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cookybananas · 5 months

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This Wasn't The Plan (Former!Anakin Skywalker x Reader)

Angsty. Spoiler alert: main character dies

summary: When an old friend reaches out to you asking for help, but the mission doesn't go as planned.

This is set 9 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith. Your former lover, Anakin Skywalker, has turned to the dark side and had become a Sith Lord by the name of Darth Vader. But you don't know that. You believed in Obi-Wan's lie that Anakin had died on Mustafar and that the Republic had fallen into the hands of the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious who had created the Empire. The hunt for surviving Jedi ensues. This forces you and Obi-Wan to go your separate ways and into hiding to protect yourselves from the inquisitors who are on the hunt for the both of you.

I packed some rations in my bag, the last thing I needed before heading out. I looked at my lightsaber that was on my bed, deciding if I should bring it or not. After putting some thought to it, I sigh to myself, clipping it to the belt of my old Jedi robe I was currently wearing. I set out to meet up with Obi Wan at the coordinates he had sent me. It had been 9 years since I had seen my good friend. I didn't think he would ever contact me again, especially through the force. But apparently this was an urgent matter.

Obi-Wan told me there wasn't much information given to him when he reached out to me. Apparently he had gotten a holographic message from an unknown individual, saying that there were some former Jedis needing our help on the planet of Kashyyyk. I was hesitant at first about the mission, but he convinced me to come along with him. Plus, it's not like I had anything better to do with my life. I was a scavenger, I tore apart ships and weapons from the Empire and resold the parts to make a living off of them. I didn't earn much, but it was enough to keep me alive.

The Jedi had fallen years ago from Order 66. My masters, my fellow Jedi who I had trained with, the younglings whom I taught, most of them didn't make it from the purge--they were all killed. Anakin, the love of my life was killed right before the Empire had rose to power, I lost my best friend; Padme. Obi-Wan and I had gone our separate ways and went into hiding. Just when we thought everything was going well at the time, that glory had dissolved as if it were nothing.

There have been many times I had cried myself to sleep at the thought of losing Anakin. Part of me still believes that he's alive somewhere in the star system and part of me wants to believe what Obi-Wan has told me; that Anakin is truly dead and that I need to move on to live for myself. As much as I wanted to reach out through the force to him, I couldn't. I was worried that an inquisitor was nearby and could sense me. Or worse, the belligerent Darth Vader who has been in a pursuit of killing Jedi since they had they had fallen. I had to close myself off the force many years ago. Now that Obi-Wan needs me, this puts the both of us at risk of falling into the hands of the Empire and Darth Vader.

"It's good to see you again my old friend." Obi-Wan said, embracing me into a tight hug, to which I happily returned. Obi-Wan aged quite a bit the last time I saw him. The wrinkles around his eyes were prominent now, his beard grown out and untamed.

"And you as well Obi. Maker...it's been so long." I said, getting a little teary-eyed at our little reunion. Obi-Wan looked at me with sad eyes, nodding in agreement.

"Well, we have a long way to Kashyyyk, that should give us time to catch up Y/N." He gave me a small smile, as we made our way into his small ship, setting course to Kashyyyk to help our Jedi brothers and sisters.

"Do you have a plan?" I spoke up, breaking the long period of silence between us. Obi-Wan scoffed at my question.

"Well of course I do Y/N, you didn't think I would go in blindly would you?" He replied, smiling to himself. I snorted at his response, reminding me the many memories I have of him, Anakin, and I back in the days of the Clone Wars. Anakin and I were the ones that would go guns-blazing in during missions. Obi-Wan would always be the person coming up with the plans beforehand, to which sometimes Anakin and I did follow, sometimes.

Obi-Wan runs over the plan with me. The coordinates that he was provided had given us a location at a base in the lush forests of Kashyyyk. Apparently that's where the Jedi are said to be located. Once we land, we would split up to find any remaining Jedi and relocate them back to Alderaan. Obi-Wan had been in touch with Bail Organa since the fall of the Republic and had informed him about this mission.

The ship lands on an empty landing pad that was located outside the entrance of what looked like an abandoned temple. Obi-Wan and I exit out the ship, taking a look around our surroundings.

"I've got a bad feeling about this" I spoke up, scanning the environment.

"Meet me back here in an hour. If you can find any Jedi, we'll relocate them to Alderaan." Obi-Wan said.

"Sounds good to me." I responded. We both make our way into the temple, going separate ways once we enter.

The Sith Lord stands tall as he gazes at the stars through the windows of the ship. He ponders to himself, when all of sudden he felt something in the force. Assuming that the presence was belonging to his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Vader smiles to himself for being able to finally have Obi-Wan walk into his trap after what he had done to him all those years ago. But then he felt the pull become stronger and stronger by the moment. No... it can't be, the Sith Lord thinks to himself. It couldn't possibly be her. Y/N... You died 9 years ago. The remnants of your ship were in pieces when he had searched for you. You couldn't have survived the impact at the state of ship he found it in. When Anakin--Vader, had found the japor snippet that he had given you was on the ground, it pushed him further to believe that you had died on impact. He believed your clones got to you when Order 66 occurred. He blamed himself for causing your death. You deserved a better fate. But at the same time, he didn't want you to see what he had become.

Vader pushed his thoughts to the side. Still believing that you had died all those years ago.

A good amount of time had passed. I wasn't sure how long it had been but it surely has been over an hour. I hadn't seen any Jedi yet, yet alone any traces of any Jedi being here. Something isn't right, I know it isn't because the force has been trying to tell me something since we landed.

I felt another presence in the force. It didn't feel like it was Obi-Wan. I froze in place, hearing footsteps in the distance; becoming closer and closer to me. I turn around, igniting my lightsaber as I was met with an inquisitor standing behind me with their double-bladed lightsaber already ignited.

"Well, well, you're not definitely Kenobi. But I'll gladly take you in as well." The inquisitor said, stepping closer to me as I took a step back. I wasn't fit to fight them. It had been years since I last fought with my lightsaber. Without thinking, I immediately turned around and ran away from the inquisitor. I took out my comlink to get a hold of Obi-Wan as I ran to find the exit.

"OBI-WAN, IT'S A TRAP!!" I yelled into the comlink, but I was met with static in response. The connection wasn't strong, perhaps the inquisitors had intercepted our communication or the connection on Kashyyyk just wasn't as good.

I found myself in what looked like an abandoned throne room. I hid myself behind the throne, trying to catch my breath as I tried to disconnect my force signature so the inquisitor wouldn't find me as easily. I cursed myself for agreeing to come along with Obi-Wan on this fallacious mission.

As the footsteps of the inquisitor drew nearer and nearer to the room. I overheard the inquisitor's voice, as if they were talking to someone else. I peaked my head over the throne to see the inquisitor in the doorway talking to a holographic figure on their wrist.

"Lord Vader, it's important that you know that not only one Jedi has fallen into your trap but two." The inquisitor said boastfully, holding up a hologram of Lord Vader.

"Very well inquisitor. Locate them now. I will deal with Kenobi and his friend accordingly. I want them alive." Lord Vader's mechanical voice booming through the hologram.

"Yes my lord." The inquisitor turns off the hologram, scoffing to themselves and kicking a pebble off the ground. "Why do they matter to you this much?" the inquisitor says under his mouth.

I held my breath, hoping that the inquisitor doesn't walk into the room I'm in. When I don't see them in the door way I make a run towards the door, only to be stopped by the inquisitor.

"Nice try, but I have orders to follow Jedi scum." the inquisitor spat at me, blocking the doorway. I furrow my eyebrows, igniting my lightsaber again.

"You won't take me alive."

"I wish I didn't have to, but I have orders from Lord Vader himself." the inquisitors says before swinging their double-bladed lightsaber. Our lightsabers clashing with one another. I try catching my breath as I fight the inquisitor, but the 9 years without fighting, has made me lose some abilities in my Jedi skills.

"I see the years have not been kind to you. You're out of shape grandma." the inquisitor comments. I grunt in response and roundhouse kick the inquisitor, sending them flying across the room. The inquisitor gets back on their feet again and darts towards me.

Just when I think I can take them down, the inquisitor's blade makes contact with my shoulder. I cry out in pain as I'm thrown off balance. I step back, grasping my shoulder that was just cut. The cut was bright red and burning.

The inquisitor laughs at my pathetic state. Determined to take down this inquisitor, I run towards them with my saber. I was able to dodge their first swing, but on the second swing, the inquisitor's blade had found itself impaled through my stomach. I let out a gasp. The inquisitor looking surprised at themselves at what they did.

The inquisitor draws their blade back. My saber falls out of my hand and rolls away from me as my body hits the ground. I clutch the part of my stomach where I had been just stabbed.

I try to control my breathing as I watched as the inquisitor walk out the room without saying a word to me. The building starts rumbling, as if it was starting to crumble down.

Then next thing I know, I see Obi-Wan running into the room, running up to me.

"Y/N!" Obi-Wan kneels down and cradles me in his arms. He brushes a strand a hair away from my face, his hand now holding one of my hands.

"Y/N stay with me now. I'm gonna get you out of here." Obi-Wan looks at me and looks down at my wound. His eyes were filled with panic with the hole inside my stomach.

"O-Obi Wan, you have to go." I said weakly, looking at him.

"I won't leave you here Y/N." He responded, squeezing my hand and body tightly.

"Y-you'll die here." I said as the building starts to crumble piece by piece. Pieces of stone and debris falling from the ceiling.

"Don't say such nonsense, we have to go" He pleaded.

"Obi-Wan...My place is here.. and... he's here...I can sense him." I breathe out. The hole in my stomach making it harder for me to breathe.

Obi-Wan's eyes widen. He knew he was here as well. Obi-Wan was about to lift me off the ground until I spoke up.

"Leave me here Obi-Wan...Get out of here...S-save..your..self" I huffed out my last breath.

Your body goes limp in the arms of Obi-Wan. The last thing you saw was a dark figure, watching from the doorway before your body succumbed to your injury. Vader... You whispered under your final breath before dying in the arms of Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan lets out a strangled cry. He closes your eyelids as the feeling of guilt creeps up on him. But the mourning over his good friend was short-lived. Obi-Wan freezes in place as he feels Vader's presence nearby. When he looked up, he saw the Sith Lord standing by the doorway, menacingly. Obi-Wan, lays your body down on the cold stone floor, now towering over your body to square up with the Sith Lord.

Vader who had been watching the entire situation unravel, his breathing became heavier as he starts to hyperventilate. Causing the temple to shake even more, pieces of the temple fell down around them. He had felt you, he felt your pain. Your first cry was enough to have the Sith Lord come and look for you, but your second cry was enough for him to feel the amount pain you were in.

"What have you done?!" Vader's mechanical voice barked, echoing through the room.

"This was your doing Anakin!" His former master retorted. Vader slowly makes his way over to him, striding menacingly to where Obi-Wan and your lifeless body was.

Obi-Wan backs up away from Vader. Vader kneels next your body and touches the nape of your neck to find a pulse to confirm that you weren't dead, but it was too late. He clenched his fist and lets out a booming cry. Obi-Wan couldn't see it, but he was crying under the mask. The building continue to shake more under his agony.

"Leave. Now." He said, glancing back up at his former master. Obi-Wan was hesitant at first, but soon nodded in response and made his way out of the crumbling building towards his ship.

Vader scooped up your body and carried you bridal style out of the building, making sure to give you a proper burial once he landed on a planet worthy of your funeral. As he makes his way out, he and Obi Wan look at each other one last time before Obi-Wan takes off in his ship.

Vader boards his ship, laying your body down on the table. He takes off his helmet, revealing his long blonde locks and handsome face that were still in pristine condition. He examines your face for sometime. Forgetting how beautiful you were. The years have not been kind to you. He noticed how your cheekbones are more prominent now, perhaps due to lack of food and having to remain in hiding. He brushed your hair with his gloved hand and started whispering all the things he wanted to tell you. He wanted to start a family with you after the war was over, but it is far too late for that now. He wanted to raise his family on Naboo, or Alderaan. The life he dreamt with you, had diminished the day he founds the remains of your ship.

He started to feel guilty for being the reason of causing you a great deal of suffering and now, he was now the reason for your death. He sat next to your body and had held your left hand that still bore the wedding ring he made for you. You both had gotten secretly married on Naboo, just right after the Clone Wars had begun.

After a good amount of time had passed, Anakin--Vader had eventually gotten up from his seat and took off his cape to cover your body with it.

This wasn't how the mission was supposed to go. He didn't expect you to be here, let alone be alive. All he wanted was his revenge on Kenobi, but little did he know that you would be caught in the middle of it.

The guilt that Obi-Wan had felt was unbearable at first. He wished he didn't rope you into this mission. He didn't think for one second that this could have been a trap for himself and for the both of you. Obi-Wan lives out his days with a heavy heart for being the reason you died.

Vader spends the next several years alone, wondering about the day he will kick the bucket. It isn't until one day, a new hope emerges and relieves from him the dark side. Where he would redeem himself and be reunited with you as your force ghost had waited a long time for him to join you in the afterlife. Together, you both spend an eternity together without having to suffer ever again.

#hayden christensen #Hayden christensen x reader #anakin #anakin skywalker #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin fanfiction #anakin x you #anakin x reader #anakin skywalker x reader smut #anakin skywalker angst #anakin angst #star wars #Star Wars angst #obi wan kenobi #obi wan and anakin #darth vader #Darth Vader angst #darth vader x reader

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sideprince · 1 year

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This part of Snape's memories that he gives to Harry has been talked to death, but please indulge me while I dig it back up because meta rests for no man. Emphases in the below excerpt are mine:

The corridor dissolved, and the scene took a little longer to reform: Harry seemed to fly through shifting shapes and colours until his surroundings solidified again and he stood on a hilltop, forlorn and cold in the darkness, the wind whistling through the branches of a few leafless trees. The adult Snape was panting, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, waiting for something or for someone … his fear infected Harry, too, even though he knew that he could not be harmed, and he looked over his shoulder, wondering what it was that Snape was waiting for - Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the air: Harry thought of lightning, but Snape had dropped to his knees and his wand had flown out of his hand. ‘Don’t kill me!’ ‘That was not my intention.’ Any sound of Dumbledore Apparating had been drowned by the sound of the wind in the branches. He stood before Snape with his robes whipping around him, and his face was illuminated from below in the light cast by his wand. ‘Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?' 'No - no message - I’m here on my own account!’ Snape was wringing his hands: he looked a little mad, with his straggling, black hair flying around him. ‘I - I come with a warning - no, a request - please -‘ Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though leaves and branches still flew through the night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other. ‘What request could a Death Eater make of me?’ ‘The - the prophecy … the prediction … Trelawney …’ ‘Ah, yes,’ said Dumbledore. ‘How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?’ ‘Everything - everything I heard!’ said Snape. ‘That is why - it is for that reason - he thinks it means Lily Evans!’ ‘The prophecy did not refer to a woman,’ said Dumbledore. ‘It spoke of a boy born at the end of July -‘ ‘You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down - kill them all -‘ ‘If she means so much to you,’ said Dumbledore, ‘surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?' 'I have - I have asked him -‘ ‘You disgust me,’ said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little. ‘You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?’ Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore. ‘Hide them all, then,’ he croaked. ‘Keep her - them - safe. Please.’ ‘And what will you give me in return, Severus?’ ‘In - in return?’ Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, ‘Anything.'

Firstly what stands out here is that that Snape is the first one to refer to Harry and James and not just Lily, not Dumbledore. Snape says, "he is going to hunt her down - kill them all" showing that from the outset he was aware of not just Lily's fate, but her husband's and son's as well. His warning to Dumbledore takes them into consideration too, so from the outset we see that Dumbledore's assumptions are likely biased.

It's Dumbledore who assumes Snape is only thinking about Lily and doesn't care about her family. Although Snape is clearly more invested in Lily, focusing on her as Voldemort's target when he first speaks, he doesn't exhibit the selfish tunnel vision Dumbledore accuses him of. In fact, immediately after Snape says "them all" it's Dumbledore who changes the conversation to be specifically about Lily again. It's understandable that Snape is more concerned about Lily - she's the one he grew up with and was friends with, although it's likely Dumbledore doesn't know this, and may never learn the full extent of Snape's relationship to her, not even to the extent that he shares with Harry in his final memories. Snape refers to her as Lily Evans, not Potter, likely because he's so used to Evans being her name, having spent his whole childhood knowing her by it. His relationship with James was one of victim to abuser, so it's understandable that in this moment of panic and anxiety, James Potter isn't the most important thing in Snape's mind.

It's important to how the dynamics between Snape and Dumbledore play out in this scene that Snape is terrified. He's described as "panting, turning on the spot" and his fear is so palpable that even Harry feels it, though he knows he's safe and in a memory where he can't be harmed. Snape is coming into this conversation out of desperation, and trusting a man who didn't seem to care much when Snape's life was threatened by a fellow student in his fifth year at Hogwarts. To Snape, Dumbledore is the man who let Sirius' prank slide even though it could have killed him. Years after this scene on the hilltop, when Sirius escapes from Azkaban, he still asserts with viciousness that Snape deserved to die just for being too nosy about him and his friends. So to Snape, Dumbledore is the man who let that attempt on his life slide, and who invited Sirius and James - both his attackers, as far as he's concerned - to join the original Order of the Phoenix.

To Snape, Dumbledore is someone who doesn't care if he lives or dies, and who trusts and respects people who, as far as Snape is concerned, are violent and ruthless. This is compounded by the time he's spent in Voldemort's ranks, where's he's seen firsthand what people like that - violent and ruthless - are capable of. He likely sees Dumbledore as a leader who is just as volatile as Voldemort. Since we know that Voldemort doesn't believe in light and dark, good or bad, only in power and weakness, we can assume that Snape has taken on some of these ideas. His perspective may also be informed by his experiences with the bullying of the Marauders, who claimed to hate his proclivity for "dark" magic while perverting innocent spells like scourgify to enact violence (if you've ever tried to eat soap as a kid, you can imagine how vile that might be, let alone if it's blocking the airflow in your trachea). So in Snape's eyes, Dumbledore is probably not the light to Voldemort's dark, but a rival wizard fighting for power, and therefore someone he likely assumes will resort to similar brutality.

As far as Snape is concerned, Dumbledore could strike him dead just for being there. And yet he walks into this meeting, the arrangement of which is already a mortal risk, knowing he might not leave it alive. His first words to the man are, "Don't kill me." Even if he were there just to plead for Lily's life and not care about her family, his willingness to sacrifice himself to save her is already an act of bravery and frankly, I think it's a much more complicated moral dilemma whether one can choose who to give their own life for than Dumbledore's harsh condemnation makes it seem. Can we expect a man to risk his life for a friend? That's a question with a complex and multi-faceted variety of answers. Can we expect him to risk his life for an enemy, or an abuser? That's a long and complex answer with even fewer clear conclusions.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, sees himself in Snape. We see through the HP series, especially in this reveal at the end, how intertwined his relationship with Snape became. We learn that Dumbledore spends his life carrying the guilt and pain of his sister's death and his direct or indirect role in it. It's a pretty common reading of his and Snape's relationship that Dumbledore understood the depth and irrevocability of Snape's regret and guilt firsthand. Knowing all this, it's hard to read Dumbledore's judgment of Snape on the hilltop, and his immediately conclusion that Snape is only interested in protecting Lily - despite warning that Voldemort intends to "kill them all" - as being objective. I read it as Dumbledore projecting his own guilt and anxiety onto Snape in that moment. In addition, as @said-snape-softly pointed out to me very aptly, the prophecy was overheard in the Hog's Head, which is run by Dumbledore's brother Aberforth, adding onto Dumbledore's personal baggage coming out in this moment. Dumbledore's own feelings are loaded and he makes assumptions about Snape's goals and motivations out of his own anxieties about himself.

And Snape lets him. He's been under Voldemort's thumb, a murderous sociopath who throws unforgivable curses around like most people sneeze. He's desperate and terrified and isn't going to argue with Dumbledore. Dumbledore says, "Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?" and Snape replies that he has. But as we've seen already, Snape has included Harry and James and Dumbledore - as the person with all the power and leverage in this conversation - has changed the subject to focus on Lily. Snape is in no position to argue about semantics in this moment. The same way he brought up Harry and James to Dumbledore only for them to be ignored by him, he may have brought them up to Voldemort only for him to react similarly.

Given what we know about Voldemort as a character, once he has decided to go after Harry and not Neville, there's no changing his mind. Any effort made to sway him would fail and only add the asker to the pile of bodies Voldemort leaves in his wake. James and Lily are both targets, because canonically they have defied Voldemort three times and are members of the Order fighting against his cause. Snape may be able to beg for Lily's life - and we see that Voldemort assumed it was because he "desired her" - but James' is almost impossible to argue on behalf of, even if he wanted to. Snape can't claim any intimate connection even if it's a lie, because James is in the Order and enough of an enemy to Voldemort that he was targeted on the basis of Trelawney's prophecy. The fact that Snape went to Dumbledore means that he is asking for Lily's whole family to be protected, not just her. It's not just extra insurance in case Voldemort decides to kill everyone in his path to Harry, it's an effort to save Lily and the people who matter to her as well. Snape knows that Dumbledore will give them a fighting chance where Voldemort won't.

When Dumbledore accuses Snape of not caring if they live or die, Snape says nothing. He doesn't confirm or deny this accusation, and as we've seen, he's terrified and Dumbledore has already twisted his words and judged him, so it's reasonable to assume Snape is worried that if he says the wrong thing, all will be lost. Dumbledore could have just accepted Snape's warning and told him to leave. He could have accepted the warning and asked why Snape gave it. Instead, he jumped to conclusions and threw them in Snape's face, a frightened man risking his life who learned quickly in this conversation that Dumbledore hates him and is judging him, and who learned while still at school that Dumbledore doesn't value his perspective or even his very life.

And then Dumbledore asks him, "what will you give me in return?" Snape is caught off guard, because as far as he knew, he was already doing Dumbledore a favor. He's offering him free information that will enable him to protect two of his Order members when the Death Eaters already outnumber them twenty to one, as Lupin said in OOtP. Again, Snape is risking his life - if Voldemort finds out he had this conversation with Dumbledore, he's definitely dead. As far as he knows, Dumbledore could kill him, as his opening sentence in this scene shows. And yet, Dumbledore turns this around - like the tactical, manipulative military leader he is - and posits the situation as being one in which he's doing Snape a favor by heeding his warning. As if he were choosing to protect Lily and her family for Snape's sake, not his own, and not theirs. Many years later, Dumbledore will ask Snape how many people he's watched die, and Snape answers, "lately only those I could not save." But in this moment on the hilltop, that's already what Snape is doing.

#meta #long post #back on my bullshit

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aonungyoufuck · 2 years

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Runaway {Part 4}

Masterlist

DNI/BYF

Synopsis: Ao'nung and you have a talk behind some rocks. And oh oh whats this? A baby??

It had been around a week or so. You had finally been healed enough that Ronal saw fit to train you a little. Finally being able to go home. You thanked your stars that all you had to do now was eat some stew here and there for the internal pain you still felt.

“Good. This is good'' Ronal complimented your craftsmanship on the basket you had weaved. You weren’t allowed to train in anything else. Tsireya was there for that. But she had asked you for a basket and a blanket. Aside from the proper paste that would dissolve the umbilical cord without hurting the babe or Ronal.

“Thank you!” You nodded, bowing your head. “I will like to make your babe another Blanket. If it is alright with you”

“That is fine.”

“I know you said i cant help deliver the babe. I do know how to if you ever need extra help.” You hadn’t really delivered a lot of babies. But Your mother and grandmother had allowed you and Kiri to train for the woman of your old clan.

“ I am aware, thank you. If you dont mind. Ill go make your food.” She stood up with your help as you handed her the basket. “You go on and get going. Remember no going until the water just yet”

You nodded bidding her goodbye as you watched her go.

Walking home you didnt expect much to happen. Didn’t expect to be stopped. But feeling the slightest of tugs on your hand you looked.

To Your Surprise it was Rotxo.

“Oh? Is there something you need?”

“Come with me”

With not much thought you followed after. You didnt know why, or perhaps you did. But you just knew this was because of Ao’nung.

In the time you been healing you had spend the most time with him. It was nice to have a friend in him too. And maybe your heart ached a little when you saw him. Whenever he was close to you.

You had gone crazy. You knew. All your life you had wanted nothing than to prove your spot to your family. But as of late all you could think about was a mate.

You were growing older. And soon if things work out correctly. You’ll be an adult in the eyes of the clan. You had hoped it was going to work. All you really had was to bond with a tulkun and Tame a skimwing. And had you not been shot close to your heart. Perhaps you wouldn’t have to stop your progress.

“Where are we going?”

“Ao’nung is wanting to meet you near the Reef. But away from prying eyes”

There it was. That hint that he would be there to see you. For what you weren’t sure.

“Sounds like he wants to kill me”

At that he let out a hefty laugh. And it was nice to finally hear it. You hadn’t realized it. But your near death had caused almost everyone to dim their light. “I think its more to help you train on taming a skimwing”

“Wow jumping to training already”

“He has good reason for it too”

You could only smile. The faintest of little hope you had lighting up. Warming your chest with a feeling you didn’t know of.

“He’s past that rock over there. I'm heading home. I still have an awful lot of chores to do.” Rotxo spoke as he started running back.

You watched him go. Before walking over the rocks and finally seeing the open sea. And there Ao’nung was.

“Tame a skimwing huh? Forgot i cant go into the water just yet?”

“Oh hush i thought you may appreciate some alone time from everyone”

“That would include you Genius”

He could only mock a laugh. Watching as you sat down beside him.Something about the past few days had changed everything about your dynamic. Things were different. The looks were passionate and other worldly. And all you two wanted and mutually understood is that you were better together alone.

“Ao’nung may i .. say something?”

“If its stupid no”

“Wow thanks” You muttered looking out to sea. “When..When our time comes to find mates Do you think we could still enjoy moments like this?”

“What?” you could barely make out what he said. A longing whisper in the wind.

“I Know your nearly done with your. Well you know. I have no doubt once you become an adult in the eyes of your people that. That you will have to find a mate some time soon” and a stinging pain deep in your core wanted to hiss. To think of it was something else. But you would have to learn to live with it. “I just hope that. That when that happens. That we would still be able to talk. And to have moments like this. Tho they are rare and often times distant”

“ And who says that i will have a mate?”

You could only chuckle at that. “Well it is to happen. You are nearly done with your Training. And im sure your mother would like to get started with the next Tsahik training you know?”

“Do you have any in mind?”

You looked at him. Eye to eye. It felt surreal to see him like this. Like it was only you two in the world. And it made your heart beat to a rhythm you knew all to well. You felt it once before. When a boy you fancied back home looked your way. But this was strange. It was stronger and truer than anything else.

“I do…but it cannot happen”

“Why is that? When you complete the last task you can chose of any man you want”

“But i cannot have him” You admitted.

And Ao’nung seem to understand. Somewhere in his heart he felt light. And like he could fly so high at the thought of you choosing him. You didn’t have to say it. You didnt need to say it with words for he already knew too.

“ I would run to you more than anyone else”

“What-”

“I would split the sea if you so much as asked. I would do anything and everything for you. And if you asked me for the farthest star in the universe i would do it too. What ever you so much as wish for at your beck and call i would do it” He spoke holding your hand in his.

Your heart sped. It continued at a pace you were sure was unhealthy. But hearing those sweet nothing made your head spin

“Without you all that’s joyous becomes like mud. Instead of rejoicing i shed tears. My spirit is never at joy if not around you.For in the world under Eywa. There is no woman born so lovable so dear to my heart, who loves me without feigning, with such a deep love” He continued to look at you. Looking into your soul, you felt light .

You couldn’t believe your ears as your cheeks burned with a want just as he. You wanted him You did but you just couldn’t you knew.

“What are you saying Ao’nung” you questioned. Entangling your hands together as you could only stare at him. Was he always this handsome? Did he always make your heart race this way?

“You alone are my love and longing. You are the sweet cooling of my mind that makes the days chores bearable. No joy for me anywhere without you here” Ao’nung didn’t know where this was coming from. Something in him just had to get it out. He just knew.

He knew that he should have waited. Given this more time. To bloom. But you two were so close. He only had one step to go and you two. And he wanted everything to be said now before you ever thought of someone else but him at your side.

He was crazy. But he already knew that. Ever since you had spend the most time with him and his family. He just knew. He knew he had to say what was so deeply rooted in his heart.

“Ao’nung… We can’t I am the outsider do you not remember? You are The Future Olo’eyktan. You are the son of a promising Clan. What would your people think if… If we did mate?”

“ I will take no other woman if you do not choose me. For no other one has made me feel like i can take on the world”

His hand now grabbed your wrist. Placing it on his chest. You could feel his heart. It beat so gently and you swore at the tune of your own.

You did want this. Wanted to feel this love blossom because you knew that you couldn’t go against what Eywa put in front of you. Perhaps you too had gone mad. “Ao’nung… i”

Feeling his breathe next to your lips. A gentle look as he saw deep into your eyes. “If you choose me. I'd be the happiest i could ever be”

“Ao’nung…”

“Y/n! There you are! Come hurry Mother’s about to go into labor” You heard Tsireya yell from across the rocks.

“Lets go. But whatever you decide please let me know as i will wait until you are ready” Ao’nung confessed. As he guided you back to the Clan.

But right now you had to think of something else instead of what your heart wanted. And cracked so hard for.

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

Taglist:

@simp-erformarvelwomen

@luvlykrispy

#ao'nung x reader #aonung x reader #ao’nung x reader #ao’nung x you #ao'nung #avatar the way of water #Atwow #atwow imagines #atwow x reader #ao'nung x y/n #avatar rotxo #atwow fluff

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hexpea · 7 months

Text

Ch. 1 - Divorcee

"You've got to be joking," you shook your head, completely baffled at the news you had just heard from the city clerk sitting behind tempered glass. They gave you an empathetic stare in return, a small, awkward smile on their face.

Your fiancé, Seiko, looked at you, also bewildered to the news that they had just heard. You'd kept it a well-tucked away secret up to that point in your relationship, but the cat was very out of the bag at this point.

"It's been three years, how could it have gone overlooked for this long?" You whined angrily to the poor, glorified secretary in front of you. You weren't paying any mind to the look of dismay Seiko was giving you. You had flames of anger in your eyes, nothing could distract from the rage you felt at the major inconvenience that was your ex-husband. You knew him to be arrogant, immature, impolite...the list could go on.

"I'm sorry, Ms. L/N, but we can't process the marriage certificate until your previous marriage to..." they trailed off to look at the name on their computer screen once again, "Satoru Gojo...is fully dissolved. There's nothing I can do, it needs his signature for final processing."

You took a deep breath, realizing there really wasn't anything you could do. "Thank you," you tried to contain your anger. As you spoke, the clerk handed over the paperwork you needed to finish things off with your previous marriage.

With what you needed in your hands, the two of you left the city clerk's office. You kept a straight face, meanwhile Seiko was positively seething. There was a sense of betrayal from such a serious secret being kept for the entirety of your two year relationship.

"Y/N," Seiko started with concern once you were out of earshot of the general public, "you didn't tell me you were married before."

You sighed as the two of you walked toward the subway, heading down the stairs and toward the terminal. "It's a long story," you replied in a soft tone, realizing that your serious secret could have done some major damage to your current relationship. "I kept it in for a reason."

"Well, now it's out and I need to know about it," Seiko said sternly as the two of you scanned your passes and began your wait for the ride home. "Y/N, I love you, but you can't just pass this off as if it was nothing," they hissed, trying to keep their voice low so others nearby wouldn't hear.

"Let's get home first, I'll tell you everything," you closed your eyes as if to try and meditate away the headache forming in your temples.

When the two of you returned home, you got comfortable in preparation to spill the details on your little secret. Seiko sat down with you on your sofa in your shared apartment. The two of you lived in Hokkaido. You had moved this far after your 'divorce' on purpose, in order to escape a past you longed to forget. You lived humbly, but it was a happy humble.

"Do you remember what I told you about my family?" You asked Seiko who was staring at you intently as the two of you lounged on the sofa.

"They're sorcerers, right?" They replied. When you had originally told them about your family they didn't believe it. It was a power they'd only seen in movies, so they were immediately starstruck. They didn't ask much about it out of respect for you, but that didn't stop them from ignorantly researching from time to time.

You nodded toward their response. "Right, there's a lot of...bureaucracy within that community. It's almost like it's own governmental body," you awkwardly laughed to yourself for a moment, "a lot of the time, the Japanese government has to speak to us first regarding certain matters." How you spoke of this 'community' made it seem incredibly serious to Seiko, their heart fluttered from the stress of your statement. "Essentially, families involved, certain families, have sorcery that can be and have to be passed down through generations. We all play a part."

You began to recall the moment you were pulled into that room those years ago, a recent graduate of the technical college, newly aged nineteen.

You came from a lineage of 'imbuers.' With a technique not made for combat, your family's power involved imbuing and maintaining cursed objects; something only your family could do. Though it was not often needed, it was still a critical part in the community, critical enough for your family to be considered a part of one of the 'big three' but not enough to make it the 'big four.' Though this did mean your family had a certain closeness to those three other families: Kamo, Zenin, and Gojo.

You had been called to the Gojo estate after work, it was a job you had recently acquired to keep yourself busy and to gain a sense of independence from your smothering family. Your parents were already there after attending a previous meeting with the head of said clan. You weren't told the subject of the meeting, just that it would be between your parents and the head of the Gojo family. Per usual for these visits, you wore a traditional kimono. It's fabric and tightness noticeably uncomfortable after your long work day. You could think of a thousand different places you'd rather be.

You were lead into one of the smaller rooms toward the back of the estate, your sock feet shuffling along the wood floors. An attendant slid back the shoji door for you to find yourself being the last one to arrive.

Your parents, as well as the head of the Gojo clan and his wife, knelt on one side of a low table, their hands folded in their laps and a formal, somber look on their faces. Notably, their son who was also your age, Satoru Gojo, sat opposite of them with an open spot next to him clearly meant for you.

He turned his head back to look at you as you entered, black sunglasses perched upon his nose. He had a pearly white smile on his face as he playfully patted the zabuton next to him to which his father gave him a stern look that Satoru ignored. You lightly rolled your eyes and took your assigned place next to him. He, too, was forced to wear a yukata for the formality of such a meeting.

You cleared your throat and cautiously looked at each of them only to receive no response to your sudden presence other than their intense stares.

"Um," your voice was mouse-like, "what's going on here? Why...did you all summon us like this?" Satoru's presence was certainly a surprise. Usually these meetings were about an object needing imbued where only the family heads were involved.

You noticed your parents exchanging a nervous glance at one another before looking back at you. Your mother shifted and looked toward her lap as your father took the lead. The head Gojo and his wife kept their stoic expressions.

"We've gathered you here to discuss an important matter," your father's voice almost shook in intimidation, "it concerns the future of our families and our...clans."

"You see," your mother chimed in to give her cautious support, "there has been an...arrangement made between our families."

Knowing where this was going without needing to be told, Satoru smiled once again and placed his hands behind his head, stretching, in preparation for the big reveal. You gave your mother a look that egged her on, a look of extreme concern. You felt the beating in your chest increase as if your heart had suddenly become a steel hammer.

"It's a marriage proposal, dear," Satoru's mother piped up seriously, her voice regal but still with a hint of warmth. Her husband's stare, however... It was no wonder your parents were intimidated every time the Gojos came around.

You felt a moment of shock, frustration, and disbelief to what you had just heard. There was no way in this day and age that this was happening. Your mind raced in search of an appropriate way to respond, an appropriate way to reject the idea. It couldn't come to you.

"A marriage proposal, are you serious?" You looked between the four of them with your eyes wide, your adolescence showing through. Your voice was shaky, a tinge of incredulity to it.

"As serious as a heart attack," Satoru sighed happily, still wearing his infuriatingly cheerful smile as if this wasn't a huge deal. He seemed completely at ease with the situation. He was clearly used to these types of 'situations' being from the top family in the realm of jujutsu.

Your father nodded earnestly, "Yes, we are. It's a...proposition that could...solidify the bonds between our clans and...ensure our continued prosperity." That was it...money. They were doing this for money. Your heart felt like it had angrily snapped in two.

"And it's not a decision we've taken lightly, dear. We've thought long and hard about it," your mother's voice was sweet, but what you heard was absolute betrayal falling from her lips.

Seeing your disbelief, Satoru's father responded with a composed tone of anger. "It is necessary for our clan to produce an heir to keep the balance of society," Satoru's father finally spoke, his aging brow seriously furrowed. "Our son is the last of our name. It is of utmost importance that the Six Eyes as well as Limitless go on and we need to ensure that happens. Especially considering the recent events involving the special grade curse user Geto Suguru."

Satoru's smile was quickly erased at the mention of his best friend's name. It was something he never wanted to think about again if he could.

You couldn't believe what you were hearing; marrying someone you hardly thought of as a friend, let alone a romantic partner, was unthinkable. The absurdity of it all made you want to laugh but you could tell from the air in the room alone that this was no joke.

"I..." your voice shook as you struggled to maintain your composure, "I can't believe this. We hardly know one another and you expect us to get married?!"

Satoru, who was leaning on his hands as he sat on his own zabuton, taking things so nonchalantly, leaned forward to capture your attention. It was hard to look away from his bright blue eyes as they carelessly stared at you from behind his black lenses.

"Look, I know it's unexpected, but maybe it's not so bad, right?" He was trying to play mediator here. He, too, had absolutely no interest in having a wife. He just wanted his family to shut up about it; he'd deal with the consequences of ultimately having no heir later.

You shot him an incredulous look, almost flinching at his words. "Seriously, Gojo? You think this is a good idea?"

He shrugged, a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Who knows? We might surprise ourselves. Plus, we've known each other for a long time, right?"

Since birth, you thought to yourself. He was essentially a childhood best friend that had drifted away in your teen years. At this point, you'd call yourselves acquaintances if anything.

You couldn't help but roll your eyes again at his casual attitude. The weight of the situation bore down on you, and you turned back to your parents. "Can we at least discuss this further? I need some time to think about it."

Just before your sentence ended and your parents had a chance to respond, the head of the Gojo clan answered with a booming voice. "There is no further need for discussion. We have made our decision and the two of you will wed within the year."

You were taken aback by his forceful insistence. It was clear that he was not open to any type of negotiations or delays. The situation had taken a sharp and unexpected turn, and it seemed as though your fate had been sealed without any say in the matter. The days ahead would be filled with uncertainty and apprehension as you faced the reality of an impending marriage to Satoru Gojo, whether you liked it or not.

#gojo satoru x reader #satoru gojo x reader #gojo satoru x you #satoru gojo x you #gojo satoru x y/n #satoru gojo x y/n #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #gojou satoru #satoru gojou #gojou satoru x reader #satoru gojou x reader #gojou satoru x you #satoru gojou x you #gojou satoru x y/n #satoru gojou x y/n #jjk #jujutsu kaisen

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circledotdestroy · 6 months

Text

Retrospective - Chapter 4: Professional Conversations

Pairing: Shouta Aizawa x F! Pro-Hero! Reader (the slowest burn) Main summary: After 12 years, you, Pro-Hero Strife, has to return to Japan. Your objective: discreetly track down and capture Akari Kaneko, a.k.a. Pro-Hero Aegis— your old classmate who attacked you during her visit in America. In the aftermath of All Might losing his power, however, using UA resources has its complications. The most unexpected complication being Aizawa, someone you never expected to see again. Why does your past have to come back to haunt you now? Masterlist First Chapter Last Chapter Word Count: 5,708

A/N: So Aizawa decided to comeback finally the other day... How are we feeling? Anyway, I hope this helps the manga readers. (I'm so sorry it's been over a month, life decided to throw me at the wall a few times. Because I've been struggling with posting chapters as often as I want to, I've decided after this one I will be cutting down the size. I hope it works out for the best, but that means there will be a larger number of chapters. I hope those of you that read my story don't care too much) (Also where the hell is Mic???)

For the rest of the meeting you stood breathless. Heart gushing blood through your ears. The words of your proposal dissolved as everything after cemented arrangements flowed into nothingness. You smiled, nodded, and told your new boss you understood his terms as his words reached your ears. Yet you grasped at nothing.

Nezu left the room satisfied. Said something about signing and a new ID. On his way out he wished you the best working for Eraser’s class. You did well, you think.

When Nezu was gone, heavy thunking and a giant shadow from the corner of your eye irritated you out of your trance. It was Mic, jiggling the briefcase by the handle. Your laptop was still in there! Slightly annoyed, you swiped at the handle to snatch it back. Mic pulled it away before you could, saying something about how he knows you can grab it, and to “try harder”.

You rolled your eyes in a huff, though now wasn’t a good time to break character. Right? You looked around the bright room and almost everyone was gone. The clock on the wall ticked away as you tried to place when everyone left on a timeline. Nemuri waved on her way out, All Might gave you a thumbs up. This was maybe five to seven minutes after you volunteered your time thoughtlessly. When the vote was over, the only people who needed to be in the room was you, Nezu, and—

You turned to the right of Mic’s chair. Eraser finished gathering his folders from his table. Nezu left the details of your position to him. There were many questions you had about being an advisor, but the main one was ‘what does Eraser have in mind?’ Eraser went around the table. Before you finished thinking you’d need to stop him to clarify your new temp job, he joined you and Mic in the center of the room.

In typical fashion, Mic caught on and spoke up before you thought of how to open. “You’re working with Strife then, Eraser? You excited?”

Eraser huffed, ignoring his question. Whether he regretted agreeing to the arrangement already, or he was annoyed Mic brought it up, you weren’t sure. So much for fostering a good professional relationship. You understood though. Just because something is objectively better, like having someone help you prepare twenty kids for a grueling exam, doesn’t mean it’s what you wanted. “I need to talk to Strife. Alone.”

Mic’s grin left his face as he looked at you then back at Eraser then back at you. “Alright,” his smile came back as he shrugged. Mic flipped your briefcase over his shoulder and walked toward the door, leaving you with the friend-of-a-friend. “Try not to keep her too long!” Eraser watched Mic leave the room. In the silence, the conversation you had earlier came to your mind again. Now that you owe him, thinking of how you stormed off earlier made you want to ask Mic to stay. Not out of fear, but because he’d make this interaction less uncomfortable.

But it was too late when the door shut.

You and Eraser. Alone. In a bright, empty room. There’s no need for played up charisma—not when he was past it all and knew you were full of it. Eraser, unexpectedly, held out the folders to you. Grabbing the small stack cautiously with both hands, you thought back to your earlier theory about the folders holding information meant to cast you out. If that was the case then he wouldn’t give you these now. Not when he can hold the folders as leverage for later. Eraser didn’t say a word until you flipped open the first folder, on the top there was a school photo of a boy with red hair. “My class starts training today in Gamma at 9:30.” Toward the middle there was another picture of him in the UA gym uniform. One of his arms was rigid like the side of a cliff, while the other looked normal. “Those contain the information of a few students in my class, I’ll give you more later. I want them to work on creating Ultimate Moves for the exams.”

That’s it?

Eraser could’ve done that without you. Why would he agree to the deal, if the training was independent work?

Your finger traced the paper up to the lines next to the headshot of the boy. The first line should be his name. Squinting at the page, your eyes bounced across the paper. The page was incomprehensible, a salad of lines and squares. You closed the folder and looked at the gray capture weapon again, it was easier to see what actions he’d take if you looked around his shoulders. “It’d be best if I observe the students before I read the files.”

Eraser shifted his weight to one leg, causing a shift where his weapon overlapped. “Any reason why?” His weapon was too clean for it to be used frequently. Maybe he got it replaced recently? Yet again, with everything you heard about the school, his students fighting off villains without licenses… it’d make sense if he was sidelined from doing hero work if his teaching his class was a handful.

“I want to judge them myself,” you answered, mirroring his stance. You lowered the folders in front of your body. Eraser made no moves to take them from you. “Judges don’t read about people taking the test before the exam. It’s like how students don’t meet judges grading the exam. It plays into…” you tried to find the right word. An equivalent to “impressions”, but drawn blank. You raised a gloved hand to pick the word out of the air. Eraser just leaned back with a vacant stare making it harder to concentrate. You closed your eyes and sighed as you settled on “-first sight, if you understand.”

When you opened your eyes, Eraser gave no input of his own. He stared blankly, with nothing to suggest he knew what you meant.

Language switching wouldn’t be acceptable with him like it would be with Hizashi. If you were supposed to give advice to students, then you’d need to communicate clearly. How often would you have to play Word Find in front of teenagers? If you wanted to stay here long enough to locate Akari—hell, if you wanted to investigate in Japan, you needed to get your act together. And quick. “It would also help if they are focused on their training, not a stranger in the room.” While you figure out the mechanics of their quirks, you can have some time to think about and practice what you’ll say. It’ll be just like the first year.

“My students won’t get distracted,” Eraser crossed his arms, with an edge in his voice. Defensive? “But fine. It’s logical enough. We’ll still meet at Gamma and set something up for you to get the information needed, but the class still has to meet you today. There’s only 10 days of training, no time should be wasted.”

Fair enough. If they’re training ultimate moves, you only need a little time to get the gist of their quirks for day one. Details can come later. It should give you enough time for a language refresher. “Anything else?”

Glancing at the ground, his boots pointed toward the door. Unlike his weapon, those were scuffed and broken in. The man is as ready to leave as you are. “We have everything covered. For now. We can talk more after you observe the class. We’ll discuss more when the time comes. For now, we’re building their strengths and hammering out weak points.”

The conversation ended and he finished, about to walk out the door. Footsteps thudded against the hard floor as he made his exit. You thought you were ready to see him leave, but “Wait—!”

Eraser paused.

The hand raised toward him recoiled into a loose fist. You put it away before he turned back. When he did, your eyes trailed to his boots again. “The way I walked out…” They were pointed toward you, and not the door. Good to know you had his full attention this time around. He hummed, that type of thing would be hard to forget in less than a few hours. You tried to find the rest of your sentence and got stuck at a fork in the road.

Were you supposed to say an apology you didn’t mean?

You weren’t sorry about why you left. In fact, business and gratitude aside, you were still mad at him. Not that it matters. “I didn’t act my best,” you said, looking up from the ground. What you feel now— it means nothing.

The man blinked slowly then glanced off to the side closest to the door. Bored already… Him listening to what you had to say was only professional courtesy.

“I didn’t act my best. You’re giving me this opportunity to let me complete my mission faster, and you don’t have to.” You were going to work with him. You’ll help his class. All of them will get their license. In return, you’ll get the answers you need. When all is said and done, Eraser won’t ever see the Pro-Hero Strife again. “Thank you, Eraser.” Words fell out smooth as sand on your tongue, but you can look at his face again.

Eraser rubbed the back of his neck, dodging your gaze by glancing at the ceiling. “If you judged licensing exams before then you’re an asset. Letting you investigate here is a rational trade, I’d be an idiot to vote against it,” he explained listlessly, meeting your eyes toward the end.

You nodded. “Of course…” After a hectic few hours, this was how your conflict ended. All personal grudges all under the bridge… Just like that.

Because you two are adults. Two adults with jobs to do– professionals.

You walked past the other hero, your short-term coworker, explained how you didn’t want to keep Mic waiting. He understood, told you he’d have more information ready later. Both of you went into the hallway. Mic was trying really hard to make it look like he wasn’t listening in. Mic tried dodging the suspicion by bringing up food. Fortunately for him, with the way you’ve been using your power– on top of the healing quirk, you needed calories. Enough to fill a black hole with the way your stomach squeezed. Eraser didn’t have the same worries as you. In seconds, he was long in the opposite direction and you were fine.

Mic led you around campus talking about Lunchrush, another member of UA’s immortality club. With your past experience in the kitchen, a new respect toward the man has grown. He was in charge of preparing enough food for hundreds of people. Showing up unannounced for food felt like an invasion. Lunchrush would have little use for American currency. You really should stop at the bank to make an exchange soon. When you arrived at the cafeteria Mic gave your briefcase back, told you to wait while he worked his “magic”. He strolled backward into the kitchen door, finger guns blazing, to the orchestra of scraping metal. Not long after he came out of the kitchen holding two trays. One with a giant bowl and another with four smaller ones on them. You went to help him but he pointed his chin to a nearby table for you to sit. You hurried to the table, pulling one chair out for Mic then going around to the chair closest to the wall for you to sit.

“Lunchrush thought the request was weird for this time of day, but I figured it’d be closer to dinner for you.” Mic put the tray with smaller dishes on his side of the table. Savory steam floated from his food. His tray had savory broth and spring onion with either soft tofu or an onsen egg (it was hard to tell from your angle), plain rice, the fluffiest rolled omelet, and a strip of tender salmon. It was a feast for the eyes and you can almost taste it on your tongue.

You looked at Hizashi before you drooled over the table like a rabid animal. From your angle, it seemed as if there were no side dishes on the tray he was still carrying. His buckling elbow told you the bowl was heavy. “I tried to get your favorite, but you usually brought your own thing when you finally learned to cook for yourself.” He went to place your food on the table. When you reached to grab the tray, Mic pulled it away. You raised your eyebrow at him. The joke would’ve been more funny if your stomach wasn’t clawing inward to digest itself. Hizashi held the tray closer to you, but pulled it away when you tried grabbing it again.

“Excuse me?”

You expected him to laugh in your face then give you your meal, but his expression hadn’t changed from the slightly amused smile from earlier. The tray floated further from your reach as the man before you held the tray high like he was the cover model posing for Waiter’s Weekly. Hizashi looked down, his pose statue-esque. “You never said anything about Kaneko visiting you.”

You put your hands under the table. Once shielded under the table, your fingers interlaced firmly. “I didn’t mean to make you look bad, I’m sorry.” You really were, you’d apologize even if the beloved sustenance was in your grasp. Peering up again, the statue pose relaxed, but Hizashi made no moves to hand you the tray. “The case has been a lot, I guess,” you couldn’t truthfully tell him you forgot to say anything.

“Right—it just slipped your mind.” Mic teased with lasers scanning across your body. You stopped leaning over the table and forced yourself to sit straight. The wound became slightly itchy– a small price to pay. Was he going to ask about you calling him? “I’m gonna keep it real, you’ve been forgetting about a lot of things.”

“I’m not the only one,” you thought, focus gliding to empty tables toward your right until you heard a sigh.

“You’re talking about Aizawa?” The plastic tray thudded on the table. A treacherous scrap made you wince when Hizashi pulled his chair further out to join you at the table. “I wasn’t trying to blindside you either.”

Steam curled into the air from the large bowl creating a veil between the two of you. Your fingers laced tighter, expecting Hizashi to say something else. Unless it was your turn to speak. You acknowledge his statement with a small nod. You moved your tray closer to your end of the table, hot vapor hit your face. You looked into the bowl. Hizashi got you a bowl of udon. The noodles were abundant with just enough rich broth, and it was topped with a crazy amount of vegetables and protein—the perfect thing for your current situation. In spite of your hunger, a lump formed in your throat. Most udon wasn’t supposed to include all these toppings, there was only one restaurant you remember including this much food without having to add on. Hizashi wasn’t playing around with what he said earlier.

“What are we waiting for,” Hizashi asked, breaking the tension. “Let’s eat!”

The two of you dug into your meals. As experience taught you, eating good food really does help move pain along. When you get the opportunity to combine the nutrients with sleep, you should feel a whole lot better the next time you wake up.

“How do you feel,” asked Hizashi.

You hummed with a slight jerk, worried he remembered your end of the call from days ago. When you processed the teasing edge to his voice, you relaxed.

“Mentor Strife coming out of retirement, didn’t think I’d live to see the day.” Mic had a cocky smile. “And after you told me you couldn’t multitask—”

“Not multitasking.” While you didn’t plan for this to be the mission, the mission is what the mission becomes. In this case the mission is finding Akari and helping Eraser’s students pass their test. The latter is secondary, but you know better than to walk around owing people. “I’m not mentoring students.” The students don’t need one–they already have teachers. “I’m helping them pass a test. That’s it.”

Mic pouted mockingly toward you and you mirrored him briefly before drinking some broth. “Not gonna stay to celebrate after? That’s cold,” Mic shook his head, pointing his chopsticks at you lightheartedly.

“By the time of the exam, there shouldn’t be a reason why I’m still at school. I need to finish work here before the hotel bill gets expensive. I want to go back to work soon.”

“Stay at the dorms then! We have all the room in the world. Unless…” Mic trails off, and you already know where this is going. “Personal feelings getting in the way of your job?”

You drop your spoon into the bowl tight-lipped. “I like my space,” you smiled.

“Space from who exactly?”

“Children,” you showed your teeth, hoping he’d get the hint.

Mic put his hands up in surrender. “I’m just saying! You don’t know who’s working at a hotel. Plus there’s more guests day in and day out than a rock festival. If someone knows what they’re doing, they can find what room you’re in. Swipe a keycard and mess with your stuff.”

“You think Akari would do that,” you asked.

“Were we looking at the right scene earlier?” You leaned back and clutched your nonexistent pearls at his sudden outburst. Mic shook his head, “what i’m trying to say is: If Kaneko finds out where you are, it’d be a huge blow to your plan. If you don’t want to stay at the dorms because of your gross personal feelings–” Mic gagged, rolling his eyes back dramatically. Which, admittedly, got a smile out of you. “Then you could stay at my place– it’s not like I’m using it.”

“No way.” You shook your head. “I don’t know what you have there!”

“My apartment’s clean! Cleaner than yours ever was– I remember your–” Mic said a term you didn’t know the meaning of followed by “Disgusting!”

“I wasn’t talking about those.”

“Because you can’t,” Mic interrupted.

You put a finger in the air, “I’m staying at the hotel. The hotel is close to the train station and I’ll have to travel around for the case anyway. If it makes you feel better, I’ll leave my research here.”

“And if Kaneko finds you?”

You leaned back from Hizashi, you grabbed your chopsticks and chose a random topping floating in the broth. Tilting your head, you pondered his question and thought about what the right answer should be. If Akari were standing in front of you, in your hotel room, after everything she did. Looking back up at Mic, you shrugged. “Let her.”

When the meal was done, you and Mic had to go your separate ways for the morning. He had no problem giving you a refresher on gamma’s location, despite your constant reassurances for him not to. As predicted, the directions confused you into taking longer to leave the building. A good general idea based on your memory, turned into a jumble of lefts and rights. Spotting for “this” symbol over “that” one. Somehow to the gym before Eraser and his class. No one was heading out of the school from where you can, either. Trying your luck you pushed the door open, leading to a hallway that seemed to be in an ‘L’ shape. Exploring further, you spotted the double doors leading inside the gym. These doors were locked, however.

You leaned on the door, not understanding why the class wouldn’t arrive earlier. Didn’t the staff want the first years to get their license as soon as possible? When the time came around for you, you’d rush to one of the training areas whenever you could. The ticking clock on the wall counted the seconds of your growing impatience. It made it hard to focus on your own thoughts. The off white tiles on the floor stretched out into a blurred vision of mind numbing boredom, then there was an aggressive prodding.

You slid to the floor– no one was near the building. The small hide away surrounding the entrance would be fantastic for cover if villains ever got into the school. The hall was nice and flat too. You could throw a baseball at a good angle, have it bounce off the wall and knock someone out like that one ti— you needed something productive. Taking your phone out of your case, you checked the notifications. Nothing. Then you looked at your laptop. No one was coming yet, you had another twenty minutes, why not check that too?

Pulling out the laptop, muscle memory took over. It came to a halt when the page wouldn’t load, no connection to the wifi it said. Checking the schools network, you were surprised to know Nezu never changed the password. Refreshing the page, you finally got into your account. The usual night crew should start their shift now. You moved the cursor to your workload and smiled seeing a red circle on your inbox link. When you clicked it you were happy to see you got a message from Gold Rush, the coworker who volunteered to work on the home-side of the case while you were away. Clicking on the message icon, you hoped he could tell you about what he found while you were in the infirmary.

Unfortunately, he just messaged you to say he just clocked in and wanted to see if you landed ok. It wasn’t what you wanted to read, you sighed, but replied about your progress. He put a thumbs up on the message. From there you had to strain your eyes to read the next block of text. Gold planned to take another look around your neighborhood, ask around to see if anyone saw Akari going into the building before your apartment was demolished— check out the damage again, if you were “okay” with it. When it’s over, he’ll send his notes on the last few days before his shift ends.

Pressing your lips together, you typed “thank you” then stuffed the laptop in your briefcase. Everything should be fine. Gold was the one who found the postcard Akari left when you were out. You worked with him at the agency for years at this point. He pulled his weight and kept up with you fine. He can hold down what little fort is left, while you’re here. Helping hero trainees.

You closed your eyes, already exhausted at the prospect of standing up again, but you pushed against the floor. Hold onto the wall. Seethe at some sharp pain in your side for a half-second.

See. Everything will be fine.

How could it not be?

You stretched your arms out and then walked in circles. After a minute or two, the pain didn’t hurt as bad. Maybe calories were all you needed.

Then there was a faint buzzing down your spine. No echoes in the halls. Just a ticking clock and your beating heart.

A jolt.

It must be a group outside. Eraserhead and his class finally showed– no doubt about it. You went for your briefcase, not taking your eyes off the hallway. When muffled voices reached your ears, you were perfectly in the center holding the case at your side. There was another jolt, then a surge hit you full swing. The pain was gone and you felt alive.

What a lively—and/or terrified— group! You forgot how strong teenagers felt about things. Yet again, the last you were around this many of them was when you were a teenager who felt just as strong. If they were told about the exam prior, they’re either rushing to get the ball rolling or having their heart explode over the deadline.

Turning the corner, the sea of students was technicolor. And louder than you prepped for. You took it all in. First impressions are integral to how citizens, and therefore judges, view a hero. What were you working with?

The boy with glasses looked like a knight with tubes coming out of his legs– a speed quirk probably? You could see civilians going to him to get them somewhere safe. If he was as strong as he looked, he could pack a punch on larger villains on the way out.

Two students reminded you of Present Mic when he was a teenager. Both of them, a boy and a girl wearing jackets that made them look like little rockstars! The boy had an electricity motif going on, so anybody can roughly guess what his power is—and the girl was wearing boots! And they had speakers? She must have a sound quirk like Mic, fantastic! If they play their cards right, they’ll never go broke.

While you can guess the quirk of those three, many students’ quirks were up in the air. One boy, with a nasty scar over his eye, wore a plain, navy blue jumpsuit. Another boy wore one with black, white, and a bit of yellow–who also had a mutation affecting his elbows, but you couldn’t guess what his quirk would be. At least he was stylish.

When it came to the girls' uniforms you were disappointed. The designers were STILL giving trainees heels! How are they supposed to run top speed in busted terrain? Unbelievable!

Noticing the girls’ inadequate footwear opened the floodgates on the design flaws on the others. Lack of armor and padding on the boy with a giant tail and the girl with pink skin. Lack of support for the tallest girl wearing a unitard exposing her vital organs. She could be like Midnight and need skin exposure, but you doubt the support company has never seen a sports bra before. The worst sin you bore witness to is a short, purple kid wearing a diaper—a self-respecting hero wouldn’t design that!

The students in front of the line stopped chatting among themselves. Some jumped at the sight of you. The rest of the class went quiet as they assessed you, this stranger, standing in the middle of their hallway where you don’t belong.

“I’m not a villain.”

No one laughed. The students’ expressions were vacant, they probably thought you were a dork. Your finger twitched as you thought of throwing your hand up and peacing out of there. Why did you volunteer for this position? You stood your ground and stared ahead. Judgemental teenagers won’t be the end of your resolve.

Eraser turned the corner, walking ahead of the silent crowd. “You showed up early.”

“I don’t show up late.”

Toward the end of the line of students Midnight waved at you as she stood with two other men. One looked like a cinder block-snowman, the other had a swanky trenchcoat and bared his teeth. You waved back at your friend, and a few students turned toward the back of the line. Eraser gestured to everyone, Midnight and the other two teachers included, to go inside the Gym. There’s something he had to take care of and he’ll be back in a minute, he said before giving the key to the boy with the knight outfit. The boy took the key with extreme duty, saying he was honored for the responsibility. Nice to know who the energetic one is.

Eraser handed you blue file folders, similar to the ones you put in your briefcase earlier then started walking ahead of you. He explained the folders had the quirks of the students you’re working with. He took you to another door he had to unlock. It was a sharp contrast to the bright hallways from before. Some cobwebs hung from the dim ceiling and the stair railing. This was the type of place a killer would drag a victim to hold them for a few days. When he turned the light switch on, it was still darker than the outside, but not the worst place you’ve been too.

Eraser approached the table against the wall holding a couple of computer monitors. He set up the tablet he tucked under his arm to the primary computer, explaining how to flip through the cameras. He said you can take notes on the tablet or in folders, but no matter what he’d need the tablet back. If you wanted anything to think over then you’d need to take notes manually, or bust out your own laptop.

“I know for the best results, you need time to study the students, but try to wrap it up in around the twenty minute mark,” he explained as he finished setting up. He rolled a chair from the right of the table for you to sit. After everything from earlier, it was hard to believe you both were being professional about this. He must really want his class to pass. “Time is short, and there’s a lot to see in-person too.”

You sat, swiveling the chair. “Got it. No loitering,” you tapped the screen experimentally and the camera shifted. Eraser didn’t react to the statement, but you knew better than to expect him too. You were just here for the job.

Eraser asked if you had anything you needed to know anything else. Scanning the room again, you settled on asking where the stairs led. Apparently, it was an observation room. He said you could watch the class up there with you and leave the equipment alone; but he knew for a fact why you wouldn’t.

You minded your manners and thanked him for setting up for you before he left for his class. You shook your head as the door shut, his class. Just as you said before, he may have been good with children, but Eraser being a teacher voluntarily was weird. Weirder being alone in a secret backroom.

The air brushed against your neck giving you chills. Where you sit, anyone can come behind you from either the stairs or the door if you weren’t mindful. You shifted the position of the chair’s seat toward the blank wall. With the stairwell’s rotation starting on your right and the table being under the “left” portion of the room, you should have better access to see everything that way.

Soon, Eraser entered Gamma. He talked to his class for a while. Safe to say, it was about the exam. Midnight stepped beside him, her finger pointing in the air, then Cinderblock did the same thing. It was a cult practice. After he spoke, he turned around and walked away from the group. The boy in the knight outfit was giving a reaction to the Smile Man. The man wasn’t opening his mouth though— were they having a psychic conversation? The knight was pleased by what the Smile Man told him. Other students were giving him weird looks, further proving the psychic theory.

Eraser spoke again and then the towers of rocks grew to the ceiling. Wait… You switch the camera view on one of the monitors and the structures reached 90% of the way to the ceiling. Back on the ground Smile Man threw up and more of himself formed, gross, but whatever gets the job done? The students were used to it at this point, because they were obviously hyped.

Starting now, you have twenty minutes to gather as much intel as possible. You clicked the screen to change the camera as fast as possible. The pink, moth girl worked with a substance oozing from her skin. A shorter boy, with a mutant quirk and a cloak, walked with Smile Man toward a farther corner of the gym to a cave structure. The boy with the tail started battling with a Smile Man and he was doing rather well. His combat skills were up-to-par, something undervalued considering not ALL villains are interested in leveling a city.

You switched the camera and nausea hit the back of your throat. The students were walking up the structures and there were no railings. OSHA would have a field day over these violations. Nausea hit you again when you remembered you’d have to join on said OSHA violations. If you didn’t know better, you’d think Eraser agreed to let you tutor his class to torment you. Like in the second you brought up the quid pro quo, he thought of the best way to make you quit and violate the agreement. Pushing the dread aside, you wrote as many notes on the students as you could before twenty minutes were over.

Fun fact: systems change all the time during American Licensing Exams. It’s part of the reason why first impressions matter so much. A good impression can add points, or prevent you from losing points in deduction-based systems. A bad impression will have the reverse effect, and frame everything someone does negatively. It’s easy to say only technical skills should matter, but you need to expect the people to have poor judgment if you want the students to succeed.

You looked at the time and saw you had four minutes before close. You rushed to finish your last thoughts on the student– the boy from the file earlier, so you can join everyone at the gym. You thought about what advice you should give to him. It was clear from how he hit he put a lot of thought into strength, but if he could work on his speed— You wrote it all down, but then you heard the most GRATING ring you can imagine coming from your side. You recoiled at the sound and saw the monitors were frozen. The tablet on your side blinded you with harsh, white light.

You squinted at the tablet, your head starting to hurt from the obnoxious, high pitch. You wanted it to stop. You shot from the chair, yanking the cords out of the device as it beeped at you for a password. On the screen, there was a crude image of two stick figures– an adult and a child.

Eraser put a parental lock on the tablet.

Taglist:

@lonelyghosts-stuff

#mha x reader #bnha x reader #aizawa x reader #shouta aizawa x reader #mha x female reader #aizawa shouta x reader #aizawa x you #retrospective by dot #aizawa x y/n #bnha aizawa

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not-alien-girl-v · 1 year

Note

I am BEGGING for a part two to the George fic, please please PLEASE let her have happiness with matty have we not suffered enough???

Everything I Didn't Say (Matty Healy)

Part 1 is right here read it first

Warning: idk

Note: i have 2 active crushes rn this is so upsetting i feel like a 13 year old girl writing in my diary

2.1k

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Hesitantly, she approaches Matty, no idea of what is next to come.

He seems equally unsure. Hands grasping at nothing by his sides, clenching, unclenching, folding up lightly then releasing. He looks over her shoulder, at Ross and Adam, looking close to opening a bag of popcorn, anticipating every next movement from the two before them.

Not today, not now, Matty thinks to himself, and gives the boys a look that is easily translated to 'head out now, lads.' They understand, a bit disappointed, as the both of them have been waiting on something to happen with the dreaded love triangle for as long as its existed. They had to endure every painful moment with them, and now they can't be present for the grand finale?

Alas, this was their friends lives, not a TV show they've been binge watching for years on end, so they file out of the room without a word, trying to go unnoticed, not bothering either of the people left standing there, staring at each other with pained expressions.

"So," she starts, though she feels as though Matty has more to say to her than she does to him at this point. It's a complicated thing they have going here. She just witnessed the years-long crush dissolve into vapor right before her eyes in a millisecond, only to find out Matty has been equally as pathetic, perhaps even more so, about her as she has been this whole time.

Does she see him like that? She doesn't not see him like that. To be honest, all 4 of the boys she calls her best friends are all wildly attractive, it makes her wonder how she ended up having a crush on George in the first place. Why not anyone else?

The simple truth is that upon meeting the boys, she was a bit starstruck just by the sight of them. Adam was quiet, distanced in a friendly manner, not one that spoke 'I don't like you' to her, but just in the matter that that's the way he is as a person. She observed him closely for a while. He's like this with everyone else he knows, minus his long-term girlfriend, Carly, which is the main reason Adam wasn't the one to catch her eyes in a romantic sense in the beginning.

Ross was gentle, kind, funny, but more than that, he was an amazing friend, and perhaps if he had gotten close enough to her as George did in a platonic sense, he could have easily caught her attention.

And Matty was a mess. Still is. Probably always will be. He's loud, he's warm, for lack of better words, he's welcoming. But he was also messy. That's not to say she didn't care deeply for him. She loved him more than life itself. In all the times George turned inexplicably sour, Matty was always there, sweet as ever.

She hates that when she thinks of Matty, the first word that comes to mind is 'messy.' But it's the whole truth. He's never kept a solid relationship for more than about 2 weeks, and he always seems to leave a branding mark on the women he surrounds himself with in a romantic sense. Branded, burning, on fire.

It scared her more than she liked to admit. She tried not to think about herself in a different timeline, having been dating Matty for years now, letting him do unforgivable things and then forgiving him each time in the name of 'love.'

When she met George, he was single, approachable, and all over her. It didn't take long for feelings to arise. He didn't scare her like Matty, wasn't aloof like Adam, and seemed to pay closer attention to her than Ross.

But it's all out the window now. Out the door, into a car, down the street, and far, far away.

What remains is Matty, eyes dripping with pain, love, infatuation, and some tears in the mix as well. He could never help but cry at the slightest sign of emotion.

"Y/N." He says it plainly, like he doesn't plan on elaborating, but she wishes to any higher power that he does. She's unsure about how to go about this, and she can't do it alone, without his help.

When she waits a moment and he actually doesn't continue, she sprouts conversation from her mouth, "you like me."

"I love you."

Whatever words she had stored in her throat are gone now.

"Listen to me, okay? If you don't feel the same, if you don't feel for me in the way I do you, I won't be mad. I'm sorry you had to find out like this. If I could change things, I swear to you, I would. But I had to say what I did, I couldn't continue biting my tongue about you, you just make me so-"

"Crazy?" She jokes, quietly, feeling smaller than a mouse. She wishes she had some magic way to regain enough confidence for this conversation.

"I was going to say 'passionate'. But sure, crazy works too. I did mean it though, everything I said. I have loved you for longer than I can remember, and I am so sorry I waited so long to tell you. I'm sorry things ended up like they did, like they are, it's no fair to you and you don't deserve any of this and it's all my fault and-"

"Stop," there it is, that hint of confidence on her tongue, charging behind her teeth where she lays her words to rest.

"What?"

"Stop that. Apologizing. None of this is your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for."

They're still standing face to face in the kitchen, about 2 or 3 feet away.

"What do you want to do now? It's your choice, love, not mine, I won't force you into anything, ever. If you want to forget about this, forget I ever said anything, pretend nothing ever happened? That's okay. I'll do whatever you want me to."

She looks around the room, feeling heavy. "I want to sit down. With you. Talk about this." He nods, and walks over to the table, pulling out a chair that she expects him to sit in, but he looks at her, waiting, and she comes to realize it's for her. "Thanks."

He takes a seat opposite her at the table. He has no words, only gazing, impatient eyes, ready to drink any and every word she has to tell him. Hopelessly devoted. Deeply in love. How did she never notice this before? The way he looks at her, heavy and pained.

"I love you, Matty. I'm scared. You scare me."

"What have I done, darling? Was it when I hit George, said all those awful things to him, because I swear to you, no matter what happens in our future, I would never, never treat you in such a way."

She shakes her head, eyes down at the table. "No. It's not that. It's... it's hard to explain. The woman who have loved you, the ones who you give your love to, they're never satisfied with you. Never happy, never for long. Why? Because it's a problem I've noticed, and it scares me. To be one of those women, forever changed, I'm scared."

He purses his lips, finally breaking his longing gaze to look down at his fiddling fingers resting together on the table. He aches to take her into him, just a sliver of her, a tiny piece into his hands to hold on to. He knows better, though.

"I suppose you deserve the entire truth, everything I didn't say."

He breathes in like he's about to give a heartfelt speech, and maybe it's not far from the truth.

"The issue has always been you. I'm not blaming you for anything, this is not your fault, it's mine. Completely mine. I've felt so deeply for you for so long, and you've always been out of my reach, far away from me, so I tried to move on. To something else, somebody else, and it never worked out. Fuck, nobody wants to date a guy who's too pathetically into his best friend to maintain a meaningful relationship with anyone else. It's you. It's always been you."

"I'll admit, I've done wrong by too many women due to this. I've let some get too close to me, closer than they should have been for their own benefit, because after a given amount of time, they all came to understand me, see me for who I really was, my motives for everything, and they never liked what they found."

"So it really was me? Through everything?" She steals a glance at his handsome face, coming to find him looking up at her again.

"Of course. It always will be, I'm afraid. But I'm sorry for causing you to think of me so lowly. If I had a way to tell you about all of this before, I would have done it."

She smiles, without much happiness or joy, almost in sorrow, pained to see how much he's hurting over this. "What did I say about apologizing?"

He smiles back, but is at a loss for words now. There it is, the world's most awkward silences. How is she supposed to move on from this?

After too long of neither saying anything, he speaks up, voice shaking, and she can tell the tears are streaming down his face. It stabs her roughly, she wants to wipe them away and hold onto him tightly and tell him everything will be okay and-

"I don't think we should be friends anymore."

"Wait, what?" She is so shocked, she feels as though her jaw is on the literal floor.

"I know I said I wouldn't be mad, no matter what. But either way, for my own sake, I think I need distance. From you. Again, not your fault. This is me being selfish, doing something purely for my own benefit. But will you allow me this tiny piece of self-indulgence? Allow me the distance? I think it would be best." He chews on the inside of his lip, mouth curved into a frown. "Please?"

Before she can make any sense of anything, he's already stood up, standing by the doorway. She gets this sinking feeling that if she lets him disappear out of it today, she may never see him again, or she'd regret it until the day she dies, or worse, both.

"Fuck no," she stands too, grabbing his wrist in attempt to keep him near, hoping she doesn't have to revert to clawing and crying and begging him not to leave, but she feels prepared to do so if necessary.

She loves him. That much is for certain. The shock of the situation made her feelings hard to see through, but seeing him there, about to walk out the door on her for the foreseeable future, it puts everything into perspetive.

She loves him, she wants him, she needs him, and she's never letting him leave.

On some odd instinct, some impulse buried deep inside of her that only comes out in the most dire of moments, she grabs him forcefully by the back of his neck, curls squished under the weight of her heavy, gripping fingers, and pulls her lips to his.

It's one hell of a first kiss. She's instantly incinerated, entire body burning, stemming from her lips which are messily pressed to his in desperation, and he stands still for a few moments, letting himself be kissed, in shock, she hopes. Finally, his hands come to meet the sides of her head, holding her in place firmly, and he kisses her back with just as much force, as much passion. She hopes she never has to let him out of her grasp.

He pulls away first, both his hands slipping down to rest on either of her shoulders, and she reaches a knuckle up to gently wipe streaming, hot tears from his face.

"I won't let you leave, not today, not ever." He nods with every word she speaks, like he's drunk on her cadence.

She goes back in for another kiss, hoping to reignite herself, but he dodges it. "Wait, what does this mean? For us? What's going to happen next?"

She holds his gaze with intensity. "Next, you're going to kiss me more. After that, you're gonna drive me home. And tomorrow, you're going to take me on our first date. We can figure it all out from there. But for now, I just want you."

He nods, smiles, no smugness or cockiness behind it, which is so unlike him, "I want you too," he is so sincere her heart aches to hear him whisper it onto her lips.

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Taglist: @indierockgirrl @itssimpleanditgoeslikethis @americanangel @milkluvr8

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aotearoa20 · 6 months

Text

Penance: Part Two. One/Two/Three

There is a part of Este’s gardens that bleeds into Mandos. Silvery trees that line a small path up to the great stone doors. It is on one of the Halls uppermost levels and most fëar avoid it if they can. Curufin could understand why. He felt ill and unsteady in the pale half-light, it was too close for the dead to be to the living. A thin, shimmering barrier lopes over him and his brothers and everything on the other side in blurred just slightly. He could just about see a Maia clad in grey approaching and with him a tall dark figure.

“Maglor,” he whispered because he could not help it. Because his spirit sang at the sight of his elder brother and there was nothing in him that could stop it. Everything is transparent in Mandos. He heard the others shuffling and sighing behind him. It had been so long.

He could not wring his hands - they kept flickering in and out of existence - but he watched them spoke to one another. Their words melted against the barrier, a useless hum of noise but he seemed alright. Damned spawn of Lúthien had had them worried over nothing. Celegorm called over to him and Maglor turned his head. He nodded slowly but before he could say a word a flash of light from further down the path stole all their attention.

Someone else, came forward out of the trees. Curufin could not have recognized them, even if he tried. How could he when in their hands, bright and clear and sharper than anything else he’d seen in the suffocating dark, he could see it. The last of their Father’s Silmarils.

He shuddered and hated himself for it. Behind him someone, Amras maybe, whined like a wounded animal. It was so close. Without much thought he reached forward, the edges of his fingers dissolving as they brush against the boundary line. A hand comes up and grips his shoulder. Caranthir, he knew, they all remember the last time they tried to escape through here.

He doesn’t even know his name, the one who held the gem, but he came up to Maglor and the Maia. He spoke even as his brother trembled, taut as a bowstring. A sudden fear gripped his heart. The constant pressence of the oath had been a companion of his for as long as he could remember. He had carried it’s burden until the scraps of the person were burnt to dust. If this was really the end – if, for he has lived far too long in the world not to suspect this to be another trick of fate – would there be anything left of him at all.

“It will kill him,” Maedhros’ voice was deep and dull.

By the edge of the doorway Namo stands, two Maiar are at his side. All but his eyes are obscured behind a veil and they are fixed on Maglor.

“If he does we shall be there.” He replied gently.

And then the stranger holds out what is all in all a very simple circlet, with the jewel fastened to it. Maglor snatched it into himself and wails. Námo’s Maiar brush past him, catching his brothers fëa brefore his body hits ground.

Curufin tried to speak. He reached out again, this time for Maglor. He thinks he might have screamed too. For a moment everything burns. It is as though something is ripping out his heart and every artery that grows off from it, carefully and cleanly as pulling the backbone from a fish. He falls to his barely corporeal knees and thinks he must be coming undone entirely and then... nothing.

He put his hand to his chest. A sob caught in his throat. There is nothing there. Beside him Morifinwë was also crying, but he takes deep needless breaths in between. When he looked he saw a light in his eyes that he knew died in his own, centuries ago. Curufin looked back down at the slate shards that line the garden path. Tears dry on his lashes. He felt nothing.

“So the agreement is sealed,” Námo said, as Maglor was ushered into the dark, “When you are remebodied in the Gardens, there will be someone to guide you to those you will serve.”

“To whom will we be going?” Celegorm spoke up.

“It has not been decided, you will learn once you wake.”

“Don’t separate Ambrassua.” Maedhros very nearly ordered.

Námo nodded and looked across them all, “You are not obliged to leave now, some of you I’d even counsel to remain a while longer.”

His eyes land on him and Curufin seethed. He crossed his arms over himself, trying to cover up the gaping emptiness within his being. How he hated this place. Hated being forced to take any sort of form. He was exposed. Everyone could see everything. Or the severe lack of anything.

A body at least could hide the lack. No, He would not stay here to be mocked or pitied or worse, not for all the jewels under the Earth.

“We will go together.” He heard Maedhros say and nodded vehemently. Whatever waited out in the Gardens had to be better than this.

#penance au #my writing #silmarillion #tolkien #maedhros #celegorm #maglor #caranthir #ambarussa #curufin #gandalf #lorien #silm au #Námo

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abbatoirablaze · 11 months

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Surrogate Luna, Chapter 7

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: medical situations, major angst, mentions of being poisoned.

The seasons seemed to change just as quickly as Sharon disappeared with Brock and a trusted few of her own from her pack, leaving Steve and Cinna to their own happiness.

While the pack was excited about Steve’s incoming pup, they were also on edge, constantly training in case Sharon came back looking for war.

But Steve hadn’t expected her to come back so late into Cinna’s pregnancy. Nearly two months had passed before she arrived again, boastful with her new sweetened scent and the assurance that she was with Brock’s pup as well.

Steve didn’t care though.

He chose instead to ignore Sharon, and dote on Cinna and his pup, moving into Cinna’s quarters permanently.

And in the mean time, Cinna had gotten along famously with the pack, fulfilling the duties of the alpha’s mate that Sharon had long ignored with Wanda, Maria, and Sarah always accompanying her.

But Cinna knew that as part of the program, the good times always end. Every night that Steve spent beside her meant one less night with the pack that she was growing so fond of. So, it shocked Steve to his core when she seemed sad the day that their pup started kicking.

“Why are you not happy, luna?” Steve asked with a frown as his hand still rested on Cinna’s growing stomach, “are pup is happy and healthy, bouncing every day as he grows.”

“Can I be honest with you, Steve?”

Steve felt a knot in his stomach with the way she spoke, “What’s wrong, Cinna? Is something wrong with our pup? Are you-“

“I’m scared,” she said quickly, cutting him off, “I’m scared, Steve!”

Steve gave a heavy sigh.

Part of him let like that was in part to Sharon.

While she too had begun to grow, her stomach swelling more by the day as well, she had been just as threatening and intimidating to Cinna as the day that she’d been brought back to the packhouse.

“Nothing will happen with Sharon,” he tried to reassure her. He leaned forward and rubbed his nose against her own, “none of her or her pac-“

“I don’t want to leave!”

Steve stopped speaking.

“Leave?” he asked, “What on earth are you talking about? You’re not leaving.”

“I-I know that when I birth our pup…your pup…my contract is up,” she said quickly, giving him another sad look, “I don’t wan-“

“You’re not leaving me, omega,” Steve growled, feeling overwhelmed and territorial of his omega, “Cinna…I marked you. I love you. You are my Luna. My true mate. You are not going back to the program. Ever!”

Her eyes met his, the shock making Steve’s heart break as he thought about how this must have been weighing on her mind so much that she was surprised to hear his declaration of devotion.

“What?”

“Omega…I-I thought you knew it from the day that I brought you to the den,” he said quickly as he stroked her cheek, “the day I caught your scent in the facility…I made them promise you to me. I had my pack lawyers go and break your contract. You allowing me to mark you was the requirement, as it showed that I truly wanted to keep you for more than just creating pups. Once I dissolve my relationship with Sharon…somehow…I want to have a true mating ceremony. I-I want you to mark me as well omega. You’re my omega…and I am your alpha. You are my Luna. My everything!”

“Really?”

Steve leaned forward, pressing his lips gently to hers, “yes, omega…really…”

She breathed a sigh of relief after studying Steve’s eyes for a moment, “I-I love you Steve!”

“And I love you, Cinna,” Steve replied sweetly, his hands still on her stomach, “and our pup…the first of many if I have my way!”

“I think you’ll always have your way, Steve!”

Steve rumbled loudly, a smirk growing on his face, “I think I like the sound of that, omega!”

“WE ARE ALMOST AT THE END OF OUR JOURNEY!” Steve claimed, his glass held high as he looked next to himself where Cinna was round with his child, “EIGHT MONTHS MY OMEGA HAS BEEN PREPARING FOR OUR PUP. HELPING BREATHE LIFE INTO HIM. HELPING HIM GROW IN THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF OUR PACK! AND I WANTED TO CELEBRATE WITH ALL OF YOU. MY LOYAL PACK MATES. WE HAVE CHOSEN TO NAME HIM STEVEN, THE SECOND OF HIS NAME, AFTER MYSELF!”

The pack roared with excitement at Steve’s toast.

“More, luna?” one of the girls offered, holding the pitcher away from herself, extending it in offerance to the woman.

“Yes please?” Cinna smiled politely, before turning her attention back to Steve.

“AND TO SHARON AND HER PACK,” Steve continued, trying to extend an olive branch to the woman he was still promised to, “FOR SHE AND BROCK HAVE CONCEIVED A PUP AS WELL. AND FROM WHAT I AM TOLD, HE WILL BE A STRONG PUP TOO! BOTH PACKS HAVE BEEN SECURED WITH HEIRS!”

Sharon’s pack cheered this time.

“Let our packs be kind in peace, and share our borders as they have for years,” Steve offered, “to Packs Rogers and Carter!”

“ROGERS AND CARTER!”

Everyone took a sip from their glasses, with both Sharon and Cinna partaking in a non-alcoholic version.

But the reaction was instantaneous within Steve. Across his own bond he could feel that something was wrong with Cinna.

Worriedly, he looked over to her, and saw it in her eyes.

“HEALER!” Steve yelled, calling for someone to help his omega as she dropped her cup and fell to the floor, “HEALER!”

“We can’t wait!”

“I need to-“

“Alpha, you can’t come any further!” one of the doctors said quickly as they tried to push the aggressive alpha away from the gurney which they’d been rushing to the operating room, “we just need to know your wishes!”

“Wishes?”

“If it comes down to it,” the doctor said nervously, not wanting to say what Steve had already been thinking, “if it comes to your pup or your omega-“

“My omega!” he said quickly, “I-I can’t lose Cinna!”

“We’ll do our best, alpha!”

Words couldn’t describe how Steve had felt.

How he was reacting.

“Well?”

“She was poisioned,” Maria admitted, not daring to look her alpha in the eye, “her glass-“

“WHO DID IT!” he roared.

“We don’t know…” Wanda admitted even more nervously, “there wasn’t any way to trace it. The person refilling cups was knocked out. N-none of us were paying attention.”

“THAT IS MY MATE!” he screamed, pointing in the direction of the operating room, “BECAUSE NONE OF YOU WERE PAYING ATTENTION, SHE MIGHT DIE! MY PUP MIGHT DIE! I HAD-“

“Steve…” Sam tried, cutting off the alpha. He put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

But Steve shook his head at him, the tears streaking down his cheeks, “before she went in, the doctor asked me who I would save if I could only save one of them…I want whoever did this in the dungeon before the full moon!”

“Steve…that’s in two days!”

“Be happy I’m giving you that time…” he growled, shooting daggers at Maria, Sam, Sarah, and Wanda, “if she dies…if my pup dies…I don’t know what I’ll do!”

Cinna’s eyes opened, and everything was blurry.

Everything ached.

It felt like she’d been hit by a truck, and her body parts had been thrown back in and her body sewn shut without any order.

“CINNA!”

Instantly Cinna was overwhelmed by the anxiety lacing Steve’s scent.

She could hardly see him because everything was too bright and blurry, but she knew him by his scent. She went to lift a hand, but Steve grabbed hold of her.

“Wh-what happened?” she asked slowly, her eyes adjusting to the hospital room, “Wh-where am I?”

“The pack hospital!” he answered quickly.

It was then that Cinna noticed the tears in Steve’s eyes, and her mind went to the worst possible scenario. She looked down at her stomach and noticed that it was smaller. Her own eyes went wide, “o-our pup! Steve where is-“

A crying interrupted her question.

Her eyes watered, and tears started to fall down her cheeks as she caught the whines of her pup. Steve rushed away from her to scoop the newborn up, before bringing him right back, “he-he’s fine, omega. Our baby boy is fine. He came into the world fighting…”

“Stevie!” Cinna whimpered, reaching out to take her pup.

The newborn’s eyes opened, and her heart melted; the bond between mother and son instant. Stevie stopped crying and looked at his mother curiously with eyes that mirrored his fathers.

“I-I was worried about you!” Steve admitted, “they-they got him out before the poison affected him…but you-“

“He’s okay!” she cooed, her eyes unwavering from her little boy as she cradled him against her breast, “Steve…he-he’s okay. Stevie’s okay! Our pup is alright and that’s all that matters. He’s here! And he’s perfect!”

“I’m going to kill whoever did this to you, omega!” Steve promised as he reached out to her, “I-I want you to know that!”

“I’m just glad that Stevie’s okay…” she sobbed, kissing the top of her son’s head. With her free hand, she reached out and took Steve’s hand in her own, “Steve…I-I want to do the ceremony…if someone’s willing to try and kill us…I-I don’t want to hide behind excuses of why we can’t…I-I don’t care what Sharon’s pack thinks…we need to do what’s best for our pack!”

Steve felt a sense of pride filling his chest as he listened to her words. He lifted her hand up and kissed it, “whatever you want, Luna…”

Chapter 8

Tag List: @lohnes16, @prokey16, @tenaciousperfectionunknown, @teambarnes72, @mrsevans90

#surrogate luna #a/b/o fic #a/b/o fanfic #a/b/o #marvel #marvel au #the avengers #steve rogers #captain america #sharon carter #brock rumlow #alpha steve rogers

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slusheeduck · 11 months

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Fictober 2023 Day 29 - Prompt: "Do I look like I knew that?" Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

“Counterclockwise, counterclockwise!”

“I know it’s counterclockwise!” Falerin’s hands shook as he hastily unthreaded the purple seam, Astarion and Karlach hovering anxiously over his shoulders as he did. Gale…well, Gale’s projection after he had dropped—had said that this needed to be done within two days, but with the Netherese orb in his chest? They were not about to waste a single second.

Falerin finally finished unthreading the seam, and he pulled out the flute and the letter.

“Okay, so you play the notes now,” Karlach said. Falerin quickly passed the flute to Astarion.

“Why me?” the elf asked.

“I don’t know how to play a fucking flute!” Falerin snapped back.

“And you think I…ugh, fine, I do. What are the notes?”

“D. E. A. D.”

“Oh, ha, because he’s…”

“Yes, Karlach, we know he’s dead!” Astarion snapped, then huffed and played the four notes. In a flash of flame that sent all three stepping back, a magma mephit appeared.

“I’ss k’cha t’chiss n’aga?” it asked.

“K’ha’ssji’trach’ash,” Karlach replied.

“Oh, you got the chh part right,” Falerin murmured. “Well done.”

“D’a jah’jah s’um!” The mephit looked pleased, then looked over them expectantly. Karlach nudged Falerin.

“Fal, the letter,” she whispered.

“Right!” He held out the letter, trying not to get too close.

“M’ul t’ha m’esc.” The mephit leaned forward, and it blew a long stream of sulfur-scented air onto the letter. With a puff of smoke, it changed to a scroll. Falerin stared at it as the mephit spoke again, before it somersaulted out of sight in another flare of magma.

“All that for a spell scroll?” he asked. “I was ready to talk to Mystra herself with all that!” He shot Gale’s corpse—still lying prone just a few feet away—a dirty look. He shook his head, then huffed and opened it, reading the spell. As the parchment in his hands dissolved, Gale took a gasping breath and sat up.

“My…my word, you did it!” he said, a wide smile on his face as he patted himself down. “Oh, it’s good to be alive.”

“It’s good to…it was your fault you died!” Falerin shot back. “You were the one who set off the trap!”

Gale’s giddiness at being alive subsided, and he gave a little cough as he pushed himself up to his feet. “Yes, well, shame on me, I suppose.”

“It was a little embarrassing,” Astarion added. “A book with gilded pages, in an abandoned tomb? It’s the definition of a honeypot.”

Gale rolled his eyes. “Do I look like I knew that?”

“Yes!” came the unanimous reply from the other three.

“You are literally the knowing-things guy,” Falerin said through his teeth. He rubbed his face. “Gods, that whole protocol was a nuisance. Why even go through all that for a scroll?”

Despite everything, Gale looked more than happy to explain. “I find that a healthy amount of theatrics—a voice from beyond, a magic flute, a friendly if highly combustible magma mephit—tends to make for a more compelling case.” He grinned at them. “If nothing else, I’m sure I piqued your curiosity.”

For a moment, the three others in the party just stared at Gale. Falerin finally blinked several times in succession.

“I’m gonna kill him,” he said.

There was just enough of a split-second pause for Karlach to grab him around the waist as he lunged, hands outstretched toward Gale’s throat.

“Easy, soldier!” she grunted out as Fal fought tooth and nail to get out of her grip, thrashing and cursing at Gale in his efforts to get at him.

“If you kill me now, you’ll just have to revive me again!” Gale said shakily, moving out of thrashing distance.

“Then I’ll kill you and bring you back with one of the fifteen other revivify scrolls we have between us!” Fictober 2023 Drabble Master Post

#fictober23 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #astarion #gale of waterdeep #karlach #I know it's a scroll of true resurrection #Gale points that out later once Fal stops trying to throttle him #Also this is where Astarion was like 'You know maybe I do like this guy as more than a safety measure'#Fal got a big ol' 'Astarion approves.' in the corner of his eyesight #Also Halloween finally got the better of me and I'm behind #Today's prompt should be done today or early tomorrow #But still! Impressed with myself

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dreamyfanfix · 1 year

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Chapter 6: Strength is for the weak

Updates (AGAIN): Please note I made a few major changes to this chapter. Read it again!

Past:

As Violet walked with Kate and Anthony through the party Kate was surprised by just how much she was able to keep such a stoic face. Kate on the other hand was petrified, she held onto Anthony's hand for support. Anthony looked at her and smiled but it did nothing to calm her nerves.

Kate and Anthony are led to a room with a patio view of the party. It was a stunning view. On the patio, Kate can see Lady Ledger seated with documents in her hand.

"Hi gran. What's all this about?" Anthony asked.

"Kate, I've only known you a short time, but it's clear you're a very smart woman," Lady Ledger spoke and Kate smiled up at Anthony and then at her "But, I will not permit you to ruin my grandson with your ambition,"

"Gran!" Anthony exclaimed. Anthony held her hand a little stronger.

"I'm sorry to tell you but Kate has been lying to us about her family and her father," Violet spoke now. Kate could finally see the resemblance between Violet and her mother.

"What? What are you talking about?" Kate asked.

"I hired a private investigator to look into her past," "Mother don't you dare," Anthony interrupted but Violet continued, "She said her father passed away 3 years ago from cancer but that's not true,"

"What?" "Mum stop!" Kate and Anthony interjected but Violet continued undeterred.

This time speaking directly to Kate "Your birth mother's husband is very much alive. During her marriage, she cheated on him and ran away with a mechanic, and before she could be located, as she was pregnant, she ran away to England,"

Kate could barely hear the words Violet was saying "No. No. No," Kate for the first time in her life had no words.

Kate tried to take the pages from Violet who was trying to hand them off to Anthony and took a look at them. She saw the marriage certificate, the missing person's report even the attempt to dissolve the marriage all with her birth mother's name on them. Kate could barely breathe.

Violet took the pages from Kate with little fuss and tried to hand them to Anthony "It's all right here,"

Anthony looked furious "You had no right!"

"We had every right!" Violet exclaimed.

"No, you did not!" Anthony said.

"Do you know what kind of scandal this would have caused for Kate to be hiding something like this?" Violet asked Anthony.

Kate was now just feeling so small. She did not care about Violet or Lady Ledger anymore she looked up at Anthony "I didn't know,"

Anthony looked at her in the eyes and then back at his mother with fury. Before he could say anything though Violet spoke "We cannot be linked to this sort of family,"

Kate was now tearing up. It reminded her of her childhood when she had been scolded by her parents, she was both ashamed and embarrassed. She wished the ground would swallow her whole. She glanced at Lady Ledger and she had a smug smile on her face. Kate felt like she was going to be sick for the second time that day.

Violet spoke "Anthony we could not even be sure her father is her actual father. Can you imagine that? The scandal of it all!"

Kate took a step back while Anthony and his mother went back and forth yelling at each other. Kate thought about all the times people would say she and Edwina looked nothing alike. It stung because Edwina was stunning but Kate always thought that she just took after her mother's side of the family. It hurt Kate in a spot of her heart that she had spent her whole life guarding so strongly: her family.

"Mother I do not care what you think about her family. I love her!" Anthony said.

Violet tried to grab his hand and said "In our lives, family is everything, Anthony! How can you be with someone who might have been keeping this from you?"

"Cause I already knew!" Anthony hollered.

"What?" Kate said and Anthony looked at her.

"Don't worry Kate, I already knew about all of this before this ambush," Anthony said in a soothing voice.

Anthony took a step towards her but she took a step back "Why did you know all of this before I even did?"

Anthony looked confused "Kate I do research on most people in my life,"

"You do realise how messed up that is, right? Were you just gonna hold that information about me forever? At what point in the 8 months we have been dating do you think of telling me about this? You have no right to even be mad at your mother then!" Kate exclaimed. Anthony tried to respond but Kate held her hand up and looked towards Violet "You don't have to worry about me messing up your family reputation Lady Bridgerton, because I want absolutely nothing to do with your family,"

Kate hated feeling small, she hated people who tried to drive a wedge with her family. She had spent years feeling insecure with Mary as a stepmother especially after Edwina was born but Mary had treated her like nothing less than a daughter even after her father died. Mary mourned for a good month and then resumed getting her Edwina prepared for schooling. Reminding Kate to eat while she studied, called her and always tried to keep her close. Mary had run away from her family so Kate understood that her mother just wanted to keep the family she had left close. Mary was not the best at organisation and planning but Kate loved it and was good at it so she stepped up. Kate always had at least one loving parent in her life and she was not going to let Violet & Anthony Bridgerton take that away from her.

Kate ran away from the scene. If you asked her how she ended up being escorted out of the party by Simon then you would not get a straight answer. There was a ringing in her ears, a lot of shuffling and bumping into people and then she was in a car with Simon holding her as she cried.

----

Present:

Kate loved 'Nailed It' on Netflix. The premise was simple: Under a time limit, amateur bakers have to recreate often elaborate cakes to the satisfaction of the judges. It was simple enough that Kate could mindlessly watch while she ate popcorn for dinner cuddling her corgi puppy Newton. Popcorn was not Kate's usual choice of meal but between her long schedule and her inability to open her spice cupboards without getting an overwhelming sense of nausea, popcorn had to do.

Living alone was not something Kate ever sought. She loved being with her family or friends in uni. The only time she ever thought about living with someone else was when she was with Anthony so it came as a shock to everyone when she decided to move out after her breakup. There was something about living at home that felt claustrophobic, between Mary and Edwina's knowing and pitying eyes and the constant reminders of not just Anthony but other people she had lost, Kate had spoken with her therapist and decided that maybe a change of scenery was what she needed.

She started looking for flats in and around the area, and then she went to viewings but it wasn't until 'Moving Day' did it all feel real. Kate remembers how mad Edwina had been about her decision and on that day she had refused to come out of her room because she felt like Kate was making a drastic change in their lives. Kate was sad but Edwina eventually peeked out to give her a goodbye hug. It wasn't until she went to leave that she saw the sadness in Mary's eyes and even though she was able to make until she got to her place. She broke down. It was supposed to be the Sharma women vs. The world and Kate felt like she was letting them down and she felt guilty.

2 weeks later Kate was feeling a bit better about her new normal when Mary showed up at her door with a sad smile, Butter Chicken (because it was one of the only dishes she knew) and a corgi puppy. Mary explained that they weren't mad that she had gotten her own place, they were sad because they felt like she was running away from them and she did not think it was a good idea for Kate to be alone so soon after her breakup. Kate explained herself and that it was not an easy decision for her either and Mary agreed so in an effort to calm Mary's mind and for Kate to still have company she adopted a corgi puppy for her. Kate named him Newton, her father would have loved that, if he ever let her and Edwina get a dog that is.

Kate was hesitant about taking care of a dog but Newton was so cute at times it caused a deep yearning in her she tried to ignore. When her therapist suggested she join dog groups online for advice or socialising, Kate was hesitant but her therapist reminded her about being more social and finding avenues to be fulfilled outside of work and her family. Kate joined a dog group that met at different local parks and from the suggestion of one of the other dog owners, she joined other Facebook groups like one for painting, horseriding and swimming.

Kate had made quite a few friends through the activities and was surprised at her popularity among young active men. It turns out that once she opened her horizons outside her field there were nice and like-minded men. She went out with a few, some bad, some good, some good in one aspect only (Pav was overall enthusiastic but not that bright) and then there was Ryan Bagwell.

Ryan was not Kate's usual type, he was relaxed, artistic and spontaneous. He was one of the volunteer instructors for the painting group and Kate felt a bit turned off by it at first that was until he showed her what he did. He was an architect, more alternative than the average architect but he also owned galleries. It was through him that Kate had her first run-in with a Bridgerton since the breakup. Benedict was there viewing Henry's work (Kate's fault for not getting Henry's last name) and they bumped into each other. The interaction was stilted but when Kate mentioned she was with her boyfriend Ryan, Ben relaxed and said Anthony was also seeing someone. It hurt but only for a moment. Benedict tried to exchange numbers but Kate was not interested and he was nice enough to leave it at that.

It was after the show that Kate had to tell Ryan about her history with the Bridgertons. Ryan was understanding and told her that he liked her and wanted to be in it with her for the long haul so Kate was happy. Edwina loved him and Mary found him interesting so it seemed pretty simple. For once her dating life was stable. Her and Ryan would go out dancing and hiking and Kate had never felt more alive than when she was with him. He was good about her friendship with Simon he also encouraged her to make other friends and that is how she reconnected with Sophie from Law school.

So to have to break up with Ryan was not easy. She did not want to lead him on and things in her life were not going to slow down any time soon. She told him that she did not want to ask him to wait for her to get her life in order and he understood. He told her he was always going to be here for her and told her to not feel weird about attending painting classes because he would still like to see her. I mean they were friends before they dated so it was easy to slip back into it. Still, Kate wondered how Ryan had gotten so well-adjusted and if she could steal his personality.

So it was a Thursday night and Kate was on her couch cuddling with Newton and eating popcorn when she heard thundering knocking on her door. Kate checked her phone and saw the time (10.30 PM) but also that no one had called or texted her in the past few hours that would warrant such urgent knocking and that's when the knocker spoke.

"Sharma, open the damn door! I know you are in there!" It was Simon.

Kate went to open the door and Simon walked in aggressively "How nice of you to drop by unannounced Si," Kate closed the door behind him.

Simon had sat at her kitchen island but was turned to her with a scowl "Don't treat me like an acquaintance, you know why I'm here,"

Kate's blood froze "Who told you?"

"What do you mean who told me? You didn't think I would notice you haven't been working at the firm for the last month?" Simon asked.

Kate visibly relaxed and went to get some wine glasses and a bottle, she placed the glass in front of Simon and poured him a bit and then one into her glass but she did not move to drink it "I'm sorry it has been a chaotic time, I meant to tell you the last time I saw you but things were tense after the news around Anthony. I forgot,"

Simon took a sip from his glass and then said "I need this. Between Daphne and the baby and the mess with you and the Bridgertons, I have not had a good moment's rest,"

Kate could not help her curiosity "What's going on with the Bridgertons?" Simon looked at her with a look that said 'Do you truly want to know?' and she continued "Oh please, you so came over here to vent,"

Simon sighed "Things have been a bit messy. Daphne and Benedict have tried to step up and take over some of the responsibilities that Anthony was dealing with but it is becoming clearer and clearer that the family had no clue of what it took to maintain them," Simon sighed.

Kate scoffed "They are a smart brood they will get it eventually,"

"Well eventually cannot wait. Benedict has been so stressed out that he spaced and missed the payment for Eloise's second semester at uni and she almost lost her spot. Luckily, she decided to take it over because Ben then ran into issues when Colin almost got arrested in the Phillippines for smuggling drugs luckily the ambassador in Manila is a friend of Violet's and was able to get the prescription we faxed over for the drug to the police. It has been one thing after another, there are too many Bridgertons and not enough hands. It's stressing a very pregnant Daphne out, which is stressing me out," Simon took a rather large sip of wine after his rant.

"I'm sure you guys will get a handle on it. I feel bad for Ben, handling the family like this was not something he ever thought he would do..." she added the next part in quieter "...or even wanted to do,"

Simon eyed her oddly at her statement "Yes... Well, I'm tired and I need you right now," the last part came out as a bit of a whine.

Kate reached across the table and grabbed Simon's hand "I'm here if you want to talk,"

"That's not what you said last time we spoke,"

Kate straightened up her position and sighed "I was tired and overwhelmed. I'm feeling a lot better about it now. You are my friend and you made me godmother to that little Basset baby and I'm not going to let you down," she said with a smile.

He returned her smile "How does Ryan feel about all of this? Are you guys still taking that break?"

Kate sighed. How much was she going to tell Simon? Honesty is the best policy "I'm pregnant,"

For about 10 seconds all you could hear was the mindless chatter of the TV in the background until Simon reawakened and asked "It's Ryans, right?"

Kate was taken aback "Why did you ask me like that?"

"Is it Benedicts?" Simon asked in such a hushed tone Kate grew concerned.

At first, she thought he said the wrong name but then she looked at his face and realised he was serious and began to laugh.

Simon stood up and exclaimed "Kate this is not a laughing matter,"

Kate said wiping her eyes "Except it kind of is,"

"How far along are you?"

Kate did not answer so Simon came around the kitchen island and lifted her shirt "Jeez Simon, that is a violation. You don't go around lifting women's shirts,"

"You do when they are your friend and they refuse to answer straightforward questions,"

"I was going to answer you if you had given me the chance. I'm about 4 months," Kate said.

Simon took Kate's wine glass and the bottle of wine to the other side of the island and finished all of Kate's glass, immediately pouring another glass and said "Well, you are barely showing,"

"Yeah, small pregnant bellies run in the family," Kate said with a shrug.

"You never answered my question though. Are you and Ryan back on?" Simon asked all his attention on her.

"Well, no actually we broke up," Simon's eyes widened and took a sip of wine but a thought popped into Kate's head and she asked, "Wait, why did you think the father could be Benedict?"

Simon's eyes widened but he sighed and spoke "Well, I've seen how close you guys have been since he had that art show. Ryan might have expressed concern that Benedict might be a problem but I shut him down..." Simon took a breath and continued "Then Anthony also expressed he felt you and Benedict are close. Benedict is single and a bit reckless when picking partners,"

"Hey, I liked Henry and seriously Simon, that's it? That sounds like you're slut-shaming Ben which is rich coming from you and Anthony," Kate said incredulously.

"That's what I thought too until after the baby shower," Simon said with a shrug.

"What happened after the baby shower?" Kate asked.

"I saw you leave with Ben, Kate. After you told me about taking a break with Ryan, what else was I supposed to think?"

"That I got pregnant with my ex-boyfriend's brother's baby? What do you think of me?" Kate said with what she hoped was massive amounts of sarcasm.

"You forget that I was the one who picked you up after 2 one-night stands," Simon said gesturing.

"That was months ago before I even met Ryan," Kate said incredulously.

"The night of the baby shower Ben and Anthony got it a huge fight. More blows were exchanged than that night Ant caught me with Daph. Ben told Anthony that he was ashamed of him,"

Kate's heart constricted as she sighed "That's not good. The last thing I wanted was to come between them,"

"Well, the week after that, we got the news of Anthony being in the hospital so it's not been easy,"

Kate covered her face with her hands, she needed to speak to Ben soon "Ben only helped me because he knew I was pregnant already," She sighed and then closed her eyes before saying "He knew the baby was Anthony's..." Simon looked shocked and ready to speak but she continued "That's why I took Anthony aside to speak to him at the shower, he had been ignoring my calls. Ben told me I had to tell him but then Anthony yelled at me so terribly and Ben heard so he took me home and comforted me. He's more like a brother to me, like you,"

"When did this happen, Kate?"

"I just said at your baby shower," Kate answered.

"What?! Did you get pregnancy brain? I meant when did you and Anthony hook up?"

"Hook up? Grow up," Kate said as she rolled her eyes but she continued when Simon gave her a stern look "During your engagement, me and Anthony realised we could not ignore each other forever so we agreed to be friendly,"

Simon scoffed "You two only have two gears: at each other's throats or madly in love. No in-between,"

"Yes well, Ryan noticed that as well and that's when we decided to take a break. When you guys were coming back from your honeymoon Anthony and I thought it would be a good idea to host a lunch for the day you got back so we met up and well one thing led to another and we ended up staying in his bedroom for most of the day," Simon took a healthy sip of wine and she continued "Ben caught me in his apartment later in the day so when Ben, Anthony and I got together to organise your baby shower, he saw me throwing up and he put two and two together,"

Simon took a few seconds to ingest all she had told him and then asked "So I'm going to guess you are keeping it?"

Kate nodded and Simon stood up and came around the kitchen island to embrace her. She was not sure if it was pregnancy hormones but she got teary-eyed.

"Thanks, Si," Kate patted Simon's back "I'm guessing you are no longer angry with me for ignoring you all this time, huh?"

Simon chuckled "Oh no I am. Only now I'm mad at you for stealing my thunder," Kate giggled and Simon leaned back and said "Congratulations Kate. You'll be a banging mum,"

"Thank you," Kate said definitely crying now.

----

Kate telling Simon about her pregnancy started to make the whole thing real. At this point, more and more people who were not the father were beginning to know.

Before he had left her place last night, in a super expensive Uber, Simon had scolded her for keeping her pregnancy news for as long as she did but Kate had concerns, especially after Anthony's outburst and then hospitalisation. She wanted to visit him but she was afraid if she did then she would blurt it out and the idea of being vulnerable to him like that was unnerving. Her therapist had told her that if she had Anthony's baby she would be tying herself to him and his family for life and that there was no way of escaping it. It was a scary thought.

Kate thought long and hard about it, seeking advice from Sophie on it. Sophie tried to leave her Family Law self at home when advising her. Reminding her that at any point something could make her a single mother and that she should only have the baby if she wanted to be a mother, with Anthony by her side or not. Sophie did sneak it in that Kate should draw up documents to leave her parental rights to her stepmother Mary and Kate asked if she would consider being second after Mary and Sophie hesitated but accepted. It was a gloomy conversation that ended with laughter and tears.

Kate did not want to be one of those women who never allowed their baby's father in their life but Kate could not help but feel hesitance whenever she thought of the Bridgertons and the idea that her child's grandmother was going to be Violet Bridgerton. It was a hard thing to deal with but Simon was right, Kate was 4 months along, and the moment to keep Anthony from the fact was coming to an end.

Kate was not Anthony's mother, she was not going to baby him, she would tell him about the baby and if he wanted to be a part of the child's life then they could do that but if not she felt ready to deal with it on her own. She would set ground rules about his mother and other family members and make it clear through a co-parenting relationship contract on what it meant if he went against it.

When Kate spoke with Simon, Simon was ready to villainize Violet but Kate said there was no point. The contract was all she needed. A long time ago Kate actually forgave Anthony for not knowing any better but forgive and forget were two different things.

After their day in the bedroom, Anthony had called her to talk and they met at a cafe. Anthony told her he had broken up with Sienna. Anthony thought they would get back together but Kate told him that she was not interested. She was not angry with him anymore but the reality of who he was, was just not something she could easily forget. She emphasised that it was important they remained civil for the sake of their relationships with Simon and Daphne.

Kate thought Anthony might be too fragile to hear the news but Simon informed Kate that Anthony was doing better. At first, Simon did not want to bring up Anthony at all but since Anthony is involved he told her about the progress he had made since he left the hospital.

Anthony had gone no contact with his mother which caused issues because the younger siblings (Francesca, Gregory & Hyacinth) missed him but Daphne had been reassuring them that it was important for Anthony to get better.

Anthony had been seeing a therapist regularly and set up a treatment plan that did not include medication for the time being as they figured out what he needed and what caused his issues.

Anthony had decreased the hours he worked at the company to do other things outside of investments and property development.

Kate was happy for Anthony, she knew better than anyone that bad habits are hard to break.

----

"Come along Katie," Mary said as they walked up the steep road to Anthony's place. Mary was accompanying her to give Anthony the news.

Kate had told Edwina and Mary that she was going to tell Anthony about the baby at breakfast the day before and the whole kitchen had gone silent.

Edwina was of the mind to leave it be but once Kate brought up the fact that Ben and Simon now both knew it was only a matter of time before Anthony did and that would be worse.

Kate made it clear that she was not asking them for permission, she knew that she was opening the door for the Bridgertons to be back in their lives again and Edwina was not a fan. Although she had gotten on with the younger Bridgerton siblings, Edwina felt them and their friends at school to be stuck up and Edwina had never felt comfortable, she was so excited to be graduating from high school soon. So when Edwina heard about the real reason Kate and Anthony had broken up she was far from happy.

Edwina insisted on coming with Kate for backup which Kate found cute considering Edwina was almost a foot shorter than her and, maybe Kate was biased here, but Edwina was too cute to pass for intimidating. If it wasn't for Edwina's exams, she would have come but Edwina then insisted on Mary going with her. To which Mary agreed. Kate told them she could do it on her own but Mary was already making plans to move her shift and Kate had gotten a fresh wave of emotion at the solidarity in the room. It made her wonder if her dad would have been proud.

Any way Kate and Mary made their way to Anthony's place around noon and Mary insisted Kate walk, as Kate had taken a break from her many activities due to the pregnancy.

Kate and Mary stood outside Anthony's gate for a bit before Kate was able to gain enough courage, she saw that a car was parked in the driveway so she pressed the buzzer. The intercom had a bit of static but she thought she heard someone say hello "Hi, it's Kate. I need to speak with you, Anthony. I can leave if you are busy," Kate had to give herself an out, at the end there.

There was static on the intercom and then the gate opened.

Kate took a breath and then she and Mary walked up the steep driveway and she regretted not driving again, once they made it to the top of the driveway the door to Anthony's flat opened and there stood Violet Bridgerton.

#the crazy rich viscount who loved me #kathony fanfic #anthony x kate #kathony #kanthony #kate x anthony

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you-wanted-anarchy · 10 months

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The Dire Mechanic - A Short Story

I don’t enjoy my job. The last guy didn’t either. I don’t imagine there’s many people who would want to introduce people to their makers, day in and day out. But someone has to.

Tonight it was Matthew Parker’s turn. I started the routine writing on my clipboard. I like to talk to myself as I work. “Parker, Matthew. 43, M. Automotive technician.”

“That’s me,” Matthew sighed, from underneath the Impala he was servicing moments ago. “You OSHA?”

“I’m more like, the guy they don’t want to call.” I liked using that line. It scared people just enough that they usually started to wake up.

“What the hell’s that sup— hey. Who turned off the radio?” Matthew’s annoyance turned to confusion. He was coming around, but he didn’t get it. I almost didn’t want to make him.

“No one did, Matthew. It’s still playing, right now. Come see,” I called, as I stepped a little closer to the vintage car. The ones who go quick tend to figure it out slow for some reason. Matthew started to move but realized the first problem soon enough.

“I’m. Stuck. That don’t happen. The hell? Help a brother out, would ya,” he asked me, a slight note of panic creeping into his deep voice. I put my clipboard under my arm and reached down to grab his callused, grimy hand. I didn’t mind, I don’t get dirty anyway. Anymore, that is.

“Whoa!” he called out, “how’d you.. what?” His confusion deepened as I pulled him straight through the car he thought he was still servicing.

“Look at the radio, Matthew. The light’s still on, see?” I gave him a second to find something normal again. Grounding tends to help after a traumatic experience, after all. “Now look at the car. What do you see?”

Matthew paused for several seconds. “The poor girl. She’s.. what happened?” I knew he was understanding now.

“She fell,” I answered shortly. I was tired, and Matthew was old enough to do the math.

“But then I— Oh. I did. Damn. Are you some kind of God? I never believed in all that,” Matthew said, his confusion dissolving as we looked together at the tragic scene. Two broken bodies: his, six inches thinner than it was this morning, and the Impala’s, two feet lower than it had been a minute ago. The wheels weren’t supposed to be on the ground yet, but when you don’t maintain your lifts…

“I am not God,” I chuckled, shaking myself out of my thoughts. “You can call me the Mechanic, if you need to talk about me.”

“They call me that too. Or called, I guess. Yeesh. Don’t look too good under there, do I?”

“Not really, nope. Seen worse though. Let’s take a walk,” I suggested. I like it when they have some humor. It’s easier than working around denial. As we walked together, the garage and the street slowly faded into arbitrary nothing, swirling hues of dark blue and grey making up all we could see. Walking was unnecessary at this point, but it made conversation a little more casual, and no one likes looking at their own dead body for too long, it feels good to move away from the scene.

“So, what’s it for me now? Where do I, yknow. Go?” Matthew’s question was reasonable. I was starting to like the guy a little bit. Not an easy thing for someone like me.

“Would you mind answering a few questions? Nothing you haven’t done before, but it helps get everything in order.” I didn’t tell him everything. I didn’t want to. They usually don’t cooperate as well. I have a job to do. I don’t have to like it.

“Sure, I guess I got time.” More jokes. I really don’t like getting attached, but there’s no need to be rude to a dead guy.

“Can you tell me your employer’s name, last then first, to start?” I clicked my pen twice as we spoke, and as I wrote the name I repeated it back, as usual. The ink glowed an ugly red in contrast with the abstract darkness of our surroundings. “Miller.. Ashton… thank you,” I said. As I continued the usual spiel of questions, the routine allowed my mind to wander again.

I wondered how long Mr. Miller would scream when I handed in the form. Doubtless, a while. Eternal punishment comes in all shapes and sizes. Getting a man killed is just as bad as killing him yourself. Did that make me a murderer? Probably. Aren’t all Reapers though? What else was a Reaper, if not just another kind of killer? What if we cause the deaths we visit?

I shook myself off that line of thinking. I was doing justice. Someone had to pay the price, to keep the balance for Mr. Parker here getting into Heaven for free. The one who caused his death. The man who let him get flattened by a ‘68 Impala. Yes, that was it. This was the right thing.

“Holy moly,” Matthew said. We were here. Good old pearly gates. They had lost their luster to me long ago, but to Matthew it must have been the greatest thing since the socket wrench.

“Holy, yes. That’s the idea anyway— excuse me a moment,” I said to him, turning to Saint Peter. “Add this one to the list, will you bud?” I told him. He didn’t have much choice after all. We all play our roles. As he tucked the form I’d just filled out into an opalescent desk drawer, I could swear I heard Ashton Miller’s screams already. But he wouldn’t see justice for at least another decade, more than likely. Shame.

“So I just. Walk on in, now?” the man asked, already stepping forward, doubtless by no will of his own. Nonetheless, Peter nodded, waving him in, before turning to me silently. His somber expression spoke centuries of the pain I only had known for a few dozen years. My one and only friend in this - quite literal - hell of a job. We all play our parts.

Be careful at work. The last face anyone wants to see is the Dire Mechanic. But usually, for the ones I meet. It is.

I walked an arbitrary path back to solid ground, pulling my clipboard from thin air, and started to talk as I wrote again. No rest for the wicked.

#short story #religious trauma #no more writers block #musings of a degenerate #dire mechanic

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thegettingbyp2 · 10 months

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Just say your last post about writing for Tveit Sweeny! I'd love for either Tveit sweeny x Mrs lovett reader. Or Tveit sweeny x Ensemble /first cover Johanna reader! I cannot wait for the clips of Aaron as sweeny and more photos!

Oh, Mr Todd, I'm So Happy

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‘Take five, go get a drink and then we’ll try again,’ you director called out across the rehearsal room. Trying to dampen down your giggles, you quickly rushed across the room to grab your water bottle from your bag. You and your best friend, Aaron Tveit, had been cast as the new Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett on Broadway, and whilst it was incredible being able to work with your best friend, it also caused a lot of distractions.

You’d been trying to rehearse the By the Sea number for about two hours now and you still hadn’t gotten past the first few lines. You knew the song like the back of your hand and you knew that you could sing it, but trying to keep a straight face when you turned to face Aaron for the first time in the number was proving to be an impossible task.

Whilst the song was happy for your character, Aaron had to keep a straight face for the entire number, something that he was surprisingly really good at. However, every time you turned to face him, you couldn’t help but erupt into giggles when you saw him.

‘You know you’re an actress, you should be able to just switch it off you know,’ Aaron said teasingly as he came up behind you to get his own water bottle.

‘Well, I’m sorry if my scene partner just has one of those faces you can’t help but laugh at,’ you replied sarcastically, grinning as you spun around to face him. ‘I don’t get it! I’ve been fine in every other scene that we’ve rehearsed so far but there’s something about this song that I can’t help but laugh!’

‘Maybe it’s because you’re just so excited to finally be in a show with your best friend,’ he said, grinning widely at you.

‘No, I don’t think that’s it, because at the moment, I think I might kill him before opening night.’

‘I think you’ll find I’m the one with the knife in this show.’

The two of you burst into fits of laughter again as you put your water bottles back and made your way back over to the “stage”, getting back in your positions, ready to start the number from the top as soon as everyone else was ready. ‘This time, we’re going to get through it, okay? There’s going to be no laughing, nothing, it’s going to be a perfect run of the song, you hear me?’ you said abruptly, turning to Aaron, determination written clearly on your features.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ he replied, mock saluting you, amusement colouring his tone as he spoke.

‘Right,’ your director said as he wandered back over, ‘are we ready to get this done? And then we can move onto Anthony and Joanna’s scene so you two can have a break, sound good?’

‘Sounds great!’ you and Aaron replied at the same time, the both of you trying to hold your laughter in.

The music started back up and you both settled back into your characters. As soon as you started singing, you threw yourself into the song and it took everything in your power not to laugh at Aaron, silently pleased when you got past the bit that had been holding you up all day.

You’d almost finished the song when you leant in to peck Aaron’s cheek; that was when he absolutely lost it. Falling onto his back, clutching his stomach, he dissolved into fits of giggles that had everything in the room coming to a halt.

‘Aaron! We almost had it!’ you exclaimed as you started laughing alongside him.

‘I know, I’m sorry! You started this!’ he replied in between laughs.

You heard your director sigh before speaking. ‘Right, let’s move onto a different scene for now and we’ll come back to this one tomorrow.’

‘We’ll be better tomorrow,’ you said from your spot next to Aaron on the floor.

‘Yeah, we promise!’

#aaron tveit #aaron tveit imagine #aaron tveit x reader

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ruleofvee · 10 months

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[something short for the au i outlined here]

Grab it.

His fingers twitch. Some long-wilted instinct has him force them to still, force himself to remain frozen behind the rocks. Remnants of a life that feels so very distant, and yet clings to him like the marks of some ghost. It saves him, this time. His target is wary, ever on the alert. Cyno has one chance, and one chance only.

The memories are - blurred. Scribe, his fractured mind says, when he eyes the gray-haired man. His mind stutters over the second man - friend, lover, Tighnari - but it feels far away from himself, somehow. A life that is and isn’t his. He tucks it away among the shattered glass that has become his mindscape.

The others are irrelevant, and he dismisses them. Nothing matters as much as what the Scribe carries.

No matter what, Cyno must get his hands on the divine knowledge capsule.

~=~

Electro always wears on his mind, dissolving his tenuous grasp on reality. He staves off its usage for as much as he can, and then when green mist starts to gather around the Scribe’s hands, he realizes he has no more choice.

friendloverTighnari is shouting something. Cyno doesn’t have the time to make it out before purple sparks fill his vision, and everything slips away.

When he comes to again, he is running. Running across the sands, feet tracing the path back to the temple. Something clangs against his chest, and he looks down to see the capsule cradled in his arms. There is shouting behind him, but he doesn’t hear it. His gaze lies on the dunes ahead, where a figure stands waiting for him. My handler.

Red is encroaching along the corners of his vision. He reaches for them, suddenly short of breath. Their face etches in something like and yet unlike worry as they catch him before he can keel over.

It’s already slipping away, now that he’s no longer alone. He’s been clawing onto sanity with both hands during this chase, and now he is beyond spent. The madness is creeping in, insidious, scraping the shattered glass of his mind down the edges of his thoughts.

“Unsafe,” he gasps, and then he is gone.

~=~

Merimaat sighs quietly. With one hand, they take the capsule from Cyno - exposure to it surely did nothing for his mind. Once it is safely tucked away in their robes, they grab him by the wrist and haul him to his feet.

He sways, unsteady, eyes vacant. It’s always disconcerting to see him like this. They have done so much and yet so little. Sometimes Merimaat wonders if it was a good idea to even try.

But, they would hardly go against the Temple. And what they have learned has been useful.

Cyno leans into air like he’s about to keel over, and with an impatient huff Merimaat stoops and picks him up in their arms. He has learned by now to go willingly, and so he lies limply, muttering nonsense under his breath that Merimaat doesn’t care to hear.

Unsafe - what a woefully inadequate description of such matters. The chances that Cyno would ever be himself again are low indeed, in Merimaat’s opinion. The knowledge is too entrenched, too deeply permeated through his mind. If only they’d gotten to him sooner -

Shouting, in the distance. They are out of time.

Merimaat shifts their grip on the General Mahamatra, and walks.

~=~

Once, Cyno described his madness as ‘a kind of living nightmare’. It was one of the few times he ever willingly spoke about his condition. Normally he prefers to pretend that it does not exist, which does little to aid their research - but they would not dare to force him. The higher-ups were clear - whatever Cyno says, goes, including refusals to cooperate.

(He is our only potential connection to Irminsul. Even in his madness, he knows things we do not.)

The entrance hall of the Temple of Silence is blessedly cool after so long in the blinding sun. Merimaat drops Cyno, a sound that echoes in the space, and the General sprawls out onto the floor like a spilled sack of flour. It doesn’t seem to affect him. His murmurs have risen into incoherent syllables, that bounce off the stone walls and make Merimaat shiver.

Trying to block out his words, they instead reach inside their robes and pull out the capsule. It illuminates the shadows with a harsh, angry red light, and Merimaat finds themselves unexpectedly captivated. Lucky, they suppose, that they have long removed their Akasha Terminal.

Still, their eyes linger on the glow. A shape moves in the endless red, and they stare unblinkingly, trying to make it out -

A hand grabs their shoulder. They yelp, and nearly drop the capsule. They’re whirled around to face the furious eyes of what looks like a man with fox ears. Something cold presses under their chin, and they look down to see an arrow in the man’s other hand like a knife, the tip flush to their jugular.

“My name is Tighnari,” the man says, more like a growl than a sentence, “and you have thirty seconds to explain why you are holding Cyno here. Begin.”

#fanfic #fanfiction #genshin impact #genshin fanfic #cyno angst #genshin cyno #genshin au

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rubykgrant · 2 years

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RVB Secret Santa time! This is a gift for @robopastry ; a story featuring Donut and Wash, having a nice time on a winter drive, with a surprising destination. I hope you like it~ (I had fun making this something that was both out of the ordinary and yet comfortable/mundane, with a fun balance between Donut being a sweet-heart and also playfully mean, because he’s just like that. No angst though, this is a nice and pleasant story~)

“Wash, it’ll be fine, I promise! Everybody else has had a turn- taking a ride with me. In a vehicle. That I am driving,” Donut carefully phrased that so it only had ONE meaning, nothing to be misunderstood. “And there’s never been a problem. I’m a very safe driver!”

“Mmm…”

Wash had agreed to take a drive with Donut, but made it no secret that he had some reservations. However, Donut worked a miracle and convinced Wash to come along with him today. He really, really, REALLY wanted to show Wash something; it was too far away to just walk, and absolutely worth the trip. As Donut packed some snacks, Grif predictably materialized nearby. Also predictably, Simmons was by Grif’s side.

“So, where are you off to… with tuna and dill pickle sandwiches, cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies, peanutbutter celery sticks, slices of salami and swiss cheese, a thermos of potato soup, and a thermos of hot chocolate?” Grif asked. He hadn’t even LOOKED at the food, he just KNEW.

“Well, I’m going to this neat new club. It’s called Nunya,” Donut answered cheerfully.

“What’s Nun-” Simmons began, before Grif nudged him with an elbow.

“Nice try Donut, I have a little sister, I know what that means!”

“Oh, fine. I’m going for a drive outside the city, and Wash is coming. I want us to have a nice time, so I’m bringing lunch!” Donut explained.

“What’s outside the city?” Simmons asked (internally processing that Grif had in fact saved him from hearing “Nunya Business” as an answer earlier).

“A surprise~” Donut told him with a wink, putting the food inside the backseat of the car (cold stuff in a small cooler, warm thermoses in a cozy carrier). “We’ll tell you all about it when we get back… maybe I’ll even bring home some HEADLIGHT FLUID and ELBOW GREASE for you two!”

“Ha-ha, you’re hilarious Donut,” Simmons’ voice dripped with sarcasm. “How about we dig up an old Blue Team Flag for you and Wash. You can use it like a picnic blanket!”

“Would you? Simmons, you’re such a DEAR,” Donut returned the sarcasm, which was followed by Simmons attempting to flick him on the forehead, so Donut started smacking the hand away.

“Well, if this surprise is so special, maybe we can just tag along and-” before Grif could continue, he was cut-off by a voice from behind.

“No way. I am NOT getting in a car with more than one Red Team member at a time,” Wash said, walking up to the passenger door.

“What? Why?” Simmons and Grif spoke together.

“Because! You all make each other crazy, and it makes ME crazy!” Wash gave them a glare, and rather than shrink away, Grif and Simmons just smirked (because they knew it was absolutely true).

Wash got in and shut his door to the sound of Grif and Simmons dissolving into laughter. Donut shook his head, an amused smile on his face, and went toward the driver’s side. Before he got in, he glanced up and saw Doc leaning over the little railing that led from the garage up to the apartment stairs. He smiled as well, giving Donut a small nod and a wave; unlike the others, Doc had an inkling of what Donut wanted to show Wash. Donut nodded back, then got in the car, buckled up, and turned the key. It was time to hit the road.

Wash sat in his seat looking as sullen as possible … but as Donut drove through the city, Wash began to relax. For the last few weeks, it had gotten colder and colder, then clouds gathered in the sky, blocking out the sun. Finally, it snowed. Big, fluffy flakes that blanketed everything. The day before, the clouds let the sun come back, and the roads were quickly cleared away. About a foot of snow still covered the yards and parks of the city, and more in the hills beyond.

That was where they were going now. The hills to the north-west of the city, where the forest began. A few days before the first frost hit, Donut had been driving out there with Doc, the two of them tracking down a small road-side shop that sold fruit preserves (intending to get some jars of spiced peaches and apples). As they passed various cedar and oak trees, Donut had noticed something else out there… and he was sure that it was still waiting for him and Wash today.

They left behind the tall buildings and neighborhoods. The road began to curve more with the flow of the land. Donut slowed down when they got to the first big hill.

“Hey, roll down your window,” he said to Wash, who did just that. The air that rushed in was cool, but also surprisingly FRAGRANT. It was something… floral, most definitely, and very strong. Wash felt like he should KNOW this scent, but it wasn’t coming to him.

“Oh WOW…” Wash breathed in deeply through his nose, savoring whatever this smell was. It seemed to be at odds with the Winter scene, something that belonged in Spring or Summer. “What is it?” Wash asked. He could almost taste this… in fact, he thought he must have tasted this before, something very sweet…

“You’ll see in a minute. I’m taking us up over there, by those rocks!” Donut nodded up ahead and to the right. Wash looked, and could see an old broken-down wooden fence from some long-ago horse corral, and several rocks clustered nearby. They looked like they had been warmed and dried by the sun, which was still shining overhead, making the white snow even BRIGHTER.

Donut pulled over, and the two men got out of the car. They walked past the rocks, the lonely fence posts, and finally stood before the trees. Wash saw the source of the smell; growing up the tree trunks and twisting through the branches were a multitude of vines, wrapping around each other in knots, with oval-shaped green leaves, and thousands of white/pale-yellow blossoms.

“Honeysuckle~” Donut said, moving his hands in a grand ta-da gesture, beaming proudly. “I saw it starting to bloom a while ago, and I figured it must be in full-swing by now. And I was right!”

Honeysuckle was indeed a spring and summer flower… but it also just did whatever it felt like. Honeysuckle didn’t always go dormant like other flowers. It could bloom in the fall, or even the middle of winter, like right now.

For the next 4 hours, Wash and Donut walked through the woods, picking a few honeysuckle blossoms to taste the nectar, admired the scenery of the trees, and rolled a GIANT snowball. They didn’t want to make an actual snowman; just begin with a small clump of snow, push it around, making it bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER, until it was taller than both of them stacked up on each other’s shoulders. They only stopped when it was officially a snow-boulder and too large to move. After that, they ate the snacks while sitting on the warm rocks, took one more trip to pick an armful of flowers each, then packed everything up and returned to the car. It wasn’t until they were half-way home, the memory finally came…

“I told you about the creek I went to when I was little. The one at my grandpa’s house, where all the honeysuckle grew,” Wash said quietly, turning toward Donut in his seat.

“Yeah. And I told you-”

“You told me about how there was a tree at your school, when you were in kindergarten. The tree was dead, but a whole bush of honeysuckle had grown over it,” Wash continued, not only remembering being at the creek so long ago, but having the conversation with Donut more recently.

“Mmm-hmm. And neither of us has even seen any honeysuckle since then,” Donut finished. He didn’t elaborate further, no explanation about why this was important, or what it meant for either of them. He just let it be what it was.

When they got back, there wasn’t a long exchange of gratitude… but before they went up to the apartment, Wash reached one hand out, touching Donut’s arm. Donut paused, and smiled as Wash very slowly (to avoid any painful head-bonks) leaned forward just a bit, and gently touched his forehead to Donut’s. That was all, a brief yet cozy sign of affection that was much appreciated.

Inside, Wash explained about the honeysuckle to the others. Doc helped him find some water pitchers to use as vases. Donut, on the other hand, snuck behind the group as they looked at the flowers, the cooler he had used for the snacks in his hand, now empty… except for the snow he had gathered up before leaving the hills. Donut shoved two fistfuls of snow down the backs of Grif and Simmons’ shirts. When they shrieked in alarm, turning to see what HORRIBLE and EVIL creature had just attacked them, Donut flung snow in their faces, the gleam in his eyes positively wicked. The next few moments were filled with angry cries from Grif and Simmons, threats from Donut (who was perfectly capable of nailing them snowballs from a long distance), laughter from O’Malley who encouraged Donut to keep escalating, Sarge trying to turn this into a fight against the Blues, and a few voices of reason suggesting the whole thing move outside so the snow wouldn’t make a mess. Wash just rolled his eyes, helping himself to more drops of nectar from the honeysuckle.

#red vs blue #rvb #franklin delano donut #agent washington #rvb secret santa #rvb secret santa 2022 #robopastry

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in-my-feels-probably · 1 year

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Empyrean - Chapter Nine

Chapter 9

Everyone was exhausted after making it back to the inn. Elham had managed to fall asleep, curled up uncomfortably in a chair next to Kaz’s in the office space. He’d tried to tell her to pick a room with a bed, but she refused to let him be alone with his thoughts. She couldn’t let him drown in them, not after the night’s events unfolding the way they did.

“I’m comfortable enough,” she murmured into her jacket that she balled up to act as a pillow, her eyes closed. “I learned how to sleep in a chair quite well. I had to with you always cooped up in your office. I miss the one you got me. The one I kept by the window at the Crow Club. Remember?”

Her eyes were closed, and she missed the glint in his eye as he pictured the image of her curled up in the chair. She was just as tangled up and contorted in this one as she was the one back home, and yet, she still had a look of peace on her face. He would never understand how she managed it.

He nodded, clearing his throat to speak when he realized her eyes were still closed. “I remember.”

Elham managed to get a few hours of sleep, waking up to the sound of the office door open. She rubbed her eyes, sitting up quickly when she realized it was Inej who had walked through the door. She pulled herself from the chair, quickly wrapping her arms around Inej’s shoulders. Inej held her tightly, settling her cheek against Elham’s arm.

“Where were you?” Kaz asked lowly, making them both pull away.

Inej sighed, taking a step forward. “The Drakonasha was trafficking indentures. I had to set them free.”

Elham’s heart sank at her words, and she laid a comforting hand on Inej’s arm. Inej was always quiet about her past before joining the Crows. Elham knew she had been taken against will, which led to her being indentured to the Menagerie. She knew that Inej had been treated terribly while in Tante Heleen’s service, and she knew that she would never stand by while a fate as terrible as hers was falling upon another little girl.

“Kaz, maybe you should listen–”

He wasn’t in the headspace to listen, too angry to let her try and talk him down. “We had a plan!”

“It was unexpected,” Inej tried to rationalize. “I had to make a decision in the moment.”

“You chose strangers over your crew.”

Elham’s mouth fell open in shock, but she stayed quiet, knowing it wasn’t her place to speak. This was between them, and they needed to work it out themselves. Inej took another step forward, Kaz turning in his chair to face her.

“I did as I was told, I got the note to the driver. Nina said everything worked out.”

Kaz’s anger bled into his words, his tone sharp and biting. “We didn’t know where you were, Inej. I didn’t know if Pekka hired another assassin to kill you.”

“We just wanted to know if you were safe or not,” Elham added softly, trying to dissolve the tension in the room. “When you didn’t come, we thought something might have happened to you. Not knowing was getting to us.”

“I’m fine,” she said gently, placing her hand in Elham’s. “And I know I was needed…I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

Kaz’s jaw clenched as he took a sharp breath. He didn’t want to do this. It wasn’t better for anyone if he did this, but he couldn’t risk the safety of the rest of his crew and the success of their plan for someone who couldn’t be relied on, even if letting them go would hurt them all.

“I can’t have a weak link in my crew.” Inej scoffed. “I do one thing without consulting you, and now I’m a weak link? You can’t be serious!”

“I need to know I can count on my Crows. If we can’t rely on each other, we have nothing.”

Elham couldn’t hold back now, placing herself in between Kaz and Inej as she spoke.

“This is ridiculous! Jesper has screwed up before. He spent the kruge we needed for the coal to get us across the Fold. I messed up today. Me. I spoke when I shouldn’t have because I was trying to fight for you, and it could have gotten any one of us hurt. Do you blame me for that? Because if you don’t, why are you blaming her? Inej has saved our asses more times than I can count. She’s been the strongest of us for so many jobs, and this one time is the one you can’t stomach?”

“This one could have gotten one of us killed, Elham!” He spat, speaking softer when her face fell. “It could have gotten you killed.”

And yes, he thought. Yes, I blame you for that. I just can’t bear the thought of letting you go.

Elham was at a loss for words. She tried stuttering out a response, but there was nothing she could say. As much as she wanted to argue, as much as she wanted to fight him, she couldn’t. In a way, he was right. If any one of them let their guard down and steered off the path, it could have devastating repercussions. She knew Inej never intended for it to happen–she probably would have helped the girls on the ship herself–but that didn’t change anything. As unfair as it was, it was a fact. They couldn’t afford to hesitate like that. Not when everything was on the line.

“So just like that..I’m out?” Inej asked, feeling her heart clench in her chest.

Elham watched with tears in her eyes as Kaz slid a piece of paper across the desk, letting her eyes close before the tears fell as he spoke.

“You’re free,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Now all the indentured in Kerch have a Wraith.”

Without another word, Inej took the quitclaim in her hand and walked out the door. Elham quickly followed, catching her on the stairs as she wrapped her hand around Inej’s wrist. Her voice was desperate as she spoke.

“I’ll talk to him. I’ll get him to see reason, he’s not thinking straight. He’s just angry. I won’t let him let you go, Inej. I promise.”

“Are you free, too?” She asked, holding up her papers. “I assume he got your freedom if he got mine.”

Elham’s eyes widened in realization. In all the chaos, it hadn’t really struck her. The weight of what Kaz made Pekka give up was being lifted off of her shoulders. He had made good on his promise. Not only was Inej safe, no longer indentured to the Menagerie…but so was she. She wouldn’t have to live another day waking up with dread in her heart, not knowing whether or not she would be reduced to a piece of property by the end of it. She wouldn’t have to live another day, wondering if she had done enough to save Inej from her fate.

She finally forced herself to speak. “He did. Kaz made Pekka free us when he cleared our names for the murders.”

“And what will you do with your freedom? Stay by his side?”

Her words hit Elham like a blow to the gut, knocking the wind out of her. Inej’s anger and frustration lessened when she saw the hurt flash across Elham’s face. She didn’t mean for what she said to come across that way, but it did.

If there was a side to be on, Elham would always choose Kaz’s.

No matter what, it was just who she was. She couldn’t help it. And Inej couldn’t blame her for that. If there was one thing Elham was going to be till the end of her days, it was loyal. Even if it meant getting hurt in the process. Even if it meant she'd have no one left by her side but him.

“You deserve better,” Inej mumbled, taking Elham’s hands in hers. “It’s not your fault, El. I don’t blame you. I’ll give him time. But know that if it doesn’t work out, you’ll always have a place with me. Kerch could always use a Wraith and a Valkyrie.”

Elham laughed sadly, squeezing Inej’s hands in hers. It was a beautiful picture she was painting. Being together, saving people who couldn’t save themselves. Always having a friend by her side when she needed one. They could have that life. They really could.

But both of them knew it would never be.

“It would be my honor, Captain Ghafa,” Elham mused, bowing her head as she dramatically curtsied.

Inej giggled, a warm smile on her face. “At ease, soldier. It isn't our time yet.”

—

It was midday by the time everyone gathered back at the inn. Inej had gone for a walk just outside to clear her head, Nina was downstairs in the cafe, and Wylan and Jesper were somewhere or other in the building. Elham was halfway down the stairs when Kaz called her name from the top, stopping her in her tracks.

“Follow me,” he ordered, turning down the hallway.

Elham quirked a brow but obeyed, heading back up the steps and down the corridor that Kaz had just passed through. “What are we doing?”

Kaz turned down another hall, and the doorways suddenly became much more familiar. The low lighting and dingy rugs on the floor were unmistakable, and if there was any doubt in her mind, the stench of whiskey and old linen was confirmation enough to tell her exactly where she was.

The couples suites.

Much like the ones she found Jesper and Wylan in the first time they were together. How could she have forgotten about this place? The image of Jesper hovering over Wylan was burned into her mind, along with the stench of the inn itself. It was a hard place to forget, despite how much she wanted to. The cafe below was much more inviting, and the smell of syrup was much more desirable than the doorway Kaz was leading her to.

Kaz stopped in front of a doorway, waiting for her to catch up. Elham’s eyes widened in shock as she realized why he had asked her to follow him, and she quickly began shaking her head.

“Kaz, no–”

“We have places to be, Elham, and I won’t be the one to drag Jesper out of bed. Get on with it.”

Elham groaned, pouting. What places did they have to be? He had yet to mention anything about it to her. But with one sharp look from Kaz–who was tapping his cane against the floorboards impatiently–she reluctantly gave in. Please open the door, please open the door, please don’t make me come in there, she thought to herself as she knocked on the door with rapid succession.

“No!” Jesper warned from inside, making Elham whine.

“Jesper, please! Don’t make me come in there, you know Kaz will make me if you aren’t out here soon,” Elham begged, resting her forehead against the door.

Kaz rolled his eyes behind her, but he fought a snicker as he heard fumbling on the other side of the door–a sign that Jesper had stumbled out of bed and was attempting to put his pants back on.

“Can’t you give me five more minutes?” Jesper asked, haphazardly pulling on his clothes while Wylan was frozen under the sheets in horror. “What could possibly be so important that you need me right now?”

“I don’t know! But whatever it is, please come downstairs and find out so I don’t have to come in there. I can feel the heat coming from Wylan’s cheeks from all the way out here, and we can all save each other the embarrassment of having to face each other if you just hurry your asses up!”

Finally having had enough of the whining amongst his crew, Kaz knocked again, much louder than Elham had. “Jesper, downstairs. Now.”

Before Jesper could protest, Kaz was already interrupting him. “Ravka needs saving. Hurry up.”

He turned and headed back down the hallway before Elham could even process what he said. She quickly turned her head, rushing to follow after him. Jesper and Wylan were left to hurriedly get dressed on their own, filing out the door and following in Elham’s footsteps soon after she left.

“What?” She asked once she caught back up with Kaz, descending down the stairs next to him. “Why don’t you ever tell me anything?”

He led her to the table where Nina was waiting, taking a seat at the bench. Elham stopped in her tracks when she realized Zoya Nazyalensky–who she had assumed to be captured or dead–was sitting at the other end of the table, along with a tall man with a blade strapped to his vest.

Kaz tapped the base of her ankle with his cane, making Elham shift her focus to him. “I’m telling you now. Sit.”

–

Jesper and Wylan came downstairs soon after Elham had sat, and Zoya began explaining where she had been and what she was doing in Kerch. Apparently, a lot had happened in Ravka since the Crows returned to Ketterdam. Zoya had come with a letter from the Crown, which Kaz was reading over as she spoke.

“The Neshyenyer? Sankta Neyar’s blade?” Nina asked incredulously once the conversation turned to the reason Zoya had come.

“So, you haven’t completely forgotten what you were taught at the Little Palace,” Zoya mused, resting her elbows on the table. “Just your loyalty to Ravka.”

“Ravka? Or Kirigan? It didn’t take him destroying a city for me to question my loyalty.”

“It’s not her fault, Nina,” Elham murmured, keeping her eyes on Zoya. “Not entirely, at least. The Darkling manipulated us all. Seeing through his games is difficult, and no one can blame you for taking his side at first. I did. But here we are…loyalties change.”

Zoya didn’t speak, but she gave Elham a curt nod.

Elham was too young during her time at the Little Palace to remember Zoya well, but she had some inclination of her. They passed each other in the corridors, and wherever the Darkling was, you didn’t have to go far to find Zoya–especially when she became one of his most trusted Grisha. Elham had certainly heard about her when news of General Kirigan spread to the other parts of the world, after she had come to Kerch and joined the Crows.

Just like whispers of Nina had reached her, mentions of Zoya had as well. Talk of her beauty, and strength. Elham hadn’t truly met Zoya until the battle on the skiff, and all the talk had turned out to be true.

Her physical strength wasn’t what mattered to Elham, though. Even after the Darkling had gotten into her head and embedded himself in her thoughts and beliefs, she still had the courage to leave him. She knew what was right in her heart, and she made the right choice.

She fought for Alina now, and that was enough for Elham. Even though there was a past between Zoya, Nina, and Elham–and they all had certainly come from different walks of life–there was still a mutual understanding between them. A respect and reverence they held for each other, even though they wouldn’t always agree.

They didn’t have to speak. The shared glances were enough to speak to how the three girls felt about each other, not only as soldiers or Grisha, but as women. Women who understood that men in power, like the Darkling, couldn’t be allowed to continue manipulating little girls into doing their bidding and calling it loyalty or servitude.

It was wrong, and it had to be stopped. And they didn’t have to speak to understand that they were all going to be a part of the scorned women who would stop it. That was clear, and it was enough.

Jesper sat on the edge of the table, trying his best to relieve some of the tension. “So, now that we all know that you three have history, what’s the payment for this particular job?”

“Name your price,” the man who had revealed himself to be called Tolya said. “It matters that much.”

“Is that the Lantsov family crest?” Wylan asked, looking over Nina’s shoulder to read the letter that Kaz had passed to her.

Nina nodded. “You know it is because it’s hideous.”

“Prince Nikolai requests your services to retrieve and deliver the Neshyenyer to Alina Starkov in East Ravka,” Tolya explained to everyone.

“Prince Nikolai?” Elham asked, wracking her brain for any memories she had of him from her short time at the Little Palace. “I remember him. I met him once at a party his Mother had to show off all of the new Grisha that had begun training. It was the only time I ever saw him. But I was told he left the Palace not long after I did, and he went and joined the First Army and hasn’t returned since. You’re telling me he’s come home?”

Zoya nodded, gesturing to the letter. “He has, and he’s requesting your help.”

“And Alina? She’s returned?” Nina asked, sounding just as surprised as everyone else looked.

“As has the Darkling, with an indestructible army of shadow monsters,” Zoya answered, and Elham felt a chill run down her spine.

Dread filled her chest, and she went completely rigid in her chair. Her breaths were short and rapid, and her hands were shaking in her lap. She could feel Kaz’s eyes on her, and she willed herself to calm down. She took a grounding breath, giving him a slight nod to let him know she was alright.

“How is that possible?” She asked, reaching for one of the shots Jesper had ordered.

She knocked it back, ignoring how it burned going down her throat as it settled in her stomach. If anything, she welcomed the burn. It was keeping her warm, and the mere thought of the Darkling still alive made her skin crawl, like there was ice in her veins.

“Nevermind how it’s possible, it just is,” Zoya replied, speaking quickly. “Alina needs the blade to kill them. It’s the only thing that might work.”

Elham choked back a laugh, downing another shot. “Might? Great.”

“Retrieve the blade, and the Prince will pay you whatever you ask,” Tolya explained, which did somewhat lessen her dread, she had to admit.

“I do like the sound of that,” Jesper grinned from up on the table, laying a comforting hand on Elham’s shoulder when he looked down to see her face filled with worry. “Don’t worry, El. You will too when we find you something shiny to buy.”

“I do like shiny things.”

Zoya nodded, turning her attention to Kaz. “I assume the same goes for you?”

“I’d welcome the chance to help your prince spend his country’s money.”

“I don’t need kruge,” Nina interrupted, her tone urgent. “I need to get someone out of Hellgate. The Lantsov’s, they must be able to pull strings with the Kerch government.” “For a certain Fjerdan?” Zoya asked, smiling when Nina bristled. “He must be quite the slab of fur.”

Tolya rolled his eyes at the jesting, turning the conversation back to the task at hand. “The offer is the offer. Prince Nikolai is a man of his word.”

“But we need to go now,” Zoya added.

Kaz sighed, glancing between each of his Crows. He glanced at the letter once more, before looking over his shoulder towards Elham, who was sitting with her back leaning against Jesper’s leg that he was resting over the side of the table. He watched her face for any disagreement or hesitation, ever so slightly raising a brow when she made no move to speak. Finally, she released a sigh, silently nodding.

“It’s settled. We’re in, ” Kaz answered immediately as he slipped the letter into his coat pocket.

“And your Wraith?” Zoya asked. “I was expecting to see her.”

Kaz sighed, his gaze set on the table. “She’s go–”

“In,” Elham quickly interrupted before Kaz could speak, trying her best to ignore the glare she could feel burning into the side of her face. “I know where she is. She’ll say yes if she knows it’s to help Alina. Let me go get her, and then we can go whenever you need to.”

Zoya gave her a nod, and Elham was up from the table and hurrying away before Kaz could call out to her. She could feel someone on her heels, and peered over her shoulder to see Jesper behind her. She slowed down just enough so that he could catch up, before hurrying on her way.

“He’ll be furious with you,” Jesper warned, although he wasn’t arguing with her decision.

Elham shrugged, keeping her eyes forward. “He’s always angry with me for some reason or other. I won’t let Inej be kept from this because his pride won’t allow him to admit he’s made a mistake. It’s one of her Saints, we have to tell her.”

“You know everything he does is to keep you safe, right?”

Elham fought the flush creeping its way to her cheeks, shaking her head. “He’s got a funny way of showing it. Dickhead.”

“That he may be,” Jesper chuckled, slinging his arm around her shoulder. “But I know Kaz, and I know you. This little lover’s quarrel you have going on will end, and he’ll see sense eventually. You know why?” “Because I’m always right?” Jesper laughed, pulling Elham closer. “I was going to say because he always does right by us, including Inej and especially you, but that works too.”

Elham sighed, glancing up at Jesper. “He’s going to yell at me, isn’t he?”

“Oh, absolutely. I find it best to plug your ears and just wait him out. It works pretty well for me, he eventually gets tired of it. Although, I doubt he’ll yell for long with all that kruge on the line. He knows we’ll need Inej to get it. I wouldn’t worry too much, love.”

“Thanks, Jesper,” Elham mumbled, wrapping her arm around his waist and giving him a squeeze. “Will you send Nina up? I’ve been meaning to ask her to tailor Inej’s tattoo from the Menagerie. She’s free now. She deserves to feel free without the reminder of it all quite literally stuck on her wrist.”

Jesper smiled, nodding. “You’ve got it, darling.”

–

A/N - Hi! So sorry for the wait, it's been so long since I updated. I promise to start updating more regularly. We’re getting close to the hallucination chapter! Very excited to write that. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I tried to make it a little longer. I’ll make the next one longer too to make up for the lack of updates. See you again soon!

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