#it's like i've managed to avoid worrying too much all day but then my guard is down and it drowns me

[dokyeomini]

i do still get like this unexplainable anxiety at night

[aliceramblez]

BroZone Brothers With An Insecure S/O 😔💗

Tags: GN! Reader, Self-Deprecating Jokes, Low Self-Esteem, Abandonment Issues, Slight Body Insecurities. Fluff/Comfort.

A/N: Here we go with our first request! I really liked this idea as someone who has low self-esteem, and honestly it goes to all of y'all who think you're not good enough— cause you are! Also sorry it took a bit! I've been sick because the universe hates me 🙃

Feel free to leave a request & hope you enjoy! ^^

John Dory

At first, he doesn't really know what to make of it.

He finds it a bit strange, but doesn't question your odd sense of humor, and will sometimes even join in on the joke by saying stuff about himself, thinking it's some sort of inside thing between the two of you.

“Man, I can't believe I'm so clingy, sorry! Feel free to use me as a bad example, at least that way I won't be totally useless, haha!”

“Ha! You think that's bad? Babe, you haven't even seen me when I'm up at night just staring at the ceiling contemplating my life choices.”

It isn't until getting a good smack from Bruce and Floyd that he realizes you're actually being serious. And the prospect of that kinda puzzles him, not gonna lie.

“Look at you, tiger! Got yourself plenty of groupies already— Not surprising honestly. Don't have to worry about backups when you decide you're ready to move on, either!”

After a performance at the Pop Troll village, everyone is gushing over BroZone because of course they are. JD only barely manages to squeeze past the number of fans to get to you on the other side of the podium.

The oldest sibling looks at you in shock, and has to get closer to make sure he heard you right. “Babe, why would you say that?”

Caught off guard, you manage a nervous chuckle as you play with your hair. “I-I mean... Wow, would you look at the time! We gotta meet with Poppy and the others!”

John Dory stops you on your tracks and demands an explanation, which isn't really good for your poor heart. All you can do is kick the dirt and avoid his gaze, since that makes what you're about to say much easier to voice aloud.

“I mean... You're John Dory. You could date any troll you wanted and yet you're sticking with me. It honestly feels like a dream sometimes... And I'm scared of the day you realize you can do WAY better and decide to leave me.”

After processing this, he immediately holds your face in his hands and gives you the most serious expression you've ever seen on him. “I don't want just any random troll... I want you. You're my number one fan, and I'm yours, so don't even think about stuff like that, okay?”

After the exchange, he's always on the lookout for whenever your bad habit wants to kick in again and is ready to stop it ASAP

Spruce/Bruce

He notices it happens mostly when you're working at the cantina.

Whenever you get an order wrong, trip over your own feet or don't remember how to work one of the machines properly, you'll go into an awkward insecure flight response.

You'll say “Oops! Sorry! Clumsy Twinkle Toes, coming through!” while grinning and laughing along with the customers, but Bruce knows that it's affecting you more than you lead on.

It also happens whenever BroZone is getting ready to perform and you don't know what to do with yourself since you're “standing in the way”, despite being told multiple times that it's okay for you to be backstage with everyone else.

When he talks to you about it, you get really uncomfortable and just say that it's no big deal and that you can handle it.

“I've always been a clumsy person, so I guess that's always making me doubt myself over the smallest of things... Sorry if it's annoying.”

Bruce will then proceed to give you a huge warm hug and a kiss on the forehead as he whispers comforting words into your ear.

“Hey, I can be clumsy too! I've always been the worst out of everyone when it comes to choreography. Don't tell JD though, cause I know he'll throw a fit knowing I don't practice.”

He'll throw in other examples that may seem inconsequential to you, but you appreciate the effort nonetheless and smile and giggle through the embarrassing stories he shares.

He helps you get more confident by being there with you while taking orders at the cantina and praising you whenever you get something right— albeit in private as to not embarrass you.

Same goes with rehearsals, where he WILL drag you into the lounge area to hang with his brothers and/or Poppy and Viva when they decide to visit, too.

Overall he wants what's best for you and will try and push you out of your comfort zone, but only in a safe environment where he knows that if something does go wrong, it won't be as catastrophic as you make it out to be in your head.

You never stop thanking him for being your crutch during these times.

Clay

The moment he hears the words come out of your mouth he's completely flabbergasted.

First of all, who said those things to you? Because he swears he just wants to talk to them—

It's at a sleepover with his brothers and the gals at the Bergen Golf Course, and among the many games, snacks and movies watched, pictures are also taken.

As soon as you take a look at the array of selfies, you let out what sounds like a mix between a laugh and a sigh.

“I mean, at least it stays consistent— in photos, I look ugly. And in real life, I'm also ugly!”

As soon as those words leave your lips, Clay is at your side with an almost unreadable expression, only to snatch one of the photos from your hands. “How DARE you say that about the most attractive troll I've ever met? Shame on you!”

He then starts going around the room waving the picture around to his brothers, saying stuff like “Look how attractive my S/O is! I'm dating them!” while you're just blushing profusely and begging him to stop (even though deep down your kinda giddy about it).

After that day, Clay will do small gestures in which he reminds you how beautiful he thinks you are. Everything to outright saying it each morning, joking about it with his brothers, and even bragging about you to his friends in the Bergen Golf Course.

He's a simp and he's totally okay with that because it's you.

Clay feels like he's the luckiest troll in the world for being able to snatch someone like you since he's “the most boring and uninteresting of the bunch”, so he feels like he's hit the jackpot.

You immediately tell him that he's not boring to you and that he's the best boyfriend ever, which only causes him to smirk.

“Doesn't feel good to know the person you love feels so bad about themselves, does it?”

Finally realizing his reverse psychology, you give in with a laugh. “No, it doesn't. I guess... We can both work on that? Together?”

And so you do, and end up helping each other whenever one is feeling down in the dumps, as a sort of personal cheerleader. You truly couldn't have asked for someone better.

Floyd

You're the kind of person who's very vocal about your interests.

So it's no surprise that you have to catch yourself mid-ramble whenever you're talking about something you're either interested in or knowledgeable about. And with Floyd being such a good listener, it honestly slips your mind more times than you'd prefer.

After realizing you've been talking for too long, you turn pink in the face and start apologizing profusely.

“Sorry! You probably didn't need to hear all of that. They didn't call me ‘Chatter Box’ when I was younger for nothing! Haha...”

But Floyd could care less about any of that. He loves hearing you talk, not just because he's not much of a chatty person, but because he just finds it incredibly endearing.

He'll hold your hands in his own and give you the softest smile ever that just makes you think that it should be illegal to be THIS sweet.

“You're just so cute when you get lost in the moment like that. Besides, I love seeing you happy. By all means, I'm glad you get to do the talking for the both of us, otherwise we wouldn't get anywhere in this relationship.”

You laugh at his attempt to make you feel better and melt under the touch of his lips on your cheek.

After that, whenever you go out either just the two of you or with your group of friends, Floyd will encourage you to express yourself. He does this by either asking you a question directly or subtly incorporating you into the conversation by saying something like. “I think (y/n) knows about this kinda stuff. Don't you, love?”

Obviously this all happens with your consent beforehand, since he doesn't want to put you in a tight spot, either.

Either way, he always values whatever you have to say, since you always bring in new perspectives that maybe others didn't think about before.

He will also encourage you to be yourself and not try and match your topics of conversation with things you think other people will find interesting. You deserve to be happy by sharing what you love with the world.

Poppy and Viva are huge helps in the art of feeling confident by speaking your mind, and Floyd couldn't be happier for you.

You thank him by telling him about your day each night, in which sometimes he'll fall asleep to the soothing sound of your voice, which only warms your heart on so many levels.

“Goodnight, my prince.”

“Goodnight, my little chatter box.”

Branch

Just like Clay, this man is ready to throw hands.

Just give him a name and he'll get the job done before sunrise—

He notices that sometimes you struggle with finding outfits for different occasions, either something casual, dressy, classy, etc.

But it's not because you don't have anything in your wardrobe, on the contrary it's pretty much brimming. It's more the fact that you're not satisfied with any of them because you feel like you don't look good in them.

Branch tries to convince you otherwise, saying that you look great no matter what you wear, but you can't help but feel self-conscious in anything that isn't a good old sweatshirt.

He isn't knowledgeable in fashion (clearly) so he enlists the help of Poppy and The Snack Pack to try and cater outfits to your exact measurements, along with any other nitpicks you've had in the past with either texture or material.

I mean, Branch has backup plans to his backup plans, you think he wouldn't keep notes on what kind of stuff his S/O doesn't like— INCLUDING mundane stuff like their clothing?

He surprises you with these, and you can't help but feel attractive in them since he paid extra attending to the complaints you had from your own designs.

“I personally think you look great no matter what you wear. But if you feel so strongly about it, might as well get some stuff you'll actually enjoy wearing.” He'd said when you asked why he did it, and your heart just melted.

You vow to try and work on your self-imagine regardless, which he gets happy over and says he can't wait for you to see yourself the way he does.

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 22- Part 20

Well, nowhere else to explore, so let's head down this hallway, that's probably where the security thing Anna described is.

Oooh, and there's an item! Now I've get extra reason to wanna go in there!

Hitting me right in the childhood with that one, the Diamond and Pearl anime was, if I recall, the first Pokémon anime I was really exposed to.

Well then, let's start with using Crunch on Pikachu, and by that point Piplup won't last much longer.

And this is a job for Crater, so let's switch in as Yanmega goes down yet again.

Masquerain? That's weird, Shelly usually sends in Araquanid next- not sure what happened this time. Well, it won't be too much of an issue, Crater can just use Earth Power on Magnemite, while Nosepass also goes down.

Okay, Prong can deal with both of these, so let's switch in to her now.

Masquerain’s probably gonna kill the Elgyem, so we'll focus on Prinplup with Charge Beam.

It takes two Charge Beams, actually.

Okay, now to do what we came here for- first, to check what that item is.

HM!? DATA CHIP!? Oh yes, PLEASE do give me that! I really needed that, actually! I know exactly what I'm gonna do with this!

AND the gate upstairs is now open again!! Heck yeah!

Now to get the heck outta here and back to the Pokémon Center to input a certain password…

That's right, I'm giving myself a concrete level cap! These battles are only gonna get harder as the game goes on, I'm sure, and I don't think I can afford to keep holding back my Pokémon just to avoid possibly going over the current level cap.

I'm sure I could maintain my current ability to manage exp. points like I have been, I'm decent with resource management- but it's still just one more thing to stress over on top of everything else. This way, I can focus more on proper strategizing for future fights without having to worry about the level cap on top of it.

Now I can go all-out on battles from here on, and my Pokémon can reach their full potential for a particular Badge and Gym battle! This is gonna be great!

And back at the orphanage, we find…

Yup, that gate is done and dusted!

But saving Noel and Heather is gonna have to wait for the next installment, this chapter is getting long enough as is. Thank you all once again for reading, and next time- there'll be even more excitement, I'm sure. Dr. Connal's days are numbered- whether that be in the sense of his job or his life, the jury's still out on that- and I'm eager to kick his face for what he's been doing! So I hope you'll join me next time for that inevitable confrontation- until then!

CURRENT TEAM:

Riptide

Species: Feraligatr

Gender: Male

Level: 36

Ability: Sheer Force*

Item: Quick Claw

Brave nature; Alert to sounds.

Glare

Species: Arbok

Gender: Female

Level: 36

Ability: Intimidate

Item: Protective Pads

Naughty nature; Highly curious.

Bloom

Species: Roselia

Gender: Male

Level: 37

Ability: Leaf Guard*

Item: Rose Incense 

Docile nature; Alert to sounds.

Prong

Species: Charjabug

Gender: Female

Level: 36

Ability: Battery

Item: None

Rash nature; Loves to eat.

Crater

Species: Camerupt

Gender: Female

Level: 37

Ability: Magma Armor

Item: Quick Claw

Hardy nature; Often scatters things.

Kirin

Species: Girafarig

Gender: Female

Level: 36

Ability: Sap Sipper*

Item: None

Quirky nature; Thoroughly cunning.

CURRENT BOXES:

NUMBER OF RELOADS: 14

Previous

Next

Back to index

[heyseihai]

Erika and Leif conversation (daemon route)

First part you can read here,

L: I know that mobilizing your powers can make you feel that sensation.

L: You could think that aengels are sending their power to you. But I still believe it's not the case.

L: I don't know exactly why we have this impression that our power is something external to us. I get it that may be pleasant the feeling of being... supported, in some way.

E: Yeah... when I use my powers it's like aengels are by my side. As if they guided me, somehow (we're wasting maana again with the "two different ways of saying the same thing", dammit)

E: Maybe because my powers have frequently manifested on their own. As if they came to help me when I need, without my need to ask.

L: However, it weren't the aengels that helped me to retrieve my powers.

L: It was only Koori, when she helped me remember the aengel I once was. (oh, is that so? But remember IT WAS MY IDEA, OKAY? Leiftan isn't helping me have any sympathies for this character)

E: (I'm still kinda sad for not being invited for their meditation sessions, but I keep curious to know how things are going)

E: Speaking of which, how the sessions are doing? She said you've progressed…

L: Yes, she really helped me a lot. It was thanks to her that I've managed to evoke my aengel powers again.

E: (I shook my head. That's good, that's good…)

L: Listen… I'm sorry for not allowing you to participate… (yeah I know how sorry you are, thanks alooot)

E: Nah, no, no problem. I totally understand.

L: I don't want to give you a lecture, but…

E: (I frowned, he was about to lecture me)

L: You've been using the daemon powers too much…

E: Are you talking about the moments when I saved our lives, and Yaqut? When I convinced Orgelz to listen to us instead of attacking us? Or when I knocked the rookh that would kill Nevra down?

E: (Leiftan sighed. I felt he was sincerely embarassed.)

L: Yes. These moments. I'm not telling you you're wrong to use them, but these powers are dangerous. I know it better than anyone.

E: More dangerous than twenty-four vampires? A dozen of rookhs?

L: It's… diferent. Listen, you know I want what it's best for you*.

E: (Ofc I know. I feel it)

L: I fear for you. I fear these powers take over you.

E: (It was true, more than once, he was being totally sincere. I felt his fear)

E: Don't worry, Leiftan. I control them. I hadn't cut ties with the light of the aengels. Look.

E: (A light shows up around my hand. the sparks cracked around my fingers, as usual. Could it be that they were more opaque than before? No doubt, it was because of the darkness in the room… The light disappeared when I closed my hand.)

E: See? You're worrying too much.

L: I can't stop you from using it, anyway. But it seems it's already become a reflex to you. If I were you, I would try to work on it, before it's too late.

E: Perhaps because we're frequently attacked. If it weren't for my powers, we would be dead. I didn't want to use them, either. I don't like to attack companions, nor humans. I have no choice. Everybody's survival is at stake and I know I will have to use them again.

E: The vampires, the rookhs were piece of cake compared to what awaits us. The Templars will attack us again, and they won't fall back. We can't bring ourselves to avoid using such power and I refuse to let everything that happened before, happen again. And if I need to neutralize all of them, I will, whatever the means. If its the only way to protect the faerys, I will use this dark energy until they're safe.

E: (Leiftan blocked his emotions. I don't like it.)

L: Got it. I can't blame you…

L: I need to get up, I need to talk to HH.

E: About what? You want warn her about me?

L: What? No, of course not! She asked me to see her, that's all.

L: With the Guard Leaders, she wanted to talk about the following strategy...

E: and my presence is not desired in this case either?

L: She might have thought you would be busy with your duties of Sister for a day.

E: I didn't answer. He got up and kissed me quickly before dressing up and leave.

[gryffindor-jedi]

The Night Fox - Chapter 6

Based on @royalhandmaidens Vigilante Commander Fox theory. The story will eventually lead into Foxiyo and a happy au.

I just realized that I forgot to post. Sorry about the delay, but I promise another chapter in around 2 weeks. There's also a mini-illustration that's slightly spoiler, for one of the scenes of this chapter here.

Prologue • Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5

Summary: Commander Fox uses Commander Thorn's help to deal with the Night Fox's capture, but tensions swirl within the Coruscant Guard. Senator Chuchi realizes that Commander Fox may be more capable than she thought.

Word count: 1373 words

“You keep putting me in difficult situations, Fox. And you even force me to go against the laws of the Republic, which could get me in big trouble with the Commander of the Coruscant Guard.” Thorn smiled, as he locked the prison cell.

“Shut up.” Fox smiled. “But maybe I was just a tad too stringent at times.”

“That's putting it lightly.” Thorn laughed.

Fox looked closely at the hooded figure, wearing his red armor and mask.

“How long until someone realizes that we have a droid in there?” Fox asked in a low murmur.

“Well, it's a well-known fact that clones hate droids, so I highly doubt anyone would guess. Even if someone does find out, they'll just assume that the Night Fox escaped, and used a droid decoy to cover his tracks, and the Coruscant Guard is too inept to figure it out.” Thorn said amicably. “It'll be fine.”

“I'm so sorry for doing this, but you understand why, right?” Fox pleaded.

“For the last time, WILL YOU QUIT APOLOGIZING?” Thorn clenched his teeth. “I told you before, it's fine, and no one's career has to be ruined for no reason. But if you say you're sorry one more time, I can promise you that you'll regret it.”

Thorn looked at Fox, whose lower lip had started trembling.

“Listen, I'm sorry. I forgot this is the first time you've done something against regulations.” Thorn patted Fox gently on the back. “Lighten up, live a little. I've done so much worse, without you knowing about it. Everyone else is pretty easy to fool, but you… you're too dedicated, which can sometimes be a pain, but it's helped me perfect my, shall we say unique, means of dealing with things outside of the rules.”

“At any other time, I would have been furious that you have snuck around my back, multiple times, but now, I can't help but be grateful.” Fox smiled again, as he began to tear up.

“Plus, now you'll owe me. And I intend to collect.” Thorn said cheerfully.

——————————————————————————

“Any idea how you've managed to keep the Night Fox's arrest from the Holonet?” Thire asked curiously.

Thorn shrugged. “Everyone assumes that if we arrested the Night Fox, we would be bragging about it, so since we haven't said anything about last night's search, the assumption is that we failed.”

“Which is good, since we don't want to deal with copycats.” Fox sighed. “This Night Fox situation seems to be connected to a string of break-ins at multiple senatorial apartments, the latest of which was the break-in at Senator Chuchi's apartment. Someone appears to be looking for something, and this individual has resources, since most senators hadn't noticed the break-in until days later.”

“Hang on, we actually have the Night Fox, right?” Rys asked cautiously.

“Yes, we do. Now–” Fox confirmed.

“Well, I must be off. Duties and all. Come on, Thire.” Rys said, innocently pulling Thire with him.

“I'm worried about those two.” Fox said darkly. “They really hated the Night Fox, and they might do something.”

“I'll take care of it.” Thorn reassured him. “The Night Fox tip was a sighting by a police droid, although we haven't been able to identify which one.”

“Why would the Night Fox allow himself to be seen by a police droid? It's not like they're hard to avoid.” Rys chimed in. “Maybe, his arrest is a trap?”

“No, no.” Fox started pacing. “He probably feels safer here, since it looks like someone's trying to hunt him.”

“Maybe that's a good thing.” Rys crossed his arms. “The Night Fox was sighted at Senator Chuchi's apartment. Someone could have hired him to break-in, and is trying to eliminate him for financial reasons.”

“The thing is… the Night Fox seems to be pretty forthcoming. He doesn't have anything to lose by lying to us.” Thorn said. “I believe him, and he doesn't seem to be against us.”

“Even if he is lying, it's clear that he isn't the mastermind.” Fox tried to convince Rys. “We want to find out who's in charge. It might even be the same person the Jedi are hunting, the one who started the war.”

“I don't know, but we should at least try to keep the Night Fox alive for now. We might be able to use him as bait.” Rys said thoughtfully. “I won't let my personal feelings affect my duty.”

“I don't like this either.” Fox agreed. “But we don't really have a choice.”

——————————————————————————

“Is it true? Did you really capture him?” Riyo had been persistently asking Fox the same question, from the moment she had seen him coming towards the apartments.

Fox shook his head, and replied. “We are unsure if the individual in our custody is the real Night Fox, or merely a copycat.”

“You keep saying that, but if you would just let me speak to him, I can tell you if he is the actual vigilante.” Riyo pleaded.

“And I have once again told you that I cannot.” Fox said. “I'm here to clear out my apartment, and return to my quarters.”

“You didn't bring anything, remember?” Riyo said under her breath. “I was kind of hoping you were bringing news or even just visiting…”

Fox grimaced. He had come to the apartment to check on the Pantoran, but he wasn't sure if she had wanted to see him. Maybe he could even clarify the whole Night Fox catastrophe.

“Fox, I have something to say.” Riyo straightened and looked him in the eye. “I was with the Night Fox on the day he was captured, and I really needed to tell him something very important and rather time-sensitive.”

Fox smiled despite himself. “He already told me about the armor, and my men and I can handle a Separatist spy who has infiltrated the highest levels of the Republic.”

“It's just that finding such a clever mastermind requires…” Riyo looked away. “Skills that you may not have or are unwilling to utilize.”

“Believe me, Senator, deceit is among many tools that I can use.” Fox's smile widened. The Night Fox may have captivated Riyo, but it looked like he still had a chance.

“Good to know, Commander.” Riyo started walking back to her apartment.

Fox entered his own temporary bedroom, and decided to spend one last restful night. However he had ended up here, he would probably miss the incredibly comfortable bed. As he changed, he noticed a small paper sticking out of his pocket. Fox sat down on the bed, and unfurled the slightly crumpled, heart-shaped paper. It was a card that a drunken Thorn had persuaded him to write last Valentine's Day, when he figured out Fox's little Pantoran secret. Fox looked over the card, which was rather plain, with a single 'Happy Valentine's Day from an admirer' written neatly in the center. It wasn't really worthy of Riyo, and Fox decided to throw it away the first chance he got. Soft footsteps interrupted Fox's musings, and he was shocked to see Riyo Chuchi standing in the doorway.

“I, uh…” Fox stared at her, as he tried to think of a way to hide the card.

“I hope I didn't scare you, or invade your personal space.” Riyo said, looking at the wall behind Fox.

“No worries, but why are you here?” Fox asked, discreetly trying to put the card in his pocket.

“I thought I'd give you a hug. You know, for like, umm, lending me your bed.” Riyo still refused to make eye contact. “It was a Jedi's idea, so I would rather not go against it.”

Riyo gave a very short but nonetheless comforting hug, even as Fox sat still.

“See you later!” Riyo waved, and dashed out.

“Wait!” Fox called after her.

Riyo looked slightly embarrassed, but stopped. Fox cleared his throat.

“As a clone, I've never really been hugged before.” Fox smiled. “Thank you. Would you like some fruitcake?”

Riyo smiled as well. “I would love some.”

“Well, it's a well-known fact that clones hate droids, so I highly doubt anyone would guess. Even if someone does find out, they'll just assume that the Night Fox escaped, and used a droid decoy to cover his tracks, and the Coruscant Guard is too inept to figure it out.” Thorn said amicably. “It'll be fine.”

“I'm so sorry for doing this, but you understand why, right?” Fox pleaded.

“For the last time, WILL YOU QUIT APOLOGIZING?” Thorn clenched his teeth. “I told you before, it's fine, and no one's career has to be ruined for no reason. But if you say you're sorry one more time, I can promise you that you'll regret it.”

Thorn looked at Fox, whose lower lip had started trembling.

“Listen, I'm sorry. I forgot this is the first time you've done something against regulations.” Thorn patted Fox gently on the back. “Lighten up, live a little. I've done so much worse, without you knowing about it. Everyone else is pretty easy to fool, but you… you're too dedicated, which can sometimes be a pain, but it's helped me perfect my, shall we say unique, means of dealing with things outside of the rules.”

“At any other time, I would have been furious that you have snuck around my back, multiple times, but now, I can't help but be grateful.” Fox smiled again, as he began to tear up.

“Plus, now you'll owe me. And I intend to collect.” Thorn said cheerfully.

——————————————————————————

“Any idea how you've managed to keep the Night Fox's arrest from the Holonet?” Thire asked curiously.

Thorn shrugged. “Everyone assumes that if we arrested the Night Fox, we would be bragging about it, so since we haven't said anything about last night's search, the assumption is that we failed.”

“Which is good, since we don't want to deal with copycats.” Fox sighed. “This Night Fox situation seems to be connected to a string of break-ins at multiple senatorial apartments, the latest of which was the break-in at Senator Chuchi's apartment. Someone appears to be looking for something, and this individual has resources, since most senators hadn't noticed the break-in until days later.”

“Hang on, we actually have the Night Fox, right?” Rys asked cautiously.

“Yes, we do. Now–” Fox confirmed.

“Well, I must be off. Duties and all. Come on, Thire.” Rys said, innocently pulling Thire with him.

“I'm worried about those two.” Fox said darkly. “They really hated the Night Fox, and they might do something.”

“I'll take care of it.” Thorn reassured him. “The Night Fox tip was a sighting by a police droid, although we haven't been able to identify which one.”

“Why would the Night Fox allow himself to be seen by a police droid? It's not like they're hard to avoid.” Rys chimed in. “Maybe, his arrest is a trap?”

“No, no.” Fox started pacing. “He probably feels safer here, since it looks like someone's trying to hunt him.”

“Maybe that's a good thing.” Rys crossed his arms. “The Night Fox was sighted at Senator Chuchi's apartment. Someone could have hired him to break-in, and is trying to eliminate him for financial reasons.”

“The thing is… the Night Fox seems to be pretty forthcoming. He doesn't have anything to lose by lying to us.” Thorn said. “I believe him, and he doesn't seem to be against us.”

“Even if he is lying, it's clear that he isn't the mastermind.” Fox tried to convince Rys. “We want to find out who's in charge. It might even be the same person the Jedi are hunting, the one who started the war.”

“I don't know, but we should at least try to keep the Night Fox alive for now. We might be able to use him as bait.” Rys said thoughtfully. “I won't let my personal feelings affect my duty.”

“I don't like this either.” Fox agreed. “But we don't really have a choice.”

——————————————————————————

“Is it true? Did you really capture him?” Riyo had been persistently asking Fox the same question, from the moment she had seen him coming towards the apartments.

Fox shook his head, and replied. “We are unsure if the individual in our custody is the real Night Fox, or merely a copycat.”

“You keep saying that, but if you would just let me speak to him, I can tell you if he is the actual vigilante.” Riyo pleaded.

“And I have once again told you that I cannot.” Fox said. “I'm here to clear out my apartment, and return to my quarters.”

“You didn't bring anything, remember?” Riyo said under her breath. “I was kind of hoping you were bringing news or even just visiting…”

Fox grimaced. He had come to the apartment to check on the Pantoran, but he wasn't sure if she had wanted to see him. Maybe he could even clarify the whole Night Fox catastrophe.

“Fox, I have something to say.” Riyo straightened and looked him in the eye. “I was with the Night Fox on the day he was captured, and I really needed to tell him something very important and rather time-sensitive.”

Fox smiled despite himself. “He already told me about the armor, and my men and I can handle a Separatist spy who has infiltrated the highest levels of the Republic.”

“It's just that finding such a clever mastermind requires…” Riyo looked away. “Skills that you may not have or are unwilling to utilize.”

“Believe me, Senator, deceit is among many tools that I can use.” Fox's smile widened. The Night Fox may have captivated Riyo, but it looked like he still had a chance.

“Good to know, Commander.” Riyo started walking back to her apartment.

Fox entered his own temporary bedroom, and decided to spend one last restful night. However he had ended up here, he would probably miss the incredibly comfortable bed. As he changed, he noticed a small paper sticking out of his pocket. Fox sat down on the bed, and unfurled the slightly crumpled, heart-shaped paper. It was a card that a drunken Thorn had persuaded him to write last Valentine's Day, when he figured out Fox's little Pantoran secret. Fox looked over the card, which was rather plain, with a single 'Happy Valentine's Day from an admirer' written neatly in the center. It wasn't really worthy of Riyo, and Fox decided to throw it away the first chance he got. Soft footsteps interrupted Fox's musings, and he was shocked to see Riyo Chuchi standing in the doorway.

“I, uh…” Fox stared at her, as he tried to think of a way to hide the card.

“I hope I didn't scare you, or invade your personal space.” Riyo said, looking at the wall behind Fox.

“No worries, but why are you here?” Fox asked, discreetly trying to put the card in his pocket.

“I thought I'd give you a hug. You know, for like, umm, lending me your bed.” Riyo still refused to make eye contact. “It was a Jedi's idea, so I would rather not go against it.”

Riyo gave a very short but nonetheless comforting hug, even as Fox sat still.

“See you later!” Riyo waved, and dashed out.

“Wait!” Fox called after her.

Riyo looked slightly embarrassed, but stopped. Fox cleared his throat.

“As a clone, I've never really been hugged before.” Fox smiled. “Thank you. Would you like some fruitcake?”

Riyo smiled as well. “I would love some.”

Tag list: @penguinkiwi, @kris-styx, @abbsbats

(Just ask to be added!)

[tamrielarchive]

Through the late hours of the night Angi and Mehri pack up supplies. Storing away any unneeded items and making sure to not leave any valuables. By midnight Mehri sits for a break, writing her thoughts down briefly

The two head to sleep soon after, uneasy but eager. By morning Angi awakes to an empty shack. Checking outside she sees Mehri staring off the edge of the mountain cliffs. She throws on her travel clothes and jogs up to meet her. A: "Now what are you up to?" Mehri is startled and shaken from her focus.

M: "Hm? I'm just surveying the path. Nice view from up here, you can see pretty much the entire hold." Angi chuckles and nods A: "You get it, eh. Ready to go?"

M: "Ready as ever"

The pair shudder the cabin and smother all their fires. Heading out down the mountain the morning sky remains clear and pleasant. Angi leads Mehri down the mountain with wisdom from a thousand descents. As the two reach the treeline they begin to sneak, wanting to avoid any unnecessary attention.

Down the mountain path they sneak. Angi tells Mehri stories of old hunts and times in the woods. Passing a small cave Angi is reminded of a particularly interesting tale. A: "See that hole over there?" M: "Mhm? What of it?" A: "Right in there is a little grove. A long while ago I was trying to find a mark when I found myself in there. And it would be just my luck that I would come to find myself in the face of a spriggan. I had been caught completely off guard and only just managed to escape." Angi chortles in a jolly way. A: "Nothing like I've ever experienced. I hope I never come across one again, too many bees." M: "That reminds me of the time I saw a minotaur. A towering beast. Stalked through the woods like a monster, I had to hide inside a log!" Down the mountain path they sneak. Angi tells Mehri stories of old hunts and times in the woods. Passing a small cave Angi is reminded of a particularly interesting tale. A: "See that hole over there?" M: "Mhm? What of it?" A: "Right in there is a little grove. A long while ago I was trying to find a mark when I found myself in there. And it would be just my luck that I would come to find myself in the face of a spriggan. I had been caught completely off guard and only just managed to escape." Angi chortles in a jolly way. A: "Nothing like I've ever experienced. I hope I never come across one again, too many bees." M: "That reminds me of the time I saw a minotaur. A towering beast. Stalked through the woods like a monster, I had to hide inside a log!" The women share a laugh and continue on. As they descend further they come across a small stream. Angi takes a deep breath and scolws. A: "Mehri. I have a question." M: ".. Yes?" A: "How long has it been since you've properly bathed?" M: "...... its really that bad?" A: "You smell like goat shit, follow me." Angi leads her down along the stream, eventually the reach a small pond. There Angi stands along the waters edge listening to the morning bird song. In the pond Mehri bathes herself of days of dirt and blood and sweat. The water is cold and clear. Although chilly Mehri manages to relax.

M: "Stendarr's mercy I feel like a new person. Thank you, this place is great." A: "Its a quiet little spot. Haven't run into bandits out in this area just yet thank the gods." Mehri dips her head into the water and washes her face off. Looking over to Angi the two lock eyes briefly but Angi looks away hurriedly. M: "Haha, no shame here don't worry about nothing." Angi chuckles along, now staring off into the woods. M: "Say, those are some nice clothes. Whats the deal with that?" A: "Ah. Thats a conversation for another time. They keep warm though. High quality is worth it." Mehri nods, gets up and begins to dry herself. After shes fully dressed and armored the two head out. Eventually near the base of the mountain the reach a road. They sneak along the sides of the road northward until they reach a small farm. At the farm Angi leads Mehri off the trail through the wilderness. Steady footsteps and staying low keeps the two hidden. In the distant forests they hear shouting and movement. Avoiding any signs of life they eventually make it to the road to Riverwood. The two keep low until they reach the hold border. From there they begin to walk with renewed energy and excitement.

Eventually Mehri stops to admire some ruins. She stares at the broken foundations and crumbling pillars with wonder. M: "You ever wonder what this stuff used to be? A: "Can't say I do, not often." M: "There oughta be someone out there who knows." A: "You think? Hmm." sounds of distant barking drives the pair to carry onwards up the road. As they stroll Angi admires the surrounding landscape. They follow the river north, salmon leap along the frigid water. Eventually the trees give way to the village walls.

Mehri stops as they enter town M: "Welcome to Riverwood! My place is off out the other side of town, but the trader and inn are good places for supplies if you need them. So what do you think on next steps?" A: "Right now I need to settle down and think. I'm not in any rush now." M: "Well okay then, follow me!" Mehri escorts Angi to the other side of town, the townfolk eye the two as they walk past and Mehri gives them a friendly wave. The two rush off and into the woods. Heading up the hill Mehri leads Angi to the mouth of the cave. Hopping up on a rock she presents her humble little abode.

M: "This is home, feel free to come and go as you please." A: "Wow, you found this?" M: "Heh, yeah! Sitting out here right for the taking. Nobody in sight. Left the key out so now its mine!" A: "Are you sure this is safe?" M: "Absolutely. Whoever owned this place died a while ago probably, plus they left a note. Its totally fine."

A: "Well... alright then. Lets head inside shall we?"

Mehri leads Angi into the cave, she rushes over to her chests to store her supplies as Angi looks around hesitantly. Eventually as she explores the cavern she speaks up

A: "Wow, I was not expecting this." M: "Its very nice! perfect place to rest up and lie low." A: "Hmmm. Hahaha! This is great! You're a lucky one aren't you. The woods around here seem perfect for hunting too." Angi wanders towards the back of the cave. After stuffing away all her gear Mehri follows along giving her a short tour of the rest of the camp. The pair cook up and eat a small meal before resting from the days travel.

M: "So what are your plans for tomorrow?" A: "Scout out the area, maybe snag a kill, and head into town for a bit. I'll probably stock up on some supplies too." M: "Oh! You should head to the Riverwood Trader the guy and his sister there like me so just say I sent you." Angi nods in approval A: "And what about you?" M: "Not sure! I like to wander wherever. I'll probably go to Whiterun. I've heard some interesting things about that place. Might be gone for a bit so you're free to use this place as you please." Mehri gives Angi a warm smile before realizing something M: "But as long as you dont touch my stuff! I like it where it is." Angi giggles and nods along A: "That all? You're too kind." Angi looks over the pile of boxes and treasure below. A: "The dragon in the cave has a hoard and everything. Ill make sure to keep guard then." The two share a laugh and chat through the afternoon. Soon the last of faint sunlight coming from the mouth of the cave fades. Angi rolls out a bedroll and the two head to bed for the night.

[julemmaes]

Robyn

Rowaelin Month, Day Ten

A/N: I'd planned on posting them in order, but you get what you get. Idk when the other prompts will come tbf. I hope soon. Anyway, I managed to write over 6k words today and I'm pretty fucking proud.

This is just fluff over fluff, so yep enjoy!!

Word count: 3,047

Rowan was unbelievably late as he sped through the streets of Orynth.

So late that the school had called not only him, but also the front desk of the place where he worked when he hadn't answered the call on his personal phone. Sorscha, his assistant, had entered his office with an embarrassed smile on her lips, as if she didn't want to tell him that he had forgotten for the umpteenth time to pick up his daughter from school.

Lorcan had joined him, for some strange reason, but Rowan had stopped bothering when it came to his best friend. He'd been trying to figure out how he reasoned for years and had come to the conclusion that there was no logical sense in the actions of the man sitting next to him, who was currently singing at the top of his lungs to one of the songs on the Frozen CD - which much to the chagrin of both of them, had gotten stuck in his car radio months before, forcing them into hours of torture.

He would never deny that the songs were all quite catchy, but after the sixteenth time Rowan had had to listen to Let It Go at maximum volume, his positive opinion of the film had begun to waver.

As they pulled into the school parking lot, Rowan noticed with deep regret that the only cars still there were those of the teachers and school staff.

They both got out of the car, Rowan walking quickly towards the entrance while Lorcan dragged behind him.

He greeted the caretakers sitting at the entrance, who returned a big smile. A smile that grew even wider when his large, imposing friend entered a few moments later. He stopped to talk to the old ladies and Rowan walked down the corridor he knew led to Robyn's classroom.

He could hear muffled voices from inside the teachers' room on the left and the one he knew belonged to Miss Galathynius coming from the right. He looked out over the classroom, spotting the two people sitting at a desk.

As soon as his daughter saw him, her eyes widened and a huge smile flashed across her face.

No words. No "hello, daddy!" or "I missed you!" from the little girl.

Her teacher turned as she leapt out of her chair and ran towards him, hugging his legs and looking up at him. Rowan smiled at her in turn, running a hand over her hair that was shot in every direction.

"Hello, little bird," he murmured to her. The child's smile widened even more if that was possible.

The woman a few feet away from them pulled herself upright, crossing her arms over her chest and offering a sincere smile to the child, who hid behind his thighs.

Rowan was about to tell her that Robyn was shy with everyone like this, ready to defend his daughter's behaviour as he was used to doing in front of every adult, but he was beaten to the punch.

"It's good to see you, Mr Whitethorn," she said, extending a hand. Rowan shook it without hesitation. "Actually, I just wanted to write you a letter regarding Robyn," she continued, never taking her eyes off the little girl. "Nothing serious," she hastened to reassure him when Rowan grimaced, "quite the contrary. Robyn is remarkably good. One of the best in the class, though I shouldn't offer that information so bluntly."

Miss Galathynius winked at him, but he couldn't process what he'd just been told.

"Sorry, could you-"

The little hands clamped around his trousers tightened a fraction more and Rowan looked down, trying to figure out what was bothering his daughter, but then something happened that he hadn't even dared to dream about in recent times.

"You're here!"

The little girl broke off and ran away from him in less than the blink of an eye.

Rowan turned just in time to see Lorcan grab Robyn in mid-air, spinning her around as he brought her to his chest and showered her with kisses. The loud, incessant laughter that erupted from her seemed too much coming from that fragile little body, but he never tired of hearing it.

"Why hello baby!" said Lorcan laughing in turn, starting to tickle her until she begun to rebel and he was forced to let her slide to the floor. Robyn was still laughing at the top of her lungs and nearly fell to the ground as she squealed left and right, letting herself be pushed around by the closest thing to an uncle she had ever had.

When Rowan turned back to the woman, she was wide-eyed and her lips slightly parted as she watched the massive man dressed completely in black and the menacing face turn into a completely different person the second he had seen Robyn.

He chuckled, "I know, it's not every day you get to see a little girl be so comfortable with a brute like that."

Lorcan, who was listening to everything, looked him straight in the eye and without stopping smiling and playing with the little girl, mouthed to him to fuck off.

"Well, yeah. You caught me a little off guard." she confessed, still shocked to hear how Robyn was having a full conversation with Lorcan. They couldn't hear anything of what she was actually saying, but even just the fact she was talking to someone seemed to have Aelin unsettled.

She returned her attention to Rowan and let out a breath that sounded more like a giggle, "I've never heard her laugh before."

He nodded, blushing a little at the teacher's surprised but relieved tone.

"I'm sure the dean warned you about the problem she has," he said in a low voice. He grimaced at her poor choice of words, "I mean, not problem, but the difficulty she finds in interacting with people she doesn't know."

Liar, he told himself. Robyn hadn't spoken to anyone but him and Lorcan since the day Lyria had died. It wasn't a difficulty, but a response to the trauma that prevented her from speaking to anyone who wasn't part of her immediate family.

"I know, I know. We've been looking for solutions together." she informed him. "I give her a white board every morning. Come on, I'll show you." she turned to the desk they were sitting at earlier and raised the magnetic board, on which a few words were scribbled on. "I'll write here what she might need. Yes. No. I need to go to the bathroom. I'm thirsty. I'm hungry." she read, listing the various options. Rowan gaped. "We've only just started going over the alphabet for a second time, so she can't really read or write yet, as I imagine you know, but the little drawings next to each sentence help her."

She continued talking, but he couldn't quite follow.

The woman in front of him - aside from being breathtakingly beautiful - had done as much as she could to help her child with communication.

"Mr. Whitethorn-"

"Rowan. Please, call me Rowan." he said, clearing his throat once he realized how hoarse it sounded to his ears. Lorcan walked up to them at that point, still holding Robyn in his arms and positioned himself next to him, letting their shoulders touch in a comforting way.

"Call me Aelin, then," she smiled at them both. Then she made a small grimace, turning to Rowan, "I wanted to ask if it bothered you, that I sought a solution like that. Maybe I put her in distress, embarrassed her. I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I wanted to solve this on my own. I really wanted to discuss it with you, with your husband too, to avoid misunderstandings. Maybe we could arrange a meeting."

He was about to tell her that she had given him the exact opposite of annoyance, that he had been more than pleased that she had helped Robyn this way, when her words finally registered.

Lorcan, beside him, had opened his mouth wide and his lips were slowly bending into a mischievous smile.

Rowan furrowed his brow, "I'm sorry, what?"

Aelin's smile seemed to falter. "A meeting? With you? To talk about how to handle the situation," then she shifted her gaze to Lorcan, "You're more than welcome to join as well. I didn't know Robyn had two dads, I apologise for assuming Robyn had a mum and dad. That was very rude of me-"

"I love this," Lorcan whispered, laughing in shock. He turned to Rowan with eyes that sparkled with amusement, "I would definitely be the top."

Rowan looked at him with an expression of complete shock on his face, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Robyn gasped, opening her eyes wide and bringing a hand to her mouth, pointing then to Rowan's.

"Yeah, sorry, love. I shouldn't have said the bad word." he apologised, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. He turned back to Miss Galathynius, "I'm sorry to have to disappoint you, but we're not married."

"No need to lie, sweetie. I'm sure Aelin," he gave her a knowing look, "doesn't mind at all about our relationship status."

Aelin nodded, "Well, yes. That doesn't change anything. Mr..." she turned to Lorcan, searching for a name.

"Salvaterre."

"Mr. Salvaterre can still attend. The fact that you are not yet married is no reason why you cannot both be present at the meeting. You don't have to worry, we are a very tolerant school and if anyone bothers you, you can come directly to me."

A sound of sheer glee escaped Lorcan.

Aelin continued, "I mean it. I was pleased to see both of you today. I was also pleased to see Robyn smiling so much." she concluded, looking the little one in the face.

Rowan took a deep breath, bracing himself, "No, I meant, we're not a couple. We're not gay. He's her uncle."

The woman's blonde eyebrows shot up and a second later she turned almost as red as the dress Robyn was wearing as Lorcan shook his head muttering something very much like 'you're no fun', which made Robyn giggle.

"Why did you even get off the car?" he asked him exasperated.

Lorcan shrugged, "Because I missed my little bean, you monster." he replied, clutching Robyn to his chest. The little girl clutched Lorcan's shirt in her chubby little hands and Rowan huffed, shaking his head.

Aelin brought her hands to her face, leaning against the desk behind her. She shook her head, her face still hidden, "Oh, god. I'm so sorry."

Lorcan let out a dry laugh, "Don't worry about it. It was fun while it lasted." then he turned to Rowan again, who was still trying to recover from the idea of being involved in a relationship with his friend, "You're really no fun."

"Yeah, no fun dad." repeated Robyn.

Silence fell over the class. Rowan looked at her with wide eyes and blinked once, twice. Robyn was staring at him with a sweet scowl that mimicked so much that of the man who was still holding her, but Rowan couldn't get over the fact that his daughter had spoken while Aelin was still beside them.

He was about to talk, noticing how Robyn had started squirming in Lorcan's arms, when there was a knock at the door.

They both turned, Aelin peering over Rowan's shoulder, and saw the figure of a petite girl with black hair and eyes standing in the doorway, watching them with her head slightly bent to the side. She had a tag on her t-shirt that was too colourful to belong to someone who didn't work in a school with children, so he guessed she was a teacher herself. Besides, Rowan felt like he'd seen her elsewhere. Probably every day when he picked Robyn up from school, he said to himself.

"I know you're not supposed to eavesdrop but I stopped by earlier and heard you were a couple of dads," she said by way of introduction. "I just wanted to reassure you that the school is an extremely safe place. I'm the one who did most of the interviews with the parents," that's where they had met then, "and one of the questions that is asked is just about the tolerance of the people who will be attending the school."

Aelin watched her, remaining silent the whole time and putting on an amused smile, nodded, "That's what I was telling them. How tolerant the school is. They make such a cute couple, don't you think, Elide?"

Rowan turned to her, arching an eyebrow, silently asking her what she was doing. The woman, as if she could truly understand what he was trying to convey to her, nodded her head towards Lorcan, who Rowan only then noticed was standing weirdly, his eyes fixed on the woman in the doorway.

He grinned, deciding to take his revenge right away. "Oh, yes. Thank you so much for the reassurance," Rowan began to play along as well. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lorcan turn towards him, dropping Robyn to the floor, who made a disapproving noise at being dumped so suddenly. "We are happy to know that this school is a safe place for our daughter. And for us."

Elide offered him a blinding smile, "Good. I'm happy to hear that you are pleased so far. And I am happy that Aelin is the one who is taking your daughter's class. She's the best one here."

Rowan didn't know her yet, but he knew the thing Elide had just said could only be true.

"Well," she said again, giving them an apologetic smile, "I really must go now, but if you need anything, you can find all my contact details on the website. Have a nice day!"

Aelin and Rowan said their goodbyes, thanking her. Lorcan took a while to recover, but when he realised he was staring into empty space he ran towards the door, almost stepping on little Robyn, who was moved by Aelin.

"We are very much not gay, miss!" he shouted into the hallway. Aelin, now beside him and with a hand on Robyn's shoulder, cackled. With Lorcan's infinite luck, someone walked by just then and gave him a stern look. "Oh, shut up ma'am. I'm an ally. The best ally."

Rowan shook his head as Lorcan launched himself in pursuit of the poor teacher and burst out laughing when he heard him shout, "I'm not homophobic! I'm willing to suck someone's cock if I have to prove it to you!"

Aelin opened her mouth wide before bursting out laughing in turn.

Robyn, seeing both adults so happy, giggled too and Rowan bent down to pick her up. The little girl laid her full head of white-light hair on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

She was tired and Rowan really needed to get her home to sleep.

He glanced at Aelin and reduced his lips to a thin line, "I'm sorry about the commotion, I'll try not to bring him into the building again. Even if it means tying him to the seat."

The soft laugh she gave made something tighten in his chest. He frowned.

Aelin didn't seem to notice the effect she had on him, "Don't worry, Elide is crazy about fools like him. If he says the right things, we might start seeing each other outside of school too."

Rowan nodded, now too caught up in the thought of having to take Robyn home to focus on anything else.

They agreed on when to hold the parent-teacher meeting and then he grabbed Robyn's backpack, walking towards the exit.

He was thoughtless as he reached into his pocket for his keys and balanced everything else - including the girl - on his other arm, but when Robyn's hand brushed his cheek, he looked down and his eyes met their twins. Green against green.

"What is it?"

The little girl's voice never stopped making him smile. Each time was like the first time she had said dada.

"I really like her."

Rowan frowned, "Who?"

"Miss Aelin." she whispered, almost as if she was afraid they might hear her.

He smiled at her, "Yeah? You like her?"

"She's nice to me."

Rowan had to put her down as he opened the door and let her get into the back seats by herself.

"I'm glad she's treating you well, love," he let her know, buckling her in.

He hoped she'd tell him more about her new teacher, but like any kid her age, the topic of conversation couldn't last for more than four lines apiece, "Where's Uncle Lorcan?"

Rowan snorted, "No idea, little bird."

Robyn nodded, "Elide is pretty too."

And as if those words had summoned him, Lorcan appeared beside the car, making them both scream. He entered the car in a heartbeat and turned to his daughter, who was still settling into the seat. "Do you know Miss Lochan?"

But before she could answer him, Rowan had entered the car in turn and smacked the back of his head, which made the Robyn giggle, "You're not using my daughter as your wingman. Now stop it and buckle up."

Lorcan gave him a gentle push, before doing as he was told and for once he was happy he'd convinced him to do something.

Or at least, Rowan thought he had convinced him.

"What if I left you a note to deliver to Miss Lochan, Rob? Would you be up for it?"

Rowan knew, even without looking at her, that she was nodding emphatically.

Keeping his eyes on the road, he murmured, "Could you stop calling my daughter Rob, please? You'll give her an existential crisis."

Lorcan clicked his tongue against his palate, "Rowan, I'm not giving her a damn thing. We live in this new world, okay? Your daughter could be called Simon and still be a beautiful princess. Grow up and educate yourself before you talk shit."

"Aaaah!" shouted Robyn, "Bad word!"

Rowan sighed and shook his head, but still he was smiling.

This was his life. Had been for the past two years.

And he wouldn't change it for the world.

tog tag list (if you wanna be added or removed just dm me or send me an ask)

@maastrash @ireallyshouldsleeprn @sleeping-and-books @hellasblessed @thegoddessofyou @ghostlyrose2 @claralady @sayosdreams @perseusannabeth @letstakethedawn @terrible-and-proud @post-it-notes33 @booksstorm @nalgenewhore @queen-of-demons-and-hell @lanyjoy-13 @vasudharaghavan @cupcakey00 @bri-loves-sunflowers @queen-of-glass @thewayshedreamed @the-regal-warrior @fangirlprincess09 @januarystears @rowaelinismyotp @starbornsinger @bookstantrash @thegreyj @feysand-loml @autumnbabylon @a-court-of-milkandhoney @highqueenofelfhame @story-scribbler @mariamuses @rhysandswingspan @tanvee1231

[the-lonelybarricade]

Countdown to Love - (4/4)

Summary: Nesta is alone for the holidays, and she's totally fine with that... right? When she attends a speed dating event, she tells herself it's just to meet someone she can grab a coffee with over the break. What she gets instead is a Christmas experience unlike any other.

The final chapter of CtL! This contains possibly the least explicit smut I've ever written? Haha I hope you enjoy, lovelies! Thank you so much for reading my first Nessian fic, I had a lot of fun!

Part of @acotargiftexchange for @saphie3243

Part I/Part II/Part III ⟡ Holiday Masterlist ⟡ Read on AO3

Friday, December 24. 3:00 pm.

It was Christmas Eve, and Nesta hadn’t heard anything from Cassian about where to meet him. He usually texted her a time and place the day before, but he’d been radio silent since their tense drive home yesterday.

All morning she’d been debating texting him, wondering if she’d well and truly fucked up. How many times could she expect Cassian to keep coming back after she pushed him away? He was more determined than most, sure, but even he must have his limit.

Nesta chewed her lip as she glanced at the time for what was surely the fifth time that minute. She’d already drafted and deleted several texts messages, ranging from apologetic to asking him if his silence meant he was forfeiting their bet. She hadn’t worked up the courage to send any of them.

Suddenly there was a knock at her door and she practically ran to answer it, finding Cassian on the other side.

He looked a bit more tired than usual, but not as guarded as she expected, still mustering a handsome smile as he raised a handful of boxed DVDs.

“Watch these Christmas movies with me.”

She raised a brow. “Who uses DVDs anymore? I don’t even think I have something we can play them on.”

“Then we’ll watch them online,” he said, eyes twinkling. “But still, your challenge is to watch them with me.”

She frowned, searching him warily. “That’s all you want?”

“That’s all I want, Nesta.”

He’d been trying so hard to get her to cave in the buildup to Christmas, it seemed a bit anticlimactic. She wondered if maybe their stint yesterday had anything to do with that—perhaps he’d decided he didn’t want to spend Christmas day with her, afterall.

But he was here now, and she’d spent most of the morning worrying he wouldn’t be. So she managed a smile as she led him to the couch, while she hunted down online versions of the films he brought. Then, ignoring the fluttering in her chest, she settled into his side on the sofa.

Cassian looked surprised by her willingness to snuggle—and, really, she was too. Nesta couldn’t remember the last time physical affection hadn’t needed to be coaxed from her. She wasn’t a hugger. But Cassian… Cassian was like a giant teddy bear. It felt good to curl up against him, especially as he wrapped his arm around her waist and practically pulled her into his lap, so her back lay against his chest.

It was more forward than she’d expected him to be after yesterday. Nesta two weeks ago would have bitten his arm off for doing it. Now she’d reluctantly admit that it was exactly what she’d hoped he would do.

They didn’t speak much. Nesta absently wondered if he’d chosen to watch movies for that very reason, to avoid the topless elephant in the room. As his thumbs rolled absent circles where they rested at her hips, she thought he didn’t seem mad. Nor did he seem defeated.

He chuckled, softly, and because of their position she could feel the vibration of it rumble through his chest. It was a deep, rich sound, and it would have sent her stomach tumbling if he wasn’t laughing at her.

She whipped her head towards him, startled to find that his face was much closer than she’d anticipated, causing their noses to brush. She narrowed her eyes as he smirked.

“What?”

“What’s up, Nesta? I can feel you overthinking. Could you even tell me what happened in the last five minutes of the movie?”

Her silence was telling. She hadn’t been paying attention at all, knew so little about the plot that she couldn’t even guess. He laughed again at the silent admission.

“Your challenge was to watch the films, y’know. Can’t believe it would take something as easy as watching movies to finally crack you.”

Nesta moved back a bit, so she could see his full face. She followed the sharp planes of his face, his sharp jaw marked by feint stubble that made him look uncut and unbearably rugged. He was so far from the prince charming she’d imagined for herself as a little girl. That man had been smooth face and polished, primped and preened and well educated. Nesta would have torn that kind of man apart. He’d never be able to challenge her the way Cassian has.

“Why did you choose something so easy for the final day?” she asked, searching his face.

Those warm hazel eyes cut to hers, perhaps reading her uncertainty. He shrugged. “I just wanted to relax and spend the day with you.”

Was it pathetic that such a simple concept blew her mind? That Cassian enjoyed her company enough to just… want to savor it? She supposed she could give in to something like that. Satisfied with his answer, she snuggled back into arms, properly turning her attention to the film.

After the fourth film about discovering the “true” meaning of Christmas, Nesta felt about ready to gouge her eyes out. It was starting to get late. Cassian made no sign of leaving and she felt no urge to encourage him. Eight hours of Christmas films, it turned out, were perfect for a healthy dose of self reflection, especially since she related to so many of the characters who had closed their heart off for Christmas.

What was she so afraid of, really? She knew the answer. That she was terrified of letting Cassian in, because what if she did and then he decided to leave? Nesta had found losing people so unbearable that she’d decided it was better to just not have anyone to lose. Being alone, though, wasn’t any better. That’s why she’d gone to that speed dating event, because a part of her was hoping that maybe she’d find someone who was worth it.

And really, wasn’t she too far gone with Cassian? As much as she’d tried to resist it, she’d ended up falling for him. If she pushed him away now, it would still hurt to lose him. The guarded part of herself argued that it would hurt less to do it now, before she loved him so much it consumed her. But maybe she was tired of keeping her foot on the breaks.

She glanced over to him.

“Cassian?”

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

No thinking, just—jump.

“Kiss me.” There was a stagnant pause as he turned his head towards her, assessing her earnesty. “That’s your challenge. Kiss me, and don’t stop.”

A slow smirk bloomed over his lips. “I thought you’d never ask.”

She shifted in his lap so that she was straddling him. For a moment, they just stared into each other’s eyes. The few times they’d kissed had always been in the heat of the moment. This… somehow felt more meaningful.

Cassian reached up and swept a lock of hair out of her face, hazel eyes never leaving hers.

“Didn’t you say that you usually spend Christmas with your brothers?” she asked, softly. Christmas Eve might just be another day to Nesta, but Cassian… he was probably missing plans.

“I wanted to be here, Nes.”

She wouldn’t have believed him if not for the earnesty burning in his eyes.

Slowly, his warm, calloused hand slid across her cheek until his fingertips brushed the nape of her neck. She felt the press of his fingers, urging her forward, and she gladly followed his pull until their lips were a breath apart.

That fire was burning inside of her, but as hungry and wanting as she felt, Cassian kissed her slowly. Nesta’s eyes fluttered shut, savoring this gentleness she’d so sparsely allowed herself. Her fingers found his silky hair, pleased he decided to leave it down today. As her mouth parted over his, she tried to convey her apology for all the times she’d pushed him away—willing him to understand that he meant a lot to her and that was terrifying.

Cassian grunted like he understood, tasting her like he was trying to memorize it. As though it were his own way of saying that he’d take whatever she was willing to give him, that if this was the only time she’d allow him in then he’d relish every moment of it.

Somewhere the tender touches dissolved into something more desperate, frenzied. Unsurprising, considering their two week buildup of sexual tension. But even as the kisses turned more heated, she sensed his hesitance. Even as she broke away to trail open mouth along his neck, nibbling and licking at his throat, his hand stayed chaste and gentle in her hair.

Nesta understood it was the result of her own skittishness, but she didn’t want him to hold back. On more than one occasion, she’d thrown her whole self at Cassian and he hadn’t flinched once. She could handle the same in turn.

“Cass,” she murmured, earning a groan from him as her hands dipped under his shirt and explored the hard slope of muscle. “Give me more. Give me everything. Please.”

He seemed to shudder at that, and then his hands were all over her—tracing the shape of her hips, kneading and caressing her ass, using his grip there to pull her hips closer against his. They both moaned as she ground against him.

Then she was pulling his shirt over his head, desperate to feel the fever-like heat of his skin flush against hers. His lips, his scent, the prickling warmth of his body, they were like her own personal lotus fruits, drawing her in, willing her to stay.

She gasped as he wrestled her shirt over her head in one thorough motion, fingers undoing the clasp of her bra with similar ease.

Then she was topless, exposed to him like yesterday except now his eyes were open. And he was staring at her as though she were something priceless in a museum. He made a sound halfway between a groan and a whimper before he ducked his head into her chest, tongue and teeth exploring the sensitive skin until she was keening against him.

She tugged hard against his hair and she felt him smile like he loved it, touching her like he was desperate to elicit more noise from her, growling his encouragement when her hips bucked against his involuntarily.

Then he lifted her up and carried her to the bed, question in his eyes when her legs hit the mattress. She only smiled, spreading her knees in invitation—one he seemed to gladly accept as he buried himself between her thighs like his own personal Christmas feast. Nesta would have been mortified by the noises that escaped her if she wasn’t so thoroughly undone by him.

There was no urgency in the way Cassian explored her. He drew her pleasure with his tongue until she was a shaking mess below him, and then he crawled over her on the bed, eyes warm and tender as they stripped away their remaining barriers. They interlaced their fingers as he entered her, kissing each other deeply, thoroughly with every languid stroke. As though they were far less focused on the physicality, and more on the connection that seeped and grew with each reverent touch.

Sex had never felt like this—like something pure and golden, like coming home. He was staring at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, eyes soft, lips smiling when they met hers.

He whispered her name, so like a prayer, as he buried his head in her neck, and she said his name in answer, like a thing of wonder. Something she’d always been looking for without even realizing, and had stumbled upon entirely by accident. It was only ever him and this golden, glowing string that ebbed and flowed between them, as blazing and brilliant as he was.

Nesta lost track of time, but eventually they collapsed into each other, pulses and breath stuttering, and she snuggled into his side, feeling warm and safe as she fell asleep in Cassian’s arms.

When she opened her eyes the next morning, she was nearly convinced it had all been a dream. But the mammoth of a man whose body curled over hers like a thick blanket was testament otherwise.

He looked so peaceful when he slept, Nesta thought, rolling over to get a better view of his face. She could feel each of his exhales like a gentle puff of air against her head. As she marveled at how calm she felt, Cassian stirred, cracking one eye open. When he saw her, the most adorable smile spread over his face, thoroughly cracking her heart in two.

It was game over from there, Nesta thought. She’d never be able to resist that smile ever again.

“Merry Christmas,” he mumbled, voice still thick from sleep, but he managed to open both eyes now, and they were fixed on her with an unparalleled tenderness. He shuffled closer, nuzzling his face into her hair. There was nothing subtle about the deep inhale he took as his hands began idle strokes down her back. “Looks like I got to spend it with you, afterall.”

She snorted in disbelief, but felt too content to care about their stupid bargain. It was the best Christmas she’d ever had. And for the first time in a long time, she felt happy. And had the sneaking suspicion she might stay that way.

⟡⟡⟡

Taglist: @littleloric @angelic-voice-1997 @c-e-d-dreamer @vasudharaghavan @sayosdreams @swankii-art-teacher

[once-upon-a-pirate-ship]

How Restlessly the Stars Do Gleam: SNEAK PEEK of Chapter 6!

I know, we're all impressed by the speed of this update, which is coming this Friday -- January 28th.

With the help of my friends in the CSMM discord, I've been able to make a lot of headway with this story, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to update on a weekly/bi-weekly basis for a while (at least until life interrupts me).

Haven't heard of How Restlessly the Stars Do Gleam? Here's some things you might be familiar with: Enchanted Forest AU, Princess Emma (the most badass of them all), slave brothers Killian and Liam, a younger brother Leo, a particularly cruel Evil Queen (no redemption arc, whoops), and curses that play on familiar ones with terrible twists. Also, I've managed to turn this into much more of a slow burn than I thought I was capable of.

This fic is rated M for depictions of graphic violence, mentions of torture, and possibly alarming descriptions of pain. As of right now, there is no smut in this fic. If that changes, I will add the tags on AO3 and mark before/after it appears in the text so you may avoid it if you wish.

Story summary: After the Evil Queen kidnaps and curses her family and destroys her kingdom, Princess Emma is on the run. She boards a merchant vessel with her godmother Red, and they intend to travel to Arendelle to seek magical assistance. But when Emma discovers the dark truths aboard Captain Silver's ship, she must put a stop to his cruelty and rescue the Jones brothers from their enslavement. Emma has to find her own allies and face her fears in order to save her parents, her brother Leo, and her kingdom.

This features many of our favorite characters like: Will Scarlet, Belle, Tink, Roland, and more!

Read chapter one: 'Unfit for a Princess' on AO3 here, or pick up from chapter five: 'The Next Step' to prepare for the next one coming in just a few days!

@kmomof4 @ouatpost @jrob64 @teamhook @tiganasummertree @zaharadessert @ultraluckycatnd

DM me to be added to the taglist for this fic or future stories!!

Read the sneak peek below the cut:

Killian raised a hand to his shoulder, massaging the muscle for a moment. The stillness beneath him had him uneasy, kept him tense in moments that didn’t require it. Now, however, as he sat with his back against a tree and the hilt of his cutlass in his other hand, there wasn’t much else to do but be tense.

In many ways, being on watch was a relief to him. He imagined that he’d never be able to sleep if Emma were in his place; he’d be lost in his worry—and then trying to convince himself that he wasn’t worried—and he’d waste good hours tossing and turning on his bedroll.

When Liam had woken him for his shift, he’d hardly slept at all then either, too aware of the sounds that hummed around them from the forest, nothing more than the creatures that lived there. Without the familiar crash of waves, his ears strained themselves until sleep settled uneasily over him.

But now, in the absence of company or distraction, the realities of his thoughts were far too loud and depressing for him to bear, and he sat silently repeating the words he didn’t want to be true—the words he needed to be true. Just the tone of it echoing through his head had nearly been enough to steal all his senses, but he was committed to his role as their guard for the next few hours until dawn broke.

Thanks for reading!!! Check in on Friday to read the full chapter!

[scarletred79]

Anti-Social Artist (FNAF SB / Fem Reader) Chapter 2: Reality Check

The shift ended for the day, as soon as expected, thankfully. Aaron, my boss, told me that I earned a break for all the new art pieces I've created in a short period. I had a setup to print the imagery directly onto the hoodies. I arranged the colors I chose for the images and will be starting working on that in my next shift.

I sat on my spinning chair while thinking of what to do in my spare time. 'I could either stay in to watch Doctor Who, go underground or take a nap,' I thought. But before I could do anything, I needed a shower to help relieve the muscles. They stayed in a horrible sitting position for hours.

I was relieved when I was told I had my own shower and bathroom to do my business after getting the job. Nothing fancy, but it did its purpose. After entering the shower, I locked the door behind me and dropped my sweaty clothes before turning on the hot water.

Once I took a good look in the mirror, I couldn't help but feel disgusted. "Man, I cannot wait for that surgery, and it'll be like some heavyweights off my shoulders...huh?" I paused as soon as I turned the mirror downwards.

I saw the familiar red stretch marks and old scars, but I looked different since the last time I looked at myself thoroughly. I had a chubby stomach that made me feel obese, and my veins were more visible around my dense breasts. "But...but, I lost weight, I remember it, I saw it, why do I still look the same!?" Lashing out, I broke the mirror near my feet as tears began to form. All that hard work outside the building, the regular exercises in my bedroom, the diet...nothing changed.

I felt so heartbroken at the realization as I slowly sat down against the corner of the shower, letting the water take care of the wounds in my knuckles. It was all a hallucination, and my confidence was just a cover-up to avoid the truth. All I am is a disgusting creature that no one would care enough to glance upon. "Fuck, fuck, everything hurts, it's too much...I want to go home," I mumbled.

But where was home? Nowhere. It was just a sentence I kept telling myself, hoping someone would help and comfort me, and I had no one to make me feel safe. Home is where I need the warmth and love but will never have it.

I gripped my hair, rocked my naked body back and forth, taking heavy breaths. "Everything's fine, everything's fine, you're going to be ok, it's ok," I told myself as I began to sob. If my mother saw me like this, she would ask me to grow up. But I couldn't help how miserable I felt. This always happened; I feel somewhat proud of myself, I'm happy, and then everything's ruined for not paying enough attention. I knew being too optimistic would make me avoid reality temporarily, yet I couldn't help myself.

Knock knock

"Y/n? It's Aaron. I came to see if you were alright."

'Oh fuck, this wasn't the best time to check in.'

I tried to sound as calm as I could, "Hi Aaron! I'm ok, I'm just washing my hair.." I said with a nervous laugh as I slowly stood up to reach the shampoo.

"Are you sure? I heard you crying just recently, do you need anything? I know this is something you're not so keen on talking about, but I'm really concerned. You barely leave your workstation, and your coworkers only see you right when we close for the bottom levels. Hell, even Vanessa is concerned."

'The blond security guard? Worried? Since when was that a thing?'

I applied the shampoo to my hair and massaged my scalp to calm me. "That's very sweet of you guys, but I'm handling it, really. I'm just not very social, and I'm still getting used to this place," I explained.

I could hear him heavily sigh outside the door. It made me shiver. "Alright, at least let me see you when you're ready, just to be sure. Meet me where the Glamrocks are situated. They want to meet you" And that was the last thing he said before I heard his footsteps growing distant.

'Since when did the Glamrocks want to meet a nobody like me?'

Meanwhile, after rinsing your hair and bloody wound, I managed to avoid the shards on the ground and got changed right away. I knew the hybrids were lovely and patient beings, most of the time, yet you didn't want to waste too much of their time on waiting.

Going through my stylized clothing, I decided to wear grey pants with painted neon handprints, a black tank top, a pair of converse with socks decorated with carved pumpkins. What could I say? Halloween was my favorite season. Who doesn't love to scare people for fun in a day?

And finally, I wore my handmade foxy hoodie, and it had his ears on the hood.

The fun pirate was always my favorite due to him not giving a shit about anything. Even though that also correlated to Monty and Roxy.

I didn't bother with makeup for the moment since I felt too tired to put in the effort. Instead, I covered the wounds with a fresh bandage from my first aid kit.

Thinking back on what Aaron told me, he was not wrong because I barely left my area. With all the things I could do in the giant building, I barely gave it a chance to have some fun. Yet as much as I adore kids, I had sensory issues, and they were on such high sugar rush, it was hard to focus sometimes.

Although, I did want to try out my electric guitar on stage and sing my heart out for some sort of release. Just not in front of the public.

I wore my headphones before I stepped out into the open. The Pizza Plex was so lovely and calm to wander around in without having to care to look around me constantly.

I played 'Softcore' by The Neighbourhood to help me soothe the anxiety. Forgetting about my breakdown, my self-hatred, my old life, everything. I closed my eyes and tapped my fingers against each other happily. The song felt so harmonious I could fall asleep right then and there.

You've been my muse for a long time

You get me through every dark night

I'm always gone, out on the go

I'm on the run, and you're home alone

I'm too consumed with my own life

I slid down the handle of the stairs while singing lowly, "Are we too~ young for this?"

I did a little jump at the end and walked my way through the main floor. I had my ID badge around my neck at all times in case the cleaning robots saw me as none other than a client. Or, as Sundrop says, 'RULE BREAKER, RULE BREAKER.' It was such a funny thing to play in my head on repeat. I never met him, but I adored his personality.

I've been confused as of late (yeah)

Watching my youth slip away (yeah)

You're like the sun; you wake me up

But you drain me out if I get too much

I might need you, or I'll break

I excitedly did a few spins and moved my body to the rhythm like back in my ballet classes. As I approached the rooms where the glamrocks were sitting, I couldn't see Aaron's insight. I thought that I had gotten here before him, so I waited.

As I listened to half of the song, I leaned against the wall harshly as I felt dizzy all of a sudden. I tried to shake it off like it was nothing, but my body grew weaker and weaker by the minute. I didn't know what was happening to me, I could barely keep my eyes open, and soon my system gave up, causing me to collapse at the end of the stairs. Everything went dark as I hit my head against the ground. Softcore fading out, replaced by a familiar voice calling out to me.

[helloalycia]

alex WILL kick my arse // supergirl

summary: you learn that being supergirl's doctor came with its challenges

warning/s: none.

author's note: i’m lowkey posting a bunch of stuff that i posted on my wattpad a while ago lol

masterlist | wattpad

I was sat in the medical unit of the DEO, reading through some medical reports from the past few months. I had just transferred from the DEO's desert facility, where I was one of the doctors there to help with any of the agents' injuries. After a long time there, I decided to transfer here when there was an opening for the lead doctor.

I thought it would be best to settle in by having a look at what severe cases had been dealt with recently. It was usually the same stuff – agents injured on field missions. Bullet wounds, broken bones, sprained muscles, thankfully nothing too severe. There hadn't been many major alien attacks which meant less risky field operations.

I was pulled from the reports when the red alarm light began to flash for a few seconds, accompanied by a siren, before turning off.

"Agent Y/L/N, Supergirl is incoming with J'onn," my radio went off – it was Director Danvers. "She's had a solar flare and got a gunshot wound."

I recalled what a solar flare was from research I'd done in Supergirl's medical records. That was something I prioritised when coming here, since we didn't have Supergirl at the other facility.

"I'm prepping a bed and equipment now," I replied through the radio, before hurrying to do that. J'onn could literally fly, he'd be here any minute.

With the help of some nurses who were around, I prepped a bed and had the solar energy panels on standby for when/if her powers came back sooner than we thought. I had the tools ready to bandage up her gunshot wound temporarily when both heroes appeared beside me.

J'onn was stood there, holding Supergirl bridal style and lowering her onto the bed.

"Still getting used to that," I mumbled, surprised at how he just sped in here.

"I said I'm– agh, I'm fine," Supergirl complained, clutching her bloody wound and trying to sit up. "My powers will come back."

I stepped by her bedside and pushed her back down gently, moving closer to inspect her wound. "Please stay still for a second."

"Listen to the doctor," J'onn teased to lighten the mood.

Supergirl rolled her eyes and stayed still. I removed her hand and noticed it was covered in blood.

"Can somebody come clean this up?" I called out to one of the nurses, motioning to her hand.

One of the nurses did as I asked as I took a look at her wound. The bullet was still in there by the looks of it.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to overwork yourself?!" Director Danvers' voice called out as she walked in.

She was glaring at Supergirl, though the worry in her eyes was evident as she took in the hero's appearance.

"It's barely a scratch, Alex, it'll heal," Supergirl said dismissively, but as I cleaned up the blood with a cloth, I saw her clench her jaw a little.

"You need to be careful, you're not indestructible," Alex reminded her, before looking to J'onn. "Can you believe her?"

J'onn chuckled. "I'll leave you both to it. I should get back." He glanced at me. "Good luck."

I nodded his way, offering a small smile as he walked away.

"As fun as it is watching you both glare at each other, I do need to remove the bullet," I spoke up, interrupting both girls' staring contest.

"Go for it," Supergirl said, her eyes meeting mine.

"With anaesthetic," Alex added, shooting another glare towards the blonde.

"I don't need anaesthetic," Supergirl countered with an eye-roll and scoff.

"You're human for the time being, remember?" Alex reminded her before looking to me. "Anaesthetic, please."

I bit my lower lip as they erupted into another argument about how I should proceed. I didn't know either of them well enough to cut in, so I stood there awkwardly, trying to stop the blood loss and planning out how I could temporarily bandage her up so it could heal itself when she gets her powers back.

"I have to go," Alex finally said, pulling me back into reality. "I have to check on the bank robbery." She didn't seem too happy leaving Supergirl here, but she gave her a knowing look before looking to me. "Please make sure she stays put?"

"You got it, Director," I said with a playful salute. How hard could it be to keep her here?

Alex gave Supergirl one last warning look before leaving us be. I looked to the blonde who was finally breathing out, letting her guard down a little now that it was just us.

"The anaesthetic will make it bearable, just so I can remove the bullet," I spoke, causing her to open her eyes and look at me. "I'm just gonna bandage you up temporarily and you'll heal yourself when you get your powers back. Shouldn't be more than a few days, according to your medical history."

She swallowed hard before shaking her head. "I've been through much worse. It's okay. Just remove it and bandage me up. The sooner I'm out of here, the better."

I was ready to argue, but she gave me a convincing look and I couldn't help but give in.

"Fine, but you stay here and rest," I reasoned, to which she gave me a small, cute smile.

I got to work and surprisingly, she managed. It went well and I managed to bandage her up quite quickly, though it did mean I had to cut into her suit a little. Better safe than sorry though.

"Okay, you're all done," I said, patting her arm supportively, before packing away the gauze. "I'm gonna go get you some water and then you should take it easy, stay here maybe until you get your powers back. That alright?"

She gave me a thumbs up and a promising smile. "You got it, doc."

I was fairly confident that she would listen to me, since she seemed polite and was a trooper throughout the whole thing. However, I soon realised how naive I had been when I returned and her bed was empty.

I facepalmed and shook my head, realising she'd definitely played along the whole time.

The first thing I did was look around the DEO, asking around if anyone had seen Supergirl. I eventually followed the commotion coming from the main hall and spotted both Supergirl and Director Danvers having an argument.

"...stay and rest! You can't keep ignoring simple instructions, Kara!" Alex shouted around her.

Supergirl rolled her eyes and continued to look at the tablet in her hand. I approached the two and cleared my throat loudly to get the blonde's attention.

When she noticed me, she gave me a sheepish smile. "Doctor Y/L/N. Heeeeeeey."

"One job, literally," Alex mumbled, giving me a knowing look, before storming off.

I breathed out and glared at Supergirl. "Are you serious? I asked you to stay put!"

She straightened up and spread her arms out for emphasis. "But I'm fine! See? Nothing hurts, I'm walking, it's all good! Job well done, I must say. You're new, right? Well, I know why you got the job!"

She avoided my glare as she walked around me to get to the other side of the desk.

"You've heard of the term 'first impressions count', haven't you?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She gave me a knowing look. "C'mon. You can't hate me for this."

I sighed. "I've got work to do. Call me if you tear your stitches."

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I turned around and began to leave.

"I'm not gonna tear them!" I heard her call out from behind me, but I didn't care. I wasn't her parent, she could do what she wanted.

I wish I'd known I was dealing with a stubborn Super before accepting this job though.

–

"What a surprise," I said sarcastically.

A few hours later, I'd been called into one of the medical rooms because apparently, Supergirl had collapsed from blood loss and tore her stitches. Shocker.

"Is she going to be okay?" Alex asked as I got to work for the second time that day.

"Yeah, if she decides to listen to me this time," I said, sighing. "Is she always this stubborn?"

Alex clenched her jaw. "Unfortunately, yes... you think you can keep her here next time?"

"I'll give it my best shot," I promised her. "I'll call you when she's up?"

Alex nodded, patting me on the shoulder. "Thanks."

She left me to do my thing and this time I did things my way, the right way, with anaesthetic and IV fluid. I managed to sort out Supergirl's mess before going back to my office to fill out some more paperwork.

Some time passed when I found myself going back to check on Supergirl and see if she was awake. I was cleaning up a little around her side table when I heard her stir awake. She seemed confused at first, as she looked around and saw the tube coming from her arm. Eventually, realisation set in and she sank into her pillow.

I decided to stay quiet as I finished up, about to leave, but she stopped me.

"Wait," she called out. I paused as she continued, "I'm sorry."

I turned around and waited, watching as, unlike before, she wasn't joking or being unserious.

"I should have stayed put before. And listened to you. I didn't mean to offend you or come across as rude," she continued genuinely.

I crossed my arms and straightened up. "Well, Supergirl–"

"Kara," she interrupted. "It's Kara."

I nodded. "Okay, Kara. Yes, you probably should have listened. I redid your stitches and I'm asking you to stay put again. You're human for now and you need to act like one."

"You're right," she agreed, breathing out. "Sorry."

I realised that she seemed to mean it and at the end of the day, I was her doctor, so I couldn't hold a grudge. Instead, I went to her bedside and checked her monitors to see how she was doing.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, glancing at her.

"Tired. Achey. But better than before."

"That'll be the meds kicking in," I said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I did have to get in there twice."

Her cheeks went pink as she smiled with embarrassment. "I'm not used to being so..."

"Fragile?" I finished for her.

"Exactly," she said, nodding. "I'm not used to it and staying put isn't exactly my forte."

"I could tell," I joked, making her laugh a little. She had a nice laugh.

"About that first impressions thing..." she began, blue eyes holding mine nervously.

"It's nice to meet you for the first time, Kara," I said, holding out my hand. "I'm Y/N. Your doctor."

She cracked a smile, realising what I was doing. She shook my hand and said, "Nice to meet you, too, Y/N."

"Okay, I should go and get Alex," I said, backing up to leave. "Now please don't leave because Alex will kick my arse if you're not here when she comes back."

She laughed again. "I promise I'll be here when you return."

"Fingers crossed you're not playing me again," I mumbled loud enough for her to hear.

Her laughter seemed to follow me out the room, leaving me smiling to myself.

[n7inky-fanfics]

Geth Dreadnought

CW: PTSD

.

.

.

Why is it that when Cerberus built this damn ship they put the one window that doesn't have shutters above my fucking bed? I swear, it had to have been on purpose. Assholes. I'm supposed to be sleeping right now, but there's no way in hell to sleep because space is just above me, taunting me. I just need to forget about the vacuum of space long enough to fall asleep.

Well, just because they didn't provide me with a damned shutter doesn't mean I can't just cover it myself. Time to get creative. I throw on my N7 jacket and some cargo pants, then catch the elevator down to engineering. I cautiously scan the hallway, hoping to avoid encountering anyone else. Now that we're in the clear after dealing with the Geth Dreadnought, most of the ship is on sleep block. The skeleton crew to keep it running will likely be too busy to notice me, but it's still possible.

Everything looks empty, so I head down to the undercroft. If I'm going to cover the window, I need to be able to reach it. I could have sworn that I saw a ladder down here... Ah, yes! Here it is! I carry the ladder into the elevator and back to my room without encountering anyone.

Next, I need to find something to cover it with and some adhesive. I think there might be a large tarp in the cargo bay, and I could use the super-strength adhesive we keep around for random patch jobs. I sneak down to the cargo bay and gather the remaining supplies. It looks like I'm going to make it back to my quarters undiscovered until the elevator stops on the crew deck. The doors slide open and I find myself face to face with a surprised looking Kaidan Alenko.

"Ahh, Shepard... I was just coming up to ask if you would like some tea." he says.

"Oh. Raincheck?" I shrug, well as much as I can with two armfuls of tarp and adhesive.

"Sure, sure... Hey, is it alright if I come up with you? I've been wanting to talk with you about what happened today." His eyes are gentle and caring. All I want to do is drop my barriers and tell him everything about how I feel, about the fear that I haven't been able to shake since leaving the Normandy to board the dreadnought. I want to cry and have him tell me it'll be okay. I want to let myself unravel.

But I can't, so I just nod and plaster on a small smile, hoping he doesn't notice how fake it is. He boards the elevator, and for a brief moment the silence is almost deafening. Then, he says "So... What's with the tarp?"

"Did you know that was the second time we managed to sneak up on the geth because they don't use windows?"

"Joker explained it to me after he made that comment. What's with the tarp?"

The elevator stops and slides open just in time to save me from that question. I move quickly into my room and drop the taro and glue on my bed. Kaidan leans against the wall that separates my desk from the rest of the cabin while I grab the ladder and position it under the far corner of the window. Kaidan watches as I climb the ladder with the tarp and glue in tow. I spread adhesive as far as I can on both sides of the corner, then press the tarp firmly against it. I hold it in place and begin counting the 180 seconds it should take for the glue to dry.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Ele-

"Hazel, what are you doing?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to see if I could figure out why you're gluing a tarp to your ceiling. I'm stumped, but that's not the point. What are you doing?" Kaidan crosses his arms firmly.

I must be on twenty-five by now at least... Twenty-six. Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty. Thirty-"

"Hazel, why are you covering the window?" He moves closer to the ladder. I don't dare to look him in the eye, afraid that under his gentle gaze I might actually allow myself to break. Instead, I stare up at the tarp. What am I on? Forty? Probably.

Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-three. Forty-four. Forty-five.

"Hey, look at me, Shepard." His voice is firm but kind, and I can't help but do it. I look at his face, into his caring and worried eyes, and I choke back a sob. He reaches up to me, offering his hand. "Come down from there and talk to me, please."

I could do it. He's giving me a chance to do it. I could step off this ladder and I could really, truly let myself feel it all. I could break down in his arms and stay there and let him make me feel safe. I want to, but... I'm Commander Shepard. I must continue to be Commander Shepard. I must stay strong.

"I'm fine right here." I say. My voice sounds hollow and foreign. How much time has it been? Maybe thirty more seconds? And I had been on forty before? No, forty-five.

Seventy-five. I turn to fave the tarp again. Seventy-six. Seventy-seven. Seventy-eight. Seventy-nine. Eighty.

"Please." His voice is soft, accented by a hint of sadness laced with concern. "Let me back in."

I'm screaming at myself internally. Don't drop your guard. Don't feel your emotions. Pack it down. Finish the job! Even as my mind is saying this, I feel my arms release the tarp. The adhesive hasn't had enough time to dry, so it simply falls away from the ceiling. Kaidan pulls me off the ladder and into his arms. For one, tiny moment, I fight it. I tell myself that I won't cry.

The floodgates open, and now I'm sobbing in his arms. My body is so racked by my sobs that I can't keep myself standing. Kaidan takes on my weight and gently lowers us both to the floor. As I cry, my lungs become more and more restricted. Soon, I can't breathe. I'm suffocating. Oh god, I'm suffocating in space! The Normandy is gone and everyone escaped and I'm left drifting in space and I can't breathe! I try to breathe in, but I can't. I'm going to die! No, I can't die! Not again!

"Hazel!" Kaidan shouts, shaking my shoulders. I open my eyes to see him staring back at me, worry etched into his face. Something in front of him is glowing blue, and the light from it is dancing along his face. What is that?

Kaidan gently takes my hand in his and kisses it. I watch him bring it to his lips carefully. A ring of blue surrounds my arm. I'm glowing. My biotics form a haze around me. If it had taken him much longer to get through to me, I probably would have flared them uncontrollably. As if he can read my mind, he gently pulls away and throws up a small but strong barrier around me. I release the energy. He waits a moment, to be sure it has dissipated, then drops the barrier and pulls me back into his arms.

"Hazel, do you know where you are?" he whispers.

"Normandy SR-2. It's 2186."

"Good." he says. He kisses my forehead softly.

We stay this way until long after I have stopped crying. Finally, he says "Almost getting blown up by the Quarian fleet wasn't easy."

I shake my head. "We were more likely to be spaced than blown up." My voice comes out barely above a whisper.

His breath hitches in his chest and he tenses slightly. "That's why you were covering the window." I nod. "Do you remember...?"

"Yes." He holds me just a little bit tighter when I say this.

"I'm so sorry." He says.

"Sometimes, in my dreams or if I let myself drift out of reality enough, I end up back there... Over Alchera. I can still feel..." I stop myself from completing that thought. I can't believe I'm telling him this. I need to be strong right now, for everyone. That includes Kaidan. I can't be falling apart like this. What was I thinking?

I pull away from him and stand up. "You know what, why don't we go have that tea?" He stares up at me inquiringly, but I brush his stare off and reach out for his hand. Finally, he takes it and I help him to his feet. I stop in the bathroom briefly to make sure I look fairly put together, then lead him out of my room and to the mess hall. I start making some jokes and soon we settle into a comfortable mood. We chat a little over our tea before we say goodnight and go out separate ways. Tonight, I sleep on the floor under my desk.

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

Two days later, I come back into my room after a long day to find a tarp securely attached to the ceiling and covering the window entirely. I ask EDI for the who, what, and how. She informs me that she granted Kaidan and Garrus access so that they could put it up while I was busy handling the Quarian-Geth situation. I can't help but smile as I crawl into bed. I sleep soundly for the first time since I died.

[prismatales]

Late Bloomer: Faltering (Part 1)

Word Count: 3.3K

Bingo slot: Free

Pairings: None

Tag/Warnings: Slight angst.

Synopsis: Sometimes, life throws some unexpected circumstances that can bring doubts.

Here's Part 2 of Late bloomer!

Unfortunately, as much as I would've loved to make this chapter longer in order to introduce Dabi at once, I've been struggling with some heavy writer's block and burnout for these past weeks, but when I said part 2 would be out this week it was a promise, hopefully you guys will enjoy it!

<< Previous - Next >>

Isn’t it strange that the most gentle of hearts belong to all the souls on fire?

-Michelle Schaper

“That will be all for today’s lessons. Make sure to enjoy your break, everyone!” Midnight exclaimed, a cheerful smile on her face while all her students were busy packing their stuff, eager to leave and prepare everything they needed for the school break. If luck was on your side, maybe you would be able to plan something out with your siblings once Shouto came back from the training camp. 

“Todoroki. Before you leave, principal Nezu would like to speak with you.”...Or maybe not.

“...Is this about what happened during the exam?” you couldn’t help asking the teacher, nervous about the idea of being in trouble for the little stunt that occurred during your exam. But that couldn’t be the reason the principal was calling, right?

“He just told me to send you to his office. But if this helps out, I think your father was there too.”

“…Of course he is.” You had to hold back the urge to groan in front of the teacher. Blood already warming up just by the mention of your father of all people being in the principal’s office, if this was another attempt to make you switch classes, you’d be having none of it. 

“Did you put confetti in Bakugo’s gauntlets again?” Ren and Hatsume approached you after class, both of them snickered when they remembered the look on the blond’s face as he chased you around the school like a wild beast. The attempt to muffle the laughter failed miserably by the reminder.

“Nope. But if my dear old man’s there, I know what this is about. Anyway, see you next Monday, guys!” They both waved cheerfully before walking away, their figures became smaller and smaller with each step taken until eventually they could no longer be recognized from afar. 

As soon as you began heading towards the principal’s office, a small knot began growing into the pit of your stomach from the nerves. Once you finally stood in front of the door, the first thing you did was knock twice, staying put before the principal’s voice called out through the other side. “Come in!” 

The door was slightly pushed, just enough to peek inside the office. Just as Midnight said, principal Nezu was sitting on his chair and your beloved father was standing nearby with arms crossed. Both of them turned to look in your direction before the principal welcomed you with his characteristic smile.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” You ask out of formality, partially nervous about the attention. 

“Yes, please come take a seat!” He didn’t move from his spot, and neither did your father as they both watched you step inside the office and advance forwards before stopping in front of the principal’s desk. Quietly, you pulled a chair in order to sit down, effortlessly ignoring your father’s presence as subtly as possible.

“There’s something we’d like to discuss with you. It’s not about the exam if that’s what you’re worried about.” You couldn’t help placing a hand over your chest, exhaling in relief with eyes closed. Endeavor’s stare could almost dig a hole at the back of your skull from that reaction, but he’s ignored in favor of looking at the principal. “It’s about your quirk...It’s already been a few weeks after the sports festival, but it appears you’re still having some difficulties controlling it...don’t you?” 

For someone who had as much authority as him, the principal’s question didn’t hold a single speck of malice or mockery behind it, almost sounded like he’s talking to a small child. Which made the situation way more uncomfortable in your eyes, because not only was he mentioning a fact you’ve been trying to so hard to hide, but he was also mentioning all of this in front of the last person you’d want to find out.

Insecurity grew deep inside as you looked down, avoiding eye contact with both males for as long as possible, gripping the fabric of your skirt with a firm grip that dug your nails painfully harsh into the flesh of your thighs.

“The principal’s asking you a question.” Just hearing your father’s voice was enough to make your blood feel like it was boiling, if any of them were able to see under the bangs hiding your face from view they would’ve seen a pair of glowing eyes. Nobody was supposed to know about the lack of control you’ve been struggling with for the past weeks, but it seems that it was more obvious than you thought.

When you looked back at the principal with doubtful eyes, they were no longer filled with that golden light that had already vanished. Hesitating, you finally answered the question.

“Yes, sir…”

“And you didn’t tell anyone this, because?”

“Because, I thought it would be something temporary...and eventually, I would be able to control it on my own.” He observed you with unpredictable eyes, pondering for a moment.

“That’s understandable,” he gave a slight nod with eyes closed “but you have to consider that as a school, it’s our responsibility to help the students grow and this includes helping them learn to control their quirks. There’s also another factor to consider…” 

This time he looked at you straight in the eye. “Remember what happened during the sports festival?” How could you ever forget it? The day your quirk manifested will forever be branded into your memories. “As harsh as this may sound, we’re concerned that this difficulty may end up with something similar happening in the future. Please don’t take it personally.”

It’s understandable that the principal worried about the risk of somebody getting hurt. And yet that didn’t soothe the ache growing inside you. Distracted by these thoughts, you didn’t pay attention to the rest of the conversation between the principal and your father. 

“My suggestion would be for her to attend the training camp alongside the hero department, the training could be a perfect opportunity to learn to control her quirk.” The principal turned his attention back towards you “While it’s not our place to make this kind of decision on a student’s behalf, this is a special case. I hope you understand our reasons, Todoroki-san.”

Nodding silently, your lips were pressed into a thin line in resignation over the school’s decision. But when you thought about it through the adult’s eyes, they were right. It could be dangerous to lose control and potentially getting someone hurt because you decided to be stubborn and handle this on your own.

But who could blame you when that’s pretty much how you grew up? Becoming independent at such a young age in order to lessen the burden on your sibling’s lives. 

“Well then, it’s decided. Look at the bright side, at least your brother will be there as well!” Nezu made an attempt to light up the situation, and you appreciated it. Kind of ironic how someone that’s not even related to you is doing more than your own father. who somehow, had such a feeling of pride radiating from him that if it wasn’t for who was in the room as well, you would have smacked him right in the face with your belt.

After the final arrangements were done, you and your father walked out of the principal’s office, but unlike him, the look on your face was so very sour that it could make a lemon taste sweeter than honey.

You didn’t have the chance to say anything to the man walking in front of you, since he began talking first.

“Before you accuse me of talking the principal into this. They were the ones who called concerning this situation.” He wouldn’t even turn around and it made you feel even more bitter than before, realizing you were the only one to blame for this.

“I do not care if you had anything to do with it. It’s obvious this is just an excuse to try moving me into the hero department.” In an angry fit, you stopped and glared at his back “I said this before and I’ll say it again; Nothing you can do will change my mind, camp or not, I’m staying in the support class!”

Unfortunately for you, that small fit of rage was enough for the ends of your hair to light up, right at the same time he turned to give you a look. “Focus on getting control over that power and then you can say that again with your head held high.”

With fists clenched into a fist, you just marched away with a huff. As much as you’d love to give him a piece of your mind, it was time to prepare everything for the trip.

A few days later, you stood near everyone from class 1-A, getting on the bus that would take everyone to the training camp. At least Shouto’s classmates were kind enough not to make you feel like an outcast, and it really helped out that you already met them before. After they saw you talking with your brother about his new costume and making fun of the first one, much to his embarrassment.

“Can I ask you something?” Shouto asked quietly from beside you, trying to avoid catching the other’s attention.

“Mhm.” You looked up from the screen of your phone, where a meme was displayed, courtesy of Mina who had quickly added your phone number into the group chat.

“You were doing so well the first time we trained together...so what happened?” He noticed the way your hand clenched around the device harshly, with a little more strength the screen would’ve almost cracked.

Nervously, you turned away from him with a nervous look all over your features but still managed to smile softly at him despite everything going through your head at that moment.

“I’d rather not talk about it...please?” The small plead caught him off guard, but Shouto still respected your wish...

The bus finally stopped in the middle of nowhere, it gave everyone the chance to walk out and stretch their bodies after sitting inside such a cramped seat for hours. 

And then, a pair of women showed up to greet everyone. Watching their costumes made your eyes light up in joy once you recognized the pair standing in front of everyone. But unlike Midoriya, you could only fangirl silently at the sight of the wild wild pussycats, or at least at the sight of the two that were talking in front of the whole class.

“I thought Hawks was your favorite?” your brother had to cough into his fist to hide the laughter when he saw the look on his twin’s face, that quickly turned into embarrassment when some of his classmates heard their banter.

“S-Shut up!” You shoved him by the shoulder at the same time your whole face got warm all the way down to the neck, it quickly began getting warmer the moment most of the girls overheard Shouto’s comment and gave you a teasing look. Now it would be impossible to live that down. “This is why Natsuo’s my favorite brother!”

That was the last thing you could tell him before the ground began moving underneath everyone’s feet, courtesy of pixie bob’s quirk. Everyone quickly tried to get back inside the bus to no avail, for all of you had been thrown into the forest. The last thing you heard from Mandalay was how those unable to reach the camp before noon would not be allowed to have lunch. 

While everyone fell down, some people noticed you quickly pulling your shirt open, and you could have sworn at least one of them yelled out panicked until they noticed a black tank top under the uniform. And also a familiar belt from the sports festival.

Quickly, two metallic claws sprung out from the back of the artifact, digging their way deep into the wall so they could slow down the impact. 

You were probably going to get an earful from Aizawa, but wearing this belt and the trusty bracelet over your right hand became a habit too hard to avoid, these ‘babies’ -yes, Hatsume had become quite an influence- were like a part of you, something you spent so much blood, sweat and tears developing from scratch.

Once your feet reached the floor again, the claws retreated back inside the belt. “Is everyone alright?!” You called out as the others dug their way out from the layers of dirt, luckily nobody had gotten injured during the fall and even if they had, it was a good thing there was a healer among them.

A thunderous roar could be heard, making you look at the direction where it came from, just to see this horrendous creature towering over the smallest guy from the group, what was his name? ah yes...Mineta.

After Koda tried using his quirk to calm down the creature, you realized they were not living creatures, most likely controlled by one of the pro-heroes supervising the school trip.

As soon as Midoriya managed to rescue his classmate and get rid of the first creature, another three appeared right after. This race against time was going to be harder than everyone thought. So might as well hurry up and lend everyone a hand.

“(Y/n)! behind you!” Turning around, you came face to face with another beast. Quickly, your hair began glowing with energy, growing until it reached the lower back and your arms became surrounded with a reddish aura, that somehow was acting differently than before, it started flickering wildly rather than flowing into smooth waves.

The beast lunged forwards, instantly being hit by an attack that ignited into flames as soon as it came in contact with it. Burning its whole body in a matter of seconds.

The more you kept running, the more of these creatures appeared and were taken care of just as fast. You had to admit it, everyone in the hero course was incredible in their own way.

It was strange using your quirk this long after spending so much time trying to avoid it. But if it meant no longer worrying about losing control, then you’d go through as much training as you had to endure.

Finally, after a long struggle in the forest, everyone managed to come out in one piece. But after using your quirk for so long, the only thing that didn’t hurt was your eyelashes. Every muscle in your body cried out in agony, exhausted, and begging for some rest, the same thing could be said about your irritated eyes.

“Arriving at noon my ass…” Nobody said a thing when you dropped face down on the floor, muttering a bizarre combination between nonsense and profanities. Too tired to pay attention to everything happening around you, like the moment poor Midoriya got punched in the crotch by Mandalay’s nephew, Kouta.

“Shouto, if you drag me inside I’ll treat you to the cafe for a whole month…”

“...Sorry, but you’re on your own.” 

“...You traitor.”

The meals were exquisite, every dish could almost be on pair with your sister’s cooking. And just as you expected, right before leaving for the hot springs, Aizawa made sure to confiscate your belt and any equipment you had left.

“All of it, Todoroki.” 

“...” 

With a defeated grumble, you took off the earrings as well before following after the girls.

The hot water felt heavenly against your sore body the more you sank down in the spring. If it could be possible, you’d stay underwater forever if it wasn’t for this little thing called ‘oxygen’. Swiftly your body rose up to the neck, leaning back against the edge of the spring between Jirou and Hagakure with a relaxed smile adorning your whole face.

“Ahhh, this feels so nice˜” your hands brushed some stray, damp locks away from your soaked face. The girl’s chatter was a pleasant noise in the background as every thought slipped away into nothing but a white noise inside your head.

“(y/n)?” Uraraka’s voice snapped you out from the little daze you fell in, when you turned to look at her it wasn’t only the brunette looking at you, but all of the girl’s attention was focused on you.

“Yes? What is it?” The grogginess in your voice and face was too funny to ignore, judging by their fits of giggles.

“How did you come up with the idea to make your equipment to subtle? It’s amazing!” Mina was the first one to speak, there was a glint of excitement in her eyes just thinking about the gadgets you used during the sports festival. In fact, all of them seemed interested in the subject, leaving you amazed by their reactions.

A huge smile appeared on your face upon realizing how fascinated they seemed about the equipment.

“Well, I know that sometimes equipment can make a difference for heroes, but it can also get in the way if it’s something too bulky or difficult to handle.” You explained to the small audience, not even aware that in the middle of the explanation, your hands wouldn’t stop moving all over the place as you spoke with enthusiasm.

Or how small ambers of gold began escaping through the corners of your eyes the more ecstatic you became during the explanation.

“So I thought of creating something that could be both subtle and practical at the same time, like-” 

“Ummm, (y/n)? Your quirk is going off again?” Jirou’s voice had a hint of concern, that made the words die instantly at the back of your throat when you looked at the reflection in the water and in fact, the glow in your eyes just kept growing.

They kept watching in silence, worried as you curled into a small ball at the edge of the spring, taking deep breaths that aided with the focus, until they specks of golden light finally disappeared.

“I…I’m sorry.” You couldn’t muster enough courage to look at any of them. Feeling ashamed of yourself, like a burden for everyone because you were unable to do something as simple.

“Wait, we didn’t mean it like that!” Looking up, you were met with many pairs of worried gazes that reminded you of the day everyone at school found out there was more than one Todoroki at U.A. but at the same time, it was a complete contrast as well.

Because these people were genuinely worried about you.

“Please don’t think you’re being a burden to anyone here, (y/n)“ Momo approached your curled self in an attempt to be reassuring. As a matter of fact, everyone else was doing her best to help out. “Besides that’s why you’re here with us. And if there’s anything we can do to help, we will!” 

Everyone else nodded and you’d be lying if you’d say their actions didn’t make something warm stir deep inside. It was...nice to know that including your friends in class, there were more people out there trying to help out.

With a grateful smile, you looked at every single one of the girls sitting around the spring “Thank you, guys….”

Soon you were all engaged into some playful chatter, from stuff like school, trying to get better grades on a certain subject -which you and Momo eagerly offered to help with- to being curious about tomorrow’s training….and other things as well…

In the midst of all the chatter, you were able to hear some commotion from the boy’s side of the baths. It was pretty vague, but Iida’s screams of “Restrain yourself!” were easily a hint of the chaos about to unfold.

And then Kouta’s small figure appeared at the top of the wall that faced the guy’s side of the baths.

“Learn what it means to be a dignified human being before aiming to become a hero.” The little boy spoke with such indifference as he pushed Mineta away.

“Do you guys deal with that every day?” You had to ask, and when more than one girl nodded their response left you perplexed enough to sink back into the warm water.

“Some week this is gonna be.”

You had no idea just how hard the following days would really be...

@bnhabookclub @gallickingun @godtieruwu @hanniejji @mysticalite @samanthaa-leanne @savagetrickster @shoobirino @bnha-ra @hawks-senseis @sugacookiies @unbreakableeiji @wesparklebitch

[hannie-dul-set]

when jaehyun said he was picking you up to go somewhere, you didn't exactly expect to be found in the middle of nowhere. trees were lining the field from a faraway distance and the tall grasses sunk from underneath you. the two of you were leaning against the side of his car on top of a hill on god knows where with no one else but the stars, the moon, and the both of you.

"drinking wine straight out of the bottle— aren't you a classy man?"

a laugh reverberated from jaehyun's throat and he looked at you under the solace of the inky night sky. "let me have my moments, miss y/n."

you sat beside him on the grassy clearing, lightly playing with one of his hands and you looked up to him, only to see downcast drenching his pretty features. letting go of his hand, you sighed and sat up straight, stirring confusion from the male.

"alright, mr. jung," you narrowed your eyes at him. "what's going on in your head? why are you being all sad?" 

he let out a huff of air, lips upturned into a semi-forced smile as he gently took your hand back into his, lacing his fingers into yours. "is it that obvious?"

"you're transparent, jaehyun."

sighing, he adjusted his position and took another swig at the hard drink. "you know how overboard some girls may get around me, right?"

"i've witnessed first hand during your party," you laugh, remembering how panicked he looked during that time. "it was a pitiful sight."

"it wasn't pitiful."

the words left like a soft whine from his lips and you continued to tease him, saying that he looked like a small mouse (ironic, considering his stature) being fought over by a group of wild cats, much to his displeasure.

"anyways," he coughed out, a light wash of pink dousing his cheeks, both from your previous joking and the slight chill of the night's wind. "there's this one girl named seonha— i've never told you about her— and, uh, i wouldn't say she's obsessed with me, but—"

"she's obsessed with you?"

you finished, quirking your brow at him and he hesitantly nodded. "yes, you can say that."

"hm," you hummed. "why, what'd she do?"

"a lot of things," he sighed. "her family is closely knitted with mine so i'd met here during one of their charity auctions. since then, she wouldn't stop following me around— in my office building, when i'm out with mark and johnny. hell, even when i'm out of the country."

jaehyun's exasperation ran through his voice as he continued to tell you about the girl.

"she'd even stir up dating rumors about us two which is messed up all on its own. you could argue that at least there's only one of them bothering me, but it's like selling off a few floods for one gigantic storm," the now empty wine bottle was long forgotten on the ground. jaehyun went on with his rant, raking his free hand into his hair. "johnny and mark had told me to file a restraining order, but that wouldn't do anything considering their family's influence, so i have no choice but to deal with her."

the light chirping of crickets amplified the depth of the evening. you guessed it was already around ten, maybe even later than that. it crossed your mind for a short moment that you had work tomorrow, but that thought quickly diminished into thin air.

"has she still been bothering you lately? i don't think i noticed her around you before," you asked, moving your head away to look at him. his hair was in a slight mess and he was slightly tinged pink. yet underneath the glow of the moonlight, he was still as tantalizing as the nighttime sky.

"she's been on a trip to italy these past few months," he softly replied, gazing down at you like your very own moon. "but she's also been texting me nonstop so that's something."

"well, at least she's not here right now."

"about that," jaehyun enunciated. "she's coming back here in a week."

you went silent and jaehyun could feel his heartbeat slowly but surely rising. were you upset that he'd just told you now? did knowing about seonha bother you? it's not easy for jaehyun to read people's emotions— he'd always been lacking with that category. the longer your silence, the tighter his chest got.

"will you be okay?"

like a sudden breath of warmth, your voice pierced through him and suddenly he can breathe again.

"do i have to protect you like last time?"

the teasing tone in your voice relieved him but at the same time it caused him to glare at you, feigning fake offense and you laughed at him. at least he knew you're not upset.

"i'll be fine, you don't have to worry," he said, giving you a smile of assurance. you detached your hand from his and decided to scoot closer to him, resting your head on his shoulder and he naturally found his arm around your waist. "but, enough about that— how was your day, miss y/n?"

"you don't wanna hear about my day. it's as boring as it could get," you reasoned, letting out a small yawn afterwards.

"i do want to hear," he pressed. "i don't mind if it's boring or not. i like listening to you speak."

he caught you off guard with that, to say the least, and you quickly snapped your head to face him. your mind concluded that it was a fatal mistake to do that since now your faces are mere centimeters apart, noses nearly touching. the cold air that was once biting at your skin was suddenly deemed nonexistent due to the sudden rising of the heat.

"a—alright," you stammered, diverting your attention to the sky instead. "if you fall asleep listening, then don't say i didn't warn you, jaehyun."

and so you went on about your day. starting from how you almost got late to your first job because jungwoo and donghyuck thought it was a good idea to barge into your house at four in the morning for a sudden non-sleepover sleepover. then you told him about the adorably gigantic dog you spotted while you were headed for lunch. and now you were talking about one annoying customer you had earlier in the bakery.

"there were five other people in line after her, but apparently getting her blueberry muffin to exactly a hundred-ninety degrees fahrenheit was much more important," you groaned, dropping your head back against the steel of the car. "and of course, i went and reheated one damned muffin just so she would stop complaining."

jaehyun swore he was listening to you. he was attentive— very attentive, and paid the utmost attention to any changes on your features— the way brows bunched up whenever you stop to think for a moment, the way your cheeks were slightly flushed and how you tried to hide it with your hair, the way your lips enunciated each vowel and each consonant and—

fucking hell, your lips.

halfway through your muffin story, his ears were suddenly muffled, his surroundings were a blur, and all he could think about was how your lips would feel against his.

"hyuck always tells me that i'm a bit of a pushover sometimes, and i'm starting to think he's right."

he could hear his heart ringing against his ears. you paused for a moment, sinking your teeth over the plush of your lip in the midst of thought and jaehyun felt like he was being driven into a dangerous corner. 

"do you think i'm a pushover, jae?" your head jolted to face jaehyun and his breath was suddenly caught inside his throat along with the sudden thoughts of you overlapping with more thoughts of you, bringing his mind to a combustible state of disarray. "jaehyun? you alright there?"

"oh— um, sorry," he coughed out. "i got a bit distracted, uh, what— what were you saying?"

his fluster was not only demonstrated by the cracks in his voice, but also by the way his cheeks were flaring scarlet and how he refused to look at you.

"distracted by what exactly?" you questioned.

jaehyun was a smart man. having graduated earlier than his peers and landing such a respectable spot in the company at a young age, you'd think he'd be articulate in every situation thrown at him, but somehow he found himself tripping over his own words."will— will i sound stupid if i say i got distracted by you?" 

oh my god.

"no no," you laughed, your heart suddenly caged inside an untamed whirlwind. you gently moved your left hand over his face, making him look into you. giddiness tugged at your cheeks, releasing an uncontrollable smile. "it's not stupid at all."

a simultaneous burst of dizzying bliss ruptured between the both of you— coming in the form of the identical beams on both of your faces, staring into each others' eyes as if the moon wasn't the brightest thing in the night.

and somehow, under the spectacle of a million stars,

you kissed.

it hadn't dawned on you that you'd waited for this moment to happen until it actually did. soft lips brushing against yours, rousing an unspeakable rush of heat. it was gentle at first— like the light tremors on the sea until the waves suddenly crashed onto you. his parted lips incessant against yours, leaving you in a buzz and on the brink of gasping for air.

until you felt him stop, abruptly pulling away from you with guilt ridden eyes.

"jae? is everything alright?"

"y/n, i— i'm sorry."

in the midst of your shared kiss, jaehyun realized something. and he couldn't bear the thought of it.

he had realized that he was in love with you.

so, so in love with you.

"i can't— i can't do this to you, y/n."

you felt a lump in your throat and you stared at him, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. was there something wrong— did you do something wrong? everything felt normal until now, everything felt right. but as you looked at him with tears threatening to spill, you'd thought that maybe none of this was right in the first place.

and maybe jaehyun had realized that, too.

"oh," you sucked in a breath, avoiding eye contact with him, and stumbled to get up from the ground. "right, of course. it— it would be damaging to your reputation if you're with me."

the icy breath of the air hit your face once you managed to stand up, the cold flooding your senses once more. "we both know that this wouldn't work out," you gazed down at him, only to see the glass stained heaviness in his eyes and you nearly broke down. turning your back at him, you swallowed, closing your eyes for a brief moment before choking out,

"i— i should go—"

"y/n, i love you."

you froze. everything froze. 

"my reputation, my image— god, all of those disappear when i'm with you," jaehyun's trembling voice seeped into every corner of your mind, restricting the air from coming into your lungs. "i'm… i'm not an expert when it comes to this but there is no denying that i am in love with you, y/n."

slowly, you went back to face him. jaehyun stood there, bearing his heart to you. the wind brushing against his hair as he looked at you with mist in glazing over his eyes. it was hard to not just run into his arms, telling him that you were also stupidly in love with him, but you held your words back, waiting for him to finish.

"but... with my job and everything," he stutters out. "i—i won't be able to dedicate all of my time to you, i won't be able to take care of you like i should, i—

i can't make you happy, y/n"

"but you already do."

there was a strong gust, breathing against your skin. you felt your heart drop to your knees, a constricting grasp replacing it in your chest as you felt the tears well up even more like a dam itching to break.

"do you think i don't know that? yes, i know you're busy— i know you have a shit ton of responsibilities to the point where you'd probably suffocate from them, and—and i know that sometimes finding time to have a single fucking conversation with you is sometimes impossible," your breath hitched, nearly choking over your own words but you went on. "but that has never stopped you from making me feel happy, jae. because even a single second spent with you can make make me happier than the rest of my life combined, so don't ever say that you can't make me happy because for fuck's sake— jung jaehyun, 

i'm at my happiest when i'm with you."

silence flooded. your breathing was scattered after all the things that you said, chest rising and falling in a repeated rhythm. jaehyun says nothing, only looking at you with an unidentifiable glimmer of heaviness in his face as he slowly walked towards you, closing in the space between you until it was practically insignificant. you could hear his heart beating.

he brings your face into his hands, not even realizing that you were crying until he gently wipes away the tears streaming down your cheeks. you look into him, his eyes pooling with oceans and oceans of emotions.

"i'm at my happiest when i'm with you, too."

a second kiss was shared that night— with a million stars watching over you.

gold painted canvas

the classic rich boy and poor girl love story but with less prejudice and more happiness

28 // make you happy

a/n: woah it took nearly 30 parts but at least it happened ;)) this took three days of utter procrastination but i hope you liked it jhhxjsjsjs

masterlist | next >>

taglist:

@joshva @salty-for-suga @starlightshua @itsjynop @riverdale-kpop @lokideadontheinside @aborivin @catallergieswillnotstopme @kingalls00 @hannahdinse8 @irrelevxntstxr @junglewoos @stopitvpls @lynniac @neolights @neocultech-baby @shailaaa @elmuchohottie @bat-shark-repellant @hufflepanda221b @svteez @sehunniepot

unable to tag:

@jaehyunsgoodthing @crtznstuff

[guigz1-coldwar]

'A hand on your heart ': New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"A hand on your heart"

"Don't worry, Yiri, I'm here, I'm protecting you!"

Chapter Summary: The common decision of Park, Zasha & Portnova allowed Yirina to slightly get better despite the bad moments still here but the nightmares aren't going to left her...

Link of the Picrew used !

To read it on AO3, click here!

Words : +3200

Taglist : @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart

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

July 9th, for three days now, I was no longer alone in the apartment with Beans. Park, Zasha & Portnova were now staying with me to make sure that the seizures weren't becoming too much frequent because of the last one & my state wasn't declining. They were making their best to improve on how I was and the only thing, for me, it was...making me smile but also sad too, their kindness could have made me cry the first day they stayed here and I managed to hold back my tears...it was touching me at my highest point...

How I was feeling since they were here? I was getting better but the bad moments were still here: moments of having a panic attack at some time of the day despite that the others were present, moments where I was absent, staying up for minutes without doing anything before something or someone got me out but it was becoming less present over the following days and the third day, nothing bad happened at me when the night came, meaning that my mental breakdown was nearly done and tonight, the four of them were playing some...

"Bullshit!" It was Portnova's voice who spoke up against Park who said that she was having 2 aces in her pack of cards in her hands. Zasha was, of course, the one who wanted to play the game.

"Okay, let me see you," Park taunted her with a clear voice, smirking at her as she took out a card of her pack. "One," She said, showing to her perfectly the card to us and putting on the pile of cards in the middle of the table we were.

"You're lying, I can see..." Zasha scoffed, thinking that Park was lying, joining Portnova before their mouth closed after they saw Park taking another card...another ace out of her pack before putting it on the pile.

"You were saying, Zasha?" Park looked at them with a smile before she put her eyes on me, who was patiently waiting my turn with my pack that was neither little nor too big, just a medium-size compared to the other one. "I think that I wasn't lying," She smirked, her eye moving to Portnova.

"That's a first for you," Portnova told her as in fact, this was the first time that Park managed to fool her in the game. "Maybe the last," She added as she moved her hands without showing any signs of being a bad player, taking the pile of cards and mixing it in her own.

"Things are changing, we'll see about it," I stated, knowing that it was my now my turn and honestly, my cards were a bit of a mix of the deck, a very weird mix: I've almost got everything in between my hands. "Okay, three valets," I started, looking at the three designed cards and peaking my eyes away to look at the other, not saying anything at all.

I thought that they were going to accuse me of 'Bullshit', surely already waiting for Zasha or Portnova to do it but it didn't happen, the trio staying silent at me as I was taking out the designed cards and putting them on the middle of the table, making a new little pile of cards that now was waiting to be filled up again of others cards of the deck.

"No one accused me?" I asked them after I was done, looking surprised.

"You weren't lying, you got those three valets in your pack after I accused you of 'Bullshit'," Zasha replied to me, having analyzed through my pack of cards that I wasn't lying...weird..."And besides, if you were lying, you wouldn't have taken any cards," They scoffed to me.

"And of course, ruining you the fun of seeing the others get more cards while you got less?" I questioned them, looking at them with my head slightly on the side, my eyes a bit wide to them. "You'll see that we can win against you," I asserted that objective to them.

"You can...dream," They smiled at me & Park, knowing well that the two of us were trying to get Zasha down and giving them their first real loss, as friends. "Good, good," They sniffed as their hands were spreading their pack to take a closer look at it even if there weren't any needs to...since their pack was small. "Two knights," They announced and like me, no one spoke up to accuse them, letting them put their two knights in the pile of cards in the middle.

"We're waiting for the good moment, don't worry," Park exclaimed to them after they posed the last knight card on the pile, giving a discreet wink at me.

The game was slowly continuing and the pile of cards was getting bigger as the others were playing their cards and also drinking the coffee that Portnova made for everyone and it was a bit distracting Zasha, knowing their taste for the coffee but they were still staying cautious, me & Park awaiting the perfect moment to caught Zasha off-guard to make their pack bigger and us, smaller.

"My turn, soon to be winner," Zasha joked as the game was looking to reach its end, them having now only 6 cards between their hands as I was having 8, Portnova 10 & Park 7, the situation was looking rather hot. "2 queens," They said but then...

"Bullshit!" I spoke up but at the same time as Park herself, making us look at each other in surprise but exchanging a smile as we thought the same thing at the same time.

"Let me show you this," They protested but I was seeing a little drop of water appearing on their forehead...uh...they were lying..."It's a bit hot in here, did you raise the temperature?" They asked obviously Portnova, even gesturing to adjust the collar of their shirt with their left hand.

"Zed, play!" She ordered in a funny tone, her face realizing that they were trying to avoid the subject.

"Come on, show us your 'two queens'," I demanded, even gesturing to them that I wasn't buying it and now, it was like me, Park & Portnova were looking at them with a serious look, obligating them to show us their pack, and then, they resigned to show it entirely, not having any queen. "Yes, I knew it!" I almost cheered up and going up from my chair, amazed by it. It was looking like a little victory as the game wasn't finished yet but it was meaning a lot, having succeeded in not bought successfully Zasha's lie in a 'Bullshit' and making them lose the advantage.

"Seems that someone is happy now," Zasha mumbled, looking in defeat at the pile of cards in defeat before their eyes went back on me. "That was a first but maybe the last,"

"She isn't the only one, Zasha," Park joined me in to be happy about that but we were meaning it as friends, not making fun of them.

"Same for me," I was surprised when Portnova also joined us, realizing that she was wanting to see Zasha been rightfully accused of 'Bullshit' and she even smiled at them. "Come on, you couldn't be staying undefeated," She reassured them in a good voice, putting her right hand on top of theirs.

"Yeah, for just once, it's not that bad," Park added to Portnova's statement. "I hope that it isn't going to stain our friendship," She hoped for that, putting her cards upside down on the table.

"Zed, it's just a game but at least, we can admit that it's fun," I stated, moving back next to the table and staying up, putting my hands on it as Zasha slowly grinned at us.

"Well, at least, as you said, it was very fun," They told us, putting a smile on everyone's face as they got their pack of cards in the middle. "You know what? We're saying that you win," They affirmed but I shook my head.

"No, the game isn't finished yet," I stated to them, knowing that the game could only finish until someone has no more cards in their hands.

"And me, I'm offering to you the victory, you deserve it," They said, going up from their chair and looking around the table to see the numerous pack of cards and the cups of coffee on it. "And since, it's getting late, we should get to sleep," They advised, making me look at the clock, seeing that it was almost midnight.

"I agree with this," I said and everyone nodded, Portnova moving to gather everyone's cards in a  single pile as Park was taking the cups in her hands to get them in the kitchen.

"I'm hugging Beans, and then, on my way to med," Zasha exclaimed, walking to reach Beans that was asleep on the couch, deciding instead to slowly caress the top of her head while I was watching them. "You should go get to sleep, Yirina, you need it,"  They suggested to me, checking me up from top to bottom.

"Don't worry, I'm..." I was going to continue until I yawned nearly loudly inside the living room, covering my mouth with my right hand. "Well, you're right," I raised my shoulders, that yawn as a sign that I was tired of that even if we didn't do anything big...except that game. "I'm going then, have a good night, Zed, and you too, Beans," I waved at them both, Zasha returning it as Beans responded by meowing at me.

Now looking tired and yawning, I decided to walk out of the living room to join our bedroom, not forgetting to salute Portnova and telling her good night as I told Park that I was going to bed before resuming my walk to get to our bedroom in a slow pace as my brain wouldn't let me walk faster and I think it was all for the better of myself, and then, I was entering the room, closing the door behind me.

I then start to undress, removing only my shoes and my jeans even if today, I didn't get outside as I was still not ready for this, leaving only my blue shirt on my top before I decided to put myself onto the bed, getting under the white sheets and looking up at the ceiling, my hands poised over my chest above the blankets as a few seconds later that I was installed that Park came in without a word.

She wasn't saying anything and me too but the main thing I could perceive on her face was a smile, probably still thinking of our little victory despite that the game never actually ended properly but it was still a victory for us. After taking off her clothes and putting them next to mine on a chair, she walked to her side of the bed before getting on it.

"You're okay, Yiri?" She asked me curiously as she installs herself inside the sheets, feeling her fingers along my right arm.

"Yes, I'm good," I replied to her, removing my eyes from the ceiling to look at her, seeing her face as her right hand was going over my shoulder. "But as you know, I'm still fearing each night about my nightmares," I told her clearly about it.

"I know, you try to not think about it but it's still coming," She suggested to me and I nodded.

"It's...I don't know why there are things that I couldn't remember right when we were both captured by Perseus," I stated, referring to my last nightmare that happened two days ago, reliving a scene where two Perseus doctors were analyzing me as I was under some drugs effects on a stretcher. "As if I did lose what happened those days," I added.

"Me too, I can't remember what happened during those days to me," She joined me into that statement as her hand was slowly caressing my shoulder. "I'm fearing about what they could have done to you & me, I'm just...scared," She admitted to me as her eyes were looking flowed by tears but not crying.

"We're scared, Park, we're both scared," I confessed to her, both having been through hell before her hand moves slowly on my shoulder, arriving gently below my shirt above where my heart was.

"Tell me if it's not okay, I will remove it," She said as my heartbeats were now felt inside the palm of her hands, her fingers crossing along with the scars above my heart. "Do you like it?" She asked me as her fingers were slowly stroking along my scars.

"Yes, can you keep it on me?" I demanded at her as it was like comforting me to have her hand on me and especially above my heart.

"Yes, I will, don't worry," She responded before she moved to get closer to me and keeping her hand above me, making me move my right arm around her. "Good night, love," She whispered, her voice very low and speaking away from me.

"Yes...good night too," I muttered, landing a kiss on top of her head before I looked up again at the ceiling, Park's head above my shoulder and her touching from her right hand on my heart to comfort me as I was now trying to find a moment to get myself to close my eyes and sleep...

...but I was knowing that my sleep wasn't going to be easy for me inside...

My mind was waking up by the sounds of some music inside my ears and when I tried to open my eyes, my vision was still looking black despite seen a little, meaning that I was blindfolded and my body...my arms & legs were tied up with ropes, impossible to move my hands without hurting myself, the ropes feeling very tight around my wrists and the only thing that was disturbing me...was that music, having a headset on my ears.

That music, it was sounding American and it was saying the same thing, over & over again, 'Staying alive, staying alive,' in a sort of bad loop every 20 seconds, and my head wasn't feeling great to hear that particular music, moving it slightly away to make that headset away from my head but no movements could allow me to remove it...Staying alive...staying alive...what I could only hear now...staying alive...

Suddenly, the headset was somehow removed from around my ears, still able to hear the echoes of that music in them before the blindfold that was covering my eyes was also removed, giving me a clear sight of where I was: the interrogation room with a TV at my vision...and in front of it, there was Stitch himself, just him, no one, not even Freya with him....just him...staying alive...

"Enjoying the music,  Grigoriev?" He exclaimed through his mask, looking at the headset he was having in his hands.

"Stitch...fuck...you..." I tried to gather my voice to give my thoughts to him but he moved the headset away to put his hands on my chin.

"Always been in the bitchy attitude, no wonder that you betrayed us," He told me, making me look in his eyes and I wanted to spit on his face but I couldn't. "All these years...just to become the CIA's puppet,"

"I...ain't for the CIA...fuck them," I proclaimed, telling him the truth as he got his hands away from my face to look at me, standing up. "I hate them," I added as he turned around to me, looking at the table nearby.

"The only thing that we got in common, me & you," He said, putting his hands on a knife that was on the table and taking it. "Sixteen years ago, Adler took an eye out of me, fulfilling my hatred against him and the West, he took...my left eye," He looked closely at the knife before turning his head to me. "I would have like to send a message to the others, you know, an eye for an eye, as they said but it's all old-fashioned business," He sighed before getting the knife back at its spot.

"Old-fashioned...talking about that...or your clothes?" I tried to scoff around but I was surprised that he didn't react violently to me, even hitting me, slapping me, or hold me by the jaw.

"Keep getting funny, it will not help you," He asserted, clenching his right fist at me. "It's not because Wraith isn't here that I'm not allowed to hurt you," He added to that warning.

"Where is she? Why are you doing this?" I asked him, not actually waiting for an answer from him.

"She's insisting that you are needed to come back at our side," He responded nonetheless to me, getting at my level. "Honestly, I would have let you die in the Yamantau but now, it's actually better to get inside your head," He added.

"You...stop this," I ordered, trying to move my hands but only hurting me with the ropes, my voice pleading at this max, exhausted, my whole body exhausted. "Let me go...stop this...make it stop," I pleaded.

"You know that ain't going to happen," He admitted, causing some tears to appear in my eyes. "Oh, you can cry, no one is here to save you, not even your British agent," He continued, breaking a little laugh through his mask.

"Park..." I whispered her name, not wanting to have her harmed.

"Quite a story to heard about, you know?" He told me, joining his hands together as my head was trying to slowly shake, feeling a bit dizzy. "It's because of her that you...decide to stay with them, it wasn't Adler, it was her...only her...right?" He demanded at me but my head was looking down before he pulled me back up, looking at him again "Right?" He asked loudly.

"Yes...yes..." I answered in a low voice, causing him to release me again from his hand. "Don't...hurt...her...not her..." I pleaded about that but he wasn't listening that he got something out of his tactical vest... a picture...

"You might know his man, I believe?" He showed me the picture...discovering on it...Lazar...himself, a sort of identity picture, not smiling...."Eleazar Azoulay," He said, knowing his name as my head slowly nodded. "It's your fault that he died, right?"

"No...no..." I muttered, looking at the picture as I heard Stitch lamenting for Lazar's death.

"You could have saved him...but you saved her instead..." He sighed, looking too at the picture. "Looking better here than when we saw the pictures of his dead body...oh, I have them," He revealed to me and I wanted to close my eyes to it but it was too late as he showed below me...pictures of Lazar's dead body...things labeled by the CIA...stolen...

"No...please...stop..." I ordered him but Stitch was insistent on showing me them.

"You left him to die to save her, you're useless, only thinking about the less important things," He exclaimed in a serious voice, putting his left hand behind my head and making me look up to the pictures closely. "You're useless, you can't save your friends...you can't even save yourself," He continued before he got his hands away from me again, and then, he put several pictures of Lazar's body at my feet.

"Remove them, I...it wasn't...please...no..." I spoke up, taking rapid breaths but Stitch was fainting to not hear me at all, moving to grab something on the table. "No...please..."

"I can say that MK-Ultra did make a good work on you, easy for us to repeat the process," He talked to himself as he was holding a syringe in his hands, tapping on it to check its content. "Some magic words, drugs, hypnosis & music and we know how to do it," He said as he looked back at me, getting my head down in defeat.

"Fuck...you...Fuck...you," I cursed, using my remaining strength inside of me to insult him as he put his hands on my shoulder.

"A CIA product...becoming a Perseus one, let's see how it goes," He breathed before he injected the needle into my left shoulder before pulling it out, my body starting to feel weird, wanting to sleep...anesthesias. "Bell, we have a job to do," He raised his voice to say it, making my head to shake away, wanting to stop the echoes in my head before he put the blindfold on my face, along with the headset. "Good sleeping...and enjoy the music,"

This was the last thing I heard from him before his voice was replaced by hearing the music of that torture, my mind alternating between calming itself and freaking out as he said the key-phrase to me as my body was slowly giving up on me, part by part, starting by my legs as it was slowly going up, that music still echoing inside my ears...staying alive...staying alive...staying alive...

I wanted to keep up to fight the effects of MK-Ultra but the drugs that were inside of me, the injection that Stitch did to me in my shoulder, the key-phrase...and the music...staying alive...staying alive...it couldn't help me to fight it and slowly, I could feel my eyes close hardly, my whole body shutting down now but my ears still hearing that music...staying alive...staying alive...

It was impossible to fight the effects...staying alive...impossible...

[howlingday]

REAPING OF ATLAS 2/3

RWBY Characters Are Created And Owned By Rooster Teeth And Monty Oum.

Team REAPS And All Original Characters In It's Universe Are Created And Owned By @dark-chocolate-fudge-sweetracer

"Are you sure they're okay? Acacia may have recovered physically, but emotionally and mentally-"

"They're fine, Professor Goodwitch," Arishna said in an irritable tone, "I know you love those kids, but I honestly think you're spoiling them too much. If you need someone to spoil-"

"Enough!" Glynda barked. Arishna loved it when she got stern and professional. It made her feel... What's the word? "I will not put those children into harm's way while they are still recovering. As for you, I suggest you take a cold shower every morning if you're going to be speaking so casually on the phone while in Atlas Academy. James may be strict, but he's even more so with inappropriate behavior under his guidance."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. It might be fun."

"Arishna..."

"Glynda, listen, if something does happen to those kids, you will be the first to hear it from me. I promise." A sigh on the other end was all Glynda could muster. "I love you."

"...I love you, too, Arishna. And if you need to tell someone before me, I understand. But I refuse to hear it from anyone else. Good day, Professor Dawn."

"And good night, Glynda." Arishna blew a kiss into the screen and hung up. She then heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm really sorry, Glyndie."

Arishna dialed another number into her scroll, and when it was answered, she spoke first. "Hey, it's me."

Prism took a deep breath as she entered the arena. It reminded her of Beacon, but with a few slight differences. Instead of Professor Goodwitch monitoring the sparring matches, it was a tall cyborg with a beard. Instead of numerous random classmates in the bleachers, it was her friends. Instead of Yang Xiao Long taunting and teasing her as she stood at side of the arena, it was an excessively boasting dog-faunus.

"Feel free to drop out at any time. I know I can be a handful from what my opponents tell me." Martow gloated with a sneer.

"What? The training dummies?" Marrow growled at her remark. Okay, scratch that. This will be the exact same as fighting Xiao Long.

"Are you ready?" Headmaster Ironwood called from above. When he saw neither competitor raise their hand, he nodded. "Begin!"

Marrow made the first move, throwing his boomerang, Fetch, at Prism. Prism reached into her bag and pulled out a few spheres. Once she had them in hand, she summoned a hardlight shield with her free hand. The boomerang bounced back into Marrow's hands, but the specialist had already closed the gap. He began swinging Fetch at the barrier, hoping his sword could cut through.

Prism ran around the barrier and threw a sphere at Marrow. Marrow blocked the ball with Fetch, but found himself soaked in water.

"What? Did you think it was a stink-bomb?" Prism asked. "How childish do you think I am?"

Marrow responded by shifting Fetch into a rifle and began firing on Prism. She dove to the side, summoning a hardlight barrier, then rolled another sphere towards Marrow. The specialist jumped away as it rolled towards him, and blasted it with Fetch. He then gripped his nose at the foul odor exploding from the globe.

"Yeah, that's right! I do have a stink-bomb!" Prism gloated as she closed the gap between them. She began swinging at him with her chakram, and he was forced to go on the defensive with Fetch in it's rifle form, as he needed both hands to shift it into a boomerang and one hand was preoccupied covering his nose.

Marrow kicked Prism away and pointed at her with Fetch. "Stay!"

Prism was stuck in place as Marrow lowered his weapon and walked over and snatched the remaining orb from her hand. "Too bad, kid! I warned you guys I was on another level, but you didn't listen." He tossed the ball into the air and caught it. "You got some fancy tech, but it won't always save you. Maybe if spent less time hiding behind these toys, you might learn that-!"

"Unidentified print has been detected and scanned for 1-0 seconds."

Marrow looked around confused. "Who said that?"

"Initiating self-destruct sequence of cryo-core."

The little orb in Marrow's palm hissed as it released a super cold gas into the air, freezing itself to his palm. As Marrow shook it around, Prism slowly regained her movement. His clothes, soaked from the splash of her first device, iced over until he was trapped in his own clothing.

Prism reached over and pressed a finger to the globe. "Prometheus." The gas ceased and the orb shut itself once more.

"Self-destruct sequence deactivated."

"Next time," Prism reeled back and allowed her gauntlet to build up power, "don't touch my things!" She launched her fist forward and punched Marrow in his mouth. The dog was sent crashing to the ground.

Headmaster Ironwood raised his hand. "I've seen enough. I declare Prism Asagiri the victor in this bout. However, don't let Marrow's advice fall on deaf ears. You may one day find yourself in a position where your technology may fail you."

"Says the guy whose pet Paladin almost killed us." Prism scoffed and muttered under her breath.

"And Marrow, once again, your boastful attitude and underestimation of your opponent led to your loss in this round. Perhaps I should have Specialist Bree take you under her wing in how a specialist should act?"

"Damn it, Wags!" Harriet cursed, "Once again, you lost and I have to pay for it!"

Prism climbed the steps and found her seat next to Acacia. As Sandy passed her on her way down, they high-fived and Prism wished her good luck. Prism decided now was a good time to gloat.

"Did you see my babies and I out there? We kicked some serious butt!"

A chuckle behind her caught her off-guard. Specialist Bree sat behind her with her arms crossed. "Don't get so cocky, kid. Marrow may be a specialist, but he only just joined us. He's more bark than bite. Honestly, I should be thanking you for knocking him down a peg. He's been getting too big for his britches, if you ask me."

"And if you ask me, you should treat your teammates with a little more respect." Elm scolded. "Especially someone more junior than yourself!"

"Besides, if I remember correctly, there was a rather skittish Harriet Bree once who was so excited for her first day, she forgot to wear pants to her briefing!" Clover laughed with Elm as Harriet blushed and avoided looking at her teammates. "But enough about that. Besides, it looks like Vine's match is about to begin.

Vine stood perfectly still with his eyes closed and his palms touching in meditation. Sandy didn't know how to wake him up, or whatever it is you do to get someone out of meditation. Was he waiting for Ironwood? What was she supposed to do?

"So-"

"You are quick to act and quite impatient." Sandy nearly jumped as her opponent finally spoke. "The outcome of a battle can be determined by only the first move. If you move first, you declare your strategy to your opponent, making it easy to counter. But if you choose to counter, your opponent may be too fast for you to react."

"Uh, I guess." Sandy replied. Did he want to chat before the fight started? Why?

"And what do you think will happen if you win?"

"Well, I guess I just go back to my seat and wait for everyone to be done."

"What if that's not the case? What if you only manage to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? What if you must be sent to the medical wing?" When Sandy had no answer, Vine continued. "Tell me," Vine offered his hand as he spoke, "what is the purpose of Huntsmen and Huntresses?"

"Uh, to kill Grimm, right?"

"Why is that?"

"Uh, well, if we don't, the Grimm will kill everyone and destroy everything."

"And if we kill the Grimm, and eradicate them for good, what then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are we no longer Huntsmen? Do we disband now that the threat of Grimm is eradicated?"

"Well, no-" Sandy paused. "I mean-" She paused again. As she pondered, Vine turned around and walked back up the steps. "Hey!" Sandy chased after him. "Where are you going?!"

"I see no reason for us to fight." Vine explained. "Therefore, I forfeit."

"But-"

"Vine Zeki has forfeited the match. Therefore, Sandy Mithril is the victor!" Headmaster Ironwood boomed from above. "All contestants, please return to your seats!"

Sandy was left standing dumbstruck, then slunked her way back up to her seat, where she slumped into her chair.

"Hey, you okay?" Reizo asked. No response.

"Look on the bright side," Echidna smiled, "at least you won without breaking a sweat!" Unfortunately, her words of encouragement only yielded a groan of disapproval.

"Don't beat yourself up, kid." Elm said "Vine isn't the kind of guy to fight for the sake of fighting. He'd rather talk things out than duke it out." Her gaze shifted from Sandy to Acacia. "Don't go thinking I'm the same, though. You'll actually be giving it your all against me!" She then made her way down the stairs toward the arena.

Acacia gulped.

Acacia made her way down the steps to the arena. She stopped on the final step and took a deep breath to calm herself down. "You're gonna be fine," she told herself, "it's just a practice round. They just want to see where you are in your training. It's not going to be like last time with the Paladin." After one last calming breath, Acacia stepped into the arena.

"There you are!" Elm exclaimed. "I was worried you got cold feet. You good to fight?"

Acacia gave a cocky smile as she scoffed. "You kidding? I'm good as good gets!"

Elm smiled at that. "That's great to hear! Now let's see you back it up!"

"Are you ready?" General Ironwood called from above.

"Always ready, sir!" Elm called back, tightening her grip on Timber.

"Then let us..." General Ironwood kept the long pause for dramatic effect, then exclaimed, "Begin!"

Acacia rushed forward with her tonfas and swung at Elm, who blocked with Timber's shaft. Acacia swung three more times, then ducked and weaved to Elm's side, getting in a good few hits, before jumping back to avoid a retaliating swing.

Acacia jumped forward to continue her assault, but Elm was dodging this time, instead of blocking. Was she trying to put space between them? Acacia didn't let up on her swings, but was so focused on Elm's front that she wasn't paying attention to behind her, as Elm moved Timber to her other hand behind her back. Elm swung low and tripped Acacia, causing her to fall on her back.

Acacia was a little dazed, but still too slow to recover. Elm planted a boot on Acacia's stomach and used Roots to pin her down. Elm shifted Timber to it's rocket launcher mode and pointed down at the trapped girl. She'd probably struggle a little before giving up and calling the match.

But she didn't.

When Elm looked down, she was shocked by what she saw. Acacia was struggling, yes, but less like, "Oh no, I'm pinned," and more like a rabbit caught in a rope trap. Acacia was scrambling, tears flowing out of her eyes and down her cheeks like a river. She began punching Elm's as hard as she could, grunting in desperation. She was helpless.

"Hey, kid?" Acacia looked up to see her opponent wearing a look of concern on her face. "You good?"

Acacia calmed down a little bit, realizing the boot wasn't as heavy as the Paladin's. Her breathing became less rapid, and finally gave a calming breath. She then chuckled. "I guess I lose, huh?"

Elm chuckled with her. "Yeah, I guess so!" Elm removed Roots and stepped off of Acacia and offered her a hand. "You wanna try again?"

Acacia sighed. "No. Not yet." She walked back towards the steps, up to her seat. "You win."

"Acacia Evergreen has forfeited the match! The victor is Elm Ederne!" General Ironwood roared from above. "Both contestants, please return to your seats."

Acacia sighed as she sat next to Prism. That was disappointing. Nothing quite like a panic attack during a sparring match to kill your shot at graduating early.

"Hey, you okay?" Acacia opened her eyes to see her entire team swarmed around her. Echidna was holding her left hand, while Prism held her right, with Sandy standing in front of her and Reizo kneeling next to her. Acacia's face flushed at all this attention she was getting.

"Uh, I-!"

"Children, please! Give Acacia some space!" Everyone stepped away as Reizo's mother glared at her new students. Acacia shivered. She hadn't seen a glare like hers since Professor Goodwitch. This professor, however, softened her expression to one fitting for a mother such as hers as she spoke gently. "Are you okay, dear?"

"Uh, yeah, I just-"

"Oh, will you quit coddling them!" Acacia almost got whiplash after turning her head so quickly. Specialist Ederne sat down next to Acacia where Echidna once was. When did that happen? "The kid's fine; just had a little scare, that's all. Right, kid?" She finished with a wink towards her.

"Yeah, I'm, uh... I'm good."

"See? She's fine. Besides, if she wasn't, Vine would be more than happy to do some meditating with her after her classes. Ain't that right, Vine?" Vine wasn't paying attention. In fact, he looked like he was meditating just so he didn't have to respond. "See?"

Acacia cleared her throat. "Yeah. I'll, uh, I'll hold you guys to it."

"Great! Now it's time for Harriet's match! You're gonna love this. She might be the most hot-headed, but she's also the most talented of us, too." Specialist Ederne leaned down to whisper. "Uh, but don't tell her I said that."

Echidna and Harriet made it to their places in the arena at the same time. They didn't take their eyes off of each other once they saw their opponent at the bottom of their stairs.

"Feel free to drop out at any time, princess." Specialist Bree teased. Echidna knew her foe wouldn't hold anything back, so neither should she. "I can tell you're scared. I bet your heart is thumping in that dainty little chest of yours."

Echidna scoffed at the claim. Talking back to her would just distract her. She simply took her stance with her staff in front of her.

"Not gonna talk, huh? Alright! I can respect that." Specialist Bree donned Fast Knuckles and took a boxing stance, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I'm ready when you are!"

Ironwood waited a moment, seeing the combatants were already taking stances. "Begin!"

Specialist Bree launched herself at Echidna, and kicked at her staff. Echidna gripped her staff tightly and used the force of the kick to spin herself, using her momentum to swing her staff as she spun and attempted to strike her opponent's head. Specialist Bree ducked with a cocky smirk, however, and swung her legs out to catch Echidna in the legs. Echidna jumped, however, with a cocky smirk of her own, as a wave of water crashed into Specialist Bree, sending her rolling along the floor.

"Where the hell-?!" Specialist Bree saw Echidna removing her gloves to reveal fins.

"I can use my aura to create water and manipulate it." Echidna explained as water rolled off her fins in small droplets. "I was waiting for a chance to show this off to my team before starting school, so I guess now is as good a time as any." Echidna then put her hand up to her lips. "Oh! But I'm getting ahead of myself! Do you need a towel?"

Specialist Bree growled and punched the floor, cracking it a little. "No, but you're gonna need an ice pack when I'm done with you!"

Echidna split her staff in two as she readied herself for another frontal assault. She must have blinked because Specialist Bree was suddenly gone!

"Heads up, kid!" Echidna jumped back and looked up as Specialist Bree came down like a comet, shattering the flooring of the arena. But there was no time for her to rest as Specialist Bree disappeared again. A blur out of the corner of her left eye forced her to spin to left, just in time to catch Specialist Bree launching at her again. Echidna tried to dodge, but was caught in the shoulder by a foot from the specialist. This victory for the specialist was short lived as Echidna was able to grip her ankle with a claw from one end on her baton.

Echidna yanked on the chain attached and forced Specialist Bree to the ground with a splash. She looked around and noticed the space they were fighting in had become a large puddle of water. Echidna held out her hands in front of her and flattened her palms upwards, then slowly raised her hands up.

Specialist Bree kicked her leg back, but found there was enough slack in the chain to not bother Echidna. "Damn it!"

"Enough!" Ironwood barked from above. "Harriet Bree is the victor of this bout." With those words, Echidna gasped as she fell to her knees. "I feel I don't need to explain the importance of aura conservation, do I, Miss Bluewaters?" Echidna breathed heavily, feeling drained from her trick. Her plan was sound, she thought, but she had no idea how much aura it required.

"Hey, you need a hand?" Echidna looked up to see Specialist Bree offering her hand. She took it, but found it uneasy to stand. "Woah! Easy now!" Specialist Bree moved Echidna's hand over her shoulders as they walked up the steps. "Not bad, kid! But try not to burn yourself out next time."

Echidna sighed. "Thanks."

Echidna yawned as she settled into her seat. She hadn't expended that much aura since that Beringel mission. She looked to her left and saw Reizo's mother watching the arena with intensity. It made sense to Echidna, since her son (currently daughter) was now up to bat. Reizo was their leader, and for good reason as she understood. He wasn't as smart as Prism, nor as spirited as Sandy, or as tough as Acacia, and certainly wasn't as socially graceful as herself, but Reizo had something that made him different from the others.

"Up next is Clover. Ten Lien says the kid won't last a minute!" Specialist Amin boasted.

"I'll take you on that bet!" Specialist Bree exclaimed. "No way Clover will lose against someone so green!"

"50 Lien that the kid makes it to 10 minutes." Specialist Ederne pitched in.

"I'm certain Clover wouldn't approve of wanton gambling." Specialist Zeku opined.

"Come on, Reizo," Echidna wearily thought as she closed her eyes, "prove them wrong."

"It's not too late to back out, you know." Specialist Ebi reasoned. "We can just have you start all over again. There's no shame in going back to square one."

"Will my friends be with me?" Reizo asked as she gripped her katana's pommel.

"Well, we can't guarantee anything. I've seen at least one of them ready for the next level."

"Then my answer is no." Reizo drew her sword from it's sheath. "It's either all of us, or none of us."

"Okay, but I tried." Specialist Ebi submitted with a shrug. He then waved to above them. "Hey, we're ready down here!"

General Ironwood nodded. "Then let the final battle begin!"

Reizo wasted no time as she charged with her blade up and at her side. She swung with one hand, but missed entirely as Specialist Ebi leaned back. Reizo recovered by swinging back the other way at a diagonal angle, but the specialist leader simply stepped back. Reizo decided on a new approach and thrusted her katana into her opponent.

Her mother gasped at the direct hit to his chest. Reizo pressed forward and pushed him back. Specialist Ebi laughed as he flicked his badge.

"Not bad, kid," he exclaimed, "if I weren't so lucky, I'd have to get an early retirement!" He then reached for his weapon at his side. "But now that I know you're going for the kill," Specialist Ebi extended Kingfisher, "I don't need to hold back, do I?"

Reizo began her charge again, but the specialist leader launched the hook from Kingfisher out and snagged her sleeve. He reeled in the hook with a tug, forcing Reizo into a spin. After steadying herself, Reizo looked forward in time to see Specialist Ebi throwing a punch at her. She twisted her body to avoid him and swung up at his exposed arm, but Kingfisher's rod had caught the blow and knocked the sword to the side.

'Time for a new plan.' Reizo thought as she sheathed her katana, inserting a lightning and a fire dust coin into the blade's coin slots before it was fully in. She then attempted to goad her opponent closer with a taunting of her free hand. He just smiled and obliged by walking forward, unafraid of her. When he was within feet of her, Reizo drew her blade as quickly as she could, catching Kingfisher in her path. Flames roared and electricity crackled as she pressed forward into her foe. Specialist Ebi simply pushed her back and tugged on his reel. Was it upside down?

Reizo was sent to the ground on her back. She tried to get up, but the specialist leader was already on top of her, with a boot on her wrist and forcing her to let go of her katana.

"You done?" Specialist Ebi asked. Reizo blew her hair out of her face.

"Yeah. I'm done."

"You have all performed admirably. You have proven that your skills have not diminished since the Fall." Ironwood paced before the students with the Ace-Ops standing behind him. "However, it should be noted that you all still have a ways to go before you can become fully licensed Huntsmen. As such, I have decided, if you will allow me, to enroll all of you into Atlas Academy as third year students."

The five glanced at each other, each taking their time to silently judge the expressions of the other. Once Reizo recieved a nod from the other girls, she stood up and cleared her throat. "All of us, headmaster?"

"Yes." Ironwood answered immediately. "I feel you children have more that proved yourselves beyond the capabilities of first year students of Beacon, and with only one more year of proper education, I see no issue with you five becoming Huntsmen."

Reizo looked back to her team, whom all smiled back at her. Reizo nodded and faced the Headmaster once more. "Yes, Headmaster Ironwood. We'll do you proud!"

"Excellent!" Ironwood smiled. "Then allow me to once again welcome you to Atlas." He then turned to speak with Reizo's mother. "Professor Yamato. If you would be so kind, please escort our new students to their dorms."

"Of course, Headmaster." Reizo's mother extended her arm towards the exit as she spoke to her new students. "If you will follow me, I will escort you to your dorm rooms, where you can all get settled in."

Ironwood smiled as he watched his new students leave, taking their first steps towards serving their community, and making humanity better as a whole. A buzz on his scroll interrupted his thoughts. He reached down and looked at the screen, sighing as he read the contact. What did Cordovin want this time?

"Ah! Sweet comfort!" Prism sighed as she sunk into the bliss of her new mattress, sighing contentedly after a three hour "detour" to the dorm room, in which Reizo's mother took the liberty of explaining not only the hundreds of different rooms and their uses, but the history of Atlas Academy as well. This heaven was interrupted by Echidna grabbing her leg.

"Hey! We were going to vote on who slept in what bed!"

"And I vote for this bed. All in favor? Aye! All oppose?"

"Nay!" Echidna shouted.

"The motion remains unchanged. It's my bed." Prism heaved a sigh of delight. "I love democracy."

As the two argued, Acacia and Sandy looked over the new uniforms, already in their closets. Acacia felt the interior, the wool scratching against her palm, and then the surface, which felt like cotton. Acacia smiled, glad to know Atlas was mindful of both it's freezing temperatures and high altitude, neither of which made the pit viper poltergeist feel comfortable. Damn her reptilian traits!

"Ugh! Do they only have steel gray?" Sandy complained. "At least Beacon's uniforms had style."

"I'm sure they have smoke gray in stock if you'd like," Acacia joked, "or if you'd prefer, I'm sure they can get you a very, very, very light black, or a very, very, very, very, very, very dark white." Sandy and Acacia giggled at the jest.

Reizo steeped out of the bathroom, wearing a towel around her torso. She stood for a moment, watching her team. Prism was annoying Echidna, Acacia and Sandy were laughing and making jokes, and she felt left out. It really was just like Beacon.

Reizo walked to her bag, which she assumed were brought up by Atlas staff while she was fighting for the amusement of her new, stoic overlord. She hummed in thought as she got dressed. Third year students, but not graduates?

Was he not entertained?

A knock on the door broke her thoughts. "Just a second!" Reizo called as she put on her new uniform. Wool? What kind of sadist makes a scratchy wool uniform?!

Another knock followed. Once Reizo was dressed, Acacia answered the door, as she was the closest. Behind the door was Professor Yamato stood in the doorway, smiling and waving.

"Good afternoon, everyone! I hope you have all settled in now." The in-fighting over one of the bunks informed her of the contrary. "Ah, I see. Is there a problem I can resolve?"

Before Reizo could speak, a new, yet familiar voice spoke on her behalf.

"Ah, it's fine, Mrs. Y! These kids are just that close, y'know?" The infighting stopped as all five students rushed into the hallway to meet the voice of their former professor, Arishna Dawn. "Yo! Remember me?"

"It's Professor Goodwitch's girlfriend!" Sandy cried. An icy chill ran through Professor Dawn as her fellow professor gave her a wary glance.

"Oh, really?" Professor Mom inquired. "So you had faculty romantically involved with one another at Beacon, eh?"

"Well, I mean, it started before-"

"No, she was a Teacher's Assistant when we started." Echidna explained. "She only became a professor just before the Vytal Festival."

"Oh, so not only was it a romantic relationship, but a case of fraternization as well?" Professor Dawn scrambled for an explanation as she squirmed in place under the judging eyes of her superior. "My, my! The things Beacon got away with when I'm not watching."

"No, you got it all wrong!" Professor Dawn shouted with eyes shut. It became silent. That wasn't a good sign. She opened an eye and was petrified by the steely gaze of her senior.

"Oh? Then please, do explain how your relationship with a supervisory faculty member began."

"Well,not now, here, in front of the students!" Professor Dawn excused.

"Very well." Professor Dawn sighed in relief at her senior's decision. "Students, please excuse us. I must speak with Professor Dawn in private. Reizo, I expect to see your team in class at 7 AM tomorrow!"

"Yes, mom! Er, I mean, Ma'am!"

"Just Professor is fine." She then turned and walked away, dragging Professor Dawn by the collar. "Now, about this fraternization..."

"Help me!" Professor Dawn cried.

Reizo almost felt bad for her. Almost, but not enough to save her from her mother.

A week had passed for Team REAPS much like Beacon. The first two days crawled, but by the third day, they finally got the hang of it. The fourth day couldn't have ended fast enough because it was Friday.

Prism practically blasted from one class to the other like she was shot out of a cannon (and in one class, she did), and she inhaled her lunch. Literally. She had a vacuum device connected between her mouth and her plate, and she had the blades pull her food into them and sent the slush and mush of food products into her mouth.

Acacia and Sandy said it was the most amazing thing they'd ever seen.

Echidna held back the urge to vomit by a hair.

Reizo just sat there.

The day winded down from there, and at the final bell, Prism ran to her room and packed her bag for an overnight trip. Juice, snacks, a change of clothes, a spare lug nut and wrench set, oil. Y'know, the essentials.

"You have your scroll?" Acacia asked.

"Yup!" Prism answered.

"Is it charged?" Sandy inquired.

"Mhm!"

"Did you call ahead to the... Polyester guy?" Reizo asked, half for comfort, half for clarity.

"Doctor Pietro Polendina, and yes!" Prism huffed. "He sent me his address and told me he would be expecting me."

"You aren't going to cause trouble?" Echidna interrogated.

"Guys, I said I would be fine! You're just being worrywarts for nothing!" Prism whined, then followed up with a hug. "But thanks, guys. I appreciate it."

"Call us when you're on your way back, okay?" Reizo said.

"Or if you get into trouble." Echidna added.

Prism smiled. "I will. Don't be a stranger!" Prism left, shaking at the thought of meeting a brilliant mind like Doctor Polendina. How lucky was she?

'What a dump!' Prism thought as she stood before a run-down building. She checked her scroll again to make sure this was indeed the right place. Yeah, it matched. It also matched a public service amount she watched at Beginner school about walking home alone.

Prism cautiously approached the door and rapped her knuckle against it twice, then jumped a few feet back. A television screen flared to life, but the feed was scrambled and all Prism could see was static.

"Yes?" A voice inquired. It didn't sound like the doctor, but then again, the screen has a bad case of static. Was it age or weather? Since Mantle relied on subterranean dust lines running under buildings and street curbs, Prism thought the former was more likely. "And you are?"

Prism cleared her throat. "Prism Asagiri, from Atlas? I spoke earlier this week to Doctor Polendina and I was told to come to this address by him. Is he there?"

"Oh, yes. Give me a moment." The screen went dead and Prism took another step back. If it was a creep, she'd run. If it was some Grim in disguise, she'd kill it, then run. She made more plans in her head as the door unlocked. The doors opened, revealing a silhouette of something large, but not tall, standing on four, inhuman legs. "Ms. Asagiri?" A familiar voice called.

Prism gulped. "Yes?" The creature stepped out of the doors, the street lights revealing not a Grimm, but a dark-skinned, heavy-set, elderly man with a gray, bushy beard in a green sweater-vest. He was sitting in a large, iron seat with spider legs. "Doctor Polendina?"

"Please, call me Pietro." He said. "Come in, I don't want you catching your death of cold out here!"

Never judge a book by it's cover. That was a lesson Prism was taught time and time again. What's that; a shiny ball? Nope, it's a sub-sonic shotgun! Let me guess; a Grimm with fins? Nope, they're glider wings! Okay, I got it, it's an abandoned building with deviants of every variety inside, right? Three strikes, bud, because this is actually a super-science lab!

Prism walked around in awe as Doct- Pietro gave her a tour of his lab. Well, not so much a tour as him trying to explain things like funding, research grants, and doctoral dissertations, only for Prism to interrupt by gasping shouting, "What's that?!" every ten minutes. She would then apologize and ask that he continue.

But a new voice interrupted them this time.

"Doctor? Are you well? Sporadic gasping is often a symptom of illnesses such as-"

"Whoa!" Prism jumped. "What was that?!"

"Oh, that's that little passion project I was telling you about." Pietro answered. "You remember the Fall of Beacon, correct?"

"I tend to have recurring nightmares of it now and then, yes." Prism said plainly.

Pietro was silent for a moment. "...Yes. Er, apologies for bringing up bad memories."

"Oh, it's no problem! Go on!"

"Well, of the many casualties, including civilians, Huntsmen, students, White Fang, and so on, one of my creations was also grievously damaged."

"Which one was it? Was it the Atlesian flagship? The Knights? The Paladins?"

"No, no. Nothing so violent. In fact, quite the contrary: she was my greatest creation because of her learning ability, not her combat capabilities."

"Wait, you don't mean-" Pietro pressed a button a nearby shelf, and a prototype for a new car seat belt, and the counter it was sitting on, spun into the wall, and out came a red-haired girl's head, surrounded by other body parts. "Penny?!"

"Sal-u-tations, Friend Prism!" Penny cheered. "I hope you are finding Atlas well!"

"Oh, good! You know each other." Pietro sighed in relief. "That will save some time."

"But, how?! I saw-! We all saw-!" With each failed sentence, Prism gestured wildly with her arms at Penny. Pietro chuckled.

"Allow me to explain."

"So, that's it, huh? Penny is stuck as a head until she gets a new source of aura?" Prism summed up. "Not surprising, since she barely had aura left from her pieces."

"Not exactly. It's not a new source she needs, but a conduit and a new body to contain it. Unfortunately, Ironwood and his researchers need all the funding they can get, and I can forget about asking the SDC. Too may questions and too few morals to understand my answers."

"So she needs a new body, huh?" Prism asked with a smile. "Say, I never got to show you my babies, huh?"

"Your babies?" Pietro eyed her warily as he asked.

"Yup, like this!" Prism proceeded to pull out six massive, in-tact blueprints for her new weapon designs. She then pulled out two, massive swords, then an obscenely large hammer. "Uh, do you get it, or should I stop and actually explain?"

"Uh, I feel an explanation would suffice. Is this your semblance?"

"Oh, no! This is my semblance!" Prism clapped her hands together, then pulled them apart, creating and expanding a small barrier of hard-light between her palms. "I can create flat, hard-light structures with my semblance. Once I started developing my semblance, I decided to figure out the physics of it and started inventing devices powered by it."

"I see. So, you intend to create a conduit and body using hard-light technology?"

"Something like that, but first, I have to ask you something." Prism shot him a smile. "Do you mind if I build something in here? Just to make it easier for us to work together."

Pietro smiled. That was all the answer she needed.

Reizo laid back in her bed, reading over the new strategies she came up with. Her match against the Specialist Leader was sobering, to say the least. She had bested opponents without Copy before, but never one of this caliber. She needed to get stronger.

She closed her eyes and thought back to the day before, and the lesson the professor was giving. "A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link." Who was the weakest link? She felt like garbage for even thinking it, but it was a thought every leader had. Or, that's the excuse she gave herself.

Prism was the first fight, and the best result yet. But, like the General Headmaster said, it was less her own skill and more so the incompetence of her opponent. Either way, Prism still performed admirably.

Sandy's "fight" was also an interesting event. Sandy "fought" without lifting a finger. She "fought" an opponent with more combat experience. In the end, she lost her "fight". One thing that was clear, though, was that a Huntsman was more than just a warrior. A Huntsman was also a negotiator and, at times, a political tool, an ideal or standard to be upheld, idolized, and viewed by non-Huntsmen. Reizo sighed.

She hated politics.

Speaking of politics, though, Echidna, the daughter of "the better White Fang" (her words), crossed her mind. Her fight was incredible. An excellent use of her semblance and weapon. She really gave Specialist Bree a run for her money. But she still lost because of her using too much aura. Aura training was important, as well as physical training. If only there were a way to use her semblance without expending so much aura. Maybe if she already had water around her, instead of creating it from her body?

Reizo then thought of her final teammate, Acacia. She fought hard, but the battle was over the second she was pinned. Acacia was still recovering, it seems. Not surprising, since you don't just get over almost dying under six tons of heavy metal in a single night. It still presented a problem, since being pinned is not an anomaly in a fight.

Reizo sighed and shook her head. She got up and walked into the bathroom. She shut the door and made her way to do her business. Business? Ha! That was a good one. Like this would fly in an office job. She chuckled at the idea.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, really." Reizo answered. "I was just thinking about-" Reizo's words died on her lips. Standing in front of her, just ten feet away, was Prism, with grease on her face and a smile on her lips. She looked up to see the teleporter attached to the ceiling.

"About what?" Prism asked, walking over to the sink to wash her hands of the grime accumulated on them.

"How did you get in here?!" Reizo screeched.

"Teleporter. Duh! Remember?" Prism answered as she turned towards the towels.

"Why in the bathroom?!" Reizo was red in the face earlier before, but now it felt like it was on fire with rage.

"Because," Prism began, turning towards her throne-bound leader, "there wasn't any... room... in our..." Prism's face became red, and she turned away covering her eyes. "Damn it, not again!"

Reizo looked down and saw she, or now he, had changed once again. He sighed as he stood up, pulled up his skirt, flushed, and made his way to wash his hands. "Feel free to leave when ever you'd like."

Prism didn't need to be told twice as she bolted from the room. Reizo dried his hands and stepped out next, seeing Echidna, Sandy, and Acacia staring at him wide-eyed.

"What?"

Acacia whistled. "Nice legs!"