#but if he did find something wrong she'd be woman enough to admit to it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

imagoddamnonionmason · 4 months

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Noble Blood - Medieval Fantasy AU

Fandom: Call of Duty

Word Count: 3718

Chapter: 1/?

Relationship: Knight!John "Soap" MacTavish X OC

Characters: John "Soap" MacTavish, original characters

Summary: Nanette Oakley is the young daughter of a farmer. She is sent on an errand by her parents, to take a basket of goods to their good friend, Mrs MacTavish. While there, someone Nanette thought she'd never see again turns up.

A/N: this was not written recently but it is a WIP that I go back to between the pirate au and other little fics for Jodie and Frank. This was actually not meant to be the main story for my medieval fantasy au... that was supposed to be Franca and Simon... alas, these two stole my heart and their story is my favourite from this au so yeah.

Usually, the market that took place on the last weekend of the month was always extremely busy; that morning was no deviation from the tradition of the mad market rush. Every square inch of the palace’s vast outer courtyard was brimming with hustling life, bodies squirming around the temporary striped cloth stalls. At times, the people perusing through the market would seldom find a chance to stop and catch their breath, nor to parry a caustic remark to others of the inconvenient bustle.

Amongst those hurried souls, a young woman had spent most of that rushed morning dashing about the market; she was effortlessly ducking underneath moving baskets, between the flurry of colourful fabrics, around other oblivious market-goers. Nanette Oakley was used to the frantic climate, but she could not say with any mirth what her true feelings of having to deal with it were - though she would admit through a heaving sigh that, yes, it would most definitely keep her on her toes, the fighting ring known as the market.

That being said, she would also gladly admit that she wasn’t overly fond of the idea of having to intervene in a literal fight, which was something to occur more often than it should. Maybe it was the busyness of the market, the heat of everyone crammed inside the tall battlements that shielded the courtyard. A hysteria would sometimes settle amongst a few stall owners and fights would break out. Laughable fights, mind you, but fights nonetheless and they could be draining on the moneybag.

One month it was the leather vendor, nestled just around the corner from the local tavern, starting a verbal altercation with his brother, the local butcher. Another month it was a locksmith who had come from out of town and set up shop just a few metres away from the currently active locksmith’s humble abode and workshop, with the aim of stealing away her customers.

But Nanette was not one of those types to blindly fling a balled fist at just anyone or for any old reason, which she noted was often the trigger for most brawls that took place. No, Nanette did not have an ego made of glass or a short, unchecked temper, but she did have a father who needed protection from others who might mean him harm, whether that be of the physical or emotional kind.

Wilbur Oakley’s daughter would only get feisty if her father or his stall was accosted by the wrong crowds, snooping vendors hoping to see what prices his wares were with the intention of selling theirs for less, or idiots who wanted to bad mouth her father. You see, Wilbur was gentle, soft at the core, and his green fingers had earned him the love of their little village and others around the kingdom. He worked himself to the bone on their farm and worked himself harder to make sure that his family were cared for. So, when Nanette was old enough to join him on the few markets that required two vendors for his stall (for the sheer amount of vegetables and fruits he had to take and people that would come like a flock of birds) he was glad for his little bodyguard. In the face of her father needing defending, Nanette could put aside her own gentleness to protect him.

At this moment, though, the market’s hustling crowds had begun to die down to a small hum, with some stalls beginning to pack up and ready for their journey back home. Nanette, however, had been given a new errand to run. When her father had handed her a pristine wicker basket, fresh cotton wrapped around a loaf of bread her mother had made, fresh fruit and vegetables from their farm nestled within, her only instruction was to head to a small cottage on the outskirts of the palace’s outer courtyard. She was told it would be a short walk along a stream past the eastern side’s gate and soon she could see the small collection of cottages that she was told to look out for.

Within this small castle village lived a dear friend of her parents, one that she had grown up knowing , but, in her more conscious years of childhood, she’d lost contact with. When contact resumed, it was usually her mother who would be the one to visit, however an illness had taken her health and so Nanette didn’t mind stepping up to the task, despite it being years she’d last seen the friend.

Eventually, the young woman came across the sage green door she was instructed to keep her eye out for, as well as the collection of thistles and heather in the front garden. Wrapping her knuckles on the door, Nanette then stepped back, patting down her skirt and picking stray bits of cotton fluff from her corset and shirt. As the door was pulled open, she finished making sure that the flyaway frizz of her hair was under control, before she peered forward to the lady standing in the doorway. Wearing a slightly tired smile, Nanette uttered, “hello, Mrs MacTavish!”

“Aye, that’s me, lass,” came the jovial reply. The woman was shorter than Nanette, thick, coarse hair pulled back into a low bun and though she was aged, it was full of a deep lush brown colour; there were few strands of white hair to betray the woman’s age. Of course, there were also a few mentions of laughter lines on the woman’s features, dotted with freckles and tiredness under the eyes. The woman, Mrs MacTavish, spoke again, “it’s been such a long time since I last saw you, lass, come on in why don’t you.”

With that, a calloused hand reached out and took the crook of Nanette’s elbow, gently urging inside until she was past the threshold and the door was closed behind her, “oh, and please, call me Moraig, we’re no strangers, you know.”

There was a light laugh that sounded in the older woman’s chest, and soon they were nestled at the oak table settled in the middle of the dining area; this was shared with an open kitchen, fire blazing and heating up the place. A few moments passed, then the wicker basket was pushed slightly towards Moraig, “my parents sent me with this, they send me with their love, too - mum would have come herself but she’s not very well.”

“You know, I knew your Ma was comin’ down with somethin’ awful last I saw her. Do we know what it is?” Moraig’s brows furrowed in concern, but there was a flicker of annoyance in her eyes, like a feeling of ‘I tried to tell her’ but whatever advice she had given her mother had fallen on deaf ears. Sometimes that was the case with her parents, they were stubborn to a fault.

“Not yet, but I have a feeling that it’ll take a while for it to pass, I’ve asked her to see the apothecary in our village, but-”

“Oh you know what she’s like, she’ll wanna get rid of this herself,” Moraig sighed, “but if I have to go down there and talk sense into her, then I will, it’s been a while since I visited you lot.”

A rush of feet sounded down the stairs, then two girls, one barely even thirteen and the other bristling at a similar age to Nanette, burst into the room.

“Is Auntie Adaline alright?” came one worried question, then another followed with similar sentiments. Both girls were the spitting image of their mother, the younger had rosier cheeks, hair raging with curls; the other was a similar height to Nanette and straighter hair, though the colour was a lighter, muted brown unlike her sister and mother. Two sets of eyes were darting between their mother and the woman sitting at the table, one a deep brown and other a piercing light blue gaze.

“Of course she is, don’t you worry,” Moraig huffed, rolling her eyes fondly at her children.

A brief pause.

“Wait, Nannie? That you?” The older girl was smiling, brown eyes honied with mirth and excitement.

“That can’t be Nannie, she’s too big,” came the little girl’s retort, brows knitting together in scrutiny as she looked Nanette over.

“Girls, I see you remember Nanette,” Moraig chuckled, and Nanette stood up. A flood of childhood memories came rushing back and she recalled just how much the two of them had grown.

“Gods, I remember when you were so small,” Nanette chuckled, arms stretching out into an inviting hug. Lesley, the elder daughter, rushed into her arms, “it’s been years! You big lummox, why’d you stop visitin’?”

Eventually, after Nanette let her laughter die down, she replied, “I had to grow up, Lesley, dad needed help… I’m sorry.”

“S’alright, I’ll let it slide this time.”

“You really are Nannie then? Even though you’re big.” This was Bridget.

“Yes, it is, are you going to hug me now or what?” Nanette huffed, puffing out a cheek to emphasise her playful hurt. Bridget finally rushed over and gave her a huge squeeze, though it was more around her legs than her body. For her age, Bridget was still very small.

“It’s nice to see it's like no time’s passed with you three,” Moraig smiled, there seemed to be a tear to her eye, too, “now the question is, are you stayin’ for a little while? I started with some water on the fire, should be about ready for makin’ a brew.”

“Can I have one ma?” Bridget asked, soon discarding the hug for a place at the table, wandering hands moving to the wicker basket. Without even looking, Moraig had plucked a handkerchief from the breast pocket of her dress, swatting at the little hand now peeking into the fruits, “of course you can, but you’re not usin’ as much honey as you did last time, hard to come by as it is without you usin’ it all up, little cub.”

“I can stay a while,” Nanette informed, “it’ll be nice to catch up…”

There was a slight feeling of guilt, as it truly had been too long since she last had the chance; she must have just turned fifteen the last she saw the girls and now she was… well, she was ten years on, now.

----

Time seemed to have passed so quickly, but when in the throes of conversation, who can blame one for not keeping their eye on it. Nanette and the girls were chatting like they truly hadn’t been apart for so long and Moraig was happy to listen to them get along like they did as children. It was also nice to see that the dynamics hadn’t changed and Moraig could sense that, had she been given the opportunity, Nanette would have made a brilliant big sister; lucky for the girl, her two daughters had decided she would be the perfect candidate for themselves. It caused a laugh to grow in her chest and if they still seemed so close now, she wondered just how close they would be had time not kept them apart.

All the while, the weather had turned dark and clouds rolled over the sky in a disastrous haze of thunder and lightning, rain hashing down on the lands below unrelenting. It seemed that, Moraig thought to herself, Nanette wouldn’t have had a choice but to stay anyway. The woman was pulled back to the conversation at hand when her eldest daughter slammed her hand on the table emphatically.

“Yeah, an’ then d’you remember what my idiot brother decided to do then?” Lesley huffed, hands clawing down her features as she recalled the embarrassing memory for her friend. Nanette was trying her best not to let the smile break through, but failed miserably at the task and Lesley almost groaned and abandoned the story. With a flurry of encouragement from Nanette and little Bridget, who was desperate to hear this story again, Lesley continued, though her tone betrayed just how much she hated this gossip. Still, Nanette needed updating on everything.

“He decided that Robert wasnae good enough and chased him away with a big st-”

The front door whipped open as a crack of thunder and flash of lightning filled the room. The droplets of heavy rain left wet debris on the floor, as a hunkering figure hovered in the doorway, covered in a completely soaked cape, lined with heavy furs. The hood obscured the features, but the girls could guess that this person was probably not best pleased with the weather.

“Bleeding hell,” came a gruff voice from under the hood, as the body moved further into the warm, dry home, muddy foot kicking the door closed behind them. From what Nanette could see, this person was clad in leather armour, though protection was its purpose it hadn’t protected them from the cold or the rain. They spoke again, “it’s pishin it doon-”

“Mind what you say in this house,” came a firm warning from Moraig, who was already on her feet and heading into a different room, only to return with dry clothes and blankets, “why on earth, lad, are you here in this weather? I tell you again and again, stay at the castle.”

The hood was drawn down, as numbed fingers felt for the clasp holding the cape around this person’s shoulders. It was then that it hit Nanette.

“You know the sayin’? Speak of the devil?” Lesley rolled her eyes, then shouted up to her brother, “oi, you gonna stand there all night or what?”

Nanette became very stiff as she sat at the table, unable to figure out just how she should carry herself in the presence of John MacTavish. Part of her was glad that he hadn’t noticed her yet.

“Pipe down, you,” came his huff, his back turned to the girls at the table, “bet all you’ve all day is sit about and do nothin’.”

“Have not!” Lesley jabbed back, rising to her feet and putting her hands on her hips.

“Have too.” He replied, still not looking over.

“Have no-”

“One more word out of you two and I swear to the Gods.” Moraig snapped, taking the soaked cape from the man’s hands, “now, mind yer mouth, we got guests.”

It was at this point that all eyes in the room were on her, watching her every move and silently judging how she conducted herself. Like a statue, Nanette was stone, frozen to the spot and unable to will her body to do anything other than just remain seated. Her hands were pooled in her lap, fingers intertwined with each other out of nervousness - her mouth had run completely dry and her throat threatened to croak if she attempted to speak, so she opted for remaining silent.

There was a hope that she was appearing indifferent to his presence, but her physicality would always betray her; in shock (or was it awe?) her lips were slightly parted, jaw loose. Yes, she wished that she could say she looked away, was unaffected, but the truth was that just looking at him seemed to stir up some sort of emotion.

The young woman couldn’t decide what emotion it was specifically, as there were so many rushing to be the first to surface in her chest, but she could guarantee that none of them were good. There was a moment where she tried to convince herself that her eyes were deceiving her.

That couldn’t be John MacTavish, the John of her childhood. The John she knew had been her best friend, her protector, and one day he just disappeared. He’d up and gone without so much as a word of it to her, leaving her in a gaping void that used to hold him, and what was she supposed to do but deal with it.

Now, here he stood, as though he’d been here the entire time she’d been without him.

Yes, Nanette could not, for one moment, name any of the emotions that she was feeling, but she reiterated to herself that, now she had a moment to process, they were most definitely not good at all.

As for John, he was awash with nostalgia, longing, guilt. His gaze had found her quickly, followed by his brows rising sharply in bewilderment, he couldn’t quite believe that the girl he knew had grown into quite the beautiful woman. In this moment, he became acutely aware of everything, how he felt, both emotionally, physically; how water dripped from his hair, down his forehead and off the end of his nose; how his clothes clung to his body uncomfortably; how heavy the leather armour was; how she was staring at him. Was she staring at him because she couldn’t remember him? Or was it because he looked as though he’d just gone for a swim in the moat around the castle on his way back home?

Maybe it was none of those things.

Maybe it was all of them.

The two younger girls watched with bated breath, unsure of what was going on. They weren’t privy to the two’s history, so couldn’t understand the silent war going on in the room, but they could feel that something was off. The bright, cheerful feeling that had captured Nanette was now slowly fading and leaving something entirely horrible and heavy behind.

“Miss Oakley?” John’s voice was quiet, soft, in comparison to how it had sounded with his sister. Assertiveness had left a place for softness, tentative tones guarding the conversation against, what he anticipated to be, an upcoming argument. It had been years since they last spoke and part of him invited that argument, if only it meant that he could be reminded of what her voice sounded like; would it even be the same? She had changed so much, could he even begin to imagine the person she was now?

Nanette drew her gaze down, away from him, and to her hands in her lap. She became fiercely aware of each crevice that created the mapping of hand prints, the small curvatures of each line that defined her fingertips. It was all very clear, like crystalline ice surfacing a lake in winter, so sharp and defined. In drastic comparison, she could feel heat rise in her chest, like a fire burning away at coal in a stove and his voice was the stoker urging the flames higher. Nanette couldn’t decide if this emotion was settling to become annoyance or anger, but either way, he was causing it and she did not like it.

Rising to her feet, she patted down her skirt, adjusted her clothing, her hair, then offered a short-lived smile towards the girls and their mother, “thank you for having me, Moraig, it’s been lovely to see you again. Girls.” She bowed her head in acknowledgement, before she was making for the door.

“It’s rainin’,'' Lesley called out, tripping over her own feet in the rush to be at Nanette’s side, “you’ll catch your death of cold out there!” Quick patters of smaller strides soon joined at Lesley’s side; Bridget was reaching out to grab at Nanette’s hand and when the warm little fingers clasped on so tightly, the woman finally halted.

“Please stay, Nannie,” the little girl pouted, eyes wide and watery, bottom lip protruding so comically in an effort to get her own way. But, Nanette had spent too long there, her parents would be needing her now it was crawling ever-closer to nightfall, and she had other errands to be doing.

“I really should go, but you’ll see me again,” she urged, bending down slightly at the hip, free hand coming to tap the young girl’s nose as the other hand gave an encouraging squeeze to the girl’s fingers. Bridget sighed, shrugging her shoulders exaggeratedly, before she conceded and gave Nanette the go to leave, “you promise?”

“Promise.” Nanette crossed her finger over her chest, just above her heart, smiling all the while. Satiated, the girls stepped back, knowing that if anyone was going to stop her leaving, due to the weather, it would be their strong-headed Ma.

“If you must go now, then at least let my boy take you home, it’s gettin’ dark out and I’m no fond of the kinds’a people that hang around in the night, not to mention it's a good long walk from here on down to your home,'' Moraig huffed, eyebrow raised as though to beg Nanette to disagree, less she wanted an earful. Oh, it may have been a long time since she had seen the girl, but Moraig didn’t see herself as less of an auntie-figure, her mother’s best friend and a good woman. That meant the girl would get the same worried treatment as she gave her own children.

With a slight pause, a twitch of annoyance tugging at the corner of Nanette’s mouth, there was a moment where there may have been some choice words used in response to Moraig; Nanette respected her, though, even after all this absence in her life, and so would respect her will.

With a defeated nod, Nanette was then offered some warmer clothes and a cape, done so by Lesley, “it might be a bit small, but it’s better than what you’ve got, or… not got.” Though the young girl supposed that there had been no warning of this bad shade of weather, it had been lovely and warm all day. Softly, in response, Nanette took the cape and thicker coat, “thank you.”

As Lesley was sorting out Nanette, Moraig was thrusting a dry cape into her son's hands, a pointed look on her face, a warning, perhaps. Her grip on the cape remained a little longer than was necessary and John shook his head, amused but apprehensive of his mothers antics. His mother was a woman abound with great intuition and John knew that this ‘silence’ between himself and his childhood friend did not go unnoticed; he could also hazard a guess that his mother had figured out why, too.

“Behave you two and make sure the girl gets home safe,” Moraig said.

Regimentally, John nodded, shoulders squaring at his ma’s command and soon, once prepared for the harsh weather, the two exited the home.

#canon x oc #john mactavish x oc #john soap mactavish #Nanette MacTavish #so in this the two are not married yet which is why her last name is oakley #it'll be a fun story to focus on between other projects #call of duty #cod fanfic #mw2 #mw oc #mw3 #other original characters #MacTavish family

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ohraicodoll · 2 years

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can we get a headcannon from joels pov on how he found himself getting emotionally close with red?

Joel wasn't sure when exactly the switch in his head happened. When he stopped seeing Red as just a tag-a-long that helped make the job of watching Ellie easier and when he started to care for her.

He'd agreed to letting her come because of Ellie, because he could see the girl needed someone after the horror of Henry and Sam, and he'd relented. But in his mind he wasn't going to get attached.

He knew the attraction part of it started early. It was hard to ignore, but there was no shame in admitting to himself that he found her gorgeous in her rage and violence. A carnivorous flower.

It was akin to finding something dangerous beautiful. A jaguar behind a thin pane of glass.

Maybe it was that first time they got drunk that he started to see her as a person. It was the first time she talked to him and had a conversation and not clipped words and grunts and stutters. Her voice was raspy but easy with liquor and for once he wanted her to keep talking just to listen. For a second it felt just like before the Outbreak, talking to a pretty girl at a bar about all the things they liked.

She wasn't just a weapon or an asset after that. She was a woman that had interests and likes and had a family and a partner before everything. Things started to click between them, a bridge built.

That was when they started getting on the same page, able to communicate silently. He realized that she didn't just have Ellie's back but his as well.

Then the panic at the close calls. The cabin. Her coming out in only a towel and patching him up, kneeling between his thighs and still baring her teeth. The aching want that had flooded him at seeing her there.

Finding her on the living room floor afterwards, awake and annoyed and uncomfortable, had been the tipping point. He wasn't sure what made him brave enough to proposition her. The loneliness, the image of her naked skin with the stars tattooed on her chest, the excuse that it would be just sex and it wasn't a big deal.

But he'd been wrong and he realized he was tumbling into the abyss the moment his fingers were between her thighs. And when she finally made a sound, unable to keep it in, it was over for him. He was drowning in everything, trying to cling desperately to the life raft that was his excuses. No kissing, it's just sex it's just sex it's just sex.

Her eyes found his and her skin was flushed and for a second she was vulnerable, unmasked, and he couldn't help himself.

He still clung to his excuses every time he found her in the darkness. Every kiss on her skin, ever moan swallowed by her mouth, every time her nails raked across his scalp. But it was the aftermath that did him in.

Joel had a hard time letting go of her after, her warm body in his arms, and somehow he got addicted to her voice. He knew it was something only he and Ellie got and relished in it, somehow finding he was willing to offer tiny pieces of himself in exchange for listening.

They talked about music, about his brother, smuggling, him growing up in Arlington before moving to Austin. He dodged around Sarah, his ex-wife, all the pain. She mentioned being a military brat, of all things, moving a lot, touching only briefly on a potential group she had left and the different areas she roamed when she was alone. Not much, but crumbs for each other, passed from one set of lips to the other.

He tried to keep a distance during the day. The light made everything too real, too blatant, so he kept his distance and rough tone. They used their anger as a shield. But the anxiety started to twist and grow with every close call.

She'd later tell him he was dealing with panic attacks but it felt like he was dying at the time. Every fear strangling him and squeezing around his heart until he couldn't breathe. Joel tried to hide it like a wounded dog but she noticed because of course she would. She always did.

Dread started to seep in because the fear tasted familiar and he knew that somewhere down the line he had tumbled too far. That losing Red just like losing Ellie would hurt and he didn't know if he could do it.

He had tried to give some part of himself to Tess but couldn't ever do it, even when she asked and pushed past the line of partner into more. He couldn't give it to her and even if she said she was fine with only sex, he knew she wasn't.

But he found he was already giving pieces of himself to Red and she hadn't even asked. Something that hadn't happened since Sarah's mom. It was terrifying.

When he tried to push her away, push her to Tommy and wipe his hands clean, it was like she clawed him on the way out. Raked her talons across his flesh and made him bleed to remember her by. It was the first time in a long while that they had a warm, clean bed to sleep in and he was spending it awake most of the night, alone, trapped in the cycle of both Ellie and Red's voices and Sarah's disappointed eyes.

Joel couldn't follow through with it. It all cracked that night, the wall he'd tried so hard to put up turning to dust in his hands. He couldn't leave Ellie and Red, couldn't bare to pass them off to someone else and never know what would happen to them. He wanted Ellie's chatter and laughs, Red's glances, her voice late at night. He wanted them with him.

Joel Miller was an admittedly selfish man and he wanted it all.

So he let himself tumble down after them.

#anon asks #asks #series: feral #joel miller x feral reader #joel miller x reader #Joel miller x oc #feral reader #Raicodoll writes #tlou #the last of us #tlou fanfic #the last of us fanfic #joel miller imagine #joel miller fanfic

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cecexwrites · 4 months

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Just One Night

(I was supposed to do a whole bingo card and ended up melting into a useless puddle but I got about halfway through this and I needed to finish it and tbh I'll probably finish the whole card slowly but surely)

May the odds be ever in your favor, Tomorrow The 74th Annual Hunger Games begin, and tomorrow the mentors are all heading out to watch as their tributes are chosen. But tonight is for partying, and when Eulalia Golding is given the key card for her assignment for the night- she finds herself in the room of someone most unexpected

18+ below the cut. Below here there be smut

"Alright, who is here that I should keep an eye out for?" Eulalia tucked her lip gloss into the little bag hanging from her wrist, her eyes scanning the crowd, looking for anyone who would be considered important and worth her time.

"Several game makers are here, it'd be good to have them on our side for the next games," Thane answered, his golden brown hair was perfectly coiffed, and his deep purple tux was flawless. He was the perfect temporary arm candy, there and handsome until he was no longer needed.

"Okay." Eulalia nodded. She was getting a new set of tributes this year. Unfortunately, she'd yet to train a champion to take her place. Part of her felt bad about that. Part of her was sure she was saving them from an even worse fate.

"There are also a large number of Victors here tonight," Thane commented. "The quarter quell is coming next year. No one knows what to expect. I think a lot of Victors want to stay close, they want to listen for any clues."

"Good luck to them. I've done everything in my power to get the game makers to spill and those lips are locked tighter than Snows a-"

"President Snow." Thane interrupted her, giving the man in question a wide grin. He reached out and shook the man's hand. He was old but his grip was strong. Eulalia offered him her hand and he kissed the back. Thane's stomach turned at the gesture.

"Miss Golding, lovely to see you here. When I asked Mr. Hawksley if you'd be attending, he was- unsure." Snow narrowed his eyes at the two.

"That was my uncertainty." Eulalia shook her head. "I wasn't feeling well, But it cleared up before it was time to go."

"Lucky us." Snow looked her up and down slowly. "Well, enjoy the party." He drawled, then walked past her.

"You told him you weren't sure?" Eulalia asked. She'd had the dress for this party picked out for weeks. It was a rather elaborate dress, with a sweeping pearl-colored silk skirt. the top was more structured, as it was made up of golden flowers and branches, leaving more of her skin revealed than not. One wrong move, it seemed, and she'd be exposed to the whole room. But thanks to a lot of tape, there was no chance of that happening.

"I had a feeling." He shrugged. "That if I didn't admit that you'd be there then perhaps he wouldn't have enough time to set up an appointment for you after the party. Perhaps, just perhaps, you could get home at a decent hour. We have work to do tomorrow." Thane reminded her, the two of them making their way to the refreshments.

Eulalia eyed the table hungrily, she hadn't eaten much that day- she couldn't risk the bloating, not in a dress like this. And that held true, in addition to the fact that if Snow did find her a client for the night, she just found it was easier to handle on an empty stomach.

"Are you hungry?" Thane asked, though he very much knew her reasoning for not eating. "I'm sure we can find you something that won't... sit heavy." Eulalia watched as a woman with purple hair, coiffed to look like a swan, loaded up a plate with food. She was talking with her companion, a man with painted orange skin, about the pills that made her sick, so she could make room for more food.

"Tomorrow I deserve a lavish breakfast." Eulalia decided, lifting her chin up. "Tonight I will be fine."

"You almost sounded believable, princess." A third voice joined the conversation. A man slipped by them, close enough that the satin of his black shirt brushed her fingertips.

Adler Cresswell. He was the mentor for District Eight, he had been for nearly Eulalia's entire life. His golden blonde curls were cropped fairly close to his head at the moment. He was always at his cleanest right before the games started. When he got a look at who he'd be sending to the slaughter, he often gave up on himself until a few weeks after the games ended.

Eulalia watched him as he grabbed a plate and started to load it up. He wore a satin shirt, tucked into his matching black pants. The sleeves of the shirt were rolled up to his elbows, revealing forearms corded with muscle, and his hands, the fingers long and thin.

"See something you like?" He asked, teasing. She jerked out of her daydream and flushed, shaking her head.

"Of course not." she stammered.

"Of course not." He repeated. He put a pile of various foods on his plate and walked back over, he plucked a berry from the plate and held it up. "Try it." He encouraged. She started to reach up but he shook his head. Eulalia's heart pounded as she opened her mouth and he placed the berry on her tongue. She closed her lips, just barely avoiding the tips of his fingers.

The berry was perfectly ripe, sweet, and juicy, it burst on her tongue and she couldn't stop herself from closing her eyes and releasing a soft moan.

"That's a good girl." Adler grinned. "Eat something, Golding, you're skin and bones." He commented, eyeing her up and down, much like Snow did, but somehow, when Adler did it, it didn't feel as icky. It felt like he was interested in her- not in what she could do for him. He slipped past them and Eulalia swallowed hard.

"Lalia?" Thane bumped her gently with his hip. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, of course, everything is fine." Eulalia smiled at him and went to the table, picking up a plate. Thane quirked an eyebrow, turning his head to watch as the District 8 Mentor walked out to the balcony, it was a chilly night, and he was going out there to be left alone.

"I never realized how amazing the food was at these parties," Eulalia muttered around a mouthful of fruit. She couldn't talk herself into the true indulgences, but the fruit was all perfectly ripe and sweet and amazing. She picked up a berry from her plate and held it out to Thane, he leaned in and bit into it, leaving the leafy green bit in her hands. She smiled at him and dropped the discard on the plate. When the two of them had made it through the small pile of fruit, He started to lead her out to the dance floor, only to be interrupted by Snow.

"Miss Golding, it seems your presence has been requested." Eulalia's shoulders tensed up. Thane's hand was on her back and he felt every muscle in her back tighten.

"Is that so?" She asked, her voice as tight as her muscles.

"It is. A surprising... candidate to say the least." Snow handed over a card to her and she handed it to Thane, who slipped it into his jacket pocket. Snow's eyes narrowed at the pair. "You know, Miss Golding, you are an adult now, you no longer need a... handler."

"He's less a handler and more a friend at this point." Eulalia ducked her head down and let Thane lead her to the dance floor, but they didn't stop there, they kept walking through the floor and out the doors.

Snow didn't always work face-to-face with victors when he used them, sold them. He saved that for the ones who made him the most money. A lot of Victors from District One and a few scattered through other districts. Fennick, for example, was one of his 'Special projects' But he got the luxury of getting away from it in his own district sometimes.

Eulalia found that going back to District One was just as awful as staying in the Capitol.

"I can't cry." She commented, tilting her head back. "I can't, I haven't in years so why-" Because she had been so sure it wouldn't happen this time, because of the way Snow had talked earlier- most of the men picked their toys in the days before the party so they could dress them up, or attach them to their arm for the night as if they weren't forced to be there. She'd spent all night with Thane, she'd been allowed to wear the dress she'd been so excited for. Now it was going to lay crumpled on some man's floor.

"You can. Makeup can be fixed, Lalia." Thane reminded her.

"What room is it?" Eulalia asked. Thane dug in his pocket for the card.

"808." He answered.

"Let's go, perhaps we can scope out the room before he gets there." She turned on her heel, steeling her resolve, and stormed into the building, past the party, and into the lift. Thane got in alongside her, pressing the button for floor eight.

Each floor was designed to 'look' like the district of the same number. But it was a much more glamorous, completely false version. No one actually wanted to stay in District Twelve, but they loved the way the darkened hallways looked like mine shafts, how the walls glittered with gold and gems that the real District Twelve never had. They were coal mines, but that wasn't as pretty.

The floor for District Eight was just as falsely glamorous, with silk and satin lining the walls, with gold embroidery decorating the doors as their room numbers. 802 804 806. Thane stepped in front of Eulalia, running the key card and opening the door. They didn't know who this was, they'd had no chance to look into him or his past Thane hated that. But the room was dark.

"Oh good, we did beat him here." Thane mused, stepping into the room. He reached out for the light, but came up empty. "Where in the hell-" He finally found the light and he slapped it on, the two of them jumping when they realized there was someone in the room after all.

"Adler?" Eulalia's heart sank as she felt the betrayal. It was incredibly rare for a victor to request another victor but it wasn't unheard of. He wouldn't be her first. But somehow, because of his comments earlier, it felt like even more of a betrayal.

"The one and only." Adler sat in a chair in the corner, by the window that overlooked the city. "This floor is god awful. Do they put you on the first floor?" He asked.

"I have an apartment in town, but I often end up on whatever floor my client is on." She struggled to keep the disdain out of her voice. "Thane you can-" She started to move out of the way. Thane had a murderous look on his face but she shook her head. "Go." the last thing she wanted was for him to get in trouble.

"No, Hawksley, it's fine, you can stay if you'd like." Their heads jerked to face him in unison. "I didn't hire you to bang you, Golding" Adler stood. "Armitage was putting in his bid and I don't like that prick, so I outbid him just to make sure he couldn't have you." He held a glass of something in his hand- a brown liquor of some kind.

"You did?" Eulalia's eyes widened a bit as he came closer.

"I did. You should probably stay for a bit, but you're safe from me, sweetheart. I prefer my partners to be actually willing." There was a knock at the door and while Eulalia jumped, Adler just pulled it open and gestured for the person to come in. It was an Avox who pushed a cart full of food. Just the smell set her mouth watering.

"Thanks," Adler commented to the Avox as they bowed their head and hurried out of the room. "Like I said, Hawksley, you're welcome to stay. I don't know how closely they watch you two, but I'm sure no one would be shocked at the revelation that you two are fucking."

Eulalia had been through a lot in her life, but nothing had made her clutch her non-existent pearls the way that suggestion did.

"Watch your mouth, Cresswell," Thane warned. "Eulalia and I have never-"

"Really?" Adler quirked an eyebrow. "That explains the looks. So what, you just escort her to-"

"I said. Watch. Your. Mouth. Come on, Lalia, I don't think him being a quick finisher would be a shock to anyone either." Thane turned to go, but stopped when he realized Eulalia hadn't moved,

"If we leave too soon- Snow will just book another one." She pointed out. She'd learned the hard way. She had once drugged a client and went to leave, but was intercepted by Snow who happily found her a second for the night. Also, the food looked and smelled amazing. Her stomach growled loudly and Thane sighed.

"Fine." He unbuttoned and removed his jacket, taking it off and hanging it up, then he began unbuttoning his shirt.

"What are you-" Eulalia's eyes widened.

"You can't sit or get comfortable in that dress."

"I have extra shirts she can wear." Adler offered.

"No." The idea of Eulalia in another man's clothes bothered him more than he cared to admit. Thane got his shirt off- he was wearing an undershirt, so he wasn't fully half-naked in front of them. He held the shirt out to her and she took it, hurrying off to the bathroom to take off the dress.

"Green is a good color on you, Thane." Adler opened a few of the cloches that covered the food. He'd gotten a ton of different options. "The cost is being covered by someone else, might as well overindulge." He shrugged.

"I'm not green," Thane argued, walking over and grabbing a handful of fried potatoes, tossing one in his mouth.

"You're undressing in my hotel room to stop that woman from wearing a shirt out of my closet." Adler pointed out, picking up one of the plates and going to sit back down in the chair by the windows.

"I'm not- It's not like that." Thane stammered.

"Oh, I'm not bothered. I rather like half-dressed men in my hotel room- fully undressed it better but I will take what I can get." Adler shrugged. Thane was left- again- speechless. The bathroom door opened and Eulalia walked out, she'd changed out of the dress and had taken her overly complicated hair down as well as removing her makeup. There were still some bits of hair that were hard with hair spray but this was the most undone that she'd let anyone other than Thane and Orin see her in years.

"Here." Thane picked up one of the plates and held it out to her, he knew what she liked, and even when she was indulging she never let herself go too wild with it. He did sneak a few little treats onto the plate. if they were there, and no one mentioned them, then she'd let herself enjoy them.

"Thank you." Eulalia took the plate and hopped over to the bed, hopping on. Thane made up his own plate and turned. Eulalia was happily eating, her focus on the plate on the bed in front of her. Adler, however, was silent, unmoving, his gaze on Eulalia.

Thane didn't say anything. He could understand it. The first time he met Eulalia Golding, as young as she was, she understood the importance of public perception. She kept the facade up for him for a ridiculously long time. She wouldn't let him come over to the apartment that had been rented for her too early, because she needed time to get up, do her hair and make-up, and make sure she was dressed and ready to go.

So the first time he saw her without all of that, the first time he got to see the Eulalia that was underneath it all- it had been blindsiding and now that she was grown- it was somehow breathtaking. Her beauty wasn't dependent upon all the bullshit.

Thane sat in the other chair, next to Adler's and he started to eat.

"Thank you, Adler," Eulalia commented. She had already gotten through a good bit of her food and was pushing the rest around idly. "I can't stand Armitage." She picked up a potato and bit into it. Her eyes closed as it melted in her mouth. She didn't let herself eat a lot of potatoes but damn she loved them.

Adler got up and snatched her plate.

Thane sat in the other chair, next to Adler's and he started to eat.

Adler got up and snatched her plate.

"You're welcome." He answered, adding more potatoes and bringing it back, putting the plate down in front of her. Eulalia glanced at Thane, but his eyes were on Adler. "Like I said- I want my partners," his eyes darted between the two of them, "Willing." He plopped back down and propped one foot up on the bed. Eulalia looked thoughtful, working out what he'd meant, what his eyes had said that his lips hadn't.

Slowly but surely it hit her. She straightened, her eyes widening.

"Adler- are you..." She trailed off.

"I'm whatever I want to be, Golding." He commented, shrugging. "Usually. Around here it's hard to keep it that way." He admitted. "I never understood why you chose to live here."

Eulalia surprised him by letting out a bitter laugh.

"I've never been allowed to choose anything in my life."

"What?" Even Thane was shocked by that one.

"You heard me." Eulalia shrugged, unwilling to say it again. As if Snow or someone else might appear out of nowhere and punish her- or worse, Thane- because she dared to speak up.

"Lalia." Thane's voice was gentle. She shrugged.

"It's fine. I knew when I was a kid what was going to happen... well... not all of it." She admitted. She'd been completely floored when she found out that winning the games didn't lead to freedom. It led to more shackles. She glanced up when no one spoke up and found Thane staring at her while Adler was back to eating, finishing up the food he had on his plate.

"Then it sounds, Golding like you should probably start making your own decisions." Adler dropped his fork and leaned back, finally looking at her.

Eulalia caught her lip between her teeth, looking thoughtful.

"That's enough." Thane stood and took the plates from Adler and Eulalia, taking them to the room service cart. He sorted through what was left on the tray, putting it all on one serving platter and moving it to the table by the door, and then he pushed the cart out of the room to be taken away.

When he turned around Eulalia was standing, her gaze flicking back and forth between Thane and Adler.

"Lalia." Her hands moved to the buttons of her shirt. Adler was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. His eyes had a hungry glint to them.

"Sit, Thane." She ordered, nodding at the chair, she unbuttoned the first button. He didn't move, but he also didn't try to say anything to stop her as she did the same to the second button- the third-

The shirt had eight buttons, she'd only buttoned six of them. Thane's mind screamed at him to stop her, to protect her but deep down he knew- she wanted this, She didn't want him stepping in and telling her what to do.

Adler quirked an eyebrow but remained silent as she let the shirt fall from her shoulders. The soft as clouds material pooled at her feet and she bit her lip, for the first time in a very long time, she looked unsure of herself. Adler stood up, closing the space between them. He placed one hand on her hip, leaning in to kiss her.

Thane's hand balled into a fist, but he didn't feel the urge to punch Adler in the face- no. Instead, he felt a stirring, his cock twitching, coming to life in his pants.

Adler broke the kiss and turned his head to look at Thane. He held a hand out, gesturing for him to join. Thane, however, looked to Eulalia for permission. If she wanted him to walk out right now, he'd do it for her. She gave a small nod, gesturing with her own hand to come closer.

He crossed the room and up close he could see she seemed a bit lust drunk but when Adler's hand gripped the back of his neck, pulling him down, he didn't stop himself from kissing her. The soft kiss quickly turned to something rougher, the bruising kiss letting out years of tension. Adler let it go on, then used his grip on Thane's neck to break the kiss, pulling the other man in to kiss him.

Adler hadn't known he was bi before coming to the Capitol. He didn't have the vocabulary to know such a thing when he lived in District Eight, but he did know from a young age that he looked at men in the same way he did women. He thought he was a sexual deviant- he knew gay people and he knew straight people but to like both?

When he won his games and he had to deal with the tastes of the people here he started to realize- though he couldn't fucking stand the people in The Capitol- that maybe they had something going with not caring as much about the gender of their lover.

Which was why he was able to kiss Thane without any reservation. He could tell by the looks on both Thane and Eulalia's faces that neither of them expected this to happen. He expertly unbuttoned Thane's fly, tugging the zipper down.

"get them off." He ordered, referring to the pants. Thane nodded and stepped back, kicking off his shoes and tugging his pants down around his ankles, he stepped fully out of them and Adler went to the chair, holding Eulalia's hand so she would follow him there. He sat, propping her up on his lap.

"Keep going." He gestured when Thane paused. He pulled his undershirt over his head, tossing it over by his abandoned pants. Eulalia's tongue darted out to wet her lips, Adler's hand moved between her legs, his fingers slowly running up and down her slit.

"You're soaked, darling, do you see something you like?" He asked, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. She nodded, her mouth moving soundlessly for a moment before she found her voice.

"Y-yes, Yes I do." She nodded rapidly. Her heart racing.

"You're still too dressed, Thane, keep going," Adler ordered, his fingers were working Eulalia but his eyes were on Thane, just as much lust in his gaze as there was in hers. Thane found he liked the attention, his fingers hooking into the waistband of his boxer briefs, taking his time to slowly lower them. His cock strained against the fabric, desperate to be let free. When he got them down low enough, his cock bobbed to life, the boxers falling to his ankles.

"Oh-" Eulalia gasped seeing his size. She'd known he wasn't small, she'd been around him almost twenty-four-seven since she won her games, she had seen little hints and ghosts of what was hiding behind the well-tailored pants but she couldn't have imagined this.

Adler slipped two fingers into her, her pussy taking them easily with how wet she was. He slid them in and out slowly, gesturing, with his other hand for Thane to come closer. The man didn't think twice about it, crossing the small space between them and kneeling down.

"See how fucking soaked she is, Thane? And it's all for you."

"Not all of it." Thane denied, glancing up at Adler, his meaning clear. Adler smirked in response.

"Spread your legs, Eulalia." He ordered and she did just that. "How long have you wanted a taste of that sweet pussy, Thane? How long have you dreamed about it." Thane's cheeks went pink at the suggestion, knowing that it was very much true.

"Thane." Eulalia's voice was low, almost questioning.

"A while." He admitted. "A couple of years." He glanced up at her face, she seemed shocked- but not mad. He was just glad she wasn't mad at him. She lived in a world where everyone was using her. Where just about everyone was out to sleep with her or take something from her. He didn't want to be one of those people. His attraction to her went so much deeper than her looks. She was beautiful no doubt, but she was also brilliant and funny and he had spent just about every waking moment with her for years and he wanted to keep doing it until the day one of them died.

"Do it." She ordered. He dug his nails into his thighs to keep himself from just diving directly between her legs.

"Lalia-"

"Do it, Thane, please." She spread her legs wider and that was all the invitation he needed. Thane moved forward, finally burying his face between her legs.

She was as divine as he imagined, her pussy was sweet and warm, soft like velvet. She moaned, her hips rolling up to meet his tongue and he knew- this was dangerous. He was going to end up addicted. He gripped her hips, holding her there as he continued his feast.

He glanced up and Eulalia and Adler were kissing. Her hand moved down next to Thane's head, over the very obvious bulge in Adler's trousers. Thane ate with fervor, further driven by her unbuttoning and unzipping Adler's fly, her hand slipping down into his pants.

"Take it out." He paused his meal just long enough to utter the words. She broke the kiss to look at him and he gave a single nod before going back to it. Eulalia did as she was told, freeing Adler's cock from his pants and fuck- Thane found he was just as hungry for that. Her hand moved up and down Adler's thick cock- he wasn't quite as long as Thane, but he seemed to be thicker. Her hand definitely couldn't close all the way around it. Thane moved from her pussy to lick along the underside of Adler's cock until Eulalia's hand got in the way.

One look up at the man told Thane that he hadn't been expecting that, his eyes were partially closed.

"That's a good boy." Adler encouraged. Thane helped Eulalia with the hand job, his hand could properly close around the circumference of Adler's cock and their hands together moved in sync while he went back to eating Eulalia out.

His work was soon rewarded by her thigh muscles tensing, the one hand he still had on her hip held tighter as she tried to break free. She let out a cry of pleasure, her back arching up as she came, her grip on Adler's cock tightened the slightest bit- not enough to hurt him but just enough for him to feel the difference.

"Fuck-" He groaned. She didn't pull her hand away even as she rode out the orgasm her legs shaking with the effort to stay properly open. Adler reached down, stopping their work on his cock. "On the bed, Eulalia, on your hands and knees. I want to see what you can do with that pretty mouth of yours." He got her up off his lap- on his pants there was an obvious wet spot from where she'd literally dripped down- He didn't give it a second glance, Carefully moving Thane out of the way as well so he could stand, removing the pants anyway. As well as his shirt. He hadn't been wearing anything under all of that, leaving him fully naked in front of them.

Eulalia- as if just remembering what he said- hopped up and headed for the bed. She climbed up, moving until she was at the end where Adler stood, waiting for her.

"Fuck." Thane moved so he was behind her, getting a proper look at her ass, at her cunt still glistening. As Eulalia took Adler's cock into her mouth, starting with just the tip and working her way up to more, Thane climbed up onto the bed behind her. He tapped her leg and she moved her legs further apart without question. He watched as she worked Adler, positioning his cock at her entrance. However, she decided he was taking far too long, pushing back, the head popping into her with ease. With that permission, he thrust forward, she was tight but she was able to take almost every inch on the first try. She groaned around the other man's cock, her eyes rolling back.

Adler reached out, gripping her hair and thrusting his hips forward, forcing a few inches down her throat, when that didn't gag her he smirked, exchanging a look with Thane.

Thane nodded and the two began a rhythm, in at the same time, out at the same time, impaling her mouth and her cunt again and again, She whimpered, her nails digging into the comforter, but she gave no signs of distress, nothing to indicate that she wanted to stop. If anything it seemed she wanted more, one hand letting go of the comforter to move between her legs.

"Pull out," Thane ordered. Adler frowned but did so, as did Thane.

"No," Eulalia whined. Thane flipped her onto her back, helping her move up so her head was hanging over the side of the bed. She opened her mouth again and he went right back to fucking her throat. Thane adjusted her hips and began to thrust into her, one arm held her hips up for the angle he wanted, and the other moved to her clit, teasing her.

At the other end, Adler was toying with her nipples, pinching and tugging on one and then the other, light slaps to her breasts that left her milky white skin a harsh pink color- the contrast was intoxicating.

Experimentally- Thane slapped her clit and she cried out, her cunt squeezing him tight. She might not have had use of her voice but she didn't let that stop her from being vocal as she came, her nails now digging into Adler's thigh. He pumped harder and faster until he knew he couldn't hold out any longer, pulling out fully, he fucked his own hand until he was cumming, the thick translucent white ropes coating her chest and neck.

Adler stepped back so Eulalia could sit up a little better as one- two- three more pumps and-

"Don't pull out," Eulalia demanded. "You know I'm on birth control and- please." She begged. Thane didn't need her to ask him twice, he kept going until he was filling her up, he'd dreamt about this for so damn long- he could even pinpoint the day he realized it. It had been a few weeks after her nineteenth birthday. She'd been on the market for over a year at that point and had been ranting to him about it, about the kinds of people who hired her.

She'd straddled his lap, smelling of vanilla and the sweet scent of the whiskey she'd taken a liking to, grinding herself down on him. He hadn't done anything because he knew she was drunk but that was the day he realized how fucking attracted to her he was.

And now with that coming to a head, he dumped enough cum into her that when he pulled out, it was leaking down out of her cunt and onto the hotel bedding.

"Eulalia." He let himself fall back onto his ass, watching her. She looked incredible, his cum dripping out of her, her chest covered in Adler's. She was still a bit drunk on her lust, her eyes glassy, her chest heaving. Adler smirked and squatted down so that he was level with her head.

"Are you okay, princess?" He asked. She nodded slowly.

"I- I've never... felt like that before. That was more than just an orgasm." She insisted. She'd cum before- it wasn't terribly often but with the partners she chose it usually happened. But nothing had ever been like that before. She was fully sure she'd had an out-of-body experience.

Adler chuckled and walked around the bed, heading for the bathroom.

"Don't move." He told them, coming back with some warm, wet cloths.

"You're staying at the same building as the rest of us for training... right?" Eulalia asked Adler, normally she traveled back and forth between her apartment and the facility for the games but this year- if he was going to be there then maybe, just maybe, she would stay in her rooms there.

"Yeah." He answered shortly, cleaning up her chest.

"Good." Eulalia nodded and let her head fall back to the bed as the two men cleaned her up.

Tomorrow was going to be rough, between travel and getting a good look at the two tributes she was sending to die, but tonight, she was going to enjoy the time she had.

#eulalia golding #hunger games ocs #adler cresswell #never a god #thane hawksley

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spotsupstuff · 1 year

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What was capers realization he had feelings for his technician like? Was he confused trying to figure out what the feeling was since I imagine love and romance aren't very widely discussed amongst ancients of higher circles. If so how did he end up finding a word for the feeling? Was it just going through historical records? Old poetry? Accidentally stumbling upon a very cheesy romance novel?

And what was his reaction to finally figuring it out?

well he didn't actually figure it out proper until later! you can see that in the post about him "asking Sparrows out" (i'm still not over that wording)

first they got to a point of being good friends, which happened thanks to Sparrows being so fucking.. nonchalant about everything. she's super awkward around people like her, but thanks to Boreas' bullshit she feels pretty safe with the tincans (funnily enough). from there Euros was like "Man, i want... more. i want to more. i just wanna give her more and i'd like more in return but how would...." n he came to the conclusion that what he wants is some sort of mutual worship of each other (he knew about romance from his research, yeah, but that is always looked down upon up there even though it shows up in movies so he thought that he's feeling something else. something inherently good.)

which yeah! weird! but he Is prayed to by the citizens of Ales and he views the worship as a sort of high adoration/love. it doesn't show with his interactions with Sparrows, but he does have a lil bit of a god complex. being in a relationship with Sparrows rids him of it though

so anyway, as in that post, he proposes with That. Sparrows is like "holy Shit. oh my Fuck. what the frrfrfgrgfgh???" but she's a reasonable kind woman so instead of flat out rejection she asks him to talk about it with her before coming to a decision

they talk for like an hour or so. just kind of explaining what's going on within themselves- especially Euros does his best to explain what's going on in that Hivemind of his. then Sparrows vibe checks it with "bro nah, that's romance you are describing here. like romantic love???" "but romantic love is wrong. i don't feel in the wrong, so it has to be something else." "yea, that's because the first statement is a bullshit" "huh."

so Spars has to explain That, using her parents as an example of romantic love not being wrong in the slightest and admitting that before she went to school she had a few crushes and hoped that one day she'd settle down n have lil bitlets and all that- and none of that is wrong! so Euros has a crisis for a sec about That n has to ponder it for a bit. so Sparrows sits down comfortably and waits for him to come to a conclusion while tryin to figure out for herself if she wants to get together with a "godly" supercomputer (loaded definition, insert all the rain trauma here) n settles for "eh, why not. we'll see how it turns out. worst case scenario we break up n go back to normal. might be a neat experience to learn from i guess"

n then Euros comes back to his puppet and just goes

"WHATTTTTTTTTT THE HELL, YOU HAVE A POINT I AM IN THE ROMANCE???????" n Sparrows replies with a laughing fit

n then they shake their hands on being boyfriend and girlfriend as if they just made a deal

#spot says stuff #rw #oc tag #''so with the worship thing i just thought id get to sing you a lot of praises daily but if we are in romance and you are my girlfriend...-#-does that....... mean i get to cuddle?????? you????????????'' ''-puts her hand up in a calming gesture- Eventually. Not Yet.'' ''awgh''

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shadowqueen402 · 10 months

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The Maiden And The Huntsman: Chapter 3

(Meanwhile, back in the French kingdom)

During those twenty years that had gone by, Queen Primrose had started to become even more vain than she was in the past, focusing solely on her physical appearance. She had grown a lot more resentful toward Queen Esme and still desired King Roy for herself.

But one day, everything changed. Rumors started to spread around Queen Primrose's kingdom about a woman whose beauty was enough to deem her as "The Fairest In The Land". At first, Queen Primrose shrugged the rumors off with a scoff. Surely, no woman can surpass her based on beauty, right?

Wrong.

The more rumors she heard, the more suspicious Queen Primrose became. If there was one thing that she despised almost as much as Queen Esme, it's the idea of some other woman rivaling her in beauty. And Queen Primrose made it quite clear that she wanted to be the most beautiful woman known in history.

As the rumors spread like wildfire, Queen Primrose decided to get to the bottom of this. She needed to find out the identity of this woman who dared try to rival her. So she made her way to one specific room in her palace where she kept a certain object; the Magic Mirror.

It was a gift bestowed to her by her late mother. This mirror was far from ordinary; it had the ability to obey her commands. Queen Primrose raised her hands up into the air. "Slave in the Magic Mirror, come from the farthest space," She chanted. "Through wind and darkness, I summon thee. Speak! Let me see thy face!"

Wind started to blow fiercely inside the mirror. A loud thunderclap was heard and a wildfire appeared, consuming her reflection. After a minute, the fire subsided which revealed the same tall figure from before staring coldly at Queen Primrose.

"What wouldst thou know, my Queen?" The tall figure asked, spite laced in his voice upon referring to Queen Primrose as such.

"Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest in the land?" Queen Primrose asked.

"Famed is thy beauty, Your Majesty. But behold, a lovely fair maiden I see," The tall figure responded. "Nothing can hide the girl's gentle grace—alas, she is more fair than thee."

Queen Primrose scowled in aggravation. The rumors were true all along. A specific maiden dared to rival her beauty.

"Alas for her!" Queen Primrose barked. "Reveal her identity!"

The tall figure showed Queen Primrose a view of Queen Esme's and King Roy's daughter and only child, Princess Aria. She was seen picking some white flowers from a nearby meadow. A serene look was on her youthful face. Queen Primrose narrowed her violet eyes at the sight of the princess. Aria resembled her mother, though her hair was wavy and her bangs completely covered her left eye.

The tall figure's voice continued to speak. "Eyes red as the rose. Hair black as ebony. Skin white as snow."

With a frustrated gasp, Queen Primrose turned away from the Magic Mirror. She refused to believe this. Her fears of someone rivalling her beauty were coming true. And she loathed it.

"Princess Aria!" Queen Primrose snapped in a frustrated tone.

(Meanwhile, back at the meadows, near the palace)

Princess Aria smiled as she carefully picked another white flower. Her mother always adored them as much as the red roses. So she'd decided to pick some for her. She did, however, hum the same lullaby that her mother always hummed.

In the distance, Reala stood by the trees and watched Aria. He would never admit it, but Jax wasn't kidding about his feelings for Princess Aria. When he first saw the princess, he felt something in his chest. Like a strong desire to protect her from anyone that dared tried to harm her.

Reala almost sighed. Almost. Odds are, she would most likely marry a prince and not a huntsman like him. But even then, Reala still wanted to show and tell Princess Aria how he felt.

He watched as one of those small, bird-like creatures known as Tims hopped over and approached the princess with curiosity.

Princess Aria noticed the Tim, sat the flowers down, and gently rubbed the Tim with a finger. "Hello there," She softly said to the creature. "Are you lost?" With a smile, she gently scooped up the Tim.

The Tim chirped up at Princess Aria as if to respond to her question. The princess continued to gently rub the Tim, earning a bunch of happy chirps from the aformentioned creatures. Reala felt the corners of his black lips move a bit. He never understood what purpose those creatures served, but he secretly found them adorable. Of course, Jax had yet to discover this.

He remembered the day that he encountered one of the Tims, a red one to be exact. The creature decided to take a liking to Reala and kept on nuzzling on him, much to his dismay. And it didn't help that he was practicing his archery skills.

Perhaps, when he gathered up enough courage, he would ask the princess on how to properly handle such fragile creatures like the Tims? Only time would tell.

Without another word, he turned around and made his way back to where he needed to be. After all, duty calls and he couldn't afford to be late.

(Meanwhile, back in the French kingdom)

Jax found himself reluctantly bowing down to Queen Primrose who sat on her throne with such arrogance. "Ah, Jax," She said. "My most trusted huntsman! I'd summoned you here as there is a task that I can trust you will complete!"

"Whatever you say, Prim," Jax replied, amused that Queen Primrose would get annoyed whenever he refused to use any honorifics.

With a huff, Queen Primrose continued. "You will take Princess Aria out of her kingdom! Bring her into a faraway meadow where she will pick wildflowers! Then, when the time is right, do away with her!"

This caused Jax's usual grin to fade away. "But Prim…" He tried to reason. "The princess…"

"Silence!" Queen Primrose barked at Jax. "You know the consequences of failing to complete your task! But just to make sure that you don't fail, bring back her heart in this!" She then showed Jax an ornate box with a gold heart that had a sword stabbed through it.

Jax knew that Queen Primrose was vain and jealous. But now, he knew that the princess was in danger…

…And he had a trick up his sleeve in order to get Princess Aria out of danger.

Aria and her parents belong to me.

Madame Prim belongs to @kayssweetdreams

#balan wonderworld #ocs #fanfic #lance #reala #nights journey of dreams #nights #the amazing digital circus #jax

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library-of-crow · 8 months

Text

Tethered

The shuffling of blankets followed by the soft thump of hooves on the wood floor is what stirred Lillith from sleep. She blinked a couple times, eyes adjusting to the dark room, as she turned to watch Rapture's shoulder rise and fall rather quickly. On her other side, Eirrol slept peacefully unaware, even as the bed shifted as Rapture pushed to his feet and went about getting dressed as quietly as he could.

"Rapture.." Lillith rasped before a yawn escaped her. "What's the matter? It's late.. or early, I suppose." She rolled over so she was laying on her stomach and watching him buzz about the room.

"I need to.. do something." Rapture had paused awkwardly, causing Lillith to narrow her eyes a bit. "Go back to sleep. I'll sort this, alright?" His voice was soft as he returned to the bedside and gently ran a hand through her hair. Lillith let her eyes roll shut as he did, especially when his hand landed under her chin and his lips found her forehead. He'd lingered a bit longer in the kiss than she'd expected, and that's when she knew something was off.

"Rapture.." She repeated as her hand took hold of his cloak. He had been in such a hurry that he'd really just thrown a cloak over his night clothes. Wordlessly, she pressed him for an answer by not letting go as he turned to leave again.

"Something’s wrong." He sighed in defeat and hung his head slightly as he straightened back up. "Something’s very wrong and I.. I need to pray." Lillith's stomach twisted as his voice fell to a low whisper.

Rapture was, after all, a twilight cleric. Perhaps this was just the best time to commune with his goddess, she thought. At least, she hoped.

"Be safe." Lillith dropped her grasp on his cloak as he pulled the blankets back over her.

"I will." Rapture assured, sparing one last touch to her shoulder. Gentle as always. "I shouldn't be longer than five minutes."

"Is that permission to come find you after that time passes?"

"It's, uh.." Rapture scratched at the back of his neck. "Yes. It is." He admitted and Lilith hummed in approval.

Without another word between them, he made for the door and lightly shut it behind him as to not disturb his lovers further. Once he'd left, Lillith didn't fall back asleep, instead leaving her eyes lingering on the door to await his return.

Seconds became minutes, and minutes became an hour, and the soft sound of rain finally pulled Lillith from bed when Rapture didn't return. She threw on a cloak, not bothering to check who's it was, and slipped out of the room. He never went far, the twilight goddess was reachable almost anywhere, but he always found somewhere warm and quiet to pray. For Lillith to spot him, not fifty paces from the inn door, kneeling in the mud while rain beat down on his upturned face, meant something had to be terribly wrong.

As she approached, the sound of quiet crying made her heart sink in her chest. Without concern for the mud, she fell to her knees beside him and stretched her wing over his head despite how soaked he already was. There was a beat of silence between them as Lillith gave him the opportunity to speak first.

"Do you.." Rapture sniffled as he tried to calm himself down enough to speak. "Do you remember when I told you about the woman? The one that was there when my parents died? The one that told me to run?" He rambled off as clawed hands mercilessly rubbed at his face. Lillith took one and gently laid it in his lap while weaving their fingers together. When he turned his head to look at her, she nodded silently. A choked sob escaped him and Lillith scooted closer.

"She was my sister." Rapture looked away to hang his head. "All this time searching for this mystery person, and she's always been my sister." As another sob wracked his body, Rapture fell sideways into Lillith's shoulder.

"How do you know?" She asked softly as her free hand found his hair. The gentle movement of her fingers unwrapped every piece of him until his other hand moved to clutch at her cloak and he was half a second from being cradled in her arms.

"Yeniri told me." Rapture hiccuped as he recalled the conversation with his goddess. "Because she's dead, Lillith." The words were barely choked out and Lillith couldn't stop herself blinking in shock. "That's what woke me up. That's what's wrong. She's dead! She died!"

Lillith pulled her soaked lover closer to her chest as he fell into hysterics. Her wings wrapped around the both of them as she gently traced circles on his back. There wasn't much to say, they both knew this, but she was determined to stay at his side. After all, Rapture was terrified of being alone and there was something terribly lonely about this.

By the time Rapture had calmed down, neither knew how long they'd been out there. The rain began to quell and the slightest pinks of sunrise had just barely peeked over the horizon when they made it back to their room in the inn. Few words were exchanged but the silence was safe and warm in each other’s presence. Once they were stripped down and dried off, both crawled back into bed beside their sleeping lover, who had amazingly remained asleep through it all.

"How did it happen?" Lillith finally asked once Rapture was adequately snuggled up to her side with his head rested atop her chest. His swollen eyes were shut while his arms were slung lazily across both of his lovers.

"I don't know." He rasped, adjusting his head slightly. "It was quick, I know that, and she was.." A wince cut him off for a beat. "She was afraid." The pain in his face and voice brought a familiar tightening to Lillith's chest.

"We'll do something tomorrow. In her honor." Her hand raked through his hair as her eyes drifted to the ceiling. "I'm sure she's proud of you."

"She was." Rapture's voice cracked, and his grip on Lillith and Eirrol tightened. "I suppose I'll talk it over with Eirrol in the morning."

#war one shot broke me #rapture #dread mo #third darkened house #what happens when your sibling dies but you didnt even know you had a sibling #dnd character #dnd ocs #pirates

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queen-scribbles · 1 year

Note

For couples questions: 3 of your choice for Tragen/Jaesa since it seems you're in the mood 😛 and 3 each for AJ/Nate and AJ/Adam

Tragen/Jaesa

Haha, yeah, that mood hit hard(would you believe it was just over a prompt fill? I just love them so much and was missing them, I guess) And picking my own questions is gonna be interesting, since I already got asks for them. :P

8. What do they find physically sexiest about each other?

Jaesa's torn between Tragen's voice and his nose. She loves his nose a lot, but that voice is incredibly sexy and she'd be lying to deny how frequently it gives her extremely pleasant goosebumps.

For Tragen it's Jaesa's eyes. She has these incredibly gorgeous deep brown eyes and he just really loves them a lot. (Her arms aren't bad either :3)

18. Would they have kids together?

100% yes. There would definitely be thought and discussion behind it, bc the galaxy is a fucking MESS right now, but it's always a mess, and they both want kids with each other, so it's a very solid possibility.

26. How are they with PDA?

heh. It doesn't happen on purpose, but they will occasionally go in for what's meant to be a quick kiss only for it to turn into much, much more and not realize they're doing it until Vette or somebody hollers "GET A ROOM"

AJ/Nate

9. Are they a "we" couple?

Oh, absolutely. It's sickeningly adorable and makes Mason fake-retch(and Felix grin) CONSTANTLY. Neither will be deterred.

10. What was their last big fight? What did they learn from it?

Their only(so far?) big fight was after the Trapper ambush in b3, bc while AJ did hide at first, like Nate asked, she's almost as driven to protect as Mallory, so she came busting back out to help midway through when she got scared for them. They learned Nate is over-protective, which surely won't be a problem down the road :))))) and AJ isn't always rational when people she cares about are in danger(this is the woman who tried to FIGHT Murphy even with her lousy combat stat bc it was all she could think to do in the moment. which is why he got away :)) )

I'm sure it'll be fine. They made up. Nate deflected and AJ let him. (She knows he was worried about her, she's not a vampire and has limits/vulnerabilities they don't) There's no way that'll come up again and be a problem in the future. *cackles*

15. What habits or characteristics have they picked up from each other?

Nate's started carrying hairbands in his jacket/jeans pocket in case AJ forgets or hers breaks. AJ's started shoving her hands in her pockets like he does. They've both started moving in sync with each other when they're in the same room/space.

AJ/Adam

heheheheh yes, enable the AU, surely this won't emotionally compromise me at all :P

7. What's their most and least favorite thing about each other?

AJ's favorite thing about Adam is how much he cares about his team, even to the point of making all the hard decisions so it's His Fault on the rare occasions things go wrong. Her least favorite thing is that he's apparently extended that habit to making the call on not admitting they're in love bc... this current state they're in will hurt less than if a nebulous "something" happens down the road? Apparently?

She's sympathetic to what he's told her so far about his family, understands how much it can hurt to lose someone you love(she misses Rook the most out of my girls. Such an empath) But she's of the mind that since they clearly love each other, that's not going to go away through denial so why hurt themselves NOW refusing to enjoy it just in case something happens that could take them from each other ("What if we don't break?"). If refusing to pursue this has both of them in tears, what's the point???? They clearly care about each other enough that if this nebulous Something he's afraid of happens IT WILL STILL HURT LIKE HELL.

Adam's favorite thing about AJ is her genuineness and open heart. She is so heart on sleeve, so open, so optimistic despite everything that happens to and around her(full-blast "Sure maybe there's only a 2% chance you win if you go for it, but there's a 0% chance if you don't even try" girl here). He admires so much the strength of heart/will it takes to still be like that, especially after Murphy. His least favorite thing is her borderline self-destructive level of care for other people. She will "Take me instead, leave them alone!" she WILL throw herself into a fight she can't win to protect/help other people, she will work herself almost to a breaking point trying to save innocents. (even Bobby. The one person in the world she might possibly actually hate, and she'd still risk her life for him bc it's who she IS)

So yeah, that's gonna be just loads of fun moving forward :D so much pain headed my way

14. What little things remind them of each other?

Remind Adam of AJ: Smell of coffee, hairbands, teddy bears(part of him really wishes he'd accepted when she offered the one at the carnival)

Remind AJ of Adam: sunglasses(especially aviators, but any will do it), Dracula(she will die before she admits that to him. But it is one of her favorite books and they did talk about it on the research route :D), moonlight

27. What interests do they share? For interests they don't share, do they ever participate anyway?

They both like to read. AJ definitely likes it more than Adam, but seeing as a good portion of the books in the library are his, it's clearly something he enjoys. At least enough to do with her, if nothing else. :3 AJ is not a Car Person(she's the "I'm not into cars but I know a nice one when I see it" line on his date scene), but she's more than happy to go for a ride in Adam's car, let him talk about it/enjoy it when he wants to. She's very much the "If my SO is happy, I'm happy and want to support him" type.

....now I wonder what Adam's reaction would be to all the random sketches AJ's done of him in the margins of her notes or when she doodles to clear her head >:3

Couples Asks

#couples asks #tragen/jaesa #aj/nate #aj/adam au #so fun fact: i ran mallory through book 3 again on sunday and i am *this close* to doing the her/nate au next #bc the DRAMA of her stubborn insistence on taking care of herself and that overprotective streak of his will absolutely EXPLODE #felix will be grabbing the popcorn #also i really wanna see nate with bff!mason SO BAD #the aj/adam au makes me three kinds of feral if i think about it too long it's so good #i'm so glad i did it #i love my girl

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whentheorcinusbeorca · 5 days

Text

One-shot: A meeting between two alike souls

Manta belongs to @gaiakoraidon(@thepirarucuandtheorca)!

Manta had decided to give Team Virus's base another visit.

She couldn't get the day she went with Toad to meet Anemone and Goonyan out of her mind, especially the time when they had organized some papers together.

Standing near the door, she remembered how she'd gotten to this point.

---

"Toad? Can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Well..." She rubbed the edge of one of her sleeves as she continued to think. "Do you remember when we were arranging research papers and... There were these specific pages about Monsters and their family classifications?"

"Oh." He scratched his head a bit. "You're talking about Moray's papers, right?"

"Moray?"

"Mhm. They're not really the type to work with others most of the time, but they're actually a really nice person once you get to know them. Anemone's been taking care of them for a long time, and she's really proud of it, even more than her Amoeba Goonyans, but she wouldn't admit it in public."

"I see."

A silence was shared between the two for a while.

"I want to see them."

"I can help you get to their room if you want. Do you need it?"

"I'll be fine. Thanks for offering, Toad."

---

And so she'd found herself at what would possibly be the room she could find the person she was looking for.

She knocked.

"Hello?"

No response.

She knocked again.

"Are you in there?"

Again, no response.

She decided that she was going to come in no matter what.

Hey, Moray. I've been thinking about something.

"Mhm."

I mean, it's probably not gonna matter at all, but... I think I'm actually gonna try flirting with the next person who comes in the room.

"Petrel..." They sighed, setting down their coffee. "You aren't serious about that. That isn't going to work, and you know it."

Moray, I'm serious about everything. Even Souls. Speaking of, if you haven't given me one already, you definitely should...

There was a knock at the door.

"No, Petrel, I'm not."

C'mon, just this once—

"You keep saying that, yet you've forced me to get you one every time I'm in a match with everyone."

Another knock, this time with someone's voice accompanying it.

Moraaaaay... Pleeeeease?

"Petrel, I swear to God—"

The door clicked.

As she opened the door, she could hear the noise of something knocking over stuff from within.

Stepping inside, she found nobody there, only a computer, some papers, and shelves full of books.

"If you're in there, I'm not going to hurt you at all. I mean, unless you get on my bad side and you deserve it, but other than that, I'm completely harmless."

Nothing.

"Y-you are?"

The source of the voice slowly peeked out from under the desk, face partially covered by a hood. They appeared a little shook up, but otherwise physically okay.

"Did I spook you?"

The stranger nodded.

"You're... Moray, right?"

They hesitated briefly, but slowly nodded.

"Toad told me about you. Well, not a whole lot, but enough to get a little basic picture on who you are."

"Mister... Toad?"

"Yeah." She held out a hand. "I'm Manta. Nice to meet you, Moray."

Moray hesitated some more, then slowly stood up, adjusting their hood so that more of their face could be seen.

"Y-yeah. Nice to meet you, too."

The half-Monster looked across the room. "That's a lot of books you have there."

The researcher's mind raced as they continued to fathom the sight of this woman who had essentially broken into their workplace and try to come up with something to say.

Okay, how should I start this? Do we talk about books now? No, no, the very first thing you should do after giving someone your name is ask what they like... General question first, then specifics, general question first, then specifics... Yeah, there we go. Let's do this...

"You like yokai?"

WRONG ORDER WRONG ORDER WRONG ORDER—

"Yokai?"

"They're spirits, basically. There's actually a few Monsters that take resemblence to them, come to think of it. I've written the most about those in a few papers I left somewhere..."

"You mean these?" she asked, pulling out a stapled packet.

"You had them the whole time?!"

"Hey, I thought this was really good. You really put your heart into it."

"Oh, tha— Wait, the subject! You know about the Nine-tails, right? Or at least saw one?"

"Yeah. I know someone who has that as a Monster form."

"Right, right, anyway, that shares similarities to the kitsune, which can have up to nine tails the longer they live, and..."

She lost herself in her thoughts as they continued to talk about whatever they had on their mind.

It was almost like her and her own fascination with rocks, crystals, and the like.

"...of course, the tengu is my favorite, especially the kotengu, since— Were you listening?"

"Oh, sorry, I was just..."

"I-it's fine, some of it isn't even important anyway."

"Uh-huh."

Silence was exchanged between the two.

"Oh. You want to know about my research, right?"

"Mainly."

"So, each type of Monster has different variations, putting it into their own family. These different variations have different colors, and some are actually rarer than others. Like—"

"Does the term 'Negative' ring a bell?"

"That's exactly what I was getting to! So every Monster has a Negative variant in their families, but the Nega-Phantom, Nega-Minotaur, Nega-Oculus, and Nega-Doll are the only ones who haven't been properly documented yet."

"While we're on that topic," Manta interrupted, "I'm actually a Nega-Gargoyle. My dad's side has a lot of them in the family. I got it a few years after me and Orca were separated a few years ago, and—"

"WAIT, YOU KNOW HER?!"

"Is...that a problem?" She furrowed her brow in confusion.

"No. No, it's not, it's just..." They averted their gaze for a split moment. "I thought Octo was her first friend, that's all..."

"It's fine. I never thought you and Octo would bond over finding your respective families."

Their eyes widened as they heard this. "You knew about that?"

"No, I didn't. I just thought that—"

Moray, I'm done waiting. I'm gonna do it now.

"No, Petrel, wait—"

In a poof, Manta was suddenly standing in front of a humanoid bird Monster with gray feathers towering over her.

"Come here often?"

She stared at the thing who had just did something that she knew was doing something that didn't seem platonic in the slightest.

She laughed.

"What?" it asked. "Why are you laughing?"

"Okay, you made a good effort, but nice try. First of all, that was amateur flirting. Second, I'm probably way out of your league. You were trying to flirt with me, right?"

"So what if I was," the Monster snapped.

See, Petrel? Moray asked them. I told you that wasn't going to work.

"Sh-shut up, Moray..."

"So, Petrel, if that's who you are," the half-Monster said, "you might have some sort of clue as to how you first awakened."

"I thought you'd never ask!" Petrel perked up. "You see, Moray's family disappeared one day years ago, and they felt a whole bunch of strong emotions at once trying to find them, and thus, I was born! Well, I was actually always in them the whole time, but it only took that moment for me to wake up for the first time!"

"So you're a half-Monster, too?"

"Uh-huh! Nega-Birdman, that's me!"

"Do you know how you're like this? Or Moray?"

"Actually... That's the problem. They're trying to figure it out themself. Their entire family was human, so my existence was pretty much an anomaly from the start. Thanks for asking me about me being here, though!"

This case reminded her of Clione in a way.

"You're welcome. And you're still bad at being romantic."

"I WASN'T TRYING TO BE ROMANTIC!" they screeched, fixing to send her flying with a punch.

Faster than they could register what was now happening, their hand was caught by something rough.

Looking up, they saw that there was another Monster, much larger than them, holding their fist back.

The aforementioned Nega-Gargoyle form she'd talked about.

"Nice try, bucko."

She threw them across the room with one swing, launching them right into one of the shelves.

Big mistake.

"Oh, hey, Manta, heard you were coming again, so—"

Anemone had come in right as Petrel fell to the floor.

"Oh. Oh my."

"Anemone, I can explain," she told her.

"I was trying to platonically flirt with her and she assumed it was romantic and it wasn't romantic!" Petrel squawked.

"Okay, so..." She motioned between the two. "This was because...?"

"Look, I'll tell you everything..."

---

"Yeah, that definitely makes sense now."

The half-Monsters, now in human form again, had just finished telling her about the conversation they'd managed to string up and what had happened afterwards.

"I'm glad you understood."

Moray and Anemone both exchanged smiles, something Manta couldn't help but note.

No wonder she's so proud of them.

She herself smiled seeing that.

I think we'll be great friends.

#グーニャモンスター #goonya monster #goonya monster oc #グーニャモンスター oc

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newtonsheffield · 2 years

Note

In the simmering update I imagine after Kate and Anthony left there was a sibling debrief. Just like utter chaos of being like “THERES MORE THAN ONE OF HIM” “MUM WHERE WERE YOU HIDING HER?” “THEY GONNA MARRY”

Okay but can we see the Bridgerton family response when Anthony and Kate are gone??

Ooof you know the Bridgertons were absolutely baffled when their brother showed up with a beautiful woman tucked under his arm. A Beautiful woman who wasn't trying to get away from him at all.

Violet hadn't been able to stop staring all afternoon. No since Anthony had tugged Kate into the kitchen by the hand, letting his arm drape over her shoulders, their fingers still intertwined at her waist.

She'd been watching them carefully of course, ever since that day when she'd walked into the kitchen to find them with their lips nearly brushing the room filled with tension. And honestly, she hadn't had to look very closely at all to see the signs of it. The way Anthony's eyes tracked Kate hungrily around the restaurant was telling enough let alone the moans and gasps she heard coming from Anthony's office more often than she'd liked to admit, Sprinting down stairs trying not to think about the gasp of Daddy she'd heard.

And honestly, she'd had enough. It was one thing to want to stay in a new relationship bubble: It was quite another to pretend you weren't together when Anthony hadn't stopped smiling for weeks. So she'd asked Kate, and after a stuttered attempt at rejection: Kate had agreed

And she hadn't been wrong. She'd known it from the moment Anthony scooted into the kitchen, followed by Kate and a dog. The very last thing Anthony ever would have been seen in the company of. Her hissed threats to her other children had been it.

"If you scare Kate off, so help me."

"We don't even know who Kate is?" Daphne had said a little bemusedly.

"She works with Anthony, and I'm certain she's the love of his life. So best behaviour, everyone. No one is to be themselves!"

Anthony hadn't let go of Kate's hand all afternoon, kept his left arm slung over her shoulders, kept their fingers intertwined together while they ate. He'd grinned brightly at his siblings, laughed at Kate's jokes, thrived forward when she teased him. Watched his eyes flutter closed as she kissed his chin, catching him off guard. And for just an afternoon: Anthony was back. So much so she'd half expected Edmund to walk through the door.

"Mum, Kate and I are gonna head off." Anthony said quickly, his free hand ruffling his hair seconds after Kate whispered in his ear, a slightly dazed look on his face. "We wanna um- Yeah we wanna hang out."

"Jesus fucking christ." Kate hissed, nudging him in the ribs as she turned back towards the family. "It was so lovely to meet you all."

"You'll come next week?" Violet had asked pointedly, ignoring Anthony's

"Mum."

Kate nodded, as Anthony stepped closer to her again, like he had been drawn there with a magnet. "of course."

And the second the front door had closed all hel, had broken loose.

"Alright, Who the fuck was that? Because it sure as hell wasn't Anthony!" Eloise huffed still staring at the door.

"I was a little unsettled by all the smiling I have to say." Colin hummed, "I wasn't sure his face could actually do that?"

Violet rolled her eyes, "Do not ask your brother about this. I'm warning you. It's very fragile."

"Mum, One of the most beautiful women I've ever seen walked into this house and ate with her non dominant hand to hold hands with Anthony! We're startled!" Daphne was still staring a little open mouthed after them. "Where did you even find someone as exacting as Anthony?"

Violet shrugged, "She walked into the restaurant for an interview one day and the minute I saw them together it was... something else." She said honestly, "So obviously we need to make sure this goes well. You know what he's like!"

"To be fair, she seems pretty into him." Gregory hummed a little too loyally.

Benedict scoffed, "That's actually the most baffling part of it all."

But apparently they weren't the only ones who saw it, because barely a month later Mary Sharma stood beside her, celebrating Kate's birthday.

"Sorry, I just thought I'd come over an introduce myself." Violet said a little awkwardly as Mary stood staring at a picture in the About Our Family section, her eyes fixed. "I'm Violet, Anthony's mother, the owner."

Mary looked up in surprise, her eyes flicking back to the table where Anthony had snuck out of the kitchen to join them towards the end of service, his arm slung over the back of Kate's chair, leaning forward until his lips brushed Kate's in a gentle kiss.

"Kate's such a lovely girl, we're very lucky to have her."

Mary hummed, nodding as she held her hand out. "It's lovely to meet you, Violet. I think the two of us should start getting along. Because whether she knows it or not: My daughter's in love with your son."

#simmering au #kathony #anthony x kate #kate sharma #kate sheffield #anthony bridgerton #molly’s asks and answers

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candied-cae · 2 years

Text

I saw this post by @the-road-goes-ever-on86 about S2 stuff and they mentioned Ed meeting Mary- and I immediately imagined a super dramatic conflict between Stede's "lovers". Something a little scary and aggressive, like Blackbeard wanting to burn the whole world down to figure out "Why did he leave me for her?" And so I wrote a thing. Enjoy!

Is Blackbeard Not Better Than Mary Bonnet?

This is Part 1 of Our Family -> Here's Part 2

Chapter 1/1 - - - Read it on AO3

Word Count : 3,864

Summary : What happens when a pirate scorned catches news that the man who abandoned him returned home to his nearly widowed wife instead of fulfilling their promise to one another? Or, maybe worser, what happens when that pirate finds out that the man he regrettably loved died saving that woman from a wild jungle cat?

That pirate finds that woman and means to take his revenge on her himself. While he's there, he might as well find out what was so special about Mary Bonnet, right?

More OMFD Fics

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It's been weeks since Stede left his old family home to sail after Edward again. In the time after, Mary and Doug felt more comfortable moving their relationship forward. To keep appearances in town, Doug was publicly keeping his own house for the time being, but he'd privately moved in with Mary and the children. They found themselves in a quite loving manner of living now that they'd been able to properly move on from Stede. As awkward as his return had been, it truly helped bring the whole marriage to a close without leaving any feelings of guilt or shame to linger. It was really what they all needed.

And Doug was great with the kids. Stede loved them, of course, but his mind was always a hundred miles away. He was never going to be the kind of father Doug could be, he was born for something else. Mary's darling loved playing games the children suggested, reading them stories, making their treats, running errands, teaching them new things, and even taking care of house chores. Sure, most people complimented him on being a good friend to Mary in her second round of Widowhood... which was less than ideal as he'd rather be complimented on his dedication as a partner. But they figured after a few more months passed they should be fine to overtly court and eventually be wed.

It was a wonderful plan at least, but those were events for other days yet to come. On this day, there were things to do. Mary was entrenched in a new composition she'd been going at, told Doug not to wait up for her, and that she'd be in late. She knew she could trust him to take care of the kids and allow her the time and freedom to work on her passion until she made enough progress that she felt like she could go inside. Hours passed and it was completely dark when she did finally exit her studio. She had finally finished it; the piece she envisioned and spent so many days revising was done. It felt good, the satisfaction that seeped into her bones after completing new work. A sensation she still felt was new as she'd never been able to have a specialty like it before Stede ran away. 'His first proper gift to her' she'd give some credit in her heart.

Stede and her were not meant for each other. They butted heads, found it impossible to understand the other's interests, had no intention of sacrificing themselves for the other even slightly. He never even would admit there was anything wrong. They were never going to work. But it could've been worse. He could've gone on denying how unhappy they were and remained anyway. When he abandoned them over a year ago, it stung, but that morning when she read the letter... Mary felt such a relief. Sure, she was now a widow, a single mother, and had so much additional responsibility. But she was free, he was free, she found community, real love, and her own heart's desire. Stede got his ship, she got her canvas, and they found the people they were meant to love. It was a fine ending to the Bonnet's marriage.

She returned to the home under the black midnight sky, only a barely-there flicker of candlelight in their bedroom window. Of course, Doug was still awake. He always managed to stay up until she was tucked in next to him. She stretched her back out with a few satisfying cracks as she walked down the hallway, quietly sweeping past the children's rooms as not to wake them. She felt bad knowing she wasn't able to kiss the kids goodnight, but she would be at the table in the morning for breakfast to plant smooches on their foreheads and ask them about their night.

She enters the door to their dimly lit bedroom and starts shedding her outer layer of clothes and untying her hair as she approaches her armoire. There's a moment of normalcy as she waits for Doug to ask about her progress on the art, as he always does. Mere seconds where everything is the same, but in low candlelight she catches the silhouette of a stranger, startling her as she drops her waistcoat with a sharp gasp.

He sat in a chair opposite to her love, Doug, who was rope bound to the other. He looked rugged and worn, with tan skin, waving black hair, streaked with grays that ran longer than her own. He was dressed fully in black, his exposed skin covered in tattoos, and dark charcoal smeared around his eyes and lower face. Those eyes were cold, and they were looking right at her.

“Who are you? What’re you doing- Doug?!” She stammers out, not even sure which question she wants the answer to first.

“I’m alright darling-“ Doug is cut off when the pirate buries a knife into the wooden chair between his legs, silencing the two.

Mary grabs a fire poker from beside the bedroom furnace and holds it like a sword. In all his experience, Blackbeard would comment that her form was off. It would be easy to disarm her if he wanted, but she wore a fierce look on her face if anything. Her knuckles were turning white with her grip like a vice on the handle and she stood resolute to defend her home.

One look around the overly lavish setup they were in and he would've guessed she'd simply scream and run for the door. A fearful little mouse running from a wild cat. The chase would've been fun, he admitted to himself. But sure, a direct conflict was bound to be more intriguing. And he was here to learn, was he not?

“Have you done anything to the kids?” She snarls at him, a far more beastly performance than he was expecting from such a prim and proper lady of higher society than he.

A hallow smile cracks across his face and he can see in her eyes that her heartbeat had dropped to her stomach, her blood run cold, she was surely thinking of a million terrible things he could’ve done to the little buggers. Her man of the house was restrained, and they are so small they couldn’t have stopped him. There was no one skilled enough to fight him off.

He lets her stew in that terror as his crooked expression seems to have her nailed in place, before he relents with a casual,“ Nothing."

"I was even so courteous as to allow dear Doug here to lay them down to bed before I came in. You ought to thank me for my candor, for being such a thoughtful house guest.” he teases, using fancy words just to watch the way it made Mary’s face twist. Like she couldn't quite make sense of the conflicting clues laid before her, he was a wild man using her world's words and demanding thanks... how was she to figure what she could do about him?

The fire poker starts shaking in her hand before she pushes out a rigid voice dripping with the contempt she can't manage to hide,” Thank you… now, what do you want?”

Then with a sudden jaunt up, Blackbeard stands and rips the blade from the wood chair, stuffing Doug's mouth with a clot of fabric to stifle any noise he might further make. He can't have this mere audience member distracting from his prey or interrupting his business.

He steps toward Mary with a loose carelessness that brings terror, how he walks so casually, nearly swinging his weight around. Like he knew he was going to win," You know, you're holding it all wrong. You’re all open and gentle with it. How do you plan to put me down like that?”

With low yelps, Mary swings the iron piece at the invader. Each attempt pulled the involuntary sound from her. It leaked out in such a way that you wouldn't even need to look at her to know she didn't know what she was doing, and that she wasn't coping with the situation in the slightest.

“I’m not even close enough for that to work, little miss. Here let me help you,” he says as he takes long steps forward in a blasé manner that makes her want to lose her mind.

Her eyes widen and she takes a shaking step back.

“Now now, don’t shrink away- I’m trying to help you. Give it another go.” he dares her.

She sets her brows to furrow further and leans in, continuing to whip her weapon through the air as Blackbeard dodges it with ease. Simple shifts to his right or left, he's even got one hand in his pocket, for god's sake. He's not even trying. He's just toying with her and still, she's completely outmatched.

“Swing and a miss, swing and a miss, and another miss. I can only do so much of the job for you, Miss Mary. Aren’t you gonna get me? Don’t you want to protect your family?!”

Tears begin to well in her eyes as she continues to swing her weapon to no avail. She was being tormented and jerked around like a plaything for his amusement.

“Oh, come on-" He says it like he's exasperated by her," It’s a fire poker, Mrs. Bonnet, not a fire slasher. Come on! Try jabbing with it!” He yells, rilling her up.

She takes his advice and tries thrusting forward with the pointed tip of the piece. At least she’s not dumb, he wonders. The rounded sides of the length of the poker would've only provided a bruise had she even managed to hit him with it. At least this way she stood a chance of leaving a mark. And after a few moments more of evading her endeavors, he gets bored. Mary’s adrenaline might be running through the roof, but there’s so little to be excited about with this pitiful performance she's providing.

He wants to bleed. Wants that sharp pain to flood his body with the feeling it knows so well. He wants to feel some real pain that can drown the pathetic emotions trying to bumble around his heart. He wanted to cover Stede’s house in that blood. He wanted to paint it with part of himself, to spill crimson on the thing that stole Stede away. So he carefully takes the stab from her improvised weapon into his left side, right on top of all the other scars. The second in his collection to be left by a Bonnet.

Her poker plunges into his skin with a sort of squelch she could’ve never even imagined had it not been happening just feet away from her. A frail scream escapes her lips and the tears fall over her lashes, a gentle trail left on her cheek as she's frozen in her place. Frozen everywhere but her grip, which loosens almost completely.

With little more than an acknowledging grunt, he comments,“ Still open" before bringing his left arm down into the iron rod, ripping it from both his gut and Mary’s hands. It falls to the ground with a clatter and he kicks it across the floor behind him, scratching the wooden floor as it slides away. His shirt was beginning to soak with his blood and the way he doesn't even care sends further terror into her heart.

"You were never going to beat me." He says as he closes in, and holds his blade to Mary's throat cornering her and pinning her against the wall.

From behind them Doug was struggling against his binds and screaming unsuccessfully into the textile. Mary holds her head up against the wall, the knife not quite pressed to her skin, yet so close she can feel its chill. More tears slip down her cheek as he seems to look over her like he's studying her.

“What do you want?” She whimpers through shaky lips.

"What do I want, what do I want..." he mutters as he casts his gaze back into her eyes," Such a vague question really."

"Please," She begs," We can give you money, possessions, I don't care. You can take any of it. Just leave us be-"

"Now, now. You were almost interesting when you had such a wild look on your face. Don't go spoiling it now with this poor, weak sight."

Mary takes a swallow of her nerves and clenches her jaw, steadying her expression.

"There we are. Much better now, little Bonnet. Now, tell me about yourself."

Her eyebrows quirk up at that," What?"

He presses the sharp edge into her neck in response, not enough to draw blood," I said, tell me about yourself. Who is meager Mary Bonnet?"

"I- I was born Mary Al-Allamby. Mary Allamby. 1690, on March - on March 15th to Victoria Archer and Lione-"

"Boooring. Don't waste my time with the boring bits." He scowls down at her.

"I don't know what you want to know!" She throws back.

"I want to know what's the point of you. What's the allure? What can you even offer?" he says as he once again looks down her body like he was also judging it inadequate.

"I don't see why that matters-" Mary tries to dismiss.

“WELL, OBVIOUSLY IT MATTERED TO HIM! I WANT TO KNOW WHY! I WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU COULD POSSIBLY BE THE BETTER! I CAN’T FIND A SINGLE REASON HE WOULD CHOOSE YOU! I'M BLACKBEARD! THE BLACKBEARD. BLACKBEARD SHOULD ALWAYS BEAT LITTLE, POOR MARY BONNET!” he barks into her face.

She slams her eyes shut at the violent yell, further tears running down as she begs the man whose name she recognizes from all the horrid stories that washed in from the sea,“ I DON'T KNOW WHO-“

“WHY DID STEDE PICK YOU?! EXPLAIN IT TO ME! BECAUSE IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!"

"STEDE?! THIS IS ABOU-" Mary's voice dies in her throat as she connects the dots.

Blackbeard the pirate. Stede. Him 'picking' her.

"You're Ed," she concludes with a shuttering breath.

There's a reaction there. More than when he'd been stabbed, there's a reaction to the name.

"Blackbeard." He repeats, daring her to use the other name again like that would be reason enough to gut her right then and there.

"I don't- I don't know what exactly happened between you and Stede." she manages through further stutters," But-"

"You don't know? How many times will you say you don't know? Do you know anything? Or is this head simply attached for looks?"

"I-"

"I bet you didn't even know the first thing about him. If you did, you didn't care. Yet, he ran back home to you. A little rich girl, with no skills, no knowledge, no use. And you still can't explain it to me. Might as well cut our time here then." he taunts.

"No! No, no. I- I can explain what happened."

"Sure you can, now that you'd like to stall for time. But I won't let you steal any of mine. Stede came back for little, worthless Mary and then died for her, and she doesn't even mourn. Already has another fella in bed by the time I made it to town. I'm not going to waste my time on the unfaithful Miss Bonnet for another moment." he finishes raising his knife from its place on her throat to ready his strike.

"STEDE'S NOT DEAD!" She bursts.

Once more, there's a reaction. A widening of his eyes. Shock and ache painted on his face as clearly as the black. His arm pauses in its high position, angled at her heart, yet it does not sink in for the kill.

"Stede's not dead." she says again," He came back, and - and we still didn't work - now, it was worse than before he left. And- and - and I was going to kill him."

With that, his grip on the dagger tightens as he seethes," But- But I didn't! We talked - we talked some and made a plan. And then we faked his death. So he could go back."

"You were going to kill him, and you talked it out?" he asks, doubtfully.

"Yes! We were never in love. Not for one moment. It was killing us. And he was so different, and it had ruined the life I made as a Widow. So I was going to make it real, but - but he didn't want to be here anymore either. We can barely stand one another. But you. Stede loves you."

"If this is your plan out of this, it's not a very good one."

"I swear! He asked me about me and Doug. About how we knew we were in love. And after, I hoped he could find someone who makes him feel the way we do. And he said he already had someone. Ed- he said that person was Ed." she squeals out the last bit as Edward's eyes narrow.

"They said he was maimed by a jungle cat, ran over by a carriage, and crushed beneath a piano. You're saying all that was something simply mistaken?"

"I swear it's true. We put together the scheme with a fake body and everything so he could go back to sea without all this waiting for him here. As we planned it all out, including the carriage to take him to the coast, he said it'd work because it was an excellent fuckery."

"A fuckery... he called it a fuckery?" the voice asks, seeming to have softened as he loosens his hold on her and lowers the raised weapon.

"He did. He didn't really choose me. It was more a lapse in judgment if anything. He chose you as soon as he was honest with himself. Truly."

Edward stepped back. Stede chose him. He left him, and then chose him, but then he died, and yet didn't die, and now he was on the ocean alone? This was just supposed to be a chance to answer the question that was burning a hole in him since the day Stede never showed. The truth to fill the void that remained when the news of his sure demise reached the ship. It was just supposed to be the death of Mary Bonnet, the woman who stole Stede and got him killed. But... Was Stede really searching for him? What does that even mean? Now that he did so much damage to The Revenge and her crew?

While his mind feels like it's buzzing with lightning, he is pulled from his thoughts when an offered handkerchief enters his view. He looks up at Mary's face as she holds out the piece, and that's when he realizes he's crying. Hot tears streak down his face, pulling with them the black makeup he donned as armor. If her expression was any hint, it was a genuine grant. He accepted it with a gentle hand and wiped his eyes dry while she quickly ran to her lover and removed the gag he'd placed there.

When his hands are released, Doug holds Mary's on his shoulder while she speaks to the suddenly emotional pirate in their bedroom," I don't know what happened over the months he was gone, but he was changed when he was back here. He slept restlessly. Drank too much. And once, when Doug tried to calm him, Stede looked like he'd entered a frenzied state and nearly took his head off. If it's any consolation, I think something scared him just before he arrived. Something really bad. We never loved each other as a man and wife should, and Stede particularly never really had any positive relationships in his life as far as I could tell. He didn't know how love was supposed to feel, Ed. If it seemed like he left you and picked me, it was only because he was scared and confused. He didn't know any better."

"He didn't?" Edward asked, carefully this time as his rage was dissipated and that sad wound reopened.

Had he never noticed it? Surely he would've, right? That Stede didn't even know what love was? It was true they'd barely talked of Stede's past, but... to not even know what it looked like? It was at that moment that Edward remembered that he only began to recognize real love when he was able to witness it in others after years of piracy. Stede just got out there, if he didn't know what love was on the mainland, he didn't have the time to figure it out before they planned to abandon their Acts of Grace.

"No. But the moment I started talking about loving Doug, he got this warm look on his face. Something I'd never seen from him before. And without any hesitation, he told me that his love was you. He knows better now. And he's out there, looking to get back to you."

"He's out there, right now?" Edwards asks, more to himself than the other two when he remembered what he'd just done to them" Shit - I'm... I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Please. Think nothing of it." she excuses.

"Think nothing of it? But-" Doug begins to argue, seemingly not satisfied with Mary's quick dismissal of what nearly just happened.

Mary squeezes his shoulders rather tightly to shut him up," Please, Ed. Don't worry. I was ready to kill the man just a few weeks ago after he threatened my love and I began to worry I'd never get my life back again. I'd say this firmly evens the scorecard between our two relationships."

"Thank you. I... I need to go."

"Of course. Keep the hanky. Tell Stede we send our regards, hope he's gotten back to his dream. And of course, if you were to visit again. A heads up and less pointy things would be appreciated." she ends with a bit of a laugh to herself.

"Yes, absolutely. No more pointy things in Miss Mary's home," he says the name this time with respect like it might help wash away all the other less than gentlemanly comments he'd thrown at her.

"Sounds like a plan. Now, off with you." She says to send him away, but as he turns to race out of the house she adds," Don't run in the hall! If the kids aren't already woken up I'd like them to stay asleep through the night."

"Yes, ma'am. Apologizes again." Edward concludes as he quietly slipped from the home.

As soon as he was outside he was running. With everything he had, Ed was running. To get back to the sea and find Stede. Wherever his favorite person ended up, he'd sail every corner to catch him. There was still much to be said, questions Ed had that only Stede could answer. But Stede was alive, so he'd be able to. And if Stede was alive, talking wasn't all Ed was longing for. That first kiss was just meant to be their start. As soon as they were reunited, Edward planned to pull Stede Bonnet into his arms again and share in another.

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This is Part 1 of Our Family -> Here's Part 2

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jjaeong · 3 years

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The Heiress, And The Twelve. Act I.

Episode VI: To Be Deceived, Or Protected.

Series: KPOP Girl Group: 이달의 소녀 (LOONA).

Pairing: OT12 & Mafia Heiress Female Reader.

Summary: While the members residing with The Heiress in Eden managed to resolve her internal conflict about who she was and who she had deemed herself should be—Haseul, along with Sooyoung and Jinsol, discovers a certain string of information that could potentially lead to a much more greater complication than they had ever encountered before. And as Jinsol finally reconciled with Sooyoung after the incident, Hyejoo and Heejin find themselves stunned as they come across your room—realizing that something had been missing in the vicinity, with that something being you.

"Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be with the members?"

Jinsol had just managed to set her foot on the top of the staircase when she met the sight of the distressed Ninth member who had lingered in the hall that led to the boss' office, pinching the bridge of her nose in clear disbelief with the disrupted idea that only she was called by Haseul for the meeting. It's been days since the Leader had regarded her request to be removed in any missions with the Seventh member, being that she was still sensitive over what had just happened with the incident—Jinsol had already been walking through thin ice with her miscalculation, but Sooyoung's projected anger towards the woman intensified when Jungeun had informed them of your order to be left alone. And as much as she was relieved that both her member, and her adoptive sister were safe—Sooyoung couldn't shake off her impression that you had not been unscathed, because physically, you and Hyejoo were well, but your order was the effect of the event which she had deemed also as her own error with being one of the Twelve.

The Seventh member, however, no matter how many times she had blamed herself for it, she had understood Sooyoung's hostility towards her and knew that it was absolutely justified—from all those years that the members had grown together, she knew well enough that the woman was as emotional as she could get, more so for the people she cared for the most. But the Seventh could only take so much, she had somewhat prepared herself for the the member's response—yet she still couldn't avoid condemning herself over it, for the most part being Sooyoung not wanting anything to do with her.

And as Sooyoung stood there, leaned back against the hall's wall with her arms crossed and her brows knitted in apparent frustration while looking the other way—Jinsol could only manage a hesitant smile as she tried her best to swallow down the bitter aura between the two of them, before directing her weary gaze towards the tall double doors at the end of the hall. Slightly taken aback by how isolated the scene had looked from their position, which meant that the Leader had not yet arrived—making Sooyoung the first person to have been called by Haseul, and Jinsol quickly becoming the second.

"Is it.. Just the two of us..?"

"She just told me to meet her here, and that she'll be arriving shortly from her visit with our guests," Sooyoung muttered, practically scoffing at the mention of the Lee Family that had been staying in the Mansion as they awaited for their Boss' recovery. The younger of the two winced at the recollection of when they'd first arrived at the infirmary with the Lee Family's Boss, and how Sooyoung raised her tone at Haseul for the first time since she'd been appointed as Acting Boss after declining Sooyoung's plea to head straight to Eden—which led to the Ninth member into defying the Leader's instruction and driving all the way to the castle, just to be pulled aside by a stone-faced Jungeun, "but you still haven't answered my question—why are you here?"

"I don't see why I shouldn't be..? Haseul did ask for me—"

"I specifically told her that I don't want to be in any operation with you right now—and for what? Suddenly she doesn't listen anymore?" Jinsol would be lying if she said that hearing those words come right out of Sooyoung's mouth didn't hurt her, she swore that when this member of theirs was mad she knew exactly how to do so—but to be on the opposite end of the woman's livid state, Jinsol had never experienced to be this ridiculed by her. The silence that had come after Sooyoung's sharp words even made the member glance at Jinsol from the corner of her eye, finding her head hanging low as she picked on her blue pin on her tie in deep contemplation—slightly irritating Sooyoung even further because the Ninth had known that the habit was common with the members since they'd acquired their pins, holding onto the object when they couldn't seem to find it in themselves to assess a situation in their own way.

"Maybe we're not on a mission as a pair, probably.. A reschedule? Change of posts? Haseul assigning you to my spot—and me with yours?" Sooyoung gripped onto the fabric of her sleeve as Jinsol began to straighten her tie, which she had done several times before looking behind her to the staircase below—as if Haseul would just magically appear out of thin air and cut through the tension between the two of them, saving them from possibly making it worse than it already was.

"That's great, maybe then Y/N wouldn't be in as much trouble as she'd be if she was under my range of security." Jinsol frowned at the malicious tone that the Ninth had suddenly switched into, making her turn to eye the member who still refused to meet the clear regret plastered all over her features—while Sooyoung continued to glare at the nothingness that had seemed to have kept her attention more than the member currently standing right in front of her.

"Sooyoung.."

"Just admit it, Jinsol—you despise her. You don't want her to be our Boss because she's nothing of what you expect her to be—it's a full circle to what happened the day we told her everything, you want her gone." Sooyoung spat as her member flinched, making Jinsol shaking her head in attempt to relay the message to Sooyoung that it was nothing of that sort.

"That's not true—I care about her just as much as you do!" the Seventh stammered, completely taken aback by how she had been suddenly accused for having felt something that she had not.

"She was in the lot! You could've prevented it even before he approached her—"

"And you think I don't go every single day thinking about that!?" Sooyoung's furious eyes snapped to connect with Jinsol's exasperated ones, the Seventh's demeanor looking as frustrated as she could get with her hands balled up into fists hanging by her sides while her eyes stayed connected with her member's, "We've never had any complications with our group since the beginning, and ever since Y/N came in the picture—it's as if the least we can do is not turn against each other."

"Oh, and that makes it her fault? Is that what you're trying to say?

"I'm trying my best to understand—alright!? I thought we can continue this Family without having her in the picture, but.." Jinsol tore her eyes away from Sooyoung's to think carefully about her next words, having an inkling that whatever she may say next would be enough to tip Sooyoung off the edge and tarnish her reputation completely—or in some sort of miracle, she'd be able to properly express what she had wanted to say, "I didn't want any of that to happen—I swear that if I could have stopped it in all the ways I've calculated it after, I would've. But it's already done, I messed up and the only thing I can do is try to make up for it with Y/N—for as long as she'll have me, and if she can't forgive me for what I've done then.."

Sooyoung lowered her eyes at Jinsol who shrugged her shoulders in defeat, sighing when she thought that the apology didn't go exactly as she'd expect it to be. She'd thought that once she laid her heart out, it'd go as smoothly and sincerely as she'd thought—but instead, she felt that the reason for Sooyoung's silence was that she had taken her words in the complete opposite. Her words being taken under the impression that she was over it, that she didn't care as much as she said she did—causing the gap between her and the members that had your well-being as the priority to broaden, when she had just warmed up to the idea that she had wanted the same thing as well.

The Ninth member eyed the struggling woman in front of her, it was clear that Jinsol was incessantly thinking through what she had just told her and continuously trying to criticize her choices of wording—but as much as Sooyoung hated the thought that had led her into blaming Jinsol for what had happened, the greater part of her that believes that the members would never do each other wrong was pushing past her projected anger. This wasn't them against a common enemy anymore, this was Sooyoung's protectiveness over you—against her protectiveness over her members, but instead of it mostly being directed towards the Lee Family's Boss, she had Jinsol to blame. And that was what caused her inner turmoil, Jinsol is her member and a member that had been one of the reasons that put you and Hyejoo in danger—but Jinsol was just as much as a member as the others, yet there Sooyoung stood, continuously reminding her that she had messed up and she needs to feel the consequences of her ignorance.

Sooyoung then realized that Jinsol had already been going through the motions just as she'd been, and it was unfair of how she was quick to blame her for it—when Sooyoung had no idea about what was about to come until Hyunjin had some sort of vision.

"Well—apologize to her, not me," Jinsol practically choked at Sooyoung's mumbled response, feeling the weight of her worries fall off her shoulders as she watched Sooyoung shake her head at her and detach herself from the wall—slipping a hand into the pocket of her dress pants as she placed the other to her neck, craning it as if to stretch in exhaustion. The member still had a pout set on her lips but her brows were anything but furrowed, just looking drained from the encounter—while Jinsol slowly started to fall apart in her position, "you can start by how you acted in our living room, then with whatever happened with the Lee Boss. She's not the type to hold a grudge, you know—yah! Jung Jinsol, get off me—"

"I thought you'd never forgive me! I apologized so many times and you were never this mad—"

"Let go!" Jinsol continued to wail as Sooyoung's pout threatened to stretch into a grin while she tried to pry the member's arms off her, opening her mouth to start threatening the Seventh. But just as she was about to, light footsteps started echoing from the steps behind Jinsol and soon after revealed an absorbed looking Haseul—which had seemed to be caught off guard at the sight as she blinked at the two who just froze in their spot and stared right back at her, Haseul's eyes softened only for a moment before they dimmed yet again.

Looking away from the two, Haseul motioned over to the end of the hall before starting to make her way past them.

"You've made up, good. Follow me." the youngest of the three started to walk down the halls, which made Jinsol release Sooyoung from her hold before they both hurried to trail behind the Leader—eyeing each other in question about what had the member in such state, Sooyoung could only hope that it was just something connected to the Lee Boss and nothing more.

As Haseul pulled the key out of her pocket, Sooyoung had remembered that the last time all twelve of them were inside the office was when Haseul had first sat herself into the Boss' chair—how she carefully laid out what specific orders the previous Boss stated before he had passed, and how they would slowly but surely make sure you were well acquainted with a few members. Haseul also swore that it would also be the last time that she were to set foot inside of the office, not finding it comfortable how she would occupy the room as if it were her own when her purpose was to have you settled into your rightful place.

And as if Jinsol could hear Sooyoung's thoughts coursing through her, they could only wonder how much trouble the Family had caught themselves into for Haseul to break her own word.

"Shut the doors behind you, I've asked to keep this floor vacated until one of us leaves the room." Jinsol quickly turned to shut the doors behind them as Sooyoung followed behind the Leader to stand in the middle of the room while Haseul circled behind the desk to open one of it's emptied drawers, reaching far into the compartment as if rummaging to find anything that had not been in there in the first place.

"Are you looking for something?" Jinsol question as she stood beside Sooyoung who eyed the Leader suspiciously, the two watching Haseul shut the drawer to then move to another.

"What are you even doing, Haseul?" the light sound of a click echoed through the spacious, and moonlit office that had Haseul tensing up on her spot. Jinsol made a move to approach to the woman and lend her a hand but Sooyoung grabbed ahold of her arm before she could even do anything, the two members carefully watching as Haseul pulled out what seemed to be a thick stack of papers—jaw clenched while she placed them on the desk before looking up the puzzled expression on her members' features.

"Lee Seokmin has returned to his conscious state today, he refused to speak with the doctors and requested to speak with the one he perceived as the Family's Boss. And so I paid him a visit," Haseul shut the drawer to fully grab the stack from the desk, eyeing the papers before walking over to the two and meeting them in the middle of the room, "he was convinced that I was Y/N, stating that he couldn't believe that the previous Boss' plan worked—how he kept the Heiress safe by letting her live a normal life outside of the Family, all while being protected from the other Families."

Jinsol paled as Sooyoung let go of her arm, eyes widening in alarm while Haseul stood in front of them with a vacant expression on her face.

"He asked me if I knew about it, when I found out about it—confessing that he knew about the documentation because he had overheard it once from the Jeon Family that the Heiress was being watched."

"We were watching over her, but I thought the documents were supposed to be discarded after the Boss' passing?" Jinsol barely questioned as her voice failed her, switching her eyes from Haseul to Sooyoung who could only look at Jinsol with wide eyes as well.

"It was, I saw through with it. Haseul, Vivi-unnie and I were the ones present when it was erased."

"He wasn't talking about our documents, he was talking about this." Haseul motioned to the papers in her hand, it didn't take too long of the three to stare at each other before Sooyoung reached over to grab the papers and start inspecting each and every page—feeling lightheaded at the information that she had read from it, how as if every page she had skimmed through just continued to reveal a deeper story behind the minimal observation reports that they had set for you.

The papers dated back up to four years prior to the previous Boss' passing, several pictures of you, Jungeun, and Jiwoo were practically on each page of the stack—the lightest conversations, passed homework, your every move was typed down as if they were studying not a living human being but a test subject. Through the documentation, it seemed as if you weren't the Y/L/N Y/N that the members had made a point on learning to care for and to believe that you'd lead them into a better future—but rather a statistic in which would demonstrate if you were fit in becoming a Boss for the highest ranking Family there ever was, and ever will be if you had truly had what it takes.

Whoever had created this document, only had that particular version of the Heiress in mind—and it made Sooyoung feel sick to her stomach.

"Who.. did this? How did you even know this exists!?" Sooyoung's voice started to raise as she looked up at the torn expression on Haseul's face, making Jinsol take a step in between the two to try and calm the Ninth member down while also turning to glance at the Leader behind her—but as Sooyoung started to prod Haseul with questions while waving the papers in her hand, Haseul swallowed sharply before looking up to meet the the concerned look on Jinsol's face.

"I didn't."

Haseul's words echoed in Sooyoung's head, and before she knew it—she had let the papers fall onto the ground, pushed past Jinsol to reach for Haseul's collar to aggressively grab ahold of her. However, Jinsol was quick to recover after staggering back—attempting to pry Sooyoung off of the Third member by wrapping an arm around the Ninth's waist and tugging her off the Leader.

"You—you're our Leader! You can't just tell us you have no clue! our lives are dependent on your choices—and you have the audacity to tell us you don't know!?"

"I thought I had properly vacated this room after we all left—that was the last time I've been here, it was all the previous Boss had instructed me.." Haseul barely whispered, crumbling under Sooyoung's hold to the point that it was the member that had been keeping her up on her feet—making Sooyoung snap out of her fuming state to watch the dread sink into her member's features, "he told me where everything was, the archives we needed—I thought he told me everything I needed to know, I was appointed Leader for this."

"Sooyoung, she doesn't know." Jinsol dragged out slowly as she loosened her grip over her member, walking towards Haseul and prying the Ninth's hands off completely from the Leader—all while keeping Haseul up on her feet by wrapping an arm around her shoulder, leading her to the desk so she had a place to lean on.

"The Twelve, Y/L/N Y/N—that's all I know, you have to believe me."

"We do, Haseul—Sooyoung's just in shock, we'll figure this whole thing out. Right, Ha Sooyoung?" the Ninth continued to stare at the two, absolutely mortified that they were currently easing themselves into uncharted waters—completely unknowing of what would come, but only to prepare themselves for whatever it may be. Sooyoung caught Jinsol switching her gaze from Haseul to the papers on the ground, the Seventh seemingly the more composed member out of the two—and as if moving completely out of practice, Sooyoung bended over to grab the papers and walk over to Jinsol to hand it to her.

"What do you suggest we do?" Jinsol's eyes widened at the blank, yet expectant look that Sooyoung held as she offered her the papers—glancing at Haseul who had now held onto the desk as if her life had depended on it, before she caught onto what exactly it was that Sooyoung was trying convey. With Haseul's Leadership position becoming nothing of aid to the members as of her current state, Sooyoung wanted them to work it out as a group instead of letting the woman carry all of this on her own. So Jinsol grabbed the papers from her hand, eyeing the front page and skipping to the last as she followed her gut—having a relieved sigh escaped her lips as she pointed a finger at the signed letter 'R' initial at the end of the page, it's ink shining under the moonlight while she directed it to Sooyoung's view.

"We can start by tracking whoever this is?"

"Alright." Jinsol gave Sooyoung a small, yet grateful smile before looking back down to scan the papers while Sooyoung turned to Haseul who sat still on the desk—completely frozen as she tried to recall every bit of information that the previous Boss had passed onto her, fingers gripping tightly onto the pin on her tie. The Ninth member reached over to place an consoling hand on the Leader's shoulder, halting mid-way but somehow going through with it—which made Haseul visibly tense but when she had found that it was Sooyoung from her peripheral vision, she just looked back down to return into her state of recollection.

"I shouldn't have lashed out, Haseul. I'm sorry."

"You have every right to be mad, I'm the appointed Leader and I can't even uphold a simple task. Even I'd be mad at myself." Jinsol snorted from behind her which made Sooyoung glance at the member, finding Jinsol eyeing Haseul from the side before flipping another page from the stack.

"You mean tracking down this profiler from just one initial? Haseul—you can't even find the right curtains to hang inside your room without Yerim." Sooyoung's lips broke into a grin which made Jinsol release a laugh, making the Leader turn to look at her members who were now laughing amongst themselves as they eyed the paper in Jinsol's hands. Haseul then looked up to find Sooyoung's careful eyes directed on her, the member giving Haseul a determined look in contrast to the Leader's downcast expression.

"You might be the Leader, but we are a team, Haseul. We'll get through this mess, with or without the previous Boss' help." Haseul tore her eyes away from Sooyoung to look back at Jinsol's thoughtful expression as the member continued to inspect the page—until she found Haseul watching her, so she gave her an encouraging look before raising a fist in the air.

"Damn right we are! Fighting!"

"If you use that language in front of Y/N—I swear, Jung Jinsol—"

"Your sister is a year away from graduating High School—she's old enough to know if cussing is bad or not."

"You don't tell me how to raise my sister!"

"She's our future Boss! She can decide that for herself!" Sooyoung placed her hands on her hips as she continued to banter with Jinsol as the member continued with her task, the two completely back to the way before their feud—while Haseul watched them silently, feeling the anguish of her assumed failure as a Leader slowly dissipate as Jinsol and Sooyoung continued on. The interaction had somehow eased the Third member's worries, the sight reminding her that no matter what happened—they were still the Twelve, and with that, the world would still be turning for as long as they'd stay like this after whatever may cross their path.

"Until we've figured out who this person is, be that they're in this Family preparing for another coup—or from outside, this stays between the three of us," Haseul stated, making Jinsol's look up to clearly try and object but one pleading look from Haseul—she had known that her intentions were nothing but for their safety, "please, the more people that know about this—the harder it will be to find them. One word about this from anyone but us.."

"They'll know we're onto them—got it."

"But what do we do about Lee Seokmin and his members?" Sooyoung crossed her arms on her chest as Haseul turned to look at her, more composed than a few moments ago.

"They'll be returning to the village that Jeon passed onto them in a few days, I made sure that he didn't recognize that I wasn't the Heiress he was talking about. All he can pass to whoever he pleases is that the Y/L/N Family's Heiress is back in her rightful place." Haseul concluded as Sooyoung released a heavy sigh, looking at Jinsol yet again but this time—Jinsol had lingered over one specific page.

"What is it?" Sooyoung leaned over to check at what the member was staring at, which made Haseul completely turn to peek as well when Jinsol practically gripped onto the stack in worry.

"From the beginning of the document, they never mentioned any names—they even labelled Jiwoo and Jungeun as Upperclassmen A, and Upperclassmen B," Jinsol placed a finger on a specific sentence on the paper before looking up at Haseul and Sooyoung, "'4:35PM: The Heiress returns home. Property under the name of 'Ha', a civilian household consisting of two adults and three daughters.'"

"Don't tell me—"

"Who ever this 'R' person is—they know exactly which one of us is the Heiress."

Hyejoo had just shut the door to Jungeun's empty room, signalling the end of her morning rounds which consisted of surveying the vacated rooms of the members that typically headed to school approximately two hours before her—when she had realized that today marked the fifth day since the incident, which made it Wednesday. And Wednesdays were different, because in that specific day Yeojin and Yerim would accompany Jungeun and Jiwoo for early morning Student Council. With Yerim being the President of her class, and Yeojin being her own—Jungeun had briefly talked the two into either occupying their roles once they've graduated, or at least being part of it.

The two Maknaes were quick to take her up for it, being that they had fit the credentials well—they'd agree without a doubt, but that had meant that every Wednesday, Hyejoo would only have to drive her and Chaewon to class. And it wasn't that she wasn't on good terms with her Gowon-unnie, it was quite the opposite—because every Wednesday morning would be Chaewon asking Hyejoo about how she's been, and how she had felt about whatever had happened the days before. Somehow, it had slightly bothered Hyejoo that she had always started off their conversation in that manner since Yeojin and Yerim rode with the two Unnies—but the ride had seemed to grow on her once she realized that the Eleventh member wasn't shooting up a conversation to fill the silence, but to genuinely ask Hyejoo how she's been.

Park Chaewon had surprisingly seemed to have understood her even in that alley, which was something that goes over Hyejoo's head sometimes.

The Twelfth's eyes seamlessly connected with your door in the middle of the hall as the recollection of the alley felt similar to what happened that day, and being that only room in that specific hall was only occupied by you—with Haseul, Sooyoung, Jinsol, and Kahei being everywhere at once, the closest member that could reach you incase of an emergency was Jungeun, because her room was the closest to yours. Hyejoo started to make her way to your room almost subconciously to check up on you when she was met by the unusual sight of Jeon Heejin who was never usually awake this early in the morning, already dressed in her uniform—glowing as if she'd just awakened to the greatest sleep she's ever had, her eyes even widening in surprise as she found Hyejoo coming from the other end of the hall.

"Son Hyejoo! Good morning!" Heejin waved enthusiastically with both hands outstretched, making the Maknae scrunch her nose up in distaste as Heejin grinned adoringly—eyes turning into crescents while she continued to her venture into your room, the sound of her footsteps lightly decreasing as she neared. The First member carefully twisted the handle to peek into your room, her smile impossibly widening as she expected to be greeted by the sight of you laying on your side with Jeon Stitchie and Hyunjin's Shiba Inu—only for her to squint her eyes through the darkness to find the two stuffed toys but not even the top of your head revealing from the covers in sight.

"Y/N-ah~?" Hyejoo heard Heejin call from her position, slightly peeking through the door frame, making the Twelfth member furrow her brows and stand behind the member just as she had flipped the light switch on—illuminating the empty room before walking inside and making her way over to the door that lead to your bathroom, pushing it open to find it unoccupied as well. Heejin continued to scan the room, even getting down on her knees by your bed to check if you were under it as Hyejoo stayed put by your door—watching her Unnie's puzzled features slowly turn into concern just as she saw someone approaching by her peripheral vision, she turned to find an equally confused Chaewon standing next to her before the Eleventh turned to her.

"Have you seen Vivi-unnie?"

"Did you just come from the Surveillance room?" Hyejoo questioned in reply, but before Chaewon could even get a word out—Kahei appeared from the end of the hall, seemingly reading a book while doing her rounds as she donned her reading glasses. Heejin had managed to slide past the two members just as Kahei was about to walk past them, making the woman look up from her book to eye the startled trio in wonder.

"What's with all the worried looks? Did something happen?" Kahei asked softly, making Hyejoo and Chaewon exchange glances while Heejin looked at your empty room before looking back at Kahei.

"Unnie, Y/N's not in her room." Heejin stated in a tone that had slowly started to reflect her dismay, but as Kahei tilted her head at the three something flashed in her eyes before she stared directly at Heejin—as if she should've known.

"Of course she isn't, she already left with Jungeun and Jiwoo. Why? Is there something I should be worried about?" Hyejoo's eyes widened in surprise as Heejin mouth popped open at Kahei's nonchalant reply, Chaewon was the only one of the three who had managed to not be surprised—considering that she had been looking for the Fifth member to ask why she had been the one to send you and the other members off as she watched a replay of the cameras just as she had woke up.

"You let her go, just like that?"

"I didn't see a problem with it—she had me convinced, afterall," Chaewon raised a brow at Kahei, to which the member only smiled at before walking past the bewildered Heejin and Hyejoo and return to reading her book as she walked down the hall, "Heejin, it must be some miracle that you woke up before Hyunjin—but if you don't wake her up you'll both be late to class. You two should start getting ready as well, Hyejoo, Chaewon."

The three members watched as Kahei disappeared from the hallway, turning to face each other briefly before hastily doing as the member had told. Heejin switched the lights off and shut the door before speed-walking down the hall to Hyunjin's room—pounding her fist against the door the second she reached it and tugging on the handle as she followed by calling her member's name. On the other side of the door, Hyunjin had already been awake, she was just about ready to leave—all she needed was to attach her pin onto her tie which she had quickly finished, so she grabbed her bag from her desk to pull the door open and roll her eyes at the sight of her aggrievated best friend.

"I get it—you woke up before me for the first time in years, you don't have to shove it to my face." Hyunjin pushed past Heejin who was trying to catch her breath, breathing in deeply before stopping Hyunjin dead on her tracks with what she was just about to say.

"Y/N isn't in her room—she left with Jungeun-unnie and Jiwoo-unnie to school!"

"..She what?"

Greetings,

I hope this message finds you well—sike with the formalities, it's a tumblr post, there's no need for that. But what this Author's Note actually needs is.. An apology (even though I came clear with you all if you've read through the first chapter to not be too attached with this story) because it's been over two months since my last story update!

But in all honesty, I'm not even sure if it had actually been two months or.. A month and a few days—but still! Am I back? Maybe~ What could JJ have been possibly doing to go MIA for this long? Real life stuff, but mostly the overwhelming feeling of Orbit twitter that's.. Something, a true bit of love and hate between that.

It's actually funny how many Episode VI's I've wrote before properly settling with this one, the first draft had too many new characters involved (spoilers for who they are? I'm sure if you've read a few LOONA fics—it's just in between those lines), the second and nth were all too messy—and so there's this one! I think it's a nice turn, considering that this is the half of Act I. and I literally just wrote this in one go again, I really can't believe myself at this point.

Though I think most of our new readers that are following this blog is more into the OS spectrum—so I should maybe start leaving posts? Like.. Talk? But it's not really my thing, having posts up but it's just me talking about God knows what—I don't really know how to feel about it.

I'm getting way over ahead of myself again, so yeah. I truly hope you guys are doing well out there, what's happening outside of these social media platforms is absolutely petrifying—I made this blog as an outlet to express how much I love the girls but you can't escape the crippling truth that is reality itself. This world is unforgiving even to those who had never done anything drastically wrong, and for a writer to not have the proper words to express how they truly feel about what's happening around them.. Please take care of yourselves, and I'm sorry for not being able to find the right words for this.

Laters,

JJ.

>ovc: loonatheworld (200316).

https://youtu.be/U5z35vxC9bs

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cooliogirl101 · 3 years

Note

So Hisana’s been in lots of dangerous situations….what happens when something actually goes wrong and she ends up in real danger? 👀

When Hisana didn't arrive on Tuesday like she said she would, Tobirama wasn't too worried. She was known for taking detours from time to time; chances were, she'd run into a friend and had gotten sidetracked.

When another three days had passed and she still didn't show up, Tobirama quietly assigned Touka and Hikaru to investigate. When they showed up two days later (five days after Hisana was supposed to arrive) reporting that they'd found Hisana's donkey abandoned at the side of the road, not too far from her last known location, Tobirama went still for a long moment.

Then he stood up, calmly packing up his things.

"I'll be leaving for an undetermined amount of time," he informed them. "Touka, you're in charge of clan affairs while I'm away." He strode towards the door. "Don't tell Hashirama."

Two hours after he arrived at the place where Touka and Hikaru had found Hisana's donkey, he stiffened as he sensed a familiar presence in the trees. Straightening up, he turned around to find Uchiha Izuna staring at him, expression inscrutable.

"So you're looking for her too, huh?" Izuna asked after a long pause.

"Indeed." Tobirama tilted his head to the side. "I'm surprised to find you here though, Uchiha. Hisana mentioned you two had a little...falling out."

Something like shame flickered through Izuna's eyes before he looked away.

"What's going on between me and Hisana is none of your business, Senju," Izuna retorted. Tobirama smiled coldly.

"On the contrary, I consider the relationship between the woman my brother intends to marry and a member of an enemy clan very much my business," he said softly. At the word 'marry', Izuna flinched, the movement so small Tobirama wouldn't have noticed had he not been looking for it.

"Look Senju, I'm not here to pick a fight," Izuna said after a moment's pause. "I'm here for the same reason you are, to get Hisana back."

"What are you proposing? A temporary truce?" Tobirama asked.

"You're a...better tracker than I am." It sounded like it physically pained Izuna to admit that. "I have the sharingan. We have a better chance of finding her together than either of us alone."

"Very well," Tobirama said finally, after another pause. "I have no objections."

Izuna's shoulders relaxed slightly.

"So," he said, tone a little too casual to be genuine. "How did your brother take the news?"

Tobirama tensed.

"He doesn't know yet," he replied curtly. "And I'd like to keep it that way until I get her back to him."

Left unsaid was the fact that if he wasn't able to get her back to Hashirama, if she was already d-- Tobirama cut himself off, shaking his head. He'd deal with that possibility at a later time.

Izuna saw her first.

"Hisana? Hisana!" He shouted, all bravado and hostility gone from his voice to be replaced by desperate hope and pure terror in equal measure.

Tobirama swallowed, as a cold, sinking dread started seeping into his chest.

He-- he couldn't sense her, he thought numbly, watching Izuna shake Hisana's cold, limp body frantically. He was the greatest sensor in the world and he couldn't sense her.

For one horrifying, excruciating moment, Tobirama thought he was already too late.

Then the faintest trace of chakra fluttered to life in Hisana's chest and suddenly Tobirama could breathe again.

"Move," he said brusquely, shoving Izuna aside so he could press both hands to Hisana's chest and begin transferring his chakra to her. His skill in medical ninjutsu couldn't begin to approach Hisana's own, but it was...enough. It would have to be enough.

"T-Tobi? Is that you?" Hisana's eyelids fluttered weakly.

"Yes, it's me," Tobirama said, voice tight. "Relax, it's alright. You're safe now."

Glancing at Izuna, he added, "I can stabilize her condition, but she'll need real medical treatment in order to survive. I'll need to bring her home to the Senju Compound as soon as possible--"

"No," Izuna said, face blank. Tobirama's jaw clenched.

"Now is not the time, Uchiha," he said through gritted teeth. "Unless you'd prefer for her to die because of your pride--"

"The Uchiha Compound is closer." Izuna's voice was eerily calm. He looked at Tobirama, irises crimson red. "It makes more sense for her to come back with me."

Tobirama narrowed his eyes.

"The Senju Clan has the best healers in the world," he said tersely. Well, barring one notable exception anyway, and given time-- "If you truly cared about her, you'd let her go."

Izuna's Sharingan flashed dangerously.

"She was my friend first, Senju!" He snarled, fists clenching. "Try to deny it all you like, but she was my friend long before she was any of yours. We were the first to welcome her, we were the first to trust her--"

"And you were the first to discard her." Tobirama smiled coldly. "Funny how the world works, wouldn't you agree, Uchiha?"

Izuna's fingers twitched towards his sword. Tobirama tensed, tightening his grip on Hisana, ready to body flicker away at a moment's notice.

"'zuna?" Hisana murmured, voice barely audible. She shifted around, struggling to open her eyes.

"Shh," Tobirama murmured, sending a wave of Healing Intent her way. She quieted instantly, slipping back into unconsciousness. “That’s it.”

Glancing up, Tobirama found that Izuna was no longer paying attention to him, his gaze instead fixated on the sleeping girl in Tobirama's arms. His eyes were black again, all traces of red gone.

"If she dies under your care, Senju, I will personally demolish every last trace of your clan," Izuna said finally, a concession and a threat all in one. Tobirama raised his eyebrows.

“I believe you’ll try,” he said. Izuna smiled coldly.

“What happened today...this changes nothing between us.”

“Agreed,” Tobirama answered, equally frigid.

"Glad we’re on the same page, then,” Izuna said, before standing up. “Keep her safe, will you? If you don’t...well, I’ll find out eventually.”

Tobirama looked up from his desk to see Hisana standing in his doorway.

"You should be resting," he said, turning back to the never-ending paperwork in front of him.

"I didn't tell them anything," Hisana said in a rush. Tobirama slowly set his pen down. "I, um, I just wanted to tell you that. In case you were worrying about...about me giving them information on Hashirama or something."

"Hisana, that was never one of my worries," Tobirama interrupted before she could go on. She blinked, surprised.

"Oh. Um. Great! I mean, that's--" She ran a hand through her hair. "I guess I'm a little surprised, I kind of thought that's why you came after-- well, no matter." She laughed awkwardly, shifting her feet.

Tobirama sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"Was there anything else?" He asked, a tad impatiently.

"I--yes. There was one more thing." Hisana looked down, avoiding Tobirama's gaze. "This--might sound really stupid, but back when-- back when you found me, I--" She bit her lip. "I thought I heard Izuna's voice. Was he--?"

Tobirama looked at her for a moment, taking in the tentative hope in her eyes.

"No," he said calmly. "I'm sorry, Hisana, he wasn't there. You must have been imagining it."

"Oh," she said, voice small. "I just thought-- never mind, I guess it didn't really make sense. I mean, why would you two be working together?"

Why indeed, Tobirama thought wryly, before picking up his pen again.

"Get some rest, Hisana. I mean it," he said, tone leaving no room for argument.

"I will. And Tobirama?" He glanced up at her, taking in her soft smile, the fondness in her eyes. "Thank you."

Tobirama waited until the sound of her footsteps faded before closing his eyes tiredly.

"The things I do for you, Hashirama," he murmured to himself.

#hippocrates au #don't be too hard on tobirama he really is trying to look out for her in his own way #hisana would not have appreciated being the subject of a game of tug of war so it's prob for the best she slept through that part

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story-thief · 3 years

Text

MHA X READER (SHRUNK):

CHAPTER 3 - BAKUGO X TINY Y/N - HOT POCKET

Info--------------------

Y/N- Age: 16, Hight: 5'6", Gender: female, Quirk: Plant Growth and Control, Class: 1-A

AU- None, Domestic fluff

Relationship background: You and Bakugo are really good friends and secretly have crushes on each other!!!

———————————————

It was rather early in the morning and admittedly, (Y/N) hadn’t slept the best, her dreams being plagued with fantasies of hungry gators, with her on the menu. So in short, she needed her morningly sugar.

Walking down the halls of the dorms, she groggily made her way to the kitchen where she opened the fridge and grabbed herself a vanilla DrPepper. Popping it open, she shuffled into the living room and flopped onto the couch where she tiredly sipped at her drink.

*****

Unknown to her were the three mischievous boys who had gathered in Sero’s room. “So here’s the deal…” The tall black haired male began to fill in his peers, Kirishima and Kaminari. “Yesterday, as I was out… I came across this guy who said that he had a special serum that can shrink someone…” He told them, to which their eyes practically bulged from their heads. “Wait for real?!” Denki cried, willing to believe his friend despite the height of the tall tale. Kirishima looked slightly skeptical, “Shrink someone??” He asked, despite how much he wanted to believe his friend.

Sero pulled a small bottle from under his bed with a wide, sly grin. “It’s pure extract from someone’s quirk.” He explained, shaking it gently as the amber colored liquid inside sloshed lightly. Denki looked momentarily horrified, “LIKE THAT THING THEY DID TO THAT LITTLE GIRL, ERI!?” He cried, “NO!!!” Sero replied, “Yeah, Sero wouldn’t do that, come on man!... Though how did you get it??” The redhead asked, now fully on board. Their friend just gave them a slightly creepy smile. “I have my ways…” he admitted. “Anyways, the reason I called you guys here…” He continued, setting the glass jar down gently in front of them.

“You guys know (Y/N)....”

“Yeah!!!” “Of course man!!!”

“Know Bakugo…?”

“Oh?” “Where’s this going……”

“Well…. I was thinking we could help them come out of their shells a little bit…” He chuckles almost darkly. The other two gave him curious and expectant looks. “I say we find a way to sneak (Y/N) some of the elixir…. Then we leave her to Bakugo.” He says. The other two perk up, “YES!!!” Denki fist pumps, “That’s genius!!!” He laughs. Kiri on the other hand didn’t seem so sure. “I don’t know man… If (Y/N) found out we’d be in a lot of trouble…. And if Bakubro found out….” Kirishima needn’t finish as all three boys shivered at the mere thought.

“Its ok, Bakugo isnt gonna find out because nobody's gonna tell him.” Sero urged, both him and Kirishima giving Denki a death glare. “Wha- HEY!!! I WOULDN'T TELL, YOU GUYS NO THAT, I DON'T SQUEAL LIKE A PIG, I'M NOT MINETA!!” he whined, throwing his arms out before Kirishima quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. “But he will know if you’re not quiet…” He hushed.

“So are we going to do this then??” Sero finally asked, the other two glancing at each other briefly before nodding. “Great!!!”

****

(Y/N) remained on the couch, passively drinking her soda whilst tapping away on her device. The three boys all came in one by one, gradually as not to seem suspicious. The girl paid them no mind, only acknowledging Kirishima when he sat beside her on the couch, whipping out his own phone after wishing her a goodmorning.

After five or so minutes, The boys’ classmate got up to go retrieve her charger as her phone battery began to run low, leaving her DrPepper on the coffee table. As soon as she was gone Sero tossed Kirishima the bottle and he uncapped it, dumping its entire contents into the unsuspecting drink. He then quickly screwed the lid back on and pocketed the empty bottle.

Shortly after, (Y/N) returned, retaking her place on the couch, grabbing her drink and taking a small sip.

All three boys couldn't help as devious smiles tugged at the corners of their mouths…

For the first little while she didn’t notice their creepy smiles as they watched her expectantly, her continuing to enjoy her beverage. Finally she looked up to be met by three pairs of eyes. “What??” She asked, furrowing her brows, confused at their behavior. "Nothing..." Kirishima smirked, chin on his fist as he refused to look away. "Riiiight.... Did you guys spit in my drink or something??" She asked, eyeing the other two who laughed, "No!!" Sero guffawed, "So.... Are you guys on drugs or something??" She pressed, feeling frustrated that she didn't know what was going on. "no, but you are...." Denki muttered under his breath with a snicker, getting smacked in the back of the head by his friend.

"Ok then, I'm going to leave you creeps to yourselves and get ready..." She stated, finishing her drink and tossing it into the recycling.

'What on earth was wrong with them??? Did they do something to my drink??? Were they just being dummies and trying to see how she would react???' (Y/N) couldn't help but wonder as she walked down the halls back toward her room where she'd shower and make herself presentable for the day.

Not long after she felt her knees turn to jelly as the air whisked itself from her lungs. Startled, she tripped over herself and fell hard to the ground.'What the heck just happened!? Was this because of Denki, Sero, and Kirishima?!' Her mind whirled as the fall to the ground felt far further than it should have.

*****

The three men peeked around the corner at their classmate and watched as her legs gave way and she tripped, disappearing completely in the process, just her sweat pants and white T-shirt left on the ground.

"What just-"

"Did she-"

"Did we...?"

Their eyes were frozen open. It looked as if they had just vaporized her. "Well, we gotta see if she's ok!!!" Kirishima said, finally running out from their hiding spot, the other two chasing after. As they approached the discarded garments they were able to see a small form moving underneath the cloth. "Is that-!" Sero's smile grew exponentially. Kirishima looked as if he would reach out and see if she was ok so Sero clamped a hand over his mouth, shaking his head in reminder that Bakugo had to be the one to find her.

****

(Y/N) Felt the ground shake violently briefly. She sat up, still a little shaky and trying to catch her breath. "What just happened, where am I?!" She cried, trying to look around only to see she was in some sort of large fabric covering. The boys remained silent, slowly backing away as to not be around if anyone else came down the hall. Luckily they had timed things right and the very man they wanted to see came walking down the halls.

The floor vibrated again with his footsteps. "H-hello??" (Y/N) called, a smidge of fear starting to creep in given she still didn't know what all was happening.

****

Bakugo had only just gotten up and was on his not-so-merry way when he heard a small voice. He stopped, noticing the clothing discarded on the floor. "Eh?? Who on earth just left their clothes on the floor??" He asked, grabbing each piece, unintentionally scooping the small woman inside up as well. "Whatever. If they want their stuff back they'll have to come get it back. I don't have time for this crap." He grumbled, making his way back to his room.

The three other boys just gave each other victorious smiles, the plan was set in motion.

****

Bakugo reached his room shortly, tossing the clothes onto a nearby chair. He was about to walk right back out when he saw that they were moving. He hesitated, eyes growing a little with curiosity. (Y/N) on the other hand was so close to getting out, "HEY!! WHAT'S GOING ON!!!" She shouted, pushing at the shirt that surrounded her. Bakugo's eyes widened more, was he going crazy or did the pile of clothes talk??? "IS THERE ANYONE THERE??!!" She yelled once more, finally pushing her way out, shoulders and up protruding from the linen prison. The ash blonde's eyes snapped all the way open, which, may I add, was most certainly a first. "Oi, what kind of a joke is this??" he asked, regaining his demeanor, reaching for what looked to him like some kind of doll. (Y/N) was still trying to process what all she was looking at around her when the giant hand tried to grasp for her. With a startled squeak she ducked back down, barely missing as the closing fist brushed the top of her head.

When he grabbed nothing Bakugo only blinked. Curious as to if he really saw what he thought he saw. Bakugo parted the clothes enough to see the top of a miniature head. What was that thing?! he just stared at it for a second, trying to process what he should do. As he thought, the head turned to look up at him, and he was greeted by the tiny face of his classmate, (Y/N). Startled, he flinched away, goosebumps breaking his skin. "WHAT THE HECK!?" He finally yelled, "B-Bakugo!?" she yelled back, inching her way back out of the shirt just enough to peek up and out at him. "How'd you get so big!?" She asked to which he promptly shouted back, "Nothing happened to me, you're the one who shrunk, idiot!!!" "What!?" She looked down at herself to figure out if he was telling the truth, and soon learned that not only was she a great deal smaller, but she was also in her own clothes, meaning they weren't necessarily on her body anymore.

(Y/N)'s eyes widened and she hugged the fabric closer to herself. "Uh.... I don't think I have anything to actually.... wear" She told him, her cheeks lighting up with embarrassment. Bakugo rolled his eyes, shutting his door roughly, "Tch- well you're not walking around my place with your naked butt." He replied curtly, just standing there as if she should do something about it. "Well?" He asked. She looked around, growing uncomfortable, "Well....?" She responded, unsure of what he wanted. "Use your dumb quirk to make yourself some! You can grow plants from your body right???" He asked, lip slightly curling up as he spoke. "Oh!! i can make them grow from anything really, but it has to have the nutrients that the plants would need to sprout, so I could grow them from my own body, but they'd sap my energy and life force in a sense, plus that could be risky given plants can be kinda flimsy and delicate..." She responded.

Bakugo huffed, making his way over to the bed where he pulled something out from under. A small shoe box. The tiny girl leaned to look inside as he took the lid off to reveal the last thing she expected to see. Barbies.

"YOU HAVE BARBIE DOLLS?!" She cried out in disbelief, quickly covering her mouth as his head swirled to give her a death glare, "IT WAS A PHASE OK!? AND THEY'RE NOT BARBIE DOLLS, THEY'RE ACTION FIGURES!!!!" He belted, making her cover her sensitive ears. "Plus, I was ten...." He grumbled. pulling a few of the different girls out. "Pick whichever one you like, I don't care." the boy huffed, holding them out. "Umm, well I like the last one!!" She told him, pointing to one with a red, flannel shirt with a collar, and blue jeans. The ash blonde didn't respond, only set it down beside her and put the others away, his cheeks ever so slightly pink from embarrassment of the dolls.

"U-um... Could I maybe have some privacy???" The small girl asked, a little flustered. "Yeah, whatever..." he replied, turning around to stare at the wall, "Just hurry up, I have places to go and things to do." he told her, his tone returning to not a mean one, but also not necessarily nice. (Y/N) just nodded, staying within the safety of her shirt as she slipped the doll's clothes on. "Alright, I'm decent now." she told him, climbing from the wrapped cloth to stand before him, his crimson eyes turning to look her up and down. "Eh- They fit you well." he said after a moment of silence, making her blush, "Thanks!" She chirped, quickly turning his cheeks red, "NOT LIKE THAT, THEY JUST AREN'T TOO BIG!!!" He yelled angrily. The tiny couldn't help but laugh, a blush still set on her face. "SHUT UP!!!" He bellowed again, to which she responded, "Hey, no need to get all prickly, it was a nice compliment! Your yelling is hurting my ears though..."

Bakugo just scowled, letting out a terse huff. "Yeah, fine, whatever. I gave you clothes, you can go now, I just want those back whenever this is over." he told her, grabbing a duffle bag off the end of the bed. "Wait! You're just going to leave me here?! While I'm like this?!" (Y/N) sassily inquired, stopping the giant in his tracks. "Why not?? You're not some helpless little kid." he responded, to which she knew translated into another silent compliment. She understood that he thought that even like this she could handle herself just fine, and he wasn't a dunce, so she knew he meant it. "I know... but still, I'm still trying to get used to everything and, would you at least find me someone else safe to stay with?" she secretly hoped deep down that no one else would be able to, but she definitely wasn't going to admit that aloud whilst around him.

The Pomeranian let out a long sigh after glancing at his nightstand clock. "Tch- fine." He slung his duffle bag over his shoulder, then lazily grabbed his shrunken classmate in his fist before she could protest, his large fingers wrapping around her stomach and waist so as to not grip her anywhere that would restrain her or make her uncomfortable, being respectful in his own way. "Hey!!" She cried out in surprise, pressing against his hands. "You're fine." He told her, though he made sure his grip was loose enough he wasn't crushing her, but she couldn't get loose either.

"I never said you could just grab me!!" She objected, "And I never asked." He replied, walking out and into the hallway, toward the common room. (Y/N) just sulked, resting her head on her hands, elbows braced against the giant’s hand that wrapped carefully around her. As they walked in, the three boys from earlier plus Deku, Mina, Ochako, and Iida were all up and about. "OI! Extras!!" Bakugo yelled as he walked in, getting the attention of everyone there. "Who here can watch Flower Face for today??" He asked, waltzing up to the counter where he promptly set her down. (Y/N) stumbled, startled by the sudden and rough motion, trying to regain her balance. The eyes of everyone in the room popped from their heads, save the three boys who put her in the predicament to begin with.

Deku was the first to talk, followed by Iida, then Ochako, then Mina.

"Is that-?!"

"(Y/N)!?"

"Woah!! How'd she get so small!?"

"So cute!!! What happened!???"

Bakugo let out a long, exasperated breath. "I don't know ok?? I just found her like this in the halls." He explained. Midoryia quickly fell to his knees, making himself eye level with the tiny as he gripped the edge of the counter, in absolute awe. "This is amazing!? Do you know what happened!?" He asked, his excitement enough to make it appear almost as if he were glowing.

(Y/N) stumbled back when he got so close so fast, his already large green eyes suddenly so much bigger. "Uh- well I was just fine when I woke up this morning, then I suddenly just got sick and shrunk..." She told him, still a little unsure of his enthusiasm, simply because of the drastic size difference.

"Wait, wait!! (Y/N,Y/N)!!! Could I hold you!?" Mina squealed, bouncing up and down, holding her hands out. the small girl was just about to answer when Bakugo stepped in. "Jeez, give her some space! She's still a living being and you guys are being super invasive." he growled, growing slightly protective, "And don't be so loud, she has smaller ears now you know." He added, hand raised as if he were ready to slip it in between them and the small. The others stopped to look up at him before realizing that they really must have been overwhelming her. "S-sorry!!" Deku cried, jumping back, "I guess I didn't stop to think how that may have made you feel, (Y/N), I'm sorry..." He said with a apologetic and flustered smile, rubbing his hands nervously. "No... You didn't..." Bakugo scoffed, making the poor boy feel worse. "It's alright, I know you didn't mean to." She chuckled, feeling slightly bad about Bakugo's unnecessary persistent comment.

"Now who here can be responsible and take care of her?? I have stuff I need to get to so hurry up." The grumpy teen curtly explained, leaning against the counter. Deku gave another apologetic smile, "Sorry... I can't today...." He said before looking at the clock, "I have to be somewhere in- IM LATE!!!" He jumped upon seeing the time, grabbing his stuff and running out the door. The girls watched with stifled giggles, "Sorry, we had a girls' day planned for today." Uraraka explained, Mina nodding, "Speaking of which, we need to go wake the others if they're gonna be ready in time!" she added, Uraraka nodding vigorously as they both jogged off. "What about you three?! You've been weirdly quiet." The Pomeranian growled at the culprits. Denki startled, "Uh- yeah well I have to go see my mom...." He said before running out the door, earning exasperated looks from Kirishima and Sero as he bailed on them. "Sorry Bakubro, gym day.." Kirishima said as he casually got up and quickly left, already in workout clothes and sneakers.

(Y/N) watched as one by one, they each left, the chances of her having to stay with Bakugo growing, along with the nervous butterflies in her stomach. Then Iida piped up, "Don't worry, Bakugo, I will gladly keep watch on-"

"Oop- Iida was going to go visit his brother today!! And I have elsewhere to be!!" Sero interrupted him, clamping a hand down on his mouth and dragging him out of the common room.

Bakugo growled, "WHAT!? YOU CAN'T ALL BE BUSY TODAY!!! YOU LITTLE BRATS, GET BACK HERE!!!" He cried as they left, "Tch-!!" The man was beside himself, they really just left him to watch over her. "Come on Bakugo, I can't be that bad!!" (Y/N) laughed, though part of her felt slightly hurt that he seemed so reluctant to spend time with her. The ash blonde teen rolled his eyes, "Not that bad?? Taking care of your sorry butt would be easy, but it gets annoying when I have to do it while doing hero work..." He grumbled, "I don't have time for this!!" he said, gripping the bridge of his nose. "Oh... Well, I won't be much trouble!!" (Y/N) pressed, still determined to go with him. It'd be better than staying here all day where she wouldn't be able to do anything. The boy just stared at her long and hard before he grumbled, grabbing his bag again and holding his hand out. The tiny girl stared at it for a moment before her face lit up and she looked up at him with a glittering smile, "Wait- I can-!?" She started to ask before he glared, face heating up as he tried to ignore the throbbing in his chest at the sight of her so stoked to go with him. "Hurry up will ya, I already told you I'm in a rush!!" He complained, trying hard to hide the faint coloring in his cheeks.

(Y/N) enthusiastically jumped on, wrapping her hands around his soft yet rough fingers. Bakugo walked out of the building and towards The Best Jeanist's agency. Bakugo had agreed to work with him for a short time whilst he looked for a more permanent position, all under the condition that he wouldn't wear those cursed skinny jeans or have his hair combed back. "Before we get there and I'm officially on patrol and whatever, we'll need to get some things straight. I'm not babysitting you." He stated, still holding his hand up and out where she sat. The girl turned to look back at him as he spoke. "You and I both know you're not some flimsy little pansy, so if you get in a tough spot don't expect me to come in and save you right away, you'll have to be fine holding off as long as you can, got that??" He asked, her nodding her head. (Y/N) noticed he was a little more straightforward with her and honest about his thoughts, a privilege that only she and Kirishima shared. As the thought occurred she couldn't help but blush.

"Oi, earth to Flower Face!!"

His voice broke her train of thought. "Oh!! yeah??" She responded, finally coming to. "I'm getting tired of holding you like this." He told her as he kept walking. "Oh!! Sh-should I move??" she asked, not wanting to do anything without his say so. "Well I didn't tell you just to waste my breath now did I?" He replied, it being as much of an 'okay' as she'd get. "Right!! Is your shoulder okay??" She asked to which he didn't answer other than lifting his hand closer up to his shoulder. Carefully, she climbed on and quickly situated herself to be standing with some of his blonde fluffy hair clutched in her fists to help support her. Bakugo kept walking, seemingly thinking to himself the most of the time, so (Y/N) made herself busy braiding his hair into tiny, spiky braids that followed the natural flow of his messy head. Before she knew it she had braided everywhere she could reach from his right shoulder. 'It'd look weird if I left his hair like this...' she thought to herself, her natural next move being to braid the rest. She grasped each soft clump of hair to keep her from falling as she moved with careful feet to the back of his neck.

As she began to cross she felt him shiver as it quite obviously tickled, his neck and shoulders tensing beneath her feet. "What the heck are you doing??" He asked, the tiny's foot holds vibrating with the hum of his voice. (Y/N) looked down at his feet that kept pace, coming behind him just enough to push off and into the next step. "Oi, What are you up to you little dummy!" He asked again, this time getting her full attention, "Just wanted to see what this'd be like!" She exclaimed, carefully testing to see if his shirt collar would support her. "Yeah well don't get used to it!! And don't fall, you've already made me late enough!!" The Pomeranian warned her as she looked out over the ground they had covered. "Ok!" She chirped back, before getting to work on his hair.

Crossing each large tuft over the other she soon reached the smaller hairs along the base of his neck that were too small to braid. The tiny girl ran her hands through the far softer, finer hairs that bristled straight up. "So soft!!!" She giggled quietly to herself, eventually burying her face in the fluff and nuzzling the boy's neck.

Bakugo could feel everything the girl did. Truth was that he had been thinking to himself around the beginning of the walk but as tiny fingers began working through his hair, his mind wandered to them. He couldn't tell what exactly she was doing but it felt good and he thought it was kinda cute. She was the only person, other than maybe Weird Hair, that he wouldn't yell at for doing this, plus he knew she was a very hygienic person. Though he grew curious as he could feel tiny hands and feet ever so carefully creeping toward the back of his neck. Bakugo could tell as hands tickled the base of his neck where the baby hairs were and heard her praise his hair. He couldn't help but scowl harder in an attempt to hide the blush that painted itself across his cheeks. Soon something a little bigger than the minuscule fingers began to nuzzle against him. Shivers ran up his back and goosebumps broke his skin in a mixture of tickle and good feeling sensations washed over him.

"Hey!! No one said you could just do whatever you want back there!!!" The ash blonde growled, reaching back and plopping her on his other shoulder. "Sorry!" She laughed as his hand let go of her and she fell flat on her stomach. "oof-" She let out a little noise before pushing herself back up and looking up at the side of his face which was still very hot. "DUDE YOUR EARS ARE SO RED!!" She exclaims with a snicker, startled by the sudden change in color. "SHUT UP, IT'S JUST A SUNBURN!!" He roared back, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. "That's a fast sunburn!!!" She retorted to which she could see a sneer curl at his lips, "You're about to get a fast burn...." He threatened.

(Y/N) shrugs it off and doesn't think much of it, beginning to work at his hair again. "What are you doing anyway???" He snarled after some time to which she realized just how ticked he'd be if he knew she was doing this. "N-nothing.... just- playing with your hair, you know...... fluffing it and stuff." She responded, turning sheet white. "Just don't do anything stupid or I'll blow your sad little butt to shreds." He tells her impatiently, to which she nods, continuing the braids slowly now. "Yep, definitely nothing stupid." She added, only adding to the blonde boy's suspicions. "Yeah, whatever." He sighed, rolling his blood red eyes as he kept walking.

At last the braids were done, and (Y/N) thought they looked amazing!!! She couldn't help but giggle and feel proud as she looked at their reflection in a window of a building they walked by. "Eh?? What's so funny?" The boy asked as he twisted his head to look at his tiny crush. The little girl was still grabbing his hair for support, so when Katsuki turned his head, (Y/N) lost her grip and wobbled before falling back and onto the giant's face. "Hey-Woah!!" She cried as she tipped back and fell against his nose and mouth to which he startled, clearly not expecting her to latch onto him for dear life. "HEY!!!" He hollered, making her grab tighter to his nose as her foot caught in his mouth. "GET OFF ME!!" He then began trying to grab at her. "I'M TRYING!!!" she shot back, her surprised but feisty, small, glittering eyes, meeting his much larger, glaring red ones.

He managed to grab her in his fist and give her quite the look. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR, HUH!!!???" He bellowed at the tiny that tightly gripped his fingers. "It wasn't on purpose!!" She countered, growing more and more conscious of the smoke that seeped from his palm and the rapid heat that generated around her as well. Bakugo's response came with a hard glare. "Well then be more careful idiot!!! I don't want you all over my face, who knows where on this blasted planet you've been!!" "No, you should be more careful!!!! I was fine till you tried to look at me without giving me any warning!!!" She corrected Bakugo quickly, earning a huff and a growl as he looked away for a moment. "Well I'm not gonna tell you every time I wanted to turn my own blasted head...." He didn't answer any more despite his softened attitude. He knew she was right and that he was letting his anger get the best of him.

"So are you gonna carry me in your hand again, Pufferfish??" The tiny girl asked. Bakugo scoffed, "Well you're not going back on my shoulder." He responded curtly, shoving her down in the pockets of his baggy jeans.

Once again, she was plunged into an ocean of cloth, only this time she was pressed up against his hand that rested casually beside her. Put out, the small girl began squirming around against his hand and in the pocket to get comfortable. "The heck you doing??" She heard his grumpy voice ask, and she promptly ignored him, wiggling into the inside of his hand and pressed herself to the Pomeranian's palm and fingers. She heard him scoff lightly before his hand curled inward and around her. She smiled and snuggled into his rough, work worn hand. She allowed her eyes to pull heavily closed, the swaying motion of Bakugo's walking soothing her.

(Y/N) awoke suddenly to being squished against the giant's leg by his hand briefly. "Oi, Watch it." His voice angrily chided. It was clear she had fallen asleep given that she could hear the sounds of a bus humming and every step seemed to drop her lower and lower before she could hear the vehicle start and drive off. How long she had been asleep, she didn't know, but the miniature girl was tired of being carried around in Bakugo's pocket. "Hey!!" (Y/N) began trying to climb up his arm before he pulled his hand out, leaving her in his loose pocket by herself. "Bakugo!!" She whined, trying to pull herself out before failing.

Bakugo was getting off the bus as a stranger got on, slamming into his side where the tiny was in his pocket. "Oi!!! Watch it!" he barked at them, silently hoping that she was okay. She had fallen asleep quite a while back and he was now at The Best Jeanist's agency when he heard her call from his pocket. "Hey!!" (Y/N)'s small and soft voice chirped. He could feel her pulling herself out, but he needed her to stay hidden or Jeanist might try to confiscate her, saying it wouldn't be smart to take a tiny girl like her on a hero patrol. So he paid her no mind as he pulled his hand out without her to open the building's doors. "Bakugo~~" She continued to complain and protest as he walked in, heading straight to check in with his temporary mentor. "Shuddup." He said quietly, cupping one hand to his pocket to keep her from wriggling around too much, clearly having the opposite effect. "Quit it alright?? I'll let you out in a minute," The giant whispered harshly, bopping the little body in his pocket gently. Luckily she stopped moving and he was able to get his patrol route and head to the changing rooms.

After a while of him walking something began poking hard against his leg. He was confused at what she was doing before he figured that she was probably kicking him. Bakugo ignored the little human who continued to relentlessly jab at him until her protests began to come a little too close to a certain sensitive area he did not want to be kicked in. His eyes widened and he quickened his pace to reach the privacy of the changing room as each rough nudge seemed to creep closer and closer to his midsection.

He swiftly threw open one of the locker room doors and dashed inside, setting his duffle bag down and quickly fishing the girl out right as she threw a hard kick. His hand tightened around her harder than he meant as he folded in half. Her small size did not affect her strength in the slightest. Bakugo then shakily pulled (Y/N) from his pockets and gave her a murderous glare. She looked up at him absolutely clueless as to what she had just done, her face a mix of confusion and surprise. "Dude..... Y-you okay????" She asked with furrowed brows. "Im fine." He responded in a strained voice, "But I'd be better if you didn't plant your gosh darn foot between my legs." He added, rage trickling into his voice with each word.

The tiny's eyes grew large as understanding dawned on her, "WAIT FOR REAL!!??" She quickly lost it, wheezing and choking on her laughs at the giant's misfortune. He held his breath for a few moments, resisting the urge to squeeze her just enough to get her to stop laughing and maybe, just maybe exact some extent of revenge. "Would you quit that?! It's not funny, alright!?" He yelled as she continued to laugh and apologize, "Sorry, I just-" she giggled, tears streaming down her face. "You don't sound gosh darn sorry!" He growled before setting her down roughly on the bench beside the bag. "Just be quiet, alright??" He snarled, unzipping it and pulling out his costume.

"Why didn't you let me out??" She asked carefully, calming herself, but not wanting to upset him any further as he remained still somewhat bent in half. "Because Greasy Hair would try to take you if he knew you were here." He told her, quickly pulling off his shirt to which she just stared, "Dang~." (Y/N) cut herself off face turning bright pink as she looked up at the boy's well built, bare chest. "You look like you work out, do you work out??? Would you like to work out together sometime???" She asked, making him roll his eyes as he tossed his shirt onto her. "Don't make this weird alright??" He told her, taking the opportunity to swap his pants whilst she tried to crawl out of the sweaty cloth.

"Hey!!" She squawked, pulling herself from the shirt and looking to see him sitting on the floor and pulling his boots on. She opted to just sit and watch as he put on the rest of his outfit. The room didn't have a mirror so he had to blindly do his eyeliner that he used to make the area around his eyes black and fit in with his mask.

"You missed a spot," The tiny chimed as he picked up the mask, about to tie it to his face. "Eh? Where."

"Right there."

"Here?"

"No!"

"Well I'm gonna need something a little more specific than 'there'."

"Here, let me get it." She offered. Bakugo didn't respond, only leaned in close to the bench so she could reach his face. "Right here." She responded, stepping forward and placing her tiny hands on the soft skin beneath his eyes to carefully spread the thick black makeup. He didn't close his eyes while she did this, the giant blood red spheres just followed her every movement. The minuscule girl couldn't help but look back up and into his large eyes, every detail becoming very visible. Being this close up to his face, she had to admit, made her heart hiccup. She watched his large pupils dilate as they stared at her, shifting ever so slightly with his studying her tiny form. It was hypnotizing....

"You done??" His voice broke the silence, puffing a small, warm breath across her little body. "Oh, Yeah!!!" She replied, stepping back as he pulled away, tying on his mask. "Thanks I guess," He muttered before scooping her up in gloved hands, far more gently than the last few times- er- all the other times.

"Whoah!" She let her surprised reaction slip from her lips as she was tucked into the hero's belt loop, typically where a grenade would hang. "ah- This isn't very comfortable you know..." she complained, trying to change her position as she was held up by the strap that ran across her chest and under her arms. "Well you've pretty much lost the privilege to ride anywhere else." The ash blonde told her, opening the door and marching out and into the streets, though he walked with a bit of an awkward limp, presumably from her kick. "I'm not a baby, Come on!!!" She proceeded to whine at his stubborn responses. "You may not be one, but you get into about as much trouble as one." He responded as he walked, not even throwing her a glance. (Y/N) let out a huff equal to her size.

Things seemed pretty uneventful as Bakugo walked around, snapping at the occasional fan, and pretty much just marched around his route, with his tiny classmate hanging from his belt. Surprisingly enough, hardly anyone seemed to notice her. Two or three people did and Bakugo easily passed it off as her being his 'sidekick' or 'partner' but that was the most interesting thing to happen so far.

That is.... until a commotion broke loose...

A building not too far from them suddenly exploded as the side wall flew outwards in thousands of pieces, causing the explosive boy's head to whip around, a crazed grin stretching across his facial features, "Finally!" He cheered, a little too eagerly, as he took off running. (Y/N) was being shaken up and down violently by the mere motion of the giant's sprint. Suddenly they lurched forward as Bakugo rocketed forward with his own explosions, landing just a few feet from a startled bystander, "WHATS GOING ON!?" The angry Pomeranian demanded, startling the poor man even further. "I- I- I don't know!! I was just on my way back from the-" "I don't need to know that crap! It blew up, I know!!" He cut the man off quite rudely as he took to a speedy sprint toward the source of the panic.

As they approached the explosion sight, three figures could be seen coming through the smoke. "We've done it!! Now hurry up and let's get out of here before the pros arrive!!!" One masculine voice could be heard, followed by two more voices, one sounding male, the other female. "Sure thing!!" "Less chatting, more scramming!"

Bakugo couldn't resist the urge but to call out, "Not so fast!! Where do you brats think you're going?!" He taunted with the same frightening smile. "go." The first voice instructed and the other two bolted. The tallest of the bunch stayed, presumably the first to speak.

"Mind your own business kid, this doesn't concern you." He said sharply, raising one arm before it came whistling through the air, stretching out like a whip. Bakugo reacted quickly, using his own blasts to flip over the on coming threat right before it slammed into a nearby pile of debris with a sickening crack. "LIKE I GIVE A CARE!!" The hero in training shouted back, one hand held protectively in front of (Y/N). The figure paused before approaching, the long tentacle-like arm retracting into the thick fog and by their side. "Well then, I suppose I've warned you proficiently..." The figure mused, emerging from the dense aerial soot with a slow but powerful stride, "I have no intention of killing one so young, but I can't make promises, the fight tends to get away from me..." He added early with a sickening grin as he came into the light enough to tell the details.

The man was staggeringly tall with shaggy but well kept black hair, he had a long scar that ran up the night side of his face, painting one of his striking blue eyes a milky, blind white. He wore a battered suit and tie, dress shoes replaced by heavy duty combat boots. Two strange scars crept up from the corners of his mouth to his long pointed ears; sharp fang looking things jutted from the scar.

Bakugo couldn't help but smile wider as the man approached, "Same here, Bean Pole." He chuckled, more under his breath than out loud.

Then, with a loud ripping noise, The villain's arms split into many different tentacles, all rushing forward hastily. Bakugo blew up each one as they reached him, smoke and flame firing off in all directions with ear splitting noises. Bakugo grew careless, excitedly flipping and spinning about, propelling himself dramatically with his hand explosions that were each aimed strategically at on coming tentacles and arms that swung about with startling amounts of force.

It was then that he didn’t notice a particular limb until it slammed into him from behind, knocking the air from him as he was flung toward the ground, flinging the tiny (Y/N) from his belt just before he hit the ground.

(Y/N) watched as the world whirled about her as she fell, the wind whistling loudly in her tiny ears as the unknown of how far she’d fall threatened to plant fear in her chest. Reacting quickly she covered herself in cushioned mushrooms that bounced her gently whilst her tiny form rolled across the ground.

Peaking one eye open she shook the shrooms from her body and looked around in hopes to study her current situation. With shaky legs she stood and observed Bakugo swiftly standing and quickly checking his side where she was previously, he looked panicked as he looked around himself and even under his boots, and where he sat. “Crud-“

“What’s wrong??” The figure asked tauntingly as he walked closer, cradling one particularly burned tentacle close to his body as the others crept closer to the panic stricken hero. "You lose something??? Aww~ That's too bad isn't it... especially since you're about to lose consciousness as well...."

The pale blonde whirled on the villain, firing a barrage of explosive shots at him, each one hitting a tentacle and the villain in the head. The man let out startled cries of pain and surprise before shaking it off, "You little-" He started before Bakugo flew at him with outstretched hands that crackled and spat sparks. "I'll make you pay you filthy low life!!" The hero spat, pouncing on the man who deftly dodged and defended himself against the explosive demon boy that tore at him like a feral animal.

(Y/N)'s eyes widened as she observed the giants fight. She had to help, but she couldn't get close, or she'd risk getting crushed. That's when it occurred to her. She looked down at where she stood to see exposed dirt.

Perfect!

Placing her hands on the ground, they glowed a bright green and long, dark vines began to creep along the ground quickly, toward the two who fought. With careful control she aloud the plants to ensnare the tall man and slowly entangle themselves around his body. "What the?!" Both men asked in confusion but Bakugo's eyes quickly widened with relief and realization as he remembered your quirk.

The villain snapped the vines quickly, "How do you have two quirks?!" He asked in astonishment and confusion before his eyes caught that the plants crept from a further and smaller human form. "Isn't it obvious?! Cause I'm the best gosh darn hero this world will ever see!!" Bakugo yelled back, not wanting him to know about his minuscule classmate and crush who was somewhere he was unaware of.

Narrowing his eyes, he focused all his extensive arms on the explosive teen, cocooning him quickly before tossing him off to the side brutally. He then snapped his head to glare at the tiny girl. (Y/N) startled as the villain walked slowly but steadily toward her, stunning eyes fixated on her. She quickly looked behind herself, silently praying that he was looking at someone or something else. But when she turned to look back he was bolting toward her, long arms outstretched.

The small girl let out a startled scream as she turned to run the other way before one of the scaly limbs wrapped itself around her and pulled her off the ground. "So you have an accomplice!" The villain chimed, turning to look back at Bakugo who was standing up from a pile of crumbled stone, one hand clutched to his side.

Bakugo's eyes widened with genuine fear once they spotted the small. He began to run at the villain with startling speed, "GET YOUR FILTHY LITTLE-"

"Uh-uh -uh! I wouldn't do that if I were you!!" The man teased maliciously, tightening his grip on the girl's small form as the scars opened themselves along his jawline to reveal a startlingly larger mouth full of dagger-like teeth. (Y/N) paled. "Make one wrong move and I'll make sure she isn't a problem.... got that??" he asked, still with a sickeningly terrifying grin playing across his facial features.

Bakugo skidded to a stop, growling as he was left in quite the predicament. "What the heck do you want then....." He asked through gritted teeth, his glare hardening on the criminal. "Let us go and I'll give your friend back." He responded before continuing, "I'm going to take her with me to make sure you don't follow, because if you do...." the man trailed off, flashing a very toothy grin.

Bakugo just glared back, carefully running ideas and scenarios through his head as to how to get his tiny friend back without getting her hurt or putting her in any more risk.

(Y/N) on the other hand gripped the villain's arm that held her and let her quirk go crazy, sapping his energy as thorns exploded across his body, rapidly tangling and ensuring him and each other.

The blonde took the opportunity to jump on the villain whilst he struggled against his restraints, roughly pulling the small woman from his grasp and striking him unconscious. "Stupid extra." He spat under his breath before returning his attention to his miniature crush. "You miss me??" She asked with a bright smile despite her shaky voice, to which he turned her in his hand, setting her on his palm. He began checking her up and down for potential injuries, poking, prodding and feeling at her with careful fingers, "You break anything, idiot??" he asked, avoiding her question, and hiding just how petrified he had been for her safety.

The tiny giggled as he hit some ticklish spot and swatted at his large fingers. "Yeah, i'm fine!!! it'd take more than some creepy Slender-Man dude to take me out!!" She told him to which he sighed, giving the thorn ball on the ground a rough kick. "Yeah, whatever, come on, we can't let those other guys get away." He told her, looking down at himself for a safer spot to place her.

(Y/N) watched him study himself, noticing that the braids were still intact. Honestly a beautiful sight!

"You know what, i don't even care anymore!" He grumbled, interrupting her train of thought and quickly plopping her onto his head, "Grow some dumb vines to secure yourself or something." He told her, marching off before breaking into a full sprint in the direction the other villains had gone. "Wait what about that other guy??" She asked, quickly growing some vines off his head to secure her tightly to him. "What, Bean Pole?! That dunce is done for, the other heroes will take care of him." He chuckled darkly as he continued to run, following a strange trail of blue slimy residue footsteps.

(Y/N) just lied back into the tall, crazy, spiky blonde hair. There was a stunning amount of it and its ridiculously soft texture made it clear that it held its messy composure without any kind of gel or treatment. Good gracious was she glad she didn't have shoes. She couldn't help but wiggle her feet back and forth through his silky tufts, fluffing strands and clumps of it through her hands and against her face as well.

Bakugo knew full well what she was doing and smiled softly to himself as he kept running, doing his best to ignore the burning in his ears as they turned red.

Soon they could hear voices...

"Do we just wait here for the boss???'

"Duh, what else would we do?!"

"Well, what if he got caught?"

"By that kid?! Please, Kanja Kaijuise wouldn't get taken down by a silly little twerp like that, just be patient, he said to wait here so we will." a feminine voice chided in an annoyed tone in response to the nervous male one.

Bakugo gave a sadistic grin at their confidence in their leader. “You should watch who you're calling a ‘Silly little twerp’!” He yelled, swinging himself around the corner with a powerful blast, using both legs to kick the two from behind, knocking them to the ground where he pinned them by standing on them. “WHAT THE-?!” They both exclaimed in surprise, grunting as they were pinned beneath the ash blonde teen. “IM GONNA BLOW YOU TWO IDIOTS ALL THE WAY TO HELL...." he rasped harshly in their ears. The woman was stronger built than the guy and her skin was a transparent, glossy blue. "I'd like to see you try, punk!!" She hissed though she didn't seem to have any mouth. And just like that she flattened beneath his feet, upsetting his balance briefly. "What on earth??" He muttered as a large, sticky blue puddle and empty clothes replaced the woman.

Like water, the strange substance began to sift from between Bakugo's feet and took shape behind him. Suddenly a sharp pain connected with the back of the boy's head, sending him flying forward. Miraculously, he stopped himself before he ended up crushing (Y/N) who gripped onto his hair with surprising strength, tearing at his hair ever so slightly. "You alright Flower Face??" He asked, hands cupped over his head before a shaky answer came, "Y-yeah, never better!! Just focus on kicking this girl's butt!!" She squeaked, gaining a very eager grin from the giant, "Alright then, hold on tight!!" He warned. She tightened her grip before he flinched, "Ow, ow, ow, not that hard dummy!!!" He winced at the feeling of his hair being yanked at.

Turning to face his opponent, he was met by the sight of the women, her entire body made from the blue, glossy slime. It looked as if she wore a loose body suit as the goop lacked any other details. The blonde grinned, sparks popping sporadically, from his palms, "Come at me!!!" He jeered, both crouching down into battle stances.

"RAHHH!!!!" The woman let out a fierce battle cry, rushing forward and morphing around Bakugo's attacks, delivering heavy blows in return. The giant boy coughed and grunted, catching a second wind before sprinting at his sludge-like enemy. "DIE!" He bellowed, utterly missing again.

(Y/N) on the other hand acted quickly in an act of desperation, she generated a long twisted, horned vine and allowed it to fall back around the woman in attempt to trip or snag her, though it caught around her neck, and went right through the glop, severing her head from the rest of her body in a way that looked a great deal like cutting jello. The rest of her body completely melted. The tiny was left star struck and terrified of what she had just done. That was, until the woman's head touched ground and the rest of her quickly formed back. "OH MY-" her breath caught in her throat as she witnessed what she had thought had just been her own manslaughter. But that's when it clicked, "BAKUGO!! I KNOW HER WEAKNESS!!! ONLY THE SLIME CONNECTED TO HER HEAD CAN BE CONTROLLED, SO IF YOU SHRINK HER DOWN YOU CAN BEAT HER!!!" The minuscule girl yelled, making the boy's eyes snap in realization.

It had happened so quickly, all within the time the giant stopped his missed punch and whirled around to see her form again. "I KNEW THAT DANG IT, JUST SHUT UP AND DON'T GET YOURSELF SPOTTED!!!" He yelled back, "Don't tell me to-!!" "I SAID SHUT UP AND DIIIIEEEE!!!!!" The hero whirled on the woman, this time, using her dodging tactics to blow up or kick off small amounts of goop at a time, instead of trying to blast her face into the floor. With each quick, controlled blow strategically taking out inches at a time, they fought till he towered over the woman who stood at only 3-4 inches tall. "Heh heh heh heh, whatcha gonna do now pipsqueak?!" He asked with a devilish grin, having her backed against a wall. "You should watch who you're talking to you little-" She was cut short as Bakugo slammed a glass bottle over top of her, trapping her inside. "Can it!" He laughed maliciously at his own pun. She let out a frustrated growl as she banged slimy fists against the glass whilst Katsuki pocketed it in one of his heavy duty pockets on his pant legs, filled with other gear and equipment. He turned to see that the other villain was gone. "Coward!" He rolled his eyes with a click of his tongue. "at least he left the money,..." The boy muttered,. "Oi, Flower Face, you still alive??" he asked to which she answered sassily, "Psh- Yeah!!" she chirped whilst he sighed, grabbing the many, heavy duffle bags off the ground, slinging some over his back, the others over his shoulder, and the last two in his arms.

With a light grunt, he lifted the loot and marched back toward where the fight initially broke loose, where the other pro heroes and police were inspecting things and indeed dealing with the so nick-named "Bean Pole".

"Dynamight!!" a voice called as he marched over. "Eh?" He grumbled as a news reporter rushed over, "It seems you single handedly took out the leader of the villains responsible for this attack!! What can you tell the rest of us!?" The lady asked before practically shoving the mic into his face.

"Well (A, I took down two of those gosh darn villains, and got the money back, (B, i didn't do it alone, so get your stupid facts right." He finished his snide remark before shoving past her and marching steadily toward the police. "What are you talking about 'didn't do it alone', i didn't do squat!!" The tiny asked, genuinely confused. "Well, you wrapped Bean Pole in thorns and helped me figure out how to beat Pipsqueak, didn't you??" He asked, though it came out as more of a declaration. (Y/N) just smiled.

After a long chat with the cops about the third man, Bakugo handed the slime girl over to them, along with the stolen goods. Then they finished up an otherwise uneventful patrol and headed back to Best Jeanist's where the blonde would check in, change back into normal clothes and head home for the day.

Bakugo walked into the agency, no longer determined to hide his miniature crush as he had already gone on patrol so it didn't matter anymore. He reported quickly with Jeanist who was, as the boy predicted, angry that he had brought her along but couldn't do much about it any more.

He then went into the changing rooms, this time getting one with a mirror. "Alright, as soon as we get back to the dorms, i'm-!!!" "THE HECK!?" "DID YOU DO THIS YOU LITTLE FUN SIZED PUNK!?" The ash blonde giant roared, staring in horror at the neat little braids that followed the sides of his head all the way around.

(Y/N) paled, "Um well-"

"YOU SCRUFFY LITTLE BRAT!! YOU BETTER UNDO THESE THINGS OR I'LL UNDO YOU!!!"

"NOOO!!!! They look so cuuuute~!"

"I'M NOT TRYING TO LOOK STINKIN CUTE!! YOU HAD BETTER GET THESE ABOMINATIONS OUT OF MY HAIR!!!"

"Can we leave them-"

"NO! WE MAY NOT! NOW GET. THEM. OUT."

Bakugo was livid with her and clenched her in a hot, smoking fist as she was forced to undo the little braids that were far too small for his large fingers to fix. Though unknown to him was the fact that she left a particularly favorite one of hers in the back, where he couldn't see. "No way I'm letting you anywhere near my hair again!!" He snarled, earning a complaining whine from her. "And if you freaking kick me I will kill you..." the explosive giant growled as he stuffed the tiny (Y/N) into his pocket after having changed back into his clothes.

(Y/N) knew full well that he'd send her flying if she did so, though she didn't plan to. Instead, she made herself busy playing with pieces of lint, like one might a cloud or cotton candy, squishing and shaping it in her hands.

Sooner than she would have thought the sound of a door opening and closing caught her attention. "Hey!! Are we home!?" She asked, standing on his thumb to peak out of the pocket. Her question was answered simply by looking around. They were in a simple convenience store. "Tch- Whats it look like??" He asked with a click of his tongue. "Wait, I thought we were gonna head back to the dorms?" She asked to which her classmate let out an annoyed sigh, "We are, dummy, I just wanted to grab some snacks to eat before we get back."

"What do you mean?? You already have a snack!!"

"Eh? what- that plain crap ramen and potato chips back home?? I'm not eating that trash-"

"No, you've got me!!! I'm a hot pocket!!!!"

"..."

"Cause I'm hot! And I'm in a pocket!!!" Bakugo just stared at her with a blank expression as she returned one that clearly stated that she knew full well and was proud of her bad pun. She could have sworn his cheeks and ears turned red though, "Are you blush-" "Shuddup!!! Just pick something out already so we can check out!!" He yelled, turning to look away from his pocket and hide his face as his hand shifted beneath her, catching her tiny figure in his palm as he lifted her out of his pocket. (Y/N) decided not to push, but the thought alone that her comment had made him blush caused a hot pink to dust her cheeks whilst her heart swelled.

Bakugo carried her around the small gas station store to pick out some sweets and snacks. A certain treat caught the tiny's eye, "OOO, GRAB THOSE (fav unhealthy snack)!!!" "Are you serious!? Do you know the havoc those things can wreak on your body!?" He asked, disgust lacing his tone. "Yes!!! NOW GIMME!!!" Bakugo rolled his eyes, "Fine, just know I'm not gonna let this be all you eat, you better save room for something healthy!! There's no way I'm letting you eat too much of this junk!!" He chides, (Y/N) just laughing at his comment. "ok, I won't say no to that!!" she giggled.

After picking out some stuff for her, Bakugo bee-lined for the spicy ramen and other hot snack foods, grabbing some ghost pepper potato chips, dried chili peppers, and spiced almonds. "You want some food with that hot sauce??" The tiny asked with a sarcastic little scoff. "Ha!! This is the mild stuff!!!" He said, grabbing a pack of Carolina reaper snack sticks off a shelf. "This.... is the good stuff!!" He spoke with a triumphant laugh as her eyes popped, looking at the pack of seasoned sausages he shook in his hand. "Holy crap man!! How can you even still taste anything!!??" "I can taste plenty fine, and you're gonna eat these with me!!" He laughed, tossing them into the little basket he held. The tiny girl paled as she looked down into the basket below her, sitting on the wrist of his hand that held it. "No way, and you can't make me!" She responded after a moment as they came up to the register. "Oh yeah!? We'll see about that, Flower Face!" he laughed, setting the ingredients and snacks they planned to purchase on the conveyor belt.

The cashier rang them up, casting countless looks and glances at the shrunken human that sat on Bakugo's shoulder. It clearly got on the hot head's nerves as he eventually yelled at the poor guy to stop staring. The adult got defensive and demanded that the temperamental boy give respect to his elders.

"Oh yeah!? And who are you to make me!?"

"Someone who can kick you out of here without your food!"

"Try me Spider!! You're looking at the future number one hero!!!"

"Number one hero!? You're not going to be squat with that attitude!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!? I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT AN ATTITUDE LOOKS LI-" The blonde was promptly cut short as the shrunken girl pressed both her hands against his face, squishing his cheek and getting him to stop. Bakugo had already gotten up and onto the counter, one leg propped up high the other ready to launch him forward as both hands sparked. "Sorry, he's a little hangry, if you'll pardon us we'll just pay for our food and get out of your hair!!" She apologized, still leaning against the boy's face.

The man just stared as Bakugo began angrily fishing the money from his back pocket with a sneer. "Fine whatever, just get out of my store already..." the cashier huffed. Bakugo clearly got angrier at this and moved to further threaten the man but (Y/N) pulled one of the blonde tufts of hair. "Come on, let's just go home and eat!" She urged before he snatched the bag of food and stomped out, "Whatever... " The small girl just let out a long sigh, "good grief..." she groaned with a soft chuckle.

Bakugo then began walking back to the dorms with her still on his shoulder.

They soon arrived and the teen went straight inside where they were met by the three from earlier who had started the whole thing. "Yo! Bakubro!! How was your time out!? Where'd you guys go?? What'd you do!?" "It was hero work." he replies, giving the red headed, Kirishima, a skeptic glare. "You took her on a hero patrol!?" Sero asked sitting up from his spot on one of the common room couches closer to the kitchen where the blonde set down the food. "Well what else was I supposed to do?! You idiots were all too busy to provide any other supervision... if what you would do could even be called that." he added with a click of his tongue, (Y/N) laughing at his comment, knowing full well how true it was. Denki piped in, "Yeah but how was it???" He asks with a sly grin. Bakugo's scrutinizing scowl returned, "Why do you three dummies care huh?" "No reason, no reason!!!" They all quickly shut him down, throwing each other glances. "Yeah right...." He muttered with a roll of his eyes before grabbing out a pot for the ramen with the tiny girl still perched on his shoulder.

(Y/N) just observed him start the boiling water, silently praying that he forgot his little vow to make her eat the spicy food. "Why the heck did you go quiet all of the sudden, huh?? Usually your mouth runs like a stinking river." The boy commented as he fished out an apron from a kitchen drawer. "Oh! I don't know, just watching I guess." she shrugs. "Yeah well, remember that you're technically not even supposed to be up there so just don't get too comfortable." The boy commented with a sharp exhale.

Bakugo then pulled the strap around his neck, unaware that it loosely wrapped around (Y/N) till he pulled it tight and she was yanked up against his throat. "Hey!!" She cried out in surprise as the previously loose strap suddenly came up and around her stomach, pulling her tight against the giant's neck. "Oi, What are you doing?" "Nothing! The apron strap got me!!" she laughed, gripping the cloth strap around her waist. "The strap-? oh." And with that it loosened and she was able to slip free.

"You alright?" His question startled her. It came softly, as if meant only for her ears, despite being close to the boy's voice box. "I- Yeah I'm ok, just startled me" The small giggled, discovering herself slightly flustered at the fact that he cared enough to ask, especially given that he did not often check on people like that. "Don't take it like that, gosh dang it! I just wasn't sure if it caught around your stupid windpipe or something!" He yelled, though looking up at the subtle color of his face told her otherwise. "I thought you said you knew I could handle myself!" (Y/N) was unable to resist another chance to tease him."Shut up!! Don't think I've forgotten about our little deal!! I'll spice it up just for you if you keep being a little pain in the neck!"

"heh- pain in the neck~"

"I said to shut it already!!"

The blonde then carefully retied the apron, sure to not get the tiny caught up in it this time. (Y/N) Just beamed as she ventured to stand, carefully placing a hand along his jaw. She enjoyed criticizing his cooking and pointing out the few tiny and unimportant mistakes or differences in cooking that he made; be it the way he chopped green onions, the way he de-shelled garlic, or his choice in extra seasonings, she nagged him over everything. It very clearly was ticking him off more and more as she just got a kick out of the whole thing.

"Fine!! I guess you want me to dice up some raw ghost peppers!!"

"NO!!! NO No No Noooo Nonononononono!!! I'll stop, I'll stop!!"

"Heh, that's what I thought, you little punk!"

"Don't be spiky! You porcupine!!!"

"Tch- spiky?! I can show you spiky if that's what you're wanting to see!!!" Bakugo kept on grumbling at her remarks.

"Oh I've seen plenty!!!" (Y/N) laughed before following up, "I wanna help cook." The giant blinked, not only was her comment off topic, but how did she expect to help cook when only a few inches tall? "Oh yeah?? How so??" "I don't know, but I feel like I haven't really done anything other than be carried around! I wanna help!" She pressed. It had been bothering her since they left the agency. "Alright, Peel the garlic then." He instructed, continuing to cook without giving her much of a way down from his shoulder. (Y/N) knew full well he wasn't going to stop unless she asked, silently giving her her wish of a chance to display her independence. "Okay!!" She cheered, waiting till his arm was hovering over the counter and near the garlic before she slid down, landing rather sloppily before standing back up with a laugh and dusting herself off. The tiny noticed a faint smile tugging at the corners of the blonde's mouth as she got to work on the garlic as he had requested.

She soon finished, and before she could say anything on the subject he scooped it up and plopped it onto the cutting board, promptly dicing it into tiny bits. "What next!?" She chirped. Bakugo scoffed, shaking his head lightly with a soft grin. "I need some of the chicken seasoning in the cabinet." He stated, nodding his head in gesture to the cabinet just above the floor and not too far from her. He felt he should test her with slowly bigger and bigger tasks.

(Y/N) took one glance and replied with a bright and determined smile, "Easy!"

And with that she jumped off the counter, sprouting a large and frilly flower from the soles of her feet, saving her from a dangerous fall. The giant teen watched her scurry across the floor from the corner of his eye, keeping tabs on her as he moved about the kitchen, careful to watch his feet.

The small girl swung the cupboard open with little effort, easily accessing its contents. The seasoning jar was about as big as her, so carrying it was the harder part of the ordeal. With a soft grunt she managed to lift it up and move it out and onto the floor where she rolled it up to Bakugo as he stirred their meal. "Got it!!" (Y/N) cheered in triumph.

"Took you long enough." He chided, her response coming back playfully, "Hey! I did really well given my size!!" The ash blonde just rolled his eyes as he picked the jar off the ground and added some of the dry mixture to the boiling liquid in the small pot.

"What else!?" "Eh? Now we just let it cook for a couple minutes, so why don't you make yourself useful and put stuff away." "Ok then!! Give back the chicken stuff!!!" With that, the giant set the jar on the floor before grabbing other items off the counter tops to return them to where they belonged.

(Y/N) watched the giant move around above her. Being on the floor was both terrifying and exciting. It was cool to watch him shuffle around from below, his feet being careful not to come too close to her, though he did occasionally step over her, his towering shape moving just overhead. She was quick to deftly put the dried herbs back into the cabinet. She then realized that everything else, including her friend and crush, were above her, and she was still on the floor.

She could either ask Bakugo for help, or further prove her independence and find a way up herself. The answer was obvious.

As the giant stood at the fridge, putting things away, (Y/N) took her chance. Moving quickly she climbed onto the boy's stationary feet, causing them to shift ever so slightly beneath her as he looked down to see his shrunken classmate. Bakugo just watched as the small began pulling herself up his pant leg til she reached his pocket where she managed to pull herself inside.

Bakugo couldn't help but smile at this. But he pretended not to notice, moving to grab two bowls of different sizes and serve the ramen. He then grabbed himself chopsticks and her a couple of toothpicks before he grabbed the bag of snacks. "Oi, Flower Face, Ready??" he asked, glancing down at his pocket where she peaked out, giving him a thumbs up. "Yup!!"

Bakugo marched up to his room, sending (Y/N) through another roller coaster of swaying motions. "We're going to your room??" "Yeah, so what?" "I just don't think I've ever seen it before if I'm being honest." "You were in here this morning..." "Oh yeah!! I guess I just didn't pay much attention then..." "Yeah, well then don't make it weird or I won't ever let you in again." He grumbled, opening the door and walking in.

His room, quite honestly, was an absolute aesthetic. The shelves were decorated by comic books and traditional books, he had some small string lights that draped over them too. Small succulent plants and potted cacti could be found here and there. His bed was up against one wall with storage underneath and in the headboard; a cork board hung above it. He had some posters up on the walls, some of U.A., others of All Might, and few of other topics. A laptop lay open on his desk, along with other supplies and small books. An open window allowed the wind to flow through the room. Over all the room's decorations were simple but homey, theming more around a sort of Lofi feel.

"DUDE!!! YOUR ROOM IS SO COOL!!! HOW COME YOU'VE NEVER LET ANYONE ELSE SEE IT BEFORE?!" "Tch- Because I never felt like it." He scoffed, setting the food down on the desk before clearing it up a little. "Well okay, but your room is so cool!!!!" She continued to compliment him. "Yeah yeah, now are we gonna eat this stuff or what??"

That's when (Y/N) remembered that the ramen was spicy, as in spicy spicy......

"Ohhhh.... Yeah.... Well-" She started before the explosive boy cut her off. "You're not bailing on me, are you?!" he taunted, flashing her a devious grin. "I- No!!" She shot back before realizing what she had done. "Good!" He laughed, pushing the small bowl forward. "Because this batch should be really good!" He chuckled darkly.

The bowl was gigantic in comparison to the tiny. There was no way she'd be able to eat all of it, though knowing Bakugo, he'd try and get her to eat as much as she possibly could. "Eat up Bite Size!" He coaxed, using a new nickname.

(Y/N) gave him one last foreboding glance before grabbing the makeshift chopsticks and lifting a noodle out of the bowl. Bakugo already had a full mouth and let a slight grunt of approval to the meal escape. "Well?! It's not going to eat itself!" He managed through his full mouth, finishing and quickly shoveling in another bite. "It's not even that spicy!!! Still pretty flavorful though." The small girl wasn't sure how much she trusted his judgement on that, but nonetheless she took a large bite.

Yup. It was bad.

The tiny human quickly swallowed it before exploding into a coughing fit, making Bakugo almost spray his food. Whilst (Y/N) fanned at her mouth frantically, tears began to well up in her eyes as her nose went bright red, becoming runny from the spice alone. "HOT HOT!!! OH HEAVENS THAT IS VERY VERY HOT!!!" She gasped and sputtered between coughs. "IT'S NOT THAT BAD!!!" The blonde giant guffawed at her predicament. "JUST GET ME FRIGGIN WATER!!!!" "FINE WHATEVER!!!" Bakugo was now choking on his own laughter as he got up and ran out of the room. Had he seriously not grabbed any kind of liquid before trying to get her to eat the stuff?! What was that idiotic brat of a gremlin boy thinking???!!! After what felt like eons of fiery mouth pain, he came back in, slowing from a run.

He dashed over, holding the large glass in his hands, moving to help her drink. In both their hurry to help (Y/N) with the spice, neither thought to be very careful, and the teen ended up drenching his friend in the process, tilting the still sloshing glass of water a little too much. "DUDE!!!" The girl yelled, getting more upset from the pain in her mouth than the actual water. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" The giant lost it, dropping the cup as it further soaked her. "BAKUGO!!!!!" She screeched, no longer in pain given that she choked on an entire wave, but now hopelessly soaked.

The laughing Katsuki lay face down on his desk, face in his folded arms as his shoulders heaved from his chortling fit. "DUDE! YOU SOAKED ME!!!" "Sorry~" He managed between laughs, "You don't sound sorry." She huffed, folding her arms and glaring at him. Bakugo didn't answer, he just kept laughing.

Despite being sopping wet, (Y/N) couldn't help but smile. He didn't smile much so it was really nice to see. "Well then, since it's so funny, you got me wet, you can dry off!" She exclaimed before throwing herself onto him and scrubbing herself against him furiously. "Hey, get off me idiot!" He half laughed, half yelled, still grinning wide. The miniature girl clung tight, burying into his sleeve and drying herself even more violently. "Dang it! Let go of bite size punk!" He cried, wrapping his fist around her and trying to pull her away with little to no success as she continued to stubbornly cling. "The heck!?" The giant pried and pried, but his best efforts weren't enough. "I'll dry you the fun way if you don't LET GO!!!!" He threatened, his fist becoming increasingly hot as both steam and smoke rose from between his knuckles. "BET!!!" And with that a sharp pain collided with her entire torso, predominantly where he had been gripping her. "OW!" She startled as a loud crack filled her ears and bright light obscured her vision, a strong wave of heat washing over her for a brief instant. "You asked for it you little brat!" he chuckled, dropping her roughly onto the desk whilst she shook herself from her daze. Her only response was to let out a few short coughs, still a little out-of-it from the blow.

"Tch-" Bakugo clicked his tongue, scoffing at the tiny. "Well... At least I'm dry and okay, but come on bro! What the heck!!" (Y/N) punched his hand that rested by her, causing him to flinch slightly. "Don't look at me Bite Size, I gave you fair warning!"

"..."

"That's what I thought, now hurry and finish your ramen!"

"FINISH MY- AFTER ALL THAT YOU THINK I REALLY WANT TO EAT THE REST OF THAT!?"

"Are you insulting my cooking?~" The question came dangerously, as if testing waters that were sure to be filled with sharks. "N-No!! It's good, it's just too hot for me!!" She exclaimed, as she began to lightly shiver from the cold of her still lightly damp clothes and the wind blowing through the open window wasn't helping. "Yeah, well at least you handled it better than Dunce Face and Soy Sauce Face." "What's with you and ____ Face?" "Shut up. Plus I'm calling you Bite Size now." "That only concerns me further." "Just have your junk food or whatever." Bakugo scoffed, rolling his eyes with a faint grin still drawn up on his features.

(Y/N) gladly accepted the sweets and ate them quickly, Bakugo finishing both his and her servings of ramen. When he was done, the boy swiftly cleaned up their mess and returned to his tiny friend. When he returned to her, she was shivering violently. "Oi, What's wrong??" She startled a little, previously lost in thought and caught slightly off guard by his question. "Wrong?? Oh! N-Nothing I'm f-fine!" she stuttered out between chattering teeth. "Don't even think about lying to me, idiot." "No really I'm ok." "No you're not, you're freezing, gosh dang it." He huffed back, carefully scooping her tiny figure up in both his hands. "The heck, you freaking ice cube...." He commented softly before lifting her in cupped hands up to his mouth where he began puffing warm breathes across her small body.

Being this close to his face, and mouth no less, made her antsy; not to mention the boy's breath wreaked of peppers and literally everything else hot, and it took a decent amount of self control to not cough from the prickly smell. But his breath was warm and it felt very very good, so who was she to complain?

"Better??" He asked after a moment or two, her response coming as a slow nod, content from the heat. "Good. Wanna get changed into some of the dry clothes??" "Dry clothes??" "Yeah dummy, from my action figures." He clicked his tongue at her before cradling her in one hand, reaching under the bed for the shoe box. "Oh! The barbies! Yes please!" (Y/N) made the mistake of calling the dolls by their real name. "Action figures!!..." Bakugo hissed back angrily, pulling the box out along with the little figures inside. One caught (Y/N)'s eye, one that Bakugo hadn't pulled out last time. It was a boy so that was probably why, but he wore some simple long sweats that looked especially warm, and the tiny girl wanted them very badly. "That one, that one!!" She cried excitedly, pointing to the very doll. "Him?" "YES." "Geez, chill."

The giant pulled the doll out and stripped it, handing her the clothes. "Be fast alright?" He instructed, placing her on his desk before turning around to face the other way. (Y/N) felt rather uncomfortable changing clothes without what felt like proper privacy, but he wasn't looking and she didn't have any other options, so she swiftly swiped her clothes, making herself decent. "Done!"

"Took you long enough!" Bakugo groaned, taking the wet clothes and laying them out by the desk light that was on.

"Thanks by the way!" The miniature teen girl chirped, earning the boy's attention. "Eh? For what??" Bakugo gave her a curious glance. "For taking care of me!" "You make it sound like some kind of dumb mushy thing, all I did was carry you around." He acknowledged her thanks with a gibe, trying to cover the fact that he really did enjoy it. "Plus I don't really care, it wasn't much effort..." (Y/N) just smiled, wrapping herself around his hand, "Well thanks anyways." She says with a bright smile. Bakugo gains a light blush before covering his mouth with the other hand. "Yeah whatever, I wasn't gonna leave you to get crushed by those idiots." He says before lightly shaking his hand and wiggling it from her grasp.

"Anyways, we have the whole rest of the afternoon, so what do you want to do??" The giant asks, gesturing to the digital clock which read 4:26pm. The small just shrugged in return, not quite sure herself.

Since neither of them knew how much longer this would last, it seemed that now all they could do was kill time until (Y/N) turned to normal. "Well.... We could play a game??" She suggested half heartedly, shrugging whilst she said it. The ash blonde scrunched his nose, "What kind of game, cause most I can think of won't work for you right now...." He made his point. "Hmmmmm, got any multiplayer games on your phone???" She asked. "Tch- like what?" "I don't know, like Jelly Jump, Astro party, or Fruit Ninja??" "Really?? Fine... But they better be free. I'm not downloading some cheap-crap game if it's gonna rip me off my money." He told her, pulling out his phone and tapping around for a minute or two before setting it down, and confirming with her that they were the right ones, messing around a bit longer before setting it back down, the screen showing the three games downloading. (Y/N) smiled, "Have you ever played them before???" "Tch- no. I don't bother with lame games like those..." He scoffed. But this only made the tiny girl smile wider. "We'll see just how lame they are when I'm beating your sorry butt to a pulp!!!" She declared mightily, giving him a competitive grin. "What was that!? I don't care what these games are, I'll rip you to shreds!!!" Bakugo barked back, suddenly sitting more upright and attentive, until he leaned down to get somewhat in her face. "See you at the finish line!" "Yeah right, I'll make you eat those crappy words you dang Bite Size!!"

Once the games were installed and ready, Bakugo opened the first being the one titled Jelly Jump.

"Ok, so how does this work??" The giant asks gruffly. "This one is a teamwork one, and it's pretty simple." She explains. "Tch- teamwork?! How do I know you're not gonna just drag me down the whole time??" He complains as the screen turns to show a little gelatin like cube. "This already looks lame..." He adds with a grimace upon seeing the little thing. "Shush! Now gimme the phone, I'll show you how to play on one player mode!!"

Bakugo set the device on his desk for the ecstatic little girl. She quickly displayed how to play and spelled out how it applied for two player mode. Pretty soon the boy's room filled with vigorous yelling as the two tapped violently at the phone. (Y/N) was pretty much just slapping the screen, but it worked as they waited and timed things just right for the two small jello-like squares to keep jumping up levels.

Bakugo was quick to reprimand (Y/N) as the game grew intense "THE HECK ARE YOU DOING!?" "MY JELLY GOT STUCK!!!!" "WELL UNSTUCK IT THE BLACK STUFF IS RISING!!!!" "I'M TRYING, I'M TRYING!" "TRY HARDER THE NEXT THINGY IS COMING!!!" "I DID IT GO GO GO!!!" The two kept screaming at each other, earnestly trying to work through the game. "DOES THIS FREAKING THING HAVE AN END!?" "NO I'M PRETTY SURE IT JUST GETS HARDER AND FASTER UNTIL YOU DIE!!!" "*#^^&(%^* THIS **%&^%## &^$$" "BAKUGO PAY ATTENTION WE ALMOST DIED AND WERE SO CLOSE TO OUR HIGHSCORE!!!!" "SHUT UP AND FOLLOW YOUR OWN ADVICE, BITE SIZE!!!"

"WE DID IT!!!" "WELL DON'T STOP!!!" And it was then that their luck ran cold. "NO!!! GOSH DANG THIS STUPID GAME!!!!!" Bakugo leaned back in his chair, gripping his hair in enraged fists, fluffy clumps sticking out between his fingers. "WOOOO!!!! WE DID IT, HAHA!!!!" (Y/N) on the other hand found a victory dance more appropriate. "Fist bump!!!" She cheered, sticking her arm out in waiting. "Yeah, whatever, I guess we did alright..." He grumbled, watching his tiny crush doing her funky little jig softening his mood. He complied and tapped his finger against her fist as she beamed up at him, her smile alone like an entire freaking sun.

Bakugo just smiled, though he quickly caught himself and stopped, "What were the other dumb games again??" He inquired, trying to distract himself from the cute and panicky thoughts running through his mind. "Oh! We could do Fruit Ninja now if you like, that one is a verses and is super duper fun!!!" He scrunched his nose. "Mmmm." "It also has brutally murdering fruit with knives." "Ok fine." (Y/N) couldn't help but smile wide at his quick cooperation.

They opened the app and let's just say the explosive Pomeranian didn't need any sort of instruction, and took to quickly wiping his shrunken classmate out, battle after battle.

"Ok, I'm done with this game..." She eventually pouted after finally running out of juice and just accepting defeat. "The heck?? Did I really whip your butt for a full two and a half hours!?" The ash blonde laughed looking up at the clock and making her slouch more. "Yeah- very modest about it too!" she sassily shot back, earning a cocky smirk from the boy. "Oh?? Not so high and mighty now, huh Bite Size?! What happened to beating me to a pulp?!" He taunted with a wide and malign smile. "Be nice!!" She whined, flopping back and onto the hard surface. "Enough mopping you cry baby, you're almost as bad as that dang nerd." He shook his head, still smirking as he grabbed the plastic shopping bag off the desk not too far from where (Y/N) sat. He then pulled out the Carolina reaper sausages and some fresh fruit. "That's dinner??" She asked, slightly confused, mainly because she was so used to Bakugo cooking something in one way or another. "Yeah. It is. Now don't complain. I'm having to take a lighter day on everything because of you, you know." He berated her, pulling out a pocket knife from one of the desk's drawers.

"You have a pocket knife?!" She asked in disbelief. The explosive giant took a long, annoyed sigh. "Yes. Now would you just be quiet for a minute and stop questioning everything I do??? Geez...." He exhaled sharply before continuing in cutting up the fruit into slices including small edible cubes that were perfect for the tiny. "There, eat up." he instructed, setting the pile of minced fruit in front of her before grabbing some of his own fruit and popping it into his mouth. (Y/N) gratefully took the food and ate quickly, finding that even after such a large amount of food she was still a little hungry. "Could I have some more??" She questioned, taking some cautious steps forward and toward the giant's food. "Eh?? You finished yours already!?" "Yeah... And I may or may not still be hungry?" She tries carefully, watching his brows knit together. "More!? Tch- No way!! You had your share!! Don't be stinking greedy!" He scolds harshly through a mouthful of nashi pear.

So be it.

While the boy's eyes fixated on something else for a brief moment, the dwarfed hero-in-training took her chance to quickly latch onto a thinner slice of fruit and swiftly drag it a small ways away and begin eating quickly. "HEY! I TOLD YOU NO!!" His angry voice startled her as she devoured the slice of crunchy pear. "And I told myself yes!!!" She shot right back at him before shoving the last few bits into her mouth and turning to give him a sort of 'try me!!!' look. "Stupid little idiot!! Well that's all you get so make yourself busy doing something else to waste your gosh darn time, got that?!" He growled at her before returning his attention back to what it had previously been on.

Still hungry...

She watched the temperamental Pomeranian before snatching the last one. "YOU LITTLE-!!" She heard him yell and let out a surprised squeak before her legs involuntarily began carrying her further than she had meant. She cast a glance over her shoulder to see a large open hand extended toward her and that was enough to really get the tiny going.

Soon the minuscule little trickster was tearing across his desk, dodging grabby hands that barely missed her each time. That is till he got to close and she jumped up and onto his arm. Still running.

"The heck you think you're doing Bite Size!?" He snarled, his other arm flying to quickly snatch her up before she deftly dodged, "Quit it!!" He yelled at her as tiny feet scampered up to his shoulder, then neck. (Y/N) had dropped the pear by now and it was clearly more about him catching her and her keeping out and away from his dangerous hands. "Heh heh heh! Looks like you've run out of places to run!!" The blonde chuckled maliciously, both hands now quickly closing in and toward her as he bent his head down slightly, making things easier for him.

Clearly she hadn't really thought this far... or like- at all.

Panicking, she made to step back and away from his approaching hands before she realized there was nothing under her foot. Both her stomach and heart dropped in surprise as quicker than either of them could register, the tiny girl slipped and disappeared down Bakugo's shirt.

The explosive teen just stared forward, wide eyed for a minute and frozen in place as the girl disappeared off the back of his neck. "THE HECK!? GET OUT!!!" He cried out, a shiver crawling up his spine as (Y/N) fell about halfway till where his back was pressed against the chair stopped her, entrapping her between the cloth and the boy's bare back, before he arched his spine and made things worse.

One moment (Y/N) was on her classmate's shoulders, the next she was plunged into another ocean of fabrics and cloth, only this time she was pressed against Katsuki's spine. She tried to process what had just happened and began to shift when everything around her started moving, dropping her further down. "STOP STOP, YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE, YOU'LL CRUSH ME!!!" She quickly yelled back as she quickly got tangled up in the clothes. "THEN GET OUT OF MY GOSH DARN SHIRT!!!" He belted back. The teen had clearly didn't know what to do and was panicking as he just sat there, trembling with rage from the embarrassment and the uncontrollable tickling it was creating. "I'M TRYING, STOP MOVING ALREADY!!" She ordered to which he didn't argue, using all of his will power to keep from jerking or accidentally smooshing her.

The shrunken high school student then managed to get herself loose and began trying to first figure out where exactly she was. "C-can you feel me??" She asked, tentatively reaching a hand out to rub his tense body. "Yes." He snapped, his voice strained. "Ok, where am I?? Which way do I go?" She asked, not wanting to move until she knew what to do. "Just go up." He instructed, to which she began to make her way back up to his shoulder. His shirt wasn't super loose but it wasn't super tight either, so she was able to move about with surprising ease. As she climbed, she could feel each muscle tense and trembled beneath her hands. It was kinda terrifying, felt like he might give in any moment and suffocate her. "Hurry. Up." Bakugo growled through clenched teeth as every part of him twitched and vibrated. It was humiliating to have to sit there and try to not flip. It tickled like heck and he was getting impatient.

After what felt like forever, the ash blonde could see (Y/N) heave herself onto his shoulder out of his peripheral vision. Finally.

Both their faces were beet red and Bakugo didn't move for a minute, seeming to try and calm the embarrassment that had just boiled up. His mini sized friend on the other hand was a giggling mess. "What so funny, huh??" He quickly accused, glaring at her from the side of his vision. "Nothing- its just- Everything!" She snickered, "I guess I'm just so relieved things didn't go worse than they did!!" she added before his expression softened. "Well, just don't ever speak of this to anyone else, ever..." He muttered, still red though calmed down. The small just gave a slow nod, still laughing lightly, draped lazily over his shoulder.

"Oh, and for good measure-" Before (Y/N) could react, Bakugo wrapped a tight fist around her and brought her up to his face where he gave her a victorious grin. "I win!" He taunted smugly before setting her back down on the desk and grabbing the discarded nashi slice and popping it into his mouth. His small companion just gave him a pouty glare, silently promising payback. He just laughed.

Bakugo flashed another glance at the clock before his brows raised slightly. "Mmm- it's getting late..." He commented before glancing around the room as if contemplating what to do first. (Y/N) turned to do the same, reading it. "Late!? Bro it's only like 7:43!!" She exclaimed, her gaze meeting his scowl. "Tch- just because you go to bed so dang late doesn't mean that's when you should go to bed." He scoffs. "Come on! There's no way-" "I have to take care of you, so that means I say when we head off to sleep." He cuts her off abruptly, earning another very annoyed look.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to get into something more comfortable." He tells her, getting up and walking to a nearby dresser and opening a drawer to pull out some lazier, and more comfortable clothes. The tiny turned away whilst he swapped out his outfit. Then, without much else warning, two large fingers wrapped around the minuscule girl's underarms, lifting her up and off the table top. "woah~" she squeaked out another cry of surprise. She was carried by the boy off and over to the lights where he flipped them off, and then to the bed. "Come on, I'm tired and ready to sleep." He told her, setting her gently on the headboard before rummaging around in the cabinet space underneath.

After some searching, Bakugo pulled out a match box and a little towel and some cotton balls. He then put the three together and created a makeshift bed for his small classmate and friend. "There, you can use this for tonight." He told her, setting it beside her gently.

"Wait!!! This is still super early for me, and I don't think I'll be able to sleep.... Could we maybe talk for a little bit??" (Y/N) asked timidly, watching his blank face for a moment before he let out a short sigh, lying down on the bed, having already thrown back the sheets. "Fine. Whatever. What do you even want to talk about anyway??" He asked, his tone becoming calm and quiet, reflecting the exhaustion that was coming over them both, though the small was determined to stay up. "I don't know, what if we just took turns asking each other random questions???" She offered, watching as he thought about it for a moment before slowly nodding, "Sure." "You go first!" she chirped, walking over the edge of the head of the bed before dropping down and into his blonde mess of hair. "Me?? Fine..." The giant teen looked off to the side as he thought, not reacting much to the tiny now on his head. "I don't know, Who are your closest friends here at UA??" He inquired.

(Y/N) just blinked, it was a rather mundane question for someone like Bakugo, so she wonders if it had ulterior meanings. "Uhhh, Well, definitely You, Kirishima, Mina, Ochako, Deku and Iiida are really nice, But so is everyone, I guess that's just everyone I'm super close with...." She admitted, bracing her elbows just above his brows, chin in her hands.

The giant's large eyes scanned the ceiling for a moment longer before they fixated on her, dilating dramatically. "Mmm." He responded to her answer. The soft glow from the moonlight outside illuminated the room just enough to make out the soft details on each other as they both stared for a moment before the mini sized girl broke the silence. "My turn. Who are yours??" She asks, not sure what kind of answer she'd get, nor sure what she expected.

"Ugh- This is between you and I okay?? Share this with anyone else and I'll never tell you anything ever again..." He let out a low growl before taking a deep breath. "If I had to choose someone to consider my friend I guess I'd choose..." He seemed hesitant with his next words. "Don't take it weird, but probably you and weird hair... Then maybe Soy Sauce Face, Dunce Face, and Raccoon eyes..." He replied.

(Y/N) was ecstatic, "Wait really!?" She cried, perking up. Bakugo's face grew hot beneath her, "I said maybe!!!" He insisted, face contorting into an embarrassed glare. When he moved his eyebrows, The tiny fell forward, face-planting into the bridge of his nose. "Would you quit it with the being all over me?!" He growled, scrunching his eyes shut in instinct before grabbing her by the back of her shirt and lifting her off him. "Sorry..." She giggled before he let out an annoyed breath, gently placing her back where she previously sat.

"Who do you think will be the number one hero??" He eventually asks, resuming their little game. "Aha- obviously me!!!!" She laughed, "Ok but for real- Ummmmm either.... You or Deku... I think Shoto, Momo, and Kirishima have pretty good chances too, maybe like top five for them, but like you or Deku for number one." She replied thoughtfully. "Tch- That dang nerd is good, but nowhere near as much as me." Katsuki scoffs, earning some merry little laughs from his fun-sized companion. "Right! Anyways, Okay, okay, Do you think I'll be a good hero??" "What kind of lame question is that!? Of course, idiot!!" "Really??" "Duh!!! You're smart, you're good at combat, you're strong, you're spunky, and stubborn, and I have no doubt you'll beat the heck out of any and every villain you meet." He says proudly, rattling off his little list as if he's given it much thought.

"You think so??" She asks softly, "I mean- what if people don't like me..." She tacks on, it's clearly something that's been honestly bothering her for quite some time now. "Then they can-" And with that the giant proceeded to use some very colorful language to further make his point. "(Y/N). You've got everything you need to become an amazing Pro-hero and more, way more than you credit yourself. And if you don't believe that. That's ok. I will... till you can." He told her. She wasn't sure if she had ever heard him speak so genuinely or passionately about something and it made the girl tear up.

"Th-thanks!!!" she stuttered out through teary eyes, sniffling softly as she wiped at them. "Hey, hey, calm down okay??" His voice comes tenderly, a cautious finger reaching up to pet her head and back, like one would a small animal, but (Y/N) didn't mind, it felt good. "You good, Bite Size?" He asked after a minute or two. She could only muster out a quick nod, not trusting her voice to not betray her and crack like a dry salt pan.

"Alright then, my question... Have you ever been in a relationship before??" He asked, his skin becoming increasingly hot against her own. "I- um- no??" "Really???- I mean- yeah, ok,"

"Bakugo??"

"Eh?"

"Do you-... do you have a crush??....."

The boy remained silent for some time before speaking. "Tch- Who needs crushes!!!"

"oh- ok."

"No I-...D-Do you?"

"Maybe...."

They sat in silence before the tiny continued.

"Bakugo?"

"Eh...?"

"Do you like me?"

"......... Do you like me???"

"Yeah."

"...Why?"

"..... BRO I JUST CONFESSED TO YOU AND THE FIRST FREAKING THING YOU ASK IS WHY!???" The shrunken girl was beside herself with a flustered mix of fear, excitement, anticipation, and confusion. "I DON'T KNOW!!!! I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING OKAY!?? I DON'T GET WHY YOU WOULD LIKE ME!!! I'M LOUD, I'M A BRAT TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE, I'M HORRIBLE WITH EMOTIONS, I'M TEMPERAMENTAL, AND I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON!!!" He cried, balling his hands into large fists and shoving them into his eye sockets.

"That may be true... Not the horrible person part but- you're also super kind and caring in your own way, you're considerate, you recognize your faults and are working on them, you're loyal, you're determined, ambitious, and you're an incredible friend." She said, "And that only scratches the surface...."

"Oh and you're like super duper hot like- really hot." (Y/N) adds quickly, the last part making him let a singular laugh slip loose. "Ok then..." he mumbles after a minute, the soft and subtle glisten of tears welling up in his large crimson eyes able to be seen.

The girl just lies there for a silent moment before pressing her previous question. "So do you like me??"

"I- I think so..."

"Well, what do you mean "you think so"??"

"I don't know. I do!! I like you!! A- A lot, I just- don't know if I'm ready for a relationship right now... or if I'm even looking for one... But at the same time...." He trailed off again, now refusing to make eye contact with her. (Y/N)'s mind began to race before it was quickly interrupted with the giant's gravelly voice. "But here-" And before she could really respond, a large and gentle finger was placed to the back of her head, whilst he tilted his up, bending her carefully over his nose to plant a very large, but soft and innocent kiss onto the entirety that was her face.

It seemed to last forever, but not long enough. A single blissful moment when all time stopped and everything was perfect. A single moment she wanted to experience as much as humanly possible, something one could truly describe as amazing. When she finally pulled away, she caught a breath she hadn't known she had been holding.

Wow~

"There, I'll think about it, but for now, I won't keep you waiting..." He told her kindly, her still draped over his nose, each word humming a warm breath onto the tiny's face as she continued to try and process what all had just happened. "But for now, I'm tired, so let's get some rest..." He finished, careful fingers gingerly scooping her up only to place her back down on his chest where he then draped one hand over her like a blanket, in a very protective manner.

"Goodnight (Y/N)..." The boy hummed, "Oh- G-goodnight!!" The young girl finally managed to retrieve herself enough to speak and actually make out what was happening around her, that it was real, and that she wasn't dreaming.

And with that, the shrunken girl was able to drift off, the powerful sound of the giant's steady heartbeat and the chorus of each strong breath flowing evenly through his enormous lungs just beneath her lulling her to sleep like a sort of lullaby.

(Y/N) awoke to one of the best nights of sleep she had ever had. And to some place she didn't quite recognize. As the girl was groggily coming to, she slowly pieced things together, finding herself still carefully wrapped in a careful, loving hand, clutched to the giant's chest. She honestly wanted to just curl back into his warm hands and go back to sleep, but she wanted to know if Bakugo had made up his mind yet, and was concerned about the fact that she was still no bigger than a few inches.

So cautiously, she wormed her way out of his fingers and began carefully walking up to the boy's face, where she pulled herself onto him and flopped. "Bakugo." The tiny lay sprawled across the lower half of his face, head resting on her folded hands that lay on the tip of his nose.

"Good morning!!" She greeted, though there was no initial response. "Bakugo! Wake up!!" She made a second attempt as his crimson eyes flew open before he remembered the night before "Mmm...." The boy grunted, shifting a little. His eyes quickly dilated upon spotting her, his mouth curling into a tender glow. She had to admit she absolutely loved how his eyes grew larger every time he looked at her, it honestly reminded her of a cat.

"Hi!" The tiny chimed, grinning from ear to ear. "How'd you sleep!?" she asked, still splayed across him. "I slept fine I guess..." He mumbled, careful of the fact that his tiny crush was over top of his mouth. (Y/N) let out a little yelp, surprised by the ticklish feeling created by the vibrations of his words against her stomach. Bakugo snickered, only making it worse as she squeaked again, quickly sitting up before tumbling off his face, landing on the giant's collar bone. "Oi, watch it, I don't want to have to take you to recovery girl this early, alright??" He chided softly, cradling a hand beneath her before sitting up in the bed, allowing her to slide into his large but gentle palm. "Sorry!! Just startled me!!" She giggled.

"Do-.... do you have an answer for me??" She asked after a few silent moments of inner debate. The ash blonde furrowed his brows in confusion for a mere moment before the night's previous events came back to him entirely. He seemed to linger on her decision before telling her, "I- I guess we can try it but- don't go telling anyone about us just yet alright??" The usually so confident teen avoids her gaze whilst a bright red glow warms his face. "REALLY!!??" She cried, jumping to her feet, suddenly much more awake than before. "Geez, yes!! Just don't make it weird, got that!?" He warned, his second hand coming up to catch her should she fall.

"This is too good to be true!!!" she squeals, bouncing up and down eagerly, clutching to his thumb to keep from losing what little balance she had left. "I get it, I get it, just calm down already, I don't want to drag the nosey attention of everyone else in the entire stinking dorms!!!" He continues to try and hush her excitement in vain, more and more embarrassment filling him.

"Best day ever!!" (Y/N) squeals clearly not listening to a thing he had just said, lunging forward before falling onto his face yet again and stretching her arms to hug as much of the Pomeranian as she could. Bakugo panicked when she dove for him, her high energy so early in the morning just not being what he had expected. But as the miniaturized hero-in-training clung to him, he couldn't help but smile, "Tch- yeah, whatever..." He finally gave in, taking her up into his hands once more as his expression softened before pulling her down and into another kiss.

Just as the previous one, the tiny was able to nuzzle her entire face into his show of affection, enjoying every moment of it. Upon finally breaking away, he brought her up eye level, holding her close. "As much as I'd rather stay here than deal with those nerds out there, we've got a full day ahead of us, we should get going." Bakugo whispered, and despite (Y/N)'s reluctants, the ash blonde was eventually able to coax her into greeting the day.

A request for: WinterKlover

WOW. OKAY. THAT WAS A REALLY REALLY LONG REQUEST!!!! I DONT THINK THEY WILL EVER GET AS LONG AS THIS EVER AGAIN BUT I HAD A LOT OF FUN WRITING THIS!!!! This was super fun despite its ridiculous length!!! Thank you to WinterKlover for being my beta reader and helping me sort my story to its finest!!!!! Keep up the cute requests!!! Ill be working on them as much as I can!!!!

Up next: ( ∆ requested, Ω inspiration)

∆~ Giant deku x YN - Baby Bird

∆~ Tiny Bakugo x YN - Dynamight!? More like Firecracker!!!

∆~ Shoto x Tiny YN - Baby It's Cold Outside

∆~ Giant Shinso x YN - Forest Spirits

Ω~ Giant Kirishima x YN - The Crown Jewel

Ω~ Tiny Deku x YN - Hickery Dickery Dock

Ω~ Bakugo x Tiny YN - Pest Control is For Pests

Ω~ Tiny Bakugo x YN - The Prize Fish

Ω~ Giant Kirishima x YN - Baby Shark

Ω~ Giant Kirishima x YN - The Big Bad Wolf

Ω~ Tiny Deku x YN - Peter Rabbit

Ω~ Tiny Bakugo x YN - He's A Pop-Rockin Pixie

Ω~ Tiny Kirishima x YN - Dragon, not Lizard

Ω~ Deku x Tiny YN - The Innocence of a Child

Ω~ Giant Kirishima x YN - I Fear No Man... But That Thing.... Scares Me

Ω~ Tiny Kirishima x YN - Crossing Worlds

Ω~ Tiny Bakugo x YN - A Figment of Imagination

Ω~ Tint Deku x YN - Shoulder Angel

Ω~ Giant Bakugo x YN - GREAT EXPLOSION MURDER GOD DYNAMIGHT!!!!!!!!!

Ω~ Giant Kirishima x YN - One Heck of a Softy

Ω~ Deku x Giant YN - A Pure Soul

Ω~ Kirishima x Giant YN - Snakes Are Very Manly, Very Manly Indeed

Ω~ Giant Deku x YN - ~Blep~

Ω~ Tiny Bakugo x YN - Red on Black, Poison Lack

Let me know if you guys want some of these sooner than others, I will count it as a request and add it to queue, right now they are in the order of request to inspiration. Requests willl come before inspiration.

This is my art please do not trace or repost without my permission. Feel free to reblog i, I would appreciate that!

#Mha #bnha #my hero Acadamia #Boku no hero Acadamia #fanart #fanfiction #bakugo #bakugou x reader #giant bakugo #Giant x tiny #Gt #g/t #fluff #wholesome #shrunk

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razrbladekiss · 3 years

Text

Tyrants | Chapter Five - Consolation

WORD COUNT: 5.8k

WARNINGS: Mentions of murder, grief, the aftermath of that death...all that Jazz! Plus a lil moment I’ve been fucking itching to include.

Chibs's breath was stuck in the middle of his throat, jutting thickly the more he thought about Opie cradling Donna's sallow cheeks as she bled out onto the gravel.

It'd cut deep, this one.

So many bodies he had bared witness to over the years. So many lives lost and souls snatched and whatever else right before his undaunted eyes--but nothing really hurt as much as that.

Because he knew what it was like. How it maimed a man. How it felt like his world was hurtling toward the chasms of hell during the moments after arriving at the scene and seeing his wife there. Dead.

Cold and dead and lonely. And completely gone.

Guilt resided, too. It was true tangible remorse for the simple proficiency of; that should've been me.

It happened with Diane--it happened to Chibs's wife, the mother of his kid, and the one true light in his life right after Isla. And it should've been him.

It was brutal, the way it happened tonight. It was fierce and heartless and Chibs knew in a flash that those bullets struck the wrong skull.

He couldn't bear the reverberation anymore, the gutturals from Piney's son who'd just lost his wife for no good reason during a drive-by in their quaint little town. The town that'd swelled wickedly with corruption these last few weeks.

Stahl was at the scene before he left. Looking pensive, actually. She looked guilty.

Chibs's basic instinct had landed the blame at her door--put the blood on her hands--but he kept his mouth shut for fear of what'd happen next. He didn't think that SAMCRO could handle this.

Because this wasn't a product of Mayan or Niner rivalry. He wasn't stupid--he knew that his President had something to do with this.

This was cultivated from the seeds sown by June Stahl, the pips planted so very deeply into the mind of Clay Morrow which forced him to believe that Opie Winston was a rat.

And he wasn't. He'd never sell his club out--no matter the damage, the pain inflicted upon him--and he'd never dream of pinning the fault on his brothers.

But he had to look a little bit closer to home if he wanted those answers. If he wanted to know just who sniped Donna--a completely innocent woman caught in the most ferocious of crossfires--he had to turn to someone that he knew was culpable of such activity.

Chibs's heart ached. It impaired him so very deeply that the only thing he could visualize on the ride back to Jax's house was her face.

Her face that dripped blood. Saturated crimson plagued his thoughts and forced his stomach to churn vociferously. He felt sick now.

He felt sick because Opie had lost his wife, Piney had lost a crucial member of his small family, and her kids had lost their mother. The woman that had worked so tirelessly to provide a life for them, to love and care for them unconditionally no matter what.

Opie was strong, he knew that--but he didn't know if he was strong enough to handle this. This crippling weight, this hurt and the idea of what could've been done differently.

Because so much could've happened to prevent this.

His tongue had become inoculated with bile, acrimonious ire for whoever the fuck was to blame for such unnecessary brutality--and, really, Chibs knew that he didn't have to look much further than Isla's favorite blue-eyed heathen this time.

And that broke his heart because of the pedestal she held that man upon. The pedestal she'd always held him atop, so fucking highly, too.

She knew that he was bad--an inherently bad human being--but he was just Tig. Her buddy. Clay's right hand that, really, he'd always count on. No matter what. And he'd always deliver the king's request, too.

Tig was the one that Isla called when her car broke down on the freeway and she needed to get home in time for Gemma's dinner.

The one she turned to for cheering up because he always knew how to crack a smile and get through to her.

The one that she strangely respected the most. Nobody really recognized what it was about that man that had Isla overjoyed when in his presence, she just was. And that was part of his charm.

But her father was anxious, now. Worried that she would take this news--if it came to light--badly. Because it was going to break her heart, regardless.

It was how she would handle it, which was the true hardship.

"Christ." Chibs's voice struggled to materialize, gesturing to his daughter passed out on Jax's couch. "How long's she been sleepin'?"

Mascara and eyeliner and whatever the fuck else she'd painted onto her face had started to melt away, trails of black and grey faintly running her cheeks.

"'Bout an hour." Gemma responded, sniffling back the putrid emotion she'd so obviously let flood the moments leading up to their arrival.

Jax's stomach was doing backflips at the thought of Isla crying herself to sleep in his living room--after everything that he'd put her through, too.

He feared that this was going to be the tip of the iceberg. That this was going to pulverize her sanity and compromise everything she had sought to fight off these last few days.

And he couldn't help but harbor those same suspicions as her father, either. Jax wanted to keep his mouth shut until he was certain that this was an inside job, but he was teetering toward that conclusion regardless.

It was the only viable explanation.

He, too, worried about what this would do to her. That finding out Tig was the potential culprit and reason why Opie's children were officially motherless.

"How's Ope?" She continued, already knowing the answer but asking anyway. Jax's head shook. "Oh."

"Not good, ma. But he's home now."

"And you're sure of that?"

"Yeah--I followed him back to make sure he got there in one piece. He wanted to leave the second the fuckin' ATF stormed in."

"Oh." Gem repeated herself, running her fingers through Isla's hair as she rested in her lap. "What about Clay? Where'd he get to?"

Chibs took a seat at one of the wooden chairs that'd been positioned around the coffee table, and Jax sank into the couch opposite the girls.

It was pitiful. Darkness enveloped them as Isla slept, innocently resting as the world shattered around her.

She wasn't oblivious to the happenings. She hadn't slept through it all, but she was done. Isla had been distant for days, had been fretting over the unimaginable and Gemma was worried that she was going to make herself sick if she continued the way that she was.

So she twisted her fingers and nails through the flowing waves of golden blonde, and soothed her the same way that she always did.

The same way that she found comfort as a kid.

He sighed. Exhausted. "Dunno. Last I saw he was with Tig."

"Aye." The Scot agreed with a nod, too. Hating the thought of Trager being responsible for something like this.

But it was merely a suspicion that Chibs hoped and prayed would get debunked sooner or later.

"Did he say anything?"

"Nah. He talked a little to Unser--seems to think it was a hit on Ope gone wrong--so, I guess they're gonna be lookin' into the Niners."

"Aye." Chibs spoke again, gesturing to Isla. "Did she say much when we left?"

"Not really--she just busied herself and cleaned up with Wendy. Seems like they're getting along now."

Jax smiled a bit, happy that his best friend and the mother of his child were starting to accept the presence of one another in Abel's life.

Truly, that's all he really wanted. That and his mother finally being able to turn the other cheek, and quit castigating his kid's mom.

"Did Clay leave before you?" Gemma asked, antsy. She was itching to get home, itching to see and comfort her husband because she knew that he was going to be fretting over this.

"I told you, the last I saw, he was with Tig. Dunno if he left after us, or if he's still there."

She looked away, smoothing her thumb over Isla's cheek.

"He'll be home soon--I should take off."

"Not on your own." Jax upheld, simply terrified of what could've happened to his mother had she left alone.

As far as Jax wanted her to know, this was bad blood between clubs. This was a hit put out on an innocent bystander because they knew it'd jolt SAMCRO--and it did.

It shook them to the very fucking core, jutting them repeatedly--mere moments away from crumbling and completely disintegrating into Harley Davidson dust.

And he really didn't want to admit that this was the work of his step-father and Alexander Trager. But he feared that was the only viable explanation.

"I'll--eh--I'll take her back." Chibs offered, getting up to ghost a hand over Isla's blushed cheek. "I was gonna take her home with me tonight, but I think she's better off stayin' put."

Jax agreed with a nod, smiling weakly at his mother. Though, she knew it was a coverup. A not-so-brilliant facade and attempt at showing that he was okay during this barbarous time.

"I don't wanna wake her." She mused, pushing strands of hair from her face. "She looks so damn peaceful."

Gemma hadn't a cozy moment with Isla for a while--not since she was recovering from a broken heart four summers ago.

The last time that she turned to Gemma--the same way she would as a child--for that motherly comfort.

"I know." The older man crouched to the ground, tracing faintly along her arm. Isla grumbled, slowly rousing. "C'mon petal, it's gettin' late."

He kept a hand against her, running this thumb over the freckled skin softly. Diane's crucifix caught his eye as she shifted, impairing him that little bit more tonight.

"What time is it?" She asked roughly, feeling a sting in her throat. Isla lifted herself off of Gemma's lap, rubbing at her eyes. "Is it late?"

"It's about one o'clock."

"Shit." Her hiss was sharp, galled that she'd been allowed to rest for so long whilst there was a literal wildfire sweeping its way through the club. "Ope--oh my god--Opie. Is he okay?"

Isla knew the answer. She knew what Jax was about to say before he even opened his mouth, and so tears ensued. Crystalline hues weeped and watered, and he was unsettled.

Unsettled because she was so strong in the face of such tragedy, rarely shedding any tears before an audience.

Unsettled because, up until the Kohn incident, Jax hadn't seen her cry since she was shot in the knee after three Mayans decidedly stormed the T M lot and strived to gun down each and every person on the premises.

He never forgave himself for that, actually. Because those bullets--though completely un-fatal and leaving a simple mark that, really, Isla referred to as her battle scars--should've been for him.

"He went home. To be with the kids." Jax cleared his throat, kneeling in front of her when Chibs got to his feet and gestured for Gemma. "He's--uh--he's in a bad way."

"Understandably." She mumbled. "Any ideas on who did this?"

Your favorite son.

"No. Clay thinks it might've been the Niners--shits been off since they decided to pull their fucking guns on us after the warehouse was raided."

"That was their rationale?"

"I guess so." He added. "It'd make sense. We lost their guns, so we lost a life--"

"But Donna." Isla argued, sitting upright. "Donna was innocent."

"We know that, love, but Laroy was probably under the impression that Ope was the one behind the wheel." Her father spoke over Jax, heeding his uncertainty. "It wasn't meant to be her."

Chibs had to blow his theory out of the water, firstly.

"A life is a life. To them, so long as they've got one of ours--someone close to us--they've succeeded with somethin'--"

"All they've succeeded with is leaving two kids without a fucking mother." Isla spat, throwing away the small blanket that Gemma had draped over her as she stood up. "And you've gotta stop being so fucking insensitive."

Jax stumbled backwards, watching her storm out of the room in her pretty little summer dress. He couldn't surmise whether following behind or leaving the woman to simmer alone, was the best idea.

It was a touchy subject, the loss of a parent. It was prickly and raw and it never ceased to strike Isla's heart. Because she understood.

She understood how much it hurt. The uncertainty of it all. Not knowing what to do next. How life changes more than what anyone ever prepares you for and, really, how nothing is ever the same again.

Isla knew it all too well. She'd been there, done that, and refused to go back. But with Chibs's life, his line of work, she was never granted that security.

And it wasn't particularly the security that she wanted, more so the knowledge of what--god forbid anything--would happen to her father. Because that's what bothered her the most about Diane.

She never knew anything about her mother's passing.

Jax got a pretty tight grip on the concept, too. But it was different with Isla--it was something she never quite grasped.

"A life is a life," Gemma mocked the insensitivity from the baffled Scotsman, shaking her head. "That wasn't just any life, Chibs. That was Opie's woman, the mother of his children, and one of Isla's oldest friends--she was family. She wasn't just a life."

His lips twitched before he exhaled sharply, knowing that she was right.

Knowing that his response was much too unsympathetic and heartless and, really, he was an idiot to forget how upset she got whenever something that pertained to the death of her mother was brought up.

"Your kid is grieving. She's grieving for Ope, for Piney, for Kenny and Ellie--for herself because this--" she gestured to nothing in particular, but he understood, "--is something she knows all too well, ain't it? Diane?"

"I know." Tersely, he responded. He pulled a hand through his hair. "I fuckin' know how she feels, but I didn't think she'd storm out when I said it!"

"Well, she's always been unpredictable."

"I know." His riposte was braided with anger, pure fury.

"Then why'd you say it?" Gemma jabbed. "Isla has been about six thousand miles away from us these last few days, and you thought that saying such a stupid thing wouldn't tip her over the edge?"

She was defensive of the blonde--always had been.

And Jax was sick of it.

Sick of the back-and-forth between the two. Sick of that holier than thou bullshit from Gemma--pretending that she wasn't thinking the same fucking thing--and sick of the way Chibs cared more to argue than to go after his daughter.

"Make sure Wendy stays if you two leave--I'm going."

"Where?" Chibs demanded.

But Jax just glared at him, stuffed his hands in both pockets, and walked straight out of the house.

It was cooler, now. The breeze had hit him square in the face the second he stepped over the threshold, and it was nice. To feel a little breeze that'd inevitably take the edge off of the lament sizzling away inside of him, was nice.

It was short lived, though. The second he realized that he couldn't see Isla--that she was completely out of sight--dragged him straight back down to earth, and the panic had set in.

He trusted her, of course he knew that she wasn't going to do anything stupid because she valued her life too much, and she wanted to do great things. So many great things.

But Jax also knew her too well. Well enough to know that the first place she would've thought about storming toward was the Clubhouse--the place that she'd find Tig.

And under any other circumstances, he wouldn't have rushed to get to her before she had a chance to get to T M. But the possibility of walking in and discerning Trager's inconsolable fury--his resentment and self-loathing--was much too great a risk for Jax to take.

He had to intercept.

He had to save her before she got the chance to set foot onto the property.

But, realistically, Jax was more than aware that Isla was probably already halfway there by now, and weaving through the unusual bustle of traffic in his small town just wasn't worth it.

"Shit." He growled, hopping onto his bike regardless. Saving a sliver of hope that he'd find her tonight.

He wasn't exactly optimistic, though. Because she'd already stormed four blocks.

Isla wrapped her cardigan tightly around her body--feeling the cold a bit more than what Jax had earlier--and hastily made her way downtown.

Surprisingly enough, she didn't fear the short walk toward the garage, but it was chilling. The thought of Donna's killer roaming freely, parading around that neighborhood, was daunting.

But she wasn't scared.

Or, at least, Isla wasn't scared until she heeded the red and blue flashing lights right in the middle of the intersection. The apparent murder scene.

Her heart sank, actually. The organ dropped to her stomach, pulsating slowly--barely--at the sight of Charming PD, CSI, and her. The group scattered, conversing, and speculating.

It was horrible. Sick.

She'd seen this before. She'd seen deaths and murders, and whatever came during the moments following. But she hasn't felt this way before.

The incapacitating throb. The discomfort and grief for such a horrendous--albeit freak--accident. And she wasn't stupid. She was as cognizant as her father and as empathetic as Jax, and she knew just as well as those two that this was not a purposeful attack.

Whether it was a consequence of Mayan or Niner misconduct, it was a wrongful onslaught that was about to cull an entire family. An entire charter.

If it hadn't already, that was.

She choked around the swell in her throat, padding along the sidewalk. She took her time, but she wasn't slow by any means. She had a place to be, and a specific person that she had to see--to talk to because she didn't know how to cope with this.

And it wasn't exactly her place to mourn for Donna. She hadn't been involved with her for some five years and she felt bad about the pair unable to rekindle their friendship. She felt bad about grieving the loss of Opie's wife--about taking the focus away from him.

But it hurt. It hurt so much--it sliced deeply, through flesh and tendon and bone--and she knew that Tig wouldn't judge her for this inveterate sorrow. He wouldn't see her as selfish or stupid for wanting to project her sincerities, her emotions.

Her heels clicked across the yard and she smiled a little bit when she passed Juice and Tig's bikes beside one another, letting her know that she wasn't going to be alone in there.

She was scared now, though. Because she hadn't talked about this yet. Hadn't talked about how she felt and how she was going to approach Opie the next time she saw him.

"Juice?" Isla squeaked from the doorway, waiting for him to turn around and run to her, or something. But he didn't move, didn't lift his head.

It was dreary inside. The lights had been dimmed, the men surrounding the tables and bar were downtrodden, and Isla felt as though she'd just walked through the gates of hell.

The vibrancy and boisterous nature of SAMCRO had come to a complete standstill, and she was actually yearning for the sleaze that usually enveloped the space.

Her sigh was defeated, forlorn. She sniffed as her nose ran, making her way to the bathroom to go and clean herself up--because she knew that she looked dreadful, and didn't want anybody to really see her that way.

"Is anyone in here?" She asked softly against the locked door, knowing that the answer was yes and that Tig was the occupant--but she persisted, anyway.

The mellifluous rhythm bled through the oak, jolting him still as blood poured from the gash in his head, and shattered glass surrounded his frame and the sink.

He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, glaring monotonously at himself in front of the mirror. Glaring at the fucking monster that was about to welcome Isla into open arms, comforting her because he knew that she'd need it.

"Yeah," He opened up, smiling down at her. "But I'm done, if you wanna--"

"What happened to you?" She put a hand against his chest, pushing him back into the room. Her brow furrowed when he didn't respond. "Tiggy?"

His entire body winced at Isla's soft touch. At the way her pink nails traced over the patch of skin on his chest, uncovered by his shirt--the shirt he was going to burn after tonight.

She gently gripped at his chin, turning his face to the right to get a better look at the incision on his left. Her eyes filled again, lips turned downward.

"Let me clean you up."

"You don't gotta--"

"I do." Isla cut him off, blinking away her tears. "If it doesn't get treated, it might get infected."

Like father, like daughter--always the first person to tend to an injury. She was so loving, so benevolent. Nothing like him, he thought.

Tig watched her maneuver around the tiny bathroom, admiring her desire to patch him up. To care for him and help make him feel better.

Not much would've helped at that moment, but she was trying her best.

"How'd you get over here?" He asked, leaning against the sink.

"I walked--"

"You walked?" Pissed, Tig spat. "Jesus fuck, Isla, you can't walk these parts alone, anymore."

She looked up at him from the spot she was crouched at, sifting through a small first-aid kit in the cabinet. "Who said I was alone?"

"Were you?" His eyes narrowed. She got to her feet, putting the small plastic box beside him, looking his face over a few times.

Her head shook. "Nope. Never alone with these thoughts."

Tig couldn't not chuckle at her response, but he was still worried about her. He didn't worry often--he was too selfish for that--but anything to do with his favorite blonde saw him panic like a madman.

"And the voices, too." She mused, breaking out into a genuine smile the first time all evening. "They always keep me real good company."

"Yeah?" Isla's head bobbed, cupping his chin again. "Me too--me 'n you don't seem to be too different after all, baby."

"Never said that we weren't." She poked her tongue out a little bit, surveying the damage. "Never said that we were the same, either."

"We're not the same." He confirmed, curling his hand around her wrist as she held an alcohol pad above his cut. "We are not the same, Isla."

Her head tilted, trying to discern what he meant. But she couldn't, and it caused an uncomfortable shiver to flicker down her spine.

"This might hurt." She whispered in an attempt to dissipate the small tension, gently running her thumb over his chin.

The other was--alongside her pointer finger--tapping the small antiseptic against the wound. She frowned the more he winced, though Tig's smile and hold on her wrist was still present.

"I like the pain."

"I know you do, Tiger." Isla joked. But she couldn't help wondering how the fuck he managed to do this to himself tonight.

Why he would do this to himself tonight.

"I don't wanna have to stitch your pretty face up," she pursed her lips and got him to hold the cotton in place.

"You think I got a pretty face?"

"The prettiest." Her retort was instantaneous, missing that usual glint of something resembling a joke.

She was serious--she wasn't engaging in that usual banter with him today. She was too run down for it, actually.

"Gonna have to give you a couple of butterfly stitches, if that's okay?" Isla looked up at him, holding out the small bandages with a smile. "It won't hurt. And they'll probably dissolve in, like, a week or so."

"Go for it. I love when you play nurse."

She lightly whacked at his chest, laughing as she got him to sit on the closed toilet lid to get a better reach. He wasn't tall, but neither was she. Isla needed him to lower his height if she wanted to successfully repair him.

The comfort, the aid and assistance had him forgetting about tonight--had her forgetting the real reason for her impromptu arrival to the clubhouse--but not forgetting about the newfound misery that encircled SAMCRO.

"You alright?" He asked when she hadn't made a movement, when her eyes seemed to focus on the shelves above the tank of the toilet. "I can do it myself, if you don't wanna--"

"I wanna." The smile she produced was fake--uncomfortable as tears rolled down perfectly blushed cheeks.

It broke his heart. Everything she was doing and saying--and even feeling because her pain was palpable--was breaking his heart and Tig felt like hell for doing this.

"I'm sorry," she stuck the first stitch to his forehead carefully, getting him to rip off the back of the second because her fingers were too shaky to get a solid grip.

"Don't be." He handed it to her. "It's been a tough night."

Her laugh was humorless, dull. "You can say that again, Tiggy."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really." She sent him an apologetic look, but he got it.

Isla trusted him with her life--for some reason--but she found it hard to open up sometimes. In regards to something this serious, she struggled to get a solid handle on her emotions and how to express them.

He understood her, though. Understood her well enough, her mannerisms and thought processes, and he just wondered if she felt like divulging her pain tonight.

She didn't, though. And Tig didn't particularly mind that. He didn't want to feel that twisted pang of regret, the vehement churn of his stomach whenever she said Donna's name--which she was yet to do, and she probably wouldn't at this point, either.

"I just wanna cry." She stated plainly, not even reluctantly anymore.

Like Gemma, he hadn't seen her cry for a long time. And it wasn't a nice visual, actually.

But he was supportive, and just wanted her to do anything that'd make her feel somewhat better--so he encouraged it.

Isla put everything down, gave his face the once over for the last time, and set herself on the tile with her back to the door.

"You wanna cry? Do it, baby. If it'll help, just do it." He assured, getting to the ground beside her. "I know you don't like doin' it in front of me, but I won't tell anyone, if that's what you want."

"You make me seem like a battle ax." Isla quipped, sniffling. "I don't care if anyone sees me cry--everyone knows that I do. It's just..."

"Showing vulnerability ain't a nice thought. I know."

God. She hated how well he understood her. How he knew what she was going to fucking say. All the time.

Tig wound an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Instinctively, she rested her head against his shoulder.

"I get it." He stated mindlessly, pushing tousled blonde strands from her forehead. "But y'know you can always trust me, kid. I'll never tell anyone that you feel emotions--"

"I'm literally the most emotional person you all know." Isla protested weakly, hoping he didn't mind the feeling of her tears bleeding through his shirt.

He didn't.

"I just don't really like crying. It's not a true testament to my character--I'm supposed to be the happy one around these parts. The sickeningly optimistic Irish girl--"

"You can still be a crier, too."

"I know." She finally wrapped her arms around his middle as they sat together. "But people just don't take girls seriously when they cry. And I don't want my position here to be compromised, I guess. I don't want my dad, or Gemma, or Clay to think I can't handle being around the club anymore--because I can. And I always will."

"They wouldn't think different of you for that." He promised, rubbing circles over her shoulder the more he felt the navy cotton dampen. "This is a real tough thing, Isla, nobody is gonna chastise you for shedding a tear. They'd probably think different of you if you didn't cry."

"You think?"

He nodded.

"Crying shows that you got empathy and a heart. We all know your heart is bigger than..." Thick eyebrows crumpled together before he let out a little chuckle. "Bigger than Clay's ego. It's huge, your heart."

"Well, it's gotta be. If I wanna love all of you--warts 'n all--my heart has gotta be huge."

"Exactly," he drew out his response, earning a laugh and something reminiscent of an optimistic smile from her.

Trager never saw himself as the kind of man to make a girl smile or laugh after a little pep talk--after or before incredible sex, perhaps, but never as a result of his unusually comforting nature.

But he just had that effect on Isla--something she wasn't able to extrapolate verbally. Something she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to comprehend, either.

"You've just gotta try not to make yourself too vulnerable, that's all, 'cuz people will get used to coddling you. And I know that's now what you want."

"That's what I mean." She frowned, pulling herself away a bit. "I don't wanna be seen as inferior for being able to cry about the things that you, or Gem, or dad, are able to keep a poker face over. I'm just...I'm just thin-skinned sometimes, and I'm yet to be desensitized to this stuff, I guess."

"You're not thin-skinned for crying tonight." He scolded, knowing that she didn't want to elucidate her thoughts about the happening, but he just couldn't help himself.

"Desensitization don't mean shit when you've lost someone you care about--it's always gonna hurt, sweetheart. Always. And there ain't nothing you can do to stop that."

He was the one with misty eyes, now. He was the one trying to bite back tears, trying to conceal the spread of his sadness--the uncomfortable soreness in his chest. In his heart that wasn't anywhere near as big and full as hers.

"You're never gonna grow immune to grief--I promise you'll always feel that. Whether you show it--how you show it--is another thing, though."

"You feel it?"

"Tonight?"

"In general."

She couldn't seem to recall the last time that she saw him cry--if she'd ever seen it, actually. Aside from this moment, of course.

Tears fell to the apples of his cheeks and she, without any reluctance, used the pad of her thumb to brush them away.

And he got it, now. The idea of showing vulnerability being a fucking liability. Because the pity washing over her soft, beautiful features made him feel fragile.

"All the time. All the fuckin' time."

"It really never goes away?"

"No." Tig sniffed harshly, forcing a smile. "But you learn to cope. You learn that it ain't the end of the world and that life just goes on after death."

"Profound." She chuckled once again. "That's some deep, deep shit, Tigger. Almost made me forget about how much I wanna hysterically break down."

"Do it. That'll make me feel better about my injury."

"Your self-inflicted injury." Isla stated knowingly, but she didn't clarify just what she meant.

Because it could've been an array of things, but he liked to think that she was just referring to his little forehead aperture.

"I like it. It makes you look badass." Isla held a hand out to Tig when he pulled himself upward, and she wanted to follow suit.

"Does it make me look hot, too?"

"Absolutely." Again, it wasn't laced in a tease. It was honest, and the small smile she produced was sincere. "Be careful with it, though. Try not to get it wet or anything, because it'll dissolve too soon--"

"I've had them before, y'know?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Isla rolled her eyes. "You're a super scary, malicious, calculating guy when you've gotta be. But I know that you're accident prone."

He curled his eyebrow upward. "Scary?"

"Totally. I've seen you hold a gun to a guy's head." A chill impaired her, frightening her. "Shits terrifying, Tig. Remind me to never get on your bad side."

"You couldn't even if you tried."

"You think?" Her qualm was unexpected, almost challenging him as she unlocked the bathroom door and stepped into the hallway. "I think I could."

What's she playing at? She was sobbing two minutes ago.

Oh, I get it. This is her facade--actin' all care free, and shit.

Tig followed behind--every step--as she clicked along the wooden floor of the clubhouse.

"You couldn't. Trust me." He stated lowly, reaching for her hand when she stuttered a little.

Isla noticed her father next time Juice, drinking at the bar with their backs to the duo. She didn't want to see him, right now.

Talking to Chibs would've ignited whatever fucking fire inside of her that'd started to blaze out of control earlier tonight, and she'd worked hard to contain this inferno.

"What you can do, though, is turn your pretty little ass back around, and go get some rest in the dorm. It's been a long night."

She didn't refute, she didn't try to get out of it because she didn't want to. Isla couldn't bear the thought of waltzing past her father, talking to him about her tiny outburst, and resuming as normal.

Because she couldn't do that. Not tonight, anyway.

"Tig?"

"Uh huh." He responded, his eyes glued to the back of Juice's cut as he slammed yet another shot back.

Probably wondering what the fuck had gone down tonight.

"Can you stay with me?" Her retort forced his focus to land on her, and the defenselessness--sheer exposure--in her attitude.

It wasn't the simple fact of wanting to be alone.

She couldn't be alone. Not anymore.

Ringed fingers squeezed her hand reassuringly, guiding her into the back room, holding her close. Because that's what she really, truly wanted.

"'Course I can. Anything for you, Isla."

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