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thatsgay-writes · 3 years

Note

Hi ! I hope you’re having a good evening, I was hoping to request an imagine of Jinora from the Legend of Korra, I thought it could be like romantic and with fluff, where she and the female reader are girlfriends but nobody except Korra knows about it and her family discovers it and they’re like supportive of their relationship :)

(This is going to go along with my other Jinora x reader)

Ever since the night you spent in Jinora’s room, the two of you had began dating. The only person the two of you told was Kai and that was because he helped cover for you when you and Jinora wanted to spend alone time together. Neither of you wanted Tenzin or Lin to find out about your relationship with how bad their relationship ended. After everything that happened with Zaheer, you and Jinora barely got to spend as much time together. The last two times the two of you actually hung out was after she got her tattoos and after Korra left for the south pole.

---

You and your mom sat next to each other at the docks on air temple island. “I just don’t understand...” You take another bite of the roast duck your mom had smuggled onto the island. “How they don’t eat meat.” You finish your sentence as you swallow. Your mom just grunts as she takes a bite of her chicken in agreement. The party food was good but it was all vegan, not that you didn’t agree with their eating style it just wasn’t for you. “Y/n?” You heard someone say your name and turned around, duck hanging out your mouth, and saw Jinora standing at the beginning of the dock. You quickly swallowed the duck in your mouth before shoving the rest of it into your mom’s hands. You stood up and gave your mom a kiss on the head as a farewell before popping a mint in your mouth and walking over to Jinora. You missed the way your mom smirked, you might have been a Beifong and could hide secrets but she was your mom. Lin knew that there was something between you and Jinora. Luckily, she liked Jinora and had no problem with you dating her, not that she would admit to that. She also wasn’t surprised that Tenzin hadn’t figured it out yet. Lin watched with a small smile as you wrapped an arm around Jinora's shoulders before playfully rubbing her now bald head. Lin liked seeing you happy.

---

You stood at the docks as you watched everyone give Korra a hug goodbye, giving her one as well of course. You watched with sad eyes as Asami seemed to deflate as the boat slowly pulled away before shaking away her emotions and leaving the dock. You felt bad for Asami, it was obvious she had feelings for Korra and that it hurt that Korra didn’t want her to join her in the South Pole. You wrapped an arm around Jinora’s shoulder as the two of you returned to the air temple. You gave your mom a hug as she left the island on a boat with a few other people before going to Jinora’s room. You knocked on the door as you arrived and opened it when she didn’t respond. The sight before you broke your heart, Jinora was laying on her bed, head pressed against her pillow as she let out silent tears. You took off your jacket and boots before getting into the bed and pulling Jinora into you. “It’s okay... Korra is going to go to the South Pole, work her butt off, and return before you can blink.” You say trying to comfort Jinora. You knew that Jinora saw Korra as an older sister figure and looked up to her. “Everything will be okay...”

---

You and Jinora did find the odd times to have dates through out the next three year as you kept the peace and tried to help out with the Earth Kingdom and deal with whatever Kuvira was doing. You and Jinora made sure that if either of you got sent on a mission outside of Republic City that you were partnered together. When Korra returned home Jinora was ecstatic, three years was a long time. You, of course, were also happy for her return but that feeling was almost immediately replaced by embarrassment.

---

You watched with a big smile as Jinora lunged at Korra, both girls sporting a big smile as they wrap each other in a hug. “Wow, you’ve gotten tall.” Korra jokes as she notes that Jinora’s eyes line up with her chin. She looks behind Jinora and her eyes widen a little. “Holy spirits! You’re a giant now!” Korra exclaims as she gives you a hug. You let out a chuckle, “Yeah I finally got taller than Mako... It must be from my dad’s genes.” You release Korra from a hug and give Asami a smirk as she subconsciously leans closer to Korra as they stand next to each other. Your smirk is quickly wiped away as Korra asks a question. “So how long have the two of you been together?” Korra asks as she motions towards you and Jinora. You did a spit take in shock and coughed a little as Jinora rubbed your back, a blush prominent on her face. “How...” Korra looked at the two of you in confusion. “Are you guys not... I mean it just seemed obvious...” Korra voiced her confusion. “No we are dating... We just haven’t told anyone except for Kai.” “Oh... I can keep a secret.” Korra said with a smirk. “I figured it before Tenzin though, right?” Korra asks and beams when you and Jinora nod your head. “I can’t wait to rub it in his face when you both come out with your relationship. Make sure I’m there for that-” Korra gets cut off by a hard elbow to the stomach from Asami, who gives her a look. “I mean... I’m happy for you guys.” Korra says as she pulls you and Jinora into a hug.

---

“Go dance with her.” A person says as they put a hand on your shoulder. “Huh? What?” You say as you turn around and your eyes go wide as you see your mother standing there in her green dress. “C’mon kid, I’m not blind like your grandmother and even she could see that you and Jinora are together.” Lin says with a roll of her eyes and a slight smile. “You’re... You’re okay with it?” You ask nervously, you wouldn’t admit it but your mom’s approval meant a lot to you. “Does she make you happy?” Lin asks as she takes a seat across from you, making you hold eye contact with her as you answer. “All the time.” Lin shrugs her shoulder, “Then I don’t see the problem.” “But you and Tenzin...” Lin let’s out a groan. “Look I might not show or tell you this often, but I do love you y/n. You’re my kid and all I want is for you to be happy. If that’s with or with out Jinora, I have no problems.” You tear up at your mom’s words, happy she was so accepting of your relationship. “Spirits, weddings must make you emotional.” You jest as you stand up and fix the tie around your neck. “Wish me luck.” You say before heading towards Tenzin’s table that held his family, Korra’s family, and Asami. “You don’t need luck, you’re a Beifong.”

You could feel your hands shake more and more the closer you got to the table. You knew Jinora was ready to be out with your relationship and it was you that was scared of people’s reactions... Well not really other people’s reaction, just your mom’s and Tenzin’s. But if your mom was okay with it then Tenzin was going to have to be too. You made eye contact with Korra and Asami as you walked up to the table, both girls sending you encouraging smiles. “Ah, Y/n, you clean up nicely.” Tenzin says with a small smile as he notices you walk up. “What can I help you with?” Spirits, it’s so hot in here. You felt like you were sweating buckets at this point. “Actually...” You voice shook a little with nerves and you pulled the collar of your shirt some away from your neck like it was choking you. “Actually...” Deep breaths, you got this, calm, cool, and collected. You kept repeating to yourself over and over again, calming your nerves. “I actually came over to ask Jinora for this dance...” You state as you turn to look at your girlfriend, who was hiding the shock on her face, so you didn’t have to see Tenzin’s reaction. “I would love to.” Jinora said with a big smile before grabbing your hand and dragging you to the dance floor.

“I think I’m going to pass out.” You state as you and Jinora start swaying side to side in rhythm with the slow song that was playing. Jinora giggles at your statement before looking up at you. “I’m surprised you even did that.” “Yeah well, turns out I can’t hide anything from my mom.” Jinora laughs again as she rests her head against your chest. “Well my dad doesn’t seem to freaked out.” She states and you take a second to look over to the table you had just been at. Korra and Asami were gone, Korra’s parents were still talking to each other and eating, you could see a frowning Meelo handing money over to Ikki, and Pema held a big smile on her face as she tried to discipline Meelo and Ikki about betting and making sure Rohan didn’t make a mess. Tenzin, of course, was still in a state of shock. You nod your head, “Yeah could be worse.”

---

“So the two of you are in a serious relationship?” Tenzin asks as he stands next to you. You nod your head as you watch Jinora mess with Rohan at the table while Pema was dealing with Ikki and Meelo. “I'm in love her.” You state adamantly, “I have been for eight years.” Tenzin’s eye went wide, “Since you were fifteen?” “Yeah but don’t worry we’ve only been dating for three.” You say with a proud smile that didn’t go unnoticed by Tenzin. Tenzin places a hand on your should causing you to look at him. “I was definitely shocked earlier when you came and asker her to dance but I know you are a strong individual and capable of taking care of my daughter... If you don’t I will make sure some spirits will come and deal with you.” Tenzin says threateningly. “I would try in throw you in jail but I don’t think Beifong would go for that.” He states like it was an afterthought. “Okayyyy...” Jinora says as she breaks into the conversation and grabs your hand. “No more threatening my s/o please.” She says as she dragged you onto the dance floor for the second time that night. “He didn’t say anything else did he?” Jinora asks as she looks up at you worriedly. “Nothing to concerning.” You jest as you lean your head down towards Jinora and give her a goofy grin. “I love you.” Jinora rolls her eyes in response before giving you a smile, “I love you too.”

#jinora x reader #lok #legend of korra #x reader #female character #female x reader

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reigning-rhapsody · 3 years

Text

Bittersweet

Strifesodos, past Gengeal; 2841 words

No TWs

The ear piercing noises of pots and pans and what sounded like now unusable plates briefly silenced the patrons crowding Seventh Heaven and let about everyone in the bar flinch in unison- all but one. Cloud merely quirked up a brow as his head shot towards the kitchen where the newest member of the staff, though it had been months since he’d joined and kept some work away from the ever so eager-to-work Tifa, had been on duty to cook for the evening.

I am, by no means, a great cook, he’d warned them at first, which turned out to be more than true, but his tastebuds didn’t lie, nor did his memory. He could tell what needed more salt and what had to stay cooking on the stove just a bit more until it was at its best, and he knew quite a few recipes for someone that, apparently, was no good as a chef. He wants to evade working any more than just as a bartender, Cloud assumed at first exactly because of that, but as good as the man was when it came to acting, as he had proven quite a few times, what he told was no lie.

Tifa insisted he should try cooking, and Gaia, it was worse than Marlene’s mud-pies from when she was younger. According to Barret, at least, who entered the establishment with a growling belly longing for a meal right as their chef in the making had finished his… attempt. A burnt pot and sore stomachs were the victims in the aftermath of Genesis Rhapsodos’ cooking despite everyone who passed him in the process paying attention to him wearing the glasses he was supposed to have sitting on his nose.

If one wanted to trust the promises given by Tifa, who insisted that teaching her new co-worker how to make some proper dishes was essential, he was a fast learner, and occasionally he even suggested to make a few meals he had memorized. No one knew as to why it was that he had recipes in mind, but no one bothered to ask either. One thing was clear though, the guy sure liked apples.

“Cloud, can you check on him?”, Tifa’s voice rung behind the blond addressed by it, barely able to be heard as the chatter and laughter picked up among the patrons again. She was busy, carrying two trays with food and drinks and a plate on one of her outstretched arms on top of it, so it was understandable she didn’t even wait for an answer and moved to the table that awaited their order. His next delivery would be in about twenty minutes and as slow as he could make himself walk, to evade whatever mess just occurred behind that door a few feet ahead of him would was impossible. Better get it over with quickly.

With a sigh, Cloud turned fully to face the direction of the kitchen and closed the gap that separated him from the door with a few swift steps slipping past filled tables. The blond swung the door open while his unoccupied hand rested in the pocket of his baggy pants. “Hey, the hell-?” He started, cutting himself off as his Mako infused gaze fell upon a kneeling Genesis staring at the floor like he was about to propose to it. Or rather, to the soup on the ground surrounding an upside down pot, porcelain pieces of what once upon a time were bowls circling the romanticized mess like ivory rose petals.

Genesis didn’t look up, nor did he answer, nor did he acknowledge Cloud and pretended the delivery boy wasn’t even present. He picked up the shattered vessels meant for the customers to eat what he begrudgingly prepared out of, seemingly doing his utmost to keep his eyes averted, or fully hidden to begin with.

Cloud narrowed his eyes and stepped forward so the door could fall shut behind him, swaying in and out of the room a few more times and allowing whatever curious mind sat in the much busier space of Seventh Heaven to catch a last glimpse of the scene playing out in the no-customer space, although who was sunken on the ground being covered by Cloud standing in front of him. He approached Genesis, both hands now in the confided space of his roomy pockets as he simply stared down at who he usually had to crane his head back for to make eye contact. Seeing someone who held himself so highly on the floor picking up shards with his own hands, it was amusing in a slightly sadistic way to say the least.

He knew that speaking up would only end in a discussion, then an argument and then a passive aggressive verbal fight that could break out into something physical at any given second. At least it sounded like that, anyway, but if it was the truth stood in the stars since the pair usually got interrupted when they got into another of their near daily banters. So he kept quiet and stayed put until the slender ginger would say the first word. And so he eventually did, pausing his task to exhale a defeated sigh and with what was left of his pride for the day.

And yet, he didn’t look up. “Not. A word.”, Genesis punctuated with a clearly irritated voice and Cloud just replied with an entertained huff. “Need help?”

“No.” “Uh-huh.” He didn’t have the time to put up with the mage’s stubbornness and crouched down, reaching out to grab the pot whilst his eyes remained on the culprit of the ruined meal. Finally eye-to-eye, Cloud noticed the missing black frame supposed to reach behind Genesis’ ears, “So, let me guess…”, the younger man started, turning the pot around and holding it by the handles, “You knocked this all over because you’re not wearing the glasses?”

That earned him a venomous glare, but an exposed one. Unlike Genesis’, his own vision was just fine, and thus not spotting the black supposed to be added to the color scheme around his face wasn’t just an illusion. “I don’t need them,”, the redhead barked back, “As I’ve told you before. You all are being dramatic over nothing at all.”

Hearing him out of all people judging what crosses the line of being too dramatic made Cloud snort and shake his head at how ridiculous that was, much to the wannabe-cook’s further annoyance. They locked eyes, three triplets and one glassy, milky-white outcast cataract.

The cracks scarring the porcelain skin roped themselves from his left eye over the same side of his cheek, shimmering through the applied makeup that attempted to hide them in vain as it had been vanishing with the sweat glistening on the man’s face from standing in a hot kitchen for hours on. Like veins dotted with thorns, they reached down his neck, reaching over the visible parts of his equally pale chest that was exposed due to the button up Genesis wore being partially undone. He could only guess how much of his body they tainted. They are what caused that vision problems too, as he’d been told by Genesis.

“I know I’m just mesmerizing, but make yourself useful if you refuse to let me handle this on my own.” An arrogant voice pierced Cloud’s zoned out thoughts and he blinked himself back into reality, not having the best experiences with anything piercing him. If it wouldn’t have been a vocal trigger that brought him back though, it would’ve been the smell of something burning.

“Agh- shit!” Genesis cursed under his breath and got on his feet again, groaning at his aching legs that fell asleep staying in the same uncomfortable position for some time. Cloud followed and watched the man place down the pieces of the bowls he’d already picked up next to the stove where a pancake was smelling like the victims of his flames- although it wasn’t on purpose for once.

Another swear muttered as he turned off the heat, or at least what Cloud assumed to be one since it was spoken in the ginger’s native language, and grabbed a spatula that rested on the workspace to his right to try and scratch the pitch blackness off the bottom of the pan. After some hard work was put into saving what could be saved, or what he hoped to save at least, that being the pan, Genesis put the inedible dessert on a nearby plate flipped over.

Both pairs of eyes in the room stared at it in silence, Cloud approaching with caution like what was sitting there was a Behemoth about to jump up and eat both of them whole whilst minding the puddle of broth, veggies and meat on the floor. He then stood next to the creator of the ‘food’ and stared it down. Roasted darker than his outfit, the smell was absolutely unappetizing and nothing looked appealing about it at all. It even took he blond a bit to figure out that there were apple slices mixed into the darkness, swallowed by it like stars during a cloudy night sky.

“Well… not that it was satisfactory, anyway.” Genesis admitted in defeat, much to Cloud’s surprise, although his ego must have been knocked down a few from their earlier confrontation. He might even go as far and claim he saw the slightest, embarrassed blush tinting the ex-SOLDIER’s pale cheeks, though mentioning it would only result in more than just a pancake ending up scorched.

“How the hell did you survive this long?”, Cloud asked with a wrinkled nose.”

“Thank you for your, as always, comforting words.”

“And what do you want me to say?”

“Nothing. It’s-”, Genesis took a deep breath, tightening his ponytail by dividing it into two strings in his hands and pulling, “There was never a need for me to learn how to cook. As a child, we had someone that cooked for us, and when I went to Midgar I first lived off of cafeteria food.. which I, eventually, resented and blatantly refused to eat. Then it was takeout, mostly, and once we became firsts we got an apartment together, so I had Angeal cooking for me.”

The drop of his name briefly silenced Genesis who still had his leer cast upon the failed attempt of a pancake. His lips thinned and he swallowed dryly, hands placed flat on the surface of the workspace. He exhaled a breath through his nose and his shoulders twitched weakly in a half-chuckle. “‘You’ll stay out of the kitchen when I’m cooking. You’re banned from the stove, Gen.’”, Genesis mocked a deeper voice to the best of his abilities, a bittersweet smile curling on his lips, “Sugar sweet, no? I never needed to learn how to make anything for myself. It was a thing I had done for me, and people never minded, either.”

“Not that that would have gotten me to start learning.” He added after another few seconds filled with nothing but the mechanical whirring of the fridge a few feet away from them. “Angeal, he uh… He loved cooking, but baking even more. The pie he made was to kill for, and whenever he made it, I would sit there and watch. Talk to him, sometimes even help. Providing he let me, that is.”

Finally, he looked up again and turned his head to look at the other swordsman. “No matter what I will make, it won’t live up to what he did.”, his head then hung low once more, “Nor would it satisfy him.” The normally so confident and boasting voice, teasing and preaching highly poetic metaphors nobody but him understood, grew lower in volume, quieter with every word vocalized and brought to live by it, although it sounded dead, unenthusiastic. It wasn’t a voice that fit Genesis.

“Or me.” His hands visibly gripped the edges of the big table harder, like he was trying to ground himself so he wouldn’t fall into a void that existed to eat him up from the inside, fill him with the worst of what life had to offer. His eyes fell shut, knuckles turning white and his fingers shook ever so slightly until he straightened his posture to one that equaled that of a candle and let out a shaky breath between agape lips, mismatching eyes fluttering open again. “I should clean this up now. Don’t you have a delivery to fulfill, hm?” Genesis ushered, his intent to get Cloud out and not show any more weakness than what just occurred beyond noticeable. It went under his skin, let the hair on the back of his neck rise and spread goosebumps across his arms.

It was… so damn depressing to witness.

“Ah. Ah- yeah, right.” Cloud reminded himself and reaches for the PHS in his pocket, flipping it open to check the time. He had a few more minutes. Watching Genesis move to a cabinet where a few kitchen towels were stored from the corner of his eye, the blond warrior pocketed his phone again, ran a hand through his artfully spiked hair, took a deep breath that let his chest puff out, counted his blessings and took off a glove with his teeth to grab the round little mistake sprawled out on the plate. Leather glove dropped in his lowered hand once it returned from brushing back the sunny mess on his head, he made sure the golden-brown side was the one facing the floor and placed it against his lips. He swallowed, opened his mouth and took a generous bite.

The first few times of chewing were experimental, eyebrows knitted together and eyes nearly pinched shut, though he discovered that keeping the part which wasn’t tainted by the lord of the Underworld and all evil himself judging by the pitch blackness trademarking it did make it a lot more bearable. Whenever some of the burnt bit brushed over his tongue he just gave it his best to swallow that piece, his tastebuds welcoming the sweet flavor of the apples dancing over it whenever he was lucky to have some in his mouth the more bites he took.

Two down, about two or another three to go. It wouldn’t be a chore to eat it if it weren’t for the burnt side, he had to admit, so Tifa wasn’t lying when she said he improved and was indeed a fast learner.

“You’re insane, Strife.”

Cloud nearly choked on the load of pancake occupying his mouth the moment Genesis caught him forcing down the food. He cleared his throat and properly swallowed what was left on his tongue. He ‘tch’ed, glaring at the dessert like it was his worst enemy. “I didn’t eat anything yet today’s all. Don’t want Tifa to get on my ass for not eating again.” “And how would she know?” “She… just does- you should be glad I’m making what she’ll say to you less worse.” The sunny haired man silenced himself by ripping another huge piece out off the pancake, so much it only left one last bite instead of a possible three. Although his angles eyebrows raised into a less hostile expression when he saw the slightest bit of a smile growing on the auburnet’s plush cherry lips. He stopped chewing for just a moment, taking in- no, admiring what he did by refusing to let someone sulk and keep self loathing. “Get out, or I’ll tell Tifa all of what just occurred was your and only your fault.”

Cloud playfully rolled his eyes, though did as told and moved towards the door, no intentions of a further exchange made- not on his side, at least. “Oh, also-”, he was stopped by Genesis speaking up once more, coming to an abrupt halt and half turning around, “You should pay me a visit when I am on cooking duty again sometime, maybe I have more blissfully tasting food for you to devour.”

Cloud snorted, “No promises.”

“Don’t you speak to me with a full mouth, learn some manners.”, Genesis retorted with a playful hum before truly dismissing the other with a flamboyant wave of the hand that didn’t hold a soup-soaked towel.

This time truly exiting, Cloud pushed the last small bite of the pancake into his mouth and chewed with stuffed cheeks, hands returning to his pockets as he eyed the bar counter where the delivery was stored. Forcing down the rest of the half-bitter-half-sweet mistake, he glanced over his shoulder one last time to see Tifa hurriedly moving into the kitchen. He exhaled in amusement at the distant chatter coming from behind the door swaying door before it fell shut completely and blocked out the conversation though. Cloud moved behind the bar to crouch down and grab the package that needed to be driven to Junon and set on his way out of the warm and cozy confinement to let the cold air hit him full on.

Genesis sounded more like himself again, he noted.

#book of scintillation | writing #savior's sickness | cloud strife #and in the end all that kept me sane was you | strifesodos #I FINALLY GAVE THEM A TAG #not my proudest but it works #no idea if cloud is well written i am Not a cloud mun #forgive me cloud muns that read this #but STRIFESODOS!!!!#they live in my brain my fucking god #recalcitrant redemption | sideverse #burning passion | shipping #strifesodos #genesis rhapsodos #cloud strife

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greyfongschemmenti · 4 years

Text

Hesitate 11|15

FryeArcana

Chapter 11

Code of Honor

Summary:

You and Team Avatar deal with the aftermath of dealing with Hiroshi Sato. You visit a recovering Lin while also having to deal with the rising tension in the city in the police force. The code you swore to the city gets put to the test.

You help Asami pack up some suitcases helping her move out of the estate. “you’re sure you don’t want to stay with me instead on Air Temple Island?” you help the air acolytes bring the suitcases into the boat. Asami looks back at the city then looks back at you and sighs “yeah, it’ll be a change, nothing to remind me of my father.” You sigh softly and put your hand on her shoulder and give her a small smile “well now I have more reason to come and visit the island”. You wave Mako, Bolin and Asami off as they get on the ferry and they head out to the island while you get on your cycle and leave.

You hop off your cycle with a takeaway bag and take your helmet off as you walk up the stairs inside an apartment building. You knock on the door and the door slowly opens, “who is it?” a voice groans out, ‘it’s me” you voice out. You hear a long annoyed sigh, but the door opens some more, and you walk inside then close the door after yourself. You turn around and look at Lin slowly walking back to her kitchen as she was prepping some tea. “I uh…brought you some food. Wasn’t sure if you ate yet.” You set the bag down on the counter and walk over to her, gently putting your hand on the handle of the pot “Let me do that, you should be laying down in bed.’ You softly speak in a whisper. Lin grumbles and waves you off “I’m not an invalid, you didn’t have to show up, you didn’t need to bring me food. You don’t have to baby me” Lin annoyingly spats out. “I can handle myself” she shoots you a look “how did you even find my place of residence?” she crosses her arms. Your cheeks redden with a soft blush and your hand rubs the back of your neck “I uh…took a look at your personal file, but I swear I only look at the address, nothing else.” You look over to the side. Lin Beifong had been recovering from the injuries she received during the battle at the Equalist factory. She had already given in her letter of resignation early in the morning, you on the other hand decided to stay on the force. “Don’t take offence of me offering to help out with these little tasks, it’s what friends do for their friends. You know what a friend is, right?” you turn as you finish pouring her a cup of tea then hand it to her., giving her a smile. Lin frowns and rolls her eyes “I guess” she grudgingly takes the cup, giving it a soft blow before taking a sip, she inhales deeply then slowly exhales. You smile softly and look around her place from where you stand, it’s weirdly clean, everything had a place and was set in perfect order. It felt very humbling, not too much stuff but enough for it to be filled in and feel like a home. You look back at Lin as she enjoys her tea still standing “before you refuse, how about you take a seat at the couch and I’ll serve you the food I brought, Saikhan is getting inducted as the new Chief of Police soon, we can probably catch the broadcast on the radio…” Lin looks up at you and takes in your orders, not really feeling to argue or fight with you she surprisingly just gives you a nod and starts walking over to the couch and takes a seat. You look around the kitchen, looking through the cabinets and look for the plates and chopsticks, “left cabinet by the stove and then the bottom drawer of the same side” you hear Lin giving you instructions knowing what you’re looking for. “thanks!” you call out and get the plates and a couple of chopsticks. You serve the food out on a plate for her, some steamed rice and roast duck, then poured some noodle soup in a bowl. You left the dessert in the bag. You walk over and set the plate and bowl on the coffee table in front of her and handed her the utensils, “alright, well dig in” you sit down beside her. Lin looks over at you not moving to the food “are you not going to eat?” she asks, you slowly shake your head, “nah I’m okay, but you eat” you give her a nod. Lin sighs and eyes you “it’s weird to eat when someone is going to be staring at you”. You shake your head and smirk “ok, just so that you don’t feel embarrassed about nourishing your body. I’ll join you so you don’t feel alone.” You get up and walk over to the kitchen. “I don’t feel alone! It’s just weird, that’s all” Lin yells out. You laugh softly as you prepare your plate, just serving yourself the rice and duck then walk back to Lin, turn on the radio and sit back down. “alright, will you eat now?” you look at her and she gives you a little smirk before sitting up and starts grabbing her bowl and starts sipping her soup.

You and Lin hear Saikhan give his speech and his wishes for Lin to make a speedy recovery. Everything seems to be going as normal as an induction can be before he announces that all information concerning the Equalists and their revolt will be directly passed down to Councilman Tarrlok. Your eyes widen and turn your head to the radio “what?! I wonder what Tarrlok had to do or say to get Saikhan agree to that.” You mutter as you put down your plate on your lap. “I don’t know but knowing Tarrlok it wasn’t legal.” Lin scoffs. You groan out as you space out in thought “hmm”. Lin reaches over and turns the knob to click it off. You open your mouth trying to find what to say, “how are the sessions with the healer coming along?” you look over at her. Lin breathes deeply and slightly winces at her back “it could be better…I have another session this afternoon.” You nod and you softly run your hand on your lap curling your hand before you reach over and put you hand over Lin’s. Lin looks down at your hand and her hand twitches wondering what you’re doing. You smile amused to see Lin’s reactions “relax, it’s just a comforting gesture” you watch slowly hold your hand and you can’t help but feel your heartbeat quicken and give yourself a moment to compose yourself. Just be a friend. She just needs a friend right now. “Hopefully, you can get recover quickly. It’s not the same at the force without you.” You softly speak, you absent mindedly run your thumb softly on her hand. Lin stiffens some then slowly lets go of your hand “I failed my duty as chief, plus I still need to look for my men and face Amon” she balls her fist and gets upset but groans out softly. “Alright hero, you can do that but once you’re healed up. You’re no good to your men all bent up.” You put your hand on her shoulder to calm her down. Lin looks over at the clock then glances over to you, “shouldn’t you be getting ready for your shift?”. You take your hand off and glance up to the clock “yeah, got stuck with the late shift” you start to get up and grab the dishes, Lin keeps telling you to leave them and she’ll clean them, but you refuse saying it’ll only take a few minutes. You wash and dry everything and throw away the trash, Lin standing by and watches you as she leans on the counter. You see the white takeaway bag and remember the dessert, grabbing the bag and scoot it over to Lin. “I forgot I picked you up some dessert” Lin eyes the bag suspiciously and starts to open it, “egg custard tart?” she quickly looks up at you and you start to think it was a mistake “do you not like egg custard?”. Lin shakes her head “no, I like the tart. I used to eat them all the time in my childhood. They were Avatar Aang’s favorite food.” She softly spoke out then closed the bag and looked up at you. You smile softly “heh, I didn’t know that but that’s cool” you make your way to the door and open the door, “thanks for visiting me, y/n…not many do”. You turn your head and look back at her “well maybe they’re just afraid of you, it takes a lot for me to be afraid of someone. I’m not like most people” you give her a gentle smile before heading out the door and head out the building. Lin looks at the spot you were just standing and quietly mutter “you’re right. You’re not like most people”.

You’re walking about at headquarters down at the cells when you hear and feel a blast goes off. You run down and see a jail break happening in place, you yell out to an officer “make a call, Level 4 alert and to send all units back to the station!”. You bend a piece of earth and launch yourself in the air then make a massive punch down on the ground causing a wave of earth to knock several equalists knock off their feet. Other officers try to apprehend the convicts but end up getting electrocuted down. You notice a chi-blocker trying to sneak up behind you and you crouch down and block his punches. You’re able to block his attacks but get hit with their electrified baton behind the head by another chi-blocker and get knocked out.

You groan as you slowly get up and look around seeing all three convicts have escaped. You wrap your arm around your midsection and stumble down the hall trying to leave the station. You’re about to leave when you get word that a unit and Tarrlok’s task force are there at the scene as well at the Avatar. All the chi-blocker and convicts are apprehended once again. “Korra?” you whisper as you get taken to get checked by a healer.

After getting the all clear you head out and go visit Air Temple Island, where you see Korra and the gang having just arrived at the island too. “y/n!” Asami yells out and runs over to you giving you a hug, you groan out in slight pain. “what’s wrong?” Asami look at you with concern then she comes with the realization “you were at the station when the jail break happened!” she steps back as you nod. After breathing out the pain you stand up regaining your composure while Korra, Mako and Bolin walk over to you and Asami and hear what you have to say “yeah, it was happened so fast. Everything was calm nothing out the ordinary when all of a sudden we heard a blast. I felt it in the floor above. I tried to get all the units to come back to the station to help us fight the Equalists. I held on as long as I could but there I was outnumbered and got knocked out. I heard Korra was about to take them out and capture them.” You look over at Korra and she takes a step forward “we all did, not just me” you look at the group. “yeah, Team Avatar saved the day!” Bolin smiled with pride. You laugh softly “Team Avatar huh? well, I don’t want to say that you guys shouldn’t be putting yourself in harm’s way, but that would be a bit hypocritical since I would do the same thing. Just promise me you’ll look out for each other.” You look at everyone and they nod relieved that you’re not scorning them for their actions. You put your hands on Korra and Asami making a circle with the team, “if you need anything, anything at all. You can count on me. You have my support.” Team Avatar smiles at you and give you their thanks. Korra offers you to stay the night since it’s so late. You slowly agree and take her for her hospitality as she and Asami walk you over to the girl’s dormitory.

You’re showered and dressed for bed when you hear a knock on your door, “yes?” you walk over and see Asami “hey Sami, everything okay?” Asami looks down and nods “yeah, I’m sorry I know you’re probably tired and want to go to bed, but I felt like I needed someone to talk to about dad.” She softly spoke to not to wake anyone else who happens to be asleep. “come in” you welcome her inside and you both sit on the bed. Asami breathes before she speaks “first, I want to apologize for what my father did to you…” you stop her before she continues talking placing your hand gently on her shoulder in a comforting tone you speak to her “Asami…. what your dad has done has nothing to do with you. You have nothing to apologize for. Your father’s actions are not a reflection of who you are. You’re not at fault. We’ve both been fooled by him. I can’t imagine what you’re going though seeing the kind of man you’re father has turned out to be. His heart got tainted by hate from losing your mom. But don’t let what he has become define you. You are your own person. You’ve stayed on the path of right and true while your dad stayed on hate and vengeance.” Asami’s eyes water and starts to cry, you put your arms around her and let her cry it out. After a few moments Asami mumbles out “I’m glad I have you as a friend, and I’m glad you’re back in Republic City I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had to experience that on my own. I know I have Mako, but its better when you can lean on a close friend, even though I’m an only child you’ve been the closest thing I have to a sister.” She sniffles wiping her tears on her sleeves. You feel a bit choked up and you pull Asami in a tighter hug “you’re like a sister to me too, Sami. You can count on me for anything.”

You whisper out to her. Both of you take a few moments to get your emotions in place before Asami heads back to her room and soon you go to sleep.

You see the tensions rising in the city with the nonbenders no thanks to Tarrlok’s new law set in place. Your unit gets called to take care of an equalist threat over at the Dragon Flats borough. Tarrlok gives his officers the order to turn off the electricity in the area. Quickly the people are getting upset with the treatment they are receiving. You walk over to Saikhan slightly upset at what you’re seeing, “Chief, the reports were of an Equalist threat. These people aren’t equalists at all they’re nonbenders. They are causing no threats, they don’t even have weapons, there is children in the crowd, sir, why are we here.” Saikhan glares at you starts barking out “I don’t know how you ran things with Chief Beifong, but I don’t need you questioning my authority. Now get back in line”. You get mad and turn around walking back to the line but notice a car approaching and see Team Avatar walking towards the scene. Korra is the first to speak “what’s going on here y/n?” you turn your attention to her. “we got word about an Equalist threat, but there’s nothing here to prove that. Honestly I don’t know what’s going on. These people aren’t armed or dangerous.” You explain to her “so why not let the nonbenders go?” Asami asks stepping forward. “they’re upset about the electricity being out. I don’t know why their cut off…. I’m not liking this at all” you look at the team with concern you get called out by Saikhan to get back in line. You look at the team worried as you slowly walk back and follow the Chief’s order and walk back to the barricade, before Saikhan makes an announcement to the crowd with the intercom “All nonbenders, return to your homes immediately. Disperse or you will all be arrested.” The crowd starts to yell out in anger “you can’t treat us this way! Give us back our power!” a little girl points out Korra and some of the people walk over to Korra “Help us! You’re our Avatar too!” a mother asks Korra, her face is filled with conflict but walks over and promises to try her best to fix the situation. You stand in line as Korra and the gang walk over to Tarrlok, you watch as the crowd are growing more restless by the minute. You hear an order given out by Tarrlok “Round up these equalists!” a few officers are starting to walk up to the barricade to start the process. Your eyes widen “you can’t be serious!” you yell out at Saikhan “you’ll follow an order, officer! If you don’t consider your career over!” he barks back at you. You look over at the crowd and watch as a few officers are taking the barricade and start bending it to take in people by groups. You step back and shake your head “this isn’t right! Our job is to protect innocent citizens not oppress them!” you yell getting mad at the chief and Tarrlok for how he is handling the situation. Korra runs out to the crowd ordering the officers to stop while Tarrlok grabs hold of Asami and run to him. “let her go Tarrlok she hasn’t done anything!” you bark out glaring your eyes at him. “she is past curfew and her father is a known Equalist conspirator. Now you’ll stand down officer, remember you sworn an oath to the city.” He glares back at you as two officers grab Asami you grab your badge from your armor and rip it off “Not anymore. I never sworn to oppress innocent people.” You growl out. Mako steps besides you “Let Asami go!” he orders Tarrlok. He looks over at his officers and points over at you, Mako and Bolin “Arrest him and his brother as well as ex-officer y/n” they quickly wrap their metal cables around the three of you before Korra calls out Tarrlok and earth bends two large boulders from the ground threatening him. Tarrlok walks up to Korra and calmly but threats her back “unless you want to join your friends in prison, I suggest you put those down and go back to the Air Temple.” Mako calls out to Korra and begs her to listen to him. “it’s not worth it, Korra” you add in as the three of you get shoved into the back of the squad car. Korra yells out she’ll get Tenzin to come gets us out.

The ride back to the station is quiet before Bolin breaks the silence “I can’t believe you quit the force right then and there, y/n” he sadly looks over at you. You keep looking down at the floor of the squad car “it was the right thing to do…” You respond back and the four of you sit back in silence until you get booked and processed. You get told to get out of your uniform and you tell them you have a change of clothes in your locker. Two female officers escort you there “why’d you do it, y/n” one of the officers ask you “yeah, you’re one of the best in the force, you really gonna backstab us like that?” the other adds in. You don’t look at them but keep walking in front of them towards the locker “I swore to protect this city when I joined the force, and now I see that the force isn’t doing anything to protect its people. Instead of creating peace in the city you’re causing more division between the benders and non-benders” you spat out angrily. The two officers scoff at you offended by your words. They uncuff you to give you a chance to change into your normal clothes and jacket then cuff you once again, this time tighter than before, “you don’t know what you’re talking about, y/n”.

You get shoved into the same cell as Asami while Mako and Bolin are in another. “Do you think Tenzin will get us out?” Asami asks you as she sits on the metal bed. You put your cuffed wrists up as you pull your knees up on the bed and sigh “Not tonight at least, Tenzin will mostly have to talk to Tarrlok tomorrow about getting us out. I'm sure Saikhan is too far up Tarrlok’s ass to do anything about it.” You mutter out “until then we make do tonight and wait”. Your mind thinks about Lin and wonder if you should request to make a call, but she still hurt and recovering. You think it’s best not to get her up and get involved in this situation. You can survive the night in jail, at least you're not alone. Though you begin to wonder just how bad things are starting to get in the city. The movement keeps growing and is starting to take over and you’re not sure if the Amon will be able to be taken down.

#TLOK1Hesitate #fanfic #linbeifong #lin x reader #Fyrefics

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carnistcervine · 4 years

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“thoughts on Legend of Korra?"

It wasn’t nearly as good as ATLA. (But then again, I think ATLA is the closest thing to perfection that humans could ever create so...) But I do actually quite like the show. I think that it’s good, even if there are plot points and concepts within the show that I don’t like/disagree with(The spirit portals /existing/, Korra losing her past lives). And I also feel like there were some wasted opportunities *cough*KorraavaVsUnavaatu*cough*.

I also feel like there was definitely too much focus on the pointless love triangle and Makorra relationship troubles. Like, just. Don’t. Have. Her. Date. Him. It ultimately does nothing for the plot, and just serves to make Mako look bad. >3>

I also think that Korrasami, should have been developed more. Like, I am 100% for it being endgame, I just feel like there wasn’t enough of them being together. It really feels like something that sprung out from season three and then just kinda limped along until they finally held hands at the end. Like seriously? Katara and Aang kissed on the LIPSES at the end of ATLA. It was some full on face eating there. Like, I’m not expecting a full on make-out session, but seeing them actually develop a proper relationship like Katara and Aang did in the original show would have been preferable what we got.

Though, I can’t deny that I quite like how instead of Korra being all jealous STAY AWEH FROM MAH MAHN at Asami, they got together instead. It’s very refreshing from the usual two girls fighting over a guy. fnerjnfekr

But there are also a bunch of things that I really adored about the show~! Like the 20s dieselpunk aesthetic. I’m a freakin sucker for dieselpunk and 20s aesthetics. Just. Yes.

I adore Korra and the Krew! Mako is awesome aside from his terrible boyfriendness(seriously just don’t have him date Korra frkenfjekrn). Bolin is literal sunshine and his smile cleanses my soul. Asami is pretty cool, but I do feel like she was a bit underutilized. Seriously, you have the perfect makings for a shrewd business woman among a naive and idealistic group and I just- Okay but anyway, Korra is fuggin’ awesome. I love her punch first, ask questions never attitude. And I would have given my left kidney to just see her punch Amon, or Unalaq, or Zaheer, or Kuvira, or hell, even VAATU! Just. Pls. Let me have Korra hitting people. With. Her. Fists. She built, I wanna see her deck someone. ;w;

Amon be talkin’ ‘bout equality? Equalize this! *cue decking*

I also really liked Beginnings, and I quite like the idea of people getting their powers from the LionTurtles. Like, it actually fits with the lore in my opinion. They humans learned to bend from the original benders, but they got the power of the elements from the LionTurtles. Hell, the LionTurtles even specifically call it “the power of the element” and in ATLA Katara says that she has to learn waterbending/become a waterbender despite being born with the ability to manipulate water. Also, bending being constantly referred to as an /art/. But das a rant for another day lmao.

As much as I like to roast them, I do like Raava and Vaatu. I think they could’ve been done better, but I do actually like them. Seriously, less of a objectively bad vs objectively good thing with them. Especially, because a major theme in Avatar is the power of choice and how one chooses to be bad, and how anyone can be good or even reguardless of the circumstances of their birth. But being an embodiment of evil, Vaatu doesn’t get a choice, he’s evil because the writers said so. :^^^) ferfgetghetgr

Also Wan.

Wan is perfection. If nothing else, LoK is good for creating him, alone.

Also Tonraq.

I just want him to wrap me up in his big strong, safe arms while we eat dinosaur chicken nuggets together. #asexualthirst

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cupidmarwani-archive · 5 years

Text

Come Into the Water (13/15)

Olivia is at work with Noah, but Maggie is home. She’s slowly stirring the pot on the stove and humming to herself when Sarah lets herself in, and turns around unstartled with a smile at the sound of the unlocked door creaking open on its unoiled hinges. Sarah’s been meaning to buy WD-40 for them- it’s the least she can do after everything they’ve done for her.

“The missus and Noah will be back soon,” Maggie says, “hopefully while the food is still hot.”

For some reason, Sarah can’t come up with a verbal response, so she just nods and takes a seat at the counter. Remnants of flour from hours of baking still powder the surface, meaning it hasn’t been wiped down since they finished baking yesterday. She should clean it up so that she’s doing something, but instead she drags her fingers through the mess tiredly and watches Maggie cook. Maggie’s less talkative than Olivia, but warm and loving nonetheless. She wishes she knew what to say or do, how to explain to them that Ava doesn’t intend to keep seeing them now that the holiday is over and the warmth feels gone from the air.

She’s still making patterns in the flour when Olivia and Noah come in the front door, talking about wherever they were. Sarah doesn’t listen. Her mind has managed to trap itself in the events of early morning. When Olivia inevitably touches her shoulder as a means of getting her attention, she flinches, her breath catching and her muscles tensing. She’s been trying to stop doing that.

“Everything okay?”

Truly, she doesn’t mean to say anything. But the words just come.

“Ava doesn’t want to keep seeing us. You. Us. I don’t know.”

The response Olivia gives is the one she expected the least; solid arms wrap around her, with a hand coming to cup the back of her head, and she’s being held like someone worth caring about as opposed to being chastised or held accountable for something that isn’t her fault, or at least not on the whole. Sarah relaxes easily into the embrace, stays for as long as Olivia holds her and fills her lungs properly when she’s released.

“Hopefully she’ll come around.”

Sarah watches the family orbit around one another. Noah pulls at Maggie’s shirt until she picks him up to balance on her hip, and Olivia comes up behind her to kiss her temple and take a turn at stirring dinner on the stove. Always so familiar with each other, and while Sarah has started to feel as though she fits into it all, she realizes in this moment that she doesn’t in the way they each fit into each other.

Maybe that’s how Ava feels, and why she doesn’t want to be around them.

Nonetheless, Sarah forces herself to her feet and goes to the fridge to cut fruit to round out the meal. An apple, maybe, to cut the warmth of the spaghetti sauce, but then she recalls what they’ve been eating for the past eight days and moves onto a couple oranges. Easy, simple, doable. She gets the good knife from the block to slice them up and arrange them on the plates Olivia has just begun to set out. There’s bread, too, and a portion of roasted vegetables that must’ve come from the oven. A colorful plate.

As she throws away the peels and the center clumps of pulp, Sarah absentmindedly scratches at her wrist. The grounding sensation prickles through her body, slow and steady, forcing her into reality and out of her mind, which has tangled itself into a mess of confusion and hurt and memory.

“Do you worry about Ava?” she asks. “When you don’t get to see her?”

Maggie’s arm around Noah twitches. “Of course. But we can’t force it. She needs her time, if the last few years are any indication.”

It makes sense. But it hurts. And Sarah doesn’t say anything else while they all eat dinner, just eats slowly and pretends she fits in the way she felt she did during Hanukkah. Things are different away from the beach and the lights, and without Ava to round things out. So once she eats and helps wash the dishes, she just goes back home and lays across the couch with her arm thrown over her eyes. She’s still thinking about Ava. About her sudden hostility and isolation and the knowledge that, for some reason or another, the local mako pod won’t stop hurting her. It hurts her. And she wishes, more than anything that there was something she could do.

She wishes she could sink into sleep as opposed to laying here and agonizing, but her mind won’t allow it. She keeps seeing the gashes and scars that dot along Ava’s body. Marks of being hurt by the world outside of her, so opposite to the pain Sarah has been causing herself for so long without meaning to. The scratches on her arm are from her own hand. It’s the same but also different. Sarah catches herself adding to the pain now and forces her hand down. She’s been doing better lately, enough that she’s stopped with the protective bandaging, but suddenly it feels like she’s back to the place she started when she first arrived at this house. Recovery feels out of reach again.

All she wants to do is go to the beach and swim with Ava. Feel the water, lose herself in the spray of salt. It made her feel more alive. And the only time she’s ever ventured out on her own, she nearly drowned. It wasn’t as fun by herself anyways.

Sarah knows she should stay in for once, especially given Ava’s cold dismissal, but she can’t help herself. Before she knows it, she’s going down to the tide pools in spite of the cold, wading into the icy waves and staring out at a long horizon in hopes of being found and given the opportunity to lose herself to the ocean without fear. Deep down, she knows she’s still searching for Ava. A flash of her tail, a glimpse of her coat, anything to indicate that she hasn’t given up on Sarah the way she gave up on her family.

“Ava,” she begs the churning water. “Ava, please?”

Fins break surface, only for a moment, and then disappear. But they do not belong to Ava. Instead, they’re grey and stiff, more for cutting through the waves than for agile control of motion. Sarah steps forward anyways because she feels alone and wants someone to hold her in the water. She waits, then, with foam at her ankles and the wind whipping her cheeks, until the fins slip down and then up come faces. Not tanned like Ava, but pale and sallow with hollowed cheekbones and eyes consumed by the pupils. They remind Sarah of something from a horror film, but she isn’t afraid because they come from the same place Ava does. At the same time, however, she has a dim awareness that they must be from the pod which hurts her.

“My name is Sarah,” she says softly. “What are your names?”

The three mermaids stare for a long moment. One of them, the woman with brunette locks and a square jaw, tilts her head to the side. The other two, both dark haired men who cling to each other, do not move. But they too watch her carefully.

“Do you have names?”

The woman clucks her tongue, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and makes a series of sharpened clicking noises for a handful of seconds. It must be their real language, and Sarah wonders if maybe Ava has a real language beyond the English she must have picked up from Olivia and Maggie.

“English?”

One of the men lunges forward, and Sarah hurries back up to the gritty sand and out of their reach. Unlike Ava, they don’t seem keen on the shallows, let alone sitting beyond where the waves can dig into the beach. They don’t say anything, but still they watch. Sarah remembers the very young one that bit her, and imagines the way adults like these could seriously hurt her. And could hurt Ava, worse than they already have.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- to upset you.”

They still don’t speak to her. But a large wave, a heavy one, rolls over, high enough to dance at the pads of her feet, covering the mermaids’ heads in its path. When the water recedes, they’re gone.

Alone once more, burning with embarrassment, Sarah settles into the sand and sits there to watch the ocean roll in and out, in and out, in and out. The tide rises and falls too, and still she sits, until the sun sets deep and a dusting of snow falls and her nose is cold enough to hurt. Still, she sits. She digs her nails into her forearm. She waits for Ava with a bittersweet hope.

Only when her chest hurts from how cold the air is does she force herself to her feet.

#ciwfic #fic #mine

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gutterballgt · 7 years

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bamfcoyotetango replied to your post: Gutter, I've been stuck by the sick. :( Could you...

Thank u~ I love how you described making this back in the Chuck is Sick!AU

Heh, the process itself is kinda Zen, ya know? As time-consuming as it is, I love chopping vegetables and making noodles, etc. I’ve even started to like peeling garlic (which I do to roast and crockpot with my beef bones). For an ADHD nutbar like me, focusing on a simple physical task (especially with music playing in the background) actually lets me THINK about things, instead of my mind just running around like a monkey on crack.

Plus, at the end, delicious soup. Bonus!

And now for the rest of your ask, some floof continuation from the These Two Clownshoes universe:

“Chuck, this is ridiculous.”

“Hush, you. I’ve already said how this is gonna go. You don’t have a say.”

Grumbling and rubbing irritably at his nose with his sleeve, Raleigh slumped back against his pillows and gave up. He was too tired to argue, anyway. Plus, he’d discovered over the past months that Chuck, while sufficiently gone on him to compromise on pretty much everything in their relationship, could be a goddamn stubborn bastard when it came to Raleigh’s overall health.

So, after the big ginger jerk finished tinkering over at the kitchenette they’d gained when moving into the bigger couples berths in the shatterdome’s upper barracks, Raleigh didn’t protest when the kid crawled over him, scooted up behind him, and mercilessly snuggled him. Chuck insisted it was the cuddling as much as the soup or the anti-virals that had gotten him over that vicious bout of the flu, and no amount of reason would change his mind.

According to Chuck, Raleigh had healed him with sheer dedication to snuggles. Thus, he intended to cure Raleigh of this stupid cold with the same.

Though he’d also tried to make the soup, which was half of the tinkering over in the kitchenette. The rest was cups of tea for them both, though there was no way Raleigh could even reach the steaming cups with the Great Australian Octopus latched onto him from behind.

Sniffling and again applying his sleeve -- yes, tissues were close by, but the sleeve-wiping grossed Chuck out, so Raleigh did it in hopes of sparing himself the brat’s so-called ‘treatment’ -- he squirmed restlessly.

“I’m bored.”

“You’re too tired to be bored, love. You need to rest.”

“Put on a movie or something.”

“It’d keep you awake. You should sleep. It helps your body heal.”

Groaning, he tried to roll over, then grunted when Chuck just held him more securely. “Chuuuuuuuuuuck.”

“Oh, my God, you turn in to an infant when you’re ill. You know that?”

Silence for a moment. Of course, it couldn’t last.

“It’s hot.”

“It’s cozy.”

“I want a drink.”

“You just had one.”

“Tea’s getting cold.”

“It’s still steaming. It’s fine.”

Huffing, he slumped again, this time against Chuck’s hard bulk instead of the pillows. Admittedly, the kid was comfortable to slump against. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to cuddle. He very much liked cuddling with Chuck, actually, and they did so every chance they got.

Just... he hated being sick. He hadn’t been sick in years, long enough that he’d forgotten how big a pain in the ass it really was. But where Chuck had been impossible while ill and had chased everyone away, Raleigh just... turned into a whiny kid. There. He admitted it.

And he didn’t want Chuck seeing that side of him and maybe deciding this whole “us together” thing wasn’t what he wanted, after all. That Raleigh was too high maintenance. Too much trouble.

Dammit, they’d just had full-on, penetrative sex for the first time last week. And it was fucking spectacular. And he should’ve known all of this was too good to be true. Like every other good thing in his life.

Sighing, he felt his eyes prickle and squeezed them closed. He was too tired for all this self-reflection. He’d reluctantly gotten used to crying occasionally in his sessions with Larry, but he tried to leave that in the therapy room.

And there was really no reason to cry right now. He just... felt like crap. And he knew he was being whiny and contrary.

And he didn’t want Chuck to see it, but he didn’t want him to go, either.

Strong fingers stroked through his hair. “It’s alright, love. You’re just tired, yeah?”

Jesus. Had he said any of that out loud? He didn’t think so, but...?

“You took care of me. Let me take care of you.”

Sniffling again, though he didn’t resort to his sleeve this time, he grumbled. “You’ve been taking care of me. I’m a fucking basket case every other time I get out of therapy, and you have to be getting tired of that shit.”

Of me being needy, he didn’t say. Of me being such a goddamn pain in the ass. Of me being useless and now being sick on top of that.

“Raleigh, mate....” Sighing heavily, Chuck snuggled closer still, which shouldn’t be possible. “I like that you tell me how your therapy sessions go, yeah? I want you to be okay with being upset in front of me. I want you to... y’know... trust me with that.” He nuzzled his nose against the nape of Raleigh’s neck. “Makes me feel like you actually need me for something, yeah? You’re so damn independent sometimes, I wonder why else you even keep me around.”

He blinked, sniffling but only half-noticing. Chuck worried about why Raleigh kept him around? Wanted to feel useful so he’d feel more secure in their relationship? So Raleigh wouldn’t leave?

Jesus. It’d take a goddamn world-ending catastrophe to make Raleigh leave at this point.

Maybe... maybe they were both in the same boat, too early in the game to know for sure where they stood but far enough in that they didn’t want it to be over yet.

Maybe... it would be okay if he was a little whiny and needy. Just this once. Just until this stupid cold was past.

Chuck had slipped an arm under him to hold him close. Sniffling again, Raleigh reached down and threaded their fingers together, pleased when Chuck clasped him back, still running the other hand through his hair.

“I’m sorry, Chuck.” Sniffle sniffle. “I just turn into a whiny bitch when I’m sick. Makes me wonder why you keep me around.”

He felt the kid smile against his nape and figured he might have said the right thing for once. Relieved, he smiled, too.

“You make one fuck of a good personal body heater, for one thing.”

He snickered, then immediately regretted it. Instead of resorting to his sleeve, though, he reached up for the box of tissues overhead and used one of those. No sense being a gross heathen when he didn’t actually want to chase Chuck away.

“And there’s that French toast you make.”

Yes, Raleigh had eventually lived up to the promise once they had an actual range and made the storied French toast. Chuck had been smitten. It was now a weekly treat. In fact, it was the one time Chuck refused to invite Mako and Herc for a little family time. He absolutely refused to share.

“And this, of course.” Another nuzzle at his nape. “The right sandalwood. I fucking love this smell.”

Warmth spread through him, and he cuddled back against that warm, solid body, letting the Great Australian Octopus wrap him up and hold him tight. Maybe Chuck wasn’t always standing with one foot on the threshold, after all. Maybe the big jerk really did want to stay around, no matter what.

“You won’t kick me out if the soup takes like shite, will you?”

The smile widened. “I’m really fucking comfortable right now, babe.”

“Is... that’s a no, right? Was that a no?”

God, he loved this giant dork. He really, really did. Squeezing the arms holding him tight, he chuckled. “That was a no. Even if the soup sucks.”

“Good.”

And since Chuck really did sound relieved, Raleigh just lay comfortably wrapped up, letting Chuck hold him as tight as he wanted, soaking up the warmth and the care and ignoring the nagging need to blow his nose. And maybe sneeze.

He didn’t even wake up when Chuck got up to check the soup.

And when the poor kid, nervous and hesitant, brought him a steaming bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup, he didn’t mention that the noodles had cooked into gummy clumps from lack of stirring or that it was a little saltier than expected or that the veggies were unevenly chopped, so the little pieces were mushy while the big ones hadn’t cooked all the way through.

He merely sipped Chuck’s efforts with a smile that immediately brought the poor guy’s shoulders down and a look of infinite relief to his face. Besides, he really did feel better, so maybe Chuck had something with his theory, after all.

As far as he was concerned, Chuck really had snuggled him better.

It sure as hell wasn’t the soup.

#bamfcoyotetango #chaleigh #snuggles!#these two clownshoes #these guys will be the death of me #but I don't care #SNUGGLES

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kairiofknives · 7 years

Text

The Founding of The Guild (TftTG Chapter 1)

Part of a multi-chapter fic called “Tales from the Thieves’ Guild. Read on AO3.

Summary: The former Phantom Thieves of Hearts may have set their days of stealing treasures behind them, but their journey together is just beginning. Every day can be an adventure when you live with all of your best friends. Follows the life and times of the Phantom Family whilst living in what became known as the Thieves’ Guild. Takes place a year or so after “Trading Hearts”.

In this installment: Haru and Akira do some soul searching and stumble upon the coolest idea ever had.

Mornings at LeBlanc were Haru’s favorite time to work. The regular early morning guests would file in for their much needed coffees before heading out to brave another day in Tokyo. After the 7 AM rush, the shop was quiet, with only the lovely backdrop of singing birds and the distant sounds of the trains to grasp her attention. The angle of the sunlight through the window was also pristine, lighting up the wood of the benches to make them look bright and inviting.

Gosh, she was starting to sound like Yusuke.

The thought brought a smile to her face nonetheless. It was March, just after the last of the school year. Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke had just graduated, much to her and Makoto’s relief. It seemed like every single day recently the former Phantom Thieves gathered to play games, hang out or just exist in the same space. Even Makoto joined in on their fun, pushing off her internship work just enough to let her hair down for once. They hadn’t spent this much time together since the days of after school Palace infiltrations and driving aimlessly through Mementos. Haru sighed happily. God, she loved her weird little family.

Her pessimistic side whispered that their closeness now was a testament to the limited time they had left. Sure, Haru and Makoto had been out of high school for a year, working and going to college respectively, but the vast majority of their group had still been in highschool, so there were only really three schedules to work around. Now, Ann would pick up modelling full time, Yusuke would start travelling for his art, and Ryuji would be getting his coaching certification. The only person guaranteed to be free in the afternoons would be Futaba, stuck in high school for two more years. Six schedules to work around would make meeting up quite difficult.

Haru sighed, resting her head against the counter top of the bar. She didn’t want things to change. If only there were a way to give them a reason to stay together…

A series of clumsy thumps coming down the stairs shocked her out of her contemplation. From around the corner emerged a familiar mop of black hair as well as Morgana, who happily leapt onto the bar to greet her.

“Good morning, Haru!”

She smiled serenely. The last piece of their family puzzle, the joint presence of Akira and Morgana, had just returned to Tokyo about a week prior. Her mornings were even better now that she could count on Akira fumbling down from the attic when the smell of coffee finally made its way up to his bed. While she was glad to see the two, and was overjoyed that their group hang outs were entirely complete with their addition, she mourned the fact that she still had no idea how long they would be staying or what Akira’s next move would be. Though, from her short talks with Boss and Makoto, Akira also didn’t seem to have that figured out yet.

Said boy, still in his sweat pants and black long sleeved sleep shirt, plopped down on the stool next to Morgana, seeming still half asleep. Their eyes met and he smiled lazily “G'morning.”

“Good morning to you two as well! Would you like some coffee, Akira?”

“Better make it a good bitter as hell black roast, Haru. This genius stayed up until 3 AM with Futaba even though he knew we were planning to go to Seaside Park at 10 this morning,” Morgana quipped, with his typical cocky expression on his face.

She looked at Akira for confirmation, who had that dumb happy smile on his face that usually showed up whenever someone mentioned Futaba. It was quite adorable, really, how smitten he was. “Just fuck me up, fam,” he nodded, yawning and stretching a bit.

Haru giggled. “Coming right up!”

It was interesting to Haru how Akira and Futaba had yet to announce that they were dating. It had been over a year now, after all. She remembered when Futaba had rushed off by herself to Kyoto to meet Akira. Ryuji and Ann had gone on and on about how cute it was that she had such an obvious crush on the elder boy and made guesses concerning when they would finally confess to one another. Haru had barely restrained her laughter, sharing a knowing look with Makoto, the only other member to have discover their relationship status without being told. Makoto had figured it out through context clues. Haru had figured it out when Boss asked her to deliver dinner to Futaba in her room and had heard the two flirting aggressively over Skype. It was heartwarming really. A romance fit for a fairy tale. The thief who stole the maiden’s heart to save her life settling down for a calm life, enjoying mutual freedom with the woman he fought so hard to rescue. How ideal.

Haru’s smile fell. She cast a glance at Akira. How tragic she could never be with the man who saved her from her wretched fate…

No, she repremanded herself. That didn’t matter now. Akira was one of her trusted friends. Her family. That could be enough.

And besides, she thought, pouring the newly made coffee into a cup, Futaba was probably much better suited to Akira’s tastes. Who could possibly end up wanting the spoiled brat of a twisted businessman, now doomed to struggle with the strife of being his only inherent for the rest of her life? She sighed. Such was life.

As she set the coffee down on the table, watching with amusement as Akira gagged and scrunched his face up at the bitter taste, the bell to the shop’s front door rang and in filed their little family, excitedly chattering to one another and demanding breakfast from poor Boss. So much for a quiet morning. Futaba rushed over to sit next to Akira, narrowly beating Ryuji, who scowled at her for the offense of stealing his best friend’s attention. Her victorious grin and boasting laughter was enough to put that dopey smile back on Akira’s face and that was quite enough for Haru, thank you very much.

She turned away, slightly desperate for something to do. And then came Makoto, carrying the dirty coffee cups left over from breakfast, her own personal knight in shining armor. (Or she, supposed, skin tight leather armor.) “Here,” Makoto offered, “I’ll help you get these cleaned up before Boss starts cooking.”

Makoto’s kind smile and warm company soothed her for the moment. “That would be wonderful, Mako-chan. Thank you.”

~~~

They stayed out almost the entire day, riding the ferris wheel and playing games. They agreed to eat dinner at the diner, mostly to give Boss a break from their rambunctious presence, but also because Ann had to start her “crazy unfair stupid no fun” diet next week and wanted to enjoy food as much as she could before then. She had just gone to the bathroom to wash her hands when Makoto came out of a stall. They shared a smile in the mirror. Haru was just about to leave when Makoto spoke up.

“Hey, Haru. Do you have a moment?”

By her tone of voice, Haru could guess that Makoto was going to field one of her theories. Basically nothing got passed her and she tended to confront people about things as soon as she was convinced she was seeing what she thought she was. Might as well let it happen. “Of course. What’s on your mind?”

Makoto sighed, turning off the sink. “Honestly, I’d rather talk about what’s on yours. You seem bothered by something lately.”

Haru nodded, smiling wryly, “A few things really.”

Her friend took a step toward her and drew her into a hug which she very easily accepted. “I know you’re a capable young woman. I won’t bother you anymore about any of this. But, maybe, if these things involve a person specifically…you should talk to them about it? I hear that person is really sweet about these things. And if you ever wanted to talk to me, I’m always here.”

Haru nodded into Makoto’s neck, squeezing her tightly. “Thanks for looking out for me Mako-chan.”

“Anytime.”

~~~

The next morning, Haru was still attending to her regulars when Akira came down. He was already dressed for the day and, much to her surprise, immediately grabbed an apron from the rack and asked what orders she still had yet to fill.

“Um. You really don’t have to do this, Akira.”

The boy smiled at her, cleaning off his glasses and acknowledging, “I know, but I want to. I loved working here before last year and it’s not like I have anything better to do. So, are you going to let me help or what?”

As dedicated and stubborn as ever, that Akira. She smiled and rattled off a couple orders to him, filling the others herself. Between the two of them, they had served everyone and even done any necessary refills in no time. It was a different sort of feel. She was used to silently going about her tasks and enjoying the serene morning glow and smell of fresh coffee. This time though, there was small talk and laughter passed between the pair as they worked. Akira was a damn good barista from his extensive time learning from Boss. Haru felt like it was a challenge to defeat not only her own standards, but her “rival” as well.

It was the best morning she had had in awhile.

When the regulars were mostly gone, she expected Akira to leave. Instead, he made them both cups of coffee and settled down at the bar.

“I feel like we haven’t spoken very much since I left,” he explained before she could even ponder why he chose to stay indoors with her when he could be anywhere else by now. “I loved learning about coffee and hanging out with you back then. I miss it.”

Her heart clenched painfully. If only he knew…

“I…missed it as well, Akira. But us not talking as much is to be expected, right? I mean, you’re busy with Futaba and figuring out your life…”

Akira was silent for awhile, observing her idly while stirring his coffee. After awhile he nodded to himself and sheepishly muttered, “Ah. I’m sorry, Haru. I’ve been a bit oblivious haven’t I?”

A blush grew on her cheeks. Her heart pounded from shock and slight fear of where this conversation could be headed. “You’re…sorry? Um. W-what do you mean?”

“I haven’t been very considerate of your feelings is all.” Akira shook his head, looking so…sad. It was almost painful to stand there and look at such an alien expression on his face. “I kind of knew you felt, well, something for me back then. I mean, there was my stunt at the school festival and how everyone kept assuming we were together when we were dealing with your father’s old employees and your fiance. I…know I didn’t respond to your feelings back then, but I never quite gave you a flat out answer. I guess I just didn’t want to hurt you unnecessarily.

"But, honestly, I really should have. I see that now,” Akira stood and came around the bar to stand before Haru, bowing deeply, “I’m sorry I didn’t handle this very well. Please forgive me.”

Tears sprang up in her eyes. “A-Akira, what brought this on? I don’t understand…”

The boy righted himself, scratching at his neck awkwardly. “You’re bothered by it, right? Futaba and me?”

“Oh. Um.” She couldn’t quite get the words out. Breathe, Haru, breathe.

“We have been trying to not be too…public with our affections. Even Sojiro doesn’t like to see the evidence, even if he is ok with our relationship in theory. I’ll talk to Futaba about it and see-”

“N-no! Please. Please don’t! I.” She paused hugging herself and trying hard to regulate her breathing. Understanding flooded into Akira’s eyes and he nodded, giving her time. If there was one thing she adored about Akira, it was how he seemed to understand her without her having to speak. Truthfully, that was true of all their members, but it still managed to surprise her.

Haru took a shaky breath and explained, “Please don’t change what you and Futaba do on my behalf. That’s not fair to either of you. I don’t want that. You two seem so happy and I am honestly happy for you. It’s not your relationship that bothers me, it’s…” She sighed, shook her head. “This is just…my issue to deal with. And I will deal with it! Really. I just…need to work through some things.”

Akira nodded. “I understand. I don’t know how useful this could be, but…if you wanted to try to talk through what’s going on with me, I’d be more than happy to listen.” He coughed, grimacing a bit. “I definitely get it if that is the opposite of helpful though.”

Haru considered this. The two people Haru had always found it easiest to talk to about such things were Akira and Makoto. And she really did hate how distant she felt from Akira currently. Maybe it wouldn’t help, but would she actually know until she tried?

The cafe was empty. And Boss wasn’t due to come in until 10. They would have a good hour. She turned back to Akira and smiled shakily.

“If…you’re sure. Shall we get some more coffee and sit down to talk?”

~~~

“So if I might try to summarize: long story short, the biggest problem is that you feel like we are all drifting apart and don’t want that to happen.” He paused to let Haru correct him. She merely smiled and motioned for him to continue. “With me specifically, you’re sort of jealous of me being in a relationship…because it might mean we don’t talk as much. It’s not like you wanting to be with me in place of Futaba, but like you feel like us dating takes both Futaba and I away from you in some sense?”

Haru nodded sharply, “Yes that is an excellent summary.”

Akira hummed to himself, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table. “I certainly get the fear that we might drift apart. I can’t deny that I’ve thought of that myself. Though, for all the thought, I’ve come up with no way of fixing it.”

The girl sighed, threading her fingers together. “Nor have I.”

They let the conversation stew between them for awhile. Though, it had mostly been a half hour of her venting, Haru was certainly glad she decided to try this. Akira was a splendid listener and putting her feelings into words made them seem less daunting than they really were. Perhaps the greater issue at hand had yet to be solved, but she felt better than she did before, for certain.

“Well, I think we may need to think about the drifting thing a bit more. But, as for our relationship, how about we go do something fun, just the two of us? No better way to prove that me dating Futaba doesn’t stop you and I from being close friends than going out and enjoying time together, right?”

Akira’s sweetness never ceased to amaze her. Haru giggled, “That does sound wonderful. And I will certainly endeavor to do that with both you and Futaba in the near future, but sadly my uncle has asked a favor of me this afternoon.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

She stood, gathering their dishes and brought them to the sink. “Well, he owns a piece of property out in Hiroo, very close to Shibuya. He had it remodeled because it seemed like a wonderful place to rent out, but with my father’s passing he decided to vacate it. He’s not sure if he wants to sell it or go through with renting it, but he is concerned that it might have been broken into or fallen into disrepair. He’d like some photos.”

Akira stood, coming to help with their dishes. “Well, I still have nothing planned for today. And I have heard that Hiroo has some pretty swanky residences. I’d be interested in seeing the place if you wanted company.”

Haru smiled, “Well alright. If you insist on being bored, there really is no help for you.”

They waited until Boss got in and took over the shop and then set out. It was strange, but as Haru followed Akira out into the backstreets, she couldn’t help but feel as though all her problems were solved. She boarded the train for Shibuya filled with optimism and excitement, though she was yet to know quite why.

~~~

“Are you sure this is the place?”

She laughed, “Knowing who my father was, you still need to ask? I am certain this is the right address.”

To prove her point, she typed a code into the locked gate, which immediately clicked and fell open. Akira raised a brow, seemingly impressed.

As they walked up the walkway Akira whistled, “This place is huge. Who exactly did your uncle expect to be renting to?”

Haru investigated the door. No signs of any forced entry. Satisfied, she fished the key out from her purse and pushed the front door open. The sky was still plenty bright so the lack of lights on didn’t bother her in the slightest. They stepped into the main foyer and Akira’s jaw dropped.

With a giggle, Haru explained, “It could have been a lot of things. Family with at least three children or hoping to accommodate their elderly parents. It’s not all that special. But it is large, I suppose. A four bedroom and three bath home is hard to snag nowadays.”

Akira floated around the home, remarking on the quality of the kitchen, the laundry room, and most of all, the extremely large living area. It was a bit like a pit, with three couches in the shape of a rectangle missing one side. There was an unoccupied TV stand on the wall so that all couch occupants could see it clearly. The main room had a hallway leading off to one bedroom, the master suite with an adjoining master bath. The stairs were at the beginning of that hallway and led up to a balcony type hallway overlooking the living room. There was another large bedroom with a bathroom of its own straight ahead from the stairs and two more smaller bedrooms and a hallway bathroom for the two to share to the right, situated above the master bedroom. One of the single bedrooms was small but had a huge walk-in closet. The other was a wide open room with wooden floors as opposed to the beige carpet of the hallway and a pitifully small closet.

His tour of the house left him standing in the upper landing, thoughts ablaze. Each bedroom had its own distinct feel to it. It was like they were made for specific personalities.

Interestingly enough, they were personalities much like ones he knew and loved.

Haru came up the stairs, phone in her hands and a smile on her face. “Well there doesn’t seem to be any damage to any of the house or the furniture. It’s a bit dusty but that’s nothing the cleaning staff couldn’t fix. I’m sure Uncle will be pleased.”

Akira nodded but remained silent. Haru made an inquisitive noise. “Is everything ok, Akira?”

“How much would your uncle probably ask in rent?”

Haru’s eyebrows shot up at the question. “Oh. I. Well, I don’t know. It is a nice location and mostly furnished. I suppose it would depend on the tenets. Why?”

Akira turned to Haru, eyes alight with an idea. The familiarity of that look enthralled Haru. “Why would we all drift apart? What’s changing now that dictates that?”

The woman hummed, shifting her weight back and forth, “Well, it’s just that Ann, Ryuji, Yusuke and you aren’t in highschool any more. You’re not necessarily tied down to this place anymore.”

Akira nodded, “Yeah, because the next natural step after graduate high school is moving out of your parents place and either going to University or getting a job, right?”

“I suppose so.”

“There are plenty of opportunities in Tokyo and outside of it, and none of the others have those set in stone yet. So the reason we could drift is if the new opportunity forced a change in location.” Akira, paused, licking his lips. “So what if we just all localized to the same location before we even started looking for those opportunities?”

Haru frowned, “I am a bit confused.”

Akira shook his head wildly, pulling Haru forward, “Look. Look at this room. Large open space, large window with a view, wooden floors, no preference for closet space. The person would use the room for something messy, thus the the wooden floors instead of a carpet. Doesn’t need a lot of stuff though. Who does that remind you of?”

Haru stared into the room for a moment, picturing it, before the light bulb in her head visibly turned on and she whispered, “Yusuke.”

Akira smiled excitedly, bounded to the next room over. “How about this one? Smaller room. Space for maybe a Queen sized bed at most but look at this closet. It’s huge. Who has enough clothes to need a closet like this?”

Haru chirped immediately, “Ann!”

“Right! The other two rooms are large. We could fit two, maybe even three people in each of them. Ryuji and I could bunk together. You and Makoto were already talking about renting a small place when Makoto’s lease was up. Futaba could squeeze in somewhere else as long as she has a dedicated place for her computer and Morgana could own the entire living room if he so chose. One of those couches has a pull out bed in it, too.”

As he spoke, the idea Akira was trying to explain took root in Haru’s gut and grew larger and larger until her whole body was tingling with excitement. “The whole group could live together. Like a dormitory just for us,” she whispered, awed.

The pair stared at each other, expressions a mix of excitement and disbelief. Haru wasn’t sure who started giggling first, but before long they had collapsed into each other’s arms, tears in the corners of their eyes and laughing heartily. When they separated, Haru rushed to take pictures of the other rooms and then immediately called her Uncle.

“Hello, Uncle! Yes. Yes, the house is just fine. It looks great actually, no damage whatsoever. Mmhmm. I can send the pictures immediately. Oh, it’s no trouble at all. You’re very welcome. No, there’s no need to pay me. Actually, Uncle, I have a question for you…”

~~~

“So where exactly are we going, you guys?”

Akira and Haru shared a grin, looking back at their group of friends with glee. “Oh, come on Ryuji, you don’t want to ruin our fun, do you?”

Ryuji huffed, “I don’t know, man. You two have been acting weird for the last week or so. Asking us what are plans are, if we started looking for apartments yet, all this future oriented crap in such a short time gives me heartburn and you know it. Then you demand we all meet up and go to an undisclosed location? Yeah. I’m suspicious.”

Makoto laughed. “Oh, Ryuji. Please don’t ever change.”

Futaba smirked at Akira’s side, holding a squirming Morgana. “Still, that was a surprising coherent thought for Ryuji. And not entirely unjustified.” She turned her attention to Akira, narrowing her eyes in challenge. “I wonder what Mr. Leader has cooked up this time.”

Akira beamed down at her, “While I would love to say I am responsible for this, that honor is completely Haru’s.”

A scoff cut him off, “Akira please, this was all your idea. Don’t discredit your own stroke of genius.”

“Ah, but I was powerless to do anything about my genius idea. You’re the one who slaved the week away making it a reality.”

Yusuke chuckled from Ryuji’s side. “I, for one, am interested to see what could bring us to this part of town. Especially if it involves Haru.”

Ann nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah, yeah! Isn’t Hiroo like one of the richer parts of Tokyo? If there’s gonna be food involved, I’m so down!”

Makoto giggled, “I thought you were officially dieting Ann?”

A horrified gasp came from the blond, her hands over her heart. “Makoto! I expected that level of betrayal from Ryuji, not you!”

They all laughed as Akira and Haru came to a stop at their gate. Haru turned around to the group and grinned. “Here we are!”

Haru punched in the key code and opened the front door, letting everyone file in. The various shocked exclamations brought warmth to Akira and Haru’s chests.

Makoto was the one to finally ask the question of the hour. “This house is gorgeous, Haru, but…what are we doing here?”

Haru squealed a bit in excitement, beginning, “So, Akira and I were talking about how we know everyone is going to be starting new chapters in their life soon. And I was worried that those new chapters would mean not seeing each other as often.”

Akira cut in, “Haru’s uncle owned this place and asked her to come check out the house to make sure it didn’t get damaged or broken into while vacant. And I couldn’t help but notice how large it was and how many bedrooms there were. And Haru just happened to mention that her uncle was looking to fill the house.”

“So,” Haru jumped back in, “we thought we could potentially kill two birds with one stone and I told my uncle my plan. And he was very receptive and not only did he approve, but he gifted me the residency in exchange for a few favors on my end.”

The group stared blankly, trying to process what was being said. Finally, Futaba spoke up, “So…Haru owns this house now?”

Akira and Haru both nodded.

“And,” Makoto inquired, tone surprised, “the implication is that we could… live here?”

Haru beamed, “Akira and I did the calculations and between all of us, the utilities should only be around 16000 yen a month. We would also need to buy ourselves some furniture and hire movers to get our things here, but that seems like a minor down payment for a low monthly price.”

Ryuji sputtered, “Only 16000 yen a month? Really? For THIS place? Holy fucking hell man, that’s…that’s…”

“Unheard of,” Yusuke finished, seemingly in a daze.

Akira and Haru shared a grin again and Akira turned back to the group, “So…what do you guys think?”

It was quiet for a minute. Then, Ann burst into tears with a loud wail and flung herself into Haru’s arms. Makoto leaned against a wall to steady herself, equally shocked. Ryuji was also steadily crying while Yusuke had a smile on his face so large it looked like it might split his face. Morgana took off to investigate the house and Futaba sidled up next to her boyfriend, grinning.

“Very nice surprise. It suits us. After all, could you imagine us co-dependent assholes trying to exist separately? Ha!”

Akira wrapped his arms around Futaba and nuzzled into her hair. “No. And now I don’t have to imagine it.”

Futaba placed her arms up around Akira’s neck, stepping up on her tip toes. “You did good, Leader. I’m sure the group will be super duper happy.”

One eyebrow quirked, Akira puzzled, “Not you?”

She shook her head a bit. “I’m gonna stay with Sojiro until I’m out of high school. I feel like we still have some time to make up for, ya know, due to the whole shut in period? Gotta capitalize on that Father-Daughter time while I can.”

Akira nodded, smiling, “God, you’re such a freaking angel. No one deserves you. No one.”

Futaba laughed and pulled down on Akira’s neck. “Yeah yeah, I’m perfect. Ya know what’s actually perfect? Your lips. Now get down here and kiss me with them!”

She could still feel Akira’s patented Joker Smirk when they kissed. Honestly, kisses tasted better when Akira was being a cocky son of a bitch. Though she would never admit it out loud.

The silence of the room alerted her to something being amiss. She and Akira’s eyes both opened and they slowly pulled back, staying in the circle of each other’s arms as they looked around. Ann had a comically wide gaping smile on. Yusuke was blushing a bit. And Ryuji, of course, was scraping his jaw on the floor from how open in shock it was.

Futaba huffed. “You guys are a year and change late. Haru and Makoto figured it out ages ago. Get. Good.”

Then the noise was back in full scale, laughter and hugs and a single resigned “you guys are gonna lock me out of the room to make out huh?” rang out through the space.

The group took a tour of the home, allowing everyone to pick their rooms. As expected, much to Akira’s pleasure, Yusuke and Ann immediately fell in love with the small single bedrooms. There was no contest at all on that front. Ryuji jumped up and down excitedly at the idea of rooming with Akira, babbling about all the anime they’d have to watch and the massive amounts of video games they’d be playing together. And Makoto and Haru happily agreed to share the other two person room. Both boys insisted that the girls take the master suite, since they had more belongings and the house was technically Haru’s.

Futaba and Ryuji sat down immediately in the upstairs large bedroom, making plans to turn the room into the ultimate bunker for bad decisions and senseless gaming. Included in their discussion was the writing out of a list of pledges they would make to each other, so that they could best share Akira’s attention, and accommodate the couple’s alone time without disrespecting Ryuji. Makoto slumped against the kitchen counter at the thought of Ryuji being mature and decided they needed to keep the fridge stocked with wine, much to Morgan’s amusement.

The group spent hours enjoying planning out their new home’s make up, none wanting to leave even though the last trains would be coming soon. Right before they left, Akira called everyone into the living room for one final surprise.

“Well, I’m glad we all seem to be enjoying this new development. I can’t wait to get started turning this place into our new home. And the first step, I think, is a declaration that this house is ours. So, you guys can put your two cents in, but I went ahead and had this made.”

From under one of the couches, Akira pulled a wooden sign. It has metal attachments so that it would hang snugly above the door, large enough to be readable from the street. In the wood was burned a single title, one that immediately brought a grin to every face. Perhaps they were entering a new chapter of life, but that certainly needn’t be without fond memory of the chapter that brought them all together. Ryuji and Yusuke took special care to hang the plaque up before they left.

Before turning to make the walk back to the station, the young adults admired the sign, which proudly read, “THE THIEVES’ GUILD”.

#persona 5 #akira kurusu #akira x futaba #futaba sakura #haru okumura #fanfiction #my fics #the hermit and her joker #tales from the thieves guild

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acrouge-walkintwoworlds · 7 years

Text

Walk in Two Worlds: An AC Rogue fic Chapter #11

Chapter 11

New York, New York April 1757

The markets were filled with patrons as the warm April air warmed the earth. Trees were fully budded with small green leaves, and flowers filled patches of grasses in front of each building. Shay had just traded a wolf’s hide he’d hunted and skinned for an assortment of bullets, gunpowder and pellets. He also restocked on other necessities for the cabin of the Morrigan to last for months on the next assignment from Monro. He’d tried to remain oblivious from the assassin’s spies in this particular district, since he know’s Hope is more likely to be here among one of them. So today he’d just worn a long trench coat and a tanned shirt to look as a common sailor as wheat. And the real fact was that his robes were a little battered up and were in desperate need of a wash. He wasn’t always skilled with the needle when it comes to tattered uniforms, even when he was privatizing with his father.

“Shay!” Barry Finnegan bellowed as he took his hand and both pulled Shay into an embrace catching Shay off guard. “Mr. Finnegan, it’s…it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Shay felt a blush coming on for being caught off guard. If he was a scout, I would of been killed on the spot. “Ah, just call be Barry! Everyone but Monro does. Cassidy has been wondering where you’ve been, Katie mentions a lot about your commissions with the Colonial. And as a captain of all things.” Shay nodded his head, he looked down at the limped goose in Barry’s hand. “What’s the occasion?” He asked gesturing a gloved hand to the poultry. Barry lifted the goose with pride, “Ah. This here drake is for celebration of the birth of the two most important women in my life.” Shay blinked with surprise. “Katie’s birthday is soon?” Shay felt stupid for not asking about Cassidy’s as well. “Aye, Katie’s was yesterday, but she had to things for Pierce and had to go to Philadelphia. Cassidy insisted we get the goose while it’s still eligible. Your welcome to join us as soon as she get’s back.” Shay thought about excepting Barry’s offer, but Shay had to graciously decline due to preparation of destroying more gang locations. Still Shay wanted to find something for his dearest friend. “Mr. Finnegan…Barry…May I ask what does Katie generally like in terms of gifts?” Barry raised an eyebrow in surprise. Scratching is white beard, he’d gave a thought. “Well…to be honest, Katie was never the type for gifts. Everything Cassidy and I would ask every Christmas, birthday, or Easter, she would just say, “Just surprise me, for there is nothing I want more then another healthy year in me age.”. Bloody hell that lass is harder to find a thing for.” Shay smiled to himself. That’s my lassie girl. “Sir, I…I never fully repaired your kindness. If there is a way I can…” “Ah, no need Shay. Unless if you find a bunch of fabric grander then what these mills offer, then you make that wife of mine happy in more ways.” Barry chuckled and gave a wink, causing Shay to give a smile, understanding what he meant. “I’m…no tailor… but I can see to that. My thanks.” Shay shook Barry’s hand and both men attended to their own matters. “Oh, and Shay!” Barry leaned in closer to whisper, “Not a word. I want this to a birthday to remember for my Cassy.” All Shay could do was smile and give a short nod. “I owe you Shay!” Shay extended his hand to Mr. Finnegan, “Consider this even for all you and your women did for me Barry.” The two men shook hands and parted their ways.

All the afternoon, Shay was looking at the contents of the crates recovered from the ships that the Morrigan had taken down recently. Teas. Weapons. drenched paperworks with the assassin’s seal. By far there were very few items that Shay would give to Katie. Shay was entering the fifth crate when Gist entered the cabin .He whistled as he saw the scattered contents all over the cabin. “Captain, I hope the crew isn't aware of you hoarding all these goods for yourself.” Gist said, picking up a silver plate. “No, I… I am looking for…” Shay couldn’t give an answer. He sighed heavily. Running a hand through his hair, Shay’s frustration was clearly shown upon his face to Gist “I managed to find many contacts related to the French allying with a renegade and destroying many gang headquarters; yet I can’t find a bloody gift to give to Katie for her birthday.” Gist gave a smile, rubbing his bearded chin as he gave thought. “Ah.That is a daunting task indeed. For women maybe the most difficult thing to look for in terms of gifts, especially for a lass like Katie Shepherd. May I suggest looking underneath the straws underneath the tea sacks.” Gist kneeled down and dug into the straw paddings. “Most merchants would hide any illegal goods or valuable stuff underneath the padding. Most of the gangs would smuggle weapons and deadly poisons. Or…” He then pulled out a wooden jewelry box and a wine bottle, Shay hoisted himself us and looked inside the opened box. The box contained few priceless jewelry, he picked up a golden ring band twisting it around seeing the light reflected from the precious metal. “My thanks friend.” Shay said. “Lets see if we can find more treasures underneath.” “Perhaps some of these goods maybe of use in selling or trade to upgrade the Morrigan.” “My thoughts exactly.” Shay and Gist managed to find dozens of illegal weapons, including the silent rifle like the one Shay discovered years back, ammunition, hidden money papers, spiced wine, strong liquors, and expensive chocolates. Gist insisted that they should have a toast of wine for the discoveries beyond. Shay also managed to find another crate full of women’s clothing with fine fabrics and edging, even though most of them were too big for Katie’s body. That body. Shay shook his head away from his fantasies. At the bottom was a crate full of fabric materials. Perhaps Cassidy could use the fabric to make new clothes for both herself and her niece. A blank leather bond journal with a tie was wrapped around a dark green skirt. Shay picked the journal up and smiled to himself. I make my own luck. He took a break with Gist, as they drank the sweetest wine Shay had ever tasted, to victory of the discovered items.

Shay that evening went to the Finnegan’s home to deliver the items, but As he was about knock the door, he’d paused and looked up to the large tom cat, Leo pawing upon a window he’d guessed was to Kate’s room. He’d then smiled, tied the sack around one of his belts and started to climb along the building from the other side. When he’d reached the window, the orange tom gave a demanding meow. Shay shushed the cat by stroking the fire colored fur. He’d pushed the window opened and both the man and cat stepped into a small bedroom. The bedroom was smaller then the room Shay occupied. He assumed this was the guest chamber originally when young Katie moved in with the Finnegan’s. He noticed a few books on the desk next to her bed with herbs drying upside down in one post of the bed, giving the room a rich smell. Shay went to the bed and pulled the contents from his sack. As he’d finished, he could hear a door opening from downstairs, the sound of greetings and cheer. Katie must be home. Shay placed an sealed envelope and he helped himself out the window. Into the darkness

***

Katie was back at the Finnegan’s home three days after she left Devonport. She was welcomed home with a great embarrass from her aunt and uncle, and as if it were a gift from above, Cassidy had the goose on the spick since earlier that morning. The meal was served that evening with roasted potatoes, stewed carrots, and for dessert Cassidy’s famous Apple peach pie. Over the course of the dinner, Cassidy talked about the improvements of the number of people returning to the church, the new fabrics that Barry gave her for her birthday, and the news she received from her family back in Ireland. “Your cousin, Duncan has finally went forward to become a priest.”

Incoming Message

Hold on…

Duncan Little….

Of course. He was one of Connor Kenway’s assassin recruits. Didn’t know the assassin’s bloodline is scattered. Who am I kidding. Katie and Little have the same red hair. So I guess that makes them…second cousins I guess.

I’ll let you get back to the memories.

End of Message.

Barry’s eyes raised an eyebrow. “Not surprised. With what happened to his Uncle Mako at the opera house or whatever the hell it is called, I’d be running to the church doors as well.” “Who’s Mako?” Katie asked, cutting a piece of the breast into pieces. Cassidy looked at Katie, almost unsure. “You never heard of Mako? Didn’t I ever mentioned him ya?” The young woman shook her head. “Nope all I heard was Duncan and grandpa Shepherd’s news.” Barry was cutting and mashing a potato with his fork, “Aye, Mako was a well kept British fellow, not sure how you cousin Meredith landed in such a rich style Cass.” “How did he die? Did he had health problems?” “No. He was murdered.” Katie’s head rode to look at her uncle. There were rumors about an assassin being murdured at the opera house. How could Mako…rubbish, it’s not as if I have assassins in my family as well. “What? But when did this happened? Why wasn’t I told this before?” “This happened years ago. I’m surprised that your aunt here didn’t tell you sooner Katie.” “Barry!” Cassidy snapped at her husband. “Maybe it’s just because Katie has been working the souls of her shoes off working on healing the sick and delivering herbs in a time of war. It seems absurd to let a young woman travel alone.” “I can get along just fine Aunt Cassidy. Besides I travel mostly by the ship Pierce owns and commissions. So I’m perfectly safe regardless of the men all around.” Katie was cutting a thick piece of goose, the juice drained from the piercing holes from the fork. Barry took a drink from his mug and said, “Well regardless of how you work lass, I am mighty proud of you. And if any man try to sweep you off your feet, he’ll have to answer to me.” Cassidy smirked and chuckled. “What?” Katie asked the old woman. “Oh nothing dear. I was just figuring that if any man had his eyes on you, he’ll have to get past Shay first. He does have an eye for you Katie girl.” Katie almost choked on the piece of goose. She took a mug of water and drank it down. Barry lifted his eyes towards his wife. “Believe it or not lassies, I saw the devil at the market this morning. He was looking battered, but strong as any Irish man. He’d asked about you Katie.” “He did?” Katie asked casually. “Aye lass. Come to think of it, it has been too long since he’d been here for supper or something. Mark me words though, if this war ever ends, perhaps he should settle down here.” Katie shook her head, “Marrying me off already uncle?”

Katie entered into her room, only to be surprised with a bouquet of wild flowers on her pillow with a wrapped parcel next to it. Katie picked up the flowers, knowing it wasn't Barry who would place these on her pillow. She took a deep breath, allowing the perfumes to make her head light and comfortable. She placed them on her vanity and opened the note on the parcel.

Happy Birthday lassie girl, thank you for all you had done for me.

Shay Cormac

Shay?! As far as Katie could tell, Barry and Cassidy had no knowledge that Shay climbed into their home at the dead of night only to place gifts for their niece. Or else they knew and just pretended not to know. Knowing Shay’s background, he could be stealthy enough to kill anyone or steal anything. The thought and fear of Shay knowing Katie’s allegiance made her shiver; nevertheless she was also flattered for the gesture, with addition of shutting the window on his way out. Still, she knew that Shay would of never hurt her. That was proven at the cemetery back in February. The moments when he held her in his arms, something changed in Katie, she now saw Shay as something more then just a man she’d rose from the grave. He became her best friend. A person she could turn to for a laugh or an ear. And usually it’s the other way around.

Katie opened the parcel and the contents of the box had her mouth drop. Inside was a variety of elegant and rare items Katie could not come to grips with. A copy of “The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom” by Tobias Smollett, a pair of gold stud earrings, a packet of strong tea leaves that would be worth more then her wages, and a small silver locket with a newly edged image of a familiar wolf’s head. Katie looked at the letter again, wondering if there were other men with these letters. It wasn't until she noticed a fine print at the bottom of the page,

“Meet me at the Morrigan when you get back.”

Katie turned to the window looking into the darkness, a smile went across her face. The day may of been long, full of weary travels, but this had been a good day. She placed all her gifts on top of the vanity, placed the flowers in a water pitcher and blew out the candle before falling asleep with Leo curled next to her head.

Outside, from a rooftop across the street, Shay smiled down, for he had another victory for today. Exterminating the factory of gases, and finding the perfect gifts for this young woman, and it never costed him any shilling required. I make my own luck.

The next day, after Katie finished with runs with Pierce, she made her way to the Morrigan. She had her hair half way pulled with a small braid on each side. She wasn’t sure why she wanted to look a little more…clean…after all, all the sailors wouldn’t care how a woman looked as long as there are breasts upon her chest. Still, she felt insured that Shay wouldn't allow his crew to take advantage of her.

As Katie arrived at the Fort’s docks, she noticed the Morrigan was in the process of being repaired, for the crew was focused on repairing the sidings of the ship. As Katie was getting ready to board the ramp to the ship, a crew member yelled from the side swing, “Captain is expecting ya lass, and step with the right will ya.” As Katie was about to thank the sailor, the man interupted, “The Morrigan already has been through enough damaged thanks toy your last presence, we don’t want bad luck on our end.” “Keep talking to a lady like that and the only horrible luck you’ll have is being baited for the sharks by me!” The sound of Shay’s voice gave a booming command from above the sailor. As Katie, with right foot first, made her way up the ramp, Shay extended a hand to her’s as he assisted her onto the deck. Katie noticed that Shay was wearing a simple tunic with a dark trench coat. His dark hair looking half dapped as if it was drying from a bath. “You know he wasn’t really harassing me Shay.” Katie commented, placing a hand on her hip. Shay gave a hard look towards where the sailor was. “I know, still you are as Gist would all you, the queen of the Morrigan and you should be treated like one.” Katie raised a brow, “Even if a woman on the ship brings misfortune?” Shay smirked a laugh. “I make my own luck, Katie.” Katie blinked as she suddenly remembered why she was here. “I wanted to thank you for the lovely gifts.” “It’s no trouble at all. Anything for you lassie girl.” Shay placed a hand on her shoulder, turns her to the cabin and went inside. This was the first time Katie had ever stepped into Shay’s cabin. The center of the deck had a desk where papers and maps littered the top surface. A bed was hidden near one of the corners underneath the large window. But Katie’s mind was turned to the robe, Daniel’s robe, handing upon a mannequin. Katie noticed a few scratch marks upon the leather and a tear on the left side. She touched the torn leather, thinking of what battle did Shay partook in.

“I’m still in the process of repairing it. Never got the hang of mending leather.” Shay explained with an embarrassed tone. Katie gave a smile. “Daniel was never good neither, so Cass and I always ended up mending it for him when he is…was home.” Katie’s eyes lowered again to the robes, touching the black leather. Shay could sense that she was missing her cousin. He then took Katie’s hand, “Come to the table lass, let’s discuss the mending matter for pay and celebrate your birth with wine!” He lead her to the desk. He pulled up the chair behind the desk for her to sit. He pulled a drawer and pulled a bottle of wine out. “You do drink wine, do you lassie girl?” Shay asked. Katie gave a smile. “Only on special occasions and when communion comes along.” Shay then grabbed there glasses from a chest and poured the red liquid into two of them. “Three cups?” Katie was puzzled. “Anyone else coming?” Shay gave a shrug. “No, but I imagine that Hist would barge in after he smells the excellent smell of this wine.” Granting a smile, he chuckled, “That man has the nose of a hound when it comes to a drink.” As Shay finished filling the cups, he handed one to Katie and they both claimed their glasses together. “Happy Birthday lassie girl.” He said before both drank in unison. The wine was the most rich and spiced that she’d ever tasted. As they placed the glasses on the desk, Katie commented, “This wine is the best I’ve ever tasted, where did you come across it? Must of costed a king ransom!” “Nah, it was real a booty from a pirate’s raid that the Morrigan fought off from. Gist and I we just try to keep the crew from consuming in this too much of the richness of it.” “Is that so, well I suspected that Geist might be the bigger threat to the wine if he has the nose of a hound.” Katie twisted a curl with her right index finger.

As if on quote from a play, the cabin door opened to have Gist enter in. “AH, the queen has finally arrived at her palace.” Gist belowed. Katie rolled her eyes. “I think by rights this is Shay’s castle on a ship.” Gist shook his head while taking a cup that Shay filled for him. “Ah lass, behind every good captain is a strong woman.” He took a swig of the wine down. ”By God if you haven’t been around on this earth at all, Shay would of probably be in Limbo or worse if the Reaper took him. Speaking of which, Captain, I found these in one of the goods the other day and we should light one in Katie’s honor.” Gist pulled out a wooden box that Katie recognized to be a cigar box. Which Gist handed the long roll of tobacco to Shay and saved one for himself. He picked up one of the candles near by and each of the men listed it up by exhaling in and out causing the burning plants to glow embers of red orange. The smell had a strong earthy smell that took Katie back to her childhood in Galloway.

“I never thought of you to be smoking on a cigar Shay.” Katie said surprised. Shay fiddled the long cigar in between his fingers. “I generally don’t, but that doesn't mean I take a rare pleasure of the earthly sense. Why, you don’t hang out with men that smoke?” Katie blinked and shook her head. “Oh no…it’s just…old memories of the homeland I guess. The scents would take me back to my grandfather, Jonah Shepherd. Whenever after a mass or holiday, my parents and I would often visit him and my grandmama, Samantha. He would always light a cigar with a cup of brandy while talking business to my father.” She twirled a lock of hair with her finger, causing the it to be even more curled. “He sounds like a true gentleman in my book.” Gist said, taking a deep breath into his cigar. Katie nodded. “I suppose he was. Even though he’d never approved my father’s marriage to a Scottish maid, but he loved his granddaughter.” Katie was playing with a red curl as she remembered the old man.

Shay then extended his cigar to Katie. “Perhaps you should give it a try.” Kati starred at him with concern and tolerance. “Shay, you know it’s not lady like.” “Do you see other people here to judge ya Katie?” Gist asked, spreading his arms outward to acknowledge of the cabin’s emptiness. Katie sighed and shook her head as she took it, and based on memories of her grandfather’s habits, took a slow breath of it, repeating it a few times. The overwhelming burn of smoke made her choke up, yet the strong earthy scent brought her back memories of the motherland as it dried up her mouth. When she removed the cigar from her mouth, she exhaled that ended up her coughing hard. Gist patted her in the back, while Shay handed her a water skin to drink. “Good show Katie, never thought I live to see a woman snuff a smoke from a cigar.” Katie was still coughing lightly, even after drinking talk the water, tears coming from the corners of her eyes. “Well then…” Katie said in between coughs. “I just had the realization that grandfather was right, cigars are not for the faint in heart, and is a man’s luxury that should be treasured.” The two men chuckled looked at each other in agreement. “But Shay, if your to make a habit out of this, a good handmade pipe and tobacco is my personal preference.”

Gist then took his freshly filled wine cup and exclaimed “May I propose a toast then. To the Queen of the Morrigan. Katie! May she live long and glorious for more years to come!” “Here here!” Shay cheered, clanking the wine flasks together. The three friends drank the spiced wine in unison. Following with Shay giving her a kiss on the cheek. Katie’s eyes widened and she could feel her cheeks blushing. Outside, she could hear the found of music playing. “Ah, the crew must be playing for such an occasion too.” Geist said. Katie listened carefully. “This song, it seems so familiar. I haven't heard it since when I was sailing with my parents. The sailors on that ship would play for the passengers.” She then turned to Shay and asked, “Do you know the tune or name of this song?” Shay listened for a moment then answered, “Ye Jacoytes. A classic jig.” Together, the two men and woman sat and listened to the crews playing and singing, Katie was still astounded that a lamb of an assassin was among a den of wolves and they were not aware of it.

#Assassin's creed #assassin's creed rogue #shay cormac #shay patrick cormac #walk in two worlds #gist #Katie Shepherd #kathryn #shepherd #templar #assassin #birthday #morrigan #fanfiction #romance

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reapers-carino · 7 years

Note

Poly roadrat scenario where roadhog gets mad and yells at his s/o causing them to be scared of him, until junkrat and roadhog manage to calm them down?

((So not gonna lie, when I saw this at first I was like MAKO WOULD NEVER….but then I stopped to think about the fact that every single couple has that moment sometimes. Like, even the closest, most well meaning of couples can do something to hurt their s/o so I thank you for sending this anon! I also got two of these similar ask so I hope its alright!))

“If you go out there you’re gonna get yourself killed”, you snapped, following Mako as he walked through your home.

“Mako Rutledge stop ignoring me!”

You could see the muscles in his shoulders and back tense as he paused for half a second before stalking towards the garage door, refusing to look back at you. An angry deep red mark marred the left side of your face, from under your eye to your chin, making your face hurt every time you narrowed your eyes at him.

This is why he was going to get himself killed, trying to get vengeance for you.You had joined a caravan to the border cities, reassuring both Junkers that you would be fine and that you had taken this trip more times than you could count. They were wanted in the town, they had robbed every establishment there at least once and disguises definitely wouldn’t deceive anyone who was used to their silhouettes. You had a sweet, unassuming face that granted you invisibility but you still assured them that you would be fine, you had taken the trips more times than you could count. While hesitant, they saw you off on the repaired bus, threatening the guard, pressing a wad of cash into your hand and a blade into your bag. The trip into town had gone off without a hitch. It was the return trip that had gone awry.

Your bag had been filled with water purifying tablets, bottled water, antibiotics, painkillers, and a ton of CR5M packs. You had even managed to score a bottle of hot sauce that you knew the both of them would absolutely love. You had spent a pretty chunk of change but this could last you a bit longer than fire roasted lizard or ‘roo, plus they tasted way better. You had almost fallen out of your seat when the bus slammed on its brakes. You shot up in your seat, eyes staring through the dusty bus window and cursing softly.

Mad Dog’s gang had surrounded the caravan. The Junker focused on stealing from the weak; young children, elderly, injured, with sugarcoated manners in lieu of outright violence. Still, he did not take no for an answer and his large gang could be quite troublesome when trying to attack them head on.

Everyone had their run-ins with them, most made it out alive if not a little scuffed up. Jamison and Mako weren't an exception to that rule, the gang fighting the Junker’s firepower with their manpower.

You chewed hard at your bottom lip as the bus filled with nervous chatter, crying and yelling. Pulling out a few of your items, you laid the next to you in the chair before taking your bag and pushing it under the seat of the bus. You shoved the armband through your seat, knotting the band several time until it was nearly a ball, holding the bag off of the floor and effectively hiding it. You had pressed your back against the seat, pulling the items into your lap and gulping nervously. Several of the thugs moved quickly through the bus, pocketing items from each aisle, hitting a few people to show that they meant business.

You had been one of those people, the men laughing as they pocketed the few bottles of water and the bottle of water purifying tablets. You had turned from them, holding your face as if it hurt and praying they just kept moving, which luckily for you, they did. Eventually the Junkers had let the bus go, you massaging your cheek and pride but glad you still had most of your loot.

Roadhog had known there was something wrong instantly, your hair tugged into your face as you jumped off the bus, your eyes focused on the ground. Junkrat had skipped over to you, pulling you into a quick hug before tugging the bag over your head. That knocked back your hair, showing off the bruise that you had been given. This is how you had ended back in the small house you had on the edge of Junkertown. You and Mako had been going back and forth as soon as you saw him go to grab his scrap metal bag.

Junkrat flitted around the room, unsure as he looked between the both of you. The youngest in your triad was just as mad as Mako, he still was, but as soon as the two of you started arguing he was startled. He was the impulsive one who wore his emotions on his sleeve, who could yell and yell but be quelled easily by either one of you. Mako and you were more controlled; Mako’s nonchalance complimented by your laid back, supportive nature. When both of you had reached your boiling points, though, it wasn’t pretty.

“Roadhog!”

Mako froze, turning slowly to look at you, you both staring each other down intensely. You had stopped using that name when you had finally learned his real one, saying you preferred the real man to the legend. If you were using it, it was doing it as a way to grab his attention, to let him know that the man may have pushed much too far.

You kept your eyes on him as you moved in front of the door, planting yourself there and crossing your arms as you looked at him. Your stance was challenging, a side that you normally never took, especially with them. You were passive, relaxed and laid-back. But you would be damned if you would let them run into danger needlessly for you.

“We have the supplies”, you started, steeling yourself as Mako turned to look at you, rolling his shoulders so he stood at full height.

You gulped, licking your lips and continuing to stare up at the mountain of a man. You didn’t like this feeling; a creeping anxiousness made the hair stand on the back of your neck.

“I got most of everything. This doesn’t matter, okay? You go after them and it’s gonna turn into a war. We have food and water and medicine, this will go away. It’s not worth it.”

You pointed at your face for emphasis and you wished that Mako didn’t have his mask on because you could see his shoulder twitch, his hand flinching as if he might reach out for you before curling into fists. You gulped slowly but didn’t move from in front of the door, your own hands squeezing into tight fists to steel yourself. Messing with you was like a direct attack against Roadhog and Junkrat; they had killed those who had hurt you before and you knew they’d do it again. But fighting an entire gang without any planning? That was borderline suicidal. Mako huffed once, twice before he glared down at you.

“Move.”

“Wha--”, you blinked several times before your brow furrowed. Why was he being so goddamned stubborn?! Shaking your head hard you grit your teeth. “No. I’m not moving. You can’t go!”

“I said move”, he snarled at you, taking a half step closer to you, your body instinctively taking a half step back until your foot ran into the door.

“Now!”

You jumped at his first yell and froze at the second, trying hard to swallow the lump that instantly formed in your throat. Startled tears welled up in your eyes as you stared at him, your other foot taking a step back until you were completely pressed against the door. You could hear the sound of your heart thundering in your ears as neither one of you moved, a subtle quiver in your body starting up from your hands. The agitated tension and posturing that had been in Mako’s body fell away as he stared down at you, the man silently cursing himself.

“Y/N…”

You involuntarily flinched, twisting your head away and closing your eyes, tears spilling down your cheeks. Yelling absolutely terrified you; it made you anxious, tearful, and scared you for reason that you didn’t quite understand. It had taken you time to get used to the loudness of Jamie and to control your reactions when out in the bush. But Mako’s yelling, especially off of the battlefield and directed towards you, set off every flight response in your body. One of your fists lifted and pressed hard against your lips, shushing the sob that threatened to spill out.

“Ey ey ey Darl…”

You flinched again as you felt two hands settle on your shoulder, one cool and metal and one overly warm. Your eyes peeked opened to look at Jamison, the skinny Junker carefully easing closer to you and in between Roadhog. Your vision was blurry and still clouded with tears as his hands carefully lifted up to your face, pushing the tears that rolled down your cheeks away with your thumbs. He was shooshing at you softly, stroking your cheeks and talking in those soft, hushed tones, all things he had learned to do to calm you down. He tried to edge you away from the door, but you shook your head hard, looking up at Mako before dropping your eyes again. You couldn’t put into words why you were stuck to the floor but you didn’t want to move because if you did...he might leave.

Shame burned in your cheek, your mind mentally chastising you for acting this way when you knew everything was fine. That you were fine. That Mako would never do anything to hurt you and feeling scared was absolutely ridiculous. But your mind was overriding your conscious thought, your head drooping as you tried to listen to Jamie and calm yourself down,your hands rubbing your arms as you tried to forcibly soothe your anxiety away. Jamie had slowly moved his arms around you, gingerly pulling you to the floor and wrapping his arms around you as he rubbed your lower back carefully.

“Y/N…”

“Don’t go please…”

Your voice was quivering, your eyes only jumping up when you heard the sound of Mako’s scrap metal bag touch the floor. He was sitting on the floor now, his body close to Jamison’s but not quite touching as of yet. Your eyes stayed on him timidly, watching as he pushed his mask up and off of his face, placing it to the side of him. His eyes were apologetic yet unsure, like he still hadn’t decided on what would be the right course of action to take. He reached his hand out, his large one gingerly taking yours and squeezing. When you didn't twitch or pull away, he pulled both you and Jamison into his area, hugging tight.

“I won't”, he answered, the hand holding yours drawing slow circles on the back. His hand came up and smoothed down your hair, your face turning into his touch and you hiccuped, tears starting up again. “‘M sorry tahu.”

You sniffed, one of your hands holding on tight to Jamie's, the other holding Mako’s hand to your face. You nodded your head as if to say you were okay, overwhelmed but okay and that you were thankful for both of them comforting you.

“Thank ya…”

#Overwatch #Overwatch headcanon #Overwatch headcanons #Overwatch drabble #Mako Rutledge #Roadhog #Overwatch request #reapers-carino #Junkrat #Jamison Fawkes #roadrat #poly roadrat

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lady-inahime · 5 years

Text

Chapter 13: The gun

Masayasu entered the forest and walked the path Ryouma had said, to his surprise he came upon a small camp. There was a fire burning, a fish was roasting on the fire. He looked around, saw the silver horse he spoke, the horse looked at him and whinnied.

A spear was leaning against a tree, and a sake bottle, a small bag, and a gun are placed near the fire. How could he leave his things that way? Masayasu frowned suspiciously. He looked around, then jumped through the trees and looked to see if there was anyone else.

He found a taller tree and jumped from branch to branch and came almost to the top and looked into the forest, he could see the horse and the fire. His eyes followed every way and then out of the forest he could see Ina and Ryouma. There was no one else but them.

With a leap to the ground he fell crouched and then quickly got up and ran towards Inahime, he did not want to leave her any longer alone with that man.

In exactly two minutes and he was back. He jumped next to Ina and Ryouma feigned surprise. Masayasu looked at him with a cold look and then approached Ina and leaned close to her ear.

"He told the truth, but I feel like there's something strange about it."

Masayasu spoke and then Ina just looked quickly at him, to meet his eyes and looked at Ryouma, who smiled wryly. He ran a hand through his black hair and kept his gaze fixed on his eyes.

"You look in sync, that's good. Are you .... lovers?"

Ryouma asked and saw Ina frowning again. He wanted to have time to talk to her about Masayasu, but he was too quick. He was sure he had seen Masayasu somewhere, he just had to remember.

"You talk too much." Masayasu murmured.

Ryouma shrugged and smiled wryly at Masayasu as if he were really mocking him. "Maybe you say little my dear shinobi."

Ina thought for a few seconds and looked at Masayasu with a look of concern, she needed to know whether to risk it or not, she had a weight on her heart, the feeling that something bad would happen to him was still throbbing in her heart.

"Let's hear what he has to say, but I'll stand by his spear and get his gun."

Masayasu spoke in a cold and dry tone. He did not want to give more holes for that man to speak. He knew a place to not be attacked, he wanted to hear, wanted to know if this was real and could be trusted.

When she heard Masayasu's words, Ina lowered her bow and put the arrow in the quiver. Ryouma breathed a sigh of relief and then looked at Ina and smiled at her. Masayasu did not like how that man seemed to look at Ina, he wanted something from her, and he did not like it.

Ina saw the look and Ryouma' smile and then ignored him, she was serious, but her face changed as she approached Masayasu to talk, Ryouma could see that she had a softer face, they had a good relationship and she trusted him.

"Okay, you go ahead where I can see you."

Masayasu spoke to Ryouma, who only shrugged. He did not have to talk about it, he knew they were both suspicious of him, but the shinobi was the one who most suspected it was his nature, his training, his instinct.

Masayasu grabbed Mako's reins and looked at Ina to make sure she was fine and agreed. Ina smiled at him and nodded. She trusted Masayasu and would follow her plan again. But she would be prepared for any kind of attack.

She took Haku's reins and held her bow tightly, if need be she would use the blade as a sword, for now it seemed tranquil, but nothing was predictable coming from a mercenary and a forest.

Masayasu stared at Ryouma, hoping he would understand that it was for him to walk. Ryouma looked at Masayasu and Ina and waited for someone to say something. Ina raised an eyebrow, or that man was sly or he really was not understanding the situation.

She looked at Masayasu who seemed a little impatient with Ryouma. She knew he could launch another kunai, and before that was necessary she intervened.

"Come on, let's go to your camp."

Ryouma smiled at Ina, his eyes were crimson, she had never seen eyes of that color, and there was a strange glow in those eyes, as if she were planning something, or as if he knew something that no one else knew. It was strange and it caused discomfort in her.

Ryouma turned and headed for the forest, walking among the trees, heading straight for his camp. Masayuki followed behind with Mako. Ina was coming after Masayasu, along with Haku. She watched closely for any strange gesture Ryouma had.

Her heart was still heavy with that bad feeling. Why? What would happen there? She did not want to see Masayasu hurt or worse. She felt a shiver run through her body, that forest was creeping in her, there was something strange in that place. She could feel it.

A cold wind swept down the path. Instinctively she looked back, then to the left side and then to the right side and back to the front, she saw Masayasu in front of her with Mako, but she could see Ryouma walking quietly, now in silence. He was a strange man.

Ryouma let Masayasu decide where to put the horses and pick up his gun and spear, he did not want trouble with the shinobi. Silver looked happy to see Ryouma, who smiled at his horse.

Masayasu took the reins from Haku and taking him and Mako to the side, he thought of tying them both, but then he thought that if anything happened they could flee. He left the horses side by side, away from Silver, who seemed to stare curiously at the two horses.

Then he went to the fire and took the gun to the floor and put it inside his kimono and stood next to the spear. He gestured with his hand to Ina to sit on a free trunk near the fire.

Ina looked at Masayasu, he was really suspicious of something, did he have the same strange sensation as she? Slowly she looked at Ryouma and then looked at the free trunk and walked over to it and sat down, putting the bow in her lap.

Ryouma nodded, there was silence, he did not like silence, but that shinobi looked like a strange shadow beside his spear. He walked over to the trunk opposite Ina and sat down.

"We have fish and sake, will you want a little?"

He asked offering and looked at Masayasu and then at Ina and smiled charmingly at her.

"Stop smiling at her that way and say. Which way best way to go without finding looters or thieves?"

Masayasu began to speak. His voice was so cold that the ears of the listener were harsh and hard. Ryouma before your words looked at him and laughed a little.

"Sorry if I've been looking too much for her, she's a very beautiful young woman, the most beautiful I've ever seen traveling around, you have luck, my dear shinobi."

Masayasu did not change his countenance, he was still cold and serious. Ina could see that he did not want to talk silly, wanted to get right to the subject that Ryouma had confirmed knowing.

Ryouma realized that Masayasu was still cold and serious, so he picked up his bottle of sake and offered it to him as a gesture of peace. Masayasu looked at the bottle and then nodded at him.

"Take a swallow first. I need to make sure it has no poison."

Masayasu spoke and Ryouma's eyes widened. Did he really think that? He laughed. He could not disguise that such distrust was amusing, but he could understand that, the girl must be valuable, so much mistrust.

"Okay, I'll take it first, that's no problem, best sake in Japan."

He opened the bottle and took it to his lips and took a big sip. Ina stared at him, she did not know what that man wanted, he was a mercenary, she already knew that, and she was sure that although Masayasu had not said anything, he knew it too.

After taking a long drink, he offered the sake to Masayasu again. He took the bottle and took it to his nose and sniffed first, even as he looked at the man, yes that was sake, just sake. He took a sip and looked at Ina, who shook her head in negative.

Masayasu handed the bottle back to Ryouma. He still stared at him coldly, still had not accepted it as a gesture of peace. Ryouma realized from his look that he would not lower his guard, so he just shrugged and picked up the bottle.

"Well, let's get down to business. As I said I know one way, but it's going to take one more day of travel, if you had plans for a 3-day trip, maybe it's 4."

He looked at Ina, thinking it might be tiring for her, especially since the night was getting colder and camping would be bad for her.

"We are going to have to cross one side near the mountains and the river. Few people go there because it is dangerous, the river is deep."

Ryouma began to explain, but was interrupted by Masayasu.

"Idea place to be looted." he said harshly.

"No, because it's really dangerous, there's only one part of the river that can be passed with horses, the rest is deep, I know what that part is, no one knows it, no one uses that area, I've done that way several times without being attacked is safe. "

Ryouma replied looking at Masayasu and then smiled and nodded at Ina.

"It's safe for her, you need to think about Milady. When you're alone it's easy to go on a trip, but when you have a lady you need to think about her safety and comfort."

Ina was surprised by his concern to treat women so carefully, this was new to a mercenary. As far as she heard most people beat and rape women, why was he thinking of gentleness and comfort?

She moved her lips to start talking, but a sudden sound made her stand up alert, her eyes fell over in Masayasu who had already pulled his wakizashi. Ryouma got up and pointed in the middle of the forest.

"There!"

Ina can not see right what he was pointing at, but it looked human, it looked like a shadow, maybe a man. It fractions of a second she pulled an arrow and armed her bow and shot at that spot. A cry of pain. It was the voice of a man.

She jumped back, so the tree trunk did not disturb. Her heart soared, it was terrible, the sensation that someone would attack Masayasu. That was what she feared, that was what she'd spent all afternoon thinking.

Masayasu looked at Ryouma, he did not ask for any weapons, but he had helped Ina, so he should not be with these men. But before he could draw any conclusions, a man jumped on him, Masayasu struck a side stroke with his wakizaki, hitting the man's stomach, causing the man to go dead.

In seconds they were surrounded, seven more men jumped on them. The men were wearing simple clothes like peasants, but their faces were covered with brown cloth. It could tell they used to plunder, so they hid their faces.

Ryouma saw a man in his direction and quickly defended himself with his arm so the man did not hit him with a kama, the weapon almost cut off his arm, but he in a quick blow, hit the man's chin with a knee and took kama of his hand and hit his back, making the man fall dead.

Ina began to step backwards, shooting arrows, she lost some because the men jumped with the kama, and her heart was heavy with concern for Masayasu. But she hit the chest of a man who fell dead, so she saw that Masayasu was fighting with either man. His wakizashi slid fast with strong and elegant cutting strokes.

She aimed the arrow at the man's head, he jumped, but Masayasu defended himself. When Masayasu held hit with the Kama with his wakizashi Ina saw her chance. She took a deep breath and shot, hitting the man's head, which falls dead before the shinobi.

Masayasu quickly looked at Ina and even before saying something, he had to defend himself against a hit of the kama, using his wakizashi to defend himself. This must have been some gang wearing kama. He noticed that all the members attacked with kama. But the members were a bit slow for him.

Masayasu jumped back and fell with a knee leaning on the floor. He quickly took two kunai from his little bag, strapped to the waist, and threw it into the throat of two men, both of whom fell dead.

Ina saw a man get close to her, was so sudden and he came with a jump, and a hit with the kama, that she only had time to use the bow. She used the blade of her bow to defend herself from the blow of the kama, she pushed the man and then turning the body at great speed and hitting the blade of her bow in the abdomen in the man, cutting him. Another dead.

Ryouma saw Masayasu slip through the shadows to strike a man with his wakizashi, when he lifted the wakizashi with both hands, Ryouma took a kama from a dead man before him and threw the man before Masayasu gave the final blow. The man just turned his body and felt the blood running down his back. He fell a few seconds later.

"It must be the Kama gang." Ryouma spoke quickly, looking at Ina, seeing her serious face, she was not scared, but serious, and to her surprise she really was skilful with the bow.

"Strange, the leader was not among them."

Ryouma looked at the dead on the ground. And then he felt something, but he realized that Ina and Masayasu had felt it, too. It was another presence. A man came walking out of the shadows. Yes, it was already getting dark, the forest was starting to get dark.

Ina pulled an arrow from her quiver and pinned it on the bowstring of her bow and lifted it, pointing in the man's direction. Before she could shoot him she heard a sound. One shot. She scared. Her violet eyes widened. She nearly lost her breath. That was a gun. Her eyes quickly traced where the shot had hit.

No. No. No. It was all that came into her mind. As she looked to the side, she saw Masayasu put his hand on the side of the body, on the ribs, his hand full of blood. He looked at Ina, he wanted to say something to her. The words fled from his lips again. The silence consumed him again. Pain. He felt pain. And he felt a strange sensation, and a loss of blood. He did not believe this was happening.

Ina saw his face pale, his hand full of blood, so he fell to the ground. Her heart grew heavy, she saw Masayasu being hit, being hurt, as her heart feared. This could not be happening.

She then looked at the man holding the gun. He was a man with a cruel look, and he had hit Masayasu because he knew he was the strongest there, what else had killed members of his gang.

"NOOOOOO!!" she screamed with tears.

#NewBook wattpad romance adventure Inahime Masayasu

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writingfail · 12 years

Note

Your Asami+Privilege critique is WIN. I love Asami, too, she's one of my favourite characters, but I was frustrated with her just being part of the Krew and then ~Mako's~ ex; I wanted her to have connections to the non-benders and provide an insight for Korra about the Equalists and how non-benders actually ARE oppressed in the Avatar-verse. I didn't really consider what you pointed out in your analysis, though, and now that I have seen the flaws in her character, I feel much enlightened.

Wow, thanks! As much as I love and cherish Asami in the show, that privileged part of her always nagged me, so I figured I'd write about it.

#hypnagogic-perception #legend of korra #ask lets roast mako #anti mako #fuck mako #mako hate #answered by writingfail

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gutterballgt · 7 years

Note

Call me, chaleigh, knocking on door for the prompt thig if you feel like it

Sorry this took so long! Had one hell of a day, then spent the evening cooking for the weekend. I’m headed down to the country for a weenie roast at my dad’s place tomorrow, so I won’t get to the other two asks until Sunday.

Anyway!

Leave a “Call Me” in my ask, and I will write a drabbleabout one character asking for another [be it at the brink of death/in abattlefield/knocking on the front door wounded, feel free to specify.]

Raleigh Becket hadn’t had time off in years, and though heshould probably be antsy as hell and bored out of his mind, he couldn’t helpbut love being on indefinite medical leave. Mako teased him about how often hejust lazed about in pajamas and socks, but he knew she approved. She’d seen, ofcourse.

She knew how hard he’d always driven himself.

So he binge-read books and binge-watched old televisionshows and movies, and he made himself comfortable on whatever surface hedecided to occupy, and he fucking loved it. Yancy would have loved it, so hemade sure to enjoy it twice as much, just to be sure.

Thus, he was deep into an old Bob Ross episode, half-wonderingif he should give painting a try since it didn’t seem to violate any of hismedical restrictions and lazily anticipating the moment where the beautiful andartfully balanced painting would be split asunder by a huge old tree right downthe front, when a knock distracted him. The marshal, probably. Mako wouldn’tbother to knock and Tendo wasn’t around much at the moment, due to a sick kidat home.

Shrugging, he paused the show, rolled out of bed, andscruffed a hand through his hair. He had no doubt it was sticking up in theback from a long afternoon of lying back on his pillow. For Mako, he wouldn’tcare. She’d tease him about it while smiling that happy, strangely secret smileof hers. But for Herc, he felt he ought to shape up a bit.

He was not mentally prepared to find Chuck Hansen leaningheavily against his doorjamb, breathing shallow and fast with an arm pressedtight around his ribs. The kid was pale with hectic flares of red in hischeeks, sweating profusely through his ubiquitous grey t-shirt, and his eyeswere… scared. Wide and bloodshot and scared.

What the fuck?

“Ray.”

He blinked, then nodded as if a response was required of him.As if Chuck was asking his name.

“Got a spot of bother.”

Finding his voice – and his sense to reach out as if hecould steady the poor bastard – he huffed. “I can see that. What’s goingon?”

“Can I come in?”

He frowned a bit. “Are you sure you shouldn’t go to theinfirmary?”

Those scared eyes widened even further, then the kid lookeddown at his boots. “Please?”

Well, fuck. Chuck Hansen probably hadn’t used that wordsince he was in single digits. Unable to refuse such an earnest plea, Raleighnodded and backed away, then changed his mind and offered an arm to help whenthe kid swayed a bit too far pushing away from the doorjamb.

“Thanks, mate.”

“No problem.”

Being careful of the ribs the big guy kept an arm clampedaround, he tried to take a bit more weight, and medical leave restrictions bedamned. The heavy body leaning against his put out heat like a furnace, whichdidn’t bode well.

“But seriously, Chuck, what the hell is going on?”

Gasping now and even more pale, the kid stumbled along untilRaleigh settled him in a slump on his own bunk. “’M all right.”

Even more worried, Raleigh crouched in front of his oldrival and looked up at that hectic/pale, sweaty face. “You’re not. Whathappened? Are you sick? Hurt?”

Chuck sighed, then winced and sat up a little straighter,eyes wincing shut. “Both, I think.”

“Chuck.”

Instead of answering, the big jerk finally let up around hisribs enough to lift the hem of the damp t-shirt, revealing a bulky, awkwardlump of gauze taped on his left-side lower ribs. Hissing, he reached down andpulled at the nursing tape and raised the makeshift bandage away. The gauzestuck to the inflamed, puffy, jagged slice extending up from hip to ribs, butRaleigh got an unfortunately good look at the mess. A better look than hewanted, frankly.

“Jesus Christ, Chuck.” Swallowing hard, he triedto look away but couldn’t. The kid needed a doctor, and now. “How the fuckdid this happen?”

Gasping again, the poor bastard covered the wound, slumped,hissed, and straightened back up. He now looked sickeningly pale andhollow-eyed, the flush in his cheeks looking weirdly like stage make-up againstthe rest of his shock-white face. Even the notorious freckles seemed eclipsedby his pallor.

“Fell off Cherno’s damn knee assembly and glanced offthe foot on the way down. Bashed in my ribs a bit and got caught on some loose sheeting.”

Wincing, Raleigh shifted to kneel instead of crouch, feelingweak. “Thought you were supposed to strap in if you’re scrapping off thefloor.”

Because of course they’d fished both Cherno Alpha andCrimson Typhoon out of the bay, and of course they were salvaging everythingthey could in hopes of swapping enough parts between the two of them for onefunctioning jaeger, just in case. No one who’d actually fought a kaiju thoughtthey were gone for good.

“Was just… gonna be a sec–” Another wince, thatbig arm clamping back around his ribs. “A second. Slipped on a hydraulicleak and down I fucking went.”

Well, shit. He couldn’t necessarily argue that. It was justa stupid accident, but Chuck was in serious trouble. The gash was clearlyinfected, and who knew if the kid had broken ribs? Or bruised an organ or two?

Sighing, he shifted to reach up and put the back of his handto the pale forehead. Dry heat, despite the pallor and the sweat nearlyeverywhere else. Not good.

“When did this happen?”

Groaning softly, the kid listed over to his right, then gaveup and slumped down to half-ass lie on his side, his arm clamping even harderover the wounded left flank. “Yesterday, maybe. Maybe the day before. Hardto remember.”

Shit. Shit shit shit.

“Chuck, we’ve got to get you to the infirmary.”

Despite his words, he shoved to his feet to heft the bigidiot’s legs up onto the bunk. Thankfully, the change in pose apparently eased thestretch, and some of the strain went out of the kid’s face.

“Why didn’t you just go there? Why come hereinstead?”

Because the kid needed a doctor, not a fellow jaeger pilot.What the hell could Raleigh even do?

Not that his inadequacy stopped him from snagging his pillowand shoving it under the kid’s head and running a hopefully soothing handthrough the mussed hair.

Weirdly enough, the kid leaned into the gesture and huffed abreathless chuckle. “Who did I come to when I needed someone to sneak outwith me for a new tattoo?”

Rolling his eyes, he set to peeling the t-shirt away fromdamp, overheated skin to take it off without hurting the kid. “Me, butonly because I’d told you the week before that I wanted one, too.”

“Right.” Another slightly pained huff as the shirtcame off and shivers immediately set in. “And who did I come to… fuck,it’s fucking cold in here….”

Shaking his head, he reached to pull the blanket away fromthe wall and drape it over the big, shivering body. “Stay put. Keeptalking.”

Because he supposed he could do a few things, after all,including secretly contacting the infirmary to send someone up with awheelchair because Ranger Hansen had an infected wound and possibly somecracked ribs and would never make it that far on his own two feet. And maybesponge off some of that sick sweat with nice, hot water.

“Chuck?” He peered back into the main room fromthe bathroom where he was rummaging under the sink. “Who did you come tofor…?”

“When I… got all fucked up about that…fuck….” The kid shifted on the bed, gasped as the wound likely pulled,and settled again. “What was I…? Oh, right. Who’d I come to when I wasfucked up over that nightmare about Mum?”

Okay, that was actually a valid point. Even at the time,Raleigh had been stunned that Chuck came to him about it instead of Herc. Herccould have sympathized, at least. All Raleigh could do was listen, give the kidan awkward hug and a handful of tissues, and send him back to his bunk in hopesof a couple more hours of sleep before the day started.

“And… oi, Raleigh? Still there?”

“Still here.” But it seemed to take forever forthe mop bucket to fill up enough to stay good and hot. “Keep going. I’mlistening.”

“Good. Uh… who did I come to when I wanted somethingbesides cafeteria food but Dad couldn’t get away?”

He couldn’t help but grin a bit at that. It had been a goodday, actually. They’d practically camped out in a dim sum restaurant andrefused to leave until they’d tried literally everything on the menu. No one onthe staff complained, though. Sometimes, saving the world had its perks.

Hefting the bucket out of the sink, he tossed a towel overone shoulder and snagged the big cleaning sponge – still in the package, or hewouldn’t have dared use it – and headed back into the main room, stillgrinning.

“Yeah, but if I remember right, I was pretty much yourlast possible choice, there. Herc was in meetings with Mako, Tendo had a familything, Gottlieb had already left, and I don’t think anyone in their right mindwould voluntarily go to lunch with Newt.”

But when he knelt down by the bed and went to arrange hissupplies, he realized Chuck was staring at him solemnly, his eyes huge and darkfrom the heavy circles under them.

“You weren’t a last choice, mate.”

Raising an eyebrow, he flipped the blanket back and wet thesponge as the shivers immediately started back up.

“Came to you first every time. Dunno why.” The kidtried to shrug and winced. “Just felt right to come to you first. Knewyou’d sort me out.”

It felt… weirdly intimate. Maybe it was the steady eyecontact, despite how bloodshot the poor kid’s eyes were. Maybe it was the warmsponging that started at the face and neck and trended down until he was verycarefully dabbing at the edges of the wound he uncovered.

Maybe it was just the trust implicit in that last statement.

Knew you’d sort meout.

He hadn’t known his old rival had that kind of faith inanyone, let alone the has-been.

So he kept his touch light as he sponged away the chillsweat, dried the shuddering body off, then covered the poor kid up again,practically tucking him in and even going so far as to tug off the heavy boots.Chuck didn’t say another word, just watched with exhausted, sunken eyes,wincing occasionally but not protesting.

And when the nurse knocked on Raleigh’s door, Chuck didn’tprotest being hefted into the wheelchair – Raleigh helped, but he reallywasn’t supposed to be lifting anything, and the nurse chided him into justhauling Chuck’s legs – but did reach out to snag the sleeve of Raleigh’shoodie on the way out the door. Tired, fever-bright eyes pleaded up at him, butit really wasn’t necessary.

Of course Raleigh was going with him.

And after lancing and a thorough lavaging and stitches andenough antibiotics to bring a dead kaiju back from the dead, as Chuck lie wanand practically unconscious in a narrow infirmary bed, Raleigh sat at hisbedside and read quietly but steadily until the kid finally fell asleep.

And stayed to make sure he slept soundly.

And lingered to keep him entertained the next day while atsking doctor got the big jerk up for x-rays and found three cracked ribs.

And let the kid hang around in his bunk to read and watchmovies and old television shows while he recovered.

And when Chuck finally came to him for a kiss, Raleigh didhis best to sort him out.

He was the kid’s first choice, after all. He didn’t want todisappoint.

THE END

#chaleigh #sweet-jelly-dreams #pacific rim #ask meme #these guys will be the death of me #heheheh

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