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envysnest · 10 months

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Snakeskin (Sephiroth/Reader) (ch. 4/?)

AO3 / Pillowfort

Rating: Explicit

Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14

Tags: First Time, Reader-Insert, Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet Ending, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Frank Discussions of Past Rape/Abuse, Everyone is Queer, Canon-Compliant (if you squint), Pre-Crisis-Core Seph, Slow Burn, i continue to disappoint my friends and family, sephiroth is a virgin and in this essay i will, Reader is a Cis Woman, fluffy sex, Praise Kink, Gratuitous Biochemistry

Summary:

You are a young biologist, fresh out of graduate school, working in Shinra's R&D Division under Professor Hojo. You had long since given up on finding a partner and starting a family, preferring instead the company of your cell samples and your scientific instruments.

As the conflict in Wutai worsens, you strike up an unexpected friendship with a First Class SOLDIER.

(Sephiroth/Reader Slow Burn)

TW's for this chapter: Discussion about cancer biology at the end of the second scene.

---

A MYSTERIOUS INTERLOPER? Dear members of the Silver Elite, The holiday season is upon us, and in the spirit of the season, we bring you yet another exclusive: Sephiroth has been spotted with a mysterious woman at a recent board meeting. Our beloved warrior usually sits alone, but recently, an unnamed employee sat next to him instead! Our source tells us that Sephiroth didn’t seem to mind. Could this be the beginning of love for Shinra’s top SOLDIER? We will keep you posted!

You put your tablet down in your lap and looked up at Hammond. “Why?”

“Who was it, though?” He clenched his hands into fists and growled in frustration. “It’s so vague! Who goes to these board meetings, anyway?"

The two of you waited for a protein binding experiment to finish. Lukas had isolated an aromatic compound from mako and passed it on to your lab. It resembled a sugar, so you set Hammond to performing a protein pull-down assay. If the liver could process the mystery compound as an energy source, you’d see metabolic proteins bind to it. Anything bound would be purified later, but for now, a pull-down meant watching and waiting. You brought your laptop into the lab to look over data in the meantime.

You kicked around the tile with your winter boots. “I mean, I was at a meeting—“

Hammond whipped around in his chair. “With Sephiroth? What was he like?”

You leaned away from Hammond and winced. Somehow, it struck you as a bad idea to let on that you were the woman in question. “Hammond, the wash buffer?”

Hammond turned back to the experiment. Lukas’s mysterious compound had been bound to molecular beads within a glass column; metabolic proteins would stick to the beads, and the compound would, hopefully, bind the proteins, too. Hammond had control over a mechanical pump that pushed fluid into the sample.

The distraction was only temporary: as the pump forced the wash buffer into the column, he turned back to you. “But no, seriously, what was he like?”

You stared at your laptop screen. The data swam before your eyes; you squeezed them shut. “Normal, dude. Really, really ordinary.”

“He didn’t say anything to you?”

“No, nothing. Why would he?”

Never mind that you had read and re-read your text chain together that night.

Hammond sagged in his chair. “Oh, come on. Did you see who was sitting next to him, then?”

You idly clicked around your spreadsheet, selecting nothing in particular. Your mind raced for an explanation.

You settled for a deflection instead. “It’s a gossip rag, Hammond. I didn’t see anything weird. Besides, the room was full when I got there. People were standing.”

He was close to a rebuttal when you heard quick, pattering footsteps behind you. He jerked his chin towards the source, and you turned to find Marcie looking stricken.

“Do you remember that cell lysate?” she panted, out of breath from running. “You know, the one you made last week?”

You looked at her sideways. “327’s lysate, yeah. Why?”

“It’s gone.” She crossed her arms around herself. “I’ve looked everywhere, and I can’t find it. Did you guys move it?”

You exchanged glances with Hammond. “No? What do you mean, it’s gone? Did you check the minus-twenty?”

Marcie shook her head. “Not in there, either.”

You closed your laptop. “Give me a second.” You turned to Hammond and pointed at the column. “Let that sit in the extraction buffer for a few minutes, okay? See if it helps your yield this time.”

Marcie led you to the refrigerators and freezers in the back of the lab. A few other technicians waited in line for the chance to dig around their shelves.

“I’m sorry,” Marcie squeaked.

“It’s totally fine,” you replied, trying your best to sound soothing. “It’s probably just pushed behind something. Happens all the time.”

She hopped from foot to foot as the line moved forward. “I don’t think it is, and…” She cringed. “We’re gonna have to make it again, right?”

“I mean, worst case scenario.” The last technician fetched their samples and moved aside. You crouched to the lowest shelf in the -20-degree freezer and retrieved a sample box. You always kept your cell lysates in the same place: separated from your genetic samples, so anyone could find and replicate your work. It was precisely this sort of labeling system that kept situations like this from happening. Marcie seemed ready to pop out of her skin with nerves.

When you removed the box lid, you raised your eyebrows. Specimen 327 was, indeed, gone. In its place was a neat, empty row.

You looked up at Marcie. “You weren’t kidding.”

She fussed with her lab coat. “I didn’t use it. I checked yesterday to see if they were there, so I could get started quickly today, and they were right where you said they’d be. And now they're not!"

You capped the box and pulled out another box. “MAT Team’s RNA” said the box in your handwriting. The inside was packed with your RNA samples: just as expected.

You muttered, “Hammond shouldn’t be using 327’s lysate today.” You placed your boxes back where you found them. “This is weird.”

“Did you loan them out to anyone else, Professor?”

“No, that’s why it’s weird.” You sighed and rose to your feet. The freezer door closed with a dull thump. “I think someone took it. I’ll send an e-mail out.” You turned to Marcie and waved a hand. “Don’t worry about the lysate for right now. Can you just extract the rest of the DNA today instead? And sequence it, like we talked about."

Your research assistant slouched. “Okay. Are you sure it’s all right, Professor?”

“I mean, we can’t do anything until we figure this out. This doesn’t usually happen.” You added, “It’s not your fault, Marcie. Thanks for telling me.”

Marcie rushed off. You eyed the freezer. First the old cell samples from the night before, and now your samples were disappearing. Could it be Hojo getting his revenge for his stolen samples? But no, your failure would ultimately make him look bad. The one thing Hojo couldn't tolerate was looking bad. Maybe you were being paranoid.

The missing samples nagged at the back of your brain as you returned to your laptop. Beside you, Hammond was watching a five-minute timer with razor focus. You opened Shinra's messaging app and navigated to the lab group-chat.

>> Missing 327’s lysate as of this AM. Anyone??

The replies came quickly:

>> not us!

>> Haven’t needed lysate in a while

>> It wasn’t your RAs???

You replied:

>> Already asked. No dice

Finally, Hojo’s icon appeared. Upon Hojo’s arrival, the chat went silent.

>> Upstairs needed a control. It’s with us.

You rolled your eyes to the ceiling. Of course.

>> No worries boss. We’ll recalibrate today.

What you really wanted to say was, Fuck off, stop touching my shit without permission, but you hardly had room to talk: your stolen contraband was steps away in an incubator. Maybe this was revenge, after all.

You busied yourself with organizing and re-organizing your data until you saw the last scientist put their coat on.

The 60th floor lobby was empty. Silent advertisements played on large screens, turning the lobby a white-blue. You walked to the lab and peeked in the windows: the lab was dead. Perfect.

Instruments churned away as you locked the lab doors behind you. If anyone decided to follow you, you would hear the lock disengage. You managed a cursory glance towards the lab windows: the lobby beyond was still deserted.

---

You flicked on the fluorescent lights of the cell culture room. You set the ancient radio to some pop station, kept the volume just low enough for you to hear the rest of the lab. After putting on your nitrile gloves and sanitizing them with alcohol, you opened the incubator to retrieve your cells.

029 appeared to be growing, but so, too, did “029-1:” the J - 180 - L - 9177 cells in disguise.

You placed them inside the fume hood. It wasn’t hard to check cell growth with the naked eye: the bottom of the plate turned cloudy with growth. Even so, J - 180 - L - 9177 looked sluggish; it seemed too early to feed them or split them into new generations, but the plate seemed more populated than before.

So Hojo’s old cells were still viable, after all. That made you a thief.

Curiosity nagged at the back of your neck, like an insistent child.

You pulled J - 180 - L - 9177 out of the fume hood and brought it over to the microscope. You placed its dust cover delicately atop the radio, muffling it. You swapped between foci, turning dials until the cells came into sharp focus.

At first glance, nothing seemed especially wrong with the cells: most had the blocky, translucent appearance of human liver cells. Usually, the microscope was for confluent cells: healthy specimens that multiplied to fill the dish, cramming their membranes against each other. J - 180 - L - 9177 was nowhere near that state, as you expected. The cells clung to the bottom of the plate in irregular clumps only a few cells wide.

They had a sickly gray cast to them still, or was that your eye?

You switched to a higher magnification and gasped.

Some of the cells had sprouted multiple nuclei: two or three small dots, clumped at random within the cell body. Still others had taken on long, splattered shapes, as if someone had dropped the cell from the roof. They appeared to be reaching out towards their neighbors. A few were as long and probing as a muscle cell.

The last time you had seen cells behave this way had been in a cancer biology class. Your professor had shown you images of uterine cancer cells: grasping things with several nuclei, growing all wrong, choking the patient from the inside out.

---

You jiggled your foot as you sat on the clinic bench. You couldn’t stop thinking about the J - 180 - L - 9177 cells you had looked at last night: why would Hojo be culturing cancer cells, and why were they behaving so oddly? Maybe it had something to do with why he had taken cell lysate from your team.

This morning, the lysate had reappeared in your sample box: all five tubes sitting in their designated row, albeit much emptier. Marcie had obviously been relieved when you gave her the go-ahead to continue her work. Nevertheless, the levels had been so low that you knew you’d have to make the lysate all over again: a delicate process in which you opened the cell membrane and harvested the cell's contents without changing a single protein or molecule. You sighed, a bone-deep weariness making its home in your gut. It was the last thing you wanted to focus on.

The door to the clinic opened, and Sully flounced in. “Hiya, Professor."

The person who followed was someone you instantly recognized: one of Sephiroth’s First-Class companions from the poster, looking stern as he followed Sully in.

She waved a hand at him. “You can wait right here. Just need to get set up.”

He crossed his arms and nodded at you in acknowledgement before turning back to Sully, now fishing around for her keys. “No trouble at all.”

You made to stand, but the SOLDIER waved a hand at you. “It’s alright,” he said. “I’ll stand.”

You obediently plopped back down on the bench as Sully disappeared into the exam room. “Professor Hollander was feeling generous this week,” you said. “I didn’t think he’d agree to the specimen request."

The SOLDIER shrugged. “I think he prefers it if someone else asks.” A slight smile twitched at the edge of his lips. “Had it been Hojo, it would have been war.”

You smiled and looked down at your shoes. So the dislike of Hojo spanned departments and teams, then. You felt a little justified for stealing his cells.

You looked up at the man, who now studied the billboard of announcements in the clinic. A white flyer cheerfully advertised yearly flu vaccinations.

“You must be Angeal,” you said, and you introduced yourself.

Angeal raised his eyebrows and turned back to you. “So you’re the scientist I’ve heard so much about. It’s a pleasure.”

You looked away. What did that mean? You shifted on the bench. “Good things, right?”

“Only good things.” Angeal took a step forward, but otherwise kept his distance. He put one hand on his hip and rolled his shoulders. “It’s an honor to give blood to Hojo's most talented scientist."

There was a teasing tone in his voice. You shook your head, a nervous laugh escaping you. “I— there’s probably been some mistake?"

“Your name is fairly distinctive,” Angeal replied. “I think there’s only one of you.”

“Sure, but—“

Sully stuck her head out of the exam room. “Come on, you. Before I change my mind and send you back to Hollander.” There was no offer here, you noticed, to follow him: not like there had been with Sephiroth.

Angeal raised a hand towards you as he followed Sully into the exam room. “Take care, Professor.”

The door to the exam room swung shut, and the clinic fell silent. You were frozen to the bench in mortification.

If the source of Angeal’s information was who you thought it was, then this had to stop. Immediately.

You had half a mind to rip off your gloves and message Sephiroth: Stop telling lies about me, or, Leave me alone, or, Fuck off. Something definitive, a strong message that would tell the man that you two were not at all familiar. Whatever you sent had to draw a line: you were nothing compared to him, and there was no reason at all why he should take any interest in you.

You thunked the back of your head against the clinic wall. Only one thing came out of a man's flattery. Your survival had depended on that knowledge, time and again, and you would not-- could not-- fail that test again.

But if you told off the Sephiroth, well…the walls had ears, and you didn’t need more of Hojo's wrath.

You tried to calm yourself by thinking about your cells. 029 was due for feeding tomorrow; it was also time for its first exposure to mako. You needed to go easier with the treatments this time. While it was worthwhile to consider the boundaries of what you could and could not do to cells, you couldn’t kill off everything you cultured just to test endpoints.

The door to the exam room swung open. Sully deposited a handful of blood tubes into your ice bucket, all labeled 601.

“He’s gonna need a minute,” she whispered. “He always goes under during draws.”

---

YOU ARE INVITED!!! The 35th annual SHINRA RESEARCH DIVISION HOLIDAY PARTY December 13th at 7 PM Refreshments will be served!!!! Please RSVP if bringing a guest :o)

You chewed your bottom lip, kicking your legs off the side of your bed. The e-mail had a garish gold background; tiny ornaments flashed along the edges. Clearly, some intern had spent a long afternoon on this.

You scrolled up to the “recipients” list. Your TV warbled on in the background; the steam heater hissed and clanked, still unable to warm your apartment above freezing.

The recipient list was long: Hojo was there, as were Yun, Lukas, and Lazard. There were a slew of other scientists from different departments, as well as a few engineers from transport and energy. Did everyone usually go to these performative parties? Networking events made your skin crawl, as did watching coworkers get drunk. You didn’t need another night of coworkers begging you to dance, and the free food wasn’t enough of a lure. Maybe you could beg off?

Your breath hitched as Sephiroth’s e-mail address appeared in the list. You hadn’t seen him around Shinra HQ since the meeting.

As if you were being watched, you closed the message in shame and looked away, towards your frost-encrusted window. You clutched the phone to your chest.

Sephiroth didn’t seem like the type for social events, and if that meeting was any indication, people tended to steer clear of him unless he could do something for them. You knew that feeling all too well: alone strictly until needed.

The pang of hurt that went through you was familiar, and you realized that you had felt it before: for yourself.

You raised your phone and opened the Shinra messaging app. There were a few messages on the research group chat, as well as Hammond sending some cat video to you and Marcie. Hojo's window was blue with an unread message, asking when you’d present results from the protein pull-down.

You kept scrolling until you reached Sephiroth’s window. You stared at the last message he had sent you:

>>You can tell me if it isn't fine, and I do worry about it.

Next to it was a tiny note: Message read at 8:39 PM.

You groaned and stared at the ceiling. After a deep breath, you opened the reply window:

>>Why did you tell An|

You cleared the message. You knew, deep down, that you didn’t want to know why Sephiroth spoke about you so fondly. The likely answer made your stomach churn.

You typed something different:

>>Hey, do we have to go to that holiday party?

Message sent!

The ellipsis bubble blinked into existence. You raised an eyebrow.

Sephiroth’s reply came within minutes:

>>No one has to do anything, but you may hear about “teamwork” for weeks if you don’t.

You found yourself smiling. A warm feeling bloomed in your chest.

>>Mandatory fun?

Sephiroth’s reply came as soon as the first:

>>Shinra's specialty. Will you be there?

And just like that, the warm feeling evaporated and left behind dread. You looked out of your window again. From here, you could see the traffic. For several minutes, you stared at the intersection below, at the tiny Shinra-corp. cars darting back and forth.

You turned back to your phone.

>>Will you be?

The ellipsis bubble reappeared. Your phone plinked with a reply:

>>Best to keep up appearances, no?

You scowled. Sephiroth was right: you had to make nice, else the research division would shun you.

>>Ugh. You’re right.

Sephiroth’s reply was instantaneous:

>>That’s rare.

You typed out:

>>What’s rare?

Sephiroth:

>>Me being right.

You rolled your eyes.

>>Come on. Everyone worships at your feet.

There was a pause: Sephiroth was hesitating. You saw the ellipsis bubble blink into existence, only to disappear again. You couldn’t stop staring at your phone.

Finally, he replied:

>>It’s less pleasant than you’d think. There’s always pressure to be right. Lives depend on it.

You sat up in bed.

>>Why do you think I’m in research? I’d be a crummy surgeon.

Sephiroth’s next reply was much faster:

>>Ha ha. Once again, you underestimate yourself.

Before you could stop yourself, you replied:

>>That makes two of us.

Sephiroth didn’t reply after that. The notification next to the message said, unhelpfully, Read at 9:54 PM.

You stared at your phone for another five minutes, tapping your foot on the floor, but no reply came.

Go to next chapter >>>

#momofics #snakeskin

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bakorrra2 · 2 years

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Do you remember my friend who knows nothing about yu-gi-oh and said that TKB looks like a cinnamon roll?

Well, I've decided to tell you what she told about other characters. Here you go.

Marik: He looks like a tiger.

Yami Marik: Is that a bush on his head?

Pegasus: For some reason I want to name him "Mister Silver Pants"

Weevil :I don't like him. He looks like a shroom. If he had a different hairstyle, he would be okay. Also, he looks like a mad scientist.

Rex: That's the bad boy who needs to get his butt kicked.

Mako: He looks like Inosuke, so 10/10

Yugi: He looks like you.

Yami Yugi: Manly gay. He putted on some accessories, made a make up and went for a walk singing "lalala"

Mokuba: Oh, this one is pretty. Maybe I'll draw him later.

Mai: That's Barbie from new collection.

Yami Bakura: He looks like a hedgehog.

Keith: American boy.

Duke: He looks like a fancy man. He will cheat on you.

And my personal favorite

Ryou: That's Snow White and the seven stripes.

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tamras-shieldmaiden · 3 years

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Random thoughts on Baatar Jr. (or why I don't really like him much)

Note:

Although this could be construed as anti-Baatar Jr., this is me voicing my reservations about the character and in no way this clashes with my position of defending his role as romantic partner to Kuvira in canon continuity. I do not agree in erasing or undermining this fact when justifying headcanons about her preferences. I believe both positions can coexist without one contradicting the other.

So on to the topic. I've seen some people ask around these parts why Junior is a disliked character among some TLoK and Kuvira fans so I wanted to give it a shot by answering from the perspective of a Kuvira fan who has previously expressed her lack of fondness towards the Kuvira/Junior pairing. I'd like to start off by stating that, unlike others, I do not hate the character, just as I do not hate Suyin Beifong. They both are instrumental in Kuvira's story and both serve a purpose in the overall story of Book 4. Suyin in particular can be quite fascinating in all her complex and flawed glory, and I would've preferred to see their complex family dynamics better portrayed in Ruins of the Empire but alas, that didn't happen and what did happen left me disappointed in its rather superficial approach.

Anyway, back on topic. My personal discontent with Jr comes more from the fact that he is an embodiment of a child of *privilege with the negative connotations this term implies. He acts like one throughout the series and I wonder if he has realized how much this fact played out in his favor, from having his role as collaborator conveniently overlooked, to being embraced back by his family and receiving a rather lenient sentence compared to Kuvira or Zaheer. But Asami is also a child of privilege, you may say justifiably so. Well, yes, she is, but I personally believe there are striking differences between them that I will point out a bit later. I think Jr. would be in the same bracket as Wu since both are members of influential families in the Earth Kingdom.

So, why I do not particularly empathize with Jr.'s plight? I mean the guy was shot at with a weapon of his own creation (talk about irony) and had his sentimental relationship shattered in the cruelest way imaginable you may say, and from a romance standpoint, I would agree with that statement. But we have to talk about context, which shows that the circumstances dealt with far more than his romantic woes.

Let's get some facts straight. Like I said before, this guy is a child of privilege. Unlike many other characters who were dealt a crappy hand at life by being orphaned or abandoned, some literally growing up by themselves in the streets (Mako, Bolin, Kai), Jr. is the firstborn child of the granddaughter of Lao and Poppy Beifong. He was raised in what looks like a caring, loving family in a progressive, stable nation with his material needs met. Compare his situation to Asami's who witnessed tragedy firsthand in childhood and again, saw her progenitor and role model break bad before her very own eyes, and almost lost her livelihood to Varrick's schemes in Book 2. The Beifong family has been influential in the Earth Kingdom since the times of Avatar Kyoshi as we learned in the Kyoshi novels, and to this family of prestige is where Junior was born into. We're talking silver spoons here, unlike the Sato's who would be considered in comparison a new money family. I'm not sure if Varrick was born into money or if he built his business empire so I can't account for him in this comparison. But Baatar boy had everything going on for him from the start. He wasn't raised in Gaoling or Ba Sing Se. He was raised in the utopia his mother built from her own design and vision, a city where she ruled. That's a pretty impressive leg up in life if you ask me, but it seems that wasn't enough for him. Living under the enormous shadow his parents cast, inside what felt like a gilded cage made him feel unsatisfaction with his role in the family and made him fester resentment towards them, a resentment that found an outlet when Kuvira rebelled and left Zaofu for good. Did he care for the stabilization cause to contain the chaos that threatened to collapse the Earth Kingdom? I don't think this wasn't explicitly stated in the series but I might not be remembering certain details. What is explicitly shown is that he cared for his happiness which was manifested in his desire to marry his fiance. This is what brought him in a collision course with the person he believed corresponded to his feelings in the same way, but didn't because their values weren't aligned towards the same priorities and goals.

When Jr. relented to Korra's bluff in the warehouse, to me it looks like an extension of the privilege he experienced his whole life. What's years of planning and the hard work and effort of the troops under his command and Kuvira's worth when his personal happiness was threatened? It apparently was expendable enough to acquiesce to Korra's demands after a brief show of defiance. His fear was that he would be kept apart from Kuvira. As long as he could secure his personal happiness, everything, including finalizing the last step of the unification campaign could be set aside as long as he could marry Kuvira and be left alone in their Empire. Notice that the change of heart that he experienced after the warehouse is blown away is not because he suddenly realized that the invasion was wrong either strategically, politically, or morally, but because with her actions she chose the Empire over him. Once he cast himself apart from his family when he declared his fiance his only family (rather callously) and not having the Beifong clout as a source of privilege, he feared being cut off from Kuvira who was now that source. It might outwardly look like a demonstration of his love and devotion towards Kuvira to halt the invasion so the Avatar wouldn't keep them apart but it also showed a dereliction to the mission and his duty as second in command and at least to me, it showed a disregard to his troops and their collective effort and success which brought them to the last step of their **goal. Say what you will about Kuvira but she had the respect of the troops and was a source of inspiration to them, to the point of attempting to rescue her from the hands of the Avatar herself after Kuvira's rendition. Maybe because I served in uniform, I pay more attention to these things, and perhaps that's why I think Jr.'s decision could have felt like a betrayal to those under his command, and to Kuvira herself who valued the goal of unifying the country more than her own personal happiness (something I've talked about before). Apparently, he wasn't aware of that, even though he was the person closest to her for three years. That is pretty telling of his priorities and it is a rather big oversight to have about the person with whom you plan to spend the rest of your life.

The nail in the coffin in demonstrating that he is, along with Suyin, embodiments of privilege, is how rather easily he is forgiven and for his role in all the dictator business, he is given a leniency Kuvira wasn't offered, at least until the end of Ruins of the Empire, but his role is never really questioned, and the protection of the Beifong power and prestige comes back to protect him again.

So in summary, I believe this might be one of the reasons this character isn't that well-liked, and although ROTE tried to portray him in a more positive light with his role in defeating Guan, unfortunately, and this is a critique of ROTE in general, we can't say for sure if he regretted his role and actions as co-leader of the Empire. That introspection would have given him much-needed depth and would've served to present him as a character more self-aware of his acts.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_privilege

**the justification or the merits of said invasion are not being analyzed. That's subject for other lengthy analysis and are not relevant to the point being made.

#the legend of korra #legend of korra #tlok #lok #meta #character analysis #anti-baatar jr?#baatar jr #earth empire #zaofu #kuvira #ruins of the empire #rote #shoulda made this thing short by just calling him a spoiled egocentric brat like my fwend Mags described him 😄#another round of ramblings #i should get back to fic writing

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im-totally-not-an-alien · 3 years

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Final fantasy 7 prompts number 74

1. Zack rocketed out of the slide and strait into the nearby wall. All Angeal had to do was glance at the food tray lying next to his student to figure out what happened.

"Zack-!" He began, intending to chastise his protégé. But whatever he was about to say was lost when a blur of black and silver shot out of the slide. The next thing he knew, Sephiroth was staring cooly up at him from his position on the floor, his own tray abandoned a few feet away from them.

Zack started laughing

Aka Zack can convince anyone do do stupid shenanigans with him, not just Cloud

2. Zack and two other 3rds found a large pile of scales, laying curled up on the beach while out on a mission. They surround it and are preparing to pounce when the serpentine body unravels to show the torso of a man.

The three freak out a bit and ironically yell at the man to stay calm. The blond just blinks at them before rising up and up and...the man was the snake. Or was the snake a man? Either way, Zack ends up befriending him and bringing him home as a suprise birthday(?) present for the General. Seph needed a friend, and Spikey would be perfect!

In the meantime, Naga! Cloud lives as Zacks secret roommate

3. A were-chocobo is running around Shinra tower and Cloud is fed up with people assuming that it's him

4. Sephiroth accidently gets left alone with an infant and he panics for a while before excepting his fate

(Its funnier if its insane sephiroth)

5. A Sephiroth fan stalks time traveler Cloud, believing him to be a threat to their precious idol.

They find out something important and foil all of the blonds plans

6. Willingly walk into the lions den and let reunion take over. The implants will let you keep your rationality without alerting Sephiroth, mostly by creating feedback that makes the madman hear whatever he wants to hear. For all intents and purposes, you will appear to be his perfect puppet. Thats then you'll stab him in the back. Literally.

At least, that was the plan...until Sephiroth started hugging him and sobbbing. Then the silverette started talking about feelings and how neither of them would ever have to be lonely again. Cloud was honestly a little scared by this seemingly sudden mental breakdown and couldn't help but wonder what exactly Sephiroth was hallucinating from the feedback

7. Cloud cut through the fabric of spacetime, just barely managing to escape his silver haired stalker yet again. He didn't even have time to be relieved however, as a Cait Sith popped out from behind a nearby tree. "Oh, hey Cait." He greeted casually.

The robot didn't reply, choosing instead to stare at him in silence. Odd, considering "Cait Sith" was a chatterbox, even on a bad day and Reeve would never be so rude. "Reeve?" The blond asked, concerned.

The cat recoiled, as if startled by something before running off. "Huh." He made a mental note to ask Reeve about his Cait Siths when he got back to his home dimension.

A slight tremor made him pause. Looking to his left he found the source: a litteral stampede of Caits! And they were headed right for him!

He later learned this was a world where he was the villain instead of Sephiroth...after he was captured, of course

8. Cetra! Lorekeeper! Cloud laid his mother to rest after her sudden passing, but instead of taking over her duty as guardian of the sacred sights, he decided "Well, the planet is doomed anyway." And set out to walk in the footsteps of his ancestors.

He just wanted to see the world beyond the snow-covered pines and travel the old nomadic routes carved out by his kin. Kinda like a final lap, to say goodbye. Too bad there where so many people wanting to kidnap him...kinda puts a wrench in his plans.

Based loosely on the song Lullaby of the Moon by David Vitas. I like the twist at the end

9. Shinra and Wutai role reversal au

10. Au where Sephiroth didn't actually die in Nebilhiem. He came to inside the mako and swam away and contemplate his life decisions and decided to fake his death. (The events of OG, AC, etc remain unchanged)

He can't bring himself to actually cut his hair, so he dyes it and ties it back into a ponytail.

He lived through all of the tragedies, living life as a normal everyday worker...until a man with a crimson cloak walks into his life with the blond from his nightmares.

11. Sephiroth is terrible at cooking, despite following instructions to the letter.

Every year he makes these amazingly awful cookies. No one was brave enough to tell him that his food tastes like burnt mud, so he obliviously assumes that people are avoiding him out of fear. (He's kinda right.) So he hunts people down and gifts them to whomever he manages to catch, looming over them ominously with a blank expression until they eat.

This year, Zack gets caught.

12. Time traveler Cloud accidentally winds up mentally connecting with just about all of SOLDIER after his connection with the Sephiroth of his timeline is severed.

Instant regret. On the other hand, all the information flooding through his head is great for sabotage! :D

13. Time traveler Sephiroth and Genesis getting into arguments, which leads to Sephiroth telling Angeal about Gens recent (illegal) escapades.

Gen threatens to dye Sephs hair rainbow, and the silverette calls his bluff

Sephiroth is still wondering how Gen managed to do it...and so well too...

14. Time traveler Cloud au, buuuuut he somehow accidentally bodyswaps with Angeal.

Both are confused.

15. Veld slumped in his chair. The vice president was not making his life easy, that was for sure.

He glanced up to stare at the ceiling, only to find something unexpected there. An envelope was literally duct taped above his desk. How long has that been there?

Upon actually reading the letter inside, he quickly holsters his gun, grabbed a few extra rounds of ammo and walked out the door

#genesis is hiding at the top of the slide #ff7 #final fantasy 7 #ffvii #sephiroth #zack fair #final fantasy vii #genesis rhapsodos #angeal hewley #cloud strife #ff7 story prompts #tumblr prompt #story prompt

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reinerispretty · 4 years

Text

reminiscence. (? x f!reader) pt6

THANK U FOR BEING SO PATIENT i am so excited to get back to this story!!

pt1

pt5

pt7

“That’s not how you do it.”

Asami furrowed her brows at her. “Oh yeah? Then show me how you knead dough.” (Y/N) rolled up her sleeves and began pressing into the dough with the heel of her palm, at first gently, but then with some effort.

“It’s like raising a baby,” (Y/N) said. “You have to be soft, but firm.”

It took (Y/N) quite a few days to recover. She shivered in bed the first night, retching violently into the trash bin Jinora had kindly placed at her bedside. She had given her a worried smile, which (Y/N) weakly returned. Falling asleep was difficult because of how cold she felt. When sleep finally did grace her, it was littered with dreams of empty blackness and monsters licking at her heels. She woke up every few hours, sweat beading down her neck and a scream threatening to rip at her throat. She felt like her heart was beating too fast to be contained by her chest. Her first night of illness was undoubtedly the worst.

Knowing this, Korra had moved a cot into her room the next night. She knew what it was like to be ill and how isolating it felt, so she thought (Y/N) could use the company. Especially when her fever had risen to a temperature near scalding. Korra bundled her in her warmest blankets from the Northern Water Tribe, tucking (Y/N) into the fabric. She looked so small and weak, nothing like the bright, curious girl that Korra had come to know over the past few days. Naga slept protectively at the girls’ feet. (Y/N) slept most of the night and well into the next day.

But when she awoke, the rest of the household was surprised to find her walking into the dining room, one of Korra’s blankets still wrapped around her shoulders and the color returning to her skin. “Could I have something to eat?” Her voice was hoarse from lack of use. Pema insisted that she go back to bed and rest, that dinner would be brought to her, and although she hadn’t known her very long, (Y/N) knew better than to argue.

Quickly, she made her way back to her room and crawled back into bed, her stomach eagerly awaiting the arrival of food.

Korra entered a few minutes later, shocked to find (Y/N) looking so chipper. “Someone’s feeling better. Pema made your favorite.” (Y/N) cocked her head to the side. “Bolin told me. Soup dumplings.” (Y/N) held in her squeal of excitement as Korra handed her the hot bowl and chopsticks.

“So,” Korra began as she scarfed down her dumplings. “I have a plan. We,” (Y/N) liked how Korra included her in the ‘we.’ “Will take a ship to the South Pole and enter the Spirit World through the portal. Then we’ll ask the spirits if they know anything about you.”

(Y/N) finished her last dumpling, her mouth burning comfortably from the hot food. “Is that it?” Korra let out a surprised laughed at her boldness.

“Did you want more action?” (Y/N’s) face flushed.

“No, I just mean that it seems really easy.”

“If all goes well, it will be.”

(Y/N) was bundled up so tightly for their trip that she could hardly move. Pema hadn’t like the idea of them leaving before she was feeling her best, but (Y/N) insisted that they left as soon as possible. The thought of getting her memories back made her heart race.

She stood in the courtyard of the Air Temple, Tenzin and his family standing before her. “I can’t thank you enough for your hospitality,” She said. “I hope one day I can repay you for taking care of me.”

“You have to come back and play with us!” Ikki begged, jumping up and down as she clapped her hands together. “Please, please, please!”

“Yeah!” Meelo interjected. “You were too busy throwing up to play with us!” (Y/N) laughed as Tenzin blanched at his children.

“I’m sorry, Meelo. I promise I’ll come back and play with you guys soon!” She glanced at Tenzin and Pema. “As long as I’m welcome, of course.”

“You are always welcome here,” Tenzin reassured her, and (Y/N) smiled. Korra walked out of the house then, both her and (Y/N’s) bags slung across her shoulders.

“Ready to go?” Korra questioned, and (Y/N) nodded. She waved goodbye to the family and walked down the stone steps to the dock, where their ship was pulling up. (Y/N’s) eyes widened at the sight of it. “Ship” was an understatement. It was huge, twice the size of any boat she had seen in her almost three weeks of memory. It was white, with thick blue stripes painted around the edges.

“Is that yours?” She asked Korra.

“It’s Varrick’s,” She called back to her. “He’s a super rich guy. Kinda sorta a friend of ours, a guess. I called in a favor.”

“You’re sure he doesn’t mind?”

Korra turned around and flashed her a smile. “Varrick tosses money around like it’s leaves. If anything happens to this boat, he’s got ten more.” (Y/N) smiled back at Korra and tried to ignore the statement, “If anything happens.”

When they reached the dock, one of the most beautiful girls (Y/N) had ever seen stood at it’s edge. She waved at the two of them, her dark hair fluttering behind her in the breeze. Korra dropped their bags on the dock and enveloped the girl in a hug. “Asami!” She cheered.

Asami squeezed Korra tightly and gave her a kind smile. “It’s good to see you again!” Her green eyes fluttered to (Y/N). “You must be (Y/N). Korra’s told me so much about you.” She extended her hand and (Y/N) shook it firmly.

“I guess that’s not very much,” (Y/N) joked, eliciting a laugh from Asami.

“Where are the guys?” Asami asked, and Korra shrugged.

“Probably running late, as usual.”

“I want to say thank you to you both,” (Y/N) said suddenly, wringing her fingers together nervously. “I’m sure you both have heard some pretty bad things about me, but I’m so thankful you’re willing to help.”

“Mako has a bit of a flair for the dramatics,” Asami said as she waved a hand into the air. “As far as we’re concerned, you’re a completely different person.” Korra nodded in agreement, flashing her white teeth at (Y/N).

Mako and Bolin joined them only a few moments later and the five of them boarded the massive ship. Varrick had sent along an entire crew to accompany them, which everyone was very thankful for. As much as Team Avatar trusted their abilities, none of them were very keen on the idea of steering a ship for a whole week.

They departed from the bay outside of Republic City and (Y/N) watched from one of the enclosed decks as the skyscraper buildings faded into nothingness. A nervous pit fit itself in the bottom of her stomach. This was really happening. She would get her memories back.

The majority of her was absolutely ecstatic. She hated not knowing anything about herself and couldn’t wait for her life to get back to normal--whatever that meant before she lost her memory. But a small, miniscule part of her enjoyed what was happening right now. If it hadn’t been for losing her memory, she would not have become friends with Korra. (Y/N) feared that once she got her memories back, there would be some things she didn’t want to remember.

Asami appeared at her side, offering (Y/N) yet another kind smile. “How do you like the ship?”

“It’s huge,” (Y/N) said. “I can barely feel the water underneath us. I was worried that since I was sick, I wouldn’t feel well, but I feel fine.”

“Korra mentioned that you hadn’t been feeling well. I’m glad you’re okay now.”

(Y/N’s) eyes trailed to the middle of the room, where Korra, Mako, and Bolin talked to each other. “Have you known them long?”

“Only a few months,” Asami said. “But they’ve become my best friends.” (Y/N) felt a tug at her heart. She wondered if before everything, if she had had a group like this. “Are you feeling hungry?”

“A little,” (Y/N) admitted.

“How about we make something in the kitchens? Just you and me.” (Y/N) nodded excitedly and followed Asami down two flights of stairs, where the kitchen took up the entire floor. The staff was scarce, considering that dinner would not be happening for a long while, so they both rifled through the pantries trying to find ingredients. “We could make a pizza!”

(Y/N) poked her head around the pantry door and stared quizzically at Asami. “Do you know how to make a pizza?” The dark haired girl shrugged, gathering ingredients into her arms.

“It can’t be that hard.”

It turned out it was that hard, but they had found a cookbook with their desired recipe and managed to at least get the dough started. Asami slapped it against the counter as (Y/N) giggled. “That’s not how you do it.”

“It’s like raising a baby,” (Y/N) said. “You have to be soft, but firm.” Asami laughed at her comparison.

“How do you know so much about making dough?” (Y/N) paused for a moment before turning back to her work, kneading into the dough harder.

“I’m not sure,” She admitted. “I guess there are some things left in there.”

Bolin stood in the entryway to the kitchens, not yet noticed by the two girls. He watched as (Y/N) taught Asami how to make pizza dough. It brought him back to a memory he reflected on often during the years of her absence.

Years ago, after (Y/N) and Bolin had taken each other out on many dates, there was the night that he decided to ask her to be his girlfriend. He was incredibly nervous, his palms were a sweaty, clammy mess, but (Y/N) had stared at him kindly.

“I want to show you something,” She said as they walked down the streets of Republic City, their hands intertwined. If she noticed how slippery his hands were, she didn’t acknowledge it. Like he did in all things, Bolin followed (Y/N) with no questions asked.

She led him to Kwong’s Cuisine, which had closed for the night hours ago. She pulled a silver key from her pocket and led him to the backdoor. She unlocked the heavy metal door and pushed it open with her shoulder, her fingers still interlocked with Bolin’s.

“Are you sure we should be in here?” He asked the darkness. (Y/N) flipped a switch and bright, white lights illuminated the silver fixtures of the kitchens.

“I’m the owner’s daughter,” (Y/N) said with a teasing scoff. “What are they going to do, fire me?” She pulled open the fridges and began gathering her ingredients. Bolin had never seen her move like this before. (Y/N) always seemed so confident, but here, she seemed liked she owned the place. He guessed in a way, she did. “I’d like to make you brownies,” She said to him, pulling out a metal stool with her foot and gesturing toward it. “Sit.”

Bolin obeyed and watched with fascinated eyes as she mixed the batter together from scratch. “Are you doing this all off the top of your head?” He asked. She nodded.

“Mom always made me cook when I still lived with her,” She said, offering him the spoon so he could get a taste of the batter. He took his finger and swiped it into the chocolatey mixture before licking it.

“These are going to be the best brownies I’ve ever had! You should be a chef!” (Y/N) laughed.

“Maybe one day,” She said. She put the brownies in the oven and set the timer. As they waited, they talked about their days and the events of Bolin’s latest pro-bending match. When the timer buzzed, (Y/N) hopped up from her seat and pulled the brownies out.

“I’m too excited to wait,” Bolin said, grabbing a knife and slicing into the gooey brownies.

“Bo, be careful you’re gonna-”

“Ow, ow, ow,” Bolin complained as he held the scorching hot brownie, but he tossed it into his mouth. He tried his best to chew. “It burns but it’s so yummy,” He mumbled as he tried to breathe hot air out of his mouth.

“Your girlfriend makes pretty good brownies, huh?” She asked, and Bolin nearly choked on his hot piece of brownie. He doubled over as he coughed and tried to swallow it down. “Oh my goodness, are you okay?”

“Girlfriend?” Bolin asked once he had righted himself. (Y/N’s) face flushed. Had she calculated everything wrong?

“Yeah, girlfriend. I thought that girlfriend is okay.” Bolin nodded, his hands wrapping around the small of her back to pull her close.

“Girlfriend’s okay!” He said. “As long as boyfriend’s okay, too.” (Y/N) smiled brightly up at him.

“Boyfriend’s okay,” She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Bolin leaned down to kiss her and she could taste the hot brownies on his tongue.

“Bolin!” Asami called to him, breaking his flashback. “You want a piece of pizza? I think (Y/N) should be a chef, because it’s amazing!”

Bolin stepped into the room, giving (Y/N) a tight smile. She smiled back at him as she chewed on her piece of pizza. “What kind is it?”

“Pineapple and pepperoni,” She said, and Bolin twisted his face in disgust. “No, no! You have to give it a chance first, please?” He conceded and took a bite of pizza. It did taste amazing.

“Not bad,” He said with a teasing smile, and both Asami and (Y/N) rolled their eyes.

Once the three had finished devouring the pizza, (Y/N) moved to leave the room with Asami, but Bolin called out her name. She turned to him, her eyes staring up at his quizzically. “I just wanted to say,” He cleared his throat. “That, even though I know that you know that things didn’t necessarily end well for us, I don’t, uh, have hard feelings.” He could feel his face redden. “It was a long time ago, and I know I can’t tell you anything yet, but I’m sure you had a reason for doing certain things, so I don’t blame you.”

(Y/N’s) eyes shined so brightly in the kitchen light that Bolin was sure tears would spill over any moment. “Thank you,” She said quietly, an uncertain smile making its way across her features. “I, um, want to apologize for whatever it was I did. You seem very kind and great and whatever happened between us, I’m certain you didn’t deserve it.” Bolin nodded, his own eyes prickling at the backs. “Could we start over? Just be friends?”

Bolin nodded perhaps a bit too eagerly. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

(Y/N) smiled up at Bolin and felt that maybe she had been wrong. Maybe things would be okay.

When she left the kitchens, she wondered if everyone had been planning to gather down there, because she ran into Mako as she was walking away. “Sorry,” She said, refusing to meet his eyes. She would never admit it, but Mako intimidated her. His dislike for her was always apparent and (Y/N) hated it.

“Bolin told me what he said to you,” Mako said as she began to walk past. She turned back to look at him.

“So?”

“He’s forgiving, but I’m not. What you did, it was cruel. You were cruel.”

“As if you don’t spend every waking moment reminding me,” (Y/N) said with a sigh. Mako narrowed his eyes at her.

“If you do anything--”

“You’ll do what, Mako?” She snapped. She had enough of him thinking that he could talk to her whatever way he pleased. “Hurt me?”

He blinked in surprise, as if the suggestion was ridiculous. “Just stay away from him, alright?”

“How about you stay away from me? The ship’s big enough.” With that, she stormed up the stairs and joined the rest of her friends. (Y/N) hated Mako. Absolutely hated him. The flush of her cheeks and her racing heart proved that.

---

Tag List!

@beifongsss , @realimbo , @lavendercrystals , @tomshollandz , @zukosvice , @itsivyberry , @awesomelupe , @musicalkeys , @aroyaldarknessblr , @ilovespideyyy , @zukostan221 , @nataliahaslosthershit , @dailytrashypanda , @marvel-ing-at-it-all , @astralsaf , @ryleyrooroo , @yuhaino , @hotgirlazula , @thefandomimagines , @blondie0458 , @kairiririri , @writeido , @foenixphire , @realimbo , @mycollectionofnuts , @wingeddemonclub , @gingersnap126126 , @aangsupremacy , @davnwillcome , @bolinmorelikebabe-lin , @pointlesscoconut , @shells-bells-ringding , @someoneovertherainboww , @buttholland , @hstott , @breadqueen95

#atla #lok #mako #mako x reader #bolin #bolin x reader #asami #asami x reader #korra #korra x reader #writing #fanfiction #legend of korra #avatar

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docholligay · 3 years

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Freeform “Hope—cruelest of the evils that escaped Pandora’s box “ –Doc

---

Usagi had read somewhere, long ago, about a woman with a box and how it had held lots of jewels and pretty things, only the woman had dropped it and almost everything had spilled out, except for one last jewel that had been saved at the last second.

She was older now, and knew that the box had held things like 'death' and 'sickness' and other bad things, not gems, and the final not-gem that woman had saved in her box was 'hope'. Ami told her that it was actually a jar, not a box, but boxes full of treasure were more romantic than a jar of evil.

So when she'd gotten the locket from Luna, and later when the ginzuishou had fit snugly inside, she had smiled. She was protecting hope, like that lady from the story. Her name had been strange, something like Pantola? She didn't remember, exactly. Ami could tell her, she was certain, if asked. ‘She will tell you.’

No. No, no, Ami was her friend, not to be commanded for her knowledge. Usagi slurped heavily on her smoothie. The others would be proud of her - sure it had sugar but it was a fruit smoothie and thus healthy. Makoto had promised her special pancakes for everyone in the morning if Usagi tried to do less sweets in the afternoons. And she was trying! She hummed happily to herself. Oh, she should bring Mako something in return. Plants? Plant food? Usagi considered it for a half second and discarded the idea. Makoto's apartment was littered with plants and herbs of all sorts, Usagi would inevitably get something Mako already had or didn't need. She didn't want to give her something useless. Whatever she got needed to be at least a little special.

'You could heal those bruises of hers,' Usagi flinched away from the health aisle and the displays of bandages and painkillers, all but flinging herself into the beauty supplies the next aisle over. She was on steadier ground here, she and Mako and Mina were always trying new makeup and new colors and styles. Minako liked it wilder and Makoto tended towards understated, with Usagi in between, so usually there wasn't something none of them would use.

Maybe she couldn’t do ‘special’ too well at the convenience store, but the palette had some nice shades she knew Mako would like. So that was makeup for Mako, she could grab some new bright red ribbons for Mina, oh, and Ami had offhandedly mentioned needing some more pens... she needed something for Rei. Rei was hard to buy for. It couldn't be expensive, it had to be useful, it had -

'You could be more useful. This fight could be over now.' Usagi's grip on her shopping basket tightened, knuckles white. 'You know how.'

She didn't have any more smoothie to distract herself with.

'Summon your soldiers. No more skirmishes.'

Usagi smiled tightly at the cashier, hoping it didn't look strange on her face. The exchange of social niceties was good. Routine made it easier to not say anything too wild. She relaxed a little outside of the store. She hadn't noticed snagging the magazines, but they were on her receipt. Good, she didn't want to add thievery to her list of accomplishments. 'It's rightfully yours. All of it.'

Usagi shook her head to clear it. Oh, she hadn't read this issue yet! The latest issue of 'Sparkling Mermaid Priestess Aqua-chan' was out. She started to open it but paused. Rei. She'd let Rei read it first, that'd be her gift. And she'd get Rei some cookies later, too.

Usagi smiled as she tossed her empty cup in the trash. She wouldn't let this thing that had come with the ginzuishou win. Hope was the only thing that lady had saved in her box, right? So if her locket was the box, and the ginzuishou was hope, then this thing must be one of the evils that escaped? And it was trying to get back in? Or let hope out?

She’d lost the metaphor. At least it wasn’t as bad as one of Minako’s proverbs. She would have probably said something like hope is the end of death, or something equally strange. ‘They would be deathless. You’d never need to grieve for them again.’

Maybe she’d just get another smoothie, the shop was close by and she almost had enough stamps for a free one too. A flashing glint of silver caught her eye; she froze, staring at her reflection in the shop window. Was that the light, or had her blond hair turned silver? She tilted her head and her reflection mirrored the action. Odd. Had her eyes always looked so cold?

It wasn't until clouds hid the sun that she realized her lungs were burning. She inhaled for what felt like the first time in ages. It had been an illusion. Shaking her head to clear it, she took another look. Nothing strange now.

Usagi bit her lip. It was okay. She had this under control. The others would tell her, after all, if she should be worried. Rei would have sensed if there was anything wrong.

Right?

She should go get that smoothie.

...have I just not seen you write before for...reasons? You're very talented! That whole first paragraph is absolute fucking FIRE, I gasped audibly the first time I read it. Anyway, proof positive that this is amazing angst is that I read it through eagerly and it's about USAGI ffs. The elements of horror in this, the flip between cheer and seriousness, A++

#Doc's birthday angst

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morri-m · 3 years

Text

Naegiri♥️💖 comfort: nightmares

Rain was pouring down from the dark and overcast sky which was crowded with clouds. Thunder crashing and lightning striking every few moments.

To put it into more simple terms, it was an awful night.

But the weather wasn’t nearly as awful as the dream Makoto Naegi was having.

Blood was splattered all over the walls in that terrible despair-inducing building, Hope’s Peak Academy. Dead bodies were spread out all over the floor, and maniacal laughter was filling the dark, twisted room.

Makoto recognised who the cruel and maniacal laughter belonged to at once.

Junko Enoshima.

Makoto screamed as he saw her, desperate to escape.

The ultimate despair laughed more as she walked forwards and shoved him into the ground.

“You can’t escape Makoto! You’re stuck here! Stuck forever!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” The brown haired boy felt tears welling in his eyes, and he began to sob and whisper something that even he couldn’t make out.

———

Kyoko awoke to something trembling beside her, and she turned to see who it was.

“K-Kyoko..” Makoto whimpered.

“K-Kiri help.. Help me..”

The silver haired girl placed a hand on her boyfriend’s shoulder, gently shushing him and rubbing a circle with her pointer finger.

“Mako, hey.. Don’t worry, it’s me. It’s Kyoko.. Ssh.. It’s just a nightmare, Hun.”

The short one clung onto his girlfriend as tears spilled down his face, soaking the bed. He was sweaty but he was also shivering, which Kyoko assumed was out of fear.

This had been happening for months now, poor Makoto was always having bad dreams, if they could even be called that they were that terrible.

———

Back in Makoto’s nightmare, things were beginning to get even worse.

“Aw.. Do you need your girlfriend to come save you? That’s just too bad! Hahaha! Have you not noticed the dead body hanging from the ceiling?”

He looked up, and screamed as he saw the dead body of his beloved girlfriend, swinging side to side.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Junko laughed even more, loving every second of Makoto’s despair. She never wanted it to end, the look of absolute terror on his face, the tears falling from his eyes, the sobs escaping his mouth, every part of it was completely wonderful to her.

———

“Babe, please.. Wake up.. You’re okay.. It’s only a dream..”

Kyoko was still struggling to wake him up. Until the lucky boy finally jolted up, screaming again and clutching onto her shoulders, burrying his face into her shoulders and letting out cries of pain and fear, soaking Kyoko’s shirt.

“Ssh.. It’s okay Makoto... Ssh.. I’ve got you.. It’s gonna be okay.. It was just a really awful nightmare.. Ssh.. I’ve got you sweetie..” Kyoko comforted.

“K-Kiri it was so.. So awful... I.. I’m so scared. I’m so so scared”

The detective pat the so called lucky one’s back, running her fingers through his hair.

“You’re pretty sweaty.. I’m gonna go get you a new shirt.”

Makoto nodded as Kyoko walked over to the closet, and she pulled out on of her own shirts, thinking it would be more comforting to Makoto.

It was black and baggy, and once she pulled off the smaller boy’s own shirt and replaced it with hers it draped over him and went down to his thighs, but it seemed to be doing a good job at solacing him.

“Wanna talk about your dream?” Kyoko encouraged as she wrapped a blanket around them both.

“Mm. It-it was about Hope’s Peak. I-I was surrounded by dead bodies.. Everyone was dead this time.. In-Including y-you.. A-and Junko was l-laughing the whole time.. A-and blood was ev-everywhere..”

Kyoko nodded as he pulled him back against her chest, cradling his tiny body in her arms. “It’ll be okay, Sweetheart.. It’s gonna be alright.. I’ll protect you.. I’m gonna keep you safe.. It’ll be alright..”

Makoto squeezed her more as she began to gently rock him back and forth, and than she started singing.

It wasn’t a song, really. Kyoko was just singing him a gentle melody, occasionally humming too.

Eventually, the green eyed boy began to breathe in sync with her singing, and his eyes began to feel heavy. And soon enough, they closed gently, and Makoto drifted off into a nice, sweet slumber.

The taller one smiled as she removed the blanket from herself and fully draped it around Makoto, who was now snoring softly as Kyoko sat him back in bed and snuggled into him, pulling the covers over them both.

She smiled one last time as she gingerly kissed his forehead, stroking his hair some more.

“I love you. Sweet dreams.” She whispered quietly as she soon fell asleep herself.

She barely made out the silent words that Makoto muttered back sleepily.

“I love you too.. More than anything else in the world..”

#naegiri #danganronpa #makoto x kyoko #makoto naegi #kyoko kirigiri #nightmares #fanfic #comfort #cute #dr1 #trigger happy havoc

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itstittycitybaby · 4 years

Text

Flirty (Lin Beifong x Reader) Part 4

a/n: episode 6 but Lin gets the love and comfort she deserves. also lin’s room has a balcony bc i say so :))).

The pounding in your head felt like someone was driving a drill through it relentlessly. You groaned, eyes slowly opening. The light made your head burn and the migraine you had worse. “She’s awake!” The voice was muddled and faded. “Bolin! Grab the water!” Squinting, the blurred forms in front of you finally cleared. Team avatar stood at the end your bed. Your parakeets were going wild in their cages. Their wings flapped rapidly as their shrill screeching sliced into your brain. “Azure! Ruby,” you croaked, glaring at the parakeets. “Quiet!” Their cries died down but they still hooted softly. “H-here,” Bolin sputtered, handing you a glass of water.

You almost kissed him right then and there. The water was cold as you gulped it down. Your throat was still parched but it didn’t feel like you were dying anymore. “What happened,” you grumbled, rubbing your head. Your fingertips touched a bandage at your temple. The slight sting made your teeth grit together and a softly hiss as the sting worsened. Korra looked apologetic. “You passed out during Lin and Suyin’s fight. Or after.” Lin. Your eyes darted around the room, but there was no sign of her. “Where is she,” you asked, shooting up from your bed. You wiggled out of the sheets and stood on your feet. The world around you felt dizzy. “Woah woah woah,” they all said, reaching out to you. Korra grabbed your arm gently to keep you from falling on your face. “You still need rest!” You waved them off, slowly regaining your balance. Korra let go of you and watched you grab your boots from the floor. “’m fine,” you muttered as you balanced on one foot to slid on your combat boots.

The room around you shifted slightly. You brushed it off as you finished putting on your boots. You needed to find Lin. Finding her was your priority right now. “How long have I been out for,” you asked, swinging your bag over your shoulder. “T-ten hours,” Korra stammered. Team avatar watched you, unsure of what to do. “Wait!” Bolin exclaimed, as you were opening the bird cage. The parakeets settled onto your shoulder. Azure chirped at Asami and Ruby watched the group cautiously. She seemed cranky and pecked at your shoulder softly. You couldn’t blame her; you’d be upset too if someone disturbed your master’s peace. “What is it now? I’m going and you can’t stop me.” “I don’t think we could even if we tried,” Mako muttered. You shot him a glare and he raised his hands up in defense. “I wanted to ask you something,” Bolin continued, “How did you do that thing?” He pressed his fingers down on his palms.

Your brows furrowed in confusion. Bolin kept repeating the move and making a bubble move with his hands. The lightbulb in your brain dinged. “It’s a force field. Something I invented,” you answered quickly, stumbling your way to your door. “I really don’t think you should be leaving,” Korra called out as you were halfway through the door. “Well,” Mako grumbled, “We tried.”

****

It was silent. Your ear started to ache from pressing it up harshly against the door. “Probably resting,” you sighed. She pushed herself too hard. Your chest tightened from the memories of the fight. She could barely hold herself up from Suyin’s attacks but still pressed on. Suyin. Your lips pulled up into a sneer. Why would she use your actions against Lin? Why would she fight her sister? Lin was weak enough as it is. “She did start it,” you muttered, “but Lin must’ve had a reason.”

“Whatcha doing?” You jumped ten feet into the air. Azure and Ruby squwaked in protest. You swear your soul left your body from Opal sneaking up behind you. “Sorry,” she giggled, “I didn’t mean to scare you so bad.” You rolled your eyes, “Didn’t scare me.” The smile on your face told Opal you weren’t actually annoyed. Her eyes followed yours, staring a hole into Lin’s door. “Are you trying to visit Aunt Lin?”

You nodded, “Yea, but I’ve knocked and no answer. Door ‘s locked too.” “She’s probably still asleep then,” Opal answered. Or doesn’t want to be disturbed. “Really? Fight must’ve taken her out bad.” She didn’t say anything but traveled her eyes to the brightly coloured birds on your shoulder. Her brows furrowed as she watched Ruby preen at her feathers. “She seems to...like you.” You tilted your head, “What do you mean?” Opal shrugged, green eyes flickering from Ruby to the pavement under her. She followed the cracks and patterns in the cement, seeming to trace them with her eyes. Her voice sounded lost and... sad. “She..seems to enjoy your company more...than anyone else’s. She seems...happier.”

The memory of Opal running out of Lin’s door and crying last flashed in your brain. “Oh Opal,” you sighed, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. There were tears in her eyes. Her eyes remained at the ground. “Look at me,” you commanded softly. Opal’s emerald green eyes snapped up to yours. They shimmered with tears and her eyes were a bit red. Squeezing her shoulder for comfort you said, “Lin is...complicated. Trust me I dated her.” You let out a sad chuckle. Your eyes wandered to her door again but you were really focusing on the memories of the past. It was all you were good for now. Being filled with regret and never being able to forgive yourself for what you had done. “It doesn’t excuse her actions though,” you reassured her softly, “You did nothing wrong. You’re a sweet girl Opal.”

“Thank you,” She murmured. You smiled, but it didn’t seem to reach your eyes. You pat her shoulder gently before dropping it to your side. “Can I ask you something?” You nodded. “Do you know what happened? Between her and my mother?” Your eyes glanced at Lin’s door again. The dark wood felt ominous and sad as you kept staring at it. “No..I don’t. I’ve been asking myself that ever since I’ve got here. But I know something bad happened.” Silence stretched between the two of you. Opal watched you stare into Lin’s door with yearning.

“It hurts you doesn’t it,” Opal asked quietly. “Seeing the two of them tear each other apart. Her be angry with you and pushing you away.” “Bright girl,” you chuckled bitterly. “I can see it y’know,” she said quietly, “I can see the pain and the hurt haunting her as well.”

You didn’t reply; there was no need to. The both of you stood in silence on the front steps to Lin’s room, waiting.

*****

The flute’s notes carried a merry melody. It was one of your favorites, something you used to hum to your brother after he had another nightmare. Lin had been asleep for about sixteen hours. The cement steps dug into your ass as you waited like a dog hoping its master would come home soon. The sun’s rays kissed your skin as you sat there, playing your flute. Azure and Ruby fluttered about, chasing each other on the ground in front of you. You chuckled watching them tweet and fly around each other. It made you think of Bo and Bao. You smiled sadly at the thought of them. The two of them were incredible birds. They were the only family you had after being alone for so many years.

“Is she still asleep?” You looked away from Ruby And Azure, meeting Korra’s eyes. You shrugged in reply, carrying on with your flute playing. You’ll always be a bitter and lonely old woman. Your teeth gritted as her words rung in your head. She still needed to apologize. Mako and Bolin talked amongst themselves. Weird, you thought, where’s Asami? They paid you no mind as they argued about who should poke the sleeping bear.

“You should do it you’re the avatar!” You stifled a laugh. Korra grumbled,“Fine fine, I’ll do it.” She huffed, swinging her feet over the brick steps. Her fist begrudgingly knocked on the grumpy bear’s door. “Lin? You okay? You’ve been asleep for sixteen hours now.” No answer. Korra sighed defeated. She walked down the steps about to leave. The sound of the door opening made the four of you perk up. Oh my fucking god, you thought.

Lin stood in her doorway, green earth bender robes adorning her. The silver necklace around her neck glimmered in the sun. Gold is more her colour, you couldn’t help but think as the the avatar and her friends gawked. It was unusual seeing her without her armor but damn did she look good. There was a smile on her face as she bid them a good morning. Team avatar’s eyes bulged out of their skulls. “G-good morning,” the three of them sputtered.

Lin’s eyes wandered over to you. You sent her a quick wave. “Those robes look great on you Beifong.” She snorted, but there was a soft smile on her face. Her eyes wandered to the bandages on your temple. Your nose was still a bit swollen but it seemed to have gone down overtime. The sight made her smile falter and eyes flickering with guilt. You sent Lin a reassuring smile. There wasn’t any anger in your heart. You couldn’t bring yourself to be upset with her. You could never be upset with the woman you loved.

Lin’s posture seemed to relax more but the guilt still laid underneath her eyes, rumbling like a beast. Lin bowed her head and left.

****

“I’m sorry Lin. For everything. I was a crazy kid back then, I admit that.” Lin didn’t say anything. Her sister stared at her expectantly but kept her mouth shut. Suyin had tore their relationship apart. Her mother quit because she couldn’t take the shame of having a criminal as a daughter. Because of her, Lin had a scar she had to look at everyday in the mirror. For thirty years, Lin couldn’t let it go. The idea of letting go of the anger and pain she had been so accustomed to was terrifying. How could she let that all go? The anger she left after all these years was the only thing that warmed her. It comforted her as time moved on. If she let go, there’d be nothing left.

Lin and Suyin stared at the metal sculpture in front of them. “Thank you,” she spoke after a while. Suyin turned her gaze to her sister. “I accept your apology.”

She smiled, a genuine smile. “We need a new dance coach. How about you stay here Lin? We can be a family again.” Lin snorted, “I think I can start not destroying your grounds for now.” Suyin laughed, “Deal.” The two of them talked for a bit. While Suyin carried on about nothing Lin couldn’t help but feel that she had made the wrong decision.

****

“How did you do that?” “Hm?” You and Bolin sat on a bench together in one of Su’s courtyards. You didn’t want to risk aggravating the already grumpy bear by waiting outside Lin’s door all day. “The shield! Whatever that was.” You laughed at the childlike enthusiasm Bolin expressed. It was adorable and sweet. His excitement made you feel young and free again. Bolin reminded you of Bumi and Dee. “It’s a force field. I made it,” you stated proudly. “How did you make it?!” You laughed, “There’s a lot that goes into it. Metal, energy, and some other stuff.” Bolin tilted his head and asked, “I thought you weren’t a bender. Aren’t you just an architect?” “Sadly, I’m not a bender. But I am an architect, you were right about that. I’m also an inventor.”

“A damn good one at that.” The two of you looked up at the intrusion. Lin stood there with her arms crossed, peering at the two of you. After apologizing to Opal she went back to her place to talk to you. However, you were gone. She wandered around until she heard your voice. Lin flickered between the two of you. She swallowed the jealousy the striked through her. Bolin gulped nervously at Lin’s light glare. He glanced towards you. You didn’t even seem fazed at the death stare Lin was sending. “I’m..just gonna go,” he said awkwardly, “Opal and I have plans.” “Sounds great,” you smiled, sending him a wave. “I’d be happy to show you the shield later.” He smiled nervously and murmured something about finding you tomorrow.

Once Bolin left Lin turned to you. “Busy?” “Not anymore” you snorted, “Someone got jealous and scared Bolin away.” Lin’s teeth gritted together and her jaw tightened. “I’m not jealous,” she grumbled, eyes narrowing to slits. You raised a brow and crossed your arms. “Glaring at someone hard enough to burn a hole through their head? Yea, that seems normal.” “Just forget it,” Lin grunted, turning to walk away. “I’m just teasing,” you called out, jumping up from the bench. “What did you have in mind?” Lin stopped and turned to you. “Whiskey.” You grinned, “You sure know a way to a person’s heart Lin!” She snorted. “Are you coming or not?” “Yea,” you chirped, “I gotta get a couple things from my room real quick. Meet you at yours in ten?” Lin nodded. “Great!” She watched you leave, chuckling at the hop in your step. Azure and Ruby flew around you, chirping. Lin smiled softly at the excitement in your pace and the happy aura that surrounded you.

****

The whiskey went down smoothly. Lin had always been a fan of it from the burn that welcomed her. Silence stretched between the two of you. Her stomach prickled at the nerves in her veins. Apologies were hard for Lin but if she didn’t apologize she’d be just as bad as Suyin. You fiddled your glass in your hands, cradling it on the railing. Azure and Ruby flittered about on the metal. Their brightly coloured feathers contrasted with the back metal railing.

“Yknow,” you said, breaking the silence, “I didn’t think this city would be so pretty.” Lin arched a brow, setting her empty glass on a side table near her. “What? The metal?” She gestured to the metal shield that protected the area around the two of you. You snorted, “Yea definitely. Just look at the bolts. They look so strong. Would be great for a project I’m planning.” Lin chuckled. She wouldn’t admit it, but she missed this. The late nights when the two of you chatted about nothing and everything. The dry jokes the two of you shared as you embraced each other in bed. It tugged at her heart in such a way where she didn’t know what to feel. Sad?Angry? Happy? Lin guessed it was all of them.

Her eyes fell to the white bandage that faced her. It covered your right temple and barely rested above your cheekbone. The shame flashed hotly in her chest. The guilt felt heavy and..gross. Lin’s apology she had practiced on the way here died on her tongue. She couldn’t utter the words she repeated in her head. Maybe she was just as bad as Suyin.

“It doesn’t hurt that much,” you muttered softly into the air. Lin’s heavy gaze made your neck prickle. You knew she felt awful. Her strong eyes always seemed to waver whenever she looked at it. Whenever she looked at you.

“I know.” You turned to her, brows drawn in confusion. “You do?” Lin sighed, “No I don’t..I just..I wanted to apologize.” You didn’t say anything. Your curious stare made Lin feel small. It made her feel like a kid and Toph caught her misbehaving. She felt like shrinking into the tile of the balcony and disappearing. She watched you pull out a blunt and a lighter. The soft orange flecks lit up and you took a drag. Blowing it out, you handed it to her. Lin accepted it gladly.

“It’s alright Lin,” you said, shooting her a smile. “I’m not mad.” “You’re not?” Shaking your head, you took the blunt once she handed it back to you. Another hit, and then you passed it again. It was a pattern. “I could never be angry with you. Nothing could ever make me hate you.”

“Why did you do that,” Lin asked, eyes focusing on the railing. Lin wanted to run. She would always be a coward. She would always run like her life depended on it. In a sense, it felt like it did. “To Protect you.” Lin’s eyes flickered to your lips. They wrapped around the blunt. They looked so soft and warm. Lin wondered if you still used the fruity chapstick you loved all those years ago. You caught her eye and sent her a wink. She looked away, cheeks slightly flushing.

“It’s all I know,” you whispered. “I care about you...I... if I seeing you getting hurt or the idea of,” your voice wavered. You swallowed thickly. “I’d rather get hurt than see you in danger.” Lin didn’t say anything but you knew she hung on to every word you said. “What Su did...Suyin,” you corrected yourself. Suyin wasn’t a friend to you anymore. She had cut off that friendship now. “You didn’t deserve that Lin. And I’m so so sorry.”

Lin swallowed. She was deathly quiet. For so long she had been angry. Bitter, lonely, sad. She directed it at people who didn’t deserve it and in turn the people she loved left. Lin had a hard time facing her feelings and accepting them for what they were. She felt so lost at hearing your words. The words she had been daydreaming about from you were now reality. I care about you. It felt weird and wrong coming from your lips. And yet, they felt like home.

“It wasn’t true? That I pushed you away?,” Lin’s breath wavered. The lump in her throat felt heavier. “Y-you left (Y/N), you left me here alone. I...I had no one. And then you come back out of no where and pretend everything’s fine.”

You took another hit and exhaled. Lin watched the smoke wisp away. The slight buzz in her system and the haziness in her veins was ironic. It almost made her laugh at the irony of its difference from what she actually felt.

“I know,” you replied, voice choking. “And I regret every second of my life because of that. If I could take it all back, I would. I-I didn’t know what else to do. I just saw you and...it all came crashing back again.” Lin’s eyes watered. Damnit, she wouldn’t cry over this. Over something so small and trivial. It had been thirty years. Thirty fucking years since the last time she saw you. And you waltzed back into her life like nothing had happened. What was she supposed to make of that?

“I’m sorry Lin,” you whispered softly. She watched a tear fall from your eye. Then another. This all felt like some cliche movie film. This couldn’t be real, you weren’t real. Lin was dreaming again and soon she’d wake up. She would trudge through the morning to get to work along with the dreams from the night before. They were faded but still left a bitter taste in her mouth. But she knew this wasn’t a dream as much as she wished it were. Every second of this was real. Your voice was real and you, in front of her, were real.

“Do you love me?” Lin hated that her voice shook. She swallowed the tears away. The pit in her throat rolled like a stone. She felt she was choking on air from trying to keep it together. Lin tried so hard to maintain the perfect image. The one she created to make Toph proud, the image she created to finally be at peace with herself. But as always, you saw right through her.

“I never stopped,” you whispered, voice cracking. Your eyes red from the weed and your tears. You sniffled lightly, wiping your nose. You flinched slightly from the pain. Lin took a long hit. Her vision blurred and her heart ached longingly. You were here; after thirty fucking years you came back to her.

Every time she saw you it all came rushing back. Bao and Bo singing along to “Dancing Queen” as it played while the two of you danced. Whenever you first joined the force and Lin couldn’t focus around you. How the two of you would sneak off in the middle of the day and make out in the janitor’s closet. Two young dumb kids in love. Things hadn’t changed. Now, the two of you were old, dumb, and in love.

“I-I understand if you don’t want anything right now.” Lin snapped out of her thoughts. “But I want you to know that I do really care about you. I still want you in my life...but I understand if you want me gone. I-I’ll leave as soon as I can and stay gone for good.” She swallowed thickly. She choked on air and breathed heavily. “No.”

You looked at her, shocked. Lin passed the blunt to you and you took another hit. Patiently, you waited. You’ve waited for thirty years to see Lin again one day. You’d wait for her again in a heart beat.

“I finally have you in my grasp. I don’t want to loose you again.” You looked over to her. Lin stared out into the distance. Gently, you placed your hand on hers. Her eyes shifted at hers and yours hands, then your face. You smiled, lips quivering.

Lin turned to watch Azure and Ruby. They preened each other with their beaks. Azure seemed softer with Ruby as he ran his beak gently through her feathers. “Did Bao and Bo...?” Lin couldn’t finish her sentence. You chuckled sadly, “Yea.” “I’m sorry.” She pulled her hand from yours and gently removed your hand off the railing. Her hand was soft and warm as she grasped yours firmly. You looked at her confused and she sent you a smile in return. Lin’s hand didn’t let go of yours as she hung it by her side. She squeezed it gently.

“Bo died from a robbery,” you whispered.

Lin was surprised. Birds weren’t fighters. ‘Well’, she thought smiling at the memory of Bo trying to fight her reflection in Lin’s police uniform. “How,” Lin asked softly. “I was asleep. Two men came in my hut that night. Bo screeched loud enough to wake me. She flew around them rapidly.” You wiped the tears from your eyes before continuing. “They flung her against the wall. She died pretty soon after. That’s where I got this scar.” You pointed to the one on your brow. Lin’s heart sank. “What happened to the men?”

“I killed them.” Lin didn’t say anything, but stroked your hand with her thumb. You pulled your lips into a quivering smile. “They were just bandits out in the middle of nowhere trying to rob a poor fool. Hurt like a bitch. Left me a scar to tell the tale.” “I’m so sorry (Y/N),” Lin whispered. She turned her hand to trace your palm with her fingers. It tickled a bit.

“What happened to Bao?” “Died seven years later.” “How?” “Heartbreak. Was never the same without Bo.” Lin turned towards you. Her green eyes were incredibly soft. “I’m glad..that you’re here again.” “Heh,” you laughed, choking slightly. “I am too.”

Lin looked at Azure and Ruby again. They chirped softly and hopped on the tile floor. Azure strutted about, observing the place while Ruby watched carefully. “Where’d you get them?” Your eyes fell downwards and smiled fondly at your precious parakeets. “Dee gave them to me,” you said. “We went to a pet store in the city he lives. It had been a while since I’ve seen him and it was our mom’s birthday. We always try and meet up to be there for each other. Found these two sleeping soundly and the rest is history.”

“They’re beautiful,” Lin murmured. You nodded, agreeing. Silence fell between the two of you. It didn’t feel sad and lonely this time. There wasn’t regret or bitterness. For the first time in thirty years, you felt like you could breathe again. “Thanks for the drink,” you said, dropping Lin’s hand. The blunt was almost out but there was still some of it left. You’d finish it on your way to your rooms. Azure and Ruby flew to your shoulder from hearing your footsteps. Azure squwaked at Lin, demanding pets. Lin laughed and went to stroke his head. “Of course,” Lin said, hand dropping to her side again. “Thanks for the smoke.”

You smiled, a genuine one this time. Yet there was some sadness still swirling in your eyes. Lin felt her heart ache. Before she could think better of it, Lin leaned down and kissed your cheek. Your eyes went wide. You hadn’t expected that at all. “Kissing me so soon?” “I’ll take it back,” Lin grunted. “Can’t,” you argued, sending her a wink. “See you tomorrow?” “See you tomorrow,” Lin confirmed with a soft smile. Giving her one last wave and a chirp from Azure and Ruby, you left the balcony. A real smile was on your face for the first time in a while.

#legend of korra #legend of korra fanfic #legend of korra x reader #x reader #reader insert #lin beifong #lin beifong x reader #flirty series

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toothpastecanyon · 3 years

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Noie’s Friends, Chapter 1

A collection of oneshots about Noie's years at college.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

Finding out your brother’s a demon was both more and less surprising than Noie expected. She didn’t anticipate how quickly everything would settle back into a routine; before she knew it, she was finding herself going to the tea shop with her friends, and hanging out with Dipper in her dorm whenever Val wasn’t home - or outside if she was. It felt just like before, only with Dipper right there with her instead of chatting through a screen.

Just like before. Just like before.

She never saw his eyes flicker. She never saw his wings. Sometimes he’d excuse himself to the bathroom for an hour, or disappear when Val burst through the door, but any hint that he was something more than Dipper Argenta was always tucked away behind a door, behind a nervous laugh and a change of the subject, out of sight, out of mind. It was surprising, how much he still hid from her.

Noie… didn’t know how to tell him it was okay. Part of her was a little relieved he was still keeping it under wraps; with remembering came old memories, old nightmares of a shadowy figure bursting from her brother and lunging for her, reaching in and ripping out… she’d never tell Dipper how many times she woke up sweating from those.

And then, to have that same shadow in her room, putting his wing around her, being her brother?

Look. Noie so badly wanted to say she’d be okay with it. She wanted more than anything in the world to tell Dipper he didn’t have to pretend to go to the bathroom to answer a summons. And maybe if Dipper hadn’t started pretending again, she’d have gotten used to it by now and it wouldn’t be a problem.

But she didn’t want to be wrong. She didn’t want to say it was okay and then see Alcor and not be okay and… hurt him. She didn’t want to hurt him, okay?

So maybe it was better, like this.

No surprises.

______________________________________________________________

“Boo. Hey, Silver.”

Things were winding down. Gus and Mina had already left the tea shop a while back, Jess had gone to the bathroom, and Mako was on his phone in the corner. The fading sun outside lent a warm, sleepy air to the whole scene; until Bea bumped her shoulder, Noie was feeling about ready to nod off.

“Silver.”

“Yeah?” She rubbed her eyes. “What’s, uh, up?”

“Just got a text from my roommate. AC’s busted.”

“What? Oh…” She looked outside. “Well, at least the sun’s gone down.”

“Nah, he just got home, he says it’s a million degrees in there.” With an enterprising grin, Bea slung an arm around her shoulder. “Lucky I got a friend to take me in for the night, eh?”

“Huh? Me?”

“That would be correct!”

“Wait, I just have one bed-”

“I’ll sleep on the floor. Trust me, I spent my childhood sleeping on elven barkrests, I’ll be fine.”

“Barkrests?”

“Have I never told you about those things?” She chuckled. “That’s a story for tonight. When I’m sleeping at your place. It’s happening, right?”

“Uh… I’ve never had someone stay overnight before.” Noie made a face. “I guess it’d be fine? Yeah… yeah, it’d be fun!”

“That’s the spirit! Now c’mon, let’s get it on!”

They walked out of the tea shop together. Noie nervously pointed the way, and flashed a smile at Bea as she followed along. Bea raised an eyebrow.

“What’s up with you, Silver?”

“Wh-what?”

“You look like I’ve put a gun to your head.” She slowed. “You know I can find somewhere else to stay, ri-”

“No! No, it’s okay! It’s good!”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, no, I’m excited!” Noie barked a laugh. “I just - I don’t know how this works.”

“What’s ‘this’? Walking? Breathing? Existing?” Bea gave a crooked smile. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”

She laughed again at that… and then trailed off. They walked in silence for a little bit, and at some point the streetlamps turned on. Noie wondered if she wanted to say something more, wanted to mention that this was the first time she’d ever had a sleepover - ever had a friend who’d want to sleep over, actually, and wow, that was kind of sad. That’d bring down the mood.

She thought of that, and then cleared her throat. Opened her mouth.

“Jeez, there’s so many crickets out,” Noie said. “I’ve never actually seen a cricket. I’ve only heard them. They’re like ghosts, heh.”

“Man, you’re not missing out. They’re ugly fuckers - one jumped on my face once.”

“Haha, what?”

“Yeah. Let me tell you, everyone thinks it’s so awesome to be an elf and to be all ‘living with nature’ and shit, but this is what they don’t think about: all animals wanna be around you. All animals.”

“Oh. That sucks.”

“You don’t know the half of it, Silver.”

They walked on for a while, chatting as the sun strayed down. Only a dull glow remained as they made their way to the front door; Noie swiped her keycard, and motioned her inside.

“Thank-ye kindly.” Bea glanced around at the stairs branching off from the entrance hall. “Where do we go now? Up, down?”

“Down this one.”

“Ah, they shoved you in the basement.”

Noie snorted. “It’s not too bad. There’s still a little window. My roommate says- Oh shit, Val!”

“Strange thing she says.”

“I should- I hope she’s okay with this, I should’ve asked her, or…”

“Ah, don’t worry too much about it.” Bea slung an arm around her, kept her walking down the halls. “Best lesson you’ll ever learn, Silver: don’t ask permission, ask forgiveness.”

“That’s not- I don’t like that. I don’t think that’s a great lesson, actually.”

“Well sure, you gotta know to use it in the right context. Isn’t your roomie the one who doesn’t clean up her shit and makes you do it?”

Noie was fumbling for her keys. “Yeah, that’s her.”

“Then she’s been asking for a looot of forgivenesses. Let’s say she owes you this one.”

They were approaching Noie’s room. She fished her key out of her bag, and shot Bea a look as she unlocked it.

“Okay… I’m still gonna text her, though.”

“Good, I wasn’t sayin’ you shouldn’t.” Bea strode through the open door as Noie got out her phone. “Aww, look at this place! I didn’t know they made apartments smaller than mine - oh, hey Val. It’s Val, right?”

Val? Noie glanced up from her phone. She was never home this early - was she here? She hurried into the room after Bea, and came across…

Oh.

Dipper was sitting at her computer, an expression of pure shock on his face at the sight of someone other than her. He was going to be a little harder to explain.

“Or, uh, some other name?” Bea asked, and chuckled awkwardly at the ensuing silence. “Any other name?”

“This is Dipper,” Noie cut in. “He’s my brother.”

“Oh, he’s visiting again? Sweet, it’s great to meet you, man. She’s told me a lot about you.”

Bea gave Dipper an easy smile, but Noie noticed how he didn’t return it at all. It wasn’t shock anymore; a different expression had shadowed his features, one that sent a shiver down her spine.

After just a split second too long, he smiled widely, too widely, and rose from his chair. Stuck out his hand.

“Hello,” he said, and narrowed his eyes when she took his hand. “Went right in for the handshake, huh?”

“Yeah? You offered it to me-”

“Beatrice, right?” He kept shaking. “Beatrice Delion. Nice name you’ve got this time round.”

“Do you know me from somewhere?”

“You could say that.”

“I could say that, I could say anything.” Bea bared her smile. “I asked you a question, though.”

“A question you already knew the answer to.”

“A question you could’ve really just answered like a normal fucking pers- augh!”

“Dipper!” Noie yanked Bea’s hand out of his grip. “What was that for?”

He didn’t respond. He didn’t look at her; he stared past her, to Bea cradling her fingers, with a strange gleam in his eyes Noie could only describe as… predatory. Her heart caught in her throat, and she tried to shove him towards the bathroom.

“Hey, why don’t you, uh, take a breather, bro?” She nudged, then elbowed, then pushed, but he wouldn’t move. “Seems like you two got off on the wrong foot.”

“He got off on the wrong foot, you mean.” Bea chuckled; there was an edge to it. “And here I was thinking you’d be a cool guy.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Means that you’re acting like an asshole, man! Take notes, that’s how you answer a question!”

“How-”

“Dipper.” Noie grabbed his arm, and finally he looked at her. “Go to the bathroom.”

“Fine. Come with me, I have to-”

“No. You go to the bathroom, okay?”

“Naomi-”

“Go.”

Dipper glared at her, and for one terrifying moment, Noie thought he wasn’t going to leave. Finally, he turned around, and with a low but rumbling growl, he stalked out of the room.

A growl. The sound turned her blood to ice, and she stood there frozen until Bea put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, not to push an issue or anything, but he’s not staying here tonight, right?”

“What? Oh…” Noie hesitated. “No, he, uh… he has a hotel room.”

“Sweet, ‘cause I wasn’t gonna stay a night with him. Prick.”

She cringed. “Bea, I, I’m so sorry. That wasn’t okay of him at all, I-I don’t even know what-”

“Don’t even stress it, Silver. Trust me, I don’t care. I know how to handle his type.”

Noie felt something at that. It came down on her like a dark cloud, a watchful eye… a presence. Bea gave her a squeeze, and grinned.

“Now, let’s do something fun together, eh? What does the great Silver like to do on her time off?”

“O-on my time off?”

“I assume you don’t stand there waiting for the sun to rise, but that’s not for me to judge.”

“Oh, heh, no…” Noie glanced behind her, and then cleared her throat. “I mean, I don’t do too much, I’m usually on my computer… I dunno, I read, I guess. What about you?”

“Whaddya read?” Bea sifted through the titles on her shelf. “Heh, ‘Rainbow Adventures of Mr McStabberson’? Where’ve I heard that one before?”

“You’ve probably seen the TV show. Did you know it actually started from a book?”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I actually only read the source material pretty recently.” She sat down in her chair. “It’s interesting, actually. I think they’re both kinda good in different ways? Like there’s definitely more about some of the side characters in the book, like Alexy and-” She blinked. “Oh, sorry, I’m rambling. Have you seen the show?”

“Nope.” Bea leaned against the wall, grinning. “I wanna hear about it, though.”

“Really?”

“Hell yeah. Keep going, Silver.”

Noie smiled at that, and launched back into her explanation. For a little while as she talked, the thought of Dipper’s odd behaviour and the presence had entirely slipped her mind.

“-so it was really cool how they expanded on her character in the book. Obviously books aren’t really strapped for time like TV shows are so I get why they dropped some of the smaller character moments, but I think it’s cool to watch the show again with those in mind.” Noie laughed a little. “If you ever wanted to watch it.”

“Hey, seems like some cool new human shit. Wanna watch it right now?”

“Wh- really? I don’t think I can stream it anymore-”

“It’ll be pirated somewhere.” Bea sat down at her computer. “Seriously, I can’t believe you guys’d pay to watch it when there’s a free version floating out there.”

“I dunno, viruses?” She raised an eyebrow at Bea. “You know where to go, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Cool. Well, I guess, if I really wanted something, I’d ask…”

Dipper. Noie made a face at that; it must have been pretty obvious, because Bea looked over at her and gave a wry smile.

“Your brother’s the tech savvy one, eh?”

“Tech savvy? Uh, sure… you could say that.”

“I see you’re a fan of that phrase too.”

“Wha- oh! Oh, sorry-”

“Ah, don’t you worry about it. I’m teasing you! I’m teasing.” Bea sat back in her chair, chuckling a little as her smile faded. Her eyes, fixed on the computer screen, suddenly flitted up to meet hers. “You said he’s got classes up at SASU, right.”

“Dipper?”

“No, a squirrel. Of course I meant Dipper.”

“Oh, heh, sorry.” Noie fiddled with the front of her shirt; this was getting into some dicey territory. “Yeah, he, uh, takes online courses, mostly?”

“I see, I see.”

“Yeah… so he can come up and visit a lot. That’s why. That’s why he can do that, I mean.”

Bea was nodding. “I see. So he’s here a lot of the time with you, huh.”

There was a strange tension to the air, building the more she spoke. Noie found herself shivering a little, though she wasn’t cold.

“Yeah! Yeah, he is.” She leaned forwards with her widest smile. “So, how are we-”

“Does he act like that a lot?”

A sudden spike. The walls felt closer, and the lights felt starker. Bea’s carefully blank expression suddenly had an air of menace, of danger to it, and Noie leaned back.

“L-like what?”

“You know what.” Bea said, and sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to corner you in anything. I’m just wondering how happy you are with a brother who comes around and acts like that around your friends, y’know?”

Noie felt a pit in her stomach. “Wh- oh, oh no, Bea… you have the wrong idea, okay?”

“Okay.”

“He’s not usually like that, I swear. Like, genuinely, he’s not, I’m gonna talk to him about that later, I…”

“Okay. Seriously, it’s okay. You know your brother better than me.” Bea stretched, slowly, deliberately. “Just wanted to say, you better talk to him about this weird eavesdropping enchantment he’s got going on, too.”

Eavesdropping enchantment. It was like the air froze in place, and Bea gave a wry smile at her wince.

“That’s the one. Bet you barkskin he’ll come through that door any moment-”

The door burst open like an explosion; it made her flinch. She hardly recognised the figure who stormed into the room, pointing fingers, yelling, “I am ņot̶ eavesdropping!”

(and was that the hint of an echo to his voice?)

“I mean, I’d love to agree, but you’re really just proving yourself wrong by barging in-”

“I did not!” He planted himself between Bea and Noie, and stabbed a finger in her face. “I’m here to protect my sister. What are you doing here? What are your intentions?”

Bea raised her eyebrows. “My intentions? Getting somewhere to sleep. Sorry if you were expecting me to say murder, I guess I’m not in the mood.”

“You watch what you’re saying. You have no idea what you’re up against.”

“Oh-hoh, is that a threat?” She chuckled. “Look, human, I get you were top of your magic class in highschool or whatever, but you and your - eh, half -decent - eavesdropping charm aren’t gonna do squat against me.”

Noie could practically see the fury emanating off of her brother. She tried to tug at his sleeve, but it was like he’d stopped paying attention. He was wound up tight, and stone cold to the touch.

“Just walk away, man. Your sister doesn’t want your stupid fucking ‘protection’ bullshit.”

Noie shook her head at her. “Bea-”

“Why don’t you try listening to what she wants?” Bea leaned back in her chair. “You know, if you care about her or whatever.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Noie felt it like a physical pain; she recoiled as Dipper stepped forwards.

“I car͜e ab̛o̵u͝t my̢ si̡şt̷er.”

“Oh, yeah? Then why don’t you prove i-”

And in the blink of an eye, Alcor the Dreambender had her by the throat. Noie watched in horror as his shadowy form snarled and slammed her against the wall so hard it cracked; in a millisecond Bea’s face went from shock to anger to eyes-bugged-out terror.

“M̞͈I̛͕̤̟̹̞Z͎̠A̳̭̪͙͖Ŗ̸̩̮̤͈̭͈ ҉҉̼̺͙̰I̞͔͍͚͕͕͢S̸̞̤͙̜̖͝ ̺̗̘M̥̥͈̬͓͟I͏̤̮N̪͈̺̥̗̘͘͟ͅͅE. M̶̸̦̹͖̜̣̳̤͘ͅI̧̛̼̟͉̞N̴̜͢E. ” He pressed harder, and she struggled for air. “Ḭ̸̺̺̫̟̦̲͇͉ ̥͇̯̣͕S͝͏͓̼E̻̺̲̼E̢̻ ҉̨͚̞̖W̖̘͝Ḩ̢̭̙̰̼̺̮̜A̩͚͓͉͔̤ͅͅT͖͖̩ ̞̗̭̰͓̫̰͍͠Y̳̙͝O̧̨͕͙͕͇͝ͅU̮̺̰͟ͅ'̥̪̣͙R̘̙͇̼ͅE̛͇ ̲͖D͇̖Ǫ͇̮̳̭̫̖͔̼̕I̦͙̫̭̭̯N̶̥̳̖̤̬̱͈͝G̳̳̩̝͠, ̴͇͉͇͖̼͍̰̠̕B̸I̢L̺̰͟Ļ͇͔̺͔̘̝ͅ Ç̬̗̤͕̜I̶̛͖̗̝͙P̸̛̭͔̖͓͎͍͎̦̤͡H̛͚̦̻͉̦͇͝E̲̤̹͓͠R̤̺̬̳̭. I҉̶̲̼ͅ ̝̖͠Ṣ̴̩̩̲͜͞ͅE͏͏̸͓̥͙̲̟̮̤̙͓E̝͠ ҉͈̱Y̧̫̳͖͙͔O̵̩̤̲U͉̬̣̺'̜̼̹͘͟R̘̠̻͡͠E̵̖͇̣̠̦̩̹̹̻̠̫̥͝ͅͅ T͕R͖̩͓̘̪̙͞͞ͅY̡͉̳͖̙͔̺̬̫͟I̴̘̞̮͜͠N̶͓G͙͉̼͎̰͕͘͟ ͞͝͏̖T̷̛͕̞̰̟̥̥͖͍O͚̙̰̞̟̙͡ ̙̫͍̜͓ T̛̻̲̭U̧͇̣̻̭̠ͅR̟̖͠ͅN̞͚̠̝͙͚̠̼ ̵̛̫̗̗͕͜H̴̷̛̱̖̥̤̼̲̤E̩̰͉̪̠͟ͅŖ̻̗̻͔͡ͅ ̱̖A̵̫̻̘̭͕̘̩͢G̤A҉̳͈I̧̤͍̹̰̖̩̩͙͠N̼S̨̘̩̪̜͎̖̭T͙͚ ̷͠͏̩̱̖̳M̸̡̞̻̥͎͓͙E̶̫͕̘!̘̹̘͢”

Noie could barely comprehend what she was seeing. Bea shot her a terrified look and she tried to speak up… but nothing came out. She tried again.

“Di… Dipper…”

Bea was going red in the face. Noie picked up something from the desk - her phone.

“Dipper, stop. Dipper.” She clenched it with a shaking fist, “Dipper, STOP!”

And threw it as hard as she could at the back of his head. It shattered off of his shoulder, and he looked to her with the glowing eyes she saw in her nightmares - oh, stars, oh stars, oh stars…

“Y-you’re killing her, Dipper. You’re killing her!” Noie struggled to look him in the eye. “She didn’t do anything wrong, I-I don’t know why you’re acting this way! Just let her go!”

“Mi̶̛͜za̴r-”

“Please! Please, j-just let her go.”

Alcor the Dreambender stood there for one moment longer, one awful moment longer with the sound of Bea kicking against the wall as she struggled for air. Then he blinked, and stepped back. He let her crumple to the ground, and Noie could feel his eyes on her as she dove to her friend’s side.

“Bea, I-I’m so sorry, are you okay!?”

She tried to rasp out some answer, but it was lost in a coughing fit.

“Oh, my stars. Oh my stars.” Noie felt for her phone. “I’m gonna- I’m gonna call for someone-”

“No…” Bea put her hand out. “I…” she managed, and coughed as she sat up. “I’ll be…”

“No, lie down-”

“Like hell I’m ly-y-ing here.” She pushed Noie aside and staggered to her feet. “Not with…”

She pointed at Alcor as she made for the door. Noie could hardly look at him; he stood still as she followed Bea out of the room.

“Hey, wait! Bea!”

Bea glanced over at her. “You tryin’ to wake up the whole wing, or what?”

“Wh- I…”

“Look, Si- Silv-” She coughed and rubbed her neck. “I don’t know what kinda shit you’re mixed up in, but… we’ll talk later, okay? I gotta find somewhere else to stay tonight.”

“I-”

“I’m not gonna tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m not dumb enough to piss off Alcor the Dreambender… more than I already have, apparently. Fuuck.”

“That’s not what I was…” She stepped forwards. “I’m sorry, Bea, I-I didn’t… I… I can explain-”

“We’ll talk later. Just-” Bea held her hands out. “We’ll talk later, okay? Bye.”

And then she turned a corner and was gone, her footsteps thudding in Noie’s mind like the beat of her heart. She stood there for a moment, eyes staring, mind buzzing, every fiber of her being wishing for this to have all been a dream, for this to have turned out any other way.

Her first night over, with her first real friend, and this happened.

She clenched her fists.

Dipper.

His presence was still there, still watching. She wanted to scream right then and there; it took all her effort to take a deep breath, walk back down the hall, and enter her dorm room.

It was empty. And dark - darker than plain darkness. She jabbed the light switch.

“Dipper.” Noie walked forwards. “We have to talk. Now.”

Nothing, for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something else, but-

“I-I’m here,” Dipper came in through the front door. He looked entirely human again - human, and nervous. “So, uh-”

“What the fuck was that.”

“Yeah… That wasn’t, um, great of me-.”

“‘Wasn’t great of you’, that’s all you’re gonna say for that? Jeez, I don’t wanna hear what a bad day is for you if that is just ‘not great.’” She laughed angrily. “I mean, what the fuck, Dipper! You strangled her!”

“I know.”

“I don’t want to hear about how you know, I wanna know what on earth possessed you to do that! Is that just a thing you do? Are you gonna kill all my friends, or is Bea just lucky?”

“It’s- I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” Dipper avoided his eyes. “I just… got surprised.”

“Got sup-?!”

“No! No, that’s- that’s a bad way of explaining it! Sorry. Sorry, it’s just…” His voice lowered. “a demon thing, I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to, want to hear about, uh, that kinda stuff…”

Noie felt a cold pit in her stomach as he trailed off. A demon thing… her mind flashed back to all the other times that part of her brother had come into play, had hurt people… had killed . Maybe it wasn’t like she was thinking.

“Just tell me why, Dipper.”

“It… it is your friend. You’re right, she’s special, kinda.” He gave a tense chuckle. “Look, um, it’s hard to explain, but her soul, she came in the door and I recognised it.” His fists clenched. “It… belonged to a bad person, a long time ago.”

She frowned. “Dipper, Bea’s been nothing but nice to me since we met. She’s not a bad person-”

“You’re right, she’s probably not! I overreacted, I just- I wasn’t expecting to come across that soul! Usually I can… prepare, to meet that one.” He stared into the middle distance. “An elf, this time around. Strong control of magic, clearly trained in shielding… no wonder I didn’t notice her.” A grimace. “I really hope she’s a good person this time around, that’s… formidable. Have to keep my eye on her.”

Noie made a face. “Dipper…”

“Sorry. I’m sorry, I’m doing it again.” He sighed. “Look, I really am sorry for what I… what I did to your friend. I swear, though, that was a very, very unexpected event. You’re not gonna see me like that again.”

That was a little reassuring… but a sentence jumped out at Noie. She raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean, see you like that?”

“Well… you know.” He mimed something coming out of his back. ‘Like that, you know. My, uh, business attire.”

“Your demon form?” She watched him cringe at that. “You think that’s what bothered me about what happened?”

“Well, not the main thing, but I know… I know it does.”

Noie blinked. “It doesn’t.”

“It’s okay if it does-”

“It doesn’t!” She snapped. “We’ve been over this, I get you’re a demon! What kind of sister would I be if I decided that made me uncomfortable?”

He just looked at her.

“Dipper, it doesn’t! It…” Noie swallowed. “I don’t want you to be scared of sharing stuff like this with me! I don’t want you to hide it, I… I think it makes it scarier. When I don’t know things about you.”

He just looked at her, with that ancient expression. A million alarm bells went off at the being who stood before her; she tried to talk past them, tried to talk to Dipper.

“Because there’s so much I don’t know about you. There’s so much you don’t tell me about you, and I get that it’s probably hard, that you think I don’t want to hear it, but then…” She gestured. “Stuff like this happens, and I don’t know how to react! I don’t know why you’re doing it, I don’t know how to help you… I-I don’t know you, all of a sudden! You’re just a demon, doing demon stuff, a-and that’s scary!”

Noie’s shoulders hurt; she forced them down, forced herself to close her eyes, and take a deep breath. She looked at the floor.

“I don’t… I don’t want to be scared of you, Dipper. I’m sorry that I still… kinda am.” She hugged herself. “I just… I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Dipper didn’t say anything, for a long moment. She stood there, staring down, down at the carpet.

“Noie.”

She didn’t meet his eyes, could hardly bring herself to look higher than his shoes.

Dress shoes, she noticed. Black ones, and black pants. She drew in a breath.

“Noie,” Alcor said. “Do you want a hug?”

She hesitated, and then nodded. The shoes moved, and a second later, a pair of arms wrapped around her. They were longer than Dipper’s usually were, attached to a body taller than Dipper usually was… but they were just as gentle, squeezed just as hard.

She pressed her face into his suit, and mumbled, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I mean it.” She gave him a squeeze. “I wanna be better about this demon stuff. I don’t want you to feel like you gotta hide stuff from me, I wanna know my bro. Even if it gets weird at times.”

“I’m not so sure you want to know everything, Noie.”

“Well… I wanna know important stuff. I wanna know if you have any more souls you randomly hate, for one.” She tried for a chuckle. “I guess… I wanna know what you’d tell any other Mizar. I don’t wanna get the kid gloves, you know?”

Dipper didn’t answer that. For a moment, Noie thought he wasn’t going to, but then she felt a pair of something that wasn’t hands wrap around her midsection. It felt like two weirdly warm blankets, it was… wings?

Oh, yeah. His wings. The feeling of them still made her a little jittery, but she gave a little laugh.

“Yeah,” she said. “Stuff like that.”

“Heh, alright.”

“Are you laughing at me?”

Dipper chuckled. “No.”

“You big jerk!” She snorted and smacked his arm. “You did that to make me jump, didn’t you!”

“Maybe a little.”

“Ohhh, my stars.” Noie grinned up at his toothy smile, his twinkling gold-on-black eyes. It was different, but it was Dipper. “I’ll get you back for this. I’m gonna dump glitter on your wings.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, I’ll catch you when we’re studying, or - no, I’m not gonna tell you when I do it. You just wait.”

“Hah, I will. I’d like to see you try.” Dipper said, and then: “Hmm, not sure if I can even start having my wings out while we study. I mean, you still have your roommate coming in at random, and-”

“Yo No-ster, I’m home!” Val burst through the door with a pizza box. “Do you know math? I have this stupid thing due at 11:59 and-”

She noticed the demon standing in the centre of the room, and stopped dead. Noie tried for a wave.

“Oh, hi, Val! You’re back, uh, early… have you met Dipper? He’s a, uh, cosplayer. Twin Souls.”

“No, I am not. Noie-”

“Sorry, I couldn’t think of anything else- Uh, haha, anyway, he’s…” She kept grinning at Val’s horrified expression. “It’s, uh… so, what pizza did you get? Pepperoni? Mmm, smells great!”

______________________________________________________________

“So they just let you move in, huh?”

Dipper was hanging suits in what used to be Val’s side of the closet. “Yeah, basically. It was even easier than usual, since Dipper Argenta already exists - only had to forge a few things.”

“Only a few things, huh.” Noie snorted at him from atop her bed. “As you do.”

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing.” She grinned at him. “Good to share a room with you again, bro. I missed it… or maybe I just missed not living with Val, hah!”

Dipper chuckled at that, and turned back to folding his clothes. His wings swayed a little as he worked, and she found herself staring at them. They were strange things; every time she saw them, they were a little different, and today they were wide and sloping things that framed his head when they were folded up against his back. There was always a tinge of unreality to them - a voidlike, blacker-than-black colour to them that made it impossible to pick out any detail, made looking at them… a little mesmerising.

“Need something?”

Noie blinked. “Uh, no,” she said, and tore her gaze away. “No, you’re good.”

“Alright, then.” Dipper snuck her a grin. “This is kinda, kinda fun, hanging up clothes! I should do this more often!”

Her phone buzzed. She looked down.

“Well, you can do my closet, uh, any time, bro…” She unlocked it. “Oh.”

“What?”

“Bea got back to me!”

“Oh, cool! She’s outside, then?”

“Yeah!” Noie looked at the text. “It says… ‘I’m here, can’t wait to hear how the fuck you got a demon for a brother. PS…”

“P.S. what?”

“She’s saying not to tell you this joke.”

Dipper frowned. “What does it say?”

“Uh… ‘P.S. - make sure your brother clips his nails before he gets down here, would feel much nicer on the neck. P.P.S - That was a joke, please don’t actually tell him that, I don’t want to die.’”

She looked up after that, and sniggered when her brother rolled his eyes.

“I’m not gonna kill her over a bad joke.”

“It’s not a bad joke, she just got you.”

“She did not! She-” He huffed and fluttered his wings. “Whatever, let’s go.”

“Yeah, she got you, bro! Look, you’re blushing!”

“I’m not!”

“iiiiii’m nooooot!”

“I’m not!” He shook his head at her. “Are you ready? She’s waiting outside.”

“I just gotta get my shoes on.” Noie hopped off the bed and… tried to poke his wing; she ended up just gesturing at it. “I dunno why you’re, uh, getting on my case, you’re way less ready.”

“It takes five seconds to put on a human suit. Look,” There was a snap as Noie put on her shoes. “Noie, look. Noie.”

“I’m looking, I’m looking.” She shoved her feet into sneakers and looked over. “You missed a spot.”

“Where?”

“Riiiight abouuuut…” She jabbed his side. “Here!”

“Aaah! St-stop tickling me, hah! Noie!”

“Alright, alright…” She stopped, and took a moment to straighten his suit. He was looking at her with those familiar brown eyes she was seeing less of these days; after a moment, she remembered to smile back. “Alright. You ready to do a lot of explaining?”

“Readier than I usually am with stuff like this.” He snorted to himself. “You, uh, want me to tesser you down there? I can do that, it’ll be faster than taking the stairs.”

Noie hesitated at that. He noticed; quickly, he added:

“We don’t have to. Just, uh, offering.”

“No, that’s good, that’s… my phone’s buzzing.” Noie pulled it out. “Bea says, um, ‘I’m summoning your brother myself if you make me wait. Maybe I’ll die, but I wanna hear the storyyyyy-’, and a lot of y’s.” She looked back at Dipper, and gave a smile. “Maybe we should go the fast way.”

“Alright.” He offered a hand, and she took it, watched as his eyes flickered to that gold-on-black. “Hold on tight.”

And she did. She closed her eyes, squeezed her brother’s hand, and let him work his magic.

#transcendence au #Noie's Brother #naomi argenta #alcor the dreambender #dipper #oneshot #toothwrites

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softsalome · 3 years

Text

Dinner.

Repost from my old account, @/softperfuma.

2$ USD = 1.64€ = 5 UNY (United Republic of Nations Yuan)

The first time Mako didn’t show up for dinner should’ve been the red flag that finally caught Wu’s eye. They’d known each other for a few years, but in the past few months they had a silent agreement that brought them closer: some obscure foreign drama that they both loved and had no one else to talk to about. So every Friday night, like clockwork, Mako would pull up to the gates of Wu’s apartment complex with takeout in the passenger seat and the gate code quickly scribbled on his palm. Until it had gone on for so long, that he didn’t need to write it down anymore.

But despite all the Fridays Mako spent in Wu’s house, all the hours of dissecting the episode and picking up noodles that had spilled on the floor, something was stirring between the lines of their friendship. Something that Wu had been afraid to acknowledge, ignoring the growing wound in the hopes that it wouldn’t get worse, wouldn’t hurt him in the end.

But for him, hope wasn’t enough.

So there he was, sitting alone in his living room with his fingers tightly wrapped around his phone, trying to remember the last time his apartment felt so empty. He kept locking and unlocking the little block in his hand, hoping that the screen would eventually light up with a reply to the text he sent hours ago.

‘hey do you still wanna watch the show w me tonight?’

‘mako are u ok? u haven’t been answering me lately’

‘if u wanna talk im here ok?’

All read. All unanswered.

Wu finally abandoned his hopes and opened an app to order dinner. He decided that if he was going to be miserable, he should at least be full. Within the hour, he was pulling apart chopsticks and picking at chow mein, wondering why he was dumb enough to fall for a straight guy.

He’d been only flipping through his movie list for a few minutes before the doorbell rang again. Rising with groan and a scowl, he made his way to the door, dragging his feet the whole way. He unlocked his phone as he opened the door, hoping the lack of eye contact with the delivery boy would make him feel a little less on edge.

“Look man, I know 75Y isn’t the best tip, but I really don’t have any more cash on me right now-”

“Wu?”

One word. His own name, at that. But it was enough to make Wu feel like the air had been knocked out of his lungs. It only took a moment for him to meet those amber eyes with his own before he silently wished he was facing a grumpy delivery boy instead. He choked out a response, trying his damndest to hide his discomfort behind whatever bravado he had left.

“Mako! There you are! I was- I’m- I’m glad you were able to make it tonight!”

Mako slowly shrunk at his laughter, the plastic bag in his hands rustling as he moved.

“And-and you brought food! That’s so great because I was so hungry I was just about to hunt the turtleducks in the pond out front-”

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better, Wu,” Mako sighed, running his hands through his hair. “I could smell the chow mein from the elevator.”

Wu swallowed hard at being caught, as if any more lies he might’ve told were trapped and sent back down his throat. He looked at his phone again, thinking the moment might pass sooner if he was looking at the clock. Then Mako spoke, the tips of his shoes sneaking into Wu’s line of sight.

“Can I- can I come in? Is that okay?”

Wu’s head snapped up as he swung his front door backwards, stumbling into the doorknob as he made space for Mako to walk in.

“Of course, of course! I can’t just leave one of my best bros stranded in the hallway, can I?”

Mako quickly passed the threshold of the door, stepping out of his shoes before walking deeper into the apartment. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you did.” Wu gasped at that, hand to his chest as he exaggerated his response.

“Mako! How could you think I’d do such a thing! What little faith ye have!” To further spoil the moment with his antics, Wu spun his way to the couch, sinking into it as he raised the back of his hand to his forehead.

“To think so lowly of me… I don’t think my heart can bear the pain!” Eyes closed, he couldn’t see the small smile on Mako’s face, but he wound up hearing it. A small laugh left his lips as he made his way to the living room, the glass table fogging as he set his food atop it.

“Would you mind bearing the pain a little less horizontally? I kind of wanna sit on the couch.” Wu laughed as a first answer, his hand still on his forehead. “Well you’ve bailed so many times, maybe you should sit on the floor.”

The silence quickly filled the room, and Wu sat up fast as he realized what he’d done. “Mako, I didn’t mean-”

“No, it’s okay. I deserve it.”

“No you don’t!” Wu shot back, challenging him with his eyes. Wu moved away from him then, making space on the couch for him as he continued to hold his gaze, daring him to let another drop of self-deprecation slip. Mako slowly sat beside him, his eyes moving towards the television. It took a moment before either of them spoke again.

“I’m really sorry I bailed, man… twice. I’m sorry I bailed twice. I should’ve told you I couldn’t come, that wasn’t okay.” Wu clapped him on the back, pulling his hand back fast as if he’d been shocked.

“That’s okay buddy! I half forgive you.” Mako bit back a smile, turning to look at Wu. For a moment, Wu pretended as if Mako was looking at him the way he always wanted him to look at him. But only for a moment. His eyes shimmered, molten in the lamplight. “Half?”

“Duh! I half forgive you now and then I’ll forgive you the other half once we watch the latest episode!” He punctuated his flawless logic by digging through Mako’s takeout bag, grabbing one of the small containers he saw peeking at him earlier. “Is this-”

“Sticky rice. With mango. And I’m really sorry, again.”

“Dude, seriously, it’s fine. Do you…. do you want to talk about it?”

Mako swallowed the bite of pad thai on his tongue, passing the remote to Wu without looking at him. “I don’t think I want to. Sorry.”

Wu bit off a piece of mango before answering, hoping the juice wouldn’t stain his shirt. “That’s okay! We can definitely not talk about it, I am so cool with that. We can just watch the show and not talk about it at all.”

Mako cleared his throat after he swallowed another bite. “I might be a little lost, just to let you know. I haven’t watched the last two episodes-” Wu cut him off, quickly flipping through the shows to look for the one they shared.

“Oh yeah, neither have I.”

“What?”

Wu glanced over his shoulder, confused at his reply. “What do you mean, ‘What’? I wasn’t gonna watch it without you.” He laughed as he looked back at the TV screen, finally find what he was looking for. “You ready for me to play it or do you need to get something else?” Wu could feel Mako’s weight shift beside him, and he turned to see Mako settling deep into the cushion.

“No. I’m fine.”

Wu quickly turned to the TV and hit play, hoping Mako couldn’t see how his eyes widened, how he almost opened his mouth to answer. Because yes, yes he was.

They agreed to watch the past episodes back to back before discussing it and moving on to the latest one., and Wu was more than grateful for the time to process both the show and the boundless energy thrumming just beneath his skin.

It was annoying and frustrating and scary how good Mako smelt, how good he looked, and how even though he completely ignored him and didn’t show up for two weeks, Wu couldn’t even fathom being angry with him. At this point, he was only mad on principle. But in truth? He just wished that they would gravitate towards each other like they did three weeks ago, when their legs were touching, and then their arms, and then Wu woke up on Mako’s shoulder, jostled awake by Mako’s strained voice telling him that he needed to go home.

But as much as Wu wished for it, the reality was more along the lines of pausing to look for blankets, spilling sticky rice on his shirt, and rewinding scenes because he was too busy thinking about how he had a crush on someone who would never return his feelings. He hoped he could tuck it all within the folds of his persona: bright Wu, happy Wu, the dramatic and dopey and forgetful ex-prince that couldn’t be bothered to suck on a spoon that wasn’t sterling silver. But he was a fool to think that Mako wouldn’t be able to see right through him.

“Wu, you doing alright? You seem a little distracted.”

Wu sat up straighter, tugging the blankets closer to him as if they’d protect him. “No, I’m fine! Great actually. Just a lot on my mind, that’s all. But not like, in a bad way. Just a lot.”

“Do you- do you want me to go-”

“No!” Wu cut him off, driving the point home by grabbing his shoulder and looking him dead in the eye. “It’s fine, you’re fine, we can talk about it and then watch the last episode.”

Mako’s eyes widened, and Wu drew back, worried that he did something wrong, said something wrong. Mako kept looking at him, as if he was waiting for Wu to say something. So he did.

“That camera angle from the first episode was so crazy right? It looked like someone was watching him through the window, but the realtor said the house has been empty for years-” “Um. Wu?”

And then came the worry. It wrapped its vines around Wu’s heart and tightened, hard enough to make him feel like the beating would be dragged down into his stomach. Mako’s tone, his lack of eye contact, the fiddling with his hands. Something was wrong. The kind of wrong that Wu knew would leave him crying into his pillow for days.

“Uh… yeah? What’s up Mako, my good man?”

Mako’s hands clasped together tightly as he stared at them, as if they held answers he desperately needed. “I don’t think…I don’t think I want to be friends with you.”

And that was all it took. Just a few moments, a short pause, before Wu burst into tears. Mako leapt to his side, holding him close as he tried to talk him down.

“Wait no, I didn’t mean it like that, Wu, please!” But Wu was too far gone to hear him, crying so hard he couldn’t see through his tears.

“Is it because I’m gay?!” he wailed as his tears began to stain Mako’s shirt. Mako pulled his head away from him, trying to meet his eyes and failing miserably.

“No, that’s not it at all! Wu please-”

“Is it because I’m an earthbender?”

“Wu, I’m literally mixed, please-”

“I just don’t-I just don’t understand, I’m sorry-”

“Wu, please just listen!”

Wu was finally reduced to quiet whimpers and sniffles, his tears still obscuring his vision. He wanted to wipe his tears away but that meant moving from Mako’s arms, and as painful as it felt, he wanted to relish what he thought would be his last time there. A few seconds passed like that, in silence, as Wu looked through blurry tears and felt Mako’s labored breathing. It came to an end as Mako moved him out of his arms, bringing his hands to Wu’s face as his thumbs wiped away his tears.

“I said that wrong, I- I didn’t mean it like that.” Wu started to tear up again, and Mako was worried that his fingers wouldn’t be able to keep up.

“Then what- what did you even mean? Mako, why would you even say that?”

Wu tried to look at Mako until he realized how close they were. He started to pull away until Mako’s hands flexed and warmed against his cheeks, keeping his face in place as he mumbled something under his breath. Wu leaned a little closer, his vision finally clearing as he searched Mako’s face.

“What did you say? I didn’t hear you…”

Mako took in a deep breath before meeting Wu’s eyes.

“I wanna be with you, not your friend. I wanna be….I wanna be…” Mako trailed off, his eyes falling to Wu’s lips. “Can I-”

“Please,” Wu whispered, nodding as he leaned in to meet Mako halfway.

It took Wu a moment to realize that the salt he tasted between kisses were his own tears, streaming down his cheeks as he leaned deeper into Mako’s arms and silently begged to meet his lips again. After what felt like forever, Wu finally pulled away, sucking on Mako’s lip one last time on his way out. When Mako moaned, Wu giggled in response, giving a peck on the cheek before speaking again.

“Does this mean we can watch the last episode?”

Mako’s laugh rang through the apartment, so loud that it bounced off the walls and begged Wu’s to join in. His head fell back and tears gathered at the corners of his eyes before he managed to catch his breath and nestle close to Wu once again.

“Sure we can. But… is it okay if I kiss you again?”

Wu’s mouth fell into a lazy smile as he looked back at the TV. They’d barely started the end credits.

“Why are you so eager for more kisses?” He was so sure of himself, so confident in his retort. And it all came crashing down once he felt Mako’s lips graze the shell of his ear, whispering soft as if what he was saying was a secret.

“I can’t help it. You taste like mangoes.” Wu whipped his head to look at Mako, their noses grazing at the sudden motion. They sat there, breaths mingling, hearts beating, until Mako said the words he was holding onto.

“I’m really sorry I made you cry, Wu.”

“I forgive you. One and a half times… and I’m sorry for thinking you were straight.”

Mako grinned, lacing his fingers through Wu’s as he met his forehead with his own. “It’s alright. It happens. But… one and a half?”

“Why of course,” Wu jokingly huffed, grabbing the fallen blanket and laying it over the both of their legs. “I forgave you for making me cry but I also promised you one half forgiveness from earlier. It’s just the proper math.” Mako shook his head as he gazed at Wu, who realized that the look on his face was the exact one that he had wanted all along.

“Of course. Proper math.”

Gazing at each other, watching Mako’s eyes flicker to Wu’s lips ever so often, the ex-prince got around to asking the question that had burrowed its way through his head from the moment their lips met.

“Mako, what do you want from this? From me?” Mako leaned closer, Wu’s voice too soft for him to catch sitting deep in the couch cushion. He grasped Wu’s hand a little more firmly, rubbing his thumb across his knuckles as he spoke.

“I want to date you. Be your boyfriend. I like kissing you… is that what you want? Do you… wanna try that?” Wu brought Mako’s hand up to his lips, kissing his knuckles before answering.

“Yeah. I wanna try that.”

Mako smiled so hard and Wu felt like he could run to the moon and back if it meant he could always bring such joy into Mako’s life. He smiled back, but it fell fast as Mako leaned forward to grab the remote.

“Mako, what are you doing?” The firebender looked back at him, confusion marring his face as he slowly leaned back into the couch once more.

“I’m playing the last episode. Don’t you wanna watch it?”

Wu looked down at their hands. Still joined, still warm. He kept looking at them, as if they left his sight, if he looked away for just a moment, they might disappear.

“I do, I just,” he looked up at Mako through his lashes then, “I just thought you wanted to taste some more mango.”

The sound of the remote hitting the floor filled Wu’s lungs with laughter, but before he could begin to tease Mako, the mans’ lips were already on his own, kissing hard and biting soft and warming him in ways only a firebender could.

#wuko #legend of korra #msww

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meteorstricken · 4 years

Text

Sephiroth Week, Day 3 Prompt: Uniforms

“Tactile”

"Demon," President Shinra announced incredulously, slapping the Wutaian-language news publication down onto his desk. He settled into his chair holding an unlit cigar between his teeth. "This is a smearing portrayal of a valuable company asset."

Tseng stood at attention on the opposite side. Heideggar had reclined into a chair, resisting the urge to guffaw at the headlines, which read in full, "Shinra Boy-Demon Slaughters Advance Crescent Platoon." Hojo leaned against the wall off to the group's right.

"The Turks will investigate the slums for the publishers and ensure a meaningful understanding is reached, Sir," Tseng offered.

"Acceptable first steps for mitigation," Shinra replied, "but this rag made it topside. It's probably spreading outside Midgar. We need rapid counter-programming, and I want to know if Avalanche is involved. Wutai was always going to have an adverse reaction to losing, but no one else should be questioning that Shinra is acting in their best interests."

"Gyahahah! That kid's a hero if you ask me," Heideggar said. "You know how many infantry I'd have had to send into the meat grinder without him? Those boys got to go home and kiss their mommas one more time. Hardly had to fire a shot thanks to Sephiroth."

Shinra lit his cigar and puffed out a few smoky rings. "Sephiroth, celebrated war hero. We can sell that. We'll publish our own account and promote fanfare. Adjust his age to sixteen for the official story, and make sure no one says any different. Set up scripted media interviews with the cadets who came home early. They were proud to serve, would have done whatever it took, but they're happy to be back. If there are any eyewitnesses, it's all glory, minimal carnage. Sephiroth's an unmatched prodigy and they want to be like him. Let's turn this debacle around into a recruiting boost."

"Yessir," Heideggar barked. "By the time my guys are done, we’ll have their girlfriends calling the wrong name at night."

"…Right. Professor, prep Sephiroth for a dress uniform photo-shoot tomorrow morning. One of my assistants will meet with him and the camera crew to determine designer uniform options. "

Hojo lightly cackled and pushed up his glasses. "Very well, but I may need to sedate him…Sephiroth's enhanced mako regimen has given rise to certain uncompromising tactile sensibilities."

Shinra shook his head. "Work around that. The public needs to meet a sharp, lucid face, not a specimen."

"Hm..suit yourself," Hojo replied.

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

Sephiroth had originally been scheduled for a battery of mental exercises this morning, but this photo-shoot had usurped it at the last minute. Attempting to sleep had become unpleasant after returning from Wutai, though he'd been reassured it was a common occurrence treatment would resolve. Shouldn't that take priority? Pictures were usually for the lab, but he'd only been offered a hurried explanation that this was supposed to mark his first war victory.

He frowned at the crisp, starched blue button up and matching jacket that hung in the dressing room with him. Unfamiliar medals and pins adorned the jacket's left breast, and its shoulders were inlaid with a circle of silver stars. This was not the military's standard issue uniform for anyone, even higher ranking officers. If a change was coming to their design, there were simulations and hired models. Why were these untested clothes necessary to convey his performance in the war?

The short, quick-spoken woman outside the door who'd introduced herself as President Shinra's assistant had instructed him to put the button up on over the low, v-cut white undershirt he normally wore from day to day, and to wear the jacket over that. It was too much. Layers were claustrophobic for him, and anything that sat too close to the front of his neck gave an impression of being strangled. He sat down on the bench and pressed himself into the corner, hesitating. The idea of being so covered, and in all the wrong spots, made the room feel smaller and hotter the more he considered it.

"Need help adjusting anything in there, kid?" the assistant asked after several long moments.

"No. I…these aren't suited for me," he responded, struggling to keep calm, hoping that excuse would suffice.

"Ah. Well, the President did say we might need to try a few things to make it work. Let's see…You know, let's cut the crap and just go for the prototype special ops one. It's functional, so you'll be literally dressed to kill!" she laughed.

Sephiroth didn't know what to say to that--he required only selective armor to battle effectively--so he waited in awkward silence as Shinra's assistant rummaged through boxes and plastic wrappings around assorted articles. First, a pair of black leather pants swooped over top of the door. Inspecting them, he felt that the inside was softer than the outside, and cool to the touch. A matching coat, a black turtleneck sweatshirt, and a set of pauldrons followed.

He clenched one hand at the sight of the turtleneck. It was obviously an outfit meant for missions under cover of darkness--an improvement from the dress blues in terms of what he was accustomed to--but the shirt made it impossible. He opened his mouth to protest again, and then shut it. Complaining over physical discomforts didn't have a history of aiding his situation, but he could attempt a compromise. He was able to negotiate his field uniform without too many questions in Wutai because of how he fought.

The pants, he found, were perfectly fitted and allowed for flexible motion--acceptable. That was once piece down he would wear. Shoving one arm into the coat, he quickly recoiled and pulled it back out again. It created an unwanted layer with his t-shirt along his back, giving him the sense that someone was pushing on him. Sephiroth let out an exasperated sigh, and pulled his shirt over his head, hanging it up on the door's hook with the turtleneck.

Trying the coat again, his nerves instantly settled. He'd have to work on moving with the long, draping material around his legs when he trained, but other than that, it felt right on his torso by itself. The collar was unusually high, but it left the front of his neck completely bare--inoffensive enough, and he could use the pauldrons to raise or flatten it as needed. He finished dressing and opened the door.

"We got a winner?" the assistant asked, turning around to face him. "Oh whoops, looks like you missed the shirt."

Sephiroth pouted. He'd missed absolutely nothing, and he'd continue not missing it.

"I…see. It doesn't look bad…Just...just let me check if this will work for the shoot." She left the room to make a call, but Sephiroth could still hear her-- "Sir? Yeah, mostly. Oh, is he? Oh. That would have been useful to know beforehand. We did find something he's comfortable with pretty quick--the ops set--but he's bare-chested aside from the harness. Go ahead? Alright." Hanging up, she added, "Your funeral, boss. Your funeral." She poked her head back in, "Grab your things, kid. No makeup for that baby face, but we'll have to do something about your hair before we get this over with."

"Will I be keeping these?" Sephiroth inquired.

"That's up to Shinra. If it plays well, count on it."

#sephirothweek2020 #sephirothweek #sephiroth #ffvii #my fics #day 3

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valkyrisffvii · 3 years

Text

The Lake

Setting: A large reservoir lake near Nibelheim

POV: 3rd person

Summary: Mithra follows the signals she’s been getting all week into a lake, where she finds an item crucial to Shinra’s operations. However, her plan doesn’t go as smoothly as she anticipated...

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

Mithra stood on the dock of the reservoir lake and looked towards its center. She had been hearing strange noises all week, and nobody else heard them. They reminded her of whispers and grew louder when she was near the lake, not to mention the middle of the lake glowed with some kind of bright orange light that was only visible at night.

Unlike the other times she had been within proximity of the water, Mithra had actually prepared to go in and investigate. She was clad in a two-pieced fitted swimsuit. The top had a high neckline and its straps crossed over her back, and her shorts went down to the middle of her thighs. She had a drawstring sack draped across her body like a purse and a dagger securely sheathed at her hip. Although her arms, legs, and midriff were exposed, she did not fear the cold water.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? Who knows what could be lurking down there,” said Zack, who had accompanied her. The rest of the SOLDIERs and members of AVALANCHE were all preoccupied, and Mithra knew that going to the lake alone was a bad idea. Although Zack knew that Mithra was more than capable of defending herself and had the stamina to explore under the water, the sight of it still made him nervous.

“I’ve been hearing things all week, Zack, and all signals are leading to this lake. There’s something down there that is probably important. I’m sure of it.” She turned to face him, staring at him with a look that said she was not changing her mind. “If I am not back in like, seven minutes, or something seems wrong, go find help,” she told him. Both of them were aware that their Mako allowed them to breathe underwater for longer than the average human. Mithra turned her attention back to the large body of water and, taking a deep breath, dove in headfirst. Zack shielded himself from the spray of water and watched the surface as it calmed after Mithra’s entry.

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

As soon as she dove into the crystal clear water, Mithra instantly noticed a faint orange glow shining from the depths. Pushing her way towards the light, she observed several metal structures dotting the underwater landscape. As she came towards them for a better look, she instantly recognized Shinra’s logo on some of them, barely visible due to the growth of moss and rust present on them. It seemed like Shinra used the lake as a sort of dumping ground for their unwanted or unusable military equipment. Mithra hoped that there was no residual gasoline or other dangerous substances left over.

The orange glow grew brighter and brighter, and Mithra looked down to see a ring of stone columns. It was fairly dim in the depths of the lake, but the structures were still visible to her thanks to her SOLDIER abilities. The glow was coming from its center, where a larger stone pillar sat. Mithra swam up to the monolith and discovered that the source of the bright light was nothing other than a piece of materia. It was the size of an orange and glowed with the orange light that she’d been seeing for so long. There was nothing guarding it; it just sat in a small indentation on top of the stone.

Mithra reached out, ready to break herself out of any trap it would unleash, but to her surprise she was able to just pick it up. She slipped it into her pouch, pulling the strings tight so that it would not fall out. Having found what she came looking for, Mithra began to kick her way back up to the surface. She was easily over a hundred feet below, but the pressure had no effect on her body.

As she slowly made the ascent, Mithra suddenly felt a slimy hand wrap around her ankle and jerk her downwards. She looked down and nearly screamed at what she saw. Right underneath her was a horrific creature. She could not tell whether it was a fish or a human. It had humanlike hair, but its eyes were cloudy white and its teeth consisted of razor-sharp fangs. Its ears and hands had webbing, clearly indicating an underwater origin. Instead of legs, it sported a fish tail that ended in a fanlike fin. The creature was clearly some kind of mutated result of one of Shinra’s experiments.

Mithra used her other foot to kick the creature in its forehead and drew out her dagger from her hip sheath. Unfortunately, a dozen others were making their way towards her. It wasn’t long before they completely crowded her, slashing at her legs with their claws and dragging her back down to wherever they came from. The water around her had turned light red with her blood, and Mithra knew that she was running out of breath. Her dagger slashing had become sloppy from exhaustion and blood loss.

An overwhelming sense of hopelessness came over her as she realized that she would die there. She did not even get to say goodbye to her friends. She knew that the materia she found was somehow important to Shinra, as they went through the effort of hiding it underwater, but there would be no way for her to get it back up to the surface at this point. One of the mutated monsters wrapped its scaly hand around her neck, and with water filling her lungs, Mithra blacked out, sinking downwards as they continued to fight over her.

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

Meanwhile, it had been almost seven minutes that Zack was waiting at the surface, staring at the lake and hoping that he’d see Mithra’s head pop out. He had been worrying the whole time she was gone not only because he didn’t want anything bad to happen, but he also knew that Sephiroth would kill him if Mithra went missing.

A slight churn in the middle of the lake caught his attention. As he squinted his eyes to see better, Zack noticed that the water was now foaming and crashing furiously. Realizing that something had gone horribly wrong and that Mithra was in danger, Zack quickly ran back to AVALANCHE’s base to find help.

Zack kicked the door open to find Sephiroth and Angeal. They looked up at him as he panted.

“Mithra went into the lake and she hasn’t come back!” he cried out. Both of them instantly got up and followed him back to the reservoir lake. As they sprinted, Zack told them about the voices Mithra had described earlier.

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

Angeal, Zack, and Sephiroth arrived at the dock, and the lake water still had a somewhat rough current. Mithra was also still nowhere in sight. Before Zack could suggest anything, Sephiroth was stripping off his coat, gloves, and suspenders. He dumped them on the dock before diving headfirst into the cold water just as Mithra had done earlier.

As the icy water surrounded him, Sephiroth quickly dove down deeper in a desperate attempt to find Mithra. It wasn’t long before he noticed the same stone ring and the giant mass of disgustingly mutated Shinra creations. They seemed to be gathered around something that they were all desperately fighting over. He instantly realized that Mithra was somewhere in there.

Sephiroth drew out Masamune, which he had sheathed on his hip. He was near enough to the creatures that they noticed him and began to try and attack him as well. He stabbed all of them like they were nothing and continued into the crowd. They were no match for him whatsoever, and any one who did not find themselves unlucky enough to be a victim of the Silver General fled into the depths.

After the last lake monsters had fled, Sephiroth noticed a floating figure slowly sinking towards the bottom of the lake. He went closer and saw that it was nothing other than Mithra’s unconscious body. Her right hand was outstretched as if she was struggling, and her legs were branded with multiple large gashes that were leaking blood. He grabbed her, slinging her limp form over his right shoulder and holding on to her securely before swimming back up to the surface.

Sephiroth gasped for air as his head broke the surface next to the dock. Zack and Angeal immediately saw Mithra draped over his shoulder and helped to drag her body back onto the dock. They laid her on her back and shockingly looked at her seemingly lifeless form. Her neck was bruised and her legs were marked with gashes.

Sephiroth pushed them aside and knelt over Mithra before pushing her hair out of her face and connecting his lips with hers. He blew as much air as he could into her, shaking her roughly. After blowing into her mouth a second time, Sephiroth began furiously compressing her chest, praying that she wasn’t already gone.

“Come on Mithra, please come back,” he pleaded. Just as he was giving up hope, a sputtering sound came from Mithra. The pressure on her lungs had forced a bunch of water to spill from her mouth, and her eyes shot open. She rolled over slightly, propping herself up on her elbow and coughing up the rest of the water.

“Thank Gaia,” he whispered as she laid back down, gasping heavily. He stroked her cheek and looked into her eyes, which were full of recognition. To their surprise, Cloud, Genesis, and Tifa had arrived at the dock as well.

“We heard that something happened. Is everything alright?” asked Genesis. They immediately saw Mithra lying down, her chest still heaving, and the blood leaking out from her cuts. Mithra noticed Cloud and reached into the pouch she carried, pulling out the crystalline sphere.

“Cloud,” she said hoarsely, “You said something about a missing piece of materia, didn’t you?” She held out the orange ball, and Cloud took it.

“Where did you find this?” he asked, continuing to glance at her mutilated legs.

“The bottom of the lake,” she replied, her voice getting shakier. Her face was getting more pale from the amount of blood she had lost, and she laid back and closed her eyes. Sephiroth quickly grabbed his coat and wrapped it around her, not caring if it got blood-stained. He scooped Mithra into his arms, with her head resting on his shoulder and his hands supporting her back and knees.

“She needs help,” he said, and the rest followed him away from the lake and back indoors. Cloud and Tifa trailed behind, both of them observing the materia.

“I’ve never seen a materia orb in that color,” Tifa remarked, and Cloud remembered something that both Barret and Vincent had mentioned, something about several unique pieces of materia that were the only ones of their kind.

“I’ll ask Barret about it later. I’m sure Mithra found something that will help us in the fight against Shinra,” Cloud said, and the two of them followed Sephiroth and the rest, who were in awe that Mithra both recovered the materia and survived a horde of mutated lab creations.

#fanfiction #this takes place a while after the other fics #the SOLDIERs join AVALANCHE instead of going insane/dying #mithra survives something that she shouldn't have survived #mithra valkyris #sephiroth #zack fair #cloud strife #tifa lockhart #angeal hewley #genesis rhapsodos #barret wallace

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s-ephiroth · 4 years

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Sephiroth Week 2020 ( @week-of-silver-winds )

Day 1 - The Cat In The Box [Specimen]

( Also available on AO3 )

"Are you still sure you want to go down there?" Genesis asked him. "There's still time to back away, you know? After all, he was the one who—"

"Yes, I'm aware of that. He did it three times. It's seared into my soul by this point."

He chuckled, but the sound of it was slightly off; a little anxiety showing its colors during their exploration of the place, though Sephiroth would refuse to admit it. It could've been an eternity since then, but still. Walking through areas so full of medical equipment — abandoned medical equipment — never failed to do a number on him on the inside.

"I know that you're aware. What I mean to say is that, once awake again — if we can get him to wake up, that is — he'll try again, Sephiroth. And he will succeed if he tries."

"Of course. That's what he does," he nonchalantly spoke of the matter, "Then I die, and it'll happen again and again and again. Maybe this time he'll even keep something of mine as a trophy, I believe. It wouldn't be so bad. A proof of my existence for the museums and all that. Not that I really want the fame."

"Sephiroth, please. I'm trying to show concern for your well-being here."

"Hn. I always thought you reserved that for Angeal only, after all that happened. And yet, here we are."

Genesis let out a dramatic sigh.

"You're insufferable. Is this, by any means, some sort of revenge for Loveless? Hitting the bits where it hurts worse?"

That of all things stole a little smile from Sephiroth. A little maybe. But that really was Sephiroth, so it was likely to be part that and part dodging the concerns of others about himself… albeit in a somewhat twisted way. A wounded wolf trying to bite when poked right in his wounds. Fair enough, but still—

"Bastard," Genesis mumbled under his breath, with a little touch of poorly disguised fondness.

Sephiroth had approached the door to the next chamber and pressed a hand against it, gently. Even under his gloves, the metal felt cold. It was falling apart at the edges and somewhat rusted, as most of the underground structure seemed to be after that long, but it still held itself up.

Unlike the rest of the city.

Unlike him.

"So are you," he mused aloud, "and you know it. The two of us are bastards... Unlike him."

"Who? Your murderous cat inside the box?"

Sephiroth shook his head and simply said, "No, Angeal."

Another sigh.

"You speak of me but you hold him on a pedestal way more than I do, you know that? He… our Angeal… could be a bastard, too, when he wanted. Sometimes a sneaky one at that. A soft bastard."

Genesis was pretty sure that he heard Sephiroth mumbling "our Angeal" under his breath before trailing off to process what it could've meant. He itched to explain his point about that, but thought that Sephiroth wouldn't believe him even if that bit of extra information was presented to him. So he left it at that and forbade himself from thinking once more that, had things not fallen apart as spectacularly as they did, he could've sat down in his living room at Shinra back in the day with Angeal and Sephiroth both and possibly arrived at a pleasant agreement about what he wasn't explaining directly now.

He focused on the fact that Sephiroth and him were deep down into the ruins of what used to be Deepground, instead.

And that they probably shouldn't be, but Sephiroth insisted on coming and opening the box; to discover if the cat inside was alive or dead. Or severely traumatized and ready to kill someone.

"I miss Angeal," Sephiroth said, "I wish he was here."

If he was, Genesis thought, would there be a cat inside the box to be found?

"Me too," he agreed, instead, "I miss him every day."

Sephiroth had to tear the door down, just like many others on the way. The rust eating away at them made the things troublesome to open normally, even for him. And if he stopped to open them the regular way, he would hesitate.

He was already troubled enough about it that he had to ask.

"What would anyone do to Cloud for him to be down here?"

"Guess."

"But Hojo was dead long after my last revival—"

"Wrong guess. But warm. Try again."

Sephiroth stared at him a little dumbfounded, but tried to think. That was Deepground and he had been down there a few times, under Hojo's supervision. To test things that would disrupt other people's work if tested in the building above. Things that scarred his spirit. Genesis had also been there, he had told him, kidnapped by the rebellious Tsviets and asked to "participate". Asked to offer his cells to them so they could—

"Someone else tried to clone him…?"

What for?

"Bingo," Genesis smirked, "I still don't quite know what for, but if I had to guess... Well, he killed you. When there's someone who can kill a certain Sephiroth in the world and when said Sephiroth is a threat to said world, you have to make sure that certain someone continues existing somehow, you know?"

"That's… idiotic. His clones wouldn't be him. He had to be himself to manage what he did. I don't think it would have worked otherwise."

"Oh. You put him on a pedestal, too. I see."

"I was merely stating the truth as I know it. It wasn't a matter of his strength or ability, but a matter of the technique he used. His capacity of adapting and improvising can't be copied."

"If you say so. But your eyes do sparkle when you speak of him, old friend. I stand by my point, still." Genesis took to leading before continuing, "I only found out because his clones started showing up dead in a few places. And especially now that you came back, it became possible to trace his location."

"Oh… Lucky me," Sephiroth mumbled sarcastically, a little distracted by the conversation, despite the horrifying nature of the topic. After all, he had been to the labs before as basically a lab rat through a significant portion of his life.

He never wished the same on anyone.

But Cloud… Cloud had somehow ended up that way as well, more than once, aside from all the poking around in his mind that Sephiroth himself, along with Jenova, ended up doing.

Hence why, among several other reasons, Sephiroth froze in place when his eyes landed on the mako tube containing him; probably the only truly preserved thing in that entire laboratory.

He didn't look a day older than the last time they fought, aside from his wild, long hair. Sephiroth stared him up and down; his mind a thousand miles away from there, from the scars on that body, mainly those in the center of the chest.

I don't put you on a pedestal, he thought to himself.

I never put you on this pedestal, I—

"...Sephiroth?"

It's Hojo and his legacy who put people on these pedestals. I know it, because—

"Sephiroth, are you listening to me?"

He put me on a pedestal.

"Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth blinked slowly once Genesis stood in front of him and pulled him down a little — because somehow, Sephiroth had returned from the dead even taller than he was before — to keep him from looking too much at the mako tank; to remind him to breathe.

Not that he had forgotten how to breathe. It was more that his breathing had gone all over the place with that sight.

If they all went back in time, that could've been him; staying in the tank for a solid two weeks because Hojo had been dissatisfied with his performance on tests. Grounded in the mako to reflect about his failures.

“Do you… do you want to wait outside?” Genesis asked, a little hesitant, “I definitely can handle—”

“No. It’s… it’s fine, I just… I just— Ah. Let’s just get him out.”

At that, Genesis just stared at him for a few, but far too long seconds before letting go with a sigh and turning to face the cause of their… visit. Would the mako still be fully liquid in there? Or would it have started to solidify by that point? He wondered. Wondered but didn’t let himself get distracted by such thoughts; moving fast to compensate for Sephiroth’s stiffness.

The machines, unlike the doors, could no longer be operated normally. So breaking the glass it was.

Breaking the glass and watching that wild cat fall right into Sephiroth’s arms, trembling like a fish out of water.

#arkeefic #sephirothweek #sephirothweek2020 #eventual #sefikura #(?)#genesis and sephiroth as roommates #and more #usual canon warnings apply #such as what results of hojo doing things to people

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