#i'm sorry. for everything. so much i can't write.. but everything's crammed in my head or smth. but i'll be fine i'm fine

[mydearneteyam]

Hi! I was wondering if you’re still taking requests if so i was wondering if you could do a oneshot of so’lek x na’vi fem reader who is a warrior but is told not fight by medics and even so’lek at the resistance since she has chronic back pain but downplays it and acts as if it doesn’t affect her.

Like for example she goes on her own to fight rda despite what the medics say and comes back limping around as if nothing happened

I hope you understood that and sorry if its too long. I wanted to request this cuz i really like your writing so id really appreciate you if you make it, if you dont its totally fine.

A WARRIOR WHO CAN'T FIGHT ;; SO'LEK

summary ;; a warrior's stubborn behavior may change over time. or maybe not.

pairings ;; so'lek x fem!na'vi!reader

warnings ;; mentions of war, body pain, insecurities.

word count ;; 2.3k

word of the day ;; nawkx [nawk’] n. bone helm rhino

You cut the rope with your teeth, spit some of it out as you finished knotting and securing the basket you had accidentally broken earlier. You knew you were taking your time, but if you wanted your lie to stand, you had to try your best.

You stretched your body forward a bit more, almost crashing your chest into the ground to finish tidying everything up and gave a sharp inhale to stand up, feeling the sharp pain spread through your lower back, as it always did every time you had a sudden movement.

"And now…" with your foot, you lifted the fruits into the air so the basket could pick them up and once you were ready, you turned your attention to the path you'd had memorized forever. You were coming that way, you were going back that way. "On your way" you spoke to yourself, smiling.

Yes, there was a little blood on your clothes, but it wasn't yours, so your concern was minimal. You didn't abandon your big smile, even when, upon arriving at the headquarters, some humans already seemed to be waiting for you outside, with grimaces of obvious annoyance.

"You know what we told you! Are you even listening to us now?" one of them asked, but you swung your leg over his head, humming one of your clan's songs, disinterested. The tingling was present again, but as you threw your trunk forward, it stopped after a few seconds.

"Mother who brings us honor and life…" you continued to sing, putting the food aside and obviously ignoring the doctors at your back. Ha, funny. "Guiding our hearts through every strife..."

"It's not funny!" shouted your name this time one of the girls. "Do you think your life is just a game? You said you were going fruit picking and look at you!"

You analyzed yourself from head to toe, cocking your head to the side.

"Yes… and I brought fruit." You showed the basket, crammed with several, brightly colored and some not so much. "Finding a campsite a couple of minutes away wasn't something I expected either, but hey…" you laughed, tousling her hair. "That's on you guys for not letting me know it was so close. Maybe if you had told me, I would have given more thought to…going and helping out at all" even though you said those words, it was a lie. And you knew it. Everyone knew it.

Please, a Na'vi who would not want to go and put her life in danger knowing that her condition was thanks to the humans still in the land where she was born? It was impossible, you smiled, running your tongue over your teeth and pausing on your canines, with visible annoyance.

"You know you're not allowed to leave, everyone here has told you that. Even the warriors" she continued speaking, with concern and weariness in her voice. You had identified it for quite some time.

"I'm glad you have a good memory." you commented, pulling out a fruit and leaving your now arrowless bow in a corner. Although you looked at it from time to time, last time, they tried to hide it. "But I'm also sure you remember… that I'm an adult and I do what I do because I have to help my people…" your voice, as always, although understanding, was mocking. Maybe because the people who now cared for you annoyed you a little, always on you, as if they were your parents, as if it wasn't their own kind's fault that you had problems that now wouldn't allow you to fight.

"That's enough" you saw So'lek, just coming out of healings. You laughed a little to yourself, of course, just what you needed. Send the best warrior to talk to his own race. You ate some fruit, walking away from the place, grabbing your bow again and hissed at the pain in your back that bending over just a bit generated.

"Yeah, I think that was enough time off" you spoke between grunts. So'lek's scent reminded you of what you couldn't be and being in the same space as him complicated you. You didn't hate him, but you envied his state. Healthy, free, not needing humans to follow him wherever he went because his back worked perfectly fine.

Everything you couldn't be.

...

"How are you feeling?" asked Dr. Alma, looking at you passively. You scoffed, but shrugged, not responding. "Anything new to add?" you denied. "Everything as usual?"

"As usual" you concluded, trying to stand up, but the wires attached to you stopped you, you only managed to move the machines with you and the woman's hand rested on your shoulders, seeking to reassure you.

"Okay, I understand that this situation is not to your liking, but it's the only way you can get back to being better. That's what you're looking for, isn't it? To go and fight? To go back to being a hunter? A warrior?" she sounded almost sweetly, as if it wasn't something that was repeated to you every day. You sighed, taking the wires off in one fell swoop, tossing them aside and groaned as you stood up from the gurney, this time taking a couple of steps away from her.

"Be somebody, Dr. I want to be somebody again" you clarified, feeling the obvious annoyance in your body. Whenever you had revisions, something always told you to get out of there, the discomfort, your intuition, your instincts. You didn't belong in a place full of numbers you didn't understand or complex words only understood between humans or puppets.

Walking through the halls, you couldn't help but feel that the stares were heavier than ever. More than every day. You were a warrior, they must have been afraid of you! Why were they looking at you with pity?

As you left that space, that steel cage, you felt the scent of nature, the flowers growing around you, the animals talking to each other, communicating with life.

You noticed a small fire on one side. So'lek was there, checking his songcord. He seemed alone. You sharpened your eyes, wondering if it would be a good idea to approach him.

Whenever you saw him, you thought about how different they were. He was a full-fledged warrior, the humans respected him enough not to talk to him too much and many of the na'vi warriors from other clans who came recognized him for what he was, a brave companion and brother who sacrificed day and night for mother earth, for his people, for all the fallen, for each of you. You could take months counting day by day all those he had saved, throwing himself into danger. Even there you were, several times he had done his best to save you from the humans. When your arrows ran out, when your back pain was the most unbearable and left you helpless.

It was him. And that pissed you off. Because you always owed your life for him, but you could never save him. Because you couldn't. Your body couldn't afford something so extreme. As if it were ceramic, as if it were glass. Like an article of clothing that could easily be cut or snagged on a branch. That's why it was best to keep it tucked away, hidden from anyone who could hurt it.

"I see you, So'lek" you greeted, extending your hand towards him and he, with a calm look, nodded, closing his eyes.

"I see you."

You sat down next to him, getting into a specific position that could avoid the sharp pain in your lower back, almost reaching your thighs. You hissed, settling in.

"I see the pains are still present. The humans have not been able to help you?" he asked politely. You denied, squeezing your eyes shut a little and no longer feeling anything, you gave a sigh.

"Not really. I don't think they can do anything for me." you admitted, watching the wood burn for a few seconds. On the other side, So'lek was still looking at you, in a way you couldn't quite identify. You didn't want to believe it was pity. He should see you as an equal, shouldn't he?

"In the morning… Why did you go to the camp?" you watched him settle in and could almost feel scolded. "You could have hurt yourself on the way there and you don't have weapons like theirs. It was stupid. Impulsive."

"Because I'm stupid… and impulsive. Like a Bone Helm Rhino" you smiled at the last. They tended to call you that. You were stubborn, too stubborn not to accept that going and shooting humans was suicide for you.

"Yes, I think I see the similarity" he nodded and you looked at him. He mimicked your action and you looked down, not out of embarrassment, but out of discomfort. You weren't used to being close to him and a conversation couldn't lead you to that. "A warrior who can't fight… almost like a fable of our people…" he commented and you looked at him again. This time, you didn't look away.

"I don't like that title. I prefer something more ostentatious, like 'wounded warrior who follows to the death'" you tried to take the weight off your troubles, but you saw him settle back, cocking his head to one side.

"Bone Helm Rhino it is, then."

"A good title…if I knew how to wear it right."

"'Foolish inflexibility and unyielding determination are two sides of the same coin, Warrior" he commented, slowly getting to his feet, handing you some arrows. "You choose what you want to prove. Take a chance, but be wise with your decisions. Do not allow yourself to die. Your people… we are waiting for you at the end of the day."

You preferred to believe that the warmth spreading through your body was because of the campfire and not because his words were something that made you feel good. And for the first time in a long time, a feeling passed over the tingling that spread from your back down. Peace.

You looked at the arrows in your hands and settled back, hugging your legs. The bonfire would be extinguished before long, but you decided to stay outside a while longer.

" Unyielding determination…" you whispered to yourself. The only witnesses to that were the night and the small insects flying around. "Yeah, I guess that doesn't suit me" you laughed a little, for every chuckle, a little strum in your lower back pulled the muscles around it.

"Not even a little bit".

...

"You're doing good. Now, raise your arm a little more" you felt his hand tilt your elbow up and took a couple of breaths to keep from thinking about the pain. "How do you feel?"

"Like my insides are going to explode, thanks for asking" you spoke in a slightly higher pitched tone of voice and saw the opposite nod.

"Yes, I was told you might feel that way" you knew he wouldn't do it in front of you, but you noticed how he held back a small smile and you raised an eyebrow, grimacing "Eyes front. Both eyes open. You know where you need to aim" he indicated and you nodded. "Good. Shoot" you slowly released your breath and pulled the trigger.

"Perfect. You didn't hit the target. I didn't expect you to" he took the gun for you though. "The Kame'tire Clan's meds are just trying to take effect on you after all."

"So this was all just to make fun of me?" you asked, still in a bit of pain, but slowly dissipating. You denied, emptying the magazines.

"For testing. See if you could handle the gun and its weight. At least this way you can be more protected if you keep sneaking off to RDA camps" he commented nonchalantly and you got a little self-conscious.

"You don't mind if I go?"

"It's not a question of whether I care or not. It's about your safety. As long as you're secure and alive, I think I have worse things to worry about" he admitted. You smiled a little and before he left - because these 'classes' were brief because of his missions - you took his wrist.

"Thank you, So'lek. For… making me feel like someone again."

He hesitated a bit to respond. Avoiding looking you in the eye.

"You've always been someone. The only one who thinks differently is you, Nawkx" he nodded slightly and you let go. "But I'm glad I brought you back to a good view of yourself."

You smiled to yourself and cocked your head to one side, watching him leave. This time, there was no campfire to evade your thoughts about him.

But it didn't bother you at all to deny it.

"Thinking of something?" you looked to the side of you, So'lek arranged one of the feathers dangling from your hair. You shook your head, smiling as you set the basket full of fruit down in the center of the table. "I hope you didn't go to fight humans again?" you feigned indignation, with a chuckle.

"Me? Fighting humans? How dare you…" you cut the root of one of the fruits with the blade "After all, there are almost none."

"Exactly, almost. You always manage to find them." he reminded you and you rolled your eyes, turning to hug him. "Don't think it'll work like the old days… I can smell your lies."

"Oh, silly me, thinking I could outwit my mate with a show of affection so I could go fight like the warrior I used to be" you faked your voice, throwing your head back and reaching past your back, So'lek's strong arms held you.

"The warrior who couldn't fight and did it anyway. A good tale to tell."

"Just telling. Living it is a bit boring" you snuggled into the space between his neck, purring a little. A dry chuckle came from his throat and he nodded.

"I can imagine, Ma Nawkx."

a/n ;; it took me forever!!! i'm really sorry if it wasn't exactly how it was asked and sorry if it wasn't to your liking! i hope that in the future you'll still like to ask for another request! honestly i like how it kinda turned because i struggled at first how to write it 😔😔 i was listening to 'harpy hare' by yaelokre while writing this btw anyways, i love y'all ¡!

[f-oighear]

For the ask game, how about 16 for Where The Heart Is, 17 for I'll Follow, 22, 25 and 26, 30 for the SAU ✨

Heyyy! Thanks for the ask! All about the Soulmate AU, huh... Obviously, spoilers for the entire AU under the cut. Also, it'll be a long post. I'm rambling quite a bit.

WTHI- 16. Talk about the fic’s biggest moment & how you came up with it It has to be the confession... That's the scene I wrote and rewrote the most in WTHI. I came up with it quite early in the AU iirc. I had it almost from the beginning— you can tell from the title drop and the callback to the first chapter...

I knew what I wanted Nozel to say, but I didn't want it to be perfect. So they had an absolutely awful date before to counterbalance everything fhdkkhfds. Also, I think that... had they had a good date, he probably wouldn't have said anything. I think that the fact that they got stuck in the rain and the date went horribly made Nozel think he had nothing to lose anymore. The birb was far too anxious to do anything right— he needed to lose some of that pressure. (I mean. Imagine you have one person. only one. you can truly connect to. andyou have a Nozel mentality which is if I fail once the world will end. ofc you'd be beyond stressed). So, I needed this extra element as a push for him to make a move. As we know, that worked splendidly!

What else can I say about the confession... It was first written in Nozel's point of view (which is why there's a sudden shift in the pov at the belvedere), but then I thought. We already know what's inside the birb's head. We don't need to know more. And so, I wanted to have Vanessa's reaction to it.

IFW- 17. Talk about the fic’s ending. Why did you end it where you did? I suddenly can't remember how I'll Follow ends. Sorry. Okay. Reread the last chapter and how could I forget! I love that scene!

I'll Follow is probably the gloomiest part. There are very few happy moments and even the happy moments we get are tainted and most of them are more... bittersweet than anything. It's quite heavy (and god knows it was heavy to write...). So I wanted to end on a good, refreshing note... A party! I thought that New Year was the best moment to do so. (which is why the events at the end of I'll Follow are all crammed so tightly in so little time— I wanted that symbolism). Let's be honest, everyone involved in this Soulmate mess has just had the worst year hgjfhkjdg. It was time to start anew and let go of the past year's difficulties.

A small detail about the very last scene because it still makes me smile every time I read it. Nozel says that the bottle is half full. Not half empty. Half full. That means everything to me.

SAU- 22. What is something you learned about yourself as a writer from the experience? That I cannot be trusted when it comes to how I feel about my writing fjdjsld. There was a point when I was publishing chapters because I had to and I, uh, hated them haha. I had spent too much time editing and doubting. I probably should've taken a break back then but oh well.

So now, I try to yeet the fics in the wild even if I'm not 100% satisfied with them and remember how much fun I had when I was plotting and writing the first draft.

SAU- 25. Share your favorite line Favorite line in the entire AU? That's tough! I' happen to have been rereading've reread the beginning of Your World lately and I had completely forgotten this bit that made me laugh out loud, so here it is:

True, the night before had been, for Zora, the first time he ever celebrated Vanessa’s birthday [...], but he [...] had collected insights; these parties were ‘something’ (Finral’s word), ‘useless’ (Gauche’s word), ‘fun’ (Luck’s word), ‘a blur’ (Magna’s words), ‘never again’ (Noelle’s words), ‘embarrassing’ (Grey’s word, although Zora learned nothing from that intel) and ‘hell’ (Nero’s word, although she had participated as a bird so Zora wasn’t sure what that meant). So, Zora thought he knew what he was getting into (a mess). But it ended up worse than expected (the biggest mess). 

SAU- 26. Share your favorite detail Again: in the entire AU?? hjkfdkhjs. I wrote the last chapter a good while ago and I have Swiss Cheese Brain so that'll be challenging to think up a detail.

OH. I HAVE ONE.

Noelle fiddles with a bracelet at the end of They Don't Need To Know and the beginning of Stargazers. This is the bracelet Nebra gives her in Your World, the one that belonged to Acier. I'm pretty sure I've already said this somewhere— if I didn't straight up write it in the text— but that's a nice detail I remember...

SAU- 30. Would you ever return to the story’s universe and write more?

Well... Brittlest is still ongoing (I know— one chapter a year isn't a wonderful publication rate but it's still something!) and I'm technically still planning for the Yamichar part... Still, nothing's planned in the immediate future for this AU.

It was a fun AU to make though, and I hadn't planned writing a bad ending for the Nozessa part during Angstpril either, but it somehow happened sooooo who knows.

[sweater-daddiesdumbdork]

Oh!!! You know that I love Hypnotic Stirrings BUT what if Nick never discovered the mystery. Would Samantha continue to haunt him? Would his wife leave him?

I really loved writing that series, and I'm glad that you were able to enjoy it! And if Nick never figured out Samantha's story or brought her out of the dark? I think Nick would feel like he was going crazy and not safe to be with his family. It would tear the reader apart because through the whole thing, they loved one another and the family they built together. Eventually, Nick would drive them all away, wanting them to be safe over living with him. Nick would continue to be haunted, if Samantha faded from existence it would be another, Lisa opened a part of his senses that wouldn't go away, he would have to learn how to deal with it or go mad.

I picture him looking like the below gif. Tired with darkness around his eyes as he tried to make sense of his life.

"How are you?" Nick tiredly asked you while you stood on the doorstep of your home.

Of what was once your home.

"We are okay, Lisa got us all settled in." Your hand falls protectively to the curve of your belly, you don't miss the glance of his that follows your hand, his face twisting slightly with so many emotions. "Jake misses you Nick."

"You know I can't see him Y/N." His arms hugged around himself, so much leaner in just a few weeks, you wanted to reach out and shake your husband, slap him, hug him, anything to snap him out of whatever was happening to him. "Nothing is helping and it's just not safe when I'm like this."

"Nick what if we tried-" You started but he gave a firm shake of his head, tired eyes narrowing at you. The lean gaunt features made you swallow hard, trying to keep yourself calm. You both have tried everything possible now and nothing changed. Nick still heard a girl's voice, had random hallucinations that just didn't make any sense and progressively got worst till he sent you and Jake away, believing he was too unstable to be with you.

"A shrink isn't going to help me Y/N, we tried. The doctors found nothing wrong with me. Whatever it is, it's not just going to go away with popping some pills." He said harshly and you flinched, this argument had so many times between you two. Nick's features softened, instinctively reaching out to cup your face in his cold hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bite your head off."

You sniffled and ran a hand against your nose. "I know. I just want to help you Nick. Jake and I living at Lisa's, you staying here all alone now. Come with me." You pleaded once again. "You have to get out of this house."

"I can't leave." He took a step back like something in the house was pulling him back to it.

Your sob broke, the tear in your chest cracking till you felt like it was split wide open. "Why Nick? It's just a house, it's not us. It's empty, those investigators you hired found nothing at all, not with all their equipment and mediums." Now angry tears streamed down your face, loving and hating this man at the moment.

"I just can't." Nick sighed, drawing back into himself once more, looking over his shoulder at the door. You felt the shift in him when he stopped making sense, talking about this house like it was alive, needing him to figure out what it wanted.

You couldn't keep doing this. Jake now was so much like Nick that it actually scared you, keeping you awake at night. Not with the baby coming anytime now and you were crammed in your sister's apartment trying to hold your family together. You felt like you were failing Nick when he needed you most, you couldn't do anything to help him. Didn't understand what was happening anymore.

"We need you Nick." You said softly all the fight leaving you as you stared up the steps at him. His hand hovering near the door knob.

"I can't be what you need when I'm losing my fucking mind Y/N, go back to Lisa's." And he disappeared into his hell once again.

[ljf613]

I posted 3,049 times in 2022

186 posts created (6%)

2,863 posts reblogged (94%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@the-word-huntress

@lady-tortilla-chip

@raayllum

@vantrisha

@bananzer

I tagged 3,040 of my posts in 2022

#all queued up - 2,940 posts

#fanart - 1,830 posts

#avatar the last airbender - 527 posts

#thoughts - 443 posts

#fairy tail - 292 posts

#fullmetal alchemist - 279 posts

#my hero academia - 232 posts

#boku no hero academia - 232 posts

#furuba - 170 posts

#fruits basket - 170 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#and everything to do with what being around people who are overly concerned with their own personal physical appearance does to your psyche

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

110 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

#4

What really sold me on Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs was the part of the movie where Snow can't get the shoes off (because deep down she's no longer so sure that she wants to be who she is without them).

It's one of the most realistically accurate scenes I have ever seen in an animated kids' movie.

126 notes - Posted July 11, 2022

#3

Konekomaru: Hey exwires, here's a pro tip: do not write an email to your cram school teacher while you're seriously sick. Signed, a person who somehow came up with "dear hello, I am sick and not sure if I'll be alive to come tomorrow and I'm sorry, best slutantions, Miwa".

Shiemi: I mean, if someone wrote that to me, I'd probably believe they were sick.

Renzo: "Slutantions" has me crying laughing

Rin: i once emailed Shura with a migraine. a mistake. "I amsick will not to training because i have a heache. i Hope its very and i am so sorry love, blue" the subject line was "OW"

Izumo: THE SUBJECT LINE IS THE BEST PART JSJFISJDJS JUST IMAGINE GETTING AN EMAIL WITH NO CONTEXT OTHER THAN "OW"

Mephisto: As someone who runs a cram school, please send those emails because 1) We WILL believe that; no one would write that on purpose and 2) we need a laugh sometimes.

Ryuji: On the other side of this, once after getting taken to the ER by ambulance, I got an email from Sideburns, and the message had no text, just the subject line "you good?"

Yukio: Claritin makes me weird, but I have allergies so there’s about a month and a half block of time where I’m taking Claritin and am just weird most of the time. Anyway, last year, I got the flu or something and was also taking Mucinex. I told Shiro I couldn’t work one day by email except I couldnt think of what to say, so my medicated self decided to make a Fry meme. I think it said something like “Not sure if I can go perform an exorcism with a head the size of Gehenna, bottom text.” I didn’t think until the next day that it probably wasn’t socially-acceptable to tell the Paladin you weren’t coming on a job via Tumblr style memes. When i woke up, i found that he’d printed it out and taped it to the fridge.

Yukio: Oof you guys i turned on my laptop that I used to use back then. IT WAS ON THE DESKTOP. THIS IS WHAT I SENT. It’s even worse than i remember it

For @swearingintengwar

145 notes - Posted February 1, 2022

#2

Adorable commission of Kacchan and Fuyumi-neesan from @wintertundra-art! I absolutely love how this one came out, thank you so so much!

145 notes - Posted March 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Apparently my best friend has never seen any of the How to Train Your Dragon movies, and I'm due for a rewatch, so we're watching them together.

We're about halfway through the first and there's two things that really stand out to me this time around:

Hiccup is funny. Like, really funny. (Sure, he's funny in the later movies, too, but there's something uniquely amusing about the self-deprecating humor of an awkward and lonely fifteen year old with absolutely no filter. It's great.)

All things considered, Stoick is actually.... a pretty decent parent. I mean, I've been reading a lot of HTTYD fics lately, and many of them portray him as this awful, domineering guy who doesn't care about his son AT ALL until he becomes "useful" or whatever. And watching the OG movie, especially from a more grown-up perspective on things, he's really not all that bad. Sure, he's not exactly getting any 'parent of the year' awards. He's a human, and he makes mistakes, but, considering the circumstances, he really is trying his best.

399 notes - Posted November 2, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[nervousgardenerkid]

Hi hi hi,

We love Steve but we also love toxic King Steve 🤰

Would you please write some heart wrenching angst about him making a bet in high school on reader with his friends. They’ve been in a ‘perfect’ relationship for years now he’s ready to propose and everything. Then BOOM on their anniversary they bump into previous friend and he lets the secret out. Hell breaks loose maybe reader packs a bag and leaves but please can you end it happy my heart can’t take Steve being sad for too long 🫶

THANK YOU SO MUCH, I LOVE YOUR WRITING!!!!!!

Truth or Dare?

a/n: oh anon,,,i LOVE the way ur thinking. if there's one thing about me it's that i love to write a good fight scene...the angst,,,the tears,,,UGH it keeps me alive. this doesn't have a specific time setting but i'm gonna say it's somewhere around season 2 till season 3 maybe,,,idk no monsters are mentioned it's just angst😭 i hope you like this anon thank you for the idea! credit to the gif owner <3

Steve and his friends laughed when he saw Tommy coming back with his hand on his now red cheek. You see, Tommy was dared to tell a girl a dirty pickup line and it earned him a hard smack to the face.

“Dude! I had no idea she was gonna slap you like that!” Steve laughed out.

“Whatever, she was a bitch anyways.”

The group all laughed and threw bits and pieces of their food at him while he tried to calm them down.

“Okay, Harrington, truth or dare?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Pft, easy. Hit me with a dare.”

Tommy let out a hum and his eyes scanned the cafeteria carefully picking his next target. He felt a smirk on his face when his eyes landed on you taking notes from your math textbook.

“I dare you to ask her out.”

“Done.”

“Ah, ah, ah!” Tommy said while pointing at Steve. “You have to date her for a month.”

Steve felt his heart drop. He knew he was a dick, but he wouldn't want to string someone along like that.

“Tommy, that's a little-”

“What's wrong king Steve? Scared you might break her wittle heart?” He said with a fake pout.

Yes.

“No, I'm not scared of that. As a matter of fact, I’ll date her for three months.”

Steve didn't bother listening to what the group had to say as he made his way over to you. There was a tiny voice in his head pleading, begging him to stop. To just leave you alone, cause you really are a nice girl who doesn't deserve any of this. Steve has had a conversation with you before and you've touched his heart with how genuine you are. He plops down in the seat in front of you and taps in your textbook gently.

You look up at him and smile, taking off the headphones to your walkman and pressing pause.

“Hi, Steve!”

“Hey, there pretty girl, what are you doing?”

You blushed at the nickname and pushed your notes towards him.

“Just studying, I have a math exam tomorrow so I'm cramming as much as I can.”

Steve hummed and looked over your notes trying his best to avoid eye contact with you.

“So I’m guessing you're studying tonight too?”

You nodded your head and flipped the pencil that was in your hand.

“Why what's up?”

“I wanted to take you on a date.”

You accidentally flung the pencil at him, apologizing multiple times while you scrambled to grab it.

“Like um, like a study date?”

“I was hoping we could go without the books? Just us two.”

You blushed and started biting your lip as you thought about it. Steve wanted to stop and come clean right there. He's never seen you this excited over anything before, and it breaks his heart knowing it's all a bet.

“Sure, I can put off studying tonight and hang out.”

Steve smiled at you. “Great! I'll pick you up at…seven?”

“Perfect! I'll see you then.”

Steve smiled and got up to leave, but not before he gave you a soft kiss on your cheek. He walked back to the lunch table with his chest slightly pumped out as his friends looked at him, their faces asking how it went.

“Sorry I can't hang out tonight boys, I have a date.”

-

The two-month mark hit before Steve realized that he doesn't want to end the relationship in three months. These past two months have been the best for Steve and he's never been so happy. He began to treat this like it was a real relationship, Tommy and his friends still poke fun at him. They tell him that he can call it off now and Tommy will even pay him cause he's starting to blow them off to spend time with you. Steve just laughs and shakes his head telling him that he's really dedicated to this bet.

Before you know it, months turn into years and Steve drops his shitty friends and loses his king Steve title to Billy. Now, usually, this would've upset Steve but now he has you. He doesn't have to worry about his friends slipping up and saying you're just a bet. He doesn't have to hear the mean and inappropriate things they say about you, and now he can spend all his time with you.

There was a little period where you guys split up. It was six months into the relationship and the guilt started eating Steve away. It never occurred to him that Tommy could ruin the relationship in a split second, they didn't have the most mutual fallout that friends usually had. Steve started feeling like everything was a lie, he felt like loving you was a lie, it was his favorite lie, but a lie nonetheless. He was the one to call it off, it lasted for a month but it was the worst month in Steve's entire life. He couldn't eat, he couldn't sleep, and he missed about a week's worth of school. It wasn't until you knocked on his front door, a stack of school work in your arms that he finally felt complete.

Apologies began spilling from his mouth and tears were falling down his cheeks. You forgave him of course. You always forgive Steve for what he's done. He didn't feel the need to bring up the bet at all once you guys got back together. He figured that since he's the one who broke things and got back together with you, you guys had a clean slate. Sure, you still had the same anniversary date but that's not what mattered! What mattered is that you and Steve were officially back together and nothing could ruin that.

Today was your second anniversary with Steve and you were both so excited. Everything was going perfectly between you two and you felt like nothing could ruin it. You were taking a walk around town after you two had an amazing dinner at Enzo’s. You stopped in your tracks telling Steve you had to use the restroom real quick. You kiss him on his cheek and walk into the nearest store you could find. Steve looks around and sees an old couple holding hands and walking into the movie theatre, he smiles as he starts to think of his future with you.

“Do my eyes deceive me, or is that you Harrington?”

Steve whips his head around and sees Tommy making his way toward him. He gives his old friend a tight-lipped smile and crosses his arms against his chest.

“In the flesh.”

Tommy laughs and stands in front of him. “How have you been, man? It's been a while.”

Steve makes small talk with Tommy, but he can't help but notice that he has this gut feeling that something terribly wrong is going to happen. He feels your hands wrap around his upper arm and he sees the look of shock on Tommy’s face when he realizes it's you.

“You're still with y/n?”

You roll your eyes. “Nice to see you too Tommy.”

Tommy smirks and looks at Steve.

“Does she know?”

You look between the two of them with a confused facial expression.

“Know what?”

“Shut up Tommy.”

“I mean what, how long have you guys even been together? You were supposed to stop at three months, Steve.”

Your heart fell to your stomach and your hands dropped from Steve’s arms. No, there's no way Tommy meant what he was saying. This has to be some kind of sick joke, right? Your eyes drift to Steve and you can see every emotion on his face clear as day.

“Are you fucking serious?”

Tommy chuckles but covers it with a cough. “Guess the cats out of the bag.”

You're not one to turn to violence, if anything you're the last person to throw the first punch, but you've never felt so hurt, so betrayed in your entire life. Before you know it your hand is connected to Tommy’s cheek and a loud smack is heard, people stop and stare at the scene before then mumbling things under their breath. Hot tears are streaming down your face and you snatch your hand away when you feel Steve grab for you.

“Don't!” you shout at him. “Don't touch me. We're done.”

You don't even give Steve a second to explain himself cause you're already walking away from him trying to put as much distance between yourself as possible. You usually love Steve and his stubbornness, but right now you wish he'd stop chasing you.

“Y/n! Wait I can explain-”

“Explain what Steve?! How our relationship started off as a bet? Seems like there's nothing to explain there!”

You feel Steve grab your arm and you try to fight him off but you're just too sad to do anything.

“That's not true-”

“Do you even love me, Steve? Or was that some kind of sick game too?”

Steve’s heart broke when he finally got a good look at you. You had tears streaming down your face and fire behind your eyes.

“Of course I love you-”

“Bullshit!” You shouted while urging your arm away.

Steve flinched at the all too familiar word and shook his head trying to fight back tears.

“It's not. It's not-”

“Yes, it is Steve! This whole relationship is bullshit! I've been living a lie for years by thinking you loved me!”

“I do love you! You think I’d stay with you for that long if I didn't?!”

Both of you were shouting at this point and people were starting to stop and stare. Anger fueled both of you and you both didn't care what was being said to the other person.

“Fuck you, Steve.”

“I should've never taken the god damn bet, it would've saved me a lot of trouble.” he didn't mean that, not one bit.

You let out a bitter laugh and shook your head. “Nancy was right, you're bullshit. I never want to see you again.”

“Fine by me.”

-

It's been three weeks since you and Steve had your big fight and to say you were both miserable was a massive understatement. Robin and Nancy would drop by to check in on you and bring you some food. They tried their best to cheer you up but weren't successful.

“So is this like a divorced parent situation?”

Nancy smacked her arm and smiled at you. “Don't listen to her.”

“I'm asking the real questions here!”

You dipped your sad, soggy fry into ketchup and ate it.

“If you're asking me if I'm making you choose sides I'm not.”

Robin smiled. “Thanks, mom.”

You let out a giggle and rolled your eyes making robin gasp and coo at you.

“There she is!!” she exclaimed while wrapping her arms around you in a hug. Nancy melted at the sight and joined in on the hug. Tears began to form as you hugged them both tighter.

“Thank you guys, for everything.”

“Y/n you don't have to thank us,” Nancy said while pulling away and fixing your hair. “We'll always be here for you.”

Robin’s watch beeped and let out a sigh. “Except, for now, we have Steve duty, Nance.

You looked down at your now cold food and cleared your throat. “Is he okay?”

Nancy and robin looked at each other before looking back at you. “You can come with us and find out.”

-

Your heart was pounding as you sat in the backseat of Nancy’s car, you don't know what came over you or what made you want to see Steve. Nancy parked the car and Robin was quick to jump out.

“Nance? Aren't you coming too?” You asked before stepping out of the car.

Nancy shook her head. “Feels a bit awkward helping my ex through a breakup ya know?”

You smiled understanding what she meant and thanked her for the ride. You follow Robin to his front door and you start to feel sick to your stomach. Your hands were getting clammy and if you didn't lean against the other door you're pretty sure you would've fallen by now from how weak your knees felt.

“Crap, I left something in Nance’s car. Stay here real quick I already knocked and everything.” Robin said while running towards the car.

You were too lost in your head to register what she said. You looked up at her and noticed she got back into the car and buckled up. Realization begins to set in and you stand up straight looking at your best friends with wide eyes.

“YOU GOT THIS KID!” Robin shouted.

“I’M SORRY Y/N SHE MADE ME!” Nancy shouted while speeding off.

Bitches, but I love them. You thought to yourself. Time seemed to stop the minute Steve opened his front door.

“Robin, I told you I'm- oh.”

Oh? Oh?? What does he mean by that?!

There was only one thing that was running through Steve’s mind when he saw it was you at the door. You're wearing his yellow sweater.

“I uh, I just wanted to check on you…I guess,” you mumbled while looking down at your feet.

“You still have my sweater?”

Your eyes met his and it took every fiber in your body to not wipe away the stray tears that were stained on his face. You shrugged your shoulders.

“Smells like you.”

He gave you a sad smile. “I use your shirt as a pillowcase.”

“Can I come in?”

Steve didn't waste any time stepping aside and letting you into his family home. You sat on his couch and looked at him, your heart jumping when you saw he was smiling at you.

“Wipe that smile off your face, Harrington I’m still furious with you.”

Steve nodded his head. “Understandably so, but you can't be mad at me for being happy that the girl I love is still wearing my sweater.”

You quickly look down trying to hide the blush that was creeping onto your cheeks. You cleared your throat and fumbled with your fingers.

“I came here to talk. At least I think I did.”

Steve makes his way to the couch, he points to the spot next to you silently asking if he could have a seat there. You nod your head and refuse to make eye contact with him fearing you'll cry on the spot.

“Was everything Tommy said true?”

He nodded his head.

“I need you to be honest with me Steve, were you ever going to tell me?”

Steve sat and thought for a moment. He never really thought about telling you, sure there were moments he wanted to but he could never bring himself to do it.

“I don't know.”

“Is that you broke up with me? Cause of the bet?”

“No! God no, I mean technically yes but it wasn't because the bet was up.”

You tilted your head in confusion.

“Look, I'm going, to be honest with you. I never wanted to ask you out, not like that at least, and I know it's not a good excuse but being the king of Hawkins high I had so much pressure on me. My mom and dad never really cared for me, so I found comfort in assholes like Tommy and Carol but even they didn't care about me.”

You reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

“I never should've asked you out like that,” he whispered. “you didn't deserve that, no one does but especially you y/n. I broke up with you that day because it was getting too much for me. I was tired of living a lie, but god y/n please don't think that for a second I didn't love you. I love you with all my heart and no bet is going to change that.”

Both of you were crying now. You were quick to pull Steve into a hug and cry into his shoulder. You hated this. You absolutely hated Tommy for making Steve take that stupid bet, you hated his parents for not paying enough attention to him, and you hated that Steve surrounded himself with fake friends just so he could feel an ounce of love and affection. Steve was mumbling how sorry he was over and over again. He understands if this is the one time you can't forgive him, but he's praying to whatever greater power is out there that you do.

You pull away from him and wipe his tears away with gentle hands. He leans into your touch trying to savor the moment for as long as he can.

“I'm sorry for what I said to you. I shouldn't have called you bullshit.”

“You had every right to.”

“Doesn't mean I should have.”

Steve’s hands reach up to your face and he gently strokes your cheek.

“I'm so sorry for hurting you.”

You take a deep sigh and lose your eyes trying to figure out what to say next. You still love Steve, and you know you always will but how were you supposed to just openly trust him again? Especially after something like that.

“I think,” you started. “I think we should start over. Brand new clean slate, you know take it slow.”

Steve swears he would've fallen to his knees if he wasn't sitting on the couch with you.

“Really? You mean that?”

“I do, but I’m serious about taking it slow Steve.”

Steve smiles and brings you in for a tight hug. You feel his tears hit the top of your head and you can almost feel his heart beating through his chest.

“I'll go as slow as you want. I don't care, I just want to be with you.”

You let out a giggle and Steve swooned at the sound of it. He swears he's never heard something more beautiful than your giggle.

“This is your last chance, Harrington. Don't mess it up.”

His hold on you tightens, almost as if he's scared you'll disappear any second.

“I wouldn't dream of it,” he said while kissing you on the forehead. For the first time in a long time, Steve finally felt like he could breathe. The weight of the world was off his shoulders and it was all thanks to you.

“Robin is going to be so happy about this,” you said with a chuckle.

Steve rolls his eyes. “Oh god, she told you about the divorce arrangement didn't she?”

[usmsgutterson]

So excited for your fall event!!!! I love your writing so much and I have been WAITING since you first posted about it! Can I please request Oh, this could be my last chance - come up with a title and I’ll write a fic for it for Kaz with the title Toska? (It's a Russian word, the definition is my blog header!) But please for the love of the God's, give it a happy ending! My heart can't take the sadness!!

I'm so excited to spam you with likes for this event!!! ❤️

Toska- Kaz Brekker

Hi!! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get to this! I meant to start looking at fall requests last week but then school sort of took my life over for a bit, and here we are. Again, so sorry it took me some time, but I hope you like the fic nonetheless. 

Fic type- angst with a fluffy ending 

warnings- alcohol/alcohol consumption, a few mentions of blood and open wounds

Toska. An immense ache for nothing and everything all at once. An anguish from the bottom of the heart.

As you read the footnote, you closed the book, casting a scornful glance in the direction of the window to your left. You stood, sighing as you placed the book on top of your dresser. The word was one you knew you’d come to think of often in the days to follow, though such a reality was not yet one you were ready to confront. 

Dread filled your every sense as you heard the oh-so familiar bell toll, signaling nine, as it did every morning. You ran a hand through your hair, steadied your hands against the dresser, pressing your palms flat against it. 

I am calm, you thought as you took a deep breath in. I am relaxed. I do not pine for anyone. You exhaled, taking comfort in the self-said statements even though you knew they were bullshit. 

You went to your bathroom, clutching the sides of the sink and somehow avoiding your own gaze in the small mirror that’d long been mounted to the wall. You turned the water on, keeping it ice cold and cupping your palms under the steady flow that’d begun after a few moments. You splashed the cold water on your face, glowered at yourself as the oh-so familiar feeling settled into your bones as it did every morning, not relenting for a moment, amplifying when your gaze would meet Kaz’s from across the room.

As you exited the bathroom, grabbing a tank top, a decent pair of pants and a black button up shirt to get dressed into, you resented the fact that a word with the definition crammed into the footnote had described the oh-so familiar feeling down to the letter.

You got dressed, pulling a decent pair of combat boots over your feet to finish the look, heading down to the Crow Club with twenty minutes to spare til your shift. You took a spot next to Inej at the bar, ordered a double of brandy. 

“Is he here?” You asked instantly. 

Inej smirked, the guise of her glass of kvas not assisting in keeping it hidden. “No,” she said. “He’s not. Your shift ends thirty minutes before his starts, thanks to Rottys formation of the schedule. You work days, he works nights for the next two weeks.” 

It was enough to make you relieved. “I’ll buy him a drink, then,” you said. Rotty walked past as you spoke, giving you a nod and a grin. 

“A bourbon,” he called to the bartender. You grinned at the familiar face. 

“Make it a triple. Put it on my tab. I’ll grab it tomorrow morning.” You took a sip of your brandy, sighing as you did.

“You’ve never described it,” Inej noted. “You’ve talked about feeling something for him, haven’t you?”

“It’s not what I feel for him,” you responded, wanting to make your way to one of the booths and spend your entire shift sat down, drinking with Inej and eventually Nina, when she found her way down from working at the Ravkan Embassy. 

“It’s what I feel about him. I know I love him, and I know that it’s unrequited, but it--” you stopped yourself short, taking another sip of the brandy. “I don’t know how I can explain it. It’s bone deep, it’s very in-between and it’s--fuck. I can’t even begin to explain how it feels. I just know that it’s very conflictive, annoying and--” you cut yourself off again, slamming the brandy and ordering another double. Inej laughed at the display.

“You’ll find the words someday,” she said, and while you almost believed her, there was some part of you that didn’t. “And even then, not all great loves have been requited.”

You finished your second brandy, and your shift began. The next nine hours were spent behind the bar, making the drinks and taking the tips, making sure nobody that was playing at the tables was cheating. 

When your shift finally came to an end at six, you ended up deciding to stay. You drank with Wylan for a bit, had a few nice talks with a few of the bar regulars and eventually playing a game of Three Man Bramble to pass the time. 

You left at eight, eleven hours after you’d showed for your shift. As you left, Kaz was walking in. Your gazes met for only a moment, a freeze frame in time that lasted ten seconds though you could’ve said it lasted ten hours. 

That feeling returned as you walked out, arms being bitten by the crisp night air of a Ketterdam autumn. You walked to the left, pressing your back against a side wall, and crossing your arms over your chest.

An immense ache for nothing and everything all at once. An anguish from the bottom of the heart. 

The definition of the word toska described the emotion better than you could even fathom trying to. It was an ache that settled into your bones, hollowing them out and making a home of what was left. It ran through your blood, manifested in your tears as you got so overwhelmed with the feeling that you contemplated leaving Ketterdam behind, moving to Ravka or Novyi Zem and starting anew. 

You closed your eyes, ignored the familiar sound of a cane against the sidewalk as you did. You debated hiding, heading home and making it seem like you’d only taken a break to debate grabbing dinner beforehand, but in the end, you chose to do none of that.

“Hi,” Kaz said.

“You should be working.”

“I own the club. Rotty be damned, I’ll set my own hours.” 

You opened your eyes, saw the intensity that lingered in his. 

“You left a book on your dresser this morning,” Kaz said. “Inej noted that you glared scornfully at the window upon reaching the bottom of page 264.” 

“I respect you, Kaz, but if you ever employ my best friend to spy on me again, I’ll kill you,” 

“I have no doubt that your words are the truth,” Kaz said. “And, for the record, it was Inejs idea entirely. She’s worried about you.” 

“Well, it would’ve been wise for you to tell her she could’ve talked to me, if such was the case,” you said. “Fuck it, actually. She would’ve discussed it with me if she were. I’m calling bullshit, Brekker.”

“You dare implicate that I’m a liar?”

“I do,” you said, confirming it further with a nod. “I can’t believe you, Brekker. If you’re the one with the concerns, just fucking say it, okay?” 

“You make it sound a bloody easier than it is,” Kaz said. 

Nothing and everything all at once. 

“I refuse,” you said, moving to abandon Kaz to the small alleyway that he’d found you in. “I can’t keep doing this. I need to leave.”

“Keep doing what?” Kaz asked. “And, even if you were to leave, where would you go, Y/N?” 

You turned to face him harshly. “This!” You shouted. “I can’t keep loving you, Kaz Brekker. It’s turned out to be the precise opposite of a good idea, and I can’t fucking do it anymore.” The ache settled in your bones, the anguish dragging your heart down through your body til it rested at your feet. 

An anguish from the bottom of the heart. 

“And where will you go?”

“Ravka, Novyi Zem, Shu Han, the Wandering Isle. As far as I’m concerned, my options are practically limitless,” you responded. “I don’t care where I end up, Kaz. I just can’t do this anymore. I can’t look at you and--and--”

“And what?” 

You sighed, realizing that going to Fifth Harbor, finding a cafe to sit and simmer in--or perhaps sitting on the docks--was a better idea than it was to return to the Slat.

“And, whenever it is that you find yourself in the Slat, go to my room. Grab the book Inej spotted on my dresser. On page 264, you’ll find a series of words in the footnote. The one you’re looking for is toska. It encompasses exactly how I feel when I’m around you, Kaz. Only after you’ve read the word, understood what it meant, will we come even the slightest bit closer to understanding each other.” 

With the words, you walked off, leaving Kaz standing in the alleyway.

-

A few days later, the book was gone. You couldn’t find it, and you didn’t much want to bother with looking. You were too distracted with packing, anyway, and booking a ticket to Ravka on a boat. You’d find some good employment there, give up the criminal life to which you’d grown so accustomed. 

But, on the final full day you’d spend in Ketterdam, you woke to a note on your dresser. You recognized the handwriting as Kaz’s, and that made whatever wound had existed, the one that’d begun the slow process of healing, reopen. It  tore itself apart, blood flowing from it like water flowed from a tap.

Fifth Harbor. Berth 26. Midnight. 

You scoffed, crumpling the letter and tossing it into the small bin next to your dresser. You got dressed in an old dark grey cableknit jumper and a decent pair of trousers, plus the pair of combat boots you wore everyday, day in and day out. 

You went to your final shift at the Crow Club, leaving just shy of midnight after deciding that you were fine working a double, having started just shy of eight bells that morning. You thanked Rotty as he passed you another note and a to-go cup filled with Kaelish coffee. 

toska can be defined as an immense ache for nothing and everything all at once. An anguish from the bottom of the heart. 

You grinned, scoffing at the note before tucking it into your pants pocket. The weather in Ketterdam bit at your exposed hands, your face, and your neck as you walked, air having grown rather crisp as the clubs filled and the hotels emptied. 

You moved to Fifth Harbor, finding Berth 26 and walking to end of the dock attached to it. You let your gaze move to the boats as they docked, as they unloaded passengers or reloaded them. You didn’t move a muscle as the familiar sound of Kaz’s cane meeting the grass and then the wood met your ears.

“I’m sorry,”

You scoffed. “Try not to pull a muscle, Kaz. I don’t need your apologies.” 

“You might not need them, but they’re what you deserve. I’m sorry that I am difficult to love.”

“You’re not,” you said. “Not in the ways you think you are. I don’t care that I can’t kiss you or hold your hand, really. That’s not what matters to me, Kaz. It doesn’t matter in the slightest.” 

“Then what is it?”

“I felt like you didn’t care for the longest time, and whenever I would look at you, the--” you cut yourself off. “Toska. That sums it up. I long both for nothing and for everything, and it hurts. Bloody hell, does it feel like an open wound.” You laughed a little bit, finding the humor in it as Kaz joined you at the edge of the docks.  

“Stay,” he said. 

“Give me one reason,” you said, not knowing what the reason could possibly be. Kaz would never ask you to stay for his own sake. That wasn’t who he was, how he functioned. There had to be a reason, likely that your spot at the Crow Club would be difficult to replace, even if you were a full time bartender and such a statement was bullshit when one looked at how many people wanted to bartend in the Barrel. 

“Just stay, Y/N.”

“I will not stay without probable cause.” In that moment, you knew you’d perfected the art of lying, because you would. Kaz’s asking you to stay had made you rethink leaving, and he’d barely said it a minute prior. 

“I can replace your job at the Crow Club, I can give away your room at the Slat,” he said. You blinked. It was a total 180 from what you’d expected him to say. “I would prefer if I didn’t have to, though.”

Silence fell across your shoulders, weighing you down as it did. Minutes passed as though they were hours, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and then suddenly, ten minutes had gone by and you realized that, throughout your entire interaction, you’d not so much as looked at him. 

You finally turned your head, only to find that Kaz had done the same. Your gazes met.

“I simply cannot fathom a day of my life without you in it, Y/N. That is why I would prefer it if you stayed. I could give your job to someone else, give your room to someone else, but it would hurt to do so, because in doing so, I would be forced to acknowledge that you left. In the final day before your departure, I find it hard to do so even still.” 

You grinned, turning to leave. “Meet me at the Kooperom no later than nine bells this morning,” you said as the bell for midnight rang through the city.

“Your boat leaves at half past eight.” 

“If I refund my ticket before quarter past, I get 100 kruge and the chance to buy you breakfast.” With the words, you walked off, heading back through Fifth Harbor and to the Slat, leaving Kaz behind.

-

At nine bells, Kaz joined you in a booth near the back. He ordered whiskey and waffles, and you ordered brandy and waffles. For the next hour and a half, the two of you engaged in conversation.

At some point, you realized that the familiar feeling, the nothing and everything, had largely subsided. As you looked at Kaz, love took it over almost completely. 

[lepusrufus]

Teeny little drabble because writing angry Mia is always such a joy. Ft a very messy sketch bc I'm slightly burnt out and can't be bothered with more detailed things.

---

Miranda was extremely close to making a comment on how Mia's pacing back and forth would tear a hole through her living room carpet. The fact that it was mildly amusing kept her mouth shut, for the time being.

The woman was angrily muttering at herself while occasionally checking her phone, and who could blame her, really. She packed her things and all but ran away with her daughter the day prior, only to wake up exhausted and with a plethora of missing calls and vaguely threatening messages from the BSAA. Miranda wasn't going to go back on her word, she did mean it when she told her that she was welcomed to come to the Village would the need for a safe place arise, but the situation had to be dealt with. Having armed agents at her doorstep and threatening the deal she carefully crafted not even six months ago was not an option.

She sighed when Mia stopped pacing only to narrow her eyes at a window, set off by the rustling of branches outside. "Nobody can cross the border if I don't allow it, calm down."

"Then there's no reason to deal with them," Mia snapped back.

Another sigh and a slight eye roll. "They can't come in but that means we're also trapped in here, Mia. This has to be solved."

"You do it then."

The phone that flew in Miranda's direction was caught without much effort, almost letting out a snort at the childish retaliation. Mia was notoriously good at avoiding anything that had to do with "bureaucratic bullshit", as she liked to put it, even back in their days at The Connections. She knew her way through it, just well enough to be able to duck her head, dodge some files that would then be left in her partner's care, and move on to the more hands-on tasks. Miranda would've called it idiocy in the past, but now she could recognise it as sheer stubbornness.

"Fine," she replied, already looking through the contacts and pressing on the name Chris.

Mia widened her eyes almost comically at the abrupt compliance. She almost expected the phone to be thrown back at her face. She almost hoped that'd happen instead.

It took a total of five seconds to get a reply, the dial tone barely having time to repeat itself twice. "Mia? Where are you are you-"

"It's me."

A long pause, that dragged on for entirely too much.

"Miranda?! Where's Mia and why the fuck do you have her?!"

" 'Have her' is barely the description I would use really," she replied, an amused smirk pulling at her lips. How some people could be so dense was beyond her.

"If you touch a single hair on her or Rose's-"

Miranda took the phone away from her ear, a muffled rant going on that she had grown bored of. She pushed the small device in Mia's hands with an eye roll. "Here, take it. Try not to make them drop a nuclear bomb on us."

And with that, she stepped past her, going to sit on the couch not too far behind them where both Eva and Rose were playing with a small mountain of plushies. She didn't quite feel like getting screaming in her ear first thing in the morning. Besides, no matter what was said here, she knew a meeting with the BSAA to discuss this would be in order soon, so this phone call was nothing but a pesky personal issue between the two of them.

"Yes?" Mia's voice was almost shaky, though most of it could be blamed on those who were meant to protect them getting on each and every single one of her nerves.

"Mia, why on earth are you there?"

"I really like not having a gun pointed at my daughter 24/7, you know," she replied, eyes narrowing.

"You know that's not true, it's just part of our protocol. Nobody wants to shoot Rose."

"Yeah well tell that to the fucking idiot that almost put a bullet through the both of us because she was a normal. Fussy. Baby." Her words were now coming through gritted teeth, probably in an attempt to not scare the two infants in her vicinity by yelling.

"... I'm sorry about that. We shouldn't have assigned a rookie to you two." A deep sigh could be heard through the phone, but it did little to placate Mia's anger.

"I don't care Chris! The BSAA fucked up and your little rebel parade is not gonna fix shit!" Then, three years of frustration just washed over her and crammed themselves into her thoughts and words, coming to drip out like acid. "We moved all the way here, we did everything you asked, even went through your stupid military training that you knew was useless. You owe me."

Chris paused for a moment. He was taking the anger thrown at him rather gracefully, all things considered. "Fine, whatever you like."

"What I like is not being a goddamn prisoner Chris. You can't do shit about Rose, you're not equipped for that whether you want to admit it or not. You know who is though? Miranda!" Her words were accompanied by an angry gesture towards the other woman, who simply chuckled. She was right. "I'm not going back."

"Mia you can't stay there-"

"Book a meeting with the BSAA." She looked at a calendar hanging on the wall. "Thursday. At the southern edge of the border. I'm not coming back with you and god help you if you fucking try anything."

And then she hung up before any reply could come. She was exhausted and mad beyond belief, having spent almost six months under constant surveillance and surrounded by people that were ready to shoot both of them at the drop of a pin. Not to mention the plethora of medication meant to suppress the effects of the Mold.

She blinked in confusion when a mug was pushed in her field of vision. Apparently Miranda had gotten up sometime during the heated phone call and made tea, the sweet fruity aroma calming her nerves just a little.

She accepted the beverage and heard the other woman chuckle. "You have almost a week to prepare your speech, better make it a good one. Now come sit, I'm assuming you didn't get much sleep last night."

[alecxaheart]

Someone's Someone | Bang Chan Oneshot (1)

✎ Genre : CEO AU, Soulmate AU, Fluff

✎ Pairings : Bang Chan X Reader

✎ Word Count : 3.5k words

✎ Synopsis : We all just wanna be someone's someone that we can't live without. At this time, Chan was looking for his. And unexpectedly, he was already tied down to someone.

✎ Warnings : Explicit Language

✎. . . I actually just played my songs on shuffle then Monsta X's Someone's Someone played so.. yeah, I'm inspired. Also, this is my first post in tumblr btw. :)

✎ Parts : 1 , 2

The relaxing sounds of nature enveloped him as a whole. His shoulders less tense and eyes closed as he sat on the cooled sand, facing the burning star and calm waters ahead. Seagulls could be heard in the distance as they caught themselves a dinner to eat. The refreshing cool wind hit his body, slightly making him shiver for a second. Waves, created by the sea and wind, kisses the shore repeatedly. For once, he was far away from worries, stress, fears and regrets. Just him, contented with the company of nature.

As he fluttered his eyes open, he was met with a stunning view of the sun meeting the ocean. The ocean reflecting the sun's visuals as well as the sky above it. Even though the reflection was blurry, it's still pleasing to the eye. Just perfectly imperfect.

However in his opinion, it wasn't stunning as it seems. This secret escapade paradise of his doesn't quite appeal to him yet. A missing piece that could be anywhere on this wide world. That thought kind of bothers him every time.

Sighing, he figured that it was time to go back. He slipped onto his slippers and headed out of his escapade paradise with a head hung low. Hopping on an enormous boulder that happened to break the wired fence and fixated there, having easier access to and from the place than climbing over the fence.

With a last glance towards his escapade, he knew he'll be coming back and that next time will be the scenery he's been looking for, hopefully.

Frustrated with the task at hand, Chan ran his fingers through his blonde locks as he leaned back on his chair and head facing upwards toward the ceiling. Taking a brief break from a whole 6 hours straight of writing and staring at the monitor. Followed by him grabbing his coffee and taking a sip, eyes boring on the monitor. He was just half finished with his paperworks at the time of nightfall, which made him more in distress and felt crammed.

His eyes then wandered around his office, landing onto the view of the opposite building of his company in the end. Where he could see the workers of the Marketing Department bidding their goodbyes to one another, closing the lights and exiting the room. Oh, how much he too wanted to leave and rest right at this moment. Although his belief of 'getting things done before going into slumber' is preventing him to do so (even though he already got a lot of things done). With a sigh, he faced back in front of his monitor and papers, determined to get everything done before tomorrow starts.

" Sunbae-nim, aren't you coming with us? We're having dinner at the Chicken & Barbecue restaurant just a block away from here. " Seungmin asked, grabbing his suitcase below his desk. You leaned back on your chair while stretching your cramping arms and a yawn escaping your mouth.

" As much as I want to, Seungmin, I can't, " You started, rubbing your temples to ease your aching head. " Because our new boss literally gave me 5 thick documents to finish before tomorrow morning without any mercy. And that's just bullshit. I don't even think I'm halfway through it! " Seungmin replied with a chuckle to your short rant, an amused expression written on his soft face. You were having another small mental breakdown as you stared at your unfinished pile of work, feeling your soul escape your body.

" I think you're overreacting. "

" Well, what if I am?! "

Laughing, Seungmin leans his side on your cubicle, looking over at your messy desk filled with sticky notes, papers and pens. " I don't think it's that much. You're lucky that your boss isn't here to hear any of your complaints, " He muttered as he took a peek at one of your documents. You scoffed, not my fault that I'm not as good as you.

" Hear what? "

Frantically, you immediately hide yourself behind your cubicle and pretend that you were focusing on your work. On the other hand, Seungmin casually brushed his navy blue coat with his palms and lifted himself off from the cubicle. Making it all seem like nothing happened.

" Oh, it's nothing, Ms. Ka- " Seungmin paused as he met the owner of the voice who wasn't the person they were expecting to be there. " M-Mr. Bang?! " He stuttered, eyes widened at the blonde headed CEO. Seeing in the corner of your eyes, Seungmin bowed ninety degrees at him as a sign of respect. Even with his heated glare on you, you continued your work like no CEO even entered. Thanks to your cute height, for sure you wouldn't be spotted.

" What are you doing here? Working hours are done. "

Seungmin stood straight and scratched the back of his head. Curiosity slowly arose in you as seconds passed - since you've never met a CEO called by your colleague as ' Mr. Bang ' - although as much as possible, you didn't let go out of hand and kept your focus on the documents silently. The least thing you wanted to happen to you right now is get caught by one of the company's CEO. " I was about to head out, Mr. Bang, " Finding an excuse, he pulled up his sleeve to check the time on his wristwatch. " Uhm.. Yeah, I'm late for dinner. Sorry, Mr. Bang, I have to leave right now. Have an great night! "

With a last bow to the CEO, Seungmin dashed his way out of the building, leaving you alone with your work. The blonde head noticed how the room was still lit up despite it being unoccupied, which he thought. Heading to the switches, everything around you darkened. The only source of light you had was the monitor, and Chan caught it in the corner of his eye.

" Is someone still there? " His voice, catching a bit of foreign accent with it, echoed in the hushed area.

Baffled as he approached that light with a few slow strides, you freaked out mentally. Swiftly but silently, you left your chair and hid yourself underneath the desk next to yours. As he neared your cubicle, you held your breath, slowly starting to feel lightheaded. You don't know what are the consequences if you get caught after working hours since you're still kind of new - got hired just 5 months ago. Dumb you overthink random shit first before even going to the thing called 'common sense' and the rules you heard just goes in one ear then out on the other.

The moment Chan was about to reach your cubicle and take a glance to his right, the sound of marimba playing a soft tune echoed in the room. Stopping in his tracks, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and grabbed it, swiping to the right to answer the call. You let out a hushed yet shaky sigh of relief, your shoulders less tense than a while ago. In your mind played a chant, thanking whoever was your savior.

Chan narrowed his eyes at the back of your cubicle while his phone is still pressed against his ear, listening to the person on the other line's complaints. " I'm on my way. Don't do anything stupid, " Not too soon you hear heels clacking against the polished marble tiles, the noise fainting as he left the room.

It took you a good couple of seconds to get out of your hiding spot (since you had to catch your breath and calm your heart down from the thrill), slightly shaking your whole body first before heading back to your seat and continuing your pile of work. Mentally groaning at yourself.

Oh. My. Gosh. These. Eyebags.

Is the first thing you thought as you looked at yourself in the mirror. The cause of it appearing badly because you obviously lacked sleep. All due to the time allotted for slumber was consumed by finishing your 5 thick documents that will be passed this morning. You could've cared less if today wasn't a work day, which fortunately for you it was still work day and these damn documents aren't gonna pass themselves to your boss this instant.

Fumbling around in your bag, you found your makeup kit and started fixing yourself. A little bit of touch ups here and there, just a little to look like it's still more natural than a lot to look like a plastic doll barbie.

Once satisfied, you smiled sweetly at yourself just to start your day nicely and exit your household. While walking on your way to the train station, incoherent mumbling leaves your mouth. A train of thoughts clouding you about your worries if you've left something important behind. In all honesty despite of your current good looks, you look stupid or crazy for talking to yourself in public. Well, at least you aren't as worse as someone yelling nonsense.

" I have all my files, identification card, phone, wallet, pocket knife 'cause anything could happen, keys- " you paused as soon as you misplaced your shoes at the edge of the last stair, falling forward. Luckily for you, you caught yourself and regained your balance. Wide eyed, you saw a kid, a giddy smile plastered on his face as he saw your commotion with a lollipop in hand. You felt embarrassed but laughed it off anyway, a light tint of pink decorating your cheeks.

You rushed towards the gates as soon as you realized the time with the card in between your fingers. Three beeps emitted from the machine when the gates opened after you placed the card on the scanner. With a few more strides, you caught up to your train ride as it was about to leave. You sighed in relief and sat down on a vacant bench, head automatically leaning back on the window. Your eyes boring at the ceiling while taking steady breaths after your short marathon on the way.

On the other hand, across you sat Chan. His right leg crossed over the other while scrolling through his phone. He wore a button up shirt, the first two still unbuttoned revealing more of his chest. His navy blue tie hung loose around his neck while his coat is still folded around his arm. His slacks were the same color as his tie and coat and wore black pointed shoes to finish the statement of his overall clothing. Blonde hair locks were scattered around his face but still managed to look stunning and attractive.

You haven't noticed his presence, so did he to you, and the fact that you both don't know each others' appearance even though you go to the same company just adds to the reason for you two's ignorance to one another's existence.

You got yourself to go back to slumber comfortably in your current position although you know when you wake up, you'll be greeted by your neck aching. Hopefully you don't miss your stop while gaining more sleep. The train swaying you lightly from time to time that you found quite relaxing, like a cradle rocking back and forth lightly to put a baby to sleep.

A child was running around the train with a joyful smile, giggling. He only stopped in his tracks when he reached in between you and Chan. His eyes glowed like there were stars decorated around his chocolate brown pupil when he eyed you two. Looking around, he spotted a roll of red thread underneath your bench and grabbed it. He thought it was just right.

With you being the closest, he starts to tie the thread around your pinky finger. You were too tired to even feel his small cold fingers run around your fingers nor the string tighten around it. Once done, he smiled to himself, his dimples appearing on either side of his cheeks and eyes forming into small crescents.

He left your side and skipped over in front of Chan, who was now too deep in thought as he gazed outside the window and his phone tucked in his pocket. Holding the other end of the thread, he wrapped it around Chan's thumb. Chan's body shook in surprise as he felt cold fingers ghosting above his hand and averted his attention to the child. He saw him knotting the red string tightly, strange that he barely even feels the string tightened around his thumb. " What are you doing? " he questioned although the child only responded with a bright smile, followed by a giggle.

The child turned and ran away from him, more giggles leaving his lips. Chan stood up and tried to chase him. But stopped as soon as he saw the child in the distance, dissolving into little particles in thin air and completely vanished in his sight. In disbelief, he rubbed his eyes and looked for the child around his area. Thinking that he was out of his mind, he sighed in defeat. There's no way anyone could do that in reality. It's either I'm insane or living in a fantasy or a chosen one blessed to see ghosts. Maybe, all of the above.

Chan looked down on his thumb, following where the other end lead to. Then, he spotted your sleeping beauty state, the other end attached to your pinky finger. With the sun rising in the horizon, a ray of gold-like light shines through the window, casting a shadow on you. And he thought you looked mesmerizing like that, peaceful and lovely. At least he wasn't tied up with a bitch or a hag.

Your eyes slowly fluttered open as the sun shined upon you. Squinting at its brightness, you raised a hand above your eyes to see more, only finding a red string wrapped around your pinky finger. You examined it, wondering what prank is anyone even planning and why did it have to involve you out of all people. Before anything stupid could happen, you attempted to loose the knot, ignoring the curiosity for a while of where the other end was. Looping and tugging it, even tried to chomp on it with your teeth, but all attempts failed. Well, that's until you gave up, untying it was impossible, unbelievably there's a knot that couldn't be untied. Sounded like marriage when you think about it, but there's the annulment and divorce ruining the picture.

Tearing your gaze at the string, you caught a pair of bewitching dark brown eyes staring back at you. In that particular moment, everything just froze in place. Time has stopped just for the two of you, you thought.

You felt your heart melting, probably from the warmth emitting in your body or from the warmth his eyes give off as you saw little sparks decorating the pupil. Unfamiliar light feathers tickling the insides of your stomach is what you felt other than the heat and that thawing heart of yours. Your mind knew it well that you shouldn't feel this way towards someone who you just met but your body and heart reacted so differently. There's just something about him that made you feel so exposed and vulnerable in his eyes that you couldn't come up with a possible answer to your 'why's.

Both of you didn't notice how seconds turned into minutes, too lost into one another's orbs. That was until the train stopped, causing Chan to break the eye contact and lose his balance. Before his hands made contact on the metal floor, he took a step forward in order to regain his balance which he successfully did. A small chuckle left your lips, eyes turning into crescents as you saw the commotion. He narrowed his eyes at you as the train was back in motion.

Chan fixed his clothes first before asking, " Who are you? ". Grabbing the pole next to him to prevent him from falling again on the next stop.

" Shouldn't I be asking you that as well? " You replied with a gummy smile, which quickly faded when you remembered what's the problem.

" What is this on my finger and why is it connected to yours? What kind of trickery is anyone pulling? Why am I involved in this? " You kept firing questions at him while he stayed there unbothered. Unlike you who did some more attempts to remove the thread, silly you even tried aggressively shaking your hand in hopes of making it a little loose. But no prevail happened once again.

" Just get rid of it. I didn't want this too, you know. " Chan taps his foot impatiently as he eyed your useless attempts.

" I am trying! " You exaggerated. Deciding to bring out the best tool you have for the situation in hand, your hands fumbling in your bag. Once you felt the cool metal on your fingertips, you brought it out and flipped it open.

Chan's eyes widened at the sight of the pocket knife in your palms. " You carry that on a daily basis? Are you insane? "

You rolled your eyes in annoyance. " It's not insane when it's used for self-defense purposes. I'm too nice to be the murderer you're assuming, " You replied, head throbbing as things aren't going well with the charming blonde.

He responded just before the blade and thread were in contact, starting with a scoff. " Yeah sure, nice. Anyone can wear that façade anywhere. "

" You know what, " You started as you withdrew the pocket knife back and glared at him afterwards, pissed off. " You deal with this shit yourself, I'm done with my part and I could care less about this red thread anyway. You look like you don't need any of my help 'cause you look fancier than me and it seems like you're not taking any gratitude towards my kindness. Damn these crazy rich people. " You threw the tool towards his direction and looked away from him, arms crossed. Chan instinctively caught it without getting any cuts despite the fact it's closed, his eyes burning through your figure in fury.

" If I actually got wounded instead from your little stunt, I would've sued you this instant, " He growled, only to be ignored by you.

Irritated by your sudden change of attitude, Chan flipped it open and skillfully ran the blade through the string. Only for it to just fall through like the string never existed, ghost-like perhaps. " It's not cutting, what the hell, " Chan muttered under his breath as he tried a few more times again.

"It's just a string, how could a- " You spoke as you turned your head back to his direction, only to be cutted off as you witnessed the unusual. Mouth a little bit agape in disbelief. The thread didn't fall apart even while the blade was just sitting in between of it on air. Maybe that explains why you could barely even feel the thread wrapped securely around your finger. You could tell that this stunning blonde head was just as puzzled as you were.

" Sir, if you're having any problems that includes this woman, we can sort it out. Just withdraw the knife first please, " a man suddenly blurted out, his voice a little bit shaky. That's when you realized the commotion you both have caused, everyone around you two took steps back away. All had fear in their eyes.

" Wait, you don't see the thread we're trying to cut? " Chan questioned, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. At that, he was more misunderstood.

" There's no thread..? " With that, it got the two of us surprised. Is the crazy one here them, who couldn't see this string, or us, who could?

Chan tried to explain our situation thoroughly but when he was about to speak up, out of the blue, a voice spoke in the speakers. " Please mind the gap, " You immediately grabbed his arm, carried his belongings and dragged him out of the train. Leaving its passengers confused as they eyed us. They might be thinking that you two are idiots.

The doors just shut a second later when you two got out. You felt a bit suffocated for an unknown reason, your hand reaching for your chest where you could feel your heart beating. Panting, you shoved Chan's belongings into his chest. " Are you alright? " He asked as he tried to place a hand on your back, the least thing he could do to comfort you.

But his hand only stopped in mid-air when you took your last deep breath, replying. " Let's just part ways here, " Saying those words felt a bit disheartening at some point, yet you chose to disregard it.

You walked forwards, while Chan stayed in his position, wearing his coat and fixing his tie. Although, something stopped you. As in you couldn't go forwards as much as you force to. Well when you did force yourself, it only tugged Chan towards you. Turning around, he was already eyeing you. " What was that for?! "

Glaring at the thread, you thought out loud, " Is this string telling me, it can only stretch itself approximately at 7 meters?! "

Continue

[elliestormfound]

okay, prompt, I'm happy for you to change any detail of this because it might be too complicated? lmao. So, Jaskier is rummaging about Geralt's things when he's been told not to. He 'thinks' he breaks one of Geralts weapons, and is in a total panic all day about it not wanting to mention and trying to hide it? Turns out it's just something Geralt has modified to the weapon so that when someone touches it they can't use it? like to stop people touching/stealing his things? haha.

thank you @hailhailsatan for this wonderful prompt! I had to think about it for a bit. It was fun to write! Sorry, I had to make it fluffy and it got kind of long...

read on ao3

---------

Jaskier knew he was in trouble. 

Geralt had left two hours ago to take care of a nekker nest and because the bard had seen him fight nekkers at least a dozen times by now, he had opted out to stay at their campsite. Imagining a relaxed day, lounging on his bedroll in the sun and working on a song or two. 

But he couldn’t find his quill, even after he had emptied out all of his bags on the forest floor. Maybe it had gotten into one of Geralt’s bags?

The witcher had told him numerous times not to touch his stuff. “Don’t touch Roach”, “don’t touch my swords”, “don’t touch my clothes” and “don’t touch my bags”. And Jaskier tried. But it was hard for someone who liked to share everything. Not that he just took from others, he loved to share his belongings, a warm blanket on a cold evening, the dried fruit he had bought on the last market they visited or his lavender soap.

And Jaskier knew Geralt had good reasons to tell him not to go through his belongings. A few weeks ago Jaskier had been thirsty in the night. Standing up to walk to the nearby stream had felt too much of an effort, so he had rummaged around in Geralt’s bag for his water bottle and in the second he placed it on his lips, Gerlat, who had been asleep a moment ago, had slapped it out of his hands.

“The fuck, Jaskier”, Geralt had grumbled angrily, “what do you think you are doing?”

Confused the bard had replied, “I just wanted a sip of water.”

“That’s not water, you idiot, that is griffin decoction, one sip could kill you.”

Jaskier had just stared at the witcher with wide eyes, “I’m sorry, I thought…”

“Don’t think, ask me next time,” Geralt had growled.

“I didn’t want to wake you,” Jaskier had said in a small voice. 

“You drinking poison and choking to death would definitely have bothered me more than you waking me for water. I told you not to touch my stuff,” the witcher had said, thrusting the actual water bottle in his hands.

But today Jaskier’s head was full of words and phrases and melodies he had to write down before they would escape. And for that he needed his quill. So he had very carefully opened one of Geralt’s bags, not reaching in, just looking. When he did not see a trace of a quill he moved on to the next bag. There was something silvery glittering in the morning light, just like the nib of his quill. Very carefully he reached in the bag, trying not to touch anything else. His hand closed around something he instantly knew was not his quill. But he had touched it already, so it wouldn’t hurt to have a look at it, would it now?

To his surprise Jaskier pulled a beautiful dagger out of the bag. The hilt lay comfortably in his hand as if it had been made for him, wrapped in soft leather for a better grip. The sheath was made of sturdy dark red leather with an intricate floral pattern. From farther away it would not stand out, would look nothing special, but Jaskier could see and feel that it was of high quality and only in close proximity did the floral pattern show it’s full beauty. Jaskier looked closely, carefully tracing the pattern with his finger and after a moment he was sure that it was a stylized depiction of buttercups. Very slowly he drew the dagger out, revealing a beautiful silver blade, reflecting the sun in his eyes. There were words carved into the blade. He angled the blade to have a better view and as his finger touched the gleaming silver to trace the words, the blade crumbled to dust - to his utter horror. 

He drew in a shaky breath as he watched the dust drift down and - caught by the wind - disappearing. His eyes were wide and his mouth formed a perfect o as the shock settled in. The knife looked to be expensive, probably custom made and he had just single handedly destroyed it with the touch of his finger. 

He was fucked. Jaskier knew Geralt would be furious. This was not an accident, but he had deliberately opened Geralt’s bags against his explicit command and touched one of his belongings, also against his explicit commands. 

Would this be the straw that broke the camel's back? Would Geralt now send him away for good? Cold dread creeped down his neck. Should he put the hilt and sheath back into the bag and pretend nothing had happened? Should he tell Geralt directly at his arrival? Should he wait till Geralt was in a good mood? When was Geralt ever in a good mood? Fuck, fuck, fuck…

He stood petrified for a while, like a deer caught in headlights, not able to decide what to do.

Then he heard it, footsteps. Geralt was returning. Jaskier whirled around facing the witcher, hiding his hands with the evidence behind his back. He plastered on a (hopefully) cheery smile and said louder than intended, “Geralt, you are back early!”

“There were only a few nekkers,” the witcher replied, who was cleaner than expected after a fight.

Jaskier could practically feel the suspicious gaze burning on his skin as Geralt beheld his unusual arm positioning. The witcher narrowed his eyes, “what are you holding there?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Jaskier stammered, “nothing of importance. Ahm, tell me everything about the fight, how many nekker were there?”

But Geralt was not distracted and just growled, “Jaskier…”

The bard started to sweat, “you know, it was not really my fault, I just had a teeny tiny look into your saddlebags…” his voice got quieter with every word, “and I might have...ahhhm, broke something…” He looked down, cheeks red.

The bard heard the witcher approach and breath in deeply. Now would be the moment he would tell him to pack his bags and leave, to never bother the witcher again. His stomach felt like it was clenched in a cold angry fist. 

But Geralt stayed silent and after a moment the bard looked up. He did not look particularly angry...not more than usual, and he had his head tilted. 

A moment later the witcher said, “it’s the dagger, isn’t it?” and turned away as if nothing had happened. Jaskier still did not move, looking at Geralt, who just went around camp in his usual after-fight-routine. Unstrapping his swords from his back and setting them down next to his bedroll, drinking a few gulps from his water bottle, cramming some dried meat in his mouth and getting a rag to clean off the few bits of nekker guts that had landed on his armour. 

Jaskier let his arms fall to the side and said, “aren’t you going to say anything? Yell at me?”

“You want me to yell at you?” Geralt asked.

“No, I’m...ahm… quite okay with not being yelled at.”

“It’s your birthday present you managed to destroy, so you should be the one angry,” the witcher said.

“What?” the bard’s mouth hung open and when Geralt raised an eyebrow at him he continued, “birthday present? But….I thought you didn’t know when my birthday is.” Geralt just stared at him. “You told me three times in the last month,” Geralt said, “I don’t forget that easily.”

Jaskier looked from Geralt to the hilt and sheath in his hands, eyes still wide and damper than a minute ago. “And you got me a present,” his voice was barely audible, “and I just broke it…”

With a sigh the witcher walked over. Jaskier could not bear to look him in the eyes, his own glued to the broken dagger. With the next breath he could barely suppress a sob. Geralt was in front of him and then Jaskier felt Geralt’s hand on his, the one holding the hilt and slowly lifting it. “Jaskier, look at me,” the witcher said softly.

Jaskier looked up and a single tear ran down his cheek. “Just take a deep breath,” Geralt said in his deep voice, “nothing is broken.”

Jaskier did as instructed and Geralt carried on, “you did not break the dagger. You demonstrated how well it works.” 

Jaskier’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “what…”

“I brought this dagger and asked Yen to put a defensive charm on it,” Geralt said, “ it can only be used by the ones I imprint on it, so it cannot be used against you in a fight if someone managed to take it.” Jaskier just looked at his witcher in awe. He had not expected the witcher to even remember his birthday let alone buy him a gift, especially not such a thoughtful, beautiful and expensive one. 

“I planned to give it to you on your birthday next week and to imprint it, so you can use it.” Geralt was still holding his hand and that was somehow grounding Jaskier.

“But…” he managed to say in a small voice, “I already broke it…”

“Yen thought about that, with a simple spell it can be revived,” Geralt said, “that is also how the imprint happens. It has to be broken to be imprinted on someone new.”

Geralt took the sheath from him and said, “put both of your hands around the hilt.” As Jaskier had done this, Geralt covered the bard’s hands with his. He breathed in deep and said a few words that sounded like elder speech, but Jaskier could not quite catch them. With a strong scent of magic small whirlwind started to dance above their hands and after a moment the silver blade was back, gleaming in the sun as if nothing had happened. Jaskier’s smile stretched from ear to ear. 

“Geralt, that’s amazing, I have to thank Yen as well!”

Geralt chuckled and slowly took his hands away from Jaskier’s. Then he had to take a few steps back because Jaskier swished the blade around a bit. With a cheeky smile the bard drew his hands with the blade carefully to his chest as if to hug the degger. 

“Geralt, this is an absolutely amazing present, but wasn’t it… ahm … a bit too expensive?” He looked anxiously at the witcher.

“A cheap dagger would only cause more trouble than it would help,” Geralt grumbled, looking away from the cornflower blue eyes beaming at him. 

Jaskier took a few steps towards the witcher, took the sheath from his hands and pushed the blade safely back in. A moment later he threw his arms around Geralt’s shoulders, squeezing him tightly. After a moment Geralt sighed and also wrapped his arms around the bard and murmurd, “happy birthday, buttercup.”

[peterrparrkerr]

Magic au - read on ao3

I hate this so much. I had no inspiration or motivation to write this I'm sorry.

*-*

Tony wakes up to a heavy head and stuck eyelids. He groans as pain flares brightly behind his ribs.

It takes him a moment to remember what had happened. He was in an accident. His light had been green, but a truck hadn't stopped and had slammed into Tony, spinning the black sports car on its tires, and into oncoming traffic.

Tony had been disoriented, but still mostly okay. But then another car hit him from behind, and Tony was driven off the road, into a ditch, where the airbag deployed and Tony slammed into his seatbelt, head hitting the side window.

He didnt know how long he'd been unconscious, but when he woke up, his world was a haze. Everything was blurred, and Tony had a hard time processing what he could see.

Spiderwebs spun out in front of him, beautiful and crazy. It takes Tony longer than it should've for him to realize it was his windshield.

His head luls to the side as a dizzy spell nearly takes him out. He groans at the pain blossoming in his chest, but no matter what he wants to do, he stays put.

Somewhere deep in his mind he knows he needs to call for help, but thoughts are coming much too slowly for Tony to properly process.

He doesn't react when the door to his side of the car is ripped open. Nor can he really understand the frantic words spilling from whoever is beside him.

He's taken out of the car and settled softly into the grass. Its cold, but Tony can't really feel it on his skin.

There's a person in his face, and Tony blinks slowly, body settling into the hard earth.

He can barely make out the features, but he blinks a couple times and things seem to clear.

The boy kneeling beside him is young, with curly brown hair and a pretty face.

Blue light glows from below the man's face, and Tony manages to look down to see its coming from his hands.

He tries to speak- tries to ask whats happening, but all he can manage is a pained whine, lips pursing with effort and eyebrows knitting together.

"Shh, its alright," the boy murmured, his voice lilting softly. Tony finds himself soothed by it, and then glowing blue palms are pressing softly against Tony's battered ribcage.

At first it hurts, and Tony wants to scream, but then a cool rush of relief surges through his body, and he sinks into the hard ground below him, letting out a sigh.

"The police are on their way," the boy murmured, continuing his healing. With each second, the pain lessens, and Tony's mind unfogs.

"The second driver who hit you called," he said softly. "The first guy is in the other ditch."

"You're magic," Tony mumbled, lips not yet wanting to work.

The boy gives a small tilt to the corner of his mouth, pressing his palms into Tony's chest.

"You've got a concussion," he responded, removing his hands. The blue light is gone, and Tony gets momentarily distracted, reaching a shaky hand up to touch his forehead, wincing at the sting and wet.

"You're going to be okay," the boy said, pulling a dark red hood up, covering his curly hair. He gets to his feet, and Tony frowns.

"Wait," he says, reaching up to stop the man. He's too far away for Tony to grab, but he stops anyway.

"Who are you?"

The other gives him a half shrug before glancing down the road. Tony's frown deepens and he looks to where the boy is looking.

Red and blue lights of a police cruiser disorients Tony, and he blinks his syes and turns his head away, back to the boy.

But he's gone.

After that, its hard for Tony to think about the magic boy as police officers and EMS scurry around him, trying to get statements and trying to get him to follow a little white light.

Its all a rush Tony can't really process. It slows when he's loaded into an ambulance and taken to the local hospital.

Tony falls asleep -or unconscious- and when he wakes up, he's in a hospital bed, an IV in the soft side of his arm, just below his elbow.

Tony follows the clear tubing up to a bad above his head, dripping slowly.

He reaches for his chest, remembering the pain there, but finding nothing there. His head still hurts -throbs like he's had one too many shots of vodka. Its bandaged, and Tony wonders if he had been bleeding.

Flashes of a brown eyed boy plague him as the nurse explains what had happened, and how they'd treated him.

He takes it in nimbly, still focused on trying to remember what had happened.

Pepper picked him up when he was finally discharged, and he was taken to the penthouse and forced to sleep for the remainder of the evening.

Tony had fought Pepper -just because- but the instant his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light, and slept until the following morning.

"Everything alright, Tones?" Rhodey asked during a visit that afternoon. Tony was still thinking about that boy -the one who had used magic to heal his chest.

Not many people had the ability to use magic, and those who did kept themselves hidden -especially after the genocide a few decades earlier that wiped out most of them.

"Yeah, just-" Tony waves his hand around his head, trying to find a believable excuse. "Still kind of concussed."

Rhodey nodded in understanding, giving Tony a small pat on the back. "Maybe you should go lay down? Rest a bit more before going back to work."

"I can't sit around any longer," Tony grunted, standing to his feet and ducking under Rhodey's arm. "I'll take it easy."

Rhodey doesn't look like he believes him, but Tony rushes for the elevator before he can stop him.

He makes his way to the 10th floor, where most of the inventions are on display -both from his father and himself, from the 40s to the present. Its a museum of creations, created to teach school children on their field trips all about SI, and its history.

Due to the floors above being for his employees, they've got two different elevators; one that goes up and needs a key card in order to get in -unless you're Tony- and one that runs from the first floor to the tenth, for the public.

He just reaches the elevators when the double doors roll open, revealing high school students, all crammed inside.

Tony takes a step to the side, and they file out.

"Oh my God, its Tony Stark!" One kid yelped, a little loud for a small corridor.

Tony gives them all a dazzling smile.

"Are you here to show us around?" Another kid asked. Tony shakes his head, ignoring the slight dizzy spell that gives him.

"No, I wont be, but you've got a wonderful SI employee here who's been working for me for as long as I can remember," he grins, holding an arm out to the woman who got off the elevator with the high schoolers and their teacher.

He manages to get by most of them with little hassle after that. They all huff and whine about Tony not being there for their field trip, but for the most part, they follow the guide.

Its on as Tony's reaching the end of the group that his eyes land on a familiar face.

"Its you."

[nose-bandaid]

a hug per dollar

hello! it's me, the platonic anon from before... may i request a non-romantic, changgu & gender-neutral reader, coffee/study date? and maybe you could work in a reassuring hug 🥺 thank you so much 💛

Yeo One (Changgu) x (gender neutral) Reader | Platonic fluff + comfort?! | 1.8k words

synopsis: overworking can sometimes be an easy, but terrible habit to fall into, but luckily, changgu is there to drag you out when you do.

a/n: lol i think i projected this to have 1.2k but it ended up with 1.8 but i am not complaining !!!! to my dear platonic anon, sorry this took so long ksdhfkdsj i hope you enjoy it !! i may or may not have done an uno reverse on stud.hui.o fanatic because now it is the reader who's overworking BAM 💛

=====

"Don't you think we've been here for long enough?"

Your hand stopped writing the flurry of notes and you looked at your friend, who peered back at you over his laptop. "Changgu, it's literally only been..."

You flipped your phone over to look at the time on its display and faltered when you realized just how late into the day it was. "I guess we have been here for a while."

"Which is exactly why I think we should—"

"But I'm not ready to leave yet!" You snapped back, immediately backing off when you realized how harsh your voice was.

"You didn't get much sleep last night, did you?" He pressed on and you buried your face back into the piles of work laid in front of you.

"We don't talk about that either."

He let you be and the two of you went back to working in silence for the next while until Changgu eventually got up from his seat. Your eyes followed him as he stretched and let out a sigh. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

"Okay." You replied, and returned to your work.

=====

Not long after, a juice box slid into your view and you looked up at Changgu who returned after his bathroom break that took much longer than a usual bathroom break would've taken. You quirked an eyebrow in his direction.

"You got juice from the bathroom?"

He laughed and you took note of the other juice box in his hand — the exact same flavour as yours. "Of course I did. They added vending machines in the bathroom recently, didn't you know that?"

You decided to play along. "Is that so? No, I didn't know that. But do enlighten me as to why you would ever trust a vending machine located in the bathroom."

He laughed at your small jest. "Nah, I just went on an adventure to grab us some fuel." He dropped back into his seat and let out a relieved hum as he stared at his laptop. "After finishing that stupid essay I think I deserved the treat."

"You know, if you're done working you can always head back first. I'm fine on my own."

He shook his head adamantly at your offer. "This is our study session, you know? It's a we thing," he emphasized that with a point to the table. "So I'm not leaving until you're also done."

You sent him a small smile in appreciation and returned to your textbook, taking a small sip from the juice box as you did. It was refreshing and in the back of your mind, you wondered how he knew this was your favourite flavour. You didn't recall ever telling him.

"Though I think you've done more than enough work for today."

You didn't miss the next thing he muttered quietly.

"Look, Changgu, I'll just finish this chapter and we can call it today, okay?" You desperately held up a finger to assist in your pleading.

"One chapter and one chapter only." He reluctantly gave in, deciding to get a head start on another assignment in the meanwhile. Once again, you settled back into a comfortable silence, listening to the distant voices of others in the library.

You ended up finishing that chapter quicker than you initially thought you would and it flared up a new flame of determination within you. You could cram in a few more chapters then, right? You'll get them done in no time, especially with the flow you had now.

Agreeing with yourself, you got started right away.

You're pretty sure Changgu noticed when you flipped the page again.

And again.

And again.

Surely he's noticed the way you're slouched over a bit more now, the way your eyes were drooping and your gaze became unfocused. The way you've hardly touched the bag of snacks since he opened it. But you kept on going. Your determination knew no limits and you kept on going despite all the rational part of you that screamed at you to stop.

...Now, where did you leave off before you started daydreaming?

Right, at the end of this paragraph. You returned to staring at the mundane words in the textbook. You swore you were almost finished with this page but you also told yourself that what felt like hours ago. No matter how many times you read the same sentence over and over again, the words never seemed to stick in your mind. Your hand couldn't figure out what to write and what to leave out. All of it seemed important and you cursed the way your next exam weighed so much and yet gave you such vague preparation instructions. If only you had started studying earlier... but wasn't one week enough? Maybe you just weren't fit for this? Probably, because —

Changgu placed his hand onto yours. He gently pulled the pen out of your grasp and gestured for you to look at him.

"Let's take a break, you have no say in it. Seeing you like this makes me exhausted, I can't take this anymore."

No matter how many times you've drilled into your mind that it was absolutely not okay to take a break, the moment you heard the words from someone else, your composure crumbled.

You let out a deep sigh and let your weight rest on the table. "Yeah let's."

Changgu helped you pack your work away after cleaning up his own and waited until you were fully ready. When you slid the chair back to its former home, he held out a hand for you to take and you happily took a place by his side.

"Are you going to take me on another adventure?" You playfully asked, already feeling a little better now that your work was tucked away.

He shrugged. "Honestly, I had no clue where I was going to take you 'cause I didn't think you'd actually stop studying. But sure! Let's make this an adventure."

Stepping outside, you realized how much nicer it was to have a change of scenery. It was already late afternoon, the sun shining brightly above, engulfing you in a pleasant kind of warmth.

You sighed inwardly, this would've been more relaxing if your mind would just stop drifting back to all the work you still to be done. Hadn't you done enough? You worked so hard for the past who-knows-how-many-hours and yet it only left you unsatisfied and even more stressed.

Maybe it just wasn't enough.

A gentle bop on your head brought you out of your thoughts and you stared at Changgu, his hand still raised from bonking your bad thoughts away.

"Stop thinking so much." He crossed his arms and looked at you pointedly.

"Huh?"

Squinting his eyes, his face leaned into yours, getting closer and closer, and you found yourself edging away from the intrusion. Just as quickly as it started, he suddenly disappeared, straightening his back again and letting out a huff.

"Just as I thought."

"What?" You asked again, still lost.

"You're thinking bad things about yourself again! Stop that."

"How did you know?"

He playfully punched your shoulder at that. "I'm your best friend, you think I wouldn't notice these things? You always have this expression on your face when you're beating yourself up. Looks kinda stupid."

Your mouth gaped at his remark. "Hey!'

"I'm kidding, you never look stupid," he smiled and continued. "But what is stupid is you thinking that you're not good enough because you can't keep up with everything that's going on. Can you really blame yourself if some uncontrollable force decided to dump an unreasonable amount of work on you all at once? You're doing your best, which is one, really paying off because I swear you've covered like a billion chapters today. And two, is extremely cool — I heard the group studying behind us gush about how hard you were working and guess what?"

"...What?" You asked hesitantly, still trying to recover from your friend's spiel.

Changgu grabbed your shoulders to keep your attention. "I also think you're really really cool!!" He announced loudly, capturing the attention of a mother and her daughter nearby. They walked away after the initial surprise.

Your lip trembled, not even having it within you to be embarrassed by his public confession. Instead, you were overwhelmed by his kindness. "Changgu..."

He pulled you into a hug and you basked in his presence. The faint smell of fresh laundry lingered on his hoodie and you melted into his comfort. "You're doing great, and you'd be doing even better if you let yourself breathe for a moment. As overwhelming as it may feel, the only thing that's going to bring you down is yourself if you keep on going at this rate — not your work." He gently scolded before he pulled away and cupped your face, eyes boring into yours.

"Got that?"

You nodded hesitantly. "Yes."

"I don't know... that wasn't really convincing..."

You laughed lightly and pushed his hands away from you. "I got it, I got it, Changu. Thank you so much." You found yourself much more relaxed after your talk. "From studying with me to buying me snacks and comforting me... aargh, I appreciate it."

Changgu simply gave you a bright smile. "Anything for you."

That was all he said, but those 3 words were enough to express just how much you meant to each other.

"Besides, I don't think of it as a chore, any time spent with you is great."

You pouted. "You're too good for me, seriously. How can I make it up to you?"

In all honesty, you expected him to dismiss the question, but instead, Changgu's eyes wandered off as he placed a finger on his chin. "Well, I did notice that my favourite drink is on sale when I passed by that cafe on the way here..."

You sent him an amused look. "The juice wasn't enough?"

"Are you telling me to pass on a sale that takes a whole dollar off?"

Once again, you found yourself playing along with his act and your eyes widened. "Oh geez, you're right, we can't miss out on that." Pushing Changgu from behind, you ushered him forward. "Let's get moving! We spent so much time in the library the shop's going to close by the time we get there."

Changgu chuckled as you caught up and fell into step with his movements. "I'm glad to see that you're back to normal."

"And I'm glad we get to save a buck on overpriced drinks. Thanks for everything, Changgu." You swiftly replied and he sent a smile your way.

"Anytime."

[inyri]

I think I reread Equivalent Exchange at least 2 or 3 times a month (bordering on obsessive, I know) but I just can't get enough of how personal and genuine Nine's perspective feels. The tiny details you include (the effects of adrenals, Nine's knowledge of Kaasi fashion, Yavin being a miserably humid hellhole) make her story feel so much more real and (I'm hesitant to use this word) gritty, which is honestly so, so refreshing. Thank you for everything, and best wishes to you and your husband c:

Sorry for not replying to this yesterday- I was hardly online at all as I was transferring files between old computer and new one and that took about a thousand years…

I don’t know what I did to deserve such lovely messages- It always makes me so happy to get comments at all on my writing, let alone someone liking it enough to reread it several times a month! Thank you for reading (I will endeavor to write faster to give you more to read). 

I started out in fan fiction with “fill-in” pieces- short works, adding detail moments here and there- and I’m probably better at that, still, than actual plot. But I love worldbuilding, and the Star Wars universe in particular gives me so many opportunities to play with it… and Nine in particular, who lets me use so many of the random bits of knowledge crammed inside my head. Though she’s far more fashionable than me, I think.

So thank you again! (and my husband says hello- he’s slowly recuperating after major surgery #3 in two years, but that’s how the dice roll sometimes, isn’t it?)