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minyoongees · 3 years

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comethru || myg

✧ pairing: manager!yoongi x worker!reader

✧ genre: slight angst? hurt/comfort, pathetic attempt at crack, barely there fluff

✧ word count: 2k

✧ summary: Yoongi saves you from heinous karens

✧ snip: "We have a coupon for a free meal at your restaurant and we demand you open it right now!!" this bitch—

✧ warnings: karens, oc gets all panicky, bubbling anxiety, rude af people, unhealthy relations with parents, unrequited love? (oc doesn’t really know)

This fic was genuinely fun to write! I know I did not do a very good job on this it’s lengthy with useless info but it just felt important. Let me know what you think of this!

Also, the title is inspired by Jeremy Zucker's comethru

As a new worker in a big restaurant, there are a few words one could dread to hear. For example, 'You're fired' sounds horrifying, gut wrenching, all your student loans flash before your eyes. It's scary, yes, but it's not as dreadful as the infamous —

"Can I see your manager?"

"Ma'am I already told you the restaurant opens at 11:30 am, and none of the staff arrives before 11, but I'd be happy to serve you at 11:30" you assured.

BANG!

One of the three ladies with a blonde bob cut hit at the door again.

"We don't talk to low class workers, call your manager!" Called out another from the group while the bangs continued. It was so loud you were almost afraid that they will tear this place down.

"Because of the unavailability of the manager, a low class worker is all you'll have to speak to for now," you spat, "but I'd be happiest if you don't speak to me at all"

Numerous loud gasps were heard. If the head chef heard you talking like this, you'll be out of the restaurant sooner than these karens can call your manager.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK LIKE THAT TO A CUSTOMER???"

"Ma'am since you have not walked into the restaurant yet, you are not our customer." you tried to explain, "The restaurant opens at 11:30 ma'am which is just in an hour and a half, I suggest you wait outside on one of the tables."

Even though it was kinda against the rules to sit on the tables unless you eat at the restaurant, but you desperately needed to get rid of the situation. The restaurant didn't even open yet, so what could be the big deal about them sitting on the benches outside. You were just hoping your manager would be understanding.

Anticipating another harsh string of words from them, the total silence that hit you surprised you. You pulled the blinds lower and peeked through them. The ladies were seated on the chairs outside, looking through their phones. Even though a bit shocked that they decided to do what you asked so easily, you didn't wanna jinx it. You thanked your lucky stars and moved on to getting the coffee machine started.

The day hasn't even started yet and the karens are here to disrupt the place already. Being the newbie, you have to come early to get this place started and on top of that, people like them are making it even harder. You clearly don't get paid enough for this.

Moving on to wiping all the tables, you were wishing that when your manger arrives, he'll understand the situation. To come to think of it, he's actually a good man and been nothing but nice to you since you joined here a month ago. He even covered up for you when you broke a plate. Another time he took the blame upon himself when you put a bit too much salt in of the dishes and a few people left unsatisfied. He's been sheltering you ever since you joined here and you've been enjoying this more than you should. Yet you still can't help but hope he handles it this time too and saves you from these heinous Karens.

brrring brrring brrring!!

The sounds catches you off guard not because of it's sudden penetration into the too good to be true silence, but because it shouldn't be ringing when it's the restaurant's hours closed. Nevertheless against your better judgement you pick it up and place the receiver between your ear and shoulder.

"Thanks for calling the Nile's! My name is y/n, how can I help you today?"

"We have a coupon for a free meal at your restaurant and we demand you open it right now!!"

this bitch—

"Ma'am as I explained already, the restaurant opens at 11:30 and if you walk in by then, I'll be happy to serve you and make use of your coupons too." Is it too early to quit?

"Am I talking to the manager?" she asked penetratingly.

"The manager is not here yet, but as soon as he arrives, I'll make sure you're the first person he talks to." you tried calmly hoping it would help.

The woman on the line took a deep breath but nothing could prepare you for the coming onslaught of distress.

"Missy you've been saying this to us since the morning and yet your manager isn't here. You should not open a restaurant when you do not know how to run it.”

She was so loud you couldn't even hear yourself losing the will to live.

"You do not know my husband. If he gets to know about the way you've treated me today, your restaurant will be closed forever." She threatened and you could hear her talking from the outside. Did she know that you did not own the restaurant?? "You should be grateful to me for not telling. Now open this damn door RIGHT NOW!!”

Another round of bangs started ringing and it echoed through the walls. They seemed louder than you know they should've been. And it was the trigger. The helplessness of the situation created panic. Your eyes unfocused, your stomach churned and your heartbeat escalated. You felt trapped.

Her shrill sound coming from the phone felt like it was piercing your ear drums and you could no longer understand what she was saying. So you slammed the receiver back into place, not knowing what to do anymore.

The grip on the cloth between your fingers seemed weak. You have always been a strong woman, dealing with irrational people all your life since you spent most of it around such people. But the karens have been tormenting you since the past 30 minutes and it was bound to get to you, sooner or later. Though you'd hoped for later rather than sooner. They way they started banging on the door while demanding something from you seemed so familiar to the way your parents banged on your bedroom door when you locked yourself in to save yourself from them.

Anywho, the situation is delayed for now and you have to calm down and start working again or you won't be done till the rest of the staff comes around. You don't know till when you'll be living under Yoongi's shadows and he'll be protecting you.

You put your hands on your face and let out a deep breath. Back to work bitches.

You started wiping the tables again, trying to think about something else. That 'something else' had a lot of options for you like, how are you going to repay your student loan that you took to go to college and didn't even help you land a decent job, or how your mom has been pestering you since months to get married and you haven't the found the best way to tell her yet that you wanna focus on your career for now and become a chef, or... well let's just say you had better things to worry about. But your train off thoughts was cut short when the phone rang again.

You already knew who was calling, so you decided against picking up. The ear splitting sound of the phone again echoed through the walls and it made you want to throw the phone against a wall. You know the restaurant phones should be loud enough to be heard by the staff even when the place is busy, but it did not help with the way it was making you feel.

After what seemed like forever, it stopped ringing and you went on to work again. The phone rang several times after that and with each ring, you felt your patience slipping farther away from you. You had half the mind to pick up the phone and tell them off, but you knew it would only anger them further. Yet you couldn't let this go on so after at least a dozen calls, you decided to pick it up.

"Thanks for calling at the Nile's! My name is y/n how can I help you today?" you spoke through a sigh.

"I'VE BEEN CALLING AT THIS DAMN RESTAURANT SINCE THE PAST 2 HOURS AND NOBODY HAS PICKED IT UP." she bellowed. If you thought she was loud and shrill earlier, you would change your mind now. Also, 2 hours????? you weren’t even here 2 hours ago!

"I HAVE GOT ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE ON MY PHONE AND I WILL POST THIS ALL ON FACEBOOK THE WAY YOU HAVE TREATED ME IS NOT AT ALL A WAY TO TREAT A CUSTOMER." she didn't even pause for a breath "WAIT TILL MY HUSBAND HEARS ABOUT THIS."

You didn't dare say anything for the fear that anything that may come out of your mouth right now, may anger her further, considering, you were not the manager she hoped to talk to.

There was small hustle on the other end. You could hear the ladies outside arguing a little. After a short pause, someone spoke again.

"Am I talking to manager?" this was not the woman who yelled at you earlier but someone else.

"Yes you are, ma'am"

You let out a small shriek. Surprised to see the receiver that was in your hands a moment ago, placed against Yoongi's ear. When the hell did he get here and how did you not even realize?? Even so, a strange feeling of safety filled up your chest at the sight of him and you felt like you could breath again.

"No ma'am, we cannot do that for you. As y/n here explained to you, the restaurant opens at 11:30 and no exceptions will be made for anyone." he explained calmly and it had you hoping that they'd listen to him if not you.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused to you ma'am."

You just stood being a witness to one side of the conversation. You could hear someone talking outside the restaurant as well, but couldn't make out their exact words.

You admired his calm even in such a patronizing situation. At least to you, it was that way. In your eyes, he seemed so serene, his lips moved to utter the most calming sounds and you felt like you'd hand over your life to him if he asked you for it.

You really needed to practice professional work ethics when it came to him.

"Yes we will take care of this in the future, thank you for your suggestion."

"Ma'am we do not accept any kind of coupons for any of the meals provided here. Are you sure it is the same restaurant?"

Wait. But we do accept coupons here at the Nile's...

"No ma'am we cannot do that for you. There is no such policy, and we do not accept coupons."

"You can totally go ahead and call the police for yourself and we'll be sure to tell them how have harassed one of our workers over here." He said in an unbothered tone, gaze floating to you and you strangely found yourself looking away.

"Sure thing. Thank you for calling!"

And he placed the receiver back, as if job accomplished.

"Are you okay y/n?" He questioned. In his deep eyes, you saw genuine concern for yourself and you wanted to stay there for some while more. His voice was music to your ears and you did not want your own voice to taint the air around.

But he asked you something.

"Yeah." you said breathlessly and cleared your throat. "Yes, I'm fine, thanks for the help Yoongi"

It was something he insisted you call him even though the rules say he is your senior and should be addressed as so.

"Such people are so irritating and do not deserve to be let out of their homes. What kind of a husband would it be, huh!" he wondered, "though I question if there is any husband at all or she was just bluffing."

"Yeah I know right?" you didn't know what to say. "Though it was really impressive the way you handled them, I could never!"

He laughed at that. Sounded so heavenly, your knees kind of gave out.

And it was another day when he saved you. Why does he do that for you? Why was he here here so early? Why does he even try to get to close to you?

These are questions you do not have the answers to yet. You hope to get them someday. But you are happy they you are right now. Or maybe you are too afraid that the answers to these questions wouldn't be what you'd like to hear. Maybe he was just being nice and you being a horndog took the hint wrong way.

But for now, you have all the time (45 mins max before some other employee comes) to enjoy this moment with him alone in the closed restaurant, surrounded by the smell of food and his cologne and you have no idea which you like better. You wouldn't have it any other way.

masterlist | fin.

#yoongi #yoongi imagine #yoongi scenario #yoongi sfw #manager yoongi #yoongi fanfic #yoongi fluff #yoonfi hurt/comfort #yoongi angst #yoongi fic

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my2phetaliaheadcanons · 3 years

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Feel free to ignore this. But I love your writing and was wondering if you could do the stalking headcanons you done but with the 2p allies?

How could I ignore such a request? After all, yandere is a fun aspect of horror to write, stalking is just one step in the process. Also thank you for the compliment and the ask. I love seeing them.

Sorry, I put it as an original post, but it was an ask. I fixed it!!

The buzzing sound of old electrical wires was the only sound on the empty street. It gave the young woman some comfort while she stood underneath the old streetlamp. Though that small bit of comfort was not enough to stop the paranoia that came from the feeling of being watched.

France – François’ chéri would be watched constantly in some shape or form. He would prefer to use cameras. Things like street cameras, security cameras, and the like would all be hacked by one of his men. From there François would have them all connected to his phone via a special app called Darling Watch. If there were spots along his chéri’s route that didn’t have a camera, then François will have his men install some.

This does extend to the home of his little chéri. As much as François doesn’t like to work, he would do the cameras himself. He knows her best and would know the proper places to put the cameras. Places she wouldn’t expect or think to look. From there he would install them in every room. Each one is well-hidden and yet gives a full view of her home.

François would occasionally view her in person. Unlike Denmark with his few times a month, François would find a place in her routine where he could watch her fully once a week. If she had a customer service-like job, then he would be the customer asking for her. A college student, then he would watch her as she studied in the library. So on and so forth.

Overall, his chéri would pick up on the fact she was being watched. That action is not the easiest to hide and may drive her to the point of tearing her apartment apart. Throughout all the madness, she would never guess François. The man that appeared in her life once a week. The man that occasionally stared at her or gave her a couple of words at work. The truth could be enough to send her into shock.

America – Allen is a pushy and possessive person, and it shows in his stalking. He stays close to his doll and watches for as long as he can. He spends his time out of sight but close enough to take photos and intervene on her behalf.

Until he feels that it is the right time to talk to her that is. At that moment Allen will saunter into her life. His overall timing and attitude would remind anyone of a villain from a greaser movie. The tough attitude but that rough charm that could make anyone weak in the knees is how he cements his place in her life. From there, his stalking becomes a lot easier and more fruitful.

He gets pictures and some of her most personal information straight from her mouth. Things like why her favorites are favorites. All the items with sentimental values and what extra things will be needed in their new home. The list could go on and Allen will catalog it all with a smile. Though at the same time, Allen will still watch her from a distance. Following her home after hanging out, making sure no creeps are around her house. He sometimes even watches his doll through her bedroom window. He just leans against his motorcycle and lets his thoughts wander.

Doll is gonna end up right where Allen wants her. She will assume he chases the monsters away, but in the end, she invited the worst monster into her home. Once reality sets in though, her feelings of betrayal would be intense. His doll may try to cast him out, but it won’t be for long. He will still watch and wait for the right time to bring her home.

Canada – Matt’s methods remind one of a zoologist. Continual observations, detailed notes, all while remaining in the corner of her eye. It's terrifying and somehow Matt is able to find out all he needs to know.

Matt is a true lurker. He is hiding just out of her periphery; the shadows help hide his massive form. His high-end camera letting off small clicks as he takes plenty of photos. Each one worthy of being on the front cover of a National Geographic magazine. The photos are printed on high-end glossy paper and then placed into an album.

Each picture is labeled and contains notes about his maple. The range from things about her likes, dislikes, medical needs, and more. He even has a book dedicated to her enemies, each one taken down is crossed out in red.

Through the process, Matt's zoologist behavior continues by entering her home, like an animal's den. Though he is helpful while looking through. he does this by helping them get a promotion at work via intimidation, getting any medications, buying her groceries, and placing them in their proper place, improving/fixing things in her home. He also takes out anyone that so much as bumps into her.

The improvements and groceries at first would be brushed off. But as time goes on and the incessant clicking of a camera will start to drive her into madness. Each click is enough to make her panic and all the improvements cause an uncomfortable itch under her skin. It will all end when Matt finally brings her home.

England – Oliver is very subtle when it comes to his dearie. Mostly because he has her come and interact with him. Then during the in-between times watches her.

This all starts simple enough, he makes sure that she has to visit him. It could be that her job has her deliver some paperwork to him and it must be in person. Maybe, a college student looking for a part-time job and suddenly finds a new cupcake shop looking for workers. Either way, Oliver will find some way to get her to him. From there he builds up the relationship.

It feels creepy at first. Oliver asks some deep questions, things that one would expect from a date rather than a boss or work partner. It gets uncomfortable, but Oliver is able to change the atmosphere with a simple sentence. It causes his dearie to think that she was overacting. It eventually gets to the point it makes her want to quit, but as she searches for something new, roadblocks pop up.

Things like businesses going under, people dying, and other horrible misfortunes. All the while not realizing Oliver’s sweet little flying bunnies had a hand in causing it. They are his eyes and ears, telling them the information that he could not pry from her lips. Sometimes they are his little thieves and take things from her home for him to alter.

All these elements lead to self-isolating behavior. As much as it pains Oliver to have her distant, it helps in the end. Though he was suspected in the beginning, she never had proof or some kind of connection. So, when he reveals himself, she is pissed. Screams and accusations are thrown and he just giggles.

China – Jin uses others to stalk his Qin. It's simple to him because he knows that unless love is involved, anyone will sell out another.

There are many people that buy from Jin. The types range from all walks and this gives him an advantage. Jin makes it simple, watch his Qin and report back to him. As long as his new employee doesn’t cross any lines, then a huge discount is applied to whichever of his products that they desire.

From there, information and pictures are gathered quickly. Eventually, these aren’t enough for Jin, so he goes and sees her in person. During these times, Jin will sit right in her line of sight. Maybe even a quick bump to interact with her. He lives for these times, though throughout it all Jin is still hiring people to find more information about her.

His darling is less likely to feel paranoid overall because it isn’t a single person just staring. It's people from all walks of life and sometimes attached to her life that the information is coming from. This creates a bubble of safety that he can exploit.

Once the bubble is popped, Qin will cry and panic. She will have realized that she should have been more cautious, but it’s too late now.

Russia – Viktor will operate in a very ordered way. His stalking is always connected to his preparations for their new life together.

When he starts Viktor takes watching his родная seriously, he uses his men at first to make her more comfortable. They are to watch from a distance and report her daily schedule back to him. Once the schedule is set, then Viktor comes to do things in person.

He walks into her home, like it's his, and looks for the most personal things. Diaries are read, medications are written down, preferences of food and clothing are noted. Viktor will analyze the deeper behaviors of his родная. This will help him understand her relationships, and what he needs to fulfill her emotional needs.

Throughout it all, Viktor will visit her occasionally. His visits are usually in a professional setting. It creates a sense of expectation for both and helps take the suspicion off him. This also helps Viktor to understand which situations his родная is most comfortable in. This will help when it comes to kidnapping later on.

Overall the moment Viktor has all the information he needs from the stalking, he strikes. It's shocking, because she was taken at a moment when no one would have guessed. This man that родная has had few encounters with is now standing across from her. He is claiming his love, and she is doing her best to hold it all together.

#yandere hetalia #yandere #2p headcanons #2p hetalia #2p allies #2p america #2p canada #2p france #2p england #2p china #2p russia

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sunflowerstache · 3 years

Text

Did You Order a Pizza?

Halloween 2020 is filled with lots of surprises for the Styles family

A/N: Hi lovelies! I hope you had. great Halloween and you're feeling alright these days! This is a one shot following the family from my pic Another World, which you can find here! I hope you enjoy it and I cannot wait to hear all your thoughts!! I love y'all!

Word Count: 7.6k

~~~

“And you’re sure he’s back?”

“You heard him on the phone. He’ll be waiting for Jeff so you’ve got plenty of time while he waits for the man to not show up.” Glenne smiled at you from her spot in the driver’s seat. “Although, I think he’ll like who does show up instead.”

Harry had left for Los Angeles so that he could begin filming a new Olivia Wilde film, leaving you and Bella in London. And as much as you’d have loved to join him on such a monumental step in his career from the start, you were unable to travel with him. Not only were you unable because your daughter was still in school at the time, but because of the pandemic that was still going on throughout the world. It prevented for most of the year’s plans to take place, which absolutely crushed Harry. He was looking forward to Love on Tour and showing his fans how much fun this new era was for him, more than you’d seen from him in a long time, but he would always put the safety of his fans before entertainment, so it was an easy choice to postpone. However, no tour meant that he could gladly accept a leading role in a film alongside some of the most well known actors in the industry.

But it only took you a few days after his departure to find out you couldn’t be so far from him. As fate would have it, Bella’s class was turning into online learning once the half term break ended, which meant one of the most important reasons you were still in London had vanished. So, after spending two weeks quarantining and making sure you took all the necessary precautions, both you and Bella got tested and flew to the states with your negative results. From the start, you had told Jeff of your plan and he and Glenne gladly welcomed you into their home once you arrived, wanting to spend time with Bella for a few days after going so long not seeing the toddler. And finally, once you got the negative results of yet another test, you and your daughter were off to stay with Harry.

Jeff had spoken with your boyfriend over FaceTime earlier that morning, feeding Harry some story about needing to solidify some merch designs, and making sure that Harry would be patiently waiting for his manager after he finished filming for the day. But the plan was to have Glenn drive Jeff’s car so he suspected nothing seeing it pull up, and surprise him when it was you and Bella getting out the car instead of the oldest Azoff son.

“I can’t wait.” you groaned out through the grin taking over your face. You bounced in your seat slightly, pressing both hands to your cheeks just thinking about seeing his shocked face when he opened the door expecting Jeff, but seeing you and Bella instead.

“What?” The question was brought up after a soft chuckle was heard from Glenne’s side of the car as soon as you were halted at a stoplight.

“Nothing. It’s just cute how excited you are to see him after being apart for what, a month?”

“27 days.” you whispered, urging yourself to force down a smile. “But who’s counting?”

“You guys have been together nearly a decade, and you still get all flustered when you talk about him.”

The way you and Harry acted around one another was something that was always commented on by people in your inner circle, for that exact reason. Without a doubt, your relationship had gone through some of the toughest times, but that was bound to happen when you’ve been with someone since you were sixteen… and even more likely when every moment of your life was documented to the public. But those tough times never seemed to last, because at the end of the day, Harry was everything you ever wanted and vise versa. He was what you daydreamed about in a partner while growing up. And being with him was like being with the sun. He made you feel loved and cared for, you had more fun with him than anyone else on the planet, and every single day with him felt like a new adventure. As a kid, you’d thought the way people described the love of their life was corny, nothing but a thing of fairy tales, yet that feeling that bloomed inside your chest and tummy every time you thought about Harry told you that it was very real.

“Dunno.” you shrugged, “He’s my person. Even seven and half years later, he still makes me feel like he did on our first date.”

“That what’s got you looking extra glowy or is that just another secret to staying in the honeymoon phase forever?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” you replied quickly, finding it hard to keep the giddy feeling that was now bubbling in your lower stomach under control when you turned your head to meet her gaze. She was squinting at you with suspicious eyes, her lips pursed as she bit the inside of her cheek, which forced a laugh to fall from you. “What? I don’t! Just miss him, that’s all. Isn’t that right baby? We just missed daddy loads, huh?” making sure to quickly take the attention away from yourself, you turned as much as you could in your seat to look at Bella in the back.

“Yes! I miss daddy so much!” her little legs kicked against the carseat and her arms lifted high above her head, a huge smile plastered on her face. “I have so many drawings and stickers to show him and Mr. Jeff got new socks!”

“I know, we got them all tucked away nice and safe so you can show him. Do you remember what the plan is when we get there?” you asked her, your breath getting caught in your throat for a moment when the sun shined just right through the rear window. It was a perfect day in LA, sunny and warm and just as the car pulled onto the street you knew was where Harry was staying, the sunlight danced across Bella’s perfect complexion. She was a spitting image of her father, down to the freckles dotting her face, the deep set dimples that never seemed to disappear, and the curls constantly falling in front of her face no matter how hard you tried to keep them tamed. Every now and again you caught a glimpse, sometimes through the kitchen window while she was playing in the backyard and other times while her eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks as she slept on your chest, of just how breathtaking Bella is. What angelic beauty the love between you and Harry had managed to create.

“Yeah mumma!” she smiled, giving you two thumbs up, very clearly excited about getting to see her dad again. “You ‘member my costume, right mumma?”

“Of course I did. Put it in the bag right next to mine.”

“Good. ‘Cause ‘m really ‘cited about it.”

“I know baby. It’s a good one, isn’t it?” you knew Harry would get a kick out of what Bella decided to be for Halloween. She had come to you months ago, actually sat you down in the kitchen and explained what she wanted to do like she was in a little business meeting. And of course as soon as she told you, you had to laugh because it was perfect.

“Yeah.”

Her whisper was the last thing said within the confines of the car before the three of you pulled up in front of a beautiful white house nestled deep in the Hollywood Hills. It was much smaller than the house the pair of you had just sold just blocks away, but everything about it was so much homier. A brick walkway sandwiched between a line of shrubbery and a white stone wall led up to the house, which itself was an odd shape. The very front of the house came up to an asymmetrical point instead of a typical flat roof, and the rest of the house was pushed back slightly, so that none of the face was level, and the house almost seemed cut in half horizontally from the distinct line between white stone bottom and black paneling on the upper level of the home. Finally, a brick downhill driveway, made of the same brick as the walkway, led to an all black garage that sat just below the rest of the home. The small details is what made the building give off such a cozy vibe; a vibrant green front door, plant boxes hanging off a few of the upper windows, a black wooden archway and lanterns surrounding the front door, a few potted plants on the side of the walkway, and the faint golden hues peaking through the closed blinds.

“Cute, huh?” Glenne laughed, putting the car in park and turning fully in her seat to look at you.

“Yeah, it actually really is. Reminds me a bit of our old place.”

“Place in London, right? That’s what I told Jeff.” she said at the same time, looking behind her at Bella while you got out of the car. “You ready to go, tulip?”

“Yes please!”

Her hands were already fumbling with the seat belt by the time you opened her door, the excitement itching at her in preparation for what was to come, but she graciously waited for you to sort her out.

“Thank you mumma.” she muttered casually once you had her unbuckled and lifted into your arms.

“You’re welcome, baby.” the way Bella was the most polite little girl you had ever known never failed to make your heart soar. You and Harry were so proud of the person she was becoming, whether she was that way because she saw how everyone in her life acted or because she was born with the kindest little soul, it didn’t matter. She always made sure the people around her were happy and having fun, constantly reminding people how much she loves them, and trying her hardest to make everyone laugh. It was yet another way she reminded you of Harry; they both could instantly light up a room without even trying. “Just gotta ring the bell, right? Say your line?”

“You got it, mumma!” she smiled brightly, leaning in to give you a quick kiss.

Nearly the instant you put her down, she darted up the brick steps, taking a full pause at each step to be her funny self and jump, with both feet together, up to the next one. As she made her way towards the front door, you took your place leaning against the passenger door of Glenne’s car, nearly doubling over in laughter watching Bella look hysterical lifting up on her very tiptoes in order to reach the unusually high doorbell.

Your breath caught in your throat as you waited for Harry to open the front door. For a minute, you were sure that he had ignored Jeff’s instructions to stay home, but to your relief, the green door finally opened, revealing a very comfortable looking Harry. He was very obviously post shower, his hair visibly wet and sparkling when the porch lights lit up his form, clad in a pair of black basketball shorts and one of his grey Treat People With Kindness hoodies, and nothing else but a tall pair of Nike socks. It was like a scene from a movie, because when he didn’t immediately see Jeff in front of him, Harry looked over towards the driveway quickly like he was being pranked. But within a second, his attention was brought down to Bella, who tugged on the hem of his shorts, her sweet voice barely audible from the distance.

“Did you get a pizza?”

It was comical to watch him just stare at her like she had three heads. You couldn’t blame him, last he knew, both you and Bella were five thousand miles away, so it made sense that his brain was not comprehending the scene in front of him.

“He’s so confused.” Glenne giggled behind you, but her voice seemed like it was muted with how fully your focus was on your boyfriend.

“Hmm.”

Not even a second after your hum of agreement, and as if it was in slow motion, you watched as realization glossed over his features, his green eyes widening and mouth hanging open, and he sank to his knees. It didn’t take him even a second to pull Bella into his chest, winding his arms completely around her tiny frame and cradling her head in his surprisingly ring free hands.

Seeing the two of them together was like looking at two halves of the same soul reconnect. The moment they were in one another’s arms, it was like everything got brighter. Their smiles widened, chuckles more audible - even from such a far distance, and the warmth that typically lived in your chest recently, burned even warmer. You always knew Harry was meant to be a dad, just from how much he talked about it. You knew that he would do his very best to go above and beyond for his child, to make sure they felt loved and secure and treasured. But hearing about it and seeing it are completely different. Seeing nothing but total adoration on his face whenever he looked at your daughter made you fall in love with him all over again.

“Mumma!” Bella’s shouted, snapping you out of the daze you had slipped into while watching the moment before you. Both Harry and Bella were now looking at you from the doorway, her head resting on her father’s shoulder as he held her in one arm, their faces totally engulfed with smiles. “C’mere Mumma!”

“Yeah mumma.” Harry finally spoke up, his voice carrying down the pathway right to where you were standing.”C’mere.” Just seeing him standing there, smiling so brightly and holding his free arm out telling you he was waiting for a hug, was enough to make you break out in a smile and push off the car, dashing up the steps.

His chest was firm when you crashed into it, much firmer than when you hugged him goodbye in the airport a few weeks ago, and you felt as if you head placement on his chest was different - like he’d grown since you last saw him. Or maybe he hadn’t changed at all but your mind was finally coming out of a month long fog that it slipped in without him, getting readjusted to being in his arms.

“Hi sweetheart.” he whispered in your ear, peppering kisses all along your hairline and temple like he physically couldn’t leave an inch of the side of your face untouched.

“Hi baby.”

“What’re you doing here?” he asked, pure wonder in his tone as he nudged the side of your face with his chin, making you lift your head from his chest and look at him. “I just talked to you this morning, said you were going to see your parents before everything got locked down again.”

“Yeah, well. I lied.” you smiled, leaning in to press kiss after kiss to his lips, trying your best to control the insane happiness rushing through your veins. Your response seemed to be enough for him, because he didn’t ask another question wondering why you were in LA. Which was good for you because your plan wasn’t to explain everything on the front porch.

The three of you stayed frozen in that same position, Harry’s arm so tight around you that your face was completely buried in his hoodie, and the other arm holding Bella, forming a makeshift group hug, not bothering to worry about anyone seeing you or anything going on past the wooden archway. Because nothing else mattered. Not when you were with the two people who made your world spin.

“Daddy.” Bella’s timid voice finally broke you apart, both you and Harry leaning back a bit so that you could put your full attention on the little girl in his arms.

“Yes lovie?”

“I lied too.”

“What did you lie about?”

She lifted her head from his shoulder in order to look at him with a very concerned expression, like she felt deeply sorry for whatever she was about to say to him. “I don’t have a pizza. ‘M sorry. Mumma told me it was funny.”

“Oh did she now?” Harry mocked in offence, looking back at you and raising his eyebrows.

“Mhm. But it wasn’t, ‘cause we don’t have any.”

“That’s right. But sometimes it’s okay to say something silly like that and not feel bad as long as it’s not something to hurt anyone, right? And daddy isn’t mad. How about you mumma?” Harry looked to you, trying not to smile at how adorable Bella was about the little fib. You shook your head.

“Not at all.”

“And what about you, B.B? Are you sad you told daddy there was pizza?”

She contemplated it for a bit, scrunching her nose up - again, just like her father - and looking around like the answer would be hanging in the air somewhere. “Yeah.” she said matter of factly. “But ‘cause I want pizza. And we don’t have any.”

Both you and Harry couldn’t help the laughs that fell from your lips, wasting no time before leaning forward to press a kiss to Bella’s forehead. “How about we get some then?” he asked against her skin, glancing at you when saying his next bit. “We’ll get your bags from the car and order one?”

“Oh god!” you yelled, turning around to face the car from which you’d just ran from. “Completely forgot Glenne was sitting in there! She’s probably been texting Jeff about how annoying we are.”

“Annoyingly adorable, yeah.”

“Think she’d fight you on that one. Nearly made her sick on the drive here with how excited I was to see you.” your laugh was muffled as Harry wrapped his arm back around your neck, dragging you in a headlock down the first step towards the car. Bella, knowing that it was time to bring in the bags, wiggled out of Harry’s grasp and sprinted down the steps ahead of you, right into the arms of a now out and about Glenne.

“Everything’s alright?” Harry’s voice was laced with concern now that your little one was out of ear shot. You both tried your hardest to never have any sort of talk about negative things around her, whether that be an argument or things going on in life, because she should never have to be put through the stress of that. Most of the time you just waited until she was asleep to talk about those things, but sometimes it meant going into different rooms and closing the doors.

“Hmm?”

“Everything’s alright, right? You didn’t come all the way out here because something’s wrong, did you?” quickly forgotten was your position in a headlock, and instead, Harry kept his arm around your neck, your body fitting perfectly tucked into his side. You walked step by step to meet your friend and daughter, who already started pulling suitcases out of the boot.

You took a peek up to him, noticing he was already glancing down at you, his eyes roaming all over your face to look for any sign of distress that he may have missed when he first saw you. But you had none to offer him. “Yeah baby, everything’s okay. Just needed to be with you.”

“Swear? You’d tell me if there was something?”

“Of course I would. Always.”

“Alright, professor. But if I find out you were hiding something, I’ll have to write a diss track.”

“Oh will you now?”

“Mhm. Thems the rules.”

Glenne spent a bit of time with the three of you before heading off, telling you to enjoy your time together and even throwing in a little joke about maybe even making a new baby since she missed how little Bella used to be. The comment made your ears warm and a weird feeling flutter through your stomach, but she gave you no time to respond before she shuffled out the door.

Since arriving at Harry’s, Bella practically refused to leave his arms, wanting to be as close to him as possible until she really realized that no one was going anywhere for quite a bit. And her thoughts must have quieted enough because not even twenty minutes after Glenne walked out the front door, Bella was running through the house towards one of the extra rooms she’d be sleeping in.

“Mumma! Come help me! We gotta show daddy!” her already soft voice was even soft as she yelled from the second floor, her request forcing you to get up from the sofa.

“What are we showing me?”

“She’s really proud of her Halloween costume this year. Spent weeks planning it out, you know?”

“I know. She wouldn’t budge anytime I asked her. Very secretive that one.”

“Hmm, wonder where she gets that from?” you sang while walking up the stairs, letting out a snort when you saw him lift a middle finger to you from his position still on the sofa, not even bothering to turn around to look at you as you continued towards your daughter.

“Alright baby, I’m here! Where do you want me?” you clapped, entering Bella’s room in a way that mimicked that of Harry Lambert, something that you knew she’d recognize right away from the amount of times she’s seen her parents being helped by the stylist.

“Over here, mumma. Gotta help me button!” she had already rid herself of the clothes she’d been wearing on the drive to Harry’s, the green long sleeve shirt and jeans laid in a crumpled mess at the foot of the bed while she stood in just her knickers, searching through the small suitcase on her bed for all the pieces to her costume.

You took a seat on the floor next to where she was standing, watching her every move as she finally found everything she was looking for. Her tongue stuck out while she took the fabric between her fingers and gently held it in her hands - taking a moment to look at it in awe - before turning and holding it out to you, expectantly.

“Gotta be careful with it, mumma.”

“Oh I know. They’re really delicate, aren’t they?”

“Mhm. Reedy told me to be gentle with ‘em ‘cause they were made with extra love so they’re extra soft.”

“Oh that’s perfect! They’ll be on for quite a while so it’s good that it’s all comfortable.”

“Yep.”

You look notice of how long her hair had grown while zipping up the back of her shirt, the curls continuously falling against your fingers despite being held over her shoulder by Bella. You knew well enough even before she was born that she was going to have gorgeous hair, all it took was one look at the locks cascading from her father to tell you that, but it seemed to grow even more mesmerizing by the day. It fell loose past her shoulders every day, always managing to fall in front of her eyes while she was sprawled out on the floor playing. Even though you did enjoy how cute she looked pushing the crazy curls out of her face while her little tongue stuck out, you knew it was time for a trim soon.

“Are you wanting a haircut soon?” you asked while zipping her pants as well.

“Hmm, I don’t think so. I like it long.”

“How about we see if we can get rid of some of these dry bits at least?”

Bella thought about it for a bit, picking at her nails while mulling over the idea of going back to the salon. “Yeah, I think that’s fine.”

“Alright, we’ll see about making an appointment when we get back home. Gives you some time to think it over.”

“Okay! Y’almost done mumma? ‘M excited.” she bounced in place, trying her best not to move so that you could finish getting her ready as fast as possible.

“All set!” you checked, reaching up to grab her hair out of her grasp and let it fall down her back. “Just put the jacket on and you’re all set to show daddy.”

“He’s gonna be so happy I know it!” she squealed, carefully picking up and putting on the final part to her costume and turning to look in the floor length mirror. Bella didn’t say anything for a minute, taking the time to examine herself in the mirror. She smoothed the fabric covering her torso, lifted her feet in order to see the little pair of boots, and had one of the largest smiles you’d ever seen on her. “I look so good!”

“You do, lovie! Award winning I’d say.”

“Thank you for helping! Lets go!!” she yelled, darting towards the door and only stopping at the top of the stairs when you called for her, reminding her to be careful by the steps. The two of you quickly discussed your plan before departing ways, leaving Bella a bouncing mess just above you as you walked down to the light switch at the bottom of the steps.

Flicking all the lights off, you cleared your throat and waited for Harry, who had gotten up off the sofa upon hearing your descending footsteps and was now leaning against the back of the furniture, his bum resting just on top of the back, to give you his full attention. Although the lights were off, it was still early enough in the evening that light showed through the windows, allowing you to see his face and make sure Bella got down the stairs safely.

“You all know him as 2013’s Teen Choice Male Hottie -”

“Also 2016.” Harry cut in, trying and failing to stifle his chuckle

“Also 2016’s” you added, “and lead roles in Award Winning pictures such as This Is Us and iCarly.” at this point, it was obvious what was happening and you could tell Harry was fully on board with what was about to walk down the stairs. But he was also so excited. He no longer was leaning against the sofa, but now standing upright and his hands were pressed together in a praying position in front of his mouth. “Introducing, the incredibly talented, musically gifted, style icon of the decade, Mr. Harry Edward Styles!”

The second you saw that Bella made it safely to the ground next to you, you flicked on the dim lights that just illuminated the staircase, showering your daughter in the closest thing you could get to a spotlight. She was standing in Harry’s signature position; bent forward slightly with one hand held in a peace sign while the other dangled loosely by her side and mouth open wide. Harris Reed had taken the time to make Bella a nearly exact replica of the white and black floral suit Harry had worn to the 2015 AMA’s - the suit that really started it all when it came to Styles’ fashion. Her curls were hanging past her shoulders just like Harry’s were at the time, and for good measure, she even lifted her hand to push some out of her face exactly like he used to.

She was a spitting image of Harry. And he loved it.

“Oh my god! You’re kidding! You look fantastic! Gonna put me out of a job! I won’t even need to go on stage anymore. This is amazing!” he screeched, rushing forwards and couching down in front of his daughter. He took in every last detail of the outfit; how the under shirt had buttons but did not open from the front (something Harris thought would be easier for Bella to get in and out of), how the floral detail was exactly the same as the one he had hanging in his closet back home (Reed had asked Alessandro for the fabric), and how even the shoes were a near replica.

“Mhm. I can sing next time. I’ll go up and sing to your friends and you can sit and watch and talk to Mitchy.” she nodded, taking a step back and belting out ‘You’re so Golden!’ “See? Like that!”

Harry beamed. “Absolutely! Give me a nice break every now and again, very thoughtful. We’ll just have to change your bedtime and it’s all set!”

“You like it, daddy?” she asked, her eyes wide as she moved right in front of Harry, her hands grasping the hood of his hoodie and she looked directly into his eyes.

“I love it - and you - more than there are stars in the sky!” Harry responded without hesitation, grabbing her and lifting her into his arms, swinging Bella around quickly enough to let a few giggles. “Thank you very much, beautiful, it makes me very happy.”

“Can’t believe you wanted to be your smelly old dad.” he joked when she pushed against his chest to look at him, “See me everyday, why’d you wanna dress up like me too?

“‘Cause you dress the best, daddy!”

“Ohhhh hear that, love?” he turned to look directly at you, Bella now hiding her face in her hands in embarrassment on saying her dad dressed better than her mum. “I’m the best dressed.” Harry stuck his tongue out at you.

The reaction from Harry was everything Bella was expecting and more. So much so that she could no longer fight the exhaustion of the hectic day any longer. She barely made it five minutes in Harry’s arms before finally passing out. In the coming December, she’d be turning five and you were trying to start and wean her off of taking long naps, but after such an energetic day you welcomed the time for her to rest. She put up a fight getting out of Harry’s arms, the arm she had shoved into Harry’s hood in order to thread her fingers through the short hair at the nape of his neck, tightened each time he tried to pull her away to lay her in bed. Like even in her unconscious state she wanted to know that seeing Harry again wasn’t a figment of her imagination.

It was heavenly to be back with Harry. Even though you had only been apart for such a short amount of time, there was so much to catch up on, and you would never get tired of hearing about everything going on in his life.

“And they used this stuff called Dermacol, and I swear, she swiped over it once and the anchor was gone. Bloody insane seeing it all bare. Hasn’t been that year in years.” Harry laughed, finishing his story of how his first few days on set had gone, the two of you laying in his bed while you waited for the pizza you ordered while he put Bella down for a nap.

“Don’t wash it off tomorrow. I want to see.” you tilted your head back so that it was resting on Harry’s shoulder, in order to look at him. He was sitting behind you, his back pressed against the headboard while you were nestled between his legs, enjoying the feeling of being so close to him again. “Forget what you look like without any ink.”

“Like them though, right?”

“Of course I do. Think they’re very hot.”

He didn’t say anything for a bit, just let his fingers dance up and down your arms, clearly lost in thought. “I wish you could come to set. See everything and everyone.” he finally spoke.

“I know. I just don’t want to chance anything you know? We just traveled and I know we got tested, but I don’t want to unknowingly bring anything to anyone. Maybe soon, once we’ve been here for a bit. But for now, I’d rather just hear all your stories and FaceTime than anything happen to anyone.”

“What time is your call time tomorrow?” you added when he only hummed in response.

“6:45. Car will probably come by around 6 and I should be back near 2. Have a bit of a short day tomorrow.”

“No rush.”

“Yes rush. I wanna be with you both. Missed you loads, ya know? Only gone for a few weeks but I was going mad. Don’t think we should separate for a while.” his voice was soft as his neck strained forward in order to press loving kisses to the soft skin where your neck met your shoulder.

Since the moment you met Harry a decade ago, it was obvious he always knew what to say. He had a knack for spewing out the words you most needed to hear exactly when you needed to hear them. Whether it was comforting your stage fright, in an argument about tv or film characters, helping you pick out outfits, discussing your relationship, or talking about the future, you both seemed to be on the same wavelength. It made life with him so much easier, because you knew that he understood you. You knew that no matter what happened, he would support you and love you. And that’s all you needed.

So you decided finally, after the pit of anxiety in your stomach grew and grew all day, that it was finally time.

“Pretty good you feel that way. ‘Cause I wasn’t exactly sure how to tell you that you’re kind of stuck with me. At least for another fourteen years.”

“Hmm. Want more than that.”

Taking a deep breath, hands shaking and mind running a mile a minute, you asked; “How about another eighteen after that?”

But your nerves were all for nothing because the comment flew right over Harry’s head. Completely missed the point of why you used that specific amount of time and was more focused on giving your middle a tight squeeze - his arms moving from their place at your side to around your stomach.

“Mhm. Even longer than that.”

The words brought an image to mind, one you found yourself thinking about a lot the last couple weeks. One of you and Harry sitting in the living room in your home, talking to your grown children while your grandchildren ran around you happily, doing their best to animatedly explain ways of the world you just couldn’t comprehend. And the pure glee you felt being surrounded by such a beautiful family, one that you created with Harry. But you knew it wasn’t just some fantasy you would dream about. It was something that you would one day get to experience, and that excitement pushed you over the edge.

“You’re stuck with me forever, baby.” you hummed, sinking further into his hold. “But for five seconds, I need you to leave me so you can grab me a Tums.” the anxiety nerves reared their head yet again, knowing there was no missing the punchline this time.

Concern instantly flooded his voice, taking you by the shoulders and moving you away from his chest and to the right so he could look at your face. “Why? You feeling alright? What’s wrong?”

You couldn’t help but simple sweetly at his concern, lifting a hand to rest it on his smoothly clean shaven cheek. “Yeah. You know how I get after flying. Do you mind just grabbing the Tums from my bag?” you asked again, hoping he couldn’t hear or feel the uptick in your breathing.

“You mean one of the nine hundred bags you brought?” Harry joked but still carefully slid out from behind you in order to get whatever you needed.

“Hey, we’re gonna be here a while. I need options.” Because of Covid, the UK was heading into yet another lockdown at the start of November, lasting until the first week of December so for now, so for now, you knew you and Bella would be spending at least a month with Harry in Los Angeles.

“Can take any of my clothes.” he grinned, turning around to face the bed again and bent down to kiss the tip of your nose. “Y’know I love when you wear my clothes.”

“Oi! Say that again but let me record it! If that’s the case, I never want to hear you complain about missing clothes ever again!”

“I said I like you wearing them, not keeping them hidden away for me to find three years later.” he laughed at the memory of his favorite blue hawaiian shirt going missing after getting back from Jamaica, only for it to be found in the back of your closet when moving a few months ago. His voice got quieter the farther he walked from the bed, the confines of the walk in closet filled with his clothes muffling the words towards the end of his sentence.

“Alright, but remember how excited you were to find it after so long? Like Christmas in the summer!”

“‘S’that what’s gonna start happening? You just stealing things I haven’t looked at in years and regifting them?”

“Lord knows you don’t need any more things laying around. Probably wouldn’t even notice anything being gone.” it was true. Over the years, Harry had gathered a very large collection of… things. Everything from clothes to lockets to key cards from hotels, and being in the career he is, he can afford to have it all. But even you had to say he had more than he knew what to do with most of the time, to which he always had some sort of rebuttal for.

But this time, it never came.

This time, you were met with silence from inside the closet, and you had no control over the way your hands began shaking. There were so many different kinds of silence; one of anger, of shock, nervousness, confusion, but any of those were a rarity when it came to Harry. He was someone who always had something to say, despite the emotions running through him. Silence was never really his thing, hell he even said so in a song, so the ideas of what could be running through his head started to eat you alive.

After waiting a few minutes and still receiving no sound of life from the smaller room, you began to get worried. Obviously nothing had happened to him while you were sitting feet away, but what was happening in there? Did he have a heart attack as soon as saw what you had laid out on top of your suitcase when he was ordering food? Did he fall and hit his head? Was he trying to find a good way to break up with you? No, he wouldn’t do that, you knew he wouldn’t do that. But before you could fully get off of the bed to check on him, he slowly sauntered out of the room, staring down at the piece of black fabric gripped tightly in his hands, and you halted in your spot - sitting up right on the side of his bed with your feet dangling off the side.

“Wha - what is this?” his whisper was so unbelievably low, you were surprised you could make out any of the words.

“What do you think it is?” you replied, your voice equally as loud so not to spook him while he was in such a clear state of shock.

“I - I don’t know.”

He still had taken his eyes off of the material in his hands, looking at it like it held every secret unknown to man somewhere within its seams.

“I think you do know.”

Finally, Harry lifted his head in order to look at you. And you felt your eyes water as soon as he did. The rims of his eyes and nose were a deep red, the kind of red you get when trying desperately to hold in sobs. His eyes were a brighter shade of green as more and more tears obstructed his vision, and now that you looked at him properly, his entire body seemed to be shaking.

“If this is a joke, it’s really fucking mean.” he choked out, putting all of his effort into holding back his cries. “Please don’t joke about this.”

As hard as he was trying not to let his tears flow, you were beyond the point of no return. Your cheeks were stained with tears, old dried ones leaving tracks for the new ones to flow freely down, and the lump in your throat prevented you from speaking as loud and confidently as you would have liked.

“It’s not a joke, Harry.” you shook your head, wiping your cheeks with the backs of your hands.

“No?”

“No.”

Harry went back to not saying anything, glancing between you and the black in his hand, not knowing which held more important information. You could see the inner struggle he was having trying to comprehend what was happening, and you wanted to get up and yell it to him. But he needed to go through whatever emotions he needed to, at his own pace.

So you waited for him to do just that.

“So you - you’re pregnant?” he finally sighed, the question making the corners of his lips lift ever so slightly that you would have missed it if you weren’t watching every inch of his face like a hawk. Holding back his tears was long gone as they now flowed down his cleanly shaven cheeks.

“I’m pregnant.” you smiled, the words coming out in one whoosh of air.

So fast that you didn’t understand how he did it, the black shirt - that at first glance was a replica of the logo for the film The Godfather, but when taking a double take, could be found to read The Twinfather instead - was laying in a pile on the floor in front of the closet door and Harry was laying on top of you. Now on your back with Harry hovering above you, both of his forearms on either side of your head, you could fully see the overwhelming joy swimming in his eyes. The last time you had seen this exact look was the day Bella was born. Like within his mind, he was watching the entire world unfold with endless possibilities and unfathomable love.

Harry didn’t let you say anything before he was pressing kisses to your lips, both of your tears making the experience feel a bit slippery as they blended together on your skin. But nothing could make the moment anything less than perfect. Harry’s warmth covered you like a blanket, completely consuming you within the personal bubble that had formed around you on the bed. His lips moved against your with determination, but also care and gratitude, the vaguely strawberry flavored lip balm he was wearing smeared against your own lips, letting the memory of this moment linger for hours to come.

“You’re really pregnant?” Harry asked, his excitement taking over once he pulled back from the kiss.

“Yeah baby,’m pregnant.”

“And is it? It’s - it’s twins? Are you sure? How do you know?” although you knew he would always be there with and for you during all of this, it was reassuring to see him be so ecstatic about the new addition to your family.

“When B and I went to get our Covid tests, the lady asked me if there was a chance I could be pregnant, and - and I couldn’t give her a confident no. So I called Dr. Kelter to see if I could get an appointment before we left and she took me the same day.” your smile grew as you watched him hold on to your every word, wanting to know every single detail you had to give him.

“And she told you it was twins?”

“Yeah. Said she could see them both right away since they can see twins so early. Said ‘m about eleven weeks.” the tears returned to your eyes when you thought about being pregnant again, how much your life was going to change and the excitement that was about to be brought into your lives.

Obviously Harry was feeling the same before he let out another sob, this time his upper half falling onto your chest and burying his face in your neck, his lower body seeming to unconsciously stay away from crushing your belly.

“I love you so fucking much.” he whispered, and you could feel the ever so gentle peck of his lips against your skin. “So fucking much.”

“I love you, Harry.” you whispered back.

“Who knows?” he asked, undoubtedly thinking back to when you were pregnant with Bella and everyone in your lives seemed to know before he did. Something you regretted, but was necessary at the time.

“No one. Just you and me. Want to do everything with you this time.” not wanting to ruin the moment, but also wanting to be realistic for a moment in your clouded minds, you took a second to figure out how to say the concerns that were rushing through your mind at a mile a minute. “I know things are crazy right now and the world is scary and we’re both so busy, but we said if it happened, it happened.”

Harry was pushed up on his forearm in an instant, his other hand cupping your cheek in order to drag your attention to him. He was positively glowing. How only a second ago he was standing pale faced in the closet doorway was beyond you, because now, it was like the sun shined behind his irises.

“I have never been happier in my entire life. We’ll figure it all out together. Like we always do.”

#harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles x reader #harry styles blurb #another world imagine #aw-inspo #harry styles fanfiction #1dff

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laylainalaska · 3 years

Text

I was thinking about Drummer’s arc in season five and posted this to DW, so I figured I’d cross-post it here.

I’ll put it under a readmore because a) spoilers, and b) because I have had highly conflicted feelings all season about the space pirate storyline and I don’t want to upset anyone who really liked that storyline, so be aware that I talk a lot about that too.

I was thinking about that scene back early in the season when Oksana talks Drummer out of pursuing Marco, and tells her she used to be violent and full of rage, but now she can be softer because she has a family to support her.

I think that I, like everyone else, took that scene at face value at the time: that Oksana is right, that being with Oksana and the others has gentled her and settled her and made her happy. It's only looking back on it that it starts to feel like a sort of ... grinding down, I guess, of Drummer's moral center, with Oksana talking her out of trying to stop Marco before he hurts other people, and instead passing it off as someone else's responsibility, and convincing her that what she feels is right is actually the wrong thing to do.

Which is what Oksana continues doing throughout the show.

Oksana isn't a bad person! She's not even wrong. It's not Drummer's responsibility to go track Marco down. And she really is well-intentioned. She cares about Drummer and wants her to be happy.

The thing about Oksana, though, is that her moral compass is centered very firmly on keeping the people she loves safe. For her, responsibility centers on that one tiny group of people - her family.

And when someone like Marco comes along, that ends up turning her into a collaborator. With her family at risk, Oksana eventually will do whatever Marco wants her to, no matter how vile, as long as it keeps her family safe. It's not that she's evil or anything, in fact I really appreciate that she's not portrayed that way, but I saw someone call Oksana the moral center of the group (which I guess is what tripped off a lot of my Thoughts™ about this) and ... no?!! She's the textbook definition of a collaborator. She doesn't want to, but she will do anything Marco asks, up to and including killing people, in order to keep her family safe.

But Drummer is not like that. Working for Marco is tearing her apart all season, and comes to a head at the end, when she finally rips apart the bubble of uneasy safety that she and the rest of the Mowteng/DeWalt crew have created around themselves at everyone else's expense and does what she believes is right.

It's making me look back and think about the thing I felt most conflicted about with Drummer's storyline this season, which is that Drummer becoming a pirate feels like such a repudiation of her character up to this point, and realize that maybe it's supposed to feel like that.

When she turns off the message from the robbed ship asking her how she can live with herself, that's not supposed to be a moment of triumph. It's a moral quandary that Drummer is effectively bypassing, which comes back to bite her by the end of the season.

Drummer isn't a fragile flower; we saw her try to space a guy to keep order on the Behemoth. She's not going to shy away from piracy if it's what she needs to do to survive. And I'm now thinking about Drummer, adrift in the Belt, looking for a place to be, falling in with this group of people (led at that time by Oksana) who offer her a place as long as she does things their way. She doesn't have anywhere else to go, and she likes them, and she has a feeling of camaraderie, of equal camaraderie, and family, and love, maybe for the first time ever, so of course she's going to fall in with them and allow their moral compass to become her own. And every time she starts to steer back to who she used to be - a big-picture person, a commander, someone who spent the last year working thanklessly and tirelessly to try to maintain an uneasy peace between Belters and Inners - Oksana gently steers her back to who they are: a "family is everything, let the world burn" group of Belt pirates.

Getting back to Oksana as the moral center of the group: she is, actually. And that's not necessarily a good thing. It's what makes the group crack down the middle at the end, not that either Oksana or Drummer are necessarily right or wrong, but that Drummer's big-picture, trying to fix the world way of being is completely at odds with Oksana's "my family is what matters, let everyone else burn" way of being. It always was going to come to a head sooner or later.

Being the way Oksana is (Family Above All) turns you into a collaborator when someone like Marco comes into power. And being like Drummer (do what's right, no matter the cost) can very easily get your friends killed, which is what's been happening to her all season. It's not easy. I really appreciate that we actually saw the brutal, bloody cost of that. Oksana’s way would have kept their family safe and together. Drummer’s way ripped them apart and got one of them killed.

But I also feel like we've spent the season watching Drummer pulled farther and farther out of true, dragged away from the core of herself, with Oksana as the main agent of that (however well-intentioned), and I'm really looking forward to seeing what she does next season, and who she turns out to be at the end of it all.

#the expanse #camina drummer #meta #expanse spoilers

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woogyu · 3 years

Text

28.“We’re not just friends and you fucking know it.”

43.“What, you’ve never thought about us?”

49.“Friends don’t do this kind of shit!”

Drabble Prompts; fluff | angst | funny // Requests; OPEN

requested by; @ohmygyaaah

notes; ha ha tore my own heart out with this one I did. No but seriously, thank you for requesting. I hope you enjoy this pain served on a silver platter.

wc; ~1432

You learned a long time ago that nothing in life is certain. People come and go when it suits them, and situations change no matter how much you wished they wouldn’t. The factors you could control were the ones you created yourself. There was a sense of safety that came with setting boundaries and not letting people get too close. People can’t hurt you if you don’t let them, right?

You told yourself that it was better this way, keep everyone at arms distance and you could hold onto the fragile sense of control you had over your life. You weren’t good with change, especially not when that change could lead to you loosing what you held dear.

Jihoon is a… special case. He’s the only person that called you out on your bullshit and wouldn’t let you push him away. He understood you better than anyone else did, and it absolutely terrified you. The way that he always seemed to know what you were thinking and what lies you were telling yourself.

You were absolutely in love with him. He is your best friend in the entire world. Someone that you grew to rely on despite living by an entirely different philosophy. He made you feel comfortable like no one else could… you could picture a future with him. You could see yourself being with him. You needed him in your life and couldn’t jeopardize the relationship you had formed with him.

“Hurry up and pick a movie already” he groaned, setting a bowl of popcorn and snacks on the coffee table. Right, movie, you were supposed to be picking a movie. He suggested the weekly movie nights after you told him you had never watch The Black Panther, apparently that was unacceptable. He currently was trying to get you through the entire MCU franchise, not that you had any idea what was really going on. You vaguely remembered a talking raccoon at one point.

“Just play whatever Marvel movie is next on the list” you told him, tossing the remote into his lap, not in the mood to make decisions. He shrugged and nodded, flicking a few buttons until Avengers: Infinity War flashed over the screen… the title made you weary of the films run time.

“Okay so, you remember Thanos right, the dude with the weird chin” he started, you nodded along pretending to understand whatever language he was speaking. “So, he’s trying to get these space rocks to snap away half the universes population” he continued, looking over at you with bright excited eyes.

You didn’t know what the was saying, but he said it with so much excitement that you didn’t even care. You knew he really loved these films, and that was enough for you to indulge him.

“Hmmm, I’m going to need you to write me a dictionary” you said, settling into your usual position pressed up against his side. This would be dangerous territory if it were anyone other than Jihoon. On instinct his arms wrapped around you, pulling you deeper into his side as the movie started to play.

“So the red lady is dating that weird cyborg guy that got the space rock pulled out of his head?” you asked, eyebrows furrowed as you tried to understand this deranged plot. He blinked at your explanation of it, laughing as he looked down at you.

“Scarlet Witch is dating Vision, yes” he said, supplying the names to your descriptions. “So like you’re Scarlet Witch and I’m Vision in that situation” he said with a cheeky grin, poking your side. He played it off like he was joking, but there was something lingering there that had your stomach twisting a little bit. You rolled his eyes and made a motion akin to, ha ha very funny.

“What, you’ve never thought about us?” he said, grinning but the tone of his voice was serious. This was a conversation you did NOT want to have. You moved away from his side a little bit, eyebrows knitting together as you tried to figure out how to respond to him.

“What do you mean by us… you’re my best friend… t-that’s the us” you said, looking away are you fidgeted with your hands. Silently you prayed that he wouldn’t take it any it any further, that he wouldn’t call you on your bullshit. If he pushed, you didn’t know if you would be able to maintain what the two of you had right now.

He sighed, his hand coming up to card through his hair as he looked over at you. He stayed silent for a moment, weighing his options carefully.

“We’re not just friends and you fucking know it.” He told you blankly, his tone stating an irrefutable fact rather than questioning you about it. Jihoon knew you well and he knew that if he didn’t press you that you would never let him into your life, never give him the chance to make you happy.

“W-what?” you said, whipping around to face him, eyes wide and shaking. You bit down on your bottom lip, shaking your head a few times. He was doing this; he was bringing one of your worst fears to life. No matter what your answer here, you would end up losing him.

“Don’t-“ you said, holding up your hand before he could say anything else. Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath. Opening them again you looked to him with a pained expression, begging him not to take it any further.

“Please don’t do this Jihoon” you whispered; your voice deflated.

“Friends don’t do this kind of shit!” he said, his hands moving to emphasize his point. “Friends don’t have the kind of bond that we have and share the kinds of things that we do” he further articulated, your heart breaking a little bit more with every word.

“Why couldn’t you have just let things be” you said, voice strained as you stood up and paced a little bit. You could feel your panic rising as you tried to steady your breathing. He composed himself a little bit, standing up and turning toward you.

“Why are you so scared of seeing where this could go?” he whispered, his hand reaching out for yours but pausing before it could reach. “I don’t understand y/n..” he stated, his voice tired and strained. You whipped around to face him, lip quivering as all of your repressed emotions bubbled up inside you.

“Because I can’t lose you too!” you snapped, before letting out a shaky breath. “I can’t lose the one person that makes me feel like I’m home… like I’m safe” you said, your voice growing quieter toward the end. Tears welled up in your eyes, but you quickly turned away from him before he could see them fall.

Jihoon’s eyes widened in realization, pieces clicking together and your behaviours starting to make sense. He slowly walked over to you, wrapping his arms around you and turning you to face him. Reaching up he gently wiped away the stray tears, leaning down to press his forehead against yours.

“When are you going to let me into that beautiful brain you have” he whispered, his eyebrows knitting together in moderate frustration. “When are you going to understand that I’m not going anywhere, that I’m going to stay by your side just as I always have” he continued, his breath fanning over your face. “When are you going to start trusting me” he finally breathed.

You let out a small choked sob, torn between diving into his arms and diving away from them. You wanted to believe him, you wanted so badly to just hand yourself over to him and not think twice about it.

“I-I’m scared…” you managed to whimper out weakly, your shaky hands balling into fists at your side. “I’m really fucking scared” you reiterated, your breathing shaky. He smiled a little bit, sensing a few of the impenetrable walls you had up start to crack.

“Then let me be the brave one for a little bit, okay?” he said, slowly reaching up to stroke his thumb along your cheek. “You’re not fighting this battle alone y/n, you have back up” he told you gently. Sniffling you threw your arms around him and buried your face into his chest.

People can’t hurt you if you don’t let them in… but what if they were always there in the first place?

#woozi imagines #woozi scenarios #lee jihoon #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #woozi angst #seventeen angst #seventeen drabble game #svt drabble game #seventeen woozi #woozi fanfic #seventeen #svt #woozi drabbles #jihoon imagines #jihoon scenarios #seventeen drabbles #svt drabbles

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1a-imagines · 4 years

Text

Where the land and ocean meet

(Merman!Izuku x reader)

Type: sickeningly sweet fluff.

Overview: From the moment he watched you stumble onto his beach he was enamoured by you. The more he watched you the more he fell in love and when your worlds accidently collide he only falls deeper.. and so do you.

A/n: This is day 5 of the Izumonth collab! You can find the announcement post here. I hope you enjoy!!!

You climbed down the steps of the cliff, taking caution not to slip. They were old and crumbling, steps created by nature and not man.

Your eyebrows knitted together, lips pressing into a thin line as you took on one step at a time. Sadly, they were the only way down to your little, secret, beach so you had no other option but to brave them anytime you wanted privacy.

Ever since your family had moved up onto the hills, away from the town, you had been exploring a lot more. Eventually stumbling across this private beach. It was hidden by the cliff, the sand receding into a small cave-like structure. It was peaceful, your very own pirate cove. You had been coming here almost every day since you had moved.

You had yet to tell your family about this discovery. You wanted to enjoy the solitude for a while longer before telling them about it. You were sure as soon as you told them they would also be down here every day, therefore breaking the peaceful aspect of your hidden treasure. You had thought about never telling them a few times but they would most likely find it eventually anyway.

Especially because you keep disappearing everyday for hours at a time. Someday you would have to come clean, but today was not that day. You lay down your blanket, the sun at a perfect point for it to shine directly on the beach. The heat tickled at your skin making you hum, it felt like a thousand warm kisses. You threw your bag down next to you and got comfortable.

You skimmed through a new book you had bought, though you only made it a few pages in before the idea of a nap hit you. With the sound of gentle waves rolling against the shore, the feeling of the sun caressing your exposed skin, and nobody around to disturb you, it was the perfect condition to catch up on sleep.

You pushed the book aside, making sure to lather sunscreen over your skin for the second time that day. The cold gel made you shiver, but it was still better than waking up to a nasty sunburn.

You rolled onto your stomach, using your arms as a makeshift pillow, and before you knew it you were falling into a blissful slumber.

---

“What are you doing!” The brunette asked, eyes widening, as her friend dove into the water, swimming towards shore, right where the human was.

“I just want to get a closer look! They’re asleep so this might be my only chance!” He replied.

He had been observing you almost every day since you started showing up at the beach. Usually, it was where he would come to relax, but now you had come to claim the beach as your own, unaware you had stolen his hangout from him.

Not that he was complaining, he had found himself admiring you from afar. He enjoyed watching you from behind the rocks, observing your habits, listening to you sing to yourself, and watching as you splashed in the shallow ends of the water.

He was completely enamoured by you. You were a beautiful mystery to him, and he would do anything to get a closer look.

This was the first time he had seen you fall asleep on the beach and he didn’t want to miss the opportunity. He wanted to poke around those human objects you always brought with you. Sometimes he would find you laughing or smiling, even talking! To that rectangle you were always holding. Humans were so strange, you would never catch him talking to kelp, or corals! Maybe the rectangle was a new species of land animal?

His curiosity got the better of him and despite the warnings from his friend he kept swimming forward. Her cries of worry drowning out as his eyes focused on you.

He halted once he reached a cluster of rocks by the side of the beach. He was close enough to see you better, your chest was rising and falling at a steady pace, the sun bounced off your skin in a way that made you look like you were glowing. He had never been so close to you before, his tail wagged beneath the water in a giddy manner, he could even see the grains of sand that stuck onto your feet.

He took time to admire you again, a small lopsided grin spreading across his face, accompanied by grand blush. You looked so relaxed, he could only see one side of your face but your expression was so soft, he wondered if you were dreaming of anything.

Seeing your eyes closed gave him more confidence to move forward. His tail pushed him through the water, the sand started to rise as he reached the shallow end. He pulled himself from the water using his hands, his tail dragging behind him like a dead fish.

His torso made it onto the and but he made sure his tail didn't leave the water so he wouldn’t dry up. You were so close now, he could've reached out an arm and caressed your soft skin. The thought sent tingles down his spine.

Despite knowing his friend was likely having a panic attack from behind the rocks, he pulled himself closer once again, his face finally coming up next to yours. A small part of his brain told him to go back, you could wake up any second and see him, but his body didn't comply.

He couldn't focus on the fact that this was reckless, that if Uraraka told anyone about this he would be in a lot of trouble. All he could focus on was you.

He lay beside you, head resting on his bicep as he listened to your gentle breaths. His irises traced over your face, soaking in every detail. The way your lashes brushed against your cheeks, how soft your parted lips looked. You were even more beautiful up close.

He was so deep in thought, he hadn’t realised his hand had come up to brush, stray, strands of hair from your face. His feather-like touch brushed against your skin and he felt sparks rush through his body at the contact. So many weeks of watching you from afar and falling deeper in love with you.

It had all come to this moment. If only your eyes were open, he would give anything to see your sparkling irises up close. He sighed, dreaming of what it would be like to stare into your eyes.

It's true when they say be careful what you wish for, your eyes slowly fluttered open. He wanted to admire them, they were gorgeous, shining more than anything he could have ever imagined.

But panic overtook him and without a second to lose he dived back into the water, the ocean acting as a blanket of protection.

He swam back to his friend, heart racing in his chest. He couldn’t believe that had just happened!! You saw him! Your eyes met! His head finally poked out from the water when he reached the rocks, turning back to you.

You had turned over onto your side, your breathing still steady. He sighed in relief, you had gone back to sleep.

“You got really lucky there…” Uraraka shook her head, she couldn’t understand what had gotten into him. He was a naturally curious person, but that was so reckless!! Her heart was still in her throat, and seeing him laying down next to the human, was he not thinking at all?! If anyone found out about this he would be put in lockdown. Never allowed to leave their kingdom again.

“Yeah..” He muttered, he noted the worry in his friend’s eyes and looked down. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok. Let’s just go.” She said as she turned away, she paused for a second, not daring to look back at him. “I don’t think you should come back here anymore... For your own safety. I won't tell anyone what you did.. just, please, never do it again. You know the consequences.” She said before diving into the water.

His blood went cold. Never see you again?... Could he really live with that? He turned back to your figure curled up on the sand. He watched you longingly. Maybe Uraraka was right... These feelings were getting stronger everyday, he was becoming attached to you, a human, and he didn’t even know your name.

Maybe it was best he didn’t come back. If you found out about him, his kind, who knows what you would do. That's why merfolk had these rules in place. Any merpeople found getting too close to the shores would be put under temporary lockdown, break the rules more than once and it would be permanent. By doing this he was putting his whole species at risk. He couldn't be selfish like that. No matter how much he would miss you, his first love. He had to let go. With one last glance, followed by a sigh, he dove into the water and followed Uraraka back home.

---

Warm..

Why did he feel so warm? He forced his heavy eyelids open. A goan bubbled in his throat as the sun blinded him. The noises of yelling seagulls and crashing waves filled his ears. Was he on a beach?

His brain raced as he tried to remember what had happened. He remembered going to hunt for food with his group, a shark attacked them… he used himself as bait to distract it so the others could swim away to safety. It fell for the bait and chased him for what felt like hours, he swam as fast as he could, Echoed thoughts of dying entered his memory. After all, not many of his people went up against a shark and lived to tell the tale. He remembered swimming closer to the shore, hoping the shark would be dissuaded from following him into shallow waters.

He had almost reached shore but as he looked back to see if the shark was still there he swam head first into a rock, and everything went black. There were no memories left after that, just black, a feeling of cold and then another of warmth.

"Are you awake now?" A melodic voice asked from beside him. He turned his head only to be met with your worried eyes. His heart leaped into his throat, he wanted to reply but the words got caught. His mouth went dry, eyes widening as he struggled to decide how to feel about the situation..

Should he panic that a human had seen him? Or be happy that the human was you?

It had been weeks since he had last seen you, staying true to his words and keeping away. It pained him so much, his heart constantly tugged him in your direction, but he had to fight himself every step of the way. He had to keep his people safe.

But now, here you were! Talking to him!! You had seen him! All those weeks of torture seemed pointless now! Izuku rushed to push himself up from the sand but his body rejected the quick movement, pain striking through his head, he let out another groan. Your hand placed onto his chest and pushed him back down. "Be careful, you're hurt." You scolded softly.

When he lay back down his head didn’t hit the sand as he intended, but instead something that was a lot softer. He turned to see the strange material you always lay down on, it was folded over a few times, and he had to admit, it was quite comfortable. He felt the waves rolling against his tail, he wondered if you were the reason his gills were still being fed water or if it was just by pure chance.

Despite being intrigued by the soft object beneath, he couldn't forget about you. His heartbeat quickened again upon meeting your eyes. He gulped. You looked surprisingly calm for a human meeting a merman for the first time. He always figured if you two ever happened to meet you would be all over the place, questions spewing from your mouth as you paced back and forth.

You saw his eyebrows knit together, he probably had a lot of questions. You weren't even sure if this creature would be able to understand your language. Technically he was half human, so it was worth a shot. "I found you here, knocked out on the beach, I think the shore washed you up, you had a few cuts on you, but other than being knocked unconscious and a bump on your head, you're ok."

You smiled and he felt hypnotized. That smile he had admired from afar for so many months, the smile he had missed every day he was away, he was finally able to see it up close. It was as if fate was rewarding him for taking on a shark.

Your eyes were beautiful too. He had spent most of his time noting every single detail about you, but seeing you up close gave him a whole new perspective. You were even more gorgeous than he had thought.

"You're not… surprised?" He asked. You giggle as if he had said something funny. "I was at first, but you've been knocked out for about 3 hours now. I had time to process it while I was waiting for you to wake up."

3 hours? He had been unconscious that long? He was going to be in so much trouble when he got back home. As much as he knew he should leave this beach right now and never return. He couldn't find it in himself to want to move. Not because he was in too much pain, but because this was the first time he was able to speak to you.

The human who had captured his interest as well as his heart was right in front of him, taking care of him, smiling at him. Maybe he was dead after all and this was just his version of heaven. He smiled at the way the sun hit your face. You were an angel roaming the sandy shores. "You stayed here with me that long? Thank you!"

"Well, I couldn't just leave you washed up on shore alone now could I? Besides, the chance to talk to a real mermaid! No way would anyone pass that up!" You chuckled.

Midoriya sat up. His head still stinging from the pain, he felt a little dizzy but overall ok. Merfolk tended to heal pretty fast, by tomorrow this injury would be completely gone, so there was no need to worry.

He bit back a smile. He was just as excited as you were. Maybe it was selfish but he trusted his instincts, you didn't seem like a bad person at all, he had observed you for months, even if you had never had a conversation, he knew you. He was there when you helped that crab out of the plastic it had gotten stuck in and when you went around picking up all the washed up trash on the beach. He knew you were a kindhearted person, he wouldn't have fallen in love with you otherwise.

Without realising he let out a dreamy sigh, his eyes trailing down your body, not in a sexual way, more out of curiosity. His eyes landed on your legs, they were on show as usual. He smiled, they looked so weird! You had two of them and those weird things attached to the bottom. Toes? He recalled.

You smiled at his reaction to your legs, lifting one up for him to see. "I guess seeing them must be unusual for you?" He nodded. He used his hands to pull himself forward, his tail dragging behind him, staying in the water. He didn't touch them since he didn't know what kinds of boundaries humans had. Merfolks tails were pretty sensitive, only to be touched by a mate! Maybe it was the same for humans and their legs?

"They look so complicated, there's two of them and they look like they have so many parts. It's like having two tails with ten extra tiny fins on the bottom." His eyes sparkled as he got to admire them up close. You laughed at his analogue, wiggling your toes for his own entertainment. "I suppose that's one way to look at it."

He sat back up until he was level with your face. It felt like the closer he got the prettier you became. To test this theory he absentmindedly brought his face close to yours. You shrank away from him, averting your gaze from him. Maybe it was normal for merfolk to inspect people like this? Or maybe he was just curious about seeing a human for the first time. You didn't want to push him away and hurt his feelings but feeling the tip of his nose against your cheek made your nose scrunch up. You could smell the salty ocean water on his skin.

He pulled back a little, noticing your body language. you turned back to him now you had some space. You looked into his emerald eyes, they shone like jewels underneath the sun's light. He was very good looking, no doubt, but that didn't make the close proximity less awkward.

"So- uh. Do you have a home?" You asked, your voice wavering. Thankfully he sat back, leaving your personal bubble alone. He looked out to the sea and nodded. He did have a home, and if he wanted to stop his family and friends from getting worried he would have to leave soon. They might think the shark had killed him and pronounce him dead. He didn't want to put his mom through that.

"It's getting a bit late and you should probably get back home before the sun sets." You warned him, you had already been here for hours while taking care of him. Your family were going to start getting worried too. So much for your daily relaxing beach day.

Instead it had become ‘nearly fainting upon finding an unconscious mermaid on your beach’ day. You chuckled as you remembered the feeling of your legs giving out from under you and collapsing into the sand. You had never felt so many emotions in one go, doubt, shock, worry, confusion. What a day it had been. You were sure no one would believe you if you told them what happened, not that you were planning on telling anyone anyway. You didn’t feel like being laughed at or mocked.

Despite the sun sinking below the horizon, both of you had yet to make a move to leave. Instead you opted for sitting in an awkward silence as you waited for something to happen. Each of you desperately wanted the other to ask them to stay. You wanted to know more about him and merfolk, to understand this phenomenon. And he wanted to stay so he could get to know the human he had fallen so hopelessly in love with.

He bit his lip, couldn't let you go, not now he finally had you back! "I'll come back!!" He blurted out without thinking. His hands quickly came up to cover his mouth. He couldn't believe he had just said that! What made him think you'd even want him back?! You didn't know who he was! Now he sounded desperate and creepy! Why did he have to be so stupid. Not to mention how frowned upon it was by his people! What if he had just put them all at risk!

"Really!?" He watched as your eyes lit up with joy. You looked ecstatic. His heart melted seeing how happy he had made you, his worry slowly faded. That smile was because of him, and it felt really good knowing that. He nodded, he couldn't find it in his heart to take it back after seeing you smile. His head turned away, the thought of this becoming a regular thing had made the blood rush to his cheeks.

"I'll be here again tomorrow then! I'm here almost everyday." You didn't need to tell him that, he already knew your schedule, not that you could have possibly known that. "I'll see you tomorrow then!" He smiled with a nod, though, still, made no movements to leave. He sat admiring you for a few seconds longer before hesitantly turning and crawling back into the water.

He had to remind himself that this wasn't the last he would see of you. He would see you tomorrow, he would get to talk to you, see you smile again. Once he was far enough out he dove into the water and swam away. He resurfaced by the same rocks he always used to admire you from behind and looked back to see you waving at him. He brought his hand out of the water and gave you a small wave in return, his face sporting a love struck grin.

Before he knew it, the days were flying by and turning into weeks, then months. No matter how tedious the journey to the beach got, he never missed a day. Even if he could only be with you for 30 minutes, he took whatever he was given with a smile. Every second with you was worth it. He lay awake at night, on the sandy ocean bed, thinking about you. How you talked for hours and it never felt awkward, how one time made you laugh so hard you snorted. You were so embarrassed but he thought it was the cutest noise in the world.

He even loved those moments you both lay in silence, listening to the waves crash onto the shore, and watching the sunset, as seagulls danced in the sky. He remembered one time, you lay so close to him your hand accidentally brushed against his. It sent electricity through his body, just like the first time his hand made contact with your skin. It was too bad you pulled away before he could intertwine his fingers with yours.

He continuously convinced himself he definitely would have taken your hand in that moment had you not pulled away so quick.

His tail flopped against the waters edge, you sat beside him, eyes sparkling with passion as you explained to him about the concept of art and photography. “Capturing a single moment in time forever?” he repeated with a hum, bringing a hand up to his chin in thought. He thought over the concept, sometimes they would carve pictures into rocks but it was a hard and grueling task so not many people took to the hobby.

You used your phone to snap a picture of him before turning the device to his eyes. He gasped, grabbing the phone from you so he could get a closer look. “Whoa! That’s me!?” his lips parted, “.. Do I really look like that?” He tilted his head, one cheek puffing out. You giggled, there probably weren’t mirrors in the ocean. Was this the first time he’s been himself? “What’s with that expression?”

He shrugged, tilting the phone in his hand as if it would make him look better. “I’ve only seen myself in the reflection of the ocean, but the ripples make it hard to get a clear image.." he leaned closer to the phone, eyes narrowing, "My eyes are really big...” He muttered, pressing his fingers to his eyelid. You snatched the phone from him, He wasn’t about to get insecure on your watch. “Well, I happen to think you have beautiful eyes.”

He sucked in a harsh breath, his cheeks dusting pink. “Y-You do?” He asked, his voice wavering as he spoke.

You nodded. “By human standards, you’re very good looking. So don’t be putting yourself down!” You scolded him softly while putting your phone away. His fingers dug into the sand, the grains lodging underneath his fingernails. Hearing you say he was good looking, that you thought he had beautiful eyes, his heart couldn't take it. His clenched up in his chest, stripping him from breath. He gulped, hoping you wouldn’t see how hot his face had gotten.

“Oh! I actually wanted to ask you something!” You turned to him, eyes wide with curiosity. He nodded, urging you to go on as his hands played with the sand. “Well, Ever since i’ve met you you’ve been able to understand me. How come? You say you’ve never met another human? So how can you speak the same language?”

He shifted in his spot to get comfier, hoping to relax his tense body. Your compliments were still ringing in his ears, boosting his ego. “Well, from what’s been told from generation to generation, merfolk came first, humans evolved from us. I’m not the first merperson to talk to a human, there have been many. At one point, almost all merfolk were doing it, we were all friends! We learned your languages so we could communicate better! But that… was a long time ago.” He frowned, a shadow sweeping across his eyes. “Things went bad, our people started being hunted, disappearing never to return, those humans wanted to hurt us. Now we have rules in place, we’re not allowed near humans, we hide our existence, which is easy since humans have only discovered about twenty percent of the ocean.”

“You’re not allowed near humans!?” You repeated, jaw dropping in the process. Izuku let out a breathy laugh, though there wasn’t much humour to it. “Yeah… everyone at home always tells me I have a dangerous curiosity. I guess they’re right since technically… I shouldn’t be here..” He looked down at his tail splashing in the water, his eyes remained distant for a moment before he shook his head. “Even if it's frowned upon, I don't regret the time we've spent together, In fact, I treasure ever second.” He smiled, looking into your eyes so you knew he wasn't lying.

You turned your head away from him, unable to fight the smile coming onto your lips. “I’m Glad you don’t, my life has been so much better since i’ve met you and i’m not just saying that because you’re a magical, unknown creature from the depth of the ocean.” You joked and he giggled. “Even if you were a human like me… It wouldn’t change a thing. I like you for who you are, you make me happy.” You admitted with a red cheek. Now it was his turn to hide his face, his cheeks pushed up into a smile. “You make me happy too.” He replied, the giddy feeling in his chest made his tail wiggle with joy.

Everyday he spent with you felt like he was on cloud nine. He got to admire every little detail about you, how your eyes sparkled when you talked about something that you were passionate about, how your nose crinkled at things you didn’t like, how you mimicked him without even realising it by splashing your feet in the water next to his tail. He loved hearing about human culture too, something his people had become greatly disconnected with. He was surprised to know about all the creations humans have made over the years. He was slightly jealous you had so many machines to help you do tasks with ease.

You brought him human food and he brought you ocean treasures. He shared just as much about his people as you did about yours. He trusted you, You had both created this unspoken bond together. He was falling deeper and deeper in love. His connection with you rivaled that of the ocean, if he was ever given the chance he would leave the sea behind and choose to be with you in a heartbeat.

The sun began to set over the horizon, leaving a painted reflection on the water's surface. Like everyday, before you both left, you sat and watched the sun set. It was silent, peaceful, not a word spoken between you two as you found comfort in each other's presence. The familiar sounds of waves crashing against rocks and seagulls yelling from the skies were enough for you both, you didn’t need to speak.

Izuku turned to you. Catching the way the orange glow of the sun reflected on your skin, how your hair danced in the gentle breeze. There was a content smile on your face making his heart leap into his throat. He wondered if one day he would be able to look at you and not feel like his heart way about to implode.

He wasn’t sure what overcame him but the need to confess his feelings grew stronger the more he stared at you. Maybe it was the serenity? Or maybe it was how breathtaking you looked? It just felt like the right moment. He cleared his throat, ready to speak. “Y/n.. I. u-uh-” When you turned to him his body froze, words lodged into his throat. His breathing became rapid and choppy, his hands gathering sweat.

“Yeah? What's up? Are you ok?” You tilted your head, worried about this strange behaviour. He looked like he was about to pass out, or throw up, maybe both?

He suddenly shook his head and with the speed of a cheetah he crawled forward and dove into the water. “Nevermind!! I’ll see you tomorrow!!” He yelled not leaving any room for you to reply as he began swimming away as fast as his tail could manage, not daring to look back. When he submerged under water he slapped his palm against his forehead, teeth gritted together. “I’m such an idiot.”

The next day, he swam back towards the beach like he was in a marathon, he was desperate to apologise for his weird behaviour yesterday but his friends had started prying into where he was rushing off to. Out of all the days for them to get nosey and interrogate him, it had to be the day he was going to apologise to you. He was worried you might be upset at him for rushing off yesterday, and now he was going to be late too!? He could only hope that you would wait for him.

Izuku looked back a few times to make sure they weren't following him. He wasn't the best liar in the world. He'd never had to lie to them before, so he wasn't sure he had convinced them that he wasn't doing anything special. He told them he was just going for a swim with the dolphins, but they didn't look convinced, his body language gave him away.

He hated lying to them, it felt awful! But he knew they wouldn't understand your situation. You were safe to be around, there was no danger. Upon his second visit to the beach you promised not to tell anyone, in fact, you had no interest in telling others about your find. You knew what humans were capable of and you promised to protect him from any harm. You cared about him and he trusted you with his life.

But the others would never see it that way.

As the waters got shallower he moved up to the surface, eventually his head poked out, locks of green hair being pulled down by the water, covering his eyes like soaked curtains. He remembered the first time he had poked his head from the water in front of you. You laughed, claiming he reminded you of a "wet dog." Whatever that was.

Using his hand to brush his hair back from his face he noticed the vacant beach. There was nothing but foot imprints left in the sand. He slowly sunk back into the water until it was just under his eyes. "I missed her…" his words creating bubbles in the water.

He turned to leave, but he noticed your bag was there, partially hidden behind a rock. He swam forward towards the shore. The footprints looked like they trailed around the cliffside, disappearing once they reached the rocks. He dove back into the water, much like a dolphin, and swam around the rocky terrain. He resurfaced to see if there were any signs of you.

He sighed in relief once he saw you. You hadn't left early after all. You stood at the edge of an abandoned pier. Most of the wood was chipped away as if someone had taken a hammer to it. It creaked with every movement you made. Though you didn't pay any attention to it.

You turned upon seeing the green hair poking from the water. You waved, getting ready to turn and run off the pier. He sighed, at least you didn’t seem upset with him about yesterday.

You barely finished taking one step, when the wood beneath your feet cracked. Your sporadic movements didn't agree with the feeble pier. It felt like it happened in slow motion, your body fell, disappearing into the void of water below.

He didn't have time to think or react, his body dove forward as soon as your body fell. His heart sunk along with your limp figure, his hands outstretched as if that would get him to you faster. A cloud of red enveloped your head, mixing in the blue of the water. He would have panicked if not for all the adrenaline coursing through his veins. All that mattered was getting you back to safety.

He finally grabbed you, his arms looping under yours as he pulled you back up to the surface. When you hit the open air, you didn't make any movement, your body floating lifelessly in his arms.

He shook his head, the worst case scenarios started eating at his anxieties. He had to get you back to the beach. He moved you behind him, pressing you onto his back and looping your arms around his neck. He grasped your wrists tightly as he shredded through the water with the strength of a speed boat.

In a matter of minutes you were back at the beach. He placed your body safely onto the sand before he pressed his ear to your lips, there was no breath. With no hesitation he placed his lips onto yours, the water filling your air way came back up, filling his mouth. What a nasty feeling it was, but if it was to save you then he would ignore it. He pulled away and spat out the water onto the sand beside him.

He was in no way good at healing, especially not humans! He could only thank Poseidon that he was graced with the ability to use water magic, it may have just saved you.

His calloused hand pressed against your cheek, turning your limp head to him. "Y/n.. please.. please, wake up." He pleaded helplessly. You let out a cough, excess water dropless leaving your airways. You were breathing again, but your eyes didn't open.

The red blotch of sand under your head brought attention back to the other problem. "Oh god.." he looked around, his stomach was churning. He had to stop the bleeding!

His eyes darted around for a solution, eventually landing on your bag. He used his arms to drag himself towards it. He began rummaging through for anything he could use to stop the bleeding.

He found a spare shirt, he let out a breath of relief, this would stop the bleeding for now. He took the material and ripped it apart into strips, hoping you wouldn't be mad at him for destroying your shirt, but it was for a good cause. He moved back over to you, his hand cradled your head, holding it up. It was only a small wound, thankfully, it wouldn't kill you as long as he stopped the bleeding. He examined it, he didn't want to bandage it without cleaning it first. He grabbed your bag again, and found a water bottle. He remembered you telling him about how humans didn't like salty water. He didn't really understand why but it was probably a safer bet to clean it using your human water than his ocean water.

He tipped the bottle over the wound, water washing over the cut, drenching your hair in the process. After he was sure it was clean enough he bandaged it up with the cloth, making sure it was secure.

Even after he was done, he never let you go. Rather, he held you tighter. One hand cradling your injured head as the other arm went around your waist. He rocked you gently, holding you against his chest. He was breathless, his mouth was dry as his heart thumped against his ribcage. He was more scared now than when that shark chased him all those months ago. The panic of losing you was worse than anything he had ever felt, and losing you to the very place he called home no less. It sent shivers down his spine.

You let out a groan, your arms shifting in his hold. He looked down and his eyes met yours. You winced in pain as you moved. "Careful, don't move too much. I've got you." He brushed hair from your face. Your half lidded eyes looked up at him, dazed and confused. "What happened?"

"That pier you were on broke. You fell into the ocean, must have hit your head on the way down too. You almost drowned." He explained, his face twisting into worry again.

To utter shock, you smiled despite the obvious pain in your eyes. "You saved me?"

"O-of course I did!" He exasperated as if it were the most stupid question anyone has ever asked him. He felt your hand come up and brush through his damp hair, much like he had done to yours a moment ago. "I guess we're even now then." You chuckled, he always made such a big deal of repaying you for helping him when he was washed up. Being out of the water for too long would have dried up his gills, and that would have suffocated him to death. You had saved his life, and now, he had saved yours.

"Ow, shit, this really hurts." You pressed your fingers to the cloth around your head. Izuku helped you sit up, steadying you when you swayed, you had lost a lot of blood, he was worried you might not make it home on your own. "You should really go to the housepetal." He was only trying to help but when you laughed at the suggestion, his shoulders deflated.

"I think you mean hospital." You corrected him. "Oh." He giggled along with you, finally understanding. "But you're right, I should. I'm just not sure I can make it up the cliff right now. I feel so light headed."

He shuffled closer, despite you sitting up just fine on your own, he was ready to catch you if necessary. He was not going to let anymore harm come to you.

"Is there any water left?" You asked him, he reached over for the bottle that he had used to clean your wound. There was a little less than half left. He gave it to you and you hastily drank it all down.

Once finished you let out a satisfied gasp before discarding the bottle into your bag again. "Feel better?"

"Not yet. Soon." You replied, tilting your head forwards as if it would help get the blood back to your head any quicker. He watched your movement, his tail gently splashing against the water's edge to stop himself from drying up.

His eyes skimmed the back of your head, where the wound was. His mind went back to seeing your lifeless body sinking into the ocean's darkness as a cloud of red engulfed you. It was something he never wanted to see again, though the memory was well carved into his brain at this point.

He hated to admit it, but for a second it crossed his mind that you might have died. That he hadn't been quick enough to save you. Holding your limp, unbreathing body in his arms had shaken him to his core.

You hand accidently grazed against his on the sand, pulling him out of his swirling thoughts. It was just like that day a few weeks ago, when your hands brushed against his for the first time, but this time he didn't hold back. You went to pull your hand away but his larger hands encased it, pulling it back towards him. You gasped as your hand was snatched from you, his skin felt so smooth against yours.

He looked deep into your eyes. "I have something to say." He'd never looked so serious before. You gulped, nodding for him to go on.

He inhaled through his nose, his fingers subconsciously squeezing yours. “Before you found me washed up on shore.. I used to come here everyday." He started, pausing for a second but you didn't make any reactions, just waited for him to go on.

"My friends and I used to spend a lot of time here but then we had to go away since a human found our cove, but I found that-... I couldn't leave. I was so enamoured by you, and... I slowly started to fall in love." He heard you sucking in a breath. "Then, I finally got to know you, I fell more in love than ever before! Seeing you almost drown, thinking about what would've happened if I hadn't been there. It made me realise…" he looked away, out at the vast ocean that separated his world from yours. "What we're doing right now, seeing each other everyday, it might not last forever."

He hated admitting it outloud, he could hear his heart breaking it two at the thought of being torn away from you again. Thoughts of you moving away, someone else finding this beach and ruining your secret space, one of you could get hurt, he could be put in lockdown. There were so many possibilities that were running through his head. "I just wanted to tell you how I felt. I want you to know how much you really mean to me. I'm in love with you. So whatever happens in the future. Please, always remember that."

"You think too much." You whispered without missing a beat, your expression unreadable through his eyes. "We're always going to find a way to be together, no matter how long it takes. We'll always find our way back." You whispered, your fingers shifting in hand to intertwine with his.

"How do you know that?" He asked, his eyes were full of doubt but you seemed so sure of yourself. You pulled on his hand, yanking him forward until his nose brushed against yours.

"Because I love you too."

His eyes widened, he sucked in a breath as your lips moved closer to his. He could hear his heartbeat echoing through his ears like the beating of a drum. Your lips finally made contact with his. He inhaled through his nose, your lips were so soft, softer than he could ever imagine them to be. His lips quivered under yours, shaky breaths exhaling from his nose. He tried to keep up with your moving lips despite the lack of expertise. You smiled into it, putting a hand onto the back of his head,patting down his hair and like putty in your hands, he relaxed.

You finally pulled back to see his flushed face. He brought up a hand to his lips? pressing his finger tips to them. "A.. kiss?" He breathed out, looking at you with half lidded eyes. He smiled, shuffling closer so he could sit side by side with you on the beach. His arm came to your shoulder as you curled into his side.

You were right. As long as you loved each other, there was nothing that could tear you apart. You would always find your way back, and you would always have a shared home where the ocean and the land met.

Bonus:

Izuku kept pressing his fingers to his lips, eyebrows knitting together. "You really haven't had a kiss before have you?"

He shook his head, "Well, merpeople show affection in other ways is all.. but that kiss felt so good.. I wonder why we don't do it more often?" Even if he was speaking out loud it felt like that last part was a question meant for himself.

You tilted your head, "Well, what do you guys do to show affection?" You asked, curiosity getting the better of you.

He smiled and turned to you, genuinely happy that you had taken an interest in his species. "I can show you if you want!!" You nodded, curious to see what he would do.

He moved closer to your face, aiming for your cheek. His tongue rolled from his mouth and as it got dangerously close to your skin your leaned back, face turning red. "AHH! WAIT! NEVERMIND! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW-"

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lustbile-archive · 4 years

Text

Want To Request a Song?

JohnnyxReader

Word Count: 3.5k

Summary/Warning: the third installment of the club x series. Full on public sex and exhibitionism, knife/blood play, and can border on being degrading so read at your own risk. This is also the one best at explaining what tf is going on in club x

Apart of my Club X series: Masterlist

You knew what Club X was way before you even walked through its doors.

A friend of a friend let the details of the gritty part of town spill from her lips when you had gotten together to have drinks and trade gossip in the safety of her apartment. You were equally as guilty of letting your lips loosen from the alcohol swimming in your veins, and you let this girl you knew very little about in on your secret that it had been a while since you had last gotten any. An even longer time since anyone had made you properly come. Why you let her in on such intimate details about your sex life was a mystery, but the advice she shared in response didn’t hurt in the slightest.

“There’s this club you know,” she had said, in a tone that was meant to be a whisper but fell a little short. Her nails that were decorated in chipping polish brushed comfortingly across your shoulder as she wiggled her eyebrows at you, “i’ve only been a few times, but it’s where you need to go if you’re in a desperate need for a fucking.”

You giggled at her choice words, your eyes rolling in disbelief, “so a sex club hm? I don’t know about that.”

“No, no, no,” her words slurred as she returned your laughter, clearly pleased with your doubt, “it’s better than just a sex club. See, you go and it’s like the universe creates the exact person you need right when you walk in.”

“The universe hm?”

“Yeaaaahh. The universe…” her eyes squint as her thoughts drift off momentarily, “like you walk in and they just find you. They find you and it’s like they put this spell on you. It makes you so hot like instantly, and then you’re down to business right then and there.”

“Right then and there?!” you have to admit that you’re humoring her at this point, but you’re still a little scandalized at her words, “like in front of everyone?”

“No! No, no, no,” her hands wave in front of her face like she’s swatting at an invisible bug, “I mean yeah, but it’s like they can’t even see you.”

“What they just ignore the two people just having full on sex in the middle of a club?”

“Yeah, I mean unless you want to be seen,” she explains, her face screwing up in confusion when you don’t seem to understand what she’s saying, “Listen, I can’t explain it the way they do. There’s just something that these people can do that just takes away every worry you have. You’re just there and in the moment. It’s so great you’ll just have to go or you’ll never understand.”

You humor her and let her write the address down in your phone, smiling fondly when she keeps your phone a little longer to add vulgar emojis along side the information.

And for a while that was it. The address remained in your phone, forgotten as it got buried underneath grocery lists and reminders that made little to no sense out of context. All it took for you to finally pay the club a visit was one night.

You found yourself bored out of your mind and far too horny for your own good. You were too frustrated and pissed off at the world to give yourself the satisfaction of masturbating, so instead you just sat on your phone, cleaning out your photos and notepad when you stumbled on the address paired with its mess of emojis.

Without any further thought you were up, getting ready, and calling an uber to take you to the address provided by the bubbly drunk girl. You tried to ignore the wary and judgmental glare from the driver as you pulled up on an old warehouse that was decorated with blaring red neon lights that only read “Club X: Enter at Your Own Risk.”

To say that night was a fluke was an understatement. People approached you of course, but there was no magical hypnosis that you were promised, not that you were really expecting it to actually happen. There were cute people, but no one that cut at your core enough to dull your irritation at the world. Instead you sipped at a drink someone else had graciously paid for, ogled at the pretty man working the DJ booth surrounded by his friends, and then caught another uber home with the personal promise that that would be your first, and last visit to Club X.

Well you told yourself that at least.

It was only about a week later that you found yourself pulling out an outfit and opening your uber app. You chalked it up to needing a good drink, but there was a confused nagging in the back of your mind that told you that you had no good reason for actually returning.

With a different uber driver, but a similar glare, you found yourself back at the dingy club. You sat in the same seat as before, had a new pretty face order you the same drink, as you found your glance being pulled back to the same cute DJ.

You felt some shame finding him so cute. He seemed out of place in the club. Most people here were dressed in party clothes, while he wore neutral toned hoodies, and this time a hat turned backwards. His headphone only left his ears a handful of times so he could laugh and jeer with the men that surrounded him almost like permanent ornaments. Truthfully he was handsome as hell, but other than that what was there to stare at?

You left that night with that thought pulling at your mind, and you returned multiple times after with the same thought nagging you every time.

You were becoming a regular at the club, as embarrassing as it was. Even though you had yet to experience any wild sexual magic like you had been drunkenly promised, it was like the first night your drink was spiked with a magnet that pulled you towards the building almost every weekend at this point. You hadn’t told the girl that had given you the address, and you definitely didn’t tell any of your friends. You just didn’t want them to believe that you were developing an unhealthy dependency on alcohol, even though you would never even finish one glass. And maybe if you were getting shit faced, you would understand why you kept returning, but every time you’d leave so sober that you could convince someone you hadn’t drank at all.

The first few times, you scrambled for an explanation for why you couldn’t stay away, but you always feel short. It was as if your own body was keeping a secret from your mind. It was beginning to be muscle memory they way you’d get dressed and call for an uber every time.

And you’d think with how much time you’d spent at the crowded club, watching random strangers create masses of sexual energy, you’d had seen everything, but you stiffen in confusion when you see it.

A pretty girl hopped up to the dj booth, her wild hair bouncing along with her, as the girl she was making out with only moments before giggled and squirmed in her seat. The look the DJ wears is disinterested, but aware when she leans her hands down on his table to start spilling hiccuped words in his face.

You can only see her mouth moving at a rapid pace, the music and the distance between you making her words impossible to hear. Whatever she asked prompts a gentle nod from the man, and as she prances away he moves his fingers across the knobs and switches until a new song starts to spill out of the speakers tucked into various corners of the room.

Did she request a song change? The questions runs through your mind as your eyes trace her form, your eyes only darting away when she tackles the other girl and shoves her tongue into the space of her mouth.

You had never seen someone request a song from the man, the closest thing maybe being a jab to the back from one of his friends that was a consistent character as he casually suggested something. Realistically, requesting a certain song isn’t incredibly weird, but something about the knowledge that the tall broad man standing on the platform that placed him so highly above the other bodies in the room is actually approachable was frying the nerves in your brain.

A few songs come and go by the time you’re standing up, your legs feeling as if they’re moving on their own. You’re not sure at what point between learning that you were allowed to walk up to him and you actually starting to walk towards him that you decided that you needed to get close, but the time you’re regaining your consciousness, you’re climbing the small set of stairs leading up the stage.

He seems to notice your presence before you reach him, as while you're still a bit away, his head lifts to lock his eyes onto yours. The way he smiles at you makes you stop momentarily and hesitate, one corner of his lips rises higher than the other gives his face a less than good intentioned aura. Instead of making you falter and turn back to return to the drink you had abandoned at the bar, you feel your stomach warm and turn as you pick up your steps.

Your hips bump into the edge of the table as you lean your palms flat on the top, your nails gently digging into the material as you try to form a sentence in your head. Your tongue rolls against your teeth and your lips part before he’s looking down again, but interrupting you with his own words.

“It’s about time you came up here,” he adds a dry laugh when he hears the confused noise that jumps from your chest. He ignores the quiet ‘hm?’ you offer in response before he continues, “I mean I would have made a move first but I can’t really leave my station y’know?”

He shrugs as he returns his eyes to you, clearly entertained by your confusion. Your eyes dart around his face, momentarily moving to glance at the boys that are scattered behind him either holding their own conversations or watching you two in amusement. When you look at him, he looks expectant.

One of the boys jeers at him saying, ‘fuck off John, you know they don’t know what you’re talking about.’ And even though the comment only adds to your confusion, you can’t stop the way your body warms at the spike of embarrassment it puts in you, the man in front of you only responding to the remark by digging his tongue into the inside of his cheek in irritation.

“You came here looking for trouble didn’t you?” it takes you a beat to realize he’s asking you, another moment to realize the question is meant to be suggestive, and one last one to form a response.

“I think I might be,” you feel yourself dumbly nod, as your chest gets fuzzy. Maybe this is when you finally get to experience what that girl had promised so many weeks ago. Could the dj have been your person this whole time?

“Ah ah,” he shakes his head almost disappointedly, “I need a solid yes before I can give you what you need baby. You should know that much at least.”

“I- I mean, okay,” consent you understood, but the way he says it makes your brain swim in confusion. Why wouldn’t you say yes?

“Yes. I’m looking for trouble,” you say, your own confidence finally finding its way into your words, “I’m looking to cause trouble with you.”

The smile he wears is evil, and absolutely giddy with your return of energy. He takes a few steps back from the table and gestures to his side saying, “then please, enter my office.”

You feel a jolt of energy hit you, before you’re rounding the corner of the table. You only have a second to register the sharp pain of where your hip bumped into the corner, before he’s wrapping his large hand around the back of your neck and pulling you to press his mouth against yours.

His warm breath could have been considered an aphrodisiac in the way it fills your mouth and warms your core. His other hand wraps around your waist as he backs you into the table, his hands and lips so suddenly on you is overwhelming, but not enough to distract you from the way his friends begin to start oohing at the spectacle you two put on.

What had that girl said? No one can see you unless you want them to? With the handful of boys surrounding you, you can’t help but to doubt that you can just make yourself vanish from their prying eyes, but even if you could, would you want to? You feel warm in shame, as while his tongue dips behind your teeth and explore the space of your mouth, you start to feel excited at the idea of all his friends watching you get the relief you had been craving for so long.

The moment your subconscious decided you want the boys to see you in such a vulnerable state, one of them lets out a scandalized and excited yelp, before turning to another and exclaiming, “oh shit they want us to see them. Look at that.”

The boys attached to your mouth smiles as he pulls your bottom lip between his teeth, a warm laugh filling the air between you, “hmm so bad aren’t you? You like to be watched?”

You whine in response, as your hands move to claw at his soft t-shirt. Your hips jump and knock into his when his fingers start to grope and squeeze at your flesh. You’re acutely aware at the way he presses his leg between yours and uses his hand to make you start grinding on his thigh.

“How ‘bout you give them a real show and bend over nice a pretty for us,” it’s not a question, but a demand as he lifts you slightly away from the table, and turns you to push your torso down flat. You try to take deep breaths, as his hands run up and down your sides until the tips of his fingers pinch the hem of your skirt.

“There we go,” he sounds overtly proud, when he flips the fabric up to lay against your back, his friends responding to the newly exposed flesh of your ass with appreciative whistles.

He steps to the side of you, his hands slipping between your hips and the table to lift them up. He uses his grip to move you side to side, shamelessly encouraging you to tauntingly move your hips for the many sets of eyes. If it wasn’t for the way your walls softly clench around nothing, you would be ashamed of the way being watched like this makes you drip.

He begins to drag the thin fabric of your underwear down, to tease not only you, but your engaged viewers. Once the fabric hits the floor, there’s a chorus of hisses and groans at the sight of you wet and excited.

You whimper at the feeling of so many eyes tracing your body, even louder when the man grabs onto the flesh of your ass to spread you for them all to see. You don’t know what comes over you when you petulantly kick the floor and let out a demanding ‘please.’

The only response you get in return is his hand running against you to check the severity of your arousal and the jeers from the boys of how, ‘Johnny got a bratty one.’

If it weren’t for the blaring music, you’d hear the metallic sound of his zipper being pulled down, the only thing you get as a warning that he had pulled himself from the restraints of his underwear, is when the leaking tip of his cock begins to dip into you.

You feel the tense strain on your muscles melt away as he presses into you. The size of him stretching you out makes you feel delirious as you’re thankful for the amount he’s managed to make you wet in such a short amount of time, as if he hadn’t you’re not sure he’d be able to fit so easily.

When his hips finally press tightly against you, he lets out a rumbled groan. His hands hold tightly to your hips as he pauses to give you both time to adjust, and you can only somewhat hear the shuffling of the others as they move in an attempt to get a better angle to watch.

His thrusts are lazy and deep as he moves against you, one hand leaves your skin and the fabric of his shirt moves away telling you he’s lifting it in his own attempt to get a better look at where he fucks into you.

Your legs part farther as you begin to desperately shake, the way he digs into every nerve inside you makes you keen, but you want nothing more than to have him move harder.

“Please John,” you beg, trying to see how his name would taste in your mouth, your own hand moving back to wrap tightly around his wrist.

“Shut the fuck up,” you barely register the pain that burns through your skin from where his open palm meets the sensitive skin of you ass. His tone was harsh, but the satisfied chuckle that not only leaves him, but also his friends, makes a dopey grin fill your face as a moan rolls off your tongue.

“Fuck look at how bad they want it,” the voice from your side tells you it’s someone else, the tone excited and bubbly as if they’re watching something a lot more innocent than a stranger get fucked in the middle of a club.

“So bad huh?” Johnny sounds almost proud at the way you and everyone reacts to the pleasure he’s giving you, “such a good little whore, taking everything I’ll give.”

Pleads and begs roll off your tongue as his harsh words fry your brain. His hips only quicken slightly before he’s grabbing your side to pull you up against him. It feels like a flash of time, when he grabs the hem of your shirt, and pulls it over your head. Once you're bare to the stuffy air of the club and your shirt is thrown carelessly over his shoulder, you're just as quickly shoved back onto the table and he’s pistoning fast and harshly into you.

His hand harshly meets you burning skin again and you squeak in response. His voice is rough as he puts all his strength into fucking you deep and he commands to no one in particular, “someone get it for me.”

His words mean nothing as the way he pulls against you starts pushing to the edge of your orgasm. You can only gasp and claw at the table when one of his friends leans closer and taps at your spine right between your shoulder blades and whatever he holds against you begins to cut into your skin.

Once his friend is moved away, he suddenly pulls out making you clench harshly and whine. You feel the trickle of blood that travels down your skin, but the sting of his warm tongue collecting the dripping red and digging into the new wound on your back. The sting is almost unbearable and makes you squirm against him, but the pain is muffled when he reaches down and begins to roll tight circles onto your neglected clit.

His fingers are unrelenting as he rushes you to your finish. The pleasure between your thighs mixing with the sharp pain against your back makes your vision begin to go fuzzy. You can only somewhat register the boyish laughs of excitement that surround you as you finally start to come.

It feels like there’s a monster inside you that claws at you nerves. Every inch of your body set on fire is so distracting, you can only yell into the air when he moves to push back into you. He thrusts only a few times before he stills against you, the warmth of him filling you making your overstimulated nerves scream.

You can only lie there as he starts to fix your clothes, harsh demands of ‘the show is over, go away’ begin thrown over his shoulder as he drags you away and back to the bar.

You sleepily lean against him as he nods at the stoic man handing out drinks. He brings you a glass of water, that Johnny presses against your chapped lips.

“You can come relax behind the booth while I work once you finish the glass,” he reassures as he pets at your damp skin, “the boys are a lot nicer than what you just witnessed I swear.”

You’re too dopey to truly register what he says as you only nod in response before babbling, “so you’re my person?”

The laugh he lets out is soft, a lot sweeter and warming that any he’d offered before, “yeah I’m your person, and you’re wild ass is mine.”

#nct smut #johnny smut #nct #johnny #nct imagines #johnny imagines #nct oneshot #johnny oneshot #johnny suh #club x

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jackarychaoti · 3 years

Text

DWC2021-15 - Memory/Chase

TW: Blood | Body Horror | Disturbing Images

-[ MUSIC ] -

Insanity.

In Azeroth, it was known as The Madness, The Darkening, the Dragon’s Sickness... The Nightmare. In many worlds, in millions of languages, it had endless names but it always meant the same thing. A corruption, often brought on by nightmarish feelings or situations, that ate the being alive, twisting it into something else entirely. Dragons fell particularly hard to such a toxic curse, especially.

This was no exception.

“DO NOT LET HIM GET INTO THE FOREST, WE’LL FUCKING LOSE HIM FOREVER!!”

Lokitan screamed as a mere handful of the Heran army raced upon war-bred Granondo, a clove-hooved type horse with coiled horns, best used to ram incoming enemies. Terrifyingly fast creatures that feared nothing in the heat of battle and yet they could not quite keep up with the terror streaking through the rotting fields of a dying wasteland and seemed even less inclined to get anywhere near it.

The target they hunted was a slithering creature running on all fours, bones twisted and inhuman with long tendrils of muddied hair, making the thing look even more sickly in the way that it hung over the face. Now and then, piercing silver eyes would dart back to see just how much closer its pursuers had come in the wild hunt, noting the way the warriors had begun to flank it. If only it could reach the edge of the forest, the beast would have a far better tactical advantage and a speed increase, let alone an easier time to attack those that hunted it.

“Loki!” A voice called out and soon a female rider pushed her steed up to the Dread Prince himself, eyes narrowed, glancing over in his direction. Fire blazed all around her, the snowy locks of her hair wild and free as a hellish set of crimson eyes flitted to the dark-haired rogue. “What do we do if it gets to the forest before we can reach him?!”

“You pray to your mother that we take him down before that.”

Chaos.

It was absolute chaos and he had just told her to pray to the deity that created it.

Inch after inch, Lokitan pressed forward, signaling the General’s finest men to continue flanking the beast, heels dug in harder into his skeletal Granondo to push onward and finally close in the distance of the skittering cretin running on all fours. Once close enough, the agile Prince pushed himself to crouch atop the saddle; he lunged, flickering through the very shadows to reappear right on top of the nightmarish beast. He dared not draw a weapon.

Not against this one.

The clashing form was greeted by the muddied, anemic animal twisting itself to bite hard at its would-be attacker, using the momentum to kick Lokitan right off and send him flying. That mere few seconds to protect itself was costing its safety to get into the forest. A loud shrieking cry pierced through the veil of carnage, knowing the chase was quickly coming to an end. Claws grabbed at the deep red mud below, years of war and corpses all around, the thick blood of countless soldiers meshed together with protected soils and painful, bitter rain. The slick surface had the creature try another attempt to break free, slipping the first few steps.

It was so close… The forest was but a hundred yards away.

Lokitan rolled through the slimy fighting ground, catching himself to snag at the beast’s ankle, yanking it back to throw it in the other direction. He was doing all he could to buy the warriors more time to position themselves and close in on the fighting pair.

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Jack.”

Melted silver raised from under the long strands of hair while the beast hunched itself further, a deep snarl and razored fangs revealed themselves in a warning. The aggressive display had Loki push himself to stand and raise his clawed hands, exposing that he was as unarmed as he could possibly be. He stared down at the nightmare-fueled version of his cousin, his best friend who he knew was in so much pain that he had allowed the darkness to consume his heart.

“Look at me, Jackary… I don’t want to hurt you, hn..?”

There was a brief pause and for a moment, the world stood still. Even the droplets of sweat and foul mud froze in place for a fraction of a second while the thing Lokitan referred to as ‘Jackary’ mulled over its choices. Heavy breaths of air pushed out, bellowed in smoke pouring from its twisted jaw that was filled with acidic drool that flopped to the ground in large globs - a clear sign of the beast’s stress.

“Let’s get you home… Let’s get cleaned up…” A leather-clad hand dared to reach for the unholy creation but within a blink of an eye, time sped back up. Teeth snapped at the grasp, claws raised to full-on attack the one being that kept the beast from the forest it was trying to get to.

“FUCKING--!” Loki found himself head to head with the writhing mass of acid-spitting, half-transformed wyrm, a Beast of Insanity that wore a Prince’s crown and who was upsetting the balance of life and death. Without one, there couldn’t truly be another. Every snap of the jowls and swipe of talons was blocked or barely dodged, up until Lokitan lost his footing.

Slipping, he found himself under those wild jaws, hands clasped the wide-open maw above him that threatened to clamp down on his face and bite his skull clean in half. Muscles ached, his posture shook from trying to push what was once his peaceful, loving cousin off him. It wasn’t until another bubbling mixture of acid was seen dripping from under the beast’s tongue that the rogue knew he was in deep trouble… He was going to have to hurt the beast or die.

One hand released the mouth and in a split-second decision, the palm shoved up hard to strike at the creature’s jawline, his intensely sharp claws sliced the beast’s right jaw, stunning and pushing it away, jarred in surprise. It left Lokitan with just the smallest leeway to raise his hand up in the air, giving a hidden signal.

The Insanity-addled creature hissed loudly but before it could turn to lunge the last few steps to disappear into the forest and become a haunting ghost, a slough of chains and ropes fell atop it, blanketing the wild creature. The engineered nets implanted themselves into the dirt below, radiating pulsations of electrical charges to stun the captured beast into a horrifying submission. The haunting screams of agony, half-human, half-dragon rang out in a near ear-shattering volume.

Only when it stopped struggling to even stand did the shocking currents of energy cease their barbaric, but effective, handling.

“Are you hurt?” The woman from earlier charged forward, sliding down from her fiery warsteed to help Lokitan up from the wet earth.

“No,” Lokitan spat out, snagging the hand to be hoisted up, wincing when it indeed hurt to put any sort of weight on one of his legs. Glancing down at it, he was sure there was likely a fracture somewhere... But now wasn’t the time to dawdle.

“Well, you’re not dead, dear brother, so…” Musing, she helped at least support the Dark Prince, glancing down at the wheezing, now bleeding beast. “This isn’t curable, you know. When someone falls to the Insanity, they don’t come back.”

“Untrue,” Loki quipped, hobbling over with his sister’s help until he was able to ease down and sit next to the captured animal. A gloved hand reached forward, pushing the black hair from its face to indeed reveal a half transformed Jackary, the silver spiral of his eyes a dead giveaway at the corruption. “There was a Priest once who fought it and contained it. Rumour has it he wanders around with a single spiral eye, hn? Fucked up shit.”

The woman sighed, almost huffing while a hand motioned down to what remained of Jack. “Look at him, Lokitan. Half transformed, his brain isn’t fucking in there anymore. Put the thing out of its misery and let the avatar of Life be passed down elsewhere. It’ll rebirth by tomorrow, save your own ass.”

“No.” Lokitan took a moment to grip the skull before him, pinning the dragon further as a small crimson glow overtook his eyes. “He was never meant to hurt anyone, it was her that drove him to this.”

“Yeah, well, she’s pretty fucking dead, now isn’t she?”

A hand waved the antsy woman off, freeing Lokitan to simply focus on the inner workings of the beast before him. It was a rare trick the Rogue had up his sleeve and normally it was used to delve into someone’s memories, to unlock what terrifies them the most to use it against them… But what if, he thought, what if he could use it in reverse?

Time ticked by, allowing the dark, shadowy tendrils of his own essence to seep into Jackary’s form, filtering through and plucking every little bit of the corruption to neatly gather it within. A simple box was made at first, deep inside the dragon’s brain. Soon it was locked away and chained relentlessly to his psyche. A personality that he could never escape from, one that in time, would briefly show a fraction of itself and be referred to as…

Naga.

“M’sorry…” Loki whispered while he worked, remolding and melding Jackary’s very essence and memories to pull him from an otherwise impossible return. It was an attempt to do this or be forced to kill him and Lokitan wasn’t sure he inwardly had the power to do that. “You were designed to never forget.. But if you always remember, there is no saving you from the corruption that has been planted within you.”

Lokitan frowned, rubbing his thumb slowly, sweetly along Jackary’s forehead, the beast had long since stopped trying to fight back. It was lethargic.

“I am taking this from you, Jackary. This thing that turned you into something you aren’t.” Lokitan cooed, almost fondly at his twisted cousin as each memory leading up to a certain event was plucked and stolen away and yet what Lokitan hadn’t realized was that in making such a small hole in Jack’s memory, it served as an endless void. A slow-drip leak that would cause him to forever forget things after a while. A blessing and a curse in the future, but at that moment, when Lokitan gazed down and saw the beginnings of Peridot return to those eyes, he knew it was the best decision he could have made.

---

Darnath quietly clamped the journal closed with a small squeeze to the spine, the entry had been written in a far different font and form which made him think that perhaps Lokitan had written it instead. But... Where the memory that had been stolen was placed was beyond the Dragonsworn.

Stormy grey pools glanced at the snoozing blond curled against his side. Jack, in an elven form, had been cozying up for a small nap while his Knight read, blissfully unaware of what haunting stories Darnath had been refamiliarizing himself with once more. The Champion glanced to the spine of the journal, noting the number upon it, and raised his vision upward. The book he was really looking for must have been the one right before this… Maybe that one held the answer he was looking for.

| - @daily-writing-challenge - |

#DWC2021 #DWC 15 #Jack Facts #A memory long since pased #in the beginning #lokitan #Darnath #Dragonsworn #TW: BLOOD #TW: DISTURBING IMAGES #TW: BODY HORROR

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90slevi · 3 years

Text

Loneliness {Levi Ackerman x Reader}

TW: a bit of gore? a LOT of angst, more of me venting lol

Levi ran his hands through his hair as he flopped down onto the old, crusty sofa.

It'd been a tough day for him and his squad, the group of them only just surviving as they frantically dodged a mass of titans and tried their best to weave through the pounding rain that was so heavy it almost left marks on the scarred bodies of the soldiers. Thank god the group had found a small, secluded cabin, or they might've frozen to death - if they hadn't been eaten first.

The number of people Levi had seen get mutilated in front of him in the past few hours alone was enough for the average person to see in a lifetime. For him, it should be normal. He should be used to it by now, maybe even desensitised, but every time he watched a person get split in half by the gaping jaws of a titan, it felt like a fresh, stinging wound on his skin. It was painful, yet all he could do was watch with his stern expression to hide the way he truly felt. To keep the confidence of his squad high.

Now, he and his crew were safe. Physically, maybe, but certainly not mentally.

Levi missed his wife. His head pounded in pain as the blood-stained bandages began to unravel and his headache increased, but all he wanted to do was think about her. He held her letters close, and he held the small oil-painting of the two of them close to his heart, something that'd been made by one of the higher-ups as a gift for Humanity's Strongest. The letter was one of the first things Y/n had written to him and the pretty yet smudged handwriting along with the cute curls of her Gs and Ys made his heart feel warm.

It'd been about a month since they'd both left Wall Sina to go on this extremely long, drawn-out expedition, and how much he cared about her was beginning to dwell on him. His heart and body ached, and he wished she was there with him to comfort his pains, even if he acted like he wasn't listening.

That was what Levi liked about her; she knew how much he cared about her without him needing to express himself. Something he wasn't... the best at.

Levi didn't realise his eyes were welling up with tears until he felt a small, fresh droplet appear on his upper cheek, and his eyelashes felt sticky. Quickly, he wiped it away with his sleeves, but it was unlikely anyone would see. Everyone was supposedly asleep, while he stayed up due to his unfortunate insomnia. Y/n was always there with him in their bed at home, someone he could hold onto while he tried his best to sleep. Her fingers running through his hair, leaving small little pats on his scalp, and tiny kisses on his forehead were all things he missed dreadfully, and he gulped a little as his heart pounded slightly.

Love was never really a thing Levi had believed in. He just went about his life, trying to survive and find a better life for humanity. But when he met Y/n, everything changed. Of course, he disliked her at first, just as he did with most people. Her bubbly, caring personality with too much sympathy and love for other people were things he, unfortunately, despised, mainly because they were things he seemed to lack. Yet... he couldn't help but be drawn to her, giving her extra chores such as cleaning his office and bringing him tea just so he could see her. Often he'd ask Y/n to help him with his paperwork so he had some sort of company, once even choosing her over Hanji to fetch him food.

He slowly began to realise over the months that it wasn't hatred he felt for Y/n. It was... fear. He was scared of loving someone, especially someone like her. Someone who was part of the Survey Corps, and someone who could die within a week and not have the chance to say goodbye. It hurt him way too much to love someone, yet he couldn't keep his feelings to himself.

When he found out she felt the same way, the two discussed their options. One being totally ridiculous and one being... more reasonable and sensible.

The first? Choosing to leave the Survey Corps and get married, far away from the life they'd been leading.

The second? Staying in the Survey Corps and going separate ways, never to speak of this again and to drop the feelings if they could.

But of course Y/n managed to merge the two together. Staying in the Survey Corps and getting married.

But... they were in different squads. While he led his own, Y/n was under Hanji, and he currently had no idea where her squad was or IF they'd even survived. They'd been seperated for three weeks now, and the questions that filled his mind felt like psychological torture. Levi tried his best to block that thought out of his head, not wanting to be plagued with the thoughts of his wife's death instead of focussing on the mission at hand. At that moment, he needed to prioritise his own Squad's safety, but he couldn't keep those thoughts at bay.

A sniffle escaped his nose as he felt his eyes well up again, and Levi had never felt so lonely. His free arm reached upwards as if he could magically touch fingers with Y/n and know she was okay, but it was pointless. His arm flopped back down as he tried to find a comfortable position on the absolutely awful-excuse of a sofa, but struggled. Crying was not a very-Levi thing to do, but at that moment? He just couldn't help himself.

Tears streamed down his cheeks, and he felt almost like a baby. He was not only upset about not having his wife near, but extremely embarrassed too. He was hyperaware that someone could see him, even though nobody was there, and he knew that as a captain, it was highly irresponsible to be sobbing like this. He'd only cried twice in front of Y/n; the first was when he thought she'd died, and the second was the aftermath of his original squad dying. If only she could see him now, looking pathetic and weak.

But he should've known she didn't think of him like that. Y/n knew him as the strongest person she'd ever met in her life and believed that crying was not a sign of weakness, but a sign of holding it in for too long. Holding in those negative emotions and putting on a strong facade only she could see through. Only a fool would think Levi was brave all the time, because even the strongest get scared.

"Fuck," Levi muttered shakily, noticing that one of his tears had merged two words together on one of the letters, creating an inky black blob. He placed the pieces of parchment onto the table beside him, making sure not to ruin them anymore, and balled his fists into his eyes to stop himself from crying anymore. He didn't want to feel this; he wanted to go home and spend the rest of his days with you, blissfully unaware that the titans even existed. Maybe he'd be a dad.

But no. The world just liked to cruelly torture him and watch him suffer. The world wanted him to watch everyone he ever knew die in front of him in ways he didn't want to experience. The world just wanted the worst for him, and he wondered what he'd ever done to deserve it.

When he heard a knock at the door of the cabin, he completely ignored it, not wanting to get up and answer. His eyes were red and puffy, while teardrops hung in his eyelashes. It was clear as day he'd been crying, and for some reason, it didn't exactly register in his mind that there was someone at the door until he heard footsteps.

"Captain Hanji!" a voice from downstairs exclaimed, one Levi recognised as Armin Arlert's. Levi almost shot up in his seat at that name, and his heart almost dropped to the pit of his stomach. He held his breath, the pain of not knowing whether his wife was alive or not becoming too much to bear. And now, he'd be told what'd happened to her. "It's so late, where have you been?"

"We took a detour," Hanji chuckled, and Levi groaned quietly at her poor taste in jokes. It was somewhere around 2am and everyone was filled with so much anxiety that it really wasn't the right time for her 'comedic expertise'. "No, we got ambushed by a ton of titans and we had to hideout in this abandoned castle until it was safe. We used the night to kill the ones that were resting before coming here."

"But we got lost," a male's voice said, and Levi heard Armin physically face-palm. The captain kicked his legs over the sofa and his ears pricked up, his heart racing against his chest for any sign of his wife. He was completely frozen in place, unable to leave the room and confront the group, never mind help them. Thank goodness Armin was there. "Hanji went way too far East instead of West."

"Hey! I was listening to your directions, Heinrich," Hanji sighed, and he heard the door close behind them as the whole group wandered inside. A few members of his own squad seemed to be leaving their temporary bedroom, greeting Hanji and the others with a fake display of delight. Not that they weren't happy to see Hanji's squad; they were delighted to know the group was alive and well. They were just... tired, and too mentally traumatised from that day alone to give a proper smile.

Footsteps echoed around the house to the point that Levi had no idea if people were coming up or going down the stairs, and he finally stood up when the door to his room opened...

And his heart skipped a beat.

Standing in the doorway was Y/n, her eyes swollen from tears and her wrist in a temporary bandage. Cuts and bruises littered her visible skin, and she dropped her cloak to the floor as she rushed over, flinging herself into her husband's arms. Levi fell backward onto the sofa, his eyes wide with surprise as the woman nuzzled her face into his neck and chest, unable to get enough of him. A strangled breath left her as she pressed a lingering kiss to his lips, and he returned it. His hands roamed her back, gently taking off her brown jacket and examining her broken wrist.

"Y/n," he said quietly, looking up at her as she straddled his legs, hugging him with her free arm. "What happened?"

"I went to rescue Lorena Engel and fractured my wrist in the process," she said softly, sitting up and wiping her eyes as she attempted to look him in the face. "She was grabbed by a titan and I went to slice at the wrong angle... it was purely an accident."

"I'm glad to see that other than that, you're okay," he said, a small, strained smile on his lips. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to see her. In fact, he was completely overjoyed to see his wife again. It was just... really difficult to smile at that point in time, and thankfully, she understood. Then, he wrapped his arms around her waist once more and held her tightly, his face against her chest as he listened to her racing heartbeat. Tears began to escape again, and when she noticed, she planted soft kisses across his head, her hands running through his hair just as he liked. "God, I missed you so fucking much."

"I missed you too," she answered, the goosebumps that'd prickled on her body due to the cold eventually disappearing. The dim candlelight in the room was barely exuding any heat, but the warmth from her husband was enough. Just Levi being there, safe and sound, was enough.

After a while, Levi's voice entered the silent room.

"Did everyone in your squad make it?" he asked, and it took a few moments for Y/n to reply.

"Everyone except Marcus Karsten" she whispered, choking slightly. "He... lost his life a week ago. What about... you?"

"Everyone made it," Levi answered, gently rubbing her back comfortingly. He wasn't best with words, so he made sure to make up for it with actions. She seemed to like that, anyway. "I'm... thankful for that."

"Yeah, that's good," Y/n said, a genuine smile on her lips. She was grateful his squad had no fatalities. They were a good bunch of kids, and she got along with most of them. "Levi, why is there a bandage on your head?

"Little accident," he answered, amused that she was worried about the little things. His injuries didn't matter to him, but to her they were incredibly important. "I misjudged where I was going and banged my head, but it's okay."

"It better be," she chuckled quietly, even the tiniest bit of laughter meaning the world to him. He hadn't heard it in so long that he hadn't realised how desperate he was for it. "Now, I can see those little eyebags creeping onto your face. You've barely slept."

"So?" he muttered, burying his face further into her chest. "What about it?"

"God, your stubborn," she sighed, ruffling his hair. "Now that I'm here, will you try your best to fall asleep?"

"But you've only just arrived-"

"So?" Y/n answered, teasing him and brushing his forehead with her thumb. She then planted another yet smaller kiss onto his lips, one Levi tried to push further into but was denied. "You'll be seeing me all day tomorrow. Just a couple hours rest won't do any harm."

Levi knew there was no winning against his wife. She was incredibly persistent when she wanted to be, so he sighed in annoyance before falling onto his back, lying on the sofa. She lay on top of him, his arms tight around her body as she snuggled into his shoulder. A tiny sigh of relief left his lungs and he took a deep breath in, filling his nose with her scent (and the unfortunate smell of dirt and blood, but he didn't care).

As happy as he could get, Levi eventually fell asleep, holding his dearly beloved in his arms.

#levi ackerman #attack on titan #levi #shingeki no kyojin #snk #aot #anime #levi fanfiction #one-shot #angst #hurt/comfort #fluff and angst

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wing-ed-thing · 3 years

Text

Consequences (Kabuto x Reader)

Request:

Word Count: 517

Tags/Warnings: Orochimaru considers Kabuto his son in canon so make of that what you will in terms of Orochimaru’s child, Gender Neutral Reader, Half-Baked Science Talk, Manipulation, Torture, Orochimaru is not a Good Man @brokennerdalert

Notes: I'm sorry that I am so flustered by a mere man that I have to rearrange my writing schedule to recover.

“Kabuto-kun, could you help me? You know these better than I do.”

And of course Kabuto would. He glanced over to the doorway where you poked your head in. His dark eyes lit up in the subtlest way and his left foot pivoted slightly towards you before he remembered that he had a fresh cadaver on the table. You had him wrapped tightly around your finger and Orochimaru wondered if you knew that. You had to, but then again, you were always far too soft when it came to others. That was something that he couldn’t program for.

“Go on, Kabuto. Your assistance is required.” The tone in Orochimaru’s voice made him uneasy. It sounded more mocking than it usually did and Kabuto considered whether or not this was a test. A catch if he helped you, a punishment if he refused. Kabuto opted for a blank expression as he made his way towards you and out into the hallway. Orochimaru grinned fiendishly as he left.

“I don’t know how to properly store these. I know it doesn’t matter if they blow up on me, but I don’t want them blowing up on anyone else. Waste of product, safety hazard…” You were likely the only person in the compound that cared for proper laboratory procedure and the last person who had to worry about it.

If Orochimaru did anything when he created you so long ago, it was make you sturdy and, for the most part, chemically resistant. A perfect lab rat and feelings of conflict bubbled up inside of Kabuto’s chest.

“Well let’s not have them in a pile.” Kabuto took the top box off of the two in your arms. Your backwards leaning posture centered. You led him down the hall to the storage closet as he gazed at you. You talked about some chemical experiment from the day before, rattling off a few new ideas off of the top of your head and Kabuto simply listened. He remained quiet, only silently guiding you to the correct shelves as you rambled.

You always had great ideas. Sometimes he would listen to you speak, wondering why he never thought of your solutions and formulas before. Chemistry simply came naturally to you. Kabuto always considered you smart and capable, but no amount of genius could outweigh your overwhelming sweetness in Orochimaru’s eyes.

Together you returned Kabuto to the lab, but as you went to walk past the open door, your father called out to you.

“This would be the perfect opportunity to test out our new serum, wouldn’t you say? You wouldn’t be a brat and refuse to help out family, would you?” Orochimaru waved Kabuto over, who took a second too long to obey. “I’m sure Kabuto would be happy to administer it.”

You gulped but took your spot in one of the leather patient chairs in the corner of the laboratory. Kabuto strapped you down for what would be an excruciatingly painful process with little yield. Orochimaru knew that, but he couldn’t have his right hand getting too soft for a failed experiment like you.

Notes: Again I am so sorry I’m so distracted. If you saw him you would understand

Thank you to all who liked, reblogged, followed and otherwise supported. Your support means so much and is greatly appreciated.

#Kabuto Yakushi x reader #kabuto x reader #kabuto yakushi #kabuto #naruto x reader #naruto x y/n #naruto x you #naruto headcanons #naruto headcanon #naruto imagine #naruto imagines #naruto scenarios #naruto scenario #naruto #orochimaru #x you #x reader #reader insert #tw pseudo incest

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quixotic-writer · 3 years

Text

Signs

request: @birdgirl1772

Summary: New York was the place she hopes new horizons would be seen with a brand new job on the set of Impractical jokers with her long time boyfriend. Things didn’t change as she hoped and signs led people’s minds down a road they didn’t know was there. Q ventured in but is determined to help her on a path of her own.

Warning: Themes and talk of ab*se

————————————————

'Everything's fine. It's all okay.'

Like a mantra I keep telling myself over and over again as I frantically try and get the apartment put into order. He'll be up at any moment and I need breakfast hot on the table for him, if not he'll just do it again.

Almost as if on cue, I hear his footsteps and I feel a chill down my spine. I straighten myself up and put on a brave happy face.

"Good morning, breakfast is hot and ready." He doesn't say anything to me, just sits down at the table and quietly eats his breakfast as I clean up the kitchen. "I have a long day at work today on set, I might not be home in time to make dinner. How about some takeout at that italian place around the block?" He huffs.

"I don't ask for much, do I? All I want from you is a hot meal on the table. You're not the only one that works, you know." He spoke in a calm pointed tone. It was always scarier like this because it was the brewing and bubbling before worse happened.

"I'm sorry they just need me on set, I can't help that today is going to be a longer shoot."

"You can open your fat mouth about not being home to do basic shit, why can't you open your mouth to get a decent schedule?" I sit at the table nibbling at my plate of food, poking around at whatever was on it with my head hung low in shame. "My family wonders why I haven't proposed to you yet, how am I supposed to marry someone who doesn't even have any traits of a good wife?" He picked up his table and loudly threw his dishes in the sink making me jump.

I sit there without any tears left to cry. I just stare at the oak table and wonder why I can't do anything right. He comes back into the room with his coat in hand, lays a hand on my shoulder and plants a kiss on top of my head.

"I'll be home at 7 for dinner. Love you honey." He steps out the door and I hear him leave. I was left to clean everything up and clean myself up as well to head out for work.

When I went into the bathroom to change, I got a good look at my bare body. I had bruises in random splotches, some more faded than others. I felt disgusting. But he loved me. He's just pointing out things that I need to improve on... Right? That's all it is. He loves me. I convince myself mentally once more, but that only lasts mere seconds until i'm back to daydreams of escapism. I feel like a rat in a cage, he gives me everything, but he doesn't give me love. I'm just a sick experiment. A mere pet to him.

I pull my shirt over my head and cover the physical incarnations of my terrible secret and I head out the door to our filming location for the day: the bridal store.

I get to work and get things rolling before the guys get in: starting their coffee, helping set up their stations, double checking all the cameras are in place, and making sure each person is accounted for. I'm running all over set that I didn't notice or hear Q behind me. As I turn around with a coffee cup in hand, he's just standing there looking at me. I jump out of my skin and end up dropping the cup. A huge puddle of coffee is all over the floor and I feel my heart sink.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I immediately go down to grab the coffee cup. Q walks over and I screw my eyes closed fearing that I might be adding another bruise to my skin. But as I wait for a second, nothing happens. I open my eyes and see he has a couple of napkins and is helping to sop up the coffee.

"Didn't mean to scare you like that sweetheart! Are you okay?" He looks in my eyes with worry.

"I-I... I'm so sorry..." I couldn't get anything else out but that.

"You don't have to be sorry, accidents happen. I'm just happy none of it got on you, that would have hurt like a bitch!" We finish cleaning everything up and things seem to be back on track for everyone else. My heart felt like it was gonna fall out of my chest with how hard it was pounding so I found a way to escape off to the bathroom in a fired rush. As I was walking, I had my head down and clumsily bumped into someone else.

"Woah there speedy! Careful there!" I twist my head and see Joe who helps hold me steady so I don't fall, "You're an important part of the team and we can't have you getting hurt on our watch." He says with a smile. His words sound almost distant as my mind is only on finding a means of hiding. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost. Let me go get you water." He disappears and I go to hide away in the bathroom.

I slam the door and lock it. My palms are drenched in sweat and I'm shaking. I didn't make one mistake. I made two.

"You IDIOT!" I whisper yell to myself as I sit on the toilet. Eventually I had calmed myself down, took a breath, and wiped the sweat off my hands. The moment I opened the bathroom door there was Joe ready to knock, staring at me wide eyed. "Jesus christ Joe! Nearly gave me a fucking heart attack!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to. I was looking everywhere for ya! Got you that water, stay hydrated." He hands me an ice cold water bottle and gives a soft smile before disappearing into the maze of equipment and team members. I was almost confused. I could have gotten water myself. I shrug at the kind gesture and try to get myself back on schedule after having that huge breakdown.

Everything from there was on track, no more hiccups in the road. I watched alongside the tech team as each of the jokers worked their magic in the dress viewing room, seeing various bride-to-be's in dazzling white and ivory dresses. Lace, chiffon, satin, there was everything and so much more. The girls on the team and I would gawk at each and every one that came through on screen, gushing about how gorgeous they are and how beautiful each girl was too. It came to a close for me as a voice came over the speakers for me to fix something up closer to the guy's monitors, a minor wiring issue that needed touching up on. As always I was quick on the scene to make sure that the problem was rectified and it wouldn't stall anything. The guys were still doing their thing as Murr was up on the floor.

I worked quietly and quickly, but not quickly enough I guess. The boys started getting rowdy, yelling, shouting, and hollering. Something in me shut down and suddenly everything didn't feel real. I looked at the work I had in front of me and nothing was quite clicking in my head. I froze. I stood behind their monitor in a daze. I don't know how much time passed before someone helped me fix the last bits up and get me out of there. I went into this mental auto-pilot mode. I heard everyone's voices, but it sounded foreign and almost distant.

"Hey." That came to me clear, I turned and Q was there. He looked worried.

"Hey." Play it off. Play it cool. Don't burden anyone with your problems.

"Listen, I notice things from time to time and I think now more than ever I need to address this." He kept his distance from me, his shoulders were slumped.

"What do you mean?" Play dumb. Don't let him know.

"Are things okay at home? Like, you and your boyfriend?" Cry for help? No don't do that, he'll think you're weak. But I need help. I can't take it anymore. But you've put up with it for so long, you can change him, he loves you. My mind was racing and I felt like a chameleon caught in the middle of its color change.

"W-why?" You're making it so obvious, why are you like this? His face shifts and I think that was an answer in itself that he feared.

"You don't have to tell me anything, it's not my business. Just know that I'm here for you and that I care about you. You're a part of the team and one of the crew members I can actually classify as a friend, your safety means everything to me and the guys." He goes in to hug me, I flinch. His arms don't wrap around me but his arms remain open. I look at him, and slowly melt into the hug. Despite his large stature, his embrace was soft and comforting. I've been hugged countless times, especially by my boyfriend, but never had any of them ever felt anything like this.

'Tell him. Tell him. Tell him.' Was what was screaming in my head as he held me in his arms. But, I just couldn't. We both separated and he was back to take his turn. I just sigh and feel this aching in my stomach. Was it guilt? Shame? Fear? Anxiety for sure.

When things had wrapped up, I roamed about the bridal attire looking at all the dresses feeling as the various textures graced my fingertips and their shape creating a model in my imagination.

"Try some on! Some of the other girls on set did, I think you deserve a chance to as well." Q sneaks past me and I didn't jump out of my skin for once. My eyes lit up like fireworks and I grabbed dress after dress.

"Only if you can give me some honest feedback big guy!" I say as I skip off to the changing room. I changed in and strolled out to the mirror. I spun and got a full look of myself and I felt beautiful for the first time in a long time.

"Look at you glow! Look at that smile!" Q had said enthusiastically. His eyes had wandered, but I noticed they stopped and his expression had changed.

"Something wrong? Did I get something on the dress?!" I look about the dress to find where the stain or imperfection might be.

"No, you just have a bruise on ya. How'd that happen?" I turn and bend my neck to see where in the mirror. There it was on my back left shoulder. I felt ice shoot up my spine.

"I'm just a little clumsy and ditsy! Just being stupid little old me again!" I pick up the skirt and go back to the changing room. This time, I went into something that covered me a little more and hid everything that I wasn't ready to reveal. When I came out, I knew my smile was less enthusiastic and I had lost my spark. I looked at myself, and it was just like I had always dreamed I would look like as a kid if I ever got married. That's when my mood really changed and I just started to whimper and cry. Q was quick to be at my side as I fell to my knees and wept.

"Hey, hey, hey it's okay." He held my hand in his and spoke in a hushed tone as he knelt by me.

"No. It's not. It hasn't been for a while." My mascara was running when I looked up at myself in the mirror. I looked around to see if anyone was there. No one was.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's the dress."

"What about it? I think you look good in it if that means anything." I chuckle. Sweet even when I look like a disgusting disaster.

"It's not that. It's just, i've always dreamed of this. Any kid does, especially me. Dressed up in a gorgeous dress of their dreams for their wedding. Smiling when you find the one and the dress. I've dreamt about it ever since I heard my boyfriend say 'I love you' to me. I want to get married but I feel that dream slipping away. He says he loves me, but I'm nothing but a punching bag, a burden, inconsiderate, imperfect, unlovable. Nothing I do is right or enough. I loved him, but I just can't find anything good in him anymore and I can't live like this anymore." The tears fall fast and heavy down my face and onto the carpet of the room. Q doesn't do anything but listen, "I want to leave, but I have nowhere to go. No one that cares. I moved here for work and away from each and every one of my support systems that I had. He said it'd be a new start but it feels like a trap now. I'm scared and I'm alone. I have no one that loves me."

"I don't know what to say to make this any better but I can tell you this for certain: you are not alone in this. He doesn't deserve you. He's stooped to the lowest of the low and is the scum of the earth. A royal piece of shit. I want to help you and I want to get you out of there." My head whips to him and our eyes connect and the tears temporarily stop.

"What do you mean?"

"You have your own bank account right? You know where all your important stuff is right? Do you have a suitcase to pack essentials?"

"Yes. But Q, and I mean this in the nicest way, what the fuck?" It felt like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Hope.

"You say you have no support system, well i'm it now. So are the rest of the guys whether they like it or not really. I'm hatching a plan. Are you in or out?" Everything felt sudden and so fast, my mind was racing and so was my heart. This was my chance, my opportunity, my sign that I've been begging for.

"I'm in."

"Perfect."

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

I stood in front of the mirror brushing my teeth and I watched him climb into bed in the reflection. I look back to myself.

'Am I ready for this? Is this really what I want?' Second thoughts bloomed in my mind as my eyes kept wandering off to him. This is gonna break him and I almost felt kind of bad for it. I spit the minty foam and rinse my mouth. No more doubts for myself. This is it. I climb into bed and just lay there on my back for a while as I felt the bed shift on occasion as he settled in for the night.

After what felt like an eternity but was only half an hour, I knew he was dead asleep. I snuck out of my bed and gathered all of my important belongings. Special papers like my social security card, passport, etcetera. Quietly pulled out my suitcase and stuffed it to the gills with all my clothes and other little trinkets like jewelry and knick knacks. Once I was all quietly packed, I left it by the front door and sent a quick text to Q that our plan was in motion.

I stepped back into the bedroom to see him unshifted and unbothered. I wish he had been like this all the time. I at least wanted to have the decency to officially split us. I scribbled out a messy letter that I left on the kitchen counter as I heard a car come to a stop on the quiet streets. A peek outside the curtain revealed a red jeep waiting outside. My heart fluttered. I looked around at my surroundings one last time, taking in the last drops of memories both good and bad. With a deep breath I snuck out the front door. Q helped throw my suitcase into the trunk and gave me a hug and I began to cry.

"Honey?" I hear a strained tired voice that wasn't Q's. We both looked to see him standing in the doorway rubbing the sleep from his eyes and to see if what he was seeing was correct. My heart sunk. "Are you kidding me? Cheating on me? You've got to be fucking kidding me." He started to approach and Q shoved me into the passenger seat and guarded the door like a dog, standing tall. I could hear it all beyond the window.

"She's been nothing but loyal to you I can promise you that, maybe a little too loyal for scum like you."

"What do you know about us? Who the fuck are you anyway?" They both stood chest to chest and I was terrified of what was to come next. The fear of not knowing what will happen and being terrified at the idea of the worst thing happening left me trembling and silently crying.

"I know enough. Now step off."

"That's MY girlfriend. Fuck off tough guy." He pushes Q's chest and he stumbles back into the car but quickly regains balance. His fist reels back and I seal my eyes shut not wanting to see anything. When I opened them back up, he was on the floor holding his nose.

"If you know what's good for ya, you'll get your ass back inside and leave her the fuck alone." He begrudgingly gets up, stands there for a moment, looks to me with a glare, and backs away inside. Q adjusts himself and steps into the car.

"Are you okay?" Once again, I'm tearing up and grew to be a mess.

"You're so worried about me. I'm okay but are YOU okay?" I say with a smile.

"Well I just set that dick straight I think, and I'll be having you staying in my guest room. I think I'm doing pretty great." He says with a chuckle as he sets the vehicle in motion, "Now, let's get you to your new place of residency."

"At least until I can find a place for myself."

"Of course, but know: You're welcome to stay as long as you need. All I ask is for occasional help around the house."

"Of course. It would be incredibly rude if I just made a mess of the space you're so graciously sharing with me." We sat in the quiet of the car, adrenaline crash kicking into my system and my eyes grew heavy. "Hey. Thanks by the way."

"That's not an easy situation. It's hard to do alone. The fact that I could help you makes me happier than you know. You deserve to feel safe and loved and feel real love." I smile and he does too.

#brian quinn #q #brian quinn x reader #q x reader #angst #suki writes

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coza-main · 3 years

Text

The Turning Point

Words: 2,578

Warnings: Slight angst, other than that none

Summary: The princess and Link get lost in a white-out blizzard, only to find shelter in a cave. Can Link use this time to prove that he is not her enemy, or will he only push her further away?

---

Link should’ve spoken up when he had the chance. He had known their party wouldn’t make it back to Rito Village before the storm hit, even with the shortcut. They had been out in the wilderness conducting research for days and everyone was eager to get back to the village, so they chose to ignore the warning signs. He wanted to speak up, tell the others that they should make camp and wait until the snow stopped falling, but he hadn’t been able to find his voice at the time. And now they were all paying for his weakness.

He was alone with the princess, silently working on starting a fire while she sat close by. Link didn’t need to look at her to know how bleak their situation was. She was practically folded in on herself, shivering from the cold. They had been lost in the white-out blizzard for at least an hour before finding the cave they were in now. His hands couldn’t seem to strike the flint correctly to start the spark. If he couldn't start a fire soon, they would definitely be dead by morning. Hypothermia would set in and they would both freeze to death before anyone could come find th-

“Could I try?”. The princess’s hoarse voice startled Link out of his thoughts. She hadn’t spoken to him since they had gotten inside the cave, though that wasn’t unusual. She only spoke directly to him when she absolutely had to, and never in a very friendly manner. He silently handed over the flint, which she took with a bleak smile. After 3 strikes, there were soft embers glowing in at the bottom of their small wood pile.

Link quickly got close to fan the embers, and soon the flames sprung up, casting shadows along the icy cave walls. Both of them moved closer to the fire, relishing in the heat they hadn’t had for so long. The silence between them was deafening, only broken up by the soft crackles of the wood being burned away.

---

By the time he was warm enough to move, the princess had fallen asleep. Link pulled out a small pot and began to walk towards the entrance of the cave. The princess may have dozed off, but they were going to need food soon. He collected snow and set the pot over the fire, continuing to add more snow as it continued to melt over the flames until the pot was full.

Once he finished, Link grabbed his sword and ventured outside once again. The visibility was still nonexistent, but he needed to find more wood or they wouldn't outlive the blizzard. He ran his gloved hand along the outside wall of the cave and stuck his sword arm out in the other direction. Walking blindly, he relied solely on his other senses, counting each step he took away from the cave entrance. If he was lucky, there would be a tree close to the cave and he wouldn’t have to venture far.

Link only had to walk a few meters before he felt something hit his sword. Hylia seemed to be smiling upon him, even after all she had put him through today. It was almost as if the goddess herself was calling his name in the wind gusts, giving him the strength he thought had been depleted. He wasn’t entirely sure how well a sword would hold up in place of an ax, but he managed to get a decent amount of firewood before heading back into the safety of the cave.

---

As Link regained his sight back in the cave, he noticed two things: the princess was awake, and she seemed to be crying. He instinctively dropped the wood he collected to rush to her side, startling her in the process. As she caught sight of him, grief quickly changed into relief, and then to anger, which managed to stop him dead in his tracks. Her emotions were always so easy to read, it was one of his favorite things about her. Hylia, he wished that he could wear his emotions as clearly as she wore hers.

“Where have you been?!?” She shouted, wiping angrily at her tear-filled eyes. Her voice rang through the icy cave. “I woke up and you were gone! What kind of knight leaves the person they’re supposed to be guarding without any sort of notice? What was so important that you couldn’t wait until I woke up?”

Dumbfounded by her outburst, Link simply looked down at the firewood he had collected. He wanted to apologize for scaring her, for leaving her alone, but apparently she wasn’t done.

“Firewood? You left me alone for firewood?” She had risen from her spot and was now marching towards him. “What if there had been a bear or something in here? I was vulnerable sleeping! You could have at least woken me up and told me where you were going!” Now that she was closer, Link saw that the princesses’ face wasn’t contorted in anger. She was scared. Her voice was quieter the next time she spoke. “I was calling for you. I thought you left me.”

Link’s heart ached. He knew the trials and adversity the princess had overcome. He wanted to reach out, to comfort her. But he didn’t know how to. The words wouldn’t come to him. The princess stared at him for a few seconds, and then bent down to gather up the rest of the firewood.

---

They didn’t have much. The carrots, Hyrule herbs, a few chillshrooms, and some bits of dried meat from Link’s pack were all thrown into the pot to boil into a soup. Link silently poured out the soup into two bowls, and handed one to Zelda. It wasn’t much, but it was edible, and left them both feeling rather warm inside. The cold air seemed to be a little less frigid once they were finished.

“I would never leave you.” Link said softly as he packed up the equipment. He knew he wasn’t the best with words, but he was feeling extra courageous. They had survived the day. She needed to know he was someone she could count on. But still, his cheeks were burning, and the princesses’ silence wasn’t helping. Once everything was packed up, he finally had summoned the courage to look at her again.

Wide, green eyes were focused on him, her mouth slightly agape. Was she in shock? Had he really said something so out of place that it warranted that reaction? What more did she want, an apology? It was better to be safe than sorry. “Your Highness, I’m-”

“That’s the first time you’ve spoken to me.” She blurted out over him. Link could feel his cheeks warming again, and was thankful for the cold to blame. “That’s the first time ever.”

Link shook his head. There was no way that she was right in that statement. He didn’t speak often, but he still had a voice that he used when it was warranted. “I’ve definitely spoken around you before, princess.”

Zelda laughed dryly. “You’ve spoken around me before-rarely, I might add-but you’ve never spoken to me. Not directly, at least.”

Link found himself dumbfounded once again. He had always assumed the princess didn’t want to talk to him, so he never made an effort. She was intimidating, and was one of the few people he didn’t want to be on the bad side of. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Was he supposed to apologize? Ask for forgiveness? Was it even a big deal that he had never spoken to her before? Knights don't speak to princesses unless they were explicitly told to. The fact that he was the chosen hero and her personal guard didn’t change his status as a knight, did it?

“Do you have a torch? I want to look around.” She was scanning the walls covered in ice. The cavern looked like it had been untouched for centuries, there was no trace of animals or Hylians inside. He could tell she was anticipating him to shoot her down. “We won’t go far, I just want to see a little further back.”

Link located the torch he had in his pack and lit it from the flames, before doing it again with another torch and handing it off. They walked in silence, with Link listening for any sign of life, the princess looking for anything interesting.

---

Link was the first to break the silence, more out of curiosity than awkwardness. “Your Highness, what exactly are you looking for?”

“It’s a long shot, but I read some research a few months ago about these rumored skeletons. They’re supposed to be as big as houses, Link! The research itself was from years ago, but I was hoping to find the skeletons. One is supposed to be in the Hebra mountains, far from civilization. They called it a leviathan in their research, but I wonder what the actual name was?” The princess continued to ramble on about the possibilities and ramifications of a creature of that caliber existing. Link listened to her endearingly, smiling to himself. She always got off on some kind of tangent whenever scientific theories were involved. Her voice bounced off the walls, creating its own symphony with her as the star. Link was so distracted by the music it took him a few seconds to realize the princess had stopped talking.

His eyes found her quickly. “You probably think I’m a disgrace. I have yet to awaken my sealing power and I’m in the Hebra Mountains looking for a skeleton for fun. I-”

“I don’t think you’re a disgrace,” Link interrupted. The princess whipped around and stared at him as he quickly continued. “You’ve tried your hardest up until this point, and there’s not much more we can do until you turn 17 and we can go to the Spring of Wisdom. It’s not that the sealing power isn’t manifesting because you aren’t trying hard enough. Also, you’re allowed to enjoy things in life, princess, even if it is searching for a skeleton that might not exist.”

The princess looked like she wanted to say something, but Link rushed on. “Besides, I know you’ve been praying to Hylia every morning and night that we’ve been on this expedition. Even when you’re supposed to be taking a break, you don’t. I admire your determination and willpower more than you know.”

Now that he was done talking, Link felt as if he had overstepped his boundaries. He couldn’t stop himself from blurting all of that out. All of his feelings and emotions were bubbling to the surface now that they were alone and being vulnerable with each other. He needed her to know that her effort wasn’t going unnoticed or unappreciated. He needed her to know that she was important to somebody.

The princess was unusually quiet for a while after that. Link wanted to say more, but he also wanted to give her space. He had overstepped once, it wasn’t wise to do it a second time in such a short time span. He followed behind her silently, searching the cavern for anything interesting that might catch the attention of the princess while listening for any movement beyond the two of them.

“Link-” the princess gasped, and Link drew his sword as he turned back towards her. She was frozen, holding her torch up as far as she could. He could see a faint outline of bone illuminated by the torch light. “It’s here. It’s actually here!”

Seeing that she was in no danger, Link sheathed his sword and walked towards the skeleton himself. Without a word, he stood near her to allow her visibility range to widen as much as possible. With both of their torches, they could just see the top of the skeleton. She hadn’t been lying, the leviathan was easily twice as big as his family home in Hateno.

“I can’t believe we found it. We found it, Link!” The princesses’ eyes shone and her smile widened. It has been a long time since that smile, her genuine smile, came to light. Link had forgotten how contagious it was, and found a smile dancing across his lips as he watched her.

It was like watching a child on the playground. She ran from bone to bone, using her arms to measure the width of each one. For the ones she couldn’t wrap her arms around completely, she had Link assist her. She measured each one, accompanied with pictures of every angle with the Sheikah Slate. She finally got to the back of the beast, and stared up at it. It was clear she wanted to try to climb to the top, but had no way of knowing where to start.

“Do you want to try to climb it, princess?” Link asked, Believing he already knew the answer. He started scaling the bones before the princess even answered his question.

“Link!” She cried desperately. “Be careful! They might break.”

He hadn’t thought of that. He quickly climbed back down. “Sorry, Your Highness,” he mumbled, fully embarrassed. “I didn’t think about that.”

The laugh that escaped her lips was light and teasing. “You never think,” she said in between breaths. She was wiping at her eyes again, tears of joy instead of sorrow. “That’s why we’re down here exploring this creepy cave and not sitting by the fire. That’s why we found the leviathan.”

The princess waited a while before speaking again.

“We probably should go back now,” she admitted.

“Probably.”

---

Back at the fire, their adrenaline wearing off, the princess and her knight seemed to realize how tired they both had become.

“You need sleep, princess.” It wasn’t a request. Link wanted her to rest after the long day they had.

“You need sleep too, sir knight.” Her tone mocked him, and he wondered if he had done something to offend her. “You can call me Zelda, you know.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Zelda.” Her name felt good on his lips. It sounded sweet to her ears.

“We should both sleep,” Zelda said. “Nothing is going to bother us in this cave. I’m sure Hylia will protect her chosen ones if there is.” She sounded sarcastic and bitter, but Link wasn’t sure if he was misinterpreting her tone.

They both laid down next to the fire, their heads near one another. Link stared at the flames, entrancing him dangerously close to sleep.

“You know, if you can find a mythical leviathan that isn’t supposed to exist, I think you’ll be able to conquer your sealing power as well.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” She didn’t need to say anything further, they both knew what she was thinking.

“You deserve to have someone on your side, Zelda.” And he was on her side, wholeheartedly. With that, they both fell asleep quickly, unsure of what the next day would bring.

By the next day, the winds had shifted. The sun was out, and they could continue their journey to Rito Village. As they walked out of the mouth of the cave, Zelda turned back to it. “Goodbye, cave.” Link noticed that she almost sounded disappointed to leave it behind. With a sigh, she turned back to him and they set out to Rito Village once again.

One hundred years later, the cave felt so much colder without her next to him.

#legend of zelda #breath of the wild #zelda #link #zelink #i guess?? not really theyre just bonding #matchamago original

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beetlelands · 3 years

Text

okay hey besties!!! im gonna post some of my drafts. this draft was simply titled “say uncle” and is from december 2019. it's the one i mentioned about beetlejuice being lydia's uncle, but i bet you could've guessed that.

“Lydia! Can you get the door?” Delia called out from the kitchen. The teen girl groaned dramatically in response from her spot on the couch. “Please?” Her stepmom-to-be shouted.

Lydia rolled her eyes but heaved herself off the couch. She lazily walked over to the front door, which had been loudly knocked on just moments ago.

“If I get killed, it’s all your fault.” Lydia cheerfully announced towards the kitchen before turning to open the door. Upon opening the door, Lydia’s jaw dropped.

There stood her uncle- Lawrence Betelgeuse “Beetlejuice” Shoggoth. The bastard himself.

Her shock quickly wore off into anger. She slammed the door in his face, but he simply knocked again. She took a deep breath before opening the door once more.

“Why are you here?” She spat, crossing her arms.

“C’mon didn’t you miss me?” He smiled, holding his arms out for a hug.

Lydia rolled her eyes, going to close the door again. Her uncle scrambled to keep the door from closing, pushing it open.

“What do you want?” She hissed, eyes narrowed at the man.

“Lucy, I’ve got some ’splaining to do.” He joked yet his tone was somber.

Lydia sighed but opened the door wide enough for him to enter. She walked to the couch, leaving him at the open door. He caught on and closed the door behind him as he followed her to the couch.

She sat down on one end and he on the other. Lydia was sat cross legged, looking at him expectantly.

“You have every right to be mad at me.” He started, but was interrupted.

“I had to show up to the funeral despite wanting to mourn alone in peace, so why couldn’t you show up to your own sister’s funeral? Dude, even Juno called to give her condolences. Juno for hell’s sake!” Venom laced her words, her pent up anger bubbling over. “So yeah, I have every right to be mad at you.”

“I know that was extremely shitty for me to do, and I do not expect you to forgive me. All I can ask is that you hear me out.” He sighed. “When I heard that Emily was getting sick, I drove myself insane trying to find someone- anyone- to help her. But that just got me in way too deep with some terrible people. I was so obsessed with wanting to cure my sister that I missed her death and her funeral.” He dragged a hand down his face. “I can’t go back in time. I can’t get back that time I should’ve spent by her side through it all. I can’t get back the time I should’ve spent with you and your father- grieving with you.” He sniffled, looking down. Lydia was rendered speechless by the tears threatening to spill from her uncle’s eyes. He hastily rubbed at his eyes, as if embarrassed by his emotions.

“I don’t want to forgive you,” She started quietly, “but I don’t want to hate you forever.”

“Well that’s a good start.” He smiled a little, earning an eye roll from the girl. “You don’t have to forgive me anytime soon, but please don’t shut me out. I wasn’t there when I should’ve been, but I’m here now. I’m here for you, for Charles- for the only family I have left.”

Lydia had never seen her uncle be so open and emotional. Sure, he was occasionally too open, but that was about his wild journeys and not his feelings. The man could recall his near death experiences in gory detail without batting an eye, but here he was choking up as he apologized to his niece.

The girl hadn’t noticed her own tears brimming in her eyes until he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Lydia looked up at him, and his heart ached from the time he missed.

Wordlessly, she fell into his arms and let out a quiet sob. He rubbed circles in her back, hoping to provide a further sense of comfort for the girl. Her breathing slowly evened out.

Charles walked into the room after being told by Delia that someone had knocked on the door. He had full intent to ask Lydia who was at the door, but was stopped in his tracks as he noticed the man- his brother in law. His initial glare at the man softened as he noticed him holding his daughter. Beetlejuice gave Charles an awkward smile, which he didn’t return.

He gave Lydia a small pat on the back before quietly talking to her. “Your old man’s here.”

She tensed before sitting up. She turned her head to look at Charles. “Hey dad… Uncle Beej is here.”

“I’m aware, Lydia.” He sighed, walking over to the couch. “Can you give us a moment?” His daughter nodded hesitantly before leaving. Charles sat down, taking Lydia’s place on the couch.

“Okay Chuck, I know I’ve got a lot of explaining to do-“

“The hell you do. You just up and leave without another word when your sister gets sick. No one had any contact with you.” He clenched his fist. “When Emily was on her deathbed, she asked for you. Asked where you were. And I couldn’t give her an answer because I didn’t know where the hell you were!”

Beetlejuice placed his head in his hands. “I’m the worst. I know. I’m a terrible person, but more so a terrible brother.” He looked up at Charles. “I’m not going to sit here and play the sympathy card- telling you how fucking depressed I’ve been for the past few months because of how absolutely shit I am as a person.” He evened out his breathing. “I don’t expect you to forgive me for my absence. I should’ve been here and I know I should’ve been. I should’ve been there for Emily and for you and Lydia. I should’ve fucking been there.” He seethed, angry with himself.

“Can I just ask- why? Why weren’t you there? And why are you here now?”

“When Emily told me she was sick, I lost it. You know the old conspiracy theory of the government hiding a cure for cancer and other big illnesses like that?” Hesitantly, Charles nodded. “Well I heard about these guys who were selling that kind of shit- real black market level business going on. But I was stupidly determined to get a cure. I got into some deep, deep shit that I will not be sharing for your own safety. Point is, I became so obsessed with trying to heal Emily that I pushed her away. In turn, I pushed you and Lydia away. And for that I’m sorry.” He sniffled. “I’m so fucking sorry.” His voice cracked with his anger and sincerity.

Charles was somewhat shocked by the man’s apology and how he didn’t seem to have an ulterior motive. He was just… sorry.

“I’m here now to make up for my mistakes. I know I can’t get back that time. But I’m here for you and Lydia, and wanted to apologize for not being here when it really counted.”

“Lawrence, you messed up. Badly.” Charles paused, sighing. “But your heart was in the right place. Hell, even just coming here and apologizing shows me how you’ve grown.”

“I don’t expect you to forgive me, but-“

“I do.”

“I just- wait what?”

“I forgive you Lawrence.”

“Oh wow okay- I was not expecting that.”

“You meant well, and I know Emily wouldn’t want me to be mad at you forever.” Charles shrugged.

“Chuck I really want to hug you right now.”

With a laugh and a roll of his eyes, the taller man opened his arms to his brother in law, who launched into them. The two men embraced for a little bit before Charles tapped Beetlejuice’s back twice and he let go.

“I hope Lydia forgives me soon.”

“Was that not what that hug was about?”

“Eh not really. But she did say that she doesn’t want to be mad at me forever.”

“She’ll come around when she’s ready. She just recently came to terms with Emily’s death- not that it was an easy thing to do because trust me it wasn’t- but she’s mending and growing.” The man could’ve rolled his eyes at how much he sounded like Delia.

Beetlejuice nodded in understanding. He wanted Lydia to know he would be there for her, but would keep his distance if she wanted him to.

Time skip because I’m a delinquent

Beetlejuice made routine visits to the Deetz house. He didn’t know many other people in Winter River, and didn’t care to create connections in the small town. The only thing keeping him there was his family. When he wasn’t at the Deetz’s house, he was hiding out in the local motel. Sure, he would go out and explore every now and then, but he had no real drive to go out. Beetlejuice had gotten into the habit of laying low and was comfortable with the lifestyle. Plus, it’s not like he could go on with business as usual. He may have gotten out of everything, but that didn’t make him any less of a target than he was before. However, that doesn’t matter, as the man was more than content to lay low.

During one of Beetlejuice’s routine visits to the Deetz house, Lydia brought him to the roof. There they sat and talked for what felt like hours. She asked him about her mother, asking for stories of her. He smiled softly, a hint of sadness in his eyes, and launched into the story of Emily teaching him how to ride a bike. He kept to the lighthearted stories, despite the bittersweet taste they left in his mouth.

In between stories, Lydia spoke. Her words were quiet but meaningful. “I forgive you” she said simply, looking to her uncle for his reaction.

Beetlejuice smiled at the girl. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“I think I’m starting to.” She mirrored his smile. “Can you tell me just one more story?”

“Sure, kid.” He thought for a second before beginning another story, this one about the time they had secretly taken in a stray cat. It had to remain a secret as Juno did not approve of having pets.

He was describing their convoluted plan to keep the cat hidden from Juno when a car pulled into the neighbor’s driveway. He and Lydia both seemed to have been distracted by the vehicle. The girl waved at the man who got out of the car and he waved back- he also waved at Beej despite not knowing who he was. But Beej returned the wave out of general hospitality.

“Is Barbara home?” Lydia called to the man.

“Yeah.” He checked his watch. “She should just about be done with dinner if you want to ask Charles if you can come over.”

At that Beetlejuice’s brows furrowed. Why would a grown man invite a teenager to his house. Not that the bespectacled, plaid shirt and khaki wearing man seemed dangerous. But that didn’t make it less weird. Okay he did say to ask Charles, but unless Barbara was his teenage daughter he didn’t see any reason for Lydia to go to his house.

“Oh yes! I could definitely do without Delia’s cooking tonight.”

“She’s getting better, Lydia.” He said sincerely, almost reprimanding the teen for her comment.

“Yeah true. I’d rather (idk man some vegan food) than banana-carrot surprise.” She made a disgusted face at the memory of the casserole type dish.

“See!” The man laughed a little.

“I’ll be over in a few!”

“Would you like to bring your guest?” He asked, finally addressing Beetlejuice.

She turned to her uncle, “Wanna go?”

“Sure.” He shrugged, a protectiveness tightening his chest. He knew the man meant no harm, yet his ‘trust no one’ motto was strongly built into his mindset.

Lydia excitedly threw a thumbs up towards the man on the ground. “He’s coming with me.”

“Okay, I’ll see you two in a few.” The man smiled before heading inside.

Beetlejuice fully turned to Lydia, “Who was that?”

“Adam Maitland. He’s kinda been like a second father to me. Not that dad isn’t great, it’s just- when mom died we grew distant. Dad wanted to soldier up, and keep moving. I don’t blame him, but at the time it was hard. I was still mourning while he seemed to have moved on.” She twisted her hands together. “One day I did something I’d rather not talk about. And well, Adam and Barbara were there for me. I was sad a-and angry and scared and confused, but they just sat with me. They listened when I talked, they held me when I cried.” She shivered at the memory. “Adam and Barbara became second parents to me.”

Ah so Barbara was not his teenage daughter, but perhaps his wife.

“Well now I’m excited to meet them.” Beej smiled, standing up. He offered his hand to his niece and she grabbed it. He pulled her up effortlessly, yet still groaned as if she was super heavy. The two shared a laugh at his antics as they headed inside the house.

Unsurprisingly, Charles said yes to Lydia (and Beej) going to the Maitland’s house. So that’s where they headed.

Lydia knocked on the door, which was soon opened by the man from before. Adam.

Seeing him up close made Beetlejuice realize that he was… attractive? No, that’s inappropriate. The man has a wife, Beej reminded himself as he shook his hand and introduced himself.

They made it to the dining room, where Barbara emerged from the kitchen with a pan of lasagna. The woman was breathtaking, but Beetlejuice relented the thought.

She placed it in the middle of the table and took a seat. Adam sat next to her. Lydia sat across from Adam, leaving Beetlejuice to sit across from Barbara.

“Hi I’m Barbara Maitland.” She smiled, offering her hand as Adam began serving the food.

He shook her hand, “I’m Lydia’s uncle Lawrence, but you can call me Beetlejuice- or some variation of it. Everyone does.” He shrugged.

“Beetlejuice?” She raised an eyebrow, just as her husband had done,

“Like the constellation Betelgeuse, but most people just spell it phonetically. It’s uh- it’s my middle name.”

“That’s very interesting.” She smiled, tone sincere.

“How much would you like, Beetlejuice?�� Adam asked, spatula over the pan in an estimated size.

“That much is fine.” He smiled, moving his plate toward the pan. Adam swiftly placed the lasagna on his plate before dishing some out to Barbara.

The group ate quietly for a while. Toward the end of their meal, Barbara spoke up.

“How was your day, Lydia?”

The girl looked up from her plate and to the woman. “It was pretty good- but it’s even better now.”

“Because you’re not eating Delia’s cooking?” The woman asked with a laugh.

“Bingo.” Lydia smiled.

“You’ve got to ease up on her, Lyds. You and I both know she’s trying and improving.”

“Yeah yeah.”

“I’ve actually been gathering vegan recipes for her, making her a personalized cookbook. Adam and I have tried out most of the recipes, and I think you’ll like them.”

“Well here’s hoping.” The girl smiled a bit, finishing up her lasagna.

Beetlejuice admired how the woman was going out of her way to help improve Delia’s cooking. Which will in turn help Lydia, who often complains about the woman’s food and asks her uncle to bring her something else to eat.

The group continued with the small talk and soon enough Lydia and Beetlejuice were walking out the door. They had been invited to stay longer, but Beej didn’t want to intrude and Lydia decided to just go along with her uncle.

But that certainly wasn’t the last time the duo would be visiting the Maitlands.

It had been a few weeks since Beej first went to the Maitlands house with Lydia. And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t think they were attractive. However, Beetlejuice wasn’t that daft. He knew they were married and knew not to impose. Sure, he once had a threesome with a married couple back in New York but that wouldn’t be happening here. Not only were Adam and Barbara clearly not the type for that kind of thing, but they were also far too close to Lydia for him to even begin considering acting on his attraction. Which was strictly that- attraction. No feelings- no strings attached. Just basic, hormonal attraction.

Beetlejuice shook the thought from his head, buttoning the last button of his shirt. He grabbed his coat and slung it over his shoulder before leaving to go to the Deetz’s house.

He was walking up the driveway when he was greeted by the neighbors. Adam held a pair of garden scissors in one hand, the other waving at the other man. Beetlejuice waved back. Barbara smiled at the man and called out a hello. He returned the

and hey? that’s where it ends. very abrupt ik, but that’s where past me stopped

#straight up didn't edit this #long post #draft #not quite a work in progress bc there’s no way i’m gonna finish it #a work out of progress #i suppose???#breaking the fourth wall #beetlejuice fanfiction #beetlejuice #lydia deetz #charles deetz #barbara maitland #adam maitland #beetlelands #kinda

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