#lost my train of thought and squeezed the life out of a stress ball about it

[mwebber]

medium: people always think they have choice when it comes to visual novels - > a kinetic novel disguised as a visual novel?

or maybe there's choice in the beginning but towards the end there isn't, or there is in the pokemon choice sense in that there isn't

i don't need it to be perfect i just need it to be FUNCTIONAL

part of the problem is i don't feel attached to the story anymore. it's my story that i don't want to tell and i want to leave it behind so i can move forward with my life because god i am so tired of living in the past it feels like all i do

#$^%&&^(*^%$#

[missmonsters2]

today I feel awful... idk my insecurities are taking over me and I just want to curl into a ball and cry. maybe it's my hormones maybe the fact that I weighted myself and found out I gained weight (I can't fit into my jeans 😭) and the fact that I saw my sister in a tight skin dress looking perfect while I'm in my pj's just destroyed my confidence. I need something angsty to read to make me forget about my sad, miserable lffe right now. would you be down in writing sth angsty with nat maybe? you don't have to though. it's fine either way. I really appreciate all of your work and I keep reading on repeat whenever I'm feeling down. makes me cheer up. thank you, van ❤️

It's like we're the same person because I also went to visit my sister recently and my sister has gotten her life together and is living her best hot girl bod while I...let's not go there.

I just want you to know that you're hot as fuck and a body is just a body that we can change with time and effort. We're lit rally in this together. This time next year, we will be rocking the body that makes up happy and we'll be healthy!!! 💘💘

But I will still give you nat angst...but with a happy ending bc I said you deserve a HEA!!

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The Withers of Springtime Bloom

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Summary: Spring is a time of blooming and when things come back to life. You can't help but notice things that may be causing your relationship with Natasha to wither.

Warnings: self-esteem issues, insecurities about body, relationship with working out and food, seasonal depression. angst with HEA.

Count: 2.1k~

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You're not sure when things changed.

Things change so slowly after all.

Without you noticing, things change and change and change until one day, you do notice.

You notice that Natasha has become quieter, somber.

You notice the lack of date nights and affectionate touches.

You notice that you've let yourself go a little.

You're standing in front of the mirror, staring at your body with a frown. You've gained weight since dating Natasha, but relationship weight gain was normal, wasn't it?

But you remember how Natasha was just as fit as she was before she met you. Sure, she was a superhero, and you were a regular civilian; there was no reason for you to train long hours as Natasha did.

Still...

You turn to the side and peer at yourself in the mirror again.

You can't help but wonder...were you becoming less attractive to her?

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It had been the beginning of fall when you met Natasha. You loved the season of change and when things turned into warm colors before withering away for winter to come.

Natasha had come like a blessing, and in the winter, she was just warm as the colors of fall. Instead of withering away, she bloomed and invested that warmth in your relationship with her.

Despite always being an early riser to work out, weekends were the days she stayed in bed with you just a little longer. There had been so many breakfasts, lunch, and dinner dates. You found yourself moving things around or neglecting to work around her busy schedule.

Perhaps that was when things began to change. Eating out so often and forgoing working out to spend time with Natasha was what led to this.

Spring has arrived, and things are coming back to life. Yet somehow, your relationship with Natasha was withering away.

"Hey," you greet her as you come home, shopping bags in hand. You bought some more clothes when things felt like they didn't fit comfortably anymore. The experience had been upsetting for you, and you didn't end up buying too much, telling yourself you didn't want to spend too much when you were going to lose the weight.

Natasha was working in her office, peering down over reports, and barely acknowledged you other than with a hum.

"Long day?" You ask her as you put your things away and walk over to her.

"Yeah," Natasha sighed. "Trying to get these reports done since Maria needs them tomorrow."

That had been Natasha's excuse for spending long hours in her office every night for the last two weeks.

You place your hand on Natasha's shoulder with a reassuring squeeze, but she leans to the side as if to readjust herself, but still away from your touch.

The sting immediately comes, but you try to push it down, so it doesn't hurt as bad.

"Right," you say hoarsely, but Natasha stares on at the reports. "I'm just going to get ready for bed. It's been a long day and all. Let me know if you need anything."

Natasha gives you a nod as you leave the room. You feel awkward as you lie in the bed you share with her. You wonder if you're taking up too much space.

There's a pang of something as you try to curl yourself to be smaller and only distantly realizing you've skipped dinner before you fall asleep.

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You fall back onto the mat, chest heaving and your lungs burning.

It's been a while since you've worked out, and now you're definitely paying for it with how unfit you are.

The gym is moderately empty with the hour it is. You hate going to a public gym because it always feels like someone is staring, but it's better for strangers to stare than working out at the Compound for people you know to stare at you.

The rational part of you knows that you should just talk to Natasha, but the emotional side of you whispers that you won't like what Natasha has to say, that she might even end it before you've had a chance to change yourself.

When weeks pass, and you weigh yourself again, you almost start crying because you've only lost a couple of pounds.

It's normal, you know it is. You're losing weight at a normal rate, but it's not enough. You know fast weight loss wouldn't make sense for your body but you also feel you don't have half a year to go back to your normal weight.

You sit on the bathroom floor for hours, debating what to do when you hear a quiet knock.

"Sweetheart, are you in there?" Natasha's muffled voice comes through.

You wipe at your eyes furiously as you stand up.

"Y-Yeah," you answer back. "I'm just in the tub soaking."

There's a moment of silence through the door before Natasha answers back, "Alright. Enjoy yourself. Did you want me to order anything specific for dinner?"

"No, it's okay," you tell her. "You order anything you want. I already ate on my way home." You think about the chicken salad you've been eating for the past two weeks and almost sigh.

Natasha answered that she just came back to see if you've eaten, but she actually had to head back to the Compound. You were Natasha shuffling around before leaving through the front door, and you let out the breath you were holding.

You actually take a long, hot shower before putting on sweats and a big hoodie.

The truth was, you were hungry. The chicken salad was okay on the way home, but it had been a couple of hours since.

You knew starving yourself wasn't the answer, so you went into the kitchen to see if you could find something healthy to hold you over until you could go to bed.

But you can't find anything in the fridge except for Natasha's leftovers from whatever she ordered the day before. You can't find anything except frozen pizzas and microwavable foods.

You check the calories on the back and let out a frustrated sigh. Checking your watch, you realize it's too late in the evening to go grocery shopping because, by the time you get there, stores will have closed.

You slump down on the floor, leaning against the cabinets as you let out a pathetic whimper while your eyes became hot with tears.

You miss Natasha. You want Natasha holding you and telling you it would be okay. But you couldn't have that until you were back to what you were when you met her.

The front door suddenly opens.

"Have you seen my—sweetheart?" Natasha started to call before she noticed you sitting on the floor. "What's wrong?"

You use your sleeve to wipe at your eyes as you sit up straight.

"Nothing," you sniffle before you start to stand. "I just stubbed my toe against the edge of the kitchen island. What were you looking for? USB? You left it next to the bedside."

Natasha stares at your back, hair still wet as she takes in your attire.

"It's a little hot to be wearing a hoodie and sweats, isn't it?" Natasha asks softly. "Doesn't seem like you turned on the aircon in here."

You keep walking, but Natasha starts to follow you.

"'m cold," you say quietly so she can't hear the tremble in your voice.

"Are you feeling sick?" Natasha asks with concern as you sit down on the couch, turning on the TV. You pull the blanket over you as if to make your point.

"No," you tell her because you don't want her to worry. "Just cold after a bath."

Natasha sets her things down before she takes a seat next to you. Even in the low lighting, she can see your eyes rimmed red and dampness of them.

You're refusing to look at her as you have your knees drawn up to your chest and stare stubbornly at the TV screen.

Then she hears it.

Your stomach grumbles.

"Are you hungry, sweetheart?" Natasha asks softly again. "We can just order food and stay in tonight."

Your cheeks grow hot. "Don't you have to be at the Compound?"

You don't mean to snap at her, but you can't help but feel embarrassed.

Natasha remains quiet for a moment, quickly thinking over the last few weeks before she feels guilt trickle in.

She doesn't remember the last time she ate with you—doesn't remember the last time she saw you eat.

"Sweetheart," she calls you gently again, and you bristle at the tone. "Is there something wrong?"

The fragile dam you've built to keep the weeks of compiling emotions at bay breaks, and you're hurtling down the stream over the waterfall.

"Are you not in love with me anymore?" You choke out as you begin to cry.

You can't even register to feel horrified at your breakdown because you just need to know.

"I know...I know my body has changed since we first met and I've gained weight but I really am trying to lose it. I just—I feel like you're avoiding me. At first, I thought things at work have been really stressful for you, and I wanted to give you space but you're gone all the time. You're gone even when you're here."

Natasha can barely understand anything you've said after hearing you say the first part. Her breath hitches painfully in the back of her throat, and she legitimately feels appalled at herself.

She starts to say something, but you keep going.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to make this about me because if you're going through something then I want to support and be there for you. But I can't help but feel like you're grossed out by me. I mean—I feel grossed out when I look at myself. I feel like I'm taking up so much space—"

Natasha cuts you off abruptly, pulling off the blanket as she pulls at you until you're in her lap.

"Nat—"

"You're not gross and this is not about the weight you have or have not gained. You hear me?" Natasha says forcefully as she holds you close to her, hand over your thigh to keep you against her.

"God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry if I've been making you feel like you're not attractive me," Natasha's eyes well up as your tears wet her shoulder. "You're literally still the most gorgeous person I've ever met and you're always going to be that to me."

Natasha's hand at your waist dips underneath your hoodie, her fingers trailing up your back as she sighs at your warmth. "I should've told you, but the springtime is just really hard for me. It's odd because it's a time for things to come back to life but some of the worst things have happened to me during the spring and things blooming makes me think about things that aren't coming back. I think it's also just a little bit of seasonal depression too. I'm just the rare percentage that gets it in the spring."

The explanation makes your body sag with relief because while you feel so horrible that there is a reason Natasha doesn't like spring, she's not falling out of love with you.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that I was hurting you," Natasha apologizes again. "I didn't mean to be so distant but I didn't want to bring your mood down as well, which is why I've been working so much to keep busy."

"It's okay," you muttered as your turn your head, forehead pressed against her neck. "I'm sorry spring is depressing for you."

Natasha merely hushes you as she kisses the side of your head.

You begin to feel awkward, thinking about how you must be heavy on her and try to move, but Natasha doesn't let you.

"Sweetheart, I don't know how to convince you that you're perfect to me," Natasha says so seriously as she forces you to look at her. "If you want to lose weight because that is what you want, then I support you. But I need you to understand that I love you no matter what. I don't care either way because you're so fucking lovely to me always. Do you understand?"

Timidly, you reply, "Okay. Thank you."

Natasha presses her lips against yours in a long kiss before she pulls back.

"Now, I'm going to ask again. Are you hungry? We can order in and watch that new show on Netflix I heard was pretty good from Wanda."

You feel lighter. You think you might still want to work out because that would make you happy, but you don't feel the rush like you did just a couple of hours ago.

"Yeah," you say shyly. "But maybe something not so heavy?"

Natasha nods as she presses another kiss into your cheek as she helps you settle onto the couch right beside her to grab her phone.

"Anything to make you bloom."

[arhvste]

❝ suna rintarō - because i know you ❞

in which suna speaks his love language to you on one of the days you needed to hear it the most - x gn reader

the balls of your feet ached and the weight of your shoulders felt as if it were seconds away from shattering through your entire body; not that you had enough energy to care, but that wasn’t the point. nothing seemed to be going right today, you weren't given the slightest fraction of lenience and the world had decided to curse you with nothing but misfortune.

deciding your day couldn’t get any worse, you dragged yourself back home to your apartment where you knew there would be limitations to what inconveniences you’d come across before the end of your painstakingly long day. after what felt like years, the elevators had reached your floor and you had never been so grateful to see the front door to your home just ahead. digging through your bag to retrieve the silver key to open the door, you huffed and scowled as your hand couldn't seem to find the small piece of silver metal. small mutters of ‘shit’ and ‘ugh’ left your lefts before you gave up and gently rested your head against the front door.

your eyes fluttered shut and you felt tears of frustration well up before your head lost contact with the solid front surface and you came crashing down onto something almost equally as hard but warm.

“rough day?”

suna looked at you from above, one hand on the opened door and the other now wrapped securely around your waist to prevent you from falling to the floor.

“asshole. you saw me struggling didn't you?” you scoffed peeking up at your tall boyfriend as a small smile graced his face.

“perhaps, but you can’t blame me. your little angry face is quite the pretty sight actually.”

you scoffed as his smile failed to falter. he ushered you inside and took your bag off your hands to drop by the front door.

“clothes off, go to the bathroom.”

“rin, i’m really not in the mood for-”

he cut you off with a shake to his head, his dark mop of hair swaying in the process.

“that’s not what i meant you little pervert. i’ve run a bath for you, you seemed tired.”

“oh.”

“yeah, ‘oh’, you seem a little shocked, do you really think i’m that inconsiderate. you’re breaking my heart angel.” your boyfriend had a playful grin tugged at his lips, a rare smile that he’d often display in small moments of teasing between the two of you. you flushed slightly upon hearing the affectionate pet name that was strictly reserved for you, and you alone. you shook your head and sighed, rubbing at your temples.

“no, sorry. you’re right, i am tired. how did you know though?”

suna’s expression didn’t change as he pulled his phone from the kitchen island. unlocking it and approaching you, suna showed you a conversation the two of you had had earlier during the day.

“blunt answers. i knew you were stressed.” he muttered before pressing a soft kiss to the top of your head.

“now,” he pulled away and stood in front of you. “go take that bath, my kindness isn’t going to go to waste.”

you rolled your eyes but smiled weakly at him in thanks before heading over to the bathroom like he suggested. the soft aroma and steam rising from the warm bathwater instantly eased the built up tension inside of you as you entered the sleek bathroom and noticed suna had laid out products you assumed he noticed you often opted to use. your heart fluttered at the sight. sure, running a bath for your significant other wasn’t a grand gesture, but this was suna’s love language. small acts of intimacy. it was little details and quirks of yours he picked up on and seemed to remember. he wasn’t partial to being excessive and evident in his acts of love to you, but he was rather more thoughtful and considerate in his approaches to show you that he cared and did think about you.

stripping your clothes away, you felt each layer of stress lift off of you before completely evaporating as you stepped into the warm pool of water. your eyes fluttered shut as you let the soothing water soak in and eliminate each blemish of distress you had been bestowed upon throughout the course of the day.

fifteen minutes of lying in the tub and letting today’s feelings of inferiority and distracting melt away, you felt a little clingy. the warmth of the water only spreading throughout your body easing you into the feeling of a heavy sleep wave beginning to tide in.

“rin!” you softly called, voice bouncing off the pretty white porcelain tiles of the bathroom, echoing through the hall.

“you called?” he stood in the frame of the doorway a few seconds after calling for him. his lean figure blocking the faint golden light drifting through from the living room. you watched as his sharp eyes drank in your body soaking in the clear hot water. a small smile playing on his lips as he sighed after a moment.

“and you called me the pervert.” you raised an eyebrow sitting up a little more. your boyfriend snickered before approaching you and kneeling by the edge of the bathtub.

“you,” he began, sincere eyes meeting your own. “are really something else.”

you hummed before suna started to life his shirt above his head. you couldn’t have torn your eyes away even if you wanted to. suna was sculpted beautifully, as if the gods had spent an exaggerated amount of time specifically on him, not a chip or scratch permitted on their art, the finest marble was used with care and polished to perfection to craft none other than suna rintarō.

“you gonna move up or am i gonna freeze here naked in our bathroom all night?”

you ripped your gaze off his chest for just a moment to meet a playful grin and soft eyes adorning his face. you had been so distracted admiring your pretty boyfriend, you had failed to noticed he had completely stripped.

“whatever.” you muttered hoping the steam was enough to mask your slight fluster. you moved forward slightly allowing suna access into the tub. the tub was spacious enough for two, suna had suggested it before moving in admitting he wasn’t a fan of the cramps he’d get after waking up in the bath after falling asleep after training. his legs at the sides of your body as your back was met to his bare chest.

“hands where i can see them.” he teased as you scoffed.

“likewise.”

the two of you stayed like that for a while. his fingers lazily dragging circles upon the top of your thigh as you hummed in satisfaction. his soft breath ticking your neck as he leaned in closer to press soft kisses along your neck and jawline.

“not complaining, but why are you suddenly being like this?” you whispered with a small smile.

“because you need it right now.”

“and how would you know that?” you challenged, playfulness lacing your tone delicately.

“because i know you.”

you laughed softly and leaned back further into his chest as he sighed.

“i know i’m not always the most vocal about it, but i do know you. i know when you’re tired you need attention, i know you hate wearing wet socks so you always carry another pair with you, i know you hate it when people chew loudly, i know your shoulders ache after most days, i know you angel and i do love you.” he mumbled closely to your ear, the kisses to your neck and jawline never stopping between his words.

you bit the inside of your cheek as you processed his genuine words. sure, suna wasn’t huge on pda, but understandably so. that didn’t mean he loved you any less than people who did show their partners public displays of affection. the giddy feeling of being loved bubbled up inside your chest as you couldn’t hold back the wide smile pulling at your lips.

“i love you rintarō.” your words honest and pure alike to his own.

“i don’t blame you.” he shot back as you flicked the water back into his face. his face scrunched as he turned away just in time before squeezing your thigh slightly as he steadied himself.

“let’s stay like this for a while.” he muttered, eyes fluttering shut as he pulled you back to lean on his further. “we can have dinner in a bit, i sometimes like to be selfish too when it comes to you.” he admitted his words showing no signs of deception.

“be as selfish as you want. i’m yours for as long as you need it too. because, i know you too rintarō, and i know you need us like this at times too.”

love languages never had to be explicitly spoken words, but rather a form of communication, whether that was spoken or unspoken between the two of you. just a way to let each other know that you did love each other as much as the other. while not always vocal about it, you understood suna’s small ways of telling you he was in love, and it was small acts like this that you knew he was chanting he loved you a million times over.

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ALL CONTENT BELONGS TO @KUROOSKULT ON TUMBLR 2020 PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, CHANGE OR PLAGIARISE

[percabethfeelsfandom]

Writing Prompt AU: Childhood Best Friends to Lovers

PART 5: Age 16 

Luke and Thalia break up on homecoming night. 

It’s only an hour into the night when Percy watches Luke drag Thalia out of the hall and into the parking lot. Even though it’s been months since Percy has hung out with either of them, he keeps an eye on the two, watching as their silhouettes point accusatory fingers at each other. 

Annabeth and Grover, who he came to the dance with, are swaying playfully on the dance floor, but he waves them over and nods to the open door that Thalia left, exposing her and Luke as they shout at each other. 

“Should we check on them?” Grover asks, biting his thumb anxiously. Percy shrugs and watches Annabeth. Well, at this point, he’s always watching Annabeth, especially tonight because she’s in a dress he’s never seen before, and it’s the colour of the sea, his favourite. 

“Annabeth?”

“It’s not our business,” she says softly, but her eyes never leave the couple. Percy nods, and keeps his eyes trained on them, worry growing in his throat as Thalia steps closer to Luke, getting in his personal space. 

Even from here, Percy can feel Luke’s anger, it’s potent and vile and he almost doesn’t recognise it on his old friend’s face. He’s about to tell Annabeth that they should intervene when someone lightly taps him on the shoulder. He whirls around, surprised, and forces a smile onto his face when he sees that it’s Rachel Elizabeth Dare. 

“Hey Percy.” 

Her voice catches Grover and Annabeth’s attention and they both turn to look at her as well. She doesn’t buckle under their gaze, keeping her bright eyes on Percy like she’s on a mission. 

“Hey Rachel, what’s up?”

“I was wondering if maybe you wanted to dance?” She says it confidently, but as soon as she’s done, she bites her lip and starts swaying back and forth on her feet like she can’t stand still. 

Dread fills Percy’s body and he struggles to come up with a nice way to say no because he really does not want to dance, not right now. 

Rachel must see it on his face because she gives him a sad smile and nods slowly. More dread fills his body and he glances anxiously to his friends at his side who are also waiting for an answer. Annabeth is frowning deeply and Grover has this sort of amused look on his face. 

“Right, that’s okay, uh, have a nice-” She starts and begins to walk away. Percy sighs and quickly reaches out, grabbing her wrist, when she pulls back he lets go quickly and holds his hands up in surrender. 

“Wait- Rachel. Sorry,” he stutters unsure of why he stopped her. He can feel his friends gaze on him as he speaks to Rachel but he doesn’t turn, “Yes.”

“Yes, what?” Rachel asks, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. 

“Yes, I’ll dance.” Her face instantly brightens and he holds out a hand, which she takes. 

Before he properly leaves, he quickly turns to Grover and Annabeth, whose mouth is wide open. 

“Come get me if something happens with Thals and Luke.” Grover nods but Annabeth just stares after him like he’s speaking another language. He ignores the tight knot in his stomach and lets Rachel lead him to the dance floor, placing his hands lightly on her waist. 

“What made you change your mind?” 

“Hmm?”

“You weren’t going to dance with me, what made you change your mind?” Percy blushes at the bluntness of her words and tries to come up with another excuse. As they’re swaying to the music, he steps back and spins her a bit as the song reaches the chorus.

When he can’t think of an excuse he tells the truth. 

“I wanted to see if I would feel a difference.” Rachel frowns and tilts her head at him confused. “I- uh, like someone else, and I’ve been trying to stop. I thought maybe if I danced with someone else I would feel different about them.” 

“Why do you want to stop liking them?” Rachel doesn’t even seem fazed that he’s just confessed he likes someone else. 

“Because she, I don’t know, I think she likes someone else, but she doesn’t realise it. So it’s just easier if I don’t like her.” Rachel loops her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, so close he can smell her floral perfume. It matches the brightly coloured flowers on her dress. 

“Well if I’m not mistaken, Annabeth hasn’t taken her eyes off of us the entire dance so I think you’re all good Percy.” 

“What?” Instantly he pulls his gaze away from Rachel and turns around wildly to look at where he last saw Annabeth. She’s not looking when he sees her, but he does catch sight of her flicking quick glances at him in between her conversation with Grover as the song ends and as Rachel walks him back to them. 

“How’d you know?” He asks Rachel, trying to figure out what gave him away. 

“Just a feeling. You should tell her.” When Percy doesn’t answer Rachel smiles and wiggles her fingers as a goodbye. “Thanks for the dance Percy, I’ll see you around.” 

He lifts a hand up as well, still too surprised at how easily she was able to read him. 

“Have fun?” Annabeth asks with pursed lips. 

Percy shrugs, “Yeah I guess. She’s pretty cool.” 

“Hmph.” 

Annabeth turns back to facing the door so that she can watch Thalia and Luke (who are still fighting) while Percy turns to Grover behind her back and tries to ask Grover what her problem is via extreme facial expressions. Grover scrunches his shoulders up and shrugs, saying he doesn’t know and Percy sighs, running a hand through his hair. 

Out of nowhere, Annabeth’s hand slaps his wrist. 

“Hey!”

“Stop messing up your hair.” She says, without turning to him. 

“Who are you, my Mom?” He asks and keeps messing it up because it feels weird all gelled down and sticky. 

“No but you never have your hair like that and I want nice photos of us later.” 

“I look like an idiot.”

“That’s because you are, Seaweed Brain.” 

“Whatever.”

“Oh shut-”

A loud crack catches both of their attention and they both turn to the direction of the sound and see Thalia standing at the doorway, her fury tangible in her stance as she walks towards them. Behind her Percy barely glimpses a look at Luke who is cradling his face, blood seeping from his nose, where Percy assumes Thalia has just punched him. 

He doesn’t even fully register that she’s come up to them until she’s talking. 

“I know you probably hate me right now, but I can’t be here anymore. I’ll explain everything, but can one of you take me home please.” 

Annabeth is already opening her purse and handing the keys to Percy. He’s the better driver out of the two, and she’s already wrapping her arms around Thalia, who is fighting back tears. 

In less than 5 minutes the four of them are packed in Annabeth’s Dad’s old car and Percy is carefully pulling out of the parking lot and taking them to Annabeth’s house. 

Thalia doesn’t speak until they’re all situated in Annabeth’s room. Percy has taken off his second-hand suit jacket, loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, and Grover is pulling clothes from Annabeth’s drawer, throwing pieces at Percy so they can both change into comfier clothes. 

As he’s about to change Annabeth pokes him sharply. 

“Photos Percy!” She reminds, and he rolls his eyes, rebuttoning his shirt. 

Thalia waits for them to settle, Percy and Annabeth on her bed, and Grover on the window sill before she speaks. 

“Okay, so I want to start by saying sorry. It’s been months since I’ve spoken to any of you and I totally get if you hate me for that, but I do have a reason, but also it’s okay if you don’t forgive me because I wouldn’t forgive me either.” 

“Thals,” Annabeth whispers. She looks like she’s about to cry and Percy can see her hands fidgeting like they want to move and grab something. He reaches over to her bedside table and gives her a fidget toy, and then carefully takes her other hand, rubbing soothing circles around the top of her palm. 

She doesn’t say anything, but she squeezes his palm in thanks. 

“Let me talk first Annabeth before you say anything. I want to make sure I say this all right.” 

So she talks. Thalia starts from the beginning, how she’s always loved Luke, and how when he moved, she called him each day, and they never lost contact, and how him turning up wasn’t a surprise to her because they’d been talking about it for months already. She talks about how it was her first relationship with someone ever, and she’d never liked someone this much in her life, so she didn’t realise that spending every breathing moment with him wasn’t normal. At one point Thalia takes off her suit jacket and loosens her own tie. Annabeth offers a change of clothes but Thalia shakes her head, determined to continue with the story. She continues to say that Luke started acting differently when they officially started dating, started telling Thalia not to hang out with them because he only wanted to spend time with her, and that they were saying things about her behind her back. 

“I knew it wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to fight with him, everything felt so perfect when we were together. I just wanted us to not fight. So I let him pull me away from you guys.” 

This time when Annabeth squeezes Percy’s hand, it’s in warning, because he realises that he’s using her hand as a stress ball. He apologises silently by letting go, and loosely threading their fingers together so that he doesn’t accidentally hurt her. 

“It didn’t get bad until last summer when I told him that I missed you guys and that I wanted to be friends with you again. It got even worse when I told him that I might like girls as well as guys.” 

Percy sees her hold her breath as she says the last part and feels his face split open into a grin. 

“Me too,” he says simply and the smile that Thalia gives him back is enough for Percy to forgive her of everything. I’m proud of you, he mouths so that he doesn’t interrupt her story. 

“I don’t know why it was such a big issue, but he kept bringing it up. He never went a day without saying something about it, and it was never nice. I hated it. He made me feel like I wasn’t allowed to like both, and I realised that I just wasn’t happy with him. I was so sad all the time, and all I wanted was to talk to you guys but he was always there. At the gym tonight, I knew that the only way he’d actually let me break up with him was if it was public. So that’s what I did.” 

Annabeth pushes off the bed and throws herself onto Thalia. Percy and Grover are quick to follow until they’re a tangle of limbs, suits and dress (in Annabeth’s case) on the ground. Grover and Thalia are crying and holding each other tightly, and Annabeth has wrapped her arms around Thalia’s torso. It kind of reminds Percy of a koala and he pulls out his phone to take a photo of the three of them, immortalising this moment. 

“So what did he think when you showed up wearing that?” Percy asks, nodding at the fitted suit Thalia wears, “Looks awesome by the way,” he adds.

Thalia scoffs. 

“I thought his head was going to explode.” They all laugh and Percy rejoins them on the floor, ending up laying in Annabeth’s lap as they all hold onto each other, making up for time wasted. 

“I can’t believe Luke is such a jackass,” Percy says with a shake of his head. 

“Do you think he had a particular reason why he was like that towards you Thals? Is there something happening at his home?” Annabeth asks and Percy turns to her with an incredulous look. 

“Wise Girl, come on, no matter how crappy a person's home life is, that doesn’t mean you can project that onto someone you care about. Like look at me, you don’t see me being an ass to you just because Gabe was the worst step-father in the world.” 

“What happened with Gabe?” Thalia asks, sitting up abruptly when she hears his name but Percy waves her off. 

“Nothing important. He just wasn’t a good person, but we don’t live with him anymore. Mom’s dating Paul and she’s happy and that’s all that matters to me.” 

Thaila looks like she wants to say more but Annabeth cuts in. 

“I’m not trying to make excuses for him, I just wanted to ask because that really doesn’t sound like the Luke I know,” she pauses when she sees Thalia’s face fall, “That doesn’t mean I don’t believe you...I really do. I just- I want to hear his side of it too you know? But I’ll stand by you no matter what.” 

Thalia nods slowly and takes Annabeth’s outstretched hand. 

“The Luke you know is very different to the Luke that I dated Annabeth. He’s changed a lot. He pretends he hasn’t, but he has and none of it is good. Even if you get his side of the story, I don’t think he’d tell the truth. I swear, on my brother and on my Mom, everything I’ve said is true. But if you want to ask him to double-check, I won’t stop you.” 

Annabeth does end up asking Luke for his side of the story, and her decision still baffles Percy to this day, but Thalia reassures him that it’s for her own sanity. 

“Luke and Annabeth were a lot closer than you remember I think. It really hurt Annabeth when he stopped talking to her. I think it hurt him too, I never knew why, but I think he had a thing for her at one point, but he chose me.” 

That old familiar sting of jealousy holes up in Percy’s stomach as he waits for Annabeth to come back and meet them at her car. 

“Do you think he still does? Like her, that is?” The words are like cotton in his mouth, suffocating and hard to speak around. 

“Maybe. Wouldn’t be surprised if she does too. She never told me, but I always had a feeling.” 

Oh.  

Percy nods, unable to bring himself to say anything and waits in silence. Annabeth comes walking down the steps, wiping her eyes and Percy’s instincts kick in, and he’s running to her, pulling her close to his chest and holding her there. 

“What did he do? Are you okay?” He asks when she finally pushes him away slightly. Her eyes are still watering but she smiles and pokes him in the cheek. 

“I’m okay. Let’s go home.”

She lets him lead her into the car, he drops Thalia off first before pulling up at Annabeth’s. 

“Come in?” 

He nods and follows her soundlessly to her room. He unwraps his scarf and hangs his jacket on a hook, like he has many times before and sets himself on her bed, playing with her old stuffed toys as she slowly undoes her coat, clearly distracted.

“Thals was right. Luke is- I don’t know who that Luke was.” Annabeth admits. 

A selfish part of Percy sighs in relief, and he holds out his arms as a peace offering to Annabeth. She smiles and sits down with him, not quite in his arms, but close enough that Percy isn’t complaining. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault.”

“Because you’re sad and I don’t like seeing you sad, especially when I can’t do anything about it.” 

“Seaweed Brain you can’t make everyone happy.” She says with a teasing smile.

“I don’t want to make everyone happy, just you.” The words come out before he fully processes thinking it and he swallows thickly when Annabeth stares at him, slightly dumbfounded. 

Finally, she moves, and leans down, ever so softly pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

“You do make me happy. You always have, don’t doubt that.” Percy can’t help but close his eyes and relish in the warmth she gives him. When he opens his eyes again she’s staring right back at him, like she can see into his soul. He secretly wishes her eyes weren’t so beautiful, because then he wouldn’t have such a problem with looking away, but they’re not, they’re the most beautiful eyes he’s ever seen and he never wants to stop. 

“You make me happy too.” More than you’ll ever know.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

[erensnubs]

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒀𝒐𝒖

Colt Grice x F! Reader Dystopian AU

Chapter 2

Word Count: 1.6k

"[NAME]! AHHHH YOU'RE HERE!!" Hange screamed across the room. Your head was turning all around the bright, marble like room as you tried to find the familiar auburn head.

You whipped your head around after talking to Dr. Pyxis.

Dr. Pyxis smiled at you as he acknowledged Hange's presence and walked away. Hange was running, their hair flying with Moblit behind her muttering "sorry" and "excuse us" to the victims of their running.

They flung their arms over your shoulders and squeezed ever so tightly. Your breath hitched and reluctantly patted Hange's arms.

"My god! How have you been? You look stressed. Is Levi bothering you too much? You know you could just stay at HQ! You can live with me and it's cheaper!!" Hange muttered, burying your body into theirs.

You try to pry yourself from Hange's grasp, but they keep holding on.

"You know Levi never tells me anything right? I mean we've known each other for a while through us, I mean for God's sakes we dated! And then you're so busy writing up papers and meeting with people so it's just like I-"

Moblit grabs Hange's shoulders and pushes them away from you. He audibly sighed and buried his face with his hands.

You couldn't help but chuckle at the stark contrasts of their faces as they looked at each other.

"Hange I'm doing fine alright? And Levi's coming to the after party there's nothing wrong with him. By the way, you look ravishing," you said pretentiously with a little smirk.

Hange's face lit up, "Oh [Name], you are getting flirty. But yes thank you for the compliment."

Hange started sliding back and forth on the polished floor, posing in their velvet red suit, the coat tails swishing behind them. Their hair was down and curled at the ends, with the ends fringed with a brighter red from previous hair dyes. Hange's eyes and lips were tinted red, her overall theme and it looked messy, and rushed. Exactly the way you liked it.

Moblit smiled tiredly at you and you patted him on the back, "Moblit how are you besides sighing so much?"

"Oh fine, I just don't know how I'm going to survive this ball and the after party. I spent a good 5 hours of our evening last night, experimenting with some new tools for missions," he said nervously.

"Oh Moblit, don't stress yourself out so much. Your inventions and experiments are insightful and they truly contribute to the research. Take a break sometime," you say reassuringly, as you lecture him.

"That's exactly what I told him! I caught him doing experiments when I told him not to!" Hange said. "Lighten up for once Moblit!"

You nodded, "I agree. This ball isn't a job, it's a break for people who work their asses off like you to help save us."

"I guess…. But heyyy… aren't you and Erwin acting as dates when you're actually just pushing an agenda?" He inquired playfully.

You smirk at him, "The ball is my work time, the after party is when I loosen up."

Hange spoke up, "Speaking of which, CAN SOMEONE GET ME SOME ALCOHOL FOR ALL 3 OF US. 2 FOR ME AND 2 FOR THEM!"

You grabbed Hange by the shoulder and laughed into it, "I swear Hange you are so scary to be in public with."

They looked at you with a questioning gaze, "Well how the hell am I supposed to get wine when all the waiters and people are over there where all the rich people are? They'll come to me, not the other way around."

A dark-haired boy with green-blue eyes trudged over to Hange. Eren Yeager. Stupid little shit, you had to teach him for a while when you were training soldiers but a passionate one. Beside him was Armin Artlet, the blonde boy who was arguably one of the smartest children you've ever met.

"Here you go. The other waiters just told us to bring these to you," Eren murmured.

"Hey speak up, Yeager," you tell him.

"He-"

You looked at him again, "I'm just playing kid come here and give me a hug,"

He looked at you surprisingly and passed the glasses of champagne to Moblit and Hange before tightening his arms around you.

Eren and particularly his classmates were the only teenagers you have ever liked in your life. They were smart, determined, and knew how to goof off, and have fun. You developed a sort of parenting attitude towards them, as you watched them rise in the ranks.

Armin hesitantly wrapped your arms around you, but you pulled him closer and kissed the tops of their foreheads.

"My god how the hell did you grow? You're up to my neck now Yeager and Artlert too! What are they feeding you", you say sipping your champagne flute.

"The same thing they've been serving since we went to training camp," Eren said, snickering.

You raised your eyebrows at them, "So how's life going for you? Don't you have your special Survey Corps dance thing coming up soon? You guys excited for that?"

"Not me," Armin said reluctantly. "I don't have a date."

Eren started laughing at him, "Pffft… lame."

Armin threw a dirty look at him, "Oh shut the fuck up, you don't either."

You cross your arms and look at both of them, "The government parties aren’t all about relationships you know. It's about hanging out with your friends as well. If you really feel bad about it just go in a group together."

Armin spoke up, his mood lightening immediately, "Did you go in a group? Are you all still friends?"

You waved your hand nonchalantly, "My 1st time I didn't go, I snuck over to the underground area in the city I lived in and watched street racing with some friends. Got in trouble of course, but I got lots of money from bets. The next 2 times I did go with friends but the last time I went with-"

"Oh, we shouldn't have brought that up Dr. [Name]," Eren said apologetically.

"Oh no no no, don't feel bad I can't just keep my fiance's memory buried." You gulped at the choice of words but went on.

"He would have loved to share these stories with you. But for now, you should be hanging out with your other friends not with an old person like me. And try drinking a little," you smiled with a hint of sadness that was quickly upturned while you flashed your teeth.

Eren interjected, "You're not THAT old Dr."

"Sweetheart I am old all right. Now go I think Mikasa is waiting for you," you shoo them along with your hands and usher them back to the middle. The two boys quickly walked away back to their friends. You sighed and looked around you and realized Moblit and Hange were out of sight and Erwin was nowhere to be seen.

"[Name]."

"Oh my god, Erwin! You can't just sneak up on me like that!" You say as the blonde was literally looming over from behind you.

"Sorry but I was wondering how the papers are going. I was chatting with Mr. Zachary over there and he said he would love to sign our papers," Erwin tilted his head to the old man with the white beard and glasses.

"Doesn't he monitor the 3 parts of the government?" You asked Erwin.

He nodded, "Having him on our side would help us out a lot. Any progress for you?"

"Dr. Pyxis said he would sign. I just have to convince Nick and Nile," you rolled your eyes.

Nick believed that all the funding should go to the military police, to help protect the citizens. You have argued and counterattacked that one day there might be no people to protect, no military police to defend because the funding was put all into one place.

"AT LEAST PART OF THE FUNDING SHOULD BE PUT FOR OUR MISSIONS!" You yell at Nile.

Nile rolled his eyes, "Sorry to say this but the public might not agree. They don't care about your little missions."

"Well the PUBLIC Nile, is full of cowards who want to be protected by another set of cowards because the goddamn government doesn't know that the best place to put their money is in the Scout Regiment. They're the ones that's actually doing something," you say.

You stepped forward, "The public doesn't have an MD. The public has not spent a good chunk of their lives researching this. The public is not head of the government's esteemed research section. The public doesn't have knowledge that I do.

"Really cowards? What are you some self-righteous wannabe?"

"Oh shut the fuck up, Nile. All of you in this room are fucking cowards. People's lives have been lost just because we didn't have enough supplies and food for a group of 100 soldiers," you say and left the room.

That was 2 weeks ago and Hange and Erwin were present, and that's when you 3 decided to convince everybody to sign these papers.

Erwin nodded,"You can take a break for now, Nick and Nile are chatting up with some women."

You nodded at Erwin and parted ways. You grabbed a piece of dessert from the long dining table and leaned your back against the wall and drank more champagne. You lifted your head and tried to think of ways to convince them.

Nick was a religious man, and was one of the people who believed that the Warning was a sign from God. Maybe you could throw in a little religion, say that the money could help find out of it is really God. For Nile, just threaten the man. He was a coward at heart so that would be easy. But what if he backed out on the papers? Didn't actually mean it? What would you do then?

You hummed to yourself the possibilities, not even noticing the man standing in front of you.

"Uh, hey? You seem lost in thought."

Prev/next

[hitsuackerman]

What in the World? (Akaashi Keiji x Reader) pt.11

a/n: this nothing but pure self indulgent fluff :3 hope ya’ll like it <3 also apologies if its a bit late xD i just woke up since we don’t have work today!

Akaashi’s lineup: @alluring-akaashi @oikawalmart-hq @extrasugafree @bbykiyoomi @apricotjihyo @awings​ @simpformiya​ @sayakaaaaaa​ @colorseeingchick​ @demursv1ogs​ @chrisrue15​ @something-that-idk (i have no idea why i can’t tag some of you :( huhu )

links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 12

“Bokuto-san!” Akaashi set the ball towards the beefy boy. It had already been a few minutes and he was sure Bokuto was already riled up and ready to redeem himself. None of them were expecting him to unleash his emo mode during practice time. “It’s all yours.”

With such excellent form, Bokuto cross spiked the ball and won his side of the court a set. The three man block across from him nodded and cheered for him. Behind his back, Akaashi gave the signal to Konoha, Washio, and Haruki to further lighten his mood. That had to be the most half assed ‘Hey Hey Hey’ you’ve heard in a while.

It had been a very good four months since the kiss. Your relationship with Akaashi was still kept lowkey, but both of you chose that path. Some of the members were starting to doubt while the two managers still had to break your defense. None of them succeeded. It reached the point that things were beginning to become an inside joke. Who among the team would break the wall and finally get the answers they wanted?

Handing his water bottle, Akaashi brushed his finger against yours. Lingering his gaze with yours for a few seconds, your breath still hitches when he sets his eyes on you. With each player now sipping on bottles and wiping their sweat, you sat down beside your man and silently activated your quirk.

His body was hot from the rigid training but he somehow developed the sense of when you would use your quirk on him. Feeling the heat being pulled away, he let out a long sigh and felt his energy levels rising up. The others began to wonder whether or not the both of you were doing outside club activities that decreased his recovery time.

Now that practice was over, all of you now bid goodbyes and walked your way back home. Hand in hand, Akaashi and you went over the day's events.

“You’ve been getting better at your sets, Akaashi~”

“It still needs a bit more timing. Bokuto-san’s sets are getting better but I still have to adjust a bit more for Washio-san.” You had also taken note just how harsh he was on himself. Reminding him that he always did a great job, he squeezed your hand and pulled you closer.

As for your quirk, you always took note of its presence. Despite kissing him as often as you could, being more touchy, and intimate, it was still at 35%. Though, you were using it less and less as the days passed by. Most of the time, you would use it on Akaashi to let him recover more. It amazed you that on days you let him recover on his own, there were no changes and almost as if his body adjusted to your quirks constant use.

By now, you were used to living in this dimension. Adjustments were quick and you even found time to hang out with Asami and Akiko. O-mother now held on to a great piece of your heart and you even began to exchange ‘Love you’s every now and then.

Life is peaceful. That’s what you told yourself.

The only stress you got were during games but it was all worth it when you saw just how well your boys cooperated.

“Lost in thought again?” Akaashi cut your nostalgic trip. “Is everything okay?”

“Better than okay.” Hopping a bit to kiss his cheek, you adored how his cheeks slowly formed a blush. He really is beautiful. And that small smile that only you saw? Swoon. “Akaashi?”

“(l/n)?”

“Are we…” You knew you would sound desperate but it was something you needed to know and be sure of. “Are we dating?”

“Do you need verbal assurance?” He stopped walking and held your shoulders. Making you speechless was as easy as ever. It was your turn to blush and he loved it. “Be my hero?”

“Akaashiii~” You playfully punched his chest earning a small chuckle.

“Alright. Be mine, (y/n)?” He held cupped both cheeks till your lips were now pouting. “Though I know it’s four months too late to ask…”

Nodding happily at the assurance, you held his hands and happily accepted his lips. It was a short peck but still enough to send the butterflies in your stomach to rave. When he let go of your face, you wrapped your arms around his neck and he around your waist. Lifting you up, he began to walk as you giggled in the crook of his neck, your legs swaying side to side.

Arriving at your houses, Akaashi now opened the door for you and still chose not to let go of your hand. A minuscule pout was visible and that made your heart melt.

“Akaashi~ You’ll see me tomorrow.” Taking a step forward, you felt his fingers lacing with yours. “We can still exchange paper airplanes before we sleep, okay?”

“Fine.” Leaning down to kiss your cheeks, Akaashi made sure to kiss your knuckles as well. “See you later, (y/n).”

Never in your life did you hear your name sound like such a guilty pleasure. Losing your balance a bit, Akaashi was ready to catch you but you regained composure and cleared your throat. This man knew you were weak and took advantage of it. Of course, you didn’t mind.

“I’ll see you later, Keiji~” Whooh even saying his name made you turn into a tomato.

Squeezing your hand before letting go, he still bowed before taking his leave. When the door lock clicked, you buried your face in your palms and let out an inhumane noise that caught the attention of your o-mother.

“I’m assuming ya’ll are dating?” She slapped your back harshly. A cheeky grin resting on her face. “Don’t deny it honey. Your face says it all. C’mon, into the dining room you go.”

Dragging you by the arm, you were now seated with a tub of ice cream. Imaginary flowers floating behind her as she began to shower you with questions.

“Are you guys dating? I heard you two calling each other by your names.”

“Yeah~” You shoved a spoonful of ice cream. Brainfreeze meant nothing to you with your quirk.

“Since now?”

“I guess four months ago.”

“AHH!!” She slammed her palm on the table. “WHEN HE DROPPED YOU OFF FROM CAMP AND I CRACKED THAT PROTECTION JOKE! Young lady you better have used protection!”

“Ma! We didn’t do anything okay!” Which was true except for the continuous makeout session that followed.

“It’s fine. I mean we are in the new age. And, you're in the age of curiosity so I might as well encourage safety. Unless you want to be on the pill, then we can schedule a doctors appointment to see if you’re safe to take it.”

If that was your real mother, she would choke on the first sentence. There was no way possible for your family to talk about sex ed like that. Not sure how to respond, you gave an awkward smile, nod, and took another spoonful of ice cream.

“Besides, Akaashi-kun is a nice guy. I would be surprised if you didn’t develop feelings for such a gentleman. Both of you did a great job at hiding it though. Four months under the radar? Amazing.” She pinched your cheek and kissed it after. “Clean up when your finished~”

Now that you were finished with everything, you were now preparing pieces of bond paper. The window meetings you two shared was also one of those times you used your quirk. Akaashi always questioned how you managed to send that paper airplane the first time, when he knew about your quirk, he nodded to himself.

Preparing your chair, you watched as he opened his window and waved at you. Preparing to send a plane, you used your quirk and watched as the plane glided through the air and landed on your palm.

‘Coach said there’s no saturday practice.’ He wrote.

Taking your pen, you scribbled down your reply and sent the plane back to him.

‘Are you asking me out, neighbor?’

“If that’s alright with you.” Akaashi said out loud.

What you’d give to go over to his house. Recalling the distance, it was around five meters. Too far to jump and the angle of your windows made things difficult. The boy watched as your eyes began to wander around the environment. When you stared at your palms, he tilted his head, curious to see what you were about to do.

“Do you want me to come over?” Your voice not too loud for the other members of each house to hear.

“Through the front door…?” There was only one possibility his quirkless mind could think of. The scenario of you manipulating the air around you and floating all the way to his window or vice versa. Knowing the nature of your quirk, other things were possible but he still couldn’t comprehend just what you could do.

“Lemme just look up something real quick.” Grabbing your phone, you searched for possible invisible materials or something similar at least. When you landed on one article, you searched for its components and went back to the window. With the lesser amount of usage on your quirk, you were pretty confident that creating something from scratch would be possible. Of course, you’re not Momo but if you tried hard enough, you could make small things.

Akaashi observed as your palms began to glow the brightest he’d ever seen. Squinting his eyes, he could see how the area around your hand was beginning to distort.

“What exactly are you doing, (y/n)?”

“Hush, Keiji.” You were almost done. “You can’t rush perfection… and safety.”

When the glow stopped, you put on a little weight on the small invisible bridge you made. Checking its sturdiness, you concluded that it would hold at most 100kg. Making sure that it wasn’t as narrow, your fingertips felt the invisible floor. One meter was alright.

Climbing out your window, you scanned the houses across and made sure their curtains were drawn. Seeing that things were clear, you began to walk. Akaashi’s face was full of questions. Reaching out his window, he felt something solid but his eyes couldn’t see. Looking closer, he could see how the edges seemed to be reflecting light.

Extending a hand, Akaashi helped you enter his room.

“I did not really think this through.” You looked at the things in his room. His bed,which you only saw from afar, had black and white sheets. Books were sprawled out on his desk and a volleyball resting underneath. His jersey, which you presumed was newly laundered, was hung on his wall. “Anything PG you wanna do?”

“Nothing comes to mind.” His eyes went back to his window. “Aren’t people going to see that?”

“They won’t. Well if they squint real hard, they might be able to see how the light is being reflected and there’s barely any shadow in a particular area. But, it’s like the Indiana Bones movie? You can see it if you look at it from a particular angle.”

Taking your hand, Akaashi led you to his bed and sat down. He may be calm but his mind was running.

“Did you date anybody in your dimension?” Might as well be blunt about it, he thought.

“It’s rather difficult to date in my world.” You scooted closer and leaned on his shoulder. “Or maybe it was just for my class. A lot of bat shit crazy things happened to my class. We did have crushes tho~”

“Ah.” He remembers. “Hawks? What quirk did he have?”

“Hawks had wings. Like legit red wings that he uses to fly around.” You facepalmed at the memories with the cheeky bird child man. “Hawks was a pro hero and ranked #2.”

“Pro hero?”

“Mhmm. A committee decided that having hero rankings would help heighten security. To be honest, it only amped the competition between heroes. Not the best move on their part.” Glancing at his desk, you saw how he taped the first paperplane you sent to him on his wall. Resting your chin on his shoulder, your faces were now inches apart. From this angle, you saw how his gunmetal eyes bore silver and blue hues. “Can’t help but wonder, what kind of quirk would you have if you lived in my dimension…”

“Those dreams you mentioned a while back,” He inched his face closer. “Were those real?”

“They were.” The tips of your noses were now touching. “Now, tell me. Why is your face impossibly close to mine, Keiji?”

He smirked. Your breath hitched.

“A certain someone initiated something.” His lips brushed yours gently. Staring into your eyes once more, he slowly licked his lips and met yours with his. It was only a peck. A very short one. One that would make you want more, he was sure of it. “You did use a good amount of your quirk right, (y/n)?”

Imitating his action, you clashed your lips with his. Biting on his lower lip before releasing it.

“I did.” Feeling his hands wrap around your waist, you allowed yourself to be pulled by him. Sitting on his lap, you wrapped your arms around his neck and traced his jawline. “My quirk’s been drained real good.”

“I think I can help.” Both of his thumbs now traced small circles on your thighs. Shifting your positions, you saw the world turn into a blur as Akaashi managed to place your body onto his bed. Your head now resting on his pillow that smelled just like him. “Is this okay with you?”

Not bothering to answer, you tangled your fingers through his hair and pulled him in to meet your lips. The whole sensation of having THE prettiest human you’ve ever seen was out of this world, quite literally. Carefully putting his weight on you, Akaashi’s kiss became much deeper. Untangling your fingers from his hair, you found yourself tracing lines on his very toned back. Feeling his muscles flexing, chills ran down your spine when his fingers began to slowly brush your bare waist.

Letting out a shaky breath, you let out a soft moan when his tongue entered your mouth. With your hands now turning numb, you balled your fists and held on to his shirt. What you’d give to take his shirt off but you still had the decency to think he might not like it.

Biting and sucking on your tongue, Akaashi prepped himself on his elbow and saw just how much of a mess you were. Red cheeks, eyes that showed him you wanted more, and labored breathing made him smirk before sofly tracing your jaw. Leaning back down, he admired how you squirmed underneath him when he began to kiss your neck.

“How’s your quirk?” He asked in between kisses.

“Let me check.” You smirked when he rested on his elbows to see what you were about to do. Twirling your finger, you heard the faint click of the locks. “I think it’s charged pretty good.”

Lifting his body, you observed as he reached for your hand and intertwined his fingers with yours. Bending a bit to kiss your knuckles, Akaashi smiled and let go of your hand. Your eyes widened when he pulled his shirt off.

“Holy smokes…” Clenching your fists, you tried to control the glow your palms were emitting. How does your quirk manage to expose your feelings when you're flustered but not when you're scared to death when you're fighting villains? Tracing the cuts of his body with your eyes, you sent out a silent prayer to the meat gods for the sight. When he leaned back in, just inches away from your face, you bit your lip.

“It was getting hot.” Akaashi kissed your cheek. “You okay, (y/n)?”

“I mean… a very pretty setter is on top of me, and shirtless too, my quirk is exposing me, we’re having a make out session, and I’m in your room?” You pinched his cheek. “Nothing can top this~”

Turning to his side, you were now resting your head on his arm as he draped his other one on your waist. Yawning, you hugged him and the both of you tangled your legs.

“Are you getting sleepy?” Akaashi whispered.

“A bit.” Your eyes were getting heavier. Just as you were about to sit up, you were pulled back into his arms.

“You can stay, you know. You can cross the bridge of shame in the morning.” Kissing your forehead, you let out a small and contented hum. Watching how you raised your arm and snapped your finger, he had to admire how easy everyday things were if you had a quirk. Amused at your little stunt, he felt giddy when you hugged him once more. “What was that for?”

“I turned my lights off.”

“Think you can turn off mine?” It didn’t even take a second. His lights were now off. Closing his eyes, Akaashi felt content being able to sleep beside you. Just as he was about to doze off, his eyes shot back open. Nudging you a bit, he gave out a small warning. “Bokuto-san might call in the middle of the night. Just don’t mind it if my voice is too loud. It usually lasts 2 to 3 minutes max.”

Nodding, Akaashi finally relaxed and went to sleep.

- - - - -

a/n: told ya’ll its pure fluff xD i hope yall are liking the chapters :) if you have any questions, clarifications, or anything you wanna tell me, feel free to ask :) and yes, Akaashi’s lineup is open as always :)

[oncelers-panties]

Cheer Practice

Pairing: Oncest (College AU)

Warnings: mild coercion, general n/sfw

Ao3 Link

Once-ler loses a bet and is forced to do something quite embarrassing. To his suprise, he enjoys it. 

In retrospect, accepting to race against a running back had not been the brightest idea.

But in the heat of the moment, he hadn´t thought of that. Not when said running back, a brash guy named Greed, had to become his dormmate. Living with the man was all sorts of awful. Once-ler had to get used to sweaty clothes being strewn all over their bedroom, towers of dirty dishes and take-out boxes in the kitchen, hair in the drain- all such pleasantries. But the worst of it all was being awoken in the middle of the night by either the drunk yelling of Greed´s entire football team coming from the kitchen, or the screams and grunts of lovers he brought along for a good time.

Patient and passive by nature, Once-ler tried to handle it the best he could. He´d politely tell the man to please maybe clean up after himself, to mind the curfew, to quiet down a little during the late hours. Greed would wave it off, replying that he´d see to it, but nothing about his behavior would ever change. All that was left for Once-ler was to let out a defeated sigh and do the job himself, cleaning up the messes left behind by his dormmate´s companions and quietly reciting his studies in his head every other night, hoping it would tune out the creaks of the mattress and moans sounding from a few feet away. He was about to come to terms with the fact that this is how things were going to go for the next few years. But even the meekest of people have a breaking point.

For him, it was when he came back after a particularly tedious lecture, walking straight into the kitchen to soothe his growling stomach with a quick snack, barely able to stand on his legs from exhaustion. To his immense displeasure, the meal he´d prepared the day before had mysteriously disappeared, and so had several bags of his favorite brand of marshmallows. Clenching his teeth, he dropped onto his bed without looking, and noticed too late the pair of some stranger ´s underwear lying on his mattress for some reason.

A frustrated groan sounded from his throat, soon turning into an enraged scream as he stomped into the bathroom where Greed was busying himself with his hair, and threw said underwear straight into his face.

“Dude,” the sportsman said after a few seconds of shock, throwing the piece of cloth away from him “what the fuck was that?”

“I could ask you the same thing! I´ve had it with you and your bullshit! Do you and your buddies have to behave like complete assholes every day?”

Greed gave him a nonchalant look, which only enraged Once-ler more.

“I´m talking about the messes you make constantly, and the fact that I haven´t had a good night of sleep this whole week! Can´t you fuck somewhere else? Can´t you put away your laundry and wash the dishes for once? Can you not tell your stupid friends to keep their hands off of my food?!”

“Ah, that´s what you mean. Fine, I´ll tell them, geez. Not something to throw such a fit over.”

“Maybe for you it isn´t. But some people aren´t happy about living in a pigsty! You either start acting like a normal person, keep this place clean and move your nightly orgies to somewhere else, or go rent a single room, because I´m this close to reporting you! I want to be able to sleep in peace in the room I pay for with my own money, for God´s sake!”

Despite being taken aback by his usually mellow dormmate´s sudden outburst, Greed rolled his eyes, crossing his arms before his chest.

“Look, I need to wind down after a long day on the field, alright? The games are hard, and that´s my way of relaxation. Can´t you just get earmuffs or something?”

“Oh, you poor thing,” Once-ler hissed, voice dripping with venom as he tried his hardest to not strangle the other instantly. “Running back and forth and throwing a ball around. That must be so terribly stressful.”

“As if you´d know,” Greed snarled, “You just sit on your ass inside this room all day, and probably wouldn´t be able to run twenty feet without passing out.”

The two men stared at each other, fuming in silence, until suddenly, an idea formed in the sportsman´s head, evident by the snide smile appearing on his face.

“Listen,” he drawled out, “how about a bet?”

“I´m really not in the mood for that right now.”

“Just hear me out: since you think what I´m doing is so easy, why don´t we have a race? If you can beat me- no, if you can at least somewhat keep up with me, I´ll move out of this dorm, and you won´t see my face around here ever again.”

“And if I lose?” Once-ler responded after a moment of careful thinking. Greed´s widening grin should have been enough to deter him from agreeing to his terms. In fact, he should have told him to go screw himself and report his behavior to the resident assistant. But there was a part of him that wanted to wipe that cocky expression off his face and pay him back for every single sleepless night he had subjected him too.

It went about as well as one can imagine, and as he lay on the ground after stumbling over his own legs, he wished the fall would´ve broken his neck, a preferable option to what he was about to be subjected to later…

 “Well, what are you waiting for? Put it on.”

The commanding voice pulled Once-ler back into the present, and with a shudder and a crestfallen gaze, he once again took in his surroundings. Greed had ordered him to come to one of the changing rooms after his afternoon football training. Why he needed him in this stuffy, cold location that smelled like someone had overdosed on body spray, he had no idea. Probably to make this whole ordeal more embarrassing for him. At least the sportsman had been generous enough not to invite his teammates to laugh along with him.

Pressing his lips together, Once-ler lowered his head, regarding the two-piece outfit he was holding in a deadly grip. It was a cheerleading uniform, consisting of a pleated skirt and a short, sleeveless top that had the name of his college´s football team written on the front. He stared at it like one would at his worst enemy, then slowly turned his gaze to Greed, still refusing to believe that this was happening.

“Do I really have to do this?” he questioned in a desperate tone, watching as the other made himself comfortable on the bench he had taken a seat on.

“Of course,” the man replied in a falsely sweet voice, crossing his legs. “We agreed to the terms of the bet, right? And you lost, so now you gotta do as I tell you.”

Once-ler´s shoulders slumped from the heavy realization that Greed was being completely serious.

“But-“

“Don´t make such a big deal about it, the sooner you do it, the quicker you´ll be over with it.”

The amused tone those words were said in made it obvious that his dormmate was having an awful lot of fun, and it made Once-ler clutch the material of the clothes even tighter, eyes shooting daggers at the other.

“This is childish,” he hissed, shaking his head. “You´re acting like a complete jerk. I get it, you won. You´re better than me. Dozens of people have seen me fall on my face in the middle of the football field, and you and your buddies are not going to let that go until we´re out of college. Haven’t you humiliated me enough? Do you really-“

“Now, Oncie, don´t be like that. You wouldn´t be going back on your word, would you? It´s one thing to be a lousy sportsman, but to break a promise…”

Greed rested his chin on his hand, staring at the other intently, and demanded once again, less playfully this time:

“Just put on the clothes.”

A strange shiver went up Once-ler´s spine at the cold trace of dominance in the other´s voice, and he averted his eyes, suddenly not able to stand his glare. Really, though, he was right. He´d just get it out of his way, leave, and pretend it never happened. Or rather, remember it forever and be tormented by the memory every night for the rest of his life.

“Fine,” he muttered under his breath, shooting worried glances at the door. “But you won´t, like, record it or anything? And there aren´t any of your friends outside, waiting to barge in and laugh at me?”

“Of course not! No one´s ever around here this time of day. Besides, what kind of guy to you take me for?”

Once-ler just scoffed at that remark, deciding not to answer. As he was about to take off his shirt, he noticed that Greed showed no intention of looking away or closing his eyes, so he turned around, taking a deep breath before throwing off his clothes and starting to dress up.

“Where did you even get these from?” he asked during the process, having a hard time squeezing himself into the top that was obviously too tight for him. Which wasn´t surprising, considering that these clothes were made for young women much smaller than him.

“Don´t you worry about it. Turn around, get over here.”

Exhaling sharply through his nose, regretting every decision in his life that had led him to this moment, Once-ler faced his tormentor, unwilling steps carrying him forward. He was expecting the other to cackle like a hyena to the point of stomachaches, but was met with nothing of that sort.

Greed´s insufferable grin waned a little, and instead of laughing out loud he stared his dormmate up and down, gaze getting stuck at the long legs only barely covered by the scant skirt and the exposed midriff. He leaned forward with a whistle.

“Well, damn. That doesn´t look too bad. Willing to bet that my team wouldn´t ever lose a single game if we had you cheering for us in that get-up.”

Flushing at that comment, Once-ler reached for the skirt´s hem and pulled it downwards, embarrassment clear on his face.

“Ha. Very funny. Are you quite done? Can I change back now?”

“Nuh uh. You´re not done yet,” the running back replied, smugly wagging his finger. “What have we agreed upon? If you lose, you put on the uniform… and do a little cheer dance. Don´t tell me you´ve forgotten?”

Once-ler gritted his teeth. Of course he hadn´t forgotten, but he´d hoped the other wouldn´t remember. Again, luck wasn´t on his side. How was he supposed to do that, anyway? He couldn´t even do normal dances, much less gymnastic ones. When he voiced his concerns to Greed, the man just shrugged.

“Just improvise. You´re one of those creative artistic people, so it should be easy for you.”

“That´s not really how it works…”

Wondering whether the other would have held his word were he the one in this situation, Once-ler begrudgingly began to move, staring at his feet to not bear the other´s gaze. His motions were pretty sluggish, and consisted mostly of him swaying lightly from side to side, with a sour expression. It caused Greed to raise his eyebrows critically.

“You know, you´re supposed to do a cheer dance. That doesn´t look very cheerful to me. Can´t you do something that´s a bit nicer to look at?”

“Nicer to look at? What the hell do you expect me to do?” Once-ler angrily snapped at his dormmate as he came to a halt, patience wearing thin. He was already fed up with the other´s behavior, feeling like he was taking this too far. Sure, they had a bet, but Greed really was going out of his way to make it as difficult as possible. How damn childish could that guy be?!

The sportsman, however, didn´t seem to be phased by the other´s rough tone, still staring at him with a strange glint behind his eyes.

“Why not try shaking your hips? That always gets the players motivated,” he purred, and Once-ler, wanting to put an end to it all, swallowed his pride and obeyed. Not that there was much left of it at this point.

However, while he did feel like a complete idiot, there was something else as well, an unexpected sensation that made his face heat up from something other than embarrassment. It was the way Greed´s gaze travelled all over his body, lingering on ever bit of skin. The way he leaned forward, almost seeming hypnotized by how the pleated skirt swung from side to side with each of his dormmates motions, sometimes flashing way more than what would be considered modest. The rhythmic sound of his fingers tapping against the bench, the sight of his teeth sinking into his bottom lip.

What was that all about? And why did he feel like burning up under those mossy-greens, skin breaking out in goosebumps from a sudden wave of excitement washing over him?

Maybe it was because he, for some reason, became aware of the other´s attractiveness in that very moment. Before that, he´s never really had the chance to notice it, mostly because Greed´s insufferable behavior oftentimes detracted from whatever good qualities he possessed. But now, with him sitting in silence, radiating something far more intense and captivating than his usual cockiness, all of his perks shone through in an instant. And God, there were many of them.

“Well, there has to be a reason why he gets this much traction every single week,” a small voice in the back of Once-ler´s head whispered, and despite his best efforts, he could not get it to shut up. He thought back to the many nights he he´d spent awake because of the noises his roommate´s partners had made, and it caused his mind to travel to much darker places on its own. He recalled getting up a night for some water, only to catch a glimpse of Greed pushing some guy against the wall, wrapping his fingers around his neck, calling him his pretty boy as the other writhed underneath him in visible ecstasy.

The resurfacing memory made Once-ler hold his breath for a little too long, legs beginning to shake as he became aware of the direction his thoughts were taking, of how wrong this whole situation now seemed. That moment would´ve been the right time to stop, to tell Greed that he´s had enough and leave, preferably to a place where he wouldn´t have to be around his roommate for a while. But he couldn´t. There was a part of Once-ler that wanted to keep this terrible man´s attention on him, one that made him want to tempt a little more, to find out just how much it took to make Greed do more than just stare.

What would he do, if he were to tease him that much? Get all mean, make some raunchy comments, maybe even bend him over his knee in this same dressing room, lift up that skirt and spank the bad behavior out of him? Or hold him down by his throat, like he did with that other boy, have him crying and gasping from his touch?

A frustrated sound left Once-ler´s mouth, and he forced himself to snap out of it, keep these thoughts from further fogging his mind. Only now did he notice how shallow his breaths have suddenly become, his trembling hands and racing heart, the fact he´d been eating Greed up with a half-lidded gaze this entire time…

“That´s enough, I think,” he managed to stutter out, running a sweaty palm through his hair nervously. “You had your fun. I´m leaving.”

“You sure you wanna go?” the other replied huskily, looking as devious as ever. “Because it seems like I´m not the only one having fun here.”

Light-headed, Once-ler followed his eyes, his face turning pale only to burst into color a second later when he realized that this situation had excited him way more than it should´ve had.

He let out a yelp, covering himself and looking away in shame, gritting his teeth as his dormmates low chuckle echoed throughout the room. And if that wasn´t enough, he felt the man tugging at the hem of the skirt, roughly pulling it up and exposing the hardened dick throbbing beneath tight boxer briefs.

Once-ler opened his mouth to protest, but no sound other than a small whimper would come out, and he couldn´t even bring himself to push the other´s hand away, instead only watching him flick his tongue over his lip.

“Oh my… someone enjoyed dancing for me a lot. What´s the matter? Does little Oncie-Woncie have a crush on the running back?”

“Sh-shut up,” the blue-eyed man weakly shot back, not sounding threatening at all.  

“You can just step away, you know. If you keep standing here like that, I might get the idea that you want me to do something bad to you,” Greed purred, fingertips lightly brushing over the bare legs as he hungrily looked back up to his roommate. “What´s it gonna be?”

The man´s words did something to him, body being shaken by a pleasant shudder as he leaned forward into the touch, heated skin aching for more contact. His clothes felt much too tight, already leaking length straining against the fabric of his underwear, and despite his better judgement screaming at him from somewhere in the back of his mind, he remained in place. Paralyzed like prey before a beast, wondering how far the other would go.

Thus, he didn´t struggle when the other grabbed him by the waist and pulled him onto his lap, making him straddle it. Greed didn´t waste any time admiring the view in silence, cold hands wandering downward, kneading the soft flesh of his roommate´s thighs before having them disappear beneath the thin material of the skirt. The way they traced the shape of his hips and the small curve of his ass forced a whimper out of his mouth, and Greed took that as an invitation to let the tip of his fingers slip under the waistband of his boxers, pulling them down with ease. Humming lowly, the running back stroked the underside of the erect member with his index finger, all the way upwards to the tip, where he rubbed it against the wet slit.

“My, I had no idea you felt this way about me. No wonder you were always so pissed about inviting people over, it´s cause you were jealous, weren´t you?” he sang, leaning towards the other to lick a bead of sweat off the underside of his jaw, teeth lightly pulling on the skin there right after. It made Once-ler clasp a hand over his mouth in an attempt to stifle another moan, and his defiant expression began to melt away with each small touch.

“As if-” he countered, voice breaking off into a sweet sigh when the sportsman´s fingers waltzed across the small of his back. “As if anyone would get jealous about an utter asshole like you. You´re the worst.”

Greed replied with a scoff, wrapping his fingers around the other´s member and giving it a few firm pumps, grinning in satisfaction at how it made Once-ler gasp and squirm in his lap.

“Then why the fuck did you get this hard from shaking your ass for me, huh? Because you are a little freak who´s into being ordered around and has the hots for me, obviously,” he mouthed back, suckling at the nape of that delicate neck as he pulled the trembling body even closer. “So drop the good boy act and behave.”

Those words went right through the blue-eyed man´s already aching loins, and not even the pout on his furiously blushing face and an attempt at an angry glare could hide how he was really feeling.

“Jerk,” was all that he could whimper, followed by a scream when Greed suddenly bit his nipple through the fabric of his tight top, brushing his lips along the narrow chest afterwards.

“Slut,” came the murmured reply as the running back fumbled with the fly of his pants, showing off the sizable bulge in his underwear the sight of which made Once-ler drop any attempt to counter his remark.  “Someone might hear you if you keep being this noisy.”

“I thought no one´s around here this time of day,” the man on Greed´s lap quietly replied, holding his breath as the other took him by the wrist and, after getting his own boxers out of the way, guided his hand towards his manhood. It was hot, felt too large between Once-ler´s thin fingers, and the way it throbbed against his palm made his blood burn in the best possible way.

“That screaming of yours might still attract someone´s attention. Imagine that, getting caught jerking off a football player in the changing room… my, you´d surely get a lot of attention afterwards. I´d have to have to fight off your ‘suitors’ by the dozens,” he heard the other whisper, while his hand was being moved up and down the erect length that he couldn´t take his eyes off. “Like what you´re looking at, baby? Bet you´d much rather have that inside you, though.”

The hot air of his dormmates breath hitting the shell of his ear sent a quiver through his body, and he pressed himself against the other to keep that heat close. Something about the scent of Greed´s aftershave and his strong grip on the small of his back made him feel so, so unbearably needy. He couldn´t stand that guy and hated that smug expression of his, but damn if he didn´t want to steal some low, raspy moans from those lips, along with a kiss or two and some saccharine words of praise. Sure, he would be far from the first one to get to hear those, but he didn´t care at that point, beginning to compliantly pump the other´s dick with steady movements on his own. The action had the desired result, making Greed groan through his teeth and return the gesture with the same intensity while keeping his sight trained on his roommate´s face, taking in every twitch of his mouth and flutter of his eyelashes.

“You know, you´re really cute when you´re not constantly nagging about something,” he panted, lightly dragging his nails across the other´s spine along with his strokes. “You should join the cheer team for real, keep the players motivated. Can´t promise I won´t keep my hands to myself if you distract me too much, though.”

“God, you´re… ah- just so awful,” the blue-eyed man´s voice trailed off when he felt Greed´s tongue flick over his earlobe. Desperate for the other to touch him harder, he thrusted his hips forward, whimpering when the motion caused their cocks to touch.

“For someone that hates me this much, you sure look like you´re having a great time sitting on my lap.”

The running back wrapped his fingers around both of them, bringing their mouths close together but stopping just short of a kiss, smiling at how desperately the other was staring at his lips.

“Earn it,” Once-ler heard him order.

It was enough to make him give in, make him wrap his arms around the man´s neck for support as he steadily ground against him, fucking himself into his hand. The other´s heat was coursing through him with every movement he made, and he couldn´t help but pull on the back of his shirt, panting from how good the friction felt. It only intensified when Greed tightened his grip around the two of them, running his fingers through Once-ler´s hair with a slight pull.

“Pretty,” he softly murmured as he brought the tip of his tongue against his roommate´s mouth, having a taste before finally clashing their lips together.

Greed´s were warm and a little wet, with a talented tongue that sent sparks of pleasure through the blue-eyed man´s veins, caused him to rut against his tormentor like an animal in heat, eyes falling shut and limbs growing weak. As the room echoed with both their moans, he could feel himself getting closer to release, and it took just a few more thrusts- a few more of the running back´s touches- for climax to set in. His head fell forward, coming to rest on other´s shoulder, and he let out a muffled cry when the long-awaited sensation swept over him.

That little sound along with how his body shook with pleasure was just what was needed to push Greed over the edge as well; he groaned in delight, sinking his teeth into Once-ler´s neck again to suck on the creamy skin, catching the hot spurts of their cum in his palm.

Afterwards, it took a while for them to come down from their high, and even when their heartbeats slowed and breathing evened out, they didn´t distance themselves from each other, remaining in place as they were.

A long moment of silence followed during which Once-ler had a hard time deciding what he was supposed to be more shocked by: the fact that he´s just had a sexual encounter with his insufferable roommate, or that he had enjoyed every second of it?

Face still hidden in embarrassment as he tried to come to terms with the situation, he brought his fingers to the spot on his neck Greed had so lovingly bitten.

“If you´ve given me a hickey I´m going to fucking kill you,” he muttered, hearing the other chuckle in reply.

“Consider me a dead man, then. Besides, you should get used to those. Your performance is still lacking, and we´ll need more dancing practice to fix that, love.”

To that, Once-ler could do nothing but let out a frustrated sigh. Somehow, he had the feeling that he wasn´t going to get a good night of rest anytime soon.

[everafterkeiji]

Song: Squeeze by Fifth Harmony

Summary: When Shoto finds the safest place to be in was your arms.

Pairing: Shoto Todoroki x fem! reader

Genre: fluff

Warnings: slight mentions of his past, twinkle of angst

Quirk: Telepathy and telekinesis

A/N: Hi second imagineee, feedback/reactions will be very appreciated!!

End of the night, looking at me, what do you see?

Wish I could read your mind

All this powerful man craved was touch. A touch that can ease his mind. Ease his guarded heart. He was well known as Endeavors masterpiece but behind closed doors was less than a work of art as people visualized it. He was trained for years not even having the chance to live his youth with such joy and happy memories. Growing up he was restricted from talking to any kid that came his way, his father looking down on every child that wanted to become friends with his son thinking that no one can ever be enough for his Shouto. Shouto was above everyone else and Endeavor made sure to remind him that throughout the years.

When the incident of his scar came, he didn't hesitate to escape the house he lived in. No sibling could have ever prepared for that moment that changed his life.

Dimming the light, here in the dark, going by feel

Only the moon to guide

As he ran with tears in his eyes, he tripped on a rock making his knee scrape the ground leaving an ugly wound to it. The rain poured, even the skies cried for the poor boy who only wished to be normal and to be loved. Shouto hugs his knee letting his sobs echo through the empty street.

Rain stopped pouring over his head and he looks up with hurt eyes. His bi colored eyes land on a girl in a yellow rain coat hovering an umbrella over the two of them.

"You look really cool. Whatcha doing here? Mama says raining gets you sick." He sniffles as he looks at the girl with e/c eyes. Her head tilted as she wonders about the random boy. She looks at the boy who was hugging his knees when she finds an unpleasant wound on his knee. Her eyes widened as she grabs his hand dragging them to a corner where rain couldn't reach them. He was being dragged by a rather cute stranger and he had no choice but to follow her because he was lost in the thought of a girl holding his hand.

"You hurt ya self. What's the your name?" She asks removing the raincoat exposing her beautiful hair. He wiped his eyes turning around, scared that this interaction would cause him a consequence from his father.

"Stop talking to me, n-no one likes me. Go away." He says with sadness. He stands up with his head hung low. He was scared of talking to her. He hasn't interacted with anyone who sounded like an angel. He starts to walk away when the girl ran up to him, surrounding him in a hug. His eyes widened, his arms frozen, time suddenly stopping as he was focused on the tiny girl that was hugging him.

W-what is this feeling? A h-hug?

"Mama says when someone is hurt we should give them a big ole hug! I hope this makes you feel better! Mama always does this to me!" She cheers continuing to hug him. He sobs in her shoulder finally allowing his arms to reciprocate her embrace. They sit on the floor. To her it meant nothing, just a girl comforting a boy who was sad. To him, it was everything. Finally someone comforted him and she didn't push him away or scold him for crying. She was hugging him. Letting him know that crying wasn't weak like his father told him.

"I really think you look cool, pretty boy. I like your hair. Oh and your eyes! How did you make them like that?" He laughs at her questions wiping away his tears as he pulls away from the hug. She touches his hair and squeals at how cool the colors were and he softly smiles at her.

"What's your quirk? Can you change colors?" She asks with a lifted brow and he shakes his head no. She tilts her head at his movement looking at the cool boy with her curious eyes.

"No. My quirk is ice and fire. My dad says I shouldn't use it outside though." He pouts but she shakes her head. She grabs her by the shoulder looking at him with her big eyes.

"THAT'S. SO. COOL. Can you show me? Pleaseee?" With every word she shakes him as his face showed his shock with tight lips and wide eyes. He sees her pouting and sighs before removing her hands on his shoulder as he raises his left hand emitting a small flame from his palm. He touches the ground softly with his right hand making the ground frozen. She lets out a gasp as she rapidly claps her hands.

"YOU'RE SO COOL!" He smiles shyly at her.

"What's your quirk then?" He asks while she opened her mouth, his arm was harshly pulled. He was faced with an angry Endeavor.

"Father-"

"You! Get away from my son! A weakling like you should never come near him again. Shoto, come with me this instant." He says and you gather your raincoat, glaring at the man who hovered over you. Shoto looks at you, hoping this wasn't your last meeting.

"Please father-"

"NO! You are coming home leaving this rat. She doesn't deserve you, Shoto. Let's go." He says and as he drags his son who was trashing around desperately trying to reach the girl.

"Don't worry cool boy! I hope I helped! We'll play soon!" She screams, waving at him happily and this brings a slight smile onto his face. The words of his father blurring out as he was focused on the girl that brought him happiness from a single embrace.

I didn't even get her name.

Now that he's in UA being praised by his peers, his mind still lingers on the girl that made him feel safe. He wished he could've gotten her name, just something to remind him that she made him feel that way even if she was a stranger.

He sits at the back while he admires the girl that was laughing at Denkis English accent. He swears she was familiar. Mina leans her head on the sweet girl while she continues to laugh at Kaminaris poor attempt to flirt with her. Y/N turns to Shoto who already had his eyes on you. You simply blush at it but chose to look away ignoring the butterflies that surrounded your mind.

Despite him being a friend of yours, you couldn't hide the feeling of your heart when he walks by. Avoiding to sit beside him whenever you had lunch, scared to let him see your flustered cheeks. He always asked you if he wanted to half with his soba, noticing it was his favorite you decided to say no every time. Your friendship began when the annual Sports Festival came when you managed to land a battle against Bakugo. You and the hot headed were friends since you hang around Kaminari. But he didn't back down, even if he was fighting a friend. In the end, he won. But he regretted seeing your passed out state. Todorokis hands form a ball as he leaves his seat rushing to go to Bakugo.

"How could you do that to her?" Todoroki asks him as Bakugo rolls his eyes.

"What does it matter to you half and half? It's a battle. I had to win. " Todoroki glares at the blonde in front of him.

"I'm her friend too, shit head. You think I don't feel like shit seeing her like that." Todoroki rolls his eyes.

"Some friend you are then, Bakugo." He spat but Bakugo only shakes his head with a sly smirk on his face.

"And you're one protective ass boyfriend." Todorokis cheek warms at the thought but before he could defend himself the door creaks open to you sleepily rubbing your eyes with bandages.

"K-katsuki.. Todoroki?" You saw the two of them while Todoroki rushes to your side.

"Hey are you okay?" Todorokis tone softens as he sees you covered in bandages. You nod at him before looking over at Bakugo.

"You did good their, dumbass. You're boyf-" Todorokis eyes widen as he closes the door leaving a chuckling Bakugo behind.

"What was that?" You ask tilting your head as he stops in his motions. He takes in your expressions and his brows furrowed at the similarity.

Where do I remember that from?

"Expect nothing but nonsense from him."

He didn't mean to protective then but he couldn't hide the similarities of the young girl to you. You mirrored an angel in disguise in his eyes. He sees how you enjoy protecting people giving them your perfect smile. He only wished that it was you so it made sense to him when he started to like you. Once he's gotten all the pieces together, he could never let you go again.

And you wished the opposite.

The minute you saw his hair when he entered Class 1A. You knew it was him, the boy you had comforted when his father took him away before you can even get his name. He had grown into a handsome and powerful man, much reserved and guarded now. He also took in your presence but you hoped he wouldn't recognize you. You hoped that you were a forgotten memory. When you were a child you came back to where you had met the boy telling you're parents that you two were gonna play again. After a week of his disappearance you were broken at the thought of the cool boy never meeting you again.

But now you two were in the same room everyday.

Even after school.

There were moments when you would visit his room along with the others for a study. You would be the one to be left behind still answering a few questions you skipped, anxious to ask him a bunch of questions when him and the others were already finished.

"You sure you really don't need my help?" He asks with a chuckle seeing your stressed state as you just twirl the pencil in mid air, your focus long gone.

"I just couldn't catch up with you guys, I understand it- I really do. You guys are just too fast and I barely understood half of the things you said with the way Izuku kept rambling the equation." He laughs before getting behind you, his chest pressed against your back as he grabs the pencil you were toying with before pointing the pencil at the equation you've avoided. Your breath hitched at how nonchalant he was being this near to you.

When we're alone, I get so close

Give me your warmth I've never known

"I understand the Midoriya part, he was very confusing but I will help you." You couldn't even understand half of what he said while his head peaked on your left side, cheek to cheek with yours. Your telekinesis loosing control as some of his pencils were circling behind you two, your eyes wide and your stance tense. Your cheeks flushed red when he turns to look at you. Your heart literally screaming, beating so fast.

"I really hope you're not searching for the answer on my face. Oh well is there anything on my face? You've been staring at me for a while." He says monotone but his bluntness only brought you more trouble when he noticed you staring.

Please help me. You thought.

"N-no really there's nothing there you're just really pretty- t-the uh equation is pretty hard sorry I just keep getting distracted-" He laughs at you before pulling away from where he was positioned earning you the time to breathe.

"Now you do sound like Midoriya. Why don't you head back to your dorm? I'm happy to continue this equation if you're having a tough time with it." You shook you're head trying to reach the paper in his hand but he only lifts it higher considering he was way taller than you. You roll your eyes at his tease but he only smiles more.

"Please, I'm volunteering. Get back to your room and sleep well. I'm not asking for anything in return. "

"But-"

"Quiet, Y/N. It's really okay." You sigh in defeat as you step back. "Fine, thank you Shoto. Good night and you sleep well too. " You say to him and he gives you a nod.

"Goodnight, Y/N." As you close his door, you nearly couldn't walk back to your room at how nervous you are. Still in tact with your quirk as his pencils, pens, and notebooks were all in mid air twirling continuously. As he takes a sit to finish your equation, he jumped slightly at the sound of things falling beside him pressing his foot to the floor freezing it. His eyes widened at his stationary were all laid out on the floor, silently thanking that it wasn't some sort of bomb.

The moment he realized he needed you close to him was when the training camp incident began. Scared of the thought of you getting hurt without his protection. He knew this wasn't because he was your friend, he wanted to be more than your friend. At that moment, love blossomed in his heart thawing the ice that protected it.

When training camp began, none of you expected to be ambushed by villains. There you were seperated from him when blue flames surround the area. Villains came and attacked the students. As you were running to reach the building you were faced with Toga as she gives you a wave.

"My! You're so pretty~ I would love to borrow that sweet face of yours. Seems like I can't be your friend, deal with her for a while." Toga scurries away when your back came in contact with a Nomu. You ran away as he chased after you, you flew before removing a few trees and send their way to the Nomu. You're eyes glowing purple with the use of your quirk as you flew to the others helping them while gathering rocks and wood to be your weapons.

Shoto can see you from above as you gathered countless of rocks. He watches you as you raised your hand with a scream when you threw all of them to the villains that circled the Pussy Cats. Your purple aura circling around you like a fire but what you didn't notice was a man with a hand out directed to you shooting blue flames in your way sending you off, screaming at how painful the flames were as they touch your skin.

"Y/N!" Todoroki screams trying to run to the direction you flew off but he was stopped by Midoriya.

"Todoroki-san we have to save Kacchan. Y/N-chan can handle herself." Todoroki only agreed knowing Midoriya was right.

When Dabi had his hands on Bakugos neck, you flew heading straight for Bakugo but he disappeared before your eyes. Your eyes glowing more than usual as you sunk down to your knees feeling helpless that you couldn't save him.

When you turn around to see Todoroki who you have yet to seen for the entire night and you flew to him wrapping your arms around him as he quickly reciprocated your sweet embrace. You gripped his shirt, feeling overwhelmed to see the boy safe. Your mind easing at the sight of him without any wounds.

Face to face, caught in a wild embrace

"You're okay.." he whispers, thanking the stars she was safe and sound. Hugging her tighter before tears dampened his shirt.

"I c-couldn't save him-" You tried to reason but he only shushes you before you can say anything else.

"I know, I know but what matters right now is that you're safe here with me."

Since then his goal changed from being a hero to being your boyfriend who can always protect you. You also became more open with him as you come by his room whenever nightmares would surface and you did the same whenever he was at rage with his father.

Only you know how to save me

Now, you're all sat in the common room watching TV while you flew around trying to escape Bakugos wrath. Meanwhile, Kirishima was mindlessly switching channels he stops when he sees Endeavor and Hawks on the TV.

"I didn't know Endeavor and Hawks were friends- SHIT A NOMU! " Kirishima shouts averting everyone's attention to the TV. Shoto came running to watch. As the battle began, you bit your lip with worry as you watch his expressions. You didn't get want to use your telepathy to see what he was thinking, knowing you'd be pushing some boundaries if you do so. Everyone was tenses and cheering for Endeavor. When Endeavor was shut down you can feel his heart ache. Everyone else turned to him but soon came to turn back to the TV.

For the past minutes, all you could feel was how his heart was breaking with every blow his father receives but when his father raises a fist to the air while Todoroki falls to his knees, panting and sweating. Everyone was commanded to give him some space. He runs to his room, closing the door with a slam, his heavy breathing surrounding the room. Covering his face in his hands as he tried to calm his self.

You flew right to his room ignoring the screams from the others to let him have his space knowing that Todoroki needed more than space and silence. You opened the door to see him in his bed, knees to his chest as you hears his sobs. You immediately wrap your arms around him, running your hands through his split colored hair that you fell in love with. You used your telepathy to avoid him from replaying the moments in his mind.

Put your arms around me, baby

"It's okay, Sho. I'm here we're all safe. He's safe and he did amazing. You don't need to worry, I got you." He hugs you tighter as you comfort him caressing his back. You pressed a kiss to his hair. He hugged you tight, finding your arms to be his safe zone and he never wanted anything more than to be held by you all the time.

And squeeze

"Breathe for me okay?" He nods before leaning his head on your shoulder, closing his eyes taking in your words.

Remember the night talking to me

Saying the words I wanna hear the most

He was reminded of the angel that fell on his path when he was a kid but now his breathing calming down knowing the same angel that saved him before was here in his arms.

"Its always been you, Y/N." He says pulling away from your embrace as he places a hand on your cheek before pressing his forehead to yours making both of your cheeks flushed red.

"That night- when I was a kid. It was you. I found you." He says and you smile at his words.

"I found you too, pretty boy." He smiles at the nickname before pressing his lips to yours. You smile before kissing back your hand finding its way to his cheek pulling him closer. The stars were more than happy to see you two finally found each other. You both pull away as you look at each other. He hugs you again smiling to himself and you embraced him with all the love you had for him. With his heart happy and filled with love finally finding the girl meant for him he only thought to himself.

I've found my home.

[benditlikepress]

growing pains

@coffeedepablo @indestinatus

dedicated to my queen @ncisjes who goes to work to escape my nonsense

Read in full on AO3

Tony was counting down the minutes until home-time when his phone started ringing. Usually he switched it off during meetings but for some reason it had slipped his mind, and that was why he jumped out of his seat to leave the room to answer it, seeing Tali’s school flash on the screen.

They never rang.

He closed the door quietly behind him and clicked answer as he jogged down the hallway towards the doors that led out onto a small balcony.

“Hello?”

"Hello, is that Mr DiNozzo?"

"Speaking."

"Hello, this is Tali's teacher Madame Belanger."

"Oh. Hello. Is everything OK?"

"I'm stood here with Tali, nobody has arrived to take her home."

Tony checked the time. School let out 10 minutes ago. "Uh, Tali's mom should be there. She hasn't shown up?"

"No, Mr DiNozzo. I know it's her that picks Tali up and she's always early so I tried to ring her but I got no answer. I know she's pregnant so I thought I best ring you to check everything is OK."

Tony felt his shackles immediately rise, a ball in his throat. "Um, thank you. I'll try to get a hold of her but I'm on my way myself now, so one of us will be there soon. Can I speak to Tali real quick?"

There was a small pause while the phone was passed over.

"Hey sweetheart, it's daddy. I'm on my way to come get you, OK? Don't worry about a thing."

"OK."

"I love you."

"Love you too."

Tony hung up the phone and began dialling Ziva's number as he went into his boss' office. He explained he had an emergency at home with the phone pressed to his ear and was waved away to leave just as Ziva's phone went to voicemail.

"Hey. It's me. Call if you get this, let me know you’re alright."

When she still hadn’t returned his call when he was getting into his car, he began to panic more. Though she’d been through rough patches and difficulties since she got home to Paris, she’d never once made herself unreachable. She’d always at least drop a text to let him know she was safe. Particularly since she’d found out she was pregnant.

Thoughts of the baby plagued his rushed journey to school, weaving through traffic in a way that made him wish he still had lights he could stick on the roof. Things had been going really well up until now – no worries or doctors concerns, nothing that had to be kept an eye on. Ziva had been a little anxious at first because there had been some concerns early in her pregnancy with Tali but they had turned out to be false alarms, likely caused by stress. When nothing had happened in the first 12 weeks of this pregnancy and then the next couple afterwards, her fears had been allayed. It was week 23 now and everything had been pretty much perfect.

He repeated to himself that she was in the bath and had lost track of time as he hopped out of his car and rushed up to the school gates. He was buzzed in and by the time he reached reception, Tali and her teacher were waiting. Tali immediately left her teachers’ side and came over to him, wrapping her arms around him for a hug.

“Hey, sweetheart. Good day?” He asked in English and Tali’s teacher smiled politely, though he was never sure if she actually understood a word he said when he wasn’t speaking French.

“Uh-huh. Are we going home?”

“Yeah, come on. Sorry you had to wait a little while.”

“That’s OK. Au revoir, Madame Belanger.”

“Au revoir, Tali. See you tomorrow.”

Tali took Tony’s hand as they left the building and walked with purpose although she was quiet and thoughtful.

“Everything alright?”

“Why didn’t ima pick me up?”

"I'm not sure, sweetheart. We're gonna go talk to her and find out, OK?"

"Is something wrong with the baby?"

"I don't think so. Let's just get home and we'll find out what's going on."

This seemed to satisfy Tali, who was her usual talkative self on the car ride back to the apartment. Tony was glad of the distraction – happy to hear about Tali’s class preparation for their upcoming recorder recital and her friend’s new dog.

The building looked normal from the outside when they got home, though decades worth of cop shackles were hard to shake off and Tony caught himself reaching for a non-existent gun as they entered the eerily quiet hallway and reached the locked door.

The apartment was cleaner than they’d left it this morning – clothes and breakfast and mail put away. The curtains were open but the light was on in the bathroom and everywhere was silent. Tony left Tali in the living room and cut through room-by-room looking for any sign of Ziva or something out of place, and when he reached their bedroom he found the door ajar and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a sleeping figure on top of the mattress.

Ziva was lying on her side, buried in blankets, a slight frown on her face.

Tony bent down by the side of the bed and lifted fingers to her forehead, stroking her hair.

"Hey honey, you awake?"

Ziva stirred and then opened one eye. "What are you doing here?"

"School called."

"What time is it?" Ziva lifted her arms sleepily to check her phone. "Oh my god, I have to go and get Tali."

"Hey hey hey, relax. I got her. She's in the living room."

Ziva exhaled heavily and covered her face with her eyes.

"You OK?"

"Yes. I just... I have been asleep all afternoon. I did not get any sleep last night so I just lay down after lunch and.. I cannot believe this. I have never slept through anything in my life."

"Well, you're pregnant. It happens. Why didn't you sleep last night?"

"I need to talk to Tali."

"Just - take a breath first, alright?"

She closed her eyes as she inhaled and exhaled, but threw the blankets off her all the same. She had taken to wearing his shorts as pyjama bottoms, paired with either a tank top that rode up more as the days went on or one of his old baggy t-shirts depending on the temperature. Though she was almost always overheating these days.

"Is Tali upset?"

"She's fine. She was just a little worried something might've happened." Ziva brought herself up to a sitting position and pressed the base of her palms against her eyes. “You sure everything’s alright?”

"Yes, we are fine. Completely. I am so sorry for scaring you. Really, I.."

"Hey," Tony pulled her hands away from her face gently. "It's alright. It's fine. Stuff happens sometimes."

“It is not alright, Tony.”

Her insistence struck a chord with him, the way her breathing was a little laboured and she squeezed his fingers where they were still attached to accentuate the point.

“Hey. Talk to me.”

“We can talk once I have spoken to Tali. Let me do that first.”

“OK. Take a couple of deep breaths, though. Come in when you’re ready.”

Tony ran his hand over her head as he stood up, leaving the room and going back into the living room where Tali was sitting on the sofa with a game in hand kicking her legs backwards and forwards.

“Ima and the baby are all good. See? Like I said. Nothing for you to worry about. She’s gonna come and talk to you right now.”

He sat down next to her and she began to continue the conversations she’d started in the car, not seeming to notice Tony’s small responses as he kept an eye on the bedroom door.

Ziva appeared a couple of minutes later, her cheeks slightly pink with sleep and a practised smile plastered on her face as her eyes trained on Tali.

"Tali.."

"Is the baby OK?"

"We are both fine. But I need to apologise to you.” Ziva sat down at Tali’s side, opposite to Tony, and took Tali’s small hands into her own on her lap. “I'm so sorry I did not pick you up today, Tali. I did not get any sleep last night and I accidentally napped through my alarm. I promise you it will never ever happen again. And I'm very sorry for worrying you, that is not fair at all on you."

"OK. I forgive you."

"You do?"

"You promise.”

“I promise. Can I have a hug?”

Tali wrapped herself around Ziva but the position was starting to get awkward as Ziva had started growing more significantly in the last couple of weeks. She was carrying smaller than Tony had imagined, though he supposed it was a result of keeping herself fit. She said you’d have barely known she was pregnant with Tali until her third trimester.

He watched her expression now, over Tali’s shoulder, her eyes tightly shut and then opening to look up at him with tears threatening. She ran her hand over her left eye and the movement seemed to alert Tali to pull back and look at her.

“Don’t be sad.”

“I’m not sad, OK? Ani ohevet otach. I love you very much.”

Tony still wasn't quite used to the feeling he got in his chest when he saw the two of them together like this: hugging and whispering affection to each other, looking over each other’s shoulders at him with such automatic warmth in their eyes. It was a feeling he'd forgotten existed, something that he'd not felt since childhood until Tali and then Ziva took permanent place in his life - the pure comfort of being around family. The way that even when Ziva was clearly upset and hurting there was still pure, unadulterated love in the air.

Ziva sniffed and straightened her back. “Do you want to help me make dinner?”

“Can we have pizza?”

“You know your daddy can never say no to that. Come on, let’s get your hands washed.”

Tali jumped off the sofa and ran off in the direction of the bathroom. Tony got to his feet and held out his hand to help Ziva up, though she managed to get up mostly by herself. Her hand, as it often did now, instinctively went to her stomach. It was almost six months in and he still hadn't grown out of the burst of pride every time he watched Ziva privately acknowledge her bump, the knowledge that it was his child she was tending to when she didn't realise anyone was watching.

“Ziva..”

“I promise we will talk. I just want to make sure she is OK first. Once we have eaten, she will settle down. OK?”

“OK.”

It was a lot like this with a child: something Tony had never really considered before Tali came into his life, and something he was sure would only get more significant once the baby was here. Trying to find opportunities to talk was difficult, quiet moments alone few and far between, and though all Tony wanted to do right now was sit Ziva down and wait for her to explain every single thing on her mind he instead had to be content to watch her staring down at Tali thoughtfully while she helped her knead dough and overflow toppings in the way only a DiNozzo could.

They ate quietly but happily, Tali still leading conversation, and once she’d finished she’d taken herself off to her bedroom and shouted at Tony to follow her to help her with her math homework.

Ziva still had a fearful look in her eye, and it only seemed to increase as the minutes passed. She looked at Tali’s bedroom and then back at Tony, questioning, until he signalled at her to go to their own bedroom while he followed Tali.

(continue reading on AO3)

[be-dazzled]

#SIYC

Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser Genre: Multi-chapter, Romance, Comedy Rating: M for sensitive language and content

It gives me sweet little pains in my heart Like a sweet little rain, that falls for a flower And that's love A new kind of love

–       A New Kind of Love, Skylar Grey

The sun had already set when the little party ended at the Home for Boys. The day ended with hugs and high fives, some ugly cries too – from the big guys, not the kids. The team promised to be back the next year. Even with that promise, goodbyes weren’t really that easy. Juvia had to comfort a sobbing Mika all the way to the presidential car. She said it never gets easier.

After a laughter-filled dinner and teasing, Gray invited Juvia to walk off the carbs. He took her to the back part of the house, to the most beautiful flower-filled garden Juvia has ever seen.

Mika Mine hand-grown the flowers in her garden. She started with just some dark pink Geraniums she liked sitting around the house. Not until she found that large blank canvass behind her mansion that the Mine matriarch eventually developed a certain fondness getting her hands dirty, waking up early to water them and most of the time, talk to her plants. She said it was therapeutic, helping her cope with the stress. Gray uneasily admitted he was almost always the reason for her stress. So, her mother named that garden after him.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Juvia was sure Mika Mine’s garden would have been very beautiful under the brightest shine of the sun. She took a note to come visit the “Stressful Gray Garden” in the morning. Tonight, she took the time appreciating the living attraction in the silence of the evening. It was simply magical.

Illuminated by natural moonlight, Gray and Juvia covered the narrow pathway, bathed in cold breeze and silver light. On either side of the pathway were beautiful, fully bloomed flowers on trimmed shrubs. But they cleared the path that led somewhere more beautiful, as Gray promised.

“More beautiful than these flowers borne out of the stress you caused?”

Juvia looked around the backyard garden. Mika Mine outdid herself. Or Gray was just a stressful fellow to raise. Page Six did a good retelling of how Gray painted the town red. Looking around the fully bloomed buds around the ‘stress garden’, Juvia had a feeling she didn’t know the half of it. Different kinds and colors scattered around, giving life to Mika’s green-thumb project, like fresh from a Monet painting. If Olivia Lockser saw this, she would have begged Gray’s mother to become best of friends or maybe died of jealousy. That’s a thought.

“Yes. But not as beautiful as my girlfriend.”

Gray pulled her to a stop. As a gentleman who had his fair share of women, Gray knew that off-hand ‘more beautiful’ comment would read as ‘even than your girlfriend?’ He crossed the small distance between them and got himself that kiss that he’d been waiting for. It was just a brief brush of the lips, like a kiss shared in children’s books, at the end of the story, when the prince and the princess lived happily ever after. One innocent kiss like that came so naturally.

Juvia wiped the stain of lipstick that transferred on Gray’s lips. Then, she took his hand, taking the lead this time. They walked down the narrow path, side by side. Her small hand was clasped in his bigger one, her slender fingers intertwined with Gray’s. She leaned on Gray every now and then, wanting and needing the contact. They exchanged stories here and there, talking about nothing much really, until they reached the end of the paved path and a silhouette of a familiar structure emerged.

“That, girlfriend, is my favorite part of this house.”

The ground they stood on was abruptly cut by a grassy, shallow slope, right before the rectangular pavement began. Gray guided the ballerina down the sloping garden, watchful over Juvia who was trying not to lose her footing, and held her hand as he ushered Juvia onto the flat surface.

“Stay here.”

Gray’s absence was quickly missed. It made the breeze feel colder against the skin. Juvia enveloped her arms around her own frame to fight the chill. Her eyes never left the figure jogging towards a shed. Even through the dimness, Juvia saw Gray pushing a lever. The light coming from the lamp posts standing at each corner flooded the playing surface. In the floodlit view, Juvia could make out the unmistaken round hoop attached to the backboard; the rectangular pavement bordered by freshly cut-grass. Juvia knew enough about basketball to recognize the lines painted on the pavement. Although, it did seem to have seen better days. There were obvious wear and tear, a few repairs here and there. When the mansion decided to move forward, that particular part of the house was left behind.

She lost Gray for a moment, not finding him where has just a minute ago. Next thing she knew, her boyfriend was standing next to a covered cart near the stone bench. He peeled off the cover, bent over to pick one ball out. Gray remained standing, feeling the rubber skin in his palms, taking his time, like some sort of ritual. He then waved his girlfriend to come.

Juvia crossed the paved court, her purposeful steps synced with the bounce of the ball in Gray’s hand. But instead of running toward the ring to show off a perfect shot, as Juvia expected, Gray replaced the ball inside the cart. He met her half-way and led Juvia to rest at the stone bench.

“Man, I spent most of my childhood here.” shared Gray. He turned to Juvia, who remained quiet, and held her gaze. “This is where everything began, you know.” The usual confidence in Gray’s smile was hidden safe for the time being.

Gray left her side and covered the pavement with sprints toward the middle of the court. His absence allowed the breeze to touch on her exposed skin, penetrating through the fabric of her clothes.

“My first shot.” He dribbled an imaginary ball and pretended to shoot the same, flicking his wrist like the pro that he was. Juvia imagined the ball went in perfectly and she clapped, humoring him with his ‘play pretend’ game. Then, Gray scampered over to much nearer the ring, executing the familiar two-step footwork before he jumped off his left foot and shoot with his left arm. The ball would have hit the backboard and went into the hoop without miss.

“My first lay-up.” He made a quick chuckle. “It wasn’t a good one. That I admit.”

Gray dashed back to the center, the tip of one shoe nearly touching the white paint which Juvia recognized as the three-point line. Hoopster had his proper posture down to a T: with feet shoulder-width apart; his dominant foot ahead the other; knees bent at the perfect angle; his toned body and shoulders squared toward the basket. His dark blue eyes were unrelenting, drilling a hole on his target. Juvia has seen it far too many times, but every time Gray fell into that stance, her heart skipped a beat. Like any minute now, something magical was about to happen. That’s how he always made her feel. Gray held the ball above his head, elbows bent in the perfect degree, then he snapped his wrist, ending his signature three-point shot with a perfect follow through. Juvia was back at the lower box of the Fairy Academy Dome, her heart in her throat as she and the rest of the roughly six hundred basketball fans waited at the edge of their seats.

His sharp blue eyes, now staring at Juvia’s mesmerized ones, pulled the ballerina out of her reverie. He resumed his rightful spot next to her at the stone bench, drawing a long, slow breath. That little prancing around the court didn’t tire him out. Gray didn’t even break a sweat but showing off to his girlfriend did exercise his lungs.

“My dad always said, ‘Gray… if you. Want to set yourself apart from the others, you need a signature’. He decided, right there and then, that three-point shots would be mine.” He relayed to Juvia. “He trained me day and night until I perfected that shot.” Those perfect three point shots that eventually earned him his nickname.

To Juvia, it sounded like the Fullbuster patriarch was a believer of putting in the time. She knew now where Gray got his hard-working disposition. She believed in that too… nothing of value was ever borne out if taking it easy. Juvia believed in the hustle, too. His father may have had all the connections to make her dream a reality sooner but Juvia was never one to want everything handed to her.

“Or passed out, whichever came first.”

He tried to play it off as a joke but Juvia could see no humor in Gray’s eyes nor that forced smile – because he was talking about his father. Once, when they were just starting to get along, Silver’s name was mentioned in passing. Juvia remembered how his expression turned serious and how Gray quickly changed the subject. It was obvious back then that it was a touchy subject, one Gray would rather not talk about. Ironic, considering how Gray was considered an open book, his tales of gallivanting making headlines. But Juvia understood, that topic was too personal for Gray. This was the first time that the elusive Hoopster was the first to mention Silver Fullbuster to her, which only meant one thing – he trusted her. She knew better than laugh. Juvia sought his hands, took them in hers and giving them a gentle squeeze – one that told him that she was there. This time, she was going to be there for him, like how he was always there for her. It was Juvia’s chance to show Gray that she was going to be the one he could rely on; the one he could trust with his heart. If she could, Juvia would have eased the pain she knew was still there. A big chunk of Gray’s heart was still missing. But there wasn’t much she could do but to lend an ear. Her soft gaze told him she was ready to listen.

Gray heaved out another breath, preparing himself for the outpour.

“I miss him every day, you know. He was my best friend.”

Gray wasn’t looking at Juvia. He was staring at somewhere at the court, remembering. A bittersweet smile touched his lips, eyes looking out at the empty court as if he was watching the figures play on the paved ground – Silver and an eight-year-old Gray.

“He trained me in this very ground. Sometimes, we’d just play around all day until mom calls us for dinner.”

When Gray turned to the quiet ballerina, his eyes were different. The soul behind them was different. He was showing another side of him, one Juvia has yet to see. They said the eyes were the windows to the soul; that they held the truest, most genuine emotions. Tonight, those windows held his vulnerability.

“He wasn’t just my coach, my strict trainer. He was my dad.”

Juvia knew she was only an audience, merely a listener. She didn’t say a word and continued to listen even through the shy moments of silence that filled the in-betweens. A few strands of black hair fell over his forehead. Juvia brushed it away from his face, tucking them back to that shock of coal-black hair.

“What I am now is all because of him.”

Honor and gratitude equally shone through his dark eyes. But there was another one hiding behind that shine – loss. He lost his father. The tears he was holding back was for that important person taken from him far too soon. Juvia knew of the pain of losing someone she loved but she could never fully understand what Gray went through, still going through. It was something that sticks with us no matter what happens.

“When I was in my senior year, my school was up for a championship in the regionals. He stayed behind because he wasn’t feeling well. That was a first for him because he was always present to all my games.”

It’s been more than a decade but the memory was as fresh as if it happened yesterday.

“The neighbors called my mom. They said dad was… my dad was on the way to the hospital. He had a heart attack.”

His last words felt like a silent whisper lost in the soft gust of wind.

“She hid it from me. My mom waited until I finished the tournament. And when I got there… when I got to the hospital,” Gray shifted in his position, his strong jaw tightening at the memory, at the long-forgotten anger that resurfaced. He faced Juvia, finally letting her see that side of him he never wanted to show people. And she saw the tears in his eyes that he tried to hold back. “It was too late. He was there, lying on the hospital bed. His doctor just…covered him in that… in that white sheet.”

He brushed away the tear that managed to fall and for some reason, an awkward chuckle erupted from him.

“I don’t even know why I’m still crying over it.” He said, harshly wiping the tears with his bare palm.

“It never really goes away.” offered Juvia.

“For years I’ve blamed my mother. I blamed her because I couldn’t even properly say goodbye. Then, basketball.” Gray huffed. “God, I hated basketball.”

Juvia remembered that silent, blank space in his career. When he graduated from High School, everybody expected Gray to be the first to be picked out for the draft season. No one ever heard from him since the news of his dad’s passing.

“I should have stayed, you know. I should have been there for him.”

Regret clouded his dark blue eyes like an unkind storm rolling in.

“It isn’t your fault, Gray.”

Gray visibly gulped.

“I know that. But for so long I’ve been so angry at everyone around me.” He struggled to bit back the sob. “If I hadn’t met Natsu at that orphanage, I would have never went back to basketball.”

“Is that why the Home was so important to you?”

His only answer was a gentle smile followed by a stretch of silence. Juvia thought Gray didn’t want to continue but he did.

“I realized, basketball was only way I can feel closer to him. When I touch that rubber ball, the rough texture of its skin, the smell of the rubber, the beat when it hits the floor, suddenly, I was back here.” He didn’t need to point to the open space. “In this court, with my dad, teaching me how to properly hold my first ball.”

He gave her a small smile, a result of a mixed feeling of gratitude and regret.

“That’s why I can never hate basketball ever again.” He expelled a breath that felt like a finality, like an end. The worst part was over. “Why are you crying?”

Juvia laughed it off, looking like some crazy woman as she frantically rubbed her eyes. She told Gray she didn’t even know why. That wasn’t true. Juvia was crying for him, for all the bad things he went through and for all the good things that came after. She couldn’t feel more proud of him, of how Gray overcame that painful moment in his life. Not all could recover from that loss. But Gray was strong. A warm feeling swelled up in her chest. Juvia was grateful he was able to overcome his rock bottom. Now, he was on top of the world.

Gray reached to Juvia, cradled her wet cheeks between his palms. She leaned into the warmth of his hands. Juvia wished she could be there for him back then, to help him go. Through that darkness. That’s all in the past. All she could do was be here for him now.

“Look at us crying like idiots.”

They made a shared attempt to laugh. Then, Gray gathered her in his arms, lending his girlfriend heat against the night chill. But more so, feeling sorry for having Juvia go through all of that. Yet he was grateful to be able to get it off his chest. It wasn’t easy to be so out into the open, to even admit to any weakness. In his world, in basketball, there was no room for weakness. But even if he covered himself of layers and layers of defenses, at the very core he was still vulnerable. When he saw Juvia struggle through her dance albeit being a professional, seeing the stern, no-nonsense ballerina he first met being bothered by the small things as performance jitters or her paralyzing adoration for Aquarius, Gray realized that he didn’t have to keep up appearances all the time. That he could just be him – flawed and human.

Hoopster rested Juvia’s head against his chest, gently stroking waves of her long, silky hair while Juvia listened to his heart’s every beat.

“Man, after all the ugly crying, you still think your boyfriend is cool?”

He used to think that his pain was his weakness. It did almost ruin his career and his future once. He was never going to let that happen. He was never going to let his emotions get the better of him. So, Gray went through all those superficial relationships, if he could even call them that, and worldly fun, albeit fleeting. But now he decided it was time to break down the wall. He was ready to allow himself be vulnerable.

“Much cooler.” answered Juvia as she snuggled into his hard chest. “Much, much cooler.”

Because now he wasn’t just some fantasy Gray Fullbuster that was perfect at everything. He was real.

---

Writer’s Corner: Allowing yourself be vulnerable in front of that person you love, I don’t think it can get any realer than that. As promised, this is a double chapter posting since, as you noticed, this chapter is a little short.

P.S. We got a new design because we are entering a new age.

tags: @ship-ambrosia @juviaafullbuster @keencreatormuggoop @sasskiiia @anaken101 @mika-milano @icelyn20 @gruviafanficsyo @nay-ssi @shampooneko @hiccstridhumour @shounenmangaotphell @ftmains @sobatsu @freeezingrain @gruvia-galaxy @tinyvoidtrash @juvialockseroff @jetblackrevival @cobblepottantrum

[mimiswitchywrites]

Not A Burden: Chapter 8

TW: SH references, attempted s****de and references, child/s***al a**se references (not graphic but enough that could be triggering).

period typical h***ph*bia

Master list or read on AO3

2.6k words

If you want to be tagged for updates, message me or comment!

Hardly proof read this one so apologies if that's obvious. Going to take a week break from this because I am STRESSED atm and this is just a passion project.

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Miriam awoke to Merlin’s face, barely an inch from hers. He was poking her arm with the cheeky grin of a toddler that has just done something it knows it shouldn’t have done. She rolled her eyes and turned her head, trying to go back to sleep.

The poking got worse. It migrated to her back and her neck and her forehead until she snapped, grabbing his wrist, and yanking so hard that he ended sprawled on the stone floor with a groan.

“What the fuck, Miriam?”

“What the fuck yourself, Merlin. How did you not expect poking someone to end badly for you?” came her muffled voice, face still in the pillow.

He groaned again, rubbing his cheek which had taken most of the impact. He was sure it would bruise and not so sure he would want to explain it to anyone. He would never live it down with Arthur. Miriam pushed herself up, so she was sitting, and then leant down to lift Merlin up. He leant his back against the cot so his head was in line with her knees (he kept an eye on them in case she went to knee him in the face – he wouldn’t put it past her while in her ‘just woken up’ grump). She took his chin gently and moved his head round to face her. Her thumb grazed the quickly reddening mark and she frowned.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pull you that hard.” He shrugged in response, trying to remember which book he had read about a spell for healing small wounds such as bruises. “What are you after?”

“I spoke to Lancelot during training this morning and he mentioned getting you a job in the kitchens and I said I’d handle it for him, seeing as I am already part of the staff and Cook sort of trusts me.” She nodded, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. He looked at he expectantly. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Shall we go?”

She kept looking at him, brow cocked in confusion.

“To the kitchens? Getting you a job?” Her eyes opened wide, and mouth dropped along with the penny.

“You mean now?” He nodded, rolling his eyes cheekily. She stood, looking down at the dress that she had been in since last night. The other one still hadn’t been washed.

“Can I borrow some clothes? And I should wash quickly, and maybe do something with my hair? How does it look?” She turned around, hands flapping with anxiety. He laughed, standing up and gripping her arms to still her. He bent down a little to lock eyes with her, “You look perfect, it’s okay. There’s a bowl of fresh water on the stool by the fireplace and I’ll put some clothes on my bed for you. Hurry up.” She nodded, rushing over to the water as he went to his room.

--

The pair stood outside the kitchens in silence. Merlin leant against the wall as he watched Miriam pace back and forth, biting her thumb and jumping with flapping hands every so often. She a pair of his trousers with rolled up cuffs, and his spare bed shirt with a thick belt to pull her waist in. Her hair was in its fourth style: a braid that was balled up with leather cord at the base of her neck. She had nervously fiddled with the front of her hair and so a few strands had come loose but Merlin thought it was cute (he didn’t dare tell her or she would have started the cycle of brushing and pulling it into place all over again.)

The door opened and George strode out with plates and a goblet balanced across his arms. He was the epitome of grace but still looked like too much of a snob for Merlin to appreciate it. The slam of wood against wood shocked Miriam back to reality. “Maybe I shouldn’t do this. No, I think it’s actually a really bad idea and I’ve never worked in a castle before, let alone one as big and as important as this and I could poison the King! I have the power to do that! And you know what, if Arthur annoyed me again, I can’t say I wouldn’t so really, it’s best if I don’t go in there. Let’s go.” She turned on her heel, heading down the corridor. Merlin watched on, amused smile gracing his lips.

She turned abruptly, serious look on her face, and made her way back. “I am a really good baker though and I do mostly like Arthur now so it would be nice to make him something as thanks for helping me through the castle last night.” Merlin shook his head at this, still a little peeved at his awakening that morning. Noticing Miriam’s face drop as she prepared to go on yet another self-doubting monologue, he jumped in.

“You’ll be great, and Cook will keep a close eye on you for a while and Arthur had tasters to make sure no one poisons him, it’s okay.”

“He does?”

“Well sometimes, usually it’s me pinching a few bits before I get to his chambers but- “

“Oh gods, I’ll poison you! Arthur and Gaius kill me!”

“You’re not going to poison anyone, okay?” she nodded, eyes still frantic. He took a deep breath, motioning for her to copy. “Now, lets go talk to Cook, okay?” She nodded again, calmer now. He put his arm behind her back, careful to not actually touch her as he had no desire to have a repeat of earlier and lead her through the door.

Inside, Cook was shouting at some young boy that was covered in broth from head to toe. There was a large saucepan on the floor with its content covering almost the whole back corner of the room. “-insolent child, stealing our good Kings food and ruining it for the rest of the staff! Do you want to ruin our hard work, is that it?” Miriam paled. The boy shook his head, close to tears. Cook sighed and gestured to the door, reaching for a clean saucepan when he didn’t move.

Merlin cleared his throat.

“Merlin! What are you after now?” She sounded frustrated still, but the corner of her mouth was curled up into a smile.

“This,” he waved his hands in Miriam’s direction, “Is Miriam. She is new in Camelot and maybe also new in your kitchens…? I can confirm that she does not steal food, very good at that, really.” He smiled his most charming smile, flashing his teeth a little. Cook rolled her eyes, beckoning Miriam over.

She stumbled over her own feet a little before coming to a stop, about a meter away from Cook and the saucepan she was still waving around. “What do you think you can offer me that I don’t already have, little girl?” She took a step forward with each word, ending far too into Miriam’s personal bubble.

“Saffron cake?” She shook her head, face evolving into something more confident as she thought about the foods she had mastered over the years. “And mince pies – a special recipe with fruit instead of meat – and the best bloody bread you’ve ever tasted. Even cut it into shapes and I know I could bake it into the Pendragon crest if you let me. Ma’am.” She tacked on, dropping into a small curtsy with head bowed.

The trio stood in silence before Cook broke it, belting a laugh that made the whole kitchen turn to watch them. She slapped Miriam’s arm in a friendly manner, the girl bracing herself so not to go sprawling. “Quite something, aren’t you, girl? ‘Ma’am’, well I never.” She shook her head turning in a circle to look at their crowd. With a wave of her hand, everyone went back to work. “You after pay?”

Miriam turned to Merlin who nodded.

“Well, you can work here for the week so I can get a judge of ya, and then we’ll go about pay with the Steward, ’ight?” Miriam’s face split into a smile, the widest she had since arriving in Camelot, and she tripped over thanks. “Not to worry, love. Now, Merlin, the Kings food is on the side there, but I better not hear no more about you pinching bits or I’ll have your head, you ‘ear me?” She lifted the pan above her head and Miriam could tell that she was a genuine threat with it. Merlin’s eyes widened and smile dropped. He nodded quickly, picking up the plate and rushing out the room.

Cook lowered the saucepan, looking to Miriam again.

“You want to start now? The name is Bea by the way, but you’ll call me only call me that when you’re off shift, ‘ight?” Miriam nodded and Bea threw her an apron. “Let’s see what you’ve got then.”

--

Miriam made her way to the courtyard after what felt like the longest shift of her life, covered in flour and a few splashes of egg that the girl next to her had accidentally spilt. She found her way with only two wrong turns (one of which led to a cupboard which rattled and seemed to be moaning; Miri turned and left quickly). The sun was beginning to set, the grounds getting chilly quickly. She rubbed her arms through Merlin’s shirt and began to wander across the cobbles. She got lost in her thoughts, playing through the day she’d had in the castle kitchens. Bea was very sweet, even if she did put up a defensive exterior. She praised Miriam’s work, taking a few items to eat herself which made Miriam smile.

She could see herself working in those kitchens and hoped that Bea and the Steward would let her.

Miriam was pulled from her thoughts when a hand landed on her shoulder. She spun round, pulling herself away, to face Gwen.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to shock you!” Gwen’s face drained, worried for Miriam. The latter laughed, hand on her chest to calm her racing heart.

“It’s okay, I was lost in my head.”

Gwen nodded, colour returning to those beautiful cheeks of hers. She stuck her arm out and the new girl took her elbow. They set off, not really going anywhere.

“You began working in the kitchens today, didn’t you?”

Miriam nodded, “It wasn’t paid but yes, Lancelot and Merlin arranged it for me.” Her face split into a grin, the widest Gwen had seen from her since arriving a week ago. “I think Bea liked me, she certainly took a few of my cakes!” They laughed, Miriam tentatively placing her spare hand on Gwen’s shoulder and giving her an affectionate squeeze.

Breathing hitching, Gwen forced her mouth to listen to her brain. “That was sweet of them, you must really appreciate Lancelot for doing that?” She hoped the desperation wasn’t clear in her voice. Miriam mulled the question over for a second, trying to figure out the best wording.

“I am grateful that he helped get me a job, especially baking, but I fear he did it for his own gain to some degree.” When Gwen didn’t reply, she continued. “He made us a little picnic to have at midnight last night with food I think he stole from the kitchens, and there were beautiful candles and we stayed out until sunrise and, I am less sure about this part, when we got back to Gaius’ chambers, I think he was going to kiss me.” Gwen gasped, heart dropping and an uncomfortable feeling bubbling.

“What happened?”

Miri giggled thinking about it, “Merlin came rushing out and practically toppled me down the stairs! He was barely dressed, poor boy, and was on his way to search the castle for me because he and Gaius thought I had gone missing!” Gwen burst out laughing, the bubbling feeling calming down.

“That does sound like our Merlin.”

They continued in silence, just appreciating each other’s company. They made their way closer to each other, shoulders brushing together occasionally. Miriam looked away from Gwen so the girl wouldn’t see how her cheeks were reddening.

“What would you have done if you hadn’t been interrupted? Would – would you have kissed him back?” Gwen cringed at the stutter in her voice, hoping to all the gods that she wouldn’t notice.

“I truly don’t know. Pushed him away I guess, I certainly wouldn’t have reciprocated.” Gwen couldn’t help the way she smiled at this, walking with more of a bounce in her step. “What about you, what would you do if he tried to kiss you? He certainly isn’t ugly.”

Gwen stopped, turning to face Miriam. “He has already tried. We were somewhat courting once upon a time.” Miri’s face dropped, she looked back at the castle, fiddling with the cuff of her too big sleaves.

“Oh.” She tried to form the rest of the sentence but couldn’t, all she could picture was Lancelot pressing Gwen against a wall, mouth traveling down her exposed neck.

“It was short lived; we didn’t work out. He wants someone to love him with all their heart and I couldn’t bring myself to do that. He was mighty kind about it all though. He’s a good man, one of the best I know, but not made for me.”

“Have you met the man that is made for you, yet?”

Gwen took Miriam’s arm again, walking further towards the lower town. “Sometimes I think there isn’t a man for me. Not that there is no one that will love me – I know there is, what’s not to like about me?” They giggled but Miriam couldn’t help but list all the things she already loved about the girl, even if they had known each other barely a week. “But I have been with two men now, truly been with them if you understand, and something feels wrong about it. I can’t believe that a man exists that would make me feel otherwise.”

Miris mouth worked before her brain could process what she was saying, “Maybe there is a woman that exists that could satisfy you as they can’t.” She slapped her hands over her lips, eyes wide in shock. Gwen choked on her breath, both blushing furiously. “I am so sorry; I shouldn’t have suggested something as – as vile as that.” For a second Miriam thought Gwen’s face dropped in disappointment, but it was back to normal too quick to be sure. “I’m sorry, I have had such a long day in the kitchens, I should make my way back home now. It was lovely to see you.” She pulled her arm from where they had been connected, and turned on her heel, heading back up town. She waved over her shoulder, “bye Gwen!”

--

Miriam made it back to Gaius’ chambers before letting herself think about what she had just done. Merlin was sat at the table, reading some tome looking book. Miri’s brain was racing so fast that she couldn’t decipher a word as she sat next to him. His head shot up; book slamming shut. He rushed to cover it with some others, stacking them on top of each other before turning to the worn-down girl. Her head hung low, eyes wide and darting round the room, and her lip was beginning to bleed from chewing it so much. She was furiously picking at the skin next to her nail and that turning red raw.

“Miriam?” Merlin lifted her chin to look her over fully. “What’s wrong?”

She threw her arms around him, a soft ‘oof’ slipping past his lips.

“I fucked up everything with Gwen.”

He could do little but rub sympathetic circles on her back.

[loserslibrary]

pairing: Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak [Reddie] written by: Amy rating: Teen word count: 2,864 prompt: How about a reddie fic where they’re broken up and get back together

Eddie stepped out of the subway, his eyes trained on the schedule in his hands that he had received that morning. After a lot of change and moving around, Eddie had finally made the move from Maine to New York, intending to finish his college degree in a place far away from his overbearing mother. When he had decided to change schools, there had been a fight of course with his mother claiming that he didn’t love her anymore, and that he was leaving her all alone to die. 

For his whole life, his mother had used that excuse with him, guilt tripped him into always staying with her because he felt obligated to. She was his mother, after all, so he shouldn’t want to leave her alone...right? She had taken care of him when he was sick as a child, always reminding him to take his medicine so his allergies didn’t get worse. He believed her for years, always carrying his inhaler with him for his asthma as well as a watch attached to his wrist that beeped when he was due to take a pill. It wasn’t until she started to control who he spent his time with that Eddie started to become wary.

Sometimes, Eddie would deliberately forget to take his pills, just to see if there was any difference, and once when his teacher brought in some fresh flowers, he had walked up to them to take a whiff, just to see if his allergies kicked in. Both times, nothing happened, but Eddie didn’t want to question his mother as she was his mother, and mothers were meant to take care of their children, not lie to them about being sick. 

Then, when Eddie was fourteen, he had stopped at the pharmacy to pick up his prescription and the pharmacist’s daughter, Greta, informed him that the pills were nothing but placebos. Sugar and water. After that, Eddie started to question all of the illness’ his mother claimed that he had. Did he even have allergies? Did he even need the inhaler? 

It was a long, aggravating process, but eventually Eddie managed to get it out of his mother that he wasn’t actually sick, and that she just wanted to protect him by making him think he was weak and sickly. What followed were four years of high school filled with anger, animosity and a lot of tears. Especially when he came out as gay a few weeks after his sixteenth birthday and annouced that he was dating none other than Richie Tozier. 

God, his mother hated Richie. Not just for being Eddie’s boyfriend, no, she had always hated him, ever since they were little kids and he would run around getting dirty and splashing in all the puddles. She had turned her nose up, reaching for five year old Eddie’s hand, but it was too late as he had already rushed off to join him. Since it was cold, wet and windy, Eddie had ended up in bed with a cold for a week, but it had been the best hour of fun he had ever had, and since then, he and Richie were inseparable. 

At the thought of Richie, Eddie came to a stop, stepping to the side so he didn’t get into anyone’s way, his heart clenching in his chest as his throat closed up. He had spent the past two years trying not to think about Richie, as all it did was make him cry hysterically and cry into his pillow. The thing was, Eddie’s mother had nothing to do with Eddie’s break-up with Richie, at least...not completely. 

When senior year had come around, Richie as well as the rest of the losers began to plan for colleges, applying to all the different places that would get them the hell out of Derry. Bill was even going to London for a year to study as part of a special literature honours programme. Eddie, though, was to remain in Maine, as his mother refused to pay for him to attend any other colleges, and he didn’t qualify for any scholarships. Richie, on the other hand, had been accepted into a college in New York City that would specialise in drama and entertainment. 

They had spent the entire summer together, practically attached at the hip and even his mother couldn’t say anything about it. She was getting rid of Richie after all, so she had no right to say anything about how they spent the rest of their time together. When the last week rolled around, Eddie sat in Richie’s now bare empty room and they had cried together, making the adult decision that it would be too messy to do long distance, and they wouldn’t want to risk ruining their friendship.

That had been that, the next week Richie was gone and Eddie was the only one of the Losers Club left in Derry. The days that he had classes, Eddie treasured as it was time out of the house and away from his mother. Yet, even when she knew he was at class, she would call non stop. Once, when he was in the middle of an exam and had told her so, the police had to interrupt them as she had called the police to say he was missing. He had never been so embarrassed over something in his entire life. 

It was after that specific ordeal, that Eddie made the decision that it was time to leave, and from under her nose he had applied for a transfer to a college in New York that offered his course in medicine and would accept him the following year in their classes. He was accepted almost immediately, and what followed was a quick search for a dorm room as well as packing up without his mother catching on. He had made it up to the week he was meant to leave when she figured it out, causing the biggest argument to date, but there was nothing she could do. He had been given access to the college fund his father had kept for him as well as some extra. Without looking back, Eddie left his mother alone in his childhood home and was on the next train to New York City.

Now here Eddie was, making his way onto the campus to meet with his professors and have a short induction into the course. He had been in touch with them via email, and completed all the same summer work the other students in his class had been given, but they wanted to meet him in person just before the new year began. He had been so focused on not getting lost, that Eddie wasn’t even paying attention to where he was going, and therefore didn’t see the person in front of them until he collided right into them. 

“Shit!” Eddie gasped, dropping the bag he was carrying as the stranger he had bumped into reached out and held onto him. “I am so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going.” He looked up to face the person who he had almost knocked to the ground, when his heart leapt out of his chest and slammed against the concrete. There was no mistaking the man in front of him for anyone else, yet Eddie wondered what twist of fate this was, for out of everyone that Eddie could have bumped into, it ended up being Richie Tozier. 

Richie hadn’t met Eddie’s eyes yet, and time seemed to turn into slow motion as he raised his head, words forming on his lips, “No no it’s okay-” their eyes met and Richie’s jaw dropped a little. “Eds?” His eyes widened to the size of saucers, pupils dancing around as he scanned Eddie’s face. “Oh my god, Eddie!”

Before Eddie could even blink, he was being pulled into a hug, his face trapped in Richie’s jacket. He inhaled, senses being filled with the familiar scent of his ex-boyfriend, and the tears filled his eyes within seconds. He wrapped his arms around Richie’s waist, holding onto him so tight that he didn’t want to let go. He was too scared that if he did, Richie would just vanish and Eddie would wake up back in Derry, still under the control of his mother. 

Yet, that didn’t happen, and Richie pulled away after a few moments, his own eyes filled with tears. He lifted a hand, which Eddie noticed the nails were painted the colours of the rainbow, and wiped them away, unable to stop smiling. Eddie felt as though his face was just the same, his mouth hurting from the smiling. It had been such a long time since he’d seen Richie in person. Of course, they had kept in touch the first few months, but then their schedules got busy and it turned to a few text conversations every few weeks. It was surreal. “I- oh my god...it’s really you…”

“It’s really me!” Richie nodded his head, his hands lingering on Eddie’s arm where it had held on to steady him. “What- what are you doing here? I thought you went to college in Maine?” he asked, biting his lip. Eddie took that chance to scan over Richie’s features. He was a little taller than the last time they’d seen each other, and his hair had grown out, which was now messily tied back into a bun at the top of his head, waves and curls sprouting out at all angles.

Eddie bit down on his own lip, trying to steady the rapid beating of his heart. “I- I transferred. I finally got fed up with my mom and her bullshit and I just left…” he shrugged a little, looking from side to side. “I got accepted to transfer into a course here, and they were happy to have me so I accepted and moved. Stressful but I hope it’ll be worth it.”

Richie’s eyes were shining at this point and he bounced on the balls of his feet, “So...you’re here? Like permanently?” he asked and Eddie nodded his head. “That- fuck...that’s amazing. Uh, shit.” Richie was right back to grinning now. “Uh, are you...are you seeing anyone?”

Eddie’s mouth went a little dry at that and he slowly shook his head, fluttering his eyelashes. “No- No I’m not seeing anyone. I haven’t since- since-”

“Me neither,” Richie confirmed, moving the hand that was settled on his arm moved down to take Eddie’s hand in his, squeezing tightly. Sparks shot up Eddie’s arm and a flush took over his face. It was almost like they were never apart, falling back into their old, almost perfect relationship. Richie hadn’t been with anyone else and neither had Eddie. It was almost like they were just...  waiting for the other. “Do you have plans for tonight?” Richie asked, eyes glinting with hope. 

Slowly, with a smile, Eddie shook his head. “No, none at all. Why?” he asked, even though he knew where Richie was going with his question. “You want to change that?”

“Definitely,” Richie nodded. “I have to go to an appointment right now, but I’ll text you right after and we can meet up when you're done? Spend the rest of the night together? How does that sound?” he asked and Eddie couldn’t nod his head fast enough.

“Yes, yes that...that sounds perfect.” Eddie agreed, glancing at the large clock tower that displayed the time. “I- I need to go, I don’t want to be late…” He really didn’t, but he also didn’t want to let go of Richie. 

Richie smiled, warm and soft, before lifting Eddie’s hand to his lips and pressing a gentle kiss to the skin. “Until later then?” He breathed before letting go, taking a step back. 

Eddie nodded, “Yeah...until later.” 

* * * * *

That night, Eddie spent way too long getting ready for his date with Richie, at least he hoped it was a date. Seeing Richie again after so long had just reignited all those feelings he had buried deep down in his chest. He was grinning like a teenager as he put the final touches to his hair. 

When he was ready, he messaged Richie to let him know he was ready and within seconds, Richie was sending him an address to meet him. Eddie wasted no time rushing from his dorm and onto the bus that would take him to the restaurant where Richie asked him to meet. True to his word, Richie was standing outside, flicking on his phone and looking just as handsome as always.

“Hey…” Eddie breathed, walking up to Richie, stopping just a few metres away from him. Richie looked up, his eyes brightening as they landed on Eddie. His stomach flipped. “Hope you haven’t been waiting long?”

Richie pushed off the wall and closed the distance between them, wrapping his arm around Eddie’s waist and pulling them closer together so their chests were touching. “Eds, I’d wait forever for you,” he whispered. He brought a hand up and pushed some of his hair behind his ear. “God, it is possible for you to be even more beautiful now than you were this morning?”

Eddie’s cheeks flushed and he leaned a little closer, “Are you always this much of a flirt?” He whispered back and Richie broke into a large grin.

“Only when it comes to you, Eddie baby,” Richie shot back before taking a step back. “Shall we? I got us a table last minute, the food here is amazing, a perfect place to try for your first night in New York.” He winked, leading Eddie into the restaurant. His eyes widened as they were led over to the table set up for them, handing them a menu. “Get anything you want okay? It’s on me.”

“Are you sure?” Eddie asked, sitting opposite Richie and immediately, their ankles hooked together under the table. It was like they had never been apart, immediately falling into their old routine and Eddie just hoped that the evening would end with another date. He wanted nothing more than to rekindle his relationship with Richie. He was still very much in love with him. 

Richie nodded his head, “I mean it, Eds. Anything you want.” He winked. “Yet, may I recommend you get the carbonara though? It is the shit.”

The waiter came by and took their order, with Eddie following Richie’s advice and ordering the carbonara. Just like Richie had said, it really was the shit and Eddie found himself dragging it out so he could savour the meal more. “Holy shit, this is the best carbonara I have ever had in my life. I don’t want it to end.”

“What did I tell you, sweetheart? You deserve to have your first dinner in New York be one to remember,” he lifted his glass and clinked it against Eddie’s glass. “I don’t want this night to end yet...take a walk with me?” 

There was no way that Eddie was going to turn Richie down. He nodded his head and Richie paid the bill, taking Eddie’s hand as they left the restaurant and walked across the street to the park. They walked in silence for a while, fingers brushing until Eddie couldn’t take it anymore and laced their fingers together. “I can’t believe out of all the people I bump into today, it was the one person I really wanted to bump into.”

Just then, Richie stopped and Eddie stumbled a little, falling back into line with Richie. Eddie looked up at him with a little confusion. Once again, just like he did at the beginning of the night, Richie wrapped his arm around Eddie’s waist to pull him closer, “Eds...fuck I missed you so much. I’ve never stopped thinking about you and...and now you’re here I don’t think I can let you go.”

“Then don’t,” Eddie breathed, his whole body feeling as though it was on fire. He barely managed to suck in a breath before Richie was burying his free hand into Eddie’s hair and pulling him into a kiss that made his toes curl up in his shoes. He kissed Richie back as though he was a starved man. When they pulled away, Richie was grinning and Eddie was grinning. “W-wow.”

Richie pressed a kiss to Eddie’s forehead and squeezed Eddie’s hands. “I know that this is...soon and all but my feelings for you never went away and they never will. Feel free to say no but...would you be interested in being my boyfriend again?”

“Richie...my feelings for you never went away either, and they never will. This- this was fate, us meeting again.” Eddie let out a breath. “I definitely want to be your boyfriend, there was never another answer in my mind. Yes, yes yes!”

With a grin, Richie picked Eddie up, spinning him around and sealing the deal with a kiss. “God, I missed you so much,” he breathed as he sat Eddie back onto the ground. “Want to catch a movie?”

Eddie laughed and nodded his head, “I would love to.”

[lordseochangbin]

cats and cuddles- minho

a/n: so this was like one of the first fics ive ever written and i wrote it for a friend so hmm if it sucks im sorry LMFAO i thought it was cute so i wanted to share 🥺🥺

it was late at night when felt a quick snuggle on your chest. of course, the struggle of grabbing your glasses in the dark was real, your hands constantly patting your nightstand till you finally felt the plastic lens slowly putting them on before your cat could jump off your bed.

“fefe? where are you going?!” you watched as the red kitty ran out the door, following behind him as he rubbed his head against the window door.

“you wanna go outside? god this is why i told you go out earlier” you sighed before opening the door, “just goooo” and off fefe went, making an unexpected whimper that brought concern to your eyes.

you watched as the little feline jumped out the window, running through the hidden hole under the fence. you never noticed the cats secret dugout, and even at the middle of the night you wondered of the cats whereabouts.

this wasn’t the first night, you quickly realized, that the kitty had asked to leave so late. quickly grabbed a coat and throwing on some uggs, you ran out into the cold- a flashlight in your hand as you ran around the corner in search of the little guy.

“fefe...? where are you?” you called in a sing-song tone.

this call was only returned by the sounds of the night; quiet, mysterious, indulging. it made you wonder where the hell this little idiot could’ve gone.

almost on cue, you watched as fefe’s small steps ran down the neighborhood road in front of you. “fefe!” you called, running after him in the cold.

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

he was having a bad night, i guess you could say. the day before he spent the night contemplating whether or not the girl he was with at the moment was actually the love of his life. the feeling of uncertainty was the worst, and when he called it off with his girlfriend he left the room knowing it was the right thing.

this didn’t settle with his ex however, the house left with shattered glass on the floor as she claimed, “minho! you can never live without me! no other girl would want you!”

the fear driven into his eyes only shuttered as he realized maybe she was right, but she was wrong.

chan reassured him of this later on in the day as he spilled out his worries, reminding him of a question that felix got him considering a few weeks ago. “hyung, do you really like noona?” it was a question that really got him thinking, did he really love her? was she the one for him?

she was allergic to cats, wasn’t a fan of ice cream, and hated books-- especially the harry potter ones. minho knew that 12 y/o minho would’ve threw his girlfriend into a bush when he realized she disliked j.k.rowling’s most amazing works.

this just didn’t settle with him, and the stress began to overwhelm him as he decided to open the door for fresh air. sitting near the window, minho ran his fingers through his hair as he listened to the cool breeze. humming in satisfaction, he let his eyes close shut before he could see the slightest of a figure passing the doorway. 

“binnie!” he exclaimed, running out the door with two jackets instead of one in a sudden hurry.

there the two of you were, chasing after two kittens with no point of direction. simply following the steps of tiny paws as they ran through the dark night. little did you know that an glimpse of fate was behind this, not for you and the boy, but for the two kittens.

you watched as fefe turned a corner, stopping to take a breather before hearing someone yell “oh my god, its two kittens!” panic ran though you as you assumed it must’ve been a cat robber, and with quick instinct you ran the corner to see fefe’s little tail.

“fefe!!!” you ran with all your might, not noticing the male figure in front of you as you picked up the little kitten. 

“ouch” the boy said, rubbing his forehead from the contact. you looked up at the boy, finding yourself in disbelief. how could such a handsome man be a cat robber? 

“look.. p-please dont take my cat” you stuttered to speak, taking a few steps back. 

“what..? oh my god look, this is my cat” you looked down to see another cat, another identical to fefe but jet black fur. 

fefe jumped out of your arms, quick to cuddle with the strange yet attractive man’s cat. “they seem to be very close” you giggled

the boy smiled as he watched them brush their noses against each other, a scene that brought a little bit of warmth to your heart. he crouched down to rub the soft fur that filled fefe’s back before placing his index finger on a certain point that threw him off.

“is that your cat’s birthmark?” cats don’t have birthmarks but um yeah let’s pretend they do ah haha

“yeah!! apparently my kitten had a brother who was adopted and they placed these fake birthmarks in case they ever unite. it probably won’t happen though, i barely let fefe out. and even if it did, i wouldn’t believe it”

minho looked at his cat, and at yours, and back at you- biting his lip as he took a moment to process his thoughts.

“well start believing” minho said as he brought his kitten close to your side and revealed a similar birthmark on the same exact place. “are you kidding?!” you yelped in excitement, leaning down to carry the boy’s cat in your hands.

you shivered in the cold as another breeze flew past the two of you, catching the boys eye as he held his second jacket that he grabbed by accident in his hand.

“here” he stood up, slowly placing the jacket over your shoulders. in the process, you happened to look up at him. you noticed the way his deep brown eyes sparkled. the little birthmark on the top of his nose.

his pouted lips when he was simply thinking or doing something. his lips parted when he noticed you looking right back at him before he could step back and clear his throat. you found yourself snapping out of the moment as well, as the boy went back to pet fefe.

“what’s the name?” you asked.

“my names minho” the boy said, smiling at you as he expected a response

“... i meant the cat” you said, brushing the cats fur with your fingertips

“oh... it’s binnie”

“cute name. and in case you’re wondering im y/n, and this is fefe” you said, taking a second to wonder where the sudden confidence came from before the both of you could exchange kittens and most definitely exchange phone numbers.

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

the next day, the two of you met at the place where you adopted the kittens.

“so.. theyre twins” you’d concluded after seeing the felines matching birthmarks and affection for each other.

“they’re like long lost brothers” minho said with a pout as he watched the two play with a piece of string

you looked up at him, only to catch him looking right at you “shouldn’t we keep them together?” minho suggested

you pouted your lips. after all this time you created a strong bond with fefe and never wanted to let him go. he was always the boy to cuddle with your feet as you did homework or sit on your lap as you watched tv. he was someone to talk to in the household and you couldn’t risk losing him.

minho felt the same way about binnie as well. he was a kpop idol in training, and when the stress had overcome him he always found relaxation in binnie’s comfort. he just didn’t want to let him go.

“to be honest, i know they’re long lost brothers or soulmates or whatever and i really want them to be together. but i just don’t wanna lose fefe” you picked up the red ball of fur, cuddling him into your chest as he licked the side of your cheek. minho picked up binnie as well before looking at you with a sort of agreement.

“how about we just meet up every now and then? for the cats” he suggested

“are you sure it’s just for the cats?” you laughed, giving minho a little shove on the shoulder before a dirty smirk could arise upon his lips, “who knows? maybe id like to see you as well” he winked before leaving the shelter.

“ill text you a date and address, you better be there y/n” he waved off before leaving you in utter shock.

did i just... flirt? and it worked?! you squeezed fefe in your hands, jumping up and down in place.

“fefe you just scored me a hot date!!”

all fefe could do was stare at you in absolute confusion, as the cat really didn’t understand a shit you were saying. but you knew what you just went down, minho definitely just asked you out.

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

the second he got into the car, he called bang chan.

“oh chan chan chan hyunggg!!!”

“oh god, what happened now?” chan asked, a sense of drowsiness in his voice.

“i think i just scored a date!!”

“YOU SCORED A WHAT?!” jisung exclaimed onto the phone.

“stop being so loud you dumbass” minho responded. “long story short but her name is y/n and she’s seems really decent and pretty and she likes cats and i don’t know her smile is so pretty i just don’t even know what to say i..”

“that mans whipped. deadass” seungmin said, “did you ask her out?”

“i kinda did? im gonna ask her to come to my place”

“WOAHHH there pilot- to your place?! on a first date?!”

“ok ok no it’s a long story so our cats somehow found each other in the middle of the night”

“what?!”

“never mind.. anyways ima ask her to come tomorrow” minho smiled to himself before sending a quick text to you and patting binnie in the seat next to him.

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

it was about 5 pm in the afternoon, the sun still hasn’t set but both your cats were eager to meet. it wasn’t just the cats however, you were just as excited to see minho as well and finally return his jacket.

without even noticing it, you kept it on. the warm material on the inside felt comfortable and you knew he must have had good taste in clothing.

grabbing your keys, you ran out the door with fefe on your hands and next thing you knew you were at the doorsteps of lee minhos home.

you took a few seconds to decide whether or not you should actually ring the doorbell before the door could open.

“hey! you can come in” minho laughed, noticing how nervous you seemed outside.

“thank you” you quickly nodded your head and walked inside before fefe could jump out your arms again and join binnie.

“woah..” you couldn’t help but to gasp and the looks of his apartment.

“is that a harry potter poster?!” you exclaimed, running over to what seemed like lee minhos hogwarts merch collection. he had the wand, the posters, and all the books lined up on a shelf.

“you’re a Harry Potter fan?!” minho exclaimed

“yess!!”

“ok count of three name your house” you took a deep breath as minho started the mini countdown.

“1...2..”

“slytherin!”

“gryffindor!!”

“oh fuck you minho, of course you’d be in slytherin” you said, making minho laugh

“hey what can i say? guess i just give off those vibes. now how about some coffee?”

from there the conversation was endless, you both realized you had a lot in common. although minho was more of a singer and you were more of an instrumental player you seemed to bond over music and books. this, minho realized, was something minho always wanted to see in a girl. something he wanted to have- a real conversation. one that he was actually interested in, and he loved getting to know every little detail about you and every small thing he said didn’t fail to make you laugh. you two seemed to be hitting it off and before you know it, the thunderstorm rolls in outside and you realize you didn’t bring minhos jacket.

“oh my god.. i forgot to bring your jacket! from the first day we met?”

“don’t worry about it”

“ahh im sorry, ill bring it next time i promise”

minho jumped in his seat, “wait no! don’t bring it. ever”

“why not?”

“it’ll give you a reason to keep coming back to me” he said, a smile forming on his lips. you couldn’t help but to laugh at how cheesy he was when he smiled, it was so perfect it almost seemed fake. but you knew everything he said and did was from somewhere deep in the heart.

“it’s raining a lot outside, do you just wanna wait until it gets a little better?” minho suggested

“i wouldn’t mind” you said, making yourself comfortable on the couch. minho got up to turn on the apt room heater, grabbing some hot cocoas and blankets for the both of you. the one thing that got you however, was how close he sat next to you when he came back. your shoulders brushed against each other as he threw the blanket on your lap, a light pink blush on your cheeks.

and in a few hours you found yourself resting your head on minho’s shoulder, both of your cats falling deep asleep on your lap as harry potter played on the tv.

“thank you ” minho suddenly spoke out of nowhere.

“for?”

“for... for entertaining me. i don’t know if you realized, but i really like you. i don’t know if the cats thing was something like fate but i really like you”

you looked up to minho as the fingers foudn thenselves intertwining under the heated blanket.

“i really like you too” you whispered before you could kiss the little birthmark on his nose, making minho smile as the movie played on.

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

[yukiwrites]

Looking Forward to the Future

Thank you so much for the support, anon! I’m,,, SOFT FOR DIMILETH...

Summary: Neither Dimitri nor Byleth had good thoughts regarding childbirth -- their mothers had died giving birth to them, after all. And yet... they couldn’t help but feel the bubbling happiness of finding out they would be parents themselves.

Commission info HERE and HERE!

_______________________________

Byleth couldn't say that she led the healthiest life around -- she preached on how to take good care of oneself and how to take proper breaks... But she hardly ever did it for herself.

It was no wonder that she had been feeling sick for quite a while now, but being so lightheaded she almost fainted? That had been a first. Now that she amassed the positions of both Queen of the Unified Kingdom of Faerghus and Archbishop of the new Church of Seiros, Byleth had her work cleanly cut out for her. A lot of it.

Regardless, startled by her blink of consciousness, a soldier brought her to the infirmary whence the former professor Manuela held the highest position of Chief Physician inside the castle.

"Oh my, that's an interesting color you have on your face, Your Majesty! Do sit down before you throw it up all over the place, please." Was how Manuela welcomed her former colleague and now Queen, smiling while she looked for the proper tools to start the examination. "Now, tell me how you're feeling. And don't hide a single detail, hm?"

Byleth slowly curled up into a ball of misery over one of the beds, her breath shallow. "I feel so sick I could- ughh..."

Manuela gasped, quickly flinging a washbasin to the floor right beside Byleth's bed. "Try not to make a mess, please! Take your time in explaining, dear, and don't force yourself. I'll be here patting your back very, very lovingly until you feel better."

"Ugh, I feel even sicker now." Byleth gurgled a laugh under her sickness, holding the basin as though it were her own child, ready to vomit inside of it at any moment. Manuela threw her head back in laughter.

"The nerve!"

After the good half of an hour passed, Byleth started to feel better. She managed to sit up on the bed, the color of her skin still a bit off, but much better than before. Wasting no time, the Queen started explaining her symptoms, fully aware that they were due to stress and exhaustion, but nevertheless wanting the opinion of a professional on the field.

The more she explained, the brighter Manuela's eyes shone, her smile turning into a huge, unsettling grin.

"And you have a history of missing periods for this long?" She asked here and there as the twirled her long smoking pipe with one hand, fiercely taking notes with the other. "My, I'm afraid I have quite the news for you, dear..."

Frowning, Byleth opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a loud bang, followed by a thunderous cracking sound. Startled, both women turned to the door only to find it hanging by only two hinges, its handle nowhere to be seen.

Ah, no, wait. The handle was still in Dimitri's hand, who had rushed to the infirmary once he had heard his wife had collapsed, not paying attention to keep his strength in check. Huffing and disheveled, the King looked from the physician to his wife.

"Are- I heard that you collapsed-" he panted, meaning to walk towards her, but Manuela's laughter made him flinch out of his skin.

"What an entrance, Your Majesty! Was breaking the door to my infirmary not worth of an apology?"

Blinking, Dimitri looked from the door to where he stood, then to how he still firmly gripped the broken handle within his fingers. "I, uh-" realization started to sink in, making him blush, "forgive me for my manners, I shall have it, well, replaced within the week." He cleared his throat, walking towards the bed Byleth sat on, meaning to sit right beside her. "More importantly, what has happened?"

Watching Dimitri change his behavior entirely was always so amusing to Manuela: first, he was so flustered and worried he quite literally ran through the door, then turned to red with embarrassment Manuela had to blink and then wore a worried and fulfilling smile as he sat beside his wife, his eyes deep with worry.

"Well, now that you're here, it's gonna be much easier to give my diagnosis!" She winked to the couple, who turned their attention to her.

"Diag-" Dimitri started, but Manuela's pointing her long smoking pipe right into his face made him stop himself.

"Congratulations, Your Majesties!" She pointed it to Byleth, "you're pregnant!"

"Pre-" both Dimitri and Byleth choked on the word, yet another loud cracking sound breaking the silence like a thunder.

Widening her eyes, Manuela once again looked at the King's hand only to find that the remains of the handle he somehow still held turned to dust into his surprised grip.

"Pregnant- Byle- I-" Dimitri blabbered, his eye unfocused as his hand shook as it tried to control its strength.

Byleth silently brought one hand over her stomach, resting another one by Dimitri's right hand. She looked down as her heart thumped and her mouth ran dry.

Pregnancy.

A child.

Hers and Dimitri's.

Blinking, Byleth couldn't understand how she received such blessed and wonderful news with dread inside her chest. What was it?

"Is that a... sentence?" Dimitri blurted out under his breath, his grim thoughts taking over the happiness he was supposed to feel. Would he have to lose yet another precious person of his? There was no way he could simply be happy to have a family of his own -- undeserving as he was, there had to have some kind of exchange for such joy.

Byleth breathed in slowly, closing her eyes. So that was it... so that was how she felt.

"What?" Her brow furrowed, Manuela leaned over to listen more closely. "A sentence, Your Majesty?"

Snapping out of it, Dimitri quickly raised his chin, "I! No- of course not! This is a happy moment, yes? I should not be thinking such terrible thoughts- Everything will be fine, will it not? Indeed!"

"It's... fine, Dimitri." Byleth squeezed his hand in hers, needing its warmth. "I can't say I haven't had the exact same thought as you just did."

Manuela crossed her arms and legs in annoyance. "Will you two lovebirds stop with the telepathy and tell me what's going on?"

"Hah," Byleth chuckled before lifting her gaze to her former colleague. "I suppose it can be silly to someone with a... lot of life experience," she started.

"Well, that's a nice way to insult someone, but go on." The physician rolled her eyes.

Clearing her throat, Byleth felt the minimal squeeze Dimitri gave on her hand as support, leaning on his shoulder to feel it even more deeply. "The both of us, well, we don't have many examples of what to look forward to during childbirth -- in fact, we only have one. Our mothers died giving birth to us."

"Ahh, I see it now. No need to go on, darling. I've got the picture." Manuela took a long whiff of her smoking pipe. "So now you're holding yourself back from feeling happy about your own child because you think you'll die when it's time to deliver?"

Both King and Queen lowered their gazes to their shared handhold.

"Humph, you insult me!" Manuela bonked the both of them with the round end of her smoking pipe, making them snap their heads up to look at her. "I never once lost a mother during the delivery, and I am no stranger to such things, I'll have you know! No one will die on my watch, darling, so don't go on worrying your little heads about it, okay? Besides, you are not your mother, dear Byleth. You're so much stronger than that, it'll take much more than a single childbirth to bring you down!"

Byleth opened her mouth to retort, but the icy grip of dread started to melt inside her heart, making her unable to speak. She lowered her head once again, digging her face into Dimitri's mantle. "Can I... truly be happy about this?"

Dimitri felt a lump grow in his throat, his breathing shallow. Manuela winked.

"Of course, dear. Both of you can. It's a wonderful time for a parent to prepare for their little bundle of joy to come to the world, so enjoy it to your heart's content. Now, where's that smile we all love?"

Byleth pressed her lips into a thin line, trying not to grin like a fool. She dug her face even deeper into Dimitri's cloak, sneaking her hand through his waist to start a hug. Trembling, the King reciprocated the gesture, his eye burning with emotion. Was it alright for him to hope? To look forward to a future whence he had both Byleth and his child?

To anticipate being with his beloved through and after her term; to carry their crying child and soothe them to sleep; to watch over their growth alongside Byleth and see them grow up in a land free of war and oppression...

Was he really that fortunate? Could he- could he simply... enjoy the moment?

"Don't cry, Dimitri..." Byleth whispered by his neck, his silent, choking sobs setting her off as well. He held her ever so tenderly, nudging her neck with his nose, his drenched face matching her own.

"Th-there are happy tears, my love. Happy, wonderful tears..." He sniffled, taking her warmth into his, uncaring -- or rather, forgetting -- about watching eyes.

"You two keep on playing nice," Manuela whispered under her breath before getting up to give them some space. She would lecture them about their usual overworking behavior and what to expect during Byleth's term, but that could wait until they had digested the news.

As per Manuela's instructions, Byleth and Dimitri both were forbidden of working past usual work hours -- after all, if one was seeing working, the other would follow suit. So, no overworking for either of them.

Also, Byleth needed to have a complete nutritional makeover, so the physician had to be kept in constant contact with the royal cook and with the handmaids. Constant walks were recommended, but no more weapon or body training! Riding was also banned, though a slow, short ride could be done only if they were together.

"Professor Manuela being so strict is a sight to behold," Dimitri commented one evening after they had been scolded about being up late. Byleth giggled, squeezing her hand on his.

"She's not 'professor' anymore, though."

"Oh," the King took his free hand to his lips. "You are right as always, my love. Although I wager Manuela would relish on being called 'Professor' again."

"Because of her age? My, Dimitri, I never thought you were such a shrewd man..." Byleth teased, enjoying how a shade of red covered her husband's entire face.

"Now you are simply making fun of me! That will not do." He cleared his throat, picking his wife up in his arms. Under an 'eek', Byleth held onto Dimitri's mantle to her dear life.

"Dimitri! What's this about-"

"No more walking for you today -- time to rest, my adored Queen and mother of my child." He tried to smirk, but the bubbly happiness in his chest from simply calling Byleth 'mother of his child' made it look like a foolish grin.

Snorting, the Queen wrapped both arms around her King's neck, nudging her face on his. "Is that a royal decree, Your Majesty?"

Dimitri adjusted her on his arms, his heart quite literally on fire due to his wife's teasings. "Why, it very much is." He chuckled, turning his head ever so slightly to touch her lips with his. "I will be your support through all of this, my love," he whispered as their lips still touched, his eye comfortably closed. "Through your term; everything. For all eternity."

Byleth bit his lower lip, their breaths as one. "Then, will you heed a request of mine, O eternal protector?" She whispered solemnly in between kisses, trailing them from his mouth to his cheek and ear, making him shiver where he stood.

"Anything, my Queen." He huffed, not realizing he had stopped walking since a while ago, distracted by his wife's adorableness.

Byleth pressed her forehead on his. "Please, I beg you... take me to the kitchen. I'm craving a very specific kind of fish and I think I'll die if I don't eat it right this instant."

"Pfft-bwaha!" Dimitri snorted, then full blown laughed. "Your wish is my command, dear wife!"

Giggling, Byleth strengthened her grip on him as he started running through the halls towards the kitchen. "My hero!"

The sound of their dissolving laughter could be heard through the echoes from the large palace, bringing a smile to its residents' faces.

[writethehousedown]

We've Got Time To Kill, Baby (Kyara) - Zyan

A/N: day two is here! And I decided to go to the Hurt/Comfort route. Don’t worry, it does have a happy ending. Ish. Sideblog is @dollalpaca !

Summary: With their senior year comes the typical question of ‘what are you doing to study afterwards?’ and Kiara is starting to feel stressed out as months pass and she doesn’t have an answer.

TW - anxiety and general self loathing.

When she was in fifth year, Kiara rarely saw the seniors stay through the entire evening, or just appear sometimes - legend had it not even the teachers cared whether you came or not, and sometimes not even them bothered to give classes, unless they were the assigned tutors for the internships.

She hoped and prayed that would be their case, not only because she wanted to spend more time with her friends outside school hours and live her last year to the fullest, but due to the fact that Kiara had no clue whatsoever of what to study after High School, and it was starting to stress her out. Everyone else seemed to have their shit figured out; Priyanka was going to be a primary school teacher, Tynomi would study law, Juice had already begun training for the physical education admission exam, and of course Kyne would go on to be a mechanical engineer - she had the brains for that, she’d be great at it.

As far as options went, Kiara was completely blank - she had no drive for anything, well, she did have a couple hobbies, but none of them were carreers she could pursue in college and excel at. And it’s not like she could take a year off to find out what she could do, in this time and economy? That wasn’t an option. She had to study something, even if it was just a teaching career, she couldn’t waste her time.

Her anxiety looms at the back of her mind everytime another teacher asks what are they going to follow once class ends, sometimes reminiscing when they were barely twelve, trying to get used to High School life, running around the hallways and playing football and voleyball, sometimes breaking windows and fluorescent lights with their games.

Though Kiara remembers those times with fondness, she’d rather not be reminded of it shortly after almost snapping at her own teacher because she has no idea what she’ll do and she’d prefer if he just did his job and taught them about geography.

The bell echoes through the hallways, indicating the start of their second recess and the end of another dreadful class of Spanish. Kiara somehow managed to not bang her head open against the desk everytime the teacher spoke - it’s not that the class it’s boring, it’s just so that she’s painfully mysoginistic and thinks she’s funny when she’s not.

“What did she say about an essay? I zoned out,” Kiara asks, turning to see Rita, who, unsusprisingly so, has all the class written down in her agenda. Rita cocks a brow, and without saying anything lets Kiara take a photo of everything she wrote down. “Thanks, love,” she says, blowing a kiss on her direction.

“Sometimes I think you befriended me just because I let you copy my homework without saying anything,” Rita teases, packing her stuff back into her bag. Kiara gasps, faux offended.

“Hey! You’re more than just an escape goat for when I don’t do homework,” Kiara protests, “with that reasoning, I’m only dating Kyne because she does my math tests for free.”

“The fuck you mean free? I’ve been telling you since last year to pay me in cash or I’ll break up with you,” Kyne butts in the conversation, perching herself against Kiara and Rita’s shared desk with a brow cocked. Kiara rolls her eyes with a sly smile.

“If I take you out for dinner on Friday instead of having you come over and order take out like we always do, will you forget my debts?” She inquires, fluttering her eyelashes and giving her a sneaky smile, knowing fully well she can get away with anything when she looks at Kyne like this. And sure enough, Kyne’s annoyed expression soon is replaced with a grin, accepting the proposal - only if she gets to choose where they’re going.

Rita, knowing she’s third-wheeling, rises from her seat and goes up to Scarlett - who, despite being well over 30°C, brought their set of mate - and strikes up a conversation with them and Priyanka.

Kyne quickly sits where Rita was just moments ago, scooting the chair closer and easily lacing her fingers with Kiara’s, but before they can continue their conversation, Boa and Starzy burst into the room with huge smiles, annoucing loudly that their biology teacher isn’t coming, so they can go home early. There’s a collective sigh of relief, because they had a presentation today and no one actually finished their presentations - well, except for the know-it-alls of the class, that is.

“Anyone wanna go to the park and drink mate?” Scarlett exclaims as they’re leaving, their pink flask poking out from their backpack as she trottes up to meet the girls. It takes about a second for everyone to agree, and even less time to convince the doorman to let them go.

It’s as easy as that - no one cares about what they do anymore, if admittedly half of them are eighteen already, they should know how to take care of themselves. That’s a lie as big as a house, but hey, they get to leave and come to school whenever they feel like it, so they’re not complaining.

It’s barely 5 p.m., and the sun is still shining up in the sky. April is suppossed to be the start of Autumn, but when has Autumn ever existed in the north of Argentina? Perhaps it’s global warming, perhaps it’s that Pachamama just doesn’t want them to get a break from the heat - whatever it is, they find themselves sitting on the grass under a large tree, and sooner than later they sent off the boys to buy something to drink (either alcohol or juice, they’re not complaining) because they’ll be damned if all they have to drink is Scarlett’s scorching hot mates.

“You all are just fucking cowards,” Scarlett says, pulling out their set and preparing themselves another mate.

“Just because you’ve burnt your tongue so many times you’ve lost all ability to feel anything, doesn’t mean we wanna go that same route,” Ilona deadpans, though just a minute later she’s asking Scarlett to prepare her one too.

The conversation flows easily between them, and from time to time they cheer the boys on their improvised game of football (though they do wonder where did they get the ball from on the first place) before laughing when one of them falls to the ground - which is fairly often.

“Sometimes I find it hard to believe that one of these airheads is applying for med school along with me,” Rita comments, sipping on the mate when it’s her turn.

“Wait, what?” Kiara says, turning to look at Rita. “Which one of these dumbasses is applying to med school with you?” She asks, baffled, and Rita proceeds to explain how Samuel had approached her during summer to ask where is she applying for med school, and when he found out they were aiming for the same college, he had decided they had to study together once the applications opened.

Kiara blinks repeatedly, once, twice, until she’s just blankly staring at Rita for a second longer than intended. Before it gets uncomfortable, she makes a quirky joke about being sorry for whoever ends up being Samuel’s patient if he manages to get into med school, and she sighs in relief when they giggle and move on.

It’s not that she doesn’t trust them enough to tell them about the anxiety that bubbles up in her stomach when she thinks about the future, the fear and guilt that consumes her at the thought of being a burden to her parents while she figures out what to do with her life, being one more mouth to feed in such difficult times — it’s just that, she doesn’t want to bother anyone with her feelings, so she keeps it all in, hoping it’ll eventually go away.

They spend almost all evening long together, and Kiara is thankful that they don’t bring up the future again.

***

The sun is setting when they say goodbye, and Kyne insists to walk her home - it’s not unusual for her to do so, if she practically lives in her house, anyway, but as they walk with their hands intertwined, Kiara feels a different air surrounding them. Like a heavy tension.

“Kiki?”

“Hm?”

Kyne comes to a stop, inevitably stopping Kiara too, and gives her a look Kiara is all too familiar with, making her shiver immediately - oh no.

“You’ve been acting weird lately, is everything okay?” She asks softly, tentatively, and Kiara’s heart sinks. Oh no. This isn’t happening.

She knows that technically she can confide Kyne with everything, that she’ll help her as much as she can with anything she needs, because that’s what couples do. But Kyne has always known how her future will be, at which college she’ll go and all she has to do to achieve her dreams. Between the two of them, she’s the one with more clarity, so getting her to understand her problems would take a lot of words and emotions Kiara isn’t quite ready to unveil.

So she plasters on a smile and nods curtly.

“Everything’s great. I’m good,” she lies through gritted teeth, but Kyne can clearly see through her facade, cocking a skeptical brow as soon as the words leave Kiara’s mouth.

Kyne squeezes her hand, coming closer to her. “You’re a terrible liar,” she says, smiling gently. “If we buy bizcochos on our way to your house, and we eat them on your garden, would that cheer you up?” She offers, making Kiara smile. It’s such a silly, tiny thing, but Kyne knows it always cheers her up, so she accepts, and they roam around the town to get to the only bakery that bakes tasty bizcochos, in Kiara’s opinion.

They barely speak, because Kyne knows to not push Kiara to speak when she doesn’t want to, and right now there’s not much Kiara can say without getting choked up.

It’s significantly darker when they arrive to Kiara’s house, and, naturally, her parents haven’t arrived yet from their jobs, and her little siblings are fighting for the remote - Kyne says hi to Marisa and Alan before they sneak off to Kiara’s room to get changed from their sweaty uniforms.

They settle on Kiara’s little garden, her mother’s pride and joy when Kiara was a child, when life was easier and she wasn’t so self-conscious about the economical crisis going on and money wasn’t as tight. Sometimes, just sitting there and eating any type of snack brings her memories of planting all kinds of flowers with her mother once spring arrived - carrying with it warmer days, flowers in bloom and the need to use mosquito repelent almost all day long.

She’d do everything to go back to those days.

It seems that her yearning shows through her expression, because Kyne silently takes her hand again, stroking the back as she nibbles on her bizcocho, her gaze absent-mindlessly wandering around. Kiara gives a heavy sigh before she speaks.

“I have no idea what I’ll do with my life,” she admits in a whisper, Kyne turns to see her almost immediately, giving her hand another squeeze, prompting her to go on. “Everyone has their shit figured out when it comes to their future, and I just— I don’t know yet. I don’t know what I’ll study, if I’ll study, if I’m just going to get a dead-end retail job to independize myself; I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ll ever know. And it’s starting to stress me out.” Kiara rubs her eyelids with her free hand, sighing in exasperation.

“Not everyone has their shit figured out, Kiki, that’s not true,” Kyne says after a moment of silence, and Kiara rolls her eyes slightly, but Kyne continues before she can say anything. “Really, who has anything figured out? We’re seventeen, living in a thirld world country with an economical crisis that never really leaves. It’s a lot of pressure.”

Kiara lets a half-hearted laugh at Kyne’s comment; of course she always knows what to say, how to read her between the lines.

“But you do have your shit figured out, you’ve said you’ll be an engineer since we were thirteen. Haven’t you already applied for the scholarship at UNSTA?” She asks, trying to prove a point, but Kyne chews on her lower lip and looks away briefly.

“No, not really. I don’t even know if I’ll be an engineer anymore.”

Oh.

Kiara frowns slightly, tilting her head to give Kyne a better look. “You don’t?” She says softly, wondering if she heard wrong. But Kyne nods slowly, much to Kiara’s surprise.

“I just… I don’t feel like my heart’s in it, you know? And my dad always says I shouldn’t study something that doesn’t make me happy, because I’ll either do nothing with it or end up dropping out,” she explains, and now it’s Kiara the one that squeezes her hand as a comforting gesture.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve—” she stops mid-sentence when Kyne turns to look at her, a brow slightly cocked. “Oh,” she muses when it hits her why she kept this to herself. She didn’t want to bother anyone.

Just like Kiara didn’t want to bother anyone with her own feelings.

She blinks repeatedly, before she manages to say something. “I guess we’re on the same boat.”

“Yeah.” Kyne shifts slightly, until she’s facing Kiara. “And, y’know, we could, like, work together to get on a different boat. A nicer one,” she proposes, smiling gently. Kiara returns the smile, breathing in deeply.

“I think we can, yeah,” she breathes out, fidgetting with Kyne’s fingers, chuckling bitterly. “God, we’re seventeen, we should be worrying about what party are we gonna crash this weekend, not— not what if we fail in life once High School is over,” Kiara grumbles, and Kyne giggles shortly. “We’re such idiots, too - I should’ve probably told you sooner, it would’ve made things easier.”

Kyne clicks her tongue, scooting herself closer and planting a chaste kiss on Kiara’s lips.

“Yes, probably, but you know us; we’re the bests at being uncapable to talk about emotions and keeping things a secret. No wonder why it took so long forus to get actually together,” she jokes, making Kiara laugh shortly. Her gaze becomes softer, lacing her fingers with Kiara’s as she sighs. “I still want you to promise me you’ll tell me when something is bothering you, yeah? You can always tell me anything,” Kyne says earnestly, and Kiara wonders what did she do to deserve such an amazing girlfriend.

“I promise,” she says, “For example, now I feel like these are enough feelings for one day, and I’ll much rather prefer if we went back to eating bizcochos before I cry.” Her upbeat tone makes Kyne laugh, but she still pulls her closer and steals a quick kiss from her, resting her arms on her waist.

“Whatever you say, babe.”

tags: argentina hs au, hurt/comfort

[yandere-flower]

Special Seat

Hey guys, I’m releasing a few fics about my OCs as I finish them this week since I’m getting my writing mojo back. I really want to try and release one for each boy about every day or two since you all have been so patient, and I have a few canon character fics I’m working on too. Cliff gets a last name in the because professors have those I guess.

Anyway, NSFW Cliff x Female Student!Reader

While many don’t look forward to the start of the new semester, you couldn’t help be relived. You missed contact with other human beings and you were just starting to get the hang of being a student. The classes were more challenging, sure, but that didn’t stop you from eagerly ordering all of your books for the semester. You just had to look at the list for your European History III class, but you paused at the last minute change of whose class you’re in. Now you’re in Dr. Cliff Milano’s class, the much older professor who you’ve been secretly lusting after ever since you took Intro to European Politics as a freshman.

Perhaps it was a classic case of a small town girl meeting an interesting and very different kind of man, but there was just something about Dr. Milano that thrilled you. Maybe it was the intelligent but warm way of teaching, or the fact that he was so understanding of the troubles you’ve had in your private life, and at night you do think that maybe it has to do with how his thick thighs are practically straining in his nicely fitted pants. He may dress like a professor, but you know that he takes care of his body like a temple. You know you weren’t alone in your feelings, as everyone on campus knows that if you have to take a history course, you do it with the cool and hot professor Cliff Milano, who always takes his older students out drinking at the end of the semester. You hadn’t had a class with him in over a year due to his sabbatical and him taking over American history briefly after another professors leave, but you had to admit you were nervous to have another class with him.You supposed you should be grateful, as the other class must have filled up and you were probably just wait listed or something. He probably didn’t even remember how he practically held your hand through freshmen year and helped you survive.

The first week of classes was more stressful than you imagined, between you getting lost and forgetting about pre-assignments to turn in. However, you were pleasantly surprised to find that Dr. Milano had remembered you. You practically melted when he lit up seeing you walk through his classroom door, and walked over to you and asked how you were doing. It was minutes prior to classes starting when he leaned down and asked you to stop by his office later in the week to catch up. Later, your legs were shaking as you approached his office door, and the light tapping of your knuckles caused a stir on the other side. Quickly the larger man welcomed you into his office where the two of you caught up about things, and you explained how you were in a much better position than your freshman year. He seemed so engaged and charmed by you, and you couldn’t help but feel like the prettiest girl at the ball. But the subject changed, and suddenly he was talking about taking you on as an advisee and all of these internship opportunities in museums and schools he had in mind for you. It became more...academic than you had liked. You suddenly felt like you were losing his attention, and the constant interruptions from students walking by was irking you something fierce. You couldn’t explain it, but your frustrations were growing with each passing minute. You had to excuse yourself, and abruptly asked Mr. Milano if he was free at a later time in the day, some time less busy and overwhelming for you. With his bright, toothy smile he grinned, told you to call him Cliff, and said he stays late on Thursdays.

You chastised yourself for being so rude to someone who was so kind, but being there in his office took you back to when you were at your lowest. How everything felt so overwhelming, like a tide rushing over you and consuming you. But Dr. Mil-Cliff, was always there to pull you out and wrap his arms around you. Well, metaphorically. He would always let you relax in his office, which was neatly decorated with awards and the smell of old books and his mahogany cologne that smelled like a distinguished older man. A smarter you would have scolded yourself for taking up so much of his time, and would’ve figured you were just another student of many, but you didn’t want that. You weren’t sure what you wanted when you dressed slightly provocative before your meeting with Cliff.

You didn’t bother knocking this time when entering Cliff’s office, and to say you surprised him was an understatement. It looked like he had pamphlets and listings prepared for you, as if this was any other academic meeting, but you could see his eyes follow the movement of your legs as you went to sit down, the slight tremble in his lip as your plush thighs squeezed together to prevent your skirt from riding up.

He swallowed back his surprised, and tried to take back control. “Well you look nice, finally taking part of the student life? I hope I’m not keeping you.”

You chuckled, feeling more confident than you had previously when you sat in this room. “No, I’m where I need to be.”

You let Cliff talk about his colleagues across the states, and how they would love to have a student like you join, how he’d be more than willing to write a letter of recommendation, but after a while you tuned it out. God, he’s still hot. And you’re older. Sure, he’s older to that’s how time works, but you’re an adult. And he needed to know that you didn’t want to go anywhere.

“I was actually thinking I could work with you on your research, but I don’t think I’m doing well enough in your class to join”, you pouted, hoping he would take the bait.

There was a pained expression on his face, and you could tell you had sunk him. “Well it’s only been a week but I think you’re doing fine enough to join my team, why do you think you need help?”

You leaned back and sighed heavily, letting you chest sink slowly as you looked up from the floor to meet his eyes, well, to see that his eyes had drifted slightly lower before adjusting to look at you.

“I’m just having trouble focusing in the back, I think I need a closer seat.”

His hearty chuckles caused a rumbling in his chest, and you couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to lay your head on his chest. “You should know by now that you can sit anywhere you like, there’s no assigned seating”. You were about to do something stupid.

“Anywhere?” you say, less of a question and more of a challenge.

You couldn’t read his face, but you did notice a glimmer of confusion at your response. He smiles to much, you can’t tell if his smug or just that sweet. But it makes your knees weak. He reiterates his point, “...of course it’s college I won’t stop you.”

You stand, puzzling him as he thinks your just abruptly leaving. He turns his chair to face the door as he notices you walking towards it, and you can tell he’s going to say bye but you have other plans. His massive thighs are spread apart and oh so inviting, and you can’t help but accept that invitation. Before he can ask why you are behind his desk, you press your knee down on his groin and lean into him, inhaling that musky mahogany scent of his.

“Woah now Ms.- I, I don’t think this a good idea” he protests, but his strong hands holding onto your waist say otherwise. Instead of listening to the older man like you normally do, you place you hands on his shoulders and use it to wrap you legs around his hips and let your clothed sex meet his. He’s gasping when you take the opportunity to shove your tongue down his throat and sloppily try and match his much more trained movements. He uses his hand to guide your hips, slowly rubbing your sex against his hardening length. He kisses just like he teaches, slow and gentle, as if you were his sole focus. Yes you could learn so much from him, but you weren’t here for a lesson, you want more. You are impatient. Taking a hand off his shoulder, you move to unzip his pants and he lets you, that hearty chuckle reverberating in your mouth as you try and keep contact with his lips. You’re shaky, but he’s more patient than you as you fumble around with the waistband before freeing his very lengthy and thick member.

His breaths became more ragged as he moves his cock to rub against the growing wet spot between your thighs, and at this he can feel your wobbling legs against his skin. A man like Cliff doesn’t let his baby suffer, shifting so one hand is gripping you tightly and the other is working to twist your wet panties to the side, the tip of his cock meeting your entrance. He lifts your chin up, and you can almost smell yourself on his fingers. He wants to meet your eyes, like he was asking you if this was alright. Of course, you thought to yourself as you sank yourself down on his lengthy member. It’s a burning feeling at first, being so full and the aching slow descend down his very stiff and veiny dick, but you can’t help but moan out in pleasure at being so full of the man you admire. The moan was a sign to the man underneath you that you were clearly enjoying this, so he put it upon himself to enhance the feeling for his precious little student. Both his hands grip tightly on your waist as he slams his hips up to be fully inside you, reveling in the shriek he illicits from your soft body. His hips rut into you, his dick probing the deepest parts of you as buries his nose in your neck to get a whiff of your natural scent. You try to match his pace, but your dear distinguished professor was an absolute animal once he was inside you, your warm walls enveloping his aching cock. He swivels his chair to face his desk again, where he swiftly stands up so his desk is roughly pressing into the curve of your back, the force of his thrusts pushing you deeper into the sharp edge as the little bit of pain makes the pleasure that much greater. You think that he snakes his arm behind your back to relieve pressure from the desk, but in reality it’s so he can use his other hand to lift you leg even higher so he can thrust himself deeper into you.

At this point, you’re a sweaty achy mess, and you find yourself overwhelmed again in his office. The pain, the pleasure, the sweat off his body mingling with yours as he erratically wrecks your body. His scent enrapturing you. It all starts to build up in your core, like the most intense version of butterflies in your stomach. It’s almost to much, as you try and slow down your hips and stretch your legs to give you some relief but in an instant it all comes crashing down as you orgasm on your professors cock. With his chest practically smothering yours you get to feel that hearty chuckle as he realizes your body has reached its limits, and a few more shallow thrusts and his melodic voice groans out as you feel a splash of warmth flood the deepest parts of you. With his arm still tenderly wrapped around your body, he pulls the both of you back on his chair as you both catch your breath, his cum seeping out of you as you lie upright on his softening cock still.

In between catching your breath you look up at him and laugh. “You know, I can’t help but wonder if you’re the once who changed which class I was in.”