#i have a very very specific memory of staring at the fence thing in the field during pe

[the-bearer-of-bad-ideas]

i miss the 2020-2021 school year

zoom schoolw as nice adn then going back at the end of it was soooo nice idk i miss it

a lot of it is definitely because i was i was younger + rose tinted glasses but still

also i think my anxiety anxietied too hard and broke because i kinad of just. stopped being paranoid all the time during then

[neochan]

GENRE | smut, idolverse!

WARNINGS | smut

WC | 2.6k +

A.N | this is a repost of my older work. i hope you enjoy it <3

You could still hear the unintelligible screaming of thousands of fans as the boys filtered off the stage and into the greenroom. Another successful concert in the long string of tour stops. You couldn’t even remember what state you were in because the days of traveling, unpacking, setting up, and doing it all again the next day ran together.

The boys were dripping sweat, immediately grabbing bottles of water and towels to wipe themselves off. They had worked harder than normal today since during one of the sets the microphone cut out and they had to perform acapella. Someone was getting fired for that.

Taeyong flopped onto the leather couch dominating the center of the room, water in one hand, phone in the other. “People are already uploading photos.” He outstretches his arm so the others could view the pictures pulled up on his screen.

“Johnny you look ridiculous,” you point out, laughing as a fan had caught Johnny in the act of wildly waving his light stick.

“I was having a good time, okay?” He chuckles and walks into the dressing rooms to change out of his stage outfit. Half of the group filtered out to change and half stayed to peruse through the gifts left by venue staff and play on their phones until told otherwise.

You were wondering where Hyuck was when you heard his voice from the hallway. He saunters in and gives you a kiss on the cheek, “Enjoy the show?” His golden skin was tainted pink, hair matted to his forehead by the sweat that was trickling down the side of his face. He grabbed his shirt and lifted it to swipe at his face, revealing his cute tummy. You had to resist the urge to poke it.

“I enjoyed hearing thousands of pretty fans scream your name” You give him a smirk knowing that he hates when you downplay your relationship.

He nudges you with his shoulder, “You know I meant the songs,” his doe eyes look into yours, his long lashes brushing against his cheek when he blinked “Besides, you know I love you and only you.”

Mark began to nervously giggle in the corner while Doyoung made fake gagging noises from the vanity he sat at. “Oh, shut up.” You say, throwing empty water bottles at the two, “And hurry up I wanna go swimming before it gets too late.”

The ride home was peaceful once the swarms of fans cleared a path for the bus. Per the managers request you slouched down in your seat so know one could see you through the window. It didn’t make much sense because the windows were tinted, but Haechan had to argue for his life to allow them to let you tag along on the tour, so you didn’t question them. Once you were on the road, you sat back up and snuggled close to Haechans side. He rested his hand on your thigh, absentmindedly stroking you with his thumb. His head leaned back against the seat, eyes closed, listening to music. It was so loud you could almost make out the words but you didn’t say anything – you let him stay in his post concert utopia for the whole trip.

The hotel was about an hour away from the venue so that no one would find them, and they’d be closer to their next destination. It was nicer than the others because it actually had a pool. You and Haechan made an agreement to go swimming after the concert, and you couldn’t wait. The staff also rented more rooms, so instead of four people to a bed, it was just you and Haechan.

After checking in everyone filtered off to their rooms leaving the both of you to freely do whatever you wanted - within reason of course. You both got changed, your gaze admiring the hard lines of Haechans back. “Don’t stare.” He blushed, wrapping a towel around his upper body.

You pulled on your bikini which made Haechan go silent. You specifically picked this one because it brought out your skin tone well, and cupped your features beautifully. “Now who’s staring?”

It never failed. The butterfly feeling you got in the pit of your stomach when Haechan watched you with loving eyes. You wrapped a towel around your waist, allowing Haechans eyes to roam the tops of your breasts, peeking out from the almost too small bathing suit.

His cheeks turned pink once he noticed he was caught, “Let’s go”.

The hallways were quiet since it was almost midnight, so you wordlessly made your way down the stairs and out into the night air. It had grown considerably cooler than when guys first arrived that morning, but the sky made up for it. Pretty stars pricked the vast expanse of dark blue and black infinity. You could see the moon peaking out from behind a single cloud, casting a shadowed glow on Haechans honey skin.

The gate was closed when you walked up to it so you stopped to read, “Aw man, the pool closed an hour ago,” You set your lips in a pout, “no wonder the lights weren’t on.”

“Hey it’s okay, no lights, no cameras, they probably wont even notice we’re here if we keep quiet.” He moves closer to you, eyebrows raised expectant for an answer.

You hesitated wondering if you really could pull it off, after all you’d been looking forward to this for the whole day, “I don’t wanna get in trouble..”

“You said you wanted to swim and I’m going to make sure that happens,” He gets down on one knee, “step on my leg, I'm gonna help you jump the fence.”

He boots you over, and grabs your arms to help lower you on the other side, but his hand slips and his nails dig into your shoulder. “Ow, fuck.” You wince rubbing the spot he scratched.

“Sorry, sorry” He says giggling, jumping the fence with such quietness and ease that it looked unreal. “Come on, dare you to do a canon ball!?”

He ran ahead throwing his towel on one of the pool chairs and jumping in the water. You cringe away from the loud slap his body hitting the water made. You walk slowly to the chair, deeply inhaling the addictive chlorine scent.

He finally stands up waist deep in the water and pushes his hair back. The blue water reflected against him, making his skin sparkle. “Come into the water y/n” he splashed some water into your general direction, but not enough to touch you.

“Okay, Okay.” You drop the towel and slip into the water. It was cold. Really cold. You gasp and recoil away, but not fast enough, because Haechan has wrapped his arms around you and started carrying you towards the deep end. You struggle a bit in his grip but his arms provide an iron cage that you can’t get out of. “Haechan let me go!”

He presses a warm kiss to the back on your neck but doesn’t comply with your wishes, instead making a curve and bringing you towards the underwater benches. He fixes his hold on you so that now he’s carrying you bridal style. You stare up at him, water droplets falling off his chin. His eyes were already red from the chlorine and you hoped that it cleared up by tomorrow nights concert. His plush lips sat in a pout, strong jaw set. He was so very pretty; and all yours. You smiled to yourself, deciding to keep that image locked away in your memory forever.

Once he gets to the benches he sets you down and glides in beside you. “You know It’s colder than I thought it was going to be.” He lifts a hand and sheepishly rubs the back of heck, “and you look way hotter in that bikini than I thought you would.”

“I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a dig or a compliment.” You scoot closer to him so that your thighs were pressed against each other. Finding his hand underwater, you intertwine your fingers with his own.

“A compliment babe.” He chuckles and slouches in the water so that only his head sat above it. You both sit there for a moment until it becomes too cold to sit still.

“Well I’m going to put it to use and go swim.” You push off from the cement and paddle around. The only way to stay slightly warm was to keep moving. Haechan watched you, eyes crinkled in a smile, bottom lip caught between his teeth. It was fun to watch you play in the water but the bathing suit was making him think of other things you two could be doing.

And that was how it stayed. Haechan watching while you performed for him.

A while had passed, the calm exterior of the pool getting to you, making you drowsy. The cold blue water washed over your hands while you gently skimmed the surface, making your way over to where Haechan was. You hummed a short tune under your breath, trying to keep yourself distracted. it was close to one in the morning now, but Haechan still sat on the bench, slightly shivering from the brisk air, hands gripping his thighs under the water while his mind wandered far away from the present.

“Watcha thinkin’ about” you ask, moving closer to him, hoping to catch some lingering body warmth.

“Fucking you ,” he moved off the seat and dove under the surface, only leaving small ripples in his wake. You stand there for a second wonder how he could be so blunt, so forward in his desires; he was never like this.

He swam a single circle around your body before popping up in front of you, giving you a mini heart attack. He pushes you back against the tiled walls, “I’ve spent the last hour thinking about fucking you. Thinking about how pretty you’d sound.” His head dips down to kiss along your collarbone, and your hands grab the back of neck, holding him there while his tongue sucked bruises into your tender skin. His hands grazed the bare skin of your arms, giving you goosebumps.

He moaned into the side of your neck, biting and sucking away, wanting you to yearn for him like he did for you. He lifted his head so that his mouth hung over yours, his small puffs of breath fanning over your face while he tests the waters. “Can I kiss you?”

Without giving him an answer you pull him closer by the roots of his hair. His kissing was messy and sweet, and while your tongues moved together, his hips began rubbing circles against you, trying to gain some friction in the cool water. Small heavy breaths were the only sound you could hear, aside from the occasional splash as Haechan moved restlessly.

Your hand wandered down his chest and below the surface to where you could feel him straining against his shorts. You began to stroke him over the fabric, his hips pushing against your touch. He broke the kiss to watch as you peeled down the elastic from his hips, his cock freed from the restricting material of his swim shorts. You watched him twitch slightly as the cold water met his length.

“You can’t make any noise.” You place a single finger against his lips.

“No promises.” He whispers, a devilish smirk breaking way on his face. His hands caress you thighs, pushing your bottoms to the side. The cold water hit you, making you gasp and push into Haechan who just whimpers against your touch.

He tried to stay quiet, only soft grunts between gritted teeth and muffled moans as his hips pushed into your own. The water created resistance but it just enhanced how good he was feeling. He hurriedly grabs at your legs, pulling them up so that they sat around his waist. Your back dragged up the tiled walls, scraping your tender skin, but you could only focus on Haechans cock thrusting deeply in and out of you. He stared longingly into your eyes, filling you up completely, wanting to savor the way they fluttered in the back of your head.

“You love the way I fill you up huh?” He groans into your ear, a hand falling forward to grip the cement ledge of the pool.

You couldn’t respond without fear of moaning so you nod your head wildly. He began to bite and suck at your collarbone, pushing you closer to the edge. Looking down he sees your nipples, erect, poking through the wet fabric of your bathing suit. His eyes grow wide, hips stuttering into you. Fuck you were hot.

“Haechannie, I think I’m going to come.” You squeezed your eyes shut trying to focus on the feeling coiling in your stomach.

“Not yet.” He growls, hands moving to pin your wrists against the cement ledge, “Hold it princess, I know you can.” The water began to slosh around faster as Haechan thrusted harder into you. The sound was so loud its no wonder you didn’t hear the keys jangling against the hip of the guard making his way towards you two.

“Hey!,” he shouts running towards you, “The pool is closed! Get out! Are you two-” He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as you and Haechan spring up out of fear and take off. It was easy to push yourself up onto the pool deck. The guard made the mistake of following you two and leaving the gate unattended. You and Haechan ran out, giggling, making your way back into the hotel. You didn’t stop until you got into the room and slammed the door behind you.

With your heart hammering in your chest you lean against the dark cherry wood . “Holy fuck we could’ve gotten in serious trouble.” You gasp out, clutching a hand against your wet bathing suit top.

“Babe we’ll be gone by morning, no one is gonna know.” Haechan paces in front of you trying to catch his breath. His shorts hung dangerously low on his hips, it was miracle he got them up in time.

“We’re so banned from this hotel.” A knock on the door makes you jump away from it, the worst of punishment's filling your mind. What were they going to do? They couldn’t arrest you, could they?

Haechan walks forward and turns the knob slowly, revealing a sleepy Doyoung. His oversized t-shirt hung off one shoulder showing off his gaunt collarbone. He was rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“What do you want Doie?” you ask softly.

“How was getting chased by the guard?” he gives a sleepy chuckle, still half in his dreams.

“How did you-,” A look of realization hits Haechan, “You reported us?” He whined, pushing Doyoungs bare shoulder so that he stumbled back.

“Sound travels over water dumbasses and you guys were loud, I was trying to sleep!” Protesting, he pushes Haechans wet shoulder back.

“Well, now we’re going to be twice as loud.” Haechan slams the door in Doyoungs face and grabs you, throwing you on the bed. You give a squeal, and hear Doyoungs fist hit the door.

“I swear I’ll make a noise complaint.” He sounded more irritated than sleepy now.

“Go ahead, you’re just mad I’m getting laid and you aren't.” You playfully slap Haechans arm, but he nips at your hand. The other side of the door grows silent, Doyoung either going to report you two, or going back to his room defeated.

“Shall we pick up where we left off princess?”

[miraculouscontent]

I know that you said that it was an one shot, but I really love the idea of marinette stay in Paris with Luka and kagami and avoid all the NY drama! If you can, can you share more of it? Even if just a few little ideas it would be great! (I love your ideas!)

(the one-shot this anon is referring to)

Aw, thank you so much!

And sure, after some thought, I did really want to write a little more with them!

—————

While throwing away their now juice-less cups, Marinette made the realization of how different things seemed with Luka and Kagami. She had already experienced hanging out with both of them separately, but she'd never imagined having both of them with her at once. It wasn't as if she'd always dismissed or despised the idea, but the only time they'd interacted as a group had been with Adrien around, which had probably soured the whole thing and thus involuntarily caused her to never think about it.

With her friends, everything was typically high-energy. Juleka and Mylene weren't very involved in creating such an atmosphere, but Marinette herself, Rose, Alya, and kept things energized. It wasn't a bad thing in general, but it made Marinette wonder if maybe surrounding herself with people who only encouraged her excitable habits wasn't a good thing.

Meanwhile, Luka and Kagami were completely different, both from her and her friends. Neither were particularly loud - though both could be when they wanted to - and they weren't really the kind to tease or mess with her either. Luka wasn't quiet in the way Juleka was, just seeming to absorb the world around him, whereas Kagami only spoke when she felt that there was something of value to say. Marinette had worried briefly that she might've been too different from the both of them, or that she'd overwhelm them due to speaking up the most, but instead, there was a sense of balance. Luka smiled or chuckled reassuringly whenever she caught herself rambling, whereas Kagami would cut in with her own views that were often direct but nevertheless good in their intentions. Perhaps her personality rubbed off on them in a way she couldn't fully understand?

Still, it was nice.

As the three were deciding what to do next, Marinette's phone suddenly went off. Marinette looked at her purse and pulled out her phone, half-expecting a text from one of her classmates about her missing the bus, but it was actually a notification about where Andre the ice cream man was.

Kagami glanced over after noticing the look on Marinette's face. "You want to get ice cream?"

Marinette frowned, Kagami's voice reminding her of the day the two of them had gone for ice cream with Adrien. She still remembered talking to Andre, hoping beyond hope that maybe the man wouldn't make them pick between the three different flavors. His words still stung a little, not because of Adrien, but because of what the words meant.

"Too many flavors mixed together may throw off the delicate balance."

It implied that one of them would always be the third wheel if they were together, no matter what, and it was a hollow feeling that she'd only recently started to accept.

"Marinette?"

Feeling a comforting hand on her shoulder, she looked over and noted Luka offering her a concerned expression. It grounded her, serving as a reminders that things were different now and that Adrien wasn't there which, in a strange way, brought her an immense sense of comfort.

"I'm fine," she assured. Turning her attention back to her phone, she deleted the notification and then made sure that she wouldn't be getting another one. "Ice cream sounds good, if you want it too, but... I think I've got a better idea than Andre's."

Luka and Kagami exchanged curious glances.

—————

"Here's to Neapolitan ice cream!" Marinette declared dramatically, raising her spoon up with flair before shoving it and the ice cream on it right into her mouth.

Luka snorted in amusement while Kagami gave an acknowledging nod, probably remembering the exact phrase from Andre that Marinette had recalled earlier.

They'd picked up the carton of ice cream on the way to Marinette's place, with Marinette insisting on paying in order to spoil them, and while they seemed confused on the specifics of her insistence, they gave in soon enough. Marinette could understand why she'd be the expected person to be comforted, but giving to others made her happy on its own and she felt they deserved it. After all, Luka had tried his hardest to catch up to the bus and Kagami was still dealing with Adrien wanting to leave for New York despite her being in Paris.

They'd ultimately decided on splitting the entire carton between the three of them, with each of them getting a majority of the one of the flavors and then the rest of that flavor going to the other two. Marinette had gone with chocolate, Kagami had gone with vanilla, and Luka had gone with strawberry. It might've seemed like a weird choice to go with since they'd just had orange juice, but it hadn't been much and it wasn't exactly a "treat."

Marinette may have considered suggesting ice skating instead if her first thought of it wasn't her slipping and bringing Luka and Kagami down to the ice with her. Ice cream was the safer alternative to "cold fun."

"Luka," she called thoughtfully, taking another bite before asking, "you're not feeling sore or anything, are you?"

He met her gaze, smiling at the concern but waving his hand dismissively. "I'm alright, Marinette. I'm used to biking around for hours because of my job, so it wasn't a big deal."

Kagami halted, spoon halfway in her mouth while her brows rose noticeably. She finished the scoop, then turned to look at Luka. "You have a job?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I deliver pizza." He grinned, clearly amused by her reaction. "Are you surprised?"

Kagami's expression didn't shift, but Marinette had known her long enough to see that she was embarrassed. "Oh, no. It's... I don't have one."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Luka shrugged. "I just have the time to do it."

"Mm." Kagami looked back at her ice cream, poking at the surface with her spoon. "I suppose it would be too difficult with my fencing lessons."

Marinette giggled sheepishly, happy to join in on the conversation. "I probably wouldn't be able to either. There's all my fashion work with my website, and then there's the unexpected babysitting, the bakery, and I'm also the class representative." She hurriedly added an, "I know it doesn't sound like much, but I'm bad at planning," when she felt that it seemed like such little things. She was Ladybug and the new guardian too, of course, but she couldn't be blurting that out, so she could only hope that it didn't seem like she was whining over nothing.

She averted her gaze, scooping up a self-conscious bite of her ice cream and shoving it into her mouth. She was partway through savoring it when she realized that neither Luka nor Kagami had responded to her. Daring a look back, she saw them staring at her with varying gazes.

Kagami seemed stunned, commenting, "That is... well, much, actually," referring to what Marinette had just tried to brush off.

Was it? Marinette had never really thought about it. In fact, she distinctly remembered back in the day where people might've thought she was just scatterbrained and didn't really do anything. Back when she was hesitant to be class representative and claimed that she was busy, Alya had asked her with a hint of snark what she was busy with, like she expected her to have a free schedule.

Even beyond her role of Ladybug at the time, she still had random babysitting to do and still frequently worked on her fashion projects. Thinking back, it stung just a little.

As Marinette glanced at Luka, she at first felt that the amount of sympathy he was directing at her was excessive, but then she remembered how she had cried in front of him to the point where he'd dropped his bike and guitar in order to comfort her. She blushed, both in shame and from the memory of him holding her so closely.

"Ah—well—it's okay!" she said hurriedly, "Anyway, forget about me! This day is about... um, this ice cream, and ice cream doesn't have problems that you should worry about!"

She nearly gave herself brainfreeze from how quickly she scooped up and ate the next bite, but figured it'd be worth it if they dropped the subject.

It wasn't worth it.

"You should be more careful," Kagami commented critically, an edge to her voice that Marinette knew wasn't meant to be anger at her. "You're my friend, so don't overwork yourself."

Marinette grinned nervously, still trying to lighten the mood. "A-are you saying it'd be alright to overwork myself if I wasn't your friend?"

Kagami's gaze didn't waver, and Marinette slowly tried to sink into her seat.

Luka set his spoon down on the bowl, then chimed in, "I don't know anything about fashion, Marinette, but if you ever need any help with anything—"

Kagami clicked her own spoon against her bowl to interrupt him, as if she felt personally slighted that he'd gotten to say it first. "We're here for you."

Luka nodded to confirm.

"Oh." Marinette blushed deeper, touched by the gesture from both of them. She thought about trying to reassure them again, but their gazes were firm and showed no room for argument, so she settled for a soft, "Thanks."

They resumed eating their ice cream from there, the topic officially concluded. Though the atmosphere felt noticeably different, Marinette was surprised to realize that it wasn't exactly in a bad way. She feared that she'd ruined the mood, but instead felt like she was supported, with Kagami and Luka looking satisfied with their choice in offering help to her.

It was like she was Ladybug, and they were the partners standing at her side, each with their own form of support. It made her smile, allowing her to happily eat away at her ice cream without thinking about anything stressful.

The idea of going to New York was suddenly very unappetizing in comparison to having ice cream with Luka and Kagami.

—————

All things considered, Ladybug wasn't concerned about telling Chat Noir that her plans had changed and she wasn't going anywhere after all. She imagined that Chat would be overjoyed and wouldn't even ask questions about it, just happy to have her back. She found his affection eyeroll-worthy, but he was still her teammate, so she just steeled herself up for whatever ramble he was about to give her.

However, as she waited near the top of the Eiffel Tower, sitting on the guardrail and looking around for Chat Noir, she realized that she couldn't even see him. Checking the time on her yoyo, she confirmed that it was indeed time for their usual patrol, but Chat Noir was completely absent. Even though it was nighttime, which made the black cat's suit blend in with the sky, he still had the blond hair and light skin that should've made him noticeable.

Ladybug got up and paced around the area a few times, constantly peeking down at the city as she wondered if maybe she just wasn't looking in the right spot. When she still saw nothing, she concluded that Chat Noir must just be running late and she'd simply have to wait a little longer. Things happened, after all, she knew that better than anyone, so she began idling on her yoyo, searching for something to keep her occupied while she waited.

They were a team. While their identities had to remain a secret, Chat Noir had always hated it and prioritized openness in their relationship, so he would've told her if something had come up. He was also active in going on patrols, always seeming eager to join her for their runs across the rooftops, and given that he didn't even know that she'd still be in Paris, patrols were even more crucial.

He never showed up.

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

Grand Premier

Summary: Barely in Paris and Kagami is already expected to rub elbows with the local elites. Specifically, one Adrien Agreste. At least he dresses better than his father.

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

Kagami didn't want to be here.

"This is an important deal for our company's expansion into France, Kagami," Tomoe Tsurugi reminded her in Japanese. "Be polite with Adrien Agreste."

"Yes, Mother." Kagami would play her role to perfection. Even if it was at the premier of a mediocre movie.

"And if the young Agreste isn't polite I hear he fences at the same school we're enrolling you in."

Kagami didn't smile. No, not at all. And if she did there were no witnesses. "Yes, Mother."

Keeping her usual stoic expression as the parasites, pardon, the paparazzi used flash photography in her face Kagami walked down the red carpet. Arm extended for her Mother.

Gabriel was just as tedious as she imagined him and wearing the ugliest suit Kagami had ever seen. And she'd seen ugly yakuza suits in person. At least Adrien's all black suit was suitable for a family in the fashion industry.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tsurugi Kagami," the blond boy greeted in heavily accented Japanese. A polite smile on his face as he bowed slightly. "Welcome to Paris. My name is Adorian Aguresuto."

Kagami raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound right.

Eyes widening as he realized his slip up and- Wow, those were expressive eyebrows. -hand going to rub the back of his head as a faint blush painted his cheeks. "I mean Aguresuto Adorian! I, yup..." Suddenly self-conscious Adrien jerked his hand down. Smile nervous but more honest.

Kagami decided to have mercy on him. "Your inflection needs work but the pronunciation is adequate."

His lips twitched. "Adequate?"

"Yes. That is the most accurate description," Kagami stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, then I guess I better ade-quit while I'm ahead," Adrien joked, switching to French.

She could pinpoint the second Adrien noticed what his mouth had said (seemingly without permission) by the way his rosy cheeks went into full bloom. Kagami was fairly certain she was interpreting that expression correctly. "I see why you learned, Japanese."

Apparently deciding her impression of him was already ruined, Adrien forged ahead. "Anime has some impressive puns. I couldn't resist."

Kagami's perfect posture straightened ever so slightly. "Oh? What kind of anime are you interested in?"

Adrien began listing several shonen. Which, honestly, Kagami should have seen coming. At least it included One Piece. Kagami resisted the urge to proclaim the merits of the completely arbitrary power ranking system unprompted. It just fit the story so well and- No! Focus! What was he saying?

"...but right now I'm reading Fruits Basket."

Ooh! Kagami's self control slipped just a little bit. Her eyes might've lit up even. "Yuki is my favorite character."

Adrien beamed at her. "He's amazing! Torhu's my favorite!"

Kagami glanced at a large poster of the movie. Chat Noir displayed prominently with Ladybug. Oh, right. That was a thing. "I would've thought it'd be Kyo"

"Not all catboys are created equal, Kagami," Adrien stated solemnly before breaking into a grin. "He's my second favorite. I just really like Torhu 'cause she's so kind and selfless and..." Adrien paused. Looking down as he fiddled with a silver ring on his finger. "And she's so brave. After losing her mom like that. I really admire her."

Kagami felt she was missing something. She usually felt that with strangers but it was on the tip of her tongue.

Before Kagami could pinpoint why Adrien's appreciation for Honda Tohru felt the way it did Adrien snapped out of whatever he was in. "Anyway, what about you?"

"I relate a lot to Saiki Kusuo. He has trouble understanding people despite being telepathic." Was that too much? It felt like too much.

Apparently not 'cause Adrien's smile was back. The honest one, not the polite one. "Yeah, it's hard to understand people when they don't say what they mean."

Oh, thank you! "What's worse is when they say things they don't mean. It's very confusing."

"Right!? It'd be so much simpler!"

"..." Kagami was supposed to respond here. She was positive that it was expected. But she didn't have anything she felt like adding at the moment. "... So have you read Fullmetal Alchemist?"

Kagami was positive Adrien was restraining himself from vibrating in excitement. She could tell because his eyes were huge and his grin unrestrained. His enthusiasm making her lips form their own smile. Kagami had never met someone her own age she could tolerate, let alone geek out about the differences between anime and manga adaptations.

Most of the other rich kids Kagami knew acted like that ponytailed girl who thought Kagami couldn't see her glaring from across the room. But she wasn't important.

... Actually, there was something Kagami wanted to know. "I hear you fence."

Suddenly shy again Adrien's hand went back to rubbing his neck. "Uh, yeah. Not to brag but I'm the best fencer on the team."

"Not for long."

"Huh?"

"I'll be coming for that top spot, Adrien," Kagami promised.

Adrien's eyes widened, then a competitive gleam sparked in his eyes. "Looking forward to it," he smirked.

In the end the movie was just as mediocre as Kagami thought it would be. Enjoyable sure, if you ignored all the cliches.

"It's even worse on screen!" Adrien proclaimed cheerfully.

Kagami eyed him as they filed out of the theater. "Aren't you the male lead?"

"Against my protests!" He grinned.

"A pleasure doing business with you Madame Tsurugi," Gabriel Agreste's grating voice said from his assistant's tablet. Kagami amused herself by imagining Gabriel was actually that small in person. "Come along now, Adrien."

"Yes, Father." The open expression was gone. Adrien's demeanor immediately subduing at Gabriel's call. Turning towards her, Adrien gave her a small smile- "I look forward to seeing you at school." -and winked with his whole head.

Kagami's cheeks heated up slightly as she returned his smile. "I won't go easy on you."

Adrien frowned. "Well, of course not. That would defeat the entire purpose of dueling."

Kagami's smile grew wider. "Yes. Yes, it would."

She stared at the passing city through the window as they made their way to their new home. Committing the unfamiliar skyline to memory.

"And how was the young Agreste, Kagami?" Tomoe asked. "Was your interaction fruitful?"

Kagami thought about Adrien's predilection for certain manga tropes, how he'd blundered effortlessly past her walls, the clear eagerness Adrien felt at talking to someone else who gets it. He was... endearing. And Kagami wouldn't mind his company again.

"Yes, Mother." Yes, it was.

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

Notes: Written for the Alternate First Meeting promt of Adrigami Week 2021.

[remsmoonlight]

— title : candy coated promises

— word count : 2.6k words

— pairing : daryl dixon x reader

— summary : a chance conversation between you and daryl leaves you realising just how much of a sponge daryl’s mind is when he comes back from a run with an unexpected gift.

— warnings : mentions of alcohol, light mentions of deaths of loved ones

“ Daryl x reader. Daryl comes back from a run and has found readers fave chocolate and keeps it hidden all day until they have watch together then surprises them with it and gets a big awkward hug from them, making him blush like a tomato on the outside and feeling happy on the inside. “

            ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*   requests are open ! / requested by @phoenixblack89  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

A rugged backpack is slung lazily over the shoulder of Daryl after a successful run , as relaxed as Daryl could find himself those days, the stress and alertness still molded every inch of his body as if they’d been there since day one. Perhaps they have been, he contemplates. After all, growing up, his life had not been a beautiful, tangled mess of fairytales and light, rather it had been the inspiration for nightmares. Still, he doesn’t dwell on that life unless he has to, the world has chosen to live a different life and that does not hold space for past memories.

For him? The past can be a painful reminder of a way of living that has long since been deceased — focusing on what once was is the best way to take away the focus of living in the present.

Only a few days had been spent at the prison, the majority of the time had been spent making it somewhat fit for purpose, despite no life being there to tend to its upkeep. They’d been burning through what little the group had of their stockpile of supplies, preferring to stay inside the barbed wire fences. To enjoy the moment, how little it may be. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d been able to just rest without the need to tread into a dangerous path .. perhaps it had been at the farm? It feels like it has been a lifetime since they’d had somewhere to regroup, to rebuild their strength to its optimum.

Being cooped up with his group, as much as he thought of them as family, he had slowly began to feel suffocated by the prison’s metal gates — even in the apocalypse do they still do their job well, even a day away has given him the much needed space his soul craved to breathe. Respite that had sorely been needed.

Daryl’s mind wanders off to a conversation had a few months prior, something so insignificant to you yet it stuck to his mind like glue.

“ If I knew the world was gonna end and we’d spend the rest of our lives trying not to get eaten by walkers, I’d have stocked up on my favourite things. “

The hunter turns his eyes to you strangely, almost in confusion as it inks itself into his features as he continues to stare at you. You understand why he’s so confused, it had rather come out of the blue since you had been enjoying the company of the other — a language without words that you are fluent in when the other is around.

“ Huh? “

“ Well, “ you begin, your eyes widen momentarily as you shift to face him, your knees complaining silently at the movement. “ Life is difficult as it is, but you know what makes it a little less hard? “

“ Booze? “ he guesses immediately, his shoulders shrugging with little liveliness.

“ Okay — ! You got me there .. technically ? “ you pause, your brows furrowing as if to allow your mind to thoroughly work through that answer. Your mind retreats back to the days where you spent nights where you should have been studying, to parties where the alcohol appeared to flow without a limited supply.  “ But, your favourite things make this nonsense easier. “

“ Same shit. “

“ You’re no fun today. “ You complain hopelessly, a wispy sigh dancing off silently in the summer’s breeze never to be seen again. Again, you shift your position and allow your chin to rest on your knees.

Night shift of being on watch had been left to the two of you, if anything you enjoy taking the night watches. Your heart takes comfort in a certain tranquility the night brings, leaving time for you to gather your thoughts and to reflect on the day and everything it had brought. The empty space the farm brought only adds to the charm.

Many of those watches had been accompanied by Daryl, in the beginning he’d seen you as nothing more than a nuisance who couldn’t keep quiet. Of course, with the movement of time brings change. You’d found a wavelength where there was less and less venom sent your way. Edges that had spent more time bathed in a haunting concoction of hatred and hurt began to dissolve little by little as he spent more time above air, an understanding had been reached.

“ Ain’t much to be laughin; ‘bout now. “

“ Hm, I suppose you’re right. “ You nod to yourself, your eyes scan the endless horizon of the farm, following the eerie trail the moonlight leaves as it grazes the Earth below. “ Still, I would kill for my favourite chocolate bar. I’d stock up on them if I ever get the chance. “

“ Yeah? Wha’s that? “ He questions you lazily, carrying on the conversation while turning to face you momentarily.

You tell him the brand, going into specific detail as you try to replicate the taste on your tongue from nothing, itching for a momentary break in a world painted red with the blood of the living and the dead. It’s a silly belief, yet anything that helps you to build a fog of a perfect illusion for no matter how long is worth it, the human brain can only take so much darkness surrounding it before it takes a hold that feels as if it will never succumb to the light.

“ Keep y’eye out. Y’might get lucky one day. “

“ Luck is a rare thing to have nowadays, Daryl. “ you whisper, more to yourself than the man who sits by your side. A twinge of pain buried deep within the arms of your words, though not hidden enough as Daryl spots it swiftly. “ It’s becoming rarer each day. “

“ Guess y’gotta make y’own luck then. “ He offers lightly, unknown that his mind has already stored the information away.

He’d developed a fondness of you, his original opinion had been turned on its head and he hated to see even the slightest hint of suffering penciled into your features — unspoken, he’d decided, even in this world, you were made to smile. He’d seen the light and joy that you brought to others, it’s only right that you should experience the same. Even over the smaller things, which is why he would promise to himself he would be on the lookout for the very chocolate you have your heart set on experiencing once again.

Heavy thuds punish the gravel beneath him as he treks back to their new home, observing the complete transformation in their expressions. Even after going through a lifetime’s worth of trauma with these people, realising people who are genuinely glad about his presence returning, even happy to have him there, is still something that he’s to get used to. Every time he finds himself faced with this situation, Daryl recognises the uncomfortable prickling sensation that begins in his fingers and inches outwards, under the veil of self preservation. But Daryl knows better. He has been the fool to such emotions before and that has only left him lost in a sea of silent distress, powerless. No longer does he listen to that mischievous voice in the back of his head that gorges greedily on his self sabotage.

Searching for your whereabouts had been the original plan on his mind, but he’s quick to rid that thought from his mind. Unable to bring himself to just be ready for the surprise on your face.. Or lack of. The conversation had been so long ago that he wonders if it had been no more than a passing wish, left forgotten as a passing fancy that holds more weight to him than you.

The day romantically dances with the dusk that slowly rolls the night on, stars shining so bright without the bright glare humanity brought with it.

“ You’re on watch tonight, they’re already up there. “ Rick informs Daryl with a pat on the back, of course, the smirk that paints his mouth so gleefully is hidden in his retreat.

Steps to the peak point of the guard tower felt as if they have shrunk, the distance feels lesser than normal, he notes to himself. Better now than never, he silently remarks. The confectionary lays safely tucked away in his side pocket, he’d have physically clipped his ear himself had he forgotten to bring it, he’s warmly thankful of his memory in this case.

“ Daryl! “

Closing the door with a lone click the noise alerts you to the presence that joins yours in the darkness. It feels like months since you’d laid your eyes on him, when in reality it had been little over a day. But when you spend twenty four hours with people you now call your family, even the hours you do not see them, time flows at a hauntingly slow pace. Had you your way, you would turn those hours into minutes.

“ When did you get back? “ You ask with a beam, your eyes more colourful than ever.

“ A few hours back. Got ‘nough supplies till a group can go out. “ Daryl answers simply, moving to lean against the railing of the guard tower.

“ You know, you could have taken one of us along. “ You offer, hoping the need is left out of your voice.

Uttered only to Maggie, you’d divulged your fear of losing people. The fear of never seeing those you’ve grown close to clouds your senses, the beating of your heart unable to rest until they are in your line of sight — a thought that if you go with them, you can do something constantly swirls in your vision. Of course, you know that won’t always be the case, but it’s all you can think of when your family temporarily misses a few members.

Winter had brought many challenges, and there had been times when you’d see them come back with scrapes and bruises that would leave your heart aching.

“ Nah, needed to do this by myself. “

“ You sick of us already, Dixon? “ There's a coating of humour as you question him, a smile accompanies your word hand in hand to assure him there’s nothing but humour.  “ I’m telling you now, you’re never allowed to be sick of me at least. “

“ You’d be the first person I’d have’ta get out of my hair. “ He answers back with a gruff, his hand reaches up to ruffle your hair slightly.

“ Don’t be so mean. “ You whine, pushing his hand back with a short burst of laughter with a richness that could rival the purest of golden honey.

A silence overtakes the two of you after the rare display of playfulness that you know most would not associate with the rough looking hunter of the group. It’s in these moments you find yourself looking up and feeling your heart full to the brim with an intense amount of gratitude, that he’s comfortable enough around you to allow you to peek into a different side of the man. This is not something you will ever take for granted.

“ You come back with much today? Or did it look like vultures have hit the spots? “

“ Wasn’t too bad. “ Daryl responds, shaking his head as he speaks. “ We got enough for a while, till we can get a group out. “

“ Hopefully we can make a home out of this place, I don’t think I can take any more of this moving about. “ You confide weakly, your nails pick at each other as you remember the time between the farm and the prison.

Daryl agrees with a huff, the winter had been hard on everyone in the group. The more he studies everyone in the group, the more differences he can see between them and those who had been on the farm. No one is the same as the people they were months prior. Daryl argues that is for the better, a certain amount of ruthlessness is now a tool required to breathe for an extra day in this world.

“ Ain’t my idea of home, but beggars can’t be choosers now. “

“ If we weren’t, I’m sure we’d all be in one of those huge mansions now. “ you sigh heavily, yearning for all the comforts you had come accustomed to. They are long gone now.

“ Y’know, I came back with sumn’ for ‘ya. “ Daryl starts, rugged fingertips descend to reach into his pocket, touching the plastic wrapper that protects the sweet treat. “ ‘Don’t know if y’want it though. “

Your eyes light up at the possibility of a gift, they rival the stir of the stars in the night sky that illuminate the darkness with their might. They may as well cower from the blinding shine as they witness the colourful wrapper come into your view, the audible crinkle brings out a quiet giggle with the grace of a ballet dancer as it twirls away into the air.

“ This is for me? “ You confirm, your hand hesitantly reaches towards his as if waiting for him to tell you that he is playing a silly joke on you.

Only that doesn’t occur.

“ Yeah.. I remembered a while back y’said that ‘ya wanted one. “ Daryl explains as he hands you the chocolate bar, the other hand reaching back to rake his nails against the back of his neck — almost as a distraction technique. “ Thought y’might’a forgot. “

Your teeth plunge deeply into our bottom lip, attempting to quell the grin that is moments from overtaking your features. Even if he’d been unsuccessful in apprehending the chocolate, even the thought that he remembers such a trivial conversation is enough to send a burst of adoration further than any galaxy reached by the heart of a dying star.

“ Daryl.. “ A whisper is spoken as you begin, turning  your sight upwards to meet the man. “ You didn’t have to. “

“ Wasn’t any trouble. “

“ Thank you. “ Gratitude is expressed, you speak with a warmth in your words as you do. “ I mean it. “

Daryl doesn’t speak, it’s not a case of having nothing to say, but rather what he should say. His actions are not done with the intent of receiving appreciation, he does it because he wants to and in his mind, is what’s right. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, unable to take in the intensity of the affection sent his way.

The attention of the hunter is lifted back into reality as he feels a weight against his, arms tangle themselves behind his back and strands from a headful of hair tickle his nose as he realises you’re currently hugging him. The change is slow as he tentatively relaxes into the action, it’s so faint the two of you barely realise it’s happening until a weight sits lightly on each side of your body. He has never realised until now how much he has needed human contact that comes with no ties until now, a connection that doesn’t hinge on the deal of giving and taking as a nothing more than a cold transaction. A content breath of air slowly tiptoes away into the weak breeze that blows through the prison at a leisurely pace, of course, the air does nothing to suppress the heat that burns the cheeks of the man.

“ ‘S nothin’. “

“ Daryl, even if you came back with nothing, you still had the thought there. “ You stress from your position, your grip tightening on the man. “ You wanna share this with me, or what? “

As the night marches on, you wonder if the chocolate could ever be sweeter than one Daryl Dixon. Though, in your heart, you know that may be a fight easily lost against him.

[aphrodites-law]

Everything is the same as it was snippet

The fire was not quiet. The flames devoured the wood and licked the stone of the cowshed, destroying it from roof to foundation. To Clarke, who had grown accustomed to the silence of this new world, the cracks and groans of the blaze might as well have been roars. The slow and agonizing fall of Luna’s house, now her pyre, twisted her heart. Still, despite the pain, she stood by Lexa as they watched it burn in the field.

It had been Lexa’s idea to do it. The earth around the shed was bare and there was enough gravel that it would not reach the rest of the farm. They couldn’t take any chances, especially since they planned to free the chickens before their departure. What if they ventured inside the shed and pecked at the diseased body? Those were the thoughts that had convinced them to strike the match.

Lexa packed her things quietly, taking only one suitcase with her—the one she’d arrived here with a year ago. The rest belongs to the farm, she’d said. Clarke could relate to that, having left her childhood home untouched as well. Grabbing memorabilia had felt wrong, as if her mother would one day chide her for swiping her favorite photo or jewelry. And oh, how Clarke wished she would.

They took the bags of food, packs of water, and the vegetables ready to be eaten. They collected the medical supplies, their small portable generators, batteries, and Lexa’s tools. When all was said and done, the sun was setting and they sat in the folding chairs by the RV, watching as the flames dwindled in the distance.

“I keep thinking about Luna’s first steps,” Lexa said later on.

Clarke’s own thoughts had drifted to when she had first met the sweet animal. Everything had changed that day.

“She was such a curious thing, and her mom was so gentle with her. It took her three hours to finally start walking, longer than any calf I’d been around when I was a kid. But she ran the quickest after that.” Lexa smiled to herself. “They had the whole field to themselves, but Luna would just follow her mom everywhere. When I started feeling better after It happened, I remember looking out the window and seeing her in the field. She was just standing there, not even masticating, just… staring at the shed for the longest time. Like she was waiting for her mother to walk out at any moment and show her what to do next. Suddenly she had no one to follow. No one to look to for guidance. So I went out and I started talking to her. I stayed with her for hours, and then she finally started grazing. To have her depending on me… It made me want to stay here. It’s when I started making lists again. Planning. She helped me survive, and I let her down.”

“But you didn’t,” said Clarke. “You couldn’t have predicted this. That coyote was desperate—it would’ve found a way inside the shed either way. What you did was the humane thing to do.”

Lexa closed her eyes, looking more tired than she ever had. “Maybe.”

In the ensuing silence, Clarke stared at the house and tried to commit it to memory. She wondered if they would ever come back and if it would change while they were away. Would the blue paint look even paler? Would weeds take over the porch and the gutters like they did everywhere else? Would strong wind knock down the fence around the vegetable garden, suffocating the seeds Lexa had planted just a few days ago? Would a lone bird find its way inside the house and build its nest on the sturdy beams in the kitchen, just above the coffee pot and bread basket?

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked.

Lexa nodded. “It’s long overdue.”

“We can’t drive into cities—too many cars on the roads—but if you want to see something specific we could get bikes somewhere.”

“Hm. If only this hadn’t happened during rush hour traffic.”

“Yeah, how very inconsiderate for the end of humanity to not have better timing.”

Clarke glanced at Lexa, who was fighting a smile. At least they could still find some humor in it.

“Let’s avoid big cities for now,” Lexa agreed. “I’d like to see the ocean though. It’s been a while.”

“Then let’s start there.” Clarke stretched her arms over her head. It was going to be a long journey, but it would be nothing like the lonely road trip she had gone on After. Lexa would be with her now, and that made all the difference. “You know, fuel will break down eventually and this RV will be useless.”

“I think we have a few months before it happens,” Lexa said. “When it does, we can find an electric vehicle and figure out the energy source. I took my solar energy handbooks. We can pick up more manuals on the way.”

“Oh well if you have your handbooks, we’re saved.”

Lexa tsked. “One day your mockery will be gratitude.”

“Only if you figure out hot water. And by that I mean a full hour-long shower with high pressure and jets.”

“Will that be all?

“No, actually, since you’re asking,” Clarke replied cheekily. “I’d love a washer/dryer and- oh! After our little west coast adventure we should grab some paintings in Chicago. Put Nighthawks above the kitchen sink and American Gothic in the living room.”

“Why not take a boat to Paris and grab the Mona Lisa while we’re at it?”

Clarke beamed. “Excellent idea. She’d look fantastic in my bedroom.”

They laughed and continued making wild plans, both of them welcoming the shift in the heavy mood. The fire still burned, and they watched it until the sun had set and their yawns forced them to go to bed. They had a long day ahead; uncharted territory that meant the start of a new journey. Clarke hoped that it would be kind to them.

[allhailthecoffeegods]

A lonely kitty in Gotham

Chapter 1

Tired... Marinette was extremely tired. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep but instead she sat staring at the wall of her office in her small apartment she had bought and was now living in because her parents kicked her out.

Why was she staring at the wall you may ask? Short answer, she had finally done it! She had finally tracked down Hawkmoth and Mayura after 3 years of fighting she now knew both of their identities (Gabriel Agreste and Natalie Sancoeur) and not only that but she had an entire file filled with proof. Now all that was left was to take back their miraculous and hand them over to the police (not before cursing them first... obviously).

Unfortunately it’s not going to be as easy as it sounds. You see Marinette or Nettie which she goes by now was alone, completely and utterly alone.

No Parents, no family and no friends.

Three years ago Nettie had all of the above she was happy, she had a best friend Alya and a group of many friends from her class, she had two loving but slightly distant parents who ran the most popular bakery in all of Paris possibly even France and her amazing grandmother Gina who traveled the world and told her all about the crazy things she did (some of which she promised not to tell her parents about because it may have been considered breaking the law but nothing reallllly bad).

But all of that soon changed over the first year Hawkmoth terrorised Paris with his akuma and was later joined by mayura with her sentimonsters. Slowly she lost everything including her partner in fighting crime Mr.Bug holder of the ladybug miraculous.

Nettie is in procession of not only the black cat miraculous but also forcefully became the last remaining guardian of 18 other mini gods that are bound to jewels (excluding the butterfly and peacock (not that she would ever give them up because they are basically her family now and she will do absolutely everything to protect them)). How?

Running late to class 3 years ago she saved a (very) old man (186 years old to be specific) from being hit by a car, and for some reason that was enough for him to “gift” her the black cat miraculous as he saw her true chaotic soul and aura (it didn’t matter that she was only 13 YEARS OLD!) he thought it was a brilliant idea to turn her into a child soldier fighting a war against two supervillains more than double her age.

After and introduction to the one and only God of Destruction, who by the way is OBSESSED with the stinkiest of cheeses, she became one of Paris’ main superheroes Kitty Noir alongside her partner Mr.Bug who she guessed to be around the same age as her at the time. It was easy to deduct that he was going to be more of a problem instead of a partner due to his obsessive and intense flirting and lack of skills other than some possible fencing training, all in all he didn’t have a clue how to fight. He was also apparently extremely reckless... like more reckless than her pouring 2 energy drinks into coffee before downing it and has died so many times in a fight she now also has a close relationship with tiki the God of Creation having had to end the fight herself (honestly why did the old guy pick him because it seems like he didn’t even do a similar ‘oh help save me’ situation like he had with her otherwise the old guy would already be dead!) Even though she wasn’t that much better to begin with she did have some hand to hand combat training curtesy of Gina and her ‘friends’ (let’s talk about those later). And she was now training in martial arts and going to the gym to build more muscle and become better without the enhanced supersuit just incase (she also sticks a domino mask on before transforming because she’s paranoid okay and if she is ever forced to detransform she doesn’t want anyone knowing her identity right of the bat to use against her, okay!)

Alongside that she was also extremely smart (like genius level) great with technology and quick to come up with some absolutely insane but brilliant plans. This all resulted in her taking on more of a leadership roll whilst fighting akumas. Mr.Bug only got worse as time went on and her civilian life went downhill, it took 8 months for the old man (previous guardian of the miraculous and temporary mentor for 2 of the months) to become compromised and pass the roll onto her. And the first thing she did was take the ladybug miraculous back and erase the holders (Adrien Agreste her former friend) memories of being Mr.Bug.

The only problem with that was the battle Miracle queen where master fu (the old guardian man) was compromised, and so were all 8 of her temporary heroes except Viperion, holder of the snake miraculous, who had started to tour around the world with his farther Jagged Stone) this ment there were two consequences of taking The ladybug back, the first being she was now alone against two superpowered terrorists but also that she had to switch transformations at the end of a battle to be able to purify the Akuma and cast the miraculous cure to fix everything and yes that did include... resurrection of people who died in the cross fire.

Anyways, back to how Nettie is alone. Only a few weeks after the first attack, an exchange student transferred to the the newly dumbed Akuma class *sigh*. At first she seemed nice and had and was telling the class of her interesting life, her mother was a Italian diplomat and she’s traveled the world.

But Nettie had a bad gut feeling about Lila Rossi which unfortunately was correct. On her third day in the class she started gushing over how kitty noir aka Nettie dearest (obviously unknown to everyone else) saved her from and Akuma attack and they became “best friends”, to say Nettie was left speechless and confused at the lie is an understatement.

Regrettably Nettie was unable to prove her story was a lie because how would she know said superhero didn’t save her without revealing her secret identity.

But the girl carried on creating more and more outlandish claims, such as how she saved Jagged Stones cat on a jet runway (like come on seriously what airport would allow a CHILD of even a cat to run out onto the tarmac). But pointing this out was apparently a mistake which Nettie soon discovered in the girls bathroom after class. Lila sauntered in with a sickly sweet smile that was soon dropped when Nettie refused to give into this girls bullshit.

Hence she was pinned against the wall and threatened, that if she didn’t go along with lie-la’s lies she would lose everything she loved before leaving so she wasn’t caught. Not believing her Nettie continued to point out inconsistencies and facts that contradict her story’s but no matter how much proof was presented to the class lie-la was able to turn it around (meta theory coming into her head: maybe she wasn’t affected because of the miraculous magic) and plant the idea that Nettie was a bully into all her friends heads which apparently all share one brain cell ( or so she thought until Adrien confirmed he knew they were lies to but he was taking the ‘high road’ because nobody was getting hurt, it’s definitely not like lilas ruining all there future careers by promising favours and opportunity’s that will never come and convincing them they no longer need to put in any effort for their futures *insert eye-roll* ).

So life continued and her friends started to turn on little Nettie the scattered brained, clumsy girl who bent over backwards to protect and make sure they were all happy. It hurt more than words could describe the day Alya her BEST FRIEND led the class to turn their backs on her and declare they no longer want to be friends with a jealous bully anymore.

Luckily Nettie wasn’t akumatised but she came very close to it. The only things keeping her going were her duty to Paris and her family.

But as a consequence to that good luck, bad luck hit like a truck. She didn’t know for a few weeks until a guy named Jason called her parents to inform them that her favourite person in the whole world her amazing grandmother Gina had passed away in a accident somewhere in the United States. And if that wasn’t bad enough Lila also managed to place a seed of doubt in her parents around the same time. Life fucking sucked. She wasn’t able to process and grieve due to Hawkfuck still being around so instead she threw herself into creating her own business (NeTi Designs) doing commissions, did I mention she’s a talented fashion designer... no, well now you know. As well as diving head first into a very thorough investigation on mothfucker in between fighting Akuma, helping in the bakery, plus training and patrolling the city of lights for two hours each night.

Atleast she didn’t have to make excuses to not hang out with her ex-friends anymore heh heh *cough*.

Eventually this resulted in her parents questioning her on her disappearances from her room after randomly checking in one night while she was out patrolling and the conversation sort of went like this.

“Marinette, where have you been?! I just checked your balcony and you weren’t up their. It’s 2am” Sabine exclaimed when she dropped back onto her bed moments after detransforming. “Mamma I swear I was up there and I fell asleep in the corner near my pillows behind the deck chair. I just woke up from the cold and I thought I herd movement and panicked because ‘oh my gosh!’ Is it an Akuma but it wasn’t it was you mamma” Nettie responded with dramatic waving of her hands and a fake smile.

Sabine was NOT impressed and most certainly knew it was a lie but it was 2am and she couldn’t deal with this right now so she glared at her daughter whilst leaving her room through the trapdoor.

This continued for two weeks with both her parents randomly checking in. Nettie had to eventually relocate her research into a small apartment a few streets away from the library (which she paid for with commission money that nobody but her knew about especially since her business was doing well and she didn’t put it past her class to try and destroy that if they ever found out) and say she was studying to not be caught doing deep background checks on all her suspects, making files for every Akuma and tracking the butterfly’s on a app she created that has multiple resources available to the public ranging from an alert for attacks that can be activated all the way to videos she made in her hero persona showing things such as meditation or basic self defence that should only be used if they’re unable to get to a safe area away from the Akuma or to buy time to then get away depending on the powers of said Akuma. (Could also be useful in regular crimes like attempts at mugging)

This lead to longer disappearances to the point all her stuff that had any value to her or was related to business and miraculous matters (so basically everything) she was practically living there already. Not that she realised since she got maybe 5-6 hours of sleep and week? She was so enclosed in her little world when her parents decided they had enough (after multiple accusations of her sleeping around with older men and doing drugs (all tests came back negative because her choice of drug was caffeine) which where definitely lilas doing) her parents yelled at her to get out and never come back... so she did the only thing she had to grab where her pillows and fairy lights and she was out of the door, the situation was dubbed a future Nettie problem because ya know suppressing your emotions so the world doesn’t end.

(Authors note: I have plans on making this a series. Hope you guys like it 🙃)

[yn-dreamlife]

Jealous Princess

Pairing: Don west x reader

Warnings: Shitty description (because I suck at writing them), angst, mentions/hints of mentions of sex, talks of aftercare, talks of subdrop (not specifically stated but if you know what they are you should be able to know when I'm talking about them), fluff, making up

Description: After the accident on the Resolute you don't think you'll ever see your boyfriend again. So when you do you should be happy, but all you can think of is: why is he calling someone else your nickname?

A/N: Hey guys I'm sorry, I know this wasn't one of the stories- or whatever you want to call these things- that I promised but don't worry I am working on those, but I will do this sometimes if I get an idea that I'm very passionate about. Like I have a Denki story idea that might be coming out soon too.

| Main Masterlist | Random Works Masterlist |

Sadness, that’s all you had felt for what felt like years. But it was a matter of days.

It was a matter of days since something had gone wrong on the resolute.

A matter of days since you sat till the very last moment in your Jupiter before leaving because you couldn’t leave him behind.

A matter of days since you were sure you would never see Don West again.

Done West, the man who held your heart and soul and every single bit in between. The man who you swore to marry. The man who gave you the ring that rests on your finger. The man who you had kissed goodbye for what you feared to be the last time.

But at least you had kissed him, at least you had whispered the soft exchange of ‘I love you’ that morning, at least he had held you in his arms one last time. Because you two had made a deal because you both know space is wild. It’s unknown and danger lies everywhere. You never know what will happen, so you two can never go to bed mad. No matter how angry or annoyed you have to stay up and work through it. And no matter how tired or even if the other is sleeping or busy you never leave without saying goodbye. Because you never know if that’s it.

When you had landed you had landed in a forest-type area, quickly putting up a small parameter of a guard fence to keep things out and assessing your surroundings. It was hard doing things alone. But eventually, you located the Jupiter of the Dhar family so you kept in contact with them but otherwise, you stuck to your own Jupiter.

You did your tasks numbly, no music blasting as you and Don danced around laughing and singing off-key. No random pillow fights or clothes wars as you trashed the Jupiter you two were trying to clean… just silence. And you were drowning.

Then one day you heard the voice, the voice of the resolute captain. Captain Radic, but he couldn’t hear anything back and it was frustrating. You begged that if Don was still up there he would be his stubborn crazy self and force his way to that damn microphone and shout through it and down to you that he was safe, that he was alive. But no call came.

And the day a call did come it was from Dhar, he wanted everyone to report to Jupiter 11 so you got into your chariot and drove there in the silence you now had made home. When you arrived you didn’t smile, your eyes didn’t sparkle and you looked like the walking dead.

A woman named Maureen had checked on you the moment she saw you, offering to take you to her daughter who was a doctor to treat you but when you told her it wouldn’t help she seemed to understand. You did your tasks silently and stuck to yourself ignoring everyone but Dhar who was giving commands.

You were standing above a station then, mindlessly staring off as your hands did the task you had now done for five hours now. It was a minimal thought task, good in the sense that it didn’t matter how lost in thought you got. And bad in the sense it didn’t matter how lost in thought you got. So memories played in your brain. Memories of something you deemed to be lost forever.

And then you heard it “Well hello there princess,” you dropped everything your expression blanking as your mind reeled. You were going insane, you would have to tell someone that you were hearing voices and shouldn’t be working anymore. You would have to-

“What do you want Don?” A female spoke somewhere behind you and you spun around kicking the small rocks up beneath your feet as you did so.

No- it can’t be… “oh what can’t a guy come check up on a friend?” And there he was… Don West the man you had been mourning for days stood before you, breathing, alive, smiling, laughing, talking, teasing- wait…. teasing.

“No not with you. You always want something.” You looked to the girl and you despised yourself for the jealousy that had bubbled over your newfound elation. ‘Had he not seen me? Was he ignoring me? Who was this beautiful young girl? And why was he calling her princess?’

Thoughts swarmed your mind. Fueled by your aching heart, because you had yet to speak to him, yet to hold him and touch him, and yet he seemed perfectly fine about the whole ordeal. Like he didn’t care that you might have been dead.

The woman began walking away moving towards you “oh come on now don’t be like tha-“ but his voice stopped as his eyes hit you. “Princess?” He called and the other woman had the audacity to turn and face him.

“What Don?” But he didn’t answer her, and some part of you enjoyed that. You were never one to get on Don for who he hangs around or what he calls them… but princess is what he called you. It just… stung. It felt like you had been replaced, but perhaps it was just the fragile mindset you had been in for at least a week now due to grief.

“Holy shit.” He whispered as he moved to you quickly a bright grin on his face. “Fuck, I’ve missed you so much“ he pulled you into his arms and you found yourself melting into his embrace despite the fact you were somewhat angry, and most certainly jealous. You had so much you wanted to ask, to demand. But it died in your throat as he pulled you to him.

You held onto him as tears began to cascade down your cheeks. He was holding you, he was real, it wasn’t a hallucination. And then he pulled away slightly looking you over. He peppered kisses all over your neck and face. His hands never found purchase on you and you were forced to stand there in shock as the tears continued.

But he didn’t care that your beautiful face was being covered in tears, because he was too wrapped up in the fact it was you. You were alive and real and here and safe. Of course, he never liked to see you cry, but he himself had to have been crying or damn near close to it.

“My princess. My beautiful, beautiful princess, I’ve been so worried I-“ but your hand had moved and before you knew it you had slapped him. Part of you regretted it, part of you was reeling at the thought that you had just hit Don but part of you was angry and oh so very jealous. “Ow, what was that for?!”

“Don’t call me what you just called her.” You growled, and his eyes widened. He always knew how your mindset was even before you did. Always able to tell the sparks of jealousy littering your eyes, and he always knew how to help.

“Wait baby hold on a second-“ he tried to speak quickly making sure to do as you had said and not call you princess. He honestly hadn't even thought about it, about what he had been calling Judy because to him it wasn’t the same as what he called you.

“No, Don” and you pried yourself from his grasp. Realizing you had made a scene you grabbed his hand and pulled him away moving towards the parameter fence.

“Y/n you have to listen to me,” he spoke desperately and you finally stopped a few feet away from the fence turning to face him.

You found yourself then spewing all the horrid thoughts that came to your mind. “Did you even worry? Did you even care that perhaps I was dead? Or the second you lived and made it you decided that it didn’t matter. That this ring didn’t matter, that I didn’t matter! Because hey ‘it’s not cheating if she’s dead’ right?!”

And Don just stood in front of you listening, he didn’t interrupt, he didn’t try to stop you. And when you had moved closer to him still yelling he stood waiting, and when you got in arms-length he grasped you and held you. He held you despite the fact you tried to pound your fist on his chest.

“I hate you!” You screamed as the tears fell once again, “why couldn’t you wait for me?! Why did you move on so quickly?! Don’t you love me?! Wasn’t I enough for you?! Were you not scared?!”

Don held you then too, he held you as you stopped hitting him and your knees buckled. He moved to the ground pulling you into his lap allowing you to let it out. Let out all the anger and sadness and pain he could see you had been holding in.

Because that’s all this was, you know Don and he knows you. You know that yes he did care, that yes he was scared, that yes he was in pain at the thought of losing you. You knew that he hadn’t moved on from you and he wasn’t cheating. You had known the truth to it all. You both knew that, and yet he took it. Because you needed to let it go, let out all the feelings you bottled away and Don was going to let you, like all the times you offered yourself to abate his anger he was now offering himself to you.

It was a long few moments of silence. No exchange of words or half-hearted blows from you. He rocked you gently one hand petting your hair while the other rubbed up and down your lower back your hiccupped sobs becoming less intense.

“I worried about you since the moment I stepped out of our Jupiter that morning.” He whispered. “I worried I would never see you again, that I would never hold you again. I wished I had called out of work and feigned being sick. I wished that I hadn’t let you go that morning.

“All I’ve thought about since I left is you. All I’ve thought about is how I’m going to get to you, or how I’m going to figure out if you’re dead or alive. They told me that everyone was coming here, anyone who was alive would be here and I looked. I looked during the meeting, I looked during instructions and I didn’t see you.

“I lost hope, all I could think is you were dead. You were dead and it was my fault.” He squeezed you tighter to him and you found yourself wanting to speak up but he continued.

“That girl you saw me with, her name is Judy Robinson. She’s a doctor, and she’s eighteen.” Heat flared to your cheeks in shame, she was still practically a child…. you had been jealous of a child. “I called her princess because at first, I thought ‘she’s full of herself, and she thinks she’s better than everyone'. Never once did I mean it the way I do with you. Because there’s a difference, she’s not my princess.”

You found your heart fluttering at his words and you looked up at him, “I’m sorry Don. I just- I don’t know why I reacted like that. I know how… I know how important I am to you.”

He leaned down cupping your cheek, “don’t you ever apologize, beautiful. Emotions are emotions we can’t control them and I’ll always take care of them when they get too much for you. It’s the same situation if you were to fall into a fragile headspace after… well you… you know” and a red color had adorned his cheeks at the thoughts that must have filled his brain.

And he was right whenever you were coming down from a euphoric cocktail of hormones he was there to make it easy and gentle and the one time you accidentally crashed he was there then to. To calm down the emotions and hormones swimming in your mind.

A small giggle had left you and he found himself smiling again. But it dropped as yours did “I’m still sorry Don. I shouldn’t have hit you.”

He shook his head with a chuckle, “I would have hit me too if I thought what you just had been.”

But you shook your head, “I should never hit you… I promise I’ll make it up to you. Maybe later we can…. well you… you know” you mocked his earlier stutter slightly.

He leaned in his lips almost fully connecting with yours whispering, “I’ll hold you to that princess” and then finally pressing his lips to yours.

[sloshed-cinema]

After Yang (2021)

I don’t want to live in a Star Trek future, I want to live in this one.  At least in terms of production design.  Kogonada’s team fleshed this out within an inch of its life, creating a very specific vision of a quasi-utopian society.  It feels very believable; the technology isn’t too far-flung from what we have now in terms of communications.  Corporate culture protects products and ensures that metadata belongs to the company rather than the user.  And the containers are just a little bit preposterous.  But it’s the consistency and commitment which realizes this vision.  Muted earth tones define the color palette for homes, and vaguely Asian silhouettes have entered into the norm of what is en vogue for fashion.  Little details abound, from foliage accents to the transport pods to museum exhibits about Techno sapiens.  

The largest leaps in speculation come from the treatment of alternate humans.  Yang is an android, specifically created to help his “sibling” retain her Chinese heritage despite being adopted by an Anglo family.  There are apparently other “models” created for differing intents, but they’re an integrated enough part of society.  Clones exist as well, Yang entering into a close relationship with a girl whose “original” he knew many years before.  These creations suggest a society that is, while harmonious on the surface, still uneasy with itself.  They cannot recover from loss, so they create clones.  They cannot help their children to adapt and yet live their full identity, so they create ambassador robots who spew “Chinese Fun Facts” and help instill language, but cannot introspect about the actual significance of what they relay.  

It’s here where Kogonada’s script falters.  It has a lot of Very Big Ideas, but the dissection of them comes across more as a PowerPoint presentation.  Slides read things like ‘Consciousness’, ‘Commodification of Asian Identity’, and ‘Familial Inability to Unpack Tragedy’.  The idea that Mika is bullied about her identity, that she feels insecure about her parentage, is swiftly followed by a scene wherein Yang shows her the beauty of grafted trees and their connection to Chinese culture.  The idea of Yang’s memories being preserved and displayed is paired with Kyra’s recollection of the android’s butterfly collection and his superficial statements about life after death which he cannot substantiate.  To his credit, Justin H Min plays the flattened affect of Yang well, just enough hints of uncertainty at his own thoughts to create a compelling portraiture of programmed existential contemplation.  And the film evokes gestures of its ideas beautifully.  Jake explores the rich field of memories from Yang’s core, alternately a neural forest, a galaxy, and a matrix.  The subjectiveness of memories is hinted at with overlapping loops of repeating moments, varying ever so slightly in blocking and delivery.  Déjà vu.  The ideas of memories being rifled through, repeated time and again as Jake sits on his couch staring through glasses reflects on the painful cycle of grief, of reaching out for times when someone you love who has passed was still there with you.  And within those memories, the attention to detail of Yang, ephemeral little memory snippets of simple, beautiful things such as a grove of trees or a sunset through gnarled branches, is poignant.  He could record only a few seconds of each day for posterity, and his choice of moments is often poetic.  It’s just that for all of its swinging for the fences in terms of theme, the film nets the success of a Sigur Rós music video rather than a grand statement on existence.  I was more aesthetically pleased than I was compelled.

THE RULES

SIP

Someone says ‘Yang’ or ‘tea’.

The Brothers & Sisters company gets mentioned.

Big Theme Moment.

A memory clip begins to play.

BIG DRINK

Decomposition is mentioned.

Visual stutter-step.

Chinese Fun Fact!

[secretshinigami]

strike to incinerate

Author: @jeevas-exe (ghoulhunt on ao3) For: @jam-knife Pairing/Characters: Light Yagami, B, L Lawliet Rating/Warnings: T, major character death Prompt: Light and B join forces to bring L down. How does that work out? Your choice to make it Blight or keep it platonic Author’s notes: I had SO much fun writing this piece! It was new and experimental for me to write in this style, but it was lots of fun going back and forth between perspectives and time. The biggest thing was consistency. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy! <3

—

1.

It’s close to midnight and the cars seem to be zooming by.

Adrenaline runs through B’s veins. Riding down the highway going upwards of eighty, ninety miles an hour, weaving between traffic, cutting other drivers off and getting honked at. Travel, travel, travel, his days and nights, following, trying to catch up to the black Mercedes with the blacked-out windows ahead of him. Wind whips by, caressing the parts of his body not covered in leather.

It’s cold. 

There’s a sound. A shot. Shit, he thinks. He hopes it’s someone’s exhaust backfiring. There’s too many people around for this. The Mercedes zooms across six lanes of traffic, taking the closest exit. Trying to lose him. 

He follows. He weaves between traffic on his bike, getting to the car, and he sees the other man leaning outside the window with a gun drawn, pointing in his direction. B grips his own, tight in his hand. He can see his steely grey eyes as he approaches, or maybe that’s just another memory. 

B shoots.

The man slumps. Lifeless.

There are lights behind him, red and blue.

A.

The day Light Yagami meets him, he’s wearing the watch his father gave him.

It’s still on Japanese time, where it shows it’s about four in the morning, there. Here, it’s noon. He yawns. He’s restless and jet-lagged, making his way through the customs and the terminal and baggage until he’s out the door and headed to the address he was given. 

5512 Highland Park.

The cab he climbed into forty minutes prior parks along the sidewalk of a rundown street. Apartments and small houses with chain-link fences dot the opposite side of the road; where he’s pulled up, a neon sign hangs, buzzing, the lights flickering and not really noticeable in the LA sun. Light notices the peeling, yellowing paint on the outside, the dead flowers in the flowerbeds, the rusted hinges of the dark green door; apparently, the only new renovation that Maple’s Bar & Grille has made in the past who-knows-how-long. 

Light looks at his watch. The time ticks away. He pays the cabbie, walks through the squeaking door and up the small step, and is quickly greeted by a waitress, who tells him to take a seat wherever.

He spots him.

In the booth off to the side, sipping on a Shirley Temple, with a coke on the side. A brown-haired, flannel-donning fellow staring down at the newspaper. Light can’t discern what the headline says from here, but the photo shows the destruction of a building. It’s from the L.A. Times. It doesn’t matter, he thinks. Light slides across from him in the booth. 

“Hello. Light Yagami.” He extends a hand. The American way. 

The man lifts his head. Takes a sip from the glass of sugar he drinks. His eyes bore into Light’s soul, unsettling him, deep in his core, not acknowledging his hand whatsoever. Light retracts it. 

“I’ve been waiting quite a while, you know.”

Light blinks. He looks away, tearing his gaze from the man sitting opposite him. He looks down at the menu on the sticky table. “The cab driver didn’t know where this place was.” 

“No? This is one of the more popular places around here.” The man looks at the bar, towards a bunch of drunk men, off of work and watching a game on the TV in the upper corner of the room. They don’t even notice them in the booth. Good, he thinks. They don’t need attention. “Call me B.”

2.

B is handcuffed. B is sitting in a chair, alone in a cell, with cement walls and cement floors and fluorescent lights that sting his tired eyes. They buzz. The sound is drowned out by people walking in and out of the jail, police talking, drunk people and others mumbling to themselves. 

He knows why he’s here. It replays in his head, over and over. The sound of gunshots, the squeal of tires, the sound of sirens, so many of them, blaring out along the highway. His ears seem to ring despite the hours that have passed. 

This is temporary. Soon, he knows, he’ll be back to square one. 

Was it worth it?

B.

Light and B meet up everyday for the next few days. It’s always the same restaurant, and the same booth, with varying waitresses, the same water, and the same man sat across from him. Papers have started making their way onto the booth. B looks at them with an intensity Light hasn’t seen before, other than in one person.

The one person they’re trying to take down.

“What’s your connection to him, anyway?” Light asks at this meeting, because for all he knows, this could be as impersonal as flicking one’s cigarette ashes on the floor. He watches B do this as he takes a sip off his water.

“Oh, that’s a little personal, isn’t it? Let’s just say we grew up together.” B replies. 

Light feels a jolt go through him; he didn’t know this. Not the specifics, at least. Proof of his name was enough to go through with this arrangement. “You grew up together? Then why are you doing this?”

“That’s really none of your business,” he snaps. “You’re paying me for a service. Be grateful it’s on the table.”

Which, Light supposes, is fair. He looks down at the newspaper in front of him, its headline emblazoned on the front cover:

L IN CONNECTION WITH INTERPOL; CRACKDOWN ON KIRA GROUP COMING.

3.

L Lawliet.

B hadn’t heard the name in years. Rather, he chose to ignore it, because seeing it now and again in the newspapers or on tv really didn’t help his case.

Too many years were spent left alone in that house. And then, alone in L.A., and then, around the world. And now, sitting in a cell, he counts on his fingers how many times he’s spent his days alone, thinking about him, and thinking about all the fucked up things that led to this point. 

He continues to wonder if it was worth it. He wonders if things could have been different, if L had just listened to him, had stayed, and had not pretended that B just didn’t exist after everything that happened in the house. 

L is dead. 

L is dead because of him. No longer is the World’s Greatest Detective but a corpse in the ground; and here he is, stuck in prison for it, because everyone knows he did it. They saw it. At least, everyone who knew who L really was knew it was him. He hasn’t seen the news at all, and probably won’t. He hopes to God, or the Devil, or any other force out there that can hear him, that L–or his place–doesn’t happen again.

C.

Light Yagami has his ducks in a row.

As a part-time investigator himself, he’s learned to always be one step ahead of the game. He’s learned to pay attention to his surroundings, to organize his thoughts before he speaks, to look at things from all sides. L got involved in the Kira Group case alongside him and the rest of the department he was working in, over in Japan. The L. The one that’s solved countless crimes around the world, some of the hardest, all under a pseudonym. For him to get involved meant he had his suspicions, and he knew where to look; in the very place where the police weren’t looking.

Light Yagami has played his cards right; working with groups like Yotsuba and third-parties, such as The Shinigami. Working between them, they’ve obtained quite a bit of money–here and there, of course, and Light turns a blind eye to the way the money is obtained. He’s only in control of how and where the money goes, of course. The rest is up to Ryuk, to gain it, while the accounts are hidden between Yotsuba’s various company expenses and profits. It works. So much, in fact, that they were able to transfer billions upon billions within a matter of months. 

He isn’t sure what caught L’s eye. Maybe it was a fuck up on Ryuk’s part, or something between Yotsuba, or maybe it was the sudden influx of profit and stocks and the company doing “well” on an international level. Maybe that was it. Light wouldn’t be surprised.

Light isn’t greedy. 

Light is, simply, bored.

It was never his intention to get L onto this case, but it makes for extra fun, he supposes. Doubling and tripling and quadrupling the work he usually does for the Kira Group, all for the sake of laughs, while dollar bills light up in the other’s eyes. And he knows he won’t be caught until L can connect him to any of these groups, which he never will.

Let him have his suspicions. Light knows he’ll get off scot-free.

4.

B remembers the first time he met L.

It was summer, and he was just a kid. Small, maybe around ten, tired from the flight, gripping balling his fists into the sleeves of his shirt. Summer here was colder than home. The mansion was somehow even colder.

It was nighttime. B doesn’t remember the exact time, but he was hungry. He didn’t go down for dinner; instead, he sat at his bed, looking at his minimal belongings. This was his room, now. This was his new home, but it didn’t feel like it. Nothing felt right. Not the windows, not the furniture, not the smell. It was unsettling, being here; like his whole life had been uprooted.

It had, but not because of the change in home.

He refused to think about it. Instead, B trotted out of his room, trying to be as quiet as possible. It was past curfew, and he didn’t want to get in trouble on his very first day. His stomach growled, but he didn’t know where the kitchen was; it wasn’t shown to him on his little tour around the house. He assumed it was past the dining room, somewhere downstairs, and after a little bit of wandering, he found it.

He found another boy there, too. With the man who had picked him up and showed him around. Maybe he was also new. He was eating dinner, soup, at a small table. The elder man smiled; he ladled another bowl for B, setting it across from the other boy. 

Despite how unsettling the day had been, it was comforting. It could be home.

Things weren’t supposed to end up like this.

D.

Light can feel L on his heels. He’s uncomfortably close to the end of this, and it’s suffocating. And thrilling. Scary, but electrifying; being in the same room as him, knowing what he knows, but knowing there’s nothing he can do about it just yet. 

L knows of The Shinigami Group. He’s asked about Ryuk, and has started researching who he is. There’s only so long until contact is made, and Light knows his connection is fairly solid, but not enough; if Ryuk goes down, so does he, and so does Yotsuba. He needs to do something. Anything. 

 Contact with B is a blessing in disguise. He doesn’t know who this B person is, but he claims to know L. He knows enough information that catches Light’s eye; details about his aliases, specific cases, his appearance, even knowledge of Watari’s role. It intrigues Light, because he isn’t sure what this person could possibly want from him, or why he’s contacting him.

He says he can help. He knows L is close to solving this case. Let him help.

Light books a trip to California. It’s sudden, but he says that between school and work, he’s really stressed out. His dad understands, even defends him; he’s working too hard on this case he’s not even technically being paid to do, while trying to figure out how to manage school in between. He needs time to himself to sort things out, and maybe a trip out by himself is what he needs. He wants to visit the forests up north, and maybe explore some of the other cities. A two week trip should be enough time for that.

So he goes. He spends part of the first week up in the Redwoods, goes down to San Francisco, and eventually gets to Los Angeles. 

This means, when L expects him back at headquarters by the weekend, that he really only has seventy-two hours to finalize things with B. They need to settle on a plan. 

“Here’s how it’s going to work,” B starts, sitting across from him in that same booth. Light thinks he must be sweltering under that leather jacket; it isn’t exactly cool in here. “I come back to Japan with you on an earlier flight. You need to find a way to get L out of headquarters. You know, he’s secretly an adrenaline junkie. Get him into the action. Did you already plan on the Yotsuba thing?”

Light nods. He looks down at his watch. Back at B. “Higuchi is greedy, it’ll take no time for him to want to get extra money. I just have to dangle it in front of him in just the right way.”

“Perfect. Arrange it so Higuchi will meet with…whoever, I don’t really give a fuck. Just get him at this location,” he insists, pointing at the Port of Tokyo on the map, “and L will eventually get there, too. I’ll do my job accordingly.”

“Right.” Light responds. “I would like to know more details about that, if you don’t mind.”

Dramatically, B sighs. “Don’t worry yourself. Nothing that a bike and a gun can’t take care of.”

5.

B is ready.

Light is ready.

It’s the day of. Light’s been on edge all day. The whole group has been on edge; they all know they’re on to something big, and they’re about to crack it.

L’s learned of Higuchi, of Yotsuba, of the laundering. At least, part of it, but Light knows better than anyone else here this is just a big red herring. He really thought L would know better. He supposes not, because here he is, taking the bait. Is it for show? Does he really believe it?

He doesn’t know.

It’s close to midnight, and Aizawa and Ide have been tracking Higuchi all day, between the live feed on their screens to monitored calls (thanks to Wedy, who was only there for a few days). L climbs into the front seat on the passenger’s side, where Light can drive. 

Light starts driving to the location. L sits, hands gripping his knees, tense. Police are starting to arrive towards the location; they’re receiving live updates about their statuses throughout.

“Heading south, about twenty minutes from location,” Light says into the receiver.

“Got that. We’re watching Higuchi right now.” Aizawa’s voice reports. “There doesn’t seem to be much going on.”

L hums. Light grips the steering wheel.

“We have enough evidence to arrest him already,” Light says. “Why are we holding off?”

“We need sufficient, hard evidence. This will be enough.” L grits.

“The bank statements aren’t enough?”

B was right. L is an adrenaline junkie. Light sees the way his eyes change, and he knows this isn’t just for evidence; it’s so he can say he did it. So he can say he was right. He caught one of the largest white collar criminals the world has ever seen.

Light looks in the rearview mirror. He sees the bike. He hears a shot. L looks in the side mirror, and sees the same. 

“We’re being followed.”

“Shit,” Light mutters. He speeds up, trying to weave between traffic. His heart is racing. He’s trying to stay calm. “Do you think–”

Another shot. This one hits the car.

L reaches into his pocket and grabs his gun. “Keep driving.”

He leans out the window.

Light hears a shot.

And then, L slumps.

E.

B realizes, far too late, that working with Light was the worst possible thing he could’ve done.

He sees it from behind the bars of his cell. Sentenced to life, sitting in San Quentin State Prison. Found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He’s not surprised in the slightest. He held up his end of the deal.

Light didn’t.

Instead, he let him be arrested. Had his team follow him, get him arrested, extradited back to the States. He got his money, but not for long. He sits alone, biding the rest of the time he has on Earth, eating shitty prison food and fighting with inmates and ending up in solitary for a few weeks. He watches stupid reruns of Law and Order and reads books and occasionally steals a newspaper off of his cellmate.

That’s how he sees Light Yagami come up in the world. He sees him becoming what L used to be. He reads about how Yotsuba was dissolved, but other companies–smaller ones, like Yotsuba once was–grow into the large, influential entities they are. It’s because of him. All of it.

He thought he got what he wanted. It was just another way for business, and it shouldn’t have been personal, but oh, it was. He knew that as soon as he pulled the trigger, as soon as he met Light Yagami at that stupid little restaurant in that stupid, sticky booth.

B didn’t want that. He needed something from L, something permanent to soothe the pain of everything between them, but death was something that stuck; the bullet, an indefinite solution, holding his anger, his resentment, his grief and sadness.

He’s paying for it, now. He knows that well enough.

So B sits.

He thinks of the watch Light Yagami wore.

—

[nostalgiahan]

Still Into You

genre: songfic, fluff, smut

pairing: graffiti artist!changbin x afab!reader (gender-neutral language)

word count: 2k

warnings: drug use (cannabis,) trespassing, oral sex (f,) car sex, little dialogue, changbin and reader run from the cops lol

a/n: i was listening to still into you by paramore and this just kinda. came into existence. it’s also very song focused so if you’ve never listened to 2000s alt rock... i’m sorry lmao. the sugarmill in the story is also a real place that my friends and i used to visit and smoke take pictures at, although the cops never found us there haha. anyways enjoy folks.

Your nails had been tapping on the windowsill enough to wear them down to nubs by the time Changbin pulled up in front of your house. When his beat up Subaru pulled up next to the curb, you just about jumped out of your skin from excitement. Today was your fourth anniversary, as well as Valentine’s Day, and the adrenaline rushing through your blood was a sign that you were more than looking forward to whatever fun plans he had up his sleeve.

Compared to most couples on Valentine’s day, your outfit was pretty plain and not at all glamorous. Practical boots, jeans, an old band hoodie and Changbin’s dark green parka were your clothes of choice, but you knew that your boyfriend wasn’t going to take you to some fancy restaurant. No, you two were going adventuring.

As soon as you hop in the passenger seat of the car, shoving a couple of receipts into the foot well, Changbin reaches into his hoodie pocket and gives you a card. It’s crude, made of a folded sheet of printer paper and hastily scribbled on in pen but it’s very fitting for him.

“You better enjoy the card,” he says with a smirk, “because it came to me in a dream. This is pure, undiluted Changbin, packaged for your enjoyment and convenience.”

Giggling, you open the card. Inside is a barely legible “i love you so much y/n” surrounded by hearts, and in the corner is a drawing of a cow dressed in a lab coat and holding a beaker labeled “Moorie Curie.” It’s perfect, but what else did you expect from him?

“Happy anniversary, my love.” When you look up at Changbin, he has the widest smile on his face, cheeks dotted with flecks of paint and eyes crinkled up into little crescents. He’s dressed similarly to you, hair sitting in a pile on top of his head, clearly not having been paid attention to before leaving the house. It doesn’t matter, though, since the both of you will be wearing hoods over your heads anyways. You lean over the center console to give him a quick kiss, although it takes a couple of tries to get his lips since you’re both smiling so hard.

Changbin kicks his old car into gear as he sets off towards his destination. He’s explaining where you’re going, but you can barely hear him over the car speakers blasting Simple Plan and Green Day.

“So yeah, it’s this sugarmill that caught on fire in, like, 1910, and they never renovated it. There’s a bunch of cool abandoned shit around there, too. I think there’s, like, three fucked up couches.”

As you listen to him talk, you stick your fingers through the gap at the top of the side window. It’s permanently cracked open like that, and you have vivid memories of trying to throw cigarette butts through the gap when the two of you were bored.

After a while of listening to pop punk and playing with Changbin’s fingers over the gear shift, you arrive at your destination. Several charred brick buildings sit in the middle of a field, dead trees framing an open area in the center where someone has set up some logs and rocks to form a makeshift circle. Your boyfriend’s eyes scan the landscape, looking for his next canvas. Eventually, he tugs your arm and leads you towards one of the buildings, smiling back at you. “C’mon, let’s go explore this place.”

The two of you wander for a while, over rickety walkways and up staircases, taking pictures with your Polaroid and holding hands the whole time. Eventually, Changbin finds a stretch of wall big enough to start his work. Setting his duffel bag on the ground, he beckons you over and crouches down, inviting you to hop onto his back.

He pulls out a can of white spray paint, shaking it and popping the cap with his thumb. As he starts to paint, making large, sweeping motions with his arms, you really wished he had worn something sleeveless, however impractical. After lighting a slightly crushed joint you’d fished out of your pocket, you nestled your nose into his shoulder, holding the joint up to Changbin’s lips. He takes a few pulls as he works, the previously bland wall turning into a beautiful blend of blues, purples, and whites. It’s always fascinating to see how he works, seemingly not thinking before laying down a line of paint, yet each stroke seems to perfectly fit in with the others.

As he’s switching colors, Changbin lets you off his back, settling his hands on your sides. He stares at you for a bit, trying to study every bit of your face that isn’t covered by the oversized hood of his jacket. After a while, he smiles, pulling you close and kissing your forehead. Changbin always called you his muse, but you never expected him to take it as literally as he did, often staring at you or asking unrelated questions when he was stuck with a piece. He sways gently back and forth, pressing little kisses to your head, as Good Charlotte emanates from the tiny phone speaker in his back pocket. Occasionally, he’ll pull back just a tiny bit to really study your face, kissing you softly and muttering something along the lines of “i really can’t believe how fucking incredible you are” or “i love you so much it’s unreal.”

It’s not until a few more songs have ended that he pulls away, inviting you back onto his back as you light another joint. The piece is almost done, the tag “SPEARB” painted in blobby letters, shining artificially. All he has left is the outline, but his work is cut short when you hear the faint sound of sirens approaching and the light creeping in from the broken windows flashes a faint red and blue.

What happens next is like clockwork. You hop off of Changbin’s back, putting out the joint on the wall and throwing it into his duffel bag along with the other cans of paint he’s left out. What you’re supposed to do next is grab the bag and run, but Changbin is trying his best to finish a really specific detail and the more time he has that can in his hand, the less time you guys have to get the fuck out. After what seems like an eternity of whisper-yelling and (gently) stomping your foot at him, he caps the can and throws it into the bag. Finally, the two of you are off. As he’s picking up the bag, however, you notice what he was taking so long to finish. In tiny lettering, in the bottom corner of the piece, 4 words. “fuck cops” on one line, and “for y/n” on another.

As the two of you clamber over wooden planks and piping, pulling your hoods over your heads and your masks over your faces to hide your identities, Changbin grabs your hand and squeezes. He lets go almost as quickly as he grabbed it but the sentiment is still there; i’m here, i’m gonna keep us safe. It’s a welcome sentiment when shouts of “police,” and “show yourselves” echo through the abandoned hall.

Fifteen minutes of running and one chain link fence climb later, you’re back at the car, cops nowhere in sight. You’re panting heavily as you throw off the parka and throw it into the backseat, and Changbin doesn’t look any better as he’s gulping water and fanning his face. Right as you’re about to climb in, he grabs your arm and spins you so you’re pressed between him and the car, holding your cheeks in his hands and grinning at you.

“God. Fuck. Wow. You’re unreal. I love you so much.”

You’re unable to do anything but nod. The two of you are still breathless and in that moment you realize that’s what your love was like. In the four years of you dating, your love never went stale, you never settled into a routine. You were always doing new things, like going on spur of the moment road trips or fucking around at playgrounds in the early hours of the morning. You never thought about the future, just did your best to enjoy your time in the present and bask in the glow of each other’s affection. You expected that after such a long time together you’d at least feel a little duller, but everything still feels as fresh and new as when you were teenagers and sneaking out to make out on park benches when no one was looking.

As you’re lost in thought, Changbin pulls you impossibly closer and presses his lips to yours, hard. Music is still playing from his phone as the kiss becomes more heated, and you make sure to add 1985 by Bowling for Soup to your “running from the cops” playlist later. Almost every memory you have with Changbin is attached to a song, and this one is no exception.

Changbin pulls away to wrench open the back seat door, guiding you to sit and kneeling on the dirty floor. He heaves the duffel bag on the seat next to you and you dig through it, searching for the joint you threw into it earlier. Once you’ve gotten to My Own Worst Enemy, you’ve lit it and Changbin has gotten your jeans halfway down your legs and your thighs over his shoulders.

Your boyfriend wastes no time in burying his face in your heat, licking hot stripes up and down and moaning loudly into your core. He pulls away to rest his head on your thigh and take a few puffs of the joint, and in that moment you remember your Polaroid exists and manage to snap a picture of him blowing out smoke, with your hand in his hair and his face squished between your legs.

Changbin pays it no mind and gets straight back to work, sucking on your clit and easing his tongue into your hole. Your grip on his hair tightens and you arch into his mouth, fucking yourself back on his tongue. Picking up on this, he hooks his arms under your thighs and pulls your towards him, close enough that you’re afraid he’s going to suffocate himself trying to pleasure you.

It’s hot and sticky and perfect, and the atmosphere combined with the weed and the fact that Seo fucking Changbin is eating you out is too much for you and you cum all over his tongue, which eagerly laps up your release, taking long, languid strokes to make sure he gets every drop. As you come down, Changbin is stroking your thighs and sucking hickeys into the soft flesh, and you register that Misery Business needs to be added to your “dirty car sex” playlist.

After basking in the yellow glow of the car’s overhead light and the thrilling afterglow of just having done something you shouldn’t have for a while, lazily finishing off the rest of your joint, the two of you get your things in order and begin the journey to Changbin’s apartment, speeding down the highway with the windows cracked the whole way. He carries you into the building like he always does, setting you down gently on the couch before heading off to the kitchen so you can make some blueberry muffins together. You do, and they’re terrible, so you heat up leftovers instead and watch reruns of old James Bond movies, cuddling on the couch. The night ends with Chasing Cars and you laying on Changbin’s chest, naked and sweaty and anticipating lots of aches in the morning, whispering tiny i love yous into each others’ skin and it’s perfect. But everything is always perfect with him. What else could you possibly expect?

please let me know if you guys enjoyed this!! feel free to send an ask, i always love receiving them🤌🏻🤌🏻

[lolathepeacocklord]

Chapter 2 – Run Rabbit Run     God… It was such an awful day. He was given the day off from work for feeling sick, and on his way to his dorm right around the corner to his hallway he stepped on something… Red. Blood. It looked fresh too. He just thought alright- maybe some girl was having a messy day, but there was more. Droplets were now little puddles of red. All the way to his room where it looked like some ketchup monster fell over against the door. And started… Crawling. All the way to the bathroom. Smith gently opened the door.    He could remember it in so much detail. Most of it just being blood. Lots and lots of blood everywhere- all coming from his roommate who was bleeding to death in the bathtub. He literally looked like he was tossed into a cage full of angry tigers. And that’s only slightly exaggerating. It looked like something just out of a horror movie. After his friend got sent to the hospital for several days, he got asked a lot about what happened- always giving them the strangest response. He kept saying that a man did this to him. All these gashes and tears were caused by a… Human male. They weren’t sure if it was just the anesthetics when they first asked him, but he stuck to the story.    He thought he saw this woman getting attacked, and he ran over to try and help. But when he got closer, then man who pinned her to the ground was… Eating her. Tearing her apart with his hands and teeth. And then he went for Hunter.   Smith was really worried about his friend after he returned home. Almost immediately when he thought he was okay he returned and then they were both sick as hell. Then the emergency broadcast came on TV, and Smith was just suddenly in- immense amounts of pain. He couldn’t see right, and it literally felt like his insides were moving around in him. He tried to go get his friend. Tell him they were a lot sicker then they thought. Right in front of the door he collapsed on the ground, and everything went black from there. That was his last memory. The last moments in a normal world.

   Common infected littered the streets- dead and alive. Most of them just wandering around aimlessly, sleeping in any place they found fit, and some just starting random baby fights over who would get to eat this person’s body. Being infected was at least handy in the aspect the commons didn’t pay much attention to you. Sometimes they’d try and attack you just because they’re brainless morons now. But a full on horde was never really a problem to him. Just crowded. He was one of them, they were one of him. He hated to think about that, but it was true.    The rain let up on him finally, which was the first convenient thing that happened to him today. He wasn’t gonna get absolutely drenched anymore. But he still kept an eye out for anything that could be… Following him. From the few things he’s seen, he knew that special infected could be very efficient hunters. And they may not hesitate to attack their own kind- so he moved along swiftly down the street.    Smith wandered out to a giant intersection in town, and took a moment to look around at the buildings surrounding him. He’s gone quite a distance from home. A thing or two here was ever so slightly familiar. But whatever it was It was now in shambles, and either on fire or it looked like it was about to collapse at any moment. He continued along, trying to stay concealed under the shadows of buildings. He already drew enough attention to himself with the occasional coughing and wheezing. At least from what he’s seen most smoker’s have a green mist around them. He was gifted enough to not have that, unless a tumor got popped open or punctured. Then there will be stink mist and weird goo dripping out of him. It was… Really gross. He hated it. There was still a lot to get used to with this mutation. But he felt like he was never going to get used to it. Who can just suddenly get used to a new body like this after living with a normal human one for 27 years?    This session of moping was suddenly cut off when he heard something. Something small was flashing red in the distance, and… Beeping? It definitely got the attention of several common infected, and they all ran over to start hitting and attacking it. Then just like that the thing exploded- sending zombie part flying everywhere    “WHOO! That was a BIG one!” Some dude ran over to the gorey aftermath and laughed about it. Four other people followed behind him- three girls and another guy it looked like. The boy who just threw that bomb looked pretty young- maybe in his last years of high school. He had messy brown hair and wore a torn up leather jacket. He seemed… A little too happy about there being zombie guts everywhere. One of the girls started scolding him for running over and laughing about the bomb explosion. “This isn’t a game you know!” She was a short blonde woman, looking like she may have been Asian. Her hair was in a bob cut and oddly neat for it being the end of the world. The other three people was a girl with light brown hair up in a ponytail, and seemed a lot sharper then the rest of the team. Seemed like she was maybe the leader?    The other woman had shoulder length hair that was pitch black, with a little bit of purple faded into it. She looked like she could have been your junior high bully, or the biggest mcr fan you’ve ever met. She was a little gruff, but in more of a charismatic way. She also seemed to get along with the leader girl.    The last man was taller then everyone else, had neat brown hair and glasses, and had a neat turtleneck sweater that was now covered with blood and other stains. He was trying to help lead around the rowdy boy, who was very disobedient and kept trying to screw around with the infected before he chopped their head off with an axe. “Look Ed- I know we’ve been in the safehouse for a few days, and you’re excited to be out! But you can’t just run off and be a reckless idi-” “Cram it, Goodman.” Ed shoved a pistol into a sleeping zombies mouth and fired. He snapped his head to the right real fast and stared blankly into the alleyway. “You coming?” The queen of emo asked him. Goodman had a map with them and they were trying to figure out where they were, and where they were gonna be heading. “Yeah sorry, I thought I saw something.” The boy shrugged and went back to the rest of the group.    ‘Shit.’ Smith thought frantically- hiding behind a dumpster. If it wasn’t so damn dark here they may have saw him. Shit- He seemed to have… Misjudged how far away the survivors actually were. Good god- how could he get out of here. Should he just wait it out? They might go in the direction he wanted to go. But he also wasn’t going anywhere specifically. Just away from this place. He put his hand over his lumpy neck for a moment, feeling… Odd? And quickly he slapped both his hands over his mouth. God damn it- another coughing fit. At the worst possible time too. He tries to hard to make these stop, but he just… Can’t. It’s too difficult, and not to say painful as well.    Ed looked down that same alley again, squinting a bit and only half listening to what the group was discussing. Sounded like something was… Wheezing? Crying? Coughing? He couldn’t really tell. “Where are you goi-” “Chill out pipsqueak, I just think I head something.” He readied a sniper rifle and cautiously approached the area. “Uh… Hello? Any zombies making love back here?” He asked, peeking around the corner. Smith’s heart almost stopped right there and then when he heard how close he was getting. He proceeded to press himself against the dumpster and think of what to do. He was gonna need to act fast if he wanted to live. He looked to the side very slowly and saw the tip of the gun… “Hey! What are you doing back there!?” The emo girl yelled over. Ed turned around and responded “Something back here smells like shit, I wanted to see wh-”    Before he could finish that sentence he got socked in the face and someone’s knees slammed directly into the crotch. He fell on the ground writhing in pain, and Smith took the chance to grab his gun and start running off. “Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-” Everyone was on him now, and there was a dead end. Wonderful. It was mostly covered by wooden planks, but more to the side he could see the fence was made of chains. He was probably gonna die right now anyways, but he may as well go down trying to save himself. The survivors ran over to see their injured friend, who had a bloody nose and probably no more balls. “What was that!? Did you see??” Goodman helped him up and watched the leader chase the attacker. “Megan’s going after it. I think it was a… Zombie? Pen, did you see him?” “Yeah, he looked like a zombie I’m pretty sure.” The short girl said. “Looks like he came to avenge his fallen comrades.” She looked at Ed with a small sneer.    Megan chased the smoker down all the way to a dead end, where he just dropped the sniper rifle and started climbing the fence. Right as he got to the top she ran to snatch the gun, quickly took aim, and fired. With a shriek he fell off the fence on the other side, writing and pain. She got him in his left arm, and he was bleeding out fast. He was on the other side though, so he pushed himself back up and started booking it out of there. Megan sighed softly and returned to her friends. “I drove him off. Don’t worry, I don’t think he’ll be coming back.”

   Smith had been running for a good long while- grasping his arm tightly and breathing heavily. The troubling thing now is that he was bleeding a lot, and things started to get… Blurry. He leaned against a wall real quick, trying to catch his breathe. Problem was it didn’t feel like he was catching his breathe. Ever. He wheezed loudly with each inhale and exhale, but it felt like almost no oxygen got into him. His legs were shaky, he felt weak… God, he was so tired. He glanced at his shoulder for a second and-

”SHIT!” He screamed and saw someone reaching over to him. Once more he socked them in the face- sending them onto the ground. They scrambled away for a moment, and then Smith pulled out his shotgun. ”DON’T FUCKING MOVE!” He screamed, wheezing loudly afterwards. ”Waitwaitwait don’t shoot don’t shoot!” The man shouted back, sounding terrified. He was holding his hands up, and neither of them moved for several moments. The guy was in a spot Smith couldn’t really see him. Damn it, the sun was about to set soon. Everything was dark.    “Okay… I want you to stand on up, and walk over here slowly.” Smith sighed. He felt like he was gonna faint any moment now.   “Okay-! Alright. Just… Don’t freak out, okay?” The man was a lot calmer now, and proceeded to stand up. He took each step forward with caution, and didn’t take his eye off Smith or the shotgun for even a second. And the smoker right there and then almost fainted from what he saw.    “I’m sorry, you just looked… Wait, you’re injured.” Was what the man had to say. The guy had his brown hair in a small ponytail, he was terribly obese, he wore a blue coat with a white shirt underneath it, and he looked at Smith not with fear anymore. But with concern. “I heard gunshots not too far away. Were people trying to hurt you.” Still frozen in place, Smith just continued staring at the man. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The guy seemed completely normal, yeah. Except for the bulging tumor covering his right eye, and the two smaller ones visible on his neck.

[yongiefilms]

JUST ALWAYS.

STARRING: zhong chenle and reader

GENRE: fluff; best friend!au

WARNINGS: lawbreaking; excessive mentions of teasing; though the rest is complete friendship goals

PLOT: trust your best friend to know every detail of your life, even that one embarrassing time when you blabbered about your idea of a perfect date. but also trust him to be the one to fulfill every wish you ever had, even ones you thought would never come true.

RUNNING TIME: 2.7k

DIRECTOR’S NOTE: putting out fluff before every fic i drop is just pure angst because it is coming and very soon...but enjoy this cute scenario as my parting gift for you all (even if there will be possibly be a few more fluff fics after this, though don’t take my word for it). also shoutout to @dvrlingrenjun​ for always reading through my fics at ungodly hours of the day.

zhong chenle was your best friend since birth. you did everything together. there wasn’t a time when he wasn’t with you. you were the inseparable duo, the partners in crime, and one half of a whole. that was you and chenle. the best of friends, but not lovers like many assumed you to be. though that was never a problem, for it a topic of discussion that was never addressed, yet fully comprehensible to you both. it was a pure and friendly relationship, something that would sustain for years to come. he was there every step of the way and who says he wouldn't continue to be?

when you both were learning to ride bicycles, who was there? chenle. when you got your first tooth pulled, who was there? chenle. when you scraped your knee on the asphalt after running around the playground, who was there? chenle. for each and every memory.

he was always present, simply growing to be your best friend. sure you had others, consider the boys he befriended at the start of high school, but they didn’t mean nearly as much to you as he did.

you could tell him anything. do anything. there was no judgment, just absolute enjoyment. that’s the way it always went and it was why you knew whenever vacation rolled around for the two of you, it would always be the best time as long as you were with him. he planned new things every day, always making an effort and this time he said it was a surprise. nothing new, but you couldn’t help but be anxious at what he had planned.

so when he had picked you up from your house, several doors down from his own and drove to the outskirts of town, you knew something was up. he had parked at the entrance of a restricted zone and told you to follow him through the clearly broken metal fence. you had no choice but to do as he said, especially when you were losing the day fast. yet it wasn't as bad as you presumed it to be, for he led you to an expanse of a field littered with various types of flowers and plants and a very tall hill that could be seen clearer as you walked forward.

he ran straight towards the hill without glancing back to see where you were, too excited for his own good.

“come on!” he exclaimed, calling your name in the process. he was in a hurry for who knows what reason, but that didn’t stop him from making sure you were doing just fine on your own.

when he turned his body around he saw you were struggling to make your way up the steep hill after running to catch up to him. you were huffing and puffing every so often. your legs felt like jelly and you were not even halfway to your destination. it just proved how out of shape you were, well partially at least. why he decided it was a good idea to come here at nearly seven at night when the heat felt worse than it did during the day was beyond you, but it was one of the things you admire about him—your best friend since day one. he was always filled with unpredictable and undeniable fun, making your days brighter with just a grin along with his contagious laughter. you were grateful for him and his sense of adventure, but not right now when you felt you were going to collapse any second.

he rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath some phrase in mandarin before carefully going down the hill to where you suddenly stopped. one wrong move and he would tumble down the dewy grass so he had to be cautious. one of you had to make it out of this alive and you were hoping it was him considering you needed the most help.

he finally reached you after some delicate movements, where you stood relatively close to the start of the hill.

he chortled at you and your exasperated expression, one with your lips pursed together and your eyebrows furrowed. your skin was flushed from the heat and he could see some beads of sweat glistening on the top of your forehead as well as on your temples, just waiting to fall.

you weren’t kidding from being out of shape but it was mostly the humid heat emitting from the sun that was the cause.

he clicked his tongue and shook his head then proceeded to latch his hand onto your wrist to tug you up the hill since you clearly couldn’t do it yourself.

“you can never do anything without me huh?” he questioned with a quirk of his brow.

you sheepishly smiled at him and mumbled in reply, “possibly but don’t let it get to your head.”

his piercing laughter rang in your ears a second time and he trotted forward without responding, though you knew your statement added to his ever-inflating ego.

after several long minutes and repetitive stops because let us be real he had more energy than you, more strength in his legs, you had made it to the top of the hill that overlooked the cityscape of your small town nestled in between the mountains. the scenery was beyond beautiful leaving you starstruck for you never quite saw it in this light, literally. the sun was beginning to set beyond the horizon, the warm colors starting to fade into the darkness of the night. some lights of the homes in the distance were sparkling and the usual sound of cars was drowned out by nature’s bliss. a breeze could be felt that cools you down in moments, brushing against your face and his own, his hair ruffling ever so slightly.

but it wasn’t only the scenery, it was also him and what laid before you. you had guessed he had come upon the flowery hill before he had come to your house to pick you up. for the picture mimicked one you would only see in movies. a red and white checked blanket was laid on top of the dark green grass without any wrinkles in sight and was held down by a huge brown wicker picnic basket. additionally, juxtaposition to the basket, was one of your favorite novels of all time, little women by louisa may alcott, with a bouquet laying on top. you could make out some small white daisies in the bouquet, your favorite flowers something only he would know.

everything just appeared to be perfect.

his hand had dropped from your wrist as he took steps forward to sit on the blanket, leaving you to admire everything in front of you.

your eyes were wide and filled with shock, but you managed to let a soft smile slip onto your face as you focused on him.

zhong chenle amazed you. he always did.

he tilted his head, waiting to see your next move, and then patted the spot next to him, silently asking you to join him.

you shook your head to get out of your trance and strode forward, sitting down criss-cross applesauce right next to the boy in question.

“chenle...” you spoke. “what is all this?” you let out a little guffaw, a teasing tone dripping from your words. “did you do this all for me?”

he gave you a deadpan look and you had to hold back the giggles from escaping your mouth. “don’t think too highly of yourself now.” he reached over to lightly push you to the side, the laughter bubbling up from your throat.

“but in all due seriousness, it’s a picnic can’t you see?” he put his arms in front of him and made a grand gesture towards everything before you.

your cackles halted to a stop and you huffed in response, rolling your eyes at his remark. trust him to be smart with his retorts, always trying to be one step ahead while ruining the zest in the process. silence encompassed you both as you just stared at each other, but then a beam broke out on his face, his eyes transforming into little crescents. he let out a small cough to clear the air as it was now your turn to give him a deadpan stare, but it was hard when his next words warmed your heart.

“anyways...while we are having a picnic that i obviously did for you, it isn’t for no reason. do you remember that time we were just absentmindedly discussing our crushes or something like that? it was a while ago, so i am not sure if you remember, but i do.” his hand was twiddling with a piece of grass as he had twisted away from you, refusing to make eye contact. “you told me this idea you had for a perfect date. one where your partner would prepare a picnic for the two of you, specifically with a home-cooked meal and the two of you would watch the sunset while having a view of the town. you said it was basically the dream date and the person that would do this for you would have your heart.” he let out a taunting snicker and finally raised his head to gaze at you again. “imagine that, but since you clearly haven’t had a date in forever, i thought why not?”

you were about to punch his shoulder from his not so kind jab at your love life, but he jerked away just in time before continuing. “might as well put my clearly romantic side to good use. as you can see i clearly did a fantastic job if i do say so myself. i think i got the whole lovey-dovey thing down.”

you hummed in acknowledgment though you weren’t going to give him the benefit of the doubt, well not entirely at least. “sure you do,” you let out a scoff. “but lovey-dovey? buddy, need i remind you we are friends?” you furrowed your eyebrows and glanced at him weirdly, though you were being lighthearted rather than serious.

he nervously chuckled and cleared his throat, afraid you caught onto something, but he knew it was all in good mirth. however, that didn’t calm his beating heart.

his nerves were still haywire, yet he managed to place his right palm over his chest, near his heart. “did you…” he took a sharp inhale of breath. “just friend zone me?”

you hit his chest playfully. “shut up. you’re so annoying sometimes, lele.”

he gave you a toothy grin, bumping his shoulder with your own. “it is my job after all.”

another roll of the eyes. “unfortunately, but i really can’t believe you remember what i told you about my idea for a perfect date. it seems so long ago…”  you trailed off, lifting your eyes to admire your town, the faint glow of the sunlight reflecting across your face.

“i always remember things involving you.”

your heart stopped in your chest at his bluntness, the evident embarrassment coursing through your veins. sometimes it astonished you how chenle never had a filter, always speaking his mind, yet with it came the fact that he sometimes did not know what he truly said. right now was one of those countless times, albeit you knew he meant declaration, especially when it came to one of his closest friends.

you could hear the shuffling besides you. chenle was obviously trying to set everything up by opening up the basket and taking out all the goodies he had prepared for this “romantic date.”

you whipped your head around to see what he was doing with making so much noise. at that moment he had managed to take out two perfectly plastic wrapped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, placing them on two paper plates he had taken out seconds before. his hand reached in the basket once more and he took out two apple juice boxes, putting them right near the sandwiches.

your titters rang loud, startling chenle in the process as his head abruptly jerked up.

you brought your hands up to your mouth to try to stop the chuckles from coming out, the sound becoming muffled. he raised his eyebrows at you, trying to figure out what was so funny. instances went by before you had finally become quiet and dropped your hands in your lap.

“chenle you can’t be serious. what is this? an elementary school meal?” you threw your head back, placing your hands flat on the checkered blanket to keep your composure.

“hey! elementary meals were good. don’t slander them.”

you brought your head forward, raising your hands up in the air for defense. “okay, okay.” your beam was wide viewing his clearly offended expression. “though i know you can cook so it came as a surprise. i am just a bit confused is all.”

he sighed loudly, leaning back on his arms. “yes i can, but i was on a time constraint so i couldn’t hone in on my cooking skills today, okay? sorry to disappoint. though if you think about it this is technically home-made.”

“you’re not wrong, but hey i will take what i can get.”

“thank you for your generosity.” he let out a scoff then reached to the side of the basket and picked up your favorite book, thrusting it into your hands. “now here, i couldn’t forget to bring it.”

you ran your fingertips across the cover, turning it over in your hands to admire every inch of the novel even if you had seen it a thousands times before.

he poked your shoulder blade to capture your attention amongst your state of admiration. he held out the bouquet of flowers you speculated he had picked from the flowery field surrounding the hill and you put the novel to the side, taking the flowers from him.

“wow i guess i can’t deny you are a little bit romantic,” you jeered at him.

he whirled his head away, the tips of his ears growing slightly red. “now shut up and let’s watch the sunset...please.”

you let out a long breath. “fine, but don’t forget we have to eat too.”

he rolled his eyes, handing you the plate with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich along with the apple juice, which you gladly took from him after placing the bouquet down. “obviously.”

so that is how you spent the rest of the evening, like the perfect date you had in mind years ago―watching the sunset and eating a homemade meal even if it was something straight out of the elementary school cafeteria, while sitting atop a hill that encompassed the whole town.

when the light of day finally faded away, you cuddled close to your best friend, seeking some sort of contact even if the coolness of the night was rarely felt.

he didn’t even think twice before putting his arm around you, tugging you a little bit closer to him. when he did so you placed your head on his shoulder, rotating away from the now dark sky to peer up at him with puppy dog eyes.

you spoke so gently that if anyone managed to pass by the two of you right then, they wouldn’t be able to hear you from the barely evident sound.

“hey lele?” you question.

he hums in return, still observing the twinkling lights of the town and stars.

“thank you for today. i enjoyed our little friend date, definitely was like i imagined it to be.” you released a small giggle. “a perfect date indeed so thank you for doing this for me.”

he turns his head down to glimpse at you once you finish talking, his gaze filled with fondness. he then shifted slightly and placed a kiss on the top of your head, murmuring his next words.

“you’re welcome.” you could hear the smile in his voice.

you looked straight forward, no longer locking eyes with him and whispered into the night,“i love you.”

his melodic laughter filled your ears. “yes i know.” he paused, murmuring right back. “but i love you too.”

you held out your pinky finger, raising it slightly so he could clearly see it among the increasing blackness.

“always and forever?” you asked.

he hooked his pinky with yours.

“always and forever.”

[rhysismydaddy]

The Bodyguard pt. 4 (Elorcan)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Surprise at the end ;)

______________________________________________________________

Elide’s leg bounced uncontrollably as she sat at the breakfast table, staring at Lorcan, who just stared back, stern face looking unaffected.  

After last night, she felt like things had changed between them. Whether he wanted to acknowledge it or not. 

She’d kissed him. 

And even though he said it was just the adrenaline and shock, deep in her head, she knew that was bullshit. She’d been attracted to him since the first time she’d seen him. Last night she’d only acted on the impulse. 

But he hadn’t kissed her back. 

He definitely didn’t seem mad about it, but he sure as hell didn’t react like she would have wished. And ever since, it hadn’t exactly been awkward, but it was sure as hell different. 

Especially since she’s seen a different side of him when he’d taken care of her. His usually hard exterior had cracked enough to let her in, and it made her feel a little differently about him. In a really, almost disturbingly good way. 

“I think we should get out of the city,” Lorcan said, snapping her out of her train of thought. 

“And go where?”

He shrugged, but it didn’t look that casual. “I have a cabin. And it has enough security measures to let us know if someone’s coming.”

“Do you think that’s necessary?”

A dark look crossed his face. “Last time you asked me that, it didn’t end up well for either of us.”

She should’ve known he’d bring that up. Asshole. Even if he was right. “But what about my job?”

“Can’t you take a few days off?”

She could, but she never had before. Her schedule for next week was actually pretty blank and devoid of high-risk clients. Elide sighed. “When do we leave?”

“Twenty minutes.”

Her eyes bugged. “I haven’t even brushed my teeth. Or showered. Or packed!”

Lorcan just took a sip of his coffee. “Nineteen minutes.”

Sprinting to the bathroom, she cursed him soundly and flung herself in the shower. When she finally got packed and ready, she went back out to see him check his watch and shake his head. “That was twenty-three minutes, Elide.”

The way he said her name made her smile, even if he was teasing her. “Not all of us get up at five in the morning, Lorcan.”

He gave her a small smile, and she followed him out to the garage. Unsurprisingly, a jet black vintage sports car was in his spot. “Do you recognize you don’t own anything with color in it?”

Lorcan threw their bags in the back, then got in the driver’s seat. “Yes.”

Shaking her head, she got in the dark car’s dark interior and grinned. After turning on some old rock and buckling their seat belts, they were off. 

They drove out of the city quietly, getting through traffic surprisingly well. 

“How far away is this place?” she asked as he steered them through the suburbs, grimacing at all the white-picket fences they passed.

“About two hours.”

Oh, gods. 

What would they talk about for two hours? The only long conversation they’d had was last night, and it wasn’t exactly cheerful. She turned sideways in her seat, studying his profile, and an idea sparked.

“What’s your favorite color?”

Lorcan shot her a curious glance. “As you pointed out, I don’t own anything with color.”

“Just pick one, then.”

“Gray.” She should’ve seen that coming. A smile tugged at her lips as he sighed and asked, “What’s yours?”

Settling deeper into the warm seat, she replied, “Navy. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?”

He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like back to my apartment. “Are you going to do this the entire time?”

“Do what?” she asked, using a very innocent voice. 

She was surprised he could even talk with how deep his scowl was. “Therapy me.”

“Asking your favorite color and dream destination is not therapy, Mr. Salvaterre. I’d expect you to know that after a week of crashing my appointments.” Elide sighed dramatically. “But, yes. I’m going to do this the entire time. It’s my duty to society to therapy you until you give in and tell me everything about you.”

The scowl deepened, but there was a touch of humor in his steely gaze. 

~

When a large hand bumped Elide’s shoulder, she shot awake, eyes immediately finding Lorcan’s. 

“I fell asleep?”

“Mid question.” His lips twitched. “Started drooling everywhere.”

Her cheeks warmed at the teasing note in his voice, so she avoided dignifying that with a response. “Are we here?”

It seemed like a stupid question, but they were currently in the woods with nothing but trees around them. Lorcan nodded. “We have to walk the rest of the way.”

“And why, exactly, do you have this place?”

He shrugged, grabbing their bags and climbing out of the car. “It’s off the grid.”

Eyebrows high on her forehead, she got out, inhaling the smell of the forest around her. She hadn’t realized how long it had been since she’d gotten real fresh air that wasn’t polluted by chemicals and smog from the city. 

Lorcan chose not to breathe deeply and enjoy their surroundings. Shock. He just reached and pulled a deep green and brown tarp over his car. 

What the hell was this place? And why was he acting like they were going to war?

“You going to be okay to walk there?”

She nodded. 

After a year of PT and a few surgeries on her ankle, she walked normally. It still flared up with pain, and she’d probably be sore after hiking through the woods on such uneven ground, but she wasn’t about to make him carry her plus the bags.

Lorcan nodded, too. “It isn’t far.”

About thirty minutes and multiple breaks later, Elide was wondering what the hell far would look like to this man. He strode through the forest, glaring at the plants and greenery around him if they dared to get in his way. 

Elide, on the other hand, struggled to keep up and was practically gasping for air as a small, wooden cabin finally came into view. 

“Oh, bless all that’s holy,” she cried. “We’re here.”

Lorcan glanced down at her, amusement and a twinge of concern on his face. He wasn’t even sweating, the insufferable bastard. “Are you alright?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” she wheezed. 

“Stay here for a minute,” he commanded, then strode towards the house, taking a very specific route. 

In fact, they’d done that the entire way here. He’d ordered her not to step certain places, touch certain trees, and a ton of other bizarre things she’d written off as coincidence. 

He disappeared inside the house for a minute, then a soft click sounded around her. 

“You’re good,” he called out.

Eyes narrowing, she walked up the creaky stairs of the house and inside. It was a little dusty, but everything seemed to be in working condition. “What was that all about?”

“Security measures.”

Vague. Unless... “Oh my gods, are there bombs under the ground?”

He gave her a wolfish smile as he nodded. “And pressure sensors to alert me if there’s anyone out there. And cameras. And trip wires.”

“And I’m guessing all the stairs and floorboards creak.” 

He looked a little impressed. “They do. We’re safe here.”

“Seems so.”

“You can have the room upstairs; I’ll stay down here. It’s up and to the right.”

Elide nodded, going up the very creaky stairs to find a small bedroom with furniture somehow even simpler than what he had in his apartment. A bathroom was attached, and she was ridiculously sweaty after their hike, so she got in, happily surprised when the water was clear and hot. 

When she’d wasted enough time in there, she got out and put on a large, floppy shirt and leggings.

She went back downstairs to find Lorcan in the kitchen, pulling out cans and preserves and setting them on the counter. “We have enough food for two weeks.”

Two weeks? She couldn’t stay here for two weeks. 

She told herself it was because she didn’t want to miss work, not because she didn’t trust herself around her housemate. Two weeks alone with Lorcan, in the middle of nowhere... Elide was sure she’d do something to embarrass herself.

Like kiss him again. 

Pushing that thought away, she slid on the leather sofa and pulled her foot in her lap to rub her ankle. It didn’t hurt, but it would be tight as hell tomorrow if she didn’t massage it a little. 

Suddenly the couch dipped and Lorcan settled on the opposite side. He looked her over, then waved a hand. Surprised, she swung her leg over and put her feet on his lap. 

Elide made a small noise as his thumbs started to massage her ankle, and she blushed as he looked up at her. “Does it hurt?”

She shook her head, suddenly unable to talk with his hands on her.

The memory of their kiss drifted through her mind. He’d been so stoic when she brushed her lips over his, and it had happened so quickly she wondered if she’d made it all up. But afterward, when he’d kissed her scar... that had been anything but stoic. 

His dark eyes were on her, and she could tell he was thinking about last night, too. Maybe she wasn’t crazy. 

His hands stilled, so she moved to pull her leg back, but he shook his head and held them on his lap. “Elide.”

He’d only said her name, but her breathing started coming faster. 

Lorcan leaned closer, and she realized with a start she was moving towards him, too. Their lips touched, just as softly as the first time. “Elide.”

She kissed him again, just the barest brush of her lips against his. “Lorcan.”

And for the first time since she’d met him, he smiled. 

It was a big, beautiful smile she doubted anyone saw frequently, and it made her want to kiss him again. So she did. 

He leaned forward until she was tucked under him, his big body pressed against hers. And just like the other times he’d been like this, she could feel every part of him against her. 

But this time, she felt it with her hands, too. 

They drifted over his shoulders, down his back, across his abs. She smiled as the muscles constricted under her touch, and he took the kiss deeper, his tongue coming to meet hers. 

She moaned softly into his mouth, hands finding their way into his dark hair and pulling it out of its usual bun, finding it surprisingly soft. 

His hands were on her face, cradling her softly, but moved down her shoulders and sides, thumbs barely brushing the sides of her breasts. Elide arched into his touch, but he kept it light, almost teasing. 

Until he gripped one of her thighs and pulled it around his hips, settling in between them and pressing himself against her. 

A gasp escaped her at how just that little moment of contact had sent tingles over her entire body. 

Lorcan kissed across her jaw, down her throat, stopping to suck at certain places. She’d never imagined she’d do anything like this. Had always figured she wasn’t capable of feeling lust after everything that had happened to her. 

And now her body was very politely telling her how wrong she’d been. 

She was on fire underneath him, burning with something she’d never felt before. Lust was unfurling inside her, and she wanted every part of him.

But as his hands drifted under her t-shirt, fingertips meeting the soft skin of her stomach, she pulled back. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately, eyes finding hers. 

She looked down, suddenly embarrassed. “I, um.. I have a lot of scars.”

Gripping her chin softly, Lorcan brought her gaze to meet his, and his features were filled with understanding. “So do I.”

It was such a simple statement, but it meant everything to her. He’d been through unspeakable things, just like her. But he wasn’t ashamed. And... she shouldn’t be either.

So she nodded, reached down, and pulled her shirt over her head. 

His dark eyes drifted over her, taking in her curves, the plain bra covering them. The scars. His expression never once showed anything but desire. 

“You’re beautiful,” he told her softly. “And I’m going to fucking prove it to you.”

She didn’t know what that meant, but figured out his intentions quickly as he leaned down to brush his lips over her shoulder where a thin white scar rested. 

He took his time kissing it, then moved down her arm to another imperfection. 

And another, then another after that. 

Until she couldn’t remember why she hated them, why she’d been embarrassed. He was worshiping them, silently telling her everything she’d ever wanted to hear. 

Then his hands slipped behind her back and unhooked her bra, and he worshiped her there, too. 

She squirmed underneath him, making an embarrassing amount of noises, but he didn’t seem to mind. 

Especially as he reached to pull the waistband of her leggings down just enough to expose the brand. 

Just like the night before, Lorcan leaned in and brushed a kiss over the mark. 

Then he kissed his way back up to her mouth and whispered, “Beautiful.”

She opened her mouth for him, and his tongue swept in. His hands went back to her waist, thumbs slipping in her leggings to start pulling them down. 

He stopped abruptly when a soft clicking noise sounded. Lorcan was on his feet in an instant, stooping to pick a device up off the floor and grimacing.

“Get dressed,” he growled, tossing her bra and shirt on her stomach very romantically. 

Elide threw her clothes on, getting up to walk over to where he was looking out the window, device in hand. “What’s wrong?”

His tense shoulders and set jaw told her it wasn’t good, but she wasn’t prepared at all for what she saw as she looked at the screen. 

She could make out a dark square with two blue dots--she assumed those represented the two of them in the house--in the middle of the woods. But what she wasn’t ready to see were the multiple red dots surrounding the place. 

There were at least fifteen of them, flickering to show they were getting closer. 

Lorcan looked down at the device, a cold, dark look coming over his features. “We’ve got company.”

______________________________________________________________

Today, ladies and gentlemen, is a special occassion: it’s @maastrash ‘s birthday! And for her birthday surprise... here’s part 5. 

@bamchickawowow @cursebreaker29 @girl-who-reads-the-books @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln @studyliketate @over300books @justgiu12 @maastrash @a-bit-of-a-cactus @ladywitchling @sjmships @superspiritfestival @stardelia @keshavomit @illyrianwitchling13 @lord-douglas-the-third @blackjacks-donuts @hufflebird89 @sensitiveillyrian @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @towhateverend17 @empress-ofbloodshed @dottieadot @idontlikekale @se-ono-waise-ilia @tswaney17 @jlinez @wineywitch202 @aesthetics-11 @b00kworm @sleeping-and-books @musicmaam @savemesoon8 @hizqueen4life @maybekindasortaace

[blackenedwhite97]

Storge (Familial Love)Pt.2- EraserMic x Student!Reader

This post includes: Mentions of loss of family, cursing, mentions of fiscal problems, mild violence and injury, a prominent homosexual relationship, and mentions and depictions of anxiety.

Original Request: “Imagine living all by yourself. You’re a teenager that lost their parents years ago and refused to become a part of the foster system. So now you work and take care of your own apartment all while going to school at U.A. It was starting to take a real toll on you when Mr. Aizawa and Mr. Yamada approached you, like concerned parents. It could be written as platonic or romantic. (Not with the reader, I'm talking about Mic and Eraser)”

Authors Note: 

As per usual I over wrote! This will be divided into two chapters. I went off on a bit of a tangent with this one but to be fair i wrote the first half over two months ago and the second half this week.

Word Count: 5.6k

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

Chapter 2

That day you walked home in your new coat; the wind’s bitter teeth unable to gnaw at your bones like it used to. When you reached your front door, you didn’t want to shrug it off and toss it into the pile of sweaters and hoodies you kept near the door for cold days. You wanted to keep it on even if that meant, for the first times since the weather had changed, you’d be sweating through your clothes. It was new, you like new. It was a gift; you’d forgotten how much you like gifts. You cooked in the coat, did your homework in your coat and eventual fell asleep on your couch swaddled in the warm fur hood.

When the sun broke through your blinds the next morning you uncurled yourself, reluctantly peeling off the coat in favor of getting some fresh air on your sweaty skin. You checked the time on your phone, 5:32 AM. It was still early and you wagered you could sneak in a couple more hours of sleep before you had the be in class, but you overflowing kitchen garbage can caught your eye and you decided you’d rather use this time to maybe take care of somethings you’d let slide. First order of business was to clean your dishes, the counters, and gather all the miscellaneous trash scattered around your apartment. The second was to take said trash to the complex’s communal waste bin across the parking lot. Your apartment was starting to look like a functioning home again, the next thing to go was the pile of warm layer next to the door, you wouldn’t be needing those anymore.

The snow crunched under your feet, more had fallen throughout the night and it hadn’t yet been disturbed by the day’s traffic. The sky was pink and the rooftops white, and in the early morning silence your neighborhood didn’t look half bad. You lifted the heavy metal lid to the trash bin, tossing your over-stuffed bag before the seams could give way. With a clang you dropped the lid, the sound resonating through the streets. A dog barked in response and the world returned to silence.

You took a deep breath of crisp clean air and for a moment everything faded, only the blazing sky and your swirling breath mattered. Then the snow behind you started to crunch, footsteps moving closer. You turned around, suspicious of anyone else up and about this early in the morning. You were met with two familiar sleepy eyes peeking out from behind a thick grey scarf.

“Mr. Aizawa, G-good morning?” you greeted awkwardly.

“Uh, yeah. Good morning.” He said back, his hands shoved in his pockets. “I’m- just heading back from a night patrol. Sorry if I startled you.”

“I didn’t know you patrolled around here.” You’d never seen him before, which you guessed was technically the point.

“I-” he paused. “Just expanded my patrol range recently.”

“Oh, good to know.” You smiled at him; you rarely saw heroes here. If you did it wasn’t for long.

“Okay, well, I’ll see you in class.” He started to turn away.

“Hey, Mr. Aizawa?” An idea suddenly popping into your head. He paused and looked back at you. “I- since I have my provisional licence I’m allowed to patrol with a licensed hero and if you’re in the area on my night off-”

“No.” He said, turning back away. “You’re too loud. I’m sure Mr. Yamada would be willing to take you on patrol, if you ask nice enough. He can’t stealth to save his life.”

“I am not!” you huffed. “I can stealth if I want to!”

Still turned away from you chuckled. “Prove it in class today, then maybe.”

He started away again and in mere second scaled your building and leap across the roof out of view. You made you way back to your apartment, taking care to step slowly and as carefully as the snow would allow it. You’d show him stealth!

Mr. Aizawa wasn’t kidding about class. The whole obstacle course was built around stealth, evade capture for thirty minutes with no use of force and pass. It was in teams, you failed, your team also failed. You, as you were fully aware were, the least subtle out of your teammates. He had grouped you together on purpose, you knew it. You had to think logically, you had to plan to move around as little as possible. You ended up pulling a cluster of debris around you and your team in the middle of what looked like a junk yard, using your power to keep them in place as All Might thundered around looking for you.

        While it definitely was suspicious that this pile of debris wasn’t moving while the world’s strongest hero was lunging around, shaking buildings with each impact Mr. Aizawa passed your team. You were dismissed early for lunch with your team, beaming as you left the training grounds. You’d passed, proved you were stealthy.

        After you had wrapped up your lunch you decided to head back to your home room early, you were tutoring a first year in history and needed to take time to refresh your memory. Why not in an empty classroom?

        You knocked on the door tentatively, hoping Mr. Yamada had taken his lunch outside of his room. That, however, wasn’t the case. “Hello?”

        You slid the door open a fraction. Mr. Yamada and Mr. Aizawa sitting across from each other on two student desks, a convenience store bought bento open between the two of them. “Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt I was looking for a quiet place to study.”

        “Your always welcomed in your homeroom! Come in, we’ll keep the talking to a minimum.” Mr. Yamada waved you inside as he hopped off his desk to grab a white steaming cup from the edge of his desk. “What are you studying?”

        “First year history.” You held up your worn out textbook. “I tutor some of the underclassmen.”

        “Any from my class?” Aizawa asked.

        “E-Eijiro Kirishima.” You were pretty sure he was in Mr. Aizawa’s class, the kid sure complained about him enough anyways.

        “Hm.” He shrugged to himself. “I wondered how he suddenly started passing most of his tests.”

        “Speaking of passing…” you trailed off looking at Mr. Aizawa expectantly.

“Yes, you did.” He sighed into his coffee.

“See, I can be stealthy!” you exclaimed, clutching your book to your chest.

“No, you can hide. You tripped over your own feet leaving for lunch.” Mr. Aizawa grumbled.

“But you passed me!” You chirped. “You said that if I passed you’d take me on a patrol!”

“I said maybe I’d consider it” he corrected you.

“Sho.” Mr. Yamada chided him, eyes peering over his orange glasses.

“I-” Mr. Aizawa looked at his partner, then over to you. You gave him the sweetest smile you could muster, Mr. Yamada doing the same. “When’s you’re next night off?”

“Thursday.” Your smiled grew genuine.

“I’ll be in your neighborhood around 8, take a nap after school and don’t be late the next day.” He instructed, eyeing Mr. Yamada frustratedly.

“Yes, sir!” you bowed. You began backing out of the room.

“Aren’t you going to study?” Mr. Yamada called as to were just about to breach the doorway.

“Right! Yes, thank-you!” You scurried forward, taking your usual desk and opening the textbook.

The next few days passed, work claiming your evening, classes taking up your days until you found yourself lacing up your boots at your front door waiting for 8 o’clock on Thursday evening. You’d seen Mr. Aizawa once in your neighborhood since Tuesday morning, and he was sporting a bruise that seemed to disappear by the beginning of class that very same day. You supposed he had access to Recovery Girl’s powers in the morning before the building filled up with students.

You leaned against your window frame, staring out into the parking lot waiting for the familiar darkly dressed silhouette to appear against the snow. When he finally leaped down from your roof you raced out the door to meet him. you slide to a stop in the slippery snow, spattering his legs with wet slush.

“Subtle.” To your surprise an entertained grin tugged at his lips. “I have a specific surveillance target tonight. I want you to get your patrol experience but if I tell you to turn tail or stay back you do as I say, got it?”

You nodded. “Who is it?”

He stared walking; his footsteps impossibly silent in the dense snow. You now realize, if had wanted to hide his presence the other morning, he could have. You tried to mimic his soft steps, but your pace suffered and you found yourself trailing behind him.

“His alias is Earth Breaker, he’s an elemental type villain. He can control earth at his will, that means projectiles of stone and a solid defense.” Mr. Aizawa briefed you.

“Any we’re surveying him because?”

“Remember that apartment complex that went down last month about six block from here?”

“That was him?”

“Yeah. He killed lots of people in that building.” Mr. Aizawa paused and looked at you. “I’ll tell you when we need to stealth you can just walk normally for now.”

You straightened up and jogged to catch up to him matching his strides until he began to slow about six blocks later.  He held up a hand and turned to you. “Stay fifteen feet back, don’t lose me.”

You nodded and strayed off to the side of the sidewalk where a hedge of wild bushed would give you quick cover if you needed it and began to follow Mr. Aizawa from a distance. He ducked into an open gate, melting into the darkening yard, you hugged the fence and peered into the dark until you caught a glimpse of him moving again. He darted across the yard and you ducked into the gate just in time to see him jump the farthest fence. You dashed to the fence, careful to slow down so you didn’t make a loud impact against it. On the other side Mr. Aizawa’s rough voice whispered through the gaps in the wood. “The house across the street to the east, you see it?”

You looked to the east along the fence, you were in a perfect position to keep an eye on the top floor of windows. “Yeah.”

“Keep an eye on the top windows, I’m moving in. Text Mr. Yamada- Hizashi- the street name and district if things go awry. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary. Understood?” this a quiet thud a phone landed at your feet, a text chain with Hizashi already on the screen.

“Roger.” You nodded, grabbing the phone from the ground. You heard him leave but not where he went, and for several long minutes you waited in silence. Nothing in the windows stirred save the lights going on in a room, then going out again. You pre-typed the text to Mr. Yamada in case you had to send it quick and waited. You kept waiting. The street was so silent that you felt as though outside of yourself time had stopped.

You sat in limbo until suddenly the ground beneath you began to tremble. Waves of tremors rolled past you, flowerpots clattered on their saucers and fences began to sway. You stood up and dashed toward the gate, fighting against the tremors to stay on your feet. A loud bang rang out through the streets, echoing from the house across the street. You latched onto the top of the gate and peered over it just in time to see a cloud of dust washing towards you. You ducked until the worst of it washed passed you, by this time lights all around the neighborhood had begun to turn on a civilian peaked out of windows and doors.

You held your breath and hauled yourself over the fence, landing in a bed of flowers, you felt a tinge of guilt about crushing. Through the settling dust you could see the front of the house you’d been watching; it was covered in dust and the front door was hanging on by a single hinge. In the doorway a hulking man stood, his arms braced against the door frame which had fishers running through it that bled into the walls. His eyes were a light with an animalistic rage, the type of rage only a mad man could carry inside.

As the dust continued to roll back you could see more of the street, rocks and dirt scattered everywhere. Shingles and chunks of siding rained down from the house and bounced off the street. Mr. Aizawa crouched in the street, dust rolling off of him as he shielded the bottom half of his goggled face. You looked at the phone in your hand then back at him, he still seemed so calm. You left the message unsent.

“A SPY?!” The man in the doorway roared. He brought one of his great fists down onto the stone walkway at the front of the house and a fissure formed, snaking across the ground towards Mr. Aizawa. “THEY SENT ANOTHER SPY?!”

Mr. Aizawa launched himself backwards, barely escaping the crumbling ground beneath him. He should have been faster; you could have gotten away quicker than that. You watched as he landed, quickly shifting his weight to his left foot immediately after hitting the ground. He’s hurt.

You hit send. Better safe than sorry.

Earth Break fired off two quick fire blasts, Mr. Aizawa easily skirting one but heading straight into the middle of another. You shot out your hand and thought about pulling him towards you out of the way. He grunted as he was jerked backwards, landing and sliding into the grass. He side glanced at you, keeping his head turned towards the enemy. His hand hung at his side flinched, his fingers motioning for you to back up. You did as you were told, scrambling sideways into some bushes that lined the yard you were in. He stood and took off, even on his injured leg he managed to fade away into the night.

Behind you a low creak altered you to someone peeking out of the front door. You turned around and saw a man wrapped in his house coat staring wordlessly at the behemoth across the street currently smashing apart the driveway. You whistled quietly at him, his eyes darting to you. He stopped himself from shouting in surprise with a hand over his mouth and a calming breath. You crawled closer to him with a finger help to you lips.

“Get back inside, to the rear of the house!” you whispered.

He looked back across the street and his eye swelled with fear as he took a step back inside the house, this time a yell escaping him. You spun around to see a chunk of the road hurdling towards the house. Thinking quickly, you darted towards it and just as it passed over head pulled it towards you with your quirk. You rolled to the side narrowly escaping being totally crushed, instead getting away with a nasty gash in your arm from a stray piece of rebar. You jumped to your feet and looked back at the house, the owner was a few feet inside frozen with fear.

“Run!” you shouted at him. With a tremendous grunt behind you another chucked of road was launched towards you.

“ANOTHER ONE!” he roared.

You darted in the only direction you could at the moment, the house. You rushed in through the door,  and pushed the man inside along as you did. You breached the kitchen just as the boulder crashed through the doorway, tearing into the walls as it did. Debris flew everywhere, pieces of wood and insulation filling the air. You pulled the man through his house until you both burst through into the backyard.

“Keep going!” you huffed as you spun around and darted back through the house.

You breached the crater where the front door had once been, the shadow of a massive dust storm beginning to swallow the top of the house. Rocks and dirt and chunks of boulders began whipping around, leaving the house was next to impossible unless you wanted to be bludgeoned with debris. Windows shattered, the ground shook and the foundation began to crumble beneath you. The cement base tore through the carpeted floors in spears, you had to jump left and right narrowly avoiding serious injury until you made it to the stairs where the spears were having a harder time getting at you.

Then everything stopped, the spears crumbled into sand and the ground stilled. The house moaning as it settled back into its uneven foundation. The street quieted, almost back to the timeless silence before the chaos had begun. A single roar of anger pierced the air, cut short with a grunt. You steadied yourself on the stair railing and made your way on uneasy legs to the front yard. Mr. Aizawa stood, covered in dust and debris, with a single boot pressed into Earth Break’s chest. His hands pulled tightly on his capture weapon, restraining the boulder of a man below him.

The street began to fill with lights and sirens, the cool blue darkness of the night flooded with red and white. Police piled out of their cars and vans to load the villain into an armoured truck for transport. You plopped down onto the front steps, brushing aside an uprooted plant. You sat and watched the arrest, watched how many officers it took to contain just one man. He was the definition of raw power, one stray kick tearing off a police car door.

Once he disappeared into the truck you leaned back onto your arms, you were beat. You were sore and exhausted, but you were also in a strange perverse sense happy. Perhaps it was the adrenalin of what you’d just gone through still coursing through your system or the afterglow of a technically successful patrol, but you felt like this was what you were meant to be doing. This hero thing, this was for you.

When a pair of ambulances arrived, you watched as the paramedics jumped into action. One of them offering medical treatment to Mr. Aizawa who, you had only just noticed, was making a b-line towards you. He waved off the paramedic, limping towards you on his injured leg.

“Are you alright?” He grunted, lowering himself onto the step next to you.

You looked over yourself, your sleeve was torn, and arm was scratched up from the rebar in the boulder but you would live. It immediately started to thrum with pain when you looked at it, the blissful ignorance of adrenaline wearing off as soon as you actually took stock of the injury. You were covered in dirt and dust, but you still felt good, despite your injuries.

“Yeah. Just a scratch.”  You shrugged. “How’s your leg?”

“I’ll live.” He grumbled looking down at his torn pant leg. “Thanks for that by the way, the save earlier. Even if you did put yourself directly into harm’s way, like an idiot.”

You chuckled to yourself. There was always a learning opportunity with him.

“No problem?”

You both sat in silence for a moment, watching some of the police cars start to leave.  It was him who spoke next. “So, where’s my phone?”

“Oh,” you looked over your shoulder at where you had dropped it, a large boulder sitting in the wake of a deep groove in the lawn. “it’s-”

“Under that boulder?” he sighed.

You nodded solemnly; you couldn’t afford to replace that phone.

“Well, at least it’s not you under the boulder.” He turned back to face the street.

Was that… a glimmer of fondness? You smiled to yourself, a familiar warmth blooming in your chest. You still missed that, people being glad to have you around. You didn’t really spend enough time around people to feel that anymore.

“Okay,” Mr. Aizawa pushed himself to his feet. “let’s get that armed checked out.”

“It’s a scratch, I’m fine.”

“It’s flesh eating bacteria waiting you kill you.” He said, pulling you up with surprising strength for a guy with a bum leg. It wasn’t quite the same as Mr. Yamada’s unbridled kindness, but you got the feeling this was Mr. Aizawa’s version of fussing over you.

***

“Hey.” There was a quiet knock at the door of your room. You looked away from the fuzzy TV screen to find Mr. Yamada leaning up against the door frame, a disappointing looking cup of coffee in his hand.

“Hi. What’s are you doing here?”

“Sho- Mr. Aizawa had to get an x-ray for his ankle so I thought I’d stop by and keep him company while he waited.” Mr. Yamada looked over his shoulder, sighed, shook his head and turned back to you. “It would seem he needed so such company though.”

“What do you mean?” You gestured at the chair in the corner of the examination room for him to sit.

“Well,” he gladly took the seat, propping his boot clad feet up on a basket of magazines. “he’s been on the phone passing around the emergency room, probably hurting himself even more. He’s giving the station an ear full right now, he’s not very happy with them.”

“Why? They came pretty quick.” You picked at the paper rolled out across the bed.

“You.” Mr. Yamada placed the cup in his hands on the ground and looked up at you. “He only let you patrol with him because the report he was given on Earth Breaker misclassified him in threat level.”

He leaned back into the chair, sinking down like a bored teenager trying to slip away. “I’ve never heard him chew someone out for so long.” Mr. Yamada grumbled.

“Really?” You didn’t really know what to say, partially because you couldn’t picture Mr. Aizawa being upset and the other part because you were trying not to fall asleep. The adrenaline had worn off about half an hour ago and the pain meds the nurses gave you were strating to lull you to sleep.

“Yeah.” Mr. Yamada pushed himself back into a proper sitting position, tucking one leg under himself. He was obviously uncomfortable in the wooden waiting chair. “I was surprised when the nurse said you were still here, I thought you’d have gotten stitched up and went home.”

You blinked a few times, begging your eyes to stop drooping.

“I have to wait for my case worker to come get me, since I’m a minor leaving the hospital after treatment is kind of tricky. I can’t check myself out.” You shrugged.

Mr. Yamada sighed, not particularly happy with his new position but seemingly not bothered enough to fix it either. “How long have you been waiting?”

“I called and left a message like, an hour and a half ago.” You looked down at your phone, there was a new crack in the screen. No New Messages.

“And?” Mr. Yamada asked.

“Well, it’s currently 2:30 in the morning,” you breathed, “so I assume she’s asleep. If I don’t hear form her in another 30 minutes the hospital will call child services and they’ll send an overnight clerk to get me.”

“Shit.” He mumbled. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah. Mr. Yamada?”

“Mm?” he looked at you, his body sliding down in the chair.

“Don’t expect me to make to class on time tomorrow okay?” you grinned. You were tired and it was the best approximation of a joke you could make.

“I’d be upset if you even showed up.” He huffed, pushing himself up.

You both sat in silence for a few minutes, the distant gruff voice of Mr. Aizawa lecturing someone filling quiet. You looked at the TV for a bit, our eyes burning with exhaustion. You tried to read the medical posters, but the reading made it hard for you not to nod off. Eventually, after a particularly long blink Mr. Yamada spoke up.

“Lie down, go to sleep. I can wake you up when someone comes to get you.” You were about to protest when he reached up a turned off the lights. The open door still letting in the cool light from the hallway. “Shhhhhhhh.”

You could have sworn you’d seen his silhouette sink down in the chair as his shush came to an end. While you hated the idea of sleeping around other people you couldn’t fight the urge to close our eyes and fine rest.

***

“Should we wake her?”

“We have to, she has to sign a form before she can leave, Zashi.”

“Shit, right!.....Hey Sho?”

“Mmmm?”

“Thank-you.”

A hand gently shook your leg, waking you from your shallow sleep. You blinked into the dark room, a figure leaning in the doorway, silhouetted by the hall lights. At the end of the paper topped bed was Mr. Yamada, or rather his very recognizable silhouette. Still dazed with sleep you rubbed your eyes and started to pull yourself up, the paper crinkling and tearing under you.

“Hey, kiddo.” He greeted softly.

“They here?” you mumbled, stifling a yawn.

“No, no, no.” he seemed somewhat nervous, glancing behind him at the figure in the doorway. “Mr. Aizawa called in a favor with someone at Child Services, he got permission to check you out. We’ll give you a lift home.”

You blinked. You weren’t entirely sure if you understood what was happening, you were too tired to really care. Home sounded good and he said you could go home. You nodded anyways and slid off the table, Mr. Yamada putting a pre-emptive supportive arm around you. You were on auto piolet, the pain meds and sleepy daze that hung over your head making it impossible for you to fully wake up. You signed some paper, a nurse said something nice. Mr. Aizawa looked…soft. No, nice…nicer than usual.

Then you were in the back seat of Mr. Yamada’s car, drifting off against the car door and dim streetlights passed you by.

***

You woke up to the sun piercing through your blinds, hot rays of light warming your chilled skin. Your room, perusal was chilly, though you were curled up under several blankets. You stretched and groaned, the that fog that hung over. You last night lifting. Lifting. Lifting. Lifted. Panic. You shot straight up, your aching muscles expressing their displeasure at the sudden movement. You looked around for your phone, it was usually under your pillow but then again you didn’t even remember getting into bed.

You didn’t really remember getting home or leaving the hospital. You ran your hands up and down the bed until your phone caught your eye as it rested atop to dresser across the room. You crawled across the bed, stumbling to your feet and looked at the time. 12:14 pm. You’re heart sank. It was Friday and you were late, again. Then your eyes caught sight of a folded piece of paper, a hastily written note on the back of your grocery receipt.

‘Don’t you dare come to class today. Here’s my number, send me message when you wake up. Let me know you’re not dead. -Mr. Yamada.’      

        You looked down at yourself as the panic subsided. You were in the most basic configuration of your hero costume, the jacket, gloves boots and utility items were folded up next your phone. All that remained what your pants and undershirt, both in need of some patch work and cleaning. You dethatched all of the pieces that couldn’t be washed and gathered up those that could and threw them in the communal washing machine on the floor below. When you reached your apartment again all you wanted was to eat and shower, but you typed out a brief, to the point text and sent it.

               ‘Not Dead. – Y/n.”

        A hot shower warmed you right up. You got a better look at the bruising on your arm and knees, noting too serious nor life threatening. In fact, you’d think you’d probably gotten worse during training. When you got back to your phone you quickly found out Mr. Yamada was an emoji texter. You could only imagine how he and Mr. Aizawa’s message exchanged must look now.

               Glad the hear it! Got something I wanna talk to you about when you have time!’

                    ‘IT’S NOT BAD! I promise!’

                    ‘Is there a time I could stop by this weekend?’

‘Mr. Aizawa would be there too or course! Not like a one on one thing, that would be weird.’

        You could see his energy channeling into texting anxiety. You checked your work schedule, you had day shifts this weekend so any night would work. You responded as such, suddenly realizing you had invited them over to your dumpy apartment. You could kick yourself. You looked around; this place was so rundown that it needed to exorcized of its dust. You flopped back onto the bed, dreading all the cleaning you had ahead of you. To top it off you had a night shift to get ready for.

***

        Saturday. Within the next day you had gone to work twice and between shifts thrown out everything that wasn’t wearable, washable or too offensive to be allowed continued existence. By the time you were moderately happy with your place it looked like a college dorm pre-move in. It’s not that your place had much personality to begin with, but over the last few months the mess had become your only sense of self here. Between your busy schedule and lack of motivation to do anything outside of work and school, you had gotten comfortable living in the product of that life.  Despite the stress of having guests over to a home you were ashamed of, the cleanliness was…nice. You could get used to this.

        You were almost able to enjoy the new environment when a knock sounded at your door and your gut squeezed in on itself. You tried to relax, telling yourself that they weren’t going to judge you. They fought villains for a living, you were not their idea of a bad person. A bad apartment doesn’t make you a bad person. You still felt shitty, though.

        You opened the door. The two of them stood in the hall, shoulder to shoulder, in casual clothes. Mr. Aizawa looking tired, but not as frustrated as he seemed to be when lurking in the halls at U.A. Mr. Yamada was bright and smiling, without the cockatiel hair he seemed less larger than life, more puppy-esque.

        “H-hi!” He greeted.

        “Hey.” You smiled back politely. Okay, now let them in. “C-come on in.”

        It took you a second to open the door wider and step aside, hopefully they didn’t notice. Who were you kidding, Mr. Aizawa definitely noticed, hopefully Mr. Yamada was still unaware of your currently mortified state. You turned around; they were taking in your space. You followed their eyes. Your walls were too bare, your couch sagged awkwardly in the middle, you didn’t even have a kitchen table.

        “This is nicer than your place when you first moved out.” Mr. Aizawa mumbled under his breath, ginning as he elbowed Mr. Yamada.

        “I mean,” Mr. Yamada blushed. “there’s a reason that building doesn’t exist anymore.”

        “Did you guys want to sit? I have… water?” Yes, those were things you said when you had guests.

        “No, thanks.” Mr. Aizawa said, nudging Mr. Yamada towards the couch.

        “O-okay.” You rubbed your arm awkwardly.

        The three of you went towards the couch, the couple sat on the couch and you leaned against you leaned against the T.V. unit. Silence hung in the air; it was a dense silence filled with unspoken words. You were nervous, it felt like you were doing your own parent-teacher interview. Mr. Aizawa remained ever calm, he looked almost serene compared to, not only how you felt but also, to how Mr. Yamada’s vibrating leg betrayed him to be feeling.

        “So,” Mr. Aizawa started.

        “So,” Mr. Yamada trailed behind. With a stern look from his partner he continued. “I know, when you lost your parents you didn’t want to be mix matched with other families.”

        A strange feeling began rising from your stomach, it was somewhere between anxiety and comfort. It made no sense, but you pushed it down and let him continue.

        “And since you’ve been on your own you’ve done really good for yourself.” He fiddled with a loose thread on a tear in his jeans. “But there are some drawbacks, like last night with the whole hospital thing, right?”

        You nodded. Wanting desperately not to jump to the conclusion you felt tickling the back of your mind.

        “I, uh, I was… Well, we were-” Mr. Yamada swallowed hard.

        “We were wondering if, just until you turn 18, you would consider letting us foster you.” Mr. Aizawa has said it but all you could see, and feel was the sheer panic and surprise of Mr. Yamada’s face.

        “Y-you want…to-” you breathed. That warm feeling refused to be repressed any longer and spray forth, a bright shiny joy engulfing you. You had thought you didn’t want this, that you were better off just waiting out your years as a minor. You hadn’t thought about how much you missed family in a long time, how much you missed having people fuss over you and worry about you and even make assholes of themselves for you.

        “It’ll also be easier if you go on school trips or want to apply for a licensing exam, we can even help out with, like, normal everyday life stuff maybe.” Mr. Yamada threw in.

You grinned to yourself. You had five months left to be a kid.

Read Chapter 1 of Storge here!

[abloomntime]

A Bloom In Time Ch14 Subcon’s State

(All the things in the Sucon Forest are shown in the video above and if you want to see them just skim through the video here. This is also going on my headcannon that all the ruins and houses were remains of the town near Vanessa's manor. Skip to 27:14 in the video for the fountain, 30:37 for the town hall(A.K.A where the giant shattered time piece was), and 31:30 for the old cafe area. These are just my headcannons tho that they're the remains of the original village from the Subcon storybook. The giant grave stone can be seen at 26:14.)

The video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68p19wzt2OM&list=LL&index=11&t=0s

"Back to the ship?"

Poppy had questioned the little girl who happily pulled her along and nodded with a hum to her question. Snatcher had told her to take Poppy back to the ship and Bow didn't want to make the ghost any more cranky than he seemed, Hattie trotted behind to catch up to the two girls as Bow continued to happily walk happily holding her hand like the responsible child she was. Poppy however was not very enthusiastic about being teleported AGAIN to the ship, but luckily Hattie had the most brilliant of brilliant ideas for space travel with a grown up. Which is why she was so proud when she grabbed Poppy's hand and started to lead her over to a small clearing in front of them. The thick fog in Snatcher's Forest is kinda tricky but there was the Subcon Village that provided a strong signal from their umbrellas to one of her telescopes. All she had to do was for both of them to hold onto Poppy and with their combined power they should be able to- Both kids stopped when Poppy stopped at the very edge of the long, black thorn vine that lead to the infamous ghost's home and suddenly stared straight ahead. Any subconite or dweller that wasn't scared off by Snatcher's yelling to go back to their posts was still staring in their direction.

".....Ms. Poppy?," Hattie asked quietly tugging on her still semi soaked dress. "Do you need help getting down? It's ok. We can help you."

She didn't respond and instead still stared straight ahead in front of them at the dirt path that lead to and from Snatcher's tree. The old metal fencing(or what was left of it) on either side of the road creaked with tiny groans as the wind blew, pushing around a little bit of her hair and clothes around. Some of the leaves on the dead trees rustled along with it and a few orange-red ones fell and wobbled past her towards the ground- She jumped when a pair of his minions giggled mischief like and ran down the dirt road. Their child like laughter echoing throughout the forest and into the fog as they soon disappeared from sight somewhere beyond the foggy path. A leaf suddenly fell on her face blocking her view from the weird world for a moment and instead welcoming her to a new brighter one from her memory. Of people with their horses and wagons with goods, or just plain walking down the road minding they're own business. She'd often take this road back and forth with suppilies to her stand and small house outside of town, two little children would always run up and down the road wearing those goofy play masks back and forth. Right by the entrance to the town where there was a gigantic tree planted by the founder of the town himself to grow along with the town itself. Quite poetic. It was the biggest tree she had ever seen, and admired the oak in all it's glory-

As soon as the memory of smiling people, and beautiful greenery came it went as Poppy scrambled at her face to push the leaf off. Blue eyes blinking and lungs panting as she once again was faced with the sight of the gloomy haunted forest before her and the two little girls who were confused and slightly worried staring up at her still. The reality and memory hitting her so hard that Poppy nearly fell off the giant thorn and would've fallen on her face if the two girls hadn't grabbed onto the back of her dress and pulled her back to her feet thankfully. She wobbled a little but stood straight up again and blinked. Looking around back at the tree home of the ghost and blinking at it....before her head turned towards around the tree and in a different direction from the fence surrounding it.

"Ms. Poppy. Be careful!"........When neither children got a response from her they gave each other looks before Bow gently tugged on her dress to get her attention. "Ms Poppy, are you ok?"

"....I know this place." She looked down in thought for a moment hand shaking before pointng in the direction of Snatcher's home. "T-The Great Oak was here! W-Which means in that direction would be-..."

She pointed into the forest and both girls looked in that direction still confused, but neither had time to react before the older lady suddenly moved along the giant thorn vine connected to the tree and jumped off it. An adreneline rush to her body as she ran around the home and towards the other side of it. The girls yelped and ran after her as she started off to who knows where. Unfortunately it didn't stop her from running up to the wooden fence near it and hopping over the posts.

"Uh...Boss?" One of the minions tapped at his tail making the giant ghost hum and turn his head around. The minion nervously pointed towards the home and his yellow eyes looked in that direction just in time to see two little figures jumping the wooden fence before disappearing into the woods east of the home and he instantly scowled.

"What the peck are they doing now?"

The woods of dead trees and fog meant nothing to her anymore as she hoped the fence and began running in the direction that felt so familiar to her. The girls right on her tail calling out for her to come back, but the rush of knowing this was-...It HAD to have been here once. The old dirt path was no where in sight as she ran but that didn't stop her heart from pumping as she did so. She barely even noticed more of those colorful worm ghosts floating around or the occasional minion peeping surprised to see her if they haven't seen her already from the small meeting at Snatcher's home. Finally stopping, she heaved as she looked around the forested area, hands coming up to push messy, dirty red hair from her face for better veiwing. The gloomy purple aura and the dead trees gave her no familiar feeling at all and now..... The pale woman dropped her arms seeing nothing but dead cursed woods around her. The girls finally catching up and stopping next to her annoyed.

Hattie being the first to grab at her dress again. "Hey! Have you gone bananas!? I'm already in big trouble for dropping you! Snatcher's going to be more grumpy now!"

"I-...It was here!" Poppy looked down at the ground and let go of her bangs that flopped back into place, as she stomped. "It was RIGHT here!"

"What was?," Bow asked confused.

But Poppy just started forward again looking around at the grey-green grass and started walking forward again, looking....SEARCHING for something unfamiliar to the children trailing behind her looking worried and confused as to what exactly she was doing but she knew what she was looking for....And a small gasp escaped her when she saw it. Or more like the beginnings of it. Shuffling her feet around in the dirt she finally saw the beginnings of flat, worn out stone that wouldn't be noticed by anyone if you weren't looking for it specifically. The thousand years were not kind to whatever structure was left here, but she knew what it was. The start where the now long gone dirt road would've turned into cobblestone leading into the village ...Which meant that..Poppy's eyes widened and she started forward again and this time keeping her eyes down and tapping her feet along as she walked revealing more and more flat rocks hidden under moss, grass, and dirt from years and years of wild life taking over. The girls following behind seeming to understand now that the path was starting to have a little more give way and more bricks were starting to show through the dirt until an old ancient pathway finally gave way to only a few cobblestones at a time here and there and the three of them were walking along what looked like a stone path long forgotten and slowly being chipped away by the elements...Which was EXACTLY what poppy was looking for. Her eyes widened in wonder as she know walked clearly on the path, staring down at the cracked and badly worn n uneven cobblestones with grass poking out from all the cracks. If she remembered right, this path lead to the center of town. And around that was all kinds of houses and mini pathways between them.

"Where are we going?," Bow asked still following behind the older woman and looking to Hattie who shrugged.

"The town's square!,'' she replied the child almost excited as she finally looked up from the road.....And stopped. The girls stopping by her heels and looking at her as she stared straight ahead before looking there too. Before them was an old archway that looked like it was the beginning of some ruins of some ancient civilization. In the slightly foggy surroundings she could see more and more half stone remains, black against the grey and purple. Now getting a look at her new surroundings away from the foggy swamp area, she could clearly see MORE of those many dead trees and gigantic black thorn vines everywhere. Above the archway was two pillars with those beautiful statues of winged people she knew the lovely town had, but these statues didn't even have any heads, giving them a much more menacing appearance. Right behind the archway was the actual road. Still very very broken, but it was more intack than the path she had been following, and beyond she could faintly see more ruins with stone remains of buildings. She still stood there as a breeze took through again moving what hair and parts of her dress wasn't still damps making her shiver. But the two girls didn't seem fazed at all being there before and looking around at the forest surrounding them, utterly confused as to what they were supposed to be looking at exactly but when Poppy slowly began to move forward again they blinked in surprise but followed her none the less as she neared the archway. It loomed over her the closer she approuched it and her body sucked in a breath she didn't know she needed when the shadow of the arch crossed over her slowly walking form. The beheaded statues glaring down at her silently as she passed, and stepped onto the path(or what was left of it and began forward. Hattie gave a scowl up to the behead statues as they passed, grip on her trusty umbrella becoming stronger as they passed just in case one of them decided to be a peckneck and chase them. She'd have to fend them off again if that happened. The stacked up old rotting houses and ruins of large stone buildings formed more and more as the further they walked in. Their footsteps echoing around them as they still walked, and Poppy looked around at all the old ruins of what once was houses. Bright, colorful houses and small businesses. All with happy people and their children running in and out all day wearing silly masks playing pretend while the parents and older folk ran the village as usual. The statues bringing joy with their smiling faces and having heads. As they went deeper, Poppy spotted some of the statues that still had heads thank goodness. So not all of them were in that state, but didn't notice Hattie glaring at any she passed until she froze. The end of the path laid ahead of them and ended right before some large stone ruins. Oh. Hattie recognized this place for sure. There was a time rift here she had to fix once and the place she met Timmy. The breeze still ever present blew a few leaves towards the ground where she was standing and Poppy watched as they blew passed her. Blue eyes lazily watching as they fluttered over towards a pretty strange sight that made her blink- "DAH!!" Something snagged the back of her dress as she began forward again and a quick turn of her head confirmed it to be both the girls yanking her back as if her life depended on it. "What in tarnation are you two doing?!"

Bow was the first to speak with a worried voice. "Please don't go that way!,'' she pleaded with big eyes, "The mean statue will get you!"

"What statue?"

Hattie pointed her umbrella at a headless statue that was right next to the path up ahead of them. "THAT statue! No head means it's dangerous! It's cursed and it's gonna chase you if you get too close!"

Poppy immediately looked to where the girl was pointing and stopped. Yes there was a headless statue right there a mere inches away from the path, but it was what was right BEHIND the statue that got her attention. One being that there was a magical blue, glowing cello in the middle of what looked like used to be stone floor, the roof and walls of the building already wasted away. Only leaving a few giant bricks. .....Giant oak walls suddenly clouded her mind. A small cozy place, where any one and everyone could go in and have a small break while reading away by the fireplace-

"OOF!!" Both girls fell flat on their stomachs as she once again rushed forward, forgetting about the small children behind her for a moment in favor of running the rest of the way down the path and making a break for the faint glow of magical blue cello's and a burning fireplace. "HEY!! THAT WASN'T COOL!!" Hattie's shouting did nothing as the two got up and ran after her again more annoyed. Passing the statue, Hattie gave a stink eye at and one of her famous raspberries as it thankfully remained unmoving there as it should be if it didn't want to face her umbrella's wrath! She was grumpy enough as it was as she caught up with Bow and Poppy finally who was currently staring in wonder at the glowing blue cello, right next to the glowing Blue table and chairs. As if she was seeing another ghost.

....Poppy's eyes widened in wonder before the older woman, against her better nature, reached a shaking hand out and place in right onto the table, letting out a small gasp when her hand didn't go through. She was expecting to go right through the ghostly looking thing but didn't. It felt cool like an almost ice cube. "W-What is this?...Wait a minute." She suddenly snapped behind her at the old fireplace who for some reason was burning with a regular orange fire. Next to it was a couple logs presumably for the fire, an old chest, a small pot with two old umbrellas, and some time of random painting on a tree right behind some of the old giant bricks. Where shiny oak walls used to be and her eyes widened. "This...The library!" Her eyes went back towards the direction of the statue. A shelf with old books, too worn out to ever read again laying there and a long destroyed grandfather clock no longer ticking. But it was clear as day as to where she was standing right now. Yes. The library was the first business down the west path of the Great Oak Tree when you first enter the village. It was a pretty small business but the village was pretty small so it makes sense. And that means next to it was the school house and a little ways from that was the town hall. She looked in the direction of the once cute and small stone school house. Nothing but a stone skeleton of pillars and a single rusty lanturn swinging in the breeze from above one of them. All gone.

"A library?," Hattie looked confused at her again like she sprouted a pair of antlers, "This is where Timmy likes to hang out. Hmm...Haven't seen him yet. I wonder where he is now?"

Poppy didn't pay attention to whomever 'Timmy' was, just pointed at the remains of the old building. "Yes it is...Or at least it was. T-This was a library. A-And that was a school house and over there-...." She stopped pointing in a direction the girls looked. Giant ruins of what was unboutedly large building remained surrounded by the remains of a metal fence around it as she silently stared at it for a good long silent moment. "....The town hall. The mayor lived there. A descendant of the founder you know."

"Hey! I know that place! I fixed a time rift there once!"

Poppy still didn't pay attention. Instead she looked down almost back the way they came but at an angle...There used to be another path here that branched off down the way there towards the village square where most of the homes were...and her stand. Without thinking she began walking in that direction. Mind almost blank and going on second nature. Not paying attention to anything the girls were saying now as she blankly walked and just walked. Past dead trees and their mossy branches. Past more ruins and cracked statues. More fog and more ghosts curiously watching as they walked by. The only thing her blank mind registered at the moment was the couple of graves she saw. The girls only getting more annoyed and confused as she kept on walking-

And walking.

And walking.

And WALKING!!

The air around them had started to become slightly harder as they neared the burning constantly smoking part of the woods where they really shouldn't be. The embers lit up partially this part of the fog as she continued to walk. The smell of ash and burning plants filling the breeze. Until they all came across a different set of ruins the girls had also seen before. Poppy suddenly stopped....looking up at the large stone monument that was once proudly taken care of. Now only remained a said reminder of what once was, lit by a couple old lanturns on the ground near it's base and the burning woods a few yards away from them. At least the breezes were a little better than the cold ones now.

"The Founder's resting place," she mumbled before starting to walk again. Looking forward at the ruins that laid ahead of them. By now the girls gave each other a look before starting to walk behind her. By now a few curious subconites and dwellers had started gathering around and following curiously as the three walked on and on throughout the forest as Poppy still walked and walked. It wasn't long until they all found themselves in front of what was the town square. there was nothing left barely. A couple old ruins of the buildings that surrounded the giant grand fountain in the town square were gone minus some old ruins that were bourded up with rotting wooden planks, have rusty fencing, road all but gone, and some plants here and there. The once proud fountain itself all dried up and just sitting there like some poor excuse for a statue. Yet another headless statue standing in the middle of it. Once it had beautiful crystal clear water running all through it. Now it was nothing but a sorry waste of stone. "...What ever happened to this place?" She asked herself just loud enough for only her to hear, walking up towards the fountain as the two girls looked to each other and began talking again but her mind didn't register what. As she walked up to the fountain's remains cracked and belittled. .....And placing a hand on it. It was rough and cold as she expected and devoid of like. Running along all those cracks formed from years of weathering away and sighed. "He was right...I-It's all gone."

A small sniff came out followed by her closing her eyes to keep any tears inside and her body shook slightly. The Snatcher was right. The home she knew really wasn't here anymore and she would never be able to get it back...Unfortunately her grief prevented her from hearing the upcoming danger ahead. But Hattie sure saw it when the stone menace dropped from the top of the fountain with a thud and turned it's headless body towards Poppy as the little girl's eyes widened in horror.

"MISS POPPY RUN!!"

A shadow loomed over the woman and she looked behind her, blue eyes going small at the sight of the headless stone monster reaching towards her out of some nightmare. A shriek louder than anything they ever heard before tore through the forest as the red hair woman made a run for it in the opposite direction fear and adreniline pumping through her veins as she ran away from the terrible thing that gave chase to it's prey. The girls screaming something after them as they too gave chase after them. The absolute feeling of looming dread and fear fueled the horrofied woman as she ran through the woods as fast and as far as possible but one look over her shoulders gave her a tiny scream again when she realized it was still right behind her and grabbed at her with it's cold stone hand. Barely missing her hair with every grab. Turning back in front of her breathing heavily and making a sharp turn to try and shake it off. Slipping on a few leaves and falling to half a knee but managed to straighten back up and keep running but unfortunately didn't shake the statue. Running and breathing the cool air into her burning lungs from the amount of heavy breathing the adrenaline caused. Feet thumping against the ground to where she could hear her own footsteps, and the heavy footsteps of the stone monster behind her.

"LEAVE HER ALONE YOU PECK NECK REJECT!!!," Hattie shouted at the statue one hand on her hat and the other swinging the umbrella at the statue's heels.

"RUN MS POPPY!! DON'T LOOK BACK!!," Bow yelled unhelpfully behind them.

Poppy could only whimper as she still ran with fear of whatever that statue would do to her on her tail. What was she supposed to do?! She couldn't think straight right now with her mind so focused on running away and now dying.

"GRAB THE NOOSE?!"

"THE WHAT?!," her scared self screeched out not daring to look behind her.

Hattie pointed her umbrella ahead of them. "THE ROPE WITH THE SHINY BLUE ROCKS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!! GRAB IT QUICK!!"

In her panicked mind she looked for blue rope and her mind did see a rope with blue crystals jutting out from it attatched to a tree. She didn't recognize it as any noose in this state. Only the though that maybe she could climb it and get away crossed her mind. Which is why when she oh so desperately reached her hands out for it and eventually grabbed it, heart hammering against her ribcage, she shrieked again when the thing suddenly clamped down onto her wrist and up, up, up she went. The girls stopping on their heels and watching the grown woman dangle up in the middle of the air wriggling around like a worm on a hook before looking down and gasping from the height. Other hand immediately clamping around the rope spun around her wrist. She must've easily been twenty or more pecking feet above the ground.

"And up we go~," a deep voice cooed but she barely paid attention to it still gasping for air and staring at the ground in fear. The two children were standing a few yards away from the statue, Hattie glaring and Bow looking worried as it circled where Poppy was hanging a few times before changing direction and running a different way. They all watched as it ran back off towards the fountain area and once it disappeared within the ruins Poppy felt a small wave of relief wash over her. But just barely. She was still high up in the air!!! " Why hello there.~ You look....new around here.~" The same deep voiced cooed out which snapped her attention back up and around the area fear still present on her face. "You know." Blue crystals on the rope glowed like magic as the deep voice echoed out through the air. "I haven't seen a solid neck like yours for a long time.~"

......That was all it took. Another shriek cut through the air and soon enough she was thrashing and pulling at the thing like a mad man to let her go like a monster did catch her.

"Be careful now.~ I don't want to see you meet a miserable end anywhere.~ ....But with me.~ Take it easy my friend.~"

"LET ME GO!! SOMEONE GET ME THE PECK DOWN RIGHT NOW!! HELP ME!!"

"Calm down! We'll get you down promise!," Bow shouted up trying to calm down the raging woman clawing at her clutched hand despite the danger she was in.

The blue crystals were digging into her skin and scraping it. She was going to have one heck of a rope burn after this but she didn't care as long as she got away and to the safety of the ground below. Which would surely hurt but there was no PECKING way she was staying here like this! She wanted OUT of this nightmare fueled forest! To run and never look back! Nothing was here but bad things to hurt her and lost memories. Tears started to water in her eyes as Poppy's throat clenched and it was becoming hard to breath with that and her heart hammering and lungs forcing air past that clenched throat of her-

"Are you done?," a raspy voice asked her which made her completely stop and open her eyes to meet glowing yellow ones just a few inches away from her face. the giant ghost was scowling at her with crossed arms raising a brow at her situation before groaning and shaking his head. "I leave for less than a minute and you run off like an idiot in a dangerous forest where you can get hurt? Did you even listen to me at all?"

.....She choked and a couple tears fell down her cheeks. "I-Im sorry! Really I am! J-Just p-please help me!"

...Snatcher's face fell seeing her cry like that but sighed and uncrossed his arms to grab her. "Fine. But maybe now you'll listen." Her body was gently lifted into an almost bridal style as he lifted her up relieving most of the strain on her wrist as he glared down the noose. "Let her go before I burn you into nothing but ashes!"

Instantly like Magic, the grip on her wrist went away and she wretched her hand to her clutching it to her chest as she stared at the receeding rope. "I'm always here for you, Sir.~"

"Yeah. I'm sure you are." His gaze softened as he looked back to her. "Hey. Are you alright?" She didn't answer. Instead staring down to her wrist which had a mark where the rope dug into her tightly and a few scrapes like she suspected. Making him hum. "You'll be fine. Just put some ice on it and you'll be fine in a few hours."

"You can grab onto me whenever you'd like, as long as I get a glimpse of that neck of yours.~"

"PECK OFF!!" Snatcher yelled at the rope as Poppy curled in on herself and leaned more into his hold as he glared at the rope while sinking down towards the ground......Huh. Funny. Why did this situation feel familiar? Snatcher was looking at her with a soft expression as he lowered near the ground, dipping himself down once he got close enough to softly place the panting woman onto the soft ground making her flinch at the sudden action of solid under her body again. Then leaning back up to recross his arms as the girls ran on over to make sure she was ok. By now the small crowd of minions looked around at her having followed their leader over to her to watch the ruckus. "Well....I hope you're satisfied now from your little adventure."

.....The shaking woman weakly pointed back upwards. "That-...It-.....T-TALKING ROPE!! MOSTER STATUE!!.....NO HEAD!!"

...Snatcher looked over to the girls for an explaination and Bow pointed towards the fountain ruins. "The..statue chased her."

He groaned and reached up to punch the area on his face where a nose would've been if he still had one. "Out of all the stupid-...Fine. You know what?" He held up his claws. "It's fine. Let this be a teaching moment for all of you. And what have we learnt today?"

"...Uh....Keep Poppy away from statues?"

"No!...Well, yes. But it's actually keep away from dangerous cursed objects." His gaze went back to the woman still having a moment on the ground clutching her chest and staring up at him and sighed. "Now do you see? There's nothing left of your old home. But us." His claws gestured to the surrounding minions and himself. "We're all that's left and you should accept that's how it is now before you get hurt. Believe me the sooner you do the sooner everything starts to get better for you. Kids. Take her home now."

The girls didn't question the spook as he watched them struggle to get her on her wobbly legs and pushed towards an open clearing much better suited for a signal to the telescopes as Snatcher silently watched them take her away with a slightly soft frown. He knew all too well the panic and need to see for himself what was destroyed before he came to terms with anything right after his death.

"Hey, Boss?" One of the minions gave him a curious look. "Wasn't that a little harsh?"

"......No. The sooner she accepts things the better. Everyone back to your post. I have business to take care of."