#like I've got the man blabbering in my ear! who knew

[satyricplotter]

i'll just say this one thing bc i don't wanna meddle but i rlly thought the excerpts would help beta!dick the most shhfjsg

[ticklishfiend]

Off-Button (My Hero Academia)

Pairing : Lee!Kaminari Ler!Bakugou

A/N : oh my god who new scumbag could actually post again, it's a marvel. no but fr, i've been lurking around the tickle tags forever and reading all of yall's amazing fics and i couldn't help getting back into it, even for just one fic. this isn't tickletober, i do not have the patience for that (u guys having the willpower to make something new every single day is fucking astounding to me idk how u do it lol), but i hope u guys enjoy it anyways! as always, please like and reblog if u can bc i really appreciate the support :D enjoy!! <3

Summary : Denki is incapable of being quiet during Bakugou and Kirishima's movie night they invited him to. Bakugou can't stand it, and decides to take matters into his own hands.

Word Count : 3359 

REBLOGS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!! LOVE U GUYS! <333

. . .

What the absolute fuck was Spiky Hair thinking when he invited that energy filled blabber mouth to their movie night. 

Denki hadn’t shut up since he got into the damn room, his mouth seemingly going for an exercise run when the movie started and he got to make his own commentary. Katsuki was hoping for a nice, relaxing time with his boyfriend, watch a horror movie or two so Eijirou would snuggle close for comfort, and just all around actually enjoy his evening. 

But goddamnit if Denki wasn’t just the right man for disturbing the peace.

“Holy shit, did you see that?! That head went FLYING! It looks like someone throwing a football to a field goal! Wait, is it a field goal? Kiri, what’s the difference between a touchdown and a field goal? I’m not much of a football man, more of a baseball kinda guy. Although, I’d never turn down tickets to the Superbowl if I ever got the chance. You know they have these huge performances in the middle of the game where famous singers take over the field and just go ham?! I’d go just for that! But not if-”

Katsuki was going to become the next serial killer in a blockbuster horror movie if Denki didn’t shut his fucking mouth soon.

He glared at Eijirou, who was grinning from ear to fucking ear. Oh he did this shit on purpose. He hangs out with Sparky way more than Katsuki does, able to withstand his constant rambling in a way the short-tempered teen has never been able to understand. 

It’s not that Katuski dislikes Denki, though he would never ever fucking admit that out loud. He actually finds him funny sometimes, especially when paired with Sero. The two would probably make a good stand-up duo if Denki wasn’t the type to steal the microphone away just to ramble about every stupid thought that popped into his mind. 

But overall, Katuski does enjoy his company…most of the time.

“-I mean I don’t hate vegetables, but I’m not gonna pick them if I have the choice, y’know? Like if I have the choice between a beautiful bowl of pre-packaged ramen and a fucking green bean, I’m going with the ramen every single time, no question. Oh, but fruit though? That’s a whole different story-”

“Holy shit do you have a FUCKING off button?!” Katsuki shouted to Denki’s spot on the floor, feeling Eijirou give his shoulder a tight squeeze in return. Katsuki whipped his head around to find a disapproving gaze that really pissed him off. “What?! This is supposed to be a movie night, but I haven’t been able to hear the damn thing for it’s entire fucking duration! He’s ruining it!”

“You don’t have to be rude,” Eijirou whispered with a frown. Denki had fallen unusually quiet, and though they couldn’t see his face from their spots up on the couch, they knew what that meant. Katsuki knew what that meant, and damn Eijirou for giving him the ability to feel empathy for others.

Katsuki sighed through a groan, pushing himself off the couch and onto the floor next to Denki. Both were quiet, just sitting next to each other and watching the movie together in an uncomfortable silence.

“I’m sorry for ruining your movie night,” Denki mumbled into his arms which were now propped crossed on his knees. Katsuki pinched his lips together, gaze refusing to avert from the screen.

“You didn’t ruin shit, idiot,” he said, his tone much softer than before. “ Our fault for thinking you could actually be quiet for an hour and a half.”

“Katsuki,” Eijirou threatened from the couch, his inflection enough to make Katsuki realize his mistake in words.

“It was a joke, relax,” Katsuki grumbled like a teen to a scolding parent. Finally looking over at Denki, he started to feel his guilt bubbling to a boil. He cringed hard when he realized what needed to be said, feeling the words practically squirming in his chest with utter discomfort. “I’m…sorry. Okay? I’m sorry,” Katsuki rubbed his face anxiously, basically covering his mouth like it would make his words unheard. “I just like watching shit in silence, alright? Nothing personal, you moron, just…agree to disagree, I guess.”

Denki sat there for a moment. He was letting Katsuki’s apology settle in his system like swallowing a pill he’d never taken before. Bakugou…apologized to him. Actually said the word sorry, and TWICE at that. He couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips.

Denki launched himself at Katsuki, throwing his arms around him tightly before Katsuki had the chance to realize he was fucking hugging him. Katsuki quickly shoved him off like he had a disease, but that smile never left Denki’s face.

“Don’t fucking touch me, Sparky! This changes nothing!”

“You like me!” Denki beamed, repeatedly poking at Katsuki’s arm like it would make him realize it himself. “You said sorry, you apologized to me! Kirishima, we’ve gotta throw a party or something, bake me a cake--shit, bake Bakugou a cake! This is a real turn of events, my friends, a real turning point in our friendship if I do say so myself,” Denki sighed happily, criss-crossing his legs and facing Katsuki with a wide smile. “You like me.”

Katsuki growled at the notion. He couldn’t even deny it, the bastard was right. But he didn’t have to be so damn smug about it. 

Then, like his guardian angel was sending him telepathic messages on how to fucking destory this loser, he remembered something. Something very interesting.

Last week, Sero and Denki had been roughhousing on the floor of the common rooms over something Katsuki couldn’t care less to find out about. All he knew was that Denki had been the annoying little shit he always is, and Sero was finally retaliating against it and winning. He had Denki in some weird wrestler hold, his arms held firm behind his back as he kicked and struggled and refused to apologize for whatever annoyance he had caused.

Then, there was a screech. A loud one, followed by bouts of hysterical laughter and far more thrashing than before. Sero was tickling at his ribs with his free hand, fingers never relenting from the one spot he had a firm ticklish grip on. Denki pleaded and begged, and eventually with enough persuasion, Denki apologized. 

Denki is ticklish, and apparently ridiculously so. This could be helpful. This could be vital.

“I suggest you shut your mouth right now before I find that fucking off button myself,” Katsuki threatened, his eyes peering through his brow in the way a predator would before striking its prey.

“Oh c’moooon, you wouldn’t hurt your best friend, would you?” Denki creened through a grin before giggling with his tongue stuck between his teeth. Such a little shit, he was really milking this for all it’s worth.

“Not gonna hurt you, fucknuts. But I am gonna make you regret everything you just fucking said,” Katsuki growled before shoving Denki onto his back, the electric blonde letting out a confused yelp as he went down flailing. Katsuki kept his hand pressed firmly on Denki’s chest, pinning him to the floor with ease as he clambered on top. 

“Woah, we turning this duo into a trio or what, KitKat?” Kirishima chided in, having been scrolling on his phone for the past minute before realizing the action that was happening right before his eyes.

“Can it, idiot. I’ve got business to attend to here,” Katsuki growled before turning back to Denki with an evil grin. “You ticklish, Sparkplug?”

Denki’s eyes went wide before immediately throwing his arms around himself to protect his torso. “Nope.”

“Ohoho really? You seem awfully nervous for someone who ain’t ticklish,” Katsuki wiggled his fingers in the air menacingly, like a predator about to strike. “And if I recall correctly, Sero had you pretty fuckin’ beat the other day after you tried your luck annoying the shit outta him too.”

Denki’s lips pressed together tightly, the corners wobbling in a vain attempt to keep from giggling already. He shook his head vehemently. “No idea what you’re talking about,” his words came out quick, curling his lips under his teeth as soon as his talking ceased.

“Oh yeah? Well how ‘bout I jog your memory a bit; get that pea-brain of yours back up to speed, huh?” Katsuki slowly moved his wiggling fingers down towards Denki’s sides, the electric blonde unable to keep his giggles in any longer as they flowed out of him through puffs of air through his nose and a bouncing chest filled with butterflies. He swatted slapping hands at Katsuki's quickly, trying to both fight back while also protecting himself at the same time. His elbows stayed glued to his ribs while his hands uselessly bat at the weapons of mass destruction easing towards his torso.

“No, nonono nohoho wahahait,” he giggled nervously, having yet to even be tickled but unable to keep it at bay any longer. 

“Nah, it’s too late for that shit,” Katsuki growled before finally striking, fingers pinching strategically at the boy’s sides right below his ribs. Denki screeched, back arching and legs kicking out behind his tormenter as he reached down to grip Katsuki’s wrists and try to push them away, but it was futile. Giggles poured from him with ease, interlaced with squeals when Katsuki’s fingers came just a bit too close to his ribs for comfort.

“Ahahaha! Wahahait, c’mohohon! Dohohon’t!” Denki shook his head, trying to find any relief from that torturously funny sensation Katsuki delivered to him through gentle pinches and scribbles.

That was another thing throwing Denki completely for a loop; Bakugou was being so gentle. He expected rough digging, hard squeezes that would leave him gasping for air and swirling punches. But instead he got agonizingly tame, insanely ticklish pinches that had him already nearly pleading for mercy. 

“Don’t? Please, you asked for this as soon as you tried fucking with me. I was even being nice to you before, idiot. But noooo, you just had to keep poking the damn bear, didn’t you?” Katsuki emphasized his metaphor by sporadically poking all over Denki’s torso, at his belly, then his sides, up to his ribs, and even his chest, which Denki didn’t know could feel as ticklish as it did.

Denki giggled hysterically, squirming like a worm with his arms pulled close, basically giving up the fight and letting Katsuki do as he pleases. He knew he wouldn’t win if he tried, so he might as well let it happen until Bakugou tires himself out with it.

That is, until, Katsuki’s thumbs found their way into the hollows of Denki’s armpits. Denki squealed loudly, his heels digging hard into the carpet with every kick as his head turned to try and smush his red face into the floor beside him. 

“Oh, sweet spot, huh?” Katsuki grinned, thumbs practically glued to that little spot under Denki’s arms that kept the boy cackling and squirming like crazy. “You seeing this, Kiri? Think he’s gonna keep messing with me after this?”

Eijirou chuckled, phone now beside him on the couch as he enjoyed the show before him. “Oh definitely. Guy’s a glutton for punishment.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see about that after I’m done with him.”

Denki blushed deeply, turning his head towards Kiri and opening a single eye as best he could with his face all scrunched in laughter. “Kirihihieehehe! Pleheheease! Hehehelp me!” he gasped for air through giggles, talking through his hysteria quite the difficult task. “Mahahake him stohohop!” 

“Oh no, absolutely not. You got what’s coming to you, gigglebox, and I’m not interfering with him when he’s like this,” Eijirou couldn’t help but laugh along, the boy’s laughter too contagious to help it.

“You could always help me, y'know? Cause you already know what I’ll do to you if you don’t, gigglebox,” Katsuki sent Eijirou a wicked smile, fingers still tickling the boy under him relentlessly. Eijirou blushed, before getting up from the couch with a sigh.

“Sorry, Denks, nothing personal,” he apologized with a giggle, obviously not sorry in the slightest. He sat down above Denki’s head, giving his hair a little tussle.

“Nohoho! You dohohon’t hahahave to do thihis!” Denki’s squirming increased before letting in a big gasp of air as Katsuki’s assault finally relented, though his arms stayed glued tightly to his sides. “C’mohon, man, we’re friehehends!” 

“Yeah, yeah, we’re friends, man. And no, I don’t have to do this,” Kiri grinned before grabbing Denki’s wrists, trying to pull them up above his head. Denki tried hard to keep them down, unable to keep the giggles to himself in pure anticipation, repeating “nonononohoho!” as he felt Kiri winning the fight for his hands. They came to a standstill when his hands were near his face, Denki pulling hard to keep them down.  “But I kinda want to, y’know?” Kiri giggled, giving Katsuki a look. “A little help, love?”

“No problem,” Katsuki smiled before bringing his fingers up to flutter softly at Denki’s neck and ears. Denki squealed, high-pitched giggles escaping as he struggled to keep his strength, too focused now on trying to protect his neck with his shoulders. This allowed Kiri to finally pull his arms up above his head and pin them there by the wrists, Denki whining loudly and kicking his legs out in protest.

“Plehehease! I’m sorry, okahay, don’t tickle mehehee!” He pleaded, bringing his knees up to drum against Katsuki’s back.

“Don’t care, didn’t ask,” Katsuki said before bringing his fingers down to flutter softly against Denki’s armpits through his shirt, the boy squealing and screaming out a “no!” in response before falling helplessly into giggles and cackles. “Plus, this is kinda fun.”

His fingers fluttered and spidered for a while, relishing in Denki’s frantic laughter. Katsuki got bored of the flutters after a while, switching to pinching up and down Denki’s ribcage with gentle precision. 

“Nohohoho! I cahahahan’t, mahahan, plehehease! It tihihickles!” Denki shoved his face into his now raised arm, trying to muffle his giggles and hide his flushed face.

“Damn right it tickles, I’m tickling you,” Katsuki looked at Eijirou with a mocking shake of the head and a sigh. “This fuckin’ guy, amirite?”

“His face is so red, man. I think he’s embarrassed ~,” Kiri cooed down towards Denki’s face, giggling at the squeal his words brought.

“I’m nohohot! I’m nohohohot!” Denki shook his head into his arm, squirming even harder and screaming as one of Katsuki’s hands came up to flutter at the open side of his neck, the other still preoccupied at his ribs.

“He’s tryna deny it, Kiri,” Katsuki tsked before bringing his face closer to Denki’s. “You know what we do to liars around here?”

“Nohoho!” Denki cried, not sure if he was replying to Katsuki’s teasing question or just yelling out his preferred word to cry out in ticklish agony.

“Weeeeee…” Katsuki paused both his sentence and his tickling, his hands standing still in the spots they were last playing with. Denki continued to giggle through his panting breath, body tense in anticipation and eyes squeezed shut tight. Seconds passed and still, nothing. Curiosity killed the cat, but Denki couldn’t help opening one of his eyes hesitantly and looking up at Katsuki’s wicked grin. 

Then, he screamed when Katsuki’s hands shot down quickly to squeeze at his hips, falling yet again into helpless cackles. “...tikitikitikitikitickle them!”

“Ahahahaha gohohohod! Thahat’s sohoho- pppffttt hahahaha! -stuhuhupihihid!” Denki shook his head in protest, kicking and bucking his hips like he could knock off his tickler with one good throw. Obviously it didn’t work, and Katsuki continued to tickle him while staying put like he was riding a bull.

“Oh, you callin’ me stupid now? Do you really think that’s the smartest move to make when I’ve got you squealing like a little girl for saying some stupid shit earlier?’”

“I juhuhust said- gahahahaha nohoho! -thahat you lihihike mehehee!” 

“Yeah and how did that turn out for you?” Katsuki asked before scribbling his hands over Denki’s waist, the boy screeching and giggling frantically in response.

“Bahahahad! Sohoho bahahahd!”

“That’s what I thought,” Katsuki grinned before going back to poking around Denki’s belly, a much easier task now that Denki’s flailing arms were out of the equation. “How’s about we find that little off button we discussed earlier, huh? Maybe we can finally get you to shut your trap for once.”

Eijirou giggled with a shake of his head. “You are so mean, Katsuki.”

“Yeah, yeah, you love it,” Katsuki looked at Denki’s face, grinning at the blush he wore and the giant smile overtaking his features and making his nose scrunch up all cutely. “And from the looks of it, so does this little guy. You enjoyin’ yourself up there, dumbass?”

Denki’s belly bounced through his giggles, much softer than before now that he was just being poked at, but still frantic as his belly was very ticklish. “Nohoho!”

“I think that’s the word of the day. ‘No, no, no,’ it’s all you’ve said since we started this shit. You mean that? You want us to stop? Cause hey, say the word and playtime’s over, Sparkplug.”

For the first time since their little tickle fest started, Denki had nothing to say. Just a response of happy giggles and an even brighter blush that he yet again tried hiding in his arm.

“Well would you look at that! Seems like our friend here has some sense after all,” Katsuki smiled up at Eijirou, who rolled his eyes fondly. The redhead already knew Denki didn’t mind the tickles as much as he loved to claim he did, so he wasn’t surprised in the least to find him happily allowing them to continue the torment. 

Katsuki’s pokes never ceased, like they were still on the hunt. “So, about that off button…” He hummed curiously, his pokes traveling all around his belly, sides, and ribs like in a search. “Oh, I know. How about riiiiiight…here!” He stuck his finger in Denki’s bellybutton, scratching and poking at it gently but very obviously efficiently, as the blonde under him let out a loud squeal before his laughs fell silent. Just a bouncing chest and belly with occasional gasps for air to prove he was still laughing up a storm on the inside.

“Hehey, I think you found it! See, he’s gone all quiet now!” Eijirou boasted, looking down at Denki’s hysterical expression with a chuckle.

“Well ain’t that a relief,” Katsuki said, eyebrows shooting up when Denki’s cackles and shrieks returned in a wild new wave. “Guess we know how to shut him up now. Just a little tickle right in this off-button and we’ve got a nice night of peace and quiet,” he said with a hint of sarcasm, as Denki’s laughter had never been louder than now.

Finally, Katsuki’s assault ceased, giving Eijirou a nod to let his arms go. Denki brought them down over his belly protectively, rolling over on his side to curl into a ball of giggles when Katsuki got off and sat next to him.

“So, you still think I like you, numbnuts?” Katsuki asked, grinning proudly as his boyfriend rubbed Denki’s back.

“Ehehe…yeah, kinda,” Denki looked at Katsuki over his shoulder. “I mean, you did just have a tickle fight with me, man. Not really something non-friends do with each other.”

“Hey, not a tickle fight. I didn’t see you getting any jabs in there, did I?” Katsuki said with a poke to Denki’s side, the boy flinching with a yelp before scooting closer to Eijirou like he’d protect him from mean ‘ole Bakugou.

“Fine, a tickle attack then. Either way…” Denki tilted his head with a smug expression, a smile still very present on his face. “...you totally like me.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes before getting up and plopping himself back on the couch, grabbing his phone to scroll like nothing happened. “Whatever, idiot. Just know who you’re messing with.”

Denki giggled, looking up at Kirishima who shook his head with a fond smile. “Trust me, I am very well aware.”

There was a comfortable silence between the three of them before they all seemed to realize at the same time, it wasn’t actually silent in the room.

The movie was still on.

“Oh fucking hell you’ve gotta be KIDDING ME-“

. . .

A/N : hope y'all enjoyed! im working on another fic rn but don't plan on that coming out super soon, y'all know how long it takes me to write sometimes and i've kinda been drowning in schoolwork lately. college is truly a different experience LMAO. anyways, much love y'all imma go do some homework and hopefully get some sleep tonight.

[saeneryis]

Viktor trying something new. (NSFW Headcanons)

Includes: Viktor x Reader (Gender Neutral) Warnings: costumes, risky sex, unfairness, fingering, oral sex.

• At first the idea of costumes seemed a little.. uh.. confusing. You got him to soften up to it by surprising him in the bedroom wearing a very and i mean, very revealing version of what seemed to be a bunny-maid themed cosplay. He lost it. Suddenly the man's really into costumes! The thought of you dressing up for him made him moan in arousal as his hands made quick work of the outfit. He asured you, the best thing about dressing up, was taking it off. (You did. In fact, try to get him to wear the bunny-maid outfit himself. He's not willing to. In his opinion, his.. uh... lower crotch seems to cause a bit of a strain)

• Viktor loves risk, the adrenaline that comes from doing it in the most unexpected sudden places makes the whole experience extremely hot. One day, stars align, it's really late at night, and no one's in sight. You pull under the table and begin sucking him off. I can tell you now, he won't last long. The threat of anyone walking in any second, of being seen doing such things in public, he can't control it. Panic overflows from his mouth as he keeps blabbering "please.. be careful" in between moans. "Anyone might walk in...."

• Hear me out, this man... is unfair. Be careful what ideas you suggest, especially those that embarass him, because although he will agree.. he will definitely get his due. One time he knew you were so needy for him, but instead, he asked you to touch yourself in front of him. He got joy out of watching you stare at him while playing with yourself, as he simply just... watched. And waited. "Cum? No. Not yet... It's not time..." He whispers on your ear, while denying you of the orgasm you've been chasing. • And the best thing you have every tried with Viktor, is trying to play the game of who lasts longer without finishing. It's endearing, how his tongue desperately reaches for your entrance while his digits play with you at the same time. On your turn, you'll gladly suck him off and proceed to slowly yet deliciously moan into his ear. Glad to say, it's been a tie so far.

Writer’s Note: Hi there! Thank you so much for reading! I'm happy to say I've officialy started writing my long project ♡ It's probably gonna be one of my longest, more complicated Viktor works. I'm full on serious about it, so it'll probably be a while before it sees the light of day. But i'm so freaking excited!!! I also want to use this opportunity to THANK anyone who has liked, reblogged, and commented. I wish I could respond to reblogs! It's amazing seeing that you guys enjoy the content as much as I do! And I promise, I read all of them... :D Really creative with the tags.

[bluecookies02]

When they make you cry

pairings: Hawks x Reader, Dabi x Reader, Bakugou x Reader, Aizawa x Reader, Izuku x Reader, Tamaki x Reader

Tamaki, Bakugou and Hawks are in a female!reader perspective, the rest of them are Gender Neutral

warnings: angst to fluff

masterlist

Hawks will get cocky, laughing in your face when he sees your shocked expression.

Both of you were going at each others throats, spitting insults to one another, just your recent daily routine.

Now Hawks knew you were a tough gal, which in his head made it alright for him to strike a really painful nerve into your chest.

As you remained speechless he turned around, a winning smirk plastered on his lips.

Just as he took a few steps forward, sobs wrecked your body as you hid your face in your hands.

"I d-don't think I can take this anymore Keigo" your broken voice reached his ears.

A pang of guilt pierced his chest once he turned around to face you.

He did this. He made you cry. He completely drained your happiness out. He hurt you.

His teeth dug into his lip, his eyes stinging as tears picked at them.

At that point, he didn't give two shits about who's right and who's wrong, his arms reaching for you and wrapping themselves around your shaking form.

He held you there for a while, listening to your cries that gradually turned into soft sniffles against his chest.

"I-" He opens his mouth but his words remained stuck at his throat.

"I don't want us to end..." you mumbled, your own words throwing you into another sobbing fit.

"We won't end here kid, I've got you...shit...I'm a fucking idiot...of course we won't end sweetheart...c'mon look at me" he raised your chin up gently, looking into your red eyes.

"I'm sorry, fuck I'm sorry...not just for today, for every day before this, I-, God... don't leave kid, p-please"

You stared at his face, tears now streaming down his cheeks as his grip on you tightened.

You swallow the lump in your throat, grabbing his hands in yours.

"Something has to change Keigo...I miss you...we've been distant for months. Sometimes you don't even come home to me, do you know how that feels?"

"I know, I know, I swear... I miss you too. I'll tell you about everything I promise. Let's go home please."

You hesitantly nod, putting your heart on the line for the last time.

And now looking back, you're glad you did.

//quirk: flesh manipulation (the reader can manipulate the molecules in a person's flesh just by touching it, making them useful mid-battle to make the other heroes ready to fight again in a matter of seconds, but also making them a threat to their enemies )

If there was one thing he despised about you, it was your guts.

Hell curse him for falling in love with someone so stubborn.

To live through a relationship with Dabi meant that you had to have though skin. You had to be strong enough to bite your cheeks and endure the issues that people in regular relationships never face.

He enters your home, covered in bruises and cuts, asking for your first aid kit.

You sigh to yourself, your usual nagging and yelling never reaching his ears.

You place the first aid kit onto your bedside table, turning your back to him, tiredly walking out of the room.

"Hey-" his voice calls out to you, quiet and confused.

You close the door behind you, making your way to your couch.

One of these days it'll be the last time he walks into your home, the last time you help him clean his cuts and the last time you hear his voice.

The weight of uncertainty pulls at your chest harder with every passing day.

He chose to continue living like this, he is the one that keeps ruining his own life, it's his ambitions that are making you this miserable.

Once he patches himself up, he sits on your bed for a while. Your silance meaning one thing and one thing only. You finally realized how pointless being with him is, you finally got it through your thick skull that he's nothing special to dwell about.

Time passes by quickly, a few hours already gone yet he's still glued to the same spot, not having the strength to leave your room, too scared to face your rejection once he gets out.

He should be happy for you, you won't be hurting anymore, you'll be able to find someone better.

He slowly twists the knob, taking slow steps through your living room.

You are laying on your couch, tear stains on your face and a tissue crumbled in your hand.

His chest tightenes at the sight. You cried yourself to sleep. He wonders... how many times did you cry over him? How many times would you just lay here as he carelessly roamed the streets?

He should leave...he should spare you the pain he brings. You were the only good thing in his life and by continuing this he'll ruin you, piece by piece.

You showed nothing but kindness to him, you made him realize that some people are worth getting close to, you being a hero also making his resolves shake under his feet.

He stretched his arm out to your cheek, careful not to wake you up.

He left a soft kiss to your temple before leaving your house.

-----

You woke up to a persistent ring of your doorbell.

You felt terrible...your hair was a mess, your nose was all clogged up and your eyes burned from all the crying.

You opened your door with annoyance, mad at whoever decided to burst your sadness bubble.

"Hey doll, I would've let myself in but my hands are kinda busy"

Your boyfriend stood there with a backpack on his shoulder and a carton box in his hands.

"So...do you happen to have a room to spare for a year or two...maybe three?"

You stare in disbelief your hand covering your mouth.

"I know that me being a villain might be a setback but...I got some hair dye? I might even consider letting you fix my jigsaw face."

Your body crashed into his, the box dropping to the ground as you squeezed your arms around him.

Maybe he can make you as happy as you make him.

You knew he was rough around the edges, but you never even imagined that you would be the one his rage would be directed at.

As soon as insults came crashing your way you left the room.

You were just trying to calm him down, placing your hand on his shoulder as you urged him to stop shouting and just let it go.

His rough hands grabbed yours, throwing your hand away like you were a mere fly, his quirk burning your skin.

You tried calling out to him just for him to snap around and scream at you.

Once you reached your dorm tears freely rolled down your cheeks.

You yearned for a normal relationship, longed for some peace and quiet just for a week or two.

Yet you just couldn't let the blonde go, always hoping for some miracle to come your way and take ahold of his ego.

--------

It's around 2 am and he can't fall asleep for the hell of it.

You're not picking up his calls nor answering his texts and you've been inactive on social media for hours.

Kirishima has been urging him to go to your dorm for two hours already, spamming him massages about him not being manly enough to win you back.

It's not like he doesn't want to, he just has no idea how to. Should he get you something? Get you some food and flowers? Where the fuck can he find all these things at 2 am? Isn't that how people in movies apologize or something...

He hates when you're mad at him, he is scared shitless of actually scaring you off and pushing you away.

A knock at your door snaps you out of your thoughts and a small flame of hope warms your heart for a split second as you make your way to your door.

He's holding a gray hoodie and a pair of bento boxes.

"That's not gonna fix it Katsuki."

"I know shitty woman you didn't even give me a chance to speak!"

You're sure that that's the first time Bakugou said the word "sorry" in his whole life.

The way it rolled off his tongue was shaky but somewhat determined, his hand grabbing ahold of yours gently.

Guilt was evident on his face as he stroked the bandages covering your hands.

"It's not that bad Katsu, and I understand that it was an accident." you mumbled trying to pull from his grip so he can focus on something else.

He grabbed ahold of your wrists, bringing your palms to his lips.

"I'll work on it, I promise. It'll never happen again. I mean it." you just give a soft nod, leading him to the table.

"Good. Now let's eat, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" you cheered, opening the bentos and stuffing your mouth with rice.

"Y/N...it's 4 am."

"Exactly, now eat, you're not gonna let me eat all of this by myself?!"

For this man, it was close to impossible to make his s/o cry.

He cherishes the relationship he has with you, making you feel special every single day at a time.

So when he sees you crying, he's confused and alarmed.

He reaches for you, trying his best to give you the comfort he thinks you need.

When you push his hands away and scream at him...Oh boy...

He's terrified.

Did he do something? Did he forget your anniversary? Your birthday? Did he eat your snack from the fridge??

You're pulling at the strands of your hair, your head buried into your knees as you sob.

He looks around, eyes widening when he sees a photo of himself and some girl kissing on the screen of your phone.

He wasn't there? He has proof! He was in a meeting! All of his colleagues could confirm that, he just needs you to listen! Please listen to him.

He's talking...blabbering...begging for you to just look at him.

As soon as you look up for a split second, he's hugging you, smothering your face in kisses as you weakly try to push him away.

Finally he leans his forehead against yours, letting out a long sigh of relief when he realizes that you're not crying anymore.

"Please Shouta, please, if you even have any respect for me, don't lie to me." you mumble out coldly, turning your head from him.

"Y/N, I would never, ever do that to you! Never! I love you so much, please, you have to know that, you do know that!"

You're too stubborn, but he calls all of his colleges one by one, putting them on speaker for you, asking about the time of the meeting or details of the meeting and they all have the same answer.

So now, your throat is dry and there's a lump in your throat, guilt eating at you as you try to apologize.

He couldn't give two shits about any of that, all he has to know is that you're okay and that you're still his.

He's not letting you go for the rest of the day, you're wrapped under the blankets with him as he makes sure you never believe the bullshit you see online.

"Sweetheart if I ever cheat on you, that's the day I cut my own dick off and bleed to death."

It makes you giggle and then laugh hysterically and he's just looking at you with the biggest heart eyes 🥺

Izuku would never do anything to make you cry.

He pays attention to every single detail in your relationship and he especially pays attention to your feelings.

What he is really bad at, is taking care of himself.

He doesn't take in consideration how you feel when he comes home all stitched up and tired, or how he stays up late to train and push himself further than his body can take.

However one day, he is exhausted from his training and he barely has any strength left. His phone rings and he is rushing out the door, already panting.

You don't reach him in time to stop him, so here you are, hours later next to his hospital bed.

The villain wasn't too powerful, but his state caused him to pass out in the middle of the bettle field.

As soon as he wakes up, you're yelling at him, but at the same time sobbing against his chest.

"I can't just stand here and watch you hurt yourself Zuku... I can't, I can't, I can't....O-one of these days you're just gonna slip away from my hands, I can't. Please" You're grip on him softens as you loose the strength in your hands.

His arms wrap themselves around you, trying his best not to flinch as you rub against his bandages.

His eyes are watering, realization dawning on him as he holds your tired body against him.

You're right...He sees the state of himself after a lowlife villain with a pathetic quirk sent him into the hospital. He doesn't even want to think about what would've happened if there was someone much stronger out there.

"Hey Y/N...I-...I might take a week off, to rest yeah? Does that sound good?"

You nod, wiping away the tears as you sniffle.

"And you won't be training at night anymore. And you won't be staying up late!" you scold as he rubs your cheeks.

"I won't. I promise." he places a kiss at your temple, pulling you onto the hospital bed next to him.

"Let's sleep for a bit yeah? I might owe you a few hours..."

You're crying, he's crying.

He's down on one knee and he's stuttering, his hands shaking as he hears you cry out a happy "Yes".

He barely gets the ring on your finger, burying his head into your neck as soon as he gets to his feet.

You always thought that he was going to propose to you at home, maybe some homecooked dinner with roses and candles. You didn't mind that option either.

You were surprised that he even suggested a walk in the park.

I mean, it was a really small park with little to no people in the area but it was beautiful nonetheless.

You're all giddy and happy as he takes your hand in his, his eyes always glancing at the ring on your finger.

Once you spot an ice cream stand you leap in happiness, rushing to get ice cream for the both of you.

The lady selling it smiles brightly at you.

"Is that the lucky guy?" you nod grabbing your icecream as Tamaki hides behind you.

"Good job sweetheart, you're making this lady very happy, I can feel it in my old bones" you laugh at her remark as you nudge Tamaki forward.

She hands him his ice cream and winks at him.

He's blushing and thanking the lady before running off to an empty bench.

”He’s a lil’ shy but he's got the spirit” you say to the lady as you rush off to get him.

You take the time to really study the ring, the beautiful blue crystal shining in the sun.

”I...I hope you l-like it...Nejire helped me out. Uhm I probably shouldn't have said that...S-she-"

"I like it Tama...I love it actually" you place a gentle kiss just at the corner of his lips, his hands grabbing your cheeks and kissing you deeply in return.

His cheeks are warm and his lips are slow against yours but you melt against him, letting him place you in his lap.

"Oh my God, I have a fiancé, oh my God, I have to call Mirio and tell him you said yes. You said yes, right?"

You laugh as you shake your head at him, playing with his hair as he fumbles with his phone.

All of the pictures are from the original anime/manga (please do correct me if I'm wrong in the comments below)

The Tamaki one has no angst in it because I had to heal from all of the emotional rollercosters.

___________

requests:closed

commissions:open

Ko-Fi | Patreon 

[dorkydiaz]

When I tell you my city soul died as I wrote this- it is not an exaggeration.

So enjoy the pure crack of Buck singing Any Man of Mine by Shania Twain, then Eddie retaliating with Your Man by Josh Turner.

Dedicated to the Scream Corner- You know who you are and what you have done.

“So, what are you singing this time around?” Hen asked Buck

“This time it’s a surprise”

“You are keeping your song a secret?” Chim gasped.

“I know I know, I am usually such a blabber mouth but this one is special.”

Someone finished up their rendition of Should I Stay or Should I Go,

“All right I’m up.” Buck said with a grin as he got up from his seat.

The opening beats of the song began and the whole bar started clapping along and cheering him on.

Buck had a huge grin on his face as he began to sing.

This is what a man wants

Any man of mine better be proud of me

Even when I'm ugly, he still better love me

And I can be late for a date that's fine

But he better be on time

Eddie was taken aback. Was Buck just having some fun by singing this song or…

Once Buck hit the first chorus a cowboy hat had come out of nowhere. Maybe someone in the audience gave it to him? Eddie was too focused on Buck to really notice where it had come from. He also never noticed that Buck had started doing a dance along to the song that seemed to be something that was choreographed as there were people dancing along with him.

When Buck was on the second chorus Buck was flirting with the audience- wait, no, Buck was flirting with Eddie. Or just in his general direction.

And then as the song approached the third chorus when Buck stared at him while he belted,

Yeah, I like it that way

Eddie knew this was all on purpose, only confirmed by the held eye contact with winks and hat tips to really drive the point home during the chorus,

Any man of mine better walk the line- hat tip

Better show me a teasin' squeezin' pleasin' kinda time- a wink

I need a man who knows, how the story goes

He's gotta be a heartbeatin' fine treatin'

Breathtakin' earthquakin' kind - both. At the same time.

Any man of mine, woo

The blush had reached the tips of Eddie’s ears.

Buck was definitely having too much fun with this.

During the breakdown Buck hopped off the stage and continued with the choreographed dance while making his way towards Eddie. Buck circled his chair as he danced along with the song.

Buck stopped in front of him for the last lines,

If you want to be a man of mine, that's right,

This is what a man wants

As the song faded out Buck placed the cowboy hat on Eddie’s head. And winked at him again. Then turned to return the microphone back to the stand on the stage.

And Eddie just sat there dumbfounded.

***

When Buck returned to the table Eddie had disappeared.

Shit.

He didn’t see Eddie stop by the DJs table and then quietly stand to the side of the stage.

Eddie never sang anything during karaoke night. He just reveled with everyone else as they made fools out of themselves. So Buck figured he had taken it too far with Eddie this time, and he had left.

The opening notes of the next song played over the speakers and Buck glanced up.

There was Eddie on the stage. Still wearing the cowboy hat, it was pulled down, but he was still able to stare at Buck. And in a low smooth timbre, complete with the twang, he began singing,

Baby, lock the door and turn the lights down low

And put some music on that's soft and slow

Baby, we ain't got no place to go

I hope you understand

A few people took out their phones and waved their flashlights along with the music.

A huge lump formed in Buck’s throat. This was just retaliation right?

Eddie’s eyes never wavered from Buck,

Ain't nobody ever love nobody

The way that I love you

We're alone now

You don't know how long I've wanted to...

At this point Eddie had stepped off the stage, and walked over to Buck, he had somehow gotten Buck to stand up. Honestly Buck thought he was having some sort of fever dream.

And Eddie was mere inches from Buck as he sung the last lines,

I can't believe how much it turns me on

Just to be your man

He winked at Buck.

But this was definitely more than retaliation.

Cause Eddie was still standing there.

Centimeters from Buck’s face. The heat between them is undeniable. And if the Bar was cheering for Eddie’s performance, neither of them noticed.

“Let’s get out of here.” Buck whispered.

And if they made out in the parking lot before driving home, well, that was their business.

[undertaker1827]

Can I request an imagine for Undertaker? Reader is his apprentice. (Mortuary not reaper apprentice) and her school is offering her a different funeral home for her career which upsets Undertaker. But reader tells him that she already turned down the offer because she likes London and. "Why would I leave the only man I've ever loved?""

Oh wow I loved writing this one!! Be warned; I went absolutely overboard, it’s probably far more dramatic than you were looking for and we’ve hit the 2000 word mark!! Whoo hoo! Also, there’s angst in the middle, but much fluff either side. Enjoy!

-

It was bright and early in the morning when you arrived at your place of work - well, place of apprenticeship at least. It was not the first choice most people went for, you supposed, when choosing a career, but you had always had your sights set on entering the funeral business. You found there to be something peaceful and somehow satisfying in organising a person’s final celebration. You also had something of a weird sense of humour, which was no doubt the main reason for getting on so well with a certain funeral director. It must have been coincidence that your apprenticeship led you to one particular, peculiar little parlour, or perhaps an unusually kind turn of fate.

You entered the shop without once trying to check for your keys, knowing the door was almost always open. A grin made its way onto your face in preparation for greeting the shop’s owner, your technically-boss whom you had grown incredibly fond over across the span of the past few months. You glanced around the front room, eyes much happier in the darkness compared to the bright sunlight failing to beam through the dusty window on the door. When a characteristic creaking of hinges scratched past your ears, you turned to the coffin propped up against the wall on your immediate left, only to be greeted by a flying bear hug. Something you had learned about the mortician fairly early on in this apprenticeship was his entire lack of comprehensibility with regards to personal space. It was simply not something he payed any mind to. Luckily for you, it was never something you were overly concerned about either.

The breath left your lungs in a graceless huff as you were crushed against Undertaker, who was utterly thrilled at your scheduled appearance. You could practically feel the excitement radiating off him. Laughing, you wrapped your arms around him in return, resting your forehead on his shoulder.

“Good mornin’, m’lady,” he started in a singsong tone, “and what is it I can help you with today?” You chuckled even more at his hilarious antics. It had been like this for a while now, ever since Undertaker had acclimatised to your presence and come to realise how much you both had in common. You were not much different, having been delighted upon realising your similarities and confusion towards people who considered themselves ‘normal’. Anyone out of the ordinary was always a far more interesting character. You treasured the moments you got to spend with the mortician, so much so that you had approached him around a month ago to ask if you could start coming in on weekends as well, even though the apprenticeship only required weekdays. To say he was ecstatic after that request would be the understatement of the century.

“You know, some tea and a biscuit or two really wouldn’t go amiss,” you confessed in a stage whisper, glancing at him out of the corner of your eye as though checking there was no one else to hear your request.

“My dear, I couldn’t agree more. I just finished a fresh batch.” With that, he whisked you away through the door leading to the kitchen. That was something else you loved about being with Undertaker - he very rarely called you by your actual name. It was always ‘my dear’, or ‘my lady’ when he was messing about. He had begun to adopt ‘love’ more recently too. Even thinking about it brought a warmth to your chest, made your heart swell. You couldn’t help but wonder if you were the only one he called by such names. You already spent most of your time at the funeral parlour; the only visitors he seemed to get outside of blurry-eyed customers was a young earl and his butler, although you got the impression that he was not overly fond of you being around at the same time as they were. It occurred to you, not for the first time, that craving physical contact as he did was probably due to loneliness, at least in part. Not that he would ever admit feeling something so sad to you.

-

Undertaker had heard about it before even you did. Your school wanted to move you on to a different funeral home. You would get more experience, travel to different places, meet new people. Ultimately, it would make it easier for you when you started working full time at a funeral home, or eventually when you set up your own. He understood all of that perfectly.

It made no difference.

He thought about you working where they had suggested, a quaint place up in Yorkshire - all pink flowers and seaside communities. Nothing at all like the eccentric, dark place he ran. No mystery, no interesting past - not that he could think of, at least. And most importantly, nowhere near London. Of course, London came with its own set of problems; you were far more likely to get attacked here, mugged or the like, than in the North. But here, he was present to make sure that nothing happened to you. He was more than capable of doing so when you lived in the same city and you spent most of your time with him anyway. This was something that would not be possible if you left. And, frankly, why would you stay? What reason would have? Him? Please. As if you were some fairy tale princess choosing to stay with your prince over your own future. It just wouldn’t happen.

As such, he consigned himself to the fact. He went and baked a collection of biscuits to see you off with - after all, they had said you would have to leave immediately should you so choose, lest someone else take the spot reserved for you only within a time limit. Schedules and reports and formalities that Undertaker would never subject himself to again. You probably liked organisation.

He had not even tried to sleep after some self-righteous receptionist had rudely delivered the news that you would be leaving, with absolute certainty, even though it was not her choice to make. “I have been to your parlour before, to check it was a suitable place for a young apprentice. The rafters were still relatively stable, I suppose, but why on Earth she picked a place like yours to begin with…” Even over the phone, he could hear her frail, blossom adorned façade shudder in disgust. “I am sure I would never know.” He was now doubting himself, certain that whatever he thought you felt towards him, no matter how platonic, was just a figment of his isolated mind. Why would you pick him? Why would you? Why would you.

Therefore, he had obstinately decided to spend the night baking, so at the very least he would have a parting gift for you. You were supposed to have arrived five minutes ago.

-

“Half an hour! That wretched woman has made me half an hour late! Who does she think she is, trying to order me about over something that couldn’t be less to do with her!” She was not so much as in the department who organised the category into which your apprenticeship fell, she was just a general coordinator of venues!

Livid with your treatment, flustered by your late arrival and absolutely wound to the hilt, you made the fifteen minute walk to Undertaker’s in five. The door flew open as you burst through, loudly proclaiming your apologies through the haze of red that women had left on your vision, only to stop abruptly. The door creaked on its hinges, slamming shut with a sense of dreadful finality you didn’t think it was capable of.

“Undertaker?” Your voice came out quiet, confused, as you took in what was going on. He sitting. Sitting down properly, in the ordinary wooden chair behind his heavy oakwood desk. His elbows rested on the tabletop, fingers laced and chin hovering just above them. His hat was discarded on the floor beside him, a single, covered basket atop the desk. He was not smiling.

Now downright concerned, you frowned, dropping your coat unceremoniously across a coffin and quickly striding across the room, coming to a halt in front of the desk and resting your weight on your palms, on the opposite side to him. Your tone had taken on a stern quality now, having been given the distinct impression you would have to push him to gain any information at all.

“Undertaker, what’s wrong?” It couldn’t really have been called a question.

The mortician gestured a vague hand in the direction of the basket.

“They’re for you.” No greeting, no name, no amusement. It was like he had gone into clinical detachment for the sake of dealing with an inconsolable customer for the sake of not starting to cry along with them. Of course you knew what the basket was made up of, you would recognise the smell of those biscuits anywhere. You ignored them. Leaning fully across his desk, you gently grabbed Undertaker’s wrists, refusing to just leave it.

“What’s. Wrong?” He said nothing for a long while, then stood so abruptly that your hands were pulled from his wrists and you fell forwards slightly onto your forearms. When you looked up, the mortician had already shot away from where you were standing, making a fuss about the rows of suspect jars lining his shelves and blabbering on about understanding your choice, and wishing you luck … for the future?

With a sudden gasp of clarity, everything made sense. He thought you had taken up the offer. If he had spoken to the same woman as you had, she probably told him you were leaving. Hell, she had told you the same thing. Now, not only had she angered you, she had upset the most upbeat-in-his-own-way man you had ever met? Oh, no. You were not having that. Whipping around, you stormed to the other side of the room in seconds, grabbing the mortician by his shoulders and forcefully turning him to face you. You had pressed yourself against him in the next breath, one hand between his defined shoulder blades and the other against the curve of his lower back, pulling him ever closer to you. In shock, you supposed, he held his arms aloft above your head, as if he didn’t know what to do. As if you hadn’t done this thousands of times before. Your eyes squeezed shut as every muscle in your body tensed, refusing to let him go.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you murmured with a conviction he had never heard from you before. “Do you hear me? I’m staying. Whether you like it or not.” A short, sharp intake of breath on his part was your only reply. “I like it here. I like London. I like your shop. And most importantly…” You leaned back at this point, only far enough to be able to see his face. You swallowed, suddenly unsure of how he would react to this. It was too late now, you reasoned, you were already committed. The hand you had pressed between his shoulder blades quickly moved to his face, pushing back through his bangs and finally revealing his eyes. It was your turn to breath in sharply; the intensity of his burning chartreuse gaze immediately spearing straight through you was not something you had been expecting. Somehow though, you kept your train of thought.

“Why would I leave the only man I’ve ever loved?”

No sooner were the words out than he had moved. One arm glided around your waist, the other bracing your shoulders and fingertips gently touching over the soft hair at the base of your skull as his pale, soft lips carefully met yours. You had never seen him be so gentle, it hadn’t even occurred to you that he could be. Your chin tilted up immediately to meet his kiss, the hand entwined with his bangs returning to his back. He pulled away slowly, leaving you a panting, flustered mess in his arms. You never once broke eye contact. You could barely make out his words for how focused you were on his voice. Deep, soft, nothing like the jarring lilt he usually spoke with.

“I love you too.”

[raindrop-on-a-spiderweb]

Swing Me Round The Moon

@anon who asked me where the previous chapter of Salvatore and Patience's marriage was, I uploaded it to archiveofourown

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25077973/chapters/60945490

And I've been meaning to upload this unpublished bonus chapter for a while, written for my friend Brook.

It's just a snapshot of Patience and Salvatore's marriage and some smut 😝

***

"He kissed your hand. He kissed your fucking hand."

Patience deposited her infant in a tub of soapy water in the sink. "It's Leonardo Borghese. He does that to everyone. He's a gentleman." She gave him a hurtful look. "You could stand to be more of a gentleman."

Salvatore was pacing around the cluttered living room, hair messy and a cigarette clutched between his fingers. His eyes were dark and wild. "I'll kill him. I'll kill that cocksucker. Touching my wife like that… I saw the way he looked at you. Fucking blond bastard, smug privileged little fuck. I bet he thinks he can have anything he wants--including you. I'll show him. I'll walk up behind him in an empty street and put a bullet in his skull. I will--"

"Look at you. A week out of jail and already planning on murdering somebody."

"Daddyyyy," whined her daughter from the doorway.

"Why don't you play with your children? They haven't seen you in a year. They're happy to have you back."

Salvatore scooped up his daughter and sat her on his lap, still shaking. The girl pulled at his sleeveless shirt, waving a doll in his face.

"It's not fair you been putting the twins in between us when we sleep," he growled. "I can't even hold you. I'm a man, you know. A man's got needs."

"Well, if you're not going to wear a condom then I'll just have to keep doing it! You spent a year in prison with your right hand, you can wait a little longer!" She slammed down the fork she was cleaning and glared at him. 

He didn't seem to be listening to her. He and his daughter were watching a Disney cartoon on television, but his eyes seemed far away. She did not like the look in his eyes. She knew that look. It meant he was about to do something stupid, get into trouble again. 

Patience shook her head as she went back to drying silverware. Sal knew better than to do that. He knew she would give him hell and high water if he did something like that again. She'd been on her own for a year and she had just got her husband back, she wasn't going to let prison have him again any time soon.

***

The kids were all read to and put to bed, so Patience dotted on face cream and slid under the covers to wait for her husband. One of the twins had his thumb in his mouth, the other was fast asleep. She curled up around them, waiting for Salvatore's heavy footsteps to clomp down the hall and his tall body to depress the bed beside her. Her eyes had only just began to drift shut when she heard the front door lock unsnap. 

A jolt of fear rushed to her head as she ran out into the hallway. Salvatore had put on an overcoat and was loading a revolver. The barrel had just snapped shut and he was preparing to tuck it into his fly when Patience hit him head on.

"Salvatore Bruno Mallozzi, don't you dare! Don't you dare!" She blabbered, forcibly holding him back as he tried to elbow her off. 

"He had it comin' for a long time," he spat. "This was the last straw. Last fuckin' straw. I know what he's gonna try to do to you when I go back to jail. Gotta take him out for you and the kids."

"You will be going back to jail for the rest of your life if you do this!"

His eyes were black as hell and burning with hatred as he yanked the door open. At wit's end, Patience resorted to the last trick up her sleeve--the one thing she knew she could rely on to get him to stop.

She took his face in between her hands and kissed him.

Patience felt the tension leave his body immediately. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands went to her waist, pulling her towards his hard body. Salvatore  kissed her like a man drowning, sucking her tongue so hard it went numb, conquering her lips with harsh, hot kisses. 

Still kissing, she felt for the wall, feeling her way down the hall until they reached the living room.

He was fumbling her silk nightdress, pulling it over her head. She was glad he had presence of mind to do that, at least. Sometimes he would be so worked up he would rip it off like an animal. Her eldest daughter kept wondering why her nightgowns always ended up torn and left in the trash.

His overcoat fell to the floor as he pulled his shirt over his head, exposing his lean, muscled chest. His calloused fingers thumbed over her soft skin, around her small pink nipples, and delving between the apex of her thighs.

He was a heady lover, and a forceful one. Some part of her liked that. She always went away fulfilled--in more ways than one. She morosely reminded herself to pick up another bassinet when she went to Woolworth's. Good grief, three children in this house under the age of three and one soon to be on the way.

They were both naked now, his erection pressing above her navel. He was a tall man, and strong despite his spindly appearance. He picked her up and effortlessly threw her onto the sofa. A squeaky toy squeaked under her back.

Patience was wet from his caresses earlier, and arched her back as he pushed himself between her legs. The tip of his cock pressed against her lower lips, hard and pulsing, then slammed in up to the hilt. It had been so long since she had a hot cock in her that her whole body went limp, the pleasure washing over her in a river as he started his rhythm.

"No--" she managed, sitting up to press her hand over his chest. Her face was flushed, brown hair messy. "The… the bedroom. The children could see us."

She stood up shakily, covering herself with her nightgown as they hustled into the bedroom between kisses. The bedside lamp lit them in a soft orange glow as they fell backwards--

One of the twins whined.

***

Both of them were stock still for a moment as their child turned over and pressed his face against the pillow. Their lips were still entwined, frozen.

Patience moved first, creeping out of the room and leading her husband by the hand. He collapsed on the sofa in a sudden paternal fit, his thick dark hair in a mess, as if he were a wholesome Desi Arnaz fretting about his home life. "All these fuckin kids," groused Salvatore.

"Whose fault is that?" Patience grumpily knew they would be conceiving their next tonight. Sometimes she wished she had never let him badger her into marriage. She slid her legs over his, settling into his lap. The head of his cock slid into her as she swiveled her hips, and he responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and slamming her forward.

It had been so long. She remembered when they had just married--she had already been pregnant, but that had not dampened his lust for her. They used to spend hours in bed together, his lips latched onto her swollen nipple and her gasping mouth. Her pregnant belly had fit so well against his lean one, and she felt a sudden leap of excitement as she thought of herself getting heavy with another one before she squashed it cynically, as she had with every positive feeling she'd ever felt towards him.

She rode him silently in the cluttered quiet of the room. The dull black glare of the television reflected them, two bodies hung over each other. Her hair curtained her face as he slammed up into her.

Her nipples were ripe as berries, her legs trembling and her body racing with pleasure as his cock dragged against her swollen pink walls. He pressed a rough finger on her clit as she rode him to climax, and the extra spurt of fire made her walls clench around his length. 

The rush of semen into her ripe, waiting womb made her bite her husband's shoulder, hard. He just laughed and slid his hand behind her head. "You're still being the shy girl I knew when we met, huh?"

"I wasn't shy," she murmured, eyes half lidded with pleasure.

"Hell you weren't. I could tell you'd never been fucked before in your life, with your little coiffed flip and your tiny pursed lips. You wouldn't even meet my eyes. Once you got a taste of me, you couldn't stay away." He kissed her ear warmly. "And I can't stay away from you, either. Fuck, I'd take you over Marilyn Monroe, you know that, Patty?"

Her insides were beginning to relax as her orgasm faded away. She had enough strength to tiredly lift her head and try and whisper something in his ear--before the door knocked.

"Mama? Papa? It's getting kinda cold. Why is the door open."

Patience tilted her head back, the tips of her hair tickling the small of her back. She and Salvatore shared an exhausted, matching smile.

"Just close it, honey. Mama and Papa will come to bed in a minute."

[etlunainmorte]

🖤 I See My Future Before Me 🖤

***

She managed to acquire it for a very low and reasonable price. After all, who would use an old record now, especially with the booming technological culture that was steadily becoming popular with the younger generation?

She placed the delicate thing on her glass top table and took a good long look at it. Dante would pick her up any minute now, and she must definitely get ready for the mission ahead ( this time, a couple of magic - wielding higher Demons ).

However, for some strange reason, she couldn't shake the urge that she must play at least one song with it.

With that in mind, and her strong belief in intuition ( not to mention Cassandra's constant meddling ), she picked up the vinyl record she bought along with the old instrument and proceeded to the task. And with a little help from an almost useless and age - old manual ( its pages were yellow and crumbling at the edges ) that came with the merchandise, she finally managed to play the song. She took a few steps away from the table and allowed the sweet, old music to soothe and calm her senses.

She closed her eyes, letting the melody sink in,...

... when a vision suddenly flashed through her mind.

She opened her eyes once more, unable to believe her wicked sense of premonition ( or Cassandra's ) and allowed the vision to take over her entire mind.

And in that vision, she saw herself dancing the waltz with someone - a tall man clad completely in black. They were dancing to the same music that she was listening to, in the middle of the summer night, on a beautiful, Grecian balcony, below the starry, evening sky, the full moon shining above them.

It was,... simply perfect,...

But, who was that man?

The vision ended as soon as she opened her eyes.

However, something near the window startled her. She took a good long look at it as it slowly materialized, and right then and there, she saw him - the man she was dancing with in that vision,...

It's him! The man she's been searching for for such a long time.

The man,... with the white hair,...

And he was there, standing a few feet away from her, giving her a confused, and yet longing, look, as if he was also seeing her, himself.

She cautiously went closer to him and observed how his eyes followed her movements. She knew perfectly well that he was just a vision. Of the past or future? That she was not certain.

All she knew was that he was holding out his hands in front of her in a clear gesture that successfully conveyed his desire to dance with her,...

***

XXVIII

***

"Here." Nico mumbled sleepily as she handed V a mug of warm chocolate. He thanked the woman as he took it from her hands. He was about to take a sip when he noticed the woman giving him a suspicious look. She pointed two fingers at him and said, "Eh, so you're really Vergil, huh? Dante's twin brother?”

The man smirked as he finally took a sip of the warm chocolate, its enticing scent calming his tired and restless senses. He pursed his lips as he glanced at the calm and serene evening atmosphere from the balcony of (Y/N)'s unit.

"I was." He answered, his eyes darting from one cheerfully lit house to another. Some of the residents have already made their way back to their homes after the Dreadnought incident, and things were slowly going back to its normal and boring pace.

Nico almost choked on her chocolate when she heard V's answer. She chuckled as she took a good long, and thorough look at Vergil’s form from head to foot. "You,... were?" She chuckled.

V smirked once more as he looked at her. "It's the truth."

"I don't understand. How can you not be Vergil right now? I mean, come on, Sir Changes – A - Lot!"

The man chuckled as he helplessly shook his head. He held out a single hand as little orbs of light radiated from it. The almost translucent orbs, then, spread out from his hand to his arm, then from his torso to his other arm. The orbs reached his entire body as the curious little lights morphed him back to the V that Nico was used to seeing - black leather vest, tooth necklace, a pair of unflattering black sandals, and all.

"This,... is merely an illusion.” V explained. “I could never become whole again. It is,... completely impossible. Even with the powers of the Sisters Of Fate."

"Your hair,..." Nico mused as she pointed at V's snowy white hair. "It's not turning back to black." She, then, pointed at his skin. "And your tattoos are barely even there!"

"This is how I look like before all this,... began. This,... is the real me."

"Wow. And I thought (Y/N) was the only one who can change looks,..."

At the mere sound of her name, V's heart skipped a beat and his breath clearly hitched. The girl was sleeping in her room, unconscious since the whole battle with Pandemonium ended. He promised her sister that he would take care of him, and Galatea left her body as soon as she was done healing her.

But, then, somehow, he knew deep within his tainted heart that she would never be fully healed.

Would she,... ?

His question came out like a soft breeze that was almost missed by the Artisan. She stopped sipping her chocolate and glanced back at V, seeing the man leaning on the railing and clearly looking uncomfortable.

"Sorry?"

V looked at her eyes and repeated his question. "Would she find it in her heart to forgive me? After everything I've done to her?"

"Oh, that." Nico came closer towards the man and patted him a bit forcefully on the shoulder. "Dontcha worry a thing 'bout that! She'll forgive ya and yer pretty, lil' skinny ass. Believe me.”

V chuckled at her crude humor and sighed.

"You don't have,... any idea what I did to her back in that demonic ship,..."

"I know. You killed her. Well, almost."

V's eyes widened as he straightened up and looked at her. "How did you - ?!"

"Found out? Oh, she knew 'bout that. She told me herself."

Oh, it must be Cassandra, V thought as he leaned against the railing once more. "Of course."

"But, hey, she's still alive, right? And you're fine! At least, you didn't turn evil or somethin' and caused the world's destruction."

At those ridiculously accurate words, V bowed his head down low, trying to conceal his face until he could no longer endure the emotions. With trembling shoulders and teary eyes, he threw his head back, his low and evil - sounding laughter ripping out of his throat and scaring the hell out of Nico.

"Hahaha! YOU make me laugh,..."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "O,... kay?"

"You have no idea,... how messed up I've become. I failed her. I failed miserably. I'm only here because, apparently, Galatea still thinks I'm worthy. After,... everything I did to her."

"Hey, we all make mistakes."

V smiled at her. "I will tell you,... the story of my insanity,..."

With wide, doubtful eyes, Nico patiently listened as V recounted to her the events that took place in the Dreadnought, from the moment he stabbed (Y/N) up to the point where Fleminger stabbed him, taking the Sisters away from him and letting Pandemonium kill everyone.

"Wait, wait, wait,..." Nico blabbered as she pushed the frame of her red - rimmed glasses to her nose bridge. "So, you're sayin' that,... everyone,... died?"

"Yes."

"Hooee! Well, I'm sure glad that Galatea brought you back. I wonder how I died back there?"

As Nico went on blabbering about how she could possibly die in that far off alternate universe, V suddenly saw,...

... a spectral - looking hand reaching up at the railing of the balcony just behind her. V was definitely not one to get frightened of ghosts but, the vision did startle him. He focused his gaze into it as the creature climbed up the balcony as effortlessly as it could.

It was (Y/N), and she was, somehow, strangely barefoot. Her pants looked like they were burnt from the knee down, and her movements were as light as possible. She tiptoed her way to the window when she suddenly heard some voices inside.

So, did V.

“ ... they even mentioned some famous and obscure names in the Devil Hunting business who got the invitation. And let me mention this - Dante also received one."

Her eyes widened at whatever she saw inside and she couldn't prevent herself from letting out a yelping sound.

“Someone’s listening!”

She covered her mouth and stepped away from the window.

“Looks like we have an,… unwanted visitor.” Then, he heard it. That voice. It was him. He could remember everything: this was from that time when he first arrived at this place.

So, it was true: someone really was outside that time. And it was none other than her,...

“Best to make it at home - ” He heard himself speak once more.

“Guys, guys! Stop! What did I say about making a mess?!”

“Hey, hey! There’s an intruder right - AHH!” A very loud and obnoxious noise was heard from the inside, like someone, or something, was just thrown to the other side of the room.

“To not make any?”

“Exactly! That’s just the - ah - neighbor’s cat!”

“That,… does not sound like a feline, at least to my ears.”

“Okay, okay, guys! Trust me and put your weapons down. Thank you! Now, as I was saying, we must go to this event and find out what this, Wrath of The Gods, is!”

“We cannot go shorthanded. If we take the riddle in a very literal sense, then,… we would not have enough strength. We would be dealing with the Wrath of The Gods,… after all.”

While listening to the conversation inside, he saw (Y/N) as she tiptoed her way back closer to the window, lovingly gazing at something inside. Her eyes widened, then returned to normal once more. She raised an arm and wiped the tears that started coming out of her eyes with the sleeves of her pale pink hoodie.

She was crying, and yet she looked clearly happy at what she saw. Like she finally found something she has been searching for after so long.

Like, she was deeply longing to see whatever that was,...

And this made V's heart twitch in unbelievable pain.

He,... knew who she was looking at. He knew,...

... who she was longing to meet,...

“That’s where I come in! Nero, how’s the breaker coming along?”

“It’s fine, sure.”

“Oh, yeah? Then, I’ll be making new ones.”

“Isn’t this enough?”

“No! And, you! You seem interested in all this, yes?”

“As a matter of fact, I ‘am."

“Then, go get your own formal wear! I can’t provide you with one. I’m an Artisan, not a freaking, fancy tailor!”

“Wait, like, right now?”

“Duh?! Are you, like, gonna wait till Saturday for that? Go, go, GO!”

She cautiously took a few steps away from the window once more.

“Hey, hey, if you’re looking for some chicks, then you’re in the wrong place! Get moving!”

There were more sounds, and when they finally subsided, the window violently opened and she finally entered the threshold of her own home.

“Are you crazy?! Why would you be hiding there? This is your home, for crying out loud! Are you a thief, or something?!”

“It’s him, Nico.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“It’s him! The man with the violin in my visions!”

“Who?!”

“The one with the markings on his skin!”

“The mysterious man? Are you sure about that?”

“It. Is. HIM!”

"¿Por qué estas descalza?" V heard a distinctively different voice of that of a little girl.

He closed his eyes at the sudden change, and when he opened them once more, he was suddenly transported to a sunny, suburban place. A little girl with dark pigtails was staring at him, her hands on her hips like a wife who was angry at her husband for coming home late and drunk.

He realized she was not directly looking at him, and this made him turn around. And to his surprise, he saw (Y/N). And just like in his vision a while ago, she was barefoot, and her pants looked burnt from the knee down.

(Y/N) opened her mouth to answer but, then, she realized she can't speak the little girl's language. This made the smaller girl smile.

"¡Ven conmigo! Te llevaré a nuestra casa." The girl excitedly said as she practically went through V like he was a ghost and grabbed (Y/N)'s hand.

V followed the two as the little girl led (Y/N) to one of the charming little two - story houses on the left. The little girl opened the door and let (Y/N) in.

"¡Madre!" The girl called. "¡Madre!"

"¿Alicia?"

A woman in her mid - fifties came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands with an orange towel.

"¿Hija?" The mother's eyes widened as she abandoned her towel, practically throwing it to the side as she made her way to the two girls. "¡Que chica tan linda! ¿Es tu amiga?"

The little girl laughed and shook her head, making (Y/N) a bit surprised and culture - shocked. "Ella no habla Español. No te preocupes, yo me encargo." The girl turned to (Y/N) and pointed at herself, then her mother. "My name is Alicia. This is my mother, Maria. I go to English class every Saturday."

"Oh, that's nice." (Y/N) answered as she received a pair of slippers from the little girl. "Thanks."

"She said you're pretty."

A faint rosy tint crept up (Y/N)'s cheeks. She looked at the smiling older woman and nodded. "I, ah, thank you."

Maria nodded, understanding the words she just said.

"What are you doing outside with no shoes?" The little girl asked her as she pulled her towards the living room.

"Umm, you see, ah,..." (Y/N) muttered as she sat down on the maroon sofa. "I was, ahh, looking for someone. A white haired man who plays the violin. I've seen him pass here. Have you, umm, seen him?"

White haired man who plays the violin?

He had been here?!

Alicia turned to his mom. "Ella pregunta si hemos visto a un hombre de cabello blanco por aquí, dice que toca el violin."

Maria frowned and shook her head. “No, lo siento mucho. Pero podemos avisarte si lo llegamos a ver."

"She said no. But, we will tell you when we see him."

(Y/N)'s face showed a clearly disappointed expression. But, despite this, she still sincerely smiled and nodded. "Thank you so much."

Alicia nudged her on the elbow to help her relax. "No hay problema." She answered with a smile. "That means no problem."

"I can't believe how fast you've grown!"

V heard another voice from the hallway. He went there and saw, in shock, the same little girl,...

... except that she was now the same height as (Y/N). Her hair was no longer in pigtails. Instead, she was wearing it down. And her fashion sense seemed to have changed, as well.

"I'm a teenager now!" And clearly, she was better in English. "And it seems that you haven't aged a bit since I last saw you!"

It was true. For some reason, (Y/N) still looked the same.

How many years has passed since she first met Alicia?

"So, have you seen him?"

"Oh, that man? I think mom has!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Alicia grabbed her hand and led her to the living room like what she did the first time they met. "Madre, (Y/N) is here!"

The woman, whose dark brown hair has clearly turned gray, looked up from her stitch work and stood, meeting the girls halfway and kissing the both of them on their forehead. V noticed that she now walked with a slight limp.

"It has been a long, long time, Miss (Y/N)!" Maria told her in straight English, grabbing her hands and squeezing them.

"Mom studied English for you." Alicia said with a proud and huge smile.

"That's really cool!"

"Mom, she’s asking whether you've seen the man she was looking for."

To this, Maria's face suddenly fell, a frown now gracing her warm and gentle features. She only shook her head and went back to her stitch work. And without saying another word, she sat down and went on with her work like nothing even happened.

"Oh, don't mind her. She's just like that at times. But, she's not mad at you, don't worry!" Alicia whispered.

(Y/N), who was clearly alarmed at the sudden change in Maria's demeanor, couldn't help but nod as she tried to hide her worry.

"It's okay."

"You haven't given up?"

V heard Alicia's frantic voice on the hallway once more. He immediately went there and saw her,...

... clad completely in black from head to foot. She clearly looked a bit older, and she was not dragging (Y/N) around like how she used to when she was younger.

And (Y/N)?

"You still haven't changed?" Alicia questioned her with raised eyebrows.

"Where's Maria?"

Something in her question triggered something in Alicia. And it unnerved both (Y/N) and V.

"Get out."

"Sorry?"

"I said, GET OUT!" Alicia screamed as she pushed (Y/N) out of the house.

"Alicia, what happened?!"

"GO AWAY!" The girl screamed as she shut the door close. She then ran towards the sofa, grabbed Maria's old stitch work, and cried. The handiwork was clearly half - finished but, some words were visible from it.

"El amor es paciente, el amor es amable. No envi - "

"HEY!"

V snapped back to reality as Nico snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"You alright?"

"Indeed. Yes, I' am." He answered.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief as she clutched at her chest like she was having a heart attack. "I thought I lost you back there. You know, (Y/N)'s visions were short and sweet - "

"She's been to Spain."

"Sorry?"

V looked at her and repeated his words. "It's (Y/N). I saw her. She was in Spain."

"Oh, that! So, you've seen her?" Nico answered as she went back inside, V following close behind her. "You know, she's been to many places, more than what you could imagine. She's searching ten years for you, God!"

"Ten,… years?!"

"Yeah. She comes home often, though. She's learned to channel that power of hers to her feet and legs so she could move fast and jump to high places." Nico explained as she went to one of the drawers and pulled something out from it. "So, she's never really gone for too long. But, I'm gonna tell ya this: that channeling the power to her feet thing often burned her pants."

So, that's why,...

"I don't understand." V went on as he watched Nico flip through the pages of an old album. "She was searching for ten years, but I've only been to such places for three weeks. I was,… travelling. It's what I've been doing before coming here to Red Grave."

"Really? Well, it's a long story. Let's just say that she wanted to meet you because the entity that was possessing her wanted her to fulfill some kind of a mission. Don't ask." She handed the open album to V and pointed at one of the photos. "That's them."

V's eyes widened in awe as he saw the photograph of (Y/N) and Alicia during the Spanish girl's party for her sixteenth birthday.

"Alicia. One of the people she frequently visited and stopped seeing after ten years. Said she’s starting to notice."

"Notice what?" V looked up from the album.

Nico went closer to V and whispered like she was passing on a well - guarded secret to him. "Okay, this sounds weird but, she actually came from the past."

"I know."

"Yeah, yeah! I thought at first she's just plain nuts. But, listen to this: the first thing she did after recovering was search for her family's old farm in Fortuna. V, there hasn't been a farm there since a hundred years ago! It's all concrete now, and streets.

"So, she searched for her parents and any people she could remember from her past. Some of them either died already or have grandchildren of their own. And her parents? She found out that they separated and had families of their own."

"A girl,... out of her time,..." V mused as he flipped through the pages of (Y/N)'s old album, seeing her with unknown faces.

"Exactly! She's, like, super old when you think 'bout it!" Nico went to one of the paintings and looked up at it. "And, not only that, her looks stayed the same for those ten whole years I knew her. Like, she's stuck or somethin’.”

"Galatea's stasis." V breathed.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing."

Nico frowned and raised an eyebrow at him. She went on. "She craves for things from the past. So, she started collecting antiques like this. Other than helping her cope after being plucked from when she came from, these things she have reminded her of all the places she's been. They remind her of you."

The poet looked up from the album and saw Nico picking up her keys on the glass top table. There was an old record there, similar to Fleminger's, that he hasn't taken notice of before.

Was it there the whole time?

Nico saw the confusion in V's eyes as he looked at the antique. "Oh, this? She bought this about a year ago. Thought she's gonna want to listen to old songs when she wakes up. So, I took it out. It's gonna get moldy with disuse."

The woman walked towards the door but, before she went out, she turned back to V. "I'll leave her to ya, V. Don't mess this up again." And then, just like that, she walked out of the door, leaving him alone with (Y/N).

The silence felt deafening, the darkness depressing. V nearly collapsed on the sofa as he carefully placed the album next to the record. He was about to touch it when he heard a loud tapping against the window. He turned around just in time to see Griffon and Shadow entering the unit.

"HOO! We made it." Griffon breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way towards V while carrying something broken in his hands.

"I see you found it." V carefully took the broken violin from Griffon's long fingers. It was (Y/N)'s.

"Yeah, well. Kinda got all bloody searchin’ through Dreadnought's rubble for that."

"Thank you."

"Wait!" Griffon held up two long fingers in front of V and made way for Shadow to get close to the poet.

V smirked, controlling his mirth and amusement as he looked down at the now human Shadow. After the cleansing, she has turned into a pale human girl roughly the size of a middle - schooler. Her long black hair that reached her feet was awfully unkempt, and the clothes that Lady lent her a while ago was too big for her.

She quietly looked up at him with her big red eyes and showed him a pair of stilettos.

It was (Y/N)'s. She wore it when,...

"This girl took it badly when you threw them out during your mad state, if ya can’t remember. She looked for them all over the place and kept them with her." Griffon explained as Shadow gave the shoes back to V. She turned towards her fellow familiar and gave him a strange look. She, then, turned back to V with an angry, yet adorable, look. "Oh, and she's saying that she hates ya for hurting (Y/N). And that she will never forgive ya."

"Oh, I'm,..." V grasped the shoes and looked down at them, thinking of the girl who owned them. "... forgive me."

"Well, you've been a naughty schtick! Ya should've been punished for bad behavior!" The bald Demon made a ruffling gesture that was much akin to his movements when he was still a bird and collapsed on the sofa. "So, happy with yer new powers?" he, then, asked sarcastically.

"No." The poet answered monotonously as he slumped back to the sofa just beside the familiar, the shoes still in his hands.

Griffon rolled his eyes. "Figures,..."

There was a moment of silence between the two, and during this very awkward time, Shadow took a liking to the old record on the table. She poked the thing with her tiny finger and managed to turn it on, its weird mechanism startling her and making her hair stand. She drew back to a corner, giving it a confused and cautious look.

This made Griffon laugh a lot. "I wonder how that would sound, though."

"It,... wouldn't hurt if we try." The poet quietly said as he placed the shoes on the table and took the vinyl record just beside the instrument. Apparently, the record was simply titled as "Nat King Cole". He began with the long process of playing it and when the music finally came out of it, he turned it off immediately.

"Hey, why did ya turn it off?!" Griffon complained. He was about to rant more when he noticed the look on V's face. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open. "V? You okay?"

"I' am. I just,..." The man held out a hesitant finger as he turned on the instrument once more.

"Unforgettable, that's what you are. Unforgettable, though near or far. Like a song of love that clings to me,... "

"It's this song." He confessed with a shaky voice. With cold and trembling hands, he covered his mouth, already feeling the tears as they started falling down his blurry eyes. "It's,... from that evening."

Griffon saw the changes in V's demeanor and actually felt sorry for him. He tapped V's shoulder in a sincere effort to calm him down.

"Unforgettable in every way, and forevermore, that's how you'll stay,..."

He stood up and went towards the window, all the painful memories of everything that happened within a single week coming back to him. He found the love of his life, danced with her, and lost her because of his foolishness.

All because he let himself be manipulated.

Still unable to control his emotions, and the tears that came along with them, he turned back, and saw,...

... the girl, herself, standing a few feet away from him looking confused like he was.

But, this time, unlike any other vision he had of her, she looked like she was actually seeing him for real. She went closer towards him as he observed all of her movements. He held out his arms, hoping for his desire to dance with her once more to come across.

And, as if by some form of an unknown miracle, she let his hands take hers as they began the basic steps of the waltz,...

... just like the first time they did it on the Grecian balcony that evening.

"That's why darling, it's incredible, that someone so unforgettable, thinks that I am unforgettable too."

Griffon and Shadow silently watched as V danced with something they couldn't see. The male familiar shook his head and grinned as he saw the poet actually enjoying the dance.

"No, never before has someone been more,..."

He tried to hold her closer despite the fear that she would vanish and rested his head on the crook of her neck.

"Unforgettable,… in every way,..."

He quietly and gently sang along, the lyrics tearing a new wound to his already beaten heart. How he wanted to hold her so much, how he wanted to actually feel her smooth skin against his,...

... how he longed to dance with her once more.

But, she’s hurt. Because of him.

And instead of her actually dancing with him, she’s lying on that bed inside her room with no guarantee of when she’d wake up.

"And forevermore,… that's how you'll stay,..." He felt a warm sensation on his body and realized that her vision was rubbing him on the back, her arms around him, wanting him to cease crying. He looked at her eyes and cupped her cheeks. "That's why darling,… it's incredible,… that someone,… so unforgettable,… thinks that I ‘am,… unforgettable too,..." His heart ached with each word he sang, feeling like they were directed towards him and making him feel guilty than ever before.

He wanted so much to tell her that: that she’s unforgettable,…

… that he was grateful to her for everything that she did for him for the past ten years,…

… that he was grateful that she found him and made his life a little less miserable.

But, of course, he had to make a very stupid mistake of hurting her.

And he regret everything he did and did not do to her.

As the song came to an end, his face inched closer to hers. He wanted so much to feel her lips against his,...

... when something startled her.

She reluctantly pulled away from him as she looked at the door behind her. She opened her mouth and said something he couldn't hear, and turned to face him once more. She gave him a warm, and yet weak, smile as she held up a single hand to caress his face. After that, she stepped away from him and went to the door, looking at him one last time before finally going through it.

"Please,..." V begged her, holding out a helpless and powerless hand to reach her. "Don't,... leave me,..."

***

🖤 Special thanks to @beyond-the-mirror for the Spanish dialogue and translations. Also for introducing Alicia and Maria. 🖤

🖤 @la-vita , @micaelagua , @vergils-daughter , @lessy86 , @diabeticsugarush , @ehrzeth , @ceruleanworld , @simmy-ships , @boundbysoul , @heaven-on-a-landslide , and @krazy06 . 🖤

***

She heard a knock on the door and heard Dante calling her name. She turned away from the lonely man, not really wanting to go.

"I'm coming!" She called back, then looked at her partner's anguished face once more. Despite the pain that she suddenly felt in her heart upon seeing a vision of him, she still made an effort to caress his face and smiled, reassuring him, hoping that he would understand. She left him standing there in the middle of the room.

And as she glanced back at him, the sight that greeted her hurt her even more. In fact, the pain was unbearable.

His tears were streaming down his face, his expression simply too painful to withstand.

He doesn't want her to go.

He,... doesn't want her to leave,...

***

[swiss-cheeze]

Up || Daniel Webber x reader

Bold = lyrics

Italic = memories

Song - Up from Sing Street

Warnings: talk of physical abuse.

———

It's two o'clock on the edge of the morning

She's running magical circles around my head

I hitch a ride on a dream she's driving

“Stop going so fast love!” Daniel said with a laugh as his hair whipped into his face, the roof of the convertible had gone down ages ago but the pair where on a very clear free way with the speed at 100 and no cars in sight.

“Oh come on Daniel! Let loose!” you yelled to the boy over the wind sloshing across your ears and your hair whipping everywhere above you.

“Not when we’re about to DIE” Daniel said jokingly with a laugh as he gripped the car door, you hit the actors chest and gave him a stern ‘come on pussy’ look, Daniel simply rolled his eyes at you before leaning over to the radio and turned up Kickstart My Heart and pumped his hands into the air with the bass. You yelped and whooped and sang as loud and as high as you could.

She turns to kiss me, I crash back into bed

Daniel awoke with a start, his hair stuck to his sweaty forehead and his sheets stuck to his chest as the rest of him was drenched in sweat, his breathing was heavy and the room was thick and musty; this was not ideal.

Across the street on a grayed out Monday

I see the girl with the eyes I can't describe

And suddenly it's a perfect Sunday

And everything is more real than life

Daniel stood from his bed and rubbed his face as he started getting ready for the day, you had invited him out for breakfast, but what Daniel did not know; you decided to bring your boyfriend, he would've been fine with it had it not have been the boyfriend that frequently abuses you. Daniel had been your best friend since the pair of you where three years old but when high school came around the corner and hormones became an apparent thing in both of your lives, Daniel had a never ending crush on you. Everything about you he loved and he fell in love with you with every moment that passed that he was with you; the funny cat videos you send him, the way you tie your hair back when you’re thinking and making things, the way you have a certain way of doing everything in the morning and your afternoon routine. The poor boy hated seeing you with so many guys that meant nothing to you, and you meant nothing to them. Daniel could always tell if the guy you were dating had a side chick or just wasn't interesting and even though he constantly told you you never listened, and then within the next month Daniel would find you in tears and blabbering ‘sorrys’ from not believing him, of course the actor would bring you in and comfort you with tea and a place to sleep for the night.

I think I'm back in the dream

I think I'm back on the ceiling

It's such a beautiful feeling

Walking down the street Daniel could hear the bustling of the street next to him, the clicking of the soles of his shoes on the pavement, the screaming child just behind him that wasn't allowed a lollipop; even with his headphones in and at a reasonable volume. Everything seemed so loud but so far away, Daniel wanted to tell you how much he loved you, how much he wanted to hug and hold you, kiss you and make you feel safe and okay and happy; but of course you already had someone before he could ask you.

Going up

“(Y/n)?” Daniel asked as he opened his front door and squinted out to his porch, “doll what the hell are you doing?” the tired man asked as he quickly let you in and sat you down on his couch before making his way to the kitchen and boiling the kettle, he knew what you were doing here, he knew something happened between you and your boyfriend, you normally wouldn't be here if it weren't for that. Daniel came back within five minutes with a two cups of tea and placed them both on the coffee table before retreating again to bring out the family biscuit pack and sat down next to you; the blonde didn't speak for a moment as he let you drink your tea and have a bite of an oval cookie.

“H-he slapped me” you whispered softly against the bite you took off your biscuit. Your voice was shaky and quiet as you let the words sink in, not only into Dan beside you; but to yourself as well, you never believed it would happen, you never thought you did anything bad or something your boyfriend didn't like.

“He...he hit you” Daniel confirmed looking at you with wide eyes. You simply nodded as you kept nibbling at your biscuit, “why?”

“An argument broke out, Damian was asking what i had made for dinner and I told him I hadn't made it yet, then he started to get s-so a-angry….” you mumbled, the end of your sentence trailed off as the fresh memories came back and the red mark on your cheek burnt, “a-and he got so….out of control. I-I couldnt s-stop him” you whimpered softly, tears sprouted in your eyes again and dripped down your cheek and into your tea as you took a generous mouthful.

“(N/n)....” Daniel said in a ‘what-do-i-even-say’ tone.

“J-just don-don't worry” you muttered softly as you dipped your biscuit into your warm tea and bit into the soft mush before it dropped, as you ate you looked to Daniel and took a second glance as he sipped his own tea. Dan looked to you mid bite.

“What?” he asked, a watery smile crept its way onto your face as you looked down.

“You’re only in your underwear” you said softly, Dan looked down with a small ‘what?’.

“Oh. Shit.” he said as he looked at his black jocks , “shit i'm sorry (Y/n)” the actor said as he put down his tea and rubbed his eyes. This made you laugh softly as you finished your tea and biscuit.

She lights me up

She breaks me up

She lifts me up

“Its okay” you said with a laugh as you put down your drink, “we’ve been friends for years, ive seen you naked before” you said with a giggle.

“Oh don't bring up that memory” Daniel said as he buried his head in his hands, “that was so embarrassing” the boy mumbled. When the two of you were in your teens you would go past each others houses and let yourselves in as nobody was really ever home, but today just so happen to be the week Daniel had broken his leg and with no one else home to help him shower; you had to be the one to make the commitment. Even though it was for an actual reason it was still something you liked to joke about every now and then; you had to help undress Daniel and shower him all while keeping your eyes up and off of his junk.

“It really wasn't” you said with a chuckle, “it was for a good reason” you said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, I know, but still. I've grown you know!” Daniel said quickly, before he could register the words his face went red as you burst out into a fit of giggles.

“Oh really?” you asked, “down there?” you pointed to his junk, “or up here?” you patted the blonde head which granted you a fun loving death glare from Daniel as he pushed your hand away from his head.

“You know what I mean” Daniel said with a blush.

“I really dont you know” you said with a laugh.

“UP HERE YOU DORK!” Daniel said with a loud voice and a laugh, this caused you to laugh too as you both shook your head.

You find a mystery bound in perfection

You've got to read, but you don't want to reach the end

As Daniel reached the cafe he pulled the headphones from his ears and stuffed them in his pocket with his phone. He could see you from the window already, Damian had a protective arm wrapped around your shoulders as you searched the cafe for Daniel; you almost looked frantic, you wanted to get away from Damien, which is probably the reason you have squished yourself against the window to get as far away from the man as you physically could. Of course that hasn't worked as you got pulled back into Damiens side.

Cause what if everything beautiful's fiction

And this reality's just pretend?

As Daniel walked into the cafe and the door let off a bell sounding out someone was here, a bright smile lit up your face like christmas night as Daniel finally reached the booth. By now you had FORCED Damian from the booth so you could hug your best friend.

“Hey Dan” you said into his neck softly as you squeezed the actor, him returning with the same force.

“Missed you” Daniel said softly into your hair as he nuzzled into your neck; but this moment was short lived as a rather loud and obnoxious cough interrupted you two. You separated from Daniel quickly and smiled before motioning for Daniel to sit down as you went back to your previous seat and Damien was quick to move in next to you; efficiently trapping you.

“So Dan” Damien said with a tight and annoyed smile, “what’ve you been up to recently that has made you stay away from us for so long?” the man asked. Daniel had to fit the urge to roll his eyes at the fakely covered sarcasm.

“Uh, i've been filming down in uh, SA actually. Adelaide; for the new movie with the other Daniel” Dan said with a chuckle. You leant forward in your seat and placed your arms on the table as a sign for Daniel to keep talking; that you were listening with the giant smile on your face. Daniel coughed and chuckled softly as he looked to you with a grin, “it’s called Escape from Pretoria, it's about these two men who break out from a South african prison with help from other people and it's just about their journey of survival really and how they got by; it's based on a book from one of the real escapees, Time Jenkin, Radcliffe is the one who got that role and i got the other guy” Daniel said with such happiness; he loved talking about his job but he loved it when you listen to his stories and things he does with the job. You get as excited as Daniel himself does, it's a nice thing to know.

And then I'm back in the dream

I'm looking up at the ceiling

It's such a beautiful feeling

As time passed and stories got told, Damien had excused himself from the table to go to the bathroom and as soon as he was out of sight Daniel got on topic.

“Has he hurt you recently?” the actor asked as he bent over the table slightly and leant in closer so no one else could hear. You looked to Dan with a scared face before doing the same and leaning in.

“Y-yeah he has” you said softly, “im so sorry” you say as you wipe your eyes from the tears that threatened to fall, “he takes my phone and locks the house and puts my keys somewhere i can't find them” you whimper out softly. Dan quickly gets up from the table and walks around to sit next to you, as he sat his arm wrapped around your shoulders and slowly brought you into his chest for a hug; you wrapped your arms around Dans shoulders and tried to stifle your crying.

“It’s okay babe” Dan said, he didn't even try to stop the nickname falling from his mouth as it felt so nice to say and sounded like the right time to say it.

“N-no it's not!” you whimper softly, “I don't want to be with Damien anymore. I hate him, h-he's so rude! And arrogant. He doesn't like any of the things I do, we disagree on everything all the way down to what to watch on TV!” you exclaimed, your voice wasn't loud enough state for everyone else to hear but Daniel knew what you were doing. Daniel nodded in an understanding of where you were coming from and thought for a moment.

Going up

“Then leave him” Daniel said, “we’ll leave right now,” he exclaimed with wide arms, “we-we pick up your stuff from your house and we head back to mine. You can bunk with me until we find a better place for you to live without him there” Dan said, you giggled softly at his awkwardness but nodded quickly.

“Please, I want to get away from him” you said with a sniffle. Dan nodded as well and clapped.

“Right! Come on, let's get away from here” Dan said as he started to drink the rest of his drink and took the last bite from his food as you started to bring money out from your purse, “what are you doing?” Daniel asked with a concerned look, “you aren't paying,” he said.

“What? No. im giving a tip” you said with a light chuckle as the waitress came over, she asked if the two of you were finished and you both nodded before telling her your ‘friend’ was in the toilet and was going to pay for the food anyway. You handed the woman a fair tip before dashing out of the cafe with the giggles and making quick work of getting to Daniels car before Damien came back.

She lights me up

She breaks me up

She lifts me up

After a quick rush to your ‘previous’ house (as Daniel had now dubbed it) to grab your things the two of you left a little note for Damien, basically saying you where going to change your phone number, that you had run off with someone and your things and that you never wanted to see him again. With To Young to Fall in Love blasting on the radio and the car going down the street at reasonable speed you got to Daniels house in record time; with enough daylight to still make a whole new room just for you in his house (seeing as it was a two bedroom). Daniel helped you set out your room as you wanted before the pair of you flopped onto the living room couch in a fit of giggles with some cool jazz playing in the background.

“I didn't actually think you’d agree with me,” Daniel said, “about moving in with me”

“Of course i would. Anything to get away from that prick” you said with a sigh and a roll of your eyes. You hated Damien since you first met him but he had somehow conditioned you into thinking you loved him and he loved you back, “I actually found out last week he's been cheating on me since before me and him got together” you paused, “I guess that’d make me the cheatee?” you questioned before shrugging, “I don't know what happened with the other girl. Maybe he’ll go back with her” you said with a sigh.

“Don't think about it hun” Daniel said as he sat up alongside you, he nudged your shoulder softly with a blush as he bit his lip, “you know there's always someone out there for you” Daniel said, biting the bullet. You shrugged.

“Maybe there isn't” you mumbled, before looking to the lounge room carpet and picking at the fraying ends.

Up to the stars she shows me

Daniel took a second look at you before scoffing slightly, “‘maybe there isn't’?” Daniel repeated.

“Well, yeah. Maybe i'm just meant to be alone!” you exaggerated.

“Why the hell would you say something like that?” Daniel said with a slight edge to his voice, “(Y/n) you're so beautiful, you're so talented. You send me cat videos almost every day at the same time, you tie your hair up and out of your face” Daniel scoffed as he fell back onto the cough with a huff, “hell, every night before you go to bed you turn the TV off, you got to the kitchen to make sure the kettle is off before you walk up the stairs, TWO AT A TIME, and put on long fluffy socks for the night if its cold before cuddling into the blanket in the fetal position” Daniel said; his face had turned red and was almost in tears.

Dame Street, George's Street, miles below me

Up where the world won't let us down

(Na, na, na, na)

“Daniel…” you muttered softly as you sat next to the actor on the couch as he wiped his eyes.

“(Y/n) im in love with you, and i have been my entire life. Ever since you first came to me from your first boyfriend breaking up with you, with tears streaming down your face and ice cream around your mouth you always looked so beautiful to me. The day we had our highschool formal and you were in that beautiful dress? That was the moment i knew i had fallen for you, i had been discarding my feelings and putting them off thinking it was just stupid teenage hormones; but seeing you walk down those stairs and into the lounge room where i was waiting with your parents and that stupid boyfriend of yous-”

“Braydon” you cut in with a watery smile.

“Yeah! Him. I always hated him” Daniel muttered absently, “ever since then ive been in love with you, and i've fallen more and more in love with you with every day that has passed. I find new things about you almost every day” Daniel said before taking a breath and letting out a small chuckle as he sniffled and wiped his eyes.

Going up

(It's two o'clock on the edge of the morning)

“Daniel…” you said softly, “why didn't you tell me sooner?” you asked as you scooted closer to the actor.

“I didn't want to ruin what we had” Daniel muttered softly as you wrapped your arms around him.

She lights me up

(She's running magical circles around my head)

“I wouldn't have minded you know” you said softly as you turned Daniels head to look at you. You sighed softly at the tears that streamed down his face and wiped away the tracks they had left and cupped Dans cheeks; rubbing your thumb over his cheekbone before letting your gaze drop to his lips.

She breaks me up

(I hitch a ride on a dream she's driving)

“Are you saying i could have asked you out this entire time?” Daniel asked with a chuckle, you nodded with a grin that spread to your eyes.

“I've been in love with you since you first broke your leg” you said before pausing, “wait”

“So you love me for my junk is that it?” Daniel asked with a laugh.

“What no! Of course not you dork!” you said as you pushed Daniel, the boy laughed wholeheartedly as he let himself fall onto his side on the couch before twisting himself onto his back as you came up and placed your knees either side of his hips; neither of you thought of it being sexual, nor did you even want it to be sexual.

“Why then?” Daniel asked, “hmm?”

“Because you trusted me enough to help you in some of your most desperate times without anyone else being there” you said thoughtfully. Daniel leant up on his elbows with a soft smile, “and ive fallen more and more in love with you with each day that passes” you said softly.

She lifts me up

Daniel chuckled softly before you leant in and connected your lips with his; a passionate, searing kiss mixed with every emotion of love, want, distance and everything in between. Your arms wrapped around Daniels shoulders and tangled into his hair as his came around your waist and his hands connected with the skin of your back; you shirt had ridden up from straddling Daniel, but neither of you cared enough to stop.

[thedyingmoon]

🖤 I See My Future Before Me 🖤

~ A V X Reader set in an Alternate Universe where V gets to ask the riddles. 🖤

~ @acieoj and @heaven-on-a-landslide , thank you for always supporting me. 🖤

~ These are two of my game screenshots. I hope you like them. 🖤

~ Enjoy! 🖤

***

VII

"You can do this, (Y/N). Just remember what I said and you'll be fine."

Patty's words rang into your head as you descended the staircase. It's not like you don't want to stay with the others, no.

It's just that - let's face it: you may be taught how to dance and have a perfect posture but, no one ever taught you how to conduct yourself in an event like this. You were totally clueless. And so as not to embarrass yourself, you woke up earlier than the others that Friday morning, went to a friend's house, and sought her advice regarding events such as this.

Yes, Patty Lowell may be jealous of you for a while for being hired as Dante's assistant but, that all changed with a little bit of explanation and a lot of girl - bonding moments with her, that was, after your missions with the Devil Hunter or during your off days. The girl may only be seventeen, turning a year older two weeks from now, but she sure knew her stuff, being a girl who always got invited to parties.

And so, you decided to trust her for this.

And, as you scanned the area, making sure that no one's paying attention, you took some steps forward, careful not to stumble on your stilettoes.

Your head held high, your posture as perfect as it can be, you were prepared for the challenge ahead. Everything will go according to your plan. The entity didn't show you anything bad that might happen, what could go wrong?

You suddenly felt eyes directed towards your being, making the hairs on your nape stand. Your (E/C) eyes widened a bit. You looked down to your left and saw, leaning on one of the walls, the man who almost landed on top of you that Thursday afternoon. The man with the markings on his skin.

The man in your visions.

It was none other than V, himself. And boy, did he take your breath away. First time you saw him, he was wearing a long black leather vest, a pair of dark cargo pants, and, well, a very unflattering pair of sandals.

But, now,...

As soon as he noticed that you finally turned to look at him, V's eyes slightly widened, then returned to normal. He noticed the same reaction on you, as if you were definitely expecting him to be there. He saw how you looked at him, like his presence awed you, and it honestly made him flattered, especially when he saw you blush a little bit, then looked away.

Ah, and so the girl finally gave up her game of hide and seek! V thought.

How could you not blush? Here was the man who had been plaguing you with both romantic and erotic visions for ten years straight. Yes, he may look a bit different in them but, that definitely was him, no doubt about it.

And, oh, what a wonderful time to be plagued by those sinful thoughts! Your plan was already falling apart! You were slowly losing focus.

When you looked back at him, you saw that he was still looking at you. He was even smiling at you as he made his way towards you, head slightly tilted to the side in amusement.

This is it! You thought as you prepared to meet him. There's no going back -

"Hey, beautiful!"

"Dante?!"

Somehow, you failed to notice, even with your ability to see into the future, the Devil Hunter who made his way towards you without you noticing due to your mind's preoccupation with thoughts of V.

You were quickly swept to your feet as the tall and devilishly handsome Dante, who looked even more devilishly handsome with his black formal wear and white shirt that exposed his broad and muscular chest, held your tiny waist with both hands and effortlessly brought you closer to him. So dangerously close, that there's actually no space left between the two of you, at all.

Griffon materialized and went directly to V's waiting left arm, sensing his master's uneasiness due to the sudden turn of events.

"It's Dante!" Griffon whispered to V. "Who knew that chit had an interesting relationship with him?"

V's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as he saw Dante flirt with you. "Looks like I'm going to get my hands full as of the moment."

"What are we gonna do?"

He smiled confidently, as if he knew from the start that he's going to win against Dante. "I will,... think of something."

"You smell nice, as always." Dante whispered, his lips close to your ear, making you shiver. "Like an excellent vintage."

"Thanks but," you answered, getting creeped out by the Devil Hunter's behavior. You placed your hands against his chest to put some decent space between you. "... I thought you don't want to see me?"

But, your actions only fueled Dante's motivation to crush you against him even further. "Nah, that was three weeks ago!" He answered, his boyish smile both endearing and frightening.

Finally, you realized: he smelled of booze. He was intoxicated! But, a half Demon like him should have a high tolerance to things such as liquor. Which meant,...

How long has he been like this?! Was it since - ?

"Okay, Dante, you're drunk, and you need to take a rest - " you quickly spoke, getting more and more nervous as he got even more interested in your scent, actually burying his face to the most sensitive part of your neck and sniffing you, not caring in the least to the people around you.

"Who? Me? Drunk?" Dante said in a louder voice, then laughed, his hands now exploring your back, sending mixed sensations of both fear and heat all throughout your small body. "Not in the slightest!"

All of a sudden, you saw how Dante's eyes turn from icy blue to blood red without so much as a hint.

You gasped in utter fright: he was losing his mind over you, and you're afraid that he might take you forcefully if you don't do anything to divert his attention.

How come nobody's seeing this?! You thought as you looked around and noticed that the guests were busy doing their own business. And Nico and Kyrie's boyfriend? Well, they're both busy arguing with each other on the other side of the room!

"Now, don't be scared. Nobody's gonna see us." Dante literally growled. His voice was also changing very rapidly. "How about we go somewhere else and - ?"

Somebody, anyone, you thought helplessly. Help!

As if by a miracle, the head of a metal cane landed forcefully on Dante's right shoulder, enough to stop him from disgracing you even further. You both looked behind him and saw none other than V, himself, whose eyes were steadily trained on a hard - bound book, his right hand gripping the cane as tight as he could.

"While the lily white shall in love delight, nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright."

V quoted, not taking his eyes off the book. And when he finally looked up, putting the book away, he gave Dante a threatening kind of smirk. "It has been quite a while, Dante."

"V?" Dante muttered, slightly losing his grip on you. "What are you - ?"

"Now, a little bird has whispered,... something,... intriguing,... to me." the tattooed man playfully said, not letting Dante finish. "I've heard you are fond of riddles as I' am, no?"

"What are you even - ?!"

Dante's eyes were returning to normal, and his voice was reverting back to how it should be. And, what's more, he unknowingly let go of you.

You felt something tug at your shoulder. You turned and saw Griffon flying at the level of your eye.

"This way, sweet pea." the bird whispered to you, gesturing for you to follow him.

V smiled as he noticed you and the demonic bird going to the other side of the room, unnoticed by Dante. He went on with his facade.

"Now, there is a mirror in the middle of the room and three people who are looking at it: a warrior, a prince, and a bard." V said, smirking as he made his own riddle on the go just to distract Dante. "So, the question is: what do you think this Wrath of the Gods is?"

Dante just stared at V, mouth agape and eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment.

"I don't even know what kind of riddle you're blabbering about." Dante said to him. "Who are you, my brother?"

V chuckled good - naturedly. Somehow, through his brother's drunken state of mind, Dante still managed to see through him.

Oh, how on point he was with what he just said,...

V grasped his cane with both hands and nodded. Obviously, his brother has entirely forgotten all about the invitation and the riddle it brought. "My apologies." he said, turning away while playfully twirling his cane before tapping it on the ground. "I will let you be."

Just like that, V has won against Dante. He didn't even realize that you weren't there beside him anymore.

And now, to look for his quarry,...

He found you there behind a pillar on the right side of the room listening to Griffon's quips. He made his way there as quietly as he could and stopped just behind you.

"It's alright, he's confused beyond his own wits." You heard V softly whisper on your ear, sending shivers down your back to the pit of your stomach.

You turned and looked up at him, trying to suppress your tears at what just happened, and fought the urge to hug him. "I don't know how to thank you."

He smiled at you, but this time, it held none of the threat he showed to Dante earlier. It was gentle and comforting.

"Come with me." He requested, gesturing towards the refreshments table with a little tilt of his head.

And so, you followed him. You really wanted to convey your gratitude towards him for saving you earlier, but you couldn't bring yourself to say the words. His very presence seemed to overwhelm you but, not in an awful way. You knew he had total control over you right then, you just didn't know how or when it exactly happened.

And, as if to add more to your confusion and conflicting emotions towards the man, you noticed how his crisp, jet black tail coat hugged his slender torso. His equally dark pair of fitted pants also did a good job of emphasizing his height, about six feet and a few inches. The way he walked while holding his cane on his right hand was, indeed, very hypnotic, that your eyes were drawn to his every movement.

Yes, you may find Dante attractive before his drunken fiasco earlier but, it was nothing compared to how you thought and felt of V now.

And you simply blushed at the initial thought of it.

V looked behind him to check if you were still following him. And when he noticed the flush on your cheeks and how you look up at him, your long and heavy lashes making your eyes look endearingly languid, he had enough reason to look at your well - defined curves, the graceful movement of your hips that was further emphasized by your fitting white dress, and that lovely way your generous chest rise and fall with each breath you take. He had to look away for a while to not get himself excited over you. He was no teenager, and he must not conduct himself as one in front of you.

He stopped in front of the table, picked a glass of water, and offered it to you.

You shook your head. "I'm good, thanks." You smiled at him.

"Are you sure? You do look like you need it."

"I'm sure."

"Then, how about,... " V put the glass of water down and took a glass of champagne. " ... something a bit stronger?" his voice sounded really playful.

You shook your head once more, not wanting to offend -

"On second thought,... "

And just like what happened with the pizza box last Thursday, you threw all pretense aside and quickly took the glass of champagne from V's hand. You gulped the whole thing in one go in front of him, making him smile in amusement. After that, you took a seat in one of the chairs.

V looked down at you, his very person as imposing as hell and as attractive as heaven. But, you don't care. Your plan of a perfect evening was ruined, thanks to Dante, and you wanted to indulge yourself to forget all about it.

"You want another glass?" V graciously offered.

You nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, please."

"As you wish, my lady." V said with a mischievous grin, turning to get another one.

***

🖤🖤🖤

[d-noona]

MAKE OVER

Chapter 2: Librarian the seductress

Jung Hoseok x Reader

Reader as Kang Hyeonji

SUMMARY: When Kang Hyeonji transformed herself into a striking redhead, the entire male population of Seoul stood up and took notice. But her make over was for Jung Hoseok’s benefit alone. He began to show interest in the new look but not in the way she wanted. Suddenly he was over-protective, perhaps a little jealous. It seemed that the idea of having a relationship with her couldn’t be further from his mind. The girl however wants more. So it was time for an ultimatum. If Hoseok didn’t want Hyeonji to lose her virginity to another admirer, he had no option but to make love to her himself.

Hyeonji was standing at the library computer, running the wand over the first of the huge pile of returned books, when something caught her eye. Something bright and red. She glanced up through the glass door to see a shiny red car turning its brand-new nose into the empty parking space right outside the library. It brought no flash of recognition, despite being a memorable model. Not quite a sports car, it was stills stylish and expensive looking. A newcomer to the area, no doubt. Not knowing that this particular library branch was closed to the public on Wednesday morning. Hyeonji was about to return to the job at hand when the driver's door opened and a heart-jolting familiar head of hair came into view, gleaming under the summer sun.

Hoseok.

Her heart leaped. So he had remembered her birthday. He'd even come in person. She could hardly believe it. Her happiness knew no bounds as she watched him close the car and stride up onto the pavement and across to the front doors. He smiled at her through the grass as he tapped on the wooden frame.

"Can't they see were closed?" Choon Hee complained from where she was sitting at her desk, flipping through one of the new publisher catalogs. She could not see who was knocking. If she had, she would not be so anxious to send the unwanted visitor away. Min Choon Hee might be happily married to her husband Min Yoongi with three children, but she still had an eye for a good-looking man.

Hoseok was just that –and more. At twenty five, he was in his physical prime, his elegant body in perfect tune with his handsome face. His height was no joke either, his lean frame made him look even taller, and did his choice of clothing. In winter they range from soft suede numbers to tweedy sports coats. In summer he chose linen or lightweight wool in neutral colors, and teamed them with cool T-shirts. Ties rarely graced his neck. In fact, Hyeonji had never seen Hoseok dressed formally.

Today he was wearing stonewashed blue jeans, a navy shirt and a loose cream jacket with sleeves pushed up to his elbows. His black hair was longer than when she'd seen him last, falling to his ears from its side parting and flopping with its usual rakish charm across his high forehead. He looked slightly wind-blown and utterly gorgeous. Hyeonji immediately put her "moving on" decision on hold for a good seven years. Thirty, she decided a new, was soon enough to give up all hope. The fact that Hoseok was standing where he was at this very moment had to give her some hope. Fancy him abandoning his precious business on a working day to drive this long from Seoul to Gwangju, just to see her on her birthday.

"For pity's sake!" Choon Hee snapped when Hoseok knocked a second time. "Can't they read? The library times are on the darned door!"

"It's someone I know," Hyeonji said. "I'll just go let him in." Choon Hee jumped from her sit "But it's almost..." The sight of Hoseok's handsome-self stopped her in her tracks. "Mmm, yes by all means let him in," she murmured, primping her glossy black straight hair as Hyeonji hurried out from behind the reception desk across the functional grey carpet. Hyeonji wasn't worried that Hoseok would find Choon Hee attractive. As pretty as she was, she was a married woman. Hoseok believed in keeping his sex life simple.

"One girl at a time," he'd once confided in Hyeonji. "And never anyone else's."

It was surprisingly conservative attitude in this day and age, especially coming from a man who looked like Hoseok, who had women throwing themselves at him all the time. He had a similarly strict attitude to marriage. Only one per lifetime, which was why he'd always say he would not bother with marriage till he was in his thirties and financially secure. He didn't want to make a mistake in finding his partner.

"In the meantime," he joked to her one day, "I'm having a lot of fun auditioning possible future candidates for the position of Mrs. Jung Hoseok." It had always terrified Hyeonji that one of those future candidates might capture Hoseok's love as well as his lust. Fortunately, that hadn't happened, and Hyeonji had taken heart from the failure of his various very beautiful girlfriends to last more than a few months. But his latest was a bit of a worry. A statuesque brunette who went by the name Tinashe, she'd already lasted six months –a record for Hoseok. He'd even brought her home with him for Christmas break, during which time Hyeonji had many opportunities to see Tinashe's assets. What she could do for a bikini was incomparable.

But I'm not going to think about Tinashe right now, Hyeonji told herself as she turned the key and swept the open door. Today is my birthday and my very best friend has come to celebrate it with me. "Hoseok!" she exclaimed, smiling up into his dancing brown eyes. "Hi there, Hyeonji. Sorry to interrupt. I know you're working but I simply had to show you my new car. Picked it up this morning at one of those dealerships just the other side of town and couldn't resist taking it for a spin. Before I knew it I was on the express way headed here. I thought what the hell Hoseok? You haven't had a day off in ages. Drive up to Gwangju and visit your Mom."

He smiled a sheepish smile, showing perfect teeth and a charming dimple. "It wasn't till I pulled up into the driveway that I remembered today is her golf day. Took all the wind out of my sails, I can tell you. But no way was I going back to Seoul without showing someone. Naturally, I thought of you. So...what do you think?" and he waved in the direction of the car. "It's one of the new Mazda Eunos 800s. The Miller Cycle version. Great red, isn't it?" he finished.

Every drop of joy drained out of Hyeonji. Hoseok hadn't come for her birthday. He'd come to show her a pathetic car. Worse, she hadn't even been his first choice of viewer. She'd run a very poor second. As usual. Something hard curled around her heart, setting in concrete and trapping her love for him deep inside. Hyeonji determined it would never see the light of day again. She glanced coldly over at the offending vehicle and shrugged dismissively. "If you've seen one red car Hoseok," she said coolly, "You've seen them all."

There was no doubt he was taken aback by the icy indifference of her tone, for his eyebrows shot up and he stared at her with bewilderment in his beautiful brown eyes. Hyeonji was disgusted with herself for instantly feeling guilty. So much for her first foray into hating Hoseok, but she was determined not to weaken this time. Enough was enough.

"You know me Hoseok," she went on brusquely. "I've never been a car person."

"That's because you've never learned to drive, Hyeonji. You'd appreciate cars more if you were ever behind the wheel. Come on. Come for a short spin with me." He actually took her arm and began propelling her across the pavement. "Hobi!" she protested, wrenching her arm away from his hold and planting her sensible shoes firmly on the pavement. "I can't. I'm at work."

"But surely the library's not even open," he argued. "Certainly they won't miss you for a couple of minutes?"

"That's beside the point," she said sternly. "You might be your own boss, Hoseok, and come and go as you please, but most people can't, me included. Besides, it's almost morning tea and I have to be here for that." The rest of the staff had all chipped in to buy her a cake. It was a tradition in the library whenever one of them had a birthday. No way was she going to run out on her real friends to indulge Hobi's ego.

"I don't see why," he said stubbornly.

No you wouldn't...

Hyeonji thought mutinously, and toyed with telling him, just so he could feel terrible for a full ten seconds. The decision was taken out of her hand when Choon Hee popped her head out the door. "Come on birthday girl. Namjoon and the new girlfriend Han Byeol brought your cake along and all twenty-three candles are alight and waiting. So get in here and do the honors. You can bring your hunk of a friend, if you like," she added, looking Hoseok up and down with saucily admiring eyes.

"We've got more than enough cake for an extra mouth" Hyeonji relished Hoseok's groan. To give him some credit he did look suitably apologetic once Choon Hee appeared. "God, Hyeonji, I had no idea it was your birthday. There I was, blabbering away about my new car, and all the time you must be thinking how damned selfish I was being." Frankly, she was enjoying his guilt. It had a deliciously soothing effect on her damaged pride. "That's all right Hobi. I'm used to your not remembering my birthday." He winced anew. "Don't make me feel any more rotten that I already do." Hyeonji almost gave in. it was awfully hard to stay mad at Hoseok. He didn't mean to be selfish. He was, unfortunately, the product of a doting mother and far too many God given talents. Brains and beauty did not make for a modest, self-effacing kind of guy.

Hoseok could be generous and charming when he set his mind to it, but in the main he was a self-absorbed individual who rarely saw beyond end of his own classically shaped nose. God know why I love him so much, Hyeonji though irritably. But then her eyes travelled slowly from his perfect face down over his perfect body, and every female cell she owned clamored to be noticed back.

But the only expression in his eyes when he looked down at her was remorse. When he forcibly linked arms with her, she glared her frustration up to him. "Don't be mad at me, Hyeonji" he said with disarming softness. "I'm not mad at you," she returned stiffly.

"Oh, yes, you are. And you have every right to be. But I'll make it you to you tonight, if you'll let me" says the man who is desperately clinging to your arms. "Tonight?" she echoed far too weakly. "Yes, tonight," he said firmly. "But for now I think your colleagues are waiting for you to blow out those twenty-three candles."

With typical Hoseok confidence he steered her into the library and proceeded to charm everyone in the place. It annoyed Hyeonji that he gave her openly curious workmates the impression that he was a boyfriend of sorts. He even extracted her promise in Choon Hee's goggle-eyed presence to go out with him later that evening. She initially refused dinner, no way was she going to disappoint her mother, but grudgingly agreed to after-dinner coffee somewhere.

Hyeonji told herself afterwards that she would never have agreed to go out with him at all if she'd been alone with him. She would have sent him on his way with a flea in his ear. She didn't need his pity, or guilt. The moment his new red Mazda roared of up the road back in the direction of Seoul, Choon Hee and Han Byeol settled their dryly knowing eyes on her.

"Well you're a dark horse, Hyeonji, aren't you?" Choon Hee said as they walked together back into the library. "I've always thought of you as a quiet little thing and all this time you had something like that on the side." Han Byeol giggled along with Choon Hee. Hyeonji silently cursed Hoseok. All he ever caused her was trouble and heartache. "Hoseok's mother lives next door," she explained with more calm than she was feeling. "I've known Hobi for years. We're just good friends."

"Oh sure. He drove all the way up from Seoul to wish you a happy birthday because you're just good friends. You know what? I'll bet you're one of those girls who go home from the office at night, and perform one of those ten-second transformations." Choon Hee laughed while Han Byeol agreeing to every word she said. "You know the type. Off come the glasses and the straight laced clothes. Down comes the hair. On goes the sexy gear, make-up, and perfume, and –WHAM! Instant meat in heat!"

Hyeonji had to laugh. It would take more than seconds to transform her. "You can laugh," Han Byeol scoffed. "But I'm no one's fool. And you're far prettier than you pretend to be. I always did wonder why you never seemed to be on the lookout for a fella. I was beginning to think all sorts of things till glamour boy arrived on the scene today. He gave me a case of instant heat, I can tell you. And I saw the way you looked at him when you didn't think anyone was noticing. You've got it bad. I know the signs. So why haven't I heard of this paragon perfection before? Why all the mystery and secrecy? Is he married? A womanizer? A bad boy? Look, you can trust me with your deep dark secrets" she whispered. "I won't tell anyone."

Hyeonji laughed a second time. "There's nothing deep or dark to tell. I repeat... we're just good friends. As I said before Hobi used to live next door. We went to school together, though not in the same class. He was two years ahead of me."

"Well, there's nothing remotely boy-next-door about him anymore" came Choon Hee's dry remark. "He has city written all over him. Not to mention success." Hyeonji and Han Byeol nodded to this "I am well aware of that, believe me. I'm not blind, but there's never been any romance between us, and there never will be. He has a steady girlfriend. Goes by the name of Tinashe."

"Tinashe," Choon Hee repeated, her nose wrinkling. "Don't tell me. She's stunning with boobs to die for, hair down to her waist and legs up to her armpits?" Hyeonji startled. "You know her?"

"Nope. Just guessed. Men like your Hoseok always seem to have girls like that on their arm" Choon Hee smirks. "He isn't my Hoseok" Hyeonji said tightly. "But you like him to be, don't you?" Han Byeol added.

Hyeonji opened her mouth to deny it. But her tongue betrayed her when a thickness claimed it. Tears pricked at her back of her eyes.

Her Hoseok...

What a concept. What an improbable, impossible, inconceivable, unachievable concept. To keep clinging to it was not only demeaning to her personally but depressing in the extreme. "There was a time when I did" she said at last, her tone clipped and cold. "But not anymore. I have better things to do with my life than pine for the impossible."

"Impossible? Why do you say impossible?" as Han Byeol curiously asked. "For pity's sake Han Byeol, you've seen him and you too Choon. You guys said so yourself men like Hoseok go for girls like Tinashe, not mousy little things like me."

"You'd be far from mousy if you made the best of yourself. To be frank, Hyeonji, a little make-up wouldn't go astray. And an occasional visit to the hairdresser." Hyeonji stiffened, despite the criticism striking home. "I wouldn't want a man who didn't love me for myself" CHoon Hee said sharply. "That's rubbish and you know it! I'm a married lady and I still have to work hard to keep my man. Now you listen to me, Hyeonji and you too Han Byeol for your sake and Namjoon's." Choon Hee turns to face Hyeonji "Now, when Hoseok comes to take you out tonight. Surprise him."

"Surprise him?" Hyeonji asked dryly feeling nervous about Choon Hee's suggestion. "Yes, leave your hair down. Slap some make-up on." Han Byeol added "Use a sexy perfume. Wear something which shows off that great little figure of yours." Choon Hee nodded in approval.

For a split second, Hyeonji was buoyed up by Choon Hee and Han Byeol's compliments on her figure. But then she thought of Tinashe's tall, voluptuous, sex-bomb body and her momentary high was totally deflated.

"I don't have any sexy perfume," she murmured dispiritedly. She didn't own much make-up either. But she wasn't about to admit that. Choon Hee gave her an exasperated glare. "Then buy some at the mall during your lunch hour!" Their library was in a small regional center which boasted a few shops, a well-stocked chemist shop included. Hyeonji declined telling CHoon Hee and Han Byeol that she only had five dollars in her purse. Sexy perfume was expensive, and she'd rather wear nothing than douse herself in a cheap scent.

Hyeonji actually contemplating asking her friends to lend her some money and reality returned with a rush. She could wear more make-up than a Japanese geisha and drown herself in the most exotic expensive perfume in the world and it would not make Hoseok fall in love with her. "Thank you for your advice ladies," she said with a return to common sense "but I really rather just be myself. Now I'd better get back to these books." Hyeonji resumed checking in the returns, blocking her mind to everything but the thought that at least she would not starve to death tonight after her mother's special birthday meal. Hoseok could buy her something delicious and creamy to go with her after-dinner coffee.

Hyeonji gave no more thought to the girl's advice about make-up and perfume, till she arrived home late that afternoon and opened her carryall to find a paper parcel sitting on top of her house keys. It contained a small but expensive-looking bottle of perfume.

And a note. "Happy birthday darling!" Choon Hee and Han Byeol had written with their usual extravagant hand writing. "This always worked for me. Well, sometimes. Still, what have you got to lose? Go for it! We chipped in so don't worry about it. We love you. Go get your man!"

Hyeonji sprayed a tiny burst of perfume onto her wrist and lifted it to her nose. It was a wonderfully sensual smell, its heavy musk perfume bringing images of satin sheets and naked bodies and untold unknown delights. Hyeonji shook her head. To wear such a scent in Hoseok's presence would be the ultimate torture, and let's face it, Hyeonji told herself, wearing perfume, no matter how sensual, isn't about to turn Hoseok into some kind of sex-crazed lunatic. With a girl like Tinashe in tow, no doubt he has all the sex he can handle. Hyeonji glanced at the perfume's name and laughed.

SEDUCTRESS

Good Lord. It would've been a powerful potion to turn her into that. It was a nice thought of Choon Hee and Han Byeol's, but a total waste of time and money. So was her advice. For Hyeonji she believed she did have something to lose. Her self-respect, and possibly Hoseok's friendship.

Chapter 03

Masterlist

[etlunainmorte]

🖤 I See My Future Before Me 🖤

***

She managed to acquire it for a very low and reasonable price. After all, who would use an old record now, especially with the booming technological culture that was steadily becoming popular with the younger generation?

She placed the delicate thing on her glass top table and took a good long look at it. Dante would pick her up any minute now, and she must definitely get ready for the mission ahead ( this time, a couple of magic - wielding higher Demons ).

However, for some strange reason, she couldn't shake the urge that she must play at least one song with it.

With that in mind, and her strong belief in intuition ( not to mention Cassandra's constant meddling ), she picked up the vinyl record she bought along with the old instrument and proceeded to the task. And with a little help from an almost useless and age - old manual ( its pages were yellow and crumbling at the edges ) that came with the merchandise, she finally managed to play the song. She took a few steps away from the table and allowed the sweet, old music to soothe and calm her senses.

She closed her eyes, letting the melody sink in,...

... when a vision suddenly flashed through her mind.

She opened her eyes once more, unable to believe her wicked sense of premonition ( or Cassandra's ) and allowed the vision to take over her entire mind.

And in that vision, she saw herself dancing the waltz with someone - a tall man clad completely in black. They were dancing to the same music that she was listening to, in the middle of the summer night, on a beautiful, Grecian balcony, below the starry, evening sky, the full moon shining above them.

It was,... simply perfect,...

But, who was that man?

The vision ended as soon as she opened her eyes.

However, something near the window startled her. She took a good long look at it as it slowly materialized, and right then and there, she saw him - the man she was dancing with in that vision,...

It's him! The man she's been searching for for such a long time.

The man,... with the white hair,...

And he was there, standing a few feet away from her, giving her a confused, and yet longing, look, as if he was also seeing her, himself.

She cautiously went closer to him and observed how his eyes followed her movements. She knew perfectly well that he was just a vision. Of the past or future? That she was not certain.

All she knew was that he was holding out his hands in front of her in a clear gesture that successfully conveyed his desire to dance with her,...

***

XXVIII

***

"Here." Nico mumbled sleepily as she handed V a mug of warm chocolate. He thanked the woman as he took it from her hands. He was about to take a sip when he noticed the woman giving him a suspicious look. She pointed two fingers at him and said, "Eh, so you're really Vergil, huh? Dante's twin brother?”

The man smirked as he finally took a sip of the warm chocolate, its enticing scent calming his tired and restless senses. He pursed his lips as he glanced at the calm and serene evening atmosphere from the balcony of (Y/N)'s unit.

"I was." He answered, his eyes darting from one cheerfully lit house to another. Some of the residents have already made their way back to their homes after the Dreadnought incident, and things were slowly going back to its normal and boring pace.

Nico almost choked on her chocolate when she heard V's answer. She chuckled as she took a good long, and thorough look at Vergil’s form from head to foot. "You,... were?" She chuckled.

V smirked once more as he looked at her. "It's the truth."

"I don't understand. How can you not be Vergil right now? I mean, come on, Sir Changes – A - Lot!"

The man chuckled as he helplessly shook his head. He held out a single hand as little orbs of light radiated from it. The almost translucent orbs, then, spread out from his hand to his arm, then from his torso to his other arm. The orbs reached his entire body as the curious little lights morphed him back to the V that Nico was used to seeing - black leather vest, tooth necklace, a pair of unflattering black sandals, and all.

"This,... is merely an illusion.” V explained. “I could never become whole again. It is,... completely impossible. Even with the powers of the Sisters Of Fate."

"Your hair,..." Nico mused as she pointed at V's snowy white hair. "It's not turning back to black." She, then, pointed at his skin. "And your tattoos are barely even there!"

"This is how I look like before all this,... began. This,... is the real me."

"Wow. And I thought (Y/N) was the only one who can change looks,..."

At the mere sound of her name, V's heart skipped a beat and his breath clearly hitched. The girl was sleeping in her room, unconscious since the whole battle with Pandemonium ended. He promised her sister that he would take care of him, and Galatea left her body as soon as she was done healing her.

But, then, somehow, he knew deep within his tainted heart that she would never be fully healed.

Would she,... ?

His question came out like a soft breeze that was almost missed by the Artisan. She stopped sipping her chocolate and glanced back at V, seeing the man leaning on the railing and clearly looking uncomfortable.

"Sorry?"

V looked at her eyes and repeated his question. "Would she find it in her heart to forgive me? After everything I've done to her?"

"Oh, that." Nico came closer towards the man and patted him a bit forcefully on the shoulder. "Dontcha worry a thing 'bout that! She'll forgive ya and yer pretty, lil' skinny ass. Believe me.”

V chuckled at her crude humor and sighed.

"You don't have,... any idea what I did to her back in that demonic ship,..."

"I know. You killed her. Well, almost."

V's eyes widened as he straightened up and looked at her. "How did you - ?!"

"Found out? Oh, she knew 'bout that. She told me herself."

Oh, it must be Cassandra, V thought as he leaned against the railing once more. "Of course."

"But, hey, she's still alive, right? And you're fine! At least, you didn't turn evil or somethin' and caused the world's destruction."

At those ridiculously accurate words, V bowed his head down low, trying to conceal his face until he could no longer endure the emotions. With trembling shoulders and teary eyes, he threw his head back, his low and evil - sounding laughter ripping out of his throat and scaring the hell out of Nico.

"Hahaha! YOU make me laugh,..."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "O,... kay?"

"You have no idea,... how messed up I've become. I failed her. I failed miserably. I'm only here because, apparently, Galatea still thinks I'm worthy. After,... everything I did to her."

"Hey, we all make mistakes." V smiled at her. "I will tell you,... the story of my insanity,..."

With wide, doubtful eyes, Nico patiently listened as V recounted to her the events that took place in the Dreadnought, from the moment he stabbed (Y/N) up to the point where Fleminger stabbed him, taking the Sisters away from him and letting Pandemonium kill everyone.

"Wait, wait, wait,..." Nico blabbered as she pushed the frame of her red - rimmed glasses to her nose bridge. "So, you're sayin' that,... everyone,... died?"

"Yes."

"Hooee! Well, I'm sure glad that Galatea brought you back. I wonder how I died back there?"

As Nico went on blabbering about how she could possibly die in that far off alternate universe, V suddenly saw,...

... a spectral - looking hand reaching up at the railing of the balcony just behind her. V was definitely not one to get frightened of ghosts but, the vision did startle him. He focused his gaze into it as the creature climbed up the balcony as effortlessly as it could.

It was (Y/N), and she was, somehow, strangely barefoot. Her pants looked like they were burnt from the knee down, and her movements were as light as possible. She tiptoed her way to the window when she suddenly heard some voices inside.

So, did V.

“ ... they even mentioned some famous and obscure names in the Devil Hunting business who got the invitation. And let me mention this - Dante also received one."

Her eyes widened at whatever she saw inside and she couldn't prevent herself from letting out a yelping sound.

“Someone’s listening!”

She covered her mouth and stepped away from the window.

“Looks like we have an,… unwanted visitor.” Then, he heard it. That voice. It was him. He could remember everything: this was from that time when he first arrived at this place.

So, it was true: someone really was outside that time. And it was none other than her,...

“Best to make it at home - ” He heard himself speak once more.

“Guys, guys! Stop! What did I say about making a mess?!”

“Hey, hey! There’s an intruder right - AHH!” A very loud and obnoxious noise was heard from the inside, like someone, or something, was just thrown to the other side of the room.

“To not make any?”

“Exactly! That’s just the - ah - neighbor’s cat!”

“That,… does not sound like a feline, at least to my ears.”

“Okay, okay, guys! Trust me and put your weapons down. Thank you! Now, as I was saying, we must go to this event and find out what this, Wrath of The Gods, is!”

“We cannot go shorthanded. If we take the riddle in a very literal sense, then,… we would not have enough strength. We would be dealing with the Wrath of The Gods,… after all.”

While listening to the conversation inside, he saw (Y/N) as she tiptoed her way back closer to the window, lovingly gazing at something inside. Her eyes widened, then returned to normal once more. She raised an arm and wiped the tears that started coming out of her eyes with the sleeves of her pale pink hoodie.

She was crying, and yet,...

... she looked clearly happy at what she saw. Like she finally found something she has been searching for after so long.

Like, she was deeply longing to see whatever that was,...

And this made V's heart twitch in unbelievable pain.

He,... knew who she was looking at. He knew,...

... who she was longing to meet,...

“That’s where I come in! Nero, how’s the breaker coming along?”

“It’s fine, sure.”

“Oh, yeah? Then, I’ll be making new ones.”

“Isn’t this enough?”

“No! And, you! You seem interested in all this, yes?”

“As a matter of fact, I ‘am."

“Then, go get your own formal wear! I can’t provide you with one. I’m an Artisan, not a freaking, fancy tailor!”

“Wait, like, right now?”

“Duh?! Are you, like, gonna wait till Saturday for that? Go, go, GO!”

She cautiously took a few steps away from the window once more.

“Hey, hey, if you’re looking for some chicks, then you’re in the wrong place! Get moving!”

There were more sounds, and when they finally subsided, the window violently opened and she finally entered the threshold of her own home.

“Are you crazy?! Why would you be hiding there? This is your home, for crying out loud! Are you a thief, or something?!”

“It’s him, Nico.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“It’s him! The man with the violin in my visions!”

“Who?!”

“The one with the markings on his skin!”

“The mysterious man? Are you sure about that?”

“It. Is. HIM!”

"¿Por qué estas descalza?" V heard a distinctively different voice of that of a little girl.

He closed his eyes at the sudden change, and when he opened them once more, he was suddenly transported to a sunny, suburban place. A little girl with dark pigtails was staring at him, her hands on her hips like a wife who was angry at her husband for coming home late and drunk.

He realized she was not directly looking at him, and this made him turn around. And to his surprise, he saw (Y/N). And just like in his vision a while ago, she was barefoot, and her pants looked burnt from the knee down.

(Y/N) opened her mouth to answer but, then, she realized she can't speak the little girl's language. This made the smaller girl smile.

"¡Ven conmigo! Te llevaré a nuestra casa." The girl excitedly said as she practically went through V like he was a ghost and grabbed (Y/N)'s hand.

V followed the two as the little girl led (Y/N) to one of the charming little two - story houses on the left. The little girl opened the door and let (Y/N) in.

"¡Madre!" The girl called. "¡Madre!"

"¿Alicia?"

A woman in her mid - fifties came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands with an orange towel.

"¿Hija?" The mother's eyes widened as she abandoned her towel, practically throwing it to the side as she made her way to the two girls. "¡Que chica tan linda! ¿Es tu amiga?"

The little girl laughed and shook her head, making (Y/N) a bit surprised and culture - shocked. "Ella no habla Español. No te preocupes, yo me encargo." The girl turned to (Y/N) and pointed at herself, then her mother. "My name is Alicia. This is my mother, Maria. I go to English class every Saturday."

"Oh, that's nice." (Y/N) answered as she received a pair of slippers from the little girl. "Thanks."

"She said you're pretty."

A faint rosy tint crept up (Y/N)'s cheeks. She looked at the smiling older woman and nodded. "I, ah, thank you."

Maria nodded, understanding the words she just said.

"What are you doing outside with no shoes?" The little girl asked her as she pulled her towards the living room.

"Umm, you see, ah,..." (Y/N) muttered as she sat down on the maroon sofa. "I was, ahh, looking for someone. A white haired man who plays the violin. I've seen him pass here. Have you, umm, seen him?"

White haired man who plays the violin?

He had been here?!

Alicia turned to his mom. "Ella pregunta si hemos visto a un hombre de cabello blanco por aquí, dice que toca el violin."

Maria frowned and shook her head. “No, lo siento mucho. Pero podemos avisarte si lo llegamos a ver."

"She said no. But, we will tell you when we see him."

(Y/N)'s face showed a clearly disappointed expression. But, despite this, she still sincerely smiled and nodded. "Thank you so much."

Alicia nudged her on the elbow to help her relax. "No hay problema." She answered with a smile. "That means no problem."

"I can't believe how fast you've grown!"

V heard another voice from the hallway. He went there and saw, in shock, the same little girl,...

... except that she was now the same height as (Y/N). Her hair was no longer in pigtails. Instead, she was wearing it down. And her fashion sense seemed to have changed, as well.

"I'm a teenager now!" And clearly, she was better in English. "And it seems that you haven't aged a bit since I last saw you!"

It was true. For some reason, (Y/N) still looked the same.

How many years has passed since she first met Alicia?

"So, have you seen him?"

"Oh, that man? I think mom has!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Alicia grabbed her hand and led her to the living room like what she did the first time they met. "Madre, (Y/N) is here!"

The woman, whose dark brown hair has clearly turned gray, looked up from her stitch work and stood, meeting the girls halfway and kissing the both of them on their forehead. V noticed that she now walked with a slight limp.

"It has been a long, long time, Miss (Y/N)!" Maria told her in straight English, grabbing her hands and squeezing them.

"Mom studied English for you." Alicia said with a proud and huge smile.

"That's really cool!"

"Mom, she’s asking whether you've seen the man she was looking for."

To this, Maria's face suddenly fell, a frown now gracing her warm and gentle features. She only shook her head and went back to her stitch work. And without saying another word, she sat down and went on with her work like nothing even happened.

"Oh, don't mind her. She's just like that at times. But, she's not mad at you, don't worry!" Alicia whispered.

(Y/N), who was clearly alarmed at the sudden change in Maria's demeanor, couldn't help but nod as she tried to hide her worry.

"It's okay."

"You haven't given up?"

V heard Alicia's frantic voice on the hallway once more. He immediately went there and saw her,...

... clad completely in black from head to foot. She clearly looked a bit older, and she was not dragging (Y/N) around like how she used to when she was younger.

And (Y/N)?

"You still haven't changed?" Alicia questioned her with raised eyebrows.

"Where's Maria?"

Something in her question triggered something in Alicia. And it unnerved both (Y/N) and V.

"Get out."

"Sorry?"

"I said, GET OUT!" Alicia screamed as she pushed (Y/N) out of the house.

"Alicia, what happened?!"

"GO AWAY!" The girl screamed as she shut the door close. She then ran towards the sofa, grabbed Maria's old stitch work, and cried. The handiwork was clearly half - finished but, some words were visible from it.

"El amor es paciente, el amor es amable. No envi - "

"HEY!"

V snapped back to reality as Nico snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"You alright?"

"Indeed. Yes, I' am." He answered.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief as she clutched at her chest like she was having a heart attack. "I thought I lost you back there. You know, (Y/N)'s visions were short and sweet - "

"She's been to Spain."

"Sorry?"

V looked at her and repeated his words. "It's (Y/N). I saw her. She was in Spain."

"Oh, that! So, you've seen her?" Nico answered as she went back inside, V following close behind her. "You know, she's been to many places, more than what you could imagine. She's searching ten years for you, God!"

"Ten,… years?!"

"Yeah. She comes home often, though. She's learned to channel that power of hers to her feet and legs so she could move fast and jump to high places." Nico explained as she went to one of the drawers and pulled something out from it. "So, she's never really gone for too long. But, I'm gonna tell ya this: that channeling the power to her feet thing often burned her pants."

So, that's why,...

"I don't understand." V went on as he watched Nico flip through the pages of an old album. "She was searching for ten years, but I've only been to such places for three weeks. I was,… travelling. It's what I've been doing before coming here to Red Grave."

"Really? Well, it's a long story. Let's just say that she wanted to meet you because the entity that was possessing her wanted her to fulfill some kind of a mission. Don't ask." She handed the open album to V and pointed at one of the photos. "That's them."

V's eyes widened in awe as he saw the photograph of (Y/N) and Alicia during the Spanish girl's party for her sixteenth birthday.

"Alicia. One of the people she frequently visited and stopped seeing after ten years. Said she’s starting to notice."

"Notice what?" V looked up from the album.

Nico went closer to V and whispered like she was passing on a well - guarded secret to him. "Okay, this sounds weird but, she actually came from the past."

"I know."

"Yeah, yeah! I thought at first she's just plain nuts. But, listen to this: the first thing she did after recovering was search for her family's old farm in Fortuna. V, there hasn't been a farm there since a hundred years ago! It's all concrete now, and streets.

"So, she searched for her parents and any people she could remember from her past. Some of them either died already or have grandchildren of their own. And her parents? She found out that they separated and had families of their own."

"A girl,... out of her time,..." V mused as he flipped through the pages of (Y/N)'s old album, seeing her with unknown faces.

"Exactly! She's, like, super old when you think 'bout it!" Nico went to one of the paintings and looked up at it. "And, not only that, her looks stayed the same for those ten whole years I knew her. Like, she's stuck or somethin’.”

"Galatea's stasis." V breathed.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing"

Nico frowned and raised an eyebrow at him. She went on. "She craves for things from the past. So, she started collecting antiques like this. Other than helping her cope after being plucked from when she came from, these things she have reminded her of all the places she's been. They remind her of you."

The poet looked up from the album and saw Nico picking up her keys on the glass top table. There was an old record there, similar to Fleminger's, that he hasn't taken notice of before.

Was it there the whole time?

Nico saw the confusion in V's eyes as he looked at the antique. "Oh, this? She bought this about a year ago. Thought she's gonna want to listen to old songs when she wakes up. So, I took it out. It's gonna get moldy with disuse."

The woman walked towards the door but, before she went out, she turned back to V. "I'll leave her to ya, V. Don't mess this up again." And then, just like that, she walked out of the door, leaving him alone with (Y/N).

The silence felt deafening, the darkness depressing. V nearly collapsed on the sofa as he carefully placed the album next to the record. He was about to touch it when he heard a loud tapping against the window. He turned around just in time to see Griffon and Shadow entering the unit.

"HOO! We made it." Griffon breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way towards V while carrying something broken in his hands.

"I see you found it." V carefully took the broken violin from Griffon's long fingers. It was (Y/N)'s.

"Yeah, well. Kinda got all bloody searchin’ through Dreadnought's rubble for that."

"Thank you."

"Wait!" Griffon held up two long fingers in front of V and made way for Shadow to get close to the poet.

V smirked, controlling his mirth and amusement as he looked down at the now human Shadow. After the cleansing, she has turned into a pale human girl roughly the size of a middle - schooler. Her long black hair that reached her feet was awfully unkempt, and the clothes that Lady lent her a while ago was too big for her.

She quietly looked up at him with her big red eyes and showed him a pair of stilettos.

It was (Y/N)'s. She wore it when,...

"This girl took it badly when you threw them out during your mad state, if ya can’t remember. She looked for them all over the place and kept them with her." Griffon explained as Shadow gave the shoes back to V. She turned towards her fellow familiar and gave him a strange look. She, then, turned back to V with an angry, yet adorable, look. "Oh, and she's saying that she hates ya for hurting (Y/N). And that she will never forgive ya."

"Oh, I'm,..." V grasped the shoes and looked down at them, thinking of the girl who owned them. "... forgive me."

"Well, you've been a naughty schtick! Ya should've been punished for bad behavior!" The bald Demon made a ruffling gesture that was much akin to his movements when he was still a bird and collapsed on the sofa. "So, happy with yer new powers?" he, then, asked sarcastically.

"No." The poet answered monotonously as he slumped back to the sofa just beside the familiar, the shoes still in his hands.

Griffon rolled his eyes. "Figures,..."

There was a moment of silence between the two, and during this very awkward time, Shadow took a liking to the old record on the table. She poked the thing with her tiny finger and managed to turn it on, its weird mechanism startling her and making her hair stand. She drew back to a corner, giving it a confused and cautious look.

This made Griffon laugh a lot. "I wonder how that would sound, though."

"It,... wouldn't hurt if we try." The poet quietly said as he placed the shoes on the table and took the vinyl record just beside the instrument. Apparently, the record was simply titled as "Nat King Cole". He began with the long process of playing it and when the music finally came out of it, he turned it off immediately.

"Hey, why did ya turn it off?!" Griffon complained. He was about to rant more when he noticed the look on V's face. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open. "V? You okay?"

"I' am. I just,..." The man held out a hesitant finger as he turned on the instrument once more.

"Unforgettable, that's what you are.

Unforgettable, though near or far.

Like a song of love that clings to me,... "

"It's this song." He confessed with a shaky voice. With cold and trembling hands, he covered his mouth, already feeling the tears as they started falling down his blurry eyes. "It's,... from that evening."

Griffon saw the changes in V's demeanor and actually felt sorry for him. He tapped V's shoulder in a sincere effort to calm him down.

"Unforgettable in every way,

And forevermore,

That's how you'll stay,..."

He stood up and went towards the window, all the painful memories of everything that happened within a single week coming back to him. He found the love of his life, danced with her, and lost her because of his foolishness.

All because he let himself be manipulated.

Still unable to control his emotions, and the tears that came along with them, he turned back, and saw,...

... the girl, herself, standing a few feet away from him looking confused like he was.

But, this time, unlike any other vision he had of her, she looked like she was actually seeing him for real. She went closer towards him as he observed all of her movements. He held out his arms, hoping for his desire to dance with her once more to come across.

And, as if by some form of an unknown miracle, she let his hands take hers as they began the basic steps of the waltz,...

... just like the first time they did it on the Grecian balcony that evening.

"That's why darling, it's incredible,

That someone so unforgettable,

Thinks that I am unforgettable too."

Griffon and Shadow silently watched as V danced with something they couldn't see. The male familiar shook his head and grinned as he saw the poet actually enjoying the dance.

"No, never before has someone been more,..."

He tried to hold her closer despite the fear that she would vanish and rested his head on the crook of her neck.

"Unforgettable,… in every way,..."

He quietly and gently sang along, the lyrics tearing a new wound to his already beaten heart. How he wanted to hold her so much, how he wanted to actually feel her smooth skin against his,...

... how he longed to dance with her once more.

But, she’s hurt. Because of him.

And instead of her actually dancing with him, she’s lying on that bed inside her room with no guarantee of when she’d wake up.

"And forevermore,… that's how you'll stay,..." He felt a warm sensation on his body and realized that her vision was rubbing him on the back, her arms around him, wanting him to cease crying. He looked at her eyes and cupped her cheeks. "That's why darling,… it's incredible,… that someone,… so unforgettable,… thinks that I ‘am,… unforgettable too,..." His heart ached with each word he sang, feeling like they were directed towards him and making him feel guilty than ever before.

He wanted so much to tell her that: that she’s unforgettable,…

… that he was grateful to her for everything that she did for him for the past ten years,…

… that he was grateful that she found him and made his life a little less miserable.

But, of course, he had to make a very stupid mistake of hurting her.

And he regret everything he did and did not do to her.

As the song came to an end, his face inched closer to hers. He wanted so much to feel her lips against his,...

... when something startled her.

She reluctantly pulled away from him as she looked at the door behind her. She opened her mouth and said something he couldn't hear, and turned to face him once more. She gave him a warm, and yet weak, smile as she held up a single hand to caress his face. After that, she stepped away from him and went to the door, looking at him one last time before finally going through it.

"Please,..." V begged her, holding out a helpless and powerless hand to reach her. "Don't,... leave me,..."

***

🖤 Special thanks to @beyond-the-mirror for the Spanish dialogue and translations. And for also introducing us to Alicia and Maria. 🖤

🖤 @la-vita , @micaelagua , @ceruleanworld , @lessy86 , @ehrzeth , @diabeticsugarush , @simmy-ships , @boundbysoul , @heaven-on-a-landslide , and @krazy06 . 🖤