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xiao-cafe · 4 years

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getting to know you — gap moe!reader edition

includes: childe, diluc, kaeya and zhongli

this was really fun to write!! i might actually make a series out of this with the different personality types. oh and i added zhongli because how could i not lol

notes: gap moe means someone whose character contradicts their appearance and it’s considered attractive!

he’s weird. he likes that you act cold towards him and that you’re almost always frowning when you spot him.

any normal person would’ve either been intimidated by you or even start to hate you but not him.

Childe enjoys pestering you during his free time and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t find the harbinger a little bit charming after all the times he spent trying to get you to smile

after some time you had begun to let your guard down and even come to consider this weirdo as your friend

on a particular day, Childe just happened to find you down at the harbour playing with a few cats and it shocked him to see that you were smiling so sweetly while petting the cats

he was a little jealous of the cats

after much consideration, he decided to approach you and though you were surprised to see him, it didn’t bother you as much as you thought it would when he caught you off-guard and not being your ‘usual’ self

“Do you like cats?” He asked.

to which you reply with a nod and gesture for him to hold out his palm which Childe easily complies to

you drop a cat treat into his hand and give him cute smile before turning back to the cats

Childe could’ve sworn his heart skipped a beat when you smiled at him. your behaviour was so different to what he was used to but he was glad that he managed to melt your icy exterior and witness first hand the kind and gentle soul that you were.

Diluc liked your attitude. for a no-nonsense type of guy like him who disliked small talk, your cool attitude was something that he found to be appealing.

in fact, it was safe to say the both of you had rather similar personalities and Diluc was just getting a little bit curious about the kind of person you were

he’d be the one to strike up a conversation with you first.

needless to say, it was awkward.

Diluc deeply regrets the first conversation the both of you had as he wasn’t able to carry the conversation well with your rather emotionless responses.

but because of his effort, you were pretty moved and decided to start greeting him whenever you saw him.

somehow, the Diluc who disliked small talk began to engage in small talk with you and the both of you managed to engage in discussions over the tiniest of things like what you had for dinner last night or how was his day

such friendship eventually grew into something more as you became less cold and more emotive whenever you spoke to him

it charmed him to see you suddenly fuss over him at times when it gets colder due to the strong winds, and when you are reminded that he has Pyro vision you blush so much that your face is almost as red as his hair.

little by little, Diluc started to look forward to your visits to the tavern and would let you care for him in your own discreet way

he would pretend not to notice the perfectly harvested sunsettias you leave on the counter right after you remind him to get his daily vitamin intake (he always eats them after you leave)

it was also endearing to him to see you order grape juice with a straight face despite kaeya’s complaints from beside you, harping about how unromantic it was.

“I like grape juice.” You said, looking over directly at Kaeya as you took a long sip from your mug.

Diluc had a hard time keeping a straight face when you defended his favourite drink and shut Kaeya up so easily.

to Kaeya, you were a mystery. unlike others, you didn’t fall for any of his charms and remained a good distance from him.

your cold and intimidating attitude didn’t faze him at all but he was still willing to talk to you and get to know you.

just like Childe, Kaeya slowly won you over by talking pestering you on a regular basis

he’d try to buy you food and even a few drinks just to become closer to you and it actually made him happy to see you accept the food he bought willingly

it became a routine for him to look for you during any of the mealtimes and ask you out for a meal. sometimes he’d even drop by during the late afternoons to give you a snack.

during those times Kaeya would share with you about his day and even prompt you to share your thoughts which thanks to his help, you had become better at communicating and no longer scared people off

you were grateful to Kaeya for helping you to make new friends as more people began to understand you and lesser people found you to be a scary person.

so when you surprised Kaeya one day with his favourite food and favourite drink just to thank him for helping you gain some friends, Kaeya felt his heart start to pound as he saw you acting unusually

you were blushing and fidding with the hem of your sleeve shyly. and when you beckoned for him to lean down and kissed him on the cheek he stopped breathing

the man probably regained his senses when you reverted back to your usual self, the only trace of what happened previously was your red cheeks.

to be honest, he didn’t think that you were interested in him or what he had to say at all

you were simply a work partner of his at Wangsheng funeral parlour and he did not cross the boundary of being anything other than coworkers with you

your coldness had even let him to believe that you hated him.

as you accompanied him on his work trips, many would make comments about how you looked scary and to which Zhongli sincerely defended you every time

“Please don’t insult my partner, they’re a hard worker.”

you greatly appreciated his words and from then on you tried your best to be of help to him and slowly the two of you forged a friendship

so when it came down to others insulting Zhongli, you certainly did not hold back

on a particular work trip, a few businessmen had conspired together to humiliate Zhongli and as soon as you caught wind of what was happening you stepped in

with the death glares you threw in the direction of the businessmen, no one dared to utter a word and you quickly brought an end to their scheme.

as soon as the meeting was adjourned, you pulled Zhongli aside just to check on him.

He was surprised to see you change so drastically and a blush started to creep onto his face as you vowed to protect his honour again if the need arose.

you even prepared some comfort snacks for him in case he had felt dejected by the harsh words said to him before.

no doubt your soft side was something he hadn’t expected and he was glad to be able to be on the receiving end of your sweet kindness

end.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #kaeya x reader #diluc x reader #childe x reader #childe #diluc #kaeya #genshin diluc #genshin kaeya #genshin childe #genshin impact scenarios #childe scenarios #diluc scenarios #kaeya scenarios #zhongli #genshin zhongli #zhongli x reader #zhongli-cafe-writes

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troubatrain · 4 years

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better man - m. tkachuk

a/n: a repost from my old blog!

Matthew’s life was a mess. Well, you thought his life was a mess, he thought everything was just fine. You’d watch your friend, or mutual acquaintance if you were being honest, make poor decision after poor decision and you weren’t sure if you could take it anymore. When you’d first met Matthew, after Noah introduced the two of you at a team party, his antics were normal. He’d go out a little bit, but never the night before a game, and aside from the fact that he slept with every girl that walked into his life, things weren’t too bad. You bit your tongue about that one, knowing Matthew would just tease you for being jealous if you’d tried to say a thing about it. But, things were out of control now, it was the night before you knew the Flames had an afternoon game and Matthew was standing across from you at the bar, slamming back a shot with whoever his flavor of the week was.

“Just let it go, if he’s going to ruin his life, it’s not your place to stop him,” Your best friend, Madi, comments, “I’m serious Y/N.”

You watch the girl who’d been under Matthew’s arm slip away and head towards the bathroom, you turn to Madi, “This is the last time, I promise.”

While you didn’t actually consider Matthew your friend, mainly because you don’t think he thought much about you at all, you’d been in this position before. That time ended with Matthew hunched over you for an hour while you prayed to whatever higher power there was that he didn’t throw up in the back of an Uber. You walk over to the bar, a hand on his back while you leaned onto the bar next to him.

“What are you doing here?” Matthew asks, amused with running into you, “I thought you didn’t go places without your boyfriend who’s not your boyfriend.”

“Noah’s not my boyfriend,” You remind him, just like you always did when he accused you of liking Noah. In reality, Noah moved across the hall from you when he’d first got traded to Calgary, and while he’s moved out since, you were still close, “And you have a game tomorrow.”

“I know I do, I’m also a little busy right now,” Matthew smirks, a smug look on his face. His words were slurring together, and the bags under his eyes told you he hasn’t slept in days. Your heart broke, you didn’t understand why he was doing this to himself, the once lively sort of pain in the ass guy you’d met forever ago has turned into a shell of his old self.

“Matt, let me take you home,” You plead, your eyes boring into his, a pout present on your lips, “You need to be home.”

“I’m a grown ass man Y/N,” Matthew argues back, “I can do whatever, and whoever I want.”

“I will march into that bathroom and tell that girl that we’re dating and you’re a cheater, and then I’ll call Gio and tell him his winger is blacked out at a bar when he has an afternoon game tomorrow,” You threaten, hoping it’ll be enough to get him to go. Matthew’s eyes widen, “You wouldn’t call him.”

“I won’t if you go home,” You say, “I’ll pretend this never happened.”

Matthew sighs, closing his tab and calling himself an Uber. He slid off the barstool to head out, and his body hit the ground as soon as he stood up. You turn back to your friends, watching Madi shake her head at you, while you mouth that you were leaving to her.

“C’mon,” You say, grabbing his arm and tossing it over your shoulder. Matthew was a big body, and lugging him out of the bar was no easy feat, but you knew he was in better hands with you than anyone he’d been surrounding himself with lately. You get him into the Uber, sliding in next to him. You watch as the city passes you by, glancing over at Matthew to make sure you weren’t going to have a repeat of last time. His eyelids were starting to get heavy, and he leaned his head onto your shoulder.

“You’re too nice,” Matthew whispers, breaking the silence in the car, “Too nice.”

You smile to yourself, you knew you were too nice sometimes. You forgave too easily, and you definitely cared way too much about other people. But you couldn’t stand back while you watched Matthew continuously ruin his own life - it just wasn’t going to happen. The car finally halts in front of Matthew’s building, and you head inside with him. You were going to get him to bed, and you were going to slip down to Noah’s, who lived on the floor just underneath his, to crash in his guest room, that was the plan.

You’d never been in Matthew’s apartment before, but it certainly looked like a more barren version of Noah’s, despite the fact that Matthew lived in this building way longer. The furniture in it was the furniture that was staged in the apartment, and that you knew for a fact, and he was in desperate need of some curtains. You look around, not noticing one remnant of the fact that anyone actually lived here.

“I can get myself to bed,” Matthew huffs out behind you, finally slipping his shoe off, “Unless you want to join me.”

“I just wanted to be sure you were actually home,” You snark back, turning to look at him with an amused look on your face while he struggled to slip off his other shoe, “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

“No mom, I got it,” Matthew chirps, tossing his shoes in the front of his door and stumbling into his bedroom. You heard a few drawers open and shut, followed by what you assumed was him brushing his teeth. You waited a few minutes, grabbing a water and some pain relievers to ease the hangover you knew he was going to have. You slip in, setting them on his nightstand.

“You should just stay here, it's late,” Matthew mutters into his pillow, causing you to jump.

You knew you should go down to stay with Noah, your key to his apartment was hanging on your keys as you stood there. But, you didn’t want to tell Noah what you just had to do, afraid it was going to become locker room talk that you were sure Matthew didn’t want to be a part of. He trusted you, at least enough to leave with the addition of your threat, and you couldn’t break that. So you nodded, stepping into Matthew’s guest room and opening the closet to pull out a pair of his shorts and a shirt - falling asleep almost immediately.

You woke up the next morning before the sun rose, slipping out of bed after your stomach started growling. You padded out of Matthew’s guest room, hoping he had some sort of groceries in his fridge. Your options were slim, but at least he had some eggs and a coffee maker. You get to work, pulling out a pan as quietly as you could, and brewing a pot of coffee for yourself. Your logical half of your brain screamed to just leave, slip out of his place before he woke up and you learned what kind of hungover monster he probably was, but you couldn’t help yourself. You just wanted to show him some kindness, hoping that could push him a better direction than the one he’d been flying full speed in.

“Are you making breakfast?” Matthew asks, causing your head to snap up from the eggs you’d been making. His curls were a mess, sticking out in all directions while he ran a hand through them as if that was going to help.

“I was hungry,” You admit, whispering because you were afraid to set him off, “I can go if you want-”

“No, stay,” Matthew waves you off, “I’m sorry I had like nothing in my fridge, I haven’t been the best about that.” You watch Matthew walk behind you, throwing open his fridge door and grabbing the orange juice from his fridge, smelling it to make sure it was still good, “I could teach you how to grocery shop you know.”

“I can handle myself Y/N,” Matthew rolls his eyes, crossing his arms and sitting on one of the stools in his kitchen, “Nice shirt by the way.”

You blush, looking down at the USA hockey shirt that hung on your frame. Matthew’s last name printed boldly on the back, you knew it was his, and it had been for a long time. It was soft and comfortable, and it looked like the coziest thing in his guest room closet the night before, “It was the only one in there.”

“I’m sure,” Matthew says, stealing a bite of the eggs you slid in front of him, “Oh these are good.”

“They’re eggs?” You say, confused as why he thought you made a gourmet meal out of the three ingredients he had in his entire apartment.

“I’ve used my stove once since I moved in here three seasons ago,” Matthew admits, shrugging and digging back into his food. You lean against the counter, putting your face in your hands. He was hopeless wasn’t he?

You bit your lip while you rode the elevator, skipping Noah’s floor and heading to the one right above it. You hoped he was home, prying the Flames current practice schedule out of Noah without him questioning it further. You walk up to Matthew’s door, knocking lightly. Hopefully he answered you, and hopefully he wasn’t doing anything too reckless this early in the day. Your mind starts to race, what if you were crossing a line?

“What are you doing here?” Matthew asks, confused as to why you were lost in your own thoughts in front of his apartment door, “Are you lost?”

“No, I just,” You start, trying to find words that sound better than Hey, I think your life is on a downward spiral and I think that I can stop you before things get too bad, “I’m going to teach you how to grocery shop.”

“I told you I can take care of myself,” Matthew reminds you.

“Is your fridge still as empty as it was the other day?” You ask, smirking when you saw his eyes shift. “Fine, I’ll go with you,” Matthew says, grabbing his hoodie that was hanging off his couch, stepping out and following you to your car, “I don’t know what kind of brownie points you’re getting for this, but it’s fucking annoying.”

You smile, you were still getting your way regardless of how annoyed Matthew was, “You came here willingly.”

“I was just hungry,” Matthew grumbles.

Grocery shopping with Matthew was an experience to say the least. He’d found a new way to pester you throughout the entire store. He complained about everything you told him to buy, reminding you that he didn’t even know how to cook. You responded quickly, telling him you could teach him easily. You weren’t a chef, but you had a few tricks up your sleeve that you were proud of. Matthew just teased you, telling you that you just wanted to spend more time with him. He poked your sides every time you tried to reach up and grab something, causing you to giggle while he gently nudged you out of the way to grab it himself. He called you mom in the store with every chance he got, the elderly couple across from you giving you an odd look as to why he was acting like a grumpy teenager. You were straight up exhausted by the time you were done, leaning against the counter in Matthew’s apartment while you watched him put away all of the groceries he’d bought against his will.

“So when are you going to teach me how to cook half this shit?” Matthew asks.

“I can show you now?” You ask, wondering if maybe he had plans that didn’t include for the evening. You saw him debate it internally for a moment, looking down at his phone and typing out a message before he nodded at you.

You started with something simple with him, salmon and some veggies, it was healthy and easy enough for him to cook on his own without you. Matthew was a little chaotic at first, unable to stand still while you tried to show him how to cut the lemon you were using to add to the Salmon. But you worked at it, calming him down enough to watch him searing the fish in his pan, his tongue sticking out of his mouth a little bit.

“Am I doing this right?” Matthew asks, and you peer over his shoulder, nodding when you inspect his work, “So, do you do this with Noah or am I your only project?”

“Noah knows how to cook for himself and stay in when he has to play the next day,” You remind Matthew, “So yes, you’re my only project.”

“Why aren’t you dating him? I mean you, spend enough time at his place and you’re always together,” Matthew pries, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. You didn’t actually spend all of your time with Noah, but Matthew only ever saw you when you were with him.

“He hooked up with my friend Madi,” You explain, the exact reason why Noah was a no go zone for you, “And then he stopped talking to her.”

It was true. When you’d been neighbors you introduced the two, hoping they’d end up together like you wanted. It worked out at first, noticing that they both had chemistry but then Noah didn’t call her after they hooked up and Madi was devastated over it. The pair had talked it out a few months ago, but that still didn’t mean you were going to date Noah like everyone assumed you were.

“Dick move,” Matthew mutters under his breath, “I mean I’m not better but-”

“I’d honestly prefer to never talk about it again,” You shake your head, tensing up at the thought of the year you had two of your favorite people at war with the other, “That’s done.”

“I can’t believe you’re domesticating me,” Matthew chirps, sitting across from you on his couch because he lacked a dining room table, “This is pretty damn good though, compliments to the chef.”

You roll your eyes at his smugness, “Some girl is going to be very lucky after I’m done with you.”

“So I am your new project?”

Phase two of Matthew’s transformation was that you were going to help him make it seem like someone actually lived in his apartment. You’d walked into his apartment with some plans, mostly a firm belief that it wouldn’t kill to own a throw pillow but you didn’t know what kind of monster you were actually dealing with. Apparently, Matthew’s time at home was spent watching an unhealthy amount of HGTV with his mother and he knew more about home decor than you initially thought. Shopping was actually fun, until you mentioned that you really thought he should get a dining table, reminding him of the empty space in his place that needed it, and now you were bickering in the middle of a furniture store.

“I don’t like have people over for dinner parties Y/N,” Matthew argues, his voice growing louder, and you could feel how tense the poor person who was showing you around the store was.

“What about when your parents are in town?” You ask, “I’m sure your mom would appreciate it.”

“In my experience, your girlfriend is probably right,” The man standing next to you squeaks out and you both turn to him at the same time.

“We’re not dating!” You both yell out in unison, reminding this man for the third time that there was nothing going on between the two of you.

“Just get the table,” You huff, tired of embarrassing yourself in public. You pout, mustering up your cutest face, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Matthew closes his eyes and throws his head back, “I’ll get the table.”

You clap silently to yourself, watching as Matthew scheduled a delivery for the table. You really didn’t think pouting would work, especially because Matthew can be exceptionally stubborn when he wanted to, but you were happy he did.

“I can’t believe you convinced me to buy that table,” Matthew says, leaning over to look at you while you drove back to his place, “Not cool to bring my mom into this, but you were right, she’s going to love it.”

“You’ve lived here for almost four years, your place needed some work,” You say, you wanted to tell he needed a home but you knew the teasing that ensue so you bit your tongue.

“You’re going to like, help me with this right?” Matthew asks, pointing to the things you’d bought in the back of his car, you nod. Silently making a mental note to cancel your dinner plans with Madi, you knew she was going to be mad, especially because your reason was because you thought you could guide Matthew into being a better person. But you wanted to spend time with him, because despite how much of a grouch he was, he wasn’t all bad.

Sometimes you thought Matthew was invincible. You thought nothing could hurt him, especially after sitting close enough to the glass and hearing just how hard he’d taken a hit. But it turns out, a bookshelf was going to be what took him down. It’d been hours since you got back to his apartment, and while you set out some of the other things you’d bought, Matthew insisted he could put together the bookshelf. You leaned against his couch, watching him struggle in the middle of the floor.

“Matthew let me just-” You try and interject, yet again, and offer your help.

“I can do it,” Matthew says, “I just keep losing pieces.”

Matthew’s demeanor was frantic, he had nails and pieces of the bookshelf scattered around him while he read the directions for the hundredth time. You squat next to him, placing your hand on his back and rubbing up and down. You can feel how tense his back was, and how he was calming down under your touch, “How about you order us some food, and I just finish this real quick?”

Matthew lets out a breath, “Why are you so much better than me at everything?”

“I don’t even know how to skate so,” You shrug, there was one thing he definitely had on you.

“I’d teach you, but you’ll find a way to outshine me and we can’t have that,” Matthew jokes, standing up to go get his phone from another room and call and order you food. By the time he came back, you had half the shelf built already. He rolls his eyes, jumping on his couch and picking a movie on Netflix - telling you that was the only other thing he was better than you at.

You sat in the stands with Madi at the Saddledome, cringing as you watched Matthew skate to the penalty box for the third time that evening.

“What the fuck is he doing out there?” Madi asks, “Collect your man Y/N.”

You were too confused to go into defense mode on how Matthew wasn’t yours. He wasn’t. But you spent all of your time together when he was in the city, so you knew he wasn’t someone else’s either. You shake your head, your eyes moving to the penalty while you watch Matthew break his stick against the boards. The Flames were down 4-0 and it just seemed like everything wasn’t going in their favor. With three penalties under his belt, and two of those goals scored against them on the power play you understood why he was so mad but you didn’t understand why he’d kept retaliating against whoever was trying to get under his skin.

When the third period ended, you felt your phone vibrate while you were heading back out to your car. A text from Matthew appearing on the screen.

Come over?

You hear Madi scoff behind you, “If you go you’re never going back and I promise you that.”

“We’re friends,” You argue back, a little annoyed with your best friend's constant disdain for anyone that went near you.

“He’s going to do to you what he's done to countless other girls,” Madi retorts back, “Just like Noah did to me, they’re all the same.”

You roll your eyes, “Then I’ll worry about it when he hurts me.”

You stomped over to your car, leaving Madi to go to hers alone. You take a deep breath, pulling out of the lot and into the direction of Matthew’s apartment. You could feel tears welling up in your eyes while you thought about Madi’s words. You weren’t anything more than friends with Matthew but if he walked out of your life today you weren’t sure if you could recover as quickly as you thought. You slip in Matthew’s building unnoticed, sitting outside of his apartment door and allowing yourself to have a quick cry before you heard the elevator ding, signifying that he was home.

“I’ve got to give a key,” Matthew grumbles, “My neighbors probably think you’re stalking- are you crying?”

“I’m fine,” You rush out, standing up and wiping your eyes, “It’s fine.”

Matthew sighs, his eyes going soft, “Come inside.”

Matthew’s hand landed on your lower back, guiding you into his place. You take notice that he’d moved a few of the things you scattered around his place, making them his own. You also took notice of the neatly folded laundry on his table, meaning he actually did his own laundry instead of taking everything to the cleaners. You watch Matthew stomp around his apartment, still in a mood from his game, and while you were upset you knew calming him down was the first thing you had to do.

“Matty,” You whisper, a nickname you’d taken a liking to, mostly because while he claimed he couldn’t stand it, he never stopped you from saying it, “What can I do?”

“I don’t know,” Matthew shrugs, leaning against his couch, “Usually I’d go out after a game that bad, but then I could hear your reprimand me in my head.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” You suggest, a small smile at his confession, you were getting through to him.

“Do you want to talk about why you were sitting in my hallway crying?” Matthew says, raising his eyebrows at you.

“You first,” You push, hoping you could pry it out of him.

“I’d really rather not relive the fact that I’m the sole reason that we lost that badly tonight,” Matthew mutters, “I’m going to have to watch it all over again tomorrow anyways.”

“It’s a team sport,” You remind him, even though you were there, the Flames may have lost but you know it wouldn’t have been by a four goal deficit if he could stay out of the box, “It wasn’t-”

“You were there, and you’re a terrible liar,” Matthew interrupts, a look on his face that you told you to just admit it, it was his fault.

“I’m not going to pile onto the guilt you’re feeling,” You say, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Fine, tell me what’s up with you then,” Matthew says, nodding at you, waiting for an explanation.

“I got into it with Madi, it’s fine,” You brush off, you really didn’t want to admit to Matthew that he was the reason you’d been getting into it with her a lot lately.

“You said no secrets the other day,” Matthew reminds you, opening his arms for you to step into him, “That goes both ways.”

“Let me keep this one,” You say, wrapping your arms around his waist, “Please.”

“Just this once.”

Matthew’s family were some of the loveliest people you’d ever met in your life, and it was honestly shocking to you that his parents raised such a pest. Especially now, watching Matthew move around his kitchen while you sat on his couch with his brother who was in town along with his parents and his sister. You’d declined his invitation for dinner at first, not really sure if there was a line that you were crossing having dinner with his family, the whole thing just felt so domestic to you.

“So did you just switch his brain with someone who’s nicer?” Brady asks, pressing you about what you did with this brother, “Or is it like a clone situation?”

“Brady leave her alone,” You hear Matthew call out from his kitchen, showing off to his parents the new cooking skills he’d acquired over the past month.

You laugh, taking a sip of your wine, whispering to Brady, “It was a brain switch.”

Brady nods, whispering back, “I knew it.”

Watching Matthew with his family definitely wasn’t helping the feelings you’d been harboring. You thought it was a small crush, that was probably because you spent most of your time with him, but it’d been snowballing into more as of late. You watched him talk to his sister and about his sister like she was the most important person in the world, and you think to him she probably is. You heard how soft his voice would go when his mother called out to him or how hard he laughed when his dad cracked a joke. This was the Matthew you knew was shoved under a million layers of angst.

“I can’t believe you actually taught him how to cook,” Chantal muses, smiling at you gently, “I’d never been able to stop him from making a mess, even when he was a kid.”

“Mom,” Matthew protests, trying to stop her from embarrassing him with stories from his childhood, “She doesn’t need to know how bad I was as a kid.”

“I think she can figure it out for herself,” Brady calls out, holding his hand for a high five to you. You slap your hand against his, laughing when you see Matthew pout next to you.

“You’re supposed to be on my side,” Matthew protests, “No loyalty around here.”

“I am on your side,” You remind him, your hand squeezing his thigh under the table. He smiles, grabbing your hand and intertwining your fingers with his. The gesture was so small, but the electricity you felt through your body was unmatched. Matthew’s hand didn’t leave yours for the entire night - until he’d gotten so mad at Brady for “cheating” at the board game you’d all decided to play that he stomped away leaving you alone with his parents.

“Should we do something about that?” Brady asks, trying to read the room.

“Yes go apologize to your brother,” Keith sighs, as if this was something that happened often. You couldn’t be surprised, in a family that athletic there was no way that they weren’t a little competitive.

You watch Brady walk out of the room to go say he was sorry to Matthew and you feel Chantal’s hand on your arm.

“I know my son isn’t good with his own feelings,” She starts, her voice as warm and kind as it could be, “Just don’t give up on him.”

You smile, nodding, “I won’t.”

When Matthew woke you up on a Saturday morning with a heavy knock on your door, you were worried. You didn’t even know what he could have done in the ten hours since you’d last seen him but he didn’t always do the right thing - so naturally you panicked.

“Are you okay?” You ask, throwing your door open and forgetting the fact that you were still in the shorts and t-shirt you were sleeping in.

“Nice fit,” Matthew smirks, his eyes scanning up your body and you realized you’d been wearing the same shirt you stole from the first night you stayed over at his place, “I’m never getting that shirt back am I?”

“No it’s way too comfortable,” You say, because it was, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m teaching you how to skate,” Matthew smiles, proud of himself for the idea.

“I thought we couldn’t have me outshining you?” You ask, throwing his own words back at him.

“I want you to come to our Christmas skate but I don’t want you to embarrass yourself in front of that many other people,” Matthew shrugs, “Please?”

Matthew knew you couldn’t resist his stupid pouty face as much as he couldn’t resist yours. You were eachother greatest weakness and that’s just how it was. You nod, telling him you needed to change before you headed out to wherever he was going to take you.

You didn’t expect much, and when Matthew started to head in a direction opposite of any ice rinks you were severely confused. You pulled up to a park, a large pond that had frozen over ahead of you. You step out, watching Matthew pull two pairs of skates and hockey sticks out of his trunk.

“How did you-?” You start to ask how he even knew what size skate to get you.

“I asked Noah,” Matthew shrugs, “Apparently he knows more about you than you think.”

You laugh, the text that Noah sent you about Matthew being soft as hell making way more sense now than it did the other day. You follow Matthew to a bench, watching as he bent down to tie your skates for you, “You’re not going to let me get hurt right?”

The question was simple, but the glimmer in his eye when he told you nothing would happen to you told you that he meant more than just the skating. Your hands were in his while he skated backwards, pulling you around the ice.

“You know a month ago I probably would have let you fall on your ass,” Matthew comments when your skates started to slip underneath you, “But you’ve really turned me into a better person.”

“If only I could get you to stop getting into scrums,” You tease, even though you secretly loved to watch him defend his teammates the way he did. He always justified it to you after a game, telling you if he didn’t do it, someone would bully Johnny and he couldn’t let that happen. It was part of his game, and it was the way he liked to play.

“I told you,” Matthew says, dragging out his words, “I need to do it. Stay here.”

Matthew skated to the end of the pond, grabbing two sticks and two pairs of gloves for the both you, tossing them to you. You looked ridiculous, in hockey gloves that were four sizes too big and a stick that wasn’t cut to your height.

“Wait stay like that,” Matthew pulls out his phone, snapping a picture while you stood in the standard peewee hockey pose, laughing to himself while you assumed he sent it to Noah, but when you opened your phone you say a tag from Matthew’s instagram story and you knew he posted it for the world to see.

“Matty!” You call out, about to reprimand him for posting it while your phone continued to vibrate with follow requests.

“What? You look so cute right now,” Matthew says, while you started to charge at him, forgetting he hadn’t taught you how to stop yet. You skate right into his chest, unable to knock him on the ground like you’d intended, “Easy there killer, you don’t get to start fighting with people until you learn how to stop first.”

“You’re a bully,” You mutter, crossing your arms at him.

“You love it,” Matthew teases back, but in reality, you think you actually did.

Matthew didn’t owe you an explanation for anything he did, and you knew that. But with him gone on the East Coast for almost two weeks, you were grateful for his daily check ins and silly snapchats. It made you smile, to see he was in bed watching a movie instead of out partying like you knew his teammates were definitely doing. You were internally counting down the days until he’d back, trying to pull off a little surprise for him in the meantime.

You sat in his apartment, using the key he’d given to you before he left, with a bunch of empty picture frames you bought a few days ago, a package from St. Louis right to them. After you had dinner with his parents you’d talked to his mom once a week. Mostly for her to tell you thank you for forcing him to call her more often, but other times it was just to gossip.

But you’d asked a few weeks ago for some pictures to hang up around his place, realizing he didn’t have one picture of his family anywhere in his place. His mother sent over every family photo she had a copy of, slipping in a few photos of Matthew as a toddler that made your heart melt in a puddle. You smile pulling a photo of the Tkachuk siblings together, Matthew probably showing off the loss of his two front teeth. You learned from his father during that dinner, that Matthew didn’t actually lose his two front teeth, instead they were knocked out by his younger brother before they had the chance to fall out.

You set the last photo on the bookshelf that you put together, tilting it so it leaned against the others in a perfect way. You heard the knob of his front door turn, revealing a very sleepy Matthew in front of you.

“I thought I saw your car,” Matthew smiles, dropping his bag to the floor, “What are you doing here?”

“Notice anything different?” You ask, gesturing around his place, his head turns to scan the room, a growing smile on his face. The kind of smile where his dimples were on full display, one you noticed he reserved for his family and for you.

“How did you get these?” Matthew says, picking up a picture that you picked out of him and his siblings at one of his father’s All Star games.

“I asked your mom for them,” You shrug.

“How often do you talk to my mom?” Matthew asks.

“Once, twice a week,” You mutter out, like your calls with his mother had been your little secret.

Matthew laughs to himself, muttering something under his breath you couldn’t quite make out, “Thank you.”

“I’m confident you’d do the same for me,” You say, because at this point you were sure he was at least 50% less selfish than he used to be.

“I’d do anything for you,” Matthew says, looking over at you to gauge your reaction. Chantal’s words about how terrible her son was with his own emotions running through your head.

“Hey Matty,” You say, trying to get his attention while he walked away to change out of the suit he’d been wearing on the plane, “You said no secrets right?”

“I believe that was our agreement,” Matthew smiles, turning around to look at you.

“I love you,” You say, you couldn’t take it anymore, you just needed to let it out. Matthew stood there, his eyes moving to everything in the room besides you, for the first time in his life, he was silent, “Oh my god this is embar-”

Matthew took three long steps over to you, placing both of his hands on your cheeks before he took a deep breath, “I needed you to say it first.”

You smile, connecting your lips with his,

“You’re going to say it back right?”

And in his apartment that you’d turned into a home, Matthew stood in his living room, pecking your lips while he repeated the three sweetest words to you.

“I love you”

#matthew tkachuk imagine #matthew tkachuk #my writing #nhl imagine #nhl imagines

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merakiui · 4 years

Note

idk why but the idea that Xiao falls for Zhongli's pregnant widow is such a fascinating idea to me like that absolute chaos he must feel because??? She is his savior's wife??? And that is their child together??? (idk if he knows Zhongli is Rex Lapis bc his voicelines are vague about it) And that confused guilt is worse when he sometimes lapses into short lived fantasies that both the s/o and child are his. I bet the other adepti are like "ohoh?" when the s/o moves to wangshuu inn for Xiao.

I also thought it was fascinating! You’ve got this Adeptus who has never fallen in love before and then you’ve got Zhongli’s pregnant lover, who is now widowed and grieving. Something about that just feels wrong to him. He doesn’t think you deserve to be alone during this and he feels obligated to lend a hand because Rex Lapis saved him. He has to find some way to save you now. At first he just told you that he’d be willing to help if anything’s giving you trouble and that the other Adepti might help with the baby, but you shouldn’t feel pressured. He’s honestly shocked when you choose to live with him at Wangshu.

At this point, you’re just needing someone to keep you company so that you can uphold your strength and be ready for when you give birth. There are a lot of things on your mind; you’re worried that your stress will affect the baby and you’re afraid you won’t be able to deliver them when the time comes. All of these fears poke at your already fractured heart and you feel like you should at least accept Xiao’s offer.

When you do accept, he’s somewhat surprised. Xiao didn’t expect you to so willingly want his help, but he supposes there’s no backing out now. Through the time that he spends with you, helping you with your pregnancy and making sure you’re not skipping meals, he gets closer to you. A bond forms between the two of you, where you actually become his first friend in a long, long time. You make him feel all sorts of emotions he’s never experienced before and even though he’s never really thought much of children he’s willing to give it a try.

Imagine how shocking it would be if your child recognizes Xiao as the father because he was there when you delivered your baby. He aided in the process, held your hand, and reassured you. And he’s constantly around you. So as your baby grows and gains the ability to speak small words, what if one of those words is ‘daddy’? You try to explain to your baby that Xiao isn’t their father. Rex Lapis is. But your child mixes them up and ends up saying Xiao’s name more often because that’s what they hear the most.

And Xiao knows he shouldn’t feel happy about it because this isn’t his kid. But it feels like it and that’s what conflicts him the most. It almost feels like he’s betraying his savior when the baby waddles over to him and calls him ‘daddy’ or ‘papa.’ Every now and then he forgets that the three of you aren’t a family; you’re just friends and not lovers who created a small life together. But Xiao really wishes that was the case now. At least he’d feel less guilty about his feelings if you were his true lover and this was his child.

#genshin chit chat #tw: pregnancy #tw: children

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justcafewriter · 4 years

Text

I just had my period too, this is probably gonna comforting for me also. Thanks for req sweetheart 🥺.

Lev, Akaashi and Kita Comforting Their S/O in Her Period.

Haiba Lev

‌Lev used to be clueless when it comes to understanding a woman. He didn't know why suddenly, you, his gf, have a constant bad mood in a certain date. He didn't know why you suddenly craving for food and eat a lot of sweets/snacks. He didn't know why you crying easily and being emotionally unstable.

‌It's like a puzzle to him until his dear sister teach him a few things about woman and period is one of them.

‌He looks scared okay, he seems like he skip the sex ed or straight didn't even give attention about it.

‌Once he realized about period he start to take notice if it's your special day of month.

‌He'd notice immediately every time you went through PMS and he will be ready to treat you to lots of sweets. He will also help you carrying stuffs, he even will sends you links of cute animals whenever you seems in the bad mood.

‌"Lev baby, I just saw the baby cats video you sent!! it's so cute!" You say to Lev when you meet him after school, he welcomed you with a big beautiful grin as he wrapped his hand on yours.

‌"I'm glad you like it. the baby cats, they remind me of you. Both of you look so cute." He sheepishly said.

‌You blush at his remark but suddenly you felt a cramp on your stomach, the damn period thingy, you cursed inside your head.

‌"Baby are you okay?" Lev asked. Both of you stopped walking.

‌"Y-yeah.. it's just, I got cramp." You explained to your sweet boyfriend.

‌"Wait, lemme carry you on my back. Hurry. My sister said to me to compress the stomach whenever you have a period cramp." Lev said.

‌"Uhm.. how did you know it's a period cramp?" You asked him as you never told about your period to him.

‌"So.. it's not? I mean, it's usually this time around you got your period so.."

‌"Lev!! You know my period schedule??" You shocked at his remark.

‌"I.. I shouldn't know about it?" Guilt and embarrassment showing on his face and it looks so damn cute.

‌"I didn't mean it that way, it's just, so cute. And is it why you always treat me some sweets and extra kind to me?" You asked only to have a double nods from him.

‌You can't contained the feeling of how lovely your boyfriend is so you hug him tight and show him how thankful you are to have him by your side. And having a period cramps and constant unstable emotions sounds okay to you as long as you have Lev by your side.

Akaashi Keiji

‌I don't want to repeat the same fact over and over again but really, Akaashi is the sweetest boyfriend!

‌He also has his part of knowledge about your period, when will it happen, what you feel when you have it and how annoying you could be when you're on it.

‌Sometimes when the period cramp become unbearable to you, he feels like he want to take it from you. Because seeing you in pain makes him worry. But he can't do that so he will give you cuddles whenever you were lying on the bed in crouching position to ease away the pain.

‌Sometimes he will rub your stomach lightly as you say when he did that, the cramp seems like go away and it makes you feel better.

‌He will ask you right away if you want cuddles or if you need anything from him. "Period cramps?" He would ask while seeing you crouching on the bed. You were just nodding your head, so he walked over you and sat on the bed.

‌"Do you want to cuddles?" He asked. His hand rub your arm.

‌"I want you to rub my tummy if you would?" You asked before you get up so you were sitting while facing him.

‌"Sure, honey. Come here." Akaashi said, a worried smile covering his face and he open his arms wide while he rest his back on the head board behind him.

‌You climbed up and sat between his thighs, your back facing me before you lay your head on his firm chest. His hands lingering around your body before his right hand slip under the pajama your wearing. The sensation of his warm hands touching your bare stomach feels nice that you left out a sigh of relief.

‌"Is it nice?" He asked with a low voice. You hummed for agreement and you decide to take his other hands on your own, intertwined them which you knew it makes Akaashi feels happy.

‌"Thank you for doing this to me, Keiji." You said as you look up to him. He give you a warm smile before he lowered himself and kiss your lips. The kiss you share was sweet and it somewhat also ease the bad cramps you had. "It's my pleasure to help you, sweetheart." He said after the kiss and both of you were still in that position until you both fall asleep.

Kita Shinsuke

‌Kita wil treat you like a queen in a daily basis so when it comes to you to facing a period issues, you will be spoiled.

‌He will also willingly to buy you pads if you ever run out of it! It's not problem to him and he didn't really feel a tiny bit of embarrassment for it.

‌He will also gladly to buy you lots of ice cream, a cookies, some candies and even buying you some medicine to ease away a bad cramp or a bad pimple which come whenever you had your period.

‌"Baby I'm sorry, I feel so ugly right now I don't think we can go on date today." You said to Kita while he was visiting you so both of you can go to date.

‌He will sigh, loudly. He will look at you with a lot of disappointment and you feel guilty. "I'm sad not because we can't have a date, but I'm sad because you said that you're ugly. I'm sorry for never make you feel beautiful, I've failed as a boyfriend." He said again.

‌"Shinsuke it's not.. baby no, I don't mean like that I mean. I'm sorry, I.. You always makes me feel beautiful okay it's just, this damn pimple is horrifying and.. and I-" You tried to search for words but seeing how hurt Kita looks, you feel bad.

‌"I don't care about it because no matter what, for me, you are the most beautiful girl in the world." Kita said. He come closer to you before he put his hands on your cheeks and kiss your lips softly.

‌"I'm sorry that you have a rollercoaster emotion because it's your special day today. I wish I could take all of the bad things you felt but I can't. But please, don't call yourself ugly because you are not." He said after the kiss.

‌"Baby.." Your tears rolling down on your cheeks only to be wiped away by Kita. "Let's have a date in here, we can have a homemade meals and we can watch some movies or playing games. I bought some cookies too." He smiles as he say that. You could swear that having a period never been so special before you having Kita as your boyfriend.

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu headcanons #haiba lev #akaashi keiji #kita shinsuke #haikyuu #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader #lev x reader #akaashi x reader #kita x reader

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pearl-blue-musings · 4 years

Text

Perchance to Meet pt 6.

Hi fam!

Sorry this took awhile to come out! This took lots of more of my time to come up with and I wanted it to be what I had envisioned so it took longer!

Pairing: Aizawa Shouta x fem!reader

Warnings: slight abuse, mentions of abuse, some angst and some fluff?

I think this will have one more part but yeah we’re getting near the end!

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 7)

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

The pride Aizawa has for his students is off the charts as he sits with some of them. He, along with some other well-known heroes have been called in for an extensive mission. Sir Nighteye and his assistant and sidekick Bubble Girl go over the mission.

He takes in the details about Overhaul, or also known as Chisaki Kai and logs it into his memory. He also takes in how his students are handling the grueling information, most notably being careful of his common problem child who ran into the little girl they’re planning on saving as well. He watches the videos of the surveillance done on the men that Overhaul keeps company. Watching for patterns, where they go, what they do etc. However, a particular picture and set of videos cause his heart to skip a beat.

There is Overhaul, at two places he knows all too well.

If Aizawa is panicked he doesn’t show it. But he’s internally trying to find the connection as to why he would visit the places (Y/n) works. It could all be a pure coincidence and that’s what he’s hoping for. There’s no way she would associate herself with someone like that willingly. If she was that kind of person, he would have detected it on her and not gotten himself involved with her. But what if he’s wrong? He has been wrong before, but he knows he isn’t wrong about this.

The meeting ends with final words and plans on what to do. There are some who are unsure of the plan, especially if it involves children aiding them but he knows better. The plan seems entirely logical so long as everything accordingly and everyone brings their A game.

Aizawa prepares to leave the meeting room when he is stopped by a gloved hand. “Sir Nighteye needs to see you briefly, can you hang back?” Aizawa shrugs his shoulders at Bubble Girl and goes back to his seat. He sees Mirai set up another slide show and begins to wonder what this is about and why only he was held back.

“Eraserhead, we’ve done some other research and recon and would like to inform you of another side mission along with the main task at hand.”

He sees Shouta nod and he urges Bubble Girl to show him the video.

“We found this video the other day. The date shows this happened a couple weeks ago. There used to not be a camera here but because of an incident involving an employee, the establishment added it.”

When the video starts, all he sees is Overhaul, his minions, and what seems to be a client buying his product. He starts to take in the background and notices he’s been there many times before. He keeps his stoic face as the video fast forwards to more action. Something happens and part of the camera is covered in blood, obstructing the view partially. Then he sees the door of the building open up

And there she is.

The expression on her face is one he’d hoped he’d never have to see. She’s terrified, flabbergasted, and now covered in blood. He can’t hear anything but now he sees that all eyes are on her. He can see (Y/n) attempting to bargain with who he assumes is Chisaki, and then for him the unthinkable happens.

Her body goes limp as she’s being apprehended and taken away.

Aizawa isn’t one to lose his cool, but that made him jump out of his seat. The two heroes in front of him glance at each other and stop the video. They give him a couple minutes to truly digest what he saw.

“We know that you had a special connection to (Y/f/n). Overhaul not only has a child, but an innocent civilian that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Clearly, stopping Overhaul and saving the child are most important, but this young woman has been considered missing.” Sir Nighteye pauses and then continues.

“We had to keep quiet about all aspects of this mission and keep this info from the public in order for the plan to work and succeed. I’m sure you understand.” He practically answers Aizawa’s unasked emotional question.

Aizawa sighs deeply, “I get it. What does this have to do with me?”

“You might be the only one who can rescue her. There’s already a lot on this mission that we don’t want to overwhelm anyone, but since it’s you we know you can handle it. Besides, she knows you.”

He can’t get the sight of (Y/n) being hurt and taken out of his head. This is what he wanted to avoid by being with her but apparently not. No matter what he does or tries people he cares about will be in danger because of him. So, logically, what should he do with his emotions and the woman that has invaded every fiber of his being?

He contemplates his next move as he steps out to see his students.

******************

The sound of a metal door clicking closed rouses her from her sleep. Her eyes are slow to adjust to the dim lights that barely reflect off of the cold tile floors beneath her. The four walls around her are plain, nothing on them except for the 28,643 spots that litter them. (Y/n) tugs at her arm and remembers that her arms are chained to a nearby wall. The chains are long enough for her to move with limited mobility but not enough for her to reach the door.

Her eyes and nose lead her to an object on the ground by the door. It looks like her morning meal as she crawls over to the bowl, plate, and cup. She’s starting to regret telling him what her favorite go to breakfast was because this was all she’s had for… Shit how long has she been here? A week? Two weeks?

Her first couple of days she resisted eating anything that was given to her as a form of protest. That earned her Overhaul using his quirk on her, whimpers and yells emitting from her throat at the pain until he put her back to normal. The next time she disobeyed him, he took it out on Eri. The way the “no” escaped her lips, dry from lack of use and childlike in her fear, he knew her soft spot.

Which is why she’s eating now. (Y/n) must be close to to Eri’s room or something because she hears her screams almost as if they’re right in the room with her. It rattles her to the bone, hearing such an innocent girl screaming, yelling, and thrashing in pain. It made her sick. How could that man, no monster, do this? She can’t believe she fell for his act, those eyes and that voice that could persuade anyone got to her. The feel of bile fills her throat the more she thinks about him, Eri, and where she is.

(Y/n) can’t help the tears that fall freely down her face as she thinks of Eri. But also of Aizawa. Fuck, she wishes he was here assuring her that everything would be fine. He’d save her from here, they’d apologize for all the words and nasty feelings shared and then live happily ever after the end. But she knew better than to think like that. All that did was earn her talks with Overhaul. Sometimes he wouldn’t lay a hand on her but if she was acting out he’d just grab her jaw aggressively, playing with her inevitable death, but always repeating the same things:

“You shouldn’t have been there, Angel”

“Well I did want you to myself eventually but I’m sad it had to be this way”

“Eri would be very upset if you didn’t eat, she hates hearing you cry”

“This is all your fault you know”

Yesterday’s was a new and longer one

“No one will come save you, you quirk can’t save you. You’re such an admirable person that I wanted to love but with your insistence that some hero, someone with a quirk unfit for this world will come to you, you are just like them. Disposable.”

The bruises on her jaw had just healed from the last time but they can match the ones that fade and return on her wrists and anywhere some random hooligan had dared touched her.

(Y/n) finishes her food and pushes the empty dishes toward the door. Usually they’re picked up immediately, followed by pairs of feet walking outside. However, this morning is different. No one comes to pick up her dishes and there’s no one walking outside her door.

What the hell is going on?

Her confusion deepens as her door is swung open forcefully, knocking the plates over making a loud sound. She defensively puts up her hands to block out the person and the light emanating from behind them. When nothing happens, she moves her hands and sees another person she’s come to hate strongly. The white haired man in front of her says nothing as he walks up to her, noticing her body flinching upon their close proximity. Most of his body is covered in a long white jacket and there’s another plague mask hanging out of a pocket. She can feel his breath on her cheek as he unlocks her chains, toying with her emotional state.

Once the cuffs fall freely to the floor, he grabs her wrist and commands, “Come with me.”

********************

It was hard for him to believe what he was seeing in front of him but he pounced into action. Aizawa immediately sees Overhaul takes his quirk. Upon entering the strange cave, he sees the girl in question being protected and shielded by two of some of the best students he’s ever seen. Before he’s able to do more damage and prevent Overhaul from using his quirk further, he’s abruptly taken away from the fight from one of his lackeys, his right-hand man if he is correct.

He lands in an unfamiliar room and is on high alert but thrown off from being attacked. Eraserhead quickly does surveillance but is cut short by an attack from behind. He feels his body slowing and only slightly panics. Then he hears a voice above him begin to talk and mumble to himself about Overhaul and their plan. With his face and body connected to the floor he’s rendered immobile. For the most part he tunes out the figure looming over him until particular words catch his ears.

“I do want to kill you, but it would be better with an audience don’t you think?”

A strong hand grips Aizawa’s hair and force his eyes up and ahead. It takes a while for his eyes to adjust to the room. In front of him is a chair; how long had that been there? What’s more important is who’s sitting in the chair.

It takes more strength than he would like to admit when he sees (Y/n)’s limp. She’s breathing, barely but breathing. He can’t fully investigate the state of her body but he can tell that they had gotten to her. Fuck, he wants to reach out and pull her close but there’s a number of factors preventing him from doing so; other than being held down against his will.

“It’s pitiful really, to see you with such a unique quirk reduced to this. I can feel how much this hurts you to see her but I’ll end that soon.”

The blade that was meant for the black haired man never came, as the door behind them is burst open and Chronostasis is apprehended. Aizawa reclaims mobility in his body and pushed himself off the ground to see an injured Suneater holding onto an unconscious Lemillion. Relief floods his body as the police capture the Shie Hassaki aide and exhales deeply. He turns on his heel quickly to find (Y/n) and get her the help she needs.

“Eraserhead, who is that?”

He approaches her body and kneels down. “Hey, (Y/n) can you hear me?” He lightly taps her cheek and sees remnants of bruising. He lowers his voice so no one else can hear, “Kitten please wake up.” He continues to trace his fore finger and thumb along her cheek to rouse her.

His heart drops when he notices her lips move. “Ung, Sho-“

“Sh sh sh,” he coos, “don’t talk. I’m going to pick you up okay?” Aizawa carefully checks for any restraints and seeing that there are none, picks her up bridal style and begins to take you toward the police.

Now that they are in the light, tears threaten to build behind his eyes upon really seeing her. Discolored skin around her wrists, neck, jaw, and ankles lets him know that she was held here for too long and was possibly, no for sure hurt and abused. Aizawa does his best to keep her body still while rushing toward the surface where he knows she can get help. He feels her cold finger touch his neck making him stop. “We have to keep moving, kitten.”

“Where’s Eri… He was, he was hurting her. Please we have to…”

His almond eyes soften. Even though she’s hurting and in pain, probably closer to death than she’d ever been before her heart still goes out to others. Aizawa isn’t entirely sure of her whereabouts but he needs to keep pressing on. “She’s safe. She’s being rescued just like you are right now.”

(Y/n) nods and then rests her head to his chest clinging on to the familiar amidst the strange. The police and a couple other heroes are all heading toward the top of the building to meet up with the rest of the teams involved. Aizawa holds her tightly against his chest, relishing in this feeling that he knows won’t last forever.

Upon reaching the morning light and bumbling sounds of sirens and commotion, Aizawa treks toward an open ambulance. He drops her off with a medic and hurriedly asks them to look over (Y/n). He hesitantly walks away but turns to see your face, an all too familiar look of knowing that he never wants to see. Her eyes are telling him to go because it’s his job and his job comes first. He’s gonna come back he promises, once he finds Eri.

When (Y/n) wakes again, she finds herself surrounded by bright white and beeps. It doesn’t take as long for her to come to her senses. There’s a drip inserted into her arm and exhales. She notices the wraps and bandages around her previously open wounds and bruises. They are still sensitive to the touch as a reminder that everything that happened had actually occurred. She’s lucky to see clock and calendar near her bed.

Two weeks.

Two whole weeks she was gone. Did anyone notice? How was her shop? Oh God what about Eri? What about the little girl she yearned to see again but couldn’t what happened-

“You’re awake.”

Aizawa stands in the doorway of her room with a small grin. He’s not entirely sure what to do. Is he allowed to rush to you and comfort you? He came out relatively unscathed, but has to deal with a student and a colleague who lost a mentor and friend. That was harsh losing the one who told him about (Y/n)’s whereabouts in the first place.

Her voice is still hoarse from lack of use and malnutrition. “How’s Eri?”

“She’s having fevers from over using her quirk but she’s stable. I’ll be staying by her side to monitor her with my quirk.”

“I see.”

Silence falls between the former couple as they both struggle to find words to say. He knows he needs to go check on Eri but he knows he’s needed and wanted here. He slowly walks in and shuts the door behind him. The look on her face is one of shock, probably because she didn’t expect the work driven man to stay with her, a mere civilian.

“I shouldn’t have said what I said.” Aizawa takes a chair and goes up to her bed to be closer, his eyes never leaving hers. “I wanted to protect you from this. I didn’t want you hurt because of me.” He pauses to collect his next words.

“(Y/n), I,” he looks up to meet her gaze, “I love you. So much so that it scared me. But what scared me most these last couple of months was not knowing how you were, or where you were. And when I found out that you were taken, I couldn’t show it but I was frightened.”

“Shota…”

He squeezes her hand that snuck its way into hers. “No please, let me finish. I’ve lost someone close to me before and I didn’t want to feel that again. My job, my students, they are my life. Then you showed up and changed everything. I was happy and content for once but once the threat of villains increased I figured it was better to have you alive and hate me, than be dead because you loved me.

“I couldn’t do that to someone I care about.” All the emotions Aizawa had held in for too long come flowing out. Small and few tears fall down his face as he buries his head into (Y/n)’s bed. “I didn’t want to say what I said that day, but I wanted to protect you and myself,” his confession comes out muffled from his face being buried in the sheets. He feels a dry hand caress his cheek and he meets her gaze.

“Shota,” she cries, tears falling freely. “I missed you so much.” She coughs as her crying causes her to hiccup. “I wanted to be mad but I couldn’t. I wanted to hate you but I couldn’t. And I wanted-mmph!”

Aizawa interrupts her wailing by placing his lips on hers carefully. He holds her face in his hands and wipes her tears gently with is thumb. The simple gesture sends butterflies to her stomach that she hasn’t felt in too long as they separate.

“Hi.”

“God Kitten I missed you.” He brings her in for another kiss, this one stronger and more intentional than before. The kiss was filled with unspoken apologies, whispers of love, and admittance of wrongdoing. The hero was careful with (Y/n) as he pulled her toward him, to hold onto her a little tighter. A cough breaks the spell cast on the two rekindled lovers. Aizawa does his best to hide his annoyance and the awful timing at whomever was at the door. It amused (Y/n) to see that he hadn’t changed too much.

“Um, Sen-I mean Eraserhead? They need you to see Eri-chan. Should I leave or-?”

“No Midoriya, it’s fine,” he scoffs out. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be right there okay?”

The young up and coming hero was clearly flustered at the scene in front of him and from his teacher calling him by his real name. “Yes sir! But shouldn’t we be using our hero names?”

“We’re safe here. Also, this is long overdue but this is (Y/f/n)

“My girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?!” The green haired teen kindly meets her and bows to the both of them as he takes his leave. He turns around to view the couple one more time. He notes that he’s never seen his teacher look at anyone so softly, well maybe with Eri-chan but…

“Geez, why do I always have to be the first one to know crazy news?”

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

Taglist!: @kiribaku-queen @cupcake-rogue @shinsouskitten @prk-pyo @therealwalmartjesus @susceptible-but-siriusexual

#my writing #i did the thing #aizawa x y/n #aizawa x reader #shouta aizawa #aizawa shouta #shouta x reader #bnha x reader #bnha aizawa #mha x reader #overhaul #kai chisaki

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justcourttee · 4 years

Note

Love your stories. The premise for this one involves Plagg learning And overhearing about Lila’s deal With Gabriel. Spying on Adrien and keeping him away from ‘bad influences’. Plagg tells Adrien what he found out, Adrien is a bit reluctant, but when he heard of Lila sabotaging his friends and the involvement with the expulsion. Adrien finally has enough. Your take on how this goes out

This was such a good prompt that I literally had too many ideas of how I wanted it to go. Hopefully, this works :)

Because We’re Friends, Right?

“But Adrien! You have to believe me! It’s not like I was snooping on your father on purpose! I was just trying to find some more Camembert cheese!”

It felt useless arguing with their chosen. For whatever reason, the humans were fond of their personal space and Plagg phasing through walls was an apparent ‘invasion’ of that.

“Plagg, you know I keep a stash in my drawer, how did you blow through it this fast?”

“That’s not the point Adrien! I feel like you are just redirecting your anger at your father on me. After all, for someone who doesn’t like this pigtails girl, you sure got real red when I mentioned Lila setting her up.”

Plagg nudged Adrien’s arm, but it provided no relief. The tension was still strong in the air, almost as if a cataclysm couldn’t breakthrough.

“Plagg, there’s no way Lila is working for my father to keep my friend’s from me. Neither could be so cruel. Lila just wants to get her way and so does my father, I don’t see their agendas ever crossing.”

“Oh, really now, think about Pigtails getting expelled. You knew it was Lila, but you didn’t know what she had to gain from it right? But what did your father have to gain? An excuse to pull you out of school due to the mass amount of akumatizations that would've happened in one day.”

Adrien opened his mouth, ready to argue, but a small nagging thought sat at the back of his head. It was the first time his father had personally called him in a while, not Nathalie, to make sure he was okay and ask him to come back home.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re working together Plagg, it was just a really messed up coincidence. Besides, I know you’re just trying to take the conversation off of the fact that you left my room, again. You’ve gotta stop dude, what if someone catches you?”

Plagg shrugged their shoulders. Adrien was going to need a lot more than just words to convince him, that was for sure. So Plagg settled in, ignoring Adrien’s speech on privacy for the tenth time that month. Sure enough, sooner or later, Adrien was going to see that Plagg was right, and they couldn’t wait to rub it in his face.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Monday morning came and as Adrien exited his room, he found no other than Lila was waiting for him in the foyer, a fake smile plastered on her face as she chatted with Nathalie.

It was suspicious enough to see her standing so freely in his house, but he tried to brush it off, not let his imagination run wild with the stories Plagg had tried to sell him. She was probably there for a last-minute before class shoot that his father scheduled.

That had to be it.

“Hey, Adrien! I thought I’d ride with you to school today seeing as we’re not only school friends but now work buddies too!”

Adrien’s eyes darted to Nathalie’s face for any explanation, but he was given none as she stared straight ahead her usual expressionless look present.

“Sounds good Lila, after all, that’s what friends do huh? Maybe tomorrow we can invite Nino too.”

Nathalie shook her head, shutting down his idea before he even had a chance to fully ask.

“Miss Rossi was only allowed today due to your photoshoot at your lunch hour. Her stuff would be more conveniently located if it were already in the car than waiting for her to gather it from her locker.”

The excuse was pitiful, even Adrien could see through that. But as the small nagging voice in his head grew larger, his will to ignore it did too. There was no way Plagg was right, this was just another coincidence.

So without another word, he walked out the door, Lila practically skipping beside him as they slid into the car. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . As the rest of the week passed, Adrien noticed Lila hanging around the house more and more. Sometimes to catch up on homework, sometimes, well, he wouldn’t even know she was there until he was slipping out his window, a quick glance of her exiting the gates as he landed on the nearest rooftop. As much as he didn’t want to, he was starting to think that he not only owed Plagg an apology but that it was also time to sit down with his father and finally ask him.

So he waited until their next scheduled dinner, the Thursday before a big photoshoot nonetheless, to strike. It was silent like usual, neither looking up much from their plates. Adrien simply wasn’t sure where to begin, but if he didn’t say something, this dinner would end all too soon.

“Uhm, father?”

Gabriel’s eyes rose slowly as if he wasn’t quite sure if he heard him right.

“What is it, Adrien?”

“I-” Adrien cleared his throat trying to swallow his growing nerves. “I just wanted to know why you hired Lila Rossi.”

Gabriel’s eyebrows furrowed as if it was a stupid question for him to ask. As if Lila made the most logical sense.

“She had quite the impressive resume. Miss Rossi has worked with many big names and is around your age. An older model would look bad on my part. That is all.”

He returned his attention back to his nearly finished plate leaving Adrien with a hundred more questions than he had time to ask. Adrien knew her resume was faked and if Nathalie had done her usual background check, she could’ve discovered that with ease. Something didn’t sit right.

“Father, Lila Rossi has no connections.”

Gabriel’s frown sent a small shiver down Adrien’s back. He had never so openly defied his father, especially in their once a month dinners. It terrified him that angering him could mean never seeing him again.

“I was not made aware. Are you saying Nathalie is incompetent at the one job I hired her for?”

Adrien shook his head quickly. The last thing he wanted to do was get Nathalie in trouble when he knew that no matter what she did, his father, the perfectionist, always double-checked. There was no way he was so in the dark.

“Adrien, I suggest that you drop this topic. Lila Rossi would be an excellent friend and coworker for you, unlike your DJ friend or the young lady with the pigtails.”

The younger blonde opened his mouth to argue, but he saw no point. Without meaning to, his father already confirmed what he had feared.

Plagg was right.

“I apologize father. I will make more efforts to befriend Lila.”

No other words were spoken during their meal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Weeks came and went and Adrien only felt sicker about the idea. Lila wanted him to date her, his father wanted him to stay home. Lila seems to be working willingly with Hawkmoth who not only benefits her agenda, but his father’s as well.

The more he investigated, the worst he felt. He tried apologizing to Plagg, but the kwamii simply shook it off, only asking for more cheese to compensate for their hurt feelings.

Adrien debated talking to Marinette about it. After all, she was the only one who knew what Lila was like. But something stopped him. Marinette tried to warn him that her lies would hurt their friends, would hurt them, but he shook her off, told her that as long as they were in it together, it didn’t matter if the others knew.

Yet another person he would have to apologize to when this was all over.

As he turned the corner to the lockers, a small yelp caught his attention. Pressing his ear against the wooden door, he could faintly make out the conversation taking place inside.

“-I’m so sorry Nathaniel, please don’t be so upset with me. I asked Adrien to contact the publisher for a meeting because they knew each other better. I really thought I could trust him with such a small task for his friends.”

The sobbing was completely over the top, but unfortunately for him, it seemed to be working. Peeking through the small glass window, Adrien saw the redhead comforting Lila, his face a mixture of anger and disappointment and if Adrien had to take a guess, it wasn’t for Lila.

“It’s rude to spy on people.”

Adrien whipped his head around, his face matching Marinette’s own shade of red.

“Me? Spying? Oh, no, I was just, uh.”

Marinette giggled, the red on her cheeks rising until it reached the tips of her ears. It was adorable.

“It’s okay Adrien, I was just picking on you like you pick on me.”

“Oh,” his chuckle wasn’t as convincing as the red in his own cheeks seemed to meet the tips of his ears as well.

“Adrien, what’s wrong?”

Was she always so good at reading him or was he just an open book lately?

“We can’t talk here, follow me.”

He didn’t bother for her answer as he grabbed her hand, dragging her out into the courtyard. Scanning the area, he found the furthest open bench, bringing Marinette with him. As he sat down, he reluctantly let go, oblivious to the shade of red that had spread now to her neck as well.

“I think my father hired Lila to cause trouble at school in order to force me to come home.”

Marinette bit her lip, unsure how to respond. If it was true, so many things made sense, but it still raised a question.

“What would she gain from that?”

Adrien’s face confirmed her answer before he even spoke.

“As a model, especially a young one, it can be good for business if the models are seen as a couple. Lila has been trying to ask me out since she arrived. I thought that if I was nice, that if I gave in to her demands, she would eventually wear herself out, but here she is, still going strong. I-”

He paused, the image of Nathaniel’s upset face burned into his head.

“I think she’s trying to turn everyone against me so that I’ll choose to go home, where I’ll see her because of work.”

Adrien felt a soft touch on his cheek, the feeling starling him. Marinette reached forward again wiping a tear that he hadn’t realized had fallen.

“Adrien, maybe it’s time we told Alya and Nino. They’re our best friends. I’m sure they’ll understand, they might even know how to help.”

He wanted to shake his head. It would only cause a backlash and he couldn't risk Marinette getting caught in it, but at the same time, he’s left it alone for this long and it has only gotten worse.

“Maybe.”

Her smile was almost blinding as she offered him a hand to stand, apparently intent on seeking them out now. He hesitantly reached up, amazed at how strong she looked standing over him as if she would protect him to the end. It reminded him of someone, but he couldn’t put a finger on it, not when she was standing here so captivating.

“Adrien! How could you?”

Immediately he withdrew his hand as if he was a little kid, caught in the act. In front of him stood Lila, Nathaniel, and worse of all, Alya and Nino.

“When you said Marinette was your special friend, I thought you meant best friend, not the girl you were seeing behind my back.”

Marinette tried to deny it, but Lila wouldn’t even let her get a word in.

“I know you said you were only dating me to please your father, but I thought you were going to try to love me! I mean, I’m the only one who understands your world. Marinette couldn’t even keep up!”

Adrien looked at the gathering crowd, many of them wearing the same weary face.

Adrien, I-”

“That’s enough Lila.”

Silence spread throughout the courtyard as all eyes turned to them. He realized how loud his voice was, but it didn’t matter to him at the moment. In fact, he would get on top of the roof if he had to. He was done cowering away and he would be damned if he let her drag Marinette down.

“Let’s get one thing straight right here. I was not made aware of any arrangements you and my father have made for the company, therefore, I had no clue about this, about us dating. Let me also state that Marinette has more connections in the business that I have met face to face with her than I have standing by your side.”

Lila’s eyes were deadly as if threatening him to continue, but he couldn’t find it in him to stop.

“Marinette has done cover designs and costume accessories for Jagged Stone. You said you saved his non-existent kitten? Well, let’s have Marinette call him right now and see for sure. I mean surely someone who saved his prize animal would remember the name of its savior right?”

“He’s too busy right now, that’s not necessary-”

“And how about you teaching Clara dance moves? Marinette was actually picked to be the star in her music video and impressed Clara when she turned down the spot to get her friends in the video as well. She even came up with the idea that Clara used for her Miraculous music video. She has her phone number as well, shall we call her as well?”

“I-”

“What about your connections in the fashion business? Besides me, you have none. Marinette has managed to impress Style Queen Audrey Bourgeois with a derby hat, the same hat that she impressed my father with as well. Don’t doubt for a second that she couldn’t keep up in my world.”

The growing crowd seemed split, unsure who to believe. Alya and Nino had slinked away from Lila’s side as they comforted the very pale Marinette. Adrien wanted to rush over, be by her side as well, but he had to stand his ground, see it through to the end.

“I don’t understand Adrien, why are you doing this? You know I have a disease that causes me to lie, I just-”

Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder sending a wave of shock through the girl.

“Because we’re friends, right?”

Lila’s eyes narrowed at his words.

“Friends can’t let other friends hurt themselves with lies, whether those lies were meant to wound or not. I understand you and my father have an arrangement, but with your condition, I don’t believe it would be best for you to be in the spotlight. If you don’t have a strong center, the cameras will eat you up. As your friend, I’m asking you to take a less stressful job.”

The group around them cooed as if Adrien caring about Lila’s health was just so in character of him. As if the two weren’t locked in a silent battle, one only they could see.

“Fine, I’ll resign tonight, but I doubt your father would like that very much.”

Her half-cocked smile worried him. She was obviously far from done, but for the moment he was ready to celebrate a small victory.

“Let me worry about my father, after all, what are friends for?”

Lila nodded, her head tilted as if seeing Adrien in a new light. He didn’t bother waiting around for her answer. Instead, he made his way over to where his friends’ stood.

“Marinette, I’m sorry about that. I know you were trying to keep your connections a secret.”

She shook her head ferociously, her eyes shining with what looked like pride.

“Adrien, we’re going to try and find Andre cart, would you like to come with us?”

“Like as couples?”

Marinette’s face flushed red as she began stumbling over her words, trying to back away, only failing when Alya pushed her back.

“Relax Marinette,” his chuckle surprised even himself. Why was it so easy to flirt with her? Was it just a friend thing? “Today we’ll go as friends, but maybe some other time we’ll try the couple thing.”

“Agreste, did you have to go and break her?”

Alya playfully shoved him as the four of them left the school, ignoring the stares they were receiving. It was so easy right now, but Adrien regretfully knew that it was just the calm before the storm.

Permanent Tag List:

@ash-amg @rebecarojas07 @heaven428 @long-lost-peace @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @moongoddesskiana @nach0ava @iamablinkmarvelarmy @seraphkitty @clumsy-owl-4178 @pawsitivelymiraculous

#mircaulous ladybug #mlb fic #adrinette

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alostsock · 4 years

Text

For everyone but you.

Hello friends what is up. I am back with more Nicky being a mother hen but also secretly being a disaster sorry.

TW: Disordered eating? (not named, no specifics, but mentions of skipping meals/past issues with food, plus just general poor coping mechanisms), descriptions of (non-permanent) death, blood, vomit.

I also work on the assumption that they process alcohol VERY quickly, immortality and all that.

Summary: Nicky takes care of everyone, except sometimes himself.

---

It hasn’t even been a year since they had parted when Copley contacts them to tell them that Booker has gotten into a bit of trouble.

And by “a bit of trouble,” he means that Booker has been taken.

Evan as Joe half-heartedly complains about going to help him (Nile doesn’t really think he would leave Booker to suffer, but she does understand that the wound is still fresh, especially for people who have lived hundreds of years), saying that Booker had gotten them kidnapped for scientific experimentation, Nicky is quickly collecting their things. He packs weapons, food, spare clothes, and extra ammo in the time that it takes Nile to grab her gun and backpack, for Joe to put up a token protest, and for Andy to roll her eyes in exasperation at all of them while listening to Copley give them information on where to find Booker.

Joe goes silent with one pointed look from Nicky, and they are on their way.

---

They get him out.

It is a disaster, but they get him out, and for better or for worse Booker is back with them, trailing after them awkwardly during their hurried getaway back to their stashed car, and getting in when no one protests. The trip to their next safe house is silent. Nile absently picks at dried blood on her jeans as Andy drives without saying a word, Booker wrings his hands anxiously every few minutes, and Joe holds Nicky tucked up against his side in the back seat, running his fingers carefully through Nicky’s bloody, matted hair. At one point Nicky reaches over to Nile who is leaning against the other car door. She straightens with a frown, her mouth open in a question, but Nicky just smiles gently at her, pulling away from Joe momentarily to pick a few bits of... something... from her hair (Nile deliberately avoids spending time thinking about what it might be).

When they arrive at the safe house Nicky gives Booker a small smile, squeezing his shoulder gently, and nothing is said on the matter of Booker’s exile being over 99 years early.

As Andy leads the way into their newest home, unlocking the door with a key unearthed from the garden, Nicky follows closely behind her. As they enter the cottage he pulls bags from their tired shoulders, pushes Andy to sit at the kitchen table, and presses towels and old, but clean, clothes into Nile, Booker, and Joe’s hands. His hands full, Joe brushes a kiss to Nicky’s forehead before leading Nile to the bathroom and letting her have the first shower. Booker mumbles something about a well out back before wandering off.

When Nile emerges, towelling off her hair and dressed in an old t-shirt and sweatpants that she suspects are either Joe’s or Nicky’s (or both, because she actually isn’t sure which items belong to who most of the time, they wear most things so interchangeably), Joe gives her a gentle smile from where he is leaning against the wall, before moving to take his turn in the bathroom. She suspects her shower was rather long, but he doesn’t seem upset.

After hanging what could be salvaged and washed from her outfit of the day to dry, she makes her way back to the kitchen. There is something that smells heavenly simmering on the stove, and Nicky is crouched in front of Andy, gently covering up a few last cuts with nimble fingers. Nile sees that the larger wounds have already been covered, possibly stitched, and as he finishes the last one Andy cups his face in her hand, running her thumb over some flaking, dried blood with a soft smile, gratitude in her eyes.

Nicky looks up, beaming at Nile before moving to usher her into a seat as Andy heads off to shower. He serves her a generous helping of dinner before placing it in front of her, patting her on the shoulder with a gentle instruction to eat.

She does, gratefully (Nicky really is a fantastic cook), and she is on her second helping by the time Booker makes his way back into the kitchen, hair still damp but blood-free, wearing a shirt that’s stretched a little too tightly across his shoulders

“I think this shirt is yours, Nicky,” he mumbles. “Or maybe Joe’s. Did I not leave anything of mine here?” He glances at Nile. “I’ll go out to get some stuff for me and Nile later.”

Nicky shrugs, placing a bowl in front of Booker. He puts another two out just as Joe comes back from the shower - one for Joe, and one at Andy’s momentarily abandoned seat.

Nile doesn’t mind the clothes. They’re soft and worn and comfortable, and exactly what she needed after a day like the one they just had. The stew is fresh and delicious and fills her with a warmth that goes beyond the physical heat as it fills her stomach. Nicky is setting a mug of tea beside her bowl, fragrant and with just the right amount of honey, and she realizes that she feels completely, utterly safe.

This is home now.

Not this little cottage in particular, not the apartment in Paris, not the church, not the old mine, and not any of the flats or basements or abandoned caves in between, but here, with these people.

With Andy, coming back into the kitchen with the blood finally washed off, taking a seat at the table and squeezing Nicky’s hand in thanks as he puts her tea in front of her

With Joe, gratefully digging into his meal, leaning back with a contented sigh at the first taste before turning back to it with gusto, peppering Nicky with compliments that make Nicky roll his eyes but blush all the same.

Even with Booker and how, after a few strained moments when they first reunited, he seems to have slotted back in as if he’d never left.

She’s content, and getting very sleepy, she realizes. She gets up, picking up her dishes to wash them, but Nicky is there, taking them from her with a small smile, telling her that he’ll take care of it, and ushering her off to bed.

She goes willingly. Cots have been set up in a room just off from the kitchen. She hasn’t been to this particular house before, but there are four of them, and since Joe and Nicky always share she supposes someone, probably Nicky, must have just set these up as well. The room may be new but the bed arrangement is familiar, so she takes her usual place, noting that the place that was Booker’s when she first met them, and which has been conspicuously empty over the past few months, has been laid out again.

She doesn’t bother closing the door, preferring to let a little bit of light filter in from where it is partially open, and relaxing as she lets their muted chatter wash over her. Their muffled conversation is interspersed with the clinking of ceramic as Nicky washes and dries their dishes.

She’s almost asleep when the conversation takes on a concerned tone, and she can’t help but blink back into awareness. She focuses a little just as Joe’s voice raises just enough for her to hear the words.

“You haven’t showered.”

Nile frowns. What? She did, Joe did, Booker did, Andy did... oh. Nicky. Nicky was cooking. She’d been so exhausted she hadn’t really noticed, but now that she thinks back on it she does recall Nicky’s hair still being caked with blood, his shirt stained red and riddled with bullet-holes.

“Did you even eat?”

Nicky answers softly in Italian. Nile doesn’t make out the words, but Joe’s heavy sigh makes it clear what the response was. She’s completely awake now, and she thinks back to their dinner.

He had put out four meals, she realizes. She hadn’t paid attention to it at the time, but he hadn’t set one out for himself. He hadn’t even sat down with them, bustling about the kitchen instead, serving them firsts and seconds, making them tea, pausing to squeeze her shoulder reassuringly, to check Andy’s wounds after her shower, making sure her stitches were kept dry, to press a kiss to Joe’s hair, to coax Booker into conversation.

He must have been exhausted, but he’d taken care of them all with a reassuring smile on his face, with kind words and gentle touches and hearty food.

Through the half-open door she watches as Andy puts a hand on Nicky’s shoulder, turning him away from the sink and moving to take over the last of the washing. She sees the concerned glint in Joe’s eyes as he puts an arm around Nicky, leading him away, presumably to the bathroom.

Booker has pulled out a flask. After several swigs from it he sets it down and looks up at Andy. Her back is still turned to him, but her hands are resting on the counter, the dishes finished.

“How is he?”

Andy shakes her head gently, turning around to face him with a shrug.

“I mean... how have you all been?”

“We dealt with it.”

She doesn’t say with what, but Nile supposes she means everything. Booker’s betrayal and ensuing absence, her addition to the team, Andy’s mortality.

“And Nicky?”

There’s concern there that Nile doesn’t know how to interpret.

“He’s... alright.”

Silence, for a moment. Nile can see that Any has sat down across from Booker. She makes a brief movement before pausing, and then tentatively reaches across the table to take his hand.

“And you, Booker?”

Booker shrugs. Andy nods, seeming to understand (Nile doesn’t). Booker holds his flask out to her and she takes it gratefully, taking a long drink.

They pass it back and forth a few times before Booker shakes it. It makes a hollow sound as he puts it back on the table, and he gets up to rummage through a cupboard. He returns to the table with a bottle.

Andy raises an eyebrow. “And you knew that was there... how?”

Booker shrugs. “I left it there, a few years ago.” Andy snorts.

It is at that moment that Joe leads Nicky back into the kitchen, an arm around his waist. He pushes him gently into a seat before going to the leftover stew and making to serve him a bowl.

“Yusuf.”

Nicky’s voice is pleading. Andy frowns. Nile wonders if she’ll be able to fall asleep after this. She can feel their concern, can feel their stress, but she doesn’t know what’s causing it. She probably shouldn’t be listening in, but her options are to fall asleep (which she doesn’t think she’ll be able to do anytime soon) or to leave, and if she gets up now they’ll know she’s been listening. So, she stays quiet, trying to retreat back into the drowsiness she’d been enjoying.

“Just a little, Nicolò my love?”

Nicky is clearly uncomfortable, his shoulders a tense line and his hands clasped tightly together.

“Nicky, please?” Andy’s voice is pleading. Even Booker has a strangely gentle look on his face.

Nicky sighs, scrubbing at his face with his hands.

“I can’t, please don’t make me.” he says in Italian.

Nile spares a moment to be proud that she understood, quick and quiet as the admission was. Nicky is a good (and very patient) teacher. Then the words hit her. He can’t?

Joe sits down in the chair beside Nicky, turning him to face him and pulling the seat in close until their knees are touching.

“Nicolò, my heart, please. I cannot watch you waste away again.”

Again?

Nicky sighs. “One meal won’t kill me, Joe. I just... I can’t right now. It’s not a big deal. Just not today. Please.”

“You took care of us, Nicky. Let us take care of you.” Andy’s voice is as soft as Nile has ever heard it.

Nicky sighs. He opens and closes his mouth a few times before sighing again. Joe puts his hand up to Nicky’s face and starts rubbing gentle circles with his thumb.

“I still taste it,” he mumbles.

Taste what?

“Taste what?” Andy voices the question on Nile’s mind.

“The... the blood.” Oh. “I... today I...”

Today Nicky had jumped in front of several bullets that would have probably killed Andy (and in front of one that would have hit Joe, and another that would have hit Nile). The ones aimed at Andy, though, had hit him solidly in the chest and stomach. He had bled out quickly, coughing up red for painful moments until he went quiet. Nile cringes at the memory. He had died on his back while they were all still caught up in the fight, and he had come to only to choke on his own blood and die once more before Joe had been able to get to him, turning him on his side so that he could clear his throat and lungs and vomit up the contents of his stomach. There hadn’t been time to spare, though, so Joe had hauled him up the moment he was finished and dragged him along as they made their escape. In their rush to get away, and especially because Nicky had seemed so steady afterwards, Nile had forgotten about it. He had picked things out of Nile’s hair and patched Andy’s wounds and made sure they were all clean and fed and that they all felt safe, and he hadn’t said a word about it.

Nile feels the breath rush out of her lungs as the realization hits her. Her eyes well with tears as she hears Nicky let out a choked sob. Joe immediately reaches across to pull Nicky to his chest.

Booker pushes away from the table, standing up. “I’ll go into town - maybe bread, things for broth...” Nicky shakes his head quickly at the latter. “Bread, then. As fresh as I can find it at this time of day.” Joe gives Booker a grateful smile. Andy gets up, picking up the keys, clearly intending to go with him. Booker shakes his head, holding his hand out. “You’re probably at least a little drunk, Andy. A veritable lightweight now that you’re...” He trails off, gesturing vaguely at her. Andy rolls her eyes, but hands over the keys without protest. She watches Booker leave before turning back to Joe and Nicky.

“Couch?” Joe nods. He helps Nicky to his feet and takes one of Nicky’s hands in both of his, pressing a kiss to his knuckles as they follow Andy to the couch in the alcove beside the kitchen.

Nile can barely see them at this angle, but if she cranes her neck she can just catch a glimpse of them tangled together on the sofa, Nicky pulled in tight to Andy’s side as Joe traces circles on Nicky’s arm.

#the old guard #fic #fluff #angst #joe and nicky #nicolo di genova #yusuf al kaysani #andromache the scythian #nile freeman #sebastien le livre #tw: eating problems

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mystic-kitten-writer · 4 years

Note

Headcanon: uhm how the gaang treats yue or how they see yue shshhs

OKAY, so I decided to focus on the girls first because I went off (but are we really surprised? This is me we’re talking about).

I focused on how they met Yue, what made them click, and how they treat/view. Consider this headcanon for Limerence as it is developing, not as an end-all-be-all.

If you want one of the boys (Aang, Sokka, Zuko) let me know cause I’ll post it ASAP rather than dwindling around~

Katara

“Yue?” Katara would perk, before smiling, “She’s more than just a friend; she’s family, a sister.”

Katara, Aang and Sokka are the first ones to met Yue after she saves Aang. Immediate reaction - grateful.

Secondary reaction - worry. Katara’s blue eyes settled over Yue, and saw how frail she looked. Her clothes dirty and torn, hair a birds nest; she was skin and bones. Katara’s ‘must-take-care’ instincts blaring.

The same day they met, they bonded;

Yue was sitting in the river under the starry night as Katara helped wash her hair. She couldn’t help but notice the tiny scratches and bruises that littered Yue’s skin, superficial. But she could imagine how they stung.

“Why don’t you heal yourself, Yue? You’re a Waterbender.” Katara asked with her brows pinched, confused to see all of Yue’s injuries. But Yue let out an awkward giggle, shyly sinking further into the water, “I-I’m a terrible healer.”

“I can teach you if you want.” Katara perked, happy to show off her skills to teach another.

But she quickly noted Yue’s expression in the reflection of the water. Her eyes heavy, lip trembling. It was an expression filled with deep pain and sadness, and without another word, Katara found herself embracing Yue from behind.

From that point on, Katara took on the big sister role despite being the younger one by a few months.

Katara sometimes stares at Yue and has to smile, happy to be by her side and watch Yue grow. She wasn’t the girl crying in the river anymore; she was the impending Queen of a Nation.

She always stands up for Yue and encourages her to put her foot down whenever someone disrespects her. Even Katara’s frustrated at how nice Yue is.

Very protective, and will lowkey judge the people Yue is around. She knows Yue is a bit naive and doesn’t want someone to take advantage #SorrynotsorryZuko.

A bit disappointed that Yue never Waterbended with her, despite asking her multiple times to train. She finally found another Waterbender, someone who was by her side full-time, and it proved fruitless.

The one time they did battle, Katara was about to go easy. She quickly realized never to doubt Yue’s fighting skills…but her healing could use some work.

Guilty for thinking Yue was a Firebender at first.

Was lowkey jealous at Yue’s and Aang’s relationship and how quickly they hit it off before realizing it is just Yue’s personality

Often bond in the hot springs with a nice face and hair mask, fantasizing about their future and wedding plans.

Katara’s go-to person to vent and shop with.

Will cook meals for Yue because Yue cannot cook to survive. Katara’s still baffled at how Yue managed to burn boiling water. Like seriously, how?

Often heals Yue’s bruises and scratches because she’s way too clumsy. Also stopped asking questions as to how she even gets hurt. A papercut from a teddy bear?

“Yue’s biggest strength is also her weakness, her heart.” Katara would softly speak, twirling her braid in her hands, “But that’s why we’re here. To make sure she’s okay and that she doesn’t live off sweets because that girl has a sugar addiction.”

Toph

“She’s alright, I guess… kinda whiny, always needing attention, we call her Princess for a reason- but…” Toph would start before stepping forward. She would cross her arms before whispering, “She’s an amazing baker and gives the best hugs. BUT YOU DIDN’T HEAR THAT FROM ME.”

Toph and Suki met Yue a few days after the others, and the first thing she noticed was how damn light Yue was on her feet, another Airbender?

Yue was quick to greet Toph, voice chirpy and filled with life, and for a moment, Toph thought Yue was going to be an absolute chatterbox. Talking her ears off until they bled. Imagine her surprise how quiet Yue got after their greeting, standing off to the side as the others spoke.

Toph would study her movements, how she twirled her fingers, pulse racing…

Their moment of connection would come days after, Toph feeling the ground underneath her vibrate, just a touch. It was enough to wake her up from her slumber, feet embedded on the ground and searching for those light footsteps. Toph would begrudgingly follow, thinking it was Aang taking a late-night stroll before they suddenly stopped.

“The stars… they’re beautiful tonight. Want to experience them with me?” Yue would hum, taking Toph off guard.

“I’m blind-”

“You of all people should know there is more than one way to experience the world.”

Toph would snort, kicking the dirt under her feet, “Oh yeah? Explain colour to me.”

Toph could feel Yue walked towards her, bending over, a distinct pulling sound-making light, before standing upright. Yue’s hands gently reached for Toph’s, letting something dewy in nature fall into her palms.

“Green… it’s the grass and leaves, soft and tickles your toes. Filled with life. It’s not my favourite colour; I enjoy red much more. Red is the colour of the blaring sun against your skin. Like a festering burn, pulsing with strong vibrations.”

Yue’s wasn’t that bad after all.

Abnormally tolerate to Yue’s need for physical affection. Timed ‘hugs’ are a norm (don’t want to let Yue know how much Toph loves them, or else she’ll never hear the end of it).

Careful about her tone with Yue. Rarely raising it like how she would with Sokka or Katara because Toph could feel how Yue’s heart would race.

One of the few people Toph would willingly let touch her feet and pamper.

Toph listens to Yue’s rants about fashion or makeup because there was something about hearing her heart skip - she dares say it, it was cute.

Toph went from feeling indifferent to Yue to finding an odd sense of comfort in her presence. An Aang 2.0, but a lot more sensitive and a way better baker.

Views Yue as a best friend and typically calls her Princess because she is one.

Taught her that being feminine in nature doesn’t equal weak. You can be fabulous and kick ass.

Will unconsciously take a big sniff around Yue. She smells good, like baked goods.

“She may be a crybaby…but she has a good heart.”

Suki

“She’s too cute!” Suki would laugh, smiling fondly at all the memories that seemingly flashed through her mind. “Yue is like a kitten. She’s cute and shy, but she has that curious spirit inside. A mischievousness that you’ll never expect to see.”

Suki met Yue at the same time as Toph, but because Sokka introduced Yue to her with much glee, Suki immediately opened up.

Funny enough, unlike the rest who shared a bonding moment via a direct personal experience, Suki realized she loved Yue when seeing how she spent time with Sokka.

Suki was lounging on the sandy beaches in the Earth Nation, enjoying the sun kissing her skin with the waves crashing in the distance. Sokka proclaimed that he was a sandcastle master, and Suki watched with lowered sunglasses how Sokka and Yue spent precisely two hours building a monstrously of a sandcastle.

Seeing Yue and Sokka bickering and having fun like siblings struck a chord with Suki. She was going to love anyone who can make her boyfriend that happy.

Suki dusted herself off from the sand, coming behind Yue and placing her hands on her shoulders, “Want to come shopping tomorrow with me downtown?”

“Me?” Yue would gasp, her eyes wide.

Suki would smile, eagerly shaking her head, and she saw that happiness spread over Yue’s face, “I would love to!”

Girls night is a tradition between them, getting tipsy- drunk on wine and spoiling Yue with dresses.

Guilty of being the ‘devil on her shoulder.’ Suki can’t help it; she loves Yue’s eagerness to try new things and learn, but her shyness always got the better of her, and that’s where Suki comes in.

Half of their conversations go from sweet to sexual in under ten seconds.

Besides Aang and Sokka, Suki’s the closest to Yue, they’re practically sisters.

Like Katara loves hyping Yue and encouraging her to stand up for herself and seek happiness. Suki knows Yue always puts herself second; that’s why she pampers Yue whenever she can.

Love teasing Yue with Toph. It’s just too easy.

“She’s a girl’s best friend, the best shoulder to cry on, and the easiest to tease.”

#atla #katara #suki #toph #asks #ask me anything #anon answered #headcanon #zuko #ying yue jiang #zuko x oc #limerence #masterlist #request #requests #my OC

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whenihaveyouromione · 3 years

Text

When I Have You - Chapter 24

Read on Fanfiction.net or ao3 if you’d prefer!

Follow this story’s Instagram account whenihaveyou.romione

A/N: The wiggentree is believed to protect from dark magical creatures, which I thought fit perfectly in an office that — despite Hermione’s efforts — are not yet accustomed to treating creatures as equals. I thought it was ironic and fitting for this chapter.

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Chapter 24

“Are you sure you don’t want to take this mission?” Harry asked, waving the sign up sheet in front of Ron. “It’ll be the easiest one, because there’ll be no one about to cause too much trouble.”

“Not likely,” Ron said, pushing the sheet away. “I’ll wait for the one that comes after Christmas. I’d much rather spend Christmas at the Burrow, and with Hermione, than in some run down inn in the middle of who knows where. Ginny won’t be happy when she finds out you’ve signed up to be away for Christmas, by the way.”

“Ginny will be away for Christmas,” Harry said. “Which is why I thought I’d do it.”

“Where will Ginny be?” Ron asked, surprised, as that was the first he’d heard of it.

“Training,” Harry said, shrugging. “Apparently all the new Harpies recruits are being put to the test over the Christmas break. She couldn’t even get the day off to Apparate home.”

“Huh,” Ron said, “life of a professional Quidditch player.”

“So it seems,” Harry said. “Though, thankfully, not quite professional yet.”

Ron, who had felt mildly put out when Ginny had told him she’d been offered a spot in the squad of the Holyhead Harpies, had taken some time to get used to the idea of his sister potentially becoming a professional Quidditch player in the next few months. He was proud of her, of course, but also, he wouldn’t have minded such a job — though, in reality, if he couldn’t perform well in front of the Hogwarts students, he doubted a larger crowd of fans would be any better.

But being in the team had come at a price of being forced to stay in Holyhead more than she could be at home. Sometimes, she’d be away for a week at a time, a fate which Ron sympathised with Harry over from when Hermione had gone to Australia.

“She’s home tonight, though?” Ron asked.

“Yeah, for the next few days,” Harry said. “Then she’s gone again.”

“Honestly, I thought that if Ginny wasn’t going to be home, you might want to spend some time with Teddy — and Andromeda. Mum would still love to have you, too, you know.”

Harry grimaced.

“Yeah… I’ll be seeing Teddy a little before Christmas. Spending a day with him… on my own this time. Completely on my own.”

“You’ll be fine,” Ron said. “He loves you.”

Harry laughed. “I wouldn’t say that, but it’s getting easier each time.”

“Except for the time he completely destroyed your living room, right?”

On one of the times Teddy had visited Harry — the now walking and running small child had gotten into everything that was in the Grimmauld place sitting room. He’d tore out books from bookshelves and ripped up some pages, knocked off empty vases and pulled down the few photos Harry had put up. Ron, who’d witnessed the event, had called Teddy a terror. Hermione had said it was normal for that age.

Harry shook his head at the memory. He’d had all visits with Teddy under the supervision of Andromeda since then.

Ron nodded. “Well, speaking of homes, I better go and drag Hermione from the office to make sure she actually leaves it today. Did you know she didn’t get home until one this morning? Apparently she was working so intently on one of these laws she’s been tasked to write that she lost track of time. She’s not eating properly either, forgoing meals to continue working.”

Harry gave a short laugh. “Well, that’s Hermione, isn’t it? Prioritising work above all else. Do you not remember exam time?”

“Yeah,” Ron said, “but she’s going to wear herself out if she keeps going. We haven’t had a proper conversation in about a week, because she gets home, goes straight to bed, then gets up at a ridiculous hour to head back in. Then, she skips her lunch breaks. She’s mad.”

Harry smiled. “Ah well, good luck tonight then. See you on Monday. Hopefully Hermione has a good rest over the weekend.”

“Ha!” Ron said. “Try telling her that.”

He gave Harry another wave, who’d just finished packing up his own stuff, and headed down the corridor from the Auror office.

The first missions for the trainees were coming up — experiencing time away, on a job. It wasn’t a planned job, and they didn’t yet know where they’d be going, as the Aurors were hoping something would eventuate in that time frame.

There would be one over Christmas (good character building, they said, for when they actually become Aurors and get unexpectedly called away from their loved ones) or one just after New Years.

Ron had chosen the one after New Years, with Neville, while Harry had elected for the Christmas one. He was mad, Ron reasoned. Who would willingly go away for Christmas?

He reached the lift, and instead of going to the atrium and to the fireplaces, he went to the level that the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures was on. Most people headed in the opposite direction to him, with it being slightly after five and keen to get home. But Ron knew that he’d find Hermione hunched over at her desk still, scribbling away at the SPEW law she was working on.

Honestly, he didn’t know why she needed to do so much work for it. She had done much of the research back in her fourth year, but apparently much more than her fifteen year old had managed now needed to be done. Apparently, the long term goal was to banish house-elf enslavement altogether, but for the time being, the law was to have better control over the families house-elves were assigned to. And in the case of generational ownership, she sought to abolish that immediately.

Since August, when she’d started her job, Ron had spent countless evenings listening to her talk about it over dinner, and weekends sitting with her as she pored over books to gather her information. He’d been keen to begin with, but the novelty of it had soon worn off — especially when his own workload increased as he reached the halfway point of his second year of training.

Now, he just wanted her to come home and eat something with him — or, as things currently were, eat anything at all.

He pushed open the Magical Being office, unsurprised to see most desks empty. But over in the corner, by a wiggentree (the irony, Ron thought with a smile), sat Hermione. She didn’t even look up as Ron approached, but continued to scribble on a lengthy roll of parchment, her hand darting backwards and forwards quickly.

“Hey,” Ron said, drawing up a chair to sit opposite her. “It’s past five. You’ve got to come home.”

“I’ve just got to finish this,” Hermione said, not looking up from her work. “You can go. I may be a while.”

“Yeah, you said that last night,” Ron said, “and remind me again when you got home.”

“I lost track of time,” Hermione told him absently. She paused, her brows knitting together for a moment, and then started writing again, just as quick as before.

“Did you eat today?” Ron asked.

“I don’t remember.”

“So, no.”

“I’m far too busy. The workload is increasing each day. But I promise that once I get home, I’ll eat enough to make up for the meals I skipped today.” She paused, still not looking at him. “You can go,” she said again.

“Nope,” Ron said, “I won’t leave until you’re done, which is now.” He removed the quill from her grasp, but she’d not been expecting it, and the ink dragged across her page, leaving a smear across her freshly written notes.

“Ron!” Hermione cried, taking out her wand to remove the smudge. “Can you not do that?” She snatched the quill back, finally looking up at him.

“I want you to come home,” Ron said, a little defensive now. “You can’t stay here all night again. It isn’t healthy.”

“I’ve got so much to do, and it won’t get done —”

“You’re always going to have work to do,” Ron told her as she returned her gaze to the parchment. “And you’re the most organised person I know, so if I can balance my workload each day, then you can, too.”

“Yes, but I have far more than you do, Ron. You’re just a trainee, so you have the qualified —”

“Just a trainee?” Ron asked, a pang of something unpleasant creeping up on him now. “Is that how you see what I do, is it?”

Sighing, Hermione placed her quill down and looked up. She looked so tired, a little stressed — Ron had a feeling that not all of it was caused by her work.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said, though she didn’t sound all that apologetic. “I just meant… well, an Auror — qualified or in training — is a lot more physical. You do more hands-on things, you’re out and about, so you’re not going to have as much desk work to do. It’s the nature of the job.”

Ron stared at her for a moment, not quite sure he was hearing what she was saying. It wasn’t even what she was saying, but how. She spoke as if what she was doing was far more important — something that had never happened before. She’d always encouraged him, supported him in his journey to become an Auror.

“An Auror is one of the most skilled positions in the magical world —”

“Ron, I know that —”

“Some didn’t even make it to the second year of training —”

“Ron, I didn’t mean… listen, I’m just really tired, and I really need to get this done. Can you just… leave me alone so I can finish it? I’ll be home as soon as I do, but the longer you’re here, the less I get finished.”

“Last week you were asking for my help,” Ron told her, unable to keep the hurt from his voice.

Hermione said nothing. For a moment, they looked at each other, then another moment later, Hermione looked back down at her work.

Ron waited a little longer, watching from the other side of her desk, but it became clear very quickly that she had no intention in having a change of heart.

Annoyed, upset, and a little angry, Ron jumped to his feet, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He watched her for a moment longer before saying, “I’ll see you at home, then. Whenever that will be.”

He marched to the door, but just as he went to swing it open, the magically coloured work timetable that appeared in every office, caught his eye. As they drew to the end of October, offices were beginning to plan for the holiday period.

He paused, reading through the timetable. “I see you’re working Christmas,” he said, not at all kindly.

Hermione gave a start, apparently having not realised he was still there.

“Oh, yes… they needed someone for a few hours in the evening. I said I could do it.”

Ron glared at the timetable for another moment, and then without a word to Hermione, he left. He didn’t go to the atrium, though, but returned to the Auror office, which was now empty.

Locating the sign-up sheets for the missions pinned on the noticeboard, Ron erased his name from the New Years one with his wand and scribbled his name on the Christmas one instead.

If Hermione didn’t think it important enough to take the Christmas break off, then neither did he. If she thought working during a time they were supposed to spend together was a better option, then he’d do the same. He didn’t care. It was only Christmas.

But even as he left, this time definitely returning to the atrium, a feeling of regret began to creep over him. They’d fought last Christmas because of something very similar, and he’d vowed to make sure it never happened again. But they were two months away from their second Christmas together, and already he was consumed with bitterness.

And now he’d just signed the holidays away to boot.

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thatsgay-writes · 4 years

Text

Catra x Platonic!Reader

Summary: Just some stuff about you and Catra’s friendship

Warning: I curse way more than usual in the beginning (f bomb). Also my first time trying to do a headcanon, so sorry if its bad.

You and Catra knew each other since you were kids and were practically sisters

You weren't exactly happy when Adora joined your friendship

"Can Adora sit with us for lunch?" "What!? No! Why?"

You did get use to Adora after a while and you became the three musketeers

Of course you and Catra were subjects to Shadow Weaver's emotional and sometimes physical abuse, while Adora got off scot free

You were there for Catra after Adora left and were one of the only things that were holding her together.

"Y/n, look I'm a force captain!" You sit up in bed fast, hitting your head on the top bunk, "Shit..." You pause to rub your head before looking back at Catra. "Your fuckin lying, lemme see." Catra rolls her eyes at the reference, knowing you had an addiction to a certain app.

While you did mainly hang around the other trainees for shits and giggles, you always made sure you made time for Catra especially now that she has to deal with Shadow Weaver more than usual

Catra groans walking to the room causing you to sit up. "What happened this time?" "She took all the credit! For my idea!" You sit up on the bed before handing Catra your brown meal bar. "Here you can have this." Catra pauses for a moment after taking the bar from you and puts her hand on your forehead. "Are you sick? You willingly gave me your food... It's not poisoned is it?" You roll your eyes and push her hand way, "Shut up and just accept the food." Catra nods her head before taking a bite out of the bar before immediately spitting it out. "Eww what the f-- Oh come on y/n you know I only like the grey bars!" You stared at Catra for a second before turning to the wall and talking to yourself. "I'm about to beat this bitch up..." Before jumping at Catra and starting a tickle fight.

When Catra did get crazier, you had to leave. You didn't want to by any means but she had just gone too far and made you fear for your own safety

So you left with Scorpia and were tempted to go back so many times but then forced yourself to remember that whoever you thought was waiting back in the Fright Zone wasn't Catra.

You didn't go to Bright Moon with Scorpia, you were already emotionally drained from leaving Catra and seeing Adora again would not help, so you lived in the Whispering Woods instead

When everything with Horde Prime happened, you would help protect villages here or there while in search of the Rebellion, wanting to offer your services

You don't find them until the final battle when you jump on a Horde soldier that was about to shoot Perfuma

You don't really talk or greet the Princess, they give you a nod of acknowledgement before focusing back on the fight

When it's all over, your surprised to see Adora in a new She-ra form and Catra with her, holding hands

You did smirk to yourself a little however, you had called it since you were children

While you were happy for Catra, you didn't see how you could fit into this new life Catra was obviously making for herself and attempted to slip away

Of course Scorpia saw you before you could and made a big deal, going far enough to yell your name and practically hug you to death

"Y/n!" You feel claws wrap around you suddenly before feeling your feet leave the ground. "Hi... Scorpia... Can't... Breath."

You stood there awkwardly as Catra walked up to you, neither of you knowing what to do.

"I..." "You..." You both spoke at the same time. You both stood in silence for a moment before you pulled her into a tight hug. "I missed you."

You did end up returning to Bright Moon with them this time and became a member of the best friend squad

You and Catra were a terror when left alone together, pranks were pulled on everyone, things would go missing and return colored on or in a different place, not even Queen Glimmer was skipped over

"Catra! Y/n! Where is my bow!?" You and Catra look at each other for a second before turning back to look at Bow. "What do you mean?" You say feigning innocence. "Yeah what do you mean? I see a bow right there." You both bust out into laughter at Catra's statement before retreating back to your room, to paint Bow's bow orange.

At Catra and Adora's wedding, you were Catra's maid of honor and even managed to get a hook up, that later became your girlfriend

You were there for all of Finn's birthdays, seeing as you were their god mother

In return, Adora and Catra were the god parents of your first child

You both trained your kids together in the art of pranks and later down the line, did actually become family after Finn and your second child got married

Christmases and holidays were a mess but you wouldn’t change your friendship with Catra or what happened for anything, especially if it let the future be this bright.

#catra x reader #female x reader #x reader #spop #she ra and the princesses of power #female character

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ears-awake-eyes-opened · 4 years

Text

Wedding Colors (Part 3)

(Hayffie ❤️🧡💛💚💙💖. An exploration of Effie’s evolving character as she faces past and present personal intensities while making preparations for Finnick and Annie’s wedding.)

13:00—lunch. For the first time since the ominous day in July that she’d descended into the gloom of 13, Effie’s belly was full. As weeks had turned into months, she hadn’t felt hunger. She’d picked at meals and pushed unpalatable food around her tray. But now something was different. Flint scraped over steel inside her like the wind across her cheeks that morning. Her spoon repeatedly clinked the bottom of the bowl of squash soup. It took every ounce of restraint to not bring the whole bowl to her mouth and tilt it upward to collect the last drops.

Keenly observant, Cressida noted, “That’s new.”

“What?”

“You finishing a meal here.” She dropped her voice. “Are you pregnant, Trinket?”

Effie’s face flushed scarlet, blushing through burnt cheeks. “Bite your tongue!” she snapped.

Cressida glanced at Pollux, and Effie recognized her own faux pas. “Please excuse me. I wasn’t thinking about...”

Interacting with an Avox who was a regular citizen rather than a servant of the Capitol was still a new experience for her.

Pollux signed, “No problem,” and his brother offered the translation.

Effie returned her attention to the inquisitive filmmaker. “I’m JUST hungry. Must a woman be pregnant in order to finish a bowl of soup?” She whispered “pregnant” as if saying it too loudly might invite the situation. Or just as worrisome, Haymitch could walk in at that moment, hear the word, flip out, and not touch her again. Now that she’d opened the Pandora’s box of sex with him, she didn’t want to put a lid back on it.

“Okay. I get it.” Cressida was intrigued by Effie’s blush, but otherwise mollified. “You like the soup. End of story.”

It was golden orange in color and lightly flavored with spices that tasted like autumn. Ginger was recognizable, but the others were a mystery to Effie. Her experience with cooking was mostly limited to a course she’d taken a decade and a half prior at Charis School of Grace, Beauty, and Charm.

Her mother had insisted on “Finishing School” for Effie after she graduated from the Academy. The summer classes had been a compromise, since her father was resolute in his intention to send her to University. He’d even dipped into his personal inheritance to pay extra tuition when her test scores didn’t qualify her outright for admission.

“Charis will focus Euphemia on the most sophisticated etiquette and deportment, preparing her for marriage into greater wealth,” her mother argued.

“University will prepare Effie for a practical career suited to her strongest skills,” her father contended.

“Grace, beauty, and charm ARE her strongest skills. Face it, dear. Like you, our daughter lacks the talent to be a Gamemaker.”

“She has the talent to be more than a rich man’s wife.”

“If I were the wife of a RICH man, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?”

Their barbs stung each other. After years of practice, the Trinkets knew just where to aim them. They agreed that Effie needed a path which would secure an optimal future for the family. Neither of them asked her what she wanted.

If they’d asked back then, she would have had one specific answer. And if she was honest with herself now, her deepest desire was exactly the same. If she’d voiced it then, her parents would have sent her to the Asylum first before anything else. So she said nothing about it.

By 18, she’d become a master at the art of knowing when to hold her tongue. She’d internalized the pressure to please her parents and reflect positively on her family’s name and station in society. The burden of doing so was a heavy weight on her shoulders.

Effie’s shoulders ached too from the physical work of gathering and carrying around large sacks of perfect leaves. She daydreamed about a bath full of bubbles followed by a nap on a real bed. Allowing the fantasy was a mistake because then her body screamed for it.

She wondered if even babies were allowed to nap here, or did they get merely a half hour of “reflection” before dinner like everyone else? Did they have daily schedules imprinted on their chubby little arms? Eat. Poop. Sleep. What else did the tiny things do? She’d never paid much attention to them in the Capitol. Had she ever seen a baby in 13? She couldn’t recall.

***

14:00—volunteering. The children would be out of school soon. Plutarch told her to expect them along with anyone who was between work shifts. Coin was allowing more flexibility than usual in order to encourage volunteerism. Effie considered the irony in the word spelled out on her arm in purple ink. Following schedules was mandatory. Once “volunteering” is tattooed on your body, doesn’t it cease to be voluntary?

That place made her head hurt if she thought about it too much. She pulled her rose-tinted sunglasses out of her pocket and put them on, hoping the change in light would temper some of the ache, and help her feel less vulnerable.

“Ready or not, here I go,” she said out loud.

She approached the kitchen staff for permission to use large plastic serving bowls to hold the leaves at the tables. The kitchen manager, a middle aged woman named Cuire, put up resistance, muttering something about needing authorization from the president.

Greasy Sae showed no qualms about interjecting. “Now, those leaves ain’t all that different from a salad. We’ll have the bowls washed again long before dinner service.”

The older woman, with her hair up in a kerchief more plain than Effie’s, carried a stack of serving bowls through the doorway without waiting for the manager’s consent. She returned to the kitchen for more until every serving bowl in 13 was in the dining hall. Cuire pursed her lips but said nothing.

Sae pulled a handful of leaves out of one of the canvas bags and dropped them into a bowl. “The list of procedures here’s a mile long. Sometimes the only way to keep these folks from sayin’ ‘no’ is to just not ask ‘em. And then work fast.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Effie joined her efforts to quickly transfer the leaves to the bowls. “Thank you, Sae.”

“Thank YOU, girl. Gatherin’ up all these to make pretty things for the weddin’, you must be exhausted.”

“I had help. From Haymitch.”

“Did you?”

“I had to ambush him.”

“Nah. As often as that boy looks at you, I’d guess he went willingly.”

Ambushed and willing. Yes, he was.

Beetee wheeled up to her with several spools of wire, wire cutters, rolls of electrical tape, and several pairs of scissors.

“The copper color is PERFECT!” Effie gushed.

“This wire is at least a hundred years old,” he replied with little emotion, “The only reason it shows no corrosion is because 13 is fastidious about its storage conditions, including adequate air circulation. The gauge is small. The electrical current from present technologies, would overload and overheat it. The wire is rather useless actually.”

“Well, we’ve found a use for it!”

“In the absence of copper tape, this seems the best match, which is ironic since brown is typically used for high voltages. And high voltages would burn right through this particular wire.”

“We’re just making garlands today, not blowing out an arena!”

“You’re speaking non-metaphorically, of course. We might hope the propo will play a role in shattering the Capitol’s grip on the restless minds of its citizens... That said, it isn’t my intention to imply that YOUR mind is gripped and restless.”

A gripped and restless mind sounded fairly accurate to Effie. “I doubt the Capitol views me as its citizen at this point.” I guess that makes me homeless, even though my family home, my apartment, my belongings, my entire history are all there.

Beetee noticed her smile fade. “You might be right about that. ...I’m sorry.”

After seeing what her victors had been through and what they were still going through, she felt uncomfortable being apologized to by a victor who she held in high regard. I don’t deserve an apology, though manners dictated the proper response to an apology was a gracious, “Thank you.”

“Will you be staying to help?” she added.

“I’m needed in Special Defense. Bring the leftover supplies when you come down later.”

“Beetee, thank you for this.”

The clock was ticking. Effie went to work immediately, arranging leaves in alternating colors and shapes and adhering the stems to a long length of wire.

“What a beautiful pattern!” A friendly voice spoke over Effie’s shoulder. She turned to see Delly Cartwright whose blonde hair fell free of its usual braid.

“An artisan! Delly, I’m grateful you’re here to help with production and quality control.”

From their occasional chats at mealtimes, Effie had learned that Delly’s parents had been shoemakers, and 13 put her to work in textile production as soon as she’d turned 18.

“Me? An artisan?”

“You WILL be, dear. I’ve seen your stitching. I’ve also observed your congenial way with people.” Effie cut a long length of wire for Delly and set her up with supplies to work at another table. “Let’s spread around the talent.”

When school let out, Delly’s younger brother was the first to arrive, not wanting to go “home” to empty quarters. Posy Hawthorne followed close at his heels, skipping to keep up with his much longer legs.

“Stop followin’ me!” he told her.

“I’m not followin’ you. We’re just goin’ the same place, that’s all.”

“Well, you’re a baby, and I don’t want you sittin’ at MY table.”

“Cordwain!” Delly interjected, “That’s not polite!”

“I’m FIVE years old, and I’ll sit wherever I please, CordWAIN.” With three older brothers, Posy could hold her own in disagreements with just about anyone, especially boys. Effie admired that along with her manners.

“Aw, Dellyyyy,” her brother whined, “You’re supposed to call me Cord!”

“You apologize to Posy, and I won’t have to be so stern.”

“Do I HAVE to?! She’s just Vick’s little sister.”

“And you’re MY little brother, so, yes, you do. You know Ma and Pa would say so if—“

“Ma and Pa are dead!” Cord sat at the table with Delly and folded his arms across his chest.

Delly sighed, and her tone softened, “Cordy, honey, that’s all the more reason to apologize.”

His lip quivered, and he muttered in a hoarse voice. “Sorry.”

“I’m sorry they died,” Posy empathized, “My daddy died b’fore I was born.”

She sat across from Effie and looked at her for a long fifteen seconds. Effie wasn’t used to children being so young. The girl’s dark hair fell long past her shoulders in two braids. Her gray eyes were deeply set. She had the look of a person who’d seen the shadow of death and kept going.

“I like your pink glasses.” Posy twirled one of her braids around her finger. “I used to have pink ribbons. Two of ‘em.”

“When I was your age, I wore pink ribbons in my hair. Pink was my favorite color.”

“Mine too! Gale says we can’t go back fer the ribbons. He says they’re gone. Do you think they’re gone?”

“Well... I...” For goodness sake. What does one say to a child whose district was fire bombed to rubble?

Cord muttered some more, “Of course they’re gone!”

Posy ignored him, waiting for Effie’s response.

“Your brother, Gale, is wise, dear.” Effie saw her expectant little face fall. “I am going to your district tomorrow. With Katniss. Would you like for me to look for the ribbons so you know for certain?”

Posy nodded.

“Then I’ll be sure to do that. In the meantime would you like to help make a garland? There aren’t any pink leaves, but there are other pretty colors.”

Posy reached into the bowl and pulled out a red one. “Can I do this one?”

“Of course. Let me show you.”

Effie demonstrated with a different leaf then watched Posy’s small fingers peel and cut the tape and use it to add her chosen leaf to the copper wire.

“How’s that?” the girl asked.

The tape was crooked. The leaf was crooked, and it didn’t fall in line with the pattern. Effie considered telling her so. Aemilia Trinket certainly would have. And for that reason if no other, Effie said to the five-year/old, “That’s wonderful, dear.”

Posy beamed. “You’re nice. You’re not scary at all! I’m gonna go tell Rory that he’s wrong.” She hopped out of the chair and skipped away, turning around long enough to say, “I’ll be back!”

Effie watched her go, not knowing quite what to think. Rory?... She couldn’t remember who that was. One of the Hawthorne boys?

“This year would have been Rory’s first reaping,” Delly explained.

Effie didn’t need to hear anything more in order to understand. The truth split her heart. Half of it dropped like lead into her stomach. The other half rose up into her throat, threatening to choke her.

The children are afraid of me.

Even without a reaping ball in front of me, they are still afraid.

In that moment, she didn’t have time or space to process the realization. She just sat there, forcing a smile, trying to keep the vacant feeling in her chest from showing on her face. As volunteers streamed into the dining hall, she swallowed the lump in her throat, pressed her palm to her stomach, and directed the project as planned.

More children arrived giggling and singing, 🎶”Come live with me and be my love...”🎶 It was the beginning of District 4’s wedding song, which they’d started learning in school. 🎶”...I'll take you out upon the sea...”🎶 drew them into conversation about how the ocean might look, feel, sound, smell, and taste. None of them had ever been to the seashore. They’d only seen it in books.

🎶”...To share the starry night with you...” 🎶 intrigued them too. Some of the children from 12 tried to describe the stars to the kids from 13 who had never been above ground at night. “A star is like the tip of the flame of a candle that never flickers.”... “They just pop out in the sky as it’s changing from blue to black.”... “My grandma says stars are ghosts that come to visit us at night. Good ghosts, not scary ones.”... “Ghosts ain’t real.”... “Are so!”... “Are not!”

Dozens of adults were there to cut wire and strips of tape for the younger children and to ensure the garlands turned out beautifully.

With so many helping hands, Effie had to let go of her precise plans. The work of other artisans became apparent as some patterns emerged which were even more pleasing than what Plutarch and Effie envisioned.

Boggs showed up, carrying his son on his hip. The boy seemed younger than Posy, though Effie was far from an expert about children under 12. Boggs sat at a table with the boy in his lap. The little one reached for the leaves just as Boggs’ communicuff started flashing wildly. “Damon, buddy, President Coin is calling. I’ve just lost my break time. I’m going to need to take you back to daycare, but maybe Miss Trinket will let you take one of the leaves with you?” Boggs gave Effie a pleading look. The last thing he needed just then was an upset kid.

Damon’s big brown eyes welled up with tears. He wiped them away with the backs of his hands which were filled with leaves that he didn’t want to let go. Since the epidemic, Boggs and his son had been on their own. Looking into those teary eyes, Effie couldn’t help but feel for them. The feeling seeped into that empty space in her chest, and eased a bit of the void.

“Your son can stay awhile, if you’d like. Then I can take him back to daycare.”

“Are you sure? He’s a handful, and you have a lot going on here.”

Seeing herself in the moment as “scary ghost” rather than a star, Effie definitely was NOT sure that she was the right person to be looking after a young child. “Of course, I’m sure,” she spoke through her smiling mask.

“What do you say, buddy? Do you want to stay with Miss Trinket and make a garland, or do you want me to take you back to daycare now?”

“It’s Effie. The only one who calls me Miss Trinket around here is Mr. Heavensbee.” She laughed.

Damon climbed down from Boggs’ lap and up into Effie’s. “Oh! Well, hello,” she said, pushing her chair back far enough to make room for him. He was heavier than he’d looked in the strong arms of his father. He squirmed around reaching for everything at once: more leaves of every shape and color, scissors...

Boggs’ eyes widened.

Effie handed Damon a roll of tape in trade for the scissors. “You can hold the tape, and I’LL do the cutting.”

‘Thank you,’ Boggs mouthed the words then told his son, “This is an important job, soldier. Effie is your commanding officer. Are you going to take this work seriously and mind what she tells you to do?”

“Yeth, thir, Daddy, thir!” His lisp melted Effie’s heart.

“At ease, little man. I’ll pick you up from daycare at 18:00.” Boggs kissed his son’s forehead, and Damon was already hard at work attempting to peel tape off the roll.

As Effie helped the boy put leaves on the wire, Posy returned, accompanied by one of her brothers who hurried to claim an open seat next to Cord. Posy skipped up to Effie and patted her head. “I got Vick to come, but Rory’s stubborn. YOU know how boys can be.”

Effie looked up from the table to see Haymitch leaning against a pillar near the edge of the dining hall. He was watching her closely. The expression on his face was a loaded mix of curiosity and seriousness.

“Yes, I do know how boys can be,” Effie agreed, “Especially when they are afraid.”

Haymitch had never seen Effie around little kids, and he was fascinated. The Hawthorne girl chattered on and on, tucking leaf stems into the top knot of Effie’s kerchief. Boggs’ kid was in Effie’s lap, crushing leaves with his hands and unwrapping tape for her to cut with scissors. A girl Haymitch didn’t recognize sat to the side, touching Effie’s bracelet. “Is this silver and gold?” the kid asked.

“This s costume jewelry,” Effie answered.

“What’s ‘costume’?” the girl wanted to know.

“A costume is... something you might wear when you are... pretending.”

The Hawthorne girl said to the other one, “You can wear one of my pink ribbons sometime, and we can pretend to be twins... if Effie finds my ribbons in 12 tomorrow.”

Effie locked eyes with Haymitch. “I promised I’d look, Posy, but please don’t get your hopes up, dear.”

He was trying to make sense of the situation. Effie’s going to 12 tomorrow? Why? And why is nobody telling me anything! Pissed off, he started to walk away.

“Excuse me, girls. Damon, let’s go talk to Haymitch for a few minutes.” Effie stood up, holding the boy on her hip as Boggs had done. “Haymitch! Wait...” She caught up to him before the staircase. If he’d really wanted to avoid her, he would have already been long gone.

“What are you thinking!?” he asked, unsure of what he was wondering about most... Why was Effie going to 12 where the burned corpses of his people were still rotting? Why didn’t she tell him about her plans? And what the hell was his heart doing as he watched her with those little kids?

“Annie needs help selecting one of Cinna’s dresses for the wedding, and Katniss asked if I could go with them for support. So, of course, I said yes. ...Not that I owe you an explanation.”

“You owe me nothing, sweetheart. But it’s bad there. You’re going to see things that’ll change you.”

“I’m already changing.” She boosted the kid up on her hip. “There’s nothing I can do to stop that. ...And I don’t think I want to stop it.”

Damon dropped the leaves and rubbed his eyes. “Are you tired... buddy?” Effie hesitantly used one of Boggs’ nicknames for the boy. He shook his head ‘no’, but rubbed his eyes again. “How about we take these leaves to daycare so you can show your daddy?”

Damon nodded and opened his hands to the floor where the leaves had fallen. Haymitch bent to pick them up and handed them back to the kid. He stood close to them. Effie smelled like the woods, faintly like ginger, and mostly like her. The fragrances helped him feel less agitated. They were familiar, as if less was changing all at once.

“Thank you,” she said about the leaves, “Will you please tell Delly where I’m going and ask her to stay until I return?”

“Sure��

She rested her palm on Haymitch’s shirt where his sweater gaped open. She brushed her fingertips along the buttons. “Will YOU stay until I return? I could really use your help hanging these garlands in Special Defense.”

Her touch felt too good for him to say no.

The peace in his expression was answer enough for her.

As he watched her walk away, a smile crept over his face. He was far too amused to remind Effie that the Hawthorne girl had embellished her head wrap with at least a dozen leaves. In all the years, it was the best *wig* he’d seen her wear. If she was going to roam around 13 looking like a tree, then who was he to stop her?

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