#i need to figure out how to draw c rains hair

[loudlysraindropanon]

Rain sat on the raggedy carpet in the House's living room, tracing lines through the fabric of the carpet mindlessly. The house was dark and the only light present was the moon light that came through the various windows around.

Rain hummed as they traced lines, watching their finger with no real thought. They looked up at their finger for a second to glance around, always paranoid as they had been taught to be, before catching a glimpse of a dusty photo on the fireplace and quickly looking down.

It was an old photo, cracked from when it fell multiple times and dusty from sitting on the shelf untouched for so long. The picture inside showed a younger Rain, back when their companion Karlee had taken them in. It showed in the way Rain smiled, still in the clothes they had made for themselves, and the way light still sparkled in their uncovered eyes. As a 6 year old who was born over an ocean, they hadn't had a concept of stranger danger and when Karlee had offered them help, Rain took it without any suspicion in their mind.

Rain scoffed, bringing themselves back to the present. What a fool they were, so blindly trusting someone who obviously didn't care for them. Karlee had just wanted to use them for her own personal gain. She wanted someone to teach not a sibling or child to take care of. Their younger self was a fool for believing they could be her family when she never wanted one.

Rain looked around at the empty, abandoned house that they sat in, devoid of all life except for them and a couple plants that Karlee had let them keep indoors rather than outside in the garden. Karlee had left a while ago suddenly, but Rain had been used to that and didn't think anything of it until she never came back. At first, they had been worried but by the time the first week passed, they had got that they had been abandoned, although they didn't know why. Why would Karlee suddenly give up on 6 years of work? Did Rain simply become too much of a bother to try and fix?

Were they a broken tool as she had said?

Rain sighed, looking down at their finger again, the 12 year old hopelessly bored in the abandoned house by themselves. They had always been bored when Karlee went out, as she often did, but usually the trips weren't long and she would spend time with them when they got back, doing whatever Karlee wanted to do. She had a lot of hobbies, besides her occupation of thievery, but one of the ones Rain remembered best was singing.

Rain cleared their throat, breaking the silence of the empty house, and softly began to sing-

"Welcome to my world, that's painted with sadness.

There's no light of sun, here you can't hear any sound at all"

They waved their hands through the moon as the sang, their voice echoing a bit in the empty house.

"Here I'm waiting silently for you, Mama.

Why were you so cruel? Why'd you leave me alone?"

Rain looked at the broken photo frame and their Mama's happy face before looking down, tears starting to well in their eyes just thinking about her. They hummed some quiet "la la la"'s into the silence, trying to calm themselves but failing to do so as they looked at the picture again.

"Please take me away, I desperately promise to be a good kid, to be worthy of your love.

I don't need the sketchbooks, the flowers and the teachings.

Just tell me why you've left your pictures and gone..." they sang-pleaded at the picture tearfully, trying not to break down more than they already were.

"I never asked for this place that's called 'Our Home' but I hoped you'd be staying with me until the end."

Rain looked down again, anger starting to mix with the sadness. How dare she leave them like that? This was their "home", both of them. She was supposed to care for them and she left! She promised to give them a home with her and she left! It isn't fair, Rain thought bitterly.

"I just want to be with you to forget my sorrow," Rain told the picture numbly, their tone tired and quieter than they had been before.

"I'm tired of being the puppet of this world..." they sang as they remembered how most of their life had not been their choice. Getting separated from their sibling, of whom they didn't even learned their name before they were swept away, the shore taking them to a forest where they learned to survive from campers, Karlee taking them in and training them, and finally now, being left alone like a doll that no one wants. They've always had little choice in their life, especially after Karlee took them in. They laughed bitterly, they really were a puppet.

"My tears are falling, why is it so painful?

I did nothing wrong, so why do you hate me so much?" Rain sang as they got up, glaring at the picture and taking it over to the kitchen table to put down. In a dissociated state, they quickly packed up their necessary things in a duffle bag that Karlee hadn't taken. Clothes, medical supplies, and food that Rain put in bags to keep them clean. From the necessities, Rain put any other items they needed in a bag that they had stolen one time when they had been allowed out. The sketchbooks Karlee had stolen for them, some flower seeds, a necklace Rain had stolen and successfully hidden from Karlee, and a few other nicknacks they had stolen. Rain grabbed their sword which lay by the back down and put it in its sheath on their hip, tugging the belt it was attached to briefly to make sure it was secure.

Once they were done packing, Rain went back to the photo which still lay on the kitchen table. They walked slowly over to one of the kitchen drawers and opened it, taking the match box they remembered Karlee putting in there before closing the drawer. Rain walked over and took the photo carefully from the broken frame and walked towards the door, one hand holding the picture and the other holding the max box. Rain opened the door and breathed fresh air for the first time in months since Karlee left and looked at the forest that surrounded the House, crickets chirping in the otherwise silent night. Rain looked back at the inside of the House, and before they could think twice, lit a match and held it up to the photo, which caught fire quickly. Rain quickly threw it onto the floor of the House, which caught fire soon after as the whole thing was made of wood, and ran out the door towards the woods.

Once they felt they got far enough away, they smiled even though tears were again welling in their eyes. Rain sang softly as they slowly walked, going to find a home for the first time in their life. Behind them, old memories burned as the House quickly became enveloped in flames.

"Welcome to her world that's lying in ashes.

There's a sea of fire, there is no way to run at all.

I only wanted to be with my Mama but little Rain is melting in their abyss, alone."

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

Plus an updated c!Raindrop drawing. The old design is gonna be used eventually but for plot/lore reasons, this is what c!Rain is currently wearing in the story. Clothes change will come later cause it goes hand in hand with character development (also sorry the picture fucking sucks, it's so folded it wouldn't sit flat)

(Also pretend that the sword is drawn correctly cause I have no idea how to draw swords. )

@loudly--unladylike

Tagging you, Lulu, so hopefully you see this!!

EDIT: I FORGOT THE SONG WHOOPS

https://youtu.be/989srijf4OA

[infamous-light]

Chase The Night Away

Alcina Dimitrescu x Reader, Alcina's Daughters & Reader

Summary: Alcina had to be away for a single night but you didn't think it would affect you so negatively.

Suffering from a terrible nightmare, the daughters help comfort you throughout the night.

Word Count: 3.7K

AO3: Chase The Night Away

You curl up into a ball, bringing your knees closer to your chest as you nuzzle your face against the soft silken sheets held in your grip. It felt weird to sleep alone on such a large bed when Alcina wasn't here to rest beside you, holding you flush against her body. You always slept soundly in her strong arms. You felt safe and secure.

You realized that this is the first time you will be sleeping alone without her and quite frankly, you don't like it. You couldn't help but feel anxious. It reared its ugly head as small knots formed low in your stomach, twisting and churning about. You didn't think being alone in your shared bedchambers for a single night would cause you this much distress.

Yeah, this will be not be happening again. If Alcina has to ever leave for the night, you're going with her.

Earlier in the day, Alcina informed you that she would be away, just for the night, managing her wine business. You were surprised at first but you didn't think twice about it. You don't know the inner workings of it all but you have heard that a few of her business associates operate at odd hours of the day.

You stare out the window between the gap where the dark red colored drapes haven't entirely blocked the outside world from your view. Light rain patters against the cool glass, sliding down in rivulets, collecting on the window ledge. You're transfixed at the sight. You always liked watching the rain since it helped soothe your nerves.

Looking beyond the glass pane of the window, you could barely make out the few sparkling stars that attempt to shine their brightness through the dark clouds in the night sky. You wish you could see them more clearly. It would make for a beautiful night. Taking a deep breath, you slowly close your eyes as you listen to the continuous light tapping of the rain against the windowpane and the surrounding structure of the castle.

You pull the bed sheets further over yourself before you start to feel your mind slowly drifting away as you finally succumb to sleep, falling into a deep slumber.

***

You run as fast as your legs can take you. Long spindly branches from overreaching trees and large mangy bushes whip past you as you traverse the unknown territory. Your heart beats rapidly inside of your chest as you have no idea where you are going. You just needed to get somewhere safe.

And fast.

A cold chill suddenly shoots down your spine as you hear the loud growling surround you from all sides in the dense forest. Your breath comes out in short gasps, the muscles in your legs start to burn from how hard you have been pushing yourself. The hair on the back of your neck prickles, knowing that the monstrous creatures are quickly moving in on you.

A sharp snap from directly behind you causes you to cry out in terror. You don't look back, you just keep running forward. The vicious snarling moves ever closer, becoming more desperate and raring. Shadowy figures begin to emerge from their hiding spots, appearing from both sides of the forest and even up in the trees.

Their glowing yellow eyes shine brightly from within the darkness of the forest, drinking in your terrified state. You could see the hunger deep in their eyes as they continue to snap their jaws threateningly at you.

Tears start to well up in the corner of your eyes. You weren't sure if you were going to get out of this horrifying situation alive. It was just too dark. Everything was too damn dark!

You yelp as you trip over something. You slam roughly into the dirt, your breath quickly leaves your lungs. Without hesitating, you quickly scramble forward, trying to find something your hands can purchase on for protection.

The rustling of bushes and small twigs snapping sound deafening to your ears as thunderous stomps draw nearer to you. You swiftly glance up and your blood runs cold. You could see the silhouette of the monsters standing a few feet away from you now.

You flip yourself over onto your back and your eyes widen in fear as you realized that you were surrounded by lycans. They all howl in unison as they finally caught their prey. You lay there still as a statue, absolutely petrified.

One of them slowly creeps towards you, growling low in their throat, a blood-thirsty look in its eyes as it hovers over your prone form.

"N-no..." You whimpered, your body now trembling in fear.

It bares its long jagged teeth at you while raising its sharp claws, preparing to strike you. They all stand above you now and you begin to hyperventilate. It can't end like this.

They all lunge at you and you let out a blood-curdling scream.

***

You scream out in pure terror as you quickly shot up in bed, frantically scrambling to remove the bedcovers off of you, wanting to escape. You jump out of bed, running to the corner of the room, pressing your back against the wall while bracing your hand over your rapidly beating heart. You bunch the front of your shirt up in a tight grip as you try to get your breathing under control again. You blink a few times, slowly taking in your surroundings. You start to realize that you're not in a forest but back in the castle. You never left your shared bedchambers.

You could cry tears of happiness.

You almost jumped out of your skin from fear when the doors to your room suddenly slammed open, bouncing off of the wall quite loudly. Cassandra immediately entered while in her dark nightgown with her sickle in her right hand, ready to face any attacker.

She swiftly glanced over the room until her golden eyes landed on you. Her features morphed from fierce protectiveness to confusion.

"(Y/N)... are you ok?" Cassandra asked cautiously. She set her sickle aside gently, placing it on the drawer dresser, her gaze never once straying from you. You noticed how tense you still were. You must still look like a frightened little rabbit, cornered by a bunch of big hungry wolves.

You were about to answer until you heard the sound of loud buzzing quickly making its way over to you and Cassandra. You watch as Bela and Daniela appear out of the swarm, merging back into their whole form once more.

"What's going on?" Bela demanded as she entered the bedroom as well, looking over to Cassandra for answers.

"I'm not sure. I arrived shortly before you did." Cassandra shrugged, still staring at you intently.

Daniela peeked her head over Bela's shoulder, wanting to see what was going on. Once her eyes connected with yours, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Bela finally turned to look at you, her calculating golden eyes observing you from across the room.

She slowly made her way over to you, now standing a few feet away from you, her expression softening a little. "(Y/N), do you want to tell us what happened?" She asked gently, attempting to calm your nerves with her voice.

You didn't realize that your heart was still racing inside of your chest and that they all could probably hear it from a mile away. You finally release a long deep breath you weren't aware you've been holding in for this entire time.

You push yourself off of the wall, giving a slight nod as you answer Bela's question. "I-I just... I had a terrible nightmare. I never experienced anything so vivid before. I didn't even recognize where I was for a moment..." You trail off quietly, looking everywhere but at Bela.

Bela stared at you in silence for a moment before taking a step closer to you, resting her hand on your left shoulder, gently squeezing it. "Will you be ok?"

You nod feebly again. "I think so..."

"Let's get you back into bed." She placed her hand on your lower back, gently guiding you back over to your bed. You climbed back into bed as she slid the bedcovers over your body, tucking you in. "Are you sure you will be fine, little one?"

"Y-yeah..."

Bela doesn't look convinced but you know she won't push you for answers. "If you need anything, just call for any one of us, understood?" They were all prepared to leave but you felt an uncomfortable feeling wash over you.

"Wait!" You blurted out. They suddenly stopped in their tracks and they all turned to look at you, staring at you inquisitively. "I actually don't want to be alone right now..." You could feel yourself already blushing at what you were about to ask of them. "C-could you all stay with me for the night? Like, could we... um, all cuddle together in bed?"

Oh, this was embarrassing. Maybe you shouldn't have asked.

You couldn't help but cringe internally when all three sisters shared a silent look between each other.

"Oh... of course we can!" Bela sounded surprised, almost baffled. You could tell she was trying to act composed but she was failing to mask her shock. She turned back to face Cassandra and Daniela. Cassandra's eyebrows receded into her hairline, clearly surprised as well while Daniela tilted her head to the side in curiosity, but seemed excited at the prospect. "Right, sisters?"

Cassandra appeared to snap out of her stupor and smirked in response, her eyes shining in amusement as they landed on you once more. You awkwardly smile back at her and she snorted quietly to herself, finding you endearing in her own way. "We can absolutely cuddle with you."

Daniela squealed in delight. "Yes! We definitely can!" She immediately bounded over to your bedside, excitement rolling off of her in waves while her two sisters began to make their way over to you. You pulled back the bedcovers as they all climbed into your bed together.

You all attempt to huddle together, trying to find the most comfortable position to be in. Bela ends up in the center with you laying your head on her abdomen while your legs are entangled along with hers. Cassandra is on your right side, resting on the other side of Bela as her head is settled on the eldest sister's stomach as well, her face near yours. She grabbed one of your hands, intertwining your fingers with hers.

Daniela is pressed against your back, wrapping her arms around your waist, hugging you tightly in her embrace. They were cool to the touch but not unbearably so. You sigh contentedly as they all cuddle you, surrounding you from all sides. You let your mind drift off to a peaceful place with not a single worry in the world.

Your eyes slowly drift closed as Bela lightly combs her fingers through your hair.

Daniela hums, nuzzling her face in your neck. "So warm."

The redhead somehow managed to meld herself even closer to your body, subconsciously squeezing you around the waist even tighter until you let out a small squeak in protest.

"Daniela, you're holding them too tightly!" Bela lightly chastised.

"Sorry..." Daniela sheepishly said as she released her hold on you just enough where you could breathe in a little air again. You could hear Daniela mumbling to herself again, something about 'humans' and 'so warm'.

Cassandra rolled her eyes at her youngest sister before a mischievous smile spread across her face. She tightened her grip on your hand, purposefully tugging you closer to her. Daniela whined loudly in response.

"Stop pulling them away from me, Cassandra!"

Daniela swiftly pulled you away from Cassandra, huffing in exasperation while doing so. The brunette narrowed her eyes at Daniela, yanking you back closer to her. All you could do was let yourself be pulled back and forth between the two sisters, reminding you of your early childhood where you use to play tug-of-war with your friends. Except, you're the rope in this situation. You felt like a rag doll that was about to be torn to pieces between two children who didn't know how to share.

You could hear Bela mutter something under her breath before raising her voice. "Alright, you two! That's enough!"

"Cassandra started it." Daniela scoffed, pulling you back into her. You could feel her glowering stare pierce through you, landing onto Cassandra.

Cassandra cackled, amusement dancing vividly across her gold irises, clearly enjoying antagonizing her youngest sister. You stare off into the distance, left dumbfounded by the whole ordeal. You wondered if you should say something or not but decided not to, letting the girls maneuver you around until they found their comfortable position with you once more.

Bela returned back to running her fingers through your hair, chuckling lightly to herself. "Forgive my sisters' behavior, they can be a handful at times."

You tried not to laugh at that, thinking back on past experiences involving both Cassandra and Daniela. They definitely can be a handful.

Yeah, I'm all too aware of that...

"We're right here, Bela..." Cassandra glanced towards her eldest sister, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Uh... it's fine, really." You laughed awkwardly, unsure of what to say in response. It wasn't a big deal to you. You're just happy that you're not alone while Alcina had to be away for the night.

"Do you mind telling us what happened in your nightmare?" Daniela asked softly, changing the topic. You were pulled out of your thoughts at Daniela's question and you hesitated to answer, biting your lower lip in anxiety. You're worried that they may find your reaction to your nightmare stupid to begin with but you decided to answer.

"I-I was being chased by a bunch of lycans throughout a forest. I didn't make it in the end..." You swallowed thickly, quickly glancing downwards, prepared to hear them laugh at the brief retelling of your nightmare.

Cassandra scoffs. "Those foul disgusting creatures wouldn't stand a chance against us. They won't come close to you with us nearby." She gave your hand an extra squeeze, reassuring you that you are safe here.

You could feel Daniela's eager nod against the back of your head. "We'll keep you safe! We won't let any harm come to you!"

"I'm in agreement with my sisters. Those stench rotting beasts won't dare come near Mother's territory. You have nothing to fear, little one. We'll protect you." Bela stated as she continued to play with your hair.

A huge smile broke out across your face at each of the girls' responses. "Thank you so much for doing this for me." You said. They all spoke out at once, assuring you that they were happy to be of help and that they enjoyed cuddling you. You let yourself soak in their affections for you before silence filled the room again.

Bela stopped running her fingers through your hair to instead press your head firmly against her abdomen, letting her hand rest atop your head. Cassandra pulled your hand closer to her chest, enveloping it in both of her hands, relishing in the body heat that you give off.

Daniela managed to quiet down, her soft breathing brushing against the back of your neck.

To your surprise, Bela began to lightly hum a tune. You didn't recognize it but you liked it all the same. You let out a deep sigh. It felt soothing to be in each of their presence, being held securely in their grasp. Your anxiety and fears from earlier faded away into peacefulness.

You felt your hand being raised and you opened your eyes slightly to see that Cassandra has your hand nestled underneath her chin, a serene look on her face.

It was nice to see Cassandra's usually self-satisfied expression now replaced by a soft sleepy look and you secretly found it adorable. You wouldn't dare tell her though, knowing that she may decide to terrorize you- not in a harmful way- until the rest of your days.

Daniela was mumbling under her breath as she lightly dug her nails into your shirt. It seems that she already drifted off to sleep. You smiled to yourself, happy that Daniela already fell asleep by your side.

Bela continued humming her tune and you close your eyes once more, letting her slowly lull you to sleep.

***

Alcina returned early in the morning, shortly before the sun was to rise over the horizon. She released a long ragged sigh as she was finally happy to be back home after a long grueling night traveling to and fro between different business associates.

She slowly stretched the muscles in her neck, tilting her head side to side, attempting to ease the knots that formed across her shoulders from sitting in the carriage for too long.

After a minute of loosening all her muscles, she began to make her way to you, taking the staircase in the foyer, and walking down the many different hallways in the castle. She was looking forward to snuggling you now that she's back.

She stopped in front of the bedroom door, grabbed the handle, and slowly pushed the door open as to not wake you. She didn't have to bend and duck through the doorway as she usually does since she had the opening rebuilt for her height.

Her back thanked her for it. Eventually, she'll get the other doorways repurposed for the same exact reason.

She stepped into the room and paused at the sight before her. Her pleasant expression turned to shock.

She was in slight awe at seeing you cuddling her daughters in the bed you two shared with you laying partially on top of Bela as Cassandra and Daniela sandwiched you in on both sides. She never thought she would witness such a thing but her heart quickly warmed at the sight, a small smile appearing on her face as she quietly walked over to the bedside.

Though, that begs the question. Why were you and her daughters cuddling in the first place? What did she miss while she was away?

Daniela roused slightly in place, slowly blinking her eyes while sleepily mumbling. "Mother...?"

"Shh... go back to sleep, darling." She leaned over to brush her hand down Daniela's head, soothing her back to sleep. She lightly ran her hand down yours and each of her daughter's heads before soundlessly leaving the room to allow you all to get some further rest.

***

You awoke with a beaming smile on your face as the girls still surrounded you in bed. They haven't left your side for a single moment and you were grateful for that. Thankfully, the nightmare you had never returned during the night. They all started to slowly wake up at the same time you did.

"How did you sleep?" Bela asked you groggily, rubbing lazy circles on your shoulder.

"I slept great actually. Thank you all again for doing this for me." You slowly sat up, smiling shyly at each of them.

"I'd be happy to do it again!" Daniela hugged you tightly one last time before climbing out of bed, tidying up her nightgown. She was full of energy it seems.

Cassandra gave you a small smile as she brushed some hair strands out of your face. "You're very welcome, little one."

Bela hummed in agreement. "We're happy that we could be here for you."

After lazing about for a few more minutes, you all got yourselves ready to start the day.

***

You found yourself humming the same tune Bela did last night as you make your way to Alcina's study. You rapped your knuckles on the door a few times before hearing Alcina loudly say 'enter'. You pushed the door open and peeked your head inside, smiling once your eyes landed on Alcina sitting at her desk, sorting through a variety of documents.

She turned to look at you and she smiled brightly once you entered fully, closing the door behind you. You quickly ran over to her and hopped in her lap to wrap your arms around her neck, giving her a tight hug.

She chuckled at your overly excited state. "I take it you missed me?"

You pull back to look her in the face, rolling your eyes playfully. "No, I'm not. Why are you even here?" You laughed as she lightly smacked your arm.

"Watch that mouth of yours, dear." She playfully glared at you before smiling again and pulling you in for a much tighter hug.

"So, how was your night?" You ask.

"Oh, it was dull and uninteresting. Believe me, dear, the details would put you right back to sleep. Though, not much has changed logistics-wise." She trailed off as she stared out the window before looking at you once more, raising a single eyebrow in curiosity. "It appears you've had an eventful night. I wasn't expecting the girls to be asleep in our bed when I walked in this morning."

You quickly darted your eyes away from Alcina's face, furrowing your eyebrows when images of your nightmare flashed in your mind. You tried to formulate a response before Alcina responded again, her voice laced with concern.

"What wrong, darling?"

You shake your head slightly at yourself, realizing how silly this may sound to Alcina. You know the girls responded without judgment but you still felt nervous telling Alcina some things. "Ah... it was nothing serious. I just had a nightmare. That's all." You shyly glance down towards the floor, afraid to see how Alcina may respond to that.

You feel a cool gloved hand cup the side of your face, slowly dragging your gaze away from the floor, forcing you to look into her worried golden eyes. "It was not nothing if you required the presence of the girls to comfort you. You know that I would never dismiss anything you tell me. I do care about you, darling. Very much so."

"I care about you a lot too..."

Alcina found herself smiling softly at the thought of her daughters comforting you when you clearly needed it while, unfortunately, she wasn't there to provide that comfort directly herself. "I must say, it was an adorable sight to behold. They truly have come a long way when it comes to you. They warmed up to you greatly."

You tuck your head under her chin, closing your eyes as you nuzzle your face against her neck. "And I couldn't be any happier with that."

[shorkbrian]

i’m sorry but i luv your writing/thot process so i have to share this: imagine superstar trainer kiri marrying ur mom. he’s only a few years older (and you had a crush on him first) so you avoid him bc you’re shy/uncomfortable with it. your plans are foiled when mom’s away and y’all are stuck at home during a snow storm, power out, no heat/gas, and no matter how many layers u use nothing beats body heat. kiri is so sweet and just wants to get close and keep you warm/see whats under ur sweats

I’m literally melting rn 

Like imagine Kiri shuffling closer to you on the couch, scooting underneath the blankets you have piled around your body.

He keeps getting closer and closer and closer until he’s pressed up against you, and he feels like a heater, warm and cozy and comfortable. You don’t mind burrowing down into his side a bit, only blushing a little when the big man chuckles at your behavior.

There’s a movie playing on the TV, but you’re kind of sleepy, and your stepdad feels so sturdy and safe against your side, and you’re finally warming to a comfortable temperature, and before you know it, you’re fast asleep.

When you wake up, you’re laying down on a solid surface, heat wrapped around your body and trapped beneath the blankets. The surface rumbles and shifts, and only then do you realize that Kirishima must have moved you.

The room is dark, TV off, lights out. The wind is still howling and moaning outside like a mourner at a grave, beating against the windows and crying to the sky.

Lifting your head means you get a view of Kiri’s face, of his handsome, relaxed self as he gazes down at you, a pleased, soft smile on his features.

You go to apologize for falling asleep on him and for inconveniencing him, but Kirishima doesn’t let you. “It’s warmer this way, plus, I like holding something while I sleep.”

He has his arms wrapped around you, thick biceps pressing heavy against your shoulders, keeping you flush to his muscular chest. You blush a little at the position, shifting your legs and trying not to do anything weird.

But in moving your legs around, you find yourself straddling his thigh, the stocky limb flexing underneath your weight, Kirishima twitching.

“Sorry-” You blush again, intending on moving, but your stepdad drops a hand to your hip, steadying you.

“No, don’t apologize, I get it.” He winks at you, before jiggling his thigh a bit, settling you down further onto it. “I remember doing stuff like this back in high school, I know it feels good.”

A long moment of silence stretched between you two as you processed his words, feeling increasingly awkward.

“Um, okay...” Was all you could come up with.

Kirishima laughed a bit. “You’ve never cuddled with anyone before? It’s nice, isn’t it? ‘Specially with the heat out like this. Power went out while you were sleeping.”

You felt a little silly now, ducking your head and dropping your gaze. That would explain why the lights were off. You had just assumed the movie had finished playing and your stepdad had turned it off, but apparently that wasn’t the case. 

“Temp’s gonna drop fast, we’re probably going to have to use good ‘ole body heat while we sleep. You wanna move to the bed? Or just sleep here?”

A shrug, and Kirishima smiled. “Okie-doke, bed it is. Thank goodness, my back would kill me if I tried to sleep on the couch. Gettin’ old s’no fun.”

The man sat up, and you quickly disentangled yourself from him, ignoring the way his thigh rubbed in between your legs as he moved about. As soon as you felt the chill of the room, you shivered, clacking your teeth together and snatching the blanket tight around yourself.

“Oh, that’s so cold, fuck.”

“Hey, watch your language-” Kirishima chided, rising to his feet as he gathered the rest of the blankets up into his arms. “No potty mouths in this house, yeah? Keep it clean.”

He’d been married to your mom for almost a year now, and Kirishima had easily fallen into the “father figure” role, despite the fact that it wasn’t necessarily needed.

But you indulged him by laughing at his corny dad jokes, complimenting the various meats he grilled for meals, keeping your judgements about his questionable fashion choices to yourself instead of blurting them out to his face.

Kirishima led the way to the master bedroom, the room he shared with your mom, stating that the bed was bigger, it’d be more comfortable. Did you really expect him to fit into your bed?

He was a big man, strong and solid. He was able to throw you over one shoulder, your mom over the other, and run around the house whooping while the two of you laughed and pounded on his back.

“Alright-” Kirishima tossed his armful of blankets onto the bed he shared with your mom, immediately fluffing them up and pulling at the edges until he was satisfied.

The man pulled back the edge, holding it ups as he turned to you. “Head on inside!”

It was cold at first, the sheets and blankets chilly. You snuggled up to Kirishima as soon as the big man laid down, making him laugh a bit as your teeth chattered together.

“S-sorry it’s just so-so c-cold.” You explained.

“Your nose is all red, you look so cute.” His smile is warm, his hands even warmer as they begin to rub up and down your sides.

You don’t know how to respond, let yourself relax into the comforting touch, his fingertips dancing over your sweater.

“So.....” Kiri starts “You’ve never had a boyfriend then? You got so quiet when I asked if you’ve cuddled with someone before.”

A blush rose to your cheeks, and you shook your head. “No, I have. I broke up with him a little bit before you and mom started dating.”

The redhead’s quiet for a moment, then tucks his chin over your head, drawing you closer into his chest. “I’m sorry. Relationships can be hard, I know.”

“It was for the best, I think.” You continue, letting your stepdad rub your back as you talked. “We just didn’t really jive well together I guess. Wish we’d figured that out sooner though.”

The man pressed against you is so sturdy, solid and radiating heat like a furnace. It’s easy to relax in his easy-going presence.

“Well, if you ever miss cuddling, don’t hesitate to come find me, yeah? It’s one of my favorites.”

Kirishima was a touchy man, and it was obvious that his love language was touch, so it made sense. He always had his thick arms wrapped around your mom, was holding her hand, holding yours, placing kisses on your cheeks, kissing your mom every chance he got.

Sometimes he asked you to brush out his hair for him, when you weren’t busy or anything. He’d relax into jelly as you ran the hairbrush through his red locks, contented little sighs falling from his lips.

“Okay, I’ll do that.” You chuckle, thinking to yourself how the world had a funny sense of humor.

Truthfully, when you’d first been introduced to the man your mom had recently started dating, you’d developed a hopeless crush. He was attractive, kind, funny; if your mom wasn't dating him, you would’ve asked for his number.

A small part of you was irritated that the man was young enough for you to date him, your mother unbothered by the sugar stereotype she’d developed.

But ah well, what’s done is done.

“You know, I didn’t know what I'd be like having a daughter.” Kirishima soft voice breaks you out of your thoughts. “You’re almost more like.... I dunno, a friend? If that makes sense. I feel like we’re buddies.”

“Yeah, I feel like that too.” You confess, breathing into his neck, able to smell the cologne he uses, something heady and strong and manly.

A comfortable silence settles around you both, nothing but soft breaths and Kirishima’s warm hands rubbing gently over your body, against your sides, up and down your back, massaging your shoulders.

They traveled too close to your tummy, and you choked out a laugh, flinching away from Kirishima.

“Don’t, ‘m ticklish.” Came your breathless, giggly warning.

“Yeah? Yeah?” The redhead grinned, a glint in his eye, barely noticeable before he pounced, rolling over until you were smothered beneath his hefty weight, unable to move.

Horrible, terrible fingers descended, dug into your ribs and you shrieked, wide smile breaking across your features as your stepdad tickled you.

This is what happiness was made of.

Warm and fuzzy, the smell of rain, the sound of it pattering against the roof. Strong arms around you, a laugh on your lips.

Kirishima’s thigh slipped in between yours, pressed upwards, and you choked on a breath, hands immediately clutching at the man’s biceps.

“You’re so sensitive, it’s so cute.”

No time to say his name, ask any questions. He was situating you on your side, legs tangled with his, a big, beefy thigh still flush against your clothed sex.

“Mm, you ever do this with your boyfriend?” The redhead was moving, hands gripping your waist now, dragging you along his thigh, and you kept bumping up against his chest, his toned stomach.

“Yes-yeah.” Was your breathless reply, head whirling, eyes wide. This isn’t really what you were expecting, not from your stepdad.

But it wasn’t entirely unwelcome.

That’s why you weren’t screaming your head off, recoiling in disgust, scrambling for the phone to call your mom, the police.

No, you were still, pliant against Kirishima as he moved your body, his lazy red eyes fixed on your face. “Hm? Feels nice, doesn’t it? You like it?”

A shaky nod is all you can muster, feeling yourself beginning to drip against your stepdad’s thigh, slick all over your folds, the skin tingling, making your hips jump as your clit pulsed at the stimulation.

God, it felt good.

“You make me so happy, y’know? Such a pretty, smart girl.” He praised, and now you could feel it - feel the cock filling out against your tummy, hot and wet, leaking.

“I really hit the jackpot. A beautiful wife, a gorgeous daughter... I love you so, so much.” Kirishima was breathing heavier, his fingers digging into your hipbones as he dragged you back and forth against him. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Just wanna take care of you, yeah?  Make you cum lots, whatever you want.”

Almost feverish now, his hips twitching forward, pushing against your tummy again and again, rubbing his cock against your soft flesh, groaning in your ear, breath stuttering-

And then a long moan, a burst of warmth soaking through your pajama shirt, right where the tip of Kiri’s cock rested.

“Oh shit-” He gasped, sucking in air, muscles flexing as he drew back his legs, hands shakily pushing you onto your back.

“That - Jesus, you really got me goin’.” Kiri panted, beginning to kiss at your neck, one of his hands diving into your pajama pants, straight down to strum over your clit.

Already keyed up from the dry humping, veins pumping with excitement, arousal, the thrill of being touched and fondled by your-your stepdad.

A finger teased at your hole, then inched inside, and you bucked your hips, crying out a bit.

“Hey, hey-” He was still a little breathless, a little lightheaded from his orgasm, but the man was determined. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I got you. I’m always gonna take care of my girl.”

[writings-by-blondie]

~If The Stars Could Speak~

Soap Mactavish x F!Reader (teaspoon of Angst)

She was way too good for him and he knew that yet he couldn't forget the way her (h/c) hair fell over her shoulders, her laugh and a bit cold, but glittery look of her (e/c) eyes when their gaze met for the first time..it was like he could see universe in them.

He was in cold, gloomy, Russia, on a mission that was to be last, scribbling down words on the peace of paper, counting down hours till he get to hold her forever...

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

His most trusting man, and friend, Simon and him decided to lay back and enjoy some free time they were granted away from their ever noisy and ever busy camp.

They were at downtown, walking and talking about how tonight is their night - they will leave job at office and they will just enjoy strong alcohol and good music.

The night was a bit chilly, but nothing unusual for the late September.

That just meant that John will finally have chance to wear that nice black spitfire jacket he bought not long ago, and he looked well in it.

As the two men walked they spotted the bar they wanted to be in for the rest of the night, right outside of it, sticking out like a sore thumb was parked some expensive car that John didn't know how to indenify as. He wasn't a big car head like his friend.

"Look at this mate. Its Porsche, bet some meat heads are in this place",

said Simon chucking and eyeing the car and tilting his head slowly towards the bar.

Mactavish smirked and pushed his friend gently as he started walking in, "You have a problem with that or you're just scared of guys who drive expensive cars, eh?".

Inside of the bar you and small group of your friends were in VIP lounge. Infront of you, on small glass table was a bucket filled with ice that kept some red bulls and couple of Baltica beers cold.

You were drinking Jack Daniels, your glass half full. Being tipsy already, you fake-laughed at some perverse joke friend next to you finished telling.

Tonight, you really felt down. Truth to be told, you've been feeling under the weather last couple of months, nothing seemed to go the right way and nothing you did could change that feeling. On top of that your stupid poosh boyfriend broke up with you over text last week, and even though you understood that your friends cared for you and wanted you to forget about that fool and enjoy yourself, you still couldn't shake away the bitterness and just wanted to curl away in your bed, eat some strawberry ice cream and watch ‘Casablanca’.

But here you were, in a black dress that glittered under the light, your hair styled in lazy but not messy curls, and your over-expensive white heels. You looked like the IT girl that every man would want for them selves, to put you on pedestal and admire you.

(Y/n) leaned back in the black leather seat before she took a deep sigh that was followed by pouting and throwing down rest of the Jack that was in her glass down her throat. It burned for a bit, but the sweet flavour of alcohol made her want to drink more, so she opened the half empty bottle and poured more of the honey-coloured liquid into her glass.

She leaned in close to her friend on the left and whispered,

"I need to go and check my make up. Save a seat for me, and dont touch my bottle, I will know if you do.",

you almost groaned last words since you knew well that your friends loved to mess with you.

The (h/c) girl now stood up, taking her light coloured purse that matched with her heels, in her hands and started walking towards the washroom of the bar.

The floor was wooden, hard wood, after all the bar was made to accommodate high class people and to draw in tourists who had a lot of money to spend. Her heels making a little bit noise as her steps collided with the floor. It was a southing sound, like when rain hits the metal.

Her hips swayed as her dress didn't quite hug her whole neatly shaped figure, so it swayed with her movements, glittering under the dim light of the noisy bar.

She had to watch every step since she felt that the alcohol was indeed kicking in, but the song playing on stereos drew her attention and just for a tiny moment she forgot completely that she had heels on.

"Shit-", you muttered loudly as your purse left your hands and you could see the dark wooden floor getting close to you now, but you weren't colliding with it, instead you felt stern grip on your waist, feeling the coldness of someones hand that went straight to your skin, under the dress. You furrowed eyebrows before looking up, facing a, without any exaggeration, handsomest man you ever laid eyes upon.

His eyes, blue as the sea in mid July in the noon, almost glittering like a waves when they shine under the hot sun. His smell now invaded your nostrils touching your senses, stimulating them, wanting more of it. It was pine mixed with old brand of ‘denim’, manly but still subtle, just enough.

He smiled at you softly looking into your eyes, not breaking eye contact once.

"Careful now lass, we don’t want any broken bones yet, the night is still young eh?..", he spoke with thick and extremely attractive (for some reason) Scottish accent and she took deep breath in, as the man slowly placed the girl in front of him back on her legs, parting his hand with her waist. The girl licked her lover lip, realizing now that she was blushing way more than it was appropriate for this kind of situation and softly muttered, "Sorry.. The heels..", under her breath before she walked pass the man and disappeared into woman's washroom.

Mactavish however trailed her with his eyes, her long and subtly toned legs, and the way the subtle cutout on her dress reviled a bit of her thigh. She was clearly in distress and he couldn't help but chuckle a bit to himself as he picked up her purse from the floor and sat down in the nearby booth with Simon.

"What the hell was that?", Riley said as he took off his black leather jacket, placing it next to him.

"It was like some scene out of those old movies mate. Its like, in that one moment, universe existed to put us together.", John smiled to himself, also placing his jacket next to him, being a bit surprised at his own words, he wasn't cheesy, but romantic? He was that.

And he would never let any of his friends know that since well, it was an army and he didn't need Ghost going around the base telling everyone that their captain was softie.

"Since when are you that cheeky eh? Maybe Price doesn't make you do enough pushups at morning." Simon smirked at his friend and raised his hand to call the bartender,

"Its a quote, some of us are literate cinema vise mate", Mactavish smirked back at him leaning over the table, trying to reach for his cigars in his back pocket, "But she is bonnie, nonetheless.".

In washroom you tried to steady your breathing. You put your hand on your chest and closed eyes, but the only thing you could see was the man's eyes and his face. Girl quickly opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in big mirror that was placed on black and white tiles. (Y/n) looked at her face, noticing few spots where her make up was messed up, she pouted a bit and reached down on the sink for her purse, but her palm was met only with cold marble sink.

You quickly shot your gaze towards your hand, with your eyebrows furrowed. Eyes darting across the sink, around it and eventually around the whole washroom then the realisation hit you like a heavy boulder- you dropped your purse when you tripped, when he grabbed you.

"For fucks sake..", you muttered under the breath. It was enough humiliating that probably whole bar watched you stumble around like a new born deer and almost kiss the floor, but now you had to go retrieve your purse that was probably still on the ground and go back to washroom again looking like a lost highschool girl on the party.

You shook your head and realised that stupid anxiety attack got your judgment clouded- people fall every day, and they drop stuff everyday too.

The girl now straighten her posture, fixed her hair a bit and opened the door, exiting the cool room she was in before heading to the booth were she dropped her purse, but to her surprise the purse was not on the floor instead she heard familiar thick accent from the booth next to where she was standing,

"Looking for this lass?", the man waved with her purse smiling at her with one of his brows raised, his friend watching her, waiting for her next move.

You swallowed a big gulp, approaching the booth were the men were sitting slowly, taking your purse from the blue eyed man,

"Yes, thank you. Saving me from embarrassment.. Very noble of you.", you said with a now confident voice, not breaking eye contact with him. There was something about him, something unexplainable. It was like that with every second she looked at his face, at his slightly parted lips as a little smile formed on his face, you were losing grip on the time it was like a whole universe worked for you and him.

"Glad I could help ma'am. Those shoes do look dangerous, better watch your step.", the man spoke and she smiled at him, shyly nodding and turning around, breaking the eye contact with him, slowly walking towards her own booth where her friends were loud and drunk.

But every step you took was heavier than the last one, you didn't want to go there, you wanted to sit with him, smell that invading pine again, feel his touch again.. Was this alcohol that was in your bloodstream?

You stopped suddenly and took a deep breath, before turning on your heels and going back to the two man who were now smoking, their drinks were on their table as well.

"Oh screw it. Universe, dont make a fool out of me!", you thought internally as you approached back their booth, and both men looked up at you again.

"Do you need some help lassie? Are you feeling well?", the blue eyed man asked. You actually just now noticed that he had his hair styled as a mohawk and it suited him so nice, the scar over his eye stuck out as well.

You snapped out and shook your head in denial,

"Would you mind if I joined you for a drink?",

Ghost cleared his throat and looked away with a huge smirk over his face, avoiding John’s stern look. Mactavish moved himself to the left, leaving vacant place for the girl to sit and nodded his head down while putting out cigar that was already burned.

You sat next to him, smiling and biting inside of your cheek, leaving your purse on the edge of the table waving to the bartender to get his attention, you showed him universal sign for ‘another bottle’ and the man nod to you.

You returned your attention towards two men who were gazing at you the whole time.

"So, who wishes to start this AA meeting? How about you sir?", you pointed at men across from you. Both men cracked at your joke before the one you pointed at started talking,

"Name's Simon, that’s Soap- I mean John..", Simon barely held in his laugh looking away from the pair. You looked at men next to you and his jaw was clenched, he obviously didn't like that one.

"Y/N, nice to meet you fellas. This night needed some life in it. I was dying of boredom over at VIP's. Some fresh environment is nice..",

you smiled at John who was downing his beer, slowly he nod at the girl and the bartender finally came with your new bottle of Jack and three glasses for each of you.

"Put it on my bill, thanks.", you said and John eyed you as you opened the bottle of whiskey and poured everyone about a half of the glass, raising your own towards him as you finished. You smirked a bit, leaning towards him, unintentionally, your thigh subtly brushed against his light blue denim jeans.

"Cheers to not breaking bones and to concerned strangers.”, you said the words, slowly looking up at his eyes yet again.

John looked down at you, slowly colliding his glass with yours.

"Well, cheers to me I guess..", Simon muttered to himself and downed down the glass. You couldn't help but laugh sincerely, John joining you while rolling his eyes at Simon,

"Ghost getting ghosted, this will be the story to tell the mates back at camp for sure..".

You raised your eyebrow in confusion, leaving your glass on the table and crossing your legs, leaning back,

"Camp? What are you two like some secret agents or something?", you asked and John and Simon talked to you about their job deep into night. They explained their line or work as subtle as they could and shared some of the funniest moments from their missions with you.

John enjoyed your laugh, the way you blushed when you caught him looking at you, avoiding his gaze, how well your lips were glossed and your perfume that made him want to invade your neck and collarbone with small and soft kisses. He also noticed how soft your skin was when he "accidentally" touched your hand as you were reaching for the bottle, wanting to pour another drink.

It was about 3 in the morning when you turned around towards the bartender who was next to you, telling you and your new friends that the bar is closing in about five minutes. Your friends left long time ago, too drunk to even notice that you were gone or that you were now sitting elsewhere.

"Oh come on Gorge! Cant you see how much fun we are having here? Can’t you just lock us in or join us?", you blinked innocently at the bartender and it made man blush, ofcourse that didn't go unnoticed by Mactavish who cleared his throat subtly and put his hand around your shoulder. You turned your head, raising eyebrow at him and questioning what the hell he was doing.

"Come on lass, man has a job to do, a boss to answer to. We will get you to your hotel eh?", you chuckled at him, now relaxing into his touch, and he loved it. He softly rubbed exposed skin on your shoulder with his thumb and you inhaled sharply, smiling at him reaching for your purse and pulling out keys from your car,

"I drank a lot.. Who is driving lads?",

You closed the door of your Porsche and could hear Simon in the back seat whistle,

"It even has leather inside and tv in the back of the seat. Of course it does.. For gods sake (y/n), you could've just told us that you are rich. We would've distanced from you.", Riley made a joke and you laughed, turning around in your seat looking at Simon, as John started the car, slowly advancing towards the main street.

"I wouldn't trade time I had with you boys for nothing in this world. I haven't laughed like that in ages..",

Riley now looked at Mactavish on review mirror smirking,

"Soap, drop me off first and then take (y/n) back to her place. Base is just around the corner it will save her some gas.".

You eyed man who was driving now, waiting for his response, he groaned in response then he nodded slowly looking at you, before returning eyes to the road that was empty. The city was in deep sleep.

John parked infront of some old looking house and Simon chuckled, "Well this is my stop. I'll see ya in the morning mate, don't forget to freshen up, we will need you frosty eh?",

Simon said before he slammed the doors shut and swiftly disappeared into the house.

You looked at John and pouted a bit, he looked and you and wiggled his eyebrows playfully,

"Where to miss?", he put up his best British accent and you couldn't help but laugh at how silly he sounded.

"With you? To the stars.." you leaned on his shoulder and kicked down your heels, tucking your legs under your tights.

Mactavish took a deep breath, inhaling the sent of your perfume, before he started driving again, he reached for the radio and turned it on.

A soft tune of "Midnight" song was on it and you hummed in approval.

"You know, I feel like I should've met you long ago instead of wasting my time around, not knowing where am I going, what am I doing. I wish this night could last forever John, I wish I could be stuck in it forever.."

The man smiled and reached for one of your hands, locking his fingers with your smaller ones, his eyes never leaving the road.

"I want to show you one place, if you are not up for sleep yet lassie?"

You parted your head with his shoulder to look up at him, his face being illuminated by dim street lights, he looked so soft and like he didn't have any worry in the world.

"Aye sir, I am in your hands for the rest of this trip." you joked and he let out a huffed laugh, bringing your hand closer to his lips, kissing your knuckles, you watched him carefully, biting your lower lip as you felt the warmth spread throughout your entire body from just that tiny exchange of affection.

John parked the car, pulled the break and turned the machine off. He leaned back in the leather seat and looked at you, smile creeping around the corners of his mouth.

"Take my jacket, it can be windy up here."

He said and reached in the back seat for his jacket, handing it to you. You took it into your hands and looked around you, it was quiet and dark all around. Not single lamp post or anything was in the vicinity, only the headlights that John left on, and the soft tune of radio that still played.

"There is nothing here, and honestly it feels like a horror movie. Am I about to be murdured  and thrown from this cliff John?"

Mactavish just chuckled and opened the car doors on his side,

"Do you trust me lass?", he asked as he leaned on the car roof, peeking inside and looking at you.

"Do I trust man I just met in local bar to exit my car, my only way of escaping, and obey him to walk into my own funeral? Sure yeah, here I come.." you said with playful tone as you stepped out of your car, flinging his black jacket over your shoulders and sliding your arms into it. It smelled like him and you buried your nose into the collar of jacket, closing your eyes and getting lost in the man's perfume mixed with aftershave. You were about to close the doors of the car when John cut you off,

"Don't close the doors, we won't be able to hear the music".

He was now behind you, towering over your smaller frame and your heart skipped the beat as you turned around to face him.

He slowly reached for your hips and without any hesitation or struggle, swayed you off your bare feet and lifted you up. You instinctively warped your arms around his neck smiling at him.

"You need to stop watching that many horror movies, they will rot your pretty brain"

He smiled at you with his eyes, looking down at your parted lips. Your face being right infront of his, possibly few inches away since he could feel your breath on his skin, and you could feel his. Blush creeped around your cheeks and he put you down on the hood of the car that was still warm from the engine. Your hands left his neck, but he still remained between your legs, not letting your hips just yet. You could've swore that his eyes were shining that night, you knew it was not possible, that your brain was seeing tings the way it wanted to, but you still chose to believe that impossible was possible in that moment.

His shadow that was casted due to headlights now moved, and with deep inhale his grip left your hips and you bit your lip. You felt disappointed and empty, you wanted him to lean in closer, you wanted to taste him and to seal the deal, but he moved away, hopping on the hood with ease, next to you, and leaning down on the windshield, one hand behind his head and other stretched out across the hood. He wiggled his eyebrows at you and slowly nodded towards his hand.

You pouted but soon enough curled against him, resting your head on his arm and softly gliding your hand over his chest, feeling his heart beat under your palm.

In response he softly put his fingers in your hair, massaging your head in circular moves.

"Look up lass, the sky is beautiful tonight. No clouds, just stars blinking and shining somewhere out there, far, far away. Haven't seen this in a while."

You listened to his words and followed his gaze up towards the sky. He was right, it was indeed beautiful. Dark blue mixed with dozen blinking lights looking back at you and him. Moon was nowhere to be found however. And then it struck you, the whole moment was inscribed into your memory- his soft breathing, the glitter in his eyes, the soft music that was playing from inside the car, the murmur of water somewhere in the distance, the ruffle of the leaves and grass that were moved by soft breeze and your eyes watered a bit, you really wanted to live in this moment forever, to lie on his arm forever and to gaze at the same stars forever.

John noticed the hard breathing next to him and faced you with soft smile "Dont cry lass, I more like you smiling, it suits you better. Can't say the same for those shoes.. Those didn't work for you that well eh?" you chucked through the tears and felt his thumb on your cheek as he wiped one stray tear.

"I just want to be here forever.. Like this. With you next to me. If I had one chance to freeze the time it would be right now, right here with you so I could look at your eyes filled with thousand stars forever, counting them slowly one by one, never getting bored of you." the girl said softly pulling herself closer to him. John smiled and kissed her hair softly.

"Funny how you are telling me the words I should be telling you bonnie. Maybe this is just a dream eh? Maybe we will wake up from it feeling empty..I know that I will miss you when I am gone.. Now, tell me who broke your heart?"

John said with whisper, still gazing up at the stars, slowly closing his eyes.

"Life did. But its nothing you can't fix.." you said quietly, blushing and looking up at him. He opened the eyes and looked back at you, his eyes trailing every line of your face, trying to remember all the features of it as he leaned in and slowly kissed your forehead.

"Dance with me?" He asked and you smiled up at him.

"I dont have any shoes on." you replied as with one swift move he pulled you off the car .

"That is nothing I can't fix." he smirked a bit and lifted you up from the car, telling you to stand on his shoes.

"John no, I am heavy." you chuckled as his hands held you close to him, his hands under his jacket, one placed on small of your back and one firmly held your hip, your feet now on his shoes, and he started moving slowly in tune of "Gloria" by Midnight that was on radio station at the moment.

"Bollocks, you are light as a feather, I can't even feel you. Do you even eat something or you just drink every day?" He joked and you laughed, throwing your hands over his head, locking them behind his neck.

"Captain Mactavish, stop teasing me and kiss me. I demand that action." you ran your hand over back of his head, feeling the tingles on your palm from his fresh shaven hair cut.

He looked down at you, lingering his eyes on your lips that were smirking a bit, slowly closing distance between the two, teasingly.

He pressed his cold lips on yours and you closed your eyes, wanting to remember every single moment and every move he made.

He slowly moved his hand up and down your back, inviting you to deepen the kiss which you accepted. He kissed you slowly, with passion with every move. He was spilling all of his emotions right then and there, he held you like was afraid that you will disappear from his arms, like he wouldn't be able to touch you or feel you. Your heart feel heavy, and you swore he could hear it since it was crashing against your ribcage. 

John slowly parted with your lips, looking into your eyes, his forehead resting on yours,

"After I am done with next mission, I will steal you and take you away so we can count all of the starts together, alright?" He asked and you nodded in approval slowly.

"Promise you wont forget?" You blinked up at him and he softly leaned in and kissed your lips again, kiss that was assuring and warm.

"I will be back in two days, wait for me here and be ready for a trip.", he softly brushed his nose on yours and you smiled wide at him, the universe was on your side, fate was on your side. It gifted him to you, to keep him and to cherish him, that whole night was like a fever dream, it almost didn't feel real- but it was. He was there and you were with him, swaying to the music slowly, kissing and feeling each other praying that sun wont come up just yet..

In two days you were at the same spot, your truck filled with all your stuff you needed.

You paced around the car excited, wanting to have his arms around you again, wanting to kiss him again... But he never showed up.

You never saw him again. You visited the bar often, you went to the house where you left his friend that night but the house was not there, it was demolished not long ago.

John disappeared without the trace, just the way he came into your life, unnoticed.

You never heard from him again. It was like that whole night was just a distant dream you had, and you would believe it if it wasn't for his jacket that was in your closet, his smell still lingering on it.

Years have passed, you never quite moved on, settling for a man who was nothing like John, but he cared for you, he really did.

Treating you right, bringing you flowers for every 14th of February, never forgetting anniversary or your birthday.

He didn't have stars in his eyes, he never took you to that place, never made you fall in love with him in bare hours, but he was enough. You had a nice house in nice neighbourhood and you lived a nice life with him.

You were at kitchen, preparing a lunch for your husband and you, when you heard a bell ring of your doors. You swiftly cleaned your hands and rushed to open the door.

"Yes?" You said as handle turned and the door opened.

Man who you never met before stood before you. He had small blue eyes, his beard was a bit weird but it suited him nice. He had a brown hair, and looked like life never treated him with ease.

"Can I help you sir?" You questioned the stranger and he nodded affirmative

"You are a hard one to find (y/n). Took me long enough.. Name's John Price, I have something for you.", he said and pulled white small envelope from his pocket handing it to you

"What is this sir? How do you know my name?" He smiled sadly at you and turned around being ready to leave when he stopped in his tracks, not facing you still.

"I am sorry. Wish I did more." .

He said and you were more confused than ever, you watched as man left your property and you closed the door, looking at the envelope that was in your hand. It was a bit heavy, but only on one side of it.

You rushed to the living room, where you sat down and opened it.

Dog tags fell out from them, they were cleaned recently, but the rust on them was noticeable still.

"John Mactavish"

ARMY

Some numbers and rest were scribbled from them.

Your heart dropped and your lips parted, eyes already filled with tears that slowly left your eye, falling down your cheek.

In the envelope was also a paper, it had blood stains on it. You tried wiping your eyes and reading it.

"I want to invite you for a walk,

To a quiet place; In the moor.

When the breeze sings midnight,

One if those nights- the moon is full.

A restless pounding invades in my heart,

When I think of my confidants-

The stars.

If they could only speak ,

What would they say?

If you could hear them talk.

For they know of my fondness for you,

And that in my thoughts

There is no other one.

If only the stars could speak

They will tell you that I love you,

They would ask you,

To love me back."

You hugged the peace of paper like it was John himself and let your tears fall freely whispering to yourself and to the paper like he could hear you, like he was the one in your arms instead of this bloody peace of paper.

“I do love you John.. I never stopped.”.

A soothing closure fell over you. Now he was the star somewhere up in the sky, looking over at you every night you faced the sky, waiting for you to join him one day.

[xo-cuteplosion-xo]

Midnight ball | Chuuya x reader |

Midnight Ball | Chuuya x reader | (female reader)

I feel like I'm doing Chuuya dirty with this one-

Warnings- references to some NSFW themes, inferred attempted rape, mentions of drug use.

(really hesitant on actually posting this... nothing happens, but I don't wanna make people too uncomfortable)

Undercover missions were normal in the port mafia. Every once in a while they would come up. You went on a lot of these missions. Even the ones you didn’t care for.

The air was brisk, not too cold, but not a comfortable warmth either. It wasn’t every day you were called in on what should have been your day off. The clouds covered the noon sun, keeping its warmth tucked away. It felt as if it may rain. Maybe snow would fall with how cold the air was. The trees were bare of their leaves and the grass slowly warping to brown. The winter flowers, in full bloom. You shivered tugging the scarf closer as you walked towards the black buildings. Stepping inside was bliss, the air warm and welcoming. You walked slowly towards the elevator stepping inside as it carried you to the level Mori’s office was.

Making your way into the office, your eyes landed on the short male you had become close to. Running a hand through your hair you looked to Mori. “Ya know it’s my day off right? This better be important.” you had guts talking to your boss like this. Elise snickered from the corner of the large room, drawing a picture. Most likely something rather disturbing, as she tended to do.

You hadn’t noticed it before, but Chuuya’s face was contorted in both disgust and anger. Whatever this was, gave him quite displeasure. “He’s having us go undercover. Instead of picking another female… he’s making me wear a fucking dress.” his eyes narrowed in Mori's direction.

“Well, you work well with (y/n). I carefully considered members like Kouyou, but none of them matched what I needed for the minor mission." Mori grinned as Chuuya huffed, crossing his arms.

You tried to imagine him in a dress, but the only thing that you could think of was Kouyou, considering they did both have ginger hair. Shrugging you grabbed Chuuya’s hand, tugging him away. You figured he could brief you on the mission later.

~

As the sun fell under the horizon, and the moon took its place in night's embrace, the two of you settled inside the limo. Chuuya’s arms were crossed as he tugged on the dress. His eyes set in heavy glares. His hair happened to be up in a neat bun. It had taken a lot of fighting and shouting that could have deafened somebody. He was even dolled up with light specks of makeup. The red dress suited his form, his height made it ideal for heels. He already had a feminine figure, so there wasn’t much you needed to do to pass him as a female. He kept squirming around glaring at you. “How the fuck do girls wear these dreaded things.” he hissed, referring to the corset hidden beneath the silk he wore.

Snickering you shrugged leaning back. “They say beauty is pain,” you hummed, leaning back in your seat. This wasn’t ideal for you either. You much preferred to be slightly dressed down from this. Looking as fancy as you did now wasn’t modest, and it sure wasn’t something you liked to wear. You were sucking it up so why couldn’t Chuuya? Could he really be all that uncomfortable? “I could loosen it a bit.” you offered, but Chuuya shook his head staring at himself. He had mastered heals within a handful of moments so you weren’t worried about him tripping. The real challenge would be flirting with the target.

This was a two-person job due to the size of the party and the security around the target. One of you would distract the guards while the other smooth-talked their way into a private area with the target. They would either get the extent of the information this person had managed to take early this morning or silence him. You two hadn’t decided who would be doing what. It was more one of those whoever gets there first situations. The car pulled up to the entrance just as your thoughts finished. Stepping onto the ground you waited for Chuuya. The clunk of his heels on the pavement were steady and even. You went to remind him about his expression, but he rolled his eyes. “I know, no scowling, glaring, or yelling.”

You smiled gripping the edge of the dress, pulling it up so you could walk the stairs without tripping on the (f/c) fabric. Your hair was down but pinned in specific places. “Don’t forget, no swearing. We have to act ladylike Chu.” clicking his tongue, he pinched the fabric of his dress and walked up after you. Entering the large mansion you were escorted to the ballroom. Standing at the railing that overlooked the floor you smiled. Never in your life had you been to one of these. You truly wanted to participate at least a little.

Chuuya noticed the excited glimmer of your eyes and grabbed your hand. Tonight, you both were trying to pass as two female teenage siblings whose parents wanted a night alone. Without a boyfriend, the two of you showed up alone. A naive action when it came to noble parties. These were incredible to get into. You had to have power and money somewhere. He pulled you down the stairs, flashing you a small smile. He wouldn’t admit but this wasn’t that bad. He didn’t mind the corset or the way the dress flowed in the wind. He minded the hair since he always wore it in one specific style. He’d done this once before with Dazai but doing this with you was different. Probably because he wasn’t being forced to be the fiance this time. “We might as well try to enjoy ourselves.” he was surprisingly skilled at keeping his voice higher in pitch. There were a few occasional slips, but he sounded somewhat feminine.

Smirking you pulled him to the food table. “I’d say you're actually enjoying yourself Chu.” his eyes narrowed for a second before playfully hitting your shoulder.

“Sure I am.” he huffed looking over the table of snacks. He grabbed one of the tea-sandwiches and took small bites. Despite how he tried to enjoy himself, he was focused on the mission. There was still no sign of the target. Two older-looking gentlemen came up to the pair of you, holding their hands out.

“Would you two care for a dance?” Chuuya’s mouth twitched to snarl, but he quickly put on a smile despite how much he wanted to string profanities. You glanced at him, inhaling softly, you tapped his shoulder as if to reassure him.

“Depends~ how old do you think we are?” you two had decided on your roles already. To spare Chuuya some dignity you would try to be the more seductive while he played the part of the shyer, more innocent twin. Since he was a boy playing a girl, he matched the innocent child-like stereotype well, considering he didn’t have breasts.

One of the men standing in front of you chuckled lightly. “Teens, though it’s not like we're hitting on you. We simply wish to take you for a dance. You appear lonely.” Chuuya was sick to his stomach already. The last time he’d done this he didn’t have to deal with these situations because Dazai had been there. Yet, as he looked to you, he tilted his head. Your hand grabbed the man's as you looked back to Chuuya.

“Trust me, it’ll be fun. There aren't any men our age, so trust me.” the act flew softly off your lips. There was a hidden motion when you flicked your ankle. It would have passed as your feet were slightly sore to anybody else. Chuuya glanced to the railing, spotting the target. He nodded, faking a smile as the two of you entered the dance floor.

With every pulse of the music, you got closer and closer to the edge. Your eyes tracing for the amount of guards. Though based on what you were observing you had both already found them. It was a widely known fact your target had a thing for younger females. Not young like Elise but teenagers who appear frail. You and Chuuya most definitely looked the part tonight. Dipping you back your eyes met Chuuya's, a smirk crossing both of your expressions. When you returned to the normal position you switched partners.

Things started going slightly south from there. While you two had managed to keep your dancing rather close to one another, you were starting to drift apart now. Chuuya moved closer to the stairwell, while you made your way towards the back doors. Despite how you tried to move back towards him, your dance partner kept you moving in that direction. Eventually, you noted what was going on. Occasionally these types of missions had unexpected twists. This was one of those twists. You hadn’t thought to watch for other predators. Trying to rip your hands from his you glared. “I ought to get back to my sister.” you wove innocence into your voice, but he paid no mind as if he had not heard you. As the music ended, the rough grip that had succeeded in pulling the two of you apart let go. A silent satisfactory smirk placed over his lips. Walking from you he headed back to find another dancing partner.

Walking around you began to search for Chuuya among the crowd. Innocently asking couples and other women if they had seen a short, rather young-looking female ginger dressed in red. They had shaken their heads but one couple pointed towards the stairs. You curtsied respectfully, racing to the stairs only to be stopped by the two men you had previously been dancing with. Batting your eyelashes you explained somebody had seen your sister walk up these stairs not too long ago.

You couldn’t help but feel worried despite knowing Chuuya could handle himself with the utmost care. He was strong both physically and ability-wise. You bit the inside of your cheek figuring, they probably weren't idiots. If they had separated the two of you they had to think you already knew something was up. You'd probably made that worse when you tried pulling away in the dance. The high-heels were beginning to get rather annoying. They were difficult to run in, jumping would probably result in a twisted ankle if you don't land perfectly. You made sure to blend away into the crowd. Losing their eyes you slipped through doors until you made it into a hallway. Laying out the map of the building in your head you walked the halls trying to find the staircase leading upstairs. You had to dodge behind corners to avoid security. It took you close to ten minutes to finally reach the stairs. There were so many rooms it would be difficult to find which one to enter. You narrowed it down to two in your head. The others would be a waste of time, the two you had narrowed it to were close to the ballroom, small, and were bar areas. Off-limits to party-goers as well. There would be no interruptions to their perverted actions.

You looked around, spotting a guard, you gripped the edge of your glove with your teeth. Walking up as if you were scared you began to stumble purposely over words. “I-i think I’m lost. I needed the ladies room and I couldn't find my sis or the ballroom.” faking tears as you got closer, the security officer's eyes softened as you approached. Taking you as a younger female instead of an adult, he offered out his hand. You gripped it before smirking as your ability activated. Moving your hand away, you tilted your head. “Sleep,” you commanded them. They fell to the floor with a thud. Grabbing the gun from their belt you checked that the safety was on. Assured it was you stashed it in your dress. Walking to the first room you burst inside finding no sign anybody had been there, you closed the door.

Making your way to the next option you pressed an ear to the door. Whispers and the sound of metal sent you to a light panic. Glaring at the door you pulled the gun out and switched the safety off. Entering the room you pointed the gun only to hear clicks follow. Your eyes darted to the sound. “So there were four.” snarling you entered and shut the door with your heel. Your mind began thinking of every way to get away from this situation. You lowered your gun with a defeated sigh. Letting it drop to the floor, one of the guns pressed to your head. Their hand grabbed your wrist as you looked to the mop of passed-out ginger.

“Damn idiot,” you hissed knowing this was probably the result of drugging. There was no way in hell he’d be beaten by mere ability-less scum. Shoved to the floor you glared. Your hands were pulled above you. Looking to the side you snickered at the poor idiot who touched your skin. “Kill your boss,” you commanded and their body dropped you and turned to the person whose hands were on your love interest. When the next guy pointed the gun at you, you swept them off their feet, whistled, and pointed. “Shoot them.” with another fire, two of three were dead. “Now shoot yourself.” and so they ended up three of three. Tossing off the heels you made your way over to Chuuya. Checking his pulse you rolled your eyes.

You lifted him in your arms before leaving the bloody scene. Your dress was now stained with splatters of crimson. Jumping from the window, then to a tree, and down, you placed Chuuya in the limo. Grabbing a bottle of water you opened his mouth and poured it down his throat. He stirred a bit, his head falling on your shoulder. Blushing lightly you found the back of his dress was open and the corset already loosened. “Got there just in time.” you sighed as the limo pulled to your small apartment. Lifting him you carried him inside. Dropping him to the bed you sat on the opposite side of the bed.

It took three hours before his eyes fluttered open. Holding his head, he glanced at you. “Why the fuck are you here?” of course his first words would be aggressive. He could hide it all he wanted by the shiver of his body and the way his hands moved to his back made it clear. Finding the strings and ribbon undone as well as torn his eyes widened for a fraction.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting to be separated like that.” you played around with your gloves looking back at him you pulled a thing of makeup wipes from the side table. Tossing it to him, you sighed. “I hope you don’t mind, I had Dazai lock pick your door and get you your usual clothes.” he couldn’t even be mad at you for letting that bastard into his house. His mind was still focused on recollecting what had happened. He was beyond humiliated. He should have seen it coming. “I should have gotten there faster. They shouldn’t have been able to even get that close. I’m so sorry Chuuya! I’ll talk to Mori about not putting you on these types of missions. I know you're mad but please… say something.” you twirled a strand of your hair on your finger.

“I should have been prepared.” he looked away from you before feeling your arms around his body. Your head laid in the crook of his neck as you shook your head violently. He felt something wet soil, the shoulder of his dress. Turning so he could pick your head up, he blinked, startled to see the water dripping from your eyes. “You’re crying?” he sounded baffled, confused even.

“I should have let you be yourself! If I hadn’t pushed you to act like an innocent defenseless child, that situation would have been different.'' Chuuya gripped your shoulders laughing lightly as he shook his head. “You didn’t even have a good time! You hated being there.”

“No, no, (y/n)... I... Fuck!” he was bad at words, so as he tried forming the correct words he kept shaking his head. “I enjoyed spending time with you! I’d prefer to accompany you as a man next time. Neither of us are at fault. Missions go south. Nobody got hurt, sure I feel like an idiot, I’m utterly humiliated that I let my guard down and got drugged up, but nothing happened.” he pressed his forehead against yours, his thumb wiping away the tears on your cheeks.

This was out of character for him, but it was a side only you gotta see. He hated seeing you break down or get upset over things you had no control over. His hands wrapped around your ungloved ones. Your skin touches him with a small shyness. “Can I?” he asked watching you nod as his lips passed over yours.

“We both deserve a break from work. How about we tell Mori we are taking two days off?” you hummed looking into his eyes. He smirked and nodded. His lips pressing back to yours in a heated kiss. You pressed him underneath you with a smirk. His face went red as he glared.

“You’re a fucking pervert.” he hissed watching you snicker.

“Wow Chu, I'm so offended.” you leaned back into a kiss as his cheeks turned a brighter shade of red. “Think this makes us a real couple.” he rolled his eyes as you rolled to lay next to him.

“Yeah, I guess.”

[bubbleteaa]

Fragile as a cherry blossom petal [ushijima wakatoshi x reader]

Fragile as a cherry blossom petal; pairing: ushijima wakatoshi x reader warnings: Tons of feelings, like, a lot; some angst, just a lil bit. words: 5233 uwu

Summary: When he saw you, you seemed so fragile, just like the cherry blossom petals that fell around you; little he knew, that the fragile petal was him.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

The cool April wind hit his face as he ran. His mind was blank, his legs moved automatically. Ushijima could feel the droplets of sweat slipping down his jaw. He turned, decided to change his rhythm and began to slow down, his eyes peeled off the way to observe the cherry blossoms dancing to the rhythm of the wind, he breathed deeply, usually did not pay attention to him around when exercising. Everything was a routine, warmed up, ran, returned to Shiratorizawa and practiced with the rest of the club. But, for a moment, his routine was affected by observing the beautiful pink petals.

Then he stopped. He stopped running and kept watching. For some reason, no matter how many times he saw the same petals, his breath was always stolen. They looked so fragile. Maybe, just maybe that's what motivated him to see them. Their delicacy.

He heard a rather low, almost faint sneeze, he turned almost instantly. On one of the benches, he observed a girl sitting with a notebook in his hands, watching Wakatoshi curiously, but only with that. Ushijima's face didn't express anything.

"Bless you" he caught the way to say, his words slipped through his mouth very gently, but he sounded harshly anyway. He looked at her again. She was writing something on his cell phone.

'That's kind of rude,' he thought. She hadn't thanked him, he didn't care much, really; but, she was still rude. Just before taking his gaze off the girl's figure, she raised her cell phone towards him and smiled genuinely at him.

"Thank you, sorry to take me a while to respond. I'm mute."

Oh.

"You don't have to apologize" he replied. Internally he felt ashamed, never thought the girl in front of him did not have the ability to speak.

She wrote again, Wakatoshi was just watching her. He looked at the other objects that were near her, a backpack, a pen and a coat. He noticed the coat for several seconds, trying to see which academy he belonged to.

Not recognizing the name, he turned his sight to the young woman. She didn't stop smiling at any point. Why was she smiling so much? Did he have something on his face?

"My name is Y/N. What yours?"

"Ushijima Wakatoshi" he responded by looking her in the eye. They were shiny, they kept showing him that kindness, that softness, that fragility.

Her smile gradually disappeared and then she got up. Ushijima stared at her. Maybe it was time to go, maybe it was a little rude to just stared at her, perhaps his tone of voice and the way he watched her was intimidating.

But again she smiled at him. She wasn't near him, but she wasn't far. Her body was small, dwarf in front of him. And she looked so small, so fragile.

He watched her write something on her cell phone and looked back at her figure. Fragile. Everything in her yelled fragility at her. Weakness. Delicacy. He blinked and it was the longest blink he had ever taken. When he opened his eyes, he could read what had been written.

"I'm sorry if this seems very strange, Ushijima-kun. Can I draw you? I need to draw someone for an art project. It doesn't matter if you don't want to, I'll understand. I know you think I'm weird, " the last sentence gets stuck in his head. Had she done anything to give her that perception?

He didn't know what to answer. He had already wasted a lot of time in his distractions; but he didn't want to leave because if he did, immediately the girl in front of his eyes would think that his words are made, when they don't come close to reality.

The ace looked for a second at the cherry trees and then directed his gaze to Y/n.

"Sure."

.· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨) (¸.·´ (¸.·’* ⛧

"Wakatoshi-kun, you were a little late today", Tendou's voice drew him from his thoughts. Blinked a couple of times as I drank water "Did you get distracted?"

"I was with a girl."

"WHAT?!" they all turned his head at the same time towards Ushijima, he continued to drink water with great peace of mind. His gaze remained static even as Tendou began to question him about this supposed female figure who had caused it to arrive an hour and a half late to practice.

Yes, he had been with Y/n. And surprisingly, he didn't want to go back to the practice because the young woman's presence was addictive. He was not a person of many words and she could not speak, but, the silence was comfortable, she was kind and quite interesting. Her smile was still drawn in his mind delicately, a beautiful smile. Such a delicate smile, so fragile.

He remembered when she showed her the final result of the drawing and Wakatoshi could not help but smile. She was talented and she knew she was. She looked so happy, so euphoric when she began to thank him for allowing her to draw him. He also noticed that the young woman liked to talk quite a bit. He ended up telling her that he was the captain of Shiratorizawa's Volleyball team and that at the same time he was the ace. He immediately noticed that the girl with e/c colored eyes did not know what she was talking about, so he explained to her.

And she ended up stopping at that point to smile at him. Ushijima swore that he felt that his world stopped when she saw her tiptoe to caress her hair. Didn't you think it was disgusting? He was a little sweaty and that definitely wasn't the behavior anyone would have with him. Ushijima was intimidating, he's intimidating.

"Do I have something in my hair?"

"No, I'm just trying to say you're doing a good job. Toshi-kun" It didn't take long to write those words to him, but Ushijima could feel his heart start beating uncontrollably by the nickname.

Toshi.

Even after the break was over, the smile, the scent, the figure, everything Y/n kept cornering him in his thoughts.

He didn't want to leave because he wanted to keep seeing her smile in contrast to the sakura flowers falling near her. She looked very beautiful, well, and Y/n is beautiful, he had noticed that the moment she smiled at him for the first time. That's why when she gave him her cell phone and asked him to give him his number, he found it strange. Shouldn't he take the first step? But he wasn't upset or uncomfortable, because he wanted to get to know her more, no matter what barriers there might be due to her condition.

How could I deny her anything?

When he was finished, Tendou continued to ask him. He kept it going to finish answering because he was already asking something else. After he finished changing, he checked his cell phone and his eyes revealed a little glow full of emotion as he read Y/n's message.

His companions watched him and couldn't believe what they saw.

Ushijima Wakatoshi was smiling while writing something on his cell phone.

"Oh" Ushijima did not react to the redhead's words. He pressed to send and then raised his sight. The third-year-olds watched him with his eyes wide open, trying to observe what he had written "Do you like someone, Wakatoshi-kun?~"

When Ushijima looked up, he immediately felt his cell phone vibrate.

"One second, Tendou"

"You definitely like her"

"She's a pretty interesting person," he replied. He kept walking until he stopped, observing Shiratorizawa's entrance.

"Aren't you afraid to get in trouble, Wakatoshi-kun?~"

He hadn't told Y/n that they had dorms, so she thought they'd walk home together. He couldn't let her go alone at that time of night.

L/N had told him that she also belonged to a club, specifically the art club; Ushijima was unaware of many things besides volleyball, so when the girl started telling him about the national performances, the boy was clueless. She took her time to explain, and he understood immediately. Her dream was to be able to be known for what she liked, and that her disability would not stop her. She told him that sometimes no words were needed to show her feelings, that she learned it in the roughest way, but that she did not imagine what her life would be like with the ability to speak. A lot of things would be easier, and a lot of things wouldn't have crossed his mind, maybe he wouldn't have had a chance to meet him.

That's why she was working on extra hours and creating new pieces of art to be able to have an outstanding place. Hours and overtime. Although, he couldn't criticize her. I'd be hypocritical.

But... always go alone at this time of night at home?

What if someone hurt him?

Or did something happen and you disappeared?

What if it rained at night?

No. He wasn't going to let any of that happen, he would never allow that something bad happened to her.

"It won't be more than 20 minutes," he observed Tendou and he showed him one of his most playful smiles.

"I’ll cover you, Wakatoshi-kun~"

.· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨) (¸.·´ (¸.·’* ⛧

Six months later.

"Y/N" Ushijima turned to look at her and smiled delicately at her "Would you like to come to practice today?"

Her face conveyed so much joy, so much emotion, so much affection. She nodded quickly and lunged down so he could hug him. Oh, oh, oh. Wakatoshi's heart began to tremble inside his chest, it was too much for him. Having her so close, her scent covering her clothes, her smile and eyes shrinking by the size of her smile. Anything that had to do with her made him fragile.

Yes, Wakatoshi had taken the steps after Y/N. But he had managed to ask her out on different occasions and finally declare his feelings for her.

The confession by the h/c-haired girl had been written in a letter with cherry blossom petals adorning her. Wakatoshi's heart was so moved by his words and by the little drawing of him she had made.

How could he not reciprocate her feelings, if he was already more than in love with her?

"Uhm... yes, I think we should walk to Shiratorizawa, " he mentioned a while later and the e/c-eyed girl separated from him and took his hand without thinking about it. Oh. He watched her and smiled again, catching his fingers with hers and began to walk.

They had become very close. Too close. L/N brought out the sweetest and most delicate of the giant Ushijima. His serious and intimidating shell was softened by the girl's displays of affection. Next to her, he became so fragile, so sensitive.

And Y/N was so sweet, so beautiful. Feeling her hand against his, damn. She was so small. L/N looked at him and kissed his cheek. Ushijima slowed to process the situation and began to blush slowly, turning his gaze away as the young woman laughed. Her laughter was so soft, so precious. The first time he heard her laugh, he was impressed, but soon the girl had told her that it was normal to articulate sounds, but that talking was impossible for her. Deep down he was grateful for the fact that he could hear her laugh. The memory was attached to his memory and he could not help but smile before looking at her again.

"It doesn't matter that you can't talk. It's the most beautiful laugh I've ever heard" Wakatoshi's words came out instantly, sincerely, transparently. The girl's eyes opened with surprise and she began to turn into a crimson red who immediately worried the third-year young man "Are you okay, Y/N? Do you feel bad? Do you have a fever?"

He was so damn clueless sometimes.

However, he hadn't introduced Y/N to the team yet, was it right if he did it today? He hadn't warned anyone and they were in front of the gym entrance.

"Y/N," he looked at her and brought her face a little closer to his "if you feel uncomfortable or is too much for yourself, just tell me. Sometimes... Tendou is very noisy." The young woman smiled at him and nodded softly, before pressing his lips against his in a very short kiss. Ushijima didn't get used to sudden displays of affection, but he loved them. He smiled and kissed the crown of his head before entering the gym against her.

The sounds of the balls hitting the ground on the finishers and the sound of the sneakers sliding down the wooden floor filled Y/N with curiosity. She was still holding her boyfriend's hand as she inspected the place with her gaze. Here, the person that trained day and night. She smiled watching Ushijima, yes, he was special.

Then, before she knew it, Wakatoshi blocked one of the balls that may have hit his girl. And Y/N blinked several times, had not noticed, she was so focused on admiring around her and Toshi. He observed Ushijima's countenance, his frown was slightly frowned upon. He looked upset. He was upset.

"Wakatoshi-kun~" And Y/N turned to where she heard the voice, he was a tall, red-haired boy with a peculiar smile. His eyes remained closed as he called Ushijima "I thought you'd never make it~”.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Everyone stopped.

Immediately, Y/N felt like all eyes were positioned on top of her. Ushijima kept watching Tendou with a frown. The boy was blinking as he looked at Y/N, he began to circle around them, looking at his uniform and also his appearance. Tendou looked at Wakatoshi and smiled.

"Oooh, Wakatoshi-kun~, you didn't tell us that today you would bring Y/N-chan" the confused young lady and looked at her boyfriend.

"I didn't plan on it."

"Uhm, Y/N-chan, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, I'm Tendou Satori" Satori reached out her hand and Y/N smiled at it. Ushijima observed how one of his hands was still intertwined with L/N's and the other was being caressed by Tendou's.

He didn't like to see that.

"Tendou" called him, he let go of Y/N's hand after several friendly squeezes "They almost hit Y/N while practicing."

"I apologize for that, Y/N-chan" the redhead leaned in apology way and then smiled at the girl "But Waka Waka was there to protect you, didn't he?” The young woman smiled and nodded. Tendou looked at her curiously "Hey, Y/N-chan, wouldn't you like to meet the rest of the team? Waka Waka looks a little... possessive"

Ushijima only cast a short look at him as he gently squeezed his partner's hand. She blinked a couple of times in confusion and then watched everyone else. He noticed an older gentleman trying not to scream as he rubbed his sien with his hands.

"I remember telling you that, if you were going to be distracted, that you were going to be for a girl..., BUT I DIDN'T MEAN TO BRING HER TO DISTRACT OTHERS!"

"I apologize" Ushijima bowed his head "This is L/N Y/N" observed all members of the club "My girlfriend".

Oh. Now this was interesting.

They tried not to corner the young woman with many questions, but Ushijima had forgotten to tell them that Y/N had a special condition and that she did not speak. At first no one understood until the girl pulled out her cell phone and started explaining that she was actually mute. That caused much more curiosity in all the team members, even the coach. Wakatoshi had managed to approach someone who did not speak being a person of few words.

How ironic love was.

After several questions, mostly how they met as Wakatoshi was very secretive and had not gone into much detail - and had not informed anyone that officially Y/N was his girlfriend - L/N sat next to the coach to watch them practice.

Ushijima was on top of his 100%.

He wanted to show you how good he was, he wanted her to be proud of being her partner. Wakatoshi was completely in love with the girl and wanted to give the young woman plenty of reasons for not leaving him. And Y/N looked at him and clapped every time he managed to score. She was delighted at how her boyfriend looked like a fish in the water while playing. She couldn't help but smile for the rest of the set, he looked so calm, so passionate, so happy.

She couldn't help it and took a picture just as he jumped to score, the sound that formed when he hit the ball was intimidating. Her smile grew more. She will draw it later.

"L/N" turned his head towards the "Ushijima has a lot of future" the coach said “He's one of the best" he looked at her "He's showing the best he's got because you're here" the girl looked at Wakatoshi and smiled "But, he gets distracted sometimes at practice" his voice got a little harsh towards the girl "And it also takes a long time to get to the club. I have been struck several times by the times he arrives late to the dorms" And Y/N looked at it surprised. Wakatoshi hadn't told him anything about this, "You may be his motivation, but at the same time you're a distraction that, unfortunately, may be taking him away from his dream."

There was no more conversation after that.

For some reason, Y/N felt a knot in his throat, she couldn't say anything, of course, of course she couldn't. She looked down at the screen of his cell phone, looking at the photo he had just taken of the boy.

His dream.

He may lose his dream.

Was she really hurting Toshi's future that much?

Then it all began to reproduce in her head. The days when Wakatoshi sought her in her academy, they sat on the bench where they met and stayed like this, smiling at each other. Or the times when he told her that he needed to go back to the club and that she would do the same. And the times when he left the club late and went to the park so he could take her home which was 15 minutes from Shiratorizawa. He was wasting valuable time for her.

Ushijima was wasting time for her.

It was her fault.

She felt the tears form in his eyes. Her jaw began to tremble. No, she couldn't cry. Wakatoshi was happy, and if Wakatoshi was happy, she should be happy. It doesn't matter that she had to step away little by little so she can encourage him to get his dream.

Practice ended an hour later and Y/N didn't know how she didn't cry when Ushijima approached her to hug her and tell her he was happy that she could watch him play.

"Very well" said the coach "But it could be better. How about two more hours?"

"I will take Y/N home and return to practice," Ushiwaka declared, the others looked at him and smiled lightly. The coach looked through the corner of the young woman's eye.

Maybe it's taking him away from his dream.

She said goodbye to everyone with a friendly smile. Ushijima hadn't stopped smiling, he was sure L/N had seen how good she was, he was sure the young lady was proud, that she was impressed. He was sure he had shown him that he was not at all fragile.

"See you later" Ushijima looked at Tendou and the others.

The young woman remembered the coach's words and looked at Ushijima, quickly wrote on her cell phone and spread it to her.

Ushijima shook his head.

"It's a little late, " he looked at her, there was some concern in his eyes. The girl's heart started to hurt "I won't let you go alone."

"I'll be fine, Toshi. It's not dark yet, I promise when I get home, I'll send you a message! :)" Wakatoshi sighed and looked at her again.

Ushijima swore for a second to see the girl's eyes begin to drown in tears, but she was quickly said to lower her gaze to pick up her things.

"Okay”.

Ushijima read the message several times. Trying to process what the girl was trying to say. He felt a pain in his chest that he had never experienced before. He began to write very slowly:

"What do you mean, why did you call me Ushijima? And Y/N we can solve this. We can do it. Yesterday, was it too much for you? Please--".

He stopped.

And Y/N had sent another message.

"I don't think it's good for me to be in your life. I'm a distraction to you."

He deleted the message he was writing.

"What do you mean?"

Ushijima's hands began to tremble as he waited on the bench. He hadn't gone to practice; He hadn't even warmed up. He’s been waiting all day for the girl, all day worried, all day thinking about the things that might have happened to him not to accompany her at night.

"I'm taking you away from your dreams, Toshi."

"I'm a distraction to you."

"Ever since we met, you've been wasting valuable time you spent with volleyball. It's all my fault. I don't want to take you away from your dream, I know how important it is to you."

"Please, Toshi. You know it's true, you know you've gotten in trouble because of me."

"I'm so sorry, Toshi."

"Goodbye."

It broke.

Like when they crashed a glass into the ground. Like when they cut the bonds that connected soulmates. As when the fragility of the cherry petals was in their hands and so delicate that, with a grotesque rub, they broke.

Ushijima Wakatoshi, the miracle boy, began crying after reading the last message sent to him by the woman he loved.

And he couldn't answer it, because it was true.

.· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨) (¸.·´ (¸.·’* ⛧

It's been two months.

It was December.

And Y/N watched the snowflakes fall. She smiled very briefly as she sat on the bench where she had met Ushijima Wakatoshi, one of Japan's top 3 aces. She pulled out his drawing book and let out a sigh.

She had not managed to get to the post on ledge that she so desired. After she broke up with Ushijima, things for her went from bad to worse. She missed him so much and she could only think of him. All her drawings, it was him. Photos she had taken of him, pictures he had sent to her. Even pictures of the two of them together. Photos she found in magazines and photos she didn't know who had taken them, but each and every one of them, was in her drawing book.

She watched with some nostalgia around her. Usually Ushijima would come running, finishing warming up and then they would be seated while she gave him all her affection, even if he was bathed in sweat. Remembering it made her heart move a little with dissatisfaction from within. But this was for him, she had turned away from him so that he could improve, so that he could achieve his dream.

And yet, deep down, she felt that she had done something wrong.

Tears began to come out almost immediately, as if it were a method of personal attack against herself. When she cried, she could only think of him. In his smile, in his immense hands against his, in how he whispered "I love you," in the times it was just the two of them and the cherry petals.

She hunched over as he began to whine, covering her face. This was all her fault, if she hadn't sneezed, if she hadn't been a mess, if she hadn't loved him from the first moment she saw him, perhaps, just maybe, none of that was happening to her. It was all her fault, absolutely everything.

She couldn't recompose herself; it was all Wakatoshi. Wakatoshi had consumed his life in every aspect, and she loved that. She loved it so much that it hurt, it hurt so much.

But what could she expect? It wouldn't work anyway. There was an immense barrier to communication. She, for her part, could not speak. Ushijima knew no sign language and was a man of few words. It would never work, never.

But they would have made it work, because they loved each other so much, and she knew it.

Their sobs were so sad, so horrific. She tried to stop while covering her mouth with one of her hands, but only managed to get both parts of her body to start shaking uncontrollably.

She deserved all this, for taking all that time from Ushijima, for getting him into trouble, for being a distraction.

All that she deserved.

"Are you all right?"

Oh.

Oh, no.

It was that thick voice that had fallen in love with her. Oh, no. Not again, not again.

L/N Y/N was petrified as she looked up to meet Ushijima Wakatoshi in what she deduced was clothes to exercise in winter. Tears felt like crystals against his cheeks, silly whining still coming out of her lips.

He looked pretty bad. Ushijima could look the same as always, but his eyes, his eyes looked so tired, so sad.

"Y/N..."

She didn't know why at the time she tried to articulate his name, she tried with all his might, but only incoherent sounds came out. Tears began to increase. Everything was wrong, Toshi was looking at her in her worst condition, she was sure that Wakatoshi thought she looked pathetic in that state.

"Y/N" he called her again and approached the bench as fast as she could to sink in front of her, took off his gloves and began wiping her tears with her hands. How she missed his hands. Wakatoshi squeezed his lips into a straight line as he kept removing tears for tears "I don't want to hear you cry, please, " his voice sounded intimidating, but it seemed to break "I beg you, don't cry, no"

"A... A…To... hi"

Wakatoshi's eyes opened wide and observed her in amazement. She was trying with all her might to say his name, even if she knew it was impossible. Ushijima couldn't take it anymore and took his face in his hands so he could kiss her. It was short, but it felt so good.

"I love you so much Y/N, I haven't stopped doing it, not even for a second..." his voice began to break as he advanced. His figure began to tremble in the girl's arms. His whining increased "Forgive me, I let you go, I should have fought for you, I should have..."

Now, they were both crying.

The two held on as they cried on the same bench where they had met. On the same bench where they confessed their feelings, on the same bench where they gave their first kiss, on the same bench where Ushijima let her go.

That damn bench that held such fragile memories.

Y/N only embraced it more forcefully, afraid he'd let her go.

Ushijima took a deep breath to separate a little from her and start making movements with her hands looking her in the eye. L/N's lips trembled uncontrollably.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me and I want to have you back, Y/N" He learned sign language. Y/N at that point was already a disaster in tears. Had he learned for her, since when was he learning? She didn't close his eyes as the boy kept going, without hesitation of his movements "I don't care what the reason was, I'm going to fight to get you back and I'll never, ever ever let me make you cry. I just want to hear your laughter, I just want to see your smile and if you ever cry, I want it to be because you fulfilled your dream" Y/N wiped away her tears while covering her mouth, trying to suppress her sobs "You are my dream, Y/N. Don't take away my dream, I beg you."

L/N shook her head and removed her hand from her mouth. He gave her the most beautiful smile he could give her.

"I love you so much, my love"

　　.· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨) (¸.·´ (¸.·’* ⛧

Three years later

"Y/N-chan~" Satori's voice began to distract her in so many ways, changing from one subject to another so quickly that he didn’t let her think. She sighed with a smile; he would never change.

Y/N and Ushijima were still together. Today, she was walking with Satori on the same path that led to the place where she had met the love of her life. Tendou distracted her by telling her to look at the non-existent bird attacking a non-existent cat. The reason they were walking around was simple, Ushijima had a little week's vacation and asked her to meet there.

"Y/N-chan~" Satori stopped in front of her and smiled "You know? Wakatoshi-kun has become very happy by your side, now he smiles a lot."

She smiled in response mode before Tendou went on.

"That's why Wakatoshi-kun decided to do this~ " he quickly plugged her eyes and helped her walk "Trust me, Y/N-chan"

She felt euphoria coming out for every pore of his body, what was going on?

Suddenly, they stopped and Tendou stopped covering his eyes.

Ushijima was using a sack for some reason and was sitting on the same bench where their story began, in his hands there was a small box and, on his face, rested a beautiful smile. Upon hearing them he looked up and Y/N's eyes filled with tears without me telling him anything.

Tendou sided up as he smiled at his friend. Ara, ara~

"Y/N" his voice no longer sounded hard at all, he sounded sweet, affectionate. The e/c-eyed girl immediately observed the article in her hands, her heart began to beat with a lot of force "I met you right here, it was exactly about 4 years ago. I don't regret being distracted by these same flowers that taught me that fragility could be so beautiful" Ushijima got up and approached her. He removed a petal that covered her face and continued to smile "Because thanks to them, I met the love of my life, the person I want to spend the rest of my life with."

His heart turned when Ushijima swelled with one knee against the floor and the other flexed in front of the girl. He opened the little box.

A ring.

"Marry me, Y/N" that was not a question, it was almost like an order, and she wasn't going to deny it. She nodded without hesitation and knelt down, hugged him with all his might as he began to cry with joy. Her face was hidden in the hollow of Ushijima's neck, he smelled so manly that she felt weak.

"DID YOU RECORD IT, SEMI SEMI?!"

"OF COURSE I RECORDED IT, TENDOU, SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

"Ushijima-san" Y/N turned his face to meet Goshiki crying "and Y/N-san... congratulations."

They both smiled full of sweetness. Along with her, Ushijima had become too fragile, but he loved to be fragile if it meant being with her.

And it was perfect to be like this, as long as he was with her.

[eclecticstarlightconnoisseur]

VISIONS IN THE SNOW

Good Evening All! I have a new one-shot that was inspired by the horrific weather that recently swept across the U.S. It caused so much grief, suffering to so many people. I hope this would bring a smile to some faces. This was written with one particular person in mind (and you know who you are) and I’m glad you like it.

Thanks as always to @scubalass for the read through. Your suggestions were, as always, spot on. It made the final story so much better.

Status of Edinburgh to Boston: There is progress but it is painfully slow. There are two characters that are essential to this chapter whose voice I do not hear as well as I do Jamie and Claire. I write something, then I delete it and I do the same thing over and over. We will come to an understanding at some point so dinna fash. There will be A/N at the end to explain words or terms.

Without further delay I give you Visions in the Snow.

Here goes nothing:

VISIONS IN THE SNOW

February 1968  - Boston

The responsibility for hosting this week’s poker game fell to Joe Abernathy.  He took his duties in this regard very seriously. It was the way the surgeons decompressed after a week of stressful surgical procedures and this week was no exception. 

“It must have been a full moon,” he thought. Motor vehicle accidents, stabbings, gunshot wounds, volvulus, a ruptured esophagus, the works. It was during these times that he dearly missed his friend. Claire. He cast his glance over to the card table set with one extra place, Claire’s place. On the seat was her green visor that she wore when she played poker with the boys. It sat in repose like a memorial to a fallen comrade.

Silly thing! She believed wearing it masked her glass face.  Nothing could be further from the truth, but none of her colleagues had the heart to tell her. They all knew what Claire Randall was thinking. So much so, they often let her win which caused her to think she was good at playing poker.

He glanced around the room and saw that everything was in readiness for the evening. The sideboard groaned beneath the bounty of food, snacks, and brews.  

Outside, the wind blew fiercely rattling the windows drawing his attention. Joe looked out the window watching the two front trees bowing to the brute force of nature. Their skeletal fingers scraped at the roof almost as if trying to gain entry. It had been snowing for the last six hours with no sign of it letting up. He had considered canceling the game but a majority of his colleagues soundly vetoed that idea. Only Callahan and Peterson dissented. Callahan’s wife would kill him if he left her alone to deal with their six small ones while he went to play poker. Peterson lived thirty miles away. The remaining players all lived a short walking distance from his home, on Doctors Row. It was so-called because many of the physicians who worked at the hospital lived on the same street.  These surgeons were gambling men betting they had enough time for some comradery, hands, and beers before the brunt of the storm arrived.   

For a Boston snowstorm, it hadn’t accumulated very much. Yet. Regardless, it would not hamper these hardened surgeons accustomed to driving through Boston’s worst to get to the hospital. Without warning, the storm picked up intensity driving the snow hard enough to erase the landscape before him. Amid the squall, a hazy light glowed like the high beams of headlights in the snow. A wraithlike figure emerged from its center. Joe wasn’t able to make out any of its features. Man? Woman? He wasn’t sure. But one thing was for sure, it was headed directly toward his house. 

Joe leaned closer trying to see if the person was in distress as they were caught out in the snow. Maybe they had abandoned their car and were seeking help.  His warm breath met the cold pane fogging it, wholly obscuring his view.  Using his shirt sleeve, he wiped away the condensation hoping to improve his ability to see. As the person drew closer, it became apparent that it was a young woman and her attire was totally inappropriate for the weather. She wore a long dress whose hem floated across the snow. It looked like a green and black plaid and a white scarf crossed her neck to cover her bosom. Her hair was dark, curly, piled high on her head, and tendrils framing her face. She looked a lot like… It couldn’t be, could it? She came closer. So close that he could see her eyes. Eyes the color of a fine whisky. Claire? Claire! How? She had left for Scotland, disappearing into the past, to find her true love.

Anxiety flowed through him. He needed to speak with the woman. He needed to know if it truly was Claire. Joe tried to open the window, but it wouldn’t budge. The frame had swollen from the moisture, he thought. He rapped on the window calling her name, but she paid no heed.

Claire was running and laughing bright and merry. Stopping suddenly, she turned and extended a hand into the haze. A man appeared laughing and chased after her. He was a big son of a bitch standing at least six feet four inches and as big as a brick…Well, he was big. He had a mop of red hair, but to simply say red would deny the richness of the color. It was a curly thick mosaic of cinnamon, auburn, gold, and cinnabar.  And his eyes were the deepest blue Joe had ever seen. The man was kitted out in traditional highland garb right down to the sword strapped to his side. Reaching her, the young man made a courtly bow. He straightened, then took her hand to bestow a kiss. A moment later, he lifted and spun her around. She tossed her head back and peals of joyous laughter rang through the air. He set her down gently settling his hands on the swell of her hips. His eyes danced with love as he lowered his head to kiss her most thoroughly. Joe felt his cheeks burn as he watched such intimacy. 

Time advanced in front of him. He became witness to a lifetime, to a marriage, to the bonds of love that could not be broken. The vision changed from the blush of first love through to a life fully lived.  He wept at their trials, tribulations, and heartbreak. And he reveled in their accomplishments, triumphs, and joys. But through all their hardships, and there were many, their love for each other never wavered, never changed. 

The final event showed the couple had aged. The woman, Claire, had streaks of grey in her hair while the man’s hair had lightened. They stood atop a ridge overlooking some land. The man had his arm securely around her waist pulling her protectively close to him. Claire stood on her tiptoes wrapping her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a fiery kiss. She nodded her head and started to pull him toward a cabin. He scooped her up and carried her across the threshold kicking the door shut. 

As the vision faded back into the vapor as a voice called out, “I am happy Joe. I found my Jamie.”

Resting his head against the cold pane of glass provided a sense of comfort to his unsettled mind and spirit. Uncertainty gripped him as he grappled to understand what happened. Had this been a dream? Or a hallucination? Or had the fabric of time somehow been rent apart? He shook himself, much like a dog dispelling the rain from its coat, hoping to lift his state of bewilderment. 

Psssst, pssst, ssssssss! The homely sound of the radiator hissing brought him back to himself and away from his ruminations.

Mercilessly, the wind blew about the house ferociously shaking the windowpanes in their frames then suddenly died away. Out of curiosity, Joe tried to open the window. This time it slid open with ease. The blinding snow stopped returning to light flurries. As he turned to walk away from the window, he noticed the clock on the mantel. It was one minute later than when he last looked at it. “Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ,” he muttered.

Joe walked over to Claire’s chair and picked up the visor cradling it to his chest,  “Wherever you are Claire, I’m glad you’re happy and you found your Jamie. Jamie, if you can hear me, take good care of our girl.”

With that, the doorbell rang and Joe went to greet his guests.

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

Claire woke with a start bringing Jamie to instant alertness. He grabbed the pistol he kept by his bedside in preparation for any threat. Seeing none, he turned to look at Claire. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

“Sassenach, what’s amiss? Are ye alright?”

“I dreamt...I dreamt I was back in Boston going to play poker with the other surgeons. It was our regular night to play. The game was at Joe’s house and there was this blizzard.”

“Poker? What kind of game do ye play with a poker?” he was afraid to ask. Claire had told him so many peculiar stories about her time that he thought this would be another one. The only poker he knew about was the kind used in a fireplace.

“It’s a card game. I was rather good at it too. Someday I’ll have to teach you.” Claire snuggled up against Jamie seeking his heat, his comfort. She yawned greatly, “Except I will miss my green visor.”

 “A vi-zor?” All he could envision was a knight’s helmet with a visor covering the eyes and face.

“It’s a sort of hat with a green brim. It shades your eyes and some of your face. People use it to hide their facial expressions when they bluff at cards.”

Jamie looked at her as if she were a bit daft. He knew nothing could hide her thoughts on that glass face. He tucked her head under his chin, “Come, Sassenach, rest yer head, aye? I think ye had a bit of the nightmare. I’ll keep ye warm and safe.” He lowered his head placing a kiss on the top of her head.

Jamie closed his eyes and thought about the black man he had seen in his dreams too. “Aye, dinna fash, Joe. I’ll care for her with my life,” he whispered just before lapsing into sleep.

A/N:

VOLVULUS: A volvulus occurs when part of the colon or intestine twists. The twisting causes bowel obstructions that may cut off the blood supply to areas of the bowels. This can cause the bowel to die or left untreated the person can die.

RENT: This involves a story. When I was in catechism class the teacher was telling the story of Christ’s trial before the Pharisees. When Jesus was condemned one of the Pharisees was said to have rent his garment. You say that to a bunch of kids and they start to giggle. They wanted to know who he rented his clothes to and for how much. So the teacher explained that to rent something meant to tear it apart violently. I fell in love with the word’s usage and I never thought I would get to use it in this way. But I did!

And poor Jamie, Claire’s stories always leave his surprised, confused, shocked among other feelings.

The truth behind this story was that it was supposed to be smutty. Instead, it evolved into this. It was supposed to happen that the Ridge was also snowed-in. Claire was bored with playing chess with Jamie and wanted to play something else. She wanted to teach him strip poker. So I left myself an opening if I chose to do a second chapter. But I have to finish E2B first.

I hope you liked this and it brought a smile to your face.

You can find me on AO3. There I am LadyJane518.

Thanks for reading!

[little-diable]

Drunk on the feeling - Damon Salvatore (smut)

Request by anon: Ciao Bellissima! can I get a Damon Salvatore smut with a shy, cute reader where both falls in love with each other but reader is so innocent, she hasn't had any BF before and hasn't kissed anyone before. Damon is her first. She has her first kiss with him in the pouring rain. And both gets drenched and he couldn't control himself any longer, so he takes her to his house and they makes love on the floor beside the fireplace & round 2 in his bedroom. (Write both rounds if possible) Thank you!

Hope this is what you had in mind lovely anon, enjoy. xxx

She was a mystery to him, Damon couldn’t understand why he was so drawn to her, (y/n) was the complete opposite of him. The (y/h/c) haired girl was shy, people would describe her as “cute”, (y/n) was one of the most selfless people Damon had probably ever met, still he felt the need to be close to her, to protect her, to feel her. 

“Wait what? You never even had your first kiss?”, Damon wasn’t quite sure why he felt relieved about that, but the second her smile began to falter and she started to collect her things, Damon knew that something was off. “See, I told you that you’d only make fun of me.”, disappointment clear in her voice as she pulled on her coat and stormed out of the brothers mansion, into the pouring rain, Damon almost missed the sight of the tears falling down the sides of her face.

He didn’t think twice before sprinting after her, he was drenched by the first second, Damon found (y/n) trembling figure a few feet away. He grasped her wrist and pulled her towards him, “I didn’t want to make fun about it, I’m sorry (y/n). It’s just that I’m actually quite relieved about it.”, he whispered into her ear, eyes closed, hands tightly wrapped around her drenched figure, “what? why?”, her voice was shaky, fingers trembling, "so that I can do this.”, Damon dipped his head down and pressed a kiss onto her now cold lips. 

(Y/n) momentarily forgot how to breathe, she never wanted the feeling, of his lips on hers, to ever stop, adrenaline pumped through her veins, warming her drenched body. Damon leaned his forehead against hers, thumb stroking over her swollen lower lip, “come on, let’s go and warm you up.”, he pulled her  towards the mansion, he felt confused, his heart was ready to burst, his fingers were tingling.  

She was dressed in one of his shirts and a pair of panties that she had left at the house a few weeks ago, along with some other clothes, her front was pressed against his, they were sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace. “Why did you kiss me?”, her voice vibrated against his naked chest, his fingers were tangled in her hair, “It felt right, I guess, seems as if I can’t get enough of you, (y/n)”, Damon whispered, eyes focused on the fire. (Y/n) felt quite brave in that moment, her fingers grasped his face and pulled him down to press another kiss onto his lips. 

He couldn’t stop kissing her, slowly he laid her down on the soft rug, hovering above her, automatically she wrapped her legs around his middle, drawing him closer. As his growing bulge collided with her core a soft moan left her lips, her fingers were tugging on his roots, she was on drunk on the feeling. Damon began to grind against her, a deep growl left him as she sucked on his lip, the grip on his middle only got tighter, (y/n) needed more. “We need to stop, otherwise I can’t control myself any longer.”, his piercing blue eyes found her (y/e/c) ones, she stroked his cheek, “I don’t want you to stop.”, (y/n) didn’t need to say anything else, Damon attached his lips to her neck, sucking marks into the thin flesh, while his fingers wandered underneath her shirt. 

A moan left his lips as he touched her braless boobs, her nipples were hardening, he tugged on them, squeezed them, trying to figure out what she liked the most. Her back was slightly arched, head placed against the rug, eyes closed, “touch me Damon.”, she breathed out, (y/n)s heart was rapidly beating, every touch was new to her, Damon didn’t want to rush this, he wanted to show her how good he could make her feel, how he’d take care of her, if she’d let him.  

The vampire kissed down her abdomen, eyes closed as he felt the soft skin underneath his lips, his fingers were hooked into her panties, not waisting any time, he simply ripped them apart. Her wetness was glistering in the soft light, she was dripping, he ran a finger through her folds, slowly inserting it as he kitten licked her clit. “Fuck Damon.”, (y/n) felt dizzy, she never wanted the new sensation to stop, it felt good, too good, something she had never experienced before. Damon placed her legs on his shoulders, finger slowly pumping in and out of her, he didn’t want to hurt her, didn’t want to take away the pleasure she felt in the moment, but the sweet sounds that left her lips were enough to urge him on. 

“Damon.”, (y/n) tugged on his black hair, focusing her eyes on his, “make love to me.”, she had dreamt about this moment a few times already, but nothing, literally nothing, could describe the way she was feeling right now, it was quite obvious to her, that she only wanted Damon to be her first. Damon bit his lip as he watched her features, he felt excited, didn’t want to mess this up, after all he’d be her first. 

He kissed her, tongues fighting for dominance, her hands tugged on his sweatpants, desperate to feel him against her hot skin. The crackling fire sounds hallowed through the room, the fire drenched both of their faces in a light orange color, his member sprung free as he got rid of his sweats and boxers in one go. Uncertainty washed through her, would he be able to fit? “This may hurt a bit, I’ll try and be as gentle as possible.”, his eyebrows were furrowed together, the soft “okay” that left her lips was enough confirmation to him, slowly he pushed his tip into her warm core, eyes rolling backwards at the sensation. 

(Y/n) took a deep breath, her muscles uncomfortably stretched around his length, her fingernails were buried in his arms, tightly gripping him. “Do you want me to stop?”, Damon came to a halt, ready to pull away, he didn’t want to hurt her any further, but (y/n) shook her head “no”, she wrapped her legs around his middle once again, pulling him closer. It took him a bit to bottom out, she was slowly adjusting to his size, Damon began to roll his hips against hers, coaxing moans out of her, a sound that made shivers run up his spine. His head was placed against the crook of her neck, kissing the skin, he began to build up the pressure, picking up the speed as (y/n) began to clench around him. 

A knot began to form in her gut, her pussy began to flutter around him, she felt her orgasm nearing, “I’m-”, a moan disrupted her, Damon kept on snapping his hips against hers, “you’re doing so well baby”, he began to praise her. The vampire felt his own release nearing, he groaned against her skin as she came around him, her legs were shaking, a tight grip around him, head leaned backwards. It didn’t take Damon long to cum inside of her, releasing him into her core, a satisfied smile on both of their lips.

Her head was placed against his chest, naked bodies pressed against each other, the sweat was glistering on his chest, (y/n) couldn’t take her eyes off the handsome vampire. Damon seemed to be deep in thought, the way he felt around her made him uneasy, not once had he felt like this around a woman before, not even around Elena or Katherine. He pressed a kiss onto her forehead, rose from the rug, wrapped his arms around her and carried her towards his room.  

Damon placed her on his bed, as he turned away to walk towards the bathroom, she gripped his wrist, pulling him on top of her. (Y/n) kissed his still swollen lips, she wasn't ready for the night to end just yet, as she hooked her legs around his middle, she flipped him onto his back, straddling his waist. He was already throbbing against her skin, just like she felt herself dripping, wordlessly he grasped her hips and helped stabilizing her. She took ahold of his length and slowly sunk down on him, his hips met hers, her hands were placed on his chest, putting pressure on it as she began to bounce on him. 

The vampire grasped her behind, meeting her thrusts, her legs were shaking, she still felt somewhat sore, her head fell backwards as a deep moan escaped her mouth. Damon leaned forward, he sucked on her nipples, one hands moved towards her clit, fingers circling the sensitive bundle of nerves. (Y/n) placed her head against his neck, inhaling his scent, she began to clench around his length, Damon flipped her onto her back, swung one leg over his shoulder as he began to pound into her, chasing his own high. 

The pair came at the same time, moans hallowed through the room as he came inside of her, her pussy clenching around him as his warmth filled her. Damons head was placed on her boobs, she ran her hand through his sweaty hair, (y/n) felt exhausted, tired, adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, she was obsessed with the feeling of him buried deep inside of her. “Thank you.”, she whispered against his hair, eyes closed as his grip on her got tighter.

[dontmindmyshadowhunting]

Kit and Ty’s reunion (Fan Fiction) - Part 8 - What’s the point?

A little more than three years after the Dark Artifices. Characters based on Cassandra Clare’s (TSC) though I invented one for the plot.

With the Cohort threat being mostly quashed, the following weeks passed uneventfully.

The Centurions remained at the New York Institute, as there were still other Cohort members and Faeries looking for Kit.

Kit and Ty never mentioned the fight they had had on the first day Ty had arrived at the Institute. Their friendship resumed; major events left unspoken.

It was as it had been before they had performed necromancy spells together. As if they had not raised Livvy’s ghost (except for the fact that they were seeing her every day). As if they had not lost all contact for three years. As if they had not kissed under the rain.

Kit still remembered though. How Ty’s lips had felt against his, the taste of his mouth. Rain, metal and musk. Kit could not forget the feel of Ty’s skin under his fingers, under his lips, the scent of him, the noises Ty made when he was aroused. He blushed, sometimes, thinking back to those intimate moments he had shared with Ty. And of course, there were the glances they cast at each other, the shiver of excitement when their hands accidently brushed, when they walked side by side and their shoulders touched.

Kit had started helping Ty with his missions for the Scholomance, and it was as if Sherlock had found Watson again.

“How many times do I have to repeat myself? I am not your Watson” had said Kit one evening, when they were doing research on demons’ poisons in the Institute’s library.

Ty had smiled one of his rare smiles. “Well, Kit, that’s exactly what my Watson would say.” And Kit had blushed at the way Ty had naturally said “my Watson”.

Days went by, and everyone at the Institute carried on with their own routines.

This is probably why no one expected the events that occurred that evening.

Kit was returning to his bedroom after a late-night training session. He heard noise coming from the library. He stopped to peer inside, his brows furrowed, only to see Jace standing with his back to him. He thought he saw a flash of red hair.

“Jace?” called Kit.

Jace froze. When he slowly turned, Kit could see that he was carrying Clary in his arms. She looked fast asleep.

Kit felt an increasing uneasiness. Something was wrong. But this was Jace right? If there was anyone Jace would never, ever hurt, it was Clary.

“Jace? Rough night? I know Clary is probably light as feather but do you… need a hand?” asked Kit, unsure how to act.

As Jace said nothing, he took a step toward him.

Jace took a step back. Something was very wrong indeed.

“Stop! It’s not Jace!” yelled a voice that Kit instantly recognized.

Kit turned to where Ty stood, in the doorway, holding two daggers. His face was covered in scratches, his lips bruised, a deep red cut on his upper lip. He clearly had been into a fight.

“Not Jace from this world,” Ty continued. “It’s probably Jace from another world. That’s one of the few possible explanations at least.”

“How do you know?” asked Kit.

“Details” was all Ty said. And Kit believed him. If anyone – save for Clary, where Jace was concerned – could notice small inconsistencies, like in a game of Spot the Difference, it was Ty. Ty could see objectively, without the blurring curtain of expectations or preconceptions.

Jace – well, his evil doppelganger – stiffened. “Will you make me regret I didn’t kill you?”

“You didn’t give my friends that chance. They trusted you and you took them by surprise. Why spare me?” said Ty.

“I didn’t fool you” said the fake Jace. “I figured you probably knew Jace, the one from this world, very well. And I saw the heron-shaped pendant you carry around your neck. I thought this meant you had earnt the love – or at least the trust – of a Herondale. Sentimental me.”

“Leave Clary. And we will not hurt you,” said Kit, although he carried no weapon.

Jace laughed. He had moved to stand close to an open window and seemed ready to pounce. He would not try to jump with Clary in his arms, would he?

“You will not hurt me? The Jace from this world must be too soft, if you think you can bargain with me.”

In a swift movement, he had shifted Clary’s body in one of his arms and drawn out a sword.

It all happened in a blur. The sword flew. Ty launched himself in front of Kit and the blow hit him with such force that he was thrown back against Kit, who caught him in his arms. Kit crumpled to the floor, holding Ty.

Kit was filled with a dreadful sense of déjà-vu, as he looked at the knife protruding from Ty’s chest. He had not been there at the time, but he imagined that was what Livvy must have looked like in the Council Hall. He had imagined it, although he had tried not too, often enough. And he was probably in the exact same position Julian had been at the time.

Kit was barely aware of the sound of footsteps and shouts. People around him assessing the situation. It seemed the “other Jace” had somehow escaped. Without his prey. Clary was safe.

“No, Ty. No. Please don’t leave me.”

Kit was kneeling on the floor, carrying Ty’s limp body in his arms. He started rocking.

“What’s the point, Ty? What’s the point of Watson’s whole existence if there is no Sherlock? What’s the point of me if there is no you?” Tears were rolling down his cheeks. But he could not feel them. He could not feel anything.

Kit did not even bother to grab for his stele, he knew it was too late for that. Through his numbness, Kit gently lay Ty’s body on the floor and ripped his shirt. With desperate hope, he placed both his hands on Ty’s chest and willed him to heal. He remembered the time he had made the horses of the Riders of Mannan disappear. He thought about drawing that strength, all his strength, all his will, into healing Ty. He heard voices softly murmuring to let go of Ty, that it was over – but he did not listen to any of them. He shoved away anyone’s attempt to grab him.

He did not know how much time had passed but eventually, he felt a flicker of movement. It was barely there but Kit knew he had sensed something.

Ty gasped and his silver-gray eyes flew open. They widened in amazement. “Kit…“ he said. “I knew you would find them.”

What? What did I find? Kit wanted to ask. But he could not find his voice. Relief had washed over him, and although he was drained, he felt giddy with it.  

He did not hear anything further, as Ty slipped into unconsciousness a second later. It was not long before Kit himself collapsed on top of Ty’s body.

*****

Jace, carrying Clary in his arms, Isabelle, Simon, Alec and Magnus stood in a circle in the Institute’s library. In the middle of the circle, two bodies were lying on the ground, one resting partly on top of the other, as if in a lovers’ embrace. Their skin appeared to glow from within and one of the boys’ exposed chest seemed to be pierced through with bronze-colored light.

*****

It was late in the night when the dean of the Scholomance, Maximilien Verlac, slipped through the door of the Institute’s infirmary. The room was mostly dark save for the moonlight filtering through the windows. He did not notice Kit, sitting on the floor, next to Ty’s bed.

He was entirely focused on Ty, his expression one of deep sorrow and… something else. Kit recognized that look. It was the look he probably had himself when he was glancing at Ty and thought no one was seeing him.

Kit knew then, that Maximilien did not only admire Ty as one of his best Centurions. He loved him.

Suddenly, Maximilien fell on his knees. “Oh, Tiberius. What did I do? I am sorry. I am so sorry,” he whispered.

Kit shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine.”

Maximilien snapped out of his daze and stood. Even in the darkness, Kit could see his cheeks were flushed. “Christopher Herondale.”

“Kit, please” answered Kit.

“Kit?” Maximilien’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, I see…”

Kit didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt uneasy.

“What is it? What is it that you see?”

Maximilien hesitated. He looked at Kit for a moment, considering.

Then, he explained, in a resigned voice. “One day, Tiberius returned from a mission to the Scholomance with very deep wounds that couldn’t heal. The demon poison had spread. We had to keep him in the infirmary for three days. He was delirious. He kept calling a name. Your name. Asking why you had left him. Why you never said goodbye. He also talked about the characters of the book he holds so dearly…saying that Sherlock was not Sherlock without Watson. It seemed like nonsense to me.”

Maximilien exhaled deeply. “I thought Kit was a girl’s name. Short for Katherine, in French Catherine. It could also be short for Quitterie, another French girl name. When Tiberius woke up, and I asked him about it, he simply shrugged and did not explain. We never talked about it again.”

Kit didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. He just nodded, closed his eyes, and waited for Maximilien to leave.

Once he was alone with Ty, Kit lay down on the bed next to him, not quite touching, but close enough to feel the heat of his body. Ty’s face was turned to his. Kit fell asleep to Ty’s soft breathing, each exhalation caressing his skin like feather across his cheek.

[seiya234]

thunder only happens when it’s raining

 for @feferipeixes, even if they’re a big jerk who calls me out on my tropes.

Prompt: “Dipper, pre-2012, has intermittent visions of the far, far future. He doesn't understand them and he's scared.”

To be honest, by the time the twins were two, Anna slept through any noises that she heard from their baby monitors.

Not that she thought that they really needed them any more but it had taken them such a long time to get the kids on a decent sleep schedule, and they were still having to give a bottle to Mabel to get her to sleep and shit her teeth were going to come out all fucked up and it made Mark feel better and...

Well. Anyway. Being the mother of twins meant as a defense mechanism Anna Pines had trained herself to sleep through any weird bed noises she heard the kids doing at this point in order that she could get some sleep. 

The bloodcurdling scream that came from Dipper’s monitor at two am however? That not only had her awake, but tripping over the blanket in her hurry to get out of bed and into his room, her heart thumping painfully in her chest because what was wrong with him, what was wrong with him?

(this wasn’t I woke up and I don’t like it. this wasn’t even I had a nightmare. this was adult fear. Anna couldn’t tell you how she knew that until it was far too late.)

She ran into his room and turned on the light, not even caring about keeping the light low to help ease him back to sleep, she needed to see him, she needed to make sure he was okay.

Outwardly, he was fine, though he all but leapt out of the crib in his attempt to get at her, soft baby fat cheeks glistening with tears. She picked him up, and he nuzzled into her chest. Anna laid her face on Dipper in turn, smelling the sweat of the playground in his hair, the spit on his pajama collar, the playdoh under his nails...everything that made him him.

“Baby, did you have a bad dream?”

“Reh!”

Anna’s brow furrowed. “Are you saying... red?”

“Reh! Reh! Red! Reh!”

That was definitely what Dipper was saying. But what could he have dreamt of that was red that scared him so? A fire truck? Strawberries? Blood?

Wait. Blood? No. No that was ridiculous. He had barely ever seen blood, how would Dipper know what that was?

Anna sighed as she sat down in the rocker with her still crying son. “I told your daddy that Clifford the Big Red Dog was going to scare you. It’s okay. Momma’s got you now.” 

(if Dipper was twelve instead of two, he could have told his mother that he had a dream where he was covered in blood. swimming in blood. drinking blood. drinking and laughing and crying blood and everything, everything was fucking blood. 

But Dipper was two and all he knew was he didn’t know what he just dreamt about, just that he didn’t like it.)

----

"Fuck, kid, you look like Ford at this age.” 

Dipper looked up from the blocks that he was stacking impossibly tall. “Bad word,” he said primly.

The woman in the long purple dress started and looked at him. She looked different than anyone Dipper knew in his life. She had big chunky gold earrings and smelt weird and had a short stick in her hand that gave off smoke like one of the candles Daddy would occasionally light. 

“Kid, you shouldn’t be able to see me.”

“Why not?” Dipper knew that dreams were a time where he could do whatever he wanted.

(”ah, lucid dreaming my boy! a valuable skill,” a grand uncle told him years later, before the world ended)

“Because you don’t have the right eyes,” she said. “Look, I’m going to go and figure this out, you be a good boy now you hear?”

----

“WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL IF IT ISN’T PINE TREE.”

“You’re a triangle,” Dipper pointed out, slightly disgruntled. He had been having a very good dream, one where he was allowed to eat a second and third slice of cake, and he wanted very much to return back to that.

“WHAT’S THE MATTER? CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE?”

Dipper knew without knowing how that as soon as the weird triangle snapped his fingers something bad and owwy would happen to his mouth. Dipper did not want that to happen. So he looked at the mountain in the distance and pulled stepped back before the triangle got near him. 

The triangle snapped. Then he snapped again. Then his eye got angry looking when Dipper just started eating cake while watching him. 

“SO! YOU THINK YOU’RE CLEVER DON’T YOU?”

Dipper didn’t answer. He wanted to take advantage of eating as much red cake as he could before he had to wake up.

“WELL, I GOT PLANS FOR YOU DIPPER PINES! B͟I͙G̱̖̭̞̩̗̙ ̴͚̹̘͚̝̥P̩̝̞LA̕Ņ͍͇̤̮̘͔̳S͈̜. A STORM IS CO-”

“Are you going to keep shouting or do you want some cake?”

The triangle stopped talking for a second, twirling his cane in thought, and then said, “SURE. I’LL HAVE SOME CAKE. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BURN SOON ANYWAY.”

“You make no sense.”

“I MAKE PLENTY OF SENSE! YOU JUST DON’T KNOW IT YET!”

----

At the end of every month Dipper and Mabel’s teacher would pack up all the drawings they did in their pre-k class and send it home with them.

Mark was of mixed feelings about this. On one hand he enjoyed his children’s drawings and seeing what was going on in their heads. On the other hand, they insisted on having all of their drawings either pinned on all the walls or saved.

(anna threw a few away once, mabel found them in the trash, and there was no living with the twins for a week after.)

And then there was the subject matter....

For Mabel, everything was on fire. Everything. Every thing. She drew an apple tree... but on fire. She drew their visit to their grandparents... on fire. Their kitchen... on fire. Mabel and Dipper playing... with a fire in the background.

The teacher assured them that was normal, a lecture on fire safety having stuck in Mabel’s mind....

He couldn’t explain Dipper’s drawings to Mark however.

There was blood (it was very definitively not just coloring with only the red crayon.) There were rudimentary organs (and how did Dipper know what the liver looked like? Mark asked and Dipper was uncomfortable and then started to cry and Mark felt like a dick.) There were knives and candles and shapes that made Mark’s head hurt.

Mark knew what the problem was.

He resolved to ask his Dad to stop letting the kids watch Unsolved Mysteries.

(but he knew deep inside that that wasn’t really the reason why.)

----

“Dipper there’s a lady here.”

Dipper looked up to see the lady in the purple dress again.

“Hello,” he said politely, before going back to building a sand castle with his sister.

“That’s... that’s really your sister.”

“Mmm-hmmm,” Mabel murmured, filling a bucket with wet sand. 

“Huh.” The lady tapped out her weird smoking thing, and brought it to her lips before speaking again. “I should have guessed there would be some bleed over. Any way kid- look, what’s your name?”

“He’s Dipper and I’m MABEL!” Mabel said, pulling Dipper around the neck for a big hug. 

“Huh. And you two are-” her eyes unfocused for a second- “Shermie’s kid’s kids.”

“You know Grandma?!”

Dipper didn’t know until now that a smile could be sad. “Yeah, I sure do. Look, I came here to say that I figured out your-” she pointed at Dipper, “deal.”

Dipper didn’t say anything, because he didn’t understand and he knew Mabel would do it for him.

“What do you mean?”

“Yeah, so, your shit’s fucked darling. Totally ass over teakettle bad. Sorry lovey but, that’s just how it’s going to be. That’s how you can even see me.”

None of this made any sense to Dipper, though he saw Mabel mouthing along to what the lady in purple was saying and saving the Bad words for later. 

There was a moment of silence and then Mabel asked “So.. Things bad?”

“Yes.”

“Why you tell us then?” 

The lady in purple looked at them for a solid minute without saying anything. The stick in her mouth dropped on the ground and she ground her foot over it. 

“I...Fuck, I’m sorry kids. Look, do you want a candy cigarette?” She proffered two sticks to them and they took them.

(yes she was a stranger. But this was Dipper’s dream and they would always be safe in here, and also...Dipper had the feeling she was and wasn’t a stranger. Not really.)

The weird lady ran her fingers through her hair. 

“Look kids... Christ, I was never good with talking to kids. Barely managed talking to my own, and look how-”

She saw their blank looks, and said “Never you mind that. I guess just... look, not gonna lie Mason-”

“Dipper.”

“-Dipper, things look really, really rough for you going ahead. But-” And now she kneeled down until she was eye level with him, and her hands were on his shoulders, and her nails were digging into his skin and it was uncomfortable but he didn’t let it bother him because he knew, somehow, that this was Important.

“The bad? And trust me, there’s a whole lot of that, but....It’s outweighed by the good, I promise.”

She turned to look at Mabel, who was currently eating sand because she could get away with that in dreamland. 

“She’s a lot of your good. But remember to not only rely on her for your good. That’s not fair to her. And that’s not fair to you. Promise... Can you promise me to remember that?”

“I promise.”

The woman in purple looked into his eyes, then grimaced. “No. No. No, you’re going to forget that, you won’t remember, you won’t listen-”

Her hands began to hurt.

“I’m- I’m sorry-”

She paused. Her hands released from his shoulders, and instead she grabbed him into a hug.

“Bubbeleh. My love. You never, never have to apologize to me, okay? There’s.... there’s so much that will happen to you but here and now, don’t apologize, okay? It will be okay, okay?”

She was crying and Dipper didn’t understand, and he looked at Mabel and he could tell that she didn’t understand either so all he said was, “Okay,” and let the weird lady who was weird yet kind of like Grandma Shermie hug and cry on him.

---

By the time Dipper was in kindergarten, the dreams had ended.

That was probably for the best. 

[wreckofawriter]

Pencil Sketches

Pairing: Cedric Diggory x Reader

Warnings: Ummm none fluffy

Word Count: 2,738

Summary: You start receiving sketches of yourself and find out who the artist is in a very surprising way.

A/n: Hi this is my first Cedric fic. I dont exactly love it buuuut whatever.

You remember when it all started. It was four months ago. You had just had a particularly hard day, you were late to Charms and got 5 points taken from your house, you spilled ink all over your positions essay, you got pumpkin juice on your blouse and forgot about a very difficult quiz in DADA. You were heading to the back of the library to choose a book when something fell out of the large amounts of papers you were holding. You groaned bending down to pick it up as you did you glance at the contents of the page and your heart stopped.

It took you only a second to figure out what was on the paper. It was you. You were glaring down at a notebook, your eyes appearing to shine as you clutched a quill in your right hand. Your hair hanging in front of your frustrated face, your lips drawn into a thin line. It was the best drawing you had ever seen, for a second you thought it was a photograph. But it was a drawing, a drawing of you, a drawing of you that looked so realistic it almost scared you. The pencil marks were flowing yet sharp, shading was done in just the right places to give your face depth. It was like looking in a black and white mirror.

    You stood in the middle of the hallway for what must have been a good five minutes just staring at the photo in amazement. You then realized what you were doing and continued to the library.

From there the drawings became a normal part of your life. You would usually receive five to six a week in your bag, waiting at your desk or even in your dorm room. You had no idea how they managed to swing that. Each one was more beautiful than the last and you swear that they made you look much prettier in the drawing than you really were. Most were done in pencil a few in quill and one in charcoal. Each one seemed to be a different mood, sometimes you would be scowling, sometimes smirking, sometimes smiling and one was even of you with your head down on a desk your eyes closed and your hair hanging in your face. The ones you received the most were ones of you laughing. Your lips split open in a smile and your eyes crinkled or just shut altogether.

Many times you had tried to find the artist who had drawn you without luck. They never left any notes or indications and it made it extremely difficult to find the culprit. You wished for nothing more than to meet and thank the person who had brought so much happiness into your life with their artwork. But they never revealed themselves even after four months, nothing. You began to worry, what if they never revealed themselves? It was your last year after all, you would be leaving in a few months. Eventually, you stopped looking and simply hoped they would reveal themselves.

“Ms. Y/l/n,” McGonagall called to you.

“Yes, Professor?” You asked your arms full of books as you made your way back to your common room.

“Could you please follow me? I have something we need to discuss.” She clipped, beckoning for you to follow her.

Your eyebrows scrunched together in momentary confusion before following the orders you had been given.

As you followed McGonagall through the castle you wracked your brain for what you could have possibly done wrong. Did they think you cheated on an exam? Did they find your stash of food in your dorm? Surely that wasn't that big of a deal. Then you remembered the bottle of firewhiskey under your bed and fear rose in your throat. What if they expelled you? What would you do? Your heart pounding you were lead into a room expecting all of hell to rain upon you, but when it opened you were greeted by Dumbledore's warm smile.

“Ahh Y/n, looks as if the last of you have arrived.”

You glanced around the room and easily recognized two-thirds of the famous fourth-year trio and a young girl you didn't recognize.

McGonagall went to talk to Dumbledore as you made your way over to Ron and Hermione.

“Umm do you guys know what going on?” You asked as you approached them.

“Not a clue,” Hermione responded with as she glanced around the room as if looking for clues on their current situation.

“Are we in trouble or something?” You inquired.

Ron snorted, “As if Hermione would ever get in trouble.” he jeered earning a glare from the bushy-haired girl.

“I think it has something to do with the next task.” Hermione guessed.

“Then why am I here?” you wondered.

Hermione opened her mouth to answer but she was cut off by Dumbledore.

“I assume all of you are wondering what is happening, well as Mrs. Granger pointed out it does have something to do with the task tomorrow.”

Everyone else seemed very excited you, on the other hand, were very confused, what did the next task have to do with you?

“Tomorrow morning your friends are going to have to rescue something of great importance to them from the bottom of the black lake. You, my friends, are those things.”

Hermione gasped. Ron raised both his eyebrows and the girl seemed a bit frightened.

“You will be put under a spell and not remember a thing until you break the surface again. I promise all of you will be fine. So if you could just take som-”

“Umm excuse me?” You asked cutting off your professor, “Why am I here?” His eyebrows raised in confusion. “I mean I get the whole rescuing someone that is important to them thing, I mean Hermione for Krum.” Hermione flashed red and Ron rolled his eyes. “Ron for Harry and I guessing she's Fleur’s little sister or something?” You said gesturing to the young girl, “I just don't get why I'm here.”

Now Dumbledore's face was filled with amusement, a small smile on his lips. “You don't know?” he asked.

“Know what?”

He started to laugh, “For such a bright girl I expected you had already found out.”

You were beginning to feel stupid, “Found out what?”

“Have you been receiving drawings for the past few months?” He mused glancing at Mcgonagall who also seemed amused.

“Y-yeah, wait how do you know about those?”

“It's impossible to miss,” Mcgonagall said sweetly, “Cedric is constantly pouring over as sketchbook in his classes, particularly the ones you are in, Ms. Y/l/n.”

You heard Hermione let out a giggle as your face flashed a brilliant red. Your head was spinning. Cedric was the one who was giving those to you? The golden boy of Hogwarts was spending his time sketching you?

“Cedric is the one drawing me?” You managed to get from your mouth, the sentence came out squeaker than you would have liked but at least you managed it.

“Yes Y/n, I'm quite surprised you hadn't noticed the boys admiration in you.” Dumbledore smiled as your eyes got impossibly bigger and your stomach began to fill with butterflies. “Now we don't want to waste much more time." He sighed, “Take some of this, it will put you straight to sleep, although I must warn you it tastes terrible.” He passed each of you a bottle full of a deep purple liquid.

You downed it quickly and almost immediately your world grew dark.

Cedric had grown exceedingly nervous as he stood on the docks in the middle of the lake. While the others around him seemed to be scared of what lurked in the dark of the lake he was concerned at where you were. He hadn’t seen you at breakfast, where he was planning to slip his newest drawing into your bag and now he couldn't find you here either. What if you were sick? Where you ok? Had you gotten hurt? He silently shamed himself for caring so much for a person who didn't even know he existed but he couldn't help it. He had tried to stop caring about you, but fate seemed to work against him as all he could do was see you no matter where he looked. It was as if you had been placed behind a glass case in a bakery, with a price tag much too high. So all he could do was look and wonder how your lips would taste against his own.

Finally, he gave up looking for you and looked at the challenge ahead of him. If you weren't here he wanted to make sure you heard from everyone else how he had won. Determination took over his features, he had a plan and he just hoped the others were less prepared than he. Just then the horn was blown and he dove into the water quickly casting a bubble charm around his head and begging to swim into the depths of the lake. He quickly located the singing he remembered form the terrible egg he had gotten and swum toward it. He almost choked when he saw what was waiting for him. You. Your ankles were tied with rope and your beautiful y/e/c eyes resting closed as your y/h/c hair floating in the water. The others tied around you suddenly meant nothing as he stared at you. He thought you resembled an angel floating in the water, all you were missing were wings. He then remembered he was in composition and swam towards you at a quickened rate. He thought for a minute, inspecting the rope holding you before muttering a spell. As the bounds broke he snatched you and began to swim upwards. He then saw Harry come into view, he nodded at him and continued upward.

Your eyes popped open and you found yourself gasping for air as you coughed up water. The first thing you noticed was how cold you were, everything thing was cold except an arm swimming you towards the dock. You looked up to see Cedric dragging you towards the dock his face full of worry. He glanced over at you and smiled and blushed.

“Are you alright?” He asked over the cheering of the crowd. You nodded still coughing.

When you reached the ladder you were helped up and quickly wrapped in a wool blanket as you continued coughing tiring to get the water out of your system, finally you were able to intake air and breathe normally and you saw that you were on a dock in the middle of the lake but you could hardly see anything over the crowd of people swarming you, well more swarming Cedric. You then realized that Cedric had his arm securely wrapped around you as he maneuvered you through the crowds and your face flushed red. Cedric led you to an empty bench overlooking the lake on the platform getting congratulated all the way. When you sat down he pulled you close to him in attempts to warm your shivering your form. You instantly leaned into his warm body, looking up at him to meet his grey eyes. He blushed bright red and looked away from you. Just then the crowd erupted into cheers and you looked up to see Krum emerge, Hermione, gasping for breath as she appeared to shriek a bit at his shark head before he quickly changed back.

    “I hope Harry’s alright.” You murmured as you peered into the water.

    “I'm sure he's fine, I saw him when I was getting you.” Cedric blushed a bit when he mentioned you.

    “Did you see Krum?”

    “Uhh no, I didn't,” Cedric answered.

    “Why is he up here before him?” You questioned worriedly, your eyes scanned for the young boy in the water. You didn't know Harry well but you wished for no harm to come to him.

    “I don't know.” Cedric seemed just as confused as you.

    You both waited for Harry to show up as the minutes ticked down. Then suddenly you gasped. In all the excitement you had completely forgotten that Cedric was revealed as the mysterious artist.

    “What is it?” The grey-eyed boy asked you.

    You turned and looked at him. There was no denying that he was absolutely stunning. He was beyond handsome with his sharp features and kind eyes. You saw him blush a bit as you took in his profile, which only made him more attractive. But not only was he gorgeous he was amazingly kind, talented and smart. You opened your mouth to confess your knowledge on the portraits he had drawn of you. But you were interrupted by shouting and yelling and you both turned away from each other to see Harry emerging from the water, with not only Ron, but the young blonde haired girl as well. You sighed in relief and looked back at Cedric who was already staring at you. He blushed for the 1000th time when you met his grey orbs and looked away again. Then he turned back to look at you with something new in his eyes, determination.

    “Hey Y/n I need to tell you something.” He said his voice a bit louder than it had been before.

    “Sure what's up?” You asked.

    “You probably have already realized this but clearly you mean a lot to me, I mean with the whole rescuing you think that was probably obvious but umm,” He paused then continued, “Imtheonewhosebeengivingyouthedrawings” He said quickly his face burning a deep shade of crimson.

    If you had not already known what he was going to say you would have been thoroughly confused, but because of your recent discoverings, you had managed to gather about what he said.

    “I know.” You answered simply.

    “Oh ok- wait, WHAT?” He said his eyes wide his face getting impossibly redder.

    You giggled rolling your eyes playfully.

“For how long?” he gasped.

“Umm, it's almost noon so about, I'll say 14 hours?” You guessed.

He blinked rapidly then smacked his forehead with his hand. “Of course you know, they probably told you before they put you in the lake.” He said clearly feeling very stupid.

“They're amazing by the way.” You complemented, “Although I'm pretty sure you make me look much better in the drawings than I am in person.” You giggled.

He looked at you and scoffed, “Are you kidding.” He murmured running his thumb along your jawline. “The most talented artist in the world couldn’t do your beauty justice.”

You flashed a deep red as you felt your stomach erupt with butterflies once more. You bit your lip, the exact place his eyes lingered.

He leaned in millimeters from your lips, “May I kiss you?” He asked his lips brushing against yours as he spoke.

You simply closed the space between the two of you in an answer. His lips were warm against your cool ones and your hands found your way to his damp hair. The kiss was sweet and passionate, his lips moved slowly against your own making you swoon. As you pulled away you were for the second time in the past hour gasping for air.

“I have something for you.” He whispered turning to grab a bag next to him. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to you.

You couldn't help the small smile on your face as he looked at his newest drawing. You had your head thrown back your eyes closed and a smile wide on your face, it was clear you were laughing.

“I always loved drawing you laughing.” He said shyly.

“I still don't understand how you are so good.” You said in amazement.

“Thanks.” He blushed

“No, thank you. Thank you so much for all of these. They made my day so much better.” You said, “Just looking at them made me happy.”

    Now as you looked at them you felt your world fall apart. Sobs wrecked your body as you stared at the drawings you had saved. You couldn't think, your head throbbed and you felt like you were falling into a deep dark pit but you could never hit the bottom. Your tears soaked the picture of you with your head thrown back in laughter and you were sure you would never laugh again.

Masterlist

[transprince]

dude i love ur characters from what ive read in the tags of those posts 🤯 tell me all about them im listening

OH HO HO THANKS

Ive got, uh, 24, more or less, and im working on ancestors!! Oh, and, uh, 2 more, but theyre set to the side for a reason!!

I'll go in hemospectrum order, so each pair is, you know, burgundy to fuschia!!

I've got the Hidcuts, my Alternian one being Byssta and my Beforan one being Herxes!!

Byssta is a hairdresser for other lowbloods, he's got his own stall at a salon run by a bunch of olives! He's a Heir of Mind, his chumhandle is MaliciousNotebook, he's a prospit dreamer, and his sburb land is the Land of Fog and Windows!! His puzzles center around him trying to figure out what all of the windows have in common, they show, like, 4th wall kinda junk!! He has a razorkind strife specibus, like, primarily those shaving Razors? He uses a Lier fetch modus, which basically means whatever he puts away will come out at the -worst- time possible, even though he'll need it! Like Kanaya's fetch modus, but a bit of jumpscare material sprinkled in. Ummm, lemme see, i have a troll call card I made for him:

That's a very -old- drawing, and the other one i made for a different character turned out much much better!! He's also Belten's ex moirail!

Herxes is, like... Sherlock Holmes, but -lower-, college student Sherlock Holmes. (His name is actually, like... a dumb play on -Hercules-, from Hercules Peirot!!) He's a Mage of Mind, his chumhandle is MoriartysNemesis, prospit dreamer, his land is of Undead and Rot, where he has to figure out what killed everything except his consorts!! [Theyre decomposers!!] He uses a spearkind strife specibus, and his fetch modus is basically wheres waldo, where he has to find the object he needs in an image on the card!! Both Hidcuts have a quadriped hummingbird as their lusus!! No wings, only feet.

Next is my bronzes, Ronzel and Dareos Begray!!

Ronzel is THE COOLEST GAL, she's a knight of heart, Derse dreamer she's a bartender at another troll's nightclub [belten's!!] She has a boar lusus, her land is of Clouds and Chasms, where she's gotta make it rain!! Her strife specibus is chain kind, again, cool as hell, and her fetch modus is, like... password protected, where her cards each have a -unique- code!! She's so cool, i love her so much, very much, like... cool hot topic babysitter vibes? Idk how else to describe it, shes just GREAT!! Oh, her chumhandle is PensiveTruant!

Dareos Begray is a, like, vtuber? And also a sex worker, hes got, like, a whole set up for either thing? His main client -and- subscriber is my beforan violet, Adonis Raytil! He's a page of heart, his chumhandle is PastelTomentor, his land is Advertisement and Beauty, he needs to help a megacorp sell this revolutionary youth cream?? [Fuck capitalism, but i thought it was fun!! Plus the youth cream only works on the camel consorts :/ ] He also has a chain kind specibus, but his is moreso yo-yo esque??? A meteor hammer, to be exact!! He uses a reward fetch modus, which is basically achievment based? He'll need to do something to the card's specifications before he can get the item, and that can be anything from breaking a plate to defeat the fucking denizen of his land :/

MY GOLDIESSSSSSS, belten and desrio brytee!! They have a Jewel Beetle lusus!!

Its very important to me to show off belten's troll call card first:

(The double b is his quirk!!!) BBelten is a page of light, a nightclub owner, has and will press every try me button in the toy aisle, his chumhandle is BoisterousBraggart, his land is Glow and Fruit, and his strife specibus is GLOWSTICKKIND!! His weapon is Einsten's Glowstick, which starts to irradiate foes when you crack it :] I made him when suffering jetlag, and i was practicing hair, and here we are, 23 trolls later. He's the leader of his own session, and completely on accident, as Ronzel, his moirail, was supposed to go in first! I love him. Oh, he's also got a ddr fetch modus, which is exactly what it sounds like!

Desrio Brytee [also known as Depression the Kid] is a Prince of Light, drug dealer, local faulty light bulb, and owner of the chumhandle BedriddenBastard! His land is of Hexes and Drugs, he's got an EXPLOSIVES STRIFE SPECIBUS, and hes also got his hair split dyed with the obnoxious pink and orange of the bbrytee's eyes!! His fetch modus is just pill fetch modus, which is also fairly simple!!

Next are my limes, the DURLENS!! Pikled [affectionately called Pikles] and Einsen!!

Pikled is a Seer of Void, a walking steampunk mess, hes missing his left arm [blown off by a droid, was belten's fault, they broke up about it, at least red wise. Belten's a heart breaker mhm] derse dreamer, hes got a land of artifacts and space, a crowbarkind specibus, and he's batshit insane. Like, he's cute, but both he and Einsen are *w a c k*. He uses a pendulum fetch modus, which means he'll get either one item or the other, and the remaining item will be locked until he can get another item on the card! He's got a massive crush on his olive, we'll get to her, she's also wack.

Einsen Durlen is a cyberpunk knight of void, he's missing his left lower leg, [scuttlebuggy accident, debateably desrio's fault, they also broke up about it red ways] he has a Land of Rime and Yarn, he uses a screwdriver kind specibus, hes constantly got a mask on [like pikled always has goggles!!], he has a mask fetch modus, which really just means once he puts a card in, he has to figure out what its -disguised- as to get the item! If not, he doesnt get it from the card! Oh, I also havent really been mentioning quirk, but part of his is that sometimes he'll just replace a word or a part of a sentence with [REDACTED] to show hes keeping something from someone, instead of just... lying... or not mentioning it. (He'll also replace his i's with \ and his l's with /, jsyk)

ONWARDS, TO OLIVES, odytra and sklera Marcol!!!

Odytra is a thief of space, her lusus is a six legged cat, she uses a stringkind strife specibus, glove fetch modus [means she needs special gloves to get out her stuff], she's a derse dreamer, annnnnnnd, oh, she makes people into desserts at her diner. Uh-huh. Granted, that's very private, most people dont know!! She also has, like... a thing with number 7, idk what to tell you chief

Sklera is a skateboarder punk, Sylph of Space, she has a oand of topiary and keys, very alice in wonderland!! She has a Wrenchkind strife specibus, an 8 Ball fetch modus, and einsen is TERRIBLY in love with her! Not too much to say on her!

Next are my jades, but i think i'll post this, and add the remaining trolls when i have time, if you'd like!!!

[hansols-yoda-boxers]

In Bloom - Introduction

Plant Monster!Yunho x Female Reader

Word Count: 2436

Prequel | Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

It had been raining all week and as such you’d been taking the bus. Being cold and wet was not how you wanted to show up every morning and the dreary weather seemed relentless. The cold rain that you thought ought to be warmer in the summer pounded against your window all morning and you felt yourself sighing each time you looked out at it.

But as the afternoon ticked by the rain let up slowly. Dark clouds gave way to lighter ones, and then to blue sky and the sun finally warming the earth again. As you made your way out the door and started towards home you took in the scent after the rain and the rainbow stretching through the late afternoon sky. A smile tugged at your lips as the sun hit your skin and you shrugged off your sweater to carry it instead.

You were almost too enraptured by the warm, beautiful world to notice the boy sitting along the glass windows as you made your way near the greenhouse.

Almost.

You stopped in your tracks, staring at him. His hair was now jet black and he had a small, sweet smile on his face. His eyes were closed and his face was turned up to the sun, an open window letting it fall across him, warming his skin. The foliage around him seemed thicker than it usually was and a number of large, pink flowers bloomed in the vines along the window, some of which were growing out around the open window.

You crept closer slowly, not wanting to spook him. The door to the greenhouse had to be somewhere away from the road. You kept your eyes on him as you moved until he was out of sight. At least he hadn’t seen you, you’d finally gotten a good look at him but you were still intrigued. You had to know more.

You grinned to yourself as you found the door on the far side of the large greenhouse. The pretty bronze handle turned easily and quietly and you slipped inside quickly before closing it behind you.

If the greenhouse looked full from outside, it was even more packed with plants inside. Vibrant greens filled your view as you took in the large, tropical flora that surrounded you. The high ceiling allowed for trees to grow, reaching for the sun. Vines criss crossed over your head along the glass with the same large, light pink and white flowers that you’d seen near the boy, blooming from the vines. Almost unnaturally large orchids were in bloom throughout the greenhouse and you could hear water somewhere ahead of you as you started to take slow steps deeper into the foliage.

You listened carefully for any movement from the boy, trying to see through the leaves and greenery, but all you could hear was the water getting closer. You were carefully about each of your steps. He seemed shy, watching you from the window and always hiding when you caught sight of him. The last thing you wanted was to spook him or upset him, but after seeing him in that window for the past few months you had to know more, you were intensely curious at this point.

You moved leaves out of your way as you headed towards the sound of the water. It sounded like some sort of fountain and the sound got closer as you snuck through the leaves. You were careful not to step on leaves, trying to take in the view of the large plants and fragrant, blooming flowers. The humidity was a little stifling but the sight as you pushed past another set of leaves nearly took your breath away.

A large pond with stepping stones across it sat in front of you. At one end water bubbled quietly over rocks like a small waterfall into the pond. Large lily pads, water lilies, and  lotus flowers bobbed and swirled gently in the water and you were sure you heard a frog somewhere.

A small gasp left your lips before you managed to slap a hand over your mouth. You froze in place, staring into the dense leaves and listening carefully. You thought you heard rustling in the direction that the boy should be but after a moment it stopped. The greenhouse fell silent again, save for the soft gurgling of the water and the spare ribbiting of frogs.

You were more careful as you made your way over the stepping stones as quietly as you could. You stopped on the other side, listening again as you pressed on. The thick foliage all around you blocked out much of the sunlight coming through the glass roof. You searched through the shadowy leaves, moving slowly and hoping you were still being quiet enough.

Perhaps it was the darkness but every step further into the plant life had anxiety building in the pit of your stomach. You couldn’t help but feel that something was watching you. Then again you were trying to sneak up on the strange boy so maybe him looking for you was fair. It was more than possible that he had realized someone else was in the greenhouse. There could be a number of gardeners in here for all you knew. 

You pushed through into a small clearing. A number of bushes with large palm-like leaves on them ringed around the edge and soft grass and moss littered the clearest spot in the center. You were sure you heard a rustling in the leaves and you froze, gazing towards it but seeing nothing. Now you were sure you were being watched. Could you even find your way back out easily if you wanted to? It wasn’t easy making your way through the rain forest-like greenhouse and if he followed you he would surely catch up to you.

You hesitated, unsure if you should turn around or press on. You gazed behind before looking forwards again. You had come this far and curiosity was still getting the best of you. You just wanted to know more about the boy, why he watched you.

You tried to take another step but your foot caught on a vine and you tripped, screeching as you crashed into the large leaves. At the very least they had broken your fall, letting you down into the moss far more gently than you would have been. You tried to struggle up but one of your ankles stayed put.

You twisted around, your heart racing as you caught sight of the vine wrapped securely around your ankle before your eyes gazed up, finding a tall, shadowy figure, nearly hidden among the leaves.

Your scream stayed caught in your throat as you tried to push yourself away but the vine around your ankle held fast. You had a feeling that trying to undo it wouldn’t do a single thing. The clearing got darker and your eyes flicked upwards to see leaves moving overhead, blocking out much of the light. The large flowers on the vines were closed into buds now, as if the sun had already gone down.

“Wh-What are you doing h-here?”

The voice caught your attention. It was gentle and timid and your panic slowly started to subside as you tried to make out the figure hiding the bushes.

“I-I was just… curious…” your voice was quiet, still unsure what he wanted.

The boy shifted forward, his face coming into view. He looked worried and unsure, wary of you as he stayed partially hidden. 

“You’re n-not supposed to be in here,” his voice sounded a little choked up, and you felt your heart melting.

“I’m so sorry,” you said softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Th-Then why a-are you here?”

You tried to search for words that would calm the poor boy. “I see this place every day, I see you everyday. B-But I’ve never come in, and you always hide. I just thought…”

“N-No one is supposed to come in here,” his voice was a pitiful whimper now and it was breaking your heart. You shifted a little closer to him but stopped when he stumbled back further into the leaves.

“Please,” you kept your voice as calm as you could. “I didn’t come here to hurt you. I don’t want anything to happen to you, I just wanted to meet you. I’d never seen you so clearly but today you were out in the sun and you seemed so happy and serene and my curiosity got the better of me.” You reached down to your ankle slowly. “I-I can leave, I just need to-”

The vine around your ankle wrapped tighter as you touched and the boy whined and shook his head. “Y-You can’t. Y-You’ll tell people.”

Your gaze snapped up to meet him as confusion coloured your expression. “Tell people? Tell them what?”

The boy sniffled, hiding further into the leaves but the vine got even tighter and you cursed quietly, your hands now trying to pull it loose. The confusion that had been at the edges of your mind started to seep in as you wondered why it kept pulling tighter, drawing a wince across your lips.

“I-It’s hurting y-you?” there was a slight panic in his tone and he stepped forward. You tried again to yank your leg free and the vine tightened too much, a dull pain as it squeezed around your ankle and you winced.

The boy stumbled forward out of the shadows and onto his knees in front of you. His hands came to your ankle and he spoke something softly, a little unsteady while touching the vine. Your gaze found his form properly for the first time and you gasped. Large green vines seemed to be coming from his back and smaller, thin vines were wrapped around his body tightly. A few large flower buds lined the vines before they disappeared into the foliage and it slowly clicked that it was his vine that had tripped you, that he had now released you from.

You scuttled back, frightened and the boy seemed to start to panic, his breaths coming fast and tears in his eyes.

"P-Please you c-can't tell anyone," he whimpered in a broken voice. "N-No one can know."

"Wh-What a-are- h-how- y-you're-"

"I know," he said quickly. "I know I'm not human, j-just please- I'm sorry I didn't m-mean to hurt you. Please, please d-don't tell anyone."

Your eyes searched his face, tears starting to stream down his cheeks. His hands were halfway to you and it was clear he thought you were about to run off and tell people what you'd seen. Run out. As much as he had shocked you it was clear that the boy meant you no harm. He was just as scared as you were, if not more. Your heart ached as you took in the fear on his sweet face and your heart melted. All you wanted to do was to calm him.

“It’s okay,” you said as evenly as you could. “You didn’t hurt me. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

“I-I’m supposed to hide,” he sniffled. “I’m supposed to stay hidden so no one sees me but it’s been raining all week and I got so much more full in the sunlight and I figured it would just be for a little while an-”

“Hey,” you kept your voice gentle as you shifted towards him, taking his hands carefully. “I really won’t say anything and I don’t think anyone else saw you. Your secret is safe, okay?”

He nodded slowly, his hands squeezing yours a little. “O-Okay.” He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “I’m Yunho.”

You introduced yourself properly as you stood slowly and he followed you up. You gave him a soft smile and felt your heart skip as he smiled back. Light started to filter in around you and you gazed up, seeing the leaves above you move out of the way. The large flower buds started to open slightly and the nearest flower caught your attention. 

Your hands left Yunho’s as you moved towards the slowly blooming flower. Yunho followed you, tugging his sweater sleeves partially over his hands. A full smile spread across your face as the petals on the large flower opened in front of you, shifting to face the sunlight. As you gazed up you saw all the flowers were now open and turned to take in the sunlight. As you let your fingers touch the petals gently you heard Yunho giggle.

“Can you feel that?” you asked, turning towards him.

“Y-Yes?” his nerves were evident as he spoke, shifting on the spot.

“Are- Are all of the vines? All of the ones with the flowers, are they yours?”

He nodded slowly, not sure if you thought that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Woah,” you gazed at all of the vines criss crossed along the roof and hanging off the trees. “Does- Does anyone else come in here?”

“Not much,” he said nervously. “There are a few gardeners, but I’m good at hiding. I’ve been told… people aren’t supposed to have vines…”

Your face fell a little as you took in his sad expression. You didn’t know how long he had been here but it was clear he didn’t meet many people, and the ones he had hadn’t given him much of a chance. You looked around at the plants again, the flowers catching your attention once more.

“You can’t leave, can you?” you asked.

He was silent for a moment, his gaze on his feet. “No, I can’t.”

“How long… have you been here?”

He shook his head, taking a shaky breath. “It’s a really nice greenhouse,” he said. There’s a lot of space and having me here, it helps the plants grow. It’s not so bad even if I don’t have many people to talk to it’s okay.”

“What if I come back?” The words left your mouth before you thought them over, but the way Yunho’s face lit up was worth it. “I mean, I can’t stay all the time but I can come and visit you, so that you’re not alone here.”

“You’d really do that?” his eyes were brimming with tears and it melted your heart.

“Of course.”

Yunho nearly knocked the wind out of you as he tackled you with a hug. His arms wrapped around you tightly and some of the thin vines pulled you in even closer as he mumbled out little thank yous and you wondered what you’d gotten yourself into.

[badger-writes]

Star Wars OC Ship Week 2021 - “for light and life”

Day 4 - Action/Adventure

Then...

Sskeer came at him like a feral Nexu, leveraging a ferocious primal strength into a totally unrelenting barrage of lightsaber strikes. He assaulted Kelto’s defense with a flurry of fast, sweeping slashes, battering his sides with wide swordstrokes and raining down heavy overhead blows from above - the hallmarks of the Aggression Form, Ataru, his skill at which he had honed to razor keenness over the long period of his Knighthood.

Kelto wished he had foreseen that the intensity of his friend’s fighting style would match that of his demeanor. More than that, though, he wished he had kept up with his saber practice. His style was that of Resilience, Soresu, a style which valued ultimate defense - a fitting form for a practitioner of the healing arts, but not for a duelist. As the Rodian himself now proved, being buffeted as he was around the sparring circle, preventing the Trandoshan from landing a blow by last-minute movement or the skin of his teeth.

Kelto had assumed working in the medical ward precluded the possibility of encountering lightsaber combat in his daily life. Sskeer had made it his mission to thoroughly deconstruct that notion.

“Focus,” he hissed over the electrical crash of their plasma blades. “Do not let the fight dictate your reality.”

“I’m not,” Kelto protested. “I’m - I’m enduring!”

“Survival alone will not guarantee victory. If you spend all your energy waiting for a counterblow, you will lose. You must seize control, not wait for it to be given!”

He lifted his blade as if to strike Kelto’s right quarter, then swung instead for his feet. The Rodian jumped back, landing unsteadily on his feet, and attempted to reestablish his guard. With a thrust, Sskeer pushed it away.

“Just give me a second,” Kelto grunted, swatting away another incoming blow.’

“Your opponent will show no mercy. Why should I?”

“Just - just slow down! I can’t - I can’t keep up with you!”

 “You’re in over your head,” Sskeer lectured. “Becoming flustered. The fear, the anger - it is taking hold of you.”

“Sskeer, please--!”

“Without balance, we lose discipline. Without discipline, we lose control.”

With a cry, Kelto lashed out - a clumsy, sloppy swing that was born of no style save frustration. Sskeer dodged it easily. Then he reached out with his free hand and seized the front of the healer’s tunic in an iron-clawed grasp. This was followed with a leg sweep that knocked his feet out from under him and a simple throw that sent him definitively down to the mattress. The impact forced the breath from Kelto’s lungs and his lightsaber from his fingers, its training blade disappearing with a sad hiss as it deactivated.

Sskeer held the point of his own saber over Kelto’s heart where he lay. His reptilian face was sympathetic, but pitiless.

“And that is why we must drill,” he said.

Groaning, Kelto forced himself up on his elbows. He was panting hard, sweat shining on his face and darkening the collar of his robes. By contrast, Sskeer didn’t seem to have a hair out of place, insofar as one could say such a thing about a Trandoshan.

“Dammit,” the Rodian gasped. “I just -- I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

“You were unwise to lower your defenses,” Sskeer began, fixing his hilt to his belt. “Your last swing created a clear angle of attack on your center.”

“I figured that part out, thanks,” Kelto snapped, drawing his knees to his chest. “It’s everything else that’s a problem.”

“The fault isn’t yours alone. Soresu prioritizes defense above all others, but a shield alone cannot win a battle. You must bring a sword as well. That is what I am trying to show you, Kelto.”

“Well, all you’re showing me right now is that my shield sucks.” 

“A problem that can be solved. But not by ruminating on your failures.”

The Rodian sighed violently, glaring between his toes. Turning towards the edge of the circle, Sskeer reached out and used the Force to levitate a canister of water into his waiting hand. Then he sat cross-legged on the floor beside Kelto, offering Kelto the canteen. He took it like a secondhand trophy.

“This time you lasted much longer,” Sskeer informed him as he gulped down the cool liquid. “Against an Ataru as aggressive as my own, that is no easy feat. I commend you.”

“I still lost,” Kelto observed grumpily.

“This is true. When your attitude about saber combat changes, this will change, too.”

“That’s just it, Sskeer - I don’t think it will.” Kelto let out a guilty breath. “Saber combat was never important to me. It never felt - right. A pacifist shouldn’t carry a laser sword. And neither should a healer.”

“A pacifist can be a healer, and a peacekeeper as well. More than that, he ought to be able to defend himself. All of these concepts can coexist.”

“I understand that, but - come on, you don’t really believe we’ll be having lightsaber duels again, do you? The Sith have been extinct for ages by now. Who would strike at the Jedi or the Republic on such a scale again?”

“I don’t know,” Sskeer said slowly. “I hope such a conflict does not occur for many generations to come. But I believe in being prepared for the galaxy’s sake, if not only my own. And so should you.”

“But - but I barely leave the Temple,” Kelto protested. “I barely even leave my quarters!”

“You cannot rely on routine and habit to shield you from the world. The future will find bring you to many dangers, Kelto, whether that be a patrol in the Coruscant underworld or a mission of peace and relief to the Outer Rim. It may even bring danger to you, here, in the place where we Jedi feel safest. Will you feel very wise then, if you allow yourself to become comfortable and complacent? Will you feel safe? Will those in your care?”

Kelto had no answer. He went back to staring uncertainly at his toes.

Sskeer heaved a breath through his nostrils. “If I upset you, I apologize. It is a matter I care deeply about. For the sake of the galaxy - and for your own. It is… the way of the Guardian.”

“I know.”

“When we continue, I will… slow down, and offer more suggestions for improvement. From now on, we proceed at your pace, not mine.”

“...Thank you, Sskeer. That… means a lot.”

The Trandoshan reached out and rested a palm on Kelto’s shoulder. “I seek only to serve you, Healer. And to help.”

Kelto offered him a shaky smile, covering his hand with his own. “Don’t we all?”

Now…

Oh good. The pirates had sliced a loadlifter.

Kelto swore under his breath and ducked as a Class B medium cargo container went hurtling through the air overhead, smashing through part of the hastily-erected CSF barricade. The ziggurat platform of the derrick major squatted over them all, offering the criminals and their reprogrammed muscle an opportunity for raining blasterfire and shipping crates down upon the police frontline. The sting operation had clearly failed; the pirates weren’t leaving without a fight, and the police were horribly outnumbered.

And the only thing standing between them and death by volleys of laser fire was Kelto and Sskeer.

One thing Soresu was good for was deflection training. As bolts of sizzling red plasma plunged towards them, Kelto intercepted them with his blade, sending them harmlessly into the ground or off to the side. Beside him, Sskeer, too, was bouncing shots off the edge of his saber, though his technique lacked refinement; in trying, perhaps, to reflect the pirates’ own shots back at them, they instead bounced wildly back into the loading bay, spalling off chunks of permacrete or ricocheting off the surface of blast-resistant cargo pods.

“Injured to our left,” Kelto called out as he sensed them. “I’m going to get them.”

“I’ll give you cover,” Sskeer nodded. “Let’s move.”

Carefully, they sidestrafed through the wide open space of the cargo landing. Kelto relied on intuition to lead them to the wounded, and for intuition, he trusted the Force. It brought them to the foot of a gantry crane where two dockworkers and a security official were taking cover. The officer was slumped against its foot, bleeding slightly from the mouth, a darkly-singed crater on his stomach where a blaster bolt had breached his body armor.

“Give me cover,” Kelto ordered, and Sskeer obliged; he held his lightsaber out before him through the Force and made it spin until a single spear of light became a dazzling electric-blue shield, almost completely circular in the perfection of its cycle. Incoming fire was all but spattered harmlessly away.

Sheathing his own blade, Kelto crouched down beside the cop, examining his wound. “What’s your name, officer?”

“J-Joh,” the man sputtered. “Joh Andaris.”

“It’s good to meet you, Joh. I’m Kelto. You’re gonna be fine.” He took a stim-shot from a hip pouch and injected it into the man’s shoulder. “That’s to get you on your feet. In a couple of seconds my friend and I are going to have some words with those gentlemen up on the warehouse level, and when we do that I need you all to run back towards the police line, yes?”

“How are we supposed to get all the way back there?!” one of the workers, an Aqualish, quailed. “We’ll be ripped to shreds!”

“We’ll draw their fire.” Kelto lifted the man up onto his feet. “Be ready.”

“All by yourselves?!”

“It’s what we do. We are all the Republic.”

He turned back to Sskeer just in time to watch a blaster bolt slip through his defenses. It slid perfectly through a gap in his deflection pattern and sheared over the surface of his shoulder; the Trandoshan hissed, almost dropping his concentration, calling his saber back to his hand for a more conventional defense.

To the far right of their position, back across the way, Kelto sighted a Class C cargo unit - a long trapezoid of rust-colored durasteel, taller than him by quite a bit and by Sskeer by not much more. But size mattered not. He stretched out his hands and cradled it in the Force, lifting it - pulling it close to the point it blocked all the incoming fire that Sskeer was drawing.

The Rodian edged out behind it as the civilians used its cover to limp back to safety. Sskeer, in turn, took hold of the container as well; they moved in concert, step by step, pushing forward to the center of the plaza.

“How’s your shoulder?” Kelto called. He had to raise his voice, otherwise Sskeer might not have heard him over the hailstorm of blaster shots pitting the other side of their durasteel wall.

“I’ve had worse.”

Kelto glanced at the wound. It was oozing emerald green blood into Sskeer’s white-and-gold Jedi robes. “Not that by much,” he commented. “Sure you don’t want a stim?”

“Save it. Maybe one of the gentlemen shooting at us needs a pick-me-up,” the Trandoshan retorted.

“Hey, you wanted me out here!”

“Just be ready--”

“I’m with you--”

“For light and life!”

Together, they angled the container upwards - and hurled it through the air towards the pirates. They scattered back, falling away from the walkway above, as it crashed through the railing and rolled to a stop somewhere beyond the edge.

Leaping to a phenomenal height, Sskeer and Kelto followed after it.

Then…

When he landed, Kelto ducked into a roll, swiping out at Sskeer’s shins; the Trandoshan moved to push the blow away, realized there wasn’t enough time, and only just managed to jump back from it before it connected. He grinned even through his blocking when it was followed by an evenly-spaced series of strikes.

“Good,” he said over the clash of lightsabers. “Good! Seize the offensive. Build on your momentum.”

Kelto smirked at him through their blade lock. “Now who’s waiting for a countermove?”

In response Sskeer levered his blade away, moving his own smoothly back and up through the air for an overhead slash. Here, Kelto did something he did not expect; instead of intercepting his attack directly, he sidestepped to his right and brought his lightsaber upwards at a diagonal angle, following the edge of Sskeer’s blade in almost perfect parallel.

In spite of himself, Kelto grinned triumphantly as he made his attack. His saber’s edge would travel directly into Sskeer’s belly, framed by the position of his knees below and his arms above; it was a guaranteed hit. A guaranteed victory, even!

But then Sskeer reared back hard, forcing himself to bend at a near ninety-degree angle to the floor, supporting his body almost solely through pushing down through the balls of his feet. As Kelto’s strike swung harmlessly over him, brilliant turquoise energy passing right above his face, he pivoted hard on his toes, swinging out from under Kelto’s arms and pirouetting away from his opponent’s zone of control. Transforming a decisive blow into a near miss.

Spinning his saber in one-handed agitation, Kelto gave him a Rodian stink eye. “A giant like you,” he said crossly, “should not be allowed to move like that.”

Sskeer fixed him with a sly stare. “That’s not what you thought last Fete Week.”

“Don’t go there,” the healer laughed, pointing with his sword warningly. “Do not go there.”

“Try and stop me,” the Guardian said, huskily.

Kelto gave a cry of action and surged forward, clutching his sword like a spear--

And at the last moment Sskeer stepped to one side, and Kelto saw how close to the edge of the sparring circle he’d been standing. In a panic, he threw out his free hand and grabbed the front of Sskeer’s robe, his toes digging into the mat and dragging him to a stop, hanging almost completely over the short dip down to the floor below.

“Your next lesson,” Sskeer declared passively. Having an entire Rodian come to an emergency stop by clinging desperately to his shirt hadn’t so much as budged him. “Don’t blind yourself to your surroundings.”

“That’s not fair,” Kelto protested half-heartedly. “You distracted me.”

“That is the point.” He grabbed Kelto by the arm and pulled him back to his feet on the sparring mat. “I’m supposed to.”

 “It wasn’t the fair kind of distraction.”

“No fight is fair, Kelto. You must adapt to anything and everything that your opponent may have in store for you. Focus on the reality of the fight, not temporary diversions.”

The healer crossed his arms, crinkling his snout puckishly. “Even if they’re big, tall, incorrigibly sexy distractions?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Especially then,” Sskeer chuffed, turning. “Now come - back to first position. Now that you’ve got the hang of things, let’s go again.”

“Lose the tunic first, big guy.”

He stopped, turning on his heel. “Exssssscuse me?”

“Hey - you wanted to train me to block out distractions, right?” Kelto strutted to his marker and crouched down into beginning stance, grinning. “So start being distracting already.”

Sskeer smirked. “As you wish,” he said, shrugging out of his top.

Now…

In the heat of the battle, Kelto’s awareness had developed into a kind of double vision - an immediate center of attention where his focus narrowed to encompass the most immediately pressing complication, and a wider, peripheral awareness where the details of his environment and surrounding happenings were sorted into neat piles to be confronted later.

The two men before him leveling carbines in his direction rated his immediate attention. Sskeer was to his right, on the other side of the warehouse; the pirates occupying that half, accordingly, became a secondary concern. The loading crane coming unmoored with an explosion and falling to the floor with a hideous crash was concerning - almost distracting - but ultimately of no consequence; he could safely ignore it, as it had landed on no one and nothing important.

The pirates in front of him didn’t realize this, and flinched, looking back over their shoulders. He seized the opportunity and sliced the barrels off their weapons before throwing them back against a cargo pod with a gesture, where they passed into unconsciousness and out of the fight. One of them had managed to pull the trigger before his saber ruined his gun; the bolt blazed a trail past his temple and nearly singed off his topknot, but aside from some lingering heat on the side of his face, he was otherwise okay.

Sidestepping to the right, Kelto next leapt the vertical meters up to the gantryway above, cresting the railing with a kick that caught a waiting sniper in the jaw and sent him sprawling over the side. The thump that he made when he hit the floor was a curiosity; equally unimportant, in the scheme of things, as the fallen loading arm. He duly discarded the thought.

Men shooting at him on his side of the catwalks? Immediate threat - he deflected their shots back at them in turn. Sskeer joining him on the upper level, opposite side, similarly engaged, carving through the opposition with his usual intensity? Important situational note - make an effort to link up as soon as possible.

A heavy repeater being wheeled out on a repulsorpad from behind a heavy warehouse door on their level?

Well, details like that tended to... confuse his ordering system, just a little.

“SSKEER!”, he shouted, pirouetting back towards a tall, thick support column. “E-WEB! E-WEB!”

Glancing, Sskeer saw - and jumped out of the line of fire just before the blaster cannon opened up. The warehouse rang from floor to ceiling with the staccato drone of its report as the dreadful weapon poured its destructive firepower into the Trandoshan’s general location; it pounded Kelto’s ears as he watched, heart in his throat, as Sskeer scrambled for cover.

The cannon’s operator must have been a genius among smugglers, for instead of trying to perforate a target that moved faster than he could aim, he shot the catwalk out from under him. It collapsed with a terrible crash and sent Sskeer spilling down to the floor; he recovered in a rolling crouch as the other gangsters, emboldened, turned all their attention to the fallen Jedi, blasters raised.

His partner was in danger. Intellectually, Kelto knew this should have bothered him. Instead he pushed through the spike of emotion and found his discipline again.

Then he went to work.

Darting out from behind the pillar, he sprinted at full tilt past one - two - three snipers on the catwalks, slashing each of them in passing. The cannon operator, he knew, would see him coming - and even now he was orienting the giant gun accordingly. He couldn’t possibly reach the cannon before it found a bead on him - so instead he brought the gun to him.

Kelto skidded to a halt, whipped out a hand, and pulled the mounted cannon towards him; the cannon, a slave to its hoverlift, jerked forward violently, throwing its gunner to the side when he had finished coming along for the ride. Sidestepping the drifting E-Web, Kelto slashed downwards through its barrel in passing, pivoted sharply on his heel, and delivered his booted heel to the pirate’s chin as he attempted to rush him with a vibroknife. The blow knocked him out cold, and Kelto noted with uncharacteristic satisfaction the crack it made when his foot collided with his jaw.

With the gun out of commission, he turned back to the warehouse floor below. He needn’t have worried, he realized; with brutal Trandoshan ferocity, Sskeer had made quick work of the pirates who had made the fatal tactical error of attempting to charge a single lightsaber-wielding opponent. He snarled his way through a final broad slash that sent two more men collapsing to the ground, growling in challenge at any unseen gangsters left bold enough or stupid enough to approach him.

“I got the gun,” Kelto reported, belatedly.

“Very good,” Sskeer called back up. “Lower floor is clear.”

“Was that all of them?”

“I believe so.”

Kelto vaulted the rail and dropped back down to the ground floor, softening his landing with the Force and landing in a crouch. “That’s a pity,” he commented, straightening and padding over to Sskeer. “I was hoping we could resolve this without much loss of life.”

“CSF casualties were low. And we are both still standing.”

“I meant on both sides.”

“Save your pity,” Sskeer sniffed. “If these Outer Rim scum are so low as to murder innocents for smuggled wealth, they deserve just what they got.”

“I suppose,” Kelto shrugged. “But I still feel conflicted.”

“Your compassion does you credit, Kelto. But don’t waste it on those who don’t seek it.”

“I offer it freely. It’s a healer thing.” He reached up to brush the suckers of his fingers against Sskeer’s injured shoulder. “A Jedi thing.”

The Trandoshan grunted, closing his eyes. “I know, I know. My… zeal, sometimes exceeds my beliefs.”

“We’re all the Republic, Sskeer. Even the baddies.”

“Thank you for reminding me.”

Slowly, Sskeer’s fingers reached up to touch Kelto’s where they lingered at his collar, brushing the underside of his cheek.

Then Kelto said, “You don’t think we’re forgetting anything, do you?”

The loadlifter droid crashed through the ceiling, landing on the permacrete with enough force to create a small crater, screeching at them in corrupted Binary.

“Dammit,” Kelto grunted as they ignited their sabers once more. “Dammit dammit dammit.”

“Keep calm. It’s only a droid.”

“I know, I know. Just wishing I hadn’t broken the big gun.”

Then…

Only a few short months of consistent drilling later, and Kelto was already matching Sskeer step for step in the dueling ring. And from the look on his face, he knew it, too.

“Surprised I’m doing so well?” he asked, striking probingly at his opponent’s left and right quarters.

“On the contrary,” Sskeer replied, batting them away. “I couldn’t be prouder. You learn well.”

“I had a good teacher.” Kelto ducked under a first horizontal sweep, and punished the second by needling the point of his lightsaber into the joint of Sskeer’s shoulder; on training setting, it made contact with only an electrical sting. “But not that good, apparently.”

The Trandoshan growled, pacing in a circle and rolling his arm in its socket, working out the pain. “I don’t recognize that move,” he said wonderingly. “That wasn’t Soresu, was it?”

“I’ve been doing some research in my free time. Been looking into the Persistence Form - Shien. Do you know it?”

“Hm. A more aggressive style than what you’re used to.”

“Certain parts of it, yes, I agree. But you were right - you have to cover a good defense with a good offense. There’s no room for clinging to ideology in a real fight -- ” 

Kelto flinched suddenly to the right, provoking Sskeer into following him with his guard - then he juked back the opposite direction, capitalizing on the fake-out by swinging his blade into the underside of his wrists. 

“But being able to fight isn’t what defines you,” Kelto finished. “What you fight for does.”

“Yesss,” Sskeer rumbled. “Yes. Exactly what I’ve been trying to show you!”

He threw himself into another series of full-power overheads, and grinned widely as Kelto countered each of them in turn. Under locked blades, the Rodian beamed back at him.

“Though I can’t help but notice that this revelation comes after a steady string of losses,” the Guardian snorted.

“Every failure is an opportunity to learn,” Kelto replied smoothly. “And I’ve learned enough to finally beat you.”

“Then prove it,” Sskeer demanded.

“You know -- I think I will.”

And then it was Kelto who broke the block, with enough force to send Sskeer staggering back a half step; and when Sskeer attempted to counter with an overhead chop, he sidestepped the stroke before it arrived and leapt, corkscrewing up the air and planting himself on Sskeer’s shoulderblades, pushing hard through the balls of his feet. The Trandoshan grunted with the extra weight, wobbling fatefully on his feet before finally tipping and falling face first to the padded floor, saber jarring from his grasp on impact.

One foot on the small of Sskeer’s back and the other on the thick slope of his shoulders, Kelto lowered the edge of his blade to rest against his opponent’s neck. “And done,” he smirked.

From the floor, Sskeer glared - and then began to laugh. A deep, resonant sound, from the pit of his throat. “Well done, little healer. It seems your training is complete.”

“The student becomes the master,” the Rodian preened.

“Indeed. Let me up now, so I can congratulate you properly.”

Extinguishing his blade, Kelto said thoughtfully, “I don’t know - I worked pretty hard for this. Feel like I’ve earned the right to rub it in a little, don’t you?” And so even as he was stepping off of Sskeer’s back, he was plunking himself down to sit upon the curve of the Trandoshan’s spine. 

“Urk-!”

“Oh, yes,” Kelto giggled. “That sound just made it all totally worth it.”

Sskeer glared at him warmly as he straightened up onto his elbows. “You are lucky to be pulling this juvenile nonsense on me and not someone like Master Engle.”

“After the protracted thrashing I just took, you’re lucky you’re still with me at all!”

He chuckled at that, softening. “I am, aren’t I.”

“And don’t you forget it, mister.” Kelto tapped the emitter of his lightsaber against his temple to underline the point. Then he stood, and offered his hand. “C’mon, up and at ‘em. Let’s go again.”

The disparity in their sizes and masses meant that Sskeer ended up doing most of the work of standing up. “Again? I thought your training was through.”

“My training. Now I help you work on your defense.”

“Ah, of course. How unexpectedly generous of you, ‘Master’ Lem.”

“Not generous at all. I plan on giving as good as I got.”

“I’d expect nothing less.”

Smiling at each other, they folded their arms and bowed.

“Now look - it’s not so much about where you put your blade as where you put your feet, see? Watch…”

Now…

The loadlifter must have attempted to break through the police line; it was the only way to explain the amount of carbon scoring pitting its chassis. But the CSF’s sidearms had clearly failed to stop the berserk droid; if anything, they had only made it angrier.

The Jedi had two things working in their favor. First, the machine’s primary offensive implement, its two massive lifting arms, made its attack pattern slow & easy to predict; second, its sheer mass made it difficult for the droid to attack them with any kind of subtlety or dexterity. This meant much of the incoming danger would be coming from wide sweep attacks, and easily dodged. This was about where their list of advantages ended.

The droid, meanwhile, had been fitted by its criminal masters with heavy hydraulic legs and a microscopically thin layered shell of energy-resistant material - neuranium, perhaps, skimmed from shipments bound for projects related to the Republic’s Great Works initiative? Kelto wasn’t sure, and frankly, right now he didn’t care. Either way it meant their lightsabers weren’t easily cutting through its hide, and it had the speed to match and catch their every maneuver. It was a heavy bruiser, and no mistake.

If this was what they’d managed to cook up right under their noses on Coruscant, imagine what they were up to beyond the frontier?

The machine screeched and rushed them yet again, blitzing across the warehouse at a blistering pace in an attempt to pancake them against the wall. With scant seconds to spare they threw themselves in opposite directions, Kelto landing in a roll and turning sharply; the machine, split between two targets, chose to pursue Sskeer.

It shattered the ground around it with its huge fists, apelike bashing aimed at squashing the Trandoshan into the floor. Sskeer moved with a deftness that belied his own size; his feet carried him out of or around the rapidly-shifting crush zone with supreme economy of motion and exertion, and above them, his body shifted minutely to maximize his effective positioning. His arms, meanwhile, slashed and jabbed at the droid’s reinforced chassis with his lightsaber, creating trails of shallow gouges in the metal where his blade had passed.

Watching from the sidelines, Kelto almost wanted to cheer him on. Then the droid caught Sskeer in the gut with a side-swipe and sent him flying into the far wall.

His focus remained on Sskeer, sitting in his own impact crater, long enough to see his chest heave; he was badly shaken, possibly stunned, but still alive. Then his attention shifted back to the droid, which had taken its first step towards finishing the job.

The cowling around its shoulder joint had come loose. Not by much - but perhaps just enough.

Kelto charged. Sliding under a wild reactive swipe, he rolled to his feet and thrust the tip of his saber upwards, straight into the chink in the droid’s armor. In attempting to pull away, the droid inadvertently drew the unprotected coupling which lay beneath its shell across the edge of the energy blade, and the limb fell away lifelessly. It screamed in Binary, orienting to smash the offending Jedi with its other arm, but Kelto jump-flipped up and over its shoulder, shearing away the linkages connecting its armored collar to its vulnerable neck.

“Sskeer!”, he cried, landing as the armor segments clattered to the floor. “Now!”

The loadlifter reared back for one last overhead smash. It never got the chance to deliver the blow. Behind it, Sskeer bounded across the floor and sprang into a corkscrewing leap which carried his blade into position to strike the droid’s head from its shoulders. He executed the wayward machine with a roar.

The head landed with a dull clang and a dwindling electric whine; the rest of the body shuddered and ground to a complete halt, like a grotesque junkyard statue. The same could not be said for Sskeer, who came down heavily to his hands and knees upon returning to earth.

“Sskeer!” Kelto rushed to catch him, dropping his lightsaber and pushing him back up straight by his shoulders. “Are you alright?!”

“Y-yes,” Sskeer hissed. He clutched his head in one clawed hand and screwed his eyes shut, still sitting on his haunches. “I’m alright, it’s only -- nng-- a concussion, perhaps.”

“Sure you don’t want that stim now?”

“I’ve… reconsidered.”

Obligingly, Kelto injected him with an ampoule of kolto - and one more for good measure. Soon enough, Sskeer could see clearly again, though the ringing pain in his head still remained. The blaster wound, though, had almost completely closed over.

“Nice footwork back there,” Kelto murmured with a smile, massaging his uninjured shoulder. “Good placement, good tempo - ever consider taking up tap dancing? You’ve sure got the rhythm for it.”

“They don’t make patent synthleather in Trandoshan sizes.”

“Hey, you gotta have something to fall back on in case this Jedi thing falls through.”

Wearily, Sskeer met his eyes, grumbling in his throat. “Always the joker,” he said, tipping the underside of the Rodian’s jaw with his knuckle. Then he stood, groaning. “We should inform the police the situation is contained.”

Kelto tucked himself under his arm, half-carrying his weight across his shoulders - well, more like quarter-carrying. “Not bad for my first big patrol, huh?”

“You were more than capable. In some places, you surpassed even myself.” Sskeer slid his hand back to rest on the closer of Kelto’s shoulders. “As I said you would, if you trusted yourself to.”

“Ah, you’re just saying that.”

Sskeer stopped him in his tracks so he’d know he was being serious. “You would have made a fine Jedi Guardian, Kelto Lem. And should you ever desire such a path, I would be honored to walk it with you.”

He stared up at him, bug-eyed. “You… really mean that?”, he asked quietly.

Sskeer shrugged. “Consider it something to fall back on, in case being a healer doesn’t work out.”

“And I thought I was the joker around here,” Kelto snorted, as they left the ruined warehouse behind.

[lyssismagical]

15 or 94 for the angst/fluff prompts ✨💙

15 – “You betrayed my trust”

94 – “Don’t you give up on me”

 {TW for Car Crash}

“You can’t just do that!” Peter shouts, ripping off his mask to stare Tony down. He’s pissed and he’s not the starstruck kid he once was, too scared to step in the wrong direction around Tony, Tony’s too much of a father-figure now that Peter will show how pissed he is.

“I know what I said, kid, but I couldn’t let you do that,” Tony says, as calm as he can, but he’s obviously angry about this too. “You would’ve gotten yourself killed out there.”

Peter rolls his eyes, crossing his arms. “That’s not true and you know it. I know I used to be this stupid kid in a onesie to you, but I’ve learned how to take care of myself now. I don’t need you babysitting me.”

“I’m not babysitting, kid. I’m just watching out for you.”

“If you were watching out, you’d still be home, watching the fucking baby moniter feed. You wouldn’t have dragged out a suit and pulled me from the fight. I had it handled like I said I did.”

Tony sighs harshly, running a hand through his hair. “You have to understand that I was just trying to protect you.”

“I said I had it handled. I would’ve asked you if I didn’t think I could. I don’t need you to come swooping in every time I try to do anything myself!”

“I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“You’re not my dad!” Peter shouts, chest heaving. “You lied to me. You said you’d watch the baby moniter feed and let me handle it, but no, you flew out here to stop me. Again.”

Tony’s visibly angry now, voice lifting. “You didn’t have it handled! There were fifteen armed people in that building, Peter!”

“And I’ve dealt with more! I can’t be a superhero if you keep treating me like a child!”

“You are a child!”

“I’m seventeen for gods sake, Tony,” Peter says, already starting to back away towards the elevator. He just wants to go home before one of them says something they regret. “I don’t need you helicopter-parenting me.”

Tony rolls his eyes, letting out a harsh laugh. “I can’t helicopter-parent you if I’m not your dad, can I?”

“God, can you just admit you’re wrong for once?” Peter says, voice tipping into cold territory. He’s never once acted like this around Tony. He feels like he’s being the annoying teenage-stereotype, but he’s a superhero and Tony should let him act like one. Not keep him cooped up and dealing with cats in trees for the rest of his life.

“Can you just admit that you’re not ready for something like this?”

“You told me you’d stay home unless I asked you for help. I would’ve asked you if I needed you. I thought we’d gotten past this stupid phase when I beat the Vulture for you.”

It’s still a relatively sore topic, all things considered. Tony still feels a lot of guilt for Peter being alone that night, and Peter still deals with a lot of nightmares and panic attacks revolving around the warehouse collapse.

Tony sighs harshly again. “How many times have I had to save your ass after you refused to ask for help?”

“That’s not the point!” Peter shouts, angry all over again. “The point is that you betrayed my trust, Tony! The point is that you promised you’d let me handle this one alone unless I asked you for help, but you couldn’t even do that! Do you just not trust me?”

This is bordering too close to raw territory, real feelings, and that’s normally not easy for them, let alone when they’re angry and fighting.

“Fine,” Tony mutters, eyes dark and jaw clenched. “If you want me to stop helicopter-parenting you, I will. If you want me to let you dive into stupid fights and get yourself killed, go for it, I won’t stop you. See if I care.”

It’s not true, and Peter knows it. Tony cares about him a lot. Too much, probably. But the words still cut deep, and Peter’s never been a good arguer. He always ends up crying if conflict is too much.

So instead of making things any worse, Peter sends Tony one last glare before turning his back and heading for the elevator.

Peter’s driving now. He’s not the best driver, but he can do it. Plus, it saves Happy the long hours to and from the city for Peter. It makes everyone’s lives a little bit easier.

He doesn’t want to drive home. It’s raining now and the sky is dark, and it’s hard to see through his glassy eyes, tears threatening to fall. He almost turns back to the tower to say in his room for the night, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to face Tony again. He doesn’t want another fight.

He should’ve been smarter. He should’ve followed his gut to not drive back.

Maybe that would’ve changed the outcomes of the night.

Either way, the roads are slippery and Peter doesn’t see the truck run the red light. He certainly doesn’t see the way the truck loses control.

The last thing he does see is a flash of black as the truck slams into his tiny cheap car, and then the world goes dark.

*Tony stands in the hallway for a long time, staring at the discarded Spider-Man mask on the floor. Peter left in his suit, with a sweater and short pulled on over it like it would protect his identity at all.

He already regrets the things he said. He knows he should have faith in Peter’s capabilities. The kid’s strong and smart and he’s got a crazy expensive suit on his side. Tony should’ve trusted Peter, he knows.

But on the other hand, Tony can’t lose Peter. He can’t let something happen to his kid.

“Karen’s inactive so I’m incapable of getting a read on why, but Peter Parker’s vitals have fluctuated to dangerous levels,” Friday pipes up.

“What?” Tony asks, drawing his watch up to get look at them.

It isn’t clear why his heart rate has chaanged drastically or why his blood-oxygen levels are dropping, but it’s bad. It’s pretty obviously bad, so Tony summons a suit and takes off towards Peter’s last known location.

When he gets to the scene, Tony’s heart drops to his stomach, hands trembling as he tumbles out of his suit.

There are two ambulances, three police cars, a fire truck, and two tow trucks all surrounding the scene of the accident where Tony can just make out Peter’s little car, wrecked and smoking.

Tony had told Peter time and time again that he shouldn’t buy the shitty, old car off his neighbors, but Peter had been insistent. He wanted a car of his own, not one that Tony would buy for him. He wanted to have his own first shitty car.

And Tony let him as long as he promised they’d fix it up together.

They never really did.

“Sir, you can’t be here,” a woman tells him. She touches his arm gently, eyes focusing on him with concern. “We don’t need Iron Man’s help here.”

“No, not Iron Man, I’m just here as Tony,” he tries to explain. “That’s my kid’s car. That’s- He- He’s my kid, please.”

The woman nods carefully, glancing behind her at the wreckage. “We’re working on getting him out of the car and then you can ride with us to the hospital, alright? Just stay out of our way.”

“Yeah, yes, of course,” Tony blurts, voice shaking. “Just- Please, please let him know I’m here?”

All Tony’s allowed to do is wait on the sidelines.

A man’s dragged out of the truck. He looks alright, still able to stand on his own, only a little bit of blood on his temple and hands. His face is scrunched up in awful grief as he stares at Peter’s wrecked car, as he’s taken to one of the ambulances.

And then finally, finally, they get Peter out of the car.

All Tony can see is blood and he nearly throws up, stomach twisting as he sees the paramedics get Peter onto the stretcher and into the back of an ambulance.

The woman from earlier reappears and grabs his arm, leading him up and into the ambulance as well.

Tony can barely breathe as he reaches out and grabs Peter’s hand, trying his best not to cry. “I’m so sorry.”

Peter’s eyes are closed, skin an awful pale, blood staining every inch of him.

“I’m so sorry, kiddo,” Tony repeats quietly, accepting the washcloth and bucket offered to him and he starts carefully rinsing the blood off the kid, water turning pink. “Don’t you give up on me. Please. I’m sorry.”

Tony focuses on washing away Peter’s blood until they get to the hospital and he’s sat down on one of the uncomfortable chairs, left to call May and Pepper and Happy, let them know what happened and promising to keep them in the loop.

Time passes strangely and Tony doesn’t do much but sit there and silently hope that everything will be okay, guilt swelling within him for hours.

Until a nurse comes and leads him to the hospital room where Peter’s already awake, still looking too pale and hurt, but awake. Alive.

“Kid, I’m so sorry-”

“I know,” Peter says, reaching out one of his hands for Tony to take. “I didn’t really think you were being honest because I wasn’t either. I know you only do what you do to protect me.”

“And yet, you’re here because of me.”

Peter shakes his head, eyebrows creasing in confusion. “It’s nobody’s fault. The weather was bad, it was just an accident. We could spend forever pointing blame, but it’s okay. I’m not mad at you anymore.”

“I’m still sorry.”

And Peter smiles, bringing Tony’s hand up to his chest to hold it close. “I love you, Tony.”

“Yeah, I love you too, kid. Don’t ever scare me like that again, okay?”

Taglist: @littlemissagrafina  @spideygirl2003 @romeoandjulietyouwish @c-artara @shadedrose01 @likeaphoenix13 @tonystarkweneedyou {Let me know if you want to be added or removed}

[arcgeminga]

ANSWERED ASK from  @starlightofdream​​​: Whoever you wish to pick (The Twins) + Anxiety ♚ Meme:  Send me a number + an emotion and I will write a drabble/starter of my muse expressing that emotion!

As young boys, it was hard to separate Defteros from Aspros, and Aspros from Defteros. The two were joined at the hip most of the time. 

If they spent too long separated from each other, they started to get anxious. And when they got anxious, it was impossible to not notice their fidgeting.

              —  Defteros.

“Aspros! Don’t go! I won’t be able to follow you!”

“I’ll be back before you know it!” the older brother pinched his twin’s cheek playfully. Aspros was excited since it was his first day of training--but Defteros clung to his brother desperately. 

The caretakers had told them that only of them could train to become saint--and since Defteros was old enough to wear that mask that the caretakers gave him--the duty to become saint naturally fell on Aspros’ shoulders. Defteros wasn’t against the idea at first, but when the day dawned, a sudden surge of distress overtook him. The entire morning, he had been nothing but tears, shouting, and holding onto his brother.

“Defteros!” the browned-haired woman that was in charge of looking after the twins finally snapped at the fussy boy’s fit. “You’re seven! Act your age and stop getting in your brother’s way!” 

“No!” Defteros shouted stubbornly. He couldn't be too angry at her even if she constantly bickered with him. Unlike the previous women that had taken care of them, this lady was nice enough to let him run around the house without his mask. In childish defiance, the dark-skinned Hellene continued to whine. “Aspros is going to be gone for hours!! What am I going to do?!”

“Thank Zeus!” the woman rested her hands on her hips as she shouted back at the child. It wasn’t a hate-filled shout like the other caretakers, so Defteros didn’t get scared of her firm voice. “If he’s lucky, he’ll move into the Residence Halls. You need to let him go, Defteros!” Her response made Defteros stick his tongue out at her, which the woman snappily mirrored.

Aspros patiently pried his little brother’s arms from around him and tried, “It’s fine, Defteros. When I come back, I’ll tell you all about it!’

And Aspros left. Defteros couldn’t bring himself to calm down the entire day. The dark-skinned Hellene kept coming back to the front door every five minutes, biting into his nails as he waited like a lost puppy by the door, before automatically returning to his room before the lady in purple could yell at him to stop being so impatient. It repeated for so long that eventually the woman got fed up. During his last, anxious-driven pacing, she pulled out a long bread from the kitchen and shoved it into his hands. 

“Nibble on that!” She ordered. “Nibble!! By the time you’re finished with it, your brother will be back.”

So, Defteros was shut in his room again, this time with a long stick of bread in his hands. In the back of his mind, he knew that the woman was getting frustrated with his noisy actions... but what can he do? His small hands fussed with the long bun in his hands. He plucked out a piece smaller than his pinkie nail, and bit into it.

He alternated between taking the faintest of bites of the bread and picking out tiny bits to eat until the baked good was a short stump in his palm. He was very distracted by the task of slowly waning the baked item when he heard the distant closing of the front door. 

Oh... his brother was home! 

Defteros dashed from his bed to the front door. His eyes glittered as Aspros was just removing his boots. “Welcome back, brother!” Defteros lunged himself at Aspros for a tight hug that caught his older brother by surprise.

“Ah! Defteros!” Aspros laughed as he tapped lightly on his brother’s arms. “I’m sorry for being late! It started raining terribly.”

“Huh?” Defteros was a bit blindsided by Aspros’ statement. Late? Raining? Since when? “I didn’t realize.”

“Of course you didn’t,” the brown-haired woman rolled her eyes before she strode to the kitchen to prepare a light meal for Aspros. “Also, you haven’t finished the bread. I’m really surprised you really took your time with it, Defteros.”

The mention of the baked item, Defteros leveled a wide-eyed, not-as-furious-as-he-wish-it-was look at the woman and stuffed the rest of the bread into his mouth. Then he took Aspros’ hand and pulled him to their room. He was promised a full story of the day!!

  .

  .

          —  Aspros.

“What do you mean you’re going out?” Aspros furrowed his brow worriedly. Defteros was coughing all morning and their brown-haired guardian currently in their shared room with a hand pressed against Defteros’ sweaty forehead. 

“Your brother is sick, Aspros,” the woman replied with a slight annoyance in her voice. After assessing Defteros’ situation, she gave a hollow hum and wrapped him in the red blanket. “My sisters will be coming soon. Don’t cause them too much trouble.” 

“But...!” Aspros was on the verge of whining. When the brown haired woman lifted Defteros from the bed and walked to the front door, Aspros instinctually followed her--his hand grasping at her iliac robes. “What about Defteros? Is he going to be okay?”

The woman rolled her eyes before indulging the boy’s panic by replying sarcastically, “Actually, no. He’s going to combust into flames at any moment. I need to get him to the doctor before then.”

“That’s not funny,” Aspros pouted, but he was the gentleman and he opened the door for her. Which was the exact moment when two figures jolted from the other side of the threshold. 

“Good heavens!” a piercing laugh immediately made Aspros wince. The ladies laughed as they recovered from the shock of the door opening before they could knock. “Klotho, you have an eye for timing!”

“Be quiet, Lakhesis,” the caretaker rolled her eyes. She pushed passed her sisters with Defteros cradled in her arms. “Aspros might get fussy. Give him a task to do when he gets too annoying. I’ll be back before the morning.”

“Okaaayy,” Lakhesis, the blonde, blew a kiss to her departing sister, and the other woman patted Aspros on the head as she entered.

Aspros was raised with manners so he passed the two ladies a quick greeting before trailing his eyes back to the retreating figure of his caretaker’s tall body. Before he could make a quick getaway and follow the woman that carried his sick brothers, a hand slapped his chest and pushed him into the house while simultaneously shutting the front door.

“Okay! Little Aspros,” the boisterous voice of the woman made him wince again. He was so used to his caretaker’s low, sarcastic and usually calm manner of speaking (until Defteros bickers with her), the cheery tone of Lakhesis made him uncomfortable. But the woman pushed him back and gave his golden hair a good, long scruff. “You got the day with us~! And you know that we’re not like Klotho, so you can do whateeever you want!”

“I want to go follow them,” Aspros swatted away the woman’s hand and pouted up at her. 

“N-no girls you want to bring over?” the yellow-haired woman returned the pout, somehow mocking him. “Or, are you more of a boys guy? Oh! Right! Yeah, you are, aren’t you?”

Aspros gave her a face that conveyed all of his disgust and confusion. He didn’t understand what she was implying, but he could only assume it wasn’t good.

The other woman laughed lowly as she sat at the sofa by the parlor. “Lakhesis, he’s eight.”

“Oh! Right,” the woman shrilled a laughter as she guided an uncomfortable Aspros with her to the parlor. “I forgot! They’ve gotten so big since we last saw them, I thought they were thirteen. But... well, yeah, I forgot!”

Aspros wiggled himself free from the other’s grasp and huffed. Holy hell, these women were annoying! In an agitated march, he walked his way back to the front door of the house. He paused... Half of him wanted to go follow and make sure Defteros would be okay, but his guardian would be so upset at him... At the thought of her being legitimately angry, the boy swayed on his feet. He turned around as if to walk to his room, but only after taking two steps in that direction, he turned around and took three steps to the door... and repeated with varying steps to and fro.

The indecisive pacing probably didn’t longer than ten minutes when he heard Lakhesis’ laughter. the golden-haired boy knew why she was laughing and snapped at her, “Shut up!”

“I’m sorrrrryy!!!” she swayed her way next to him before drawing him into a hug. Her cheery and touchy personality was really annoying...! “You’re just sooooo cute when you worry about your brother! You know that right?”

“Stop it!” Aspros fumed. His cheeks went a little pink at the woman’s teasing. Yet, just as he was about to pinch her arms off of him, her hand presented itself in front of her. Aspros didn’t know if he saw anything in her hand at first, but when he blink, there was suddenly a small ball of yarn. The appearance of the object confused Aspros.

“If you have the time,” the woman smiled mysteriously. “can be a dear and help me make cute little blankets? You brother will return when it’s finished!”

“I don’t know how to crochet,” Aspros immediately responded. He’s seen his caretaker work so intensely with strings and needles, but he and Defteros were never interested...

“Atropos and I will teach you! Come on!”

And for the next two hours and a half, Aspros struggled with thread and needle. Eventually, he gave up while the blonde haired woman laughed at him. The two ladies continued to work on the project as Aspros went to his room, paced, and occasionally came out to check the front door--which also meant that he was the judge of the ladies work.

He was in the parlor judging the ugly, multi-colored shawl when the door opened. Aspros immediately snapped his head in its direction when he heard the faint creak; his caretaker returned, with Defteros sleeping in her arms.

“Defteros!” Aspros immediately jumped from his seat and hurried over to the lady, eyes glued onto his sleeping brother. He could tell that the trip to the doctor had cured whatever aliment plagued Defteros; the sleeping boy looked so relaxed and was breathing easily. 

The savage anxiety that had been consuming him during those long hours finally faded away.

“...What the hell is that thing?” Klotho squinted over to her sisters and right at the shawl that was finished.

“A shaaaaaaaawl!” Lakhesis sang as proud as a songbird as she held it up. But Aspros wasn’t paying attention to them at this point. All of his energy was on his brother. It’s best to get him to bed.

Quietly, Aspros looked at his guardian with a wordless pea to take Defteros from her arms, and she understood his request. She gave the sleeping boy to Aspros--which wasn’t too much of a struggle. Defteros was very thin, and Aspros had already developed inner strength from his training.

The young boy left the three sisters to bicker about the hideous creation, taking his precious brother to their shared bedroom and laying him down. Then he laid down on his side of the large mattress and took one of Defteros’ hands into his own.

Finally... it was so quiet, and Aspros finally felt his body unwind. The anxiety had immediately drained the young saint-in-training of his energy, and he promptly fell asleep next to his brother.