming in and out of consciousness, she’d felt terrifying waves of fear, anger, grief, denial, and, in one moment, she truly thought she had died as finally peace had suddenly washed over her.

A corner of her mouth lifted a little. Morphine would do that.

Somehow, deep in her mind, she’d always known that the final moments on the mountain was what it would come down to; her or Dutch, one way or another. And, once upon a time, she wouldn’t have known what decision he’d have made.

They hadn’t spoken about what had happened since the night before they’d returned home. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement that they wouldn’t, not yet... though she’d had to with Thom, barely an hour after they’d arrived, in fact.

That had been a week ago, and he and Charlotte had left the next day, the former still cold towards her, the latter reluctant and apologetic.

“He just needs time,” her sister-in-law had murmured to her as they’d embraced, her lovely features full of concern for both of the O’Driscoll siblings.

“I know.”

Ada wasn’t angry at him, though, and she certainly didn’t blame him for being so, either.

Mercifully, they’d managed to prevent Millie from catching on to anything that had happened, despite the heated argument. She just thought her mother had caught a cold and bruised her stomach so “gentle hugs for a little while, angel.”

While she couldn’t help but dwell on her brother and his hissed words to her, full of a venom of a former self, there had been some bright moments since then, and not just from Millie making her laugh every day. John had written, telling them he’d wasted no time in asking Abigail to marry him... and she’d said yes. Ada had cried into her morning cup of tea while Arthur had grinned and grinned, reading the words over and over.

The wedding was due to be in a week’s time, and, as a result of her now strained relationship with her brother, Millie would be going with them, something the little girl was very excited about. Ada and Arthur didn’t think they could ever be separated from her again, anyway. Sadie and Charles would be there, too, naturally, and it was nice, having something to look forward to.

She should feel well enough to ride by herself, then, too, even though they’d take the wagon for Millie’s comfort. Her wound was healing, slowly, but healing. The first few days after they’d returned she’d just slept and eaten and drunk and slept, more exhausted than she had known, the argument with Thom having not exactly helped.

And, through it all, Arthur had been... well, Arthur. She’d never loved him more than she did right now. He’d tended to her, looked after Millie and kept her entertained, looked after the animals and had even started drawing up plans for the new stable. She’d catch the way he’d looked at her sometimes, though; sometimes grateful, other times like he was afraid, like he was reliving the days in Valentine, like he’d been reminded once again of how very much human they were.

They would just be brief moments, though, and then he would smile, fear turning to love. She knew he was waiting for a sign of melancholia, too, but none came. She’d learned to not just wait around for the spells or dwell on the possibility of them, knowing that, though they would come, they would also go, as surely as night turned to day, and life would continue on as it always did.

“Well, if that ain’t the prettiest sight in all the land. Sun ain’t bad either.”

Her lips twitched as Arthur pressed a kiss to the top of her head, his arms sliding around her. She leaned back against his chest with a quiet sigh, her hands settling over his.

“How long did it take you to think of that one?”

“‘bout thirty minutes. I’ve been stood by the window just starin’ at you.”

She laughed, the fingers on one hand lacing with his. “Wow, quicker than last time.”

“Yeah, I’m gettin’ there.”

Ada laughed again, and he smiled, pressing another kiss to the top of her head.

“You okay?” he murmured into her hair, and she nodded, tilting her head to lean it back against his shoulder.

“Yeah.” She traced light, absent-minded patterns on the back of his hand with a finger tip, the sky now turning from dusky pink to fiery red. “There’s gonna be good weather tomorrow.”

“Looks so. I was thinkin’ of goin’ out tomorrow, doin’ some huntin’ while Millie is havin’ her lessons with Martha.” His chin rested on her shoulder as he rocked her slightly. “Thought maybe you’d like to join me, if you feel up to it.”

He had to lift his head a little as she turned hers, smiling softly at him. “I’d love to.”

“All righ’. You can hold my coat while I shoot down that Grizzly that’s been spotted, I think I can get ‘im...”

Ada shook her head as she turned in his arms to face him, her lips twitching. “You’re a very funny man.”

His smile was wide, very much pleased with himself. “I know that by how much you laugh.”

“I should stop encouraging you.”

“Oh, you can try, sweetheart, but I see miserable failure...” he murmured, lowering his head towards hers.

And he was right. She couldn’t stop her smile as he captured her lips in a tender kiss, his fingers splaying across her back. Barely moments later, her arms slid up and draped around his neck, her lips moving slowly against his. He teased her for a few moments, his tongue gliding against her mouth, and just as a soft sound came from the back of her throat, he pulled away, one corner of his mouth higher than the other.

“C’mon, there’s still a God damn load of cake left that I am not lettin’ go to waste.”

“You and your insatiable appetite, Mr Morgan.”

He grinned at her as he took her hand, their fingers lacing together. “Oh, I’m insatiable all righ’, Mrs Morgan.”

And she failed again.

Her laugh was carried across their land by the gentle breeze, lifting it through the trees and into the air as she followed her husband into their home.

And life continued on.

The End

———————————————————————————————————

  I just wanted to take a few moments to thank each and every one of you for reading this story. I spent about a year planning it and writing the first half, then as lockdown here came in March, I thought why the heck don’t I just start posting it? And here we are, thirty chapters later!! I can’t quite believe I’ve done it, this is the first series I ever started writing and my longest to date.

I want to say a special, huge and just brimming with love thank you to those who have commented. You genuinely kept me going at times and I really can’t thank you enough, you all hold such a special place in my heart.

I’m sorry for making you all wait so long for the final two chapters! I wanted to make sure I was happy with them and that they were the best they could be. I’ve loved living in this world and thinking about Ada and Arthur and I really don’t want it to end... and I’m not quite done yet! I have a short story planned for Thom and Charlotte that will involve Ada and Arthur, their wedding and Millie, and so much more, and maybe some other stories in the future, too...

Thank you so, so much, everyone, I hope you’re all doing okay in these trying times, that you have a lovely day and end of the year, and 2021 brings you all that you hope for.

All the best x

Ghosts of Ourselves — 2021

———————————————————————————————————

Comments and reblogs make my day in a way I can’t describe.

Let me know if you’d like to be tagged or untagged in this series!

Questions?

Tagged: @belfry-bat​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​, @sistasarah-sallysaidso​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​, @ntlmundy​​​​​​​​​​, @monster363​​​​​​​, @cowboisadness​

[rusted-paradise]

Title: Rain showers Pairing: FinnXClaudia Summary: Finn and Claudia get trapped under a rain shower in the forest... again. This time their wandering back to the palace ends up a bit more romantic. Notes: This was another piece I wanted uploaded for Valentine’s Day, but again I missed the mark. I hope you guys enjoy anyways!

If only they had left just a few minutes sooner.

That was what Claudia kept repeating over and over in her head as Finn led her through the foliage of the forest. It was one of the few woods that still stood after the collapse of the Realm’s artificial grid. It still wasn’t nearly as lush and healthy as it had appeared back during the days of holograms, but it was certainly recognizable as a forest and even enjoyable with plenty traces of green.

It was the best they were going to get for many decades to come, at least.

But now she found that the groves of trees were less enjoyable, ruined by the weather that came overhead just to ruin her day.

They had noticed it earlier, when the only indication of bad weather was just merely a cluster of grey clouds on the horizon.

“Maybe we should go back?” Finn suggested at the time of noticing this, but Claudia had refused. She didn’t think it was necessary with the clouds seeming so distant, and she hated the thought of ending her picnic short.

At worst, she thought the skies would turn grey by suppertime and ruin the beautiful colors of dusk that prelude the evening. Certainly they would be home long before that hour.

But the winds they felt only minutes after must have been strong and resentful enough to prove her wrong. They blew in those distant clouds sooner than Claudia or Finn could have ever noticed. Now, their negligence was being punished with soaked clothes, moppy hair, and soggy shoes.

Claudia thought all kinds of curses to her past self, so ignorant only just an hour ago.

She also hated herself for failing to bring an umbrella with her. Clearly she hadn’t learned her lesson from the last time she was caught in a forest rain shower with Finn.

Maybe she should have listened to him. They should have left when he suggested it. He was right, after all. He would have every right to scold her, to tell her how wrong she was, and to insist that she listen to him next time.

But he didn’t do any of that.

He was quiet, and instead he led Claudia through the trees and brush. It made sense that he knew the quickest way back to the palace, considering this was where he was raised. But he also made sure to nudge aside any shrubs that stuck out into their path, he lifted up branches so she could duck beneath them, and he pushed aside all the rocks and logs that blocked the way.

He didn’t need to do any of that for her, but she appreciated it.

He didn’t even complain when Claudia stopped to whine about her slippers. Mud had found its way in all the nooks and crannies of her shoes, and even though she was wearing stockings, the little grains of dirt still rubbed against the cotton and found a way to leave blisters on the skin of her ankles. The pain was unbearable and she decided that she wanted to walk the rest of the way without shoes. She reasoned that getting her feet more muddy would be preferable to getting them more blistered.

But no matter how she struggled to bend down and reach forward to grab her shoes, she couldn’t. The hoops and petticoats under her dress made the task impossible.

“Oh come on!” She huffed and cried out with frustration. What’s more, her awareness that she was losing her temper only aided in making her frustration worse. “Curse it all!” She kicked at the mud and howled up at the unforgiving skies, all while tugging at her wet hair that no longer held curls.

Finn watched on with a concerned look over his face, and she had a guess to how terrible his thoughts of her must have been for her behavior.

He must have been thinking of how awful a brat she was. He must have been thinking of how much better it would be to move on and leave her behind. He must have been thinking on a new resolve to never bring her out to another picnic again. And maybe before, back when they first met again, she would have been right. Maybe he would have.

But he didn’t do any of that.

He was quiet, and instead he knelt down and gently lifted her feet one at a time so he could remove her tiny little slippers for her.

Claudia watched Finn work with new tears in her eyes, astonished at his kindness. The mud was digging into his knees and likely staining the beautiful blue satin. And yet he did this gesture for her all the same.

When he was finished, Claudia dipped down to take the slippers, intending to carry them herself. But instead, he took the burden from her and stuffed the dirty slippers into his coat pockets.

“Finn!” Claudia gasped out. “The lace! The silk! You will ruin your coat!”

“That’s not for you to worry about. It will be fine. Just keep on walking, okay?” He lifted another branch and gently held her shoulders to comfort her and guide her forward. “We’ll be back home soon.”

Claudia’s lip trembled, overwhelmed with guilt. Finn was behaving so well, despite her behaving so awful. The shame was too much.

It wasn’t right. Finn should be grumbling with her, whining about all the miseries, cursing the skies. It’s how he would have acted back when his escape was still young.

But he didn’t do any of that.

He was quiet, and he stopped Claudia and held her back from a slope that was small but dangerously steep. It couldn’t have been more than three meters tall- not enough to kill a person, but definitely enough to break a bone.

“The hill here must have slipped out from the rain...” Finn thought out loud, observing the crumbling formations of the earth below. “I’ll go on ahead and see if the slope is safe. You wait here.”

“What!”

Claudia’s outcry wasn’t enough to keep Finn from crouching down by the edge, and before she could stop him he was riding the slope down on his feet. He was mindful to steady himself on his side, shuffling his feet to slow the descent.

When he made it down safely, he turned to look back at Claudia. “Okay, it should be fine. Do you think you can do what I just did?”

Claudia tested the soil by placing a foot on the edge of the slope, and was disheartened to feel the dirt crumble downwards. “I don’t know...” she answered.

“Then jump.” Finn outstretched his arms up towards her and reassured her with, “I’ll catch you.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Three years fighting for my life in the prison, and you don’t think I can do this?”

“Hm...” Claudia grabbed at her dresses and shifted back and forth on her feet, debating with herself. “Is there really no other way?”

The shaking of Finn’s head gave her the answer she dreaded. “Not if we want to get home before dusk.”

Claudia couldn’t fight back a whine, and she had to close her eyes and calm herself with a few breaths before she could gather the will to jump.

Her stomach lurched up to her throat as she fell through the air, and her nerves shook as she landed into two firm arms that caught her flawlessly.

...Almost.

If it hadn’t been for the soft terrain, it would have happened flawlessly. She was small, and Finn’s years in the prison made him decently strong enough. But the mud betrayed him and sabotaged his balance. He fell backwards into the soft earth below, bringing Claudia down with him. She flew up her hands in just enough time to hold his head and protect his skull from the impact. Finn in turn cushioned her body by hitting the dirt first, placing him as the mud’s primary victim.

Now he was filthy from head to toe, and Claudia gasped with horror at the grime done to his fine vestments. “Finn-!”

She tried to rise up from off of him to help him to his feet, but he held her down onto him and began laughing.

“I was so scared!” he explained between his unconfined laughter.

“Huh?” Claudia was bewildered, and stared at him as though he had gone mad. “If you’re scared then why are you...”

But when his laughter didn’t stop, it became contagious. Soon she was laughing too, if only more softly.

“We’re laying in mud! Do you hear me, Finn? Mud!” Claudia giggled into Finn’s collar and failed to resist her onslaught of giggles. “This is awful! Why are we laughing?”

Finn didn’t have an answer as more laughs came over him. All he could do was squeeze Claudia tighter and let the adrenaline from his panic manifest in bizarre amusement.

Once again Claudia was dumbfounded by his patience and decent attitude towards this entire trip. They were soaked and dirty and blistered, and he had every right to be just as irritable as she was. But instead he led her through the foliage, helped her with her slippers, and brought her down the slope to safety.

It was unusual for him, and Claudia wondered if these peaceful times in the Realm have finally began to calm him. Whatever the cause, it was certainly appreciated.

That was new as well. Maybe Claudia should be mindful to appreciate him more. She knew that she had a miserable temper, and she knew that she didn’t always treat Finn the way she wanted to.

And yet still he considered her a woman worth leading, worth comforting, and worth protecting.

Claudia watched Finn as his adrenaline wore off and his laughter calmed to a still. When he was finished she swiped her thumb against his lips to wipe any dirt that might have smudged there onto his face. With his mouth cleaned, she crept closer and held his cheek.

“Claudia?” Finn wondered as hues of pink blossomed over his messy face.

But rather than giving an answer, Claudia decided to learn how it felt to press her lips against his.

It wasn’t something she planned on doing. In fact, it wasn’t something she had ever thought of doing. With Finn, or anyone else. She was anything but a romantic, and she knew that well. A kiss was something she never daydreamed about. And it was certainly something she never expected to want.

But when the new impulse came over her, she had no intention to fight back against the sudden curiosity.

The sensation was strange at first, and she almost disliked it enough to put an end to it. But when she felt the pressure of Finn’s lips kissing her back, a thrill jumped through her nerves. Suddenly, her face was warm like his, and their kisses were going back and forth like an endless trade.

She had no idea how long their kisses went on for, and she only had a mind to stop when Finn had to sneak in a quick gasp of air. She sat up and looked down to see the messy young monarch, slathered in mud and scorched scarlet from his ears to his nose.

Claudia giggled, recalling the way he glowed red upon kissing her cheek when they were children.

“Ah, um...” Finn struggled to find words with a spinning head, but soon his stomach growled out his thoughts for him.

“Yes,” Claudia agreed. “We should keep going if we don’t want to miss supper.”

She rose up to her feet and gave Finn a hand. He didn’t let it go even as they walked onward, and he kept it safe in his grasp until they finally found themselves back at the palace doors.

[hollywooduniversityalumnus]

6. with a little dignity

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

“If you expect to ever have a career anything like mine . . . which, let’s be real, you shouldn’t . . . You’ll have to handle Hollywood’s high-pressure environment with the grace and aplomb of a seasoned veteran. You must be prepared for anything,” he’d warned them in class, less than twenty-four hours before he made a complete fool of himself in front of his students.

In all his years as a professor at Hollywood University, Thomas had never been successfully pranked on April Fools Day, and he fully intended to keep that record. His students weren’t known for their ingenuity, so the tactics they employed were often derivative and predictable, like the slimy paint bucket drop that his Thesis Lab students rigged above his office door every year like it was tradition. He took pride in seeing through every attempt, and in recent years made it a habit to try and thwart the plan while it was in action, by either getting someone else afflicted by the prank or halting it in its tracks.

(And, while he despised April Fools Day, the memory of tricking Hiromitsu into activating the “watercolour paint balloon bot” brought a smile to his face every time he thought of it.)

But, of course, Miss Schuyler and some of her entourage (which included Bianca Stone for once, which admittedly surprised him) had to take a shot at the king. He honestly would’ve been disappointed if they hadn’t planned at least one go. They had been so transparent from the get-go; it was almost laughable.

But it wasn’t he who had the last laugh.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

He had confronted the pranksters by the now-shattered skylight on the quad, slow clapping their efforts and crowing about how he’d been steps ahead the whole time. He took pleasure in their dejection, even brandishing the silver key he’d stolen from Margot during his heroic lunge to save her from the toppling bookshelf. And then he declared the prank over, that “he has never successfully been pranked, nor would he ever be.”

Hopes dashed, Bianca Stone, Lisa Valentine, and Ethan Blake slowly maneuvered past the gaping hole edged by broken glass. He watched them scurry to his side, relishing their devastation.

And then Margot spoke.

“Oh, darn. We really didn’t expect our plan to fall through.”

Ethan, who had paused by Thomas’s side, cocked his head to the side.

On Thomas’s other side, Lisa’s eyes flitted to Margot’s for a moment before turning her attention to him, her blindingly glossy lips pulling into a pout.

“Yeah, Professor Hunt, you sure caught us in the act!” She faked a sniffle.

He rolled his eyes at Lisa’s theatrics. “Stop moping around and come along. You lost! Accept defeat with a little dignity.”

He began to turn, but Margot spoke once again.

“Sorry, Professor,” she said, as if she meant it. “We’re coming.”

And, so quickly that he had no time to comprehend it, Margot began to maneuver around the skylight towards him when she slipped and disappeared through it, vanishing into the smoke slowly billowing out from below. Her scream, so sharp and shrill, chilled his blood, and he couldn’t hold back his shout of anguish.

“Margot!”

She didn’t respond.

He rushed to the skylight and tried to squint through the smoke, but it was useless. The fog machine he’d installed to thwart their plan was a powerful one. Its haze obscured the screening room below, and as it leaked out to the quad, made it nearly impossible to see through the broken skylight for any signs of Margot.

His heart felt frozen in place.

“Margot!” he called again, unable to keep the desperation out of his voice. In that moment, surrounded by her shocked friends, staring into the abyss, he felt painfully helpless.

Ethan placed a hand on Thomas’s shoulder. “Professor . . .” His mouth was turned downward, a deep frown that the typically professional agent never wore upon his face.

Thomas turned his head to look at the agent. “Quickly, Ethan, downstairs! We have to get-”

Ethan shook his head. “Professor. Listen. It’s too late.”

Lisa’s voice trembled, on the verge of tears. “There’s no way she could have survived that . . .”

Even Bianca, being Bianca, seemed downcast. “She’s gone.”

He stepped back from the skylight and threaded his fingers in his hair, disheveling the neatly combed and gelled locks he so carefully cultivated every day. His heart was now at a racehorse gallop beneath his suit. He felt as though the floor would meet his face shortly.

“I . . . I never told Margot . . .”

That he knew it was her at the charity masquerade.

That he was proud of her and her achievements in such a short time.

That he felt something too.

He raked his fingers over his face in frustration. He hadn’t felt such a mix of emotions in years. A conflicting cocktail brewed in his stomach, twisting it with anger and guilt. He didn’t know if he would cry or throw up. Didn’t know if-

“Tell me what, Professor?”

At the sound of her voice, he whipped around.

Just outside the library doors, Margot stood, hands on her hips, flanked by Spencer “Crash” Yamaguchi and his entourage. The smile on her face was smug in a way he didn’t like, but he was happy – though shell-shocked - to see her anyway.

“How?” he forced out weakly.

At his words – well, word – the three students by his side instantly burst into cheers, joined quickly by Spencer and his equally self-destructively daring crew.

Margot simply raised an eyebrow. “Did I just successfully prank the Thomas Hunt? Mr. ‘I-Will-Never-Be-Pranked-Successfully’ himself?”

“I believe you have,” Ethan snickered. “Is this the proudest moment of my life? Yeah. Yeah, it is.” He pulled out his cell phone and began furiously tapping away. “So many people owe me money now.”

Spencer and his friends whooped and descended onto the quad, doing quick jumps and flips over benches and potted plants. One ran onto the grassy knoll and began beating on his chest with his fists like an ape man, causing a small gathering of birds in the nearby tree to take flight.

Thomas clenched his jaw as Lisa and Bianca began circling him like dodos, chanting their victory cry inharmoniously. “We pranked Hunt! We pranked Hunt! We! Pranked! Hunt!”

In all the cacophony, he stared Margot down as if he’d never seen her before. She had managed to do what many failed at. As much as he wanted to contest their words, say that he never actually thought she was gone, he knew already it was futile. From the commotion her friends were stirring, and how fast some of them were typing on their phones, it would be common knowledge by his next class with them that he had been had. No point in trying to dispute it.

How had she done it? he wondered. Was Spencer and his friends waiting mere feet below the skylight, ready to catch her? Had they maneuvered a trampoline or curtain to break her fall?

At the latter thought, he scowled. They better not have torn down the projector screen.

Margot came closer.

“Miss Schuyler,” he said, moving to meet her in the middle, and thus breaking free from Lisa and Bianca’s strange dance. “I-”

“Accept defeat with a little dignity, Professor.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

The Hollywood 101 class he taught the next day was almost intolerable.

Ethan and the other witnesses of the “prank to end all pranks” (as someone not-so-aptly put it) spread the news at an astonishing pace. They were all reaping the benefits of the successful trick, with Ethan collecting small wads of cash from students who had deeply believed that the attempt would fall apart like all the others, Bianca trying to claim the entire prank as her sole idea, and Lisa chanting that discordant cheer when Spencer and his crew regaled their side of the story.

All the while, Margot sat a little further away from the crowd, talking animatedly to Addison Sinclair with wild gesticulation that Thomas was unsure of how to go about interpreting. It didn’t seem like she was discussing the prank, though she was the main executor of the successful portion of it, and when he looked again, he was surprised to see Miss Sinclair close to tears.

Another roar of laughter came from the more crowded area in the lecture theatre, and Thomas shuffled a stack of papers rather aggressively against the angled wooden lectern. The loud laugher quickly sputtered into low giggles, then stopped once the students saw the icy expression on his face.

“Nothing on your desks except a pencil.” He picked up a stack of Scantron sheets and held them aloft, eliciting a groan from the crowd. “I hope you spent just as much time doing the required readings for this week as you did plotting juvenile – and unsuccessful – pranks.”

“Not all were unsuccessful,” a student stage-whispered, triggering another ripple of low laughter quickly squashed behind palms and sleeves. Lance Sergio tried to disguise his as a coughing fit, but, as he was a model major and not an acting major, failed miserably.

Thomas resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Stepping out from behind the lectern, he divided the Scantrons into smaller stacks and handed them to the students in the front row.

“Take one, pass it back, you know the drill,” he said flatly. “You’ll have an hour, and not a second longer. You’re all free to leave-” me alone, he thought, “-once you have finished. Tests and Scantrons without names and student numbers will receive automatic zeroes.”

Then he retrieved the thicker stack of papers, the quiz booklets, and began handing them out at random. He recently made the decision to administer different versions of his exams with different questions and answer keys.

Although it generated a lot of extra work for him, it seemed to thwart attempts at his students cheating off one another, which ultimately reflected well on him and poorly on the students who hoped to coast through the class with minimal effort.

Once the tests had been distributed, he set a timer to be displayed on the projector screen and sat down at his desk to catch up on some grade recording.

The first chair screeched against the floor twenty minutes later. In that time, he had finished the files he needed to update and had begun drafting an email to the headhunter he had contacted a few weeks earlier. He’d also set up the two metal baskets in which they were to hand in their test papers.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a small hand tipped with light blue nail polish precariously drop the papers into the appropriate baskets.

Before the student had even stepped away from the desk, Thomas reached for the baskets and took the papers from it, glancing at the sheets to make sure they were completed.

The Scantron was neatly filled in appropriately. The booklet was similarly appropriately filled. But she’d also included in the quiz booklet . . .

“What is this, Miss Schuyler?” he asked lowly, trying his best not to alert the other students.

At his question, she froze in place. Though she immediately feigned a nonchalant expression, he instantly saw through it.

“What is what?” she whispered back.

He dropped the papers back into the baskets and leaned forward.

“My office. Noon.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

He found her waiting in a stiff metal folding chair in the hallway, a whole ten minutes before she was due to meet him there. She followed him warily into his office and immediately sunk into the seat facing his desk, like a lamb to the slaughter. He took his sweet time adjusting the angled wooden doorstop to keep the office door cracked at fifty-five degrees, removing his suit jacket and hanging it on a foam hanger that hung by the hooks near the door, removing his cuff links and rolling up his sleeves, and logging into his office computer.

Once he was situated and had no more delays, he looked her straight in the eye and brandished her yet-to-be-marked test papers before them.

“What is this, Miss Schuyler?” he asked again.

She crossed her arms over her stomach, trying not to look at him.

“I asked you a question. Twice now. I do not like repeating myself.”

Biting her lip, she leaned forward and flipped the booklet open, turning to the blank lined pages and sifting through them until she came to a stop.

Not all the back pages were blank, and he saw it right away.

“Explain yourself.” He straightened up in his seat, quietly savouring the feeling of his luxurious, buttery leather office chair after having sat in the lecture theatre’s wooden monstrosity while waiting for the last few students to finish their tests. “What did you hope to accomplish with this?”

“Did you even read it?” Miss Schuyler’s voice was quiet, her demeanour the opposite of the smug, smirking young woman from the day before.

He frowned.

She turned the booklet around and slid it across the desk. He glanced down, then turned his gaze back to her.

“It’s an apology,” she said, to fill the air around them with something that wasn’t silent staring. “For yesterday.”

Silence.

He made no move to read it.

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Why . . . are you apologizing?”

Her face twisted in confusion. “I upset you. I – I broke your record. My friends have been running amok since it happened, telling people. I humiliated you.”

His shoulder rose and fell in one swift motion. “You did.”

“You’re not mad about it?” she asked incredulously.

He let out a short, sharp huff.

“I’m mad about it,” he said. “But I don’t understand why you’re apologizing.” He leaned back in his seat and sighed. “I hate to admit it, but I have to; I did not see it coming.”

“It wasn’t planned,” she admitted, and leaned forward a little in her seat. “You seemed so sure that our prank was over, and Crash and his friends were already in the screening room looking for us. And you were just so – so smug, it was driving me mad! So, I saw an opportunity and I took it.”

And then her and Miss Valentine’s words echoed back to him.

“We really didn’t expect our plan to fall through.”

“You sure caught us in the act!”

In hindsight, God, it was so painfully obvious.

He squeezed his eyes shut and massaged his temples. “How did I not see that? Hear that?” he muttered to himself.

She smiled, a fraction of the mocking one he’d seen in the quad the day before. “Too busy gloating in your short-lived victory.”

“Right.” He nodded curtly. “Well done.”

She nodded towards her test booklet. “Is that all I’ve been called in here for?”

“No.”

He stood, then walked around his desk until he was by her left side. He looked down at her, studying the curious expression on her face, committing it to memory.

“I didn’t get a chance to say it before your friends went buck wild. But listen here. You may have won that day, Margot.” He leaned against the desk, appearing casual even with his deepening frown. “But mark my words . . . I always have the last word.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Later, when Thomas had returned home and began his usual tedious task of marking up the tests for the day, he saved Margot’s for last. And, after he was armed with his third glass of vintage merlot, he flipped to the not-blank page at the end of the booklet.

Professor, Thomas, Professor, Professor Hunt,

I’m sorry for pranking you and making you worry about me yesterday. I know there were better ways to go about it. I hope the other students and faculty go easy on you about it; it really was a last-minute decision and could have very easily gone wrong, so I understand your concern and justified anger.

Honestly, it was nice to see that you were worried. Makes me feel seen. Matter. Like I could disappear, and someone will actually care enough to look for me.

Anyway.

Sorry.

x Margot

P.S. Sorry about the projection screen, too.

P.P.S. Sorry about the skylight, too.

P.P.P.S. If you were just faking being knocked out by the shelf, does that mean you felt me trying to slap you awake?

P.P.P.P.S. Sorry for slapping you.

[the-phantom-nagisa]

Valentines day short fic! With karma, nagisa, hazama and terasaka! Oh boy!

Have this non-beta read piece that I mostly wrote while in the train this week. Credit to @handy-dandy-headcanons for the gay comment in the middle of this work.

Terasaka isn't a homophobe, he just doesn't like Karma.

I'm so sorry for the shitty formatting I can't work with Tumblr and just wanted to post this.

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

It had been an incredibly stupid idea, Nagisa knew that now. Sure he loved his boyfriend to death and was glad they were spending the entirety of valentine's day together but he also wanted to use the day to help his friend Hazama with her first official date with Terasaka. She was nervous for it, he'd noticed, which is why he suggested the solution in the first place. He should have realised, however, that Karma and Terasaka were not a good combination. A double date was destined to fail miserably.

Dinner. It was just a dinner. He and Hazama agreed neither of their boyfriends would behave properly in a fancy restaurant so some midway compromise between a fast food place and a fancy restaurant was found. A decent place, really. 3 courses, proper seating and a relatively big menu. A big enough menu for Karma to find absolutely nothing he could NOT criticize.

"I'm just saying, i can probably make it better- actually, no. I KNOW i can make it better than this place can." He was pointing at some stew he saw on he menu, basically shoving it in Nagisa's face who just smiled at him in reaction.

Hazama rolled her eyes, wondering how Nagisa loved the cocky idiot so much. She did have to admit her hypocrisy, seeing as her boyfriend was another type of idiot. Not that she minded being the smart one in their relationship.

Terasaka sighed and slumped down even further than anyone at the table thought was possible to do in the restaurant's mildly comfortable booths. "Can you do better in shutting the hell up?" He grumbled.

Karma was about to bring some sarcastic comeback, Nagisa just knew it. Preventing the moment from escalating into something ridiculous he took ahold of Karma's arm and looked him in the eye.

"I'm not that big of an eater, can we share the first course?" He asked his boyfriend. Said boyfriend completely forgot about Terasaka's existence for a moment, completely taken away by Nagisa's gaze. Nagisa was very familiar with Karma's thoughts about him. The red head was a firm believer of freedom of speech when that meant he'd get to call Nagisa pretty. Nagisa really did not need another session of Karma advocating for his beauty, as if he was giving a speech and Nagisa was the subject.

Everyone ordered their food and the date continued. Karma and Terasaka couldn't help but bicker through most of it, however. Karma clearly didn't have a filter and Terasaka had no impulse control to prevent him from immediately arguing with the red head. 

"As a future government worker, I believe it should be legal for me to commit tax fraud" Karma argued as he and Nagisa had the most random discussion on teaching high schoolers how to pay their taxes. 

Terasaka held a tight grip on his fork. It wasn't hard for Nagisa to imagine that that grip could actually kill a human being. He tried to throw thoughts off murder out of his head as he figured the fork would probably be fine. "That ks the stupidest thing I've ever heard, you're not above the law, Akabane." Terasaka said. 

"Is it still tax fraud if you legally don't have to pay?" Nagisa couldn't help but wonder out loud. Hazama shrugged in reaction and Karma smirked a little. Terasaka ignored the thought and remained on edge. 

"Look, Terasaka, don't meddle with what the smart people are handling." Karma held the same cocky look on his face. "Your brain is too incompetent to comprehend what we're doing anyways" 

Rage emitted from Terasaka, Nagisa noted. It was also obvious enough for anyone without Nagisa's skill to notice. He knew Hazama noticed because she carefully took Terasaka's knife and put it beside her plate where her boyfriend couldn't easily grab it. 

"Oh I'm sorry, was that rude? I didn't think your brain could figure out what i was say-OOF" Karma was interrupted by Nagisa elbowing him in the side. "That wasn't necessary." He complained. 

"Yes it was." Nagisa sighed, giving a pleading look at Hazama. 

She got the hint and put her arm around Terasaka. "Hey big boy, perhaps pay more attention to your girlfriend at your date." She told him. 

Luckily Terasaka took a note of her and turned to her, letting out an annoyed sigh. Within minutes he was completely cooled down and he and Hazama were having a lovely conversation about…Occult stuff. Whatever pleases them. Nagisa was more than happy to discuss Karma's favourite movie with him. 

Just when Nagisa thought things were going well again the two started bickering again. Nagisa barely had the energy to figure out what their discussion was this time but it didn't matter. The argument turned more into both guys listing what they disliked about the other and defending their own honour. Nagisa thought what they were doing had quite the opposite effect, he really didn't think highly of either of them at that point. 

He and Hazama were exchanging knowing look with each other. A second double date would not be scheduled. Both only properly returned their attention to the conversation when Terasaka used a new completely done tone in Karma's direction. 

Now, Karma and Nagisa's relationship was relatively new. Most people were surprised to find out the boys had started dating, mostly because neither of them ever discussed their sexuality. Neither Karma or Nagisa really cared what others thought about homosexuality but it was still considered rude to say something about it. 

"Didn't even know you were gay, Akabane" Terasaka said. 

For a few seconds Karma didn't say anything. His expression was empty and didn't say a lot. Then he turned to Hazama. 

"Didn't know you dated ignorant idiots, Hazama" 

For some reason THAT was all that was needed for the date to escalate into hell. Both guys were furious and ignoring their dates trying to calm them down. 

"I will punch you so hard you'll feel the thing you call a brain bounce all throughout your head." Karma stood up fast and incidentally knocked his plate off the table and made the flower vase topple. 

"Not if I break your arm first" Terasaka screamed as he also got up. 

Everyone was looking at their table. Nagisa noted Hazama trying her best to pick up all the food the guys had spilled. All Nagisa could do was try and hide in shame. 

Just when they thought things couldn't get worse, they reached over the table and grabbed each other. Nagisa knew in advance that the date wouldn't go great but he wasn't prepared for his boyfriend getting physical. 

"U-uhm, excuse me" Their table went silent as they noticed the waitress that carefully approached their table. "I'm going to- going to have to ask you to leave, p-please"

It wasn't long before Karma broke the uncomfortable silence. "Look what you've done now!" He complained as he looked at Terasaka. 

The two started bickering again and Hazama dragged her boyfriend along with her. The only reason it went successful is because he respected her enough to deny her force. Nagisa tried doing the same with Karma but he was his usual self. 

"Sir, someone will have to pay…"The waitress said, tapping Nagisa's shoulder. She probably noticed very easily he was the most sensible person to talk to, what with the two fightinf guys and the girl who was threatening to curse both of them at this point. All he could do was sigh and do so, noticing his unusual forceful manner of putting in his pin code. It was almost as if he treated the card machine as his enemy. 'Better to treat the machine like this than your boyfriend' was all he could think.

---

Standing outside of the restaurant no one in their company was happy. The most positive thing of it all was the now calm Terasaka with Hazama's arm around him. 

"Well I think we're just going to spend the rest of the day with us two." Hazama said, mostly talking to Nagisa. "Thanks for trying though" 

Nagisa waved her off with a light smile. The moment she was out of view he swiftly turned around to scowl at his boyfriend. "Really?" He didn't need to say more. 

Judging by the look on his face, Karma did in fact feel a bit of guilt. "We'll probably have more fun when it's just the two of us anyways" He defended himself. 

At first Nagisa didn't react. His face didn't change and he didn't say anything. Sure, he was calming himself down, that was part of the reason. In all honesty, however, he also just wanted to say something that kept the evening going in perhaps a more romantic direction while also making clear to Karma that what he'd done was not okay. Eventually he realised how futile his effort would be. He could help Karma but never in his life could he hope to change him. Not like Nagisa wanted him to change at all. 

He took a hold of Karma's hands, face still unchanged, catching Karma off guard. He took advantage of this and pulled Karma down lightly so his boyfriend was at eye level with him. He wasn't ignorant to the surprised look on Karma's face that perhaps also showed a little fear. 

"You better pay me back for this dinner" 

And with that Nagisa pecked a kiss on Karma's lip before releasing his hold on him. He portrayed a small smile on his face. As bad as the dinner was he knew Hazama would force an apology out of Terasaka the next time they saw each other. Nagisa would make sure he did the same. 

Karma came back to his senses as he mumbled a soft apology. Nagisa figured he could see how he ruined his boyfriends night, which was even worse considering it was their first Valentine's together. 

"I think I can make it up to you." He said as he put his arm around Nagisa's shoulders. "Let's go to my place, we're more of a movie night couple anyways" 

With that Nagisa couldn't disagree. He leaned in on Karma's embrace with a smile. "I think I'd like that"

[smmahamazing]

Cowboy Blues

InuKag

Word count: 5114

Rating: M for language

A/N: My gift for everyone this White Day!!! Haven't written fanfiction in 10+ years, so here's to hoping this isn't completely terrible LOL. This little fic was inspired by a song of Kesha's titled "Cowboy Blues", and I would recommend putting it on in the background for maximum effect!

_____________________________________________________

🎵“They say you know when you know, what do you do when it don't, they're saying ‘love it'll happen if it's meant to happen’, but what do you do when it don’t”.🎵

At least Kagome could say that she only has one cat snuggled up with her in bed, although Buyo was big enough to feel like three. She had been laying in bed for the past hour, the feeling of utter defeat pinning her where she lay. Her mind begged her to turn off the music playing through her speakers, but her body resisted any thought of movement. What did it matter in the end anyways? All the hard work she put into the last week and a half was wasted. And she had been doing so well! Up until today that is. As soon as Kagome had came home and crawled into her bed, turning on the music via phone app, she let down the walls she had been building up, giving in to every emotion she had shut away.

It had all started earlier in the day, after Kagome was done at work. She needed to make a simple trip to the gas station, a task that should have only taken her maybe five minutes, but some unseen force in this universe just wanted her to be miserable. Swiping her card at the pump, she jumped at an all too familiar voice calling her name.

“Kagome! Fancy meeting you here!”

‘Ugh.’

“Oh, h-hello Hojo.” Kagome had such a bad case of tunnel vision that she failed to notice her friend’s husband and old schoolmate pull up to the pump right beside her as she inserted the gas nozzle into her tank.

“How have you been Kagome? Ayumi and I haven’t heard from you in a while, we we're starting to get worried.”

“Oh, I’ve just been really busy with work and all, you know how it goes”, Kagome chuckled awkwardly, running her hand through her hair. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with today. And Kagome was pretty sure she was stationed at the slowest pump in all of history.

“Well, it's a good thing I ran into you here! Ayumi wanted to invite you to dinner with us tomorrow.”

‘Ab-so-lut-ely not.’ “No, that’s okay Hojo, I’m not about to put you guys out on Valentine's Day. Don't worry about me, and just enjoy your night together.”

Hojo looked like he was about to argue with her when the pump connected to Kagome's car clicked, letting her know her time at the gas station was finally up. ‘About damn time, too.’

“Well, I’m all finished up here, so I’m going to head out to beat the traffic. I'll talk to you guys later, okay!” Kagome spoke in one breath as she dived into the drivers seat and sped away, leaving Hojo behind looking confused, and mildly worried for his old friend.

Kagome had been avoiding everyone since the beginning of February. She knew that her friends and family meant well. She knew they only wanted to see her happy, but Kagome didn't know if she could do it; another Valentine's Day filled with people throwing her yet another elaborate pity party. If she didn’t know any better, it was like they thought she forgot that she was almost 30 and still single. But Kagome was determined that this year was going to be different. She figured that if she just ignored everyone and stayed home until Valentine's Day had passed that she could bypass all her own feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. And since the first week of February, she was nailing it. Kagome worked in the kitchen of a little diner, and since business is always a little heavier leading up to the holiday of love, she had signed herself up for some much needed overtime with the hopes that she would too busy for anything else. In addition to working extra hours to occupy her time, she had stockpiled her household with enough food and supplies to last through the week. And if she forgot something? Well, grocery stores will deliver to you now, so Kagome didn't have to worry about walking into her nearest shop, only to be surrounded by chocolates and candies and giant stuffed animals that served no purpose other than reminding Kagome of her unwanted solitude. Kagome had planned her last week so meticulously, giving herself little to no free time to think about the fact that she was still single, or to let anyone else remind her of that fact.

Kagome had always been a rather stubborn child. Kagome knew what she wanted, and if something didn’t live up to her expectations, then it was kicked to the curb. Unfortunately, this personality trait included all the men she dated. It wasn’t like Kagome had never been on a date, or been with a man sexually, but more often that not she found that no one could keep her interests in more than one area for more than a night.

When she was still in high school, Kagome had gone on a couple of dates with Hojo. He had always been quite smitten with her, and it wasn’t as if he wasn’t a nice guy. Hojo was always (and remains to be) one of the few good guys out there, but he was a little too….amicable for Kagome's tastes. His personality almost seemed fake in the sense that he never had any disputes with anyone and could never find anything bad to say about anything. It wasn’t as if Hojo's courteous nature was a bad thing per say, but Kagome always had a wild spirit, and she found it difficult to see herself settling for someone who couldn’t at least sometimes find themselves on her level. On their last date, Kagome had even tried to start a fight with him, just to spawn some other form of emotion from him, but to no avail. In the end, Kagome decided they were better off just being friends. Luckily, Hojo didn’t take the rejection too hard, and in the coming years, he found a cozy companionship with one of her best friends, Ayumi, and in no time at all had proposed to her. They were wedding number one that Kagome was a bridesmaid in.

After Hojo, Kagome dated a couple of other guys, but she quickly found faults in every one of them. Koga, an extremely forward wolf demon, was a great lay, but Kagome did not share in his views that she should just settle down to become his woman, which was just code for becoming a housewife who spat kids out faster than you could say ‘I do'. Kagome liked working, and she wasn’t about to just up and quit her job because some guy told her to. Meanwhile, Bankotsu, who worked at her old gym, ended up on the other end of the spectrum opposite Hojo; his whole life seemed to revolve around fighting and conflict, which was a lifestyle Kagome didn’t want to be apart of. Actually, Kagome was pretty sure he was in a gang. She switched gyms after their break up.

The last time Kagome had been on a real date was five years ago. Since then, she had seen all the rest of her best friends find their true love and get married. Even her most lecherous friend, Miroku, found a woman willing to put up with him. Kagome's mother tried to set her up on a few dates, mostly with the sons of the ladies she plays bridge with, but after a while Kagome just started to flat our reject them. She hated going on blind dates, no one could live up to her expectations. Because the one thing that no one else had known about was that about three months ago, she had met a guy. And he had completely flipped her world upside down.

~flashback~

It was November 1st. Halloween was officially over with, and Kagome had decided to head down to a local bar to celebrate the fact the she was still standing. Earlier in the year, the diner she worked at had started making seasonal desserts, so Kagome had spent the past week baking ghosts and pumpkins and bats on top of all her other cooking duties. Her days at the diner that week usually started far before dawn and ended far after dusk. To say she was tired would be an understatement, so what better way to treat yourself to a job well done than with a celebratory drink? Kagome found herself seated on the opposite end of the bar from the door, pulling out a thick hardcover book. She had not invited anyone else out with her, having no qualms with drinking alone. In fact, after the week she had, she preferred it. She would have a couple of drinks, read a little bit of the current fantasy novel in her hands, and head back home for a good night’s rest.

Kagome was only halfway through her first drink (a standard rum and cola) when a foreign hand suddenly engulfed her page, ripping the book from her hands.

“Excuse you!” Kagome exclaimed, a look of indignation washed over her face.

“You’re excused,” her book thief shot back, his face showing an indifferent look as he rifled through the books pages.

“Do you mind giving me back my book? And don’t lose my spot, either!” Kagome attempted to swipe the book from his hands, but the man merely held it over his head, just out of her reach.

“So tell me, who comes to a bar – alone – just to read a book? Can't find yourself a date on this day, after All Hallows Eve?”

“That is absolutely none of your business,” she squeaked, her face dusted with a slight blush. For a moment, Kagome was struck silent, unsure of how to respond to this stranger. But, for the first time in the maybe twenty seconds they’ve interacted, she finally took a moment to glance at the stranger who found themselves sitting next to her.

‘My GOD is he gorgeous!' were the first thoughts out of Kagome’s head, taking in his tanned skin and perfectly manicured nails. His long silver hair, which only seemed to shine despite the darker environment of the bar, went about halfway down his back and was pulled back in a low ponytail, two strands pulled loose on either side of his head. As her eyes roamed upward, she took in every aspect of his face, from the fangs held behind his smirk to the pair of fuzzy ears that sat on top of his head. ‘So he's a hanyou. I wonder how soft those ears are,' she thought, stifling her yearning to reach out and touch them. But what really took her breath away was his eyes. Golden in color, they glowed, despite the darkened environment. Amber, mixed with flecks of soft brown swirled together as they gazed down on her. He had to be at least a whole foot taller than her. A pair of black slacks accentuating his long legs, while a simple bright red shirt hugged the muscles of his arms and chest. Kagome had never laid eyes on a man more handsome than the stranger beside her, despite her irritation with him interrupting her date with a good book. 'Do I really care though?' she thought, licking her bottom lip slightly to relieve herself from her all-of-a-sudden chapped lips.

“If you must know,” she started, looking slightly down across the bar rather than in his general direction, “I’ve had a hard week and decided to treat myself to a drink and a good book. If that’s okay with you?”

“By yourself?” he said incredulously, slightly lowering his arm that held her book. It gave her just the distance to snatch it back before he could defend against her.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Well, when it comes to celebrations, no one should be alone.” He motioned to the bartender. “The lady and I will have another round, on me,” he spoke the second part of that sentence facing towards her, causing Kagome to blush even more.

“Here you are buying me a drink, and I don’t even know you’re name.”

“I could say the same thing about you,” he smirked, a lone fang poking out from his lips. It was outlandish, in Kagome’s mind, how that one simple facial expression could make her go utterly speechless. She really wanted to throw out some witty, sarcastic quip just to see what kind of expression she could get out of him, but the only word she could seem to utter was her name.

“Well, Ka-go-me,” he said quietly, the bartender handing them two new drinks. The way he enunciated each part of her name sent a small shiver down her spine. “Shall we make a toast then?”

“A t-toast? To what?” she spoke in a hushed voice.

“Hmmm…” he paused, dramatically taking his chin in his thumb and index finger and sporting a most reflective look which made Kagome giggle. “To the rest of tonight. The name's Inuyasha.” He raised his glass in front of her, his eyes glazing back and forth between their drinks. Kagome wasn’t sure what was happening, the room felt like it was spinning, and she barely had anything to drink yet! A part of her was reluctant towards him. She had not planned to talk, let alone meet, someone tonight, but she couldn’t deny she was a little lonely. And he was really hot. ‘So fuck it,’ she thought, and raised her drink up to delicately clink their glasses, a beginning to what would become one of the greatest night’s that Kagome had experienced in a while.

Minutes soon turned to hours. One drink together turned into two. They spent hours playing pool, loser buying celebratory whiskey shots, and when their fill of competitive playfulness had been satiated Inuyasha and Kagome found themselves laughing and dancing the rest of the night away next to the jukebox.

The atmosphere in the little bar that night was perfect. There were just enough people in the bar to make the place feel welcoming without the claustrophobic ambience that a normal club or more popular bar would have. Kagome couldn’t remember the last time she had as much fun as she did that night. Inuyasha was….perfect. They talked about a variety of subjects throughout the night, mostly about the little things, like what their favourite food was or what reality television show was their most guilty pleasure. Work, of course, was another topic they came upon. Kagome talked about her passion for cooking, how it was stemmed from time spent in the kitchen with her mother after her father passed away, and Inuyasha talked about his job as a mechanic. He was definitely a textbook definition of a “car guy", Kagome was pretty sure he could have talked all night about engines and tires and….torque? Kagome didn’t have a clue what he was talking about most of the time, for the most part nodding her head at the appropriate times, but for some reason she found it endearing when listening to Inuyasha talk and all she could do was smile brightly at him.

Despite their steady drinking, he was a perfect gentleman. There was never any instigation to do anything more than have a fun night out, which Kagome found utterly refreshing. One of the reasons she hated going to the more populated bars and clubs was because most guys wanted (and almost expected) something more from her months bedroom department. And while she did not consider herself to be chaste, she was not a fan of sex on the first date – or meeting for that matter.

~present~

‘It was the most perfect night,’ Kagome mused, the music pulling her from her memories as she tried to will her body to become one with her bed.

🎵“Did I fuck my whole life up? Did I miss my one true love? Was he right in front of me at the dive bar? Was that you with the cowboy blues?”🎵

With an aggravated huff, Kagome finally found the nerve to turn the damned music off. She didn’t need any more reminders of her romantic failure. Kagome had thought about that night long and hard. At no point in their celebrating did she feel weird around Inuyasha, and the more time went by, any misgivings she might have had in the beginning about him dwindled to nothing. What could have happened to make everything that was good about their evening go so wrong?

'My drunk, dumb ass is what,' Kagome thought, taking both her hands and pulling them through her hair in frustration.

Kagome was not a lightweight when it came to alcohol for the most part. She rarely went out in that kind of setting, but when she did the necessary precautions were taken to pace herself and keep hydrated. But between their mixed drinks and shared whiskey shots, Kagome had drank more than she could handle, and about an hour before the bar was to officially close for the night, she proclaimed (louder than she probably would have liked If she was sober) that it was time for her to head home. Any other man she could have been with would have taken this opportunity to “escort her home", with the possibility of a night cap, which would have been easy in her inebriated state. It wasn’t like she hadn’t let her mind wander at all that night, especially sit the way his ass looked in those slacks. But ever the gentleman, Inuyasha simply called her a cab, paid the driver, and sent her off on her way.

If Kagome hadn’t been so drunk, she would have asked for his number. Or maybe his social media account. Hell, she would have been content to just get his last name! But at the time, there was no way Kagome could think straight, and with barely a “Goodnight Inuyasha!”, the taxi cab had whisked her away before Inuyasha could even begin to maybe put his own number in her phone.

For a week, Kagome tried her hardest to find any sign that Inuyasha existed since that night. She thought it would have been easier with such an unusual name, but without knowing his last name, her internet searches came up blank. There were surprisingly more ‘Inuyasha’s out there than she ever would have thought. He didn’t seem to have a social media account, so that became her first dead end. She tried looking up all the mechanic shops in the area to try and find some sign that Inuyasha worked there, which proved to be a very daunting task. About halfway through her search, Kagome had then come to a startling hypothesis; What if Inuyasha didn’t live in the area? He could have been visiting from out of town, which means searching through local mechanic shops could be a wasted venture. The thought only made Kagome more frazzled in her search. She even attempted to go to the bar, going on the same day of the week the had met, but after about a month and a half of light drinking and fending off the desperate men that tried hitting on her, Kagome had finally given up. Hell, for all she knew, her mind had probably imagined him up. It’s not like perfect men like him exist anyways.

Soon enough, Christmas and New Years had flown by, filling Kagome with a sense of emptiness. They had only spent a few hours together, but she felt as if she had known him for years. There was this feeling in Kagome that she couldn’t quite verbalize. She felt such a longing for a man she barely even knew, and it killed her inside to know she may never get to indulge in it again. The end of January had brought about a wistful demeanor in Kagome, which conjured up many questions amongst her friends and family. They may not have known about her night with Inuyasha, but it wasn’t difficult to see that something considerable was weighing on Kagome's shoulders, causing her to fall into a dispirited state.

Hence Kagome's need to throw herself into work and not have any contact with anyone she knows until Valentine's Day was over with. Except it didn’t work, and Kagome still ran into Hojo, pulling her back into her own self pity. Why was life so unfair? Did Kagome do something to earn such dreadful luck?

“God, I need a drink,” Kagome muttered as she pushed her cheeks up with her hands. She wasn't scheduled to work tomorrow, although Kagome had planned to go in anyways, but running into Hojo at the gas station had unleashed a barrage of emotions in her and for the first time in a week, Kagome realized just how tired she was. Maybe taking tomorrow off wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

‘Well, in that case, I might as well get out of this house to drink my sorrows away,’ she thought, as she stood from her bed and walked towards her closet. Kagome found herself dressed in a comfortable pair of yoga pants matched in an enormous, bright red hoodie. About two weeks after her night with Inuyasha, Kagome had found the hoodie hanging in a window display at the mall, and without missing a beat she had walked inside and purchased the first one she could get her hands on. She wasn’t an airhead, Kagome knew exactly what pulled her to buy a piece of clothing such as this. She knew it reminded her of him. After religiously wearing the hoodie to bed for months, Kagome had tucked the hoodie away into her closet when February began, knowing that one piece of clothing would never let her forget about him. Thus, she found it fitting now to don the oversized sweater, since there was no use trying to not think about him anymore.

Soon enough, Kagome was out the door, heading down an all too familiar path to the bar. Kagome, in fact, lived practically walking distance to the bar. She could walk from her apartment to the bar in about twenty minutes, and in the car that time was basically nothing. Because she lived so close, Inuyasha could have just as easily helped walk her home that night instead of calling a cab. They could have spent more time together than parting ways at the bar. Maybe he would have had the time to ask for her number. Hell, maybe he would have come inside. Kagome felt a pang of guilt when thinking about just how drunk she got. If she were less intoxicated, she could have had a clearer mind to ask him out again.

A chill breeze swept against her face, causing a light shiver to run down her body. Kagome picked up her pace slightly, desperate for the warmth the incandescent lights above the bar would bring. There was no point in dwelling in the what-if's of the whole situation at the moment; there would be plenty of time for that with a spirituous drink in her hand.

Before long, Kagome had finally reached her destination, the tinkling of the small bell above the door floating through the air. Absentmindedly, she meandered towards her usual seat on the opposite side of the bar. Luckily, it was a Thursday night, so there wouldn’t be too many people around with a clear view of her imminent sour thoughts.

“Kagome! Long time no see!” Looking towards the voice, Kagome spotted the small wildcat demon child, who hopped onto a protruding ledge on the employee side of the bar. Well, ‘child’ was a relative term here. Kagome was sure that despite his small stature, he was probably older than her. Wildcat demons weren't known to get very big.

“Hello Bunza!” Kagome said with a light smile on her face. “How are you this evening?”

“I'm doing alright I guess. It’s been pretty slow tonight, and Totosai gave me this HUGE list of chores to do before we close,” Bunza sighed with a dejected look on his face. “But don’t worry about me Kagome, did you want your usual?”

Kagome giggled slightly at his less-then-enthusiastic attitude towards his duties. He might be older than her, but in the demon world he was still a child, and what child likes to do chores? “Not tonight Bunza, how about making me a Cosmo?”

“Coming right up!” Bunza grinned and set off to work as she sat down, hanging her purse on the hook in front of her legs.

It had been a shock to Kagome the first time she had seen Bunza working the counter. Sometimes, she had to remind herself that the demon world worked different when it came to certain things, such as a child like Bunza working at a bar. Kagome had learned, from her many visits, that Bunza had worked there for about five years. His parents died in a fire when he was very young, leaving him an orphan. Totosai, the actual owner of the bar, was a family friend and agreed to take Bunza under his wing. Of course, this meant he would spend many a night at the bar, working his way up from just sweeping and keeping the bar relatively clean to actually making drinks for patrons. Totosai had actually installed a ledge along the bar for Bunza when he started learning how to make drinks so that it would be easier for him to interact with the customers sitting on the other side of the bar. Many people who came in would comment on his age, about how he was too young to be put to work, but Bunza would just brush them off. It was plain for anyone to see, if they truly tried, that despite the work Bunza was happy to just not be by himself after his parents death. Totosai made sure he had a roof over his head and warm food in his belly, which was more than he could have asked for.

A few minutes later, Bunza set down the finished Cosmo in front of her. “Let me know if you need anything else Kagome!” he said, hopping down from the ledge to pick up where he had left off with his chores. Kagome had always enjoyed talking with Bunza, but her heart just wasn’t in it today. Sighing heavily, she slumped her shoulders, trying to release all her tension from the week. With a few turns of the neck, Kagome grabbed her drink and took a sizeable sip.

“You better be careful, take any more drinks like that and I’ll have to call you another cab.”

Kagome almost choked on her drink at the unexpected voice behind her. Coughing as she tried to take in huge gulps of air, she felt a hand brace her back, patting it gently, the other hand gripping the bar. The motions of the man brought him into her sight, although Kagome didn’t actually need to see him to know who was behind her. If the past week had taught her anything, it was that there was no force on this planet that could possibly make Kagome forget anything about Inuyasha. The deep baritone of his voice. The way his eyes bore into her own, as if he was trying to memorize every bit of her own visage. The velvety texture of his snow-white hair that would tickle her cheeks if he bent his head near hers. The way he always seemed to smell like fresh pine and sandalwood. No, there was no possible way for Kagome to forget him, not that she'd want to anyways.

“I-Inuyasha…” she stuttered, her face starting to burn from the embarrassment of it all. He wasn’t suppose to be here! She hadn’t taken the time to get herself dolled up on the off chance she would see him again. Not that Kagome wasn’t happy to see him, she just wished she was more prepared. She currently held the appearance of a troll rather than a lady. She thought so anyways.

“Well damn, Ka-go-me, didn’t know you were that drunk already,” the way he enunciated her name, yet again brought shivers down her spine. His deliciously plump lips twerked upwards in an all too knowing smirk. She knew he was teasing her, and under normal circumstances she would have huffed in indignation at his ever apparent satisfaction of picking on her, but Kagome had waited months for this moment. There would be plenty of time for pointless bickering later, and by God she would make sure there was a later. The smirk on his face transformed into a wide smile, and Kagome couldn’t help but tilt her lips up to try and imitate his own. She was about to change her own fate.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Kagome said all in one breath. Inuyasha squinted his eyes at her slightly, his smile remained wholeheartedly.

“What’s the rush?”

“I didn’t get a chance to eat dinner yet. It’s been a long week"

Inuyasha snickered. “You’re just always having a bad week, aren’t you wench?”

“Only preceding when I see you, apparently. Maybe it’s a sign?”

“A sign of what?”

“That I should see you more,” Kagome muttered, breaking her eye contact for just a moment before gazing at him with hopeful eyes. His face held an emotion that Kagome couldn’t quite place. Relief? Awe? Contentment? She continued on, afraid any pause in her plan would spell disaster.

“There’s a really great ramen shop not too far from here. If you don’t mind walking.”

His eyes lit up at the word ‘ramen. “You just said the magic word,” Inuyasha said, backing up somewhat to give her enough room to stand. Kagome could not contain the smile on her face as she dug into her purse. Kagome had let Inuyasha get away once, and she wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. Once she found her wallet, she placed some bills on the table and turned to walk out the door with Inuyasha. The night had turned even colder with the sun having been fully set, but Kagome and Inuyasha hardly noticed. Every look that they would pass back and forth would keep them plenty warm.

It was too bad the sun had already gone down though. Kagome had always envisioned she'd find him one day and they'd ride off into the sunset together.

'Oh well, another day.'

[blood-gulch-reds]

Here is my secret Valentime's day fic for @not-madder-red !! Enjoy :)

When Dexter Grif was in highschool, Valentine's day was a day to be spent alone in his room downing discount chocolate by the package and rewatching season 253 of the bachelor, criticising the stupid people on the trash TV, and secretly wishing he had someone to laugh at the bachelor with. Over all, Grif never really cared about Valentine's day. But now that he actually had someone to watch TV with, he felt as though he owed it to Simmons to do something... Nice for Valentine's day.

While this mind set of niceness was... Well... Nice, it presented a set of problems. First off, Grif and Simmons had only just started dating ( if you could call watching star trek holding hands instead of not holding hands a date) for 4 Earth months. So in a romantic sense, Grif was absolutely in the dark about what Simmons enjoyed romantically. Secondly, Grif never really did Valentine's day and had no idea where to begin. Did Simmons expect roses? Did he think Grif would get him chocolates in a cardboard box? Out of all the things that the happy couple had talked about before tying the knot, romance was one subject that was never brought up to often.

And lastly, Grif had completely forgotten about Valentine's day until he woke up (at noon) to find that Donut had decorated the whole base with hearts cut out pink and red construction paper and plenty of glitter.

"Rise and shine buddy! Happy Valentine's day!" Donut sang from the kitchen,where he was preparing heart shaped sandwiches. 

Realization hit Grif like a bag of bricks and his face showed it. The only thing he was capable of saying was "I forgot it was Valentine's day". He slumped down into a chair at the kitchen table and donut set a plate down in front of him with a ham and mustard sandwich (sans the crust) cut in the shape of a heart with chips on the side.

Donut smiled curiously as he began to wash dishes. "Sure is!" He chirped in a chipper tone. He turned the water off and grabbed a dish towel to dry off some plates. "Hey, I could have sworn you didn't do Valentine's day? Why the change of... Heart?" He Snickered at his own stupid joke and thought Grif didn't show it (or any emotion besides shock for that matter) his distaste for the pun was immeasurable. 

"Well..." Grif began, absent mindedly taking a bite out of the sandwich. "Ia neavur- mm-" he decided to finish chewing the food in is mouth before talking, an unusually civil thing of him to do. Donut picked up on this gesture immediately and deemed whatever Griff was about to say as extremely important. He put away the plate he was holding and gracefully sat down at the seat across the table from where Grif was seated. "Mm damn that's a good sandwich. Where was I? Oh, right" Grif wiped his mouth with a napkin and took a breath. "I never really felt like... Well I never really got the whole point of it, y'know?" Donut nodded intently, slowly leaning more and more forward. "It's a fuckin Hallmark holiday- a chance for the big corporations to make money or whaterever and a chance to pick up some discounted candy for the lowly working man. But now that..." Grif drifted off for a moment, a slight ting coming to his cheeks. His eyes wandered elsewhere and Donut dared not to disturb him. "Now that Simmons and I... are a thing... I think I get it. I wanted to make our first Valentine's day special and like, get him something? but now it's just too late" Grif finished. A look of genuine disappointment spread across his face.

Donut perked up. Finally, a moment in need of his expertise!  "Too late? That's totally not true at all!" Grif looked up hopefully. If he was trying to hide his inner dialogue, he was failing miserably. "Look Grif, you've got the whole rest of the day to figure out what you're going to get the love of your life for your guy's first ever Valentine's day together as soul mates!!" Grif shrunk down into his hoodie and let out a groan. Donut pressed on anyway. "If you don't know what to get him, why not pick some flowers for him? It's shallow, but shows that you're trying".

Grif sat up and thought for a moment. "That's... That's not a bad idea." Grif then stood up and scarfed down what was left of the sandwich before walking towards the door. "Maybe I can turn this thing around... I don't have a ton of time but," he stoped and smiled to himself. "It's worth a shot. Thanks for the food Donut!" He said as he closed the door behind him.

Donut yelled "Wait! You forgot to put your dish away-" but Grif was already out the door. Donut rolled his eyes and placed the used dish in the sink. "These love birds..."

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

12:30 p.m.

Grif was gitty to get Simmons the perfect gift and, although Donut's flower idea was cute, he deemed him correct in saying it was a bit cliche. Grif wanted something a little more personal, and who better to ask about relationship then his ever romantic sister.

When Grif walked over to the 'blue house', as they had dubbed it, there was the ever familiar scent of burnt toast and chaos in the air. Before Grif could even process what was going on, there was a loud crash as panini press came flying through the window, followed by even louder yelling from Kai.

"ITS NOT THAT FUCKING HARD BRO I DONT EVEN KNOW HOW YOU BURNED- oh hey Dex!" Kai stormed out of the house, fuming, but her tone quickly changed when she saw her brother. Grif was stunned, but tried to quicky get over it as he had a job to do.

"Hey, Kaikaina. I had a question if you're not busy-"

"WHY IS THE WINDOW BROKEN? tUCKER‽" Washington's voice rang shrill in Grif's ears. Kai's face went pale.

"Why don't we take a walk?" She offered with a guilty smile. Grif pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Yeah- ok that sounds good." The two of them walked toward the shore. Although they'd never talk about it aloud, the beach here fondly reminded them of home. Not the chaos of thier mother, nor the periods of time without food, but the gentle laughter they shared making each other feel better. Grif decided to start off with some light conversation. "Soooo," he began "what was that all about"

"Uhg it's bullshit! It all started last night when Tucker got drunk and put his dick in a-" 

"Woah! Ok never mind! Jesus Christ...", Said Grif, who realised there was no use trying to decipher blue team's bull shit and it would probably be best to just get to the point. "Look it's Valentine's day and I wanna get something nice for Simmons. Any ideas?"

Kaikaina stood still for a moment, just looking at the ground in awe. "I thought... I thought you didn't do Valentine's day."

Grif flushed "yeah well, things are different now". He was going to stop there but quickly added on, "and I only got like, a couple hours so... If you have any suggestions I'd like to hear 'em".  

Kai lit up like a Christmas tree. " 'if I have any ideas'? Bro I've been waiting for you get laid on Valentine's day since we were in highschool!" Grif's cheeks and ears darkened in tone while the patch of Simmons skin on his right cheek turned bright red. 

"Just get on with it!" 

Kai smiled. " Ok ok... You need a gift idea? Here's one: get him something he's been talking about for a few weeks." Grif was about to thank Kai for her genuinely good advice before she continued, "that way he'll know that you're a good listener and be way more eager to let you go down on him like a tow truck!!"

"I second that! Chicks- er- bottoms are totally into good listeners!" Said Tucker, who had appeared our of seemingly nowhere.

"Where the fuck did you come from???" Kai inquired, shifting her weight onto one hip.

"Oh, you know-"

"No. We don't." Grif interjected.

Tucker shrugged. "I needed to get away from base for a while. It's was getting to chaotic for me-

"That and Wash probably threatened to skin him for burning breakfast and breaking a window" Kai teased. Grif smiled at Kai's remark and watched Tucker throw his hands up defensively.

"Hey! First of all, you broke that window. Secondly, I needed some space from caboose! He's all emotional because it's Valentine's day. He misses church." 

Grif suddenly had an idea. No one was more... Soft? Innocently romantic? Genuinely kind?? Then caboose. Kai and Tucker were bickering like lovers often do (not that they were together... Or maybe they were? Grif didn't know, nor did he want to know) so he slipped away and he was off to find Caboose.

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

1:20 pm.

When Grif finally made it to the blue's house, things had seemed to settle down. He let himself in and found a very defeated wash sitting at the kitchen table, clutching a cat shaped mug. Carolina was looming over him, clearly trying to be comforting. They both looked up when Grif came in, but otherwise didn't acknowledge his presence. 

"Uh... Hey. Is caboose around?" 

Wash mumbled into his mug, "how did he burn a bowl of cereal…." 

"Yes, I think he's on the roof" said Carolina, who looked sympathetic and tired.

Grif noded and showed himself upstairs. The aftermath of whatever happened this morning clearly has left it's scars on everyone and Grif and absolutely no intention of finding out the full compendium of events that had occurred. He made his way into the attic and through the small window on the south facing side of the house that led to a flat, sturdy spot on the roof. The Reds' and Blues' houses were built exactly the same, but they mirrored each other. Sarge absolutely refused to believe that the houses were identical and claimed that the Red house had three more roofing tiles, making it superior. 

Grif opened the window and crawled out onto the roof to find Caboose sitting with Church's helmet, a glass of orange juice, a copy of the old earth show Friends, and a red heart shaped paper folded down the middle. Grif felt bad disturbing him, but it had to be done. "Uh, hey man. Happy Valentine's day…"

Caboose looked up (he had been looking at the clouds) and smiled. "Hi Gruff!!! Happy Valentime's day" he look around as if something were the matter. "Where is Cinnamons? It is Valentime's day and you two aren't together?" 

Grif crawled up next to him and pulled out a bag of Hershey's kisses. He offered some to Caboose and said "yeah about that… I want to get him a gift but I don't know what to get him. I figured you might have an idea?". 'Why am I even asking?' he thought to himself. 'if Donut, Kai, and Tucker of all people couldn't give me good enough advice why am I even here‽ Desperation?'. 

Caboose was quiet for a moment before thoughtfully saying, "when church was still here, he didn't like it very much when I gave him hugs, but he really liked this one show?" He held up the copy of Friends, and Grif nodded intently. "So we would watch it together alot! On Valentime's day, I would make him a card like this one-" he pointed to the red heart shaped paper and Grif noticed that there was writing on the inside. Not Caboose's writing because the penmanship had bitchy (and legible) undertones. He concluded that it was Church's card to Caboose and suddenly Grif started to put everything together. "I liked cards and he liked Friends! So we did that together. I miss him alot sometimes", Caboose concluded. 

Grif tapped him on the shoulder. "I know man. We miss him too." There was a moment of bitter sweet silence before Grif said,"thanks Caboose. I have to get going to Sim-... Cinnamons." 

"Ok! Happy Valentime's day Gruff!" Caboose said cheerfully. Grif smiled and climbed down. He set off to town, with a pretty good idea of what to get Simmons.

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

2:30 pm

Grif got stuck in traffic

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

3:05

The store was crowded with men and women with the same last minute, albeit good, intentions.

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

4:00 

Grif waited anxiously in line at his final stop. 

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

5:00 

Grif was stuck in more traffic. The sun was just starting to go down.

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

7:30 

Halfway home. Traffic finally let up

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

8:40

Grif finally made it home, but despite all his delays he just sat in the warthog for a moment. The silence was killing him, but he needed time to collect his thoughts. After breathing for a minute or two, Grif grabbed his bags and hopped out of the vehicle. He knew Simmons had been working on some computer repairs (his side hussle for a little extra spending money, not that they needed it as Kimbal provided for their every need) in his 'lab'. He called it his lab, but everyone else called it Simmons' room that he turned into a workspace after he kinda sorta moved into Grifs' room. Actually, everyone else called it the nerd cave. Grif made his way up to the nerd cave and lightly knocked on the door.

The music that had been playing was hushed and a few moments later Simmons opened the door. "Grif! Hey man." He said, smiling widely. He was a mess. His hair was just long enough in the front to be held back by a hair tie, which formed a tiny little hair stump on the back of his head. He was sweaty and had clearly been working non-stop for the last who knows how long (Grif did- he had been working for 14 hours straight at his own discretion) made clear by the 3 empty coffee cups on his desk. His cybernetic eye was softly glowing, meaning that he had been extensively using it to magnify whatever teensy circuit boards he had been working on. Tldr: he was truly a geeky, nerdy mess. Grif thought he look amazing.

"Hey Simms.. hey can you uh-" for a moment he hesitated. What Simmons thought this was stupid? What if he hated this whole stupid holiday? What if he thought- no. Grif shook his jitters and said, "can you take a break for a sec?" 

Simmons wiped his face with his sleeve. "Yeah dude of course what's up?" Grif reached into one of the paper bags on his arm and pulled out a medium sized bouquet of roses. They were shades of orange and maroon, to colors that held a good deal of significance to the two of them. He stuck out his arm, offering the flowers to Simmons. He looked away and shoved his free and in his pocket. "I uh.. I picked these up for you" Simmons didn't move for a moment and Grif's world came crashing down. He thought it was stupid. Donut was wrong, Kai and Tucker were wrong, caboose was wrong everything is so fucking stupid how could he be this dumb? He was about to walk away when Simmons gingerly took the flowers in his robotic hand. "Grif… these are beautiful. You went to town just to get these for me?"

"Well, no." Said Grif. Simmons looked a little disappointed at this. Grif realised what we said and how it came out before quickly adding, "no! I- I mean I like got more then just flowers for you uh… here" he said, getting a small tissue paper wrapped object out of the second bag. Simmons gently tore away at the paper and gasped with glee when he saw a Phillips Head #000 screwdriver. "Oh my god! Dude! I've been talking about how I need one of these forever!" Grif smiled, feeling much more confident in his Valentine's grifs. Simmons took the little tool (the screwdriver, not his boyfriend) back to his desk and placed it carefully on top of a book. He came rushing back to give Grif a hug. "Thank you so much dude."

Grif was taken back at how much Simmons really did appreciate his gifts. It felt nice to make him smile like this! But there was one more gift in store…Grif broke away from Simmons grip and pulled out a small velvet box. Simmons looked on in with anticipation. "When we were in blood gulch", began Grif. "We went to the Vegas and you hated every minute of it but you pushed through for me. We went back again and again and that one time… what was it? 4 years ago? You hit big on black jack. You were so happy and I was happy for you? It was like 'damn. He's finally enjoying a vacation.' anyway… I went downtown today and got this." He opened the box and revealed a poker chip- a golden one. It was ingraved with delicate lettering that spelled out "for Richard~". 

"Grif…" Simmons started to tear up (loser). He looked up and smiled a genuine smile. "I love it" he said, enveloping Simmons in another, tighter hug. Grif was struggling to breathe, but it was worth it. "N-no problem. Hhhappy Valentine's day." He wheezed out. 

Simmons dropped him suddenly. "I just realized" he shifted his weight "I thought you didn't do Valentine's day…" 

Grif ran a dang through his hair. "Yeah well, I found a pretty damn good reason to start celebrating." 

Simmons lit up. "In that case…" he pulled out a plastic bag filled with limited addition mint oreos and handed it to Grif. "I can give these to you early" 

Grif started crying. "It's a Valentine's day Miracle!"

@rvbgiftexchange

[fanficparker]

Tacenda | Tom x Haz one-shot

Pairing: Harrison Osterfield x Tom Holland

Word count: 4.5k words

Warnings: Swearing, angst, fluff

Summary: Harrison looked at Tom’s face. His sleepy tired pretty evil face. He wanted to grab it and punch it. Or do something completely opposite and then die.

____________________________

(Written in Harrison's POV) 

There are some things that aren't said but are still not supposed to be done, like forgetting about the night out with your best mate after not seeing each other properly for months. I should have put the date on my calendar but Nah! I was fucking over-confident! The director himself asked me that he was flexible with the re-shooting schedule but I, Harrison Osterfield chose this particular day for the re-shoots. Over-confident bastard, I am.

I didn't count how many times I cursed under my breath when I saw the message notifications from Tom timed three hours ago.

6 UNREAD MESSAGES FROM TOM. ~ 3 hours ago

Tom(8:45pm) >>I m here for an hour?

Tom(9:16pm) >>Where r u?

Tom(10:04pm) >>R u still going with the plan?

Tom(10:10pm) >>The food is cold as hell.

Tom(10:10pm) >>Although hell is all lava

Tom(10:12pm) >>But where r u?

How could I forget about the divs night out? We were both busy with our horribly busy shooting/press tour/photoshoot/meeting etc. schedules. But today was the day we had decided to finally spend a best friends night together, eat something good, visit a good bar et cetera et cetera.

But I was over-confident about my memory to remember dates. Haha.

I don't think it's smart to reply to those messages right now. Also, I am too tired and worn-out of thinking about any possible excuse. So, I simply drove to my house where we were supposed to meet.

Hope Tom won't be angry at me.

No.

Tom should be angry at me!

Because when he's not angry with me, he's sad. And definitely sad or upset is the last thing I want him to be, especially me being the reason.

Which friend would like to see his best friend sad, anyway?

I unlocked the door of my house and tip-toed to the living room. I still prayed that Tom would be busy watching YouTube or something and wouldn't realise the time. I am a hopelessly hopeful individual. Well, I didn't coin the word 'Hopelessly hopeful', Tom did. He called me that once, couldn't agree with him more though.

I saw him. But he wasn't watching TV or scrolling through his phone. He was fast asleep on the couch. I let out a breath of relief- At least I don't have to make excuses right now.

I freed myself off my coat and shoes and walked towards the couch where he was lying. My eyes landed on the table to the right. I noticed the take-out boxes stacked on the wood.

Shit.

Tom didn't even eat dinner. I can't even express how disgusted I am feeling about myself. Seriously?! I had grabbed a quick meal during the work hours but Tom... He was waiting to have dinner with me.

No matter how much I hate making excuses to him, I still can't let him sleep with an empty stomach. It's better Tom gets upset at me, I deserve that after all.

I walked closer to his sleeping figure. His legs were tangled in the little blanket and the cushions were lying to the floor. Yeah, Tom had a habit of kicking things in sleep. He had kicked me too.

One of Tom's hand was touching the carpet beneath while the other was tucked under his head. His mouth was slightly open and when I concentrated enough, I could hear his soft snores.

He groaned in his sleep and as a reflex action- I averted my gaze from him to the floor. But I noticed him wetting his lips with his tongue in the process.

His lips were badly dried and chapped. He should take more care of them. It's none of my business actually. If Amelia enjoys kissing them who am I to say?

I shook Tom by his shoulder.

"Mmm," He whimpered in his sleep, resisting my attempt to wake him up.

"Get up Tom!" I said calmly and tickled the spot where his jaw met his neck. His body shook in a silent giggle. That spot was his weakness, after all.

"Harrison?" He yawned and slowly opened his eyes.

"Yup. That's me. You haven't eaten," I replied when he tried to sit up.

When he sat up straight his curls fell on his forehead, exactly like a bungee jumping rope.

His curls were the weirdest dilemma of my life. I loved them, he looked great in them. But I also wanted to move my hand through them and get them out of his face.

I clenched my fist at the thought of playing with his hairs.

My whole body shuddered when he touched my chin out of nowhere.

"Did you fall?" He said as his fingers grazed through the little cut on my chin. He was sitting on folded knees on the sofa to reach my standing height.

Does he think the pain of him touching my wound made me shudder?

"Yeah, I fell," I said. I hoped he'll remove his hand from my face but rather he moved his thumb across my jawline. I clenched my fists tighter, my jaws clenched too.

He should stop doing this. He should stop touching me like this. It didn't feel... Who am I kidding? He should stop touching me like this because it felt good. Felt so damn fucking good!!!

Remove your fingers, Holland or I'll break your hand.

I looked at his face. His sleepy tired pretty evil face. And again I wanted to grab it and punch it. Or do something completely opposite and then die.

His eyes were concentrated on my skin while his fingers were still busy grazing my skin. When the torture was out of limit, I flipped his hand off me and took a step back.

"It's not a big deal. It's a very small cut. You don't have to give it so much attention."

I don't know but I suspect my voice was a bit harsh because his face fell at my words. I heard him sigh.

"Sorry."

The word came out of my mouth abruptly. Tom's face shoots up at my sudden apology.

"Uh. For what?" He tilted his head to look directly at me. Before his eyes could meet mine, I looked away. My reflexes are pretty damn good. They know he's dangerous.

"For spoiling our night out. For wasting your time." I stated as a matter of fact and stuffed my hands inside my pockets while swinging along with the balls of my feet.

"No worries. I am free tomorrow." Tom said.

"BUT I AM NOT FREE!"

I-- I yelled at him.

He froze at his spot. I closed my eyes momentarily in a hope that everything was a dream.

The yelling part was not for him. It was for me. I hated myself for missing this day! I wanted to spend time with him! And I don't know when I'll get it next. When he's free, I am busy. When he's busy, I am free. And then there are times when we both were busy and I just missed the day when we both were free. I wanted to throw my hands in the air. But what will it change?

I instead flopped to the sofa right next to him and hide my face in my hands.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to yell. It's my fault in every direction." I said rubbing my palms on my face.

"I can see you are very tired Harrison. I really don't mind. I also went through this phase and you were there for me so... Look I am right here." Tom snaked his arms around my shoulders taping slightly.

I nodded. Not the best response but now I don't have to worry because he thinks he understands my agony.

I convinced him to have dinner. I didn't tell him that I did eat something before and joined him regardlessly. And we talked, like friends. Like we always do. Nothing had changed from the outside.

* * *

I am unlucky enough to get a chance to see him on Harry and Sam's birthday. The twins couldn't find any other day to pop out on earth than the fucking Valentine's Day. I will see the same girls throwing themselves at me who never gave a fuck to me when I was fifteen. And then those questions. I was ready to face all those 'when are you going to show us your girlfriend?' or 'we know you aren't single.' or some more annoying cliché questions or blatant statements or the worst— straight off insults. I knew bullshit when I heard it and I knew how to deal with it.

But still, I don't understand this whole fuss about getting into a relationship. I don't like casual dating. I never tell people not to go on casual dates or to commit to a serious thoughtful relationship or to wait till they actually find an appropriate partner. So why are they telling me what and when I should do these things?

It's not like I am fifty or sitting on a wheelchair or the world is ending. I am not even twenty-five. I have time. I know how to use it more efficiently than getting into a stupid relationship that won't even last for a couple of months.

Nevertheless, the thing I wasn't ready to deal with was to see Tom, of course as I already established. He'll produce himself at the party any time soon with his hands draped around her shoulders. I forgot her name honestly. And I don't care about it.

Speaking of the devil, Thomas Stanley Holland walked right across the door and the first thing he did was wave at me. Like a child waving at an ice-cream truck. There was no Camelia--Amelia (I don't know) with him. He hopped across the hall and reached me. I just saw him doing things rather than giving any response.

"They saved the cake for me, right?" He said suppressing a laugh. Failing miserably though.

"Nah! I had your piece." I wobbled my eyebrows at him teasingly, lifting the mocktail to my lips. But he grabbed my drink and took a sip himself.

"It's not wine..." He said making a face of disgust. I snatched my drink back from his hand and took a huge sip. I basically gulped the liquid and tossed the glass to the side.

"I am trying to lower my alcohol consumption. You should too. And that drink was delicious!" I said wiping the wetness off my lips with the back of my hand.

"I try to but couldn't resist." He admitted. I could see his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat.

"It's difficult, I agree. I loved beer and considered it more important for my survival than water but then---"

Sam jumped in the conversation and I stopped mid-sentence.

"There are two players less in the beer pong. Maybe you guys could join. It's fun." Sam suggested and it seemed like the birthday boy wasn't in the mood of hearing a no. I can tell that he was already tipsy.

But... Beer pong, seriously?

Irony. My whole life is an irony.

"Uh. We are trying to keep a distance from alcohol."

That was Tom. My head flipped to look at him from Sam. His eyes met mine and I didn't turn my head away. He gave me a small smile. My mouth parted to say something but Sam spoke instead.

"If you divs change your mind, you are most welcome to join us." And then he walked past us. I watched his figure as he left while I all this time I could feel Tom's lingering gaze on my face.

"What? Why are you staring?" I asked looking at him, again.

He shifted his gaze to his shoes but the smile on his face was even bigger. It was almost as if he was blushing.

He didn't answer. So I asked another question, "Where's your girlfriend?"

He let out a chuckle and his head lifted.

"I broke up!" He said but with a smile as his shoes traced an invisible circle on the floor.

I am actually worried about him now. Has he gone mad in the sorrow of his break-up? Although I think they didn't even have any feelings for each other but were just together. Casual dating. But Tom never accepts the casual nature of his relationships till they are over.

But he also never giggles after a break-up.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Very okay." His smile was still big enough to make his eyes crinkle.

I rolled my head back to stretch my tired body. I realised how long I was standing here. I rested my hands on the empty counter, shutting my eyes to relax. I could feel the little vibrations that Tom's tapping fingers produced on the counter. I felt his hand coming closer to mine. And then his fingers touched my hand. And I jerked it away opening my eyes and looking at him.

He retracted his hand seeing my reaction and looked at his shoes again.

He wants to tell me something. I know him well. But what I also know is that he never hides stuff from me or gets nervous about telling me anything. We are best friends after all. But now? Why is he behaving like this?

My heart crumbled thinking of a thousand possibilities. Was our connection weakening? Was his trust on me shattering?

But why? What have I done wrong?

"You should go and join them. You love to play beer pong. No matter how much you suck in that," I suggested, hoping that his mood will change after some fun games and drinks.

"Can we talk in my room?" He asked completely ignoring my suggestion.

"I--uh. Sure." I shrugged looking at him. His expressions were difficult to read in these dim lights, maybe I could see him better in the proper lighting of his room.

He walked past the halls, greeting some people in the path while I followed him quietly. He closed the door of the room after we entered.

I sat on the corner of his bed waiting for him to join. And he joined and sat beside me keeping some distance.

"So... What were you saying?" I asked facing him.

"Nothing. Just... " He paused and didn't complete his sentence, instead took in a long breath and released it shortly.

"What? Is everything okay?" I was genuinely worried.

"Can I hold you, Haz?"

He wants to hug me and I want to laugh. Does he need permission to hug me, now? Maybe then he'll tell me that it was our last hug and that we are no more friends. It happens like this, isn't it?

Goodbye Harrison.

He'll definitely say that. I can sense.

I gulped my saliva and slid closer to him. I loosened my arms.

He didn't take long and wrapped his hands around my body. Tom had hugged me before, a lot of times (although not so often in the last three-four years) but never like this. Like the world was ending and we were drowning in the infinite ocean. His body was stiff at first and then it loosed as he relaxed. I realised that I did exactly the same. As our body relaxed, I tightened the embrace pulling him closer. One of his hand travelled from my back to my neck and he played with the small hairs on the nape of my neck. I felt my body shooting with electricity. I didn't fight with my instincts and surrendered.

I pushed him away.

He stared at me wide-eyed.

Who the fuck hugs like this?

He snapped his fingers in front of my face. And I realised that I was lost in my thoughts. But I don't even know what exactly I was thinking?

"What have I done wrong?" Tom asked me in the saddest voice I have ever heard.

I should be the one asking that question!

"Excuse me?" I said wanting him to elaborate.

"You are pushing me away. You are seriously pushing me away every fucking time!" His voice cracked as he spoke. His eyes were way too glossy. I am afraid if he tilts his head a little bit, tears will spill out of them.

And again my heart clenched painfully.

"Are you--are you crying?" My throat felt like as if it was choked of ashes.

He chuckled. But it was more like an irritating chuckle.

And the thing I was afraid of happened right then. Tears fell off his eyes and slid through his cheeks.

I am finally the reason for making him sad to a level that he's crying!

"Nothing matters anymore, Harrison. Nothing matters." He said, shaking his head and wiping off his tears although fresh tears replaced the old stains. He got up.

Was this his way of saying goodbye? That we are no more friends?

But I can't let him go like this. No. That's not me.

I grabbed his wrist before he could walk away and stood up myself. I felt much taller today. Maybe because his posture was sunken right now.

"When did I push you away?" I whispered the question.

"Every time, Harrison. I have already answered that."

"That's now how this works," I told him.

My voice was slow and soft while his voice was loud and cracked.

He jerked his hand away from my grip.

He jerked his hand from my grip like I do... Every time.

Oh.

"You... You? You ah..." I stumbled upon my words unable to complete my sentence. He spoke up instead.

"Yes. Yes, Harrison. I am in love with you."

No. That was not something I was saying. I wanted to ask him if he thought that I was trying to end our friendship(the way I thought)— You think I am trying to end our friendship.

I don't even know why I stumbled that much in saying this little statement.

But I wasn't expecting that response from him.

I stood there frozen. How'll I react to this?

I could see him moving closer to me and his hands were reaching for my face. His thumb touched my lower lips and he tucked it out of my teeth.

"I got my answer. I hope we'll still be friends." A sad smile adorned his face as he said that. I saw him move away from me this time. He unlocked the door, looked at me for a second then looked away and walked out of the room.

As the door clicked shut. I jolted and let my limp body fall on his bed.

What have I done?

***

He didn't text or call me that week.

I didn't either.

***

The next week I found myself mindlessly scrolling through hashtag #tomholland

I stopped at a particular picture. It was from high school. I don't even know how these fan-accounts get these pictures.

It was a picture of one of our school plays. We are standing there posing for the group photograph. Tom and I were standing in the middle, together.

It was the only play where Tom and I played the role of each other's love interest. We did some sad romance shit, some happy romance shit and kissed. Not a real kiss. It was a stage kiss, where one of the actors puts his or her thumb between their and the other actor's lips and then both the people kiss the thumb instead of each other's lips and the audience thinks that they are actually kissing each other.

And then for a complete one week, Tom called me 'bro' instead of my own fucking name!!

And then about two years ago after one of our acquaintances jokingly called us boyfriends, Tom literally inserted the same 'bro' in every fucking sentence, Instagram comment, DM, reply, text, phone call, everywhere he had to address me for at least three days.

I have always used the word 'bro' as an alternative for 'mate' or 'friend' but never to brother-zone anyone.

But he literally used it to brother-zone me, MULTIPLE TIMES!

And I...

I got the signal.

And now he's telling me that he's in love with me...

Funny.

Irony.

Satire?

***

Hell. Bloody hell.

1 UNREAD MESSAGE FROM TOM. ~ 1 min ago

It's been a month we haven't talked to each other at all and now suddenly I received a text from him. And that too at 01:05 am midnight.

My fingers danced inches away from the screen afraid to tap on the message and then regret it for life.

Another notification popped on my home screen.

Now it was—  2 UNREAD MESSAGES FROM TOM. ~ 1 sec ago

I clicked on it.

Tom(01:05 am) >>Hey

Tom(01:06 am) >>Are we on talking terms?

Me(01:10am) Hi.      << Yeah. <<

Tom is typing...

Tom(01:10am) >>Thank god. I was afraid.

Tom is typing...

Tom(01:10am) >>So whatcha doing?

Me(01:11am) Couldn't sleep. Just scrolling through my feed. <<

Tom(01:11am) >>Same!

Tom is typing...

Tom(01:12am) >>Thinking of meeting sometime? I will understand if u don't wanna meet but still?

Me(01:30am) Can we meet right now? <<

Tom is typing...

Tom is typing...

Tom is typing...

I tossed the phone to the side seeing the text 'Tom is typing' appearing and disappearing multiple times on the screen and closed my eyes. I heard my phone ting. I rolled over to look on the screen again.

Tom(01:41am) >>Will be at your place in 10

Me(01:42am) >>👍(thumbs up emoji)

Fuck!

I hid my face inside my duvet and waited for him.

What will he say? What will I say?

The doorbell rang. Was it already ten minutes?

I slowly removed the duvet off my body, took my time to get off the bed and walked lazily to the door and stood there, staring at the wood. The doorbell rang again.

It's just Tom. I reminded myself.

I sucked in a breath and opened the door. He was standing right there. Obviously.

He was wearing a brown t-shirt with some blue trousers and his hairs were perfectly set, unusual for midnight. I am sure that I looked like a mess.

"Can I get in?" He asked smiling politely.

"Yea-yeah" I stuttered giving him way to get in. He sat on my sofa where last time he was napping.

I didn't notice he had a bag in his hand till he kept it on the front table.

"Mum made some cookies. Thought you loved them." He said taking out a box and opening it. The sweet smell instantly reached my nose and I heard my stomach growl.

We chuckled, together. Then laughed, together. Then awkwardly stopped laughing. Together.

I sat beside him and fished out a cookie from the box.

"The-the choco-chip ones are made by me. I mean I helped mum," He said and I put my previous cookie down to look for the choco-chip ones in the box. The box had at least four different flavours of cookies mixed up.

I took out two choco-chip cookies and gave one to him. I took a bite.

I loved it.

We ate more till we were full, almost half-emptying the box.

Say something Harrison! I mentally scolded myself.

"So?"

"So?"

We said in unison.

"You say first," I said to him. We shifted to face each other.

"Missed you," Tom said pressing his lips into a thin line, while he fidgeted with his fingers.

I placed my hands on top of his hands, stopping his motions.

"Do you really like me that way?" I asked being serious.

"I really love you that way," His voice sounded confident.

"Why now? All of a sudden? Why not before?" I am sure that my voice was panicky.

"You were pushing me away, Harrison. It was hard for me. I tried to move on but... failed."

The world was spinning again.

"You asked if you could switch roles when we were assigned to be in that play as a couple. You denied its re-screening. You missed the practice sessions.

"I tried my best to make you comfortable. Even if it made me kill all my possibilities to be together with you. But I failed miserably. Just tell me no. Just say no. Tell me that you don't see me anything more than a friend and I promise I will move on.

"But you not saying anything and pushing me away isn't making me move on. Say something Haz. Just say no." He finished but his gaze was still fixed on my eyes. He wasn't giving me a chance to break the eye-contact, waiting for my answer.

But the thing matters the most is that he's right. And I am wrong.

I did push him away and then put all the blame of everything on him.

I...

I think I knew...

I know why I didn't believe in relationships because the thought of being with someone other than Tom was sickening. And I was afraid if Tom and I did somehow magically get into a relationship, what will happen after we break-up?

And the day I realised I liked him more than a friend, I started pushing him away. And he thought he was making me uncomfortable whenever he tried to come closer to me.

Wow.

Seems like I solved the theory of relativity.

But what happens now?

Is this the moment we kiss?

But what if it didn't work and we broke up?

His eyes were still on me. And they spoke for him. They answered my question.

He'll never leave me.

If he went through all my bullshit till now, he will still stick with me even if the new thing we are going to step into the next minute doesn't work. We were best friends first and nothing can ever break this bond.

I placed my hand behind his neck. He looked at me through his lashes. I could see the rise and fall in his chest and could hear my own heart thumping in my ears. I tiled his head to the side. I attached my lips to his.

I kissed him. And ruffled his curls.

I kissed him again. And he cupped my face in his hands, squeezing my cheeks and pulling my mouth even closer to his (if it was possible in anyway)..

I kissed him again and again and again and again.

And he kept kissing me back.

And there was no thumb in between.

[wingsofhcpe]

BSD Rarepair Valentine’s Week- Day 2

hosted by @bsd-rarepair-valentines-week​

pairing: hawmitch

rating: T for safety

prompt:

love languages ♡ enduring

“Love itself is what is left over, when being in love has burned away.”

-Louis de Bernieres, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

There was nothing but still, peaceful darkness for a while, until it was interrupted by a high-pitched, steady sound- quite persistent and annoying, frankly, and slowly Nathaniel drifted out of his slumber. Turquoise eyes snapping open as an instinctive gasp left his lips, and then panic seizing him when he realised he couldn’t anything other than a translucent blurry fog.

It took him a few extra seconds of confusion until he noticed he plainly wasn’t wearing his glasses. That brought some sort of comfort- at least he hadn’t gone blind. Judging by the murkiness of his memories however, he might as well have gone amnesiac.

He let out a breath he’d been holding, allowing his eyes to close for a few minutes longer. Now that he was completely awake, he’d began registering the pain that was present all over his body- and with that, memories began to drift back.

The attack at the Zelda. The battle with Akutagawa. The mafioso’s black thorns closing in on him and Margaret jumping in front of him, taking the hit and-

-Margaret.

Nathaniel almost choked as he remembered those black tendrils spearing Margaret and dropping her on the ground like a lifeless, bloody ragdoll; then her overcoming even those horrendous wounds -ever stubborn, his Margaret- to shield him with her own body from what would have been a fatal hit.

He desperately tried to recall something else, anything that could give him some clue as to his partner’s situation. But there was nothing, no matter how hard he tried. Only the black fog of pain and near-death.

Truly, how many hours he’d even been out for? Well- he hoped it had only been hours and not days, at least. He wasn’t sure what to assume.

Regardless, idleness didn’t suit him; now that he’d recalled Margaret being gravely injured, and him not being up to date with her condition, he couldn’t just sit still. He had to do something, or else he might go crazy- and decided to start by finding his glasses.

The task, albeit simple, ended up requiring a lot more strength than what it should have. Moving even a little was painful. Even with his admittedly high tolerance he had to resort to biting his lips in order to hold back a cry at the sensation of his abdomen being torn open with every breath or movement. Eventually, though, he managed to make out the blurry outline of something that must have been a nightstand by his cot, and by blindly searching along it with his hand he managed to find what he was looking for (though before managing that, he’d ended up knocking down something that was fragile enough to shatter upon impact. Oops).

Slipping his glasses on and finally being able to see, Nathaniel felt a little less desperate. His first reaction was to look around the room, even if it was just to gain his bearings. His concerns proved baseless when he immediately recognised the room he was in as the Guild’s med bay. At least he was home- that was some relief, at least.

The next thing he noticed was the sound that had apparently woken him up persisted, and though still foggy with his previously unconscious state, he was able to identify it as the sound of a heart monitor. Well, he wasn’t connected to one, so…

Breath hitching at his throat, Nathaniel turned his head around to the cot he knew to be in the other side of the room. And he swore his own heart may have as well ceased to function, when he took in Margaret’s unconscious form sprawled across the bed.

No. No no no no no-

“Margaret.” He breathed, voice hoarse with disuse and scraping at his throat. But that was something beyond his care right now; how could he care about anything other than his partner, battered and wounded and perhaps never waking again?

He had to get to her, no matter how weak and injured he was, he had to be with her.

Ignoring all doctor’s advice he was sure Melville would give him if he were there, Nathaniel tore the blanket away from him and sat up, bracing himself for the ordeal of getting up on his feet. It proved to be even harder than he had expected when he felt his right leg seize up, pain shooting up to his hip. However he just gritted his teeth and braced himself against the wall, determined to not let any of it stop him.

It seemed to him like eons, but eventually he limped across the short distance that separated the two beds and gracelessly sit on the edge of Margaret’s being as careful as he could to make sure he wouldn’t harm her any further.

It was hard, keeping himself from tearing up as he saw her lying there, pale and unmoving when she had always been so full of life, brimming with vigour. At least she seemed to be breathing on her own, no oxygen masks or machines attached to her frail body.

“I… I’m sorry…” Nathaniel whispered as his fingers gently touched the back of Margaret’s hand. “This was all because of my own arrogance. Believing we could take on the Mafia without assistance…”

He couldn’t stop the lone tear that escaped his eye and slid down his cheek, landing on top of Margaret’s. He just looked away from her, unable to take in the sight of her at death’s door much longer.

“I was your mentor, you know. I was supposed to protect you. And instead I let you get hurt. You were the one that protected me in the end…”

He wasn’t sure what else to say- apologies didn’t matter, they weren’t going to fix anything and he was going to have to watch her lie there, perhaps never waking up. Withering away and dying, and leaving him behind…

“Hey… are you done cryin’ now, or should Ah be the one to snap you out of it?”

Nathaniel damn nearly fell out of the bed, registering Margaret’s voice amidst his miserable thoughts- for a moment he thought he must have simply gone crazy, the want of seeing her awake and healthy overpowering his senses to the point where he’d began imagining her voice. The following moment, however, he felt her hand twitch under his, and he snapped his eyes -wide with shock and disbelief- back to her.

Margaret was certainly awake, for his eyes met her violet ones, somewhat dull with lingering unconsciousness yet very much aware of him sitting next to her. He could even detect a small amount of annoyance in there, as if she had been bothered by him wallowing in self-pity.

“You- You’re-?!”

“Awake, yes. No thanks to you.” She couldn’t hold back a small smile, though. “Can’t believe you were cryin’ like a little kid just a moment ago. You do really ‘ave a thing for blamin’ yourself about everythin’, hm?”

Against all logic Nathaniel felt his face heating up as all the blood rushed to it. He huffed, the softness that had previously overtaken him vanishing.

“Don’t flatter yourself. I was only worried Lord Francis would be mad at us for failing the mission, that’s all…”

Even as he spoke, he was aware of how empty and ridiculous his excuses sounded. And besides, he was so certain he’d lost her forever a moment ago. No matter how big both their egos were, she was still his partner and- and he loved her, damnit!

“I mean…” Nathaniel lifted his hand a little, letting his fingers tread gently through Margaret’s honey-brown hair, so velvet-soft even in a situation like the one she was in. “I’m so, so glad you’re okay… I thought I’d lost you.”

Perhaps for the first time in his life, he watched as a blush similar to his own bloomed across Margaret’s beautiful, pale face, her eyes widening just the slightest bit.

“Oh… Well… Don’ worry ‘bout it. Ah’m here aren’t Ah.” She winced a little, the pain of her own wounds slowly getting to her. “Dammit. Got us good, that Mafia bastard. But… ya needn’t worry ‘bout me goin’ anywhere Ah promise.”

Nathaniel moved his hand from her hair to her cheek, caressing it gently.

“Please don’t. I fear I’d be completely lost without you.”

“Oh really?” She raised an eyebrow at him, regaining some of her usual confidence even through the pain. “Do remember that, the next time we’ll be trainin’ and Ah beat you senseless.”

“In your wildest dreams, my dear.” He ignored his own pain, leaning down and pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. “Oh- and don’t ever again do something as foolish as the little stunt you pulled. Jumping in front of me? Risking your life? Is your head completely stuffed with straw after all?!”

She pouted, looking away. “That really does seem to be becomin’ your catchphrase… And anyway! Ah couldn’t just let you die you absolute moron! You’re…”

She paused at that, face turning an even darker shade of red as she looked away, suddenly extremely captivated by the intricate designs on the ceiling (Fitzgerald really sparing no expenses even to the decoration of the med bay).

“You’re important to me. Fool.” She muttered eventually. Nathaniel blinked, a little bit shocked to hear such a confession for her; then, surprising even himself, he let out a quiet chuckle.

“Well then, we should both make sure not to put ourselves in such mortal danger again. That way we’ll be even. Am I right?”

For a moment, he thought she’d mock and dismiss him as usual. But then she felt her hand nudge his own, entwining their bandaged fingers together as she turned to look at him. And when she spoke, there wasn’t just good humour in her voice, but a promise as well.

“…Alright then, dork. We should really, really do that.”