#let the headbutting begin...

[staronline]

     ❪    ཐི♥︎ཋྀ    ❫     dear   @vloggs​​​  ,    

              sunday’s  were  supposed  to  be  his  days  off  ,  away  from  these  glass  mirrors  that  he  always  felt  far  too  exposed  in  front  of  ,  away  from  the  people  he  was  normally  forced  to  spend  his  time  with.  yet  he  found  himself  right  here  .  .  all  because  piper  asked  him  to  ,  all  because  he  complied.  nevertheless  ,  he  shrugs  it  off  because  it's  not  like  he  wouldn't  have  just  been  practicing  at  the  rink  anyway.  “  are  any  of  these  moves  in  the  original  choreography  ?  i  don’t  remember  learning  any  of  this  .  .  ”

[stevebabey]

not if it’s you.

word count: 7k summary: After the events at Starcourt Mall, you have a hard time convincing Steve that he’s allowed to be not okay. You want to take care of him. And if you harbour some more-than-friends feelings at the same time? Well, that’s nobody’s business but yours. [angst + hurt/comfort + friends to lovers]

You’re bone-deep tired.

The red and blue lights of the ambulance feel branded onto the inside of your eyelids, there even when your tired eyes slide shut. The cool metal on the ambulance door soothes your forehead and for a moment, head tilted against it, you could honestly just sleep even with all the noise.

It’s been a hell of a night.

You blink. You need to keep yourself awake, you’re not home yet. Gazing blankly across the crowded parking lot, reporters and townspeople milling between the yellow police tape, you can feel your brain begin to try to grapple with all the events of the night.

It’s like some warped horror flick of memories, parts of the film blacked out that you can’t quite recall. The elevator, the Russians, and some god-awful melted monster of people — even in your mind the image makes you shudder.

The longer you think about it, the more it feels like the stress is fusing with your bones, attaching itself to every cell in your body. It makes you shake, a forceful twitch of your head to put all the thoughts to rest.

Process it later. Make sure you can stay stitched together physically tonight. You must look a tad loony from the outside, twitching and shaking, but considering your night it’s more than warranted.

The gash on your arm is the worst of your injuries. A jagged stretch of torn skin that was gifted by one of the Russian soldiers who had hoped it would loosen your tongue. And when that didn’t work, the pliers nearly had — you would’ve told them anything when they took them out and lined it up with one of your fingernails.

But Steve then had done something stupid — kicked to get a guard’s attention since his yelling obviously hadn’t made a difference, let one of them lean down real close, and then headbutted him with all his might.

Relief had shocked your system, some broken cry as you slumped over when the pliers moved away. Fingers saved, if only briefly.

It had all turned to dread when they had lugged him out of his chair, preparing for round two of questioning. You had felt it then, a twisted gurgle of emotion lurched up your throat — violent enough it might have made you sick if you had managed to open your mouth. You hadn’t. There was a chance you would’ve said something worse, some jumble of feelings that wouldn’t have helped.

So, you had bit your tongue. Tasted blood and pretended that closing your eyes meant you couldn’t hear Steve pleading in the room over.

He hasn’t said much since the two of you had been sat in the back of the ambulance, gloved hands of the paramedics roaming over skin to find and treat injuries. There’s just one guy left now, still hovering around Steve with a flashlight and treating him with much less care than you’d like.

Steve looks as tired as you feel and when he can’t focus enough to look ahead, the paramedic prods his cheek unkindly. Steve winces.

“Hey,” you snip, cutting into the interaction. “Are you done? Can we go home?”

The paramedic turns the flashlight on you, blinding you for a moment. It confirms your asshole hypothesis of his character and you cringe at the brightness. It’s gone in the next moment, finally clicked off. He observes you both for another moment before an annoyed drawl comes out.

“Yeah, scram. But first you,” He jabs a finger at Steve who blinks but doesn’t react. “Lots of rest. No big brain work, no alcohol, and don’t run any marathons or anything.”

Steve nods, then grimaces at the pain the movement causes. You can’t help the wrinkle in your brow as you watch - you startle a bit when the paramedic turns his pointed finger on you.

“And you. His pupils are still dilated so keep an eye for seizure symptoms. Wake him every couple of hours and get a CT scan tomorrow.”

Some part of you is perturbed that he’s put you in charge of taking care of Steve. Another part gleans and blushes because you’d accepted the task the moment he’d asked, without question.

“Tomorrow?” You ask hotly, at the same time Steve says, “I’ll be fine on my own.”

The paramedic shakes his head, tsking as if you’re bothersome school-children not patients, and steps back with his hands raised. “Figure it out, I don’t care. I’ve got a dozen other people to check over.”

He winds around the door of the ambulance and leaves the both of you alone. A cool wind skirts through the parking lot, ruffling your hair. A sigh wrestles out your chest, a pathetic attempt to alleviate the tightness in your chest.

You don’t think you’ve ever hated the colours blue and red more than right now. The blazing colours atop police cars that flood the parking lot, the colours of Steve’s Scoops uniform, the colour of blood seeping into your pale blue shirt.

If you squint, you can see your own car parked alongside Steve’s in the distance — it feels like a lifetime ago when you had driven in and parked up. Your keys are lost down, down below you, taken in the interrogation. You stand to shake off that train of thought. 

You turn back and offer your hand out to Steve. After all the blows he’s taken tonight, you desperately want to offer him kindness. Offer him a touch that doesn’t hurt, doesn’t make him flinch or wince. Steve stares at your hand for a long moment, eyes contemplating — and then puts his in yours.

He lets you pull him to his feet.

One of the police cruisers takes you to Loch Nora, Steve and you tucked away in the backseat. His hand is still in yours, barely holding it in his tiredness; when the car rounds a corner though, you can feel his fingers clench tighter so your hand doesn’t slip away.

They detach eventually when the wheels roll up on the curb outside Steve’s house, late in the night. Like the rest of the sleeping houses, the lights are all off. There are no cars in the driveway. The loneliness of it yawns out down the drive, like visible smoke plumes that escape every window.

Steve somehow looks tenser at seeing it; he still forces himself out of the car, bloody sneakers scraping against the gravel. You follow. It aches to move too much, even just shuffling out of the car feels like moving a mountain. The door clips closed quietly behind you. You hear the engine fade back down the road.

Steve is still stuck in place — you have a feeling he’s not looking at the house at all but stuck in thought, looking through the timber and paint and seeing all the horrors of the night. You step up beside him and gingerly reattach your hands.

It seems to surprise him, jumping ever so slightly at the touch and turning to look at you. “I didn’t...”

I didn’t think you’d stay. The sentence dies in his throat, a little embarrassed by how relieved he is that you’ve stayed with him - so much it shows in the quiver in his voice. Steve doesn’t finish it because then you’ll hear the other part of the sentence, even without him saying it. No one stays.

“C’mon,” you urge him to walk with you, beginning to drift up the driveway.

There’s no rush, you’ll wait as long as he needs to before moving, but it’s colder out tonight. Maybe it just feels that way with all your tiredness, the frostiness nipping at your skin. All your energy is focused on staying on your feet, on helping Steve. There’s none left to keep you warm.

He ambles after you like walking is an afterthought and following you is the priority. His sneakers drag, soft scraping noises with every step. You can feel his gaze burning into the back of your head, his fingers squeezing as if he’s checking you’re really still here with him.

The front door is unlocked and it’s only when it snicks shut behind you, do you wonder if you’ve overstepped. It’s awkward, but only a bit. You’ve been in Steve’s house before — though, who hadn’t with all his parties in sophomore year?

But not quite like this. Not just the two of you, and never holding his hand.

The events that had transpired last fall in Hawkins had thrown Steve into your life, along with a dizzying revelation of new dimensions and an unsettling truth about monsters that came right out of your nightmares.

Though, maybe it made more sense to say you were thrown into Steve’s life. You had always known of him - he couldn’t say the same about you.

Like the hoards, freshmen you had not been immune to the boyishly good looks and charismatic nature of Steve Harrington. Once upon a time, before someone called him King Steve and it stuck, there had been a crush.

But like red wine on white linen, with time — and plenty of distance — it had faded.

Not even the adventure that bound you two together, the tunnels that snaked beneath Hawkins and your shaky hands lugging him into the car, had been enough to reignite old affections. Not his insistence on you leaving the tunnels first, not even the way he clutched you when you all made it out. Not unscathed, but alive.

Pitifully, it had been his shoddy attempts at flirting in his ridiculous sailor uniform to kick-start your heart back up.

You had sighed, chin in hand, and leaned into the foolish feelings — because going crazy over a boy felt the most normal thing you could do. And after demodogs and slithering vines kept creeping from the past into your slumbers, normal was all you wanted.

But Steve needed you as a friend, more so considering his fallout with Tommy H and Carol had become permanent. He flirted with customers, every girl you’d recognised from your year, but never you.

It felt a good enough reason to bite your tongue. Keep him close, but never as close as you’d like.

But now you’ve done it again — been pulled along on another adventure that’s brimming with terrors that will take years to forget.

Everything feels worse this time round, a decay that ebbs away your hope. It’s somehow harder to heal from wounds that come from evil, but not the supernatural. It’s all the heavier when the boy who holds your heart made himself a punching bag so you didn’t get hurt. 

The warmth of his hand, squeezing for only a moment, brings you back to the present. To now, still standing in the entryway to Steve’s house. You blink, coming back to yourself, and turn back to him. There’s a crinkle between his brow, and worry washed across his features.

“Are you okay?” He asks it tentatively like he’s afraid to spook you. It sends a rush to your system, a pleasant throb in your chest. You can’t deny you like knowing he worries. That he cares.

“Yeah,” you croak out, nodding as you speak. “Do you— I mean, you don’t mind me staying, do you?” 

Suddenly, the potential embarrassment of inviting yourself in, even with the good intentions of taking care of Steve, is overwhelming. The next words tumble out without thought.

“I just, I don’t want to be alone right now.” It’s a bit hurried, tinged with nervousness. You stammer. “And I don’t want you to be alone right now.”

Something like pure affection blooms in Steve’s chest at your words, the heat of it stealing his breath and pain for just a moment. It’s a different sort of ache in between his ribs, something white-hot and pure.

He hadn’t been able to voice his relief when you’d gotten out of the car and stayed with him — and it fails him now at your admittance.

You don’t want to be alone. You don’t want him to be alone.

Steve doesn’t think he’s deserving of your good will, nor the kindness in every touch. He can’t help how he consumes it greedily, drinks in the touches like he knows it’ll be taken from him soon enough. His eyes stay fixed on you.

There’s something so alluring about your silhouette, the golden street light let in through slits in the door. It halos you, soft amber that softens every curve. You’re enchanting, even when bloodied.

Steve’s not sure his heart has felt like this before — so molten hot, valves working overtime, ribbons of affection tied tight across his chest. He’s sure they’ll leave scorch marks, testimonies to his bleeding heart that pulses with each beat for you, for you, for you.

Because you’re still here and something in his trodden on heart perks up before he remembers to crush it. It’s not that Steve has never thought of you as more — god, the mere thought of you as more to him.

More than a friend, more than this, it’s enough to make his head spin. To make his hands shake and return a nervousness to his system he hasn’t felt since sophomore year when he first laid eyes on Nancy Wheeler.

But you’re not Nancy. In the best way, that makes all the difference,

You were some breath of fresh air, bursting into his life in all the middle of his estranged drawn out break-up with Nancy — brash in all the right ways, kind when he needed, and far too soft to be tangled up in any of this mess.

You’re still too soft for it now, and it shows in the jagged cut torn into the fabric of your skin — it doesn’t matter how it happened, Steve still feels like it’s his fault. It’ll scar, red puckered skin that twists down the expanse of your shoulder. A living reminder of the night burned into you to carry forever.  

It hurts Steve maybe more than he’s warranted to. You’re both just friends.

But when Steve thinks of how he’s accidentally pulled you too close, put you first in the heart, it aches evermore.

He’s not sure when you went from barely a friend to this — you’re a crush, an Achilles heel, the unattainable from the moment he met you, the moment he knew you. Steve feels like he’s been building himself towards you, pushing his growth to aim for anywhere near enough for you. You’ve been too good for him from the start.

It doesn’t stop him from loving you.

Steve realises after a moment that he hasn’t said anything when your fingers start to slip from his. His grip tightens to keep your hand in his.

“No, I— Stay. I...” It’s a struggle to say it, too many years of suppressing any urge to ask for comfort. “I don’t want to be alone, either. Or for you to be. Stay.”

Your lips, chapped and still with a hint of blood, twitch into somewhat a smile. “Okay.”

This time it’s Steve who drags you along, both slowly moving up the stairs. Each step threatens to reopen the scabs that have only just begun to form. It’s like some micro-dose of torture, Steve thinks, hearing your winces behind him.

The fluorescence of the bathroom lights is bright enough to make your eyes fly shut. Steve’s braver, taking only a moment to pause. He ignores how the lights dance, a sickening comparison to his experience with the drugs that had barely left his system. Though it’s the last thing he wants, Steve drops your hand to begin his search.

When your eyes blink open, prepared to face the lights, you’re a bit perplexed to see Steve hunting through the linen cupboard. He produces a towel, white and fluffy.

You cringe internally at the thought of sullying the pale colour with blood but it’s but a blip in tonight’s problems. Besides, the Harrington’s could certainly afford to replace it.

“Here.” Steve murmurs. You both seem to have agreed to keep softly spoken for the night.

He presses the cotton into your hands as he walks, ready to shoulder out and take care of himself. There was an en-suite in his own room — and sure, it would hurt like hell rinsing his wounds but he’d done it last year. Blasted the heat so he was wincing at the burn atop his skin and not the ache underneath it. 

“Steve?” You question, turning and halting his feet. He pauses, confused by the questioning expression on your face. He gestures to the shower, hiding how the movement makes his ribs sting painfully.

“You can shower here and- and the guest room’s all made up.” The words trip a bit on the way out, weakness beginning to weigh on his voice.

Somehow being back home crumbles his walls sooner than he’d like. Tonight has been heavy, a burden that lies thick on his shoulders and creeps down, taking root in his muscles.

But Steve will do what he had done last year; take the punches, burn them off in the heat of the shower — hot enough that he can’t feel any tears — and then deal with it.

“No, s’not that.” You shake your head, a strand of hair coming loose. “I... What about you?”

What about all the blood? The bruises and cuts? You’d seen the scars littered on the skin of his face from Billy, cuts that had healed wrong and left marred skin. Wounds left uncared for, only healed with time.

The question only begs more confusion from Steve. He gestures to somewhere behind him as he says, “There’s another shower, don’t worry.”

He pulls a smile to ease you. It wobbles at the ends of his mouth. Something claws into your heart, a profound heartache at the thought it doesn’t even occur to Steve to take care of himself.

“Steve,” you begin, beginning to get a sense of the wall you’re encountering.

Steve Harrington has some very thick defenses and not without good reason; they’ve got him through some treacherous times. Even now, he uses it like a crutch, a seal to hide away horrid memories. Ignored in favour of temporary strength. 

You don’t need his display of strength — you’re not one of the kids that needs to be shielded from the reality that even Steve has a breaking point — certainly not when his state is far worse than your own.

But you have a feeling he doesn’t know how to switch it off. Steve doesn’t seem to understand what you mean when you say you don’t want him to be alone. 

“Steve, you’re not okay.”

“I’m- I’ve done this before, alright?” He insists, eyes darting between yours, features turning stonier. You can see his defensiveness begin to curl his shoulders in. “I’m alright, I promise.”

“Are you?” You say, not unkind. “Tonight was— Steve, you were tortured.”

The effect of your words is instantaneous. Steve’s face falters, his icy expression dissolving with a shudder he can’t stop. You watch it warp him painfully, jaw clenching and eyes misty; he blinks furiously to clear them. You continue.

“You can’t just- just bounce back from that. Nobody can.” You shake your head as if it proves your point. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve done this before, this— this is a lot for anyone, even—”

“Well then, why are you still here, huh!” His words interrupt your own, tone angrier than you’re expecting. “If this is so much!”

His chest rises and falls quickly, brows draw together like it hurts to breathe so harshly. The words don’t sting, but his tone does. You reel in your hurt and focus past his anger, focus on what it really is.

A final line of defense. A ploy to make you upset or angry, to make you emotional enough to storm out and leave him to lick his wounds alone. Another way to ignore it, compartmentalize what happened instead of facing it head on.

Maybe it’s cruel of you to make him deal with it so soon. But you care, too much to pretend to ignore his pain. 

“Steve.”

“Don’t.” It wobbles, voice weak. His anger has already drained away in a moment.

“You’re not alright,” you insist, voice barely above a whisper. “C’mere.”

You don’t give him a choice, your free hand reaching out to snag his own, which hangs loose at his side.

Steve stumbles forward as you tug him back into the bathroom. Without his anger, he’s pliant and goes without protest. Your gentle fingers on his chest nudge him in the direction of the sink, the cool porcelain pressing through the back of his soiled Scoops top.

“Can you do something for me? Can you...” You bite your already bloody lip, nervousness sketched across your features.

How can you say this without giving too much away? It feels too intimate, like flying too close to the sun, well within the realm of potentially hurting your own feelings. You’ll do it for him gladly. 

“Can you just...let me take care of you?”

It hurts like a sucker punch to the gut. Like a breath has been forced out of his chest, because when was the last time someone has asked him that?

Silence stains the air.

“It won’t be pretty.” He croaks finally, still giving you an easy out. Still prepared to spare you the ugliness of his emotions.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” You respond, lips twitching. You bare your heart and half hope he sees it — sees it and knows he’s loved when you say, “Not if it’s you.”

Another beat of quiet.

“Okay.” Steve breathes, so faintly you barely hear it. Then as if you’ll rescind the offer any moment, he nods fervently.

Your smile is genuine, maybe the first in hours and something in you relaxes. He won’t fight you on this. He may have taken the beating earlier for you but, at the very least, you can do your best to patch him back up — let your hidden feelings translate into a gentleness he so very deserves.

It takes only a quick rummage beneath the sink to find a first-aid kit. It feels wildly underprepared; an afterthought purchase once upon a time that was only ever intended for scraped knees. It hasn’t ever been opened. The tear of the zipper is the only noise in the bathroom, bouncing off the tiles.

As expected, there’s not much in it. It contains a box of plasters in multiple sizes, one roll of gauze, a bottle of antiseptic, and a mixture of other pills and eye drops.

Some loose safety pins rattle around in the bottom as you take inventory. It’s not stellar and you’re no doctor, but it’ll do. It has to do.

When you finally look up, wondering where to begin on his injuries, Steve is regarding you with a look you can’t quite name.

If you were sure of yourself, you might call it awe.

You tell yourself it’s because you’re here, helping him, and it can be awfully easy to mix up feelings when you’re getting stitched up. You don’t let your hopes rise, not even for a moment.

Steve’s blood sings, ears rushing with the sound of it when you step closer. You’re so damn close. Steve can’t ignore the scent that carries with you, his brain involuntarily committing each detail of you that he can get to memory - lest he never gets you this close again.

You want to take care of him; Steve thinks this might be a dream.

Nimble fingers work to gather some cotton with antiseptic and then you’re holding it up, posed, and ready to mend.

“Can you sit up on the counter?” You ask, all sweetness. Steve obliges easily, despite the protests from his sore body that cries out as he shifts up. You smile, then warn, “This might sting.”

It’s overwhelming as you step closer, between his legs, and take the cotton to his face with a gentleness Steve hasn’t felt in years. His eyes close instinctively.

It does sting. The wince leaks out through his clenched teeth, soothed instantly by your soft apologies that pour out like honey.

For a moment, it’s easier this way; with his eyes closed, Steve can pretend this is usual. That when he gets roughed around, there’s someone to tend and clean his wounds — instead of just himself and the harsh rinse of the hot shower.

He tries and fails not to think of last year, his poor attempts to patch himself up. Hands too shaky, touch too rough.

The memory bites. The injuries of tonight somehow feel worse. A tinge of bile taints his mouth and Steve swallows it back down, concentrating on you.

You’re not quite humming but soothing noises, low and soft, come from your throat. Steve’s not even sure you know you’re doing it. His hands clench emptily as his side — the split knuckles make them hurt and when you’re this close, the itch to hold you is near unbearable.

It doesn’t take long for the first cotton pad to turn a violent shade of pink. Steve’s face looks a tad clearer than before but uncovering old blood means finding new wounds.

Your stomach burns pitifully as you take them all in. There are too many to count, a thousand different hues — broken blood vessels that run in all directions, little labyrinths under his skin.

Why does it hurt so much? Even with your bound shoulder that still sends out pain with every motion, it all dulls away when you look at Steve. Lashes fluttering, eyes still closed, marred with wounds you’re begging to ease. You know it hurts so much because you care.

Love is pain, you suppose, with only a twinge of bitterness. It’s swallowed instantly, consumed and disintegrated by the fact you get this. The boy you love, between both palms, trusting you to take care of him.

A year ago, you’d met only the steely exterior he’d put up — and thought it had simply been remnants of King Steve. Maybe Steve Harrington was as much of an asshole as half the town said.

He was all bite, glowers, and clipped answers. With time though, he’d softened like snow melting in the sun; all the parts of him trickling into your life until he was cemented by your side. 

He hadn’t even let you patch him up after the scrap with Billy that had taken him out. You hadn’t felt you could ask.

But this time...your throat grows a bit thicker at the trust that binds the pair of you. Affection rushes your system and forces a sharp inhale from your lungs. You step back.

The space makes it easier to breathe. Dials down the chances of pressing your lips against his skin — if only to give him a mark born of love. Hands searching through the first-aid kit again, you produce some painkillers and locate an arnica pill.

You give yourself one more moment; inhale and withhold the tidal wave of devotion that begs to spill from within you.

“Take these, please.” You say quietly, uncurling one of his fists to press the pills into. He swallows them dry.

You prep more cotton and begin again with the gentle touches, coaxing off dried blood. This time, Steve’s eyes stay open. He watches you, an unreadable emotion in his eyes.

You work away the blood from a cut above his eyebrow and when it’s clean, your thumb follows. You caress along the broken skin as if you could meld it back together with pure will.

Steve’s chest grows tight. Something about you being here, taking care of him makes the night’s memories all too present. Nausea sways in his gut. It’s impossible to shove them to the back, to press them down, when it feels like each cut is being reopened. Cleansed with a douse of love.

You’re altering the history of each wound but to do so, he has to recall how each of them was carved into his skin. It hurts. Why are you still here?

Steve’s head pulls back unexpectedly, eyes shuttering closed in a scrunched expression. You startle a bit.

“Shit, I’m sorry — too harsh?”

He makes a strained noise, effectively gutting you with it. If you weren’t so close — an inch further and you could press your forehead to his — you wouldn’t hear it. Hear the tiny whisper that scratches out the word, “Why?”

“What?” You whisper. You don’t understand.

“Why...Why are you...?” He’s clearly struggling to find the words he wants. His hand reaches up, fingers brushing the bridge of his nose before he drops it again. His chin quivers. It stops your heart for a moment to realise he’s crying.

“I don’t— I don’t understand.” Steve grinds the words out, voice thick. A tear splatters, seeping into the blue of his uniform. He won’t look at you, eyes trained on the loose thread on his shorts.

“Steve?” you murmur, wary and heavy with concern. This is— you don’t know what this is.

“I don’t understand.” He repeats, shaking his head slightly. He seems to choke on the next words. “You’re still here. Why are you...? Everybody...”

He trails off, some whimper of sorts forcing its way out his throat. You’re stuck, absorbing each of his words and putting together the pattern that Steve can’t seem to voice. I don’t understand. You’re still here. Why are you...? Everybody... Everybody leaves. 

Oh.

Rich King Steve who’s got it all. The house, the car, and any girl he fancies, all of them fawning for a look from him at one of his legendary parties.

His lack of parental supervision had been lusted over in high school, furious whispers of envy over the fact he could get away with parties every weekend. That booze went missing and he never seemed to catch any shit for it. It occurs to you now that nobody was around to notice.

The absence in his life is vast and suddenly blindingly obvious — a chasm in his chest that is bleeding all his secrets to you.

Steve Harrington is lonely.

When you surge forward, injuries be damned, and your arms loop around his neck, there’s a moment of stillness. You can feel the tension in his muscles, hear his ragged inhale, and then— he sags into you, finally, finally letting himself lean on someone else.

His arms wind around your middle in a desperate motion, tugging you closer and the fabric of your shirt clenches between his fingers. His face buries in your neck and hot wet tears soak the collar of your shirt. You can hear his raspy noises, soft cries as he clings to you like a lifeline.

“Why did this happen to me?”

It fucking hurts to hear. You don’t know how to tell him there’s no why — that there is no reason that can justify why he’s gone through this much suffering. Just the bitter fact that, sometimes, bad things happen to good people.

“Steve,” you feel like you’re saying his name an awful lot tonight. You say it because you can’t begin to think of how to answer his heartbreaking question. “I—“

“I-I used to think,” The words are muffled into your neck. His grip on you is nearly tight enough to hurt but you don’t dare relent any space. His voice is barely above a whisper, just loud enough to hear. “That- that it was like karma, yanno?”

“Steve, no,” you whisper, horrified. If he hears you, he doesn’t show. 

“B-Because that first time,” He’s stuck on some belittling ramble about himself, continuing between his sniffs. “I definitely deserved it. But then I grew and I changed.”

Something twists painfully in your stomach.

“And then last year, it made sense, yeah? Billy, he was— a real piece of work.” He sniffs again, his voice a little harder at the mention of the deceased.

The tension falls away at the next sentence, voice wobbling through the thickness in his throat. “And I used to be like that, so—“

You pull back instantly, hands shifting back from around his neck. It effectively halts him, and whatever he was saying dies in his throat. Your hands move to cradle his jaw and, as lightly as you can with his injuries, you tug him from his hiding place and stare him in the face.

Steve’s eyes look bigger and browner full of tears. His nose is red, just the tip, and runs messily at the onslaught of tears. Pink splotches bloom underneath his cheeks, patchy and warm, his face etched in complete misery.

It wrecks you to see. More so to think he’s been shouldering all this alone since ‘83.

“People don’t deserve suffering, Steve.” You state it strongly enough that he can’t refute the truth, punctuating with your thumbs on either cheek, pressing light touches.

“You don’t deserve suffering. You never did.” Your voice quivers a bit, some shred of your heart shriveling pathetically at the fact you even need to tell him this. Your hands shake ever-so-slightly. A hot tear streaks down your cheek.

Steve crumbles. You don’t resist when he drops his head down, only move back in— offering a place to hide away again. You let him stay hidden away, a sanctuary in your arms, safe when he’s buried in the curve of your neck.

“And- and just ‘cause,” you say, sniffling a bit now. He holds his breath, a sharp inhale that quietens his whimpering crying. “Just ‘cause no one has stayed before doesn’t mean you don’t deserve this, Steve.”

His fingers press harsher into your back and your feet stumble a bit, pulled off balance. Adjusting your arms, you pull him tighter yet, hoping that the closeness will make all your sentiments seep in. Your shoulder aches terribly; you don’t dare move away.

“You know that, right?” You whisper, unable to stop your fingers from grazing the nape of his neck softly. “You deserve to be taken care of.”

A soft kiss to the side of his head, barely noticeable between his shakes, but it eases the strain on your heart. Time wanes and melts beneath the glow of the bathroom lights, an unending amount of tears that you suspect reach back further than just the memories of tonight.

You stay like this, holding him close. You give him all the time he needs, sweet nothings mumbled until he feels strong enough to face you— to face the world.

Eventually, Steve’s breathing slows, crying turning to trembling gasps. When he finally does retreat, you curse internally because of course, only Steve Harrington can still look devastatingly beautiful after crying.

Tears cling to his lashes, sparkling reflections. He wipes his nose on the back of his hand.

Silence ebbs. Steve gathers himself, another sniff, and wipes his nose before he lifts his head. You can see in his face the moment he’s about to apologise; the word sorry is about to come tripping out his mouth. You beat him to it.

“I’m sorry to inspire more tears,” Your voice, still quiet, aims for a comforting jest. “But I’m not quite done cleaning you up.”

You twist the cotton between your fingers to show him. Steve blinks, eyes focusing on your hand, perhaps surprised you’re still taking care of him. He forgets about his needless apologies. 

“Though, your tears did a lot of the work.” You say cheekily, a smile teasing at the edges of your lips. It makes him huff a laugh. Steve could nearly cry again; you’re so nice. He thinks about the last time cried, thinks about Tommy’s sneer, his scoffed words that told him toughen up, King Steve.

He lets you wipe them away, clear his face and patch it up as best you can. Any tension from before, the mental barb-wire defenses he had still held up to keep you out, has ebbed away. It’s softer now, easier between you two.

Trust flows from Steve in the form of his allowance, letting you fuss. It flows from you in the form of your touch, which still dances too close for just friends. You let your fingers dot the kisses across his face since you can’t.  

“You’re good at this,” Steve murmurs, breaking the silence. He allows himself the privilege of your touch, his fingers burning where they graze your sides.

Patching people up? Injuries from last year made sure you got decent practice on yourself. You’re decent, you’ll admit.

Maybe he means taking care of him. You’re proving to be very good at that. 

You want to. Somewhere rooted in feelings that sway closer to love, genuine love, is the urge to be the one who does it. The shoulder to cry on, the one who carries his woes when it gets too much — and you want him to do the same for you. Achingly, you want to take care of him; and him, you.

The thought burns so viciously through your chest, you sink your teeth into your bottom lip a bit meanly. It stings.

You don’t notice it, trying to rein in your drifting heart that sings to be closer to him, but Steve does. His fingers twitch; he wants to rescue it, pull it from your harsh grip with his thumb.

He does.

You stop moving.

His thumb is calloused, a bit rough against the supple plumpness of your bottom lip. The blood beneath it tingles, gloriously hot at the attention. Either all the air in the room has been sucked out or you’ve stopped breathing.

You’d hazard a guess it’s the second, given the stillness your body has taken on. Muscles locked, eyes frozen on his face — the only part of you that moves is your heart, thundering pumps going far too fast.

Steve’s gaze stays on his thumb on your lip. You’re desperate to find out what to call the emotion swimming in his eyes.

“Steve?” you say his name yet again, lips moving against his thumb. He blinks like a frog, one eye after the other, and drags his gaze up to your eyes.

His hand shifts, brushing across your mouth to hold the side of your jaw, cupping it sweetly. The cotton falls from your grip as Steve urges you closer with a gentle tug.

Then his eyes are back on your lips and even though it feels like slicing your own heart open to do it, you speak before he can kiss you.

“Please don’t,” you whisper, eyes crushing closed.

You want to terribly. The want for his kiss warbles from deep within you, a yawning ache. But it might just finish you off if it’s all heat of the moment — a kiss that is just some twisted thank-you because Steve isn’t used to being taken care of.

You clear your throat, swallowing heavily. “Not— not if it’s just for tonight. Not just because I stayed, please.”

There’s a pause. His shaky exhale breezes across your face. It’s possible your ears might be ringing as if straining to hear the sound of Steve’s heart— dying for a clue to what he’s feeling. You’re not brave enough to open your eyes and read it in his face.

His thumb scrapes across your bottom lip again and then— then, he kisses you, impossibly tender.

The tiny gasp that escapes you is consumed instantly, swallowed up by Steve’s kiss. He kisses gentle, touch so soft that it has you searching for more the moment you’ve got a taste of it.

You barely get a moment to lean into it, to kiss him back before Steve breaks it. He hovers close, close enough that you could steal another taste of his lips if you wanted. You want to— the ferocity of your eagerness sends a shiver along your spine. He speaks before you seize the opportunity.

“I want to.” He says, voice a bit raspy and the words inspire enough bravery to look at him, eyes creasing open. “I- I’ve wanted to for a while.”

You nearly sink in your relief, knees trembling for a moment as your hand comes up to enclose the wrist of the hand that holds your face. Thumb sweeping short strokes, you clutch the tan skin and lean into his caress.

“You mean it?” You whisper, far too excited. Your heart may as well be on your sleeve, cards once played close to your chest now splayed on the table. Your tone reveals all, spilling with hope, even as you ask whether it means the same to him as it does to you.

Yes. The word seems stuck in his throat, suddenly too thick to speak. Because it’s only three letters and that can’t possibly cover what Steve means when he says I’ve wanted to for a while.

That you’d somehow snuck into his life and intertwined among all of his heartstrings, like spun gold mixing until the whole organ felt terribly tangled in a way he’d never want to change.

Nancy had given him the thump of his head.

But you? You were the thump on his heart. Not a push for change, nor for growth — but permission to grant himself a second chance in love.

“I mean it.” He says, emotion coating each word. “Yes, god, I really mean it.”

And you let him tell you over and over again with his mouth pressed to yours, searing kisses that make your head dizzy and pulse speed.

Steve knows he’s not alright — not physically or mentally after what he’s faced tonight, not with the vice grip on his chest that had clung tightly and all the ugly parts of him had all slithered out for you to see.

He also knows that he will be alright, sometime in the far future.

When wounds have healed, when scars are beginning to fade, and the nightmares start being every couple of nights, instead of every night, then he’ll be nearly okay. It’ll take time, lots of it.

But when your gentle hands coax him to bed and you slip beneath the covers beside him, leaving a warm quick kiss upon his shoulder — Steve thinks that, maybe, that future isn’t nearly as far away as it seems.

Your hand finds his under the sheets, twisting your fingers together to act like an anchor in the inkiness of the night.

There are no nightmares that night.

—

tags below! @hawkinsindiana @harringtonbf @spideystevie​ look technically there’s no tags this is just all da bitches i’m always talking to <3

[imaginesmai]

Right around the corner (4) - Azriel

I didn't mean to make it this long, but I hope you liked it! There will be a fifth and final part, I think. You guys wanted to forgive Azriel so I needed to show you what happened. Be careful with the tags!

(1), (2), (3), (4), (5)

Plot: after the damage has been done, Azriel finds his brothers ready to pick up the pieces.

Warnings: prepare a second tissue box. Also, mental health issues - our boy has been through a lot and doesn't talk kindly about himself.

Cassian only remembered a few big arguments between Azriel and him. While Rhysand had headbutted with the general at the beginning, Cassian and Azriel’s relationship had been natural. The first one was loud, abundant and had a deep, burning need of someone understanding his pain. The shadowsinger was the complete opposite, and they had instantly connected.

Their biggest argument so far, that had brought them apart for almost ten years, had been when Rhys disappeared under the mountain. Cassian had gathered an army and was ready to march on Amarantha when Azriel stopped him. At the moment, he had felt betrayed by his brother, frustrated and furious.

But even if it had taken him ten years, they had worked their way around it.

Before Rhysand winnowed them away, Cassian was ready to start the second, biggest argument of their relationship. Even if he tried to hide it, the general still had abandonment and trust issues, and that his brother had hid something so important from him, that hadn’t trusted him with something so precious for an Illyrian male, broke his heart.

He was ready for the argument, but wasn’t ready for Azriel’s cries.

The cabin was filled with shadows, that moved frantically around. The shadowsinger had lost control of his powers a very, very few occasions, never relying on his emotions. But when Rhysand and Cassian appeared in the cabin, the high lord had to create a barrier between them and the shadows to protect themselves.

“Brother” Cassian whispered when the shadows started to let go, enough to see Azriel curled in the couch.

“Azriel, what’s wrong?” Rhysand was by his side the second he was let through, a hand on his shoulder. The shadowsinger barely acknowledge them. “Damn it. You’re freezing”

“I’ll turn on the fire”

“And bring a blanket” Rhysand called out as Cassian started moving.

It was muscle memory, after so long. After so many nights where either of them came battered to the cabin and Rhysand’s mother would take care of them. In silence, Cassian moved around the familiar space, turning on candles and searching for clothes.

Meanwhile, Rhysand used his powers to get into Azriel’s mind. Instead of prying into his memories, to rip away whatever was causing him pain, his friend helped him to rebuild his mental wards.

The high lord managed to make him sit up, enough so he could fall back against Rhysand’s shoulder and the male could hug his friend. The sobs quieted down and the shadows disappeared, apparently happy someone was taking care of their master for now.

Cassian stared at them for a moment, torn between the need to comfort and to hurt. To comfort Azriel as he had comforted him so many times in the past, to be there for him and apologize to any feelings he had felt during the last hours. But also, to search for the source of that pain and tear it down to pieces.

Years of living with him had taught him to be patient, so he ended up sitting on the other side of Azriel, tossing a pair of trousers and a sweater on his lap.

“Come on, try to stand up”

In silence, between Cassian and Rhysand, they managed to put some clothes on the shadowsinger. Azriel was quiet all the time, with his gaze lost in the fire. Every now and then, his knees would buck down and he would hitch a sob. But each time, there were his two friends, ready to catch him and steady him.

It felt as if nothing had changed for a moment, as if it was Cassian beaten to a pulp after a bad fight or Azriel having panic attacks when the lights came off. So many times in the past had they been in that situation.

When they finished, they ended up sitting in the couch. Now, they were bigger, wider, and nothing similar to the scrawny boys that huddled together when no one else wanted them. The couch felt ridiculously small, yet they managed to fit just fine.

It took Azriel a while to talk, and they didn’t pressure him.

“I have a mate” he admitted.

Through the haze of sorrow and sadness, of not knowing if the bond would hold on for much longer now that you had realized what had been going on, Azriel didn’t feel any different. He had imagined himself saying it a lot of times, presenting you to his family – with good and bad outcomes. And it had made him nervous, wary, enough that he had decided against it.

As he confessed it to his brothers, his family, he felt no different.

And hated himself just a little bit more.

“Did they… do this?” Cassian asked carefully, feeling how Azriel’s body tensed under his arm. “They hurt you?”

“No”

Rhysand willed himself to stay calm and respect his privacy, but he wanted nothing more than to answer Cassian’s silent call to barge in his mind and solve whatever was happening.

“Her name is Y/N” he added, his eyes filling with tears once more. “She… The bond snapped six years ago. I’ve fucked up. I’ve fucked up so bad”

“Y/N” Rhysand repeated, trying to remember if he had heard your name before.

“Six years?” Cassian looked between Rhysand and Azriel. “That… can’t be. Six years?”

“I fucked up”

Azriel’s voice broke once more, and between sobs and hitched breaths, he managed to explain what had happened. He let it free from his chest, hoping it would make him feel better, but it didn’t. It only made him realize, once more, how fucked up he was.

Without interrupting, Cassian and Rhysand listened to the story of that pointless mission that took him right to your door, where he was supposed to ask you about a male’s disappearance. About the moment he felt the bond in chest, in his soul, and how he had run away and avoided you.

They listened as he broke when he talked about that day you had invited him over, ready to accept the bond, and how he had faked to be confident. He didn’t mean to disappoint you, so when you had asked with so much hope if that was what he wanted, he had said yes, even if part of him knew he wasn’t ready.

Azriel described how, during the following weeks, he had confused the happiness from finally being together, with no interruptions, with the usual high of mates accepting the bond. How he had realized later that it wasn’t normal the fear and anguish he felt after he left your apartment, and how without meaning to or knowing how, he hadn’t accepted your imprint on him.

“That’s why we haven’t noticed” the high lord said, taking it all in. His brother’s story, his hurt and pain.

“What were you afraid of?” Cassian almost cut him off, bursting out the question both of them wondered about. “We are your family, Az. You should know we will accept you no matter what. And a mate… that’s something wonderful”

“Because I don’t deserve her” Azriel finally looked up to Cassian, and his friend was taken aback at the emotions in his eyes. “She’s soft, and beautiful, and the worst thing she can do is squish a spider without wanting to”

“Azriel, that’s not – “

“It is. You should see her, Rhys” he cut him off, turning to look at him. “Y/N is… different. The Cauldron must have made a mistake, because she’s everything I’m not. And I don’t deserve her”

Azriel tried to let Rhysand know why he didn’t deserve you. Why, every time he thought about bringing you into his life and letting you know the spy master, it broke his heart a little. He wanted to keep you safe, away from anything that could stain you the way he was stained. And he had thought, apparently, that he could get away with it.

Feyre poked at his mental barriers softly, wondering what was happening. After sending a comforting message through the bond, Rhysand returned Azriel’s look with a different type of conviction.

“I don’t know her, and I would love to” Rhysand told him, giving him a soft smile. “But brother, I know that whoever gets to be your mate, to share their life with you, has been blessed by the Cauldron. Your family didn’t see you the way we do, the way she does. And what they did – that isn’t what you have to expect any time someone gets close to you”

“My family isn’t the problem here” he tried to excuse himself, but the high lord could see the truth in his eyes.

“It is. You’re afraid to committing yourself to the bond because you fear she will break it. Because your family broke your trust. And then you thought you had that with Mor, and – “

“Don’t go there” Azriel warned him. “Don’t read me”

“I don’t have to read you. I know you”

“Az, you… deserve a mating bond” Cassian spoke finally. “Everything you have been through isn’t your excuse to reject it, it’s the reason you finally have something good”

Azriel wasn’t ready to talk about it. He had never been ready to talk about how he had felt when his brothers, the people he looked up to, tortured him as a game. He hadn’t shared with them yet how hard had it been to know he was a mere observer of his family life, locked away in a dungeon and treated like a dog.

And the feeling of not belonging, of having a safe place sabotaged, had only grown each time he watched Mor from the distance with someone else.

He wasn’t ready to talk about it, but he understood, that he had to.

“I feel like it’s all a dream. As if I’m watching my own life unfold from the distance, like a good movie. Whenever I’m not with her, I have this… thing” he explained, opening his broken heart to his brothers. “Like I’m a fraud”

“You’re not a fraud” Cassian corrected him quickly, barely standing his brother’s self-depreciating speech.

“I am. I pretend I have it all together but I’m so afraid” he swallowed hard at the end, skipping a breath. Azriel ran a shaky hand through his hair, and his brothers only held him stronger. “Sometimes I think about… our future, about her with me, and I feel like drowning because what if she – what if she stops loving me? I can’t handle – She’s all I have, all I want. I love her so, so much. I can’t – “

That time, both males were ready when Azriel tried to fold into himself again, shadows shifting anxiously and turning off a few candles. They were ready to keep him up straight and, somehow, holding him together as he broke apart once more.

Azriel needed help, and his family was more than ready to finally walk him through it.

-

You didn’t know what breaking a mating bond meant, or if that was even possible. If the feeling of your chest at any hour was the void of Azriel’s bond or if it was just your imagination. Either way, you had never experienced such a pain.

Barely able to leave the bed, you had been forced to close the bakery. Not permanently, you told yourself, just until you had it all together once more. Even if you didn’t know what that meant.

The day after Azriel left was spent grieving, and thankfully, you had his shadows to help you around. You managed to make it to the bed, to slide the curtains shuts and cry in peace without breaking your back along with your heart.

A day turned into two, then into three. Before you knew it, it had been a week and you weren’t any better.

You had tried to find an explanation, to comfort yourself in the happy memories or forget the past events. But your mind brought you back to the horrible realization that he didn’t want you. That Azriel didn’t love you the way you did.

You were understanding, you had always been. A smile on your face, gentle hands and loving words. That was what you were, a kind soul, your friends told you. Never through a tragedy other than losing your wings, always loved and taken care of.

Azriel had taken it all away in just one night.

The first note came from Feyre, although it wasn’t the last one. Even if you ignored them, you received those same notes that had uncovered the truth during the whole week.

Hello, Y/N. It’s Feyre, do you remember me? I have my art studio in front of your bakery. I’ve noticed that the bakery is closed, some of your usual customers even came to ask me about it. Everything alright?

Hi, Feyre here. Should have told you in the previous note that I’ve heard about you and Azriel from Rhysand. I’m here if you want to talk.

It’s Feyre again. I’ve seen the new sign about you taking a few days off. I hope everything is fine.

I hope it doesn’t bother you, but my friend Mor has been begging me for days to let her write you a message.

Hey, it’s Morrighan. We don’t know each other, but I fixed your necklace once. We heard about your thing with Azriel. Just wanted to say that part of it it’s my fault, that I haven’t treated him right in a long time, and many of his insecurities are because of me. So, I guess I’m partly the one to blame and I’m sorry. And you should know how miserable he is without you.

Y/N. I’m Cassian. Hi. How are you?

Dear Y/N, we were wondering if you would like to join us for dinner on Friday night. Greetings, Rhysand.

You ignored each and every note they sent you, even the ones carefully delivered by Azriel’s shadows. You expected them to leave, and part of you wanted them to do so and forget everything that reminded you of him. But they stayed for the whole week, bringing you food and taking care of your wellbeing. And the other part of you, the irrational one, liked the pain of the familiarity they brough.

They even helped you prepare a bath when you decided to be functional again. On Saturday’s morning, you changed the sheets, prepared the laundry and ventilated the room. You tossed out every dirty tissue and food container you had accumulated as if something had possessed you to do so. Then, you took a bath and cleaned carefully every part of your body.

It reminded you of cleaning Azriel’s wings and hair, of taking baths together, and you ended up crying naked in the bathtub until the water was cold. It took you half of the day to be decent enough to even wonder if you were ready to open the bakery once more.

Not that you were able, because there was a knock on your door and you just knew who was outside.

“It’s Azriel”

His voice was muffled because of the distance, but you heard the roughness. You froze on the kitchen, where you had been having your silent debate, and your heart sped up.

None of the notes were his, not even a casual flick through the bond that kept you communicated through long missions. If it wasn’t for the range of emotions you had felt during the last days, some of them similar to yours but not quite, you would have thought he had disappeared.

But there he was, just behind your door. Some shadows slipped through the bottom, tangling between your legs. The cold feeling was different from the one the usuals left, and you realized they were panicked shadows.

Azriel had mentioned you that his emotions controlled his powers if he wasn’t careful, and that the shadows went and came with them.

The new shadows tried to push you to the door, and like a rag doll, you let them complete the small path. They disappeared once more under the door, only to appear again when you didn’t open it.

“Hi” Azriel croaked out, only the wood in between. “I’m sorry. They appeared a week ago and I can’t control them yet. I’m sorry”

“They’re colder”

Your sore throat matched the tone of his voice. It wasn’t more than a whisper, a useless fact that you knew Azriel already noticed. But still, you felt the need to mention it. There was no anger left, no deception. Just the feeling of the new shadows caressing your skin frantically.

You couldn’t bring yourself to open the door and face him again, because you knew you wouldn’t forgive him. There was a pending talk between the two of you, missing explanations. You wanted to understand what had happened during the last six years, and he deserved to know what he had put you through.

Instead of asking you to open the door, you heard him shift on his feet and flap his wings.

“Yeah. And smaller” he agreed. “Um, I tried to get rid of them. Are they… bothering you?”

Am I bothering you?

“No. Not yet”

No, you aren’t. Not yet.

“Right”

It was almost comical to watch the shadows move around you. You hadn’t noticed the single tear that escaped, but they did – and in a moment you were blinded as they all tried to wipe it out at the same time. They made you take a step backward and almost stumble to the ground.

You had never seen too much of Azriel’s shadows, of his power. Apart from the single ones that danced around you and kept you company, you had never met the real shadowsinger. All the stories around him felt strange, property of someone else rather than your mate.

Azriel must have heard you move, or gasp, or maybe the shadows told him. He placed a hand on the door.

“Are you okay? I should go back. I’m sorry. I can’t make them – “

“They feel different too” you comment, enchanted by the shadows moving in your line of sight.

They were dark, and you shouldn’t have been able to see anything. But in the darkness, you could somehow guess their shapes. Some of them were smaller, bigger, thinner and wider. They weren’t like the formal, perfect ones Azriel usually wielded around you. They felt raw.

It took him a while to answer, and you waited patiently for his answer. You didn’t expect anything from that conversation, weren’t even sure what the conversation was about. Just hearing his voice felt at the same time as a punishment and a reward.

Still, he surprised you.

“Madja says they are the original shadows, the ones that should have been around since the begging” Azriel confessed, his nails scratching the door. “The ones… She says I was so scared of my own power that I locked it in a cage as a child and created just a shadow of the real one. Which I could control and… understand.”

“Madja the healer?” you blinked, still surrounded by his shadows. “Why are you – are you hurt? What happened?”

“No, I’m fine. I mean, unharmed. I’m not hurt” he chuckled humorlessly. “She’s been helping me with other things”

“Like what?”

You didn’t know where it came from, but there was an urgent edge on your voice that kept you alert. You knew Madja, had seen her help Azriel after any nasty mission. He had even told you about getting rid of your scars with her help.

Her name brought the already familiar pain – that you knew about her because she was important for Azriel, but she didn’t know about you because you weren’t that important for him. You waited in silence until he decided to talk again. When he did, you could tell he was close to tears.

“I’m not okay. It has taken me too long to figure it out, and it has costed me what I love the most in the world, but I’m not. I… am afraid, all the time” he started. “I am afraid that you will see my true self, what I am in the dark, and hate me the way I hate it. I’m afraid that you will figure out what made my family despite me, toss me aside, and decide to do the same. Or that you realize that I’m not a good mate, and be too kind to tell me and live trapped in a lie”

Feelings wasn’t something you usually shared with Azriel. You were the sensible one, the emotional mate. Who talked about something that made you happy or sad, that expressed your fears knowing he would be there for you no matter what. But not once in your six years you had heard about his.

Each word dug a hole in your chest, from your own feelings or his. The shadows eased enough to let you take a step forward. As if there was an invisible hand printed out, you put your hand where his was on the other side of the door.

“I am terrified to hurt you without meaning to, or to not be what you need. All the time. I’ve… created a routine, apparently, to give myself a sense of false confidence. To build a reality” Azriel stopped to catch his breath. “You’ve shaken that reality where I just… survived, and I thought I could continue pretending everything was fine. It’s not. It’s all so fucking wrong in my head”

Your own eyes were filled with tears by then, ready to fall on your knees. Because, what were you supposed to do now? You wished you could just forget about the past week, about his words – because you had just accepted that he was okay, had missed any signal that he was struggling.

And that made you feel almost as bad as him not accepting the bond.

“So I’m gonna get right, I’ve been getting help” your mate finished, taking a deep breath. “And then we… I love you, Y/N. I don’t have much to offer, but everything I am and have, is yours. When I’m okay, I promise, I will make things right. I promise”

Before you could answer, his shadows disappeared and Azriel winnowed away.

Want to read more? Check out my side blog @imaginesmaimasterlists, where I keep all the masterlists! Feedback is always appreciated

Right around the corner taglist:

@lesliemurillo @impossibelle @polli05927 @florencemtrash @going-through-shit @minakay @setayeshmohseni @torchbearerkyle @esposadomd @amysangel @kennedy-brooke @originalcrusadetrash @luvmoo @historygeekqueen @marriedtolike18fictionalmen @wallacewillow0773638 @tothestarsandwhateverend @kristalhi @knmendiola @nikt-wazny-y @dream-alittlebiggerdarling @wallacewillow0773638 @clara-geekhime @kalulakunundrum @saltedcoffeescotch @originalcrusadetrash @mel-wcst @ailyr92 @bubybubsters @chickensrock3

[vulpisnocturna]

Itachi Hate Sex Prompt Please 🙏♡

I'm not used to writing Itachi with anything but obsessive love for the one he's shagging so this will be quite interesting :)))

hate sex

NSFW - Minors do not interact

Warnings: hate sex, reader and itachi get into a scrap, itachi's not that serious, otherwise reader would be dead, humiliation, praise (derogatory), conflicting feelings, fingering, vaginal sex, choking, dom Itachi, creampie, Itachi is a bit mean (as he is when he’s acting)

You parried a kick to your stomach, but the force of the impact still made your arms burn, and you had no time to think about it as he switched to a punch to your face. You ducked, aiming low with a kick to his calves, but he was quick to step back and aim to grab you by the hair. A low move, you thought, but to be expected from someone such as him. You would have never expected to find the Uchiha Itachi in this empty house, one you thought had only been put to use for missions recently. Evidently not, because you had almost been caught in an arm lock as soon as you had entered.

The orders were clear: you had to either retreat or die in the futile attempt to kill him as the traitor he was. Retreating did not seem to be an option, because he kept pressing you with taijutsu, perhaps not wanting to ruin the hideout he was obviously using; killing him wasn't either, because he was Uchiha Itachi, and you were only a normal jounin out of her depth.

He grabbed onto your arm, throwing you against a wall several feet away. You coughed, your back burning and aching, but you were quick to get back on your feet in the narrow corridor as Itachi approached you, not a hair out of place, not even out of breath. You didn't look him in the eye, of course, but the slight smirk on his lips was enough to let you know the bastard would have a smug glint in his crimson irises.

The Gods had been cruel in granting him everything: he was cunning, powerful, came from the most powerful clan in the world, and to top it all off, he had good looks, too.

You had grown slower after he had landed that hit on you, though, and it was easy for him to grab your wrists and twist them behind your back, blocking your movements with an iron grip.

'Your stunt ends here' he said evenly behind your head, his voice calm and collected. He was soft-spoken, and despite you putting all of your strength into thrashing to get out of his hold, he did not budge an inch.

So you put all your strength into stomping on his foot and headbutting him in the nose. He let out a soft groan, his grip slackening for a split second, one you did not waste. You used all your strength to throw him to the ground, straddling his torso and preparing to punch him in the face. But he caught your fist in his hand, twisting underneath you and throwing you off your balance, until you found yourself in his position, your leg pinned down by his knee, the other by his hand. Panic gripped you as you closed your eyes, hearing him let out a soft scoff.

'You think that will stop me from putting you under genjutsu? I could have done so from the beginning. I wished to test the strength of Konoha's jounins these days. Regrettably, I am disappointed' he said. You lowered your gaze to where you thought his torso might be and opened them, swinging your fist towards his face. He slammed it against the floor, above your head, doing the same with your other hand and pinning them with one of his. You started getting more and more panicked, primal fear taking hold of you, suffocating you as you resorted to thrashing like a wild animal.

'Let me go, you prick' you yelled, your eyes meeting his for the first time. You were rooted to the spot immediately, not by genjutsu, simply by his stare. His eyes were... hypnotising. They were terrifyingly beautiful, the colour of fresh blood, framed by long, dark eyelashes.

'Why would I do that?' he asked simply, almost curiously. You gritted your teeth, wondering how quickly he would kill you if you spat in his face.

'I'm not sure what to do with you' he mused, his eyes scanning you, as though you had the answer he was looking for written on your body. You tried to fight against his grip again, this time with your legs, and perhaps by chance, you managed to kick him in the hip, which again, made him groan as his hand shot to your throat. His fingers tightened around it, cutting your airflow, and your eyelids grew heavy, his features blurring. A small moan managed to escape you, and his fingers slackened ever so slightly, his palm lifting a little, allowing you to breathe. You did not know why he hadn't just suffocated you, but you counted your blessings and breathed in sharply, still hazy, but in a different way.

One that made your body oddly warm.

'Did you lose your fighting spirit already?' he asked, and you ground your jaw, snapping out of your trance and starting to writhe again.

This time, he pinned you down with his whole body, to the point where you could not move an inch. It was then that you felt it. It was faint, but it was there. A hard bulge between your thighs, pressing insistently. To your horror, your hips twitched against it, your eyes shooting up to him when you heard his breath hitch.

His jaw tightened, and you wondered if there was indeed a way to get out of this. An extraordinary man he was, but he was still only a man. And he clearly liked you in some way. If you used it to your own advantage, maybe there was a way you could still save yourself.

Your lips parted, and you meekly rolled your hips against him, the whimper you let out not entirely planned as you felt his erection against you. His own hips jerked towards you, and you could not hold back a little smirk. One he caught, unfortunately.

'Oh? You think I don't know what you're trying to do? You think if you seduce me, I will let you leave? Foolish, wishful thinking' he said, a hint of longing in his voice as he leaned against your ear, breathing in, making shivers run down your spine, 'I could indulge you. But it will not go as you think'

His breath tickled your ear, and his lips brushed it, making your whole body tense and hypersensitive. You were quickly losing the sliver of control you had gained, because unfortunately, you were not immune to his charm, and two could play that game.

'Fuck- you' you hissed, pushing against him. The soft, dark chuckle he let out made your lower stomach warm, and two of his fingers lifted from your throat to grip your face. Before you could react, his lips clashed with yours. He was not particularly kind in his movements, but he was good. Unbearably good. His lips were so soft, his tongue demanding as it licked your bottom lip and pressed against yours. You could not help but rut against him, moaning in his mouth as he angled his head and deepened the kiss.

Your whole body felt on fire. You hated it. Hated what he was doing to you, how your body was betraying you for a simple kiss with someone so vile. How easily he had regained control over you in your own plan. How you had ended up being his prey.

'Much better' he murmured when he pulled away, lifting his hand off your throat and pushing two of his fingers in your mouth.

'Suck' he commanded, and to your surprise, you obediently wrapped your lips around them, twirling your tongue around the pads of his fingers, sucking like he'd asked. He smirked slyly, pulling them away with a filthy pop and slipping his hand under your shorts and underwear. You could not even fight back, because the first drag of his fingers was like heaven. It tore a breathy moan from you and another scoff from him.

'I suppose you had no need to suck my fingers. You're drenched. What does that say about you, little one?' he taunted, but you were hardly capable of coherent thoughts as his middle finger circled your clit, making you whine in a needy voice.

'You're hard... too' you hissed, arching your back when his fingers slipped inside you, curling sinfully, making the pleasure unbearable. Why did you have to love this so much? Why did you want him to continue? Why couldn't you show any restraint?

'Mhm. Well, you are being such a good girl for me. So compliant' he crooned, voice smooth and mocking, and the smirk plastered on his lips when you clenched around his graceful, sinewy fingers made you burn with humiliation.

'You cannot hide your reactions. I can tell just how much you need me to fuck you' he breathed against your throat, his tongue following the path of your artery, making you squirm as he pumped his fingers inside you. Knowing you would not even attempt to fight him, his hand left your wrists to yank down your shorts and drenched panties, and you slipped out of them, gasping when his fingers curled around the hem of your top and yanked it down too, exposing your naked breasts to his eager mouth. He hummed in self-satisfaction as he sucked on your nipple, tearing strained moans and whimpers out of you as easily as he had overpowered you.

Your shame was flickering out and dying with each drag of his slender fingers along your walls, each curled motion that pressed against your g-spot, each movement that brought you closer and closer to the best orgasm of your life. You felt drunk on his touch, and though you should have been repulsed, you could only think of how damnably good he felt, how every derogatory praise made you throb with need.

Your fingers rose to clutch his shoulders, and you desperately tried to close your eyes to escape someplace else, somewhere where you weren't being so whorish for a traitor who seemed to have you wrapped around his finger. But he stopped, cruelly dragging his lips down your throat, nipping at the sensitive skin.

'That will not do. Open your eyes. Look at me, or I will stop. I want to see how disgusted you are by the fact that you are moaning like a slut for me' he said in a mellow voice, making your cheeks heat up with shame once again as you opened your eyes, because you needed him to keep going, needed to cum so badly it hurt.

He looked so damn pleased with himself as he rewarded you with a third finger and another curl of his fingers, until you were sobbing and trembling underneath him with an orgasm that left you seeing white and unable to hear anything but static for several seconds.

'That's a good girl. You can take another, can't you? You're not that weak' he crooned, lifting his fingers and sucking them clean, letting out a groan as your chest heaved with sawed breaths. He took off your top, unfastening his cloak and taking off his own shirt. He was... beautiful. With jutting collarbones, long dark hair tied in a low ponytail, faint abs and a lithe body, he seemed to be carved by an artist's hands. He hooked his fingers under the elastic of his trousers, pulling them down and freeing his cock. Your mouth watered at the sight: he was long and fairly thick, with a reddened tip already leaking with precum. You were entranced as you watched him stroke it, until your thoughts were cut off by his cock dragging along your labia, making your hips jolt.

'This is what you were planning, yes? Is it just as you had envisioned it?' he teased, pushing the tip in, his lips parting, a soft moan that sounded so hot you could barely breathe pouring out of his pretty lips. As he pushed in more of his thick cock inside you, you couldn't help but whine for it, so far lost in the pleasure that you could not even think about how much you were supposed to hate that man. When he was filling you up so well, when his cock rubbed against your g-spot so fucking well, when you had never felt pleasure like that before.

Your fingernails dug into the skin of his shoulder blades, leaving marks in your wake as you raked them across his back. He groaned, dipping his head to suck on the curve of your neck.

'Good girl. You take my cock like you love it, mh? So this is how a Konoha jounin behaves when she's faced with an enemy. Like a greedy slut' he taunted, bottoming out and thrusting back in, making you tear up and moan filthily.

'You're so tight and wet for me, little one' he continued, his fingers digging into your ass, probably leaving marks that would not let you forget him any time soon.

'I-tachi...' you could not restrain yourself from moaning his name, which only seemed to egg him on as he started thrusting inside you, lifting your legs around his waist. His necklace dangled against your jaw, strands of dark hair tickling your cheeks every time he pushed inside you and tore another moan from you. You were struggling to keep your eyes on him, knowing he would stop if you didn't. And it was too good to give up on it.

'That's right, little slut. Moan my name like that' he breathed, his hand going back to your throat and pressing on the sides, making your head light and heightening the sensations in your body.

Tears glided down your temples, disappearing in your hair, and you tried to keep yourself from screaming for him, but he was too good. And when he slipped out and flipped you on your stomach, lifting your hips and sinking back into you, his hand fisting and pulling your hair, you lost the strength to even think about fighting back. You were lost in that heady feeling, in the sensations he could stir from you, in the way his cock seemed to press against all the right places.

'Fuck- please...' you babbled incoherently, pushing your ass into him, your voice almost lost in the loud squelching sounds.

'Please what? Use your words. If you can still manage' he said relentlessly, and you moaned, clenching around him, glad that you could get away with closing your eyes, but it was too late. He was the only one in your mind now.

'Please- need to cum' you managed to say, and he must have been feeling merciful, because his hand slipped underneath you to rub at your clit, until you were sobbing his name and trembling with an even more violent orgasm than the first one.

'Fuck-' he grunted, his pace growing sloppy as he pulled you up by your hair and wrapped an arm around your torso, securing you in place as he continued to pound into you.

'Going to leave you with a reminder of how you sobbed for my cock' he breathed, pressing on your lower stomach, moaning against your ear as he pushed deep inside you and came, filling you with warmth.

You were panting, covered in a light sheen of sweat, a pleasant ache between your legs, a sense of both satisfaction and shame lingering in your fucked out mind as you collapsed on the cool floor, catching your breath.

He handed you a towel and your clothes, getting up and putting his shirt back on, slipping into his cloak and staring at you. He cocked his head as you stumbled to your feet, still hazy from pleasure.

'We may meet again if you forget this place is occupied' he said, a sly look in his red eyes. You swallowed, licking your dry, swollen lips. But before you could come up with a reply, he had vanished.

[chapel-of-rizztual]

I swear Dew NEEDS tummy rubs/tickles from Rain or Aether after being pouty (whether he's little or not)

But that's just me, what do you think?

I fully agree.

No age regression just Dew being treated like the Princess we all know he is.

Rain walked into the den and was met with the sight of Dew stretched out on his back over Aethers lap on the sofa. He was shirtless, his T-shirt crumpled in a pile on the floor at Aethers feet as Aether ran delicate fingers over his belly. There was a book in Aethers other hand that he wasn’t really reading, his attention switching between his book, the tv and Dew. There’s a loud purr coming from Dew, probably the loudest purr Rain had ever heard come from the small ghoul. 

Rain pads over to the sofa as quietly as he could and sits down next to Aether making him jump. 

“We need to get a bell or something for you so you can’t keep sneaking up on people.” 

Rain chuffs, headbutting Aethers shoulder as he puts his book down and turns his attention to him. “Maybe you just need to pay attention more, then you’ll hear me.” 

Aether stops running his fingers over Dew and pulls Rain into a small side hug. Rain falls into the embrace, leaning his weight on Aether and resting his head on his shoulder. He looks down at Dew sprawled put on Aethers lap. “Is he asleep?” 

“I don’t think so. I think he’s just…floaty. Peaceful.” Aether chuckles. “For once.” 

Dew’s face scrunches up and he lets out a whine, wiggling a little on his lap. Aether unhooks his arm from around Rain and resumes rubbing his fingers over his belly. Dew settles back down immediately with a happy chirp, his purr kicking back up.  “I haven’t been able to move for nearly four hours now.”

Rain laughs, headbutting Aethers shoulder again.  “Why? Just shove him off.” 

Aether tuts and rolls his eyes, smiling down down at the fire ghoul with so much love Rain thinks he might get a cavity.  “I can’t do that. Not when he’s being all cute and sweet.” 

Rain shakes his head, but he can’t help but smiling down at him.  “You’re too soft for him.” 

Aether smiles down at him and Rain could swear that his pupils are blown into little heart shapes.  “I know. But he deserves it.” 

A lock of Rains hair falls in front of his eyes and before he can do anything about it, Aether is reaching up and tucking it behind his ear. He cups at Rain’s jaw, rubbing his thumb over his cheekbone. Rain giggles and pushes his face into Aethers touch. Rain leans forward slightly and captures Aethers lips in his in a sweet kiss. 

“Hey.” A small voice below them interrupts. They both look down to find a pair of glowing golden eyes looking up at them. “Why’d you stop?” Dew scowls and pouts.  

They both laugh at him which only makes Dew pout even more. He reached up and paws at Aethers hand. 

“Aether. Bellyyy.” He whines, trying to pull Aethers hand back towards his belly. 

Aether giggles at Dew as he begins to scratch at his belly again. “sorry Darling. Didn’t mean to take my attention off you.”

Dew let’s out a sigh and a happy thrill, settling back into Aethers lap. Rain presses a kiss to Aethers shoulder and pulls the hair band from Dew’s hair, letting his hair free so he can run his fingers through the strands. 

Dew shudders, his purr increasing even more, it was practically vibrating through him. Aether can’t help but laughing at Rain as he smiles down at the fire ghoul.  “Now who’s too soft for him.” 

Rain rolls his eyes.  “Shut up. Like you said he deserves it.” 

Dew chirps, his hands coming up to knead at the air.  “Oh we got some air biscuits from him.” Aether scratches up to Dew chin making him tip his head back with another chirp as he pushes his head into Rain’s touch. 

Rain leans down and places a kiss to Dew’s forehead as he begins to run his claws over his scalp.  “Satan, he’s so cute. I can’t even deal with it.” 

Aether giggles at him.  “I know. I’ve been resisting the urge to squish him all day.” 

“Maybe we can squish him together? I think he’d like that.” “I thinks we’d get bit of we did that.” Aether laughs again. “He’s all cute and snuggly now but if we disturb him he might not be.” 

Dew thrills, his tail coming to wrap around Aethers wrist. “You know, you’re gunna be stuck here with me for hours now.” 

Rain hums in reply, scratching down Dew’s jawline. “Worth it. I Wouldn’t miss cuddly Dew for the world.” 

[casually-eat-my-soul]

Thoughts on this as a Sterek AU?:

[link to post here, even though the pic has been taken down and the original prompt account has been abandoned]

Okay so at first I was like sterek are the animals but then I remembered that crows and wolves are friends so the crow is Derek’s familiar and the cat is stiles familiar. I’m not good at naming things I’ll call Derek’s familiar crow and stiles’ kitten. Feel free to comment names.

Stiles is a spark who has been taught all his life to hide his magic. To not let people know about it or to not let them how how powerful he is. He summons his familiar after his mother dies, in a bout of rage and sadness.

Derek is obviously part of the renowned hale pack, second born but first son of alpha Talia Hale. Creating a soul tie to a familiar is passed down through the generations of the family. Derek although he had many friends, he personally never felt as close to them so he ends up summoning his familiar young (introvert Derek hale). To the pride of his pack and especially Peter. (I’m keeping the hales alive)

Once night they both get kidnapped but hunters and/or some type of person who can wield magic. They need stiles spark and the blood of a born wolf for an important ritual. Stiles and Derek grow closer after being stuck in confinement together. Gaining each other trust and so.

So cue stiles and Derek familiars having to work together, sure they have felt each other magic’s before but never really interacted. Crow kinda looks down on kitten and kitten thinks crow is stuck up and doesn’t care about finding stiles only Derek.

They end up working with the hale pack and the sheriff to save their soul ties before time runs out. They argue non stop about the best way to save Stiles and Derek, headbutting. But they gain a friendship after kitten saves crow from being shot, and crow saves kitten from being caught by traps. They truly think that they are the top of the top familiars, the best of the best especially after saving Derek and stiles. They also try and commit schemes to get stiles and Derek together.

Also their familiar thinks that the other significant other is amazing. Crow thinks that there is not better choice for Derek once he sees how intelligent and loyal stiles is. Kitten thinks Derek is the only person meant for stiles, they think that Derek is super awesome and they love to make Derek carry them. (Stiles has an album of photos on his phone of just them cuddling)

Now I just can’t picture what au this is in. It could be:

Normal cannon setting

Hale pack is still alive, Scott was never bit.

Highschool au, Derek and stiles thinking that their night was going well until they woke up, kidnapped. Well at least their crush is stuck here with them, so it’s not a total loss. (Jock Derek crushing on nerd stiles)

Prince or knight Derek / magic advisor stiles (annoyances to lovers)

Also I’m just now realizing that I read to prompt wrong so, like whoops Derek and Lydia / Derek and Scott being stiles familiars, who don’t really like each other but combining forces to save stiles.

Or

After season two, Erica and Boyd being kidnapped (they are also alive because I said so) stiles starts looking into magic. During his training he bonds with two familiars. At the beginning they can only talk telepathically to stiles, but as stiles progress, they learn to speak to everyone. But they speak the most to Derek, beside stiles, himself. A crow to represent his place in a pack of werewolves and a cat to represent himself.

The pack never lets him live this down, he gets called kitten for weeks. The pack only stops because Derek calls stiles that one time and immediately feel like their parents are flirting so they stop.

Both familiars are a certain kind of cunning, but the crow acts like a calm guiding mentor and the cat act more mischievous, test your limits friend. They constantly fight over stiles affection, pulling pranks on each other to stop the other once from spending a time with stiles. It gets worse when kitten get comfortable with the pack, crow calls them disloyal and an attention whore.

Stiles familiars fucking love Derek, ^refering to above, they commit schemes to get them together. Kitten runs around stiles feet forcing him to trip into Derek. Crow is a little more subtle, he will play “wingman”. When Derek is being the ‘alpha’, or when stiles is being badass crow will sit on the other shoulder and be like “look he is strong and smart, would be a good mate”. Both familiars think that they way the other is trying to match make is stupid. They have arguments over it.

“I can’t believe you told Derek about the magic accident.”

“He needed to know, and look they talked to each other. At least I’m not constantly tripping stiles into Derek”

“Well atleast I’m doing something”

“Angry crow noises”

But in the end they both think that Derek is perfect for stiles as he compliments and matches him when it comes to his intelligence, loyalty and their fierce protection of those they love. 

They don’t work together until stiles is kidnapped and they need to perform a spell to find him. (It’s been six days, the pack is running on fumes, Derek is slowly going feral, overall not a fun time.) they both have to be on the same wavelength as each other for the spell to work. So they work together to bring their human home.

They also individually claim getting sterek together. They will fight if the other says otherwise.

Anyway sorry for the long rant, this kinda got away from me. Thanks for the ask tho!! It was fun! I hope you enjoyed my many interpretations, my mind basically would stop spitting out ideas and I wrote them all out.

[otomehoneyybearr]

The Day I Made a Friend

Book of memories Chapter 2

Keith & Kagari

Ch1 | Ch3 | Ch4 | My First Dorayaki

*Warning: Kagari chokes Keith

*Fixed typos

Kagari deftly picked up a practice sword with his foot and pointed its tip at Keith.

Kagari: "First, a warm-up. Ready your sword."

Kagari: "—Begin."

Keith: "...!"

In the blink of an eye, Kagari closed the distance and brought the practice sword down towards Keith's head, which he barely managed to block.

Keith swung his sword with enough force to blow Kagari away and launched a relentless series of attacks, leaving no room for gaps.

However, Kagari, with an expression as calm as ever, effortlessly deflected everything, as if he felt no weight.

Despite Keith being on the offensive, the situation turned against him with just a single step from Kagari closing the distance.

The continuous clash of practice swords reflected the growing frustration on Keith's face.

Kagari: "I've seen enough of your swordsmanship. Now, let's see your skills in hand-to-hand combat."

Keith: "Ah…!"

Kagari kicked Keith's practice sword away.

Without any mercy to regain his stance, Kagari aimed a punch at Keith's face, and when he blocked it, a kick targeted his abdomen.

Kagari's swift attacks allowed no chance for counterattack, making even a blink dangerous.

Keith: "Ugh, I can't land a hit at all."

Kagari: "That's to be expected."

Kagari: "Your basics in both swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat are solid. You don’t have any critically wasted movements."

Kagari: “But everything you do is half-hearted. Just before you attack, you waste your energy, halving the power of your attacks."

Keith: "I didn't realize…"

Kagari: "Have you ever killed someone, Keith?"

Keith: "N-No, I haven't."

Kagari: "I see. Not yet."

Kagari's large, emerald eyes looked up at the sky thoughtfully.

Kagari: "Most people don't want to hurt others. So they unconsciously hold back..."

Kagari: "..."

Keith: "...? …Sir ――whoa!?"

Keith's legs were swept out from under him, and he fell hard on his backside, unable to break his fall.

As he hurried to get up, Kagari pinned him down, making it impossible to move.

Kagari: "Maybe you'd learn faster if you had a near-death experience."

Keith: "Wh-...ugh...I… can't breathe..."

Kagari's small hands tightened around Keith's neck.

Keith struggled, desperately trying to pry Kagari's hands off with his nails, but it was futile against the strength of a skilled assassin.

The grip only tightened until...

Kagari: "...Oh."

Keith: ".........."

Kagari: "...I overdid it."

He released his grip from the unconscious Keith.

Releasing his grip, Kagari watched as Keith lay unconscious. While Keith instinctively held back in his attacks, Kagari had a hard time controlling his own strength.

Kagari: "Keith."

He called Keith's name several times, but there was no response.

Kagari: "I was told not to hold back, and that if I deemed him hopeless, I could kill him—but this is troublesome."

Kagari: "...... Oh, I know..."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Kagari looked down at Keith again.

Kagari: "If you don't wake up, I'll strangle your brother nex――!"

Keith suddenly grabbed Kagari by the collar, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Whether Kagari's words triggered something or not, Keith had regained consciousness and headbutted Kagari with all his might.

Keith: "Even if it is was joke, there are things you shouldn’t say."

Keith: "If you ever lay a hand on my brother, I'll never... ever forgive you."

The gentle eyes from earlier were now filled with rage, glaring at Kagari. The intensity of his gaze was enough to intimidate even an adult, showing just how important his brothers were to him.

But the anger didn't last long. Keith's face turned pale, and deep wrinkles appeared on his forehead.

Keith: "Ugh…my head… it hurts. I feel sick… everything's spinning."

Kagari: "That's because you headbutted incorrectly. You should lie down."

Keith: "Right…um, I'm sorry for headbutting you."

Kagari: "…I'm sorry too."

Keith: "Huh?"

Kagari: "I overdid it. And what I had said was too far."

Kagari: "You really care about your brother, don't you?"

Keith's eyes dropped, and he nodded slightly.

Keith: "He considers a failure like me, his brother."

Keith: "I... I want to do anything for him, and I'll work hard for him."

Keith: "I'd gladly give my life for him. That's how important he is to me."

Kagari: "...I see."

After gently stroking his red-stoned earing, Kagari spoke.

Kagari: "Right now, you’re very weak."

Keith: "...Yes."

Kagari: "But you can become strong, if you have the will."

Kagari: "It's a short period, but while I'm here, I'll do everything I can to make you strong."

Kagari: "Not because the King of Jade asked me to, but because I want to."

Kagari: "So... once again, I ask for your cooperation."

Keith: "Oh... th-thank you! Please take care of me!"

Keith, who had never done it before, sat down and bowed his head to Kagari, who was sitting formally on the ground.

Although they didn't know much about each other and were still feeling their way around, in this moment, the distance between their hearts shrank just a little.

....

The next day — the training Kagari devised for Keith was so rigorous that even adults would flee from it.

Kagari: "First, we'll strengthen your basic physical endurance."

Kagari: "Run from here to the mountain peak, grab a flag, and come back. Ten sets."

Keith: "Yes Sir!"

Kagari: "Next, climb the cliff to strengthen your abs, lats, and core. Ten sets."

Keith: "Y-yes Sir!"

Kagari: "Today, you’ll swim to that very isolated island over there. Ten sets."

Keith: "…Y-yes Sir."

Kagari: "Next is reflex and explosiveness training."

Kagari: "For the next hour, dodge my attacks. Then, an hour of striking drills. Ten sets."

Keith: "…Yes Sir."

Naturally, for the overly gentle Keith, it was a hellish experience that pushed him to his mental and physical limits, but he never complained.

Keith: "Ugh, sniff… thank you, very much."

Kagari: "Yeah, good job."

But after training, Keith would often wipe his red eyes furiously in front of Kagari, desperately trying to hold back his tears.

Kagari: "You’re weird."

Keith: "Huh?"

Prev | Next

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[latteunwoo]

meet-cute!vernon

to be fair, the two of you did share a lot in common

one of those things being that the two of you shared the same braincell (this was endorsed by wonwoo who watched yours and vernon's first meeting unfold)

you finally had a free day from both school and work and decided to take a little walk around the city and check out the music store across the street from the coffee shop you always get your morning coffee from

the store wasn't very big nor did it seem very popular as it was one of those hole in the wall places that you could only notice if you looked hard enough

that being said, there was probably like four other people besides yourself in the store

"welcome!" the store owner said as she welcomed you as you entered the store

you simply gave her a soft smile as you made your way through the crates filled of vinyl records towards the back of the store

as you reached out to grab a boys like girls vinyl that you had caught in the corner of your eye, another hand reached for it from the otherside as well making you jump not realizing someone else had been in the vinyl section as well

of course the boy jumped as well when you had jumped, causing the vinyl that was in both of your hands and your phone to fall onto the ground

"i'm so sorry, i didnt mean to scare you" he said as he reached down to help you pick the vinyl and your phone from the ground but instead ended up headbutting you as you both stood up again at the same time 😭

wonwoo couldnt help but laugh from the other side of the room

"and so it begins" wonwoo said to himself as he watched the interaction between the two of you

"oh my god, I am so sorry. are you okay?" vernon asked as you rubbed your forehead after the impact.

"i'm fine," you said as you looked up at him to see he had a red mark on his forehead, which made you start laughing.

vernon raised an eyebrow at you at first before you pointed to his forehead

"are you okay?" you asked as he rubbed his forehead a little then nodded

"yeah, I'm fine. does it look bad?"

you let out a small laugh, "kind of."

vernon unknowingly let out a small chuckle as he couldn't help but notice how cute your laugh was

once he had caught himself he quickly cleared his throat before looking back at the vinyl in your hand

you noticed his gaze and looked back at him

"um... are you going to get that?' he asked as you just nodded, "oh"

there was a small awkward silence betwen the two of you as you thought about what to say because it looked like he really wanted the vinyl too and there was only one left, however you've also been looking for this for a while

eventually a thought came to you, "it looks like you also want this vinyl and i don't think they'll have more stock of it until a few months from now so if you want i'd be willing to let you borrow it sometime. if that's okay with you?"

there was another silence between you two as he looked at you then the vinyl and back to you

"that's fine with him," wonwoo said from behind vernon as vernon quickly turned to his hyung with a look of 'what are you doing?!'

wonwoo just smiled at vernon and gave him a look of 'i'm trying to help you' before he went back to looking at the other vinyls

"um... so...." you said as even though wonwoo said it already you still wanted confirmation from vernon

"y-yeah sure that's fine with me." he said quickly as you nodded and took out your phone and gave it to him to put his number in

"i'll send you a text so you can save my number too and you can just message me whenever you want to borrow it um.... vernon," you said as you looked at the contact name he put on your phone and smiled up at him.

"yeah, for sure" vernon said, still trying to process just exactly what was currently happening.

"alright, well, i'll see you around," you said as you gave him a soft smile before walking back to the front of the store to purchase the vinyl.

as you walked away, vernon stood there still trying to process what had just happened.

"hyung, what just happened?" he asked as wonwoo laughed and patted vernon's shoulder

"you might have just gotten yourself a possible date"

vernon quickly turned around as wonwoo noticed his ears started to turn red, "what do you mean?!"

"what do i mean?", wonwoo asked as he let out a smal laugh, "i saw how you looked at her. it seems like you're interested in her so you're welcome."

"i didn't- that's not- ah, whatever," vernon said as he quickly walked away and wonwoo just laughed

that night, you had texted vernon to make sure that he also got your number and since that day you two began texing each other more often and finding out that you actually had a lot in common

seventeen m.list || main m.list

[daytaker]

when lucifer won't go to bed despite working until like 2 AM, sheep mc either starts headbutting his leg or chewing on his pants until he gives up

- may i be 🎠 anon?

Oh absolutely. That is to say, on the nights when Sheep MC isn't zonked out before 10, which I absolutely imagine Sheep MC does on the regular. Who ever heard of a sheep staying up late?

Let it be known that Sheep MC's love language is violence.

The scene opens on Lucifer, hunched over his desk, squinting over documents by candlelight. He runs a hand over his forehead, exhausted, but persists. Suddenly, a thud! Lucifer looks up, shaken. But he sees nothing. He's just settling down again when he sees a familiar pink figure sitting on the chair on the opposite side of his desk. Lucifer: Little Sheep... It's unusual for you to be out and about so late. Sheep MC: *stares at him* Lucifer: ...May I help you? Sheep MC: *continues staring at him* Lucifer: ..... Sheep MC hops onto the ground and begins to chew on Lucifer's shoelaces. Lucifer: Humans are such strange creatures.

[tcfactory]

I know we technically have a canon look for Balduran as a combination of people peeling the hood off him in the flashback, the mural and the statues (and it was one of the things people gave me shit about when I initially tried to be more involved in the fandom), but I have a very 'it's boring so I'm ignoring it' reaction to it. Because come on, the man was a sailor and adventurer, are you really telling me he sat still long enough for people to get that good a likeness of him for his statues? Go wild, I say!

So here's the thought process behind my take on Balduran:

Probably looked quite ordinary as a baseline, like any other local guy. A little darker to begin with, he's going to spend his entire life at sea, let the guy have some melanin so he won't burn like a sad piece of toast. Has an uneven tan whenever he returns from a voyage, you know how that goes, no time to laze around and sunbathe for the sake of aesthetics when there's sailing to be done. His skin is windbitten and freckled, with the odd scar here and there. He can probably tell you where each scrape came from and he's remarkably consistent about it for someone who's making up at least half of these anecdotes, because "I slipped on a puddle when I tried to sneak up on Ansur for a kiss and headbutted him instead" is much too embarrassing to share in public.

A little older, at least forties, and has all the little signs to show for it - wrinkles (laugh lines!!) and white hairs, a lifetime of adventures tattooed all over his skin - maybe only in places where he can cover them up when making a public appearance, but this is a man who got tempted away on adventures over and over even when he already had a very good thing going on in Baldur's Gate, you can't tell me he wouldn't have the sea etched into every available inch of his skin.

His hair would be a very nice dark brown, if only he would stay out of the harsh sun for a few months. As it is, his hair is usually sun bleached and the texture leaves something to be desired too except for the times when he's grounded for an extended period of time for some reason or another. Probably wears it in a style popular around port, too, because he might be a high-charisma liar (rip Emperor, ceremorphosis tanked his charisma into the single digits), but he isn't ashamed of being a sailor. Has his ears pierced, but probably only puts in his earrings when he's on shore. I like the thought of him being like quarter-elf, with his ears just slightly pointy.

In general, he's the sort of man you could lose at the dock because he wouldn't look out of place at all. Especially if he takes his shirt off. Just one sailor among all the others, nothing to see here. You wouldn't clock him as The Balduran unless you knew or you saw him on the Wandering Eye.

Not how the city wanted to depict their founder, honestly. So there was some uuuuuh creative license employed when they made the statues. Because while it's all fun and games to have a local hero whose modus operandi is, at least part of the time, "I roll to seduce the sea monster and sneak away with the treasure while it's too busy making a fool of itself", it's a little awkward when he 100% looks that way too. That, sir, is a scoundrel, a trickster, an adventurer. A man who can say "my lady, I can't marry you because I have a dragon husband back in port and he's terribly jealous" and people don't doubt for a moment that he's telling the truth, because he looks the part. Of course Balduran kisses dragons, have you heard what other kinds of crazy nonsense he gets up to? Anyway...

[lucarionite9364]

Khaotic Turn of Events

Havik x Reader Ch 1

(Slow burn Childhood friends to enemies to lovers)

CW: fight scenes (not graphically typed yet), eventual fluff/romance/smut, I’ll mark more as I post more.

Word Count: 4183

A/N: this is a reader insert into MK1 story mode/plotline. This, things might be different but that keeps it interesting :3

I also posted this to Ao3, so feel free to check it out there too!

There once was a boy you knew. He was erratic in behavior and even more unsteady in personality. Always covered in scratches and scars, you helped him when no one else would. Regardless of his nature, he was your best friend. He stuck by you growing up, and you both evolved into harborers of chaos. You both despised the disgusting, fascist rule of Seido, and wished to liberate its people.

This way of thinking got you both into insurmountable amounts of trouble. Your parents, not wanting you to stray from the goodwill of order, had said that night that you stay away from the boy. You were utterly crushed. He was the only friend you had, your confidant, your equal in matters of mayhem. You sought out the dark haired boy and told him you were forbidden from ever seeing him again. Enraged by your parents' idea of control, you both cursed Seido’s regime, and decided to run away together. Being young and dumb, neither of you got very far. Orderrelm’s guards had found you at your parents' request, and had you sent home.

They decided that you could only learn the right path where he could not find you. As such, you were sent to Earthrelm, to begin anew, and unlearn your heinous ways of disarray. You were enraged, not because you were being sent away, but because you never could say goodbye to him. He was crushed when he heard that you were gone. He was told you had resented his ways, and that was why you had left. He was wholly crushed. You were his only friend and he had come to find out you had not loved him at all. He vowed that he would not only seek his vengeance on Seido, but on you as well. With each passing day his resentment grew, and with each passing day, you yearned to be by his side once more. The boy you grew up with, and had come to love with all your heart. That boy’s name was Dairou. . .

You could still picture his face in your mind. The dark hair that always fell over his eyes. The big smile he always wore even in the face of injustice. His cute nose that had scrunch lines from his expressiveness. And those eyes. Those deep, beautiful eyes that always looked upon you with adoration when nothing else was right. The carefully preserved image of him danced around in your head, frequenting your dreams. It was almost as if you could still hear him calling your name.

“Y/N. . .”

Dairou?

“Y/N.”

Dairou, is that you?

“Wake up Y/N.” The voice faded into one that was not his.

What?

You shot up from your sleep to hear, “Wake up! We have training–” SMACK!

“OUCH!” You cover your head in pain as you look to see who you just headbutted. Kung Lao is keeled over on the floor holding his own head in discomfort.

“A simple ‘good morning’ would have been just fine ya know.” You scramble out of bed to apologize but end up falling on top of the monk. He lets out a wheeze as the wind is knocked out of him. You shout out apologies as you get off him and help him up. He remains clutching his stomach as he talks.

“Sometimes your chaotic nature isn’t the greatest thing ever.” Before you can ask what that means, he is quick to shoot out, “No offense.” You simply roll your eyes and tell him to get out so you can get dressed for the day.

When was the last time I had dreamed about him? Why now? I can’t be distracted. Not when the tournament is coming up.

You splash cold water on your face to snap you out of your daze, but you still see his face. Those piercing black eyes gazing at you. Wishing you were still here. After a few seconds you realize you’ve been staring at your reflection in the mirror. Looking at the dark circles under your eyes, you think Kung Lao could have given you a few more minutes of rest. Chuckling to yourself, you head to your wardrobe to pull out a fresh training uniform. You get dressed quickly and pause as you look down at the bracelet you always wore.

It was a handmade bracelet you and Dairou made for each other when you were young. It is crafted from various ribbon, string, and beads you found. It’s not pretty, but that is what makes it more special to you. You both weaved each piece together with no regard for the final product. As such, it is a colorfully chaotic accessory you both swore to never take off. It represents your bond, no matter how chaotic the world or the outside may be. In this case, the outside being the unsightly bracelet. Smiling to yourself, you put your hair out of your face and made your way to the training grounds.

--Today is a big day; the day Liu Kang chooses his champion for Earthrealm. --

You find Johnny and Kenshi first. The former has his phone out while recording the latter’s training warm up. Kenshi maneuvered his sword with such grace and expertise. If you ever learn to use a katana, he will be the man you'Il go to for sure. It seems Johnny hasn’t noticed your presence in the training ground. Or if he has, he finds his phone more interesting, though, that’s not likely knowing him.

You look around for Kung Lao, only to find he is nowhere to be seen.

Hypocrite, he tells me to be at training and yet here he is, not here. Typical Kung Lao fashion it seems. As his whereabouts remain a mystery to you, you turn your attention to the friendliest of them all, Raiden. Although, it doesn’t seem like he will be so friendly with the monks sparring with him. Giggling, you walk over to where he is about to begin his training.

“Mind if I watch Raiden? I promise to only observe this time.” You flash him a smirk, knowing you truly wouldn’t do anything. . . This time. He's quick to respond, “Only if you promise NOT to trip me this time.” You snort, “Oh come on, it was only one time. Alas, I promise, I will just watch. Orderrealm's honor,” you hold up your right hand in mock honesty. “You hated Orderrealm,” he deadpans. You roll your eyes and smile as you push him into his sparring circle. You take a seat on the edge of his ring, keeping a good distance so you don’t get in the way.

Raiden gives the signal to begin and a group of eight start circling around him. Wiggling in anticipation, you eagerly await when the first monk will strike. A brave soul takes the first jab, trying to catch him off guard. He easily deflects the attack and finishes him with a swift hit to the sternum. Another comes from behind for a side-kick. Letting out a gasp, you almost think he had a shot on Raiden. Foolish are you to think that would get him. He deflects both the kick and the oncoming jab; returning the actions with a jump-kick to the face.

You cringe internally as that had to have hurt. He ends up in a fighting stance immediately. Ready for the next attack. His attention shifts behind him as the next challenger goes for an easily blocked punch. With a second punch blocked, Raiden grabs and twists his arm out of the way and lands a harsh kick to the face again. He goes back to the middle of the circle and presumes a defensive stance. Raising his hands in the air, he circles them around to signal the end of the session.

Watching his form is mesmerizing, he trains endlessly and it shows in his perfected stance. You let out loud applause at his show of skill. He smiles at your praise, then turns his attention to the approaching Kung Lao. “Way to show up to practice Lao.” You give him a smug grin until you notice the most peculiar hat in his hands, “What in all the realms is that?” He is quick to respond, “I was practicing. I was practicing making this beauty.” Raiden chimes in, “That is not a good idea.” “It is genius, Raiden.” Leo retorts. “I agree, this is an excellent idea. The chaos that will ensue is sure to be good.” You grin while reaching to nab his hat. He pulls it away from your reach and continues on. “The next time we see Sub-Zero, I will have to thank him for inspiring it.” He finishes by running his fingers across the bladed edge of the hat. Hissing in pain, he seems to have cut himself.

“See? It won’t be effective.” It was at this time you notice Johnny had been recording Raiden’s training and this interaction the whole time. Kung Lao rolls his eyes as he prepares his impromptu demonstration. He flings his hat at the wood training dummy in the training grounds and it slices it in half with ease. As the hat comes back around like a boomerang, Lao catches it, spinning it on the tip of his fingers. You look upon his act in awe as Raiden looks more shocked than anything. “Maybe it's too effective.” He states bluntly.

Kung Lao simply puts his hat on and smiles at proving him wrong.

“We just need to get on with it. We’ve been cooped up here for months.” Johnny says, walking up to where you are. “I can’t base a cinematic universe on Outworld’s monsters and magic if I don’t ever see them. You roll your eyes, “It hasn’t been that long Johnny. We will see all the fun and madness eventually.” “Says you, you’ve seen it all before.” Scoffing, “Have not, just because I am not from Earthrelm doesn't mean I have been to Outworld.” He was about to retort, but Kenshi walks up and speaks instead.

“That’s why you’re here?” He looks annoyed, rightfully so at the next thing that leaves the actor’s mouth. “Liu Kang said that this gig would change the arc of my life. That’s how it gets done. My ex will rue the day she gave up on me.” Kung Lao just crosses his arms as the rest of you roll your eyes. Kenshi sarcastically says, “So selfless.” Johnny isn't having any attitude so he shoots back a quip of his own. “Oh please tattoo, you’re just here to get your sword back.” You chuckle at their petty squabble. Raiden is quick to diffuse the argument, “We all have our reasons for being here. Some better than others,” he looks from Kenshi to Johnny at that last part, “But we are not here to fight among ourselves. We are here to fight for Earthrealm.”

You think briefly about your reason for being here. You were stranded in Earthrealm, and given the opportunity to fight for yourself by Liu Kang. Being at the Wu Shi for most of your life, you now see the kindness of him taking you in. You still can’t help but wonder how things could have been had you stayed in Orderrealm. If you stayed with– BWONG! The sound of the gong snapped you out of your mind, and the others out of their disagreement. You hear Johnny remark as you fidget with your bracelet, “It’s about damn time.”

Liu Kang walks out from the canopy and begins his announcement, picking up where your conversation left off. “And today, one of you will be chosen to fight for it at the tournament.” You all look a little confused until Raiden speaks up. “Only one of us, Lord Liu Kang? Isn’t Outworld fielding several champions?” “The tournament’s rules give the host realm that advantage. And it is Outworld’s turn as host.” He states. You let out a huff, “Well that sucks.” Raiden turns to glare at your remark, but Johnny distracts you both. “You know, I don’t know why I’ve never asked this, but uhhhh, what’s our record at this tournament?”

“Earthrealm and Outworld have long been evenly matched. But Outworld is gaining strength. Should it win, its more militant factions will be emboldened.” He says with a stern expression. This confuses you, and Raiden voices your concern. “I thought you admired Outworld.” “It is a place of great knowledge, wealth, and beauty. But our realms do not share goals and beliefs,” he steps from the canopy and continues walking, “We coexist peacefully because Outworld respects our strength. Should we show weakness, our rival will become an enemy.” using a more grave tone at the last half, this causes a shudder to run down your spine.

Kung Lao is proud to chime in, “I will not lose, Lord Liu Kang.” “First,” Liu Kang starts, “You must win the right to represent us. Whichever one of you outlasts the others will be chosen.” He sits down on his chair and the monks kneel on the ground behind him. You all look around at each other in anticipation. Excited to earn the right to become the champion.

“Y/N,” he starts, “It is with a heavy heart that I say that you will be unable to become our champion.” Your heart sinks. “But Lord Liu Kang, I have been here the longest. Why am I unable to be your champion?” You nearly yell, but you contain your disbelief to a more respectful volume. The hurt you feel is evident as Liu Kang continues. “It is not because you are not good enough, you are one of my most skilled warriors and I could not be prouder of you.” You almost let out a tear at his appraisal. “Then . . . why?” You take in a shaky breath. He looks at you softly. “It is because you are not of Earthrealm descent. You are from Orderrealm. That is why you are not permitted to participate. I am sorry.” You look down at the ground. Head spinning as you take in his words.

Kung Lao places his hand on your shoulder for comfort. Liu kang’s words make sense, but it still hurts that he had not told you sooner. “I understand, Lord Liu Kang.” You bow as you walk over and kneel beside him next to the other monks. You wipe the frown off your face and shout, “May the best man win!”

“Raiden,” Liu Kang calls, “Step forward.” The mentioned man steps up and bows his head, lifting it as Johnny calls out, “Good call. Cull the weak first.” He smirks at Raiden. “You shall face him, Johnny Cage.” Liu Kang states with a bored face. This warrants a snicker out of you and Cage glares at you. Kenshi chimes in, “Ready for your close up?” Kung Lao and Kenshi both back away as the two fighters take their positions. “All right, let’s do this. But remember, farm boy, I'm a global martial arts icon,” he waves his arms out in show, “I don’t think you can handle this much boom.”

Liu Kang rolls his eyes at Johnny’s air of cockiness. The fight begins and ends almost as quickly as it started. Johnny was overconfident and Raiden had dedicated himself to this fight. Raiden desired to prove himself worthy of the title of champion, and Johnny could simply not handle his abilities.

Raiden helps the star off the ground and the latter quickly retreats, with Kenshi taking his place. You look at Johnny and whisper to him, “So much for all that boom, huh?” He just frowns at you and looks to the next fight. You wonder how this fight will turn out as Kenshi has more experience in real fights than Raiden.

The fight lasts longer than the previous encounter. They trade blows more effectively, but alas, Raiden comes out victorious. Raiden had shown that he not only had the heart, but the nerve necessary to emerge victorious. Kenshi stands and they both bow in respect for the other. Liu Kang announces that we can rest and that Raiden will face his final challenge this evening. The anticipation can be felt by the final challengers: Raiden and Kung Lao.

“You did amazing, Raiden!” You slap him on the back lightly. “Thank you, I tried my best.” He gives you a warm smile. You pull him into a side hug, which he gladly accepts. With an unsuspecting smile on your face, you creep your hand up to his hat slowly. “I was shocked how quickly you beat Johnny, it was incredible.” “You give me far too much credit.” He shoves you away and makes a quick grab for your hand, but you were quicker to pull the string attached to your finger away. Your yo-yo yanking the hat right off his head and directly onto yours. This leaves Raiden spinning after his hat.

“I expected you to notice my hand sooner.” You take the hat and spin it upside down on your finger. This makes the other men laugh and Raiden’s dumbfounded face. He tries to make a grab for the hat, but you move out of the way. You release your yo-yo, which you named Reaper, to wrap around Raiden’s arm, and pull it back quickly to make him spin around. He takes this chance to sweep your legs and snatch the hat as you fall to the ground. OOF, that knocked the wind out of you.

He reaches out an arm to help you up, but you grip it and pull him down to the ground with you. He chuckles out, “Enough with the yo-yo pranks.” “Aw, but they’re so much fun for jokes.” You give and fake pout as you both stand up. “At least for now,” Kung Lao says, “He needs to be at full strength if he even wants to think about beating me for the title of champion.” “Ever the humble one I see Lao. Nothing like Raiden who toots his own horn everyday.” You say with utmost sarcasm.

“Very funny Y/N.” Lao huffs. However, Raiden cuts you both off, “I will have to agree, I will need my strength for tonight’s fight. I must rest up. It would be wise for you to do the same Kung Lao.” He gives a stern look to the hat wielder. “Fine, fine. We will see how the best man is tonight.” With this, you all go your separate ways in preparation for this evening's big event.

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

It’s night when you all gather again for the final fight. The two farm boys have been kneeling in front of each other for several minutes, silently awaiting their command to begin. You stand behind the rows of monks next to the swordsman and the Hollywood star. The former set of boys calmly arise. Looking at each other like they both need this chance, but only one can emerge champion.

“Fifty bucks says Kung Lao wins.” Johnny quips with a smirk. “Make it interesting, bet me Sento.” Kenshi replies, but Cage is quick to answer back, “Not on your life.” “Guys. Calm down. They both have a strong chance to win. Let’s see how this unfolds, hm?” You break up the fight and get them to chill out. With this, Liu Kang arises from his seat as he introduces the match with great authority.

“Raiden. Kung Lao. The winner of this match represents Earthrealm against Outworld. It is a grave duty, not to be undertaken lightly.” The atmosphere grows more serious than before. Everyone pays close attention to his words as he continues. “You may step back now and suffer no dishonor.” The look of determination in their eyes grew as he finished his preamble. “I choose to fight, Lord Liu Kang.” Raiden proudly claims. “As do I.” Kung Lao follows. Liu Kang looks upon his warriors, “Then may the best man win.” He bows in respect to them individually. He returns to his seat to wait for the action to begin.

“Concede, Raiden. You have never beaten me. That won’t change today.” “No? If the monks have taught us one thing, it’s that the only constant in the universe is change.”

And how right he was without even knowing it yet. You nudge Johnny on the side “Ever the eloquent man, hmm?” The actor had to stifle a chuckle, “If he could fight with words alone he could rival that of Liu Kang.” You can even see Kenshin smirk at that remark. You turn your attention back to your friends. You wish that they both could become champion, but you knew only one could emerge victorious.

You watch the fight unfold before you. They were both so quick on their feet it felt like watching a tornado. In Kung Lao’s case, he had a move that actually looked like a tornado. They exchanged blow after blow. Kick after punch after jab. Neither wanted to give up the fight. It was when Kung Lao slipped up that Raiden took advantage and was able to beat him.

Kung Lao sat on the ground, utterly defeated. “There is a first time for everything, Kung Lao.” Raiden helped his friend off the ground. The god stood from his chair, “Although you have all trained well, Raiden has excelled. The outcome does not surprise me.” You can only wonder what he meant by that statement.

Kung Lao looks distraught. “How could I have–” You placed a hand on his shoulder. He looks at you and you feel his hurt. He then turns to Raiden, leaving your touch. “Congratulations Raiden.” He quickly lowers his head at the new champion. Liu Kang held out a small box in his hand. “For the tournament, you will need this.” He opens the box, and inside is a glowing blue amulet.

Raiden takes the item from its case and studies it. There is lightning that can be heard crackling from it. Everyone was curious what it was. “Forged by the Elder Gods, it gives the wearer power over lighting and thunder.” When Raiden seems awestruck by the charm, Liu Kang continues, “Go ahead, try it.”

Raiden takes a breath and turns to face the large statue in the courtyard. He readies his stance as he gathers energy and holds the amulet up to wield its power. An immense stream of lightning bolts from his hand. Your eyes go wide in amazement. You had only seen elemental magic from Liu Kang.

It seems Johnny had also not seen such a thing before as he had his phone out, recording the whole thing. “Holy Ark of the Covenant!” He could only voice his wonder, as if his face was not amused enough.

Raiden stops his show of newfound power, “It is incredible, but is it necessary?” Liu Kang spoke, “In addition to possessing great might, the Outworlders you will face also wield great magic. The amulet levels the playing field.”

As Raiden contemplates the magic, Kung Lao comes up to him. “You must be careful, Raiden. You could get hurt. Even killed!” He had a worried look upon his face. Regardless of losing, he still cared a great deal about his friend.

“No tournament participant has ever been grievously injured or killed,” He attempts to comfort the new champion. “I would never send my champions unwittingly into mortal kombat.” Raiden nods in understanding.

“We leave in seven days for Outworld’s capital, Sun Do. The tournament will be held at the Palace of Empress Sindel.” “Wait, we are leaving for Outworld in a week? Are we really ready for this Lord Liu Kang?” You look at him with worry evident on your face. His gaze softens at you, “I trust that you are ready for whatever may face you all ahead. Have faith that all you have learned in your time here will not fail you.”

“How can you be so certain?” You ask the question on everyone’s minds. “Have confidence in yourself and your comrades, and the rest will fall into place,” This eases your concern slightly. “Now, you must all go rest. We do not have long before we travel to Outworld. There is more preparation and training to be done.”

You all head off to your rooms and try to sleep. For yourself, and you predict for others as well, the anticipation of the journey in front of you keeps your slumber at an arm's length. You can’t help but feel nervous, like something maybe not bad, but unexpected will happen. Whatever will happen, you will face it then. For now, you calm yourself down, and let your mind slowly drift off into peaceful sleep. . .

End Notes: I am potentially gonna add mini chapters where reader talks to some characters individually. I am doing this to add more substance to the story (which everyone already knows) and to add more originality to it. Please feel free to leave constructive criticism or feedback on my writing. I'll also try to keep myself consistent in writing/updating.

I’m also gonna try actually formatting it next time,, this looks like a hot mess😭

Have a swag-tastic day--

[leggerefiore]

something somethign galvantula putting emmet in a 'santa sack' (read: cocooning him away from work) and delivering him to his s/o. please talk/kiss some sense into him ok thank you.

cw: fluff, short

The Galvantula was quite used to seeing Emmet's bad habits. She had been hatched into it, after all. Popping out of her egg while he was pacing around the station and hopping onto his head curiously. Now, however, she was a giant spider. One that could theoretically cocoon her beloved mother Emmet whenever he deigned it well to overwork himself. Especially during holiday rushes. The moment she saw Emmet's usual smile begin to fall, it was her time to attack.

Quickly, she caught the poor Subway Boss off-guard and cocooned him. He was usually prepared for this with a sharp object to be used to free himself, but it seemed that today, in the dreg of it all, he had forgotten to grab it. He struggled to escape the webbing. It was all in vain, however. Galvantula only sought to wrap him a few more times before dragging him off to somewhere isolated to relax. He scolded her behaviour and demanded that she let him go, but the arachnid was simply too determined to make his rest.

It was pure luck that she spied you entering the station and heading back towards the administrative area with something in your hands. She scuttled after you eagerly and eventually caught up to you as you were opening the door to his office. You froze at the sight of your boyfriend being pulled along the floor by his pet spider. She chirped at you lightly, headbutting your leg. Opening the door more, she pulled him inside as you held back laughter.

Inside, you placed the item in your hands on his desk and stared at Emmet for a few seconds, who in turn stared back at you. Squatting down beside him, you smiled brightly at him. “Here I thought I was sneaking you a gift, but you came wrapped up to me instead,” the tease was a light one.

“Galvantula is being verrrry bad,” he whined and struggled again, “Darling, let me out…” A laugh escaped you at the sight of the poor twin. Picking up a letter opener from his desk, you cut free the man. He tore himself out the rest of the way and shot a slight glare at Galvantula before calling her back into her ball. The next question to enter your mind was why. Now, she obviously enjoyed cocooning him simply in general, but seeing her dragging him with such clear purpose had made you wonder.

“What did you do, Emmy? She looked ready to drag you far away,” you asked him as he stood up and pulled away at any remaining strings. He seemed to freeze for a moment as he contemplated the question.

“Oh,” he looked at his watch, “I was supposed to go on my lunch break two hours ago…”

You placed your hands on your hips and gave a harsh look at him. “Acting like Ingo, now, are you?” the sentence made him instantly tense up. Instead of focusing on it, he shifted his attention to the gift you had left on his desk. “Oh, go ahead and open it,” you told him with a smile. He eagerly followed your request as he tore away at the wrapping to reveal what lied inside.

A lovely Christmas cake sat inside a box from his favourite bakery as he gasped. “Darling…” he cooed and turned to you with a big grin, “That was verrrry sweet of you!” He suddenly pulled you into a tight hug, likely rivalling the cocoon he had been in previously. “Alright,” he nodded, “I will have my break. You both win.”

You sat down with him to share the cake and to monitor that he actually relaxed. However, it seemed his idea of relaxing and yours might have varied as he finished his cake to instead pin you against the office couch with a playful grin.

[shygirl4991]

Brewing Romance Chapter 4 Eye for a eye

A Collab Story with @lizaluvsthis SMG3 and SMG4 design for the AU by Liz!

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Summary: :SMG4 starts to struggle with his finances when he learns living in his newly built castle is more pricey than he thought. So when he gets an invite to the grand opening of SMG3 Coffee n Bombs he manages to land himself a second job as the cafe waiter where both men will learn that coffee won't be the only thing brewing in this cafe.

Tags: Slow burn, fluff, comedy, just two idiots in love, love confession, first kiss, angst, blood and injury, Canon Character death

SMG4 gets home letting out a sigh as he changes out of his uniform, he sits on his bed holding the hat and origami rose. He was extremely happy to see such a rare sight of SMG3 kindness, he could still feel the warmth in his hands. One thing he wasn't a fan of is knowing how good Three is at reading him, then again that skill is what helped him reach out to Four when he lost himself making the perfect video. 

Setting the hat and origami rose on the table stand next to him, SMG4 lays down and falls asleep thinking about the events that happened years ago.

Two years ago

SMG4 runs around the house in a panic, SMG1 told him to bring a box of memes to Omnia academy for the meme research club and thanks to a late night of editing he is cutting it close. He picks up the box of memes and dashes to his car, he starts it only for the vehicle to make a strange sound. He groans, headbutting the steering wheel before stepping out to see what was wrong. Looking around the car he noticed the issue “What the hell? Why is there ravioli in the car engine!?” 

A horribly written note was stuck next to the mess, while he couldn't read what the note said he knew the person behind this. Running out of time he runs to catch a taxi to get to the academy. 

At Omnia academy SMG1 and two were teaching a class on memes, standing in the middle of the room was Mario. SMG1 walks up to Mario “And as you can see here, the universe's avatar is just a regular human but with extraordinary abilities!” The class gets excited taking notes as Mario stands there picking his nose not fully understanding what was happening. SMG2 chimes in “Now up next, we are going to see how meme energy can be used to power up our avatar!” 

SMG4 finally arrives at the school, he taps his shoes and skates as fast as he can to the class. He pushes the door open keeping the box of memes balanced on his right hand, he smiles and waves at the other SMG’s as he skates in “Hey so sorry i'm late guys!”

He drops the box of memes then glares at Mario “SOMEONE thought it would be funny to fill my car engine up with ravioli!” Mario laughs pointing at him “Ha got em!” SMG4 had half a mind to punch his avatar over what happen

SMG2 smiles softly at Four “Don't worry SMG4, you're just in time!” two then walked up to the box “Wonderful you brought them.”  SMG2 opens the box while one speaks up “Ok class, SMG2 and i will now conduct a little demonstration. While SMG4 explains what's going on.”

SMG4 felt himself getting nervous, this whole guardian role was new to him after all he is just a youtuber that loves memes. How he ended up being some kind of demigod over meme energy he will never fully understand, even more that his other half is his rival of several years.  Taking a deep breath he begins to explain the situation “So we meme guardians can transmute memes into energy, and then transfer them into our avatar.” SMG1 and two hold hands focusing on the memes in the box. The memes then turn into orbs and slowly flow into Mario.

Mario starts to glow as his hand grows, he stares in awe before getting excited “Hey, just in time for the end of no nut november!” SMG4 sighs hearing his friend's words. That's right everyone this idiot here is the avatar of the world, things could be worse on avatar choices they could have ended up with Bob.  SMG4 turns and smiles at the class “So we have to be careful with meme energy as it can be extremely volatile!”  At that moment Mario came up with an idea. Opening his mouth he eats one of the energy orbs, he then soon regrets it as his stomach starts to scream in pain. He spits out the energy knocking SMG1 and two down. 

Losing concentration the energy in SMG1 and two start going wild, all the students start turning into energy as they flow into mario. SMG4 panics grabbing SMG2 “You guys stop!” the pair try to pull apart unsuccessfully “W-we can't.”

SMG4 pulls as hard as he can to break the connection, with one final tug he pulls them apart. He lets out a sigh of relief only to hear Mario panicking, he turns to see the energy has turned Mario into a rocket SMG4 screams as Mario hits him they go flying taking Meggy who was in lunch with them. The rocket finally crashes when it hits power 101 exploding and knocking SMG4, Melony, Meggy and Mario down. 

The professor glares at the group “DETENTION!!!”

The crew sit in detention, annoyed at how they got in there in the first place, Melony sighs looking down at her desk. She takes out a notebook and starts doing small doodles of her and Axol, that's when something wet hits her cheek. She turns to see a student she didn't recognize sitting next to her smirking, letting out a sigh as she looks forward, the teacher still scolding them for what happened. 

SMG4 wasn't sure why he was even in detention given he wasn't a student, though since he had meme training later in the week at the school he assumed that was good enough to mark him as one. The teacher walks out of the room talking to someone which caught the attention of SMG4 “Oh no…” Swag and Chris walk into the room. 

“HELLO YOU MISBEHAVING HOOLIGANS.” Swag lets out a smirk as he looks at everyone in the room. Meggy couldn't believe out of any pair to watch over detention it would be these two “What are you guys doing here?” Four nods agreeing with Meggy “Yeah aren't you mean to oh i don't know be in the military protecting the kingdom?”

Chris sighs at Four’s comment “We are temporarily suspended because someone thought it would be funny to stuff the tank engine with ravioli!” he turns glaring at his partner. Swag chuckles to himself “HA GOT EM!”

SMG4 couldn't help smacking his forehead hearing the story, at least he knows he isn't the only one in the world dealing with an idiot.

Swag then starts telling everyone how to escape detention “GO WRITE “SWAG IS BEST” ONE BAJILLION TIMES ON THE BOARD, THEN YOU CAN LEAVE.” 

Four and Meggy roll their eyes at what they were hearing, Meggy raises her hand “And what if we don't?” he looks her straight in the eyes “I'M GONNA START YODELLING.”  In a panic SMG4 and Meggy start writing on the board, Melony goes back to doodling in her notebook while Mario comes up with his own escape plan.

Mario starts a war with Swag and Chris to escape while SMG4 and Meggy get into a competition over their assignment to escape detention. Through all the chaos someone hit Swag with a random object “ALRIGHT WHO'S THE WISE GUY!” 

“It was her!” the voice said, Swag’s head turned to look at Melony who was still practicing her drawings. She looked up confused then shook her head, all she wanted was to figure out her god power so she could never lose a loved one again. Why did things have to get so complicated, after being scolded she turns to the person next to her “What was that for?” 

He tosses another item shifting the war to the crew now throwing random items at each other, Melony did her best to avoid it all. The moment she missteps she gets hit in the face knocking her down. The guy next to her chuckles “Well you were close, next time predict their trajectory yeah? The name is Niles.” Melony looks up at Niles, taking in his words. He then hands her a goomba “Cmon clueless, fight back!”

She takes the goomba, throwing it softly in front of her, Niles laughs at her making Melony glare at him “Im trying!”

“You gotta channel your inner energy as you throw, aren't you in power 101 i thought you would be better than this.” he looks away from her acting disappointed. Melony was getting annoyed by Niles, he had a point in what he was saying but she wasnt a fan at how mean he was being about it. She needed to focus,she wanted this so she would be stronger, with her power she can make sure no one ends up like Axol. She can feel energy flow through her as she gets ready to throw another item, taking a deep breath she throws a koopa at full speed. It knocks Swag down, everyone takes it as their chance as they all run out of the room at full speed. 

It was the next day and SMG4 was standing outside waiting for his partner to show up, he looked around to see all his friends training. The one training the hardest being Melony, understandable after what happened with zero and Axol.  He lets out a sigh when he looks at the time “Where the hell is he?” 

SMG3 was panicking, going back to school after everything that happened in the past with memewarts. Man did life love to laugh at him, he drops to the floor unsure what to do. He hears a click and turns his head seeing Terrance, he lets out a soft smile “Your right Terrance, Im Supermemeguardian 3 this won't be like last time cause im better then everyone haha!” he lets out his evil laugh then grabs a pair of sunglasses. He wasn't going to be a loser this time, he taps his shoulder for Terrance to climb up then snaps his fingers to open a portal. 

SMG4 turns his head when a portal suddenly appears, there he sees SMG3 walk out with a huge grin “Yo sorry i'm late, meme guardian stuff, yada yada you know?” he lowers his shades and makes eye contact with Four “oh, hey jerkface!” SMG4 crosses his arms “Good to see you to SMG3,” his eyes flicker to the meme casually sitting on the man's head “You don't expect to train with that knuckles on you do you?

Knuckles squeaks at the attention, the thought of sending Terrance home gives Three anxiety. He knew Terrance would have his back, he made him feel that he can be loved and cared for. Sending him back would mean he might have to relive memewarts and no one would be there for him. Covering his mixed emotions he rolls his eyes “Sorry Terrence, looks like the fascist doesn't want you here.” Terrence nods, climbing down and giving his father figure a hug before going back home. SMG4 walks up to SMG3 clearly pissed off “WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?” Three gets even closer their faces just an inch apart “You heard me or do you need to clean out your ears, heh maybe if you did you can finally hear how unfunny your memes are!” 

SMG1 claps, getting the pair's attention “Alright! Its training time,” noticing how close he is to SMG4 he slides away from the man slightly blushing. SMG2 smiles at the pair “I know it’s been a while, but let's start off with some basic meme transmutation.” SMG3 frowns knowing that means he has to hold the other man's hand, SMG1 steps in the middle giving them a stern look “There is something important you both must know before we get into it, never use your meme powers alone.” SMG4 tilts his head “We could use meme energy alone?”

“Yes and no, to explain we can channel meme energy and make it do what we want. But meme energy is wild and hard to fully control, using it alone without your partner could lead to damage to your body…maybe even death if done too much.” SMG1 walks back to his partner and grabs his hand only to get a smile from his long-time best friend. SMG3 and four exchange looks before One continues “Not to mention alone your meme abilities are weak, after all we come in pairs for a reason we are stronger together!” SMG2 nods pointing to the chest of memes “Now get ready to transmute!”

SMG3 looks around nervously “Aww man, do I have to hold his hand we’re in public.” The thought of someone seeing him hold his rival's hand makes him feel sick. It’s not like he enjoyed the feeling of the other man's hand in his, it didn't bring him any comfort either just made him annoyed. SMG4 couldn't stand it anymore “Dude how are we going to train if you're gonna be insecure every time we do it!” SMG3 glares at Four and stomps the ground “HEY! I'M NOT INSECURE YOUR INSECURE! Baka…” he blushes as he looks away from his other half.

Seeing SMG3 blush made SMG4 giggle, he wasn't sure why but he couldn't help finding his rival cute when he blushed. Smirking he reaches out waving his hand, with a sigh SMG3 grabs his hand. They both start to glow as they slowly absorb a random meme walking around campus. Meanwhile in the background the box club gave Mario a mission to go around the school and collect students for their ritual. Their mission was clear, with enough students to sacrifice the god box would answer them and give them unlimited power. SMG1 nods pleased with the energy the pair has absorbed “Good! Now up next we’re going to use this meme energy offensively.” SMG2 puts down several dummies “Concentrate your focus and throw the energy at the dummy over there!”

Feeling each other energy they stare at the dummy launching the energy at it only to completely miss the target. SMG2 slowly turns to the pair “Yeah uh…you guys overshot a little bit there.” SMG3 shivered, the power he felt when he connected to SMG4 was amazing to him “woah…so…..much…power! If he could lure Four to the dark side he could only picture how they both would rule the world, he chuckles to himself causing SMG4 to give him a strange look.

SMG1 claps to gain the pair's attention again “lets try that again, this time aim please.” SMG3 chuckles, grabbing Four hands “Please i bet i could aim only using one eye!” Boopkins runs up to them in a panic “Guys, Mario has been kidnapping students you have to help!” SMG4 chuckles “What? Nah he’s probably just trying to steal spaghetti or…something?” He watches as Mario drives a truck taking one of the students. Without thinking he tightens his grip on SMG3's hand, feeling this SMG3 walks closer for Four to let him know he is there  “Come on let's stop our idiot avatar.”

Seeing this SMG1 lets out a soft smile at the pair before they all run after Mario.  Catching up, the box club leader turns and stares at the group in shock, ignoring the others SMG4 lets go of Three’s hand to get closer to Mario “Mario what the hell are you doing?” Mario keeps eating his pile of spaghetti as he lets out a shrug, that was answer enough to Four that Mario was yet again doing something for food. The club leader steps in front of SMG4 “You dare interrupt the god box ceremony?!” 

SMG1 and two gasp in shock catching the groups attention, shaking SMG1 speaks up “Did….did you say god box?”  SMG4, noticing their fear steps closer to his partner “Uhh what's a god box?” SMG1 explains the God box to the group slowly losing SMG3 the moment he heard unlimited power, with which he could shape the world and be loved by all. SMG1 gives the go for the crew to fight, they need to make sure no one finds the god box. SMG3 was lost thinking about the god box not paying attention to the fight going on in the room, he was still stuck with SMG4 even with the unlimited power. He wondered if there was a way he could seduce the other man to the dark side. 

Niles smirks “Hey! It’s time to put your training to good use.” Melony nods as she connects to her deity form  The box club leader seeing this turns to the one member of the group not fighting “Hey you want power? Stop them and I will take you to the god box!” hearing this Three’s eyes brighten up as he looks around and notices Mario. Since Mario is the avatar he knew they would have no choice but to stop fighting, after all no Mario means the world ends. He walks to Mario lifting him up and hanging him above the sacrifice hole  “Oi losers!”

Four growls seeing what Three was doing “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” SMG3 looks into Four’s eyes “I want unlimited power,” he blinks and suddenly is hit by Melony. He hits the floor with a harsh thud, she readies her sword to stab SMG3. Seeing this SMG4 sprints towards them “NO! MELONY STOP THAT'S TOO FAR!”  SMG3 starts to see his life flashing before him, all his life alone and hated with no one caring if he was alive. Then an image of Terrence hit him, looking at four he gave him a sad smile “Look after Terrence for me..” 

Hearing this SMG4 runs faster throwing himself in front of SMG3 with the sword stopped an inch away from Fours neck. Melony shakes her head fighting for control “NOOO!” she drops the sword, then turns away from the pair in shock with what she almost did. SMG3 sits up staring at SMG4 with wide eyes “You…saved me?” shaken, Four drops to his knees letting out a shaky laugh “Of course..we fight and try to kill each other but I still believe we can be friends that you can change,” he turns, giving Three a bright smile “we are partners after all!”  

SMG3's heart skips a beat seeing his bright smile, blushing as he turns away confused by a strange emotion. Melony started to clutch her head in pain, the pair turned their attention to her. Before they could do anything she flys off in a panic leaving everyone behind. It was the next day, Melony was running around looking for SMG3. She wanted to check on him after what happened, lucky she ran into SMG4 who thankfully wasn't harmed when she lost control, he smiles and tells her where to find the other guardian. She finds him sitting at a table alone, slowly she approaches “Um..I’M SORRY!” She then hands him a piece of paper, nervous about his reaction. SMG3 was startled to have someone yell an apology at him, slowly he takes the paper unsure exactly what the girl was trying. 

He blushes when he sees it a drawing of the two of them back when he first recruited her, blushing he folds the paper and puts it under his hat “oh..well it's whatever, you were just doing your thing.” he wasn't sure what to do in the situation and just hope those word were enough to get rid of the melon girl. It didn't, she smiles and takes out a notebook showing him her art “Axol told me if you can't figure out your words, draw them!” She then hands him a pencil and watches him. He sighs and starts to doodle, he had to admit it was relaxing for him as if he could let his feelings out and no one would judge him. His face goes red when he notices he doodled him and Melony hanging out at Peach's castle, he attempted to hide the drawing from the girl but it was too late. Seeing the drawing her face lights up, she ends up hugging the flustered man in excitement “YAY! I hope you know I never hurt my friends, I'm going to get stronger and I will protect you all!” 

She lets Three go and gives him a wave before running off with her notebook, SMG3 couldn't help letting out a soft smile “She has changed a lot from the day we first met, wonder if it's because of that shrimp she fell for?” Remembering he had a final to get ready for he gets up, then a thought came to mind.Looking around he takes out a notebook of his own and starts to write in it “Dear Diary, Melony isn't so bad these days.” he then did a doodle of Melony, it wasn't the best looking drawing in the world but SMG3 isn't an arts guy and he never would be. “Only time i do this, after all arts and crafts aren't for manly men like me.” Humming he walks to meet his other half for training. 

Then everything changed, the box club kidnap Melony seeing that the crew goes after them only to get lured into a trap. The crew slowly started passing out, SMG3 attempted to reach Melony only to pass out a few steps away. A few moments later they woke up, the guardians stuck together while the others were locked away “Oi! What the hell is this?!” barked SMG3 as he pulled at the restraints. “Calm down, it will be over soon.” the club leader chuckled, making the guardians nervous. Meggy growled as she kicked the cage door “You're so dead when we are out of here!” The leader explains how they are going to use the guardian's power to ascend to the god box, SMG3 eyes light up hearing about it only to get a glare from his partner in return. “Oh come on, think about it SMG4, we are already powerful but with this box we can be stronger!” 

SMG1 couldn't stand it anymore “YOU IDIOT IF THE BOX OPENS THE WORLD ENDS!”  The guardians start screaming when the leader hits a switch to end their conversation, using their power he turns the members of the club into meme energy creating a ship to fly to the god box. The leader then shakes Melony and wakes her up, seeing that Meggy cheers “Kick their ass Melony!”

She blinks looking around “Guys? Where am i? Niles?” the crew stared at her confused “Who is Niles?” Tari asked. Hearing this Melony points to an empty spot next to the crew, she freezes in shock when she realizes she has been the only one able to see the man. “Who...who are you?”  Niles walks up to her and smirks, lifting up his bangs to reveal a familiar eye “It’s been a while huh Melony?” “ZERO!” with that a huge blast erupts from Melony transforming her into her deity form, in no time he takes over her body and heads straight for the god box.  

Now knowing Zero is back and now in control of Melony the group make a plan to escape and beat Zero to the god box using the SMGs USB. The crew was helping with evacuation, using Terrance they were able to find trapped memes and help them escape. SMG3 smiles proudly seeing his right hand doing such a good job, Terrance runs up to him excited to see what his father figure was thinking. SMG3 looked around to make sure no one was looking before hugging the meme "Terrance, things are going to get tough so promise me no matter what you won't leave me." after a clicks from the meme promising to stay by his side SMG1 and two arrive with their USB ships.

In no time the group get in their ships ready to face zero and save Melony, as the crew lift off no one notices an extra member making his way into the ship. Mario, SMG3 and SMG4 look around in this strange area they are in. They notice memes floating around with an energy the group has never seen before, SMG1 calls their usb “So the myths are true thats an anti meme, after memes become corrupted and the universe collapses pieces of the universe and i guess the memes end up here.” 

Mario gets nervous and holds on to SMG4 arm “Mario doesn't like the way it's looking at us,” just as those words escaped his mouth the anti meme charges at their ship. The two start screaming as SMG3 looks around trying to come up with a plan, seeing a piece of a world floating in front he speeds up the ship. Four seeing this panic “Three what the hell are you doing!? We are going to crash!” at the last second he dives the ship making the meme crash. SMG4 runs up and hugs Three making the man blush “That was amazing flying SMG3!” flustered from the attention he pushes Four away “You could have thought the same if you bothered using that brain of yours.”

Staring at the meme a thought came to mind, these anti memes were still memes therefore he and SMG4 could absorb its energy. Without another thought he grabs SMG4's hand, confused he squints at SMG3 “What are you doing?” then a surge of energy hit them both. SMG3 looks at their hands with a huge smile “This feels amazing!” another anti meme was going to attack, seeing that he uses the new energy they absorb and blows up the meme. SMG4 could only stand watching in shock of this new power flowing between them. “That felt amazing didn't it four?” he turns to the man seeing him stare at his hands “Yeah…that did feel good.” 

SMG1 seeing what happened turns on the mic “Guys anti meme energy is extremely unstable more so than normal meme energy, i would suggest you don't use it again.” SMG3 waved his hand at the older guardian “Yeah yeah, hey look a piece of a universe let's look there and not talk about this!” The group went to different universes asking every meme still living there if they have seen Melony, at one point Four lost his two companions only to find the pair at a club throwing dollar bills at dancing skeletons. Years of being rivals and somehow SMG3 was fitting right in with his friends. Back on the ship they kept getting attacked by anti memes, Three and Four grab hands absorbing the power as they fly through. The more energy they took the more the pair felt high off of the power, then they grabbed an anti meme and threw it to a piece of a universe destroying it. 

Mario’s eyes go wide seeing this, he turns to his friends to see them laughing “YESSS FEEL THE POWER!!!”SMG3 wanted more, SMG4 was starting to get into it himself.  Shaking Mario walks closer to the pair “Guys..i’m scared Mario doesn't like what's happening,”  growling SMG4 turns around “SHUT UP MARIO, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE BLESSED BY THE GOD BOX!” Mario holding back his tears shakes his head “But Mario knows this isn't you, please don't go coo coo crazy!”

Seeing Mario about to cry he snaps out of it, this power was not worth hurting the people close to him. He hugs Mario “I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me.” SMG3 gets excited seeing that they were finally closing in on Melony's ship he takes Four hand “Quick lets use the meme energy to take that ship down!”

Before SMG4 has a chance to pull back he can feel the corrupted energy flow through them, Mario panics “GUYS THAT'S GOING TO KILL MELONY!!!” he runs pulling at their hands he had to break them apart he was the avatar he knows he can do this. Feeling a strange energy he pulls at their hands one more time breaking them apart causing the energy to go wild blowing up their ship. They wake up in a strange cabin looking around “What happened?” Mario stomps in front of them furious “Don't you remember? You both went coo coo crazy and blew us all up!” SMG4 frowns “Right sorry guys..”

SMG3 sits up noticing another person in the room “Who the hell are you?” the person smiles and waves at them “Oh my name is SMG0! Welcome to my home.” They all freeze hearing the name, seeing this zero knew exactly what must have happened “Oh no..he.. i..we hurt you didnt we?”

SMG0 takes a deep breath looking away from them, as the group yells all kinds of questions at him. He gives the group a sad smile as he explains everything that happened, the crew stayed silent learning the truth of everything. After a few moments SMG4 speaks up “Oh no then that means, Niles that's why he came here to fuse back with SMG0!” in panic Four grabs Zero “YOU NEED TO GO NOW!” It was too late. Niles crashes through the roof finding exactly what he was looking for “Hey Zero, how you been? Missed you and was hoping you were ready to get back together?” 

Nervous Zero steps closer to the other guardians “Niles, you don't need to do this! Look see we got our old universe back. Everything is perfect again so please, come home. ”  Niles glares at Zero “Perfect?! This floating rock isn't perfect, but with the power I have acquired I can make a true paradise for you and me!” Mario, sick of the talking, runs up to Niles and kicks him, throwing him across the room “Mario’s not the smartest guy in the room but Mario knows enough to say you need to shut up and let Melony go!” Niles starts laughing as he slowly gets up, SMG3 and four get up from their seats, nervous about what Niles was planning. “Wait your turn Mario, I'm still gonna need an avatar after all this.”  Then he punches Mario, knocking him down with a chuckle, then turns to SMG3 and kicks him down holding Melony's sword above him. SMG4 panics seeing Three in danger again “STOP! JUST GIVE US MELONY BACK!” 

Niles chuckles, lowering the blade close to SMG3 right eye “I think Four SMGs is a bit much, don't you? Maybe let's cut it back a bit.” Everything went slow as he saw the blade move across SMG3's eye. SMG4 runs and kicks the possess Melony out the window quickly after he turns freezing up at the sight, SMG3 right eye was sliced, it was hard to tell how bad given three covering his eye screaming “FUCK! My eye…he got my eye ah it hurts!” Mario runs up SMG3 crying as he places his hand on top of SMG3's hand to help stop the bleeding staining his own gloves “DON'T DIE PLEASE FOR MARIO!”  Four started to shake seeing the state SMG3 was in. He wasn't fast enough, SMG3 is hurt and if they dont something he could die. He could feel himself struggling to breathe as the world became nothing but white noise, then a memory came to him.  He looks at his hand then at Three, a meme guardian can use meme energy alone but at a risk.

Without a second thought he rips his sleeve and sits next to Three who was starting to lose consciousness, he moves both men's hands seeing the wound he gasps. If he took even a second too long SMG3 wouldnt have an eye to save, shaking his head to not focus on the damage he wraps the eye. And focuses his meme energy “Don't worry SMG3 i will save you, an eye for an eye.” his eyes glow as the energy transfers to his hands stopping the bleeding. As he stops the bleeding his left eye starts to hurt, Mario noticing Four losing his focus places his hand on SMG4 shoulder “Mario believes in you!”

Suddenly four stops glowing, feeling weak his body slumps into Mario’s arms. He gives a soft smile to Mario before noticing the world looking a bit blurry, he touches his left eye “Guess I see what SMG1 was talking about.” He had no time to worry about his eye, he forces himself up to then lift SMG3. Hearing screaming outside they run out to see Melony has broken free from the control and Niles has gotten zero. 

Melony in her deity form saw her friends and waves at them “I got this go to the ship!” with a nod they run to the ship gently placing SMG3 on the floor. SMG4 starts hitting buttons and groans “Shit we can't go anywhere like this!” Mario starts to clap, catching Four’s attention “Terrance?!” he watches as SMG3 right hand meme starts fixing the ship. The moment the ship lights up, Three slowly wakes up feeling extremely weak “Uh what happened..?” he touches his face and freezes feeling SMG4 sleeve around his right eye.

He stays silent, understanding enough as Terrance gives his father figure a hug for comfort, SMG4 starts the ship as a chase begins. SMG1 and two announced they were going to blow up the god box and they all needed to leave. As the chase went on Melony did her best to fight back Zero, then in a flash Melony was gone as the creature ate her. SMG4 felt all the air in his lungs leave him, this can't be happening he lost Axol, almost lost SMG3 to now lose Melony.  SMG3 seeing the dark look on Fours face grabs his hand “Mel is strong this won't keep her down, trust in your friend and lets get out of here!” 

Zero, angry he can't reach the ship, tosses a piece of the universe at them blowing up their ship, now floating in space the crew had nowhere to go. Four sighs knowing this is the end “Mario, despite everything you’ve been a great friend.” Mario’s eyes start to water as he looks at his best friend “You too..”  Then SMG4 turns to SMG3 “Hey Three…thanks for staying by my side these past days.” Melony wakes up and slashes her way out of Zero.

The group cheered seeing her alive,  she smiles at them then at her drawing of her and Axol she will defeat Zero for him.  She charges at Zero ready to get revenge for Axol, as the fight goes on anti memes start showing up “Looks like all this noise attracted some visitors.”  the anti memes start getting in Melony’s way. Seeing this, Three comes up with a plan “Lets transmute these anti memes and get them away from Melony!” SMG4 shakes his head “It’s too risky plus what if your wound opens because of it and you bleed out! There has to be something else we can use, think!” 

SMG3's heart drops knowing there is only one way out, slowly he picks up Terrence doing his best to hold back his tears he gives the meme a sad smile “Terrence…i'm sorry little buddy. We need you to save the world…please don't hate me…goodbye.”  Terrance then hugs SMG3 “I love you,” Closing his eye he quickly grabs SMG4 hand “Three are you sure?” suddenly the meme before them is gone and the energy is going into Mario “We don't have a choice.” SMG3 turns to see the energy has turned Mario into a giant head perfect for getting rid of the anti memes and saving the day. 

It was finally over, Melony killed Zero, the god box was destroyed and the day was saved. The crew was now in the hospital being taken care of, SMG1 sighs looking at Fours eye “I told you using your meme power alone would do damage to your body, your left eye has lost a majority of its vision and color. Lucky for you we have made you a special contact that can help, they last two months before you have to come see us for another.” 

Four was getting sick of the ear full he was getting from the older SMGs, he knew what would happen choosing to save SMG3. So he can't see well in his left eye and it's now a more lighter blue, that didn't change he had no regrets. SMG2 smiles and hands him the box “The contact will also cover up the change in color, if you have any questions come to us anything!” He nods waiting for them to leave, once gone he sprints to the other room. He had to see SMG3. He needed to know the man was okay, so he opened the door to feel relief to see SMG3 with a patched up eye drawing in a notebook “SMG3! You look like a pirate thank god.” 

SMG3 glares at his partner “Really that's the first thing you say, since you mention my eye WHO THE HELL COVERS AN INJURED EYE WITH A GROSS SLEEVE! Who knows if they even wash that thing.”

SMG4 runs to hug SMG3 making the man blush “Hey what are you gay?! Stop hugging me, people might see this!” SMG4 giggles at the man letting him go. His eyes then drift to the doodles Three was doing and notice drawings of Terrence. He frowns slowly grabbing SMG3's hand, Three looks away feeling awkward from the hand grab “I’m sorry about Terrence…i know he meant a lot to you, but you're not alone you have me.” hearing this the man turns looking into Fours eyes.

He squints his eye, noticing the other man's left eye seemed strange, then again his eyes aren't doing the best after the battle Three brushes off the thought to focus on his partner's words.  “I promise SMG3 as long as I live I will always be by your side, i won't leave you no matter what.” 

Present Day SMG4 wakes up in a cold sweat, those were memories he didn't want to relive. Just remembering how badly hurt Three got put him in a panic, he had to make sure the other man was okay. He picks up his phone to call SMG3, he hears the phone ring. For him it went on for too long in his panic state, he throws his phone and runs to SMG3 coffee and bombs.  He pounds the door in a panic, SMG3 hearing the pounding run from the back room “SMG4?” 

He opens the door to be tackled by a crying SMG4, confused he holds the man close not noticing his hat slowly slipping off “Hey it's okay what happened?” he awkwardly pats four back. Once SMG4 relaxed he steps back sniffling “Sorry, I had a dream about…you know the god box and zero.” It was strange just seeing the man and being near him made all fear and panic vanish, everything felt so much better.

SMG3 sighs, this was his fault for rushing the hat and hurting himself due to it. He should make a note to keep better care, he gently takes four hands and leads him to a chair to sit on. “Guess I'm making more coffee for us since it seems you can't stay away,” SMG4 giggles wiping his tears away “Can't help it if i have such a charming boss!” as Three walks to the machine his hat slips off. Turning quickly to grab the hat he forgot that his bun was tied loose due to lack of sleep. SMG4 eyes go wide as Three grabs the hat and his long hair is set free, Four needed a distraction and a distraction he got.

Time felt like it slowed down as he watched Three catching his hat and flipping his hair out of his face, Four started to blush as his mind went blank “You…uh the er hair is long..you look haha so how about that latte?”

[justmeinadaze]

We're A Family Part 9 (Steddie X You)

A/N: Ok, I did warn you people so don't come at me lol Good feels and bad feels abound. Idk where this came from. Probably from some person stuff Im struggling with. But alas...Enjoy!

Warnings: Smut, ALL the angst, and fluff at the beginning and end to warm your souls, Someone from Eddie's past comes into play so his trauma is mentioned (i.e Child abuse and his mom leaving), Dylan talks a bit about his feelings with Charlie. I think those are the big triggers here.

Word Count: 4127

“I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem But if I know you, I know what you'll do You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.”

You grin from your place on the floor as you watch Eddie strum his guitar and sing as Steve holds her hands while she tries to balance on her feet. 

Aurora’s first birthday was coming up and you felt like time was just flying by. Steve had started school, choosing to utilize the night program so he could at least spend time with the kids while they were awake if he was off that day. Eddie had just recently been promoted to manager at the auto shop which he had originally accepted because it paid more but found that he actually enjoyed the work it provided. 

Dylan seemed to be getting along ok and was his usual happy self. While he still loved playing the guitar, he asked you if he could sign up for the Hawkins little league team and had steadily grown to being one of the best players on the team. When you picked him up from practice one day you noticed how his face changed as he hit the ball, like he was letting out all his frustrations with the tiny bat in his hands. 

After what happened your son barely brought up Charlie, following through with calling Steve and Eddie “dad” whenever he addressed them. You sent him texts of updates regarding Dylan but Vivian was the only one to ever reply and usually it was something simple like “Thank you.”

“What’s mama concentrating so hard on, huh?”, Eddie smiled as he looked your way.

“We’re going to have her birthday here, right?”

“Yeah, why not. Wayne said he’d be able to make it and I have the day off.”

“Me to. I made sure to ask for it like 3 months in advance.” Steve flops down on the floor, Aurora wiggling out of his grasp to crawl to the metalhead as she pats on his guitar. “My mom will be swinging by. I assume Robin and Kierra to, of course.”

“I have some friends at work that want to come and bring their kids. Dylan knows a few of them.”

“That will be fun for him. Maybe I can invite the guys. I know they’ve been wanting to see her again.” Eddie leans forward and kisses the baby’s cheek making her giggle. 

You stretch out on the floor in front of you and she promptly crawls towards you bumping her head into yours. “Ow. You have a hard head.” You reach out to mess with her curls the way they do. 

“She’s a headbanger like me. Yeah? Just like dada. Dada?” Eddie chuckles as she falls back on her butt, watching him speak before looking over at you. 

“Dada? Can you say that? Say I’m just like dada.” Both men laugh until a breathy sound escapes her tiny mouth. You grin at her encouragingly as they completely freeze. “There you go. Come on, baby. Dada.”

“Da…da.”

“Oh my god.” Eddie quickly picks her up and places her on his lap as Steve pulls out his phone. “Can you say it again? Who am I? Am I dada?”

“Da…dada.”

He hugs her to his chest as the three of you smile excitedly. “That’s right, princess. I’m your dada.” He turns her around to face Steve. “That’s your dada to.”

You scoot towards the other man and point at his chest as her wide eyes watch you intently. “Dada?” She follows your finger as you point between them repeating the phrase hoping she doesn’t get confused. Her little hand reaches towards Steve’s phone and he pulls it out of her reach as she crawls towards him, headbutting his chin before he places a kiss on her head. 

“Da…da.” She falls onto her back looking up at him as she reaches her hand out again. “Da…da…da.”

##############

“No, she can’t be talking yet.”, Wayne grins as he bounces the baby on his hip. “You need to stay a baby as long as possible. Your dad grew up too fast and I hate it.”

You grin at him as Dylan and the other kids run past you out to the backyard where some of your friends were sitting on the patio talking amongst themselves. 

“Yeah, Steve went from toddler to high schooler in the blink of an eye.”, Mrs. Harrington smiled from her place at the table. 

“Stop it, both of you!”, you giggle. “I still haven’t accepted that this year my son will be 9. I can’t even think about high school.”

The boys were both outside entertaining the older kids while you started cleaning up some of the plates from the table and putting away the left-over food. A knock on the door startled you as you looked in that direction. 

“That’s weird. No one else should be coming…” Drying your hands, you head towards the front door. A beautiful, older woman a bit younger than Wayne stood before you smelling to high heaven like cigarettes. Her long black hair cascaded down her shoulders over a Van Halen t-shirt and some obnoxiously tight blue jeans. There was something familiar about her but you couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was. “Can I help you?”

“Hi. Uh, does Edward Munson live…here?”, she asked as she looked around behind you. 

“May I ask what you need with him?”

“Or even Wayne… I recognized the truck outside…”

You leaned back, gently calling for the man as he strode over. He froze in place when their eyes met. 

“You can’t be here.”

“Wayne, I need to talk to my son.”

“You should have done that 15 years ago, Lynn, when you left him on my doorstep.” He frustratingly sighed as his eyes met your panicked ones. “I got this, Y/N. Go ahead and get back to your guests.” Wayne stepped further out and closed the door behind him. 

Numbly, you headed back to the kitchen where Steve was talking with his mom who was holding Aurora. He noticed immediately something was off, running to your side. 

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

“We…we need to keep Eddie outside.”, you whisper. 

“Honey, why? What’s wrong with Eddie?”

The man himself comes in holding Dylan upside down in his arms as the small boy laughs. You both meet his eyes and he blinks as he flips his son back around, placing his feet on the ground.

“What’s wrong?”

“Eddie…I…”

“No, Wayne! I have every right to at least talk to him!”

“Lynn! This isn’t your house!”

Eddie’s mom rounded the corner, her eyes locking with his. “Edward.”

“Mom?”

################

You and Steve busied yourselves around the living room, cleaning up from the party. Everyone had gone home and Dylan had taken Aurora up to her room before laying on the floor to keep her company while everything unfolded. 

“Why don’t you go upstairs to, Y/N?”, Steve whispered. 

“Steve Harrington, if I didn’t leave you alone with your father what makes you think I’d even consider leaving him here with her.”

“Because Wayne and I are here to keep him safe.”

All three Munson’s sat at the dining room table silently as Eddie glared into the void with his arms crossed, his leg bouncing under the table. 

“Whose birthday is it?”, she asked, sighing when no one answered. “I’m going to guess from the pink cake I saw that woman put away it’s the baby girls?”

“’That woman’ is my wife and ‘the baby girl’ is my daughter.” Eddie’s tone dripped with venom and it killed you. Eddie rarely ever got angry and even when he did it wasn’t anywhere near the level Charlie had gotten to more than a few times. The only time you ever heard him really scream and shout was during D & D or on stage. 

“Um, can I smoke in here or—”

“No.”, everyone responded in unison.

“Jesus, fine. It’s not a big deal, you know. I used to smoke around Edward all the time.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m so well adjusted. Either that or the abandonment.”

“Look, Lynn, just tell the boy why you’re here so you can be on your way.” Wayne seemed more in control than his nephew but his anger was just as strong as he glared at the woman across from him. 

She exhales as she straightens up in her seat. “I, uh, have you spoken to your father?”

It was Steve’s turn to sigh as he sat at the foot of the stairs, you leaning against the wall in front of him where you could still keep an eye on everything. 

“What reason would I have to do that?”

“Because he’s your father.”

“Oh, fuck you. Do you really want to play that game right now?!”

“Eddie!” Wayne extended his arm towards the boy, gesturing for him to calm down. “Get to the point, Lynette.”

“He needs help. Your father has an opportunity to get his sentence reduced but he needs character witnesses. We thought…maybe…”

You growled as you began stepping forward, Steve immediately reaching out to grip your arm and hold you in place. 

“I don’t think my testimony would help. ‘Yes, your honor, he may have taught me how to boost cars, threaten people, and beat the shit out of me but I assure you he’s a really great guy!’”

“Eddie, he wasn’t perfect but he did the best he could.”

The metalhead chuckled as he rose from his chair, clenching his fists as he paced in place. “Best he could… Wayne did the best he could. I fucking do the best I can for my kids. Dad did jack shit for me and I still haven’t gotten an apology…from either of you!” 

Your heart breaks as you watch him get slowly wound up.

“Is that seriously all you showed up for after all these years? To ask me to lie for him? You seriously are amazing. You hunt me down, show up at my daughter’s birthday party, barge into our house… you don’t even bother to try and get to know me or my family…just thought ‘hey I’ll see if he’s available to lie to a judge. He definitely has nothing to lose.’”

“How did you know where he was?” All heads turn to you as you step into the area turning to face his mother. “Who told you where to find him?” Your eyes meet as she sighs again. 

“Jesus fucking Christ, Lynn.”, Wayne groans. 

“He still has friends in town including some that work at the plant with his uncle…”

Eddie’s gaze shift between the three of you trying to figure out what you all know.

“How long have you been talking to him?”, you ask. When she doesn’t answer the anger in your body starts to boil over. “Eddie has a right to know especially since he never even got so much as a fucking postcard! Yet you can keep in touch with his asshole dad.”

“Allen is my husband—”

“And Eddie was your son! How fucking dare you—”

“Baby, come on.” Steve comes up behind you and tugs you to him. “Remember, there are kids in the house. Calm down.” He reassuringly rubs your arms as you aggressively huff in his chest.

“How long?”, Eddie asks. “Since he went in?” He laughs when she nods. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

Her jaw tightens as she stands, reaching in her pocket to place a card on the table. “I’ll be in Hawkins for the next month or so. If you change your mind, just call me here.” 

Wayne walks her out as you and Steve watch the metalhead continue to fume.

“Eddie…”

“No! No one come near me right now!”

He continues to bounce on his toes as his fingers run frustratingly through his hair before abruptly hurling his fist through the air and punching the nearby wall. 

############

“Where are we going?”

“Oh, come on, Ed. You know by now 90% of the time we all get into a car, it’s bound to be a surprise to at least one person.”, Steve grins. “And like always, Dylan is the mastermind behind this venture.”

You son smiles from his place in the back seat as the other man pulls up into a parking lot. 

“Aren’t these the batting cages he practices at?”

Dylan hops out of the car, ushering for Eddie to do the same as he takes his hand with Steve following behind. You linger back to gather Aurora and allow your son to work his magic.

He leads the metalhead towards an empty area explaining to him why the helmet is important and which type of bats he prefers while his other dad finds a bench near the cage, motioning for you to sit beside him. 

“Ok, so when the ball comes, you’re going to want to swing as hard as you can.” Eddie understood enough about sports to get that was a given but, for Dylan, continued to react like this was all new information for him. 

When the first ball shot out, he swung and missed. 

“No, dad, that’s ok. I know it can be a bit fast. You have to try and keep your eye on the ball as it comes towards you and lower your hands a bit.” 

The ball shot out again and this time Eddie hit it, sticking out his tongue towards you and Steve as you both cheered in your little area. Aurora noticed and began pressing her hands together as she smiled, pointing her tiny fingers in his direction. 

The next few balls that head his way, he hits and sends towards the net on the other end that makes your son smile with pride. 

“Now, when I play, sometimes I think about… my other dad…how angry he makes me.” Eddie’s eyes meet his as he continues. “I think about how he left and how he treats my mom. How he never wanted to spend time with me like you guys do…”

Steve reached for your hand when he noticed your body stiffen as you watched them. You couldn’t hear what your son was saying but he looked so heartbroken. 

Eddie took his stance again, images flashing through his mind of his parents and how they treated him when he was a kid.

“Jesus Allen, how am I supposed to send him to school looking like this?!” His mother gestures towards the fresh welt on Eddie’s face from where his dad had smacked him. 

“Look, the little fucker almost got us caught! He cut the wrong wire and the fucking car alarm went off.”, his dad growled. 

The crack of the bat hitting the ball made you jump as he hit it harder than he had before. Over and over again, Eddie swung as hard as he could, not thinking about form or how his hands should be. With each memory he let loose, feeling the weight of the last few days lift off him. 

The machine tossing the balls whizzed to a stop as the metalhead panted, trying to catch his breath. 

“Dada.” Aurora reached his way before clapping like she had seen you do.

Eddie’s head hung as he began to cry, wrapping his arms around Dylan’s shoulders as he came to hug him. Handing the baby to Steve, you entered the cage tugging them both into your embrace. 

############

That night Eddie crashed between both of you, you clinging to his back as his head rested on Steve’s chest. While you two slept, Steve laid awake thinking about the last few days and everything the man he cared about was feeling. He hated that he couldn’t wave a wand and fix the pain the metalhead was feeling. Even though he had a much more violent up bringing in the beginning than Steve ever did, he knew what it was like to feel that abandonment when it came to both his parents. He was so grateful that his mom was being more present while trying to be better and he so desperately wanted that for you both.

Eddie’s palm moved against the boy’s chest as a tiny grumble left his lips. 

“Steve? Why are you still awake?”

“Thinking.”

“Hm. Well stop it. You have work tomorrow, man.”

“Ed, you know I love you, right? You can talk to me about anything…”

“Geez, you’re starting to sound like Y/N. ‘Would you still love me if…’”, he changes his voice to sound like yours as he smiles. 

“I’m serious, Eddie.”

Eddie opens his eyes fully as he pushes up on his elbow to look down at Steve. “I know. I just… Honestly, I thought I had left all that in the past.”

“What triggered everything these past couple of days? Was it just seeing her again?”

“Partly. Most of it was finding out she had still been talking to my dad. Couldn’t manage to pick up a fucking phone to call me but can take the time to write letters to her abusive, criminal husband. It just made me feel like I was ten all over again being left behind.”

Eddie felt your arms tighten around him as you nuzzled into his back between his shoulder blades. 

“Are you going to talk to your dad?”

“Wayne is my dad.” Steve nods in understanding before rolling on to his side to face the other boy. “Thanks, Steve. I, uh, I know we don’t…do the whole romantic thing like we do with Y/N but I do know you love me and, of course, I love you.”

“Of course.”, the boy chuckles as he reaches for Eddie’s face pulling him in for a gentle kiss. 

The other man giggles as Steve’s kisses get bolder and more passionate. “I’m kinda limited with this seatbelt around my chest.” His grin grows when he feels you hug him tighter before kissing his shoulder.

“You like it.”, you mumble with a smile as you release him from your hold and stretch. 

Steve pushed Eddie on to his back, immediately attaching his lips to his neck as he sucked and nibbled on the metalhead’s sweet spot. He lightly moaned as he turned to meet your soft but worried eyes. 

“You okay, baby?”

Eddie nodded as his thumb reached out to glide along your bottom lip before he pulled them to his own. He needed this, needed to feel and taste you both; the two people in this world that loved him unconditionally. 

Steve placed feathery kisses down his chest, reaching down into the boy’s shorts to pull out his cock. After scooting down the bed, you grab the waistband around Eddie’s hips, removing the garment to allow for more access. 

As you run your fingers through Steve’s hair, he leans down over the man’s length and a long line spit falls over the tip. Eddie groans as he strokes it with his palm, coating him with his saliva before taking him in to his mouth.  

Tilting your head, you drag your tongue along the parts of his cock he isn’t able to reach as one of your tiny hands reached to massage his balls.

“Jesus… that feels…feels so good.” 

Steve’s mouth came off him with a pop, his own tongue tracing the veins to his shaft where it found yours. Eddie perched up on his elbows, watching as you two kissed with his cock between your lips. You took over so the other man could hastily remove his boxers.

Eddie sat up, grabbing your jaw and pulling you in for a sloppy kiss before falling back down to his pillow with you in tow. 

“Turn, princess.”

When he released you, you tore off your shirt as you rolled over so your back was flush to his chest. He roughly yanked off your underwear, mewling as he glided his tip through your folds. 

“Take whatever you need, Eddie. I’m yours.”

You both moaned as he pushed himself into your entrance, kissing your neck as his arms held you tightly to him. 

The bed moved slightly as Steve laid behind him, gripping his hips as he guided his cock slowly into him. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…”, Eddie panted. The sound of their heavy breathing was driving you crazy as your pussy clenched around him. “Ha-harder, Steve.”

As he honored his request, you push your hips back against his own, meeting each thrust with a moan that had Eddie’s eyes flutter closed. You clung to his hand as you craned your neck as much as you could to see their faces. 

Steve abruptly pulled out, grabbing Eddie’s waist and tugging him out of you and onto his hands and knees. The metalhead’s hair hung with his head as the other boy thrust back into him, one of his palms reaching out absently for you. 

Sliding underneath him, he lifted his arm so you could find his cock and guided it back into your dripping cunt. With this new position it gave him more leverage to utilize his hips he pumped into you and pushed back onto Steve. 

“God, you both feel so fucking good.”

You whimpered as you felt the coil winding in your belly, extending your hand between you as you rubbed your clit. 

“Eddie, yes. Please… don’t stop.”

The boy pushes up on his knees and Steve wrapped his arm around his chest to keep him steady as he pounded into you. You glance up at them with admiration as Eddie’s eyes close and Steve’s head leans against his shoulder. How did I get so lucky?

“I love you.”

Both sets of eyes look down at you as you softly smile before covering your mouth with your palm, your back lifting off the bed as came. Eddie’s face scrunches in pleasure as he grunts and cums inside of you. Steve tilts him forward slightly, gripping his shoulder as he thrusts his seed into him. 

The metalhead lifts you, bringing you back up more comfortably towards the pillows and settles beside you. You play with his hair as his head rests on your chest, his arm and leg slung over your body.

“I love you to. I’m sorry if I’ve been kind of out of it these past couple of days.”

“Eddie, baby, you don’t have to apologize for something like that. I…we just hate seeing you hurt, ya know?” His mess of curls graze your chin as he nods. “I heard you answer Steve’s question but if you change your mind, we’re here for you.” 

You giggle when a shirt hits your face. “Your daughter is babbling. Clothes, beautiful people.”

You and Eddie playfully whine as he pulls on his shorts and you throw on his shirt right as Steve bounces in with a bright eyed one year old. 

“Ma’am, it is 4am. Why are you awake?” She grins as she reaches for you. “Is it because daddy let you take a nap?”

Steve holds up his hands defensively. “Okay, okay. I get it. I messed up.”

Aurora smacks Eddie’s chest and he pretends to wince. “Ow, child. I’m fragile.”

“Dada.”

“Ok, princess. You mastered dada. What about the person that pushed you out, huh?” You laugh as you lean on his shoulder. Steve climbs beside you, tenderly reaching out to smooth her hair. “Mama? Say mama?”

She rubbed her eyes as she looked around the room babbling incoherently. 

“Yeah, that’s about right.”, he chuckles. Both men try to mimic what you had done before pointing at you and repeating the word. 

There was a small knock on your door and as soon as you granted permission, Dylan’s sleepy frame came into view. 

“Why are you up, weirdo?”

“I had to go pee—”

“Thanks for the update.”

He lazily smiles at Eddie. “AND I heard you talking to Ro.”

Steve gestures him over and helps lift the boy onto the bed. “We’re trying to get her to say ‘mama’.”

Dylan grins, poking the baby’s nose making her laugh before he does the same to you. “Mama.” Her eyes widen as he does it again, absorbing his motions. Your son repeats the action, this time saying nothing when he touches your nose. Aurora’s face scrunches just like yours when you’re annoyed. 

Her tiny finger reaches for your face and you lift her to her feet as she pokes your nose like he did. 

“Ma…ma. Ma.”

“Well shit.”, Steve chuckles.

Dylan smiles in triumph as he kisses his sister’s cheek. “Dad! You can’t talk like that. We have a baby in the house.”

############

@adequate-superstar @kalinaselennespeaks @alienthings

@notasimp4joey @manda-panda-monium

@decadentwombatmiracle @katie-tibo @marsupiooo

@local-stoner-bitch @steamystrangerfics

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@waylandmorgernsternherondal-blog

@kik51199 @strngrlytn @idkidknemore @damon-loves-pie

@k-k0129 @micheledawn1975 @eddie86baby

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@munsonzzgf @sidthedollface2

[nightwriter357]

Are you just playing with me? - Day 2

This is part two, part one can be found on my page. The story is starting to to get a bit spicier. You won't understand much without reading part 1.

Warning: SMUT(18), can't really write it all but it includes smut and would not be enjoyd if you're not into that.

Morning

You woke up with slick spread over your inner thighs. Some of it was newer, from your dream last night and some of it was from earlier, when you were putting on a show using your very real desire for Damien. He seemed affected it, by your words, your touch. You thought of all the things you could do to him today, all the things you picked up on during the years that you knew he was into. But you wanted to know more..

You threw a shirt and went to take a shower and wash all of your juices away from your body. You couldn't help yourself from closing your eyes and let your fingers travel over your body, wishing that it was Damiens hands that squeezed your breasts, grabbed at your as and plunged fingers deep inside of you.

You got out, wrapped a towel around yourself, grabbed your stuff and opened the bathroom door. You almost headbutted Damien on the way out causing you to drop your panties on the floor. Your wet panties. He instinctively went to pick them up and then frooze when he noticed what it was.

" I.. uh.. didn't think.. I just.." he said. As he paused you noticed him dragging his thumb across the wet spot. He looked at you and smiled. "So you had as much fun as I had last night I see." He said in a smug voice.

Oh shit. Was this real? Or did he get your name last night, was he just acting horny? You felt you might as well step it up. As he tried to hand the panties back to you you closed his hand around them.

" They're for you, I wanted you to know how wet you make me" you said, not breaking eye contact.

" you're so fucking hot y/n" he responded, still with a firm grip around your panties.

Spencer came up from behind Damien and before you could react he blurted out " Haha I got you, Damien I'm horny for y/n, I am so gonna win this game. But please bro, can you downplay it a bit so everyone doesn't figure it out. Damien nodded and went into the bathroom with your panties in his hand.

If it turns out he had your name you can just play it of as you both got way into the game. But if he doesn't have you, He must actually be into you. Is there a way I can figure it out? you thought to yourself. There is only one person who has your name, they might not have horny aswell but the should be attemting to showcase some feeling against you. Nobody stuck out yet.. but is that just because you've only beem paying attention to Damien?

Evening

"Okey to tonight's game is based around a little slide show. If you like it you take a sip, got it?" Courtney said looking around the room seeing everybody nodding back at her. "Let's begin". She winked at you.. Did she do this for you?

A woman wearing a full leather bodysuit with a zipper along the mouth showed up on the screen.

"nooo, broo, come on" you heard Angela cry out at Spencer took a big sip from his drink "just joking" he said with a sly smile on his face. "ye right" Chance clapped back.

As the pictures went up on the screen you observed Damian to see what made him drink.

Dom/sub

*sip*

You weren't suprised ever since the video of him interviewing more of his exes you were pretty sure what he said about being a soft dom was true. He was so kind and soft with his words you imagined he would be the same in the bedroom.

Biting

*sip*

You knew this from the same video, where he had said he was into biting but didn't want to hurt his partner. He was SOO a soft dom. He even said it again in another video with Angela when she was acting possesed and try to bite him: I'm usally into this sort of stuff. Why was he reaveling stuff like this, was it for someone? was it for you?

*Scratching*

Pet names

*sip*

Edging

*sip*

Age play

*sip*

This was new. You could totally se yourself playing into this. Telling him to be gentle with you, touching his cock like you've never touched one before. Maybe you could tease him, take control to make him punish you later.

Okay game on. You spilled the rest of your drink over yourself on purpose. There wasn't much left since you've taken a zip everytime that Damien has. " Oh no I'm going to have to go and change, excuse me" you said and went back into your room. You found just what you were looking for, a short skirt that flared out a bit, it was about as school girl that you could go without doing a whole Britney Spears look. You put your hair up leaving your neck bare with a low cut pink crop top on top. Lastly you took off your underwear.

He had waited outside your room for you leaning against the doorframe.

" I was wondering what you were gonna come out wearing" he looked down at your breasts, seeing your nipples through the thin material made him flinch " or not wear" he looked down to your skirt. "Oh, almost forgot my glass" while his eyes were still fixated on your skirt you bent down to grab your phone and revealed what you had on under your skirt, oir rather didn't have on.

"oh jesus" he exclaimed " your not wearing any fucking panties?" " I can't daddy" you said in your most innocent voice " you took them remember?"

" You are playing a very dangerous game with me sweetheart" he said his eyes darting all over your body not knowing which part to focus on. You looked at him and smiled "Teasing" then look a last sip from your glass.

[sonicasura]

I've been reading and going over Kaiju No 8 for awhile now. Kafka oozes pure disaster dad energy. The amount of times he accidentally parents his younger teammates and step in when need be is constant. Kafka clearly does a better job than a certain blonde teammate's father.

Anyway, why not really throw him through the dad shaped hole in the wall? I already got a few good examples. There's plenty of material from other media. I'll be adding some personal headcanons to Kafka's Kaiju behavior. Fully believe he wasn't unaffected mentally. Full headcanons here.

He has a feral side driven by primal maternal instincts. If the human half marks you as his kid(or whelp in kaiju term) then so will the other part. Feral side comes out under extreme distress like his whelps being in danger to a very powerful threat near them.

Kafka unconsciously exhibits animal behavior from his kaiju half. It ranges to purring, nuzzling, gentle headbutting, even grooming which includes licking. He's very embarrassed about that last bit cause he tries not to.

Also his Kaiju side is prone to adding changes without his consent. Extra appendages such as a tail, tendrils or even wings. This is merely so either mind can catch up and provide support like to his whelp. Kafka will struggle to will these away.

With that out of the way, let's get started.

Kirby

Yup. I'm really going there this time using Right Back At Ya cartoon for some inspiration. Kirby crashlands near Kafka's house a few years before the beginning of Kaiju No.8. The man across discovers the baby star warrior and is faced with an inner crisis.

It's clear Kirby is an alien but also a BABY. Kafka decides to keep the little pink puffball unaware of what said decision would bring. Like whenever he falls asleep, the man finds himself in Dreamland alongside Kirby. An unconscious effect from the Star Warrior that furthers strengthen into a small share of power aka being able to use Copy Abilities via Copy Essence.

Yup. I'm throwing Kafka through the ringer with the games first. He deserves a little heads up that his new kid is essentially a walking blackhole that can kill gods. Plus the boost is gonna be needed since Kafka won't have his Kaiju form until canon begins.

If you are wondering how he'll handle Kirby's appetite in his world, his job is cleaning up monster bodies. Thus any parts that will be trashed will go to the puffball instead. Yes, Kirby uses Cook Kirby to cook kaiju meat and share some with Kafka. A new business in the food entry might open up from it.

Finally we soon reach Kaiju No 8's events. Kirby is a stealthy little puffball who can find Kafka no matter where he is thanks to their bond. This connection being two way where emotions, location, current status and thoughts can be felt.

Kirby feels Kafka's distress from his kaiju transformation thus searches for him. Now the age range to join the Defense Force doesn't change here. Then how will Kafka keep his promise? Well it's quite a roundabout actually.

Kafka initially decided to help Reno get in while he tries to find a different legal way of getting into the forces. This way being an analyst from how quick he can pick out Kaiju weaknesses and strengths.

It was Reno's suggestion that led to this alongside being in the same division. Now Kafka trains his Kaiju abilities in both worlds. Finding training partners in Dreamland is easy but for his world it delves into vigilantism.

Kirby and him fight any kaiju that shows up on their radar if the Defense Force can't engage in time. The Star Warrior is listed as Kaiju No.8.5 by DF before you guys ask. It's mainly because he's never seen without 8.

How people view the duo is quite mixed. One part views them as heroes, one part is deciding/neutral and the last is a threat. A mix of emotions that even gotten to the Defense Force.

Engaging the two is very tricky and it's not just for potential backlash from the public. The Defense Force theorizes that No.8 treats No.8.5 as its whelp. Kaiju who follow their maternal instincts are much more dangerous than any other.

Thus everyone is in for quite a ride with this duo.

Rin Okumura

Next up we have the protagonist for Blue Exorcist and demon prince. I'll be doing a separated from birth scenario so Kafka shall be raising a more demon Rin. Earth and Assiah aren't in the same dimension either.

Now they don't officially meet until Rin is three. The cambion surviving on his own via animal blood, garbage or kaiju meat scraps. Kafka finds him when the toddler gets caught up in the aftermath of a Kaiju attack.

Like with Kirby, he's quite conflicted but decides to raise Rin. It starts off a little bumpy as the cambion much stronger than Kafka and his demon features are still present. Like the tiny horn nubs hidden underneath the fire, obvious tail, long ears, claws then finally fangs. Rin's flames only dissipate when he feels safe or content.

Can't forget his temperament either as Kafka been bitten a few times until the toddler truly trusts him. Once that does occur, anyone being mean to the man is met with Rin's wrath instead. Cambions are quite protective when it comes to their claims.

Kafka manages throughout it all as he plans how to become a Defense Force Member. His fellow Monster Sweepers know about Rin's condition and are fully protective of the kid. One reason why Kafka can keep attempting the test.

Rin is homeschooled and taught various things from controlling his fire to handling his anger than just basic education. The most important lesson is being reminded he is loved no matter what. The bond they both share grows stronger especially when Kaiju No.8's events officially starts.

Rin is present the moment Kafka turns into a kaiju. He also helps his father with this newfound power just like the man did for him. Reno is informed of Rin's inhuman status around the same time. Can I say brotherly relationship?

The father and son take out kaiju together but keep their identities hidden. No one has been able to identify Rin due to the young man always cloaking himself in blue fire. His obvious non-human visage marks him as Kaiju No.8.5.

The parent-whelp relationship between the two is quite clear to the Defense Force despite minimal confrontations. Analysts still try to clarify Rin's true form with no success from the intensity of the blue fire. Only thing they know is that he has a humanoid physique leading to speculations about both bearing a similar resemblance.

The cambion decides to join the Defense Force although as a potential trainee than full fledged member. Rin might be strong but he'll need to do some extra studies first. And an actual fighting style to use.

The path of the blade still follows Rin but he won't become an exorcist this time. Kafka will be there to help his son every step of the way. Whether they be human or not.

Link

Finally we got the bearer of the Hero's Spirit and eternal reincarnate, Link. I'll be going with BoTW/TotK iteration as I want to save OoT/MM for a different time. Linked Universe might have a part in this.

A camping trip gone wrong leads to late 20s Kafka to wake up outside the Shrine of Resurrection. He stumbles upon the newly awakened yet amnesiac Link. Feeling bad for the young man, Kafka helps the blonde on his journey. (Get home is a secondary goal.)

Throughout the adventure, Kafka helps Link more than just being a travel companion. He becomes an outlet for the Hero of Courage to express himself. A person to confess his sorrow, fears, and true feelings Link kept hidden from everyone else.

Unrelated note, Kafka is a magnet to fairy/divine creatures. Blupees follow him, the Great Fairies flirt, and the Sacred Dragons grant the man a gift should they cross paths. Kafka might've gotten a Blupee companion he named Konpeito.

Both however become separated upon the defeat of Calamity Ganon as Kafka returns to his world. (Konpeito comes with him.) One day, the older man begins to write letters to Link after receiving advice from a peculiar old woman. Letters that reach back and forth between the two worlds as they keep in contact.

Link and Kafka don't reunite until TotK begins. The latter has begun his first day as a kaiju. An accidental desperate wish from Link pulls the older man back to Hyrule. Both learn how to use their new powers as they journey to stop Ganondorf.

However Link's powers and Rauru's arms taken an unfortunate hold. The blonde slowly becoming a Zonai the more he uses his powers. Hero's Aspect is a conduit to make sure Link doesn't permanently lose his Hylian form. (I'll be designing the Zonai form later cause I don't like the Ancient Hero design. Also he's keeping Rauru's arm.)

Now this adventure comes with an incredible gift. A pair of Secret Stones that can allow travel between both worlds. Link decides to help Kafka join the Defense Force. Using his Zonai form, the Hylian hero helps the man fight kaiju in disguise.

Link is listed as Kaiju No.8.5 by the Defense Force since the two always fight together. Confrontation tends to be avoided especially when the Zonai got badly hurt amidst a kaiju battle. Kaiju No.8's fury and the immense damage to follow was proof enough.

Don't touch a whelp when the parent is around.

For Linked Universe(a fan LoZ comic series) shenanigans, it's a mix between being the Chain getting dumped there or Kafka and his son Tears get dragged in for temporary assistance. (TotK Link's nickname is Tears as BotW/Wild will be present). Entire reincarnation/curse business makes Kafka's head spin more than just the unknown enemy and portal mischief.

All these Links are technically his son so he is parenting all of them. Even Time(OoT/MM) whose probably a few years younger than him. Mostly everyone except for Wind(WW/PH) are befuddled or wary of the man who can become a mask monster. Nevermind the fact his world is ridden with giant beasts and kaiju attacks are normal.

Kafka is gonna have his hands cause everyone in the Chain reeks of various trauma. Trust issues, transformation based dysphoria, martyr behavior, and anything a Link adventure shall give. Plus his feral kaiju side is gonna rectify that whether everyone likes it or not.

"So what if you can turn into a wolf, Twilight(TP)? I think my scale covered mug would scare a lot more people." / "No one is gonna hurt you while I'm here, Hyrule(OG). They will be torn apart if they even dare try." / "Want some gum Wars(HW)? I heard it helps calm your nerves?"

Better watch out. This group of heroes got adopted by a himbo kaiju man and he won't hesitate to destroy anyone who dares harm them.

And that's it for now! Until next time folks, I'll see you later.