#it makes me so happy every time a lil comment pops up on that fic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

writingforstraykids · 4 months

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My beloved cutie mooties🥺🖤

(edited 12.05.24)

🖤@atinyniki🖤

Niki, my beautiful sunshine, I'm so grateful to have you through thick and thin. I'm still convinced you're cute and idc whether you accept that or not. I love talking to you and you're one of the kindest people I know (unless you yell at me you meanie...joking obviously, chill guys😂🖤) I'll always be there for you...also pls stop spending so much money on me cutie😭 Keep shining sunny bunny...love you, pretty girl🖤

🖤@zehina🖤

my beloved (not so silent anymore) bestie, i love our shared European confusion and confusing the others together in return. you're such a cute little kitty and we all know u love being called cute so...you're very cute, deal with it🤭I love our shared stupidity whenever we talk about the boys and seriously, every time you send me your part for the rambles I'd drop to my knees and pay for it bc holy shit. I'll always be there if you need me, keep fighting lovey. love you unnie🖤

🖤@galaxycatdrawz🖤

azzy, I'm so proud of slowly pulling you a little from the shadows you were hiding in😂 also...idk how I managed to do so, but I'm still laughing about achieving most of your tumblr milestones😭 i love sharing requests with you, working out ideas or simply do as you said and write what my brain couldn't figure out. thank you for always being there for me and sharing your brilliant brain with me, co-writer🤭 also it's such a bummer we live so far away bc after what we talked about so far I know you'd be the best cuddle buddy🥺 love you azzy my cutest little thing🖤

🖤@jinnie-ret 🖤

jinnie my dear, even though we haven't talked that much so far, I always love it when we get the chance🤭 can't wait to get to know you better as well and I'm already so excited for that fic👀looveeee your writing sm🖤

🖤@sona1800🖤

you're my newest mootie and I love you so much already it's ridiculous (niki can confirm that🥹) you're always so sweet and you literally outshine every fic with your loving reblogs and comments (I'm just too speechless to answer properly, I really love them🥺) so yeah, that's why you got the tag "the cutest" 🤭🖤

🖤@silverstarburst🖤

Ash. my dear, we don't have that much time to talk usually because you're either working or I'm asleep (a rarity but still). Nevertheless, you have a special place in my heart by now and I'm thankful for your presence in my life. I know who to text if I need someone to kick ass. Your reblogs make me smile like some idiot every time, thank you so much for appreciating my lil dummy ideas so much. love you mama wolf🖤

🖤@slutforchanlix🖤

Miu, babyy, I've made you cry way too often with stuff like this—my bad. I know it's not always easy, but you're one of the kindest people I know, and I love that I have someone with whom I can talk in my native language for once. You're a sweetheart and thank you for always being there for me. I still plan to meet you one day hehe. Long story short, you're amazing, don't let anyone else try to make you believe anything less than that. Bin immer für dich da🖤

🖤@michelle4eve🖤

heyy mimi, we haven't talked much so far...sometimes accidentally when you mistook my icon for niki's I hope that's easier now😂😉 you seem like such a kind soul and I hope we'll get closer over time (no rush dear!) I'm happy over each of your reblogs, especially after you told us you're too shy to do so sometimes. I really appreciate it, you cutie🖤

🖤@chrizzztopherbang🖤

I always loved seeing you pop up in my notifications with your sweet comments. I already think you're a sweetheart, I know we haven't talked that much yet. Still, I loved prereading your fics and getting a glimpse into your genius brain. Don't give up writing as long as you have fun with it, because you're truly amazing at it🖤

🖤@wolfyychan🖤

You've been around on my prior blog already and still my stupid brain didn't realize you've changed usernames for so long😭😂 I always look forward to your excited comments and reblogs, they're truly a boost of motiviation ngl. Hope to have you around for a long time🤭🖤

🖤@james-is-here🖤

Your excitement for that Minchan series made me think about writing bonus chapters for the first time in months. I really love seeing how you get so invested in some of the stories, which makes me want to do better hehe. Also...omg...I'm still thinking about that one fic you wrote a while ago🫠 I'm excited to see what's next and hope we'll get the chance to maybe talk some more🖤

🖤@queer-possum🖤

Without giving away too much, your brain is amazing. I love your requests so much and you're always so kind when I get back to you to make sure I get everything right. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write about certain topics and stuff I haven't so far🖤

🖤@chanandminhoenthusiast🖤

love, love, loveee your blog (for obvious inspirational reasons😉) you seemed like a very sweet soul whenever we talked before and I'll always be there if you need someone to talk, even about the most random bullshit😂🖤

🖤@palindrome969🖤

You're such a lovely person, I can't even put it into words properly. Your writing is beautiful and I'm still in love with that stargazing fic with Channie😭 always love talking to you and seeing your comments🖤

🖤@5starluvr🖤

I've told you so before, I wanna kiss your brain so bad sometimes. The stuff you come up with for me to write is brilliant. I can't wait to finish more of your requests and share ideas as soon as possible! Love you hehe🖤

🖤@mellhwang🖤

Heyy sweetie, I love seeing you in my notes and I swear I'll get that Minchan x Hyunjin thing done for you!! Thank you for all the love, dear🖤

🖤@lost-in-avoidance🖤

The amount of times I made you choke back tears at work is...concerning and I'm so sorry, I don't do it on purpose, I swear😭😂 your reblogs are always so genuine and make me feel like I did exactly what I wanted to with the fic in question. I appreciate your words so much, thank you!

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estelle-skully · 25 days

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Ramshackle tickle headcanons

Ohh god

oh goodness

its time

gadies and lentlemen, I now present to you, my ramshackle t-word headcanons (but just for the main three bc idk enough about any other characters yet)

First off: Vinnie!

she’s like 90% ler, doesn’t despise being tickled but she sure as hell will get revenge no matter what; she adores wrecking people because she thinks seeing people being tickled to pieces and laughing their asses off is some of the funniest shit ever

Girly pop is the kinda person to hear someone snort while laughing and point it out- same for people who blush a lot

she loves pissing people off and getting em hella flustered, again because she finds it funny

on occasion she gets really intense ler moods and will target whoever is closest to her

sometimes when she sees Stone being extra angsty she will wreck him

Skipp often goes to her when he is in a lee mood and she always teases him about it (“You know, for someone who lives on the streets, it’s pretty funny that you actually enjoy something as childish as tickling! How adorable!”)

Vinnie isnt really the kind of individual to deny being ticklish, but if someone asks then she’ll instantly reply “are you?” Without giving a clear answer; you pretty much have to figure it out yourself

she gets pretty violent when shes being tickled- theres a very high chance that you’ll get kicked or maybe even bitten 😭 she doesn’t actually intend on hurting anyone, its all instinct

speaking of violence, she also swears a lot and will throw every threat in the book your way

all in good fun tho <3

teehee next is Skipp

This little shit is a lee leaning switch- 60% lee, 40% ler

Even though he loves when he’s the lee, he also really enjoys pretending to be a tickle monster or some shit because it embarrasses his friends

mostly he goes after Stone because the tickle monster thing mostly works on him (also partially because one can’t really tickle Vinny for more than like ten seconds before she pulls a fucking uno reverse card 😭)

Skipp is the only person who can tell when Stone is in a lee mood (more on that later 🤭)

He isn’t embarrassed in the slightest about being ticklish but he is usually shy when he’s in a lee mood, hates straight up asking to be tickled so he usually drops little hints, which his friends quickly catch on to

he isn’t very mean as a ler, usually he’s more playful than relentless and occasionally will make little comments but doesn’t tease often

but as a lee

cutest little fuck EVER

he doesn’t try very hard to stop the tickles so he’ll either just kick his legs or do a lil happy stim of some kind

his laughter is all giggles and it’s just the sweetest ever

sometimes when he gets extra flustered he’ll cover his face with his hands

and he loves tickle hugs or cuddly tickles; prefers that over being obliterated, which is why sometimes Vinnie goes easier on him

Oki lastly, Stone!!! (My pookie!)

for him I dont actually know, he’s giving big switch vibes so i think i wanna say hes like 50-50

like I mentioned earlier, Stone is sometimes tormented by lee moods, which he is immensely embarrassed by. Skipp almost has a super power to sense lee moods in people though, so even though Stone is good at hiding it, the lee mood inevitably is relieved by Skipp, and sometimes Vinnie, which he’d constantly deny but he really appreciates it

lil bro secretly doesn’t mind being tickled because he’s pretty touch starved, and in general he doesn’t really get to laugh/smile often because he usually isnt in the mood.

again, he would rather drink gallons of rat poison than admit that, though

he tried his best to hide his ticklishness from his friends the first few months they knew each other, keeping the secret like his life depended on it

of course, they found out eventually, though

(do yall want me to write a fic with the “trio finding out stone is ticklish” scenario because id love to)

most of the time his laughter is very loud, and like Vinnie, he swears at his ler, too

but a certain thing one might notice while tickling him is that he doesn’t really do much to fight back at all

that’s probably the biggest giveaway that he actually enjoys the tickles

buuuut also, if one were to get him in one of his less ticklish spots (like his belly and sides or something) he giggles and its SOOOOO CUTE

if you want to get him flustered, then comment on his giggling- he cant stand it

He also goes crazy over compliments and cute nicknames (call him pretty boy and he will die)

and also his face will go bright red (which im pretty sure is canon when he’s embarrassed, by the way- remember that scene in the thesis film, where the three fell through the clothesline and Stone was in the maid dress and Vinnie smirked at him? His face went BRIGHT red and he looked so pissed 😭)

when he’s in a ler mood, though…

bro is fucking terrifying

somehow he’s able to guess someone’s worst spots almost instantly and uses that against them

On occasion he will start something with Vinnie just to get tickled by her but its actually shocking how he can successfully get her pinned down, so their tickle fights are actually pretty equal

Any time Skipp shyly approaches him and does whatever it is he does to hint at his lee moods, Stone can’t help but be a bit envious that the guy can even give hints- he’s to embarrassed to give any indication whatsoever

but yeah sometimes he’ll tease Skipp a bit, but he wouldn’t dare tease Vinnie because she knows EXACTLY what makes him flustered and is not afraid to use it against him

he can say the dreaded t-word most of the time, but not when he’s in a lee mood. Cant stand hearing it either

andddd thats all i got!!! Man i love these three pests (compliment) so much they have my whole heart

#sfw tickling community #tickle fluff #tword community #sfw interaction only #tword content #ramshackle tickles #ticklish!stone #Ticklish!vinnie #Ticklish!skipp #Tword headcanons #Struggling to think of anything else :p #Meowmowrrrrrraow

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inlocusmads · 7 months

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Art credits: @/annalaura_art on Instagram

choices fandom shoutouts- day one @choicesfandomappreciation

Honestly it's been like.. more than a year since I joined the Tumblr fandom and I had some of the best time with a lot of people and I want to try and bring some of them up here now!

@cassie-thorne Max you're literally one of the first persons I talked to and I think you're super cool (scratch that, you're the coolest). Your art is just one of the best (open up shop, seriously, I'll pay five kidneys) and I just love how we used to geek out every Wednesday. (They aren't Wednesdaying anymore lmao). You're literally one of the nicest people ever and I still read some of your old comments because it's just chaos and just so much love and happiness. Thank you for being an active person in the fandom because I don't know how I'll ever get through the Crimes, Blades brainrot alone.

@jerzwriter Jerz, argh I absolutely love your thoughtful comments and your insight into things! And your writing - damn! You have this beautiful way with words with respect to dialogue and it's so witty and clever and just downright amazing. I've yet to catch up with a lot of your stuff lol, I'll definitely use my upcoming days off to do just that.

And plus - just impeccable music taste lol. I might actually get into Noah Kahan and suspend down forty feet into listening to Stick Season over and over and over again XD! I've always admired your way of handling things - be it with fandom BS or just life in general. It is just so fricking admirable, I'll be taking notes lmaoo thank you for staying in the fandom despite everything and thank you for continuing to maintain this extensive library CFWC of works with @lucy-268 in the fandom. It's tough work! I just heavily heavily appreciate it. (Now go play Blades! Trust me it's worth it!)

@mydemonsdrivealimo MJ! You have literally one of the best art styles - hands down and I just absolutely love the amount of thought you put into Jensen. You actually have inspired me to put out my own HCs out there, get past that reluctance. Jensen being ace might have actually made me feel so much better about writing ace characters too, because apart from a couple of ace MCs who were pretty unknown so to speak, it was kind of lonely. The queer discussions we have within our fandom has honestly inspired me to step out of my "shell" and talk about it more.

I also want to take a moment to shout out @peonyblossom and @gutsfics too because just talking about queerness through mediums such as fics and art and metas helps so much and makes people feel a little less alone. I also want to send another shoutout towards @jaredkau for their Aromantic!Tobias headcanon and Tobias and Ethan in this QPR which makes me just lose my mind in the best way possible. And can I just say I love reading your lil headcanons so freaking much?? Like?? They're just so good - they're silly, they're fluffy, angsty and just downright queer and it's given me a lot of encouragement to write more queer pairings. I've always had this plaguing doubt about depicting LGBTQIA+ because I'd think, "Man even though I'm queer, I don't think I can do a good job of it" and now it's gone with the wind <333 Thank you so much for this!

@lilyoffandoms Such a positive figure in this fandom, I'm so glad you pop up on my dash with your fics, boosts of encouragement and art! I think Lily's works were some of the first things I read on this blog - with the whole Crimes hyperfixation thing and I absolutely fell in love with their writing style and it's like y'know this subtle, clever way that you just catch onto the subtext faster than any of the idiots (affectionate) who are completely oblivious about each other's feelings. Thank you for being here, Lily!

@lovealexhunt Dani, thank you for lighting up my inbox with just the most beautiful positivity messages. They actually do help a lot! It gives me a reason to just take care of myself. Thank you for all your blood, sweat and tears aha on @choicesbookclub because you've just built this beautiful little town square for people to chime in their thoughts. It feels like Old Choices back again when I'd just come on Tumblr and scroll through what people are thinking about the latest chapter. Seriously, you do so much for the fandom, you might as well be its actual engine and it has brought so many people together. I don't think I'd have known some of the people I know here without you bringing the fandom into one collective space. Thank you so much for just about everything, even though thank you is literally the understatement of the century. I'm just eternally grateful to have been accepted and included.

@cariantha Honestly like - the TALENT? Ma'am save some for the rest of us XD! I remember coming across Cari's Pictagram series of her OH MC, Sawyer and my jaw dropped - like the edits were just absolute killer. Banger after banger. And her fics - omg - especially the one where they're stuck in an elevator and Ethan still manages to throw her this Valentine's Day party; argh, it has my heart. Just fluffy goodness. Cari's just too good man, too freaking good. Thank you for encouraging me to come back to OH, even though I'm still a bit iffy on that ground lol - maybe I'll do a replay and start from scratch, who knows?

I want to give a quick shout-out to writers whose works I NEED to get on! @starsarewithinme and @moominofthevalley because y'all are the reason why the Crimes tag isn't just completely dead XD and I'd love to get to your writing as soon as I can. @peonierose because I miss Bryce and Luna and their adorable little family so much. I hope you're doing well Peonie <3 @aallotarenunelma - it has been a long time and I'd love to dive right back into your It Lives works and it's literally some of the best, poetic, most evocative writing I've ever come across, ever. @starlight-starfury I HAVE to get to your Tyril x MC works and they're so freaking good! You just capture the "whipped"-ness of Tyril's character so well. Thank you for that!

Honestly there are a lot of people, I'll admit. I might even have to make a part two for the 'I'll-give-Da-Vinci-a-run-for-his-money' artists and 'baby-girl-i-can-invent-new-angsty-scenarios-you've-never-even-heard-of' writers that I missed out on in this post. But thank you for the wildest, chaotic and the kindest - if I can describe it that way - ride ever. I'm so grateful to be a part of this clan of people and we just gush out over pixellated people and make up our own stories because PB doesn't do that (okay enough PB jibes lol). Thank you so much for being at the very heart of the fandom, keeping this alive. You are all just downright amazing people and amazing is such an understatement. I hope you guys know that.

#choices fandom shoutouts #choices fandom positivity

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tervaneula · 8 months

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First of i wanna deeply thank you and your friend for making such a great one-shot (idc if it's little or big it- still a fic and i will shower it with love)

Firstly i got smashed by your beautiful art of F!leo and damn it's gonna be a lie if i said it doesn't make me feel comfy right away 🩷

I didn't know it was snow day which it made me super confused as for why bbg would feel slight of cold even after getting buried under all those blankets!

I love how even tho Leo's buried under the blankets like a gremlin he open his non existing ears to listen if kids are there, remind me of radar xD

Leo smelling coffee and wanting a cup but fighting wither to leave his comfy bed and walk to get one is such a mood!! I feel him! Especially when he doesn't give a rat ass for wearing identical socks!!

Now am gonna be honest here i NEVER had pop tart nor any toaster pastries type so i don't know if it's good with coffee or nah.

But i bet the moment f!mikey & lil mikey are now the 'Mom' who take care of certain stubborn family members *cough* *cough* Donnie and leos *cough*

100% bet that f!leo is watching " family feud "

CJ sneaking in and hide under F!leo's blankets makes my heart melt especially thinking he couldn't get to do this often in the bad timeline future 😢

And the part where he sneak his feet into f!leo made it so hard for me to imagine it happens because F!LEO'S FEET'S SO BIG!! HE'S LIKE LITTLE BIG FOOT. OGZGOZGODOXG

Again, CJ talking ab his day of building snowman, snow horse - i didn't know this's a thing - and did they even play snow fight? Because my money is on future boy, he'll DESTROY THEM!!

It makes me happy seeing F!leo getting less burdens and his guilt is slowly melting away, he's on his path of healing and everybody are helping in, his brother, his dad... Everyone🩵

This one-shot is something i didn't know i needed, truly thank you very much!✨

Words just cannot describe the mere size of the grin that appears on my face every time I see a review from you THANK YOU SO MUCHHHH HAHGFD I LOVE READING YOUR THOUGHTS SM

The "waking up to a chill even though you're buried under a mountain of blankets" is based on real life events XD My apartment is drafty and because I can't keep my face under the blankets, some winter mornings I wake up with a cold-to-the-touch nose and it doesn't even have to be snowing outside!

I've tasted pop-tarts once and they were sweet so they pair up with coffee very well 😎

Family Feud omg yeah it's probably that one, it sounds perfect sdjfshf

THE SOCKS ARE LOOSE they're on the bigger side even on Leonardo so Casey's feet fit in there just fine!! XD I'm a woollen sock connoisseur and lemme tell you if the socks are too tight they feel horrible and aren't even that warm, so loose is the way to go 🙌

And yes a snow horse!!! We built those all the time as children and hey here's a picture of a famous Finnish snow horse 😏

You're so right about the snow fight!!! Casey and April teamed up and they were unbeatable >:D

Last but not least, yes oh my god it's so important to me to let Leonardo heal and rest and learn TO JUST EXIST ;_; Thank you for finding joy in it, too, and again thank you sm for reading and commenting I'M SO GLAD YOU ENJOYED THIS LITTLE FIC <3

#asks #cold feet adjacent

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morroodle · 1 year

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Okay so I watched Day of the Departed and OMG 😭 it's certified, I saw Morro smile and thought "BABY" and "omg what a sweet boy" it's too late for me now, the emo ghost has become my villainous babygirl. Blorbo status is unshakeable. I'm gonna be thinking about him for the next few weeks. I've also got a few questions and comments, namely: "lmaoo look at how he wakes up like an old man with stiff bones and aching joints" LOVE how Wu is just "hm what kind of omen is this" and Morro just pops in and out of the screen like a groundhog whispering ominously "bad, verryyyy baaaad" >:) and then is just :D CUTIEEE what a SILLY GUY I love him, silliest ever. How did he change so much between Cursedworld II and this??? It's like every ounce of anger is gone. Maybe the Preeminent really did affect him somehow. I always did wonder how he became so loyal to her. Also when he says, "He's made you forget one of your own. One who was already slipping away." for one, dang he is so different when talking softly and making worried expressions. second, I'm not the only one thinking about how that's JUST like Morro 40 something years ago. Him, who was slipping away, who was one of Wu's once upon a time ago. Oh, those words are personal. Not sure how he knew that tho, did I miss the part where Yang says he manipulated Cole or did Morro just come to a logical conclusion based on similar ghostly experiences? Has he ever almost faded away like that? And then the ENDING had me crying again, like its about that sweet look on his face as he says "happy day of the departed" and just peacefully goes back into the museum, I'm mourning so hard and crying and when the red lanterns lit the sky aglow, drifting a river of ruby lights into the night, I kept wondering if Morro could see them :( it's a festival for the departed after all, a signal, remembrance, a guiding light from heart to home. Idk what I'm gonna do now besides wander around tumblr and ao3, I'm fine with inflicting Morro onto my friend but they don't rlly know Ninjago enough to scream and cry with me and hnng the fic idea juice is churning, I can't let this go, it's not often I feel insane enough to write, I gotta get this written at least before I swap fandoms but with how many seasons of Ninjago I have to catch up on it may just stay for a couple months, I need to rewatch S5 until I've memorized his character 👀 then it's off to hunt down reputable, safe Ninjago discord servers.

Morro is just a silly little guy. A lil baby boy. Cutie patootie.

#ask #your the same anon from the other ask arent you

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noctumbra · 3 years

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𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒂𝒘𝒏 (𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏)

summary ─ “not yet,” he whispered. “i jus’ wanna keep on kissin’ you.”

pairing ─ fuckboy!bucky barnes x reader

warnings ─ smut, +18, light fluff, angst, kissing, riding, crying, emotinal sex, shall we call it love making???, unprotected sex, nothing extreme in this one folks, this is the real goodbye sex believe

a/n ─ hi. i'm back with yet another fb bucky fic :) i feel like i fucked up a bit towards the end but.... lmao hope you like it! please leave a comment if you do! thank youuu <333

previous part ─ trilogy masterlist

It was the graduation day when he popped out from his hiding place.

It had been weeks since the last time you saw Bucky. You knew he dropped you off to your apartment, your roommate was kind enough to tell you because he had to ring the bell. You saw your call history on your phone and knew you called Bucky. You talked on the phone for almost forty minutes. You didn’t remember what you talked about, though, and that was what you’d like to ask him, but you haven’t seen him ever since that night.

So, when your doorbell rang as you were getting ready for the day, you didn’t expect to find him standing at your doorstep.

“Hi,” he whispered. He had a tired smile on his face; his eyes looked haunted and it seemed like he lost weight. You frowned.

“Hey,” you whispered back. Your eyes were seizing his body up and down, worry etched on your face. “Are you okay?” You couldn’t help but ask. He sniffed lightly and nodded. It was a hesitant nod, and you picked up on it immediately. “Bucky…” you said. He waved a dismissive hand on the air.

“It’s fine,” he murmured. “Couldn’t sleep lately, that’s it.” You frowned but didn’t say anything. Opening the door a little more, you invited him inside. He smiled as he stepped through the threshold. “I was, um, wondering how you’re doing since, uh, you know, that night.”

“Oh,” you breathed. “I’m fine.” You slowly moved your head back and forth. Chewing on your lip, you decided to out with it. “I saw that I called you that night from my call history,” you started. “I don’t remember what we talked about, though.” You watched Bucky as his face went from shocked to relieved to sad. It was an interesting transition, you thought. “I was hoping you could tell me, actually.”

He let out a laugh, it sounded forced. “Oh, um, it was nothing important, really,” he said, shrugging. “You talked about how you hated the taste of beer, and said that you can’t understand why people like vodka.” He smiled.

“For forty minutes?” You asked, eyebrows high on your forehead. He nodded. “Damn.” You would talk about those things, and if you did talk about them for forty minutes, then it was too normal for you to now remember anything because you must have been drunk as fuck. You chuckled. “Here I was worrying myself to sickness because I made a dumb out of myself.” Bucky chuckled lightly with you.

“No, you didn’t,” he said. “You were totally right.” You rolled your eyes.

“Sure, Barnes,” you grunted. Bucky chuckled again. A silence fell between you two, but it wasn’t disturbing. Instead, it was peaceful, and you smiled when you realized you somehow missed his presence being next to you.

“You’re gonna look beautiful,” Bucky said after a short while, and you made a questioning hum. He pointed at your dress for the graduation day. “It’s gonna look amazing on you.” You felt your cheeks burn as you smiled and ducked your head.

“Thanks,” you murmured. Bucky’s lips curled up at your reaction, his stomach suddenly flipping over. He silently cleared his throat. “I’ll, um,” you started, biting your lips for a second before you continued. “I’ll see you at the graduation?” You asked. Sniffing a little, Bucky nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m gonna be there. I’m graduating, too, y’know,” he added. You let out a short chuckle, and he rolled his eyes, but both of you were joking. So, it didn’t take you too long to start laughing.

“It’s good to know that you were studying while parading around,” you murmured with a grin on your face. Bucky blushed. He might have been fucking around, yes, but he did study to his exams, thank you very much.

“Well, I gotta pay my loans somehow, right?” He sent you a wink and grinned back at you. You shook your head fondly.

You hated for making you fall in love with him, breaking your heart and using you, but you knew you were going to miss him like crazy after today. You didn’t know his plans after school─ actually, you didn’t know anything about him and his life. You didn’t know about his future plans, about his parents, siblings if he had any, or what he liked to do on his free time. He was a blank page; the only thing you knew, however, was what he liked in bed and how he acted when he was angry, and that was it. You frowned slightly.

“Hey─” You heard him and felt his large, warm hand holding your wrist gently. “Where did you go?” He asked, his voice soft and eyes concerned. It was a new look on him; not unwelcomed but unexpected. You never saw him worrying over you, or showing his emotions so openly to you before.

You chewed on your lip, debating on telling the truth. Looking at his beautiful, blue eyes, seeing the slight vulnerability in them, you said ‘fuck it’ to yourself in your mind. “I’m gonna miss you,” you blurted. “After today, I mean. I’m gonna miss seeing you around.”

His eyes changed. Their color looked brighter, they widened, and you saw some tears gathering in them. You felt your heart beating in your throat as you watched him shedding a tear.

“I’m gonna miss you, too,” he whispered. He sounded so broken, so raw, you wanted to hug him and tell him that you weren’t going to leave him. “I’m gonna miss hearing your bitching about random things,” he added. You snorted. You rolled your eyes and snorted again.

“You─” You started but stopped to huff some when you heard him snickering. “You idiot.” Bucky laughed. His whole face lightened up as he threw his head back and laughed. You should have felt insulted because he was laughing at you, but he looked so happy, and you just couldn’t. You huffed a bit more. “I’m not gonna miss your dumb ass, Barnes,” you muttered. He giggled.

“C’mon,” he said. “You love my dumb ass.” He froze, thinking he fucked up, but your soft chuckle relaxed him.

“It is a nice ass,” you murmured. Bucky watched a large grin spread on your face with sparkling eyes. He chuckled, a soft blush sitting high on his cheekbones. You just grinned at him cheekily. You were so beautiful, so gorgeous, Bucky couldn’t believe he got the chance to have you in his life in a fucked up but good way. He wished so badly that he could take all the shitty things he did to you, but he knew it was too late.

He cleared his throat. He should leave, he thought, but before he could reach for the door, he felt your hand closing around the collar of his t-shirt, and he was yanked forward.

Your lips collided; soft and slick ones against the chapped and slightly cold ones. Bucky gasped as he shivered and gave into your kiss. His lips were the cold ones, so he let you warm them. He let you stroke, kiss and lick them, and in return, he swallowed all the whimpers and breathy little moans you released into his mouth.

“Baby,” Bucky panted as he pulled back slightly. One of his hands found its place on your cheek, cradling it gently. His thumb was stroking your cheekbones, touching your eye and caressing your slick lips.

“Please,” you whispered. “I─ Please, James, I-I need you, please.” You looked into his eyes with tears blurring your vision. You heard the small hitch in his breath, watched him grimacing with pain and then, he leaned in for another kiss.

Moaning in unison, you grabbed at him. You felt his arms wrapping around your waist, and he pushed you against the wall, caging you against it with his body. You whimpered. You missed having his body this close you, missed feeling his lips teasing yours and missed letting him kiss you all over.

“Mmmm,” Bucky hummed deeply as he nibbled on your neck gently. He was being careful about leaving marks since there was a graduation you had to go through, but you didn’t care. He could give you hickeys, and you’d cover them up with make-up. The only thing you cared, however, was to have him inside of you. You’ve gone without him for too long.

“Bucky…” You whispered. You heard him hum again. Your hand grabbed his hair, pulling a little, you whined lowly. “Bucky…” He hummed louder. You huffed. His teeth were worrying a flesh in his mouth, sucking and licking over it. Every puff of his breath was making the small hairs on your body to rise, making you shudder violently in his arms. “Sir…” You finally whimpered, and Bucky bit you hard.

“Yeah, love?” He asked. “What is it?” He kissed the place he bit. “Tell me.” You wiggled and exposed your throat to him even more. Humming approvingly, he placed kisses all over. “Come on, baby, tell me what you want, hm?”

“Take me to bed, please,” you whispered. “I missed you, missed having you in me, please.” You looked at him through your lashes. His eyes went dark, pupils dilating, Bucky let out a soft growl.

“That so, baby?” He murmured. You nodded. Your eyes still had some tears in them, and you felt one of them running down. Bucky’s face crumpled immediately; expression softening, he leaned in to kiss the tear away. You only held onto him tighter. “A’right,” he whispered. “Hang on tight, lil’ koala.” You smiled at the name but did as he said.

He kept peppering kisses on your face as he walked towards your bedroom and was gentle when he laid you down on your bed. He was standing between your legs, elbows supporting his weight, when he leaned in for another kiss.

This one feels a bit different, you thought. Your eyes were closed and hands were in his hair. He kissed you gently, softly even. The way he cradled your cheek in his palm was loving, and you felt new tears stinging. It was chaste, this kiss. Neither of you included tongue in it; it was only lips, your hands on each other’s faces and the intimacy.

Slowly, both of you got rid of your clothes. First, it was your t-shirt on the ground with your bra and then his t-shirt joined them, and then came out your shorts and his jeans. He let your panties and his boxers on, though. When you made a questioning hum, Bucky just smiled.

“Not yet,” he whispered. “I jus’ wanna keep on kissin’ you,” he added. You hummed happily. As much as you wanted him in you, you were definitely okay with more kissing.

─

Bucky probably should have walked away after he saw that you were doing fine. Hell, maybe he shouldn’t have come to check up on you. He was going to see you at the graduation, he could have waited for couple more hours, but he was scared that he might have missed you during the chaos and never saw you again.

He had to say proper goodbye this time.

He didn’t think you’d start things, though. It was always him who started these sort of things; it always him who kissed you first, who begged you to give in and tried to convince you to take you to the bed. Roles were reversed, today. You took the first step.

Bucky should have stopped this after the kiss. He should have pulled back. He should have thanked you, murmured his goodbye and wished you success and love in life. Instead, he kept kissing you.

This would be the last time he’d be taking you, though, he thought. After that, you were off to God knows where. He wasn’t even sure if he’d ever see you again. So, he gave in.

Kissing you and feeling you against his body were the best feeling he had ever experienced in this world, he was sure of it. Having your hands pulling on his hair, nails digging into the muscles of his back and being able to swallow your moans and whimpers into his kiss were the things he would always remember. He was going to remember the way you whined his name so prettily, the way you moaned breathily when he made you come… Bucky was going to miss these, was probably going to yearn these, but he knew he had to say goodbye.

He was no good to you. He only hurt you, made you cry. He did not deserve you.

Bucky knew that he was never going to be worthy of your love. He was too much of an asshole for that. He was going to have a very little piece from it while he could, though.

“Bucky…” You breathed. Your eyes were closed, and your face was peaceful. Bucky smiled. Kissing your cheeks, he nipped on your jaw lightly.

“Yeah, baby?” He murmured. He felt you wiggle under him.

“Wanna feel you,” you whispered. “Please? We don’t have much time, I wanna feel you.” Bucky held back a sigh. You were right; you did not have much time, and Bucky suddenly wanted to ditch the graduation and stay here with you in your bed.

“Alright, love,” he whispered back. “Okay, sssh.”

His fingers found the hem of your panties, and Bucky was gentle as he stripped you free of them. He slid off his own boxers, briefly straightening up to chuck them on the ground, he grabbed his wallet to dig out a condom.

You grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

“No,” you whispered. “Can we not use it? I wanna feel you.” Bucky swallowed harshly. You wanting to feel him, wanting him to be bare in you… He was going to be pissed if this was one of those dreams.

“We don’t wanna have a baby, right now,” Bucky murmured, trying to joke a little. “We’re barely adults.” You smiled as you patted his cheeks. Bucky realized your smile looked sad. Blinking, he tried to ignore it.

“I started taking the pill again,” you said. “Just wanna feel you, come on.” Bucky nodded. He could feel his body shaking lightly; nervousness and excitement mixing with his lust. He nodded again. Pressing a kiss on your forehead, he dropped the wallet.

You pulled him into a kiss as Bucky grabbed his cock and lined it up. He greedily swallowed all the moans you released while he slid into your wetness smoothly.

“Fuck,” he moaned loudly.

The exquisite feeling of your wet and warm walls around his hard cock felt so fucking good that Bucky felt like he was about to come. It was such an intense feeling, Bucky suddenly hated the existence of the condoms. It served for an understandable reason, but it also deprived him from a sensation like this one.

“Hmm,” you mewled. “Sir, fuck, you feel so good,” you panted, then. Bucky grunted.

You should have done this before, Bucky thought, he should have taken you bare earlier even though he was sort of glad that this happened on your very last time.

“’ma move, love,” he whispered into your ear. “Can’t wait anymore.” You nodded. Your hands were holding onto his sides tightly, thighs wrapped around his waist as Bucky pulled out only to slowly slide back in.

He was going to drag your last time out as long as he could. He wanted this to last. He was not going to fuck you and be done with you, no. He did that enough in the past. He was going to feel you, now.

“Mmm, Bucky!” You whimpered. Your nails were digging in deep, but Bucky didn’t care. He wanted you to leave marks so that he could look at himself in the mirror later and touch them and cry. He let out a harsh breath as he slid in once again. “Yeah!” You cried out softly. “There, please.”

Bucky did as you said and kept hitting that spot of your repeatedly. His pace was still slow and deep, he was still trying to make it last and feel you deep in his presence. You didn’t seem to mind. In fact, you were quiet as you held onto him tightly. He could only hear your barely-audible whimpers and his name as a whisper when the thrust was particularly deep.

“You feel so good, baby,” Bucky whispered. His ears were howling, his brain was going fuzzy around the edges and he started to hear some sort of a white noise through the howling.

Bucky felt his eyes and nose burn. The feeling of your naked body against his, him being bare inside of your wetness and you holding onto him tightly… Bucky felt raw. He felt vulnerable as hell. Every place of his body where it was touching yours was on fire. It was like your skin was getting etched into his, marking him completely and forever, and Bucky was letting it happen.

“James,” you breathed silently. A soft sob ripped apart from him as he buried his face into your neck. You kissed his temple, petted his hair and stroked his back. You could hear his soft sobs, silent sniff and slight shaking of his shoulders. You kissed his temple again. You pushed him back, but he scrambled to hold you against him. “I’m not going anywhere,” you whispered. “I’m here. Just lay back, alright?” Bucky sniffed silently and did as you said.

He leaned back against the headboard, and you climbed onto his lap. Lowering yourself onto his cock again, you held his head against your chest, allowed him to hide there.

“Sssh,” you murmured softly. His hands were on your back, holding you tightly. “It’s okay. I’m here.” You hugged like that for a short while. His sobs slowly ebbed away, but you continued to stroke his hair.

“’m sorry,” he whispered, voice croaked. You shrugged. You grabbed his face in your palms and lifted his head up. His eyes were glowing even more with some redness in them, his nose was a bit puffy like his eyes, but it was the expression that hit you hard.

It was pain. Raw, unhidden pain. His eyes were earnest as they looked into yours. You felt the oxygen trapped in your throat when you made eye contact. You shivered. It felt like his eyes were looking into the very depth of your soul, seeing and understanding your true feelings towards him. It scared you.

So, you leaned in and kissed him as a distraction. Anything to get his eyes off of you.

Bucky whimpered. He wrapped his arms around your waist, hugging you, as he returned your kiss. His soft lips parted lightly and allowed your tongue inside. You licked into his mouth, stole another whimper and bit down on his bottom lip.

“Move,” he whispered. “Take what you want.” He gave you a chaste kiss. You exhaled shakily as you raised yourself on your knees a little only to fall back down. You moaned. Bucky peppered soft kisses on your neck. His hold on your waist was tight still, and you didn’t have the heart to tell him to ease off even though it made breathing just a tad harder.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and buried his face to your chest. Bucky, understanding what you were implying, took a nipple in his mouth and sucked and bit on it gently. The lazy suction and slow movements of your hips were driving you crazy. Everything felt so sharp, so deep and so scary but also so good, you felt like you were falling apart.

“Come,” Bucky whispered, pulling his mouth off your nipple. “Can feel you, come, baby.” You whined loud and long as you came on his cock. Your orgasm felt like it went for a century. Its hold took over you slowly, spread through your body from your belly like a wrecking ball, but you felt the impact into your bones. You cried out.

Whining, you kissed Bucky’s cheeks, lips and nose. “Come in me,” you panted silently. “Sir, Bucky, please, come in me. I need it─” You cut yourself off with a low moan. Bucky let out a sharp cry as his hips thrusted up into your still convulsing core. He was close. His balls were tight and full with his come. Your walls were trying to milk it away from him, he could fucking feel it.

“Sweetheart,” Bucky breathed and then moaned. You cooed at him.

“’m here. C’mon,” you continued to coo. “Come in me, Sir. Lemme feel you.”

Feeling his whole body going taut, Bucky buried a moan into the crook of your neck as he came inside of you. You sighed as Bucky let out small whimpers. You could feel his come coating your walls, and you hummed.

You stayed in that position for a while, cuddling and breathing each other in. His hands were holding you tight, fingers drawing various shapes on your body while you traced his tattoos and examined his piercings. Both of you came down from your high slowly.

You got up and rolled off of him.

“Yuck,” you whispered as you felt his come leaking out of you. Bucky smiled apologetically. “I wanted it,” you reminded him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. You walked towards the bathroom, quickly cleaning yourself. When you returned to your bedroom in a bathrobe, you saw him dressing up. “Leaving already?”

Bucky grimaced. “We only have two hours to get ready,” he murmured. His voice was soft and low. You found it soothing. “I can’t hang around too long, gotta shower and change.” You nodded. This time, it didn’t feel like an excuse to run away. Graduation was onto you both, it was understandable, but Bucky wasn’t running away.

“Okay,” you nodded. “Yeah, make sense.” Bucky nodded, too. He pulled his jeans on, fixed his t-shirt and hair and grabbed his wallet.

“I, uh,” he started, inclining his head towards the door. You let out a ‘yeah’. He smiled. You were at the door when he turned around, suddenly looking very serious.

“This was the last time I was taking you, you know that right?” Bucky asked. He wasn’t taunting, or bragging or anything. His voice was still soft and low, but he sounded like he was far away. “We’re graduating, and God knows what’s expecting us. We’re gonna have different lives and… we’re growing up.” Bucky sent you sad smile. “Maybe I shouldn’t have let you kiss me like that because I wanted to say goodbye properly, but I don’t regret it, so,” he shrugged. “Take care, will you?” With teary eyes, you looked at him. Bucky sighed. In one step, you were in his arms and hugging him tightly.

You understood what he meant. Whatever you had was for during college. The end has come; it was the graduation day, and that meant you had to leave this part of your college life behind. You didn’t want to, especially not when you were in love with him, but he was right. You were going to have different lives. You were adults for a couple years, but graduating meant that you were an official one now.

“It’s gonna be alright,” Bucky whispered and pulled back. “You’re gonna be okay and successful in your job. You’re tough like that.” He smiled, this time it was a genuine one. He leaned in and kissed your forehead. “Take care, Y/N.”

“Take care, Bucky,” you whispered. “You’re gonna be one hell of a teacher.” That pulled a startled laugh out of Bucky, and you grinned tearfully. “A badass one, too.” You eyed his tattoos. He shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess,” he murmured. “Gonna be that teacher, but it’s worth it.” Giving you a lopsided smirk, he watched you for a couple seconds. Then, he walked to the door, opening it. He looked at you before he walked out. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the last second he decided against it. You ran to him, kissing his cheek and fixing his hair.

“Be gentle to yourself,” you murmured. Bucky nodded.

“I’ll try,” he whispered and then cleared his throat. “Um. Bye, Y/N.” You muttered a soft ‘bye’, and he was off. You closed the door and sank down. You let the tears wash your face and pain away.

─

As soon as Bucky was outside, he let out a sob. He wanted to tell you that he loved you, but he didn’t want to give you that hope and then crush it. He knew he would fuck up somehow if you were to try out a relationship. You didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve you.

Lifting his head up, looking at the sky, Bucky took a deep breath.

“Here comes the sun,” he whispered and turned on his heels.

His figure got lost in the sea of people as he walked down the street. He felt like he lost a piece of himself in them, too.

#bucky barnes x reader #fukcboy!bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes imagines #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes angst #fuckboy!bucky #bucky x you #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes blurbs #till dawn (here comes the sun)

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tomdutch · 2 years

Text

writer year in review: 2021

hiii <3 i responded to this tag last year and since there’s 4 hours until 2022 for me, i thought it’s time to do it again :’)

first creation and most recent creation of 2021

blue jeans was the first fic i posted! the last fic was a drabble for flufftober, home to me

one of your favorite creations from 2021

i started making social media au series this year and my favourite one is break my heart, it meant so much to me at the time and so did all the interaction it got :’)

a creation you’re really proud of

blue jeans! it took 12 pages of planning, three weeks of nonstop writing (in a pit of ocd induced depression but i’m counting it as writing productivity 😭) and it’s the longest thing i ever wrote, sitting at 33k words. i loved every bit of it, it’s my best writing and characterisation and i’m really happy with it :’)

a new style you tried this year and a fic that uses it

help i already answered this with the smau bit bc i did not read all these questions 🧍🏽‍♀️ lemme link another series though: sun & moon

a creation that took you forever

sunny side up… MONTHS y’all it took months to hit 10k words then like a week to hit 22k 😭 it really takes me forever to get into a fic but once i’m absorbed it goes a lot faster

your creation from 2021 that received the most notes

break up with your girlfriend has 1.5k which is insane y’all are insane and i love you

a creation you think deserved more notes

hmm i’d say bliss among sinners sort of flew under the radar rip

a new fandom you joined and a creation you made for it

none lmao we sedentary and loyal

a creation you made that breaks your heart

i don’t think anyone is surprised by me saying break up with your girlfriend lmaooo though i also very much enjoyed giving it an unhappy ending bc it felt like the most natural conclusion

a ‘simple’ creation that you really love

any of the flufftober drabbles tbh but late night love has a special place in my heart :’) when will tomothy impregnate me come on man

a favorite creation created by someone else

ah there were so, so many incredible fics posted this year, i feel horrible choosing just one, but i can’t deny i’ve read torn leaves, broken hearts by thee incredible @t-lostinworlds like 800 times sksksksks it’s my go-to fic for when i need some romantic indulgence. t, i’ve already talked your ears off about how much i adore this story and your writing in general, but god you really outdid yourself here.

however for peter... a billet-doux from the lighthouse by @subspider ash you unhinged genius 🧎🏽‍♀️ the bar i’ve set for myself is already so low but i truly never thought i’d ever say i wanted to take care of and fuck spider!peter or a man with more than 4 limbs in general. yet here we are. thee emotions, thee tenderness, thee yearning, thee web eating. poetic cinema.

some of your favorite content creators from the year

omg so many but to keep it a lil short bc i’m sleepy lmao: @userholland @specialk-18 @softholand @subspider @silkscream @vendettaparker @arvinsescape

and for good measure, a couple more creations of yours that you love

hmmm bubblegum pop, love lies, welcome home, what moonlight can do & girls like you

tagging: everyone i’ve tagged here is very welcome to do this (no pressure ofc!!) + @veryholland @heavenlyholland @harryhollandsgirlfriend @honeyspidey @449 @peterbenjiparker @uhlxis @justapurrcat @saturnpeter @blissfulparker @lauras-collection & anyone else who wants to!!

++ not to be cheesy, but this was a very tumultous fucking year and through that all, despite how insufferable this app can be sometimes, i truly have been able to count on this lil community of ppl to make me feel better. i’ve made some wonderful friends and interacted with lovely people, and i appreciate all of y’all so much. i hope you have a peaceful, joyful and safe 2022. thank you to anyone who’s ever left a sweet comment on or sent me an ask abt a fic of mine. it means so much to me, i’m so greatful and i’m very excited to share more writing with y’all next year ♡

#txt #writer year in review 2021

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cinnaminsvga · 4 years

Text

Sweeter than Strawberries | Jungkook

→ summary: at euphoria bakery, seasonal changes also bring seasonal menu items. when you find out that your favorite strawberry shortcake milkshake was phased out after the end of summer, it takes only one puppy eyed look from you for jeon jungkook to make it for you anyway—just don’t tell his boss about it, alright?

→ genre: bakery!au, s2l, fluff → warnings: none unless you count the fact that i’m writing shy!jungkook again :^D, we love mutual pining in this house ex dee → words: 4.5K → a/n: this was commissioned by @ihatemathanal!! i was super stoked to write this bc it’s really cute and sometimes it’s nice to just write happy fluffy things every once in a while (aka zee is turning into a fluff writer jfc) it got a lil longer than it was supposed to, but that’s bc i got carried away lol anyway i hope you guys enjoy!! (ps: this also works for the bgw bingo so... tyg for s2l fics!! let’s get it!!)

For the most part, the beginning of autumn is usually your favorite time of the year. When the tree leaves begin to yellow and the air gains a significantly colder bite, this signifies the end of pit stains and sweaty thighs and the start of sweater paws and chapped lips. Above all, you are most excited, of course, for an excuse to gorge yourself on steaming mugs of hot chocolate, paired with delicious mountains of warm gooey brownies.

For the most part, these are all things that often get you excited for the coming chill. What you do not think to remember, however, is that while these seasonal changes bring more good than bad, there still remains a little snag: a small oversight, if you will. As businesses all over the world begin the annual transition to the colder months, so does your favorite bakery across the street from your university. After all, summer ingredients grow scarcer as the year nears its end, so it’s understandable for bakeries to switch up their menu to keep up with both the supply and demand.

What does any of this have to do with anything? Well, long story short—

Your favorite strawberry shortcake milkshake is about to get phased out. No, scratch that—it’s already been phased out, right from under your very nose, no less!

You shouldn’t have been surprised, really. You have always known it was a specialty drink; your best friend had even been the one to introduce it to you just near the end of your summer classes:

“This is Euphoria Bakery,” Namjoon had said with a smile, waving cheerily at the two boys manning the till. You heard him chuckle in amusement when your eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, staring longingly at the sweet treats and baked goods lining the display case.

Namjoon had stolen your attention away, however, when he pointed to the chalkboard menu on the wall. As it turned out, the bakery also doubled as a cafe, serving the usual coffees and teas while also making the occasional specialty drink for different seasons or holidays. The chalkboard was decorated beautifully, the menu items written out in neat cursive with tiny little doodles littering its margins. On one of the boards, there was a new drink item being advertised in bold pink letters—a great summer treat!—or so it said.

“Jungkook-ssi, can you get me and Y/N a strawberry shortcake milkshake? Extra whipped cream for me, please!” Namjoon called out to one of the boys, startling the younger of the two. The boy, Jungkook, must have been busy fiddling with the cash register that he hadn’t noticed your arrival.

“N-Namjoon-hyung? Sorry, I was just busy counting the money—” Jungkook stopped short in his speech, his tongue getting caught in his mouth when his eyes landed directly on you. He had made a strangled sound, like he had swallowed his spit too quickly and was struggling to regain his composure. “H-Hello?”

You realized belatedly that he must have been greeting you, as you had been distracted by his fidgetiness. His nervousness was cute, if a little bit contagious; you couldn’t help feeling anxious too, like your heart was missing every other beat, even though you had no reason to be. “Hello! My name is Y/N. It’s my first time coming here, but Namjoon says your new summer menu item is really good? I wanted to try it out for myself.”

Jungkook nodded, still staring wide-eyed at you as if in a trance. You expected him to start... well. You weren’t an expert on how bakeries or cafes are run, but you were pretty sure he should’ve started doing something after you had spoken, perhaps ring up your order on the register, or start working on your drinks. Instead, he’s still frozen in place, like he’d somehow short-circuited within the last two minutes.

It seemed you weren’t the only one who noticed his odd behavior because the man working with him suddenly pushed Jungkook to the side, a brief smirk flashing across his face before it was quickly replaced by a more subdued, professional smile.

“Sorry about him. He’s usually my best baker, but sometimes he can get a little... distracted when he’s confronted with sweet things,” the man said nonchalantly, but it seemed that his innocent-sounding comment had embarrassed Jungkook greatly.

“Jimin-hyung!” Jungkook whined, stomping his foot not unlike a bunny. If you squinted a little bit, you could definitely see the resemblance.

Namjoon, who had been quietly watching everything unfold, chose that moment to pipe up. “Oh, I see. I didn’t know you had a type, but after thinking about it—” Namjoon shot a surreptitious glance at you, before turning back to Jungkook with a teasing grin, “—I can definitely see why.”

At the time, you had no idea what was going on, mostly confused as to why Jungkook had suddenly become so red-faced while Namjoon and Jimin giggled like a couple of high school girls. It seemed like you were somehow the main reason for his embarrassment, so you were quick to poke Namjoon in the stomach, effectively silencing him.

“Hey! Stop teasing the poor boy. He’s just being nice,” you said, pointing a soft smile back at Jungkook. “Sorry about him. I’m sure you’re an excellent baker, judging from how wonderful and cute all these cakes on the display look.” Somehow, your praise had only made Jungkook’s cheeks brighten even further. He cleared his throat as if to say something in response, before changing his mind and scuttling away to the back room instead.

“I’m going to start making your milkshake! D-don’t mind me!” He called out from behind the door, causing Jimin to finally break down into raucous giggles, nearly doubling over from his own mirth.

“Aish, that kid. He never learns, huh…” Jimin sighed, but the smile on his face is kind—the sort of fond look an older brother might have for his kid brother. He turned back to you and Namjoon with that lingering softness as he rang the two of you up, before chatting idly with you as you waited for Jungkook to finish making your drinks.

“I’ve never seen you around, Y/N-ssi. Jungkook—sorry, I meant I definitely would’ve noticed you if I did. You go to the same university as Namjoon-ssi, right?” Jimin asked, flipping a pen between his fingers with incredible dexterity. You were slightly distracted by that, faintly jealous of how his short fingers could somehow manage such a feat.

“I—yeah, I do. I’m assuming you’re also a student?”

“Yep. I actually met Namjoon-ssi when we took that one music theory class together. I was handing out flyers for this bakery after class and he happened to be one of the first people to actually come,” he said, winking at Namjoon. You watched with much interest when your friend turned a faint shade of pink, his hand coming up behind his neck—a signature tick of his whenever he was feeling shy or nervous.

“I-It was nothing… I mean, your seasonal drinks are always so good! I remember your old snowman-shaped donuts with the raspberry filling? I still dream of it sometimes,” Namjoon sighed, eyes going glassy for a moment.

Jimin laughed, his eyes crinkling into cute little crescents. “Oh, stop it! I remember how you’d come here even after we stopped serving that donut and you’d beg us to make them again.”

“And yet you never did, even though I know you have the ingredients to make them,” Namjoon pouted, but there’s endearment dancing in his expression.

You chuckled, shaking your head in disbelief. “I never pegged Namjoon as a sweet-tooth guy, so this is honestly all a very big surprise to me. I should be pumped for this milkshake then, huh? Hopefully, you aren’t just hyping it up and I’ll end up disappointed.”

Before either Namjoon or Jimin could retort, Jungkook had reappeared from the back room with two large cups in hand, almost tripping over his untied apron string but managing to get to the counter in one piece.

“Here you go. I hope you won’t be disappointed when you try it,” he said, gaze averted downwards when he hands you your cup. Your fingers grazed each other for a second, nearly causing both of you to drop the drink like it was on fire.

“S-sorry,” you laughed it off, feeling your ears get a little red from your blunder. You pointedly ignored Namjoon’s arched brow, no doubt enjoying your sudden shyness. Without waiting for him to get his own cup, you casually tear off the straw wrapper and take your first sip of the drink.

“So?” Jungkook asked after a while, watching with bated breath as you take a good gulp of the milkshake. “How is it? Is it worth the hype?” You don’t speak for a moment, further aggravating the two bakers as you carefully chewed on the bits of strawberry in the drink.

“This—” you said, speaking slowly for increased dramatic effect. You could hear Namjoon groan beside you, used to your need for unnecessary anticipation. Even as you paused for a moment longer, you could already feel the smile creeping up your face, unable to completely hide your giddiness. “—is fantastic. Show-stopping. Best thing since sliced bread! I could live on this shit alone.”

Jungkook released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, chuckling in relief as you began to completely devour the treat in mere minutes. “I’m… really glad you like it,” he said with a wide, toothy grin. You were so immersed in your drink that you missed the way he sighed softly, hand gently cradling his chest where his heart would be.

Namjoon had taken his own sip as well, sighing dreamily as the creamy and sweet flavor overtook his palate. “Truly the best drink in existence. If I was a Twitch streamer or some shit, I’d promote this regularly for free.”

His comment made Jimin giggle softly, but his gaze is trained on something else entirely. “I’m flattered, but maybe don’t promote Y/N’s cup, over here. We don’t typically have strawberries and hearts doodled all over our cups,” he said, smirking slyly.

Lo and behold, your cup did have small doodles littering its sides whereas Namjoon’s was just a plain white paper cup. “Oh,” you said, blushing furiously when you finally noticed. Your flush was nothing compared to the one on Jungkook’s cheeks, however. The two of you refused to make eye contact after that, both of you trying (and failing) to silence the amused snickers of your respective friends.

Despite that slightly embarrassing (and heartwarming) experience, that had marked the start of your love for the tiny bakery and their special strawberry shortcake milkshake. You returned to Euphoria Bakery as often as you could throughout the summer, even going to visit it without Namjoon most of the time. You would even occasionally go out of your way to visit the bakery, even after your summer classes had ended and there was really no reason for you to be around the area.

It also didn’t hurt that the boy behind the counter was especially cute, with his big doe eyes and melodic laughter that always got your heart beating erratically in your chest. It hadn’t taken long for you to admit to yourself that you had a not-so-tiny crush and every visit to the bakery only made you fall deeper for him.

Namjoon has assured you that Jungkook clearly has a crush on you too, but you’re quick to shut him down. It is one thing to be shy and awkward around a girl and another to have a crush on the aforementioned girl. As you visited the bakery more and more, you do notice that Jungkook is more reserved when it comes to other female clientele, although, dare you hope? He does seem a little bit more… nervous, when he talks to you, but that could be your lovesick eyes playing tricks on you.

Never mind the fact that he only ever seems to leave cute doodles on your cups alone, but that could just be a coincidence, right? After all, he can hardly hold a conversation with you when you try to speak with him, always eager to rush to the backroom to make your drink.

Your visits usually consist of making idle chit chat with Jimin after greeting both him and Jungkook. The younger boy often dips the moment he sees you through the glass door, automatically going to prepare your favorite summer treat without even having to ask for your order. He never stays to stick around long enough to make conversation, as he eventually excuses himself to do some chore or another. During one of your trips, you tentatively asked Jimin if Jungkook was avoiding you, to which the blonde boy just laughed heartily at your query.

“Don’t worry about it, Y/N. He’ll come around eventually; he’s just nervous. Don’t tell him I told you this, but…” he trails off, peeking over his shoulder to make sure Jungkook wouldn’t accidentally overhear him. When he turns back to you, the smirk on his face is equal parts amused and mischievous. He looks a little impish, though you aren’t sure if he’d take that too kindly. “Jungkook always stares out the door, waiting for you to arrive. I’ve caught him red-handed far too many times for it to be a coincidence.”

Your cheeks flush warmly at his words but don’t say anything after that. You suppose all you can do is wait for him to start warming up to you eventually, and you hope the day comes sooner as the summer days grow shorter and shorter.

Of course, that day does come eventually, but probably not on the day you wished it would happen.

Like all good things, summer comes to its close and so does the summer menu options offered at Euphoria Bakery. Jimin had already told you a week beforehand that your favorite strawberry shortcake milkshake would get phased out as soon as July hit, but you refused to listen. You had hoped that as his regular customer and friend, perhaps Jimin would make an exception and prolong the milkshake’s lifetime for your sake, but it seems that Jimin has made it clear that friendship and business are two separate entities that he will not allow to coincide.

“Please Jimin? Just one more time? I’ll even settle for a small size,” you beg, your entire body draped over the cashier counter like the pathetic plebeian that you are. Thankfully, since you have made it a habit to pass by the bakery when it’s close to closing time, there aren’t any other patrons left to judge your pitiful display. Unthankfully, that also means Jimin is free to flick you on the forehead with no holds barred, leaving a large red welt where his finger hits.

“I already told you that I won’t budge, not even if you licked my Balenciagas. Besides, we’re out of strawberries anyway.” Jimin huffs, rolling his eyes at your pained whines as you grasp your head in agony. “Oh stop it, will you? I didn’t even hit you that hard.”

“I beg to differ, hyung.” Jungkook pipes up, startling both you and Jimin. Jungkook is usually content to wiping down the glass displays or tables while he passively listens to the two of you bicker, humming occasionally to indicate that he’s still listening, so it comes as a small surprise whenever he does decide to speak up. He must have noticed this too, as his ears quickly begin to redden as he scrambles to finish his sentence. “I-I mean, hyung might have small hands, but his finger flicks are no joke. You could break someone’s skull with that thing.”

“Who are you calling small, huh?” Jimin growls, but the playful smirk on his face tells you that he’s just teasing. He pulls Jungkook in a headlock, who surprisingly doesn’t seem all that bothered by the fact that Jimin is actively trying to block his windpipe with his strong forearms. “Take it back!”

“Never,” Jungkook wheezes, effortlessly removing himself from Jimin’s grip. He dusts himself off, not even breathless. “Also, why’d you lie to Y/N like that? We still have strawberries in the back. How else would we make our strawberry jam tarts?”

Jimin squawks indignantly, folding his arms. “How dare you sell out our company secrets! I could fire you for that!”

Jungkook scoffs, bumping Jimin with his hip. Jungkook must also not know his own strength, because he accidentally causes Jimin to stumble a few steps back, nearly toppling over one of their bread racks. “You’re joking. If you fired me, no one would be able to make the bagels in the morning because you never know how to proof them correctly.”

“Slander!” Jimin hisses, pinching Jungkook’s side in retaliation. You and Jungkook laugh at his childish pouts, but the older boy can’t hide his own mirth for too long. “Fine. You can stay. But you,” he points at you this time, eyes narrowing with suspicion. “You better not seduce my boy over here to make your strawberry shortcake milkshake. I have eyes and ears everywhere.” He drags his finger to the corner of the walls, where there is—

“There’s nothing there?” You follow where he’s pointing, but all you can see is a stray cobweb that Jungkook must have missed while dusting this morning. “Am I supposed to be looking at something?”

“Jimin is thinking of installing surveillance cameras soon. He’s convinced that someone is trying to steal his banana cream pie recipe.” Jungkook shrugs. He slings an arm around Jimin’s shoulder, glaringly delighted when their height difference becomes even more apparent while he stands close to him. “Anyway, I promise I won’t get ‘seduced’ by her, or whatever you want to call it. Why don’t you head home early for tonight? I’ll close up and I’ll try to convince Y/N to try our other pastries as a replacement.”

You open your mouth to try and protest, but Jungkook sends you a cheeky wink, making sure that his boss doesn’t catch him in the act. Bemused but interested to see what he’s up to, you decide to keep quiet and wait for him to continue.

“Don’t try and think you’re being slick here, buddy,” Jimin says, closing in on Jungkook’s personal space by pressing his chest against his. “If I see that you break the bakery code and serve her that drink… There will be consequences.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes, sighing dramatically as he gently pries the smaller man away from him. “Yeah, yeah. I got you. No funny business, I promise. Now get out of here, hyung. Leave the rest to me.”

Jimin gives him one last firm look before squinting warily at you, lips pursed tightly. “No seducing,” he repeats, wagging his finger at you. He unties the apron around his neck, throwing it haphazardly at the coat hanger on the back door where his jacket was hanging. He folds it over his arm and points at the corner of the ceiling with his free hand once more before exiting through the front entrance, the soft bells hanging above the doorway tinkling in his wake.

When he’s gone, you release a breath that you hadn’t realized you had been holding. “Well, that was easier than expected. I didn’t think you’d be able to get him to leave. He must trust you a lot, huh?”

Jungkook shrugs. “Nah. He’s just lazy. He hates closing the bakery and will jump at any opportunity to go home early.”

You nod. “Seems like him.” There’s a beat of silence. “So… How much seducing am I gonna have to do to get my milkshake, huh?”

Like you guessed, Jungkook immediately turns red at your words, spluttering and stammering over his spit for a few seconds before managing to come up with a reply. “O-oh, there’s no need for that. I was gonna make the drink for you anyway.”

“But what about the quote-unquote consequences?” you ask, still worried that you might be getting Jungkook in trouble. You’d rather have your arm cut off than have him get punished, no matter how small it might be.

“No need to worry about that. Jimin might pretend to be a prickly old man sometimes, but he’s mostly just full of hot air,” Jungkook snorts, shaking his head in amusement. “He’ll just make me treat him to some skewers or something. He’s just teasing.”

“If… If you say so? I just really don’t want him to get angry with you…” you say, voice turning small as you tried to reign your embarrassment in. “I know I made a fool of myself just moments ago and begged like a baby for the milkshake, but I was just exaggerating…”

“Something tells me that you aren’t, but let’s pretend for your sake that you are,” Jungkook says. You huff indignantly at his teasing, but you’re more overjoyed by the sight of his cute bunny smile. You had only seen it in passing a few times in the past, but seeing it directed at you is an entirely different experience. Because of you, your mind helpfully supplies.

He heads over to the backroom to begin preparing your drink, but he keeps the door open this time so you can see him even from behind the counter. You can mostly only see the large industrial ovens and bread racks filled to the brim with all sorts of pastries proofing for the night, but you do catch a glimpse of the sole blender near the back. Jungkook grabs the glass jar first and then walks over to the fridge just out of your sight, most likely to grab the ingredients needed for your milkshake.

The bakery is mostly silent, save for the sound of Jungkook moving and assembling everything. You rack your brain for some sort of conversation starter, as the atmosphere between the two of you has begun to return to its usual awkward state as you skirt around each other, unsure of where either of you stands. You might have known him for a while now, but today is the most you’ve ever spoken to him and the tension is palpable.

“So.” You clear your throat, heart beating a mile a minute in your chest. “I… guess this is going to be the last time I have this drink, huh?”

The sound of Jungkook chopping on the cutting board pauses for a second. You can only see his left shoulder from where you’re standing, but you can see it tense even then. “I… I mean, will you stop coming over to the bakery if it is the last time?”

There are so many things you want to say all at once, but the words somehow get caught in your throat. You want to say that you love coming to the bakery to see them (though it’s mostly Jungkook if you’re being honest) and that the strawberry shortcake milkshake had just been an excuse to visit for a while now. You want to keep visiting for as long as they’ll have you—but you don’t know how to say it without hot humiliation running down your spine. You don’t want to weird him out by confessing to him all of a sudden. And so, you clam up, not knowing how to respond.

When Jungkook throws in all the ingredients in the blender, he doesn’t turn it on immediately. He tilts his head to the side, not fully looking at you but giving you a view of his beautiful side profile. You see his Adam’s apple bob for a moment, his tongue poking out to wet his lips before he speaks. “Because… If that’s how it’s going to be, then maybe… buying a couple of skewers for Jimin won’t be so bad.”

You freeze. “What? Are you saying that...”

“I’ll keep making the drink for you, even if it’s not on the menu anymore?” Jungkook finishes, turning fully to face you. There’s a shy grin on his face, coupled with the ever-present pink flush high on his cheekbones. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. We’ll have to be sneaky about it, though. You’ll have to come to the bakery only when I’m closing so that he doesn’t catch us but otherwise…” He scratches the tip of his nose, looking embarrassed. “If… If you’re fine doing that, I mean.”

It feels like an eternity before you can remember how to function like a regular human being again. Your insides feel like molten lava and you’re certain that your internal organs have begun to self-destruct right after that super-effective hit from Jeon Jungkook, super baker boy extraordinaire. It’s mind-blowing how effortlessly cute he can be, making you realize belatedly that his quiet demeanor over the past few weeks had been a blessing and not a curse. If he had been this sweet with you from the get-go, you’d surely be melted butter on a sidewalk by now.

“I would love you—I mean, I would love it if you did that for me, actually.” You stammer, resisting the urge to punch yourself in the tit. You’re thankful for the lack of mirrors at the bakery, for you are positive that you must look like the devil’s blazing red testicles at this point.

“Great,” Jungkook smiles softly. He turns the blender off, pouring your drink into a paper cup. “Oh, before I forget…” He grabs a marker from the small tin can near the cash register, and you watch as he quickly scribbles a few hearts around the circumference of the cup. “There we go. Now it’s done.”

As Jungkook hands your drink to you, you’re hit with a moment of déjà vu when your fingers brush just like the first time you had met. You sense the same familiar shock of electricity when you touch, but instead of pulling away like before, Jungkook surprises you for the third time that day.

When he’s sure that you have a secure grip on your cup, he grabs your free hand with his, unfurling your fingers until he can get a hold of your pinky. He curls his pinky into yours, linking them together with a bashful smile on his lips. “There. Now we pinky promised to each other.”

“Y-yes. Of course,” you mumble, giggling lightly when he still refuses to let go. “I pinky promise.”

Five minutes away from Euphoria Bakery, Jimin sits quietly in his parked car, his figure hunched over the small screen of his phone as he chuckles loudly to himself. There is a tiny video of two people, a boy and a girl, with their hands held together. Despite the quality being grainy and warped, Jimin needs no confirmation as to who those people are; he’s always known, after all.

“All according to keikaku.” He whistles happily, already salivating at the thought of all the skewers Jungkook will have to buy for him.

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fictionissocialinquiry · 4 years

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FISI’s Favourite Zutara Fics

A lil late for ZFAW’s Saturday prompt, sorry about that! Haven’t had any internet over the weekend. But better late than never!

I’m not gonna lie… a lot of these are angsty af. But I promise you they’re not gratuitous angst! They’re well written, beautiful stories that will make you feel like a better person for having read them. These are my favourite all time fics, ones I’ve read more than once and will continue to read (even though I’m taking a week break from fandom and fic).

Multi-Chaptered Fics

The Sparrowkeet Series by audreyii_fic

To be honest, this story’s summary doesn’t do it justice so I ain’t including it. Originally a one shot, Sparrowkeet is headcanon for me now. Move over canon, this is where it’s at. Audreyii_fic’s characterisation, world building, and writing is exquisite. It’s incredible. She manages to channel the same fun and whimsical energy from the show while allowing the characters to grow and develop to places I wish they had actually been taken.

This one is a fandom Must Read and one I return to regularly.

Clothe Me in Seasons, Dress Me in Snow by sadladybug

It is not the memorial she deserves, nor the one she would want. But it can't be helped. He owns no property in the other nations, and he needed to keep her close. Closer than she was in life, anyway.

Zuko's reflections on a life lived and a life that could have been.

This is one of the best written fics I’ve ever read. It’s tragic and deep and will hurt you in all the tender places but you would be doing yourself a favour if you read this. There’s a real bittersweet feeling to it and the love between them is just… urg, visceral.

Lovable by LadyCharity

Zuko knew that he could not save Azula. He could only try to forgive her. Fittingly enough, those two were one in the same.

I love stories that make Zutara their centerpiece but every now but then a story like this comes along. A story where their relationship builds almost incidentally because the plot and character development straight up hijack your emotions. I got so invested in this story. Zuko is amazingly well characterised and his complicated thoughts and feelings around his father and Azula are incredibly well written!

One Shots

Lunar Ephemerality by @formerlygoldilocks (goldilocks23)

After multiple failed attempts on his life and years of self-set expectations, Fire Lord Zuko is a shell of the man he used to be. But Katara won't turn her back on those who need her.

I really didn’t expect this to hit as hard as it did. This straight up snuck up on me, fly-kicked my feelings, and by the end I had written an 800 word comment that was too big for AO3 and I had to contact the author directly to send it to her. Awkward. I couldn’t help myself. The side to Katara we see here is so good, her empathy and love for her friends are one of the things I love seeing most in AtLA fanfic. I’m a sucker for Zuko having complete breakdowns and having to piece himself back together too. So sue me. I like it when they suffer a lil bit. The writing is absurdly good and I will be keeping an eye out for any new stories by goldilocks23!

31 Minutes by @ifyouwereamelodymeg

It's quite astounding, really, how quickly she's learned to translate him. They've spent a grand total of zero time together outside of training, and he's hardly big on chat so she knows next to nothing about his life.

But she knows him, probably better than she knows anyone at the moment – with every tap of his fingers, every crook of his lips, every turn in his voice, he just...

He makes sense to her. It's weird.

I’m a sucker for fic writers playing with style to make the story pop and boyo does this fic deliver. This is one of the rare times that I’ve been dumbstruck at the end of a story— I just couldn’t accept the ending. Because I’m a sucker for pain, (and this story will bring The Pain) I loved it. The ease of Zuko and Katara’s growing relationship in this bowls you over, it’s absolutely beautiful and you find yourself nodding along emphatically when Zuko calls himself an idiot for waiting… “Life’s short, kids, live each moment as though it could be your last,” says this fic as it pulls my heart out and dropkicks it off a cliff.

i count to five (and life passes by) by @markedmage

Five heartbeats.

I still haven’t forgiven Mage for this one. I think it’s the best thing she’s written to date! I mean, tragic and painful and heart-rending but holy shit is it powerful <3

The Lake of the Dismal Swamp by @thewhiitelotus

Spook af. Spook (horror) is real hard to do well but thewhiitelotus is coming for your goosebumps and those shivers down your spine. She has a way of balancing beautiful, evocative imagery with action (in this and other stories of her) that just keeps you reading!

Calloused by @rideboldlyride

Iroh hadn’t been able to watch. The pure horror of a man - a father- burning their child for a slight infraction... He couldn’t do anything to stop it, but he will stop his brother from destroying entirely the kind boy he knew Zuko could be.

This is a painfully underappreciated fic for how great the characterisation is. I know we in the zutara fandom tend to not read stories that aren’t Zuko/Katara centric as often but do yourself the favour of reading this (or listening to it: RideBoldlyRide has done us the gift of recording a podfic for this and it’s stupidly *good*). This story is Iroh confronting Ozai just after he burns Zuko’s face and it kicks.

four days and three nights by @hinaoyamas (lettersfromnowhere)

Zuko discovers firsthand that nothing is more fleeting than happiness, or more enduring than memory.

Do you like reading stories with a distant, omniscient narrator? The kind that read like a myth from the ancient world? Welp, hit the hyperlink, friend, cause this one’s for you. Not only is the writing exquisite but the characterisation and painful inevitability of the plot is grade A.

For the Fire Nation by tullyblue12

He falls in love with her for his country before he falls in love with her for himself. A Zuko/Katara AU that explores how love and duty aren’t always mutually exclusive.

There are about 40,000 exquisite lines in this story but here is just one of my favourites: “He falls in love with her for his country first. That’s what his people never understand.” This fic says a lot with so few words, which is something I really look up to! In 2,800 words, tullyblue12 does what some 100,000k fics cant: They make you feel.

Guide Me Home by Rashaka

To sleep, perchance to dream. Katara and Zuko find a friendship they never expected in a place that seemed impossible.

This is a one shot I will forever wish for a continuation of. The setup is just… so juicy. There’s a real sorrowful innocence to this story that the unique short, dialogue only scenes really punch home. I know some people don’t like dialogue only fics but when done well like in this one, it leaves you with the impression of something deeper than a 1,185 word fic has any right to!

Other Favourites!

Hopeless by tullyblue12 — Kids grow up fast when a cruel world awaits them. In times of hopelessness, Katara and Zuko grow together. In times of separation, they hope to see each other again.

Speechless by goldilocks23 — Zuko has a medical condition. Or: Zuko speaks in haiku at inappropriate times.

Don’t Follow Me Down by eleventy7 — Katara is the dread queen of the underworld, ruler of the dead, destined to reign her cold kingdom alone. Until a sun god catches her eye. A Hades/Persephone retelling with incredible writing.

I Don't Speak Meow Language by @botherkupo (Boogum) — In which Zuko adopts a cat and Katara just wonders what spirits she pissed off to deserve this fate.

I have the privilege of being friends with some of these authors (they know who they are) and am in near daily awe and gratitude for the works of free fiction they provide us, the fandom. And not just any old stories: Guys... Really good ones!! Can I ask that if you go check out these fics, can you just drop a kudos or a comment their way? If you’re feeling shy just copy and paste this into the comments box anonymously: “WOW! Loved this! Thank you so much for writing it!”

I know it would mean the world to this talented bunch <3

#ZFAW #Fic Rec #favourite zutara fanfics of all time #zutara #atla

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morganaspendragonss · 3 years

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turn to dust all that i adore

whoops it’s a 2b spec fic based on two seconds in a promo love that

title from things we lost in the fire by bastille

ao3 | 2.3k | 2b spoilers

The fire continues raging whenever TK closes his eyes, and he doesn’t know if it’s better or worse than the sight that greets him when his eyes are open. He wishes he could wipe that awful night from his memory completely and go back to where they were just a few days ago, happy and safe and in their home. They don’t even have that anymore, the house little more than ash, and TK would be okay with that - they could rebuild from that - if Carlos weren’t so silent and still in front of him.

The fire was three days ago; TK hasn’t seen Carlos awake in four. He’d been in the middle of a 24-hour shift when the call came through, bickering with Nancy about the merits of various sitcoms, Captain Vega probably rolling her eyes in the back as they returned to the station.

Nancy had quietly offered to drive when they found out the address, but TK had shaken his head. His hands were tight on the steering wheel, and he’d pressed down a little harder than necessary on the accelerator, praying he’d be able to get there fast enough. The house was a lost cause, if what dispatch said was true, but if he could save Carlos, then that would be enough.

He’d failed - of course he had. An explosion had ripped through the building just as they’d pulled up, the glass shattering as flames leapt from their bedroom window. TK had felt a cold dread settle inside him, and his worst fears had been confirmed when the team emerged with Carlos limp in their arms.

He’s alive, but the damage had been done. Too much smoke inhalation and multiple horrific burns left him hanging by a thread; it’s a miracle, really, that the heart monitor is still beeping out a steady rhythm. TK can’t be thankful, though, not when he knows everything could turn on its head in an instant. Not when they’ve already lost so much.

A soft knock on the door grabs TK’s attention. He looks up to see his dad standing there, a sad smile on his face and a plastic-wrapped sandwich in hand. TK twists his face into a grimace and returns to watching the bed.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Son -”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You’ve been saying that for days,” his dad points out, walking over and pointedly laying the sandwich in TK’s lap. “Starving yourself isn’t going to make him wake up any faster.”

TK barely spares the sandwich a cursory glance. “Nor is forcing myself to eat.”

His dad sighs, crossing the room and grabbing the extra chair. He sets it down next to TK’s and, though he doesn’t look, TK knows he’s being subjected to one of his ‘dad looks’.

“TK, you’ve barely left the hospital since it happened,” he says. “I know it’s hard right now, but you can always come back and stay with me. You still have a home.”

“Not without him, I don’t.”

He hears his dad’s sharp intake of breath, feels his hand running through his hair, but TK’s detached from it all. He studies Carlos’s face, every part familiar to him, but so strange and foreign now. Carlos has never been a restless sleeper - that’s all TK - but there’s usually some movement. A crease appearing between his brows as his face scrunches up, his muscles shifting as he pulls TK closer, his nose gently nuzzling the back of TK’s neck. This still version of him isn’t Carlos. This isn’t the man TK loves.

But it’s close as he’s going to get until Carlos comes back to him, and TK can’t stand the thought of leaving him. In all the months they’ve been dating, they’ve rarely spent a night apart, and most of those were either on shift or still in their bed, with a pillow that smelt like the other and the promise of seeing each other again soon. Going back to his dad’s house would only be bearable if Carlos were with him, but that’s not possible, so neither is leaving.

“TK, I -”

“If you’re just here to give me this,” he interrupts, waving the sandwich in his dad’s direction, “then, thanks, but you should probably go now. His parents are coming in a bit and the hospital barely lets three of us be in here as it is.”

His dad recoils, wounded, but doesn’t budge, much to TK’s irritation. He’s really not in the mood for any more meaningless talk or thinly veiled attempts to get him to eat or sleep.

“Dad, please.”

“I was contacted by the PD this morning,” his dad says instead. TK’s head snaps up, eyes wide. “They found out what caused the fire.”

TK waits, but his dad suddenly becomes very reticent, his eyes flicking between TK and the bed. Clearly, this wasn’t something as simple as the electrics blowing or the washing machine malfunctioning; it’s worse, and TK’s breath seems to stick in his lungs.

“Dad?” he croaks.

Their eyes finally meet, his dad’s face arranged into a sympathetic grimace. “It was arson.”

Time stops.

“What?” TK breathes, shaking his head. Arson. Someone burned their home down and almost killed Carlos, on purpose. And for what? To kill them? The only reason TK wasn’t caught up in it too, after all, is because he was fortunate enough to be on shift that night. “Do they know who?”

“I’m sorry,” his dad says, voice full of regret. “It’s been happening all over the city, no leads so far.”

TK sits back in his chair, a white-hot spark of anger flashing through him as he once more takes in the many bandages on Carlos’s body. He wonders if this was how Judd felt those weeks ago when he found out the guy who’d run them off the bridge was also in the hospital, because TK would very much like to go out and find the people who did this. He wants them to pay for what they’ve done to the love of his life.

As is sensing where his mind has gone, his dad starts rubbing gentle circles on his back, though it doesn’t calm TK like it usually does.

“I think I’ll stay here until his parents show up,” he says. “If that’s alright?”

It’s a non-question; his tone makes it clear that he’s not going anywhere no matter what, but TK doesn’t have it in him to put up even a token argument. He simply nods wearily, and settles in for another day of waiting - another day without his boyfriend’s comforting presence at his side.

A week after the fire, he’s told he can go back to the house, if he wants. He doesn’t, really, but he goes anyway, knowing that Carlos will have questions when he wakes up, and maybe he’ll be able to salvage something.

Probably not, but it’s never been the stuff that’s mattered to him. It’s been what the loss of it all represents, the memories that now exist only in his head and in the ashes.

TK stares up at the blackened husk of their home, something keeping him rooted in the middle of the street. Police tape is still up and there’s an officer waiting to escort him in when he’s ready, but TK just… He doesn’t know if he can do this.

“TK?”

He jumps at the unexpected voice, turning to see Carlos’s neighbour from two doors down, Molly, her daughter trailing behind her. TK doesn’t know many of the people around here, but Molly and her husband are often to be found playing with Lilia on the porch, and they always make a point of greeting them. Carlos has even babysat for them a few times, though TK’s rarely there for that.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” she says, smiling apologetically. “How are you doing?”

He shrugs. “I’m okay,” he replies, and Molly seems to understand what that really means. “Carlos is still in hospital, but we’re, um. We’re hoping he’ll wake up soon.”

She nods, glancing at the house. “It’s terrible, what happened. You’ve got somewhere to stay, right?”

“I’ve only just moved out of my dad’s place, so I’ll just go back there while we figure something out. Guess he’ll be glad we don’t have to transport all my stuff this time.”

The joke is hollow, and Molly’s face twists in sympathy. “Well, if you need anything, we’re happy to help out however we can. Carlos has always been good to us - to everyone here - and we hate that you’re going through this now. Send him our love, okay?”

TK gives her a small smile, nodding. He’s about to excuse himself to finally go inside, when Lilia tugs at her mother’s hand, whispering something in her ear when Molly leans down.

“We were baking when we saw you pull up,” Molly explains, straightening. “Lilia insisted on bringing these out to you, didn’t you, Lils?”

Lilia beams up at him when TK looks over to her, thrusting a small tupperware in his general direction. “Cookies!” she exclaims, by way of explanation.

TK chuckles and squats so he’s at her height, taking the box from her. She’s watching him expectantly, so he takes a cookie - clumsily decorated with mountains of sprinkles - and pops it in his mouth, making a show of enjoying it.

“My compliments to the chef,” he says, licking his lips playfully. Lilia giggles, then, without warning, throws her arms around him, the force of it almost sending him on his ass. Molly gasps and reaches to pull her daughter away, but TK shakes his head at her, mouthing an, It’s okay.

Steadying himself, he gently wraps his arms around Lilia’s back, allowing her to bury her face in the crook of his neck as she attempts to squeeze him within an inch of his life. It’s enough to pull a real smile out of him, though tears also spring to his eyes, a sudden emotion overwhelming him. He brushes them away hastily when Lilia unwraps herself from him, but it’s clear that Molly noticed, judging by the sad smile on her face.

“I hope Mr Carlos gets better soon,” Lilia says, her voice earnest in a way only a five-year old’s can be.

TK nods. “Me too.”

“He gave me sweets.”

A laugh bursts out of him at the sudden comment. TK leans close to her, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Shall I tell you a secret? He gave me sweets as well.”

Lilia gasps as though she’s heard something incredibly scandalous. TK laughs again, before standing back up and turning to Molly, who’s been watching the two of them with clear amusement.

“Thank you,” he tells her. “For coming out and talking, and for the cookies.”

“It’s the least we could do,” she says, waving him off. “Like I said, let us know if you need anything, even if it’s just to talk. We’ll be there.”

TK thanks her again, waving at them both as they head back inside. He turns to his and Carlos’s place, then takes a deep, shaky breath.

He can do this.

Inside is much as he expects. The worst of the rubble has been cleared, but there’s still some detritus lying around, including a few of their things. TK stoops and carefully retrieves a framed photo from the floor, wiping the dust off the cracked glass. The picture inside is barely recognisable, the colours warped, but he knows the image like the back of his hand - a candid of him and Carlos taken by Marjan during one of their hangs. She’d caught Carlos mid-laugh, a grin plastered on TK’s own face as they’d stared into each others’ eyes.

Marjan had grumbled about how frustratingly lovesick they both were, but the photo quickly became one of TK’s favourites, and it had made its way into a frame less than a week later. TK’s heart aches at the sight of it ruined; he can always print another as it’s still saved on his phone, but it still hurts. Everything does, right now.

As he gazes around the space, eyes catching on mementos and remembering how it all used to look, TK is struck by how much this place had felt like home. He’s only been officially living here for a month, but it’s been theirs for far longer than that, TK’s stuff worming its way in among Carlos’s until it became natural to see two pairs of shoes by the door, two sets of keys in the bowl.

This was theirs, and now it’s nothing.

He drops the photo frame on his way out the door, not sparing a look back as he walks away.

He gets the call halfway back to the hospital and TK forgets all about speed limits as he races the rest of the way. He sprints through the corridors, the path to Carlos’s room learned by heart, and skids to a stop in the doorway, his eyes filling with tears at the sight before him.

Carlos, awake and smiling and alive.

TK lets out a sob, his hand flying to his mouth. Carlos turns, his smile widening when he catches sight of him, and he wordlessly lifts his palm up in invitation.

And who is TK to refuse it?

“Hi, baby,” he gasps, before kissing his boyfriend, palms framing Carlos’s face. Carlos’s hands come up to clutch at his wrists, and TK presses their foreheads together, silently revelling in this moment.

There’s a long road still ahead of them - Carlos needs to heal, and they’ll have to do so much to get back on their feet - but he can’t care about that right now. Being here, right now, with Carlos’s warm touch stroking over his skin, is all TK needs.

Carlos came back to him, and that’s the only thing that matters.

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harksness · 3 years

Text

No Longer Yours (Chapter 4)

Agatha Harkness x Reader

Masterlist × Chapter Three × Chapter Five

A/N: Your Song by Elton John makes me think of Agatha for some reason so I needed to work it into this fic somehow. Also, thank you all so much for your support, I’m so happy to see how much love this fic is getting!! I reread all of the comments on it all of the time it just makes me so happy! I also edited all of this and stayed up until 2AM working on this for you guys because I wanted to update it for you so bad, I feel like it’s a lil sloppy in some parts but I hope it ended up okay!!

A/N: Okay YIKES I came back and edited it hopefully I fixed all the mistakes bc like I said... YIKES.

Word Count: 5,383

Summary: You're excited to spend time with Billy and Tommy.

Warnings: None.

When you woke up, you felt good. Content and happy, the stress of your life temporarily lifted off of your shoulders. But that feeling was short-lived when you noticed the lack of Agatha in your bed, and it was quickly replaced with a pit of growing anxiety. It felt strange not having her arms wrapped around you when you woke up.

“Agatha..?”

You called out nervously as you sat up in bed, your voice cracking as you yelled out for your wife. You cringed at how you sounded, like a child calling for their mother after having woken up from a nightmare. You couldn't help it. Worry filled you when you noticed she wasn't by your side. If a migraine overtakes you, who will be here to pick up your pieces and make sure you’re okay? Who will draw you back into reality?

Every time you’ve been overtaken by that unbearable pain she’s been the one to ground you. She’s always been there to anchor you and put you back together. What will you do without her? Panic consumes you- your heart beating so rapidly you feel as if it'll pop right out of your chest.

Muffled voices sounded from downstairs, and after a brief pause, it was followed by the familiar sound of Agatha’s heavy footsteps making their way up the stairs.

“Oh my gosh you’re finally awake! You must actually be Sleeping Beauty, I was starting to get worried.”

Agatha joked softly as she appeared in the doorway, and immediately she knew something was wrong.

“Where did you go?”

Her heart sank at the sound of your voice, a sharp drop into her stomach. You sounded so small and broken, and your eyes, looking to her for help made her heart flutter. You needed her. Everything that she had worked so hard for was coming to fruition- you needed her again.

She let a comforting smile flutter across her features as she quickly made her way to you, sitting down on the bed next to you.

“Oh, baby.. I’m right here.”

She coos, wrapping her arms around you and pulling you close to her. She can’t help the pride that swells within her when you tightly wrap your arms around her waist, burying your face into her chest. Her fingers softly comb through your locks, and she does her best to be gentle as she works the knots out of your hair.

The fact that you had broken through the sleep spell she had cast on you didn’t matter right now. Sure, it could interfere with her later plans but she’ll cross that bridge when she comes to it. The only thing that matters right now is that you need her. The need is different now then when you’re lost in a migraine, or coming out of that post-spell haze, now you realize that you need her to hold you together. Agatha feels consumed with happiness, like she just might combust- you need her.

You immediately feel a sense of relief when she wrapped her arms around you, as her soft voice reached your ears. She’s here and you’re safe.

“I’m sorry if I worried you, hon.. You were so tired, I just wanted to let you get your rest. I’ll never be far away from you. I’ll always be here.”

She whispered softly into the roots of your hair, and again, you felt relief. She will always be here to protect you, just a shout away. There was a knot of uneasiness in the pit of your stomach, but it was easy to ignore it by focusing on the ghost of her lips against your head.

“It’s okay, I don’t know why I got so worried.”

You laughed it off as you pulled back slightly, not wanting her to let you go. You’re guessing she could sense this, because she squeezed you softly- a reassurance that she will always be here.

“The last few days have been rough.. It’s understandable. I’ll always be here for you to fall back on, no matter what.”

Agatha leans in and rests her forehead against yours, a soft smile on her lips. Your heart flutters in your chest at the gesture, her lips leaving a soft, reassuring kiss against yours. You’re disappointed when she pulls away, but you don’t fail to notice how your chest feels less heavy in the aftermath of her comforting words and loving touches.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Agatha Harkness.”

You smile softly at her, and Agatha feels the air leave her lungs when your eyes meet hers. Like she’s the only thing in the world that matters. You need her and she can see it in your eyes.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you either, my sweet girl.”

She hums happily as she peppers your face in adoring kisses, her hands coming up to cup your cheeks as she kisses the corners of your smile. Your heart swells at the affectionate gesture, you’re being showered in so much love you feel like you just might die of happiness. Just then the sound of muffled voices reach your ears once again.

“Is someone here?”

Your wife leans back, her hands reluctant to leave your cheeks.

“Billy and Tommy. I checked in on Wanda earlier and she was having a rough morning so I offered to look after her little rays of sunshine. I hope that’s okay?”

At her words you sit up, scrambling to get out of bed and gather your clothes for the day. You swallow hard at the loss of contact, missing the feeling of her comforting, soft touch, but you’re so focused on getting ready and seeing the twins that you just brush off the feeling.

“Of course it’s okay! Why didn’t you say they were here?”

“I guess I was just too focused on helping my ray of sunshine cheer up.”

Agatha smiled at you from where she was sitting on the edge of your shared bed, and you couldn’t help but return the sweet smile. She’s such a romantic.

You lean down and press a soft kiss against her forehead.

“I gave them the candy bars you saved for them, they were very excited. Wanda, not so much.”

A laugh escaped your lips at her words, and she stood from the bed.

“I’m glad they were excited! Thank you for doing that for me.”

She comes up to you, wrapping her arms around your waist and pulling your body flush to hers. You melt at the contact, a smile spreading across your features- you feel drunk off of her.

“Of course, anything for my darling girl.”

She purred softly into your neck, before leaving a kiss over one of the many purple marks she had colored your skin with last night. Her hands wrapped around your waist, inching lower.

“Agatha! Billy and Tommy are downstairs!”

You laugh as she continues to trace the marks on your neck with her kisses.

“Yeah, they’re downstairs-”

“Ag’s! Not now!”

She leans back and purses her lips in disappointment.

“You’re so needy..”

You can’t help but taunt her, and she purses her lips down at you.

“Yeah, and you’re such a tease.”

Agatha pouts and you roll your eyes playfully at your wife as you both begin to make your way downstairs, leading your wife out of your bedroom. Right when Billy and Tommy see you, they jump up in excitement.

“Hi boys!”

You smile brightly as they jump up and race around the couch to greet you, and that’s when the sound of the radio in the kitchen reaches your ears, the soft sound of Let It Be by The Beatles drifting through the air. It’s quiet and barely audible, Agatha loves listening to music in the morning, on that dingy little radio of hers while she drinks her tea.

“Auntie! Thank you for the candy bars!”

Tommy says as he reaches you first, wrapping his arms around your torso to give you a big hug that you quickly reciprocated. Billy is not too far behind.

“I’m happy to see you’re feeling better, Auntie! We were worried about you when Aunt Agnes said you were sick.”

You pull the other twin in for a hug as Tommy moves away, he wraps his little arms around your waist and squeezes you tightly.

“You boys are so sweet! I’m doing better now, I promise.”

Agatha grins down at you as she watches you with the children. Whenever you catch her looking at you, she looks so worried. A dull sense of unease rises in your chest, but you do your best to push it down. She’s just worried about you having another migraine, that’s all.

“I’ll go make you a cup of tea.”

She says softly before making her way to the kitchen. You notice the uneaten sandwiches and juice sitting on the coffee table.

“Oh! Did Auntie Agnes make you some lunch? I need to eat too, why don’t we all eat, then we can play a game of hide and seek, hm?”

You ask them, and immediately the twins perk up at your words.

“Heck yeah, that would be awesome!”

Billy nods eagerly at his brother's words.

“Alright! Then go and eat up, because it’s not a good idea to play hide and seek on an empty stomach.”

“Yes Ma’am!”

They scurry around the couch and start to inhale their food. You can’t help but laugh at them.

“Hey! Don’t choke you guys, then I’ll have no one to play hide and seek with!”

They call out their apologies to you and you roll your eyes playfully and make your way into the kitchen. You go to the bread drawer and put some bread in the toaster, and right as you do, Agatha approaches you with a hot mug of tea. You take it in your hands and hum appreciatively as you take a cautious sip.

“Just how I like it.”

You smile gratefully at your wife, and you feel your heart skip a beat as the first few notes to a familiar song reach your ears. Agatha gasps.

“It’s our song! Or dare I say.. Your Song.”

She smirks at you as she reaches her hand out for you to take. Agatha pulls you to her, immediately wrapping one arm around your shoulders as you both start to sway to the music and Elton starts to sing.

You feel a sense of familiarity with the song, but you can't quite remember why.

“It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside. I’m not one of those who can easily hide..”

You and Agatha start to whisper the lyrics dramatically to each other, laughing as you do so.

“I don’t have much money but, boy, if I did, I’d buy a big house where we both could live..”

As the song continues, you laugh and smile at each other as you softly sing the lyrics and you get the strangest sense of deja vu. In your head it feels as if a distant memory is playing, you and Agatha dancing to this song in your kitchen. It’s all different, though. Your kitchen, you, Agatha. You look slightly younger, your clothes, your home and the decor extremely outdated.

Your mind switches between the two as you dance. Swapping out the Agatha in front of you for a younger version of your wife.

Her hair long and flowing, the collar of her white button up shirt folding over the black shirt she was wearing on top of it. Her mothers pendant rested low on her chest, her skirt with a triangular pattern brushing against her legs as you twirled and danced around the kitchen, flickering back to the Agatha in front of you, her hair pulled into a loose bun, stray hairs framing her beautiful features. Now she’s wearing her favorite sweater and a pair of dress pants. Two different Agatha’s from two different centuries, but both of them are wearing the same, lovesick smile, with the same lovestruck eyes.

Agatha takes your hand and twirls you around, and you ever so gracefully bump into the counter and it brings you back to reality. You shake it off as a daydream, even though something doesn’t feel right. She apologizes, and grabs your hip, guiding you back towards her. You make yourself brush it off, and focus on your Agatha in front of you.

You both sang out as you reached the chorus, intentionally being silly and obnoxious as you did so, but quite enough so you hopefully don’t disturb the boys in the next room. Agatha took over singing, placing a hand on her heart as she serenaded you.

“..I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind, that I put down in words-”

You join in and sing with her.

“How wonderful life is while you’re in the world!”

You laugh as Agatha grabs your hand and spins you around once again, eventually leaning in and pressing her forehead against yours after slowing down.

“I swear, this part of the song was written just for you..”

You say quickly before jumping in on the lyrics.

“So excuse me forgetting but these things I do! You see I’ve forgotten if they’re green, or they’re blue-”

You sing out to her, taking her face in your hands as you prepare for the next verse.

“Anyway the thing is, what I really mean..”

You whisper the words as you lean in, allowing your thumbs to softly trace the skin under her eyes, admiring those striking blue orbs of hers.

“Those are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen.”

Agatha laughs bashfully, grabbing you and pulling you into her chest.

“You’re such a romantic.. I love it.”

She kisses the top of your head and your cheeks hurt from how much she makes you smile.

“Says the woman who grabbed me to dance when our song came on.”

You lean back, and the both of you start swaying to the music again.

“Touche, my love, touche.."

You bury your head in her shoulder as you both continue to dance. Agatha whispers the lyrics to you, her arms holding you tightly to her. You notice how stiff she is, her fingers digging into your skin as she holds onto you.

“I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words..”

Agatha leans back, guiding you to do the same with a soft pull on your chin.

“How wonderful life is while you’re in the world.”

She whispers, her voice cracking near the end. There’s a nostalgic look on her face as she studies you, her lips pulled tight and her eyes swirling with so many different emotions. Agatha swallows hard. You’re not the only one with deja vu, your wife’s heart aches when she remembers how you used to dance to Elton John in your dingy little kitchen all of those years ago. She feels as if you’ve traveled back in time, and she wishes more than anything that the two of you had.

What she wouldn’t give to go back to those simpler times. When you followed her around like a loyal puppy eager to please it’s master. It was so much easier to protect you then, when you never wanted to leave her side.

You narrow your eyes in confusion at her behavior- she’s acting so strange. You want to ask her what’s wrong, but right at that moment the toaster pops and immediately you jolt, letting a curse fall from your lips.

“Shh, there are young ears present!”

You look back to her and notice the joyful smile on her features. She seems more relaxed than a moment ago, but something about the way she’s been looking at you today makes you feel uneasy. You smile reassuringly at your wife.

“It scared me! I’m sorry!”

You say with a hand over your heart as a breathy laugh falls from your lips. Agatha grins, laughing softly in kind.

You take the toast out of the toaster and begin to spread butter onto it after a moment of letting your heartbeat settle. Your wife leans on the counter next to you.

“God, I feel like I just had a heart attack..”

You let out a deep breath and take a bite of your toast. When you look over at Agatha you notice her staring at the wall in deep thought.

“Ag’s? Is everything okay?”

She looks over to you, immediately a smile stutters onto her features as if she’s trying to reassure you that she's okay.

“Yeah! I’m fine.”

Agatha simply says, and you turn to her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

“Agatha..”

You say accusingly, and she looks up at you once again.

“What’s wrong?”

You beg, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly. Agatha sighs, pausing a moment as she thinks of what to say before turning to you and taking your hands in hers.

“I- I don’t know. I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I always have, and always will love you. And that everything I have ever done has been because I love you- because I need you. Okay?”

You swallow hard, analyzing her features. She looks serious, almost scared.

“I know.. I know you love me more than anything, you do an amazing job making sure I know that without a shadow of a doubt. Now, what’s bringing this on, love?”

Agatha bites her lip as she casts her gaze down to your joined hands, and after a moment her features relax and she just laughs lightly.

“I don’t know. I’m just having a moment, don’t worry your pretty little head about me.”

She meets your eyes and smiles brightly at you. You smile softly back, not convinced that everything is okay but you don’t want to push her. You trust Agatha, you know she will talk to you when she’s ready.

“Okay, sweetheart… Talk to me when you’re ready, alright?”

You tighten your grip on her hands and look at her with pleading eyes. She meets your gaze and smiles at you with that charming smile of hers before kissing the back of your hands.

“I pinky promise.”

Agatha says softly before letting go of your hands.

“I’m going to go check on Wanda, okay love?”

She sighs, and you swallow hard, unsure if you should be without her. What if something happens while she's away? What would Billy and Tommy do with you?

"Are you sure I should be left alone with the twins, Ag's.. What if-"

Agatha shushes you, pressing a finger against your lips to accent her point.

"You'll be fine. I'll be right next door, just a shout away if you need anything, alright?"

She says softly, those stunning blue eyes of hers staring intensely into your own. You let out a deep breath at her words, still nervous but more willing.

"It'll be okay."

Agatha repeats once again before leaning in and leaving a lingering kiss on your lips.

You feel all of your fears melt away at her words. She will still be close by, it'll be okay. You let a sigh fall from your lips.

"You're right. Thank you, love."

You smile softly at her.

“Of course my dear.. I love you.”

“I love you too, Ag’s.”

She returns your soft smile.

"Alright… I'm gonna go. You can do this, baby."

You can do this.

She leaves a lingering kiss against your forehead before she crosses the kitchen, making her way into the living room, she stops and says something to the boys before looking over her shoulder at you. She winks and blows you a kiss, and you let your toast hang from your teeth as you quickly pretend to catch it. Agatha smiles at you brightly before leaving the house. You scarf down the rest of your toast before going back out to the twins.

You swallow the pit of anxiety in your chest and focus on the game you're about to play.

“Who's ready to play hide and seek?”

Billy and Tommy jump up when they hear your words, running around the couch to meet you.

“Auntie, Tommy and I have decided that you should be the seeker first.”

You raise an eyebrow at him.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! Since you live here it would give you an advantage.. We want to go easy on you.”

The twins grin up at you, and you pretend to be offended.

“Oh I’m gonna kick your little butts!”

They take that as their cue to take off, the sounds of their little feet hitting the floor echoing through the house and you quickly call after them.

“One rule- the basement is off limits, okay?!”

“Alright!”

They yell in mismatched unison before taking off, and you cover your eyes and slowly start to count, and when you reach twenty, you yell out “Here I come!” as loud as you can before you start to search your house.

You begin in the kitchen, making sure to walk a little heavier than usual and close the doors loudly as you move from room to room. You don’t find either one on the first floor, so you slowly begin your descent up the stairs.

You start in your bedroom, you look under the bed, in the closet, and behind the curtains and there’s no sign of either child. Next, you go to the bathroom, dramatically pausing and staring at the drawn shower curtain before flicking on the light.

“I wonder who’s in here.. Billy.. Or-”

“Tommy!”

The boy screams, throwing the curtain open- and it actually scares you. You jump and let out a shout, the child laughing up at you.

“You scare really easily, Auntie.”

You shake your head down at him before playfully smacking his shoulder.

“Yes, I do. But you know what this means? You’re the seeker next! Billy wins!”

Tommy groans and you grin down at him, your heartbeat still slowing from how you were just scared. You must be really anxious if things as simple as a toaster popping or an adorable child can scare you this badly. You grimace, you really need to try and remedy that.

You and Tommy hunt for Billy and eventually find him hiding in the closet in the office. The two of you try to scare him, but he barely even flinches. After that, Tommy begins to count before you and Billy scatter around the house to hide. You manage to squeeze into one of the lower cupboards in the kitchen, even though you’re the adult here and have an obvious advantage over these children, you told them you were going to kick their butts and you have no plans on going back on that statement.

You pull your legs to your chest and stay silent, eventually hearing Tommy call out

“Here I come!”

After a few moments you hear soft footsteps growing closer, and shuffling around in the kitchen. Then, the cupboard door swings open and the light hits your eyes.

“Found you, Auntie!”

You groan.

“How-?”

“You were really loud.”

You mentally scold yourself. Bested by a child.

“Okay, good one, kid. Now, help me up and don’t tell Aunt Agnes I hid here.”

You grin up at him and he offers his hand to you, and you crawl out of the cupboard.

“Why is Billy so good at hiding!?”

Tommy complains, and you laugh at his words.

“I dunno, he must be a hide and seek expert.”

Again, you find yourself searching the house with Tommy. You sweep the bottom floor to no avail, and eventually reach the upstairs, starting with your bedroom, you move to the bathroom, then in the office you see Billy standing with his arms crossed in the doorway of the closet. The same place he was last time.

“Are you sure I’m a hide and seek expert? Maybe you two are just really bad at it!”

You swear Wanda’s kids are superhuman, how did he hear you say that from all the way downstairs? Tommy approaches his brother and punches him in the arm.

“Ow!”

“That did not hurt you big baby-!"

“You punched me, of course it hurt-!”

"Hey, knock it off you two!"

You interject, and immediately they quiet down and just continue to glare at each other. You roll your eyes playfully at them.

“Okay, go hide! And no recycling hiding spots! That defeats the purpose of the game, Billy.”

They go to hide and you cover your eyes with your hands and slowly count to twenty, loudly announcing you are coming before removing your hands from your eyes and leaving the room. You search all of the rooms upstairs carefully in your usual fashion before moving downstairs. No sign of the boys yet.

You search the living room, then the kitchen, the dining room, and the bathroom and find nothing. No one. Confused, you search the whole house again, just more carefully. You open all the cupboards in the kitchen, look under the couch, in all the corners, under the tables, under your bed, in your closet, in the shower again, in the bathroom cabinets, under your desk, in the office closet and in every place you can think of, but still you find nothing.

Feeling worry start to bubble in your chest, you start to call out for the twins to come out, telling them they won. Still, they don’t appear.

You make your way down the stairs, calling out for the boys once more. And you hear silence. The only place they could be is in the basement. At this point you’re starting to panic, calling out for them again, you poke your head into the rooms as you do so on your way to the basement.

When you reach the door, you pause for a moment. You just realized you’ve never been in your own basement before. Why haven’t you ever been down there?

Something feels off. Your throat goes dry, and you feel anxiety encase your heart like ice. You take a deep breath in hopes that it will calm you down, but it does nothing to quell the fear rising in your throat. With a reluctant hand, you reach for the doorknob.

And right when you do, the basement door flings open.

Agatha is standing there. She looks flushed and out of breath, taken by surprise. She grins widely at you, her eyes not reaching her smile.

“Heya dollface, what brings you to this part of town?”

She says in that charming voice of hers as she approaches you. You narrow your eyes at her in confusion.

“The twins-”

“They went home. They didn’t say goodbye? I saw them running across the yard on my way back.”

She raises an eyebrow at you, and you cross your arms. She’s lying. You know your wife, and she’s been doing a lot of lying this week, hiding really odd, insignificant things and you don’t know why. You tried brushing it off, the weird feelings and the little lies, thinking it was just a result of your current mental state and you didn’t want to pry her and stress her out more, but you were sick of it. It’s all piling up and you’re about to break.

“We were in the middle of a game of hide and seek. When did you get back from Wanda’s?”

Agatha takes a step towards you, closing the door behind her. You take a step back.

“Just now-”

“Why were you in the basement?”

Her smile doesn’t falter. She simply blinks dumbly at you while she finds her next words, her next excuse.

“I- I heard a noise from the cellar door on my way home. I noticed it was unlocked so I came in that way, there was nothing wrong though. You don’t need to worry darling, I checked it out and we’re safe and sound.”

She almost sounded convincing- but you were able to listen closely and hear her piece together the lie as she told it. Something is screaming at you to go into the basement. You swallow hard.

“Really? Well, let me double check with you, Agatha…”

You feel the tension between you grow thicker as you wait for her response. She pauses.

“If you insist, my dear.. But I promise you, I checked it all out. I’m sure my terrifying self scared them off.”

She laughs softly, and you force a smile onto your lips at her words. Agatha moves to hold the door open for you.

“After you, M’lady.”

Your wife gestures for you to enter, and you study her for a moment before you do. She seems cool and casual, but you don’t fail to notice the stutter in her voice and the stiffness in her shoulders. You begin to make your way down the dark steps without another word.

The sound of Agatha locking the door and beginning her descent down the stairs makes its way to your ears. You feel the anxiety in your chest squeeze at your heart.

When you reach the bottom, you see nothing. Just some old boxes and furniture, you start to look around. Agatha stands at the bottom of the stairs with her arms crossed- waiting. You stand back after a moment, not having found anything.

“See, I told ya so, darling. Don’t you trust little ol’ me?”

She says, coming up behind you and grabbing your upper arms, squeezing them reassuringly. She lets out a playful laugh as she rests her chin on your shoulder. Something still doesn’t feel right, you scan the room once again and your eyes land on the corner. It feels off.

You stare at it- hard. And that’s when you notice there’s another hallway, walls made of stone and vines crawling out of the doorway. You blink at it, it wasn’t there moments ago. It was like it had been hidden.

You step forward, and go to approach the hallway. You hear Agatha’s rushed footsteps following you.

“Don’t go in there.”

She sounds different. She doesn’t sound like your Agatha anymore- she sounds more raw. More real. More scared. And you ignore her, continuing down the hallway, you carefully step over the vines.

She says your name firmly.

“You’re going to regret this.”

You pause for a moment. It didn’t have the tone of a threat- it sounded like she was begging. Your throat feels dry, your hands are sweaty. You don’t know what it is, but something is telling you that the answers are this way. Agatha rests a hand on your shoulder from behind you.

“Please. Let's go back upstairs.”

She whispers, a desperate edge to her voice. Your wife squeezes your shoulder, but you shrug her off, and simply continue walking down the winding, stone hallway. It’s dark and eerie, and when you reach the end of the hallway, you enter a large, stone room.

You shift nervously on your feet as you sweep your eyes over it, and eventually you see a book. And when your eyes land on it, it strikes something in you. Agatha says your name from behind you, and as you walk towards the mysterious book, your memories come back. There is no pain, no resistance- they just wash over you and flood your mind. It does take you a bit by surprise, however, so you do stutter on your feet and let out a gasp as they invade your mind.

Then suddenly, you feel the pressure of magic around your wrists and ankles, pulling them together, and you're being hoisted into the air and turned around to face your wife.

Agatha’s hands glow softly as she toys with the magic between her fingers. She looks at you with pain and anger. You’re sure you’re returning that expression.

“I told you to go back upstairs.”

She says firmly, and you start to pull at your restraints, to summon your magic, when you feel nothing. Dead energy around you, nothing but her and her magic. You look up, and immediately notice the runes cast on the ceiling. You curse to yourself.

“Why couldn’t you have just gone back upstairs?”

#agatha harkness x reader #agatha harkness #marvel wlw #mcu #kathryn hahn x reader #chemvel #no longer yours

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buck-nialled · 4 years

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Anybody - N. Horan Imagine

NOTE: I sincerely appreciate everybody’s patience with me getting to requests. Sometimes its just nice to take a lil break and write a niall amnesia fic, ya know? anyways, here’s another requested imagine (i combined two because they were vv similar), enjoy!

“You’re telling us you’re still single?” The girl scoffs. “Yeah, right.”

It made your cheeks flame up incredibly and your stomach turn in guilt. Normally, this conversation would not have you so antsy or defensive if it had not been for Niall’s presence beside you. The idea to share lunch with the cast one day and have Niall tag along was entirely your idea, so there was nobody else to throw blame on. You were happy Niall agreed almost immediately to your proposal, despite knowing the repercussions if either of you somehow clued that you were together in front of your friends and especially in public.

Your lifestyles were definitely a commonality in your relationship. The constant interviews and public appearances were what led to the two of you introducing one another. You both had a disposition for complimenting people greatly, but had a difficult time taking them to heart. Your first meeting could be illustrated with the two of you gawking over each other’s work and red cheeks, with the subtle flirtatious remark thrown in. But it was the impetus for the exchanging of numbers, and a couple of dinners and intimate nights shared in the bedroom.

More importantly, it led you here at a restaurant surrounded by your costars for one of Niall’s favorite television shows and the man himself. He claimed it to be one of his favorites before he even met you, which you still doubt to be the truth, but you never pushed him for validity. The question from your costar, who could also be considered one of your closest friends, left both you and Niall stunned for a moment.

“Oh, come on. Why is that so hard to believe?”

“You’ve got guys crawling over you all the time.” Another chimes in. You could not argue his point; it happened every time you stumbled across a male fan of the show, over twitter direct messages or blatantly in response to something you posted online. Even during interviews some male hosts would flatter you in the objective to get in your pants, in spite of how clear you made your interests to be platonic.

“So, I can’t be independent and say ‘no’?” You raised your eyebrows, feeling inferior to your colleagues. Unlike them, having a public relationship was off of the table.

“You can. But admit it, you could literallu have anybody, Y/N.” Your friend looks around the table, earning many nods of agreement. You wish every day to wake up and just have the world know your secret. But it did not work like that.

Your publicist immediately refuted the idea of publicly dating when you mentioned your affair with the musician. She went ballistic, claiming you were insane to just post a picture of the two of you to your socials with the mindset of “whatever happens, happens”. It would lead to speculation, which will lead to a closer eye on the two of you and your every move, she argues. Her demands made you want to keep your mouth shut about your fear of being mobbed by cameras off of the red carpet before this conversation. She went on to say the longer you were “available” in the eye of the public, the more popular you would grow. Teenage boys would fawn over you, their girlfriends would google you to see what the hype about you was and hate-stalk you, which would result in a larger following.

Having that disappear all because you were off of the market would make your numbers plummet and lose grip of your male demographic. You were nearly tuning her voice out by this point, until she pointed out that Niall was probably in the same boat. Girl’s loved him; guys were fuming over him. Bigger album sales, followers for days, until the announcement that one of the world’s biggest heartthrobs is officially taken.

You informed Niall about the conversation later that day. And as much as he wanted to say it was bullshit, he could not. It was true. He had attempted many times to present the relationship reveal presentation to his manager and publicist, but both shut him down the moment he began to speak. As of now, both of you were bound by contract to keep your lips shut.

Niall’s aura screamed its independence, so there was no speculation circling him lately about a possible affair. You however, were fresh meat. The new, hottest thing one of few top, trending shows. Everybody wanted to know your whereabouts and who you we’re hanging around with everyday, all day. And it never really seemed to stop.

The night your followers on various media platforms doubled, then tripled, then quadrupled in a matter of hours was when you needed to turn off all receiving notifications. Messages, mentions and questions were flooded to your phone at such a rapid rate that your phone froze. If a photo was even published online of you hugging a man, you would be interrogated about it for the next five interviews following that day.

Recently, the man in question has been your co-star in the series, Ryan. It was clear in the show that your and his character had major chemistry, but outside of the set, Ryan acted like more of a brother figure than anything. He would scare you whenever you turned random corners in the studio, ruffle your hair and bicker with you at any opportunity.

Many gossip news sources were asking both you and your co-star if the relationship between your characters was the same on-screen and off-screen. But it seemed the countless amounts of “no’s” you both delivered immediately after the question was asked was not enough. The other day, a video of him handing you a water bottle with a smile gained thousands of views overnight, as well as theories that you two were hiding a relationship from the public. It could not be further from the truth, but you and Ryan knew it was useless to comment otherwise.

In fact, everybody around you was discouraging the idea to cancel the rumors. All except one person, who always seemed to be cheering you on in your worst moments. And by the eighth week and hundredth photo of you and Ryan allegedly “confirming” your relationship, you had enough.

You stormed into Niall’s apartment with hot feet. You passed by him and paced his kitchen, while he sat up from the couch. Turning down the volume on the golf match playing on the television, he ventures after you and into the kitchen, finding you scavenging his fridge.

“Hang on.” You held up a finger, before retrieving a cold bottle of booze from the fridge. Niall eyes you carefully in your haste to grab the bottle opener already accessible off of his kitchen island and pop the bottle cap off the drink and down half of it. While you guzzle down the drink, Niall gulps, licking his lips.

Chugging a beer, as weird as it sounded, was one of the hottest things Niall had witnessed you do to date.

“Okay,” you slammed the near empty bottle down, taking a deep breath of preparation. “Go ahead.”

“What happened?” He already knew the answer, but it could not hurt to ask. He figured if it bothered you too much to speak about it, you would deny answering. But, considering he was the only person who allowed you to rant to him, you were not going to throw away the opportunity to do so.

“More shit about me and—” That’s the farthest you could let Niall peek at your day before a familiar ringing noise sounds in the kitchen. Niall releases a sigh as you collect your phone from your back pocket, seeing who was calling.

“It’s Ry—”

“Take it. It’s okay.” Niall assures, without you even having to ask. You nod, promising to be quick, though he knew it would be at least twenty minutes before your attentions could turn back to him. That is, if another article was not sent to you about the situation.

“Hey…yeah I saw…” you eye Niall strolling out of the kitchen, his bare back and tense muscles prominent from your view. “Uh huh…” you murmur, before you and Ryan are venting about your day to one another. All of the interrogations at interviews, the photos people had snuck while touring the set, and the trailer for the newest episode that was just dropped. The trailer went viral within two hours because your editors and marketing team decided to include the kissing scene your two character’s shared in that episode along with the montage of other points. By the time you had ended the call, you found Niall showered and lying on his bed. The television in the living room was black, a sign that the golf match ended much earlier.

“Hey…sorry about that.” You mumble, crawling into his bed beside him.

“It’s okay…I assume you don’t want to talk about your day?” He inquires, looking down as you wind an arm over his stomach.

“W-what makes you…”

“I mean, I don’t want you to waste your breath or anything. Judging by the earful you gave Ryan it must’ve been juicy.” Niall remarks through his teeth.

“I was just—”

“Because why waste your time talking to me about it, right?”

“Niall! Stop!” You yell, allowing a heavy silence to fall in between you two. You take your arm away from his middle and sit up, brows scrunching. “Why are you acting like this?” You ask, tone quieter.

“I…don’t know. I’m sorry, I’m just…I’ve been in my head a lot lately. Thinkin’ about lots of things.” He huffs, turning his gaze down to his legs.

“Like?”

“Like…us.” He answers, face solid.

“What about us?” You hesitate with a trembling voice.

“Well, more like how there isn’t an us.” Niall mumbles, voice gravelly. “To everyone else, anyway.” He breathes, trying a smile but with no avail. The sight delivers a brutal sting to your heart.

“Niall…”

“I know we can’t tell anybody; I know.” He rushes out before you could remind him. “But shit, can we at least act like they do when you’re here?” Your lips part, but fail to generate the right words. “Because right now it kind of seems like I don’t exist when Ryan calls and—and when I ask about your day first but he interrupts, it seems like I can’t get a sound out of you after about it. And damnit, Y/N, I want to hear about it! All of it! And having to listen through the walls just to know you’re okay…”

“Yeah?” You whisper.

“I see what everybody else does. And I don’t like it. Not one bit.” You nod, biting your lip to hold back tears much like Niall was doing judging by his crackling voice. The only reason you really spilled your guts to Ryan was that he was in the same exact position you were in, so he would understand you the most. But that was not entirely true. Because right in front of you sat Niall, who was hiding just as much as you were for the same exact reasons.

“I’m…I didn’t know you felt that way.”

“Yeah,” Niall sniffs, “who could blame ya? Ya never have time to ask.”

“And that’s not right.” You shake your head, bringing your body up to straddle his lap. After swinging a bent leg over both of his, and situating yourself over his thighs, you stare into his eyes with a shameful gaze. “It should never be like that. I should tell you about my day, and ask you about yours and…I’m sorry, Niall. I’m so sorry I haven’t.”

“It’s okay—” He tilts his head down, but your hand grabs a hold of his chin scraggly with hair and lifts it back up.

“No, it’s not.” You decree. “To be honest, the reason I never really talk about it is because…I thought it wouldn’t matter to you?” At your admission, Niall’s eyes bulge. The feeling of his warm hands flying to your hips calms both of you to an extent.

“Why would ya think that, love?”

“Wouldn’t you be annoyed hearing me rant about some guy people think I’m dating?” Niall nods his head, understanding your point.

“I suppose…but I’d be angry with you. I’d be on your side.” Niall guarantees with a firm squeeze to your sides. It makes a giggle bubble up from your throat, and a smile crawl up to his lips at the sound of it resounding against his bedroom walls. After bringing his hands in yours and lacing your fingers together, you say, “I’m sure you would. You’d hold me…pleasure me…sing me to sleep.” You smirk, watching Niall grow flush beneath you at his noticeable methods of affection.

“Ryan can’t do any of that.” You bite your lip.

“Damn right he can’t! You’re mine.” Niall looks you up and down, pulling your chest closer to his.

“And I’ll start taking that into consideration more. Now, how about I pleasure you this time to start?” You raise your eyebrows.

“I like the sound of that.” His hand starts to reach up to comb through your hair, but the boisterous rings of your phone interfere once again. Niall heaves a breath and sits back, all while you roll your eyes and reach out for the phone.

“Hey, Ryan.” Niall looks up at you, expecting in less than a second to be off of his lap. But he is rather surprised at the feeling of your hand reaching up to tug the loose sweats down off his waist. “You mind if we talk tomorrow? My boyfriend and I are kind of in the middle of something.” You answer with a smirk, watching Niall’s eyes grow right before you. Ryan’s screams of puzzlement could be heard by Niall as you dragged the phone away from your ear and ended the call. And soon, your grip made its way back to Niall’s boxers with a devious smirk on your lips.

“Now, where were we?”

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tcookies777 · 3 years

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Here is a sneak peek at a side story I've written for The Anatomy of Love (a KakaSaku modern college au - AO3 hyperlink included)! You don't need to have read the fic to read this side story since this is a flashback to Kakashi's past when he was a teen, but it does help to understand since it's in the context of the fic itself!

The Anatomy of Love: Side Story - The Angel from Hell

About 14 years ago….

Summer in Sound country was utter shit.

Fire country had its droughts for sure during this season, and more often than not the trees would catch fire just from the mere glare of the sun on a dried leaf. But at least the trees also offered plenty of protection from the heat so long as the Firewatch was making sure those trees weren’t burning first.

Sound country, on the other hand, had nothing but empty golden plains that seemed to stretch on for eternity. If it didn’t look like a sort of heaven, Kakashi would’ve thought he was in hell what with the sun burning through his clothes and the scorched patches of earth peppered throughout the fields—a telltale sign of the bombs that had rained down on the area not too long ago.

A summer thunderstorm last week had given them a brief reprieve from the intense heat wave, but it had still left them uncomfortably soaked in their own clothes. A week later, the sun was back with a fiery vengeance, and they were back to soaking through their tactical gear in their own stink and sweat again, but this time with the muck of the marshlands clinging to their boots.

It had taken almost the whole day to sludge through the marshes and find shelter at a farmhouse that seemed to have been completely abandoned days ago. They’d cleared the house and finished in disappointment upon finding that all of the livestock were either gone or already getting feasted on by the maggots. Most of the food in the pantry had also long been raided save for a single jar of strawberry jam and a cracked egg left to spoil on a shelf. It wasn’t that everyone was starving—although they were certainly hungry after a day out trudging through a war zone—but a jar of sweet strawberry jelly was practically bliss compared to their MRE rations. Even Kakashi himself was getting wearier and wearier over every pound of rice he had to eat with the bland curry packed in his ration meal.

So the moment Anzu had spotted the bright red jar, there had immediately been a scuffle over who got to eat it. Being the fifth in command (and with the first four already dead), Kakashi had asserted the order that each person would get their fair share of strawberry jelly: one scoop and only after they’d finished their MREs for tonight. Everyone except Obito had glanced warily at each other, reluctant to follow the command of a 17-year-old boy despite him outranking them all. But, not wanting to throw a tantrum over strawberry fucking jelly of all things, they’d each grunted in answer.

And now that last bit of the jelly was getting scraped out of its jar by Obito after Kakashi had passed his share over to him. Sweets weren’t his thing anyway even if he would kill for something homemade rather than a meal full of preservatives.

The leftover spicy powder clung to the base of Kakashi’s back teeth no matter how many times he swigged down some water from his canteen. It was like chewing on sediment, and judging by the faces of everyone else, he was willing to bet none of them were intent on eating curry anytime soon after the end of this tour. He didn’t blame them.

“Piece of shit!” Tsutomu suddenly snarled, unsheathing his kukri to swipe at the fly that had been assaulting his face for the last half hour. The fat insect buzzed around him before disappearing into the man’s beard that was still coated with the blood from when a Sound soldier had tried to bash his face in back at the marshes. With a growl, Tsutomu swatted at his beard, prompting two flies to crawl out and give him double the work.

Sitting closest to him, Yori ducked when his blade nearly chopped her ear off. “Watch it!” she barked at him, flicking her chocolate brown braid aside to pick up some of the cards she’d dropped. She was the only woman among the twelve of them here, and she was also the only one besides Kakashi who had the guts to speak up against Tsutomu whenever his bitching got too loud or too obnoxious. Usually both.

The rest of the unit was in the middle of a very intense game of Spoons, using a beat up pair of playing cards someone had the smarts to bring. Considering it was his first tour though, Kakashi initially could not fathom who would want to play a card game in the middle of a war zone, and especially deep in the trenches of enemy territory. But he’d soon discovered that a card game was the best way to pass the time when there wasn’t much else to do but scout, kill, and sit on their asses to do it all over again. As it was now, they were on their thirty-fourth round of Spoons, and he just needed an Ace of Hearts to complete the set in his hand.

Passing another card to Obito, Kakashi wiped away a bead of sweat from his brow. Tucked beneath his shirt, the hot metal of his dog tags rubbed uncomfortably against his slick chest. Summer nights in Sound country were almost as bad as during the day. The good thing about it was that the humidity dropped, leaving the air so dry that his tongue felt like paper every time he opened his mouth. The bad thing was that, with the place so arid, they couldn’t risk lighting a fire lest they burn down their only shelter for the night (or attract the wrong kind of attention). So they’d turned on their flashlights, thankful that the equipment had somehow survived the trip through the marshes but not so happy that they couldn’t even light a cigarette.

Even without a fire, the summer heat had become far more unbearable than the mosquitoes that assaulted them every hour of the day. By midnight, everyone had resorted to stripping their tops off and leaving only their tactical vests on, filling the small space with their stinky sweat. It went against protocol, but nobody—not even Obito—listened to him when he offhandedly commented that they were sooner to die from a mosquito bite than a bullet wound if they dawdled around half-naked like that. Even Yori had given up, leaving Kakashi as the only one fully clothed in his combat fatigues.

“Bet you we could cook an egg on the ground with this heat,” Obito rasped out, pressing the cool, flat edge of his kukri against his cheek. Not the smartest move unless he wanted to risk stabbing his eye out, but he was far too desperate to care at this point. “Fuck, man, what I wouldn’t give for a sunnyside egg.”

“There’s one on the pantry shelf downstairs if the flies haven’t got to it yet,” Kakashi replied dismissively, passing a Queen of Hearts card to him and then picking up—ah-ha!

Holding his fourth and final Ace, Kakashi surreptitiously slid a hand out to grab one of the eight bullets that sat on the stool they were all sitting around. It took twenty seconds for anyone to notice that there were now only seven bullets remaining, and then chaos ensued as the rest of the unit members wrestled for the last bullets.

Once the dust had cleared and the knocked-over flashlights were propped back up, they each opened their hands to show who had a bullet and who didn’t. Tsutomu didn’t, and he did not look pleased about it.

“All right, who won it this time?” Midori sighed even as everyone looked expectantly to Kakashi who’d already flipped his deck around to show them his complete set of Aces.

“Fuck this!” Tsutomu threw his cards down and jabbed his kukri in Kakashi’s direction. “He’s always winning!”

“And you’re always too slow,” Yori said with a roll of her eyes. “You don’t hear me bitchin’ about it.”

“Maybe because I would’ve made you shut the fuck up!”

Before the two could begin snapping at each other's throats again, Midori was already nudging his glasses up as he said aloud, “He’s a Hatake. They don’t call him the prodigal White Fang for nothing, so of course he'd win. He's one of those freakin' geniuses who excel at everything.”

One of the Aces in Kakashi’s hand folded slightly under his grip, but he said nothing as Obito glanced his way.

“Sounds like a freak to me,” someone mumbled.

With Anzu collecting all the playing cards to reshuffle, everyone had time to listen in on the conversation now.

“Ah, yeah, your old man was one of the hotshots in the military, right?” Genki sneered at him. His face looked like a weasel’s what with his long, sharp nose, narrow jaw, and beady eyes that twinkled as if he was constantly thinking of an insulting joke for anyone who caught his attention. But he was also the kind of weasel that shrunk back when a predator stared him down, and he did just that when Kakashi calmly turned his sights onto him. “B-Bet he has plenty of medals to show for it.”

Kakashi quickly looked away in disinterest. Fuck if he cared about his father’s medals. They were probably collecting dust and cobwebs somewhere in the back of a closet.

“Heard his Pops always carried a lil’ sword around in battle,” Tsutomu nodded to the hilt jutting out from behind Kakashi’s lower back. “Just like that one.”

“Who the fuck brings a sword to a gunfight?” Genki sniggered but just as soon stopped when he saw nobody else was laughing.

“It’s a tantō, you nitwit,” Obito said, slamming down the empty jar of jam with more force than necessary. Genki jolted in his seat from the harsh sound. “And it’s really no different from the standard-issued kukris we all carry.”

Tsutomu frowned at the knife in his hand that was almost double the length of Kakashi’s shortsword. He met Kakashi’s gaze over the curved blade, tawny eyes squinting at him for a second as if they were having a dick-measuring contest. Pleased with the extra inches he had over the younger man, Tsutomu lowered the knife to give Kakashi a smug grin. His shit-eating grin instantly flipped into a scowl, however, when the two flies from earlier suddenly appeared to attack his lips.

His breath must be that rancid, Kakashi thought with faint bemusement. While he could stand the pompous ass and his snide remarks, he couldn’t stand to watch Yori have to consistently dodge Tsutomu’s knife as he returned to stabbing at the flies with a vengeance.

Kakashi nodded towards the staircase that led to the bedrooms upstairs. “Tsutomu, Genki, switch off with Haya and Jun. It’s your turn to be on lookout.”

They clicked their tongues in unison but obeyed without question, grabbing their flashlights to head upstairs and keep watch for the next hour. As soon as they left the cramped room, the stink seemed to follow after them (although that wasn’t much of a surprise). Haya and Jun came in, propping their sniper rifles against a cabinet that held nothing but smashed plates within. As they searched for a decent seat where they could put their feet up and relax as well as they could in a warzone, Kakashi pulled out a map from his pack and spread it out on the floor. With the beckon of his hand, he urged everyone to pay attention.

“Amegakure is fifty miles from here,” he explained, tapping a finger on the northeast quadrant of the map. “The package is reported to be held within an underground bunker disguised on the topside as a water tower. At 0600, we’ll be leaving to cut through the Dead Marshes to reach Ame by 1800.”

“Why is it called the Dead Marshes again?” Anzu asked before slapping a fly off his sweaty face.

“Because a hundred of our men died there just last month. Cut down in an ambush after the enemy got ahold of our intel. Everyone’s been calling it the Dead Marshes since then.”

“So why the fuck are we going there?” Yori demanded. “I'm betting those corpses are still floating around for all the fishies to nibble on.”

“Then that just means we have even more cover,” Kakashi said.

Jun snorted and leaned over to snatch the map off the ground. Like most of the other survivors here, Jun liked to question Kakashi’s leadership at every chance. In fact, he was the kind of guy whom teachers would rip their hair out over had he chosen to stay in high school rather than head straight into the military academy. Running a hand through his greasy blonde hair, he snorted at the map before tossing it back to Kakashi. “There’s a river that we can follow for a few miles. It’ll lead us straight to Amegakure much faster than the marshes.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Because it's too tiresome to explain to a numbskull like you. “Because I said so.”

“A fucking kid said so.”

“At least I have a high school diploma.”

“And a Bachelor's and a Master’s,” Midori coughed out. When Jun glared at him, he took off his glasses and pretended to get busy cleaning them.

With a sneer, Jun pointed his flashlight directly into Kakashi's face. “I don’t care if you're a Hatake. I don't care if you're some genius with a dozen degrees. And I definitely don’t give a flying fuck if our superiors kiss your ass and call you the White Flash—”

‘Fang’, Kakashi almost corrected him, but even he found the nickname distasteful.

“—I'm not going to put my life in the hands of some kid who cares more about the mission than his own comrades,” Jun spat out.

“Look,” Obito sat forward, prying the map from Kakashi’s grip and smoothing it back down on the floor. “The obvious choice is the river, right?”

Jun nodded and then stepped on the foot of Haya who’d been too busy staring at Yori’s cleavage. “Y-Yeah, duh!” Haya nodded vigorously until the heel digging onto his toes relented.

Obito spread open his palms in gesture. “Then you would think they’d have an ambush set up for us there too since it’s the ‘obvious choice’. The river will be guarded, but Sound won’t expect more Fire soldiers to try the marshes after the first group failed.”

“Ah, so reverse psychology?” Yori still didn’t look so convinced, but she was already eyeing the marshes on the map again with renewed interest. She frowned and then looked to Kakashi. “You said you want to use the dead bodies for cover?”

“The marshes are our best bet if we want to get to the package on time. And without getting butchered,” Kakashi added firmly. “We’re the only ones left of our unit, so we need to play it safe but right. But I also wouldn’t expect Sound to turn a blind eye, so we need to move with stealth.”

Yori rolled her eyes. “Tsutomu is the opposite of stealth, but I guess we could always use his bitch ass for cover if needed. I just fucking hate the marshes,” she said with a sigh, sagging in her rickety chair, still exhausted from slugging through the marshes all day. “But Hatake’s idea makes more sense.”

“The fuck it does not!” Jun snapped at her. “I say we take the river—”

“And I say we’re taking the marshes,” Kakashi said, his voice low but harsh enough to make the fresh graduate stiffen. When Jun fell silent, Kakashi swept his gaze around all the others sitting and staring at him. He took turns challenging each and every one of them silently for a moment, daring them to question his orders anymore. “I don’t care what you think of me. I don’t care if you don’t like swimming with the fishes and corpses. I don’t care if any of you live or die. I care about completing the mission—and that is securing the package. That is our duty as a soldier and if you disagree then you are free to take off your vests and dog tags, put down your guns, and walk out that door and all the way back home.”

Everyone shut up at that, and for the first time in six months, Kakashi was finally afforded the peace of silence without someone bitching about the insects, the commercial taste of their rations, or a stone that had found its way inside their boot. Satisfied with the room’s consensus, Kakashi leaned back in his chair, unsheathing his tantō to wipe off today’s coat of blood and mud that stained the edges.

It was Yori who broke the begrudging silence first when she suddenly withdrew her pistol from its holster. “You keep staring at my tits, Haya, and I'll blow you a new eye. Right in the center of your fucking forehead.”

“Chill, darlin'!” Haya raised his hands placatingly. “I was just checking out your tags.” As if to prove his point, he leaned closer to her, training his eyes on the cleavage that could be seen just above the collar of her vest. Still under the pretense of reading her tags, he hummed and stroked his chin. “Impressive.”

Yori cocked her gun in warning.

“Hey, I got a place where you can blow me,” Jun snickered at her, prompting Haya to do the same.

“That’s it—”

“Enough,” Kakashi leaned across to grab Yori’s hand that was reaching for the kukri at her hip. Something then slipped out of his front pocket, fluttering down until it landed atop of the map to reveal little Rin shyly hugging onto a scrawny boy with silver hair and a dead gaze.

Jun swooped down in the blink of an eye, snatching up the photo with his blood-stained fingers. He whistled low, angling the photo for Haya to see. “Damn, Hatake! You like your girls really young, huh? But I didn't take you as a guy who likes four-year-old pussy! Or is she three?”

Over the men’s cackles, Kakashi resisted the urge to skewer the Private 1st Class with the tip of his tantō. Especially not when he had just finished wiping the blade clean of today’s muck. “The only pussy here is the one in front of me,” he replied coolly.

Midori choked on the water he’d been sipping from his canteen, letting it splash all over the glasses he’d just finished cleaning.

While Jun was still sputtering from the retort, Obito stole the photo away from him. He peeked at it for just a split second before handing the picture back to Kakashi who immediately tucked it back into the safety of his pocket. He wiped his sword down one last time and then sheathed it loudly enough for both Jun and Haya to flinch.

A grim silence fell over the group as everyone else seemed to recall all the beloved people they themselves carried in their pockets. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, and lovers. They were all waiting for their soldiers to return home—even if it meant in body bags or as dog tags.

“Is she your girlfriend?” Obito quietly asked as Anzu started to deal cards for the others to play a round of Thirteen with.

It was a sincere question, but it was still a personal one that had Kakashi scrubbing a hand over his jaw. His hand came away tinged with the thin film of blood that had yet to finish congealing on his mask. He could smell the sharp notes of copper with every intake of breath, so he made a mental note to retreat to the bathroom later and wash off the grime. It was pointless, he knew that. By tomorrow noon, his mask would be dyed in splotches of red again, but tonight he wanted to sleep without inhaling the stench of a dead man.

Sensing Obito still waiting for an answer, Kakashi wiped his hand on his trousers and then sighed.

“She's a girl. And she's my friend….” And he had kissed Rin before, but that was more out of curiosity than desire. Besides, he didn't count it as an actual kiss since he'd just been seven years old at the time. “She's… special to me,” was all Kakashi gave in answer. “What about you? You got anyone back home?”

This time, it was Obito’s turn to shift in discomfort. He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. “Nah, I was... disowned by my family. I was always the black sheep, but one day, I fucked up and...” He paused to scratch his cheek for a moment. “And it cost my twin brother’s life. I mean, he’s not dead,” he added quickly. “But he got fucked up pretty badly from the accident to the point that... he’s like a shadow of himself. So I got kicked out of the family after that, got put in a group home, then joined the academy as soon as I could. I haven’t talked to my family or my twin brother ever since, so if I die... guess that’s it for me.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s the end for you. I mean, you’re free to haunt me if you’d like.”

Obito's mouth quirked into a grin. “You don’t mind me pulling all that poltergeist shit on you?”

Kakashi snorted. “With your butterfingers, you’d be dropping shit rather than throwing it.”

“Oh, fuck you!” Obito shoved at his shoulder with a laugh.

His laughter was cut short, however, when the heavy tread of boots stampeding down the staircase followed by the most unholy screeching interrupted everyone. Genki and Tsutomu appeared at the threshold, faces flushed with angry scratched lines marking their cheeks as if a cat had gotten the jump on them. But it wasn’t a cat that was making that screeching noise; it was a girl. Slung between them with her wrists bound in ripped sheets, she thrashed around wildly in search of an opportunity to—not escape but to bite at the men holding her captive.

White teeth flashed between long tresses of ebony hair as she tried to snap her jaws at Tsutomu’s thick neck. The man responded with a harsh slap that sent her face whipping towards Genki who was forced to reel back to avoid her bites.

“Lookie what I caught!” Tsutomu announced, grinning proudly as he grabbed the girl by the base of her head and yanked it back. She winced but made no sound that she was in pain. Even though her whole face was streaked with filth, it was obvious that she couldn’t be any older than fifteen years old. Only two years younger than Kakashi himself, but already looking as if she’d lived through an entire war. “Caught this lil’ bitch skulking around in one of the bedrooms. Probably was finding a spot to hide in so that she could slit our throats while we slept.”

There was no way she could’ve taken on twelve armed soldiers even with the element of surprise, but Kakashi didn’t doubt that she would’ve tried it anyway.

“I would’ve shat on your corpses too afterward!” she sneered at Tsutomu, earning a second slap to the cheek and making Genki flinch when specks of blood from her mouth landed all over his face.

“How the hell did we miss her?” Jun asked, stopping Tsutomu from slapping the girl again. “I thought we cleared this house from top to bottom.”

Apparently, you guys were sloppy about it, Kakashi was half-tempted to say. Instead, he stood up and yanked the girl out of Genki and Tsutomu's clutches by her bound hands. She struggled against him but just as soon froze when she felt the sharp tip of his tantō dig into the small of her back. Don’t move, Kakashi told her with a mere prod of his sword.

“Hey! Finders keepers,” Tsutomu growled, displeased that his catch was being taken away from him. His grubby hands reached for the girl, but Kakashi pulled her away from him and towards the staircase.

“We’re guests of this house,” Kakashi said aloud despite knowing that there wasn’t much of this house or its occupants left anymore. “This girl will be locked up in the master bedroom where no one is to touch her. Is that understood?”

Tsutomu took a heavy step forward to protest but stopped when the young Hatake turned his steely gaze onto him.

“Is that understood?” Kakashi spoke low, the lethal edge in his voice cutting through the tension like the blade in his hand. When Tsutomu bowed his head in answer, Kakashi glanced over at Obito who was looking at him strangely. “Relay to Tsutomu and Genki the plan for tomorrow.”

With a sharp nudge of the sword against the girl’s back, Kakashi prompted her to continue up the stairs. She remained silent on the way to the bedroom, but she didn’t stop trying to squirm out of the sheets roped tightly around her wrists. Kakashi took the moment to observe her calloused hands, deducing that she was a surviving member of this household. Probably the daughter of the farmer who’d lived here.

He didn’t ask where her parents were or why she was still here. Even though there hadn’t been any bloodstains found while clearing the house, he guessed that the rest of the girl’s family was already dead in a ditch somewhere.

“If you’re going to kill me then just do it already,” she finally said the moment she stumbled into the bedroom.

Kakashi closed the door first, watching her flinch at the sound of the latch clicking in place. “Turn around.”

She hesitated for a moment before obeying with a slow, reluctant pivot. Under the sharp beam of his flashlight, Kakashi could see the tear tracks that left a clean streak through the cake of dirt and dried blood on her cheeks. He raised his sword and she bunched her shoulders up despite the defiant tilt of her chin. The tantō flashed under the moonlight for a split second as he swung it down upon the girl.

She squeezed her eyes shut but then opened them when she found herself still alive... and with her hands free now.

Kakashi jut his chin towards the bed. Its sheets were still made as if nobody had ever slept in them at all. “Lay down there.”

She stiffened at this order, her body locking up more notably than the last time she’d hesitated. She took one step forward, and Kakashi caught the way her whole frame seemed to tremble before she hurriedly crossed the room and laid down on the bed, stiff as a board. The springs of the mattress creaked harshly, and her eyes widened as if the sound was a threat itself.

Grabbing a chair by the vanity mirror, Kakashi dragged it to the side of the bed before plopping down. His sudden close proximity to her had her sitting up rigidly, slim hands squeezing into fists on her lap. He would've preferred for her to remain lying down, but it seemed she was more comfortable sitting up, so he let her.

Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, he took the moment to study the girl. She had a split lip, a small cut above her brow, the red mark of a building bruise on her cheek (no doubt courtesy of Tsutomu and Genki), and dark bags of exhaustion weighed heavy beneath her eyes—eyes so black that they seemed to pierce right into Kakashi’s soul the longer he held her sharp gaze.

He looked away to reach for something in his pocket, pausing only when he sensed the girl stiffen again. Slowly, he withdrew the white handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to the girl. “Wipe your face.”

She scowled at the implication but snatched the cloth from him. Glimpsing the little sunflower design Rin had sewn into the corner of the cloth, the girl stared at it first before remembering to wipe the dirt off her face.

“My name is Hatake Kakashi,” he said as she cleaned herself. “What’s yours?”

When she refused to answer, he reached into another pocket, slowly again like last time. He watched as her wary eyes flicked down from his to the orange thing in his hand.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, peeling the fruit for her. “It’s a mandarin orange.”

A rare delicacy among their rations, but he was never one for sweets anyway.

The girl watched him peel the skin of the orange off like a hawk would with its prey. As soon as he offered her a slice, she seized the small piece from his fingers and stuffed it into her mouth. Her lashes fluttered slightly as she took that first bite of tangy sweetness.

“Good?”

She froze at the question as if she was a thief who’d been caught stealing the mandarin he’d offered her. Without warning, she spat the mashed bits of orange to his face, her frown deepening when she saw Kakashi didn’t even flinch from the attack.

“You’re a bastard!” she said as he casually brushed off the pieces of orange clinging to his mask. In an effort to add insult to the non-existent injury, she flung the now dirty handkerchief back at him. Kakashi merely plucked it off his chest, folded it two times into a small square, and then tucked it into one of his pockets before placing the rest of the orange in front of her.

He stood up and she shrunk back from him after clutching the orange to her chest.

“We’ll be gone in the morning,” Kakashi said as he scanned the room for any dangerous objects she might try to use in retaliation. “You can rest easy tonight. I’ll make sure no one touches you.”

Although he was kind of late for that.

“But if you try anything, we will have to use force.”

The warning was vague, but it left her shivering and glaring at him with enough spite to make any man give pause. He gave her one final look of caution before leaving the room to make his way to the bathroom. The farmhouse was old, and every floorboard creaked under his boots, but he preferred it that way. It kept him on edge—kept him alert for any signs of danger that may be lurking around the corner.

Even upon entering the bathroom, he swept aside the shower curtain just to make sure no other stray kid was waiting in the tub to ambush him with a butterknife or whatever these civilians resorted to.

Seeing the coast was clear, he stripped off his tactical vest and then the black sleeveless shirt underneath. The water ran lukewarm as he turned the knob of the faucet, and he splashed a handful down his chest for a brief respite from the blistering heat. Taking his shirt, he detached his mask and held it beneath the stream. Black, brown, and red tainted the pool of water along with loose sediment of dried mud. He grabbed the soap bar from the corner and scrubbed his mask inside and out, letting the bubbles froth.

After rinsing his mask, he wrung out the excess water before hanging the cloth on the edge of the sink to let it finish dripping.

A shout could be heard from downstairs—either Tsutomu or Jun since those two loved to butt heads with everyone—but Kakashi didn’t care so long as heads weren’t rolling. Scrubbing a hand down his face, he shrugged on his shirt and vest but paused upon hearing a sharp creak just outside his door.

Creak...

There it was again, but further this time.

Kakashi heaved a sigh and then yanked his mask back on, unsurprised to find it already dry. Tugging the door open, he stepped out of the hallway and was met with the hulking figure of Tsutomu. His burly back was hunched over as if the guy was in the middle of sneaking... towards the girl’s room.

The rest of this side story chapter will be published soon on AO3 and Fanfiction.Net! Thank you for reading!

#the anatomy of love #kakasaku

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