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psycho-slytherin · 6 months

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The Syndicate

Jungkook doesn't understand why you've chosen to train him as a rogue. He's never been a good liar. Now, as your second-in-command at Bangtan Thieves' Syndicate, he's worried about you... with good reason.

Pairing: Rogue!Jungkook x Rogue!Reader

WC: 3.8k

A/N: That's right, folks, we're coming back with a BTS D&D AU! Enjoy~

“Um… Seokjin?”

The druid turned away from what looked like a bowl of chopped mango. Juice dripped from his chin, his fingers, and somehow down the wall. “Oh, Jungkook. What’s up?”

Jungkook fidgeted with the sleeve of his new blue cloak. You had asked him to wear Bangtan Thieves’ Syndicate colors to increase the fledgling guild’s notoriety, but he didn’t understand how he could increase the notoriety of anything. “I was wondering, can you please go ask Y/n to get some sleep? I haven’t seen her Trance in…” Jungkook began counting on his fingers, but promptly gave up. “A while now. Elves still need to rest, Seokjin! And after what happened to Yoongi, I think she’s kind of, maybe, avoiding everyone? But she’d probably see you.”

Seokjin raised a curious brow. “Clearly, she’d see you too. Why don’t you tell her yourself?”

“Oh, well, I mean, it’s Y/n,” Jungkook chuckled nervously. You’re more stubborn than a mule on the best of days, and it was not the best of days. “I don’t think she’ll listen to me.”

Seokjin raised a brow. His current male form gave him a full head of height over the young elf, who swallowed nervously. “Jungkook, have you actually tried?”

Jungkook looked down at his feet. He’s never been the confrontational type, and even at seventy-five, he was young for an elf. You, twenty years his senior, tended not to take him seriously. “Er…Kind of? I’ve sighed in exasperation at her.”

“Okay, look. Go talk to her, see if she’ll take a break. If that doesn’t work, come get me. If that doesn’t work, well, she’s a big girl, Jungkook. She can take care of-” Seokjin paused. “She can make her own choices.” With that, Seokjin turned back to his mango. The changeling rarely took on a human form; Jungkook guessed the mess of fruit juice on Seokjin’s face was a result of eating with unpracticed lips and omnivorous teeth.

“Um, yeah, okay!”Jungkook retreated past the gates of the party’s current home, a mansion that had once belonged to Seokjin’s father, and began the long walk back to the seedier side of town. He hadn’t walked all this way just for the request, of course; You had sent him to scout out new safehouses which the Bangtan Thieves’ Syndicate could acquire in case something went wrong uptown –– for example, if anyone became suspicious that the wealthy Lord Kim was nowhere to be found and came knocking. Jungkook wasn’t exactly sure what to look for in a safehouse, and when he’d asked you, you’d waved your hand and blearily mumbled a “You’ll know.”

Well, Jungkook didn’t know. He was barely a rogue to begin with. You’ve grown up in this life, from the little he’d managed to glean of your childhood. Jungkook was nothing more than a village ranger before the party scooped him up.

As he walked, Jungkook’s thoughts turned to the first time he’d met you. You had terrified him at first, dressed as you were in all black and so heavily armed that you could have twisted chain mail out of your daggers. All that, and you’d still managed to sneak up on him while Jungkook was out tracking down a goblin hideout.

He crept through the woods, navigating with landmarks invisible but to expert eyes. A tree knot here, a beehive there, and the smell in the air… he was closing in. His footsteps felt lighter than feathers on the mossy forest floor.

Then something… happened. A brush of wind in the wrong direction, the sharp scent of metal where there’d been none. He spun to find himself face-to-face with the point of a rapier borne by a hooded figure. Jungkook froze; was he going to die? He had nothing on him to entice a mugger. There had been a spate of thefts in the past weeks –– it was why he was tracking the goblin hoard.

“Where’s the entrance to the dungeon?” The figure barked, a shining green eye all he could see of your face. Jungkook was quaking in his boots when three men approached.

“Y/n, we talked about this,” a broad-shouldered man said, hand on the hilt of his greatsword.

“I told you to stop giving my name out to strangers, Taehyung,” the figure hissed.

The tallest of the group, a spellcaster of some kind, waved down your weapon as he stared closely at Jungkook, who gulped. “Why would he know anything? He’s a kid. Honestly, Y/n, he near about pissed himself. He’s not getting close to the Souls’ Map Dungeon.”

“H-Hey!” Jungkook squeaked, finally finding his voice. He was not about to piss himself. “I’m not a kid. You’re the ones that can’t find a silly dungeon, and now with all that noise you’ve let the whole forest know you’re here.”

“He’s right,” the firbolg druid in the back chirped. “I can sense evil. Maybe we should-”

Branches exploded above Jungkook’s head as the giant spiders dropped.

The elf shuddered at the memory. Six months ago, he never could have imagined he’d belong to an adventuring party like the ones of legend, the kind he’d only read about. And when he’d met you and learned of the horrors you’d endured… he could hardly imagine he’d find himself in the very city from which you’d fled.

He soon returned to the new headquarters of Bangtan Thieves’ Syndicate. The rest of the party tolerated your legally questionable profession and helped out where it benefited them, but they also kept their distance. Meanwhile, either you’d taken a liking to Jungkook or considered him especially disposable –– Jungkook had yet to learn which –– and you preferred to keep him around.

Jungkook found you exactly where he had left you that morning, glued to your desk and scribbling wildly, your quill rapidly shifting between sheets of code and blueprints, letters and lists.

“Y/n, I-”

“Next time, be quieter coming up the stairs,” the rogue replied without looking up. “The fourth step is loose, you should know that by now.”

Jungkook shrunk into the corner, pressing his lips together. “Sorry.”

“S’fine. You’re getting better. What did you need?”

“Well, I was thinking-”

“Oh, could you send this with one of our runners?” You interrupted, throwing what looked like a rock at Jungkook’s head. He yelped in surprise, and then felt even more surprised when he actually caught the thing. It was lighter than it looked. “It’s hollow,” you continued without drawing breath, almost slurring your words together, and Jungkook couldn’t help but notice how pale you looked. “A message for the leader of Kreta’s Port. And-”

“Y/n, slow down.”

“Let me finish. Those newcomers need training before they can start pickpocketing or we’ll lose them before we’ve finished recruiting. Right, and I need to run an errand, want to come?” “Yes- I mean, wait- I mean, Y/n!” The name came out much louder than intended, and Jungkook could feel his cheeks flush as you finally lowered the quill and looked up at him. Your green eyes never faltered in intensity, and Jungkook swallowed. “Y-You’ve been working nonstop. You need to rest. Just for a short while. I’m really worried about you.”

“Worried about me?” You stood from your desk and Jungkook’s sharp ears picked out the sound of your sore joints popping. He took a step back as your tone shifted to exasperation. “By the Nine Hells, Jungkook, the last thing I need is someone else worrying about me.”

At this, Jungkook grit his teeth, his nerve returning to him. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Your eyes flashed dangerously. For just a moment, the shadows at your feet seemed to darken. “What?”

Oh, he was gonna die, wasn’t he? But Jungkook could hardly back down now –– he needed you to understand. “You haven’t slept,” he continued, working to keep the squeak out of his tone. “I’ve barely seen you eat. You’re the one who told me that a tired rogue is a dead rogue, and if that’s true, you’re only alive in spite of yourself. Maybe if you t-took better care of yourself, we wouldn’t have to worry about you! Maybe if you had actually slept this week, you would have had better control! Maybe you wouldn’t have-'' No. Jungkook cut himself off, blinking hard. He wouldn’t go there. Yoongi had recovered.

Unfortunately, it seemed it was too late. You were quiet, far too quiet as you crossed the room and walked right up to him. For a brief moment, Jungkook thought you might attack him. When you at last raised your hand, he flinched, only to see that you weren’t holding a knife. You were… pointing.

At the door.

“Get out,” You said quietly.

Jungkook’s heart dropped. “Y/n, I’m sor-”

“Didn’t you hear me, Jeong?” your voice was louder now, unwavering. “I think I told you to leave.”

The pause which followed felt more like a dare. Would he stay? Would you let him?

Clenching his fist, Jungkook finally broke from your gaze to see your knees trembling slightly. Exhaustion? Anger? He could never tell with you.

“...Fine. I’ll go.” He waited for a beat, hoping you’d call him back, but instead you simply stood there. The silence was eerie, and your expression… Jungkook shivered as he left the room, closing the heavy door behind him. What could he do for you? How could he make you see that you’d fall apart at that rate? Why didn’t-

Thump. It was a muffled sound, barely audible even to Jungkook’s keen senses. It sounded far too much like a type of thump he was quite familiar with –– that of a body hitting the floor –– and it was coming from the room he’d just left.

“Y/n?” He called out before slapping his hand over his mouth –– idiot, you were going by an alias here. You were the sister of the most thief king in the city, Jung Hoseok, and you refused to associate your guild with his. Here, you weren’t Y/n L/n. You were Ava Echosong, queen of Bangtan Thieves’ Syndicate. “I mean- are you alright?”

Silence. You could be ignoring him, or… A pit began to form in Jungkook’s stomach. Surely, you wouldn’t be so malicious as to trick him. You’d understand the severity of that thump. Jungkook approached the door, knocking lightly. “Just say something, okay? I’ll-” he swallowed. “I’ll leave you alone, but tell me you’re alright.”

The following silence was the same as it had been, but to Jungkook’s rising anxiety it seemed much more nefarious now. He tested the handle –– you had yet to lock the door.

“I’m… I’m coming in,” Jungkook announced with a touch of desperation in his tone. You couldn’t fault him, right? Any decent rogue would check on their thief king.

Actually, you’d probably say something like the best rogues kill their kings. But he was far from a good rogue.

Except when he pushed on the door, it didn’t move. What? The door wasn’t locked, that was for certain, yet… he pushed harder, this time feeling it shift, and he was able to peek through the new gap in the doorway. His field of vision was limited, but all he needed to see was right before his eyes: Your hand, resting limply on the floor.

Jungkook’s heart dropped. “Oh, gods…”

He angled his shoulder against the door and shoved. Luckily, your lithe frame wasn’t too heavy or muscular, and he was able to push the door open without much resistance from your body. As soon as he wriggled through the gap in the door, Jungkook fell to his knees in front of the older rogue.

Your normally warm olive skin tone had been drained of blood. Your jaw, usually tightly clenched, hung slightly slack, and your shadow seemed to be leaking a particularly nefarious darkness.

“Gods… okay. Okay, okay.” With one hand, Jungkook swung the heavy door shut again. It would do you no good for any of your new recruits to see you in a weakened state. The other hand was feeling for your carotid, searching for a pulse. Your skin was hot to the touch, and yet dry. Your pulse was faint, but Jungkook didn’t care, because at least it was there. At least it was something.

Still, you were much too warm. Jungkook hesitated for a second before unclasping the raven-feather cloak clipped around your neck, and pulling the cowl off your head. As the cloak fell away, You were left in your usual black shirt and pants. Your jet-black hair had grown down to your ears and was streaked with blood and soot. When had you last washed it? In spending half his time in a mansion in the Kim Mansion and the other half with you in the slums, Jungkook realized as he reached into his bag for a waterskin, he was in the unique position to note that both manners of living were intolerable.

Careful to support your neck, Jungkook held your head up as he placed the waterskin to your barely open lips. He cursed on seeing the water he tipped out dribble down your chin, with hardly any entering your mouth. He didn’t want you to choke, but you needed hydration. With a firm hand pulling down on your mandible, Jungkook opened your mouth, poured in some water, and massaged your throat to help you swallow. To Jungkook’s building dread, while you did swallow down the water, you didn’t awaken. He laid your head down on his lap to keep it elevated before burying his face in his hands, heart racing. What else could he do? A healing potion? He had one left. But it wasn’t like you were injured, and if she had collapsed from fatigue, as Jungkook suspected and feared, he wasn’t certain the potion could do anything to help. It might even hinder your recovery to be forced awake. What if, though, you were ill? Then you’d need a healer, or magic, some sort of purging spell. Jungkook had nothing on hand, not even a sending stone to send for Seokjin, or Taehyung’s strength, Namjoon’s smarts –– Jungkook couldn’t do anything right, not even walk quietly, useless, useless ––

You’re spiraling again, your voice echoed in his head, so suddenly his eyes flitted to your face on the assumption you’d woken up. But no, you stayed limp on his lap, so still Jungkook could scarcely sense your heartbeat. Deep breath. What’s the first step?

The young elf swallowed. He had checked that your heart was beating, and confirmed you were still breathing. First step done.

You were clearly dehydrated. You’d gotten some water, so that was the second step. But you needed more. And a cold compress to combat that fever. Step three.

“Y/n,” Jungkook murmured, carefully lifting the rogue’s head off his legs. “I need you to stay here- not that you can go anywhere, that is, I just meant- I’ll be right back, okay?” Jungkook was on the verge of standing when he heard a voice that made him jump.

“Need something?”

“Gah!” Jungkook whipped around, instinctively reaching for his sword. For the first time, he saw a man standing in the corner of your office. Jungkook was sure he’d never seen the human before, but at the same time he looked vaguely familiar, his features too generic to place. “Who are you?” Jungkook asked, shifting into a protective stance before your body. “How did you get in?”

“Don. Donathan?” The man shrugged. “I’ve been here the whole time.”

The whole- so when you fell unconscious, this stranger was in the room with her? What had he done?

Jungkook was nervous. But you were laying at his feet, which didn’t make him less nervous, as much as it did raise the stakes tremendously. You already know how. You’ve done it before. Jungkook worked to mold his features, let his face relax into the cold stare he often saw on your face and those of the killers you’d confronted, and with his thumb flicked his rapier barely loose of its sheath. “It’d be in your best interests to explain what exactly you’re doing here.”

The man, Donathan, didn’t move or change his neutral expression. “I was delivering a message to Echosong. Or… Y/n, I guess? Wait, Y/n, like the kid sister Jung Hoseok? She’s back?”

“Who sent you? Another guild?”

Donathan released a long-suffering sigh. “Echosong did. Jungkook, we’ve met. I’m in Bangtan.”

Jungkook’s brow’s furrowed. “I’d have remembered you. I was part of the recruitment team.”

The human then nodded at the desk, and Jungkook followed the movement. On your desk was a full roster of new BTS members and approved messengers. Fourth on the list of recruits, written in the Thieves’ Cant you’ve only just taught Jungkook to read –– Donathan Joe. Brown hair and eyes, tan skin. Nondescript. Start him as messenger - potential as spy.

The description fit the man to a tee. “I - fine. Okay. Don’t tell anyone what’s happened here, alright?” Jungkook said tightly. Your reputation was on the line.

Donathan shrugged. “Aight. Want more water for Echosong? So you don’t have to leave?”

Jungkook paused. You had clearly thought you could at least somewhat trust the man. “Fine.”

As Donathan left, Jungkook slid back down to the floor to sit beside you. Your cheeks were still hot to the touch, though cooler than before. And you were no closer to waking. If this wasn’t Donathan’s nefarious doing, then you must’ve collapsed from exhaustion.

“Gods and devils, Y/n,” Jungkook muttered at the elder rogue. “What are we going to do with you, hm? The one time since I’ve met you that we can relax, ‘cause for once no one’s trying to kill us, and you’re working harder than ever? You don’t have to push yourself like this, you know. Don’t you know we’re all-” he paused. “Some of us are worried about you?” He was talking quickly now, staring at his hands, his high elf ancestry making his skin far paler than your wood elf tone. “If you’re worried about spending your Trance with a bunch of thieves, I’m here. I can keep watch over you, if you’d trust me. Which… I dunno. Maybe you don’t. But your work, it’s not that much if we split it up. You’ve built this guild for a reason, right, Y/n? To be together, to have a group, to be stronger. Part of something. We can help, if you ask us. I wish you’d ask us. I’d help you. I know, I’m a mess at all the paperwork, and-” Here, Jungkook broke off and chuckled- “I really don’t understand the important facets of syndicate safe houses, but I can learn. You’re a good teacher, if a scary one. Really scary, sometimes. Anyways. Y/n, you know you’re not alone, right? I get it if, after everything, you might feel that way. But we don’t. And we need you. So, uh, wake up, okay? If you’re going to pass out, beds are way more comfortable.” With a tentative hand, Jungkook reached out and shook your shoulder gently. “C’mon, wake up.”

Nothing. It had been about ten minutes since you had lost consciousness now, and that was a dangerously long time for Jungkook’s comfort. You were still breathing, but for how much longer? He shook a bit harder, his tone lapsing into its old nervous squeak as his anxiety heightened and desperation rose in kind. Elves didn’t pass out like you had unless something was wrong - an injury, fatigue, or poison of some kind. Jungkook raised his voice.

“Y/n, please wake up, I still have to beat you in a duel. I’ll even aim like you taught me. Seriously, please…”

And then came a voice, as raspy as he’d ever heard it, and yet it was music to his pointed ears.

“Won’ help.”

“Y- oh, Y/n!” Jungkook almost swept the wood elf up into a hug before stopping himself. “You’re okay!”

You blinked, your eyes not quite focused. Though you were awake, your head didn’t move from the floor. More worryingly for Jungkook, your pupils were dilated unevenly. “Mmno. Ev’rthin’s wiggly. And you look like Jungkook.”

“I am Jungkook.”

“Oh. hi.”

“Hi.” Try as he might, Jungkook couldn’t contain his un-roguelike grin. “I was really worried about you.”

“M’sorry.” You blinked hard to clear your eyes or mind, but Jungkook could see you were still having trouble. “Didn’t mean t’worry you.’

“Please, don’t apologize.” Jungkook could feel his humor returning as his lungs inflated with relief. “Apologize for working yourself half into the grave, if anything.”

“Mm.”

“That doesn’t count as a sorry.”

“Jungkook?”

“Yes, Y/n?”

“I think I could use a nap.”

Oh, thank the gods. “You have a cot in here, right?”

“S’folded by my desk. Never use it.”

Jungkook rose, located the cot, and quickly unfolded it, patting out the pillow for you. “Can you walk?”

He could see your muscles strain for a moment, almost feel you try to rise out of sheer willpower, before you collapsed back onto the old oak planks. “No. M’sorry. S’real dumb.”

“Hey, don’t-don’t worry about it.” Jungkook stooped and with one arm under your legs and the other supporting your neck, carried you ten feet to the thin cot. He could see your eyes start to flutter closed the minute your body touched the scratchy wool cover. Still, he could tell you were fighting to stay conscious. “Y/n.”

“Mm?”

“You’ve earned your rest. I’ll keep watch. I promise.”

There was a long pause, so long he thought you’d lost consciousness again, before he barely heard your quiet voice. “Okay.”

Within minutes, the room was silent save for the breathing of two elves. Jungkook’s own vague meditation as he watched you fall into a Trance was broken by a knock at the door. When he swung it open, there stood Donathan. It took a conscious effort on Jungkook’s part to remember why he was there and who the man was. Everything about this human was terrifyingly neutral. Donathan wordlessly passed an icy compress and fresh waterskin to Jungkook before nodding a goodbye. It was as if the moment he faded from view, he turned fuzzy in Jungkook’s memories. Strange man.

Back at your side, Jungkook gently wiped your face with the icy cloth. As he leaned over to daub water on your burning cheeks, he heard a whisper that made his own face flush, so faint he might well have imagined it.

“Thank you, Jungkook.”

#bts #psycho-slytherin #bangtan #bts fic #yoongi #jungkook #bts jungkook #jeon jeongguk #bts fluff #jeon jungkook #jungkook x reader #bts x reader

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eikonoklast · 16 days

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Day 8 (Free Day): 'Blame'

Ardbert turned his attention towards the bed as its occupant shifted slightly. It had been a week since the fight with Innocence on Mt. Gulg, and Chiteni had been unconscious ever since. Ryne would occasionally steal in to check on him, but the Scions were all out on their respective forays to try and find a way to help their friend. He wasn't able to eat anything and his wounds didn't seem to want to close. Ardbert knew they all understood exactly why, but each was in their own state of denial or grief - instead fielding their efforts in an attempt to solve the problem. Ryne was the only one who seemed to acknowledge him as he was.

Those who slowly turned into sin eaters died a very creeping sort've death. Sin eaters were not living beings in the most well-understood sense: their skin was partially petrified, their flesh itself necrotic - the soul usually destroyed in the process of transformation. Those who were afflicted were difficult to heal because of this, as healing magic could not cure that which would not mend naturally. A limb could not be regrown once severed because the energy it would require from the caster and injured was more than both could survive, but it could be healed if reattached. Similarly…if something was dead it couldn't simply be revived through the energy of a single caster. Thus was the prevailing understanding at the time.

Ryne understood that their friend had a foot in both worlds right now, much like any afflicted. Which meant that while his condition was naturally deteriorating, he needed aether to sustain his own. The Warrior of Darkness had vast reserves of energy, but they were quickly exhausting themselves as his body sluggishly tried to mend itself. His ghastly partial transformation had ripped long gashes in his back that had to be stitched by hand just to get them to begin to mend, and it was likely why he had yet to awaken. So it was that she would steal in while the others were away, tending to her charge in secret so they did not need to face the difficult truth for a little while longer.

Ardbert watched quietly while Chiteni roused himself. His eyes were covered by a bandage - a precaution in case he did anything rash quicker than someone could stop him. That's what Thancred had reasoned, anyway. It felt like forever between each breath as he slowly shifted, propping himself up on a shaky arm. The large black wings on his back unsettlingly shifted as he did; their gossamer ebon feathers sliding over the dingy white linens on his back like fine silk. They otherwise lie completely limp behind him, the muscles relaxed and unmoving.

The specter painfully wondered what they felt like for the briefest of moments before he pushed the thought away, disgusted with himself. The white aether seeking escape had coated Chiteni's back, coming together into a soft, ivory-feathered shell. The sister of the twins, Alisaie, had done what Ardbert could not; ripping the casing off with an animalistic ferocity, preventing any further spread of the chrysalis. In his mind's eye Ardbert could still see the appendages pushing through where the tender casing had been; sloughing off the torn skin from within as they had peeled away from his body with a sickening snap. One at a time. The feathers slick with blood. The girl Ryne had been just as quick to act afterwards, putting a stop to things entirely with her ability to manipulate Light. But Ardbert could still see the confused and terrified look on his friend's face. The lack of screaming had been so much more horrifying than if anyone had simply done so.

Chiteni shifted some more as if to try and get down, crawling across the bed: the weight on his back seeming to catch him off guard as his wings slid off the side, pulling him down with them. He fell to the stone floor in a pile of feathers and bandages. Ardbert simply watched. He said nothing as he stared, feeling sickened as the person he'd come to see as a friend struggled to stand. Chiteni grasped silently at the bedside to pick himself up, his back facing Ardbert where he stood a few yalms away. The loose-fitting linens had large holes ripped in them to accommodate his…additional limbs properly, and Ardbert could see that when he had fallen the stitches on one side had torn again, leaving a smear of red trailing down his back. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. My fault. All my fault. Everything.

A clatter made him look again. Chiteni was grabbing at the dresser still trying to stand, clearly only half-conscious. His wings dragged behind him on the floor like sheets as he blindly grasped around him, clearly confused. He looked sickly; his usually grayish skin much paler than normal, his frame thinner. Ardbert had wanted to force himself to be here - to deal with the consequences of his actions and face his friend, but he could feel the shame and guilt tearing their way through him as he watched helplessly; the feelings cloying and hot in his throat. A vase fell to the floor as the dresser shook slightly under the weight of the man leaning against it; knocking it down with a loud crash, the glass shattering on the stone below. The sound didn't even seem to register as Chiteni deliriously slid down onto the floor, where he lay still again as if he'd simply exhausted himself.

Ardbert had had enough. He walked to the balcony. He needed to be anywhere else. Chiteni was in no state to even be angry with him, and he wasn't going to be of any help just standing around as his only friend hurt himself just trying to move. He hopped off to the ground below. No need to fear the fall, anymore.

An elezen woman heard the crash above and threw open the large wooden door. She saw her charge on the ground; lying there, head tilted slightly towards the closed window as if he’d been looking at something. Unlikely, under the linen covering his eyes. She walked over to put him back in the bed. His palms and arms were covered in small cuts from a broken vase he'd knocked into the floor in his torpid state, and she noticed her careful stitching had again been ruined. She doubted it would be the last time he did this.

“Boy, you should either just wake up or stay in bed,” she joked gently. Softly. There wasn't any humor in her pale eyes. “I'm so tired you're actually making me age for the first time in a century.”

She moved him carefully back where he should have been and laid him down, turning around quickly to take care of the mess on the floor. Chiteni lie motionless in the bed once more, his breathing shallow.

“Are you just sleepwalking?” the woman mused to herself. She smiled, but her heart wasn't in it. Throwing open the window to let in some fresh air, radiant light filtered down into the room as dust motes drifted in the breeze, disturbed. They twinkled like the stars hidden behind the blinding canopy overhead as they whirled. She took it all in, breathing deeply. And then she turned back to the young man, her eyes catching on those beautiful, shadowy feathers; their colors coming out in the ray of light from the open window, glimmering with hidden iridescence. Just like the night sky. She turned away. It was unthinkable to see beauty in something as painful as this.

My fault. All my fault. Everything.

Author's Note: So honestly I wasn't sure I wanted to share this. I don't think any way I could describe this would do it justice, especially because of what parallels I draw to this moment in my mind. I lack the skill as a writer to truly compose my thoughts about how this moment went down, but I hope some questions people have are at least comfortably answered so that I can move on to other things.

Chiteni's wings mean a lot to me, sincerely - particularly as a metaphor for the struggle to be accepted when you come out to others as different than what they think. But I wanted to get across the vulnerability we suffer when we can't take it anymore. When we can't bottle it up for other people because of the damage we do to ourselves. And ofc the harm it invariably does to them as well - learning that they've sort've been lied to. No one is to blame really, but we all kind’ve end up blaming ourselves.

#ffxivwrite2024 #ffxiv #original character #chiteni kha #day 8 #sorry if you don't enjoy this one #thanks for reading #anyway

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queentheweeb · 2 years

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Fumikage Tokoyami X Shy Male Reader

"What a mad banquet of darkness." You glanced over at Tokoyami to try and figure out what was throwing him off that he needed to say that. Dark Shadow was out relaxing on his shoulder looking at the paper that was on the desk. You figured it had to be the math worksheet that was given out by Ecto-sensei. Why was trigonometry important? What in the actual hell do we need Logs for? When? How? WHO IS GOING TO USE IT?

"A-are you o-okay Tokoyami?" They both looked at you at the same time probably shocked that you even talked to them first. Not like you were shocked yourself, you usually don't say anything but for some reason seeing your crush struggle didn't sit well with you.

"...Well this trigonometry worksheet that Ectoplasm-Sensei gave us is quite challenging and I cannot understand the meaning behind Questions 1-4. The rest I did understand though." He blinked staring at you waiting for you to respond while you were going through a gay panic.

"I-I can h-help if you want." Took you long enough to get those six words out you bumbling buffoon. He tilted his head a bit at you considering before scooting over his chair to make room for you. You swallowed the sudden lump in your throat as you tried your best to explain the problems to him. You were trying your best to not look at him just in case you made a fool of yourself once more. Your peripherals, however, were betraying you-the bastards- of giving you a view of his sleek black hair- or was it feathers?- and his wide red eyes that were concentrated on the paper in front of him. Dark Shadow luckily was occupied with bothering him and messing around in his book bag and wasn't aware of your ogling. You wonder if his hair-feathers?- were as soft as they looked.

"L/N-kun" You jumped your mind focusing on the object of your affection who was staring at you unblinkingly. Damn it you hate when he does that. He makes it so much harder to decipher his emotions and what he's thinking. Oh God did he catch you looking at him?

"Y-yes Tokoyami-kun?" One of these days you were going to break out of your shell and maybe talk to him more and ask him on a date. Too bad that day was not today.

"I just wanted to know if they were right or if I have to wallow in my failure." If you were anyone else you would have been put off by his choice of words but he was just Tokoyami and that's how he is.

"L-let me look f-for you." You were trying your best to control your stuttering but he just made it come out so easily that he makes it seem all your speech therapy went to waste. You carefully looked through his answers thoroughly checking each answer completely unaware of the conversation that your favorite bird was having with his quirk.

'I swear on everything I love Fumi-kun if you don't tell him I will."

"Now why would you go and make a mockery of us" Tokoyami felt Dark Shadow huff in frustration at him

"Listen you fool, you will be surprised if you tell him. You don't even have to tell him outright that you like him! Just ask him out on a date to that ice cream parlor Me and you both know he loves frozen treats!" Dark Shadow let out a little squawk at the end which meant he was serious about what he was saying and he did have a point

"....You make a valid statement. Don't get smug about it! There is still a possibility of him saying no and if he does I am never going to ask him again and I'm just going to wallow in my black tears and sorrow."

"Shut up, you dramatic ass."

You were still completely unaware of the little dispute the occupant next to you had as you finished checking his classwork. You tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention and he turned to you humming lightly as you gave back his work. "You got them all right this t-time. Great work Tokoyami-k-kun." You wanted to slam your face into the desk. Really Y/N! Of all the things that could have possibly been said you had to say the most awkwardest thing in the world? The more Tokoyami stared at you the redder you turned and the stronger the feeling of wanting the floor to swallow you whole grew.

"Ask him now or I will."

"Are you insane? I just can't ask that out of the blue."

"5...4...3...2..."

"FINE!"

"I have a question to ask you L/N-kun." You stared at Tokoyami tilting your head to the side a bit confused and curious at the same time. What could he possibly want from you? "...If you are not too busy after school...would you want to go...to the ice cream parlor? It would be my treat." Your brain is short-circuited. He wants to do what with who??

"....M-m-m-me?" You weren't being loud but it still caught you off guard. He wanted to be seen with you. He wanted to go somewhere with you and he was talking about paying like it was a date.

"Yes, I am talking about you L/N-kun. Of course, you can decline if you are busy or do not wish to go with me." "I told you he was going to freak out and say no"

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

Tokoyami resisted the urge to snort at that while patiently waiting for your answer not realizing you were screeching internally while simultaneously going through a gay panic times three.

"Y-yes...I would lo- I mean like! I would l-like to go with you..." You were trying not to hyperventilate out of pure excitement that this was truly happening. Tokoyami just asked you out to go get ice cream. Just the two of you. He was offering to pay for everything too.

"I will wait for you outside the dorms after school then." Tokoyami gave a small smile turning in his seat and you did the same thanking God that Ecto chose that time to continue the lesson. You needed something to take your mind off of what just happened before you exploded and started prancing around like some sort of high idiot. Tokoyami was no better off than you but he was able to school his features and hide it despite his inner monologue going a mile a minute and his heart just about beating out of his chest. He caught Shoji looking at him giving him a thumbs up and he subtly stuck his tongue out at him. The rest of the day went by uneventfully and Fumi found himself waiting patiently outside the dorms dressed casually. Back to you now you were tugging at your clothes hoping it wasn't too much or too little. You were wearing black skinny jeans with black combat boots accompanied by a chain. You wore a band t-shirt with a flannel over it and a beanie. You licked your lips the tip of your new tongue piercing poking out. You had just gotten it yesterday and honestly, you were shocked you were bold enough to get it. Definitely stepped out of your comfort zone with that one. You glanced at the time and hurried to meet Tokoyami knowing he was waiting for you. Just as you suspected he was waiting for you. He took notice of you and nodded his head as you both walked in comfortable silence. You both were walking with practically no space in between you and you so desperately wanted to close it. Feeling a bit risky you gently brushed your hands against his and were happy when he didn't pull away. You were a blushing mess not looking his way but you continued to brush your hands together trying to give a hint. Your heart jumped for joy when he grabbed yours and you shyly looked at him and were pleased to see that his hair-feathers?- was ruffled up a bit and he was looking straight ahead. You guys made it to the ice cream parlor and true to his word he paid for both of you guys as you found a quiet spot in the corner for the two of you to sit and talk for a bit.

"Thanks for taking me out..." You said fuck it and were going to go for it. He did all of this and held your hand you were going to think of this as a date.

"The pleasure is mine. I believe it is only fair that you choose the next spot for our next date." You choked on your ice cream a bit before grinning sheepishly and chuckling nervously.

"W-well I h-have some place in mind." You were doing so well why were you stuttering again? You chuckled again when he said nothing but stared at you.

"Good to know that we both are on the same page then." Was he talking about you guys being boyfriends? "Yes, I mean that we both are boyfriends now." You laughed openly this time in pure glee. "Okay, I do not mean to peer but is that a tongue ring?" He sounded both curious and surprised. You smiled this time at him sticking your tongue out at him to give him a view before pulling your tongue back in.

"I was feeling bold when I got it yesterday for some reason." He hummed a reply as he ate his ice cream.

"I like it." You looked at him blushing lightly but he refused to meet your eyes so you just shook your head looking down at your frozen treat loving the way your stomach had butterflies.

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

Not sure if I like the ending.

#anime #fanfic #manga #bnha #mha #fanfiction #quotev #quirks #fluff #x reader #x male reader #Tokoyami X Male reader #Fumikage x male reader #Fumikage Tokoyami X Male reader

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grinningreaperwrites · 10 months

Text

Magical Girl Power! Episode 2: Faking a Ferret

The day after becoming a Magical Girl, Grian has several new problems: 1) he's supposed to report on Magical Girls, 2) most of his team's equipment might have been damaged or lost in the Rogue attack, and 3) there's an entire Spirit in his house now. Items 1 and 2 are more long-term problems, but 3 requires immediate attention. Luckily, said Spirit can shapeshift! Now they just have to agree on what the disguise should be, and defeat the Rogues attacking the shopping center. Should be easy, right?

On AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52012432

It turns out that hiding a Spirit in his bedroom is much easier than Grian expected. The hard part of last night was convincing his sister that he was completely normal and not suffering from magic sickness (or having recently become a Magical Girl). She still insisted on feeding him a lot of soup, but he did sneak some up for Xelqua without being suspicious enough to call out.

Grian also put Scar’s chrysanthemum in a vase he wasn’t aware he owned, and the flower glows brightly to his new sight. Xelqua must have spent a lot of time wrapped around it in the bag for his power to have worn off so strongly.

However, there are other things in his house that glow for reasons he cannot understand: the jacket his brother forgot, a cat mug, and a weird little rock he’d found about a week ago that had looked like an eye. Grian tucks it into his pocket, just in case. They have to make a plan first, before he can get to questions.

Well, actually, they need to eat, but Grian can multitask. Xelqua is having a great time flying around the house and poking things now that Pearl isn’t here, but the scent of cooking food makes for an excellent lure.

“Oooh, what is that called? It smells so nice,” Xelqua asks, landing lightly on Grian’s shoulders.

“Hey! It’s just, ah, it’s eggs and ham? I don’t actually know if you can eat this, I was worried you couldn’t eat the soup last night,” Grian explains, trying not to squirm as Xelqua’s feathers tickle his neck.

“Aw, I was wondering if it had a name like French Toast. One of the scientists liked French Toast. Oh! I can eat almost anything; if I remember correctly, I can eat more things than you!”

Hm. Okay, maybe it is time for some questions.

“From when? Do you remember things from me that were shared?” Grian allows himself to ask, shoving the slices of ham around so they all cook evenly.

Xelqua shakes his head in Grian’s periphery. “The Rift is connected, and it’s also not the only one – you knew that, right? – so we know things about humans! Some Spirits live here full-time, even. I don’t know if any humans live beyond. The scientists in the facility were studying the Rift, but they didn’t know a lot. What do you know?”

This definitely should’ve been a conversation they had last night, but Xelqua looked so peaceful sleeping. Grian bites his lip.

“To put it simply: I don’t think anyone who isn’t a Magical Girl knows that Magical Girls aren’t just some kind of Spirit,” Grian says. He moves to shrug, but remembers something. “Wait, Miss Hawkeye said some people know, but are dangerous. I don’t know who they’d be, since she also said to go back to the Observatory with Cores…”

“Oooooh boooooy…” Xelqua says slowly. He jumps down onto the dishtowel to Grian’s right and pushes his paws up by his face anxiously. “Okay, yeah, that makes sense, you asked what the bond meant and I thought you’d just misheard me…”

Grian and Xelqua look at each other, and have a mutual moment of panic as they both realize how deep of a gulf of understanding spreads between them.

Xelqua is the first to break the silence, jumping into an anxious whirl of white and pink.

“Okay, okay! I didn’t- I guess this is why we were always told to not talk to random humans. Okay. I am Xelqua, I escaped through the Rift because there was a …I don’t know if it’s ever come through the Rift. There was thing I would call a demon, and it wanted to eat me, so I flew until I was in the... The Observatory? I thought it closed from this side, it doesn’t-“

Grian pushes the slices of ham onto a plate with the eggs without interrupting.

“-but the scientists made a weird little house and fed me, so that was good, and I thought they knew more because one of them called me Watcher? Which is what I am, we’re Watchers,” Xelqua says, swirling to a stop and tapping himself in the chest.

“I guess whoever named you is the person we’re supposed to meet,” Grian adds while Xelqua inhales.

He didn’t mean to distract Xelqua, but the Watcher ruffles all his feathers and immediately switches topics.

“Musician! That’s an interesting name for a Spirit, I wonder if they took an English name when they crossed over? Usually we don’t use names that are that… obvious? About what our powers are. The Song of Fate isn’t referenced in my name at all.”

That doesn’t mean that the mysterious Musician has any sound-based powers, then, but Xelqua doesn’t seem to realize this and just jumps up onto Grian’s shoulders again as he turns to cut the eggs and ham into smaller slices. They negotiate portions before Grian walks over to the table, even though Xelqua simply sits on the tabletop instead.

It occurs to Grian, watching Xelqua daintily eat a chunk of egg with his paws, that the Spirit knows just as much about him as he knows about Xelqua.

“So, uh, you had that whole introduction, so. Mine. I’m Grian, you kind of met my sister Pearl but I also have a younger brother named Jimmy, I work for the Hermit Gazette with Mumbo and Scar. Our current assignment – the reason why we were in the Observatory – is to make a documentary on Magical Girls.”

Xelqua’s head peeks over the egg with a wide-eyed delight, and he giggles when Grian pauses.

“Yeah, I dunno how we’ll manage that. Ah, I used to live in another area about seven hours from here named Evo County. I have a college degree – do you know what that is?”

Xelqua nods, swallows, and chirps “You did a lot of school to be very good at something!”

“Yeah, and I swapped around a bit. Oh! Also, I can see glowy auras, but that started happening after Aria, so it’s probably your fault.”

Ruffling his feathers in excitement, Xelqua chirps again and rocks up onto his back paws. He takes a comically deep breath and then explodes into chatter.

“That’s not exactly true! Humans have their own magic capabilities, but they don’t naturally generate magic - usually – so when we linked up, you get to use my magic, but it’s through your powers, that’s so cool!” Xelqua says in a rush, dodging around plates to jump up on Grian’s shoulders again and aimlessly pat him in excitement. “What do the auras look like? Are they all the same color? What has them?”

“Woah, okay,” Grian says, leaning back and raising his hands to catch Xelqua as if the Watcher would fall. “Well, first, uh, I have about twelve more questions, but- okay, so far all living things have auras and some weird objects I think you were interacting with last night, like my bag. They’re all different colors and the humans have different patterns. Oh, your eyespots are visible all the time even though Doctor Plays - Zedaph? The blonde man we were with? – said that was only under the Rift’s light.”

He also pulls the eye-shaped stone out of his pocket and sets it on the table as Xelqua cheers excitedly.

“This also has an aura, which is kind of funny since I picked it up in Spawntown Square about a week ago.”

Xelqua jumps down onto the table again and scoops up the rock. Then he shuffles over to his plate and plucks another slice of egg to chew on as he turns over the pebble. Grian pops a similarly-sized piece of egg right into his mouth, then nearly tips over his juice glass as his phone vibrates loudly. Xelqua puffs up, startled, and flaps his wings to keep himself from falling off the tabletop.

SCAR: they delivered all the stuff we left at the observatory at my house!

SCAR: we should probably go through it before Jellie knocks something over

MUMBO: oh yeah that’s great

MUMBO: in an hour maybe?

GRIA: how did you wake up early enough to receive that deliviery?

SCAR: I didn’t!!

MUMBO: oh if Grian’s awake we might as well do it now

Grian bites his lip and looks up at Xelqua.

“So, that’s Scar, the stuff we had to leave at the Observatory has been returned and we’re going to meet up.”

He doesn’t know how to ask if Xelqua wants to come along. He also doesn’t know if Xelqua wants to come along, but he feels like Xelqua probably should. Granted, this might be the strange bond they now share, but Grian doesn’t want to leave the childish Watcher alone.

Luckily…

“Ooh, Scar’s house. He’s the one with the cat, right?”

Grian laughs.

“Yes, Jellie. You overheard that entire conversation, huh?” Grian asks, referring to Scar’s enthusiastic monologue yesterday wherein he insisted on showing pictures of his cat to the entire emergency response team and the retrieved scientists. “I don’t know if you’d be able to see her, though. Unless you snuck out of my bag to go wander the house; it’s pretty big.”

Xelqua hums, disappointed, and attempts to scarf down the egg without dropping the pebble. Grian texts the group chat one-handed while returning to his own food.

GRIA: sure? I need to finish eating though

SCAR: you were up late? You???

GRIA: no, I went to bed after getting Pearl to relax

SCAR: I meant that you woke up late!

“Maybe I should be a creature instead. What kind of creature should I turn into?” Xelqua muses, startling Grian.

“A creature? Like how you were a scarf?”

“Yeah! Since I’m a core I can change what I look like, so maybe I should be…” Xelqua zones back out and places the pebble on the table.

Shapeshifting. Shapeshifting could fix a lot of the interaction problems looping through Grian’s head. Xelqua still wouldn’t be able to talk, but maybe he could-

“What, like if you pretended to be a pet? Like a ferret?” he blurts out.

Xelqua whips around to stare at him while biting into a slice of ham. Without speaking, he shimmers, then his feathers flicker out of existence. The pink marks that remain on his body turn brown, and the eyespots only Grian can see blink shut into stripes. Not as immediately necessary, but an interesting side effect nonetheless.

Taking the slice of ham out of his mouth, Xelqua asks, “Did it work?”

“Yes!” Grian cheers. “I don’t know how we’re going to explain me spontaneously acquiring a ferret, but we can work on that later. Maybe you can be a therapy ferret for all of the fights I’ve gotten into.”

He means that as a joke. Xelqua immediately looks at him with huge newly-brown eyes and Grian feels guilty. The he talks, and Grian feels guiltier.

“All of the fights? People fight you often?”

Grian spears another slice of egg so he only has to say something short.

“I used to. Pearl mentioned that at some point, did you overhear her? Jimmy and I would get in fights and she’d end them.”

He chews, but Xelqua continues to look sorrowful.

Ignoring the continued messages, Grian pops up the internet on his phone and searches ‘therapy ferret’. He clicks the first link that doesn’t look like an ad and places the screen in front of Xelqua.

“Here. This might have information about therapy ferrets. Does that work?”

Just like accidentally changing topics earlier, Xelqua pounces on the new information with an excitement rivalled only by hyper toddlers. His little pink pads can even activate the screen, so Grian lets him read out pieces as they get ready to go to Scar’s.

- - - -

By the time they’ve gotten to Scar’s, Grian and Xelqua agree that, at some point today, Grian is going to have to drop by a pet supply store to help sell the idea that he’s acquired a ferret… and also pretend to buy a ferret, but that’s easier. He kind of has a ferret already. That part, at least, will be the easiest lie he’s ever told.

It will be much harder if Xelqua moves around in Grian’s bag in the meanwhile. Grian doesn’t blame him, though – scarf form is far less relaxing now that Xelqua isn’t exhausted from fighting. He pets Xelqua’s head as he presses Scar’s doorbell again. And again. And again.

Mumbo opens Scar’s door this time, while Scar himself holds Jellie down the hall. Mumbo is as neatly put-together as ever, compared to Scar’s indomitable bedhead.

“Hey Grian, nice to see you’ve found the doorbell again,” Mumbo says.

Grian smiles innocently.

Scar lifts Jellie to wave at him as a greeting and coos over how cute she is. He’s right, but Grian is distracted by the glowing markings all over her. Like Scar’s striped blotches, there are soft blue lines tracing every patch of tigerlike patterning on her body. They match. Which Rogue attack was close enough to this house that both of them could’ve been marked by it?

As he follows Mumbo and Scar further in, Grian’s heart sinks further. The house is practically painted with aura-marks, or maybe stained: trails along the ground, against doorframes, windowsills, objects. Something – maybe many somethings – was here recently. Pawing through Scar and Cub’s stuff, holding things long enough that they glow brightly even still.

Scar opens a door, fingers drifting over a bright patch of magical residue, and Grian has a thought: what if the things leaving the marks keep coming back? Is Scar haunted? He hasn’t mentioned anything moving around his house, but with Jellie here and how big it is, Grian usually relies on Scar’s memory to have any idea how it’s supposed to be put together.

This time, Scar leads them in an entirely different direction – as far as Grian can remember – that ends in a living room with several cardboard boxes of recording equipment and lots of green furniture. Grian puts his bag down next to a couch that is hopefully out-of-the-way enough that if Xelqua wiggles out, no one will notice.

To distract from Xelqua possibly escaping on an adventure, Grian dramatically flops across one of the chartreuse couches. It’s not a fainting couch, but he doesn’t care. Pillows fly everywhere and Jellie runs out of the room, to which Scar makes a sad little noise.

Mumbo wanders over and pokes his knee.

“Scoot, I’m sitting here too,” he says.

Grian huffs and refuses move.

Mumbo sighs and catches Grian’s ankle. Grian squawks, but instead of shoving him off the couch, Mumbo only picks his legs up and sits down, letting Grian swing his legs back down into his lap. He looks unbelievably smug under his moustache, dark eyes glittering with mischief. Scar ignores their byplay and pops open one of the boxes.

“I think this one is some of the cameras and uhh…” he begins, audibly rustling.

Mumbo asks something, but Grian is immediately distracted by Xelqua scrabbling under a table near the door. He’s got a perfect sense of timing; Scar holds up a camera and thoroughly distracts Mumbo. Xelqua looks up, waves at Grian, then slides behind another couch with his noodle-y body. Grian nods at him, as subtly as he can, and attempts to refocus on Scar as he takes the card out of the camera and shuffles over to load it into Mumbo’s laptop. Xelqua doesn’t leave any markings where he walked. Is that because he’s hiding his powers right now, or because whatever is haunting Scar is very, very powerful?

“Hey, so do you think these’ll’ve caught anything? Did you leave them on?” Scar asks, as the folder pops up. He settles on the arm of the couch next to Mumbo, instead of any of the other seating options in the very green room.

Grian begrudgingly sits up so he can see the screen. Then he realizes that there might have been cameras – not necessarily their cameras, but cameras – in the hall where he transformed, and the immediate panic gives him a headache. He presses into Mumbo’s shoulder and tries to regulate his breathing, which has the additional effect of drawing Mumbo’s befuddled attention.

“Woah, wait, Grian? Are you-“ Mumbo trails off, wriggling his arm over Grian’s shoulders.

A hand rests on Grian’s head – probably Scar’s, and Grian’s breath hitches audibly. He forces himself to take a deep breath, tears prickling at his face, and scrubs at his cheeks.

“I don’t – I don’t want to see the – if the Wa- the Rogue, I don’t want to see it,” Grian manages to lie, embarrassed at his own emotions. Well, it’s not entirely a lie; he absolutely does not ever want to meet another Warden, but also the sudden sweep of panic at possibly already failing Miss Hawkeye’s advice is far more soul-crushing than it has any right to be.

Did bonding with Xelqua destroy his emotional control? He’s usually so much better at dealing the emotional fallout of fighting, secrets, and secrets about fighting. Sure, it’s been… several years, but he didn’t even have to let himself freak out in the shower! He wishes this logic could keep his body from reacting, but unfortunately it continues to breathe unsteadily.

Scar’s hand on his head ruffles his hair a little, making his fringe fall into his eyes, and then leans over pat Grian’s shoulders, too.

“I didn’t manage to set up a camera before it broke through, I left most of them in the experimental wing,” Mumbo says anxiously. He doesn’t expect that to be as reassuring as it is, and startles in the hug as Grian slumps in relief.

Grian’s still panting, but the crest of the emotional wave has passed. This doesn’t stop his friends from patting him gently, or the soft peeps from Jellie, who is sitting on the floor and staring up at them.

Grian puts his hand over his eyes and tries to regulate his breath.

“Okay, we might – if you check first, I think that’d be okay,” Grian allows, just before the embarrassment rushes back in to the gap left by his panic. He squishes his face in his hands and then catches Jellie as she jumps up, then Mumbo and Scar wriggle into a more comfortable position to look at all the pictures.

Aside from… whatever that was, the meeting goes smoothly. Scar keeps attempting to copy the faces of the Spirits Mumbo took pictures of, and the cameras seem alright. Mumbo is slightly distressed because not all of the lens caps and smaller levers were packed. Grian makes several notes, even, on some of the Spirits that came right up to the glass for Mumbo to take their pictures.

Then Grian remembers that one of the Spirits in the photos is currently hiding somewhere in Scar’s house. He has a moment of dissonance as he simultaneously wants to go collect Xelqua anxiously and also sadness that he can no longer easily slot Xelqua into the documentary. Grian hasn’t seen Xelqua since he squeezed under the other couch, but he hopes the Spirit isn’t in any of the rooms Scar will lead them through as they go to eat.

Or maybe he should, so he can jump back in Grian’s bag without Grian having to make a scene. As it stands, Grian just keeps putting his bag down in hopes Xelqua hears them getting ready. They are probably all going to go in Mumbo’s van, so they’ll also likely come back here, but he still doesn’t want to make Xelqua nervous. They’ve only been friends for a day!

But, at some point between ‘putting the cameras in a different room’ and ‘putting his shoes back on,’ a lot of white fluff has tucked itself neatly into his bag. He pets Xelqua as he stands, and is internally thankful that Mumbo’s van is a refurbished one with weird seats so he again has a decent excuse to hug bagged-Xelqua.

He leans his head against the window for a little while, until he realizes –

“Hey, at some point I kind of want to drop by a pet store or something. I’ve been thinking of getting a ferret,” Grian lies. Hopefully that’s casual enough.

“WHAT!?” Mumbo yells, and the entire van jerks as he hits the breaks. Several things roll across the van’s floor.

At least his first reaction to be startled is to stop driving…?

Scar flails, but manages to remain in his seat.

“No, seriously, what?”

Grian squirms under Scar’s baffled green gaze, then swaps to staring at Xelqua’s markings as Mumbo also attempts to make eye contact in the rear-view mirror.

“I want to get a ferret, maybe…” Grian lies, again. He sounds so unsure. This is so embarrassing.

“Okay, a pet, but why a ferret?” Scar asks. He doesn’t sound judgmental, just intrigued.

“No, no, hold on, how long have you wanted a ferret?” Mumbo insists, slowly speeding up. He is the one who sounds concerned, and Grian is unsettled.

Xelqua rolls over in the bag to hold Grian’s fingertips. Several small objects also roll across the van floor as Mumbo turns left.

“Well, I didn’t think of a ferret at first,” Grian hedges, trying seem more certain than he is. They’ve should’ve planned out this conversation this morning, like Miss Hawkeye had with Aria. “I just wanted something to hang out with, really. But I was looking at things and-“ He struggles for his phone. “Ferrets can be trained and stuff, and they can go in pockets.”

“Awww!” Scar coos.

“Oh, okay,” Mumbo says. “Just making sure you’re not… randomly compelled to collect animals now because of Spirits.”

He means it as a joke. He’s been watching over Scar, of course he’s going to notice anything potentially out of character that could indicate magic sickness.

Grian makes a wheezy noise that sure doesn’t feel like a laugh as Scar chortles, because Mumbo isn’t quite on the money but he’s uncomfortably close. Then Grian imagines a ‘crazy cat lady’ but for flying ferrets and starts laughing for real. A tiny little woman swamped by her shawl, lifting her hand out as Watchers are draped across her arm and shoulders like scarves. He pats Xelqua and returns to reciting all the cool ferret facts Xelqua read out that morning.

- - - -

Lunch is nice and involves the least amount of anxiety Grian’s had all day, which is surprising given that he’s, y’know, Grian. They get a booth because all three of them are shy. Mumbo starts folding napkins into origami as they wait. No one really questions why Grian occasionally slides napkin-wrapped pieces of food into his bag. Scar manages to avoid knocking over his lemonade. It’s nice, peaceful.

In retrospect, Grian could make a joke like ‘the calm before the storm’ or ‘he was having too much fun so the universe got mad’.

Mostly, Grian wants to take a nap. But that’s three hours later, after his second day of being (half of a) Magical Girl.

Instead of immediately returning to the van, the team decides to walk around a little. This isn’t just for Grian, either – Scar wanted to poke around in the specialty shops for his model houses.

Luckily, they didn’t buy anything very delicate, so when everyone’s phones go off and the street rumbles, nothing breaks when Mumbo startles and drops some bags.

“Swarm?” Scar says, high-pitched and panicked.

“What?” Grian asks, crouched over Mumbo’s bag.

Scar whips around, eyes wide, and offers his phone screen.

Grian had already guessed that it was a Rogue Alert; the lockscreen shows the special alert markers. What Grian has never seen before, though, is the words beneath.

ALERT

ROGUE ATTACK IN PROGRESS IN YOUR AREA

SWARM REPORTED, TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY

“A swarm?” Grian repeats, still confused but now fearful.

In the few seconds it took to scoop up Mumbo’s dropped bag and read the alert, it was already too late. ‘A swarm,’ terrifyingly enough, means that a huge number of Rogues have been spotted.

As the pavement shakes again, a writhing wall of darkness crawls over the other end of the road.

It’s not a flat shadow. Unfortunately, it’s a sea of huge spiders.

As they descend to street level, it becomes clear that it’s a single wave, not an endlessly-generating horde. They’re about half the size of the cars – smaller than the Warden - but that’s still too big, and Grian takes a few steps backward as the spiders spot some humans fleeing and start chasing.

Something catches Grian’s shoulder, and he yelps.

“Here, narrow alley!” Scar hisses, tugging.

Despite Scar’s usual clumsiness, he manages to drag Grian down a little access road between a café and a bookshop. Mumbo is pressed up against the wall near the end, panting. Grian stumbles as Scar lets go and tries to open the café’s door.

“Locked,” Mumbo says breathily.

“The spiders can walk on walls, they can come in sideways,” Grian reminds everyone, spinning around to stare back the way they came.

Mumbo makes another attempted noise and Scar bangs on the door. A car careens past the mouth of the alley, but Grian doesn’t hear it crash. The ground shakes again.

“How are spiders making an earthquake?” He grumbles.

He slides his hand into his bag, and Xelqua clings immediately. They can’t transform here, though. There’s a camera on the outside of the bookshop, nestled into some ivy.

Mumbo makes another noise, almost choking, and Grian turns again, afraid a spider somehow teleported in behind them.

No, Mumbo’s hyperventilating. Less deadly, still not great.

“Hey, hey, okay,” Grian begins, desperately attempting to think of something comforting. His own fear is being swallowed by protectiveness, just like when trying to hide his little brother from-

No, thinking about that right now won’t be helpful.

Mumbo keeps covering his mouth and nose in intervals in attempts to forcibly regulate his breathing, so he doesn’t verbally respond to being petted. Scar slams into the door again, which is probably not very helpful. If anyone is in that store, they probably think there’s a spider trying to break in.

Before Grian can say anything, there are a pair of quakes, right on top of each other, and Grian falls into Mumbo’s arm. Something moves at the mouth of the alley-

Amethyst Witch is sliding off the top of a stunned spider. It’s so much larger, this close, and it looks like she’s broken its legs. It’s smoking at the joints, and pops into a core as she turns to look at them. The purple ruffles of her dress and her long, fiery braid defy gravity, drifting down to indicate she’d jumped from the roof. The oversize brim of her hat, however, stays perfectly in place to hide her face.

“Hello there! I apologize for the startle, but it seemed more pertinent to save you first!” She chirps, and Grian nods shakily.

She offers them a little curtsey, then scoops up the core and vanishes it somewhere in her dress. Mumbo slides down to the pavement and takes a heaving breath as most of the tension slides out of Grian’s body. The Wizard spins her wand, and crystals grow up from the ground to block the alley.

“Hi, hello, that’s, yeah!” Scar says in a rush.

Turning back to them, the Wizard flicks her wand towards the ground, and little shards of purple start bouncing together into the beginnings of shapes.

“Here, I’ll call something up for you to ride, let’s get you out of here,” she says, smiling reassuringly. “I think we’ll have to go two-by-two, though.”

Her crystalline constructs fold into draconic forms as she walks between them and extends her hand. She has gem-tipped fingers that Grian is now fascinated by; they’re almost hooflike. Now that he knows Magical Girls are only half-Spirit, he wonders what kind of Spirit is partnered to make her. Scar leans forward to take her hand, and Grian tries to tug Mumbo’s arm over his shoulders after petting Xelqua.

“Where would we go? Just hover in the air?” Grian asks. “Or are the spiders only in a specific area?”

Mumbo takes a full breath as he wavers to his feet, and Grian pats him reassuringly. Scar also pats one of the dragons, but he is more reverent than reassuring.

“They’re moving in a single wave, so they’re easy to spot from the air! We just have to move south or north from here – or east I suppose, back where they came from,” she answers, then swaps to explaining ‘How to Ride a Dragon-Construct’.

It is simultaneously easier and more difficult than Grian thought. He’s ridden horses before, so it’s not unfamiliar, but it is also strange in that – with the wingbeats - the rhythm of the movement is different, and obviously the dragon is made of translucent amethyst. Being able to see through his mount is pretty disconcerting. The Wizard is also sharing with him, which he absolutely cannot giggle aloud about. Two Magical Girls on one magical dragon construct!

The little bubble of happiness carries him into the air, and the Wizard guides the second dragon with her wand while tapping at their dragon’s horns.

Because this day has been nothing but an emotional rollercoaster, it is only now that they discover that the spiders. Can. Jump.

Small spiders can jump! There’s an entire group of spider species notable for being able to jump! And, of course, one of those species is unbelievably large in the Spirit Realm, was somehow transported through the Rift for as-yet-unknown reasons, and then set upon Boatem!

Of course!

And one of them has launched itself at him!

Of course!

Grian processes this while screaming.

The dragon cannot bleed, apparently will attempt to heal when shattered, and has captured the spider’s mandibles and one of its claws in its attempts to stick the lost amethysts back into place. The dragon, sized such that it could take off in an alley, is too small to hold the spider, Grian (and Xelqua), and Amethyst Wizard, and descends far too quickly for Grian’s liking. He kicks the spider in the face while the Wizard whips her wand around and thunks it into an eye.

Her attack is far more effective, magic-powered and all, and more crystals form across its face. It tries to wriggle free as a roof comes up way too fast, and the Wizard wraps her arms around Grian’s middle and topples sideways.

She floats.

The dragon and the spider shatter against the pockmarked concrete of an apartment building with a sound like hail. Grian can’t tell if the shrieking was the spider, himself, or his friends still in the air. The dragon immediately begins reforming as they touch down, and Grian is immediately spun out to arm’s-length so The Wizard can examine him.

“Are you alright? Did it nick your leg?” she asks, and Grian has to take several huge breaths before he’s got enough room in his lungs to speak.

He pats Xelqua in the bag for comfort.

“I’m, I’m fine? Physically? Yeah.”

He can’t even see her face and yet feels the depths of her concern. Can she project her emotions, or did he pick that up as a side effect of his magical senses?

She can’t worry about him for too long, however, because there are Even More Spiders, all honing in on their rooftop. He can see them hopping between rooves. The Wizard tilts her head like she’s looking through her hat at the dragon, then scans over the spidery horizon.

This roof has a little shed to hide the access hatch, too small for a spider to enter. Grian has an idea.

“I think I can hide in there, if you need to-“

He cuts himself off as another spider launches itself at the dragon still in the air, just barely skimming its wing.

“Oh, that would be helpful, I’m sorry,” Amethyst Wizard says, her other dragon launching into the air.

The roof shakes, and Grian skitters across the concrete as the Wizard shoots a bullet of amethyst from her wand before levitating after her dragon. The door opens when Grian falls into it, and he pulls the bag up close.

“Hey Xelqua? If she doesn’t pull them down, I think we should help.”

“Oh absolutely!” Xelqua crawls out of the bag and up his arm, wrapping over his shoulders to watch. “Oh, she’s pretty. Do you know her?”

Grian sits down on the grimy floor and laughs. What kind of question is that? His life is so chaotic. The fear is being wiped out by the sheer craziness of this entire interaction.

“Not before today! Her name is Amethyst Wizard, though. She makes constructs, you might have overheard…” he dissolves into breathy giggles.

A spider is launched by the unencumbered dragon. None have managed to get up to Grian’s friends yet, but every time one jumps, Xelqua’s paws clench in Grian’s sweater. Grian rests a hand on Xelqua and turns to scan the top of the stairwell, just to check for cameras. There is one, but it’s already tilted to look at the far wall. Yeah, that makes sense, with the smell.

Xelqua squeaks, and Grian whips around to see the dragon carrying his friends sink low toward a roof maybe a block away.

“Okay, yeah, let’s do this,” Grian says, wavering to his feet.

Xelqua launches himself into the air, and Grian offers his hands.

Again, Xelqua presses his paws into Grian’s hands, until warmth and light fill Grian’s vision. Before, in the single previous transformation, he’d been too startled to really process. He’d been him, and then vague fuzzy feelings until he was conscious again. This time, he tries to focus on the magic washing over him. He can see it, now, pink bubbles and darker magenta whorls sinking into his skin. Currents of magic around his body spin themselves into the beginnings of a pink dress and white feathers, until the magic washes over his eyes and everything goes bright.

The Song rises again, the feathers fill in solid, and Aria smiles to herself in the stairwell. Gravel and debris kicked up from the dragon and spider crashlanding crunch under her pink boots, then dust the air as she takes off.

Despite the circumstances, the sky is blue and warm. The city spreads out beneath her, patches of roofing and parks, and it is beautiful. She shoots into the sky with ease, the wind twirling around her with a cheerful whistle layering over the Song of Fate. This is wonderful! She allows herself to loop joyfully, just once, before turning to the spiders.

The dragon with Mumbo and Scar has landed atop an apartment building without a convenient shelter. Amethyst Wizard is standing between them and two spiders. Aria hums sharply, eyes blinking into existence in the lee of her wings, and swirls them into a cloud.

They trail after her as she swoops down like a falcon, and slam into the spiders as Aria catches herself just before she crashes. She folds into a curtsey before looking up at the other Magical Girl, who waves.

“Hello, miss! Thank you for the assistance!”

“Anytime,” Aria chirps. Then, before she is given another silly nickname, she adds, “My name is Aria! Anything else I can do to help?” She glances up, at the dragon hiding Scar and Mumbo under its wings.

The Wizard whips her wand around and a handful of butterfly-like shards sail across the sky like bullets. A spider jitters in place, then starts leaking something clear.

“You fly, right? Can you guard the dragon? I was attempting to deliver the civilians outside of the spider’s range, but I-“ she interrupts herself to throw a tridentlike crystal arrangement at another spider.

Aria hums another set of eyes into existence and whirls them into a wall. She closes the gap between herself and Amethyst Wizard so that the tornado of eyes can protect the dragon, too.

“If you can get it to stick with me, I can sing the whole time,” Aria agrees breathlessly. “I can do ranged very well.”

It’s about all she knows how to do at this moment, but the very large pink talons attached to her hands indicate she should be able to perform some kind of close-combat at some point. Amethyst Wizard nods, and gestures with her free hand.

“C’mon, I’ll see if I can get the dragon to go in front of me. I can’t fly by myself very quickly.”

Aria nods, skipping over to the head of the dragon and singing up some new eyes. They keep impacting on spiders as they try to interact, and Aria tries to watch them instead of worrying about being in front of Mumbo and Scar. She doesn’t have a mask or a hat to hide her face, and she doesn’t know how much of her face is affected by Xelqua. It could still be very Grian-shaped. At least she has longer hair? It’s pink at the ends, but the rest remains golden brown.

What do her eyes look like? Are they purple like the eyes she summons?

She twists away to look at a spider impacting with the shield and decides that’s a problem for future her. Possibly as Grian and Xelqua. What matters right now is matching the Song in her head, replenishing the spinning eyes and waiting for Amethyst Wizard to reform another dragon for herself.

They both have to take breaks to smack away spiders, and Scar even grabs a crystal at one point and throws it. The crystal leaves a weird purple mark on his palm as The Wizard attempts to tug it, but the mark fades quickly. Grian didn’t have any marks on him, did he? She’ll have to remember to check Scar for magic sickness.

Right now, though, the dragons are taking off. Again. This time, the spinning shield of eyes will help keep the spiders from weighing them down, and Scar cheers as one bounces off the lower edge. Aria is barely pausing to take breaths, between calling up eyes and attempting to stay just behind both dragons, but she agrees. Flying in the open air hasn’t lost its shine yet, and the desperate escape doesn’t dampen it at all. In the direct sunlight, the eyes reflect like oil. The whole swarm of them is - of course - coordinated, and the spiders still jumping at the ball are kind of like dolphins attacking a school of fish in a documentary.

Aria pushes up, over the shield, and the similarity to fish starts to dissolve with the city as a backdrop instead. That’s alright, though. Aria has an idea. The eyes seem to leap from her feathers and skin when the patterns glow with the Song, so in theory, if she could find or shape them to trail over her hands, she might be able to direct the eyes more, well, directly.

She just has to line it up perfectly as the Song swells again. The shield also has to be replenished, though, so she keeps up her own vocals as she trails the storm. The smaller wings lower down her back shed more eyes than her main flight wings, until she rolls midair like a cat and the violet lines start moving.

Sweeping down to the left of the dragon train, the eye patterns rippling over her body slide up to her palms. A single note, and they blossom into the third dimension. They catch on her talons, and she spins in the air, winding back to throw at the next spider crouched and ready to spring.

These eyes, so recently formed, are more powerful than the eyes maintaining the barrier. The spider she hits shatters like the one Amethyst Wizard landed on in the alley. Aria has to swoop down to snatch the core from the air, where it pulses slightly. The texture is …bad. Like something is attempting to escape a bag made of hair. It is presumably silk, but she hates it anyway.

She is also unsure how to contain the core without holding it. The Wizard simply disappeared the one from the alley, didn’t she? Or did her many layers of skirts hide pockets? Sailing under the eye storm with a whoop from the dragon riders, Aria pats her own skirt carefully. Bingo! She still doesn’t really want the cocoonlike core anywhere near her person, but pocketing it will have to do for now. It weighs down her skirt, but doesn’t fall out when she spirals out of the path of another spider. She hopes it’s not stuck, or eating her clothes somehow.

Several more cores join the first as more spiders are attracted to the movement of the storm, even though they are breaking away from the initial line Aria had noticed. Apparently, whatever drove them to cross the city is less important than inconveniencing her, personally.

On the other hand, Scar is having a great time. He’s yelling unhelpful sentence fragments while Mumbo attempts to get him to shut up and stop attracting attention. Given that they’re riding a purple dragon, followed by a purple dragon, and surrounded by purple orbs, it’s a completely lost cause on Mumbo’s part. Amethyst Wizard is ignoring them both and shooting tridents of crystal out of the shield.

There are so many spiders. Even though they have to actually jump from uneven roof to uneven roof, they are almost as fast as the dragons. It is definitely unfair. Amethyst Wizard is casting heavier and heavier weapons at the spiders to try and weigh them down long enough to let Aria explode them into cores, but they just keep coming. At least the spiders are leaving the rest of the city alone? Wherever the Wizard was planning to land will clearly just be immediately overrun.

Aria slips into the shield to talk to Amethyst Wizard briefly.

“I think that unless we do something complicated with the flight paths, we’re not going to be able to land until they lose interest,” she says in a quiet part of the Song.

The Wizard bares her teeth. The inside of her mouth is also amethyst-colored. “Someone else has to show up soon. I think I can hold them together for another twenty minutes.”

Oh, Aria hadn’t even considered that the constructs might have a time limit like the eyes. That pushes up the timeline considerably.

“The top of the Hermit Gazette has a viewing area that might be unlocked, the eyes and the dragon can cover them until they get through.”

“And then we lead the spiders away again, yes, let’s try that,” the Wizard says, and flicks her staff sharply.

Aria drops back through the cloud of eyes, calling up some replacements for the ones that had gone out while she’d been speaking. She wonders if Xelqua and Grian’s throats will hurt when she separates. That’d be difficult to explain, probably.

With a second target again, the spiders jump more often. Aria tries to lead them away from the wide turn Amethysts Wizard carefully charts and hopes that splitting their attention takes some of the stress off of her. She’s yelling the plan to Mumbo and Scar, who are immediately on board. As employees, they have passes for the roof doors even when they’re closed to the public, but Aria was absolutely not going to share that information. It should be open today, anyway.

They aren’t turning completely around, so they aren’t flying back over the apartment Aria has to remember to return to. Instead, they take a left, where the spider wave used to be before it became a spider pack. The Hermit Gazette isn’t the tallest building in the city, or even the tallest building in its immediate area, but it is perfectly positioned to look out over the old Mycelium District they are currently flying over.

It is also perfectly positioned to frame another coalition of spiders, and the new, statue-like Magical Girl smashing them into pebbles. Resurrection is easily recognizable despite being ringed by as many spiders that are still trailing after the dragons, mostly because she is twice as tall as they are. Also green. The green definitely helps.

Aria feels a little bad for bringing another entire swarm down on her head, but she has an apology forming across her wings as she swoops down just like she had with The Wizard. The eyes slam into the spiders with a terrible crunching noise like many bags of chips being hit with baseball bats, but Resurrection doesn’t flinch.

Instead, she digs her fingers into the chain wrapped around a few spiders and whaps them against the concrete. They crumble into cores, and the chains retract so Resurrection can tuck them away before lassoing another set of spiders. She is the first Magical Girl Aria has encountered who has visible pockets. Her tattered dress highlights each intentional opening with orange, and every single one has at least one core peeking out. It’s very gross and Aria hates it.

“Hello! Sorry to crash the party!” Aria yells.

Tossing one of the spiders off of the roof, Resurrection turns to blink up at her.

“Hello! You’re new,” she says, and starts reeling in the chains attached to her shoulders. “You’re very welcome to do so, though, there’s far too many of these pests for just me.”

Aria can’t immediately respond until she pops a few more eyes into existence to keep the spiders from tackling her, which just proves Resurrection right. Unfortunately, that problem will only be getting worse.

“My name’s Aria, Amethyst Wizard and I are trying to keep some civilians –“ she has to pause to flick a few eyes at another spider, which gives her a moment to reflect on how odd it is to refer to people she knows in such a vague manner. “- we were trying to fly some civilians away from the spiders, but they jump, so we’re trying to hide them now.”

Resurrection looks at her, then up over her head – presumably where the very purple cloud is approaching.

“Well. I’m Resurrection of the Statues. Have the two of you decided how to hide all… that?” Resurrection says conversationally. When she turns to lasso another set of spiders, Aria can see that her chains actually originate from a loop on her back, like a doll on a necklace.

The pace of conversation is slightly awkward since Aria can’t respond until she can take another breath.

“Amethyst Wizard is going to drive the dragons into the Hermit Gazette Tower so they can hide in the viewing area. They work there, apparently,” she explains eventually.

The purple cloud is nearly upon them, and some of the spiders are beginning to notice. Instead of attempting to snatch the dragons from the air, they turn to attacking the grounded prey. Aria has to take off just to have more maneuverability, trying to sing enough eyes to protect herself and rejuvenate the shield as well. Resurrection is unphased as the dragons get into earshot, and Aria can hear Mumbo and Scar screaming at the top of their lungs.

Some of the eyes Aria just summoned to replenish the shield are immediately taken out by the new horde of spiders, stunning them so Resurrection can easily swipe them with her chains. The boys scream again, and Amethyst Wizard tosses a handful of crystals that rapidly grow as they slam into the spider Rogues.

With Resurrection, Aria might actually be able to slow down the horde long enough that their silly plan might work. Her chains might also be able to launch Aria’s eyes, if she could manage to find a spare breath to ask. Looping low over the other Magical Girl’s head, Aria narrowly misses a few spiders with a hand-launched explosion. Luckily, the noise and light stuns and startles many spiders such that Resurrection can lasso them and launch them into each other.

The dragons sharply ascend along the tower, shedding spiders, and Aria hums the note that makes all the remaining shield eyes explode. It’s risky, sure, but it also scares all of the spiders still trailing them, enough that they disappear over the edge. Hopefully that will give them enough time for Mumbo and Scar to hide.

Aria turns to the spiders still bothering Resurrection and times her dive with the next time the markings line up with her hands. With the shield down, she has more power to focus into the explosions, which is wonderful. Unexpected, but wonderful. A few spiders crawl up the tower wall, but only enough to launch themselves over Aria’s head. She has to listen very carefully, both to the Song and to the scratches of the spiders’ feet.

Resurrection’s hits are often bass notes, contrasting with the chains clattering against their own links. Though Aria doubts she can her the Song, the other Magical Girl is rhythmic in her attacks. Snare, tug, reel, and launch, steadily such that Aria can dance in the air as the high notes. Amethyst Wizard descends from the Hermit Gazette, which hopefully means the boys got away safely, and slams down crystals in a perfect crescendo.

The spiders transform into clouds of smoking and pulsing cores.

The three Magical Girls look at each other, panting. Aria sinks back to the ground and settles all of her wings. Resurrection somehow vanishes her chains entirely. Amethyst Wizard brushes down her skirts.

Aria manages to break the silence first.

“Did those men get into the building?”

Amethyst Wizard nods rapidly, slightly startled. The brim of her hat flutters with her movement.

“Yes, it worked perfectly, actually! I was a little concerned that the spiders would break the door open, but… did you do something about it? Or did your orb thingies just run out of time?”

“Oh, I exploded them!” Aria chirps. She doesn’t know if she should elaborate. Do other Magical Girls have something like the Song of Fate? “They react to my voice, actually,” she says, when she decides that her previous declaration sounds unhinged.

The others both nod, humming in understanding. Aria refuses to squirm out of anxiety, but is unsure how she’s supposed to act now that the fighting is over. Typical Grian moment, really – Xelqua is far friendlier than the human.

Before she blurts out something else, Resurrection stretches with a terrible grinding noise, and startles Amethyst Wizard into speech.

“Oh, Aria, right? Have you had to turn in cores before?”

Aria shakes her head, embarrassed. This time, she can’t stop herself from shuffling in place, which only serves to bump the cores in her pockets against her legs. She can’t feel them move, but the knowledge that they are is still enough to creep her out. The Warden’s core had, too, hadn’t it? This better not be a trend.

Resurrection makes a soft hum, and is smiling when Aria peeks though her bangs.

“Well, we’d best show you, then. Musician won’t bite. She’s far more scared of you than you are of her, and she hasn’t even met you yet.”

That sounds kind of ominous, actually. Usually, people say things like that about bears. Aria nods anyway.

The Wizard turns to Resurrection.

“Rezz? Do you want me to carry you?”

“Where are we going?” Aria asks, as if Miss Hawkeye hadn’t told her.

Resurrection nods at Amethyst Wizard, who starts to form another dragon.

“The cores go to Musician, near the Rift,” she says, so Amethyst Wizard can focus. “She takes them in, I think. Better than just bandying them about out here.”

“We have to sneak into a building?” Specifically, the one building she’s already been in. Wait, does that apartment building count? It might. Ah well. Aria isn’t going to mention it.

The Wizard giggles lightly. Resurrection makes a huffy noise instead of a laugh, for plausible deniability and to convey disagreement.

“No. Musician is usually somewhere around the Observatory campus, though. There’s a field, you’ll see when we get there.”

Amethyst Wizard interrupts to ask if Aria has enough energy to fly across half the city, which abruptly reminds Aria that she gets to fly. Really, truly, fly. She nods rapidly, and impatiently rustles all six of her wings as The Wizard and Resurrection mount the dragon. It’s a bigger dragon than the ones she made in the alley – has to be, to carry the giant animate statue – so Amethyst Wizard has to be lifted up.

Then she can tap the dragon’s horns, and Aria and the dragon spread their wings. The roof shakes when they push off, just from the sheer force of displaced air, and Aria is free.

Without the pressure of having to fight a swarm of spiders, Aria can simply fly. There is nothing else to focus on. Just the feeling of wind through feathers, angling into the heat rising from the rooftops, twirling in the air. The Song of Fate is loud and joyous, and Aria cannot help but sing along. She makes no eyes with these notes, no magic is channeled, but her markings swirl and glow anyway.

It might just be her mind trying match patterns, but even the movement of the rest of the world seems to line up with the Song. The distant pulsing sirens of emergency vehicles, the swirling startled birds, even the flaps of Amethyst Wizard’s dragon all match the beat of the Song in her mind. Maybe even her heartbeat.

Returning to the Observatory means turning left, which the dragon takes at a wide angle. Aria takes the time to launch herself into several twirls, just for the hell of it, before diving down to skim along the rooftops as the dragon evens out. Then she sweeps under the dragon and rolls up to coast beside the other Magical Girls.

“So. We’re going near the Rift Observatory? Not… landing on the roof or something?”

Resurrection smiles, revealing teeth the same pale green as her skin. What stone is she supposed to be made of?

“Musician is shy. She’s the only one who seems to keep a territory,” she begins, which is strange.

If Musician is so localized, then why was she not there when Aria first formed? …Were her, hm, components not working that day? The other Magical Girls expect her to be constantly present, though. Very mysterious.

“We land in the field between the back lot and the forest, and she comes to meet us. Usually from one of the small outbuildings. There aren’t cameras that face that way, but I imagine it would not be unreasonable to assume that Magical Girls would be interested in the Rift,” Resurrection continues, almost to herself.

“From the buildings?” Aria asks. “Is she working with them?”

The other Magical Girls hesitate, then look at each other, then at different points in the sky.

“I think her… anchor… might,” Amethyst Wizard answers, after a second.

“But I still say that they don’t know anything, so whoever it is, they’re still hiding it,” Resurrection argues.

Amethyst Wizard has nothing to add to that. They fly quietly for a few minutes, until the Observatory building comes into view and a different instrument joins the Song. It almost sounds like whispering, the odd crackling Aria had thought was the Rift itself. Is its influence strong enough to echo all the way out here? Maybe it is calling out to her since she is thinking about it.

She is also thinking about the field slipping down to the tree line behind the Observatory, one blocked completely from the public view. It is big enough that they simply glide down like a tiny plane, though Aria takes a lap before actually touching down.

In the shadow of an outbuilding, a figure is sliding out from behind a wall. They – she? – is comprised of armor pieces floating around an indistinct body, like layers of glass around ink. Opaque green segments form the visor, chest plate, tasset, and boots, with bright lights flickering at the corners. If this is Musician, she doesn’t look like most other Magical Girls.

She’s probably Musician. The Wizard and Resurrection move toward her and the dragon curls into a catlike loaf, unconcerned. Resurrection even leans in to hug the newcomer, which reassures Aria considerably.

She lands on the dragon’s other side, so her wings don’t kick up dust near them, and then waves when introduced.

“This is Aria, we just picked her up. She’s new,” Amethyst Wizard explains.

It’s such a casual statement that Aria immediately giggles.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m just, you introduced me like a new puppy,” she says, wondering if her feathers cover what feels like bright blush. “Yes, I’m new. This is my second time out, actually.”

And her second time on these grounds, but if Musician’s – what did Resurrection say? Anchor? – if Musician’s anchor does work here, then she might know already. Aria swallows, remembering Grian’s panic earlier. Musician might know quite a lot about her.

Musician’s faceplate is emotionless, but she tilts her head like a bird and emits a very synthetic hum.

“Then it’s very nice to meet you, Aria,” she says, and her voice is metallic despite the warmth. “Usually, someone has to go track down the new people. Usually after something silly happens…”

When she shakes herself out of her thoughts, she chimes lightly. Ah, that would be where the Song is getting the noise. Aria wonders if other Magical Girls have specific instruments or sounds she just hasn’t put together yet.

Amethyst Wizard makes an embarrassed noise and Resurrection huffs, tossing her hair. Aria wonders what “silly things” they did that Musician remembers. Musician ignores them and straightens up as she continues.

“My full name is Soulside Musician! My role here is to help dispose of cores, which are the concentrated essence of a Spirit. As a core, a Spirit is very vulnerable, but can regenerate to full form if given enough time. Thus, this is the easiest-“

“Muse,” Resurrection cuts in gently. “We fought a lot of spiders today. Can we give you some while you talk?”

Musician startles, chiming again, and her next sentence is almost panicked.

“Spiders? As in multiple?”

The Wizard starts pulling cores from her skirt and Resurrection simply flips her outer layer over.

Musician gasps, crouching, and doesn’t continue with whatever lecture she had planned.

“This is far more than is usually capable of coming through! How did… how long have they been gathering?”

Aria shrugs and empties her pockets too. How is Musician going to carry them all? She only has armor.

“The alert was different too. They made a ‘swarm’ one,” Resurrection says grimly.

Musician scoops up a core and cradles it with both hands. It sparkles, and Aria’s question is answered: more translucent glass crawls over the core and hovers off of Musician’s palms to orbit her head. She grabs another, and another, and an inverse of Aria’s eye shield forms around the four of them. There are so many spiders that they drop three cores for every one Musician crystalizes.

And, with breaks for Musician to focus on her magic, they explain the fight today. It is a different dynamic than talking with Pearl or medics, closer to Xelqua’s memory of preparing food as a group. Not that he ever ate another Spirit’s core! The spiders’ cores are about the size of cacao pods, though.

And the conversation is much grimmer than family gossip. The Magical Girls occasionally reference a fight or a kind of Spirit Aria is unfamiliar with, but most of the events they compare the spider wave to made its way to human news. This is the first time more than about fifteen Spirits have been out at once, according to Resurrection, and Musician agrees that the specific order in which the spiders were deployed speaks to a plan of some sort. The only real question is… who?

“Has anyone seen any human-shaped Rogues recently?” Amethyst Wizard asks, and Musician jumps.

“No, but that’s weird too,” Resurrection muses. “Maybe this one is capable of long-term planning instead of simply causing chaos.”

“I hate that,” says The Wizard.

“Are ‘human-shaped’ Rogues like Helsknight?” Aria asks. Grian’s team was on the follow-up for that incident, and Xelqua’s knowledge cannot fill in what, exactly, the fiery Rogue was. Resurrection was present, so hopefully she will know.

The other Magical Girls are surprised Aria even thought to ask. …Or they’re debating how to answer. They tip their heads toward each other and Aria can’t read any of their expressions save for Resurrection’s contemplative one.

“I believe so. Helsknight certainly fell into the category, but other kinds sometimes appear. He was a Rogue possessing a human to strengthen his power.”

That’s an upsetting concept! Aria and Xelqua were not aware that Rogues could bodysnatch people! Xelqua has met plenty of Spirits with humanlike appearances, but never any that would admit to having just… done that.

“Was the human okay after? Did they get some kind of… superpowered magic sickness?” Aria asks, pausing in her attempts to flood Musician with cores.

Again, there are Meaningful Expressions Aria can’t read between The Wizard’s hat and Musician’s face mask. Okay. Maybe Aria is asking some things that tread on someone’s privacy. Resurrection hums, thoughtful once more, but only shrugs.

“Ah, I think that, if I’m remembering right, victims of possession are often unconscious for a while afterward…” Amethyst Wizard explains quietly.

Immediately, Aria attempts to remember everyone Grian had interviewed that had been unconscious after the Helfire Incident, then feels guilty. That person deserves rest, not for her to poke into their life! And Grian may never have met them! They could’ve still been healing at the time, or part of Scar’s interviewees, or-

The sound of her own name diverts her from her theorizing.

“Aria is right, though. The person who set the spiders out so carefully might be hidden, and therefore out of our normal investigative parameters,” Resurrection says. “Unless some sort of… I don’t know, mass scanning ability is hidden away somewhere-” she looks at Musician, who shakes her head. “-then clues it is. I’ll try to catch people and spread the theory around, see if anyone else has seen something acting strangely.”

The more she speaks, the more a specific pattern appears in her speech. It’s as if she is deliberately swapping between accents to confuse someone who might try to identify her voice. Sometimes it is more echoey, too, like The Song has plucked her words to weave into its beat. Aria is focusing on this instead of asking further questions because she has to catch up on dumping cores. It’s not like she can do much to help, unless she stumbles across Miss Hawkeye again.

Musician’s glowing dome of cores is so packed it is practically still, instead of the swirling patterns Aria’s eyes formed. Somehow, she manages to balance it as she stands, the last few cores crystallizing in her arms.

“Is that the last of them?”

Aria smoothes down her skirt, then looks at the other Magical Girls.

“I think so?”

Musician attempts to bow without knocking anything free.

“Then I’ll try to get them all squared away. Ah. Be safe!” She says, toddling with bell-like chimes across the concrete back to the building she first appeared from.

The Wizard, Resurrection, and Aria all share looks. Or kind of tilt their heads at each other. The hat still trips Aria up.

Resurrection sets her hand on Aria’s shoulder.

“You need to go back where you were before, okay? Unless someone else is there. Try not to be seen.”

Aria nods rapidly. “I know!” Then, because that might sound a little rude, she tacks on, “On my first… outing, I met Miss Hawkeye and she told me, too. I think she took the core, but I suppose I can’t ask now.”

The others nod, swallowing the lie easily. Should she have? Telling them that she was here for her first fight really feels like too much information.

“That’s alright then. I’ll take you back to the roof we found you on, right, Rezz?” The Wizard asks.

Aria bids them farewell as Amethyst Wizard wakes her dragon to carry them. Hopefully, she can simply find a hidden area to transform in. She has a feeling that Mumbo and Scar have been texting Grian, and Pearl will be so upset. It has only been a day since Aria’s pact was made!

#REAPER WRITES #HERMITCRAFT #MAGICAL GIRL POWER!#MAGICAL GIRL AU #GRIAN #XELQUA #GOODTIMESWITHSCAR #MUMBOJUMBO #MUMBO JUMBO #GEMINITAY #XISUMAVOID

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libertys-lovers · 2 years

Text

As some of you may or may not remember, I said at the beginning of the month that I’d conduct an experiment studying the minds of non-psychics outside my home dimension. I was merely going to look into the minds of some of Liberty’s other lovers, in an attempt to see why they (and by extension, their own dimension) couldn’t unlock psychic ability. Though not too many of her lovers were keen on the idea, I still had a few willing participants. Some of them were even willing to let me use Psycho-Portals on them.

Now, interestingly enough, when I used a Psycho-Portal on them, their Mental Worlds were much more abstract than the average world. In fact, it’s hard to call it a world at all. There’s no ground, no sky, no sense of direction whatsoever. They were all merely these realms of light, all around me flashed images which I believe to be thoughts or memories. When I asked Liberty on why this might be, she said that it was because they just “weren’t written to have Mental Worlds”. How strange, whatever that means. Is it really possible that a person can simply be meant to not have them? Now, luckily for me, the experiment of reading their thoughts was much simpler, meaning it actually worked.

LÚCIO: His thoughts were incredibly pleasant to read, to be quite honest. He stayed positive during the entire session, and there was even music playing in there. His thoughts reminded me a bit of Milla’s, and a bit of Liberty’s too, actually. And yet, no psychic abilities from him, though I have heard that he’s incredibly smart.

LICORICE COOKIE: As it turns out, the dimension he comes from does have psychics, or at least “supposed” ones according to Liberty. However, I can certainly understand why Licorice Cookie isn’t one of them. He has an easily irritated, often cluttered mind, at least from what I can tell with his thoughts. Liberty claims that he’s truly talented in “magic”, whatever that means to them, but he would most certainly make an unstable psychic at best.

HAWKS: Hawks is an intriguing specimen; if anyone in this group were to be a psychic, it would most certainly be him. Even by just reading his thoughts, I can tell that he has great control over his mind. His thoughts reminded me of my own thoughts, which makes me curious on what his thoughts are hiding. In any case, I was rather surprised to hear he wasn’t a psychic, honestly. I assumed his feathers were a result of some sort of psychic manipulation, but apparently they’re more of a physical ability than a psychic ability. Still, in the chances that he somehow unlocks psychic prowess, I’m offering him a chance to join the Psychonauts immediately.

KARAMATSU: Karamatsu was my last subject; for as chaotic as his thoughts were for the most part, he’d have sudden bursts of being able to control himself quite well. That being said… he was my last subject for a reason. Perhaps I won’t tell too many of his thoughts on here. The most I can say is that he truly loves Liberty, and that he has a thing for brunettes.

As interesting as reading these minds were, I’m not sure if this experiment really got me anywhere. I suppose it did tell me that, if the other dimension’s inhabitants can unlock psychic abilities, the criteria to do so surely can’t be the same as our dimension’s. Then again, what criteria our dimension has is still rather blurry, so maybe I can’t say that for sure.

I remember asking Liberty how she unlocked her abilities, and she said it had something to do with her creativity. I wonder if psychic ability can be developed from a simple expansion of the mind, of any sort! Liberty unlocked hers from an expansion of her creativity, and it could be argued that I unlocked mine from an expansion of my curiosity. It’s a base idea at best; the problem is that not too many psychics remember where their abilities came from, so it’d be difficult to validate this idea. I can at least save that idea for a future time, however.

Sasha Nein

#Ah~ I love watching these silly men conduct their silly experiments~#F/Ovember #🍂L.L. F/Ovember🍂#romantic f/o #🛋️💽focus.exe has crashed💽🛋️#…#into the libbyverse

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kimberly-spirits13 · 3 years

Text

Batfam Reacting to S/O Turning into a Robin HC (Request)

So this entire thing happens because you and Bruce were fighting Circe who just had to throw a spell at a civilian

You jump in front of the spell and catch it, taking the blow

This means that on site, you turn into a Robin

Wtf

Bruce is big mad now since now he thinks that you could be a Robin for the rest of your life and that’s just not cool

The moment that the fight is over, he calls in everyone from the league

Z, Constantine, Dr. Fate, Zatara, Wonder Woman, the whole lot

Once they find out what happens there’s a worry but eventually they find that it’s going to be alright and you’ll change back within the next 72 hours or so

72 HOURS

Bruce just simply cannot wait that long

he doesn’t know what to do with a bird like

ALFRED

They make sure to not try and feed you anything that’s too disgusting that you wouldn’t normally eat

No worms

That would be gross

Bruce does find it kind of funny that you turn into a Robin and not something else

So happy it wasn’t a bat

You’d get mixed and lost with the rest of them in the cave and that would be weird

Plus there’s a high chance that you’d just fall from the ceiling

Once you finally detransform from the entire debacle, Bruce is very happy to have you back

Gets special charms from Z and Constantine that repel bad magic back onto the user

Ensures that something like this doesn’t happen again

Dick Grayson:

This man does not know what to do

It’s a run in with Witch Boy that causes this to happen

Z!!!!!!

That’s the first person that he calls

Wally is really the one that takes you back to him since Dick wasn’t on this mission but you and Wally were leading it

You jumped in front of one of the newer recruits and that’s how that happened

Does this entire experience count as a souvenir?

Like maybe he just takes a feather that you drop or something and like SOUVENIR OF THAT ONE TIME THAT Y/N TURNED INTO A ROBIN

After the initial freak out mode, he just thinks that it’s kind of funny that it was a Robin

Z said that the spell was the wrong spell (thankfully) and you’d only turn into something that you loved for a little while

RObin yOU TuRNeD InTO A RoBIn

And that makes Dick a blushing mess

Once you finally do turn back, he teases you

Your most important question is did you eat anything gross

The answer was no but still

Trust issues

he does mention what the spell was and that lead to some blushing

Jason Todd:

This was the last thing that he had planned

The absolute last thing

On a mission that involved some weird magic stuff, you just happened to get turned into a Robin

What the literal hell is happening now

The first instinct is to see that it’s really you

Once you understand that you’re a Robin, you’re just like, oh, so this is happening now

And that’s just how it is, you fly up onto his shoulder and just run with it

Just sitting there like it’s no one’s business cause it isn’t

If anyone asks why there’s a Robin following, it’s just what’s happening now

He is concerned that you don’t turn into a human again

So he does make sure to ask and this time, it needs a counter spell

Z is the one to do this since Jason isn’t keen on trusting Constantine

Doesn’t take super long to do this since Z is already very powerful

We Stan a powerful helpful queen

So Jason goes to one of her shows and sneaks back stage still in the Red Hood uniform and explains what happens

Z just goes ahead, sets you on the floor, and does the transformation

It was really easy, not to painful, but it was weird to just be laying on the floor and not able to fly

You’ll only miss that part

Jason doesn’t miss any of it and still jokes about the fact that you were a Robin

“Babe at least you didn’t blow up in your time being Robin.”

JASON PETER TODD

Tim Drake:

So you turn into a Robin on a mission with the team

He was on this mission and watched the entire thing go down

The funny part was that you could still talk since the magic was somewhat incomplete

There’s just this small voice “WHAT THE HELL!”

And then Tim knows that it’s definitely you

Tim was going to take you to one of the magic users in the league

but since Diana was right there when you got back, you stormed up flew up to her and just mouthed off

“DIANA LOOK AT ME! THAT ASSHOLE CIRCE TURNED ME INTO A ROBIN! THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH ROBIN BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE ROBIN! WATCHA LOOKIN AT BATS! I’M NOT UP FOR ADOPTION!”

Tim just died laughing

Cause it really was funny that you were just a little tiny Robin and mouthing off at the most powerful heroes in the world

Recorded it 100%

When Diana takes you to Themyscira in order to get one of the Amazon’s to help, Tim obviously couldn’t come

So it’s about a three day long trip and during that period, Timmy is a mess

He needs to know what’s happening at all times to ensure that you’re alright

When you do finally get home, he tackles you into a hug and checks you up and down to make sure that there’s nothing still wrong

Very happy when he concludes that there’s nothing wrong anymore and you’re back to the regular Y/N

Damian Wayne:

His first instinct is to not let anyone touch you but him

He takes you everywhere and makes sure that you’re alright

You can’t talk but he’s helped birds before and has dated you for some time so he knows what no to do and what to do

That being said, he does want you back to normal ASAP

That means that he’ll call an emergency league meeting without Bruce’s approval

Although Bruce probably would have done the same thing since he really knows that Damian loves you and would make sure that you’re alright

That’s super important to him and the rest of the family since you are kind of family at this point

Damian insists that the magic users help turn you back very quickly

They call in Constantine since Z is off doing other things and he makes sure that he knows exactly what happens

Constantine has had some bad experiences with magic in the past and he wants to be sure that you’re not going to have anything really bad happen to you

Damian is the same way

Probably threatens John’s life if something goes wrong

Once you’re finally back, Damian also tackles you

Though Constantine has to hold him back at first since the shock of turning back and then having someone tackle you to the ground would be over whelming

But when he finally can, he does

Checks you over just like Tim and then doesn’t let you out of his sight for a week or so

It’s not that he doesn’t trust you, just not anyone else

He makes it a point that you’re too important to lose

Cuddles everywhere

Once he does step back and think about it though, he finds it kind of endearing that there are thousands of other things that you could’ve turned into but it was a Robin

It was sweet but didn’t need to last longer than it had to

Duke and Luke:

I’m putting these guys together since in my mind they’re pretty alike

Luke is the classical version of Duke and Duke is the Lofi/ alternative hip hop version of Luke

For these reasons they both have very similar reactions

And that would be to freak out

they take you to Bruce and get advice cause what is going on

They don’t have as much of a connection with the Robin deal since they weren’t ever technically Robin for Batman

Duke is a bit more of an arguable case but still

They do find it both suspicious and a bit comedic that it was a Robin out of anything else though

I have to say that they’re the most chill out of any of the Batfam when it comes to something like this since this kind of thing just happens a lot

Not turning into Robin, just weird outta pocket experiences

Like this is just another thing to add to the list of oh here we go again

Duke does think that you’re still really a pretty Robin

In the most non- weird way possible you’re just a pretty Robin

Luke doesn’t really pay attention to that and instead wants to get to the bottom of what happened so that it doesn’t happen again

They’re both really smart so they’ll figure it out but at different paces since one is more urgent than the other

Doesn’t mean that either care less though

Once you’re back they do make sure that extra diagnostics are run to make sure that nothing was effected and you’ll be okay long and short term

Once they’re satisfied it’ll all go back to being pretty normal

Sry this took so long, exams are running wild

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yeahimaloser · 3 years

Note

Oooo I also got another good request how about a hawks x reader childhood friends they grow up together she took his punishments for him yk they have each other’s back and then in the future a villian attack and she ALMOST dies but no she gets save then hawks realizes he loves her and it’s all fluff at the end eek

Ok so, I literally love this request so much, I have no idea why it took me so long to write, but it's finally done!

Oh my god it took so long.

they/them pronouns used.

8k words! please enjoy!

16+ a bit suggestive at the end.

. . .

You sniffed, a hand wiping across your face as tears stung your eyes.

You had been training with the commission for a while now, almost a month to be exact. And it was so hard. In fact, it felt more like they were specifically targeting you.

You looked over at one of the other kids in the commissions program, Keigo, he seemed to have no problem with this exercise, in fact, you would have thought he was excelling at it.

But you could only sit and watch as his little wings flew past you.

You were only pulled from your family recently, but you knew that Keigo was here longer than you were. You rarely talked to him since your arrival, maybe it was because part of you didn’t want to become friends with anyone, maybe it was a small way of acting out, you didn’t know why, but you didn’t like him. He was just so much better than you.

Ever since you first came here, you’ve felt weak. You felt inferior to Keigo, you couldn’t help but compare yourself to him, watching exciede everyones expectations.

Compared to him, you were nothing but a dull blade.

You look down at your hands, cursing them as if that would do you any good. Your eyes stung again, the dust prickling against your eyelids.

The exercise was not supposed to be a difficult one, in terms of the gruelling training practices that they made you do, this one was pretty easy. All you had to do was get from one point in the commission's training facility, all the way to the other side of said facility. A simple running exercise. Although the floors were littered with traps, making it harder for you to get there, you knew it was supposed to be easy. And yet, for whatever reason, you had such immense difficulty.

Your quirk was mostly made for combat. It was the power they gave you the ability to control metal through your will. And although others might find it useful, you found it so difficult.

The problem was, your power was flashy, and yet not as easy to use as one might think. The metal had to touch you, which means that you have to get a hold of some metal object. And although technically you would be controlling it through your mind (Making it fly through the air at your own will) the object couldn’t be very heavy. Whatever metal object you wanted to use would weaken you. For example, controlling a knife was no problem, but controlling a 20 pound ball of metal was extremely difficult. which made your quirk almost completely useless here. Doing a running exercise, like you were doing now, there is little to nothing you could do with your quirk. The only times that your quirk would actually be useful, was during rescue missions or during an attack with multiple heroes in a big city with a lot of metal that you could touch. But that wasn't the case, and you hated it.

As you sat in the corner, trying desperately not to show your tears, you felt a gust of air as you looked up, only to be met with red wings.

“Are you…Ok?”

You never noticed how pretty his eyes were, the honey color’s made his features look so much softer.

After a few minutes, you realized he was still waiting for you to answer.

And for whatever reason, you felt your whole face becoming hot.

“I’m fine.” You said all too quickly.

He raises a bushy eyebrow at you, his face quizzical. “If you’re sure, but we are partners.”

You rolled your eyes.

You two were never truly partners. In this compound, there was only yourself to be concerned with.

“Stop pitying me, I can help myself.”

He smirked, “You say as if you’re not on the ground as we speak.”

You felt your face heating up again as you sprang to your feet, your eyes quickly narrowed, trying your best to seem composed.

“Why did you come back for me?”

But Keigo just shrugged, “Saw someone in need of help.”

That was the last straw.

You angrily stomped away. Who was he to judge you? Who was he to act like some hero? You knew he was the commission's golden boy, they loved him, he was their best weapon.

And you knew he was bright enough to know that as well. Although he never got any special treatment, you could tell by the way they trained him, how they paid more attention to his abilities and not so much the other’s.

Including you.

You felt something pull at you, something tugging you back.

You turned to see- a feather?

“Hey wait a sec,” Keigo said, “I wanna ask you something.”

Your face hardened, you two should be getting back to training soon, you knew the instructor would most likely yell at the two of you for falling too much behind.

“Ask your question and let's go,” you said, huffing.

“Do you want to be friends?”

The question caught you so off guard, causing you to stumble over a rock in front of you.

You whiped back to him, your eyes widen as you realized he was completely serious.

“Wha- friends? What the hell are you on about? There are no friends here, that's an idiot's dream.”

But Keigo only shrugged, “Well, then I guess I’m an idiot.”

You stared back at him, a look of pure disbelief written on your face.

Was he insane? Having friends here was almost imposible. The commission made sure of that, pitting you two against eachother, comparing you to one another, they made it so you would fight amongst yourselves.

“Why would you want to be friends with me?” You asked, your voice barely a whisper.

But he just shrugged, “Because I'm curious about you, and that crousity makes me want to befriend you.”

You stilled, thinking and thinking till your brain hurts.

“Look, you don’t have to say anything right now, I know I probably caught you off guard, and if you don’t want to, I understand… I think-I think I’m just lonely.”

You pursed your lips, still thinking it over in your mind before you grabbed his hand.

“Look, I’ll think about it, but first, let's get this race over with.”

Keigo smiled, blushing a bit as you two took off, hoping you two would becoming good friends.

. . .

And as time went on, you two did, in fact, become the best of friends.

By the time you were both teens, you and Keigo (or Hawks as his hero name) became the commissions pride and joy.

Although you were always so surprised that they didn’t want to through you out, Keigo was so much better than you, and you had fallen much behind him.

Keigo was faster, smarter and stronger, you knew that, you knew that all to well.

But, the commission never removed you, you continued to train to become a hero, right besides Keigo. A part of you wondered if maybe you were only kept on because of Keigo, maybe the commission saw how close you two were, watching how much you mattered to him, and maybe they thought they could use you to their advantage.

The thought made you shiver, mostly due to the fact that it wasn’t impossible, and more than likely.

One night, as you and Keigo lay under the stars on the roof of the commission's building, watching the night sky above.

Suddenly, Hawks turned to you, “Hey Y/N,” he said, “can I ask you something?”

You nodded your head, feeling your heart flutter.

“Do you....do you want to become a hero with me?”

You smiled, “Isn't that the whole reason we’re here? To become heroes?”

But Keigo just shook his head, “No I mean...what do you want to do? With your life?”

You took a pause, you’ve never really thought about it all that much. What did you want to do with your life? You’ve always just done what others have told you to do, always choosing to follow others rather than yourself.

You realized you had never thought about it before, never taking into consideration your feelings, you just worked to survive.

“...I don’t know.”

You hated saying it, it felt like such a childish thing to admit, especially with Keigo. Keigo, who’s figured out his life goal already. Keigo, who’s living out his dream. Keigo, who has most of his life planned out.

“I mean- I guess I’m not used to choosing for myself, you know? I’m not sure how to go about… figuring out my life without someone telling me how to live it first.”

But Keigo just nodded, “No, that makes sense, I mean, you’ve lived here most of your life, you’ve worked to become a hero, but that's really only because you were taught to be one. It’s ok to not know what you want out of life, and don’t worry, I’ll be here to support you, Y/N.”

Keigo turned to you, a smile plastered on his face.

That beautiful, amazing, breathtaking smile.

You felt your face become flushed, and you sat up quickly so as to not have Keigo notice.

“Yeah well- thanks,” you said softly.

But Keigo just laughed, “Don’t worry about it dove.”

. . .

Years later, and Hawks had become the number two pro hero. And you hadn’t done too badly yourself, coming in at the number eleventh spot.

You didn’t mind being behind Hawks, in fact, you found yourself becoming a bit proud of yourself because of how far you had made it.

Right now, you were busy on portal, watching citizens go about their day on a rooftop above.

You watched closely, wondering what kind of life you could have been living if you had never chosen to be a hero, wondering if you too, would have been walking on that very same street as some other hero observed you from afar.

Somedays you found yourself wondering if the hero commission hadn’t taken you away, had let you lived your life for yourself, what would you do? Who would you become?

You wondered if you would have met Keigo as well, or if that would only work if you had been with the hero commission.

Maybe in that universe, you two could finally be together.

It happened a while ago, when you figured out your true feelings for Hawks. Although, maybe you always had feelings for him, since you were little kids. But, you had feelings for him had began to bubble over, you found yourself wanting to spend more time with him, wanted to keep him to yourself. But you would never act on these feelings, you knew better.

Keigo Takami would never be yours, not in a million years.

You let out a sigh, just as you heard boots hit the ground behind you.

“Miss me,” a familiar voice asked.

Even though you had known Hawks since you two were kids, you were always caught off guard by those dazzling eyes, the honey gold color swirling around as he stared down at you, pinning you to your spot on the roof.

You smiled, “Hawks, I just saw you.”

He shrugged, “So? I still missed you in that time.”

You rolled your eyes, “Did you come here to bother me or do you actually have a reason to be here?”

His hands flew to his chest, dramatically saying, “Oh angel, how you wound my poor heart.”

You giggled, “Aw Hawks, always the flare for the dramatic.”

He smiled, but then his eyes got serious, “But I do need your help with something, a mission not too far from here.”

Watching Hawks in action was like watching an artist at work, he was careful, skillful, even downright majestic. He took care in his work, he worked quickly and efficiently, like a well-oiled machine.

And, not to sound too cocky, you two made a pretty good team. And considering you two were very close friends, you vehemently enjoyed working with him.

Although, maybe it was cuz you also had a little bit of a crush on him.

Your face felt flushed at the thought, but before you could think your mouth had already said yes.

“Oh? Are you just agreeing so you can spend time with me, little dove,” Hawks smiled teasingly.

He had a habit of doing this, it was a little game he would play on you. teasing was so fun for him, but he didn’t realize how it gave you such butterflies.

Luckily though, although you did have feelings for him, you learned how to push them away for situations like this.

You scoffed, “Hawks, would you just give me the rundown. Or do I have to call the commission myself?”

He put his hands up, “Wow there chicky, no need to get antsy, I’ll explain everything, ok?”

He told you about the mission, nothing to fancy, in fact, it was quite easy.

Some of his sidekicks had noticed some suspicious activity near a specific location near U.A that the commission wanted to be checked out. They had said that they didn’t want another attack to happen yet again to the school.

On the outside, it might have seemed like the commission gave a shit about the kids in U.A, but you knew better. They just wanted to look good, and right now, this was the best way to do that.

“So basically, if we do see any suspicious activity, we’re allowed to bring anyone in there for questioning, and if worst comes to worst, we have orders to use force.”

You nodded, sounded just like a normal mission for the two of you, should be no p.

“Alright,” you said, “Sounds easy enough. Should we head over now? How will I get there?”

But Hawks seemed to be one step ahead of you.

He held out his hand, a smirk plastered on his dazzling face, “Just hold on to me, sweetheart.”

. . .

You’ve flown with Hawks before, considering how close you two were it was understandable that he would have offered a number of times.

But still, it Always made you so giddy.

The way he held you, so secure in his arms, his face inches away from you. And that gleam in his eyes, it always felt like it was only you and him in that moment, only you two in the entire sky. And each time, it made your heart shudder.

“You ok there, dove,” Hawks asked in your ear.

You jumped a little, surprised by his words. You realized you had begun spacing out while looking directly at him.

You composed yourself, “Just keep flyin’ bird brain. I’m just thinking.”

You could almost feel his smirk, “Thinking? Thinking of what, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Drop it Hawks.”

“Oh,” he said, his tone mischievous, “just like I can drop you?”

Just then, you felt Hawks serve mid-air.

“KEIGO,” you shouted, not even thinking.

But Hawks had regained his hold on you, the prank only lasting for a second.

He laughed, his chest shaking, “You should have seen your face, Chicky! Ha! That was funny!”

But you would disagree, “I swear to God, Hawks, I’ll punch you when we land.”

But you thought for a second, “Sorry I called you your name...so loud.”

Keigo didn’t really like his name, opting to be called ‘Hawks’ instead.

But you knew why he preferred his new name instead. Because of his past.

Keigo was a kid left in the dirt, left and discarded, a remnant of a past that wasn’t so pleasant. You knew that thinking about it only brought pain to him, and saying his name out loud would only remind him of a past he would rather soon forget.

And the name ‘Hawks’ had marked the beginning of a new life for him. It was a way for him to move on past that old life, a way for him to become the best version of himself.

“Sorry,” you whispered.

“It’s ok… I don’t think anyone heard,” Hawks said.

His grip on you seemed to be tighter, more secure.

“And also, you know I would never drop you, right? I could never hurt you, ever.”

You rolled your eyes, “That’s so cheesy. Just don’t drop me and it’s fine.”

. . .

The place wasn’t too bad.

It was an old supply garage, there were about four people from what you could see.

It was definitely near U.A, you could see a clear view to the school, although it was far, it definitely had a vantage point. You could see why this could be a problem, and your brain hurt thinking about what villainous thing they could be planning.

You could hear the guy closest to you, it was a bit hard but you honed your ears.

“So, you all have everything,” a man asked in a scratchy rough voice.

“Yeah,” one of the others said, “everything's here, make sure to give it to Shigaraki with our gratitude.”

You looked over at Hawks, but his eyes were trained on the villains, his black pupils sharpening and watching their every move, before he nodded, signaling to move out.

And then, everything happened in a flash.

Hawks, as always, moved fast and quick, and you come up behind him.

Hawks grabbed one of the men, and held back the other two with his feathers, leaving only you and the two others.

You pulled out your handy metal staff, preparing yourself to bend it to your will.

But you never got the chance.

One of the men smirked a gun in his hand. The other behind him, activating what looked like an ice quirk.

And before you could think, you felt your feet being Frozen down to the hard metal floor of the garage.

“What the hell,” you mutter to yourself.

you tried your best to wiggle your way out of it, but you saw no way to free yourself from your icey binds.

Luckily, with your fast thinking, you grabbed the metal staff, shaping it to hit one of the men square in the jaw, making him drop his weapon.

the other one was taken aback, a perfect opening for your staff to hit him in the face.

But your feet were still frozen to the floor, and a few whacks to the felons was not going to be enough to take them down.

You racked your brain, Hawks was too far away, and there was no way you could get out of the ice on your own.

You brought your metal stuff back, using it to break the ice on your feet. Just as the men were getting back up.

You ran over, preparing to hit one of the men right in the face, a blow big enough to knock them out.

But you never got the chance.

The other man tackled you to the floor, your back hitting the ground.

“Not so tough now, are you, little hero.”

You looked over at Keigo, but there was no use. He was too busy fighting his own battle, and you knew it wasn't fair to rely on him.

So, with all your strength you pushed the man off. Using the metal floor to help you.

Just then, an idea occurred to you. It was risky, but it could work.

You knew that Keigo was far enough for it to work, it wouldn’t hurt him, but the only problem was it wouldn’t trap the two villains he was fighting.

But, considering he was the number two hero, you knew he would be just fine. You trusted him in that.

The ground beneath you is made of metal, you could feel it beneath your feet. You could also feel the two men running towards you.

You dodged their initial attacks, but you knew that they would soon overpower you. You also knew that you couldn't kill them, but you could hurt them.

So your best bet was to trap them, and yourself, before backup came.

You hit your palm against the floor, willing it to your mind. It was a long stretch, and you could feel the strain on your body. The toll that it was taking was immediate, your muscles felt tired, your brain even felt foggy for a few minutes, but you kept going.

You made sure that the ground collapsed, but it wouldn't hurt anybody.

You were not expecting, however, for the ceiling to collapse along with it.

There must have been a support beam on the ground as well that you had taken down with the floor, causing the ceiling to come down.

You looked up, seeing the last moment as the ceiling collapsed on you.

. . .

Hawks hated hospitals.

The smell, the people, the pain. He hated it all, but you were the one in the hospital, so of course, he needed to come.

The days after the accident had been hard, to say the least.

Keigo just remembered watching as the rooftop collapsed, watching your bruised body go along with it.

He remembered screaming your name too, yelling and willing all his feathers to help you, to get you out.

He remembered his heart racing and beating so hard in his chest, he remembered his eyes, tears swelling up as his breath ran ragged.

He didn’t even care about the villains, he had caught the two he had been fighting already, but he didn’t care. He needed to get you out, he needed to make sure you were ok.

After digging for what felt like an eternity, there you were, bruised and bloody. But you were breathing, and he held you close, his tears dripping over your cheeks.

He felt his heartbreak, he couldn't stand the sight of you being hurt, he couldn't stand the thought that he had something to do with it.

He wanted you to wake up, he wanted you to wake up so badly it hurt. For you to look up, and teased him about crying. He wanted nothing more than to apologize over and over, for making his friend suffer, even if it was unintentional.

He knew he could never forgive himself, and he knew he could never make it up to you.

Keigo knew you were in bad shape, so he called the ambulance to take you to the hospital. He was there with you the whole way, watching you, helping in any way he could.

He felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest, watching as your fragile body was rolled away to the special care unit of the hospital, as the doctors told him he couldn’t come in with you.

“Mr. Hawks,” a voice said in front of him.

He flinched.

Hawks wasn’t someone who was easily startled, seeing as he had years of training, but his mind was so all over the place. Worrying and wondering if you were ok, hoping and praying to god everything would be ok.

He couldn’t lose you, and he realized that only now.

If he lost you, how would he even be able to function? You were everything to him, his friend (if he was being truthful, his only true friend) , his rock, the person he could trust for support and help.

To be honest, if he lived in a world without you, he really wouldn’t know what to do…

“Sir?”

He snapped back to reality, his eyes looking up at the doctors.

“Sorry,” he sighed, “I think I’m just a bit off my game today, you’ll have to excuse my behavior. But what were you saying, sir?”

“Well, L/N Y/N has sustained some pretty severe injuries, such as bruising of the sides and hips, and a broken leg,” Hawks sucked in a breath, “We know how to treat it, of course, but Y/N will need much recovery time. That being said, Y/N seems to not have any family or emergency contacts but you. If it’s ok with you, would you be willing to visit as well as look over Y/N in the recovery period?”

Hawks quickly agreed, “Anything doctor, anything you need or Y/N needs...anything at all.”

The doctor smiled at him, “Thank you, Mr. Hawks, unfortunately though, Y/N needs a bit more time alone, but when we deem it ok, you can come back for a visit.”

Hawks felt his shoulders slump, he knew it was selfish, but he had hoped to see you again, to apologize for putting you in that piston, he felt horrible.

The mission wasn't supposed to go like that at all, it was supposed to be a swift and easy fight. It was really just supposed to be the four guys with easy quirks, and they were all supposed to be an easy fight.

Hawks had learned about the hideout in front of U.A a while ago, when he learned it was also a part of the ledge, he went right to Dabi.

“Are you insane,” he had said, “someone will catch you, and personally, I can’t stand by and let you attack those kids.”

“Oh?” Dabi smirked, “And how will you stop us? You’re a part of the league now, bird boy, and we need this lookout, so just shut up already.”

Keigo huffed, “I can’t let you do that, that’s right by my portal area, my bosses will get suspicious, and I look bad enough as it is. I haven’t brought anyone from the league in, soon someone will put two-in-two together.”

It was a lie of course, his bosses knew exactly why he couldn't bring in anyone from the league, they had assigned the mission after all.

But the problem didn't lie with his bosses, it lay with the other Heroes and the public eye. The other hero’s had started to whisper to each other, wondering why the Hawks hadn’t brought in anyone from the notorious League of villains yet. He heard their whispers, and it made him uneasy. He knew if he didn't act soon, they would just grow more and more suspicious. As for the public eye, he couldn't let his image slide, he had to figure out a solution, and this would be the perfect way to do so.

Dabi pondered the idea, toying with Hawks’ growing anticipation, like a cat pawing at a helpless bird.

“Alright, I suppose we can make that work.”

And so, a plan was formed.

Keigo was to swiftly take the four men in for questioning. Dabi had arranged for it so all vital information was to be learned from the lookouts, and then Hawks could swoop in and go in fighting. The other four men would have no idea what was going on, so it looked like the real deal.

They had set up specific times and dates to make sure they would take the men and the lookout down, that way the league wouldn’t lose any vital information.

“I’ll tell you when, don’t start till I tell you,” Dabi had said, “or else there will be problems.”

And Hawks had done as he was told, he waited for Dabi to give him the all-clear, and went in.

But you getting hurt was never a part of the plan.

Keigo felt guilt clawing at his chest. How did he get like this? He was supposed to be the one to protect you, to make sure that you were always okay.

But it seemed like he was the one who got you hurt.

His guilt was suddenly replaced by anger, it made him ball his fist.

Those men were supposed to be easy to take down, they were supposed to be simple to deal with, but even Keigo had difficulty defeating them all on his own.

This was an error on his part, he knew that, but he also couldn’t help but simultaneously blame Dabi as well.

It was his fault that he hadn’t warned Keigo about the strength of the men.

Keigo was going to make him pay….

. . .

Dabi’s head hit the wall with a loud thud, Keigo’s angry eyes boring into him.

“I should kill you right here, right now.”

Dabi laughed, “Look, it wasn’t my fault your little partner couldn’t handle a few guys, ain't they supposed to be a hero? Shouldn’t they be able to help themselves?”

Dabi’s twisted smile made Keigo see red.

“I swear Dabi-”

“The league will come after you, you know that.”

Keigo felt his hands shake with rage, his fingers wrinkling Dabis' shirt.

“What were they to you? You seem pretty upset there, birdy. Maybe….your lover?”

A feather sharpened at Dabi’s neck, Keigo’s fury never leaving his body.

“Say one more goddamn word and I swear to god I'll kill you.”

“Look,” Dabi said, “I didn't know how strong those guys were, I thought that you'd be able to take ‘em down pretty easily. But I guess we just gave ‘em more training than I thought. That's all. Nothing I could have done about it, and nothing you could have done about it. You should know that stuff like this is inevitable, shit is bound to go wrong.”

Keigo released him, his eyes still boring into Dabi’s.

“If I figure out you had some sort of part in this-”

“Yeah yeah, you’ll kill me. I get it.”

Keigo stormed off, walking away from Dabi.

Keigo wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of someone, anyone, he just wanted someone to blame, someone to feel the way he felt.

The fact that you were in pain only made it worse.

What was he to do now? He couldn’t go home, he would only be able to think about you, only be able to think about your laugh, your eyes, your lips….

He shook his head. Why was he thinking of something like that? And at a time like this? You were...his friend.

But that thought made his heart sink. Like that thought had filled him with dread.

He sighed, shaking his head, this wasn’t about him, it was about you, it was about helping you. Not thinking about his feelings. Or lack thereof.

He felt his phone ring in his back pocket, just before he was leaving.

Looking at the number, he realized it was the doctor's office that was calling.

Without even thinking he picked up, “Hello?”

“Hello Mr. Hawks, we just wanted to ask if you would want to come in and see the patient L/N Y/N, they have woken up. So if you would like to see them-”

“Yes!” Keigo said, a bit too excitedly, “Sorry- about the interruption- but yes I would like to see them.”

“Alright Mr. Hawks, please come whenever you can, they’ve been asking for you.”

. . .

Hawks had never flown so fast, rushing so fast in order to see you, needed to see you.

When he finally got there, he rushed in, finding the receptionist to find your room.

“They’re in room 236 sir-”

But he cut her off, adrenaline pumping through his body.

“Ok, thank you so much.”

Finding your room was easy, and yet, he found himself outside your room, dreading to go in.

How could he face you? How could he apologize? How could he look you in the eye, see what happened to you, and be able to talk to you.

He ran a hand down his face, why was this so hard? He’s taken down many many villains before, and he had never felt as anxious as he did now?

“...Hawks?”

He jumped, he actually jumped.

There you were, standing, only a few inches away from his face, his eyes widened and he could feel his whole body becoming hot.

Why did he suddenly become like this around you? His heart felt like it was on fire, his whole body felt strange.

But your face, it looked so stunning, that for a moment he couldn’t feel his lungs.

“Are you...ok?” He was surprised that his voice finally managed to work.

You blinked, “Yeah, I’m ok. What about you, though? Your face is all red. Do have a fever or something? I can call a doctor.”

“No no,” he sighed, “just...feeling weird I suppose.”

He felt the redness travel from his cheeks all the way up to his ears, “I-I’m fine, really, don't worry about me, I'm actually here to see you.”

You smiled, gazing up at him, “Aww, you can see lil’ old me? How thoughtful.”

You both walked into your room, and Hawks watched as you lay down on the bed.

The hospital room was nothing special, a state-of-the-art hospital room, similar to one's that Hawks had been in many times. Being a hero always came with getting hurt, but seeing you in this condition, made his heart squeeze.

if he could, he would go back in time and figure out a way so that he could be in this situation, not you. You didn't deserve it, you have done nothing but help him, and this is how he repaid you? He felt sick with guilt.

“Hawks?” You said.

He snapped up, like coming back from a bad dream.

But you just laughed your sweet, kind laugh.

Hawks wanted to hear it again, one more time he wanted to hear you laugh like that, it made him feel like everything was drifting away from him like it was just you and him in this entire world.

“You’re totally out of it! What’s gotten into you,” You said, a smile still plastered on your face.

“Sorry, just thinkin’.”

“Yeah well you must be thinking a little too hard there, are you okay? Do you want to sit down? Something's obviously bothering you, you can tell me.”

but hawks just side, “I don’t know, I don’t want you to be upset with me.”

But you just smiled up at him, “Hawks, nothing in this world could make me upset with you.”

And so he told you, about the league, about the secrets he's been hiding from you. It felt good, it felt good to finally confide in someone, it felt like a weight being lifted off his shoulders. he felt at ease, talking to you like you were the only person who would ever understand. And you probably were.

You listened to him, you listened as he told you about what happened, about how sorry he felt, you didn't blame him for what happened, You just listened. You listened and listened and listened.

So when he finally finished, he was scared of what you would say.

“...I’m sorry,” he said.

“Why are you sorry, Hawks you didn’t do anything wrong.”

He looked up at you, “B-but I got you hurt-”

“That’s not your fault though, you had a mission to follow.”

“But I should have never involved you.”

“I'm glad you did, it could have been you that would have gotten hurt,” you said, smiling.

But he just tsked, “It would have been better if it was me, I can’t stand to see you like this, you know.”

Your hands went to his cheeks, bringing his face closer, “And I wouldn’t be able to see you like this either, I would have blamed myself. I’m glad I came with you, even if it meant I got hurt in the process. I care about you, Hawks.”

Keigo couldn’t breathe, you were so close, your lips an inch away.

“Keigo.”

Your eyes widened, “What?”

“I want you to call me Keigo when we’re alone from now on, I...I like when you say it.”

You paused for a moment, and then burst out laughing, “Where did this come from?”

His face went red, “I-I don’t know, just kinda been thinking about it I guess.”

You giggled a bit before saying, “Ok, I mean, if that’s what you want. Y’know, you’ve been acting strange Haw-Keigo,” you corrected, “are you sure everything's ok?”

There it was again, the pitter-batter in his heart, the nervousness in his stomach.

Something was wrong, but he didn’t know how to say it.

He didn’t know how he would even categorize the way he was feeling, he couldn't explain it to himself, much less to you.

“I’m fine, just...overwhelmed I guess.”

He shook his head, “But I should be asking how you are, you're the one in the hospital, not me. Stop worrying, how are you, how are you feeling? What do you need me to do? I'll be here to help you, no matter what.”

You rolled your eyes, “Eventually you’ll have to go home, and I’m totally fine, Keigo.”

By the mention of his name, he couldn’t help but feel his heart squeeze.

“R-right, well, can I just..stay here. With you? Till you get better?”

You smiled, “Of course.”

. . .

While you were in the hospital, Keigo stayed by your side. He never left you, he cared for you, watched over for you, and was so understanding.

It only made your feelings for him deeper, and you were loath to admit that you enjoyed it.

You enjoyed watching him fawn over you, knowing that he was close to you. You two would talk for hours, about anything, and you loved it. You loved feeling him near you, watching his eyes soften and the stupid silly quirk of his smile. You felt warm inside, you felt so at peace with him at your side.

You knew it was selfish, but you couldn't help loving how long you were spending with him.

But, it all came to an end, and you had to go home.

To your surprise, Keigo offered you to stay with him for a little bit.

Just till you get back on your feet,” he said.

Your heart leaped at the opportunity, sharing a house with the guy you had a crush on for years? It felt like you were a lovesick teenager again. Although, you would always be lovesick when it came to Keigo.

At Keigo’s house, he was nothing but polite to you. Although, a bit too polite.

For all his flirting, for all his suave charm, he was never really like that with you. He was just normal, keeping to himself in the house, but always being able to hang out with you or do anything with you if you wanted.

And yet, you could feel the nervousness oozing off of him, like he wanted to say something, but was holding himself back.

Like something was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t get it out.

It, intern, made you just as nervous.

Were you being a nuisance? Did you say something to upset him? A million thoughts running through your head, and you are worried about all of them.

The last thing that you would ever want to do would be to upset Keigo, but you couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

Maybe he felt bad about the accident?

You sucked in a breath, that had to be it. He felt bad, and therefore, was nervous around you.

You have to confront him, you thought, you had to clear the air so you would both feel better.

You decided to wait till tomorrow morning, not wanting to scare or embarrass him well you could tell he was so nervous.

. . .

“Keigo,” you said, a waver in your voice showing how nervous you were.

“Hm?” Keigo looked up from his phone, his honey-colored irises landing on you, only serving to make you more anxious.

You took a deep breath, “I wanna talk to you about something. and it's pretty important, so I'd appreciate it if you could listen till the end.”

Keigo sat up, “What, am I in trouble or something?” He said in a teasing, yet nervous way.

“No,” you sighed, “But I just really need to talk to you about something.”

You took one moment more to collect yourself before speaking, “We've known each other for a long time, we've known each other since we were little kids when we were both put into the commission's program and since we were both made heroes. So you should know, that I know when you're upset.”

You saw Keigo twitch in his chair, but you continued.

“You've been nervous ever since the hospital, maybe even nervous in the hospital. And I don't know what's going on with you. I... I don't know if it was something that I did, or if it was something that happened, but I'm here for you. And I don't like it that you keep this a secret from me. I consider you to be one of my best friends, and I want you to know that you can trust me. No matter what happens, I'll still always love you. Nothing will ever change that,” a smile pulled at your lips as you said your last sentence.

It was silent for a few moments, the air between you too felt heavy and suffocating.

Finally, Keigo spoke, “Y/N, I want to tell you something, but... I'm not sure how you’ll react.”

You tried to speak up again, but Keigo cut you off.

“I know that you're going to say that nothing can ever come between us, and I do believe you. But... something came up and I just don't know how to deal with it. You mean so much to me, and losing your friendship is my worst nightmare. And I guess…. I just got so scared of losing you that I just didn't think about anything else. I'm sorry.”

Your face contorted into one of confusion, “Keigo, I’m not sure what you mean? What are you talking about? What came up?”

But Keigo just sighed, “Y/n I...I think I’m in love with you.”

You felt your heart stop, your eyes widened as your brain was racing.

What did you say? No... that couldn't be right.

Keigo Takami could not be in love with you, he just wouldn't. You had accepted that a long time ago, you knew that he would never have the same feelings that you had for him. You knew that, so what was going on?

“I...I’m sorry?”

Keigo’s face turned a bright shade of pink, “I-I think I’m in love with you. I’m sorry to spring this on you so suddenly, I know it must be a lot to take in, if you’re uncomfortable being here with me feel free to leave. I completely understand-”

But your lips stopped his words, your body pressed firmly to his.

He was started by the kiss at first, but soon, his body and mind became muddled, hands wrapped around your waist as he tasted your lips. It felt intoxicating.

Before you knew it, your hips were straddling him, keeping him locked in his chair. But Keigo wasn’t complaining.

Your lips tangled with one another as moans escaped both of you, your hands unable to leave each other's bodies.

Your hands traveled down his chest, even ripping open the button-down he was wearing, showing his abs and rippling muscles.

“Y/N..” Keigo said, his voice hoarse.

When you looked back up at him, his eyes were narrowed, slanted, and staring you down. But they had a softness to them, one that made your heart flutter.

“Keigo… god you have no idea how much I love you,” you said.

If this was a dream, you never wanted to wake up.

Keigo smirked, “‘s that so babe? Well, I plan to show you just how much I love you tonight.”

His lips attached to the column of your throat, kissing and nipping lightly at the skin. His hands roaming up and down your body made you feel as though you were on fire. His calloused hands stroked your back, making you arch into him.

“K-Keigo,” you moaned.

But he just hummed into your skin, his brain turning to mush, only able to think about how much pleasure he could give you, how much love he wanted to show you.

“Keigo, I love you,” you whispered into the shell of his ear.

Keigo groaned, still occupied with your neck, but pulled his lips away in order to say; “I’m glad,” and smiled at you.

You returned his smile before your lips found his again.

It would be a very long night.

#bnha #bnha hawks #mha #hawks #mha keigo takami #hawks x reader #keigo takami #hawks x y/n #keigo x reader #pro hero hawks #my hero academia hawks #hawks x you #keigo takami bnha #keigo fanfic #hawks fanfics #keigo x y/n #keigo imagine #wing hero hawks

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breathings-of-the-heart · 4 years

Text

Stuck on You (Levi Ackerman x Childhood Friend! Reader)

A/N: Hi, guys! I just want to preface by saying that this is a TWO (maybe a three if i decide to write an epilogue drabble) PART SERIES, and I have just a few more scenes to write before I can post it! I don’t expect this one to do so well, to be honest, but it’s been so long since I’ve written anything I’m proud of and I think I’m happy with how this turned out. So yes, stay tuned for part 2 which i will link at the end once it is posted. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Angst, season one/no regrets ova spoilers

Word Count: 3.5k

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

5 years ago

“Why is it that you always seem to be on my case the most?” Your frustration was obvious and your patience dissipated, feet shuffling in their spot as you finally turned to face him. “You never nag Isabel this much.”

For a moment, Levi didn’t respond, scanning your body for injuries. After asserting that you were indeed okay, he stepped over the unconscious man who laid on the ground, jaw set in anger as he walked forwards until he was so close you had to tilt your head slightly to keep eye contact.

Your snappy behavior was uncharacteristic. It only fueled his temper. The raven shook his head in disapproval, trying to keep his anger in check as you glared at him defiantly.

“Isabel doesn’t make such careless mistakes,” he pointed out coldly. “You almost got yourself hurt, (Y/N)! What would you have done if I hadn’t shown up to cover your ass?”

The both of you stood there in silence for several minutes, gazing at each other and listening to your uneven breathing. His face, unlike so many others, never really did reveal everything he was thinking. Feeling. You were dared to search for something else in his steady gaze besides disappointment, but for once, you could not tell what you saw. It was infuriating, humiliating, and hurtful.

“Sometimes I wonder if there’s even a brain inside your thick fucking skull.”

His harsh words didn’t normally cut you, but this time you flinched, looking away from Levi as all the fight drained out of you.

 Wearing your jewelry out at night was a careless mistake, that you could admit. What was hard to swallow was the fact that you had just been mugged, and nearly assaulted, yet all Levi could do was find the time to scold you, not seeming to care at all if you were shaken up by what happened.

It didn’t scare you that the other man’s hands found their way onto your skin. It didn’t scare you that something bad could have happened had Levi not knocked him out. You weren’t afraid of any of it; you were afraid that all the raven-haired man could see you for were your mistakes.

“So you think I’m a burden then?” you asked, choking up.

Your change in tone caught Levi’s attention. You suddenly looked smaller, and more vulnerable than the last time he looked at you. He sighed again, shaking his head softly. It took all your strength not to shy away from his fingers as they threaded through your hair, stopping on your shoulder and tugging you against him. You let Levi do it nonetheless, knowing this was his way of saying sorry; knowing this was his way of saying: “I’m tough on you because I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

You pressed your ear against his beating heart, letting the sound soothe you.

“No, brat. I don’t think that. Let’s just go home, and forget about it,” his voice was more gentle this time.

You sniffled and nodded, chest bursting as Levi placed a feather light kiss on the top of your head.

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

You never thought you’d miss the Underground. Especially when taking into consideration the miserable days after Levi, Isabel, and Farlan took that fateful deal, and were forced to leave you behind.

Your feelings on the matter were conflicted, of course, but you were relieved and happy that the people who mattered most had such a big opportunity. They didn’t need to see you crying, nor hear about how scared you were to be by yourself. Each one deserved better than that, so you put on a brave face as they reassured you over and over that they’d come back. You beamed as brightly as you could, sending them off with words of encouragement as you continued fighting off the lingering feeling of dread as they left.

You didn’t want to be a nuisance. Never wanted to be the reason they’d hold themselves back.

Although he didn’t show it, Levi took it the hardest. He implored you to stay alive, in a scolding tone that he only ever used when he was worried. You could hold your own, but weren’t a fighter like the other three. The stern male had only ever been thankful of your gentle nature in the past, surprised to be cursing it now that he couldn’t protect you. But for him, you’d try your hardest, knowing that with a little faith and patience, you could be reunited in the future.

The goodbye had been bittersweet, your lips slotting against his for the very first time. In a way, the way he kissed you seemed more like a promise than a farewell. His arms were wrapped around you all night, warmth lulling you to a sleep that otherwise, would never have been able to claim you.

Parting afterwards the following morning became all the more difficult because of it.

When Levi pulled a few strings with his newfound respected status and got the military to sponsor your citizenship, you were over the moon. Becoming a soldier was the last thing you expected out of your life, but wherever Levi and the others went, you would gladly follow. You felt at home again, throwing your arms around the man for the first time in months and giggling at the fact that while he accepted the gesture and patted your head awkwardly, his lack of affection never changed.

But you were quickly learning that the ideological existence that lived right above your head was just an illusion. You came only to find your friends dead, and Levi more closed off to you than he’d ever been before. Up here, things were far from perfect, and as time went on, you instead yearned for the past if only to appreciate it better a second time around. And although things slowly got better, life was not yet finished throwing its hardships your way.

The last person you had left slowly became out of reach, as time apart inevitably distanced the two of you and gave someone else the opportunity to fill that hole in his heart.  

Reality, you found, was much crueler under the blue of the sky.

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

“You don’t have to deny it, Levi. I know you better than anyone. I see the way you look at her,” you whispered, wringing your hands together in a feeble attempt to rid of the painful churn in your stomach. “I see it because you used to look at me that way.”  

It was admirable, at least, the effort you put in to keep your voice even. But the silence that followed those broken words was pitiful. The silence made it even more difficult to meet the gaze of the man in front of you. Levi had every opportunity to deny the truth of your burning statement; to bring you back into his arms and reaffirm his love like he used to. Like he would if maybe things were different.

You knew, he had no desire to do that now. Instead, the Captain’s eyes screwed shut and a light sigh escaped his perfect lips, the warmth of it tingling your skin. It was nostalgic, almost, being alone with Levi like this. His face was nearer to yours then it had been in months, enough so that you could make out every tiny detail. The irony of it seemed mocking: for once, you couldn’t bear to look at him. Not that you needed to, with every feature of his sure to forever haunt your memory.

But now all you could see were the interactions they had. Your vision consisted of watching as their bond and understanding grew. It was created in such a short amount of time, but hardly unpredictable with the amount of time Levi and Petra spent together. Even if Levi himself had not realized it, for you, it was plain as day. You knew him better than anyone. Could see that there was no pain in Levi’s eyes when he looked at her. Afterall, unlike you, Petra wasn’t a painful reminder of the past.

Despite his physical closeness, this was the most detached you’ve ever felt from the male. The space between you was strange and unfamiliar. Lonely and cold.

At your words, he exhaled through his nostrils.  

“I would never be unfaithful, (Y/N). I never have been,” he spoke firmly, in that certain tone of speaking only he could manage. “I promised I would never leave you.”

A tear spilled down your cheek, despite your best brave face. It was too much to handle, even for a calloused girl like you. Because despite everything, Levi had always been there. It seemed scary to have life any other way.

Said man took your hand gently, handling it like porcelain. It wasn’t until his skin touched yours that you realized your fingers were shaking, and your facade was crumbling. His gesture was another reminder of what once was. The familiarity of his skin a testament to all the time spent simply existing with one another.

How did it come to this?

“A lot has changed since then, it seems,” you laughed softly, for once pulling away from his touch. “I bet you can’t even look at me without thinking about those two, huh?”

You never once thought it was his fault. Even if you told him that, you knew Levi would always take accountability. Knew he would blame himself for taking Isabel and Farlan away from you. You should have seen this coming. It was inevitable that your love would be tainted, and that he’d find it somewhere else, even if it was unintentional.

“(Y/N), wait—“ there was a small panic that awoke in the raven’s steely eyes that only those who truly knew him would be able to detect.  

“—You know how I feel about you, don't you? I want to be the one who you'd wake up next to every morning. The person you'd trust enough to spill all your secrets to, the one you want to hold close, the one who would make it hurt too much to ever let go. I want to be the person who can make you smile, or laugh until you can't breathe. Your first and last thought of the day, and the one you wonder about even when they’re not around.”

You swallowed a whimper, fists clenched at your sides as your restraint came undone. It was all you’d ever wanted since you were small and starving and Levi was all you had to hold onto.

"But more than anything I want you to be happy. You deserve it.”

And because that’s how much I love you.

“I’d spent the rest of my life with you, if you asked me to,” the stoic Captain stated, as simply and mindlessly as if reciting the weather.

You knew it was true. You also knew better than to let your mind wander to that fantasy, or to let a world come into fruition in which you stopped Levi from pursuing his happiness; held back simply because his loyalty knew no bounds. You refused to be that selfish. You’d rather die a miserable death, a thousand times over. Rather endure this anguish for as long as it resided in your heart then watch his indifference turn to hatred as years of a one-sided relationship droned on and on.

He doesn’t want you anymore.

“I know, Levi.” You paused for a long moment. “Petra's wonderful. I don't hate either of you, I want you to remember that."

You wrapped your arms around yourself, trying desperately to forget the feeling of Levi’s lips on your skin, your face against his chest. The warmth between your ribs or the butterflies in your stomach, or the fireworks of passion that only he could make you feel. Tried to forget the rare but special, secret words of affirmation only your ears got to hear, and the goosebumps they’d send across your skin.

You wanted to erase it all, if only to make it easier to walk away with the knowledge you’d never feel any of that again.

It was pathetic.

There wasn’t anything left to be said. So with the task near impossible, looked at your lover, your best friend, your rock, your Levi, and turned away.

You only managed three steps before a voice followed you and a hand closed around your wrist.

“Is this what you want?” He sounded apathetic, but you knew better. His underlying worry only made the pain feel worse.

“I don’t know.” At the very least, you were honest.

"Will I see you again?"

As adaptable as he was, Levi was never a fan of the unconventionality that was “change.” He was never surprised, quick to go with the flow, even if he preferred certainty and steadiness.

This conversation, though, was one he never expected.

"Of course," you forced a tiny smile, knowing it was more convincing than it felt. "I just need a breather. I'll be back for dinner." The words tasted bitter in your mouth.

That was the first and only lie you'd ever tell Levi Ackerman, having handed in your resignation papers to Erwin just yesterday.

Forgive me, Levi.

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

Snow fluttered down from the sky, coating the local shops and roofs of buildings with a thick, white blanket. Merchants and store owners alike grumbled their disapproval, bustling to sweep the front of their shops. The air was crisp and biting, yet you relished in the feeling and absorbed the atmosphere. Drunk garrison soldiers loitered around merrily, cheeks flushed from alcohol, catching the flakes in their hair and occasionally slipping on hidden ice in their drunken stupor. It made you chuckle softly, the residences of Wall Roses’ inconvenience the source of your contentment-- this was your first time seeing snow, the real thing a thousand times better than anything you read about in any book.

You strolled through the marketplace, a basket holding bread, dried meats, cheese, and several fruits resting in the crook of your elbow. Your coin purse felt lighter than it had that morning, yet you carried on nonetheless, curious as to what Wall Rose had to offer. Children ran past you, throwing snowballs at each other and nearly running into you because of their haste. The sight made you grin as one of them bumped into one of the street market’s booths, knocking over a few items as he went.

The woman behind the counter chastised them, her shouts growing louder when they barely spared her a glance and blended into the crowd of shoppers. Nick nacks and books were left scattered in their wake, askew on the cobblestone ground.

“Need help, ma’am?,” you asked her, picking up the objects from the ground.

“Thank you, dearie,” she sighed gratefully, taking them from your hands. “Kids these days, so reckless and always in such a hurry.”

You laughed airily, mirth swimming in your eyes.

“You’re just lucky they didn’t steal anything,” you joked, reminiscing about your own thieving past. Your attention turned towards the noting the soldiers now dozing off on top of their card table nearby, tutting their behavior lightheartedly. “Levi, if only the police were like that back when we--”

Out of habit, you turned around to meet his gaze, heart clenching when you remembered he wasn’t there. Your fists clenched to prevent you from smacking yourself at your carelessness. He’s not here, dumbass.

“What was that, hun?” the woman behind the counter inquired, preoccupied in sorting her things.

You put on your best smile, shaking your head before your thoughts could fill with images of a certain raven-haired, steele-eyed, heart-stopping male. The back of your eyes stung, the momentary joy of your first real winter quickly fading away.

“Nothing important.”

This is for the best, (Y/N). You’ve only ever gotten in the way, his whole life. Let the man be.

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

It had been a few years since that last encounter with him. Part of you still wondered if Levi tried looking for you after realizing your true intentions of never coming back. You hoped he didn't, imagining instead that he'd made the most of the opportunity you'd given him. Prayed that it wasn't all for naught and he instead pursued what (or who) truly made him happy, instead of worrying about other people. In truth, you became content with life, learning to look back on memories fondly and being thankful for their existence.

Residing above ground was enough reason to be grateful in itself, and you did your best to make the most of it. Your days were now spent in ways that paid tribute to your humble beginnings: individuals from the underground who managed to secure citizenship to the surface were put into your care. You helped men, women, and children alike assimilate into living on the surface, which included introducing the area, and assisting in finding housing and jobs. It was rewarding work, but more than anything, reminiscent to be able to see the wonder when their eyes meet the clouds for the very first time. The flickers of hope from your clients were things you carried with you every day. Your chosen profession left plenty of free time, however, as it was relatively rare for individuals to pay the hefty toll of climbing up those stairs.

Your life was average, and for the most part, uneventful. The quietness that accompanied mediocrity proved to be comforting, however. It was a far cry from the days of constantly looking over your shoulder and needing to carry a knife in your boot, just in case.

At first, it was difficult not to cry at the thought of the stoic, raven-haired Ackerman. The heartache weighed down in your chest for a good amount of time. The simplest things reminded you of Levi, but after a while, instances where he’d cross your mind became fewer and further between. With a nicer home than anything you previously owned, a livable income, and an overall peaceful existence, you didn’t have any regrets.

At least, that was what you told yourself until you heard the news.

On off days you worked as a waitress at one of the many taverns within Wall Rose. Large tips were one of the many perks that drew you in originally. The chatter of the customers and frequent bar-goers was a welcome ambience, and an opportunity for you to combat the occasional feeling of loneliness.

Occasionally, Scout Regiment gossip would filter through, especially about Humanity’s Strongest and the new titan shifter Eren Jeager. Updates were nice, knowing Levi was safe and thriving in what he did best. But as you placed a pint of beer on one of the tables and overheard a heavy set man babble loudly to his comrade, dread splashed over you in waves.

“The Captain was the only survivor in his squad. He wasn’t even with them when it happened, poor guy. He must feel terribly guilty.”

Your vision became hazy as you tried not to panic; of all the rumours that filtered through the drunk mouths of customers, you had never heard bad news like this before. The last you’d heard, human kind was given a beacon of hope, and things were looking up after Eren Jaeger managed to plug up the hole in Trost.

“Excuse me, but which squad did you say this happened to?” you heard your voice say.  

Across the table, the other man took a swig of his drink, and grunted indignantly.

“Levi Squad, the best in the military I heard. A shame, but I suppose even the top in the Survey Corps are still just suicidal maniacs when it comes down to it.”

No, no, no, no. This wasn’t supposed to happen!

After that, everything became white noise. You could only register every third movement, heart thundering in your ears. The tray you’d been holding to carry the drinks clattered as it fell to the ground, causing a few gasps and strange looks to be thrown in your direction. In your horrified state, dread weighed down like lead in your body. You rushed to the back room, tears clouding your vision as you tried not to stumble.

You gripped the edges of the washroom sink, dizzy with this newfound information.

Levi has now lost more people that he loved, and was probably experiencing the same survivor’s guilt as he did with Isabel and Farlan. He was most likely suffering alone right now, never having been one to let people see his vulnerability so easily.

You did not witness first hand what your friends’ deaths meant to him. When the Captain waited for you at the top of the staircase, his expression never seemed out of the ordinary. Levi was kind enough to let you enjoy your first few days up with him simply enjoying the newfound freedom. He made the excuse that your two other comrades were out on business somewhere, and would be back to see you soon. Maybe, at the time, your excitement blinded you from the deeper emotions hidden in his voice.

When you found out the truth, their passing broke you. The fact that Levi shouldered any blame, however, is what twisted the knife. He had been grieving by himself; feeling that pain without anyone to comfort him. He had to put on a brave face just to see you; secretly spending that last month alone, probably relaying over and over how he would break the news to you.

Your remorse increased tenfold when it was him who held you, and him who put you back together, just like he had to for himself. And now he was by himself all over again.

I have to do something.

Splashing water on your face, you straightened up and looked in the mirror, a sudden surge of guilt coursing through your veins.

You refused to let Levi be alone this time around, no matter how he might feel about you now.

~~~~~~~

Part Two!

#snk levi #levi #levi ackerman imagine #levi ackerman gif #levi ackerman fanfiction #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman #AoT #attack on titan imagines #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #snk #snk fic #aot fic #levi x reader

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fluffywings13 · 3 years

Text

Red Wings, Cotton Ball, And Purple Kitty

“It’s okay.”

Six year old Izuku whispers softly as he waves his hands placatingly, he’d only come to play at the park, daddy said he had to be home by four, he’d been swinging on the swing set when the other boy had come running passed, tripping over his own feet, they made eye contact for a brief moment, and he’s never seen as much terror in someone’s eyes in his short six years on this earth then in that brief moment when their eyes met. The snowball followed after the other boy, jumping off the swing when the purple haired kid scrambled to his feet and continued running, looking the other way to see if anyone was chasing him, he spotted two officers looking around the park, sensing danger, he chased after him, something wasn’t right, Izuku may only be six years old, but he liked to think he was a great judge of character, and something about this picture was wrong.

So he made chase.

Which brings them here, in a dark shadowed alley, fifteen minutes after the time he was supposed to be home, with a new friend (he didn’t know his name but Izuku was under the impression that everyone was a friend until proven otherwise) who looked like he could use one of daddy’s famous legendary papa bird hugs, like, a thousand of them, just a giant never ending famous legendary papa bird hug. The other boy looks terrible, dirty, a leather face guard (muzzle, Izuku, it’s a muzzle) curled around his face, blood seeping out from underneath, and pale under the smudge of all the dirty.

“It’s okay. My names Takami Izuku.” The white haired six year old waves his hands soothingly. “I’m here to help you.” The other boy whimpers softly. “Those people are looking for you, right?” The purple haired boy whimpers again, this time there’s a hint of fear within, and he nods slightly. “Are they bad people, are they trying to hurt you?” Izuku thinks it’s a stupid question as soon as he asks it but there’s no taking it back at this point. “My daddy can help you.” The other boy shakes his head and he nods. “Uhuh, my daddy’s a hero, you know, daddy can help you and he can protect you and he can make sure no one hurts you ever again.” The other boy shakes his head again. “Yea he can, daddy can make you all better again, he won’t let anything bad happen to you ever again.” Izuku holds his hand out. “But we have to go, they were coming this way when I ran over here, if we don’t leave now, they might find us.”

The purple haired boy seems against it, but at the same time, he seems to want to get away before he’s found by those other people, and hesitantly reaches out to take his hand, letting him pull him to his feet. “Come on, we should get back to my place before my daddy comes looking, or worse, sends out a search party.” He rolls his eyes. “Daddy’s an overprotective worry wart.”

He pulls the other boy down the length of the alley, peeking out around the edge, he spies the two officers who’d been chasing after his new friend searching over by the jungle gym, and he turns the other way. “This way, come on.” The purple haired boy whimpers softly when he’s tugged forward, running with him, not that he had much of a choice, what with his grip on his hand.

They weave between people, some passersby gripe at them when they cut them off, but they pay them no mind as they run down the sidewalk, as far away from the park and the two officers as they can get. They run through the doors that open for them in a fancy looking apartment building, right passed the security guard who calls out his greeting, and straight for the elevators.

Pushing the button, they wait on baited breath, not knowing if they had been spotted and followed or not, Izuku turns as the elevator door opens, the other boy cries out in terror when the doors to the apartment building open, the two officers chasing after him to the park running inside.

Izuku turns, eyes widening, and yanks his new friend into the elevator, pushing the floor button frantically, willing the doors to close faster. They slowly close just as the officers reach them, shutting in their faces, his new friend tugs on his hand desperately, and he nods, reaching under the collar of his shirt, he pulls out the leather chain he’s wearing, and the other boy watches in wonder as he snaps a red feather attached to the leather chain.

They ride in the elevator for a couple minutes, the other boy clutching his hand fearfully, their elevator opens just minutes before the other elevator opens, and Izuku dashes forward, yanking his new friend along with him, the purple haired boy’s screams are muffled behind his muzzle.

The six year old cotton ball crashes into the double doors of the penthouse suite. “Takami Izuku, give me one reason why I shouldn—What’s going on here?”

The purple haired boy only has a fraction of a moment to stare in awe at Hawks as he’s tugged around to hide behind the man’s legs, he clutches tightly at his new friend’s hand (he knows nothing about him but anyone who would try and help him get away was a friend to him) and curls the fingers of his other hand in the back of the hero’s sweat pants, ducking back slightly when the two officers appear in the doorway, panting and bending over on themselves.

“What’s going on?” He stiffens when a hand rests on his head lightly. “Why are you chasing a six year old.”

“He’s….He’s a runaway.” The taller officer glares at him. “More trouble then he’s worth, always running away from his families, he should be glad that anyone’s willing to take a villain like him.”

Hawks makes a noise he can’t necessarily place a name to. “Tell me, how can a six year old be a villain, that’s a hefty accusation to place on a child.”

“His quirk.” The rounder officer finally catches his breath. “Brainwashing. We have hard enough time finding families willing to take him with his villainous quirk, in my opinion—”

“I don’t believe I asked you for your opinion, officer, and I doubt, given your discriminatory mindset, it’s not one children should hear, so I’d appreciate it if you kept it to yourself.” Hawks’ tone grows firmer. “I’ll take care of things from here, you’re dismissed from his case.”

“Well, sir—”

“Let me reiterate, I will take over his case from here, you’re dismissed, get out of my home.” The two officers swallow at the threatening edge that comes over the hero’s tone and nod meekly, turning tail, pulling the doors closed behind them, the purple haired boy looks up when the hand on his head moves, fingers scratching his scalp lightly, purple eyes meeting gold for the first time. “Hey, lil bird, I know it’s a little late, but is it okay if I touch you?” He nods. “Is it okay if I pick you up?” He nods again, raising his arms when hands curl around his middle and lift him up off his feet, settling him on the hero’s hip as he turns. “Let’s clean you up and get you taken care of, chickadee, my names Keigo, you can call me Keigo.” The man turns to look down at his new white haired friend. “I’ll save a warming from your little behind this time, kiddo, since you were helping a friend.”

Izuku blushes but nods, unconsciously reaching back to rub his bottom at the mere mention, tooshie warmings are not fun.

The other boy looks around as he’s carried back into a large bedroom, through the room, to a large bathroom, and set down to rest on the bathroom counter. Keigo tugs on his ear lightly for his attention and purple eyes lift to meet gold for the second time. “I’m going to remove your muzzle, okay, can I do that for you?” He nods slightly, watching as the hero reaches behind his head for the straps, undoing the latches, he pulls the straps free, and pulls the leather muzzle away, and sighs softly. “Oh, you poor little nestling.”

Keigo pokes the edge of his lips, where the knot for the stitching was, someone had sewed the boy’s mouth closed, sewn his lips together, sloppily too, it makes the hero cringe internally at how agonizing it must have been for the poor hatchling while they were doing it. “Oh, you poor little nestling, I’m so sorry, I’m never gonna let this happen to you again.” He watches the man open a drawer next to him and pull out a small pair of scissors. “Is it okay of I snip the stitches, we can’t leave you like that, we need to get it cleaned up before infection sets in.” He eyes the scissors fearfully but nods. “Thanks, little guy, I’ll try to be as quick and painless as possible, okay?” He nods again, going cross eyed as he watches the hero slowly start snipping the stitches, one after another, until they’re all cut. “I’m going to pull the thread out now, this might be a bit uncomfortable, but it’ll only be a couple seconds, a minute at the most.”

The purple haired boy nods again, Izuku takes his hand comfortingly, and he squeezes fearfully as the hero slowly starts pulling the threading out, whining at the irritation, fresh blood drips down his face as the scabs are broken. “There we go, all out,” the hero reaches up to the cabinet beside him for more supplies. “I’m gonna clean this mess up, it might sting a little, but it’ll only be for a few minutes.” He nods, watching the man soak a few cotton balls in disinfectant, and whines when he dabs at the holes and torn skin. “I can’t really bandage you up, it being your lips and all, but we can make sure you’re on a liquid diet until they start healing.” Keigo tosses the cotton balls in the trashcan next to them. “What’s your name, little one?”

He resists the urge to touch his lips. “H—Hitoshi….Shinsou Hitoshi.” He smacks his lips slightly. “You can c—call me Hitoshi. N—Not Shinsou…Please.”

“Okay, Hitoshi, that’s okay, I’ll call you Hitoshi if that’s what you prefer.” The winged hero looks him over and Hitoshi curls up slightly at the attention. “You need a bath, little birdie, you’re filthy.” He yelps when he’s scooped back up, resting on the hero’s arm as he turns, leaning over to turn on the water for the bathtub, closing the drain to keep it from draining. “How about some bubbles, you look like you need a nice bubble bath.” Hitoshi smiles slightly, he’s never had a bubble bath before, but he’s seen his foster siblings get them, and they look like they’re fun, he smiles as the hero pours in a bit of bath bubble solution and bubbles begin to form on the water.

They turn and the white haired six year old perks up. “Izu, will you go get Hitoshi a pair of your underpants and pajamas, he’s gonna stay the night here with us.”

“Okay, daddy!” Izuku turns and darts away. “Be right back, Hito!”

“How about some toys?”

Hitoshi turns to look at the hero in awe. “Toys too?”

Keigo turns to grin at him. “Can’t have a bubble bath without toys.”

“Cool!” The purple haired six year old smiles. “I never got to do this before.”

“You’ve never—” The hero stares at him in horror and he can’t stop himself from giggling softly. “You’re gonna have a bubble bath everyday for a straight week, you hear me, the whole week.” Hitoshi giggles softly as the man shakes his head and tosses a basketful of toys into the bubbly water. “Never had—that’s so sad.” He smiles when he’s set down on his feet. “Okay, you get undressed and climb in, I’m gonna go see what’s taking Izu so long to get you a pair of underpants and pajamas, honestly, it’s not like I asked him to make them.” Keigo smiles when the six year old giggles again and rubs his head. “I’ll be right back.”

…

Izuku has to go to school the next day, Keigo says he’s not going, just in case anyone tries to come for them, which leaves Hitoshi home alone with the hero for the first time in his entire life, the first time being in a hero’s home for the first time in his life, there’s a lot of firsts here for him.

Any fear that the hero was going to turn out to actually be a giant tightwad and a stickler for the rules is dashed when they get to the hero’s office, the man tosses his coat onto his desk, and he shrieks when he’s scooped up from behind. “Let’s have some fun. All work and no play makes for a very bored Hawks.”

“W—What?” Hitoshi shrieks when the hero falls back on the couch in his office and lays him down on his lap. “K—Keigo?”

“This is the second thing me and Izu did when I first brought him home.”

The purple haired six year old stares up at him. “What was the first?”

Keigo smiles down at him. “Bubble bath, you and him aren’t much different, you know, both came from unsavory circumstances. That’s what made this so important.” The little boy can’t help but giggle when his shirt’s pushed up slightly. “Let’s see what kinda tummy you have.” Hitoshi giggles as his legs are guided back around the hero’s sides and he starts poking around his belly. “Nice, nice, just like I like my little fledgling tummies.” He shrieks and giggles harder. “Chubby and tickly.”

Hitoshi squeals with laughter, those wiggling fingers travel around, they don’t stay in one place, they wiggle in a big circle around his belly, then they wiggle over to the left side, and slowly wiggle their way over to the right, and he cackles brightly, kicking his feet behind the hero. “Aaahhaahahhahahahahahahaaa Keheheheheheheeeiiiii nohohohohohoo! Nohohohot thehehehehehee beeheheheheheheelly! Eeieiaieaaiaaahahhahahahahahahahaha aaahhahahahahahahahahaa Keeheheheheheheheei Keheheheheheheheei! Mehehehehehehheeercy! Plehehehehehehease!”

“Let me think about it.” He pulls his hands away, letting the boy giggle wildly, and wiggles his fingers threateningly above his belly. “Nope, I’m not feeling merciful today.” He claws his fingers in, and the boy squeals, kicking his feet again. “If you’ve never had a bubble bath before I’m betting you’ve never had any tickles before either, and chubby little nestling tummies need to be tickled, any papa bird with half a brain cell would tell you that.”

“Nohohohoho! Nohhoohohot thahahahhaat! Nohohoot thehehehe clahahahhaws! Nohohot thohohose! Eeieieiaiaiahaaahahahahhahahaa Keheheheheeiiii eieiieaaaiaahhahahahhhaahahaahha! Nohohohot thehehehe clahahahhaws! Ahahahahahahehheaheeeeeieiieieaiaiaahaahaahahahhahaha!”

“Oh, yes, the claws.” Keigo chuckles softly, the boy absolutely overcome with laughter, cackling loud and freely, vibrating his fingers and wiggling them in deep. “The claws want a piece of you.”

“Aahahahahahahhahahahaa aeaeeeieieiieieaiaiaaahahhahahahahahahahaa thohohohose ahahahahare thehehehe wohohohorst! Kehehehehheeiii! Thehehehheey tihihihickle! Thehehehhe clahahahahahhaaws tihihihihicckle!”

“They do, huh?” He decides to have some semblance of mercy on the nestling, pulling back his claws, or, in this specific instance, talons, and pokes around the six year old’s chubby tummy, smiling at his wild giggles and squirming. “This tummy has six years of missing tickles to make up for, and what’d you know, I’m free for the first half of my shift to give this tummy the tickles it missed out on.”

Hitoshi bats at the hero’s fingers, shrieking with every poke, kicking at the back of the couch. “Kehehehehei! Kehehehehehei! Nohohohoho pohohohoking! Nohohoho pohohohooking!”

“No poking?” He holds his hands above the purple haired boy’s tummy. “How about claws?”

“No! Nohohoho! Kehehehei!” The purple haired six year old reaches for the hero’s hands. “Nohohot theehehe clahahahaws!”

The hero smiles when he dips his hands and the boy squeals. “Not the what?”

“Claws! Clahahahaws!” Hitoshi tries to catch the hero’s hands and squeals every time his hands dip. “Clahahahaws!”

Keigo hums playfully. “Why not?”

The six year old curls his fingers around the hero’s wrists in an attempt to keep his hands away, well, more so those dreaded claws, but he digresses. “Tihihihickles! Tickles! Tihihihickles!”

“Claw tickles?” Unphased by the little hands latched onto his wrists, the hero lowers his hands, clawing his fingers in the boy’s belly. “Okay, I can do that.” The six year old squeals brightly kicking his feet and batting at the hero’s hands. “Someone’s got a ticklish chubby little tummy.”

Hitoshi squeals with laughter and shakes his head. “Nohohohot! Dohohoho nohohohot!”

“Do not?” The hero returns to poking around the six year old’s chubby tummy, wiggling his index fingers next to his belly button, and the young boy shrieks with laughter, bating at his fingers. “You don’t call this a ticklish tummy?”

Hitoshi shakes his head and shrieks, catching the hero’s fingers and clutching on tight, giggling in relief. “Nohoho!”

“Aw, that’s cute.” Keigo coos down at him. “You think I need my fingers to tickle this little tummy.” The six year old yelps between giggles when the man curls his fingers around his wrists and pulls his hands back, squealing when a dozen feathers, at least, come down to flutter over his tummy. “I have a number of uses for my feathers and one of them is torturing chubby little fledgling tummies.”

…

“Kei,” the hero looks down to the right, where the purple haired boy is holding his hand, and smiles down at him in acknowledgement. “What are we doing here?”

Here?

An animal shelter.

“We’re gonna get a kitten.”

Hitoshi’s eyes widen comically and he bounces, turning to face him completely. “Really! Really, Kei! Are we really!”

Keigo chuckles softly, swinging their arms lightly. “Really, you have to find the perfect kitten, okay, this is your mission.”

The purple haired six year old nods quickly. “Okay! I can do it!”

He looks over to the left when Izuku tugs on his other hand. “Daddy can I pick a kitten too?”

Keigo squeezes his white haired son’s hand (he’s got a purple haired son but the little guy doesn’t know it yet as the paperwork hasn’t been finalized just yet). “You sure can.”

“Yay!”

…

“Kei?”

Keigo looks up from his phone at the boy’s call and grins, patting the spot next to him on the couch, trying to keep from talking too loud lest they interrupt Izuku’s movie. Hitoshi darts forward, climbing up to sit with the hero on the couch. Snuggling down under his arm, into his side, and smiles when Cheeto jumps up to curl up on his lap.

The hero squeezes him close. “Yea, hatchling?”

“Kei,” Hitoshi pets Cheeto’s head gently. “What were those papers you got that made you smile so big?”

“Well, little nestling,” he rubs the purple haired boy’s belly. “Those were adoption papers.”

“But, who—” The six year old’s eyes widen when the hero grins at him. “Me?”

“Congrats, baby bird.” Hitoshi smiles when the man kisses the side of his head. “You’re now officially Takami Hitoshi.”

“So…That means…..That means…” Keigo waits for the boy to find his words. “You’re my daddy now?”

“Sure does, little guy.” The hero nods. “That means I’m your daddy and your my son. We’re a family, you, me, and Izu.”

“And Cheeto and Dorito!”

He chuckles and nods. “Right, and Cheeto and Dorito.”

#parental hawks #shinsou #shinsou hitoshi #Kid Shinsou #adopted midoriya #midoriya izuku #adopted shinsou #mha fluff #mha shinso hitoshi #mha shinsou #mha hawks #mha takami keigo #mha fic #soft fluff #found family #lee!shinsou #ler!hawks

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pillage-and-lute · 3 years

Text

Eskel is a Fanboy (Part 2, Electric Boogaloo)

This is a second part of this. Which in turn was inspired by this.

Please note, this is less funny and a little deeper than the first part, despite the title. Discussions of FEELINGS, hardcore, but also the trials. Brief mention of hypothermia.

Read it here on Ao3

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Geralt arrived late that year. Vesemir had been pacing the corridors, a worry line between his brows, for the last week. The snows were getting worse and worse and innocent snowflakes joined other completely harmless snowflakes until a very un-harmless amount of snow had piled on the track and the passes.

Lambert, alongside Aiden (another reason for the creases on Vesemir’s brow) lounged in the great hall, completely unconcerned.

“He’s stayed later and later every year,” Lambert said, lazily. “He keeps lingering with that bard of his. Why should this year be any different?” His eyes were half closed as Aiden played idly with his hair.

“If he doesn’t get here in the next two days he’ll be too late,” Vesemir snapped.

“I recognize I’m the outsider, here,” Aiden said. “But I don’t always winter with my troupe, and Lambert occasionally spends winters away...”

Eskel shook his head. The constant bickering was impacting his reading and he’d long ago marked his place in his book and set it aside. “Not Geralt,” he said with certainty. “He always winters at home.”

Aiden levelled a chilly, yellow gaze. “You love him.”

“He’s my brother in arms.”

“He’s special to you.”

Eskel wanted to growl and snap, but Aiden wasn’t saying it in a malicious way. There was no threat or accusation in his words. If there had been it would have been pure hypocrisy, what with the way Lambert currently lay in his lap. Eskel had spent a week pretending not to see the pairs’ furtive kisses.

“He is special to me,” Eskel said at last. “I found him, after his second trial, was given special allowance to be away from training to help him. Whatever happened, with the mutagens, he was deaf and blind for nearly two weeks. And had as much strength as a kitten.”

Vesemir’s pacing gained a sharper edge. “I wish I’d killed the mage that called for that second trial.” He said. Lambert and Eskel made eye contact, they were familiar with the self loathing in Vesemir’s voice. Lambert was angry at the world and his whole situation, but they had all forgiven Vesemir years ago. There was no choice but to mend bridges with a pack so small. Still, they rarely talked about it.

“You killed the mage that called for his third,” Eskel said, quietly.

Aiden’s head jerked up. He’d been a witcher, albeit a different school. He knew the trials, he knew the pain, but three trials... “They tried...?”

Eskel nodded his confirmation. “Geralt survived, and the mages who ran the trials wanted to see how many he could take.”

“So I split his throat on my knife,” Vesemir said. There was no satisfaction in his tone, but just an empty statement of action.

“I didn’t know it was you that killed the mage,” Lambert said. “I just knew one had been killed for the suggestion. I heard they made the witcher drink hemlock as punishment.” There was a warmer light of respect in Lambert’s eyes than usually shone there.

“They did,” Vesemir said. “It didn’t kill me.”

That was it for conversation that night, but Eskel went to bed thinking about Aiden’s words.

He’s special to you.

Geralt was special to him. There was an understanding, something gentle and kind between them. Geralt and Eskel lived their separate lives and had lovers and adventures. But for three months of the year they had each other.

Eskel had sometimes wondered if there was something wrong with him. He never gave his heart to anyone. Sex meant nothing and love didn’t happen, and he could only love Geralt for three months at a time.

Except that wasn’t true at all, because of course Eskel loved Geralt all the time. It was only a softer kind of love than he read about in poetry. He didn’t need fiery passion and desperate declarations of love. He had a steady love for Geralt, as sure as the beating of his heart. It was as good a love story as any, but now Geralt had his bard and a tiny, hidden part of Eskel whispered “If Only.”

If only he and Geralt could lounge like Aiden and Lambert, to pet each others’ hair and share small kisses in the corners. If only Eskel really had Geralt for those three months. He had no doubt that the feelings were mutual, but something in their lives had been built apart, and it would take something powerful to shape them anew.

The next evening brought a blizzard. And Geralt.

It took both Aiden and Lambert to shut the door behind Geralt with the way the wind blew in around him. It curled and flickered shards of ice through the air that melted in the heat of the hall, dampening Geralt’s old, black cloak. Which he was holding around himself like a cocoon. Vesemir took Geralts cloak for him, which revealed what he’d been holding.

Huddled against Geralt, nose red and face pale, was a young man in a blue cloak.

Geralt bundled him in front of the fire without a word, pulling away the damp cloak and hanging it to dry. Vesemir brought blankets as Geralt pried the instrument case from the man’s hands.

A lute case.

Eskel’s pulse picked up. This was obviously the bard. This was Jaskier, Oxenfurt’s most prodigious poet. He’d studied with Rumi and Alighieri and Li Bai. In just a few years he’d reformed witchers’ reputations. They’d all been treated better these past few years. More money, less tar and feathers. Eskel went to sit beside Jaskier to beg him for stories but Geralt met his gaze, smiled softly, and shook his head.

Eskel restrained himself. Jaskier was clearly staving off shock from the cold, as well as hypothermia. Instead of doing what he really wanted to do (lay himself prone at Jaskier’s feet and worship his skill with words) he put on a kettle for tea.

Aiden and Lambert make eye contact with each other, nod to Geralt, and leave. Vesemir also makes a tactful retreat. This time was just for Eskel and Geralt. And the bard shivering on a pile of cushions next to the fire.

“He had a hard time on the Killer,” Geralt said, quietly.

“It’s called the Killer for a reason.”

“He begged me to come, I told him it would be too dangerous,” Geralt whispered. “He followed me and I couldn’t make him leave, that’s why I was late.”

“Vesemir’s been worried,” Eskel said, staring at the fire. He sat on the cushions, beside the bard, without taking his eyes from the coals. Geralt sat on the other side of Jaskier, rubbing carefully over the bard’s chilly hands, pulling off the woolen mittens and gently warming each knuckle.

“I had to go slower for him,” Geralt said. Between the two of them, the bard seemed mostly asleep. His eyelashes flickered on his cheeks, struggling to stay open.

“You can sleep,” Eskel whispered. “You’ll wake up, you’re cold but not in danger.” He took the other chilly hand. “Just sleep.”

Blue eyes slipped closed and Eskel took the kettle off the fire so it didn’t whistle.

“He was so desperate to be here, he wanted to see the Keep,” Geralt said. “And I wanted him to come. To meet you.”

“I did make you promise I’d get to meet him,” Eskel said, sitting back down and resting a hand on Geralt’s shoulder. “I think I’ve read everything he’s ever written.”

“That’s not why I wanted him to meet you,” Geralt said.

Eskel’s breath caught. They were talking about it, sort of. “I know,” he said.

The bard curled up a little, like a nautilus shell. Geralt lay down on the cushions behind him and Eskel made himself comfortable. Sleep and warmth and the smell of the pine fire lulled him slowly to sleep. Just as he was drifting off, Jaskier reached out in his sleep and placed one hand, less chilly than it was, on Eskel’s arm. It stayed there until the morning.

“So True Love’s Waste wasn’t inspired by a person?” Eskel asked over breakfast, mouth full of porridge.

Jaskier shook his head, gulping down hot tea. “No, I was out on a bender with some friends and we saw this washerwoman’s cat trying to catch a soap bubble, right?”

Eskel nodded, entranced.

“It was so totally focused on catching this soap bubble, it’s eyes were all wide and determined, like all it wanted was the bubble, but when it caught the bubble...”

“It popped,” Eskel laughed. “And you wrote a poem that has been deemed the best love poem of the last hundred years about it.”

Jaskier chuckled. “Art is more trite and derivative than people think.”

Eskel reached out and touched Jaskier’s wrist, looking into those heavily-lashed eyes. “Your work could never be called trite, or derivative.”

Behind Jaskier, Eskel saw something flash in Geralt’s eyes, and he stood from the table, clearing his plate, but then Jaskier was telling a story about Rumi, his former professor, and Eskel’s attention was diverted.

The next week passed in peace, for the most part. Repairs to the keep were ongoing, but halted when the snow was heavy. Vesemir kept them training and the library, neglected by all but Eskel, kept Jaskier busy. At mealtimes and in the evenings Eskel and Jaskier chatted about art and music and life on the Path. But Geralt was subdued, something tired and sad gleaming in his golden eyes. He wouldn’t talk about it, and he fled when Eskel tried.

It hurt, that Geralt suddenly wouldn’t talk to him, but Eskel knew the white wolf better than anyone, so he cornered him in the training yard one afternoon and pinned him down.

“Talk. To. Me,” he panted, grinding Geralt’s shoulders into the flagstones.

“Nothing to say,” Geralt grunted.

“Bullshit.”

“Nothing!”

“You keep hiding! It’s not nothing!”

Geralt kicked his feet up, flipping them both over and freeing himself. He stood over Eskel who was still laying on the ground. “You can have him,” he said, beginning to walk away.

Eskel snagged his ankle, bringing his idiot wolf down to the ground without remorse. “You’re stupid.”

“I’m not, he adores you. You have so much in common, it makes sense.”

Eskel remembered the conversation of the year before. Please don’t take my bard.

“I’m not taking your lover boy from you,” he snapped.

“He’s not my lover boy.”

“He would be if you would only ask him.”

“He deserves better.”

“He wants you.”

“He wants you,” Geralt howled. “He looks at you like you got out a ladder and personally nailed the moon to the sky. Every time you talk he hangs on your words.”

“He looks at you the same way,” Eskel said, quietly. “And I...” He paused. This was so close to the thing they never talked about.

“You don’t look at me that way,” Geralt whispered.

“But I feel it all the same.”

The admission rang in the empty training yard, despite it being barely a whisper.

“I want you to have him, to be with him, because the two of you are made for eachother. It was obvious to me before you’d even met. I just wish,” Geralt stopped, his voice growing tight.

“What do you wish?”

“I just hate that it hurts so much. I love you both, I do, so so much, and all I want is you two happy, and you’ll be happy together, but I just wish it didn’t cut me out.”

Eskel rolled over and bumped his forehead to Geralt’s. There were tear tracks in the dirt there. “It doesn’t have to. That’s a silly rule and you made it up for yourself. I love you both and he loves us both, so you can have us both.”

Geralt sat up, bringing Eskel with him, then pulled him into a kiss that burned. It was a simple press of their lips together but Eskel felt like he’d been struck by lightning.

“Oh,” came a quiet voice from the nearby doorway. Jaskier was standing there, cheeks flushed and eyes wide. “I’ll just--”

“Stay,” Eskel said, chuckling. He pulled Jaskier down to sit on the flagstones with them. “I think Geralt has something he wants to tell you.”

Geralt looked nervous. He swallowed a couple times, eyes darting over Jaskier’s face. “I...” He said. “Um, what Eskel means is that... um, I”

“Oh you great big oaf,” Eskel said. “Jaskier, he loves you, he’s absolutely mad about you. He just can’t say it because he loves me too and it’s taken him the better part of a century to tell me.”

Jaskier beamed, his blush growing. “And you?” he said.

“I’m not sure I love you yet,” Eskel said. “But I think I will.”

“I think I will too,” Jaskier said, then he leaned in and brushed a soft kiss to Eskel’s lips, off center, so it brushed his scar and part of his cheek too. Then he kissed Geralt the same way.

“Aiden’s going to be so pissed that he lost the bet,” Jaskier said, as if he hadn’t just rocked both witchers’ worlds with a mere kiss. “He bet Lambert you wouldn’t figure it out until next week.”

“You knew,” Eskel said, touching the tips of his fingers to where his face was still tingling from the kiss.

“They way Geralt talks about you, well...” Jaskier said, smiling at Geralt. “And then the way you talk about him,” he smiled at Eskel. “And the way you both look at me, I knew. I just wasn’t sure you knew.” His smile shifted into something bashful and a little insecure. It was an odd look on his normally confident face. “And it seemed too much to assume you both would really want me, I’m not all,” he gestured at his shoulders and arms, obviously comparing their builds.

Eskel couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. “We don’t care about that,” he said, carding his hand through Jaskier’s hair and revelling in the way the bard leaned into his touch. “I’ve seen Geralt with a face full of pimples, and I mean full, and that was back when he was calling himself Geralt Roger Eric du Haute-Bellegarde. It isn’t about looks.” He trailed his eyes across Jaskier. “And even if it was we wouldn’t find you wanting.”

“He’s right,” Geralt said, pressing a little kiss right behind Jaskier’s ear. “We find nothing about you wanting.”

“You both are going to leave me wanting if you’re not careful,” Jaskier whined, borderline laciviously. He leaned back against Geralt and pulled Eskel closer, kissing Eskel’s cheek chastely in spite of his words. When he turned to kiss Geralt’s cheek too Eskel nuzzled closer, feeling Geralt’s arms pull him into the pair of them.

“You have to promise to write me into your poetry, after all this,” he said.

Jaskier laughed, head tilting back and eyes crinkling at the corners. “As if I haven’t already,” he whispered.

Three months later the great bard Jaskier debuted his latest poetry anthology. Silver and Steel was praised by academics across the continent, although the line about being eaten alive was highly debated. Jaskier’s sudden penchant for high collars might have answered the questions, but he wasn’t about to give away the secret.

#jaskel #geralt x jaskier x eskel #this is stupid but happy #less funny than the first bit #but more cute #the witcher #jaskier is a famous bard #eskel is his fanboy #geralt loves them both very much

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ymiwritesstuff · 4 years

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Hi! May i request a fic or a headcanon for DIO in wich the reader is living near his mansion in Egypt and she starts to give petshop pieces of meat that the reader buys for her cat and after some time she just comes there to watch the falcon. When DIO notices her just sitting on a sidewalk talking to petshop while feeding him, he gets curious about her and thinks to himself that he could find out more about who she is (because if petshop isnt clawing her eyes out she must have intrigued him) as an activity to pass time while he's still adjusting to his new body and in the end he ends up liking the reader?

Sorry that this is so long😅 hope you safe and healthy 🥰

And thank you💞

Heyy thanks so much for the request, I’m incredibly sorry that this took so long :( I really loved the idea and I hope the finished product is to your liking, wishing you the best!!

Desire For Knowledge

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders

Dio x Female!Reader

Summary: The strange behavior of Pet Shop leaves Dio desiring to learn more about the person who the falcon had allowed to interact with him.

A soft smile pulls the corners of your lips upwards as the falcon takes the piece of meat from between your fingers as gently as a bird of prey ever could. To think that something as threatening as a falcon, would be so tame, as if he belonged to someone who called him their pet. It had been a similar day to this one when you first came across the falcon. The sun was about to set and he had been standing atop of a gate, guarding an impressive-looking mansion, which you assumed belonged to his owner. You couldn’t help but admire the bird, the way he valiantly protected his home, and just how majestic he looked, the sun shining on his brown feathers.

Over time you found yourself staying near the mansion, just so you could admire him further. It took a few days for you to get comfortable feeding him, but he eventually noticed the bag of meat you often bought for your cat and seemingly wanted a piece for himself. Since then, your visits had become more frequent and your curiosity about the falcon and his owner you never saw grew by the day.

Your eyes looked at the mansion, as they often did, your thoughts wandering. What kind of a person lived in such an expensive structure? The windows were covered with thick curtains that didn’t allow any sunlight through them. Never had you seen these curtains move away from the windows, nor had you seen anyone leave or enter the building. This made you wonder if it was abandoned, but then why would it be so fearlessly protected by a potentially dangerous animal? All this made little sense to you, yet you found yourself drawn to it.

Dio had noticed you feeding Pet Shop on multiple occasions, whether it was through a careful peek behind the curtains during daytime, or a look through the exposed windows at night. The fact that the ruthless falcon had not eliminated or shown any signs of hostility towards you despite the fact that you were dangerously close to his hiding place was something he couldn’t quite understand and led him to believe that Pet Shop didn’t see you as a threat for some unknown reason. This was strange and yet, it awakened a strange sense of intrigue in him. What caused Pet Shop to behave so differently with you?

A quiet caw from the bird snaps you out of your thoughts and makes you look at him. The day had gone by a lot faster than you anticipated. This often happened when you interacted with him and was a sign that it was time to head back home. You stood up and wiped the dust from the ground off your pants, before turning your gaze towards the animal once again.

“See you around, I have to get back home and save some of these for my cat,” you said, lifting the bag of food slightly.

The falcon glanced at it briefly before flying back to its post. You smiled once more before heading towards your home as the sun finally disappeared, oblivious to a pair of sharp eyes watching with curiosity as you left the mansion behind.

His desire to know more about you grew the more he saw you looking or feeding the bird. It somewhat plagued him, yet he saw it as an opportunity to pass his time while he adjusted to his new body he so often admired through the mirror. Something about the way you gazed at Pet Shop with admiration in your (E/C) eyes made Dio wonder if you held something special within you. Were you a stand user? Or was the warmth in your expression that felt so alluring to him something else entirely?

Whatever the case, due to everything he had witnessed, he craved knowledge.

The sun had long set, coating the streets of Egypt in darkness. Today’s shift had been long, but you still wished to go past the familiar mansion to hopefully catch a glimpse of the beautiful falcon you had befriended. Even watching him brings you joy, though you aren’t sure yourself why he is so friendly with you. Perhaps you have a way with animals, considering how often your cat would snuggle up next to you. The thought makes you smile as you walk.

As the building comes into view your eyes immediately search for the bird and once they spot him, a smile makes its way to your face. With his sharp eyes, the bird notices you and immediately flies towards you, landing on the ground. You squat down to get a better look at him.

“Hi there handsome."

Your voice is soft as you admire him, noticing how he is looking at you as if he is expecting something. You frown slightly. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any food on me this time. But I promise to bring you some tomorrow.”

To your surprise, he takes off and flies towards... a person standing in front of the entrance to the mansion. The bird lands on his large arm, his sharp talons holding on with the utmost carefulness. You immediately stand up, realizing that the man must be the owner of both the mansion and the falcon. His amber eyes look at the animal and then you before he speaks:

“Quite interesting. Pet Shop usually isn’t too fond of humans.” The blond takes a few steps forward, allowing you to see him more clearly in all his glory; His light hair shines under the moon, his sculpted muscles frame him perfectly and his fiery amber eyes look into yours with such fire, you are not sure if they belong to a human.

“No need to apologize, dear. He is a lot smarter than he looks, though, I’m sure a sharp woman like yourself already figured it out,” He says, voice deep and fruity, accompanied by a smirk that stretches his lips upward that immediately makes your cheeks fill with warmth you failed to notice. “What is your name, my darling?” He asks.

“O-oh, I was just looking at him. He is just... Such a beautiful falcon.” You briefly glance at the bird before returning your gaze to the man who holds an intense yet warm flame in his own eyes. Their sharpness remind you of the falcon’s own eyes.

“I’ve never seen anything like him. Sorry if I’ve been trouble, I know I’m kind of taking him away from his protection duties.”

You bring your hand to the back of your neck sheepishly, laughing slightly but feeling a tad anxious about the owner’s expression you cannot quite read.

“I’m (Name). I live nearby.”

A smile of your own coats your features as you introduce yourself to the person you had been curious about for a long time.

“Ah yes, that would explain why you are here so often.” His smirk grew as he noticed your eyes widening.

“You’ve seen me?”

“I suppose so. Tell me, Mr-”

Pet Shop then left his arm and flew back to his post, leaving you with this unknown yet strangely alluring man.

“I have indeed. I must say that a beauty such as yourself is rather difficult to ignore.”

His honeyed words are followed by a deep chuckle, his amber eyes locked onto you. You are taken aback by his words, but maintain your smile and let out a small laugh as well.

“Dio. There is no need for formalities or titles,” he says, keeping that charming tone in his voice. His demeanor is intriguing and you are not sure what you were expecting from the lord of the impressive mansion, but this was certainly... Something.

“It’s very lovely to finally meet you, Dio.” You find yourself subconsciously taking a few steps closer to him, as if something about him is slowly pulling you in.

With one final chuckle, he extended his hand towards you, his claws not going unnoticed by you as he spoke:

“Likewise, dear.”

His charming smirk is more and more apparent the more you look at him. Dio also notes just how stunning you look under the moonlight, how your pleasant smile decorates your features perfectly, and how your (E/C) orbs shine like gems. His curiosity has reached new heights as you seem to be far more than he expected. He now felt the same way as his falcon had and realized why you had interested Pet Shop so.

“Wonderful. There is a lot I wish to ask of you.”

“I would like to learn more about you, (Name). Would you join me for a glass of wine?” You looked at him, processing his question that came rather out of the blue.

The night was still young, and you would be lying if you said that this seemingly otherworldly man hadn’t piqued your interest. With yet another warm smile that strangely hits Dio, you accept his request and place your hand in the palm of his cold one:

“I’d love to.”

His grin grew at this as he slowly led you inside, leaving behind the darkness of the night he lived in.

#jjba #jojo #jojo's bizarre adventure #Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken #JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders #jjba x reader #jojo x reader #jojo's bizarre adventure x reader #dio x reader #dio #dio brando #jjba dio #jojo dio #jjba dio x reader #jojo dio x reader #reader insert

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logan-is-noggin · 3 years

Text

Faint ( Steve Rogers + reader)

summary: Steve is concerned when the reader passes out

word count: 1276

warning: mention of eating disorders

You walk into the living room at the compound and say hi to Steve who's sitting at the kitchen island and Peter who's on the couch. "Hey y/n" they reply.

Before you can respond, you start to feel dizzy, your eyes slightly roll back in your head as you suddenly pass out. Steve shouts and Peter leaps over the coffee table "I got them!" He says. He grabs your upper body in time before you hit your head on the floor. Steve is next to you in seconds. " what happened? What should we do? are they gonna be alright?" Peter asks in a frenzy. Cap picks you up and lays you on the sofa that Peter was sitting on. " I hope they'll be fine. Wet a washcloth and bring it to me" he ordered. Peter rushes away to get it.

Your body aches as you start to regain consciousness. You squeeze your eyes before opening them slowly. "Cap y/n's awake!" Peter shouts across the room. You wince at the volume, Peter notices " oh, shoot, sorry y/n, didn't mean to be so loud." " 's fine Peter." You said groggily. you take the washcloth that was on your head and set it on the coffee table " what happened? how'd I get on the couch?" You held an arm out and Peter slowly helps you sit up.

Steve came jogging in just then, hanging up his phone call he was on. He came to sit next to you. "Are you okay y/n? I was worried." "Why? What happened?" You ask, getting a little bit frustrated." you fainted." Peter said. " oh." That was all you said, changing the subject you asked Steve who he was on the phone with " Bruce. I was asking if I should bring you down to med bay cause you weren't waking up, but then, you did." "How long was I out?" You asked " almost three hours. I suggested we call Mr. stark and Nat but they're both out on missions today and.." you cut him off." You don't need to go and interrupt the rest of the team while they're doing their jobs, Peter."

You start to stand, Steve seems apprehensive " are you sure you're okay, y/n? Maybe you should rest for a little longer." You shake your head, starting to feel a little suffocated. " I'm fine Steve. But thanks for taking care of me through that guys." You grab the book you dropped and hurried away.

When Bruce showed up at the tower later that afternoon, Steve insisted, more like forced you to have him check you over to make sure you were okay. You begrudgingly agreed and let the scientist give you a quick checkup.Steve went to Bruce after you left on patrol with peter. " well, how are they?" He asked the doctor who read over his notes with a grim expression. " their vitals were mostly fine. But y/n's underweight for someone of their age and height."

Steve leaned back against the wall for stability. " when I picked them up, they felt light as a feather, even someone without super strength could probably do it." " they also felt cold as well. You have an idea what that is?" " most likely y/n is also dehydrated. those are all common signs of eating disorders." Bruce said. cap was honestly shocked" what should we do?" Bruce walked over and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. " go talk to y/n. If they're willing to confide in you, that's great, if not, you give them some time to open up. But I wouldn't advise going around and telling the whole team. Does anyone else knows that they fainted?" " Peter was spending the day here with me, it was just the three of us." "Okay. I'll talk to Peter when they get back." Bruce said.

When y/n and Peter came back an hour later, Tony, Natasha, Bucky, and Sam had made it back from their mission. Bruce grabbed Peter before he could say anything about today's events. While y/n didn't even say hello to anyone, they just went straight to their room. Cap walked down the hall until he reached their room and knocked. " it's Steve, can I come in?" "Sure" Y/n called from inside. He opened the door and shut it behind him, giving the two of you some privacy. " what's up cap?" "I was actually wondering if we could talk about what happened earlier today?" "Oh. That." You said. " look I can guess what Bruce is thinking based on what he checked me for. He thinks I'm anorexic or something."Steve uncrossed his arms.

He was surprised that y/n was being so forward. " He did. And I just want you to know that I'm here to help you if you need it." " look, cap. I know I'm a little underweight. But I don't have an eating disorder. I have a super-high metabolism and burn calories quickly. " " so does peter, and that kids always eating something every hour it seems. I feel like you almost never do."y/n shrugged " so i’m not hungry a lot of the time. It's not that big a deal.." Steve sat on the bed next to them. " You fainted y/n, how is that not a big deal?" " because it's not the first time that it's happened?" You say scooting back on the bed to put a bit of distance in case cap decides to throw something.But he stops. He looked a bit shocked and even more worried. " what are you saying y/n?" " that this isn't the first time I went unconscious. Even since I move here."" How often do you pass out from not eating?" "Once or twice a week. maybe" Steve had to take a few breaths to calm himself down because he was starting to get a bit angry."Let me get this straight. You pass out multiple times a week and still won't admit you have an eating disorder."

" But I don't! I'm not starving myself because I want to lose weight. I'm comfortable with how I look."Steve was getting more frustrated with y/n by the minute. What he really wanted to do was turn around and leave that room and go tell Tony or Bucky or Nat. They could probably do a better job of making them see reason. Steve closed his eyes and breathed a heavy sigh. He turned and looked y/n in the eye. " I was really scared when you fainted today. I just don't want to see you hurting like this. I don't want to lose you because you starved yourself to death." He said, his voice cracked as he tried to blink away the forming tears. y/n scooted closer on the bed and wrapped their arms around Steve's chest. Burying their face on his shoulder. he rested his chin on their head, blinking the tears away. When they eventually separated, y/n wiped their teary eyes and looked in their lap. " I can't remember how long I've been dealing with this problem. When I do eat, a lot of the time my body hurts after. Sometimes so much that I have to throw up to feel better. But I promise I'm not doing this on purpose or because I'm stubborn." Cap cracked a smile " but you are stubborn." y/n punched him lightly in the shoulder. " I don't know how, but I'd be willing to try and get better. For you." Steve pressed a kiss to the top of y/n's head. "thank you"

#steve rogers #steve x reader #disordered eating tw #mental illness #peter parker

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vocalyunho · 4 years

Text

Tangerine

pairing — Mingi x reader (fem)

genre — fluff, angst, friends with benefits au, smut (first time)

warnings & tags — reader uses a bratty attitude as a defence mechanism, Mingi’s soft side as well as his dom side make their appearance, semi-fwb to fully being fwb, power bottom! Mingi, kinda bratty & sub! reader, handjob, blowjob, praising, masturbation, mention of cunnilingus, fingering, choking, explicit unprotected sex, spanking, pull out method, mention of blood.

word count — 4.2k

synopsis — Mingi and her agreed to help each other out whenever they need it, but after this incident...how long will it take for them to realise that their agreement isn’t only an ‘agreement’ anymore?

A drop of spit landed on her sternum as she slightly relaxed her jaw. The contrast between her body’s heat and the drop’s made her notice it as it slid down and tickled her a little. Mingi, carefully, ran his hands along the sides of her head, fingers dipping in the smooth hair until his hands met each other on the back of her head to hold her hair in the most loose ponytail.

“you’re doing so well-”, his gaze is soft when she looks at him with mouth stuffed and eyes hazy “-so so well, baby”

Her tongue ran on the underside of his cock to show her appreciation for the validation Mingi offered her, and right afterwards, she slightly grazed his tip with her teeth. Mingi sighed at that, a sigh that was content and on the verge of becoming a moan.

He pressed his hips forwards, as much as he could from the sitting position he was in. The couch screeched slightly and her hand gripped his thigh harsher in an attempt to bear the gag reflex that made its way to her. His tip found the back of her throat and her eyes watered in a second but Mingi could only see the flushed cheeks and swollen lips that had him wondering if it’s worth it, right now, to just stop everything and kiss her. It was, but he didn’t. Instead, he let himself enjoy the view of her tears making their way down her cheeks until they, somehow, disappeared.

“such a good girl -my godd”, his head fell on the back of the couch. The praise was simple and one she’s heard several times before, but that didn’t stop her knees from weakening even if they were already resting on the floor. She hollowed her cheeks, giving him a more intense pressure around the tip and Mingi groaned, letting his hands fall from her hair. y/n snickered mockingly, loving the effect she had on him and the next moment, Mingi barely took a few words out “d-don’t make me come-”, a sharp breath followed “-just yett”.

The demand had her slowing her ministrations in an instant...her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and her lips detached from him with a wet pop that echoed louder than she expected. Only her hand kept pumping him slowly, just enough to keep him hard “no?”

“no”

“did I do something wrong?”, she asked, looking up at him, even though she already knew she was doing great. Her only view of his face was his Adam’s apple that was dancing pathetically inside his throat while his chest rose and fell constantly and his hand was gripping the wearied fabric of the couch harshly.

“no”

“what is it then?”, she cocked a brow, though he couldn’t see her.

Mingi took a moment to calm down. He was way too close and he only realised it now that she stopped.

“I just- fuckk-”

As he had just managed to stabilize his breaths, she licked a stripe from his base to his tip making shivers wash his thighs. It wasn’t unusual for her to tease him like that, so the reaction didn’t go unnoticed and the mocking smile from before made its appearance again before Mingi tried his best to finish his sentence. “-want us to try something new”.

She tilted her head in confusion, “right now?”

“right now”

“all of a sudden?”

Mingi nodded and felt his heart tightening. He didn’t know how she’d react to his idea, especially since it wasn’t a part of their deal.

To him, y/n was the good girl that had his body shaking and his dick twitching just by the skills of her mouth and hands, and to her, he was the guy that had her legs quivering and her lips releasing lustful moans just by the games of his tongue and fingers inside her. They were only that for each other and just that...until now.

Mingi needed more, he’s been needing more for quite a while now, actually. He needs to feel her all over him, on him, around him, under him, however she likes as long as it is only for him, and he needs it desperately...even though it isn’t a part of their agreement.

He doesn’t only want her to wrap her pretty lips around his tip anymore, but to lay her lips upon his and to rest her tongue inside his mouth...he wants her to tangle her fingers in his sweaty locks and be able to look at her in the eyes as she does and he, especially, wants to finally hear her pretty sounds, all of them, without her trying to hold some back.

“I want you to ride me”, Mingi spoke fast.

“what the fuck?”, was her first reaction “that wasn’t a part of our agreement”, she let him go.

“I know...you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to”

A moment of complete silence followed, with only their breaths -especially Mingi’s heavy one- echoing in the room. y/n looked as if she was ready to defend herself any minute and Mingi couldn’t blame her. What he was asking for, after all, wasn’t just a favour, he was asking her to lose her virginity to him and he was no one important or special to her.

Anyone reading this right now would’ve guessed that y/n isn’t a virgin, but appearance is often deceiving. Other than foreplay (lots of it), she’s never had penetrative sex with anyone before, as surprising as that may sound. That’s why Mingi was insecure about what he was asking for.

“I just thought-”

“if you want me to do that-”, she talked back fast.

Mingi waited to hear what she had in mind.

“-you'll eat me out twice next time I come over”, she said while standing up and trying to regain her balance because of her sore knees “you owe me for blowing you, anyway”

Mingi was the one who was taken aback now. Her first reaction had made him decide that there’s no way she’d agree, and now she wasn’t only willing to do it, but demanding and straight forward too. The stereotypes had taught him that when a girl decides to lose her virginity, she does it with someone she trusts and she’s shy and, maybe, a little scared before doing so. Mingi was either foolish enough to believe those stereotypes or y/n didn’t see virginity loss as something as important as others (he didn’t even consider the case of y/n actually wanting to lose her virginity to him).

“deal”

His heart skipped a beat at the images that flooded his mind. As she stood up and stripped herself from all the clothings, something inside Mingi told him that he had to see her breaking down for him, to see her real self, and he only realized what was going on when she straddled him. She managed to do it without touching his erection but once he was back to real life, Mingi gripped her sides and forced her to sit on his lap, trapping his hard on between their bodies. He did it on purpose and she knew it. The sensitive bundle of nerves on his tip sensed the wetness on the thin fabric of her panties, instantly, but she didn’t seem to care one bit. It was reasonable for her to grow wet, she was sucking him off, after all.

“do you have a condom?”, she broke the silence.

“fuck”

“you asked me to fuck you and you don’t even have a condom?”

“I hadn’t planned it”

She rolled her eyes “can you at least- pull out?”

“I think so”

“just warn me when you’re close, I don’t want you coming inside me”.

Mingi nodded in anticipation and guided his hand on her back, touching her feather-like, and travelling upwards until his hand met the back of her head and his eyes, y/n’s gaze. He forced her head forward until they were eye level with each other. She looked relaxed but he knew she wasn’t as chill as she seemed. Her heart was beating faster than every other time inside her ribcage and her breaths were jerky, that’s why he stretched his neck and got closer to her face. He let her feel his calm breathing for a moment before connecting their lips simply (kissing was a part of their agreement as a ‘mood maker’ only). Her eyelids fell shut and her hands rested on her thighs but the burn inside her was still hot and bothering.

“no need for that”, he said as he broke the kiss.

“what?”

“your hands are shaking”

She looked at them and Mingi realised she wasn’t aware of it until he mentioned it. He rested both of his hands on top of hers, an action that was new both to y/n and him, since they haven’t been intimate in this way towards each other before. Everything they ever did was restricted to their primal needs and lacked any type of emotion, and this right now broke the second rule.

She shook her head as if the shaking was nothing but Mingi didn’t take long to speak the first thing in his mind, “I’ll take care of you”. His thumbs caressed her knuckles and as much as she liked this side of him, she still tried to overlook it, she tried every time.

He’s always been good to her, praising her good job, complimenting the little details, giving her all the validation she needed...the complete opposite to her. She had never shown him a single hint of deeper emotion or given him the slightest praise. Even when his fingers were buried inside her, even when she was on the verge from the pleasure he gave her and even when he called her “baby”, she didn’t show him everything she felt. She fooled herself by thinking that she shouldn’t let it get to his head when, in reality, she was just scared. If she did show Mingi how he made her feel, he’d want to get better and give her more and...she’d fall for him.

She didn’t want that but the fact that she agreed on what he had asked her for and the way her heart skipped beats at his words, said otherwise. She knew it, but she overlooked it again. Thus, she kissed him once more, only this time her hands rested on his bare chest.

Her lips moved smoothly against his in a slow yet needy pace until Mingi, suddenly, moaned. y/n smiled against his lips, barely grinding on his erection, loving the effect she had on him and careful not to make a sound herself. And as he was about to slip his tongue inside her mouth...she parted. Mingi chased after her lips but y/n lifted her body and held herself up on her knees as a careful hand found her underwear and slid it to the side. Dropping her head forwards, her pointer and middle finger massaged her clit for a bit before the neediest lip Mingi has ever seen of her, got trapped between her teeth. Her eyebrows furrowed, accompanying the bitten lip, and Mingi thought that if the expression on her face could take the form of a sound, that sound would be a breathy, ecstatic moan on the verge of turning into a needy meowl. If she only let him see that expression again, while he’s inside her, Mingi would be the happiest man alive.

He sat there, watching her in awe but the force of habit made him replace her fingers with his and stretch her hole by inserting two fingers in it, without even thinking. y/n’s breath got caught in her throat and her hands landed on his shoulders subconsciously, only for Mingi to pump them slowly to test the wetness at first. She had to be prepared for something larger so he added a third one, not long after, expecting her to moan out loudly as she always did, but she didn’t. Instead, she smiled and bit her lip in content at the new stretch. Her head fell backwards and her hand gripped the wrist that was working magic inside her but didn’t try to stop it. She let him speed up and give her the sweet stimulation she deserved.

“that was s-sudden”, she chuckled as if this was nothing, yet she was secretly loving it.

Mingi was already mesmerized by the view in front of him but that didn’t stop him from speeding up sensibly. Her wetness resounded with every thrust of his digits until he decided to bury them inside her and collide his palm with her clit. He curled his fingers while massaging the bundle of nerves, something he’s never done before, and y/n cursed. She clenched around him and that’s when she finally moaned loudly.

Mingi couldn’t wait for the moment he’d see her reaction to him getting buried inside her. He didn’t know why he wanted that so much...he’d seen her reaction to his fingers and tongue multiple times before but something about her losing it over his cock, took him to heaven.

On the same side, y/n had always thought that if Mingi was this good with his hands, there’s no doubt he’d be ten times better with his dick. She was indeed a little scared of losing her virginity, but she was much more impatient to find out if her conjectures would get confirmed. Thus, when she felt the knot in her stomach tighten, she grabbed his wrist harshly and stopped his ministrations instantly.

“I-I thought you’d fuck me”, she said out of breath.

“I was preparing you”

“Do I look like I need fucking preparation?”

There it was again...that attitude that had Mingi needing her more. Her eyes were drowsy but her voice strong and in any other case, he would get mad at an attitude like this but when it came to her, he found it the hottest thing in the world. He wouldn’t lie if he said that sometimes, when he thought of the way she acted, he got helplessly hard at times that his hand was the only solution.

She stared at him but instead of getting a response, Mingi licked his lips and moved his hand from her, to his erection fast. If she wanted it now, she’d get it now.

She was already keeping herself up on her knees, so he aligned himself with her core easily but instead of pushing in, he grazed his tip along her sensitive parts, taking the time to travel from where she needed him the most, to her clit and back again.

“fuck”, y/n sighed, the new type of friction getting her weaker than she expected. Her legs trembled and Mingi noticed and exhaled in content, seeing how such little stimulation started tearing her wall of pride down, already. It felt like her previous bratty attitude stayed in the past as her brows raised in need.

She was just as cute as he always thought she’d be and when she rested her forehead against his (as a readiness indicator he thought), Mingi found the chance to push in, wanting to see her very first and honest reaction.

To say that she didn’t let him down would be only an understatement...her breath fanned his lips, her face scrunched up and her lips took the shape of an ‘o’, and all of this while a soft cry resounded in the small living room. He almost witnessed her real self.

His tip was, for sure, larger than his fingers so her body going into autopilot mode, was understandable. She didn’t move one bit, so Mingi held her by the sides and started pushing her body down on him, slowly and gradually. Her voice broke more and more with every inch that was inserted and occasional ‘ah’s’ found their way out of her lips...it didn’t feel comfortable yet, it was painful for her. She’s never had something as big as this.

“fucking hell”

y/n shut her eyes in pain and Mingi let her take all the time she needed once he bottomed out, in order to get used to the stretch. They both knew she wouldn’t bleed (because Mingi was the one who had broken her hymen the first time he helped her out), but she still needed to adjust to something as new as this.

No words but only looks were exchanged between them when she tried to lift her body, and Mingi could’ve sworn to any God that tiny tangerine speckles danced in her eyes when she lowered and let him fill her again. A rough moan escaped him at the pressure she offered and after a few more knotty bounces her own pleasure sounds started making their own appearance. Her silk helped a lot and so did the slow pace.

It started feeling good sooner than she had expected and so, her arms rested on his shoulders as his, layed on her thighs. She moved agonizingly slow, often hissing at the girth, and once she got used to the sense, her body started asking for more.

She went faster, just enough to gain more stimulation and Mingi moaned at that. His hands were caressing her thighs in the rhythm of her bounces, his eyes were glued on her face and even if y/n wanted to increase the pace, she wanted something else more. She had the need to see him take control.

She wanted Mingi to do her as he pleased, to show her how he liked it, to be rough with her and to just...be at his mercy for once, but how would she ask for that without seeming weak?

She kept bouncing on him in a steady pace...Mingi was big, she knew that very well and he felt...perfect. Every time he got buried to the hilt, her walls tightened but Mingi wasn’t in the right state of mind to notice she was doing it on purpose. Instead he let himself enjoy it until his body started needing more and that need came out in the form of a groan that was deeper than his already deep speaking voice. He wanted her to bounce on him faster, to feel every corner of her, to feel his tip reaching her deepest parts.

“go faster”, he commanded but y/n continued moving as she was, like she didn’t hear him. Mingi tried to snap his hips upwards but it was impossible with both of them moving at the same time, so he said it again and louder this time.

“I said go faster”

y/n tried her best to keep her composure and talk to him, without her voice betraying how hard it was to think straight.

“why don’t you man up and fuck me yourself then?”

She said with effort and then stopped...with him buried inside her, twitching at the attitude she gave even now. Mingi’s eyebrows raised in surprise and y/n cocked a brow full of pride, because she knew exactly what her words were doing to him. She wanted him to ruin her and she’d get it the way she knew best...by provoking him.

“what’s that supposed to mean?”, he tilted his head, obviously bothered by her comment.

“can you even fuck me properly or is fingering the only thing you can do well?”

Mingi’s tongue poked the side of his cheek at the frustration that washed his body. He didn’t want to go hard on her for the sake of this being her first time, but her attitude hadn’t given him a single break. There’s no way he would take it anymore.

“you really don’t think before speaking, do you?”

The provocative eyebrow disappeared when Mingi placed his hands on her ass and gripped each cheek harshly. A harsh slap resounded before he lifted and pressed her down on him with full force...and then he did it again and again and again and y/n found her jaw going slack. He didn’t hold himself back at all. Her hair moved in every which way and landed on her face messily, her arms wrapped around his neck, holding for dear life, her legs lost all their strength but Mingi kept it up. He got drunk on the slapping sound of her ass against his thighs and her high pitched cries and, maybe, he liked more than he should the fact that her lips ghosted over his...open and ready to be kissed. And he would kiss her if his mind wasn’t hazy and if he didn’t want to prove that, what she’s gotten herself into was brattier than her attitude.

y/n cried out in pleasure, he reached so deep that he hit every right spot, every part that had the burn inside her turn into a big fire and she’s sure she wants to feel that more often. Even though Mingi couldn’t do it, she did it herself. She captured his lips in a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss as he still bounced her on him. It was messy, but she needed it and Mingi returned it feverishly. Their noses brushed each other’s, their breaths got mixed creating a heavy sound and they only parted when y/n cursed under her breath at the part he reached.

“right there, baby?”

“pplease more”

“huh?”

“M-Mingi please”, she cried out.

They fucked shamelessly, not giving a damn about Mingi’s neighbours hearing them. They got addicted to each other’s effect.

y/n lost herself when he wrapped his hand around her throat. His dominant side was better than she had expected. No one’s ever treated her like that and only now did she realise how much she liked it.

“you’ve gotten y-yourself into big trouble, d’you know that?”, he squeezed the sides of her throat making her yelp.

“ha-harder please”

“can you even ttake it?”

Mingi said before forcing her to come face to face with him. He kept her stable right where their lips almost touched and before y/n could connect them, he snapped his hips up. Her eyes rolled back and her jaw went slack. He found it, he found that one spot and with every thrust, he hit it harder and harder and harder until she went completely crazy.

Her body trembled, her head was left on the will of his hand and her core tightened so much that Mingi felt his body burning.

She cried out for more, though she couldn’t take it. Mingi knew he had reached her g-spot, her pathetic voice confirmed it but he didn’t complain...he felt better than ever before and he loved her sounds, he always did. You could say they were the ones that brought him to his climax right after hers.

Mingi thrusted fast until he suddenly left her throat and raised her body enough to pull out fast. He pumped himself with quick, small strokes as y/n fell messily on his thighs. Her hands found his chest and her face took an expression Mingi’s never witnessed before.

Thick white liquid got spread on his thighs, right under her body but he didn’t notice it as his climax made its way to him. He let out moans, both rough and sweet, both needy and full of relief and came on his stomach and chest (some of it reached her hands too).

His arms fell on each side of his body lifelessly and his head fell on the couch as low curses showed how rough his high was. He breathed fastly and so did y/n who rested her upper body against his, not minding the cum that got trapped between their bodies.

It took them a moment to calm down. y/n was so weak she could barely move, it was even hard for her to feel her legs and when Mingi looked at her form, he realised that all that attitude she gives, hides the version of herself she’s afraid to show. She needs someone to take care of her for once, for her to not have to take care of herself by her own all the time. She wants someone to take control and guide her. He wanted to kiss her softly and tell her that he could take care of her but when he gripped her sides and slid her upwards and closer to him, she hissed lowly. Her clit got dragged on his thigh and the sensitivity was unbearable but when she raised her head and looked at him with eyes drowsy and features soft, he couldn’t help but cup her chin and kiss her.

“you fucker...you’re good”, she whispered, resting her forehead against his and making him giggle.

“I’m even better at the missionary”

“next time?”

“for sure”

How long would it take for them to realise their agreement isn’t only an ‘agreement’ anymore?

‹ previous series masterlist next ›

taglist: @barnesbabee @byekyoto @yunhozone @yunhowhoitiss @amultislifeforme @middle-of-a-wonshua-sandwich @mirror-juliet @chansungies @deonghwa @lunarmingi @toffee-hwa @lqsience @yunderland @cutemaknaegirl couldn’t tag: @joshuasfairy @yunhosillegirl

#atzinc #ateez smut #mingi smut #I had to change the synopsis bc this one fit more #mingi fluff #mingi angst #mingi x reader #first time #kpop scenarios #kpop smut #kpop fics

506 notes · View notes

cinnaminsvga · 3 years

Text

intermission • vi | moonlight

→ summary: When the love letter you wrote and submitted as an assignment is leaked to the entirety of your university, it becomes a race against time to dispel rumours and convince the seven suspected muses of the poem that they aren’t the subject before anyone realises that you are the author. Easy, right? Well… maybe not as easy as you think.

→ pairing: bts x reader (feat. jungkook) → genre: college!au, crack, fluff, angst → warnings: none!! it's just jungkook being a cutie!! → words: 3.7K → a/n: this intermission chapter was actually written by @jincherie!! i'm posting it on her behalf since she's currently on hiatus. she had this chapter mostly finished a few months ago and we were waiting to post it until we were both more active (lol) but yeah... things change i guess... anyway see you guys next year (i wanna say /j but really... is it really /j...)

— • masterlist | prev | intermission vi | next • —

Jungkook's strength has never been making friends.

In his mother’s words, a “pleasant and sweet boy” though he might be, that didn’t help much when it came to meeting someone new and the storm of butterflies in his stomach would grow so strong that it froze his limbs and caught his tongue. He’s not too good at first impressions.

A “pleasant and sweet, but terribly shy boy” is actually more along the lines of how Jungkook’s mother describes him, now that he thinks about it. That’s probably a little more accurate.

The sprawling complex he lives in is full of kids, and Jungkook knows each and every one of them. He might be challenged in the social area, but his mother is anything but. She says he takes more after his father, and since his father is usually relaxing inside and reading or drawing when Jungkook sees him at home, he figures that makes enough sense.

Every time someone new moves into the complex, Jungkook’s mother goes to greet them. Of course, he is graciously asked (read: forced) to come along too, just in case they have any kids around his age. This is how he normally meets the other kids on the block. It’s fine, he can’t complain. He has to admit it’s nice meeting all the new and different people that come through. His family is probably one of the ones that have stayed in the complex this long.

When the house next door is emptied of the family he knew, it’s a while before the next one comes in. By the time Jungkook peeks out his window one morning, woken by the telltale sound of a truck beeping as it reverses, and finally sees some movement in the house next to his own, his mother isn’t home. She’d moved into the hospital just a few days earlier, looking ready to pop with the little brother he’d heard so much about in her belly. He’s excited to meet his little brother, and now as he stands on his tippy-toes to get a good look from the window, he finds himself a little excited to meet the new neighbours, too.

It only has a little bit to do with the great, big, fluffy dog they have. Just a little.

It takes a few days for them to move in fully. Jungkook watches from his window every now and then, seeing all sorts of different cars come through. This family has lots of helpers, he notices. By the time they seem to really settle in, Jungkook doesn’t see much of them. Actually, to his disappointment, he doesn’t see anyone around at all. He still hears the dog, glimpses it every so often, but realised that they probably walk it in the mornings before he wakes up.

His mother is home before long, his baby brother cradled in her arms. The first thing she asks as she steps through the door is, “Have the new neighbours moved in? Have you met them yet, Kookie?”

This is perhaps the first time all week he hasn’t cared about the neighbours-- he’s transfixed with his brother. It stays that way for a few days, until the allure wears off when the tiny baby won’t stop crying at night. Perhaps his little brother is something best loved from afar for now, Jungkook surmises.

Back to the window he goes – except this time, there’s actually something to see.

There’s a child! A combination of nerves and excitement bubbles within him as he sees a kid in the backyard playing with the dog, throwing a Frisbee for the massive puppy to leap up and catch in its mouth. The kid looks a little…. feral. Like the baby from that one funny caveman movie he watched with his parents. They’re rolling around with the puppy, uncaring of the way grass and dirt get on their clothes and tangle their hair-- they laugh the whole time. It takes a second for the sound to reach him, but when it does it makes his heart do something funny in his chest.

Ah, the neighbour's kid is a girl.

It’s you.

Jungkook has always been a little more shy around girls, but has never known why. To meet you, he’s going to need his mother there for backup. This is probably the first time he’s outright wanted to go meet one of the neighbours. It’s a little embarrassing, so he elects not to think about it too much.

He thought he would have to pester his mother more to get up and go greet them, but it seems she’s a little sick of being in the house so much because she jumps up the second he mentions it. His baby brother is graciously asleep when they make the trip one morning to the house next door, nestled in his mothers arms looking like an angel wrapped up in fluffy clouds. Jungkook wonders if you’ll like his brother as much as he does. If you don’t, then he doesn’t know how good of a friend you’re going to be.

The doorbell is different, it’s the first thing he notices about the house. Your family must have changed it when you moved in. It’s a bubbly, fun tune now, and he doesn’t even realise the smile it brings to his face. His grip on his mother’s hand tightens, but he misses the fond look she casts over him.

When the door opens, Jungkook thinks his nerves just might eat him alive. He’s so stiff he’s worried he might turn to stone and disintegrate into dust on the spot.

It’s you who answered the door.

You don’t look as wild and unkempt as you did that day he saw you from the window. Actually, your hair is in two cute little buns on top of your head and there isn’t a spot of dirt or grime on your overalls.

The way your eyes light up when you see him and his mother, as well as the baby held to her chest, is enough to make him forget to breathe for a moment. When he remembers, he feels like running his head into the pole of the awning.

“Hey, sweetie,” his mother greets, that big smile on her face that normally wins everyone over. “We’re from the house next door! We wanted to come say hello and meet you. Are one of your parents home too?”

“Hello!” Your response is instant, and the smile you return is so big Jungkook can easily see the gap where you’re missing a tooth. It seems like you’re beating him, he hasn’t lost that one yet. “Yeah, my mama’s home-- you should come in! She said she wanted to meet you guys! Oh, also, we have a puppy! She’s big, and actually maybe she’s too old to be a puppy but… she’s cute. I want you to see her!”

You’re rambling, but you don’t seem to realise. Jungkook couldn’t get a word in edgewise if he wanted to, but he finds himself more than happy to simply listen as he and his mother follow you into the house.

Your mother isn’t as wild as you, but he notices the same little sparkle in her eyes that you have in yours. He wonders if he and his mother have their own matching sparkle. That would be cool.

Right away, his mother hits it off with yours – two socialites of a feather, it seems. You fawn over his baby brother for a few minutes while they talk (he knew right then that you were a good one), before grabbing him by the sleeve and insisting on showing him around. You get a full tour in, and miraculously Jungkook finds it in himself to ask a few questions as you go.

“S-so, you like it? Here?” Every time he opens his mouth the words don’t come out how he wants them, but he can’t do anything now. At least he only stuttered once.

“Yes! It’s so much better than my old house! There’s so many more kids here, and they’re all so nice too!” You’re more than happy to blabber on, a hand thoughtlessly carding through the long, fluffy fur on your dog’s back. Jungkook’s own hand is doing the same (the fur is just as soft and fluffy as he imagined). “There’s more room for Poopie to play, too.”

Jungkook still isn’t quite used to the name of your pet, but something more important in what you said is taking hold of his attention. “Wait, you, uh… you’ve met some of the other kids?”

“Yep,” you say, gaze off in the distance as you try to summon them all from your memory. “Not all of them, but some! Um, I think one of them is named…. Chanyeol…? He lives down the street. Then there’s-- …”

A queasy feeling fills his stomach. He thinks it might be disappointment. For some reason, he thought he was going to come in here and be the first kid you met, that he was going to tell you all about the complex, maybe show you down the street. If you turned out to be a real good egg, then he had even planned to show you his secret place. But now that he thinks about it, it’s a bit silly to think that none of the other families would have come to greet you by now. You’ve been here for more than a week, after all.

He had a good time when visiting you, but for some reason after that day, he finds himself hanging back a bit. He wants to go out and play with you and the other kids, but when he sees you getting along with them so well he’s reminded of that queasy feeling from that day and he stays inside. Which, oddly enough, makes him feel even worse. He feels like no matter what he does, he’s losing progress with you. Maybe you won’t even want to play with him at all, you might think he’s boring after having so much fun with the other kids.

“You gonna go out and play, Kookie?” his mother catches him staring out the living room window one afternoon. She’s bouncing his brother on her hip, the demon baby sated for the time being. “There’s still plenty of time before dark.”

“No, I’m okay,” he answers, hating himself a little bit for it. Why was it so hard to say that yes, he wanted to play, but also that he didn’t. He thinks his mother would be able to help, but he has no idea how to tell her his woes. “I think I might draw a little.”

“Okay, sweets.” She comes over and ruffles his hair. “But if you do decide to go out and play, just let me know so I know where you are, okay?”

He nods, and she leans to kiss his hair before wandering back into the depths of the house. Maybe he will do some drawing, he ponders. It might distract him from the sight of you getting along so well with all the other kids.

Jungkook’s strength has never lain in being outgoing. This proves itself over the months when his attempts to grow closer and befriend you turn out unsuccessful, without fail.

You’ve made a good space for yourself amongst the kids of the block. You’re nice, caring and understanding, and never mean – sure you pushed Chanyeol off the seesaw once, but that was because he was being mean to Suzie. He didn’t do it again afterwards, and peace was maintained in the playground in the park at the end of the complex. Your friendship is sought-after, and with the beginning of the school year looming so close he’s running out of time to establish a friendship between the two of you.

When he spends an afternoon riding his bike at the end of the street, looping around and through the park, it’s definitely not just because you’re sitting there with some of the other girls on the block. When he summons all the knowledge stored in his brain from watching those bike tournaments and attempts to do a little trick, it’s definitely not because he thinks you might be watching. If you happen to see and think he’s cool, then it is what it is. It’s not like he’s actually trying to impress you or anything.

It goes okay, for the most part. His legs are a little tired though. He probably shouldn't attempt the trick he’s thinking of next, but he swears he sees you glance his way and he feels a surge of confidence flow through him. He attempts it.

He botches it.

The bike clatters to the ground and he rolls a bit, but his knees take the brunt of his meeting with the concrete path.

Lucky he wasn’t trying to impress you, because that was pretty humiliating. Lucky you probably didn’t see, either. His knees burn and he feels tears prick at his eyes, probably not just from the pain. He feels so embarrassed, so dumb. He’s touched his bike five times since he got it for his birthday last year, why did he think he would be able to do awesome tricks on it? Dumb, so dumb. He flees the scene before anyone can notice what happened, and completely forgets his bike.

He’s made it all the way home before he even realises it, his vision blurred from the tears that just won’t stop falling and his knees still singing in pain each time he bends them. He almost goes inside, craving a hug from his mother and her gentle hands on his wounds, but then he realises she would ask what happened, and he doesn’t think he’ll be able to tell her. It’s too embarrassing. He’s so embarrassed.

So he bypasses the front door, going around the side and slipping through the gate. There’s a tree that lines the side of the house where his window is, and it’s so tall it reaches well above the roof. Without pause, he climbs it, hands finding familiar grooves. He halts, hissing at the sudden sting – it would seem he’s scraped up his palms, too. His eyes burn with the added humiliation and he darts up the tree, making quick work of the climb until he reaches his special spot.

The roof of his house is mostly slanted, but there’s a flat bit at the very top on one side of the house. This is where he likes to go. No one ever looks for him here, plus the view is always very pretty. He doesn’t appreciate the sunset right now, though. He feels like he doesn’t deserve it.

The whole way home, Jungkook held in his cries. He didn’t want anyone to hear and tell his mother. But now, in the embrace of his little ‘safe haven’, he lets them out. He buries his head in his arms and sobs, the pain of moving his palms only making it worse.

He doesn’t know how his little body can handle so much embarrassment, let alone so many tears, but for the moment he doesn’t think about it and surrenders himself to his woes.

He must be up there for a while before his crying ceases. By the time he lifts his head, the last of his tears drying against his cheeks, the sun is just beginning to disappear beyond the horizon. It’s pretty, how it casts light around the shadowy silhouette of the city buildings in the distance. He kind of wants to show it to you. That thought is quickly shut down. He’s going to ask his mother if they can move cities so he doesn’t have to face you again.

Alas, the world just doesn’t seem to be working in his favour today. He hears the rustling of the tree before he sees it. By the time he looks over to investigate, you’re already clambering onto the roof, an oversized fanny pack bursting at the seams with whatever you’ve shoved inside slung over your shoulder.

“Hey!” You greet with a smile, apparently oblivious to the dumbstruck look on his face. “Man, it took forever to find you! If I didn’t see you from the window in my room, I never would have known where you went!”

That was the idea, he laments. He hadn’t wanted to be found.

“Anyway,” you say, plopping down a foot away from him, safely away from the edge of the roof. You swing the fanny pack around so the zip is at your front, and rip it open. Immediately, a tsunami of bandages and band-aids flow forth, fluttering to the tile before you. They’re all sorts of different sizes, but one thing is common across them all – they all have pikachu’s face plastered on them in one way or another. “These are my special band-aids! My mama uses them when I hurt myself, and they always make it heal really quick! I didn’t know how big your owie is, so I brought them all.”

Jungkook is still stunned into silence as you sort through them, organising the chaos at least a little. One of your buns has come loose, he notes. One pigtail, one bun. You look a little more like that wild child he first saw from his window. The knees of your overalls are smeared with dirt, too. He wonders if it got like that while you were looking for him. It makes him feel a little warm inside.

And a little warm outside – his cheeks are starting to burn. He doesn’t remember scratching them too, but maybe he did…?

“Let’s see…” you’re practically just holding a conversation with yourself at this point. He surrenders his leg without protest as you grab it to inspect his knee. “Yep. That’s a big ‘un.”

His whole face has lit on fire. Even his ears feel hot. Is that normal? Probably not. He’d have to ask his mother to take him to the doctor. Maybe he’s dying.

He notices how close you are suddenly, realises this is the first time you’ve been fully alone together (without Poopie), and suddenly he can’t think. Like, at all. He may as well not have a tongue because he can’t remember how to use it anyway.

Somewhere amongst the bandages you’d shoved some tissues. You pull them out now, gently clearing the dirt away from the wounds on his knees. You’re talking as you do it, but his brain is full of static. Your hands are even tinier than his. Is that normal? Wait, no-- they’re the same size. What is he doing…?

Is he going to get in trouble for being alone with a girl…? His mother hasn’t told him about the birds and bees like she said she would yet-- is that what this is? Will he turn into a bird if he gets any warmer? Jungkook doesn’t want to be a bird.

You are placing large plasters over his knees when he finally tunes in to what you’re saying. “… -that last trick was pretty cool, too. It would have been even cooler if you didn’t fall.”

Jungkook squeaks, “You saw that?”

You nod, apparently unaware of his utter humiliation. “Yeah! You’re pretty good on a bike. Can you teach me sometime? I want to show my dad.”

He makes a noise that sounds enough like an affirmation that you accept it, a big grin on your face. For a few more minutes, you finish patching him up.

“There! All done!”

Pikachu stares back up at him from his knees, looking a little wonky because of their shape. The band-aids are a bit wrinkled, but you look so proud of yourself he forces himself to ignore it. He looks up, the words of thanks he took so much courage to summon dying on the tip of his tongue as he sees you.

The setting sun changes the colour of your eyes a bit – it’s pretty, he finds himself thinking. Immediately afterwards, he blushes. Even more embarrassingly, he finds himself unable to help but observe that the sun suits you, actually. Bright, persistent, a little bit sparkly. In the sun’s last reaching rays of afternoon light, you look a bit like you’re glowing.

Of course, Jungkook is used to his silence, but it seems you’re only just noticing it. You seem to misunderstand it’s cause. “Oh, do they hurt?”

Your words tear him from his reverie, and the startled look on his face doesn’t exactly help his case. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t realise they were that bad-- oh! I almost forgot the next step! My mum always does this whenever I hurt myself.”

Then, without a second spared for him to prepare himself, you lean over and plant a kiss on each of his bandaged knees.

Jungkook thinks he might explode. The entire neighbourhood is going to see him take off and zip through the sky like a rocket. His earlier thoughts of moving cities and changing his name come back full force.

“There, they hurt less now, right?” But you’re still grinning, still bright as ever with shining eyes hoping for a certain response. Despite himself he takes a moment to assess the level of pain he’s feeling – oddly enough, it does feel a bit better.

There’s no way he can manage to say that, though.

Instead he nods, wide-eyed. You let loose a sigh of relief, muttering about how you didn’t know what you’d do if that didn’t work. He swears he catches the slightest warmth in your cheeks, but doesn’t know whether it’s a trick of the sun.

“Thanks,” he finally manages, his voice just shy of a whisper. You hear him anyway and flash that gap-tooth smile his way.

“Of course! This is what friends are for!”

You think of him as a friend? Jungkook can’t help the dumb smile that rises to his face. He likes that. Friends. As the two of you stay on the roof until moonlight begins to filter through the tree and your parents are calling your name, he thinks he’d like for things to stay that way.

He’d like to be friends with you. Always.

#btsghostie #networkbangtan #bts scenarios #jungkook scenarios #bts x reader #jungkook x reader #bts imagines #jungkook imagines #bts fanfiction #bts reader insert #bts fluff #jungkook fluff #jeon jungkook #jungkook #bangtan #bts fanfic #i dont even remember how to tag HAJDHASJ i havent posted a fic in so LONG #anyway yall thought fox rain was dead but i guess she lives for one day... next chapter is gonna kill me tho but im excited!!#see you sooner than later i hope lmao

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