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spicycreativity · 3 years

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Flufftober Day 1 - Winning a Tedddy Bear for the Other

This is the only October prompt fic I was able to write, so uh. Hopefully you enjoy it!

2.5k words, pairings are pre-Logince, Dukexiety, and pre-Moceit

Nobody actually wins a teddy bear for anyone, despite their best efforts

Truly have no idea if this is solely an American hick town thing or not, but where I'm from, all the summer drama took place at the county fair; the hook-ups and break-ups and all the stuff that people would gossip about at the beginning of the school year. Except! The crew have just graduated and this is kind of their last hurrah before college and work and what have you.

Roman closed his eyes and tried to focus. He turned the basketball over in his hands, privately grossed out by the weird, sticky texture beneath his fingertips. He let the ambient noise of the county fair fade into the background. Focus. He just had to focus.

Then Virgil's voice shattered his concentration: "You know this game is rigged, right?"

Roman opened his eyes and, catching an annoyed glance from the carnival worker, sighed and hurled the ball at the hoop. It soared a neat arc and fell neatly through the center of the hoop. Ha. "I'll have you know I played basketball in middle school." He puffed out his chest a little and raised his arms so Virgil could admire his killer delts.

"And how old are you now?" Virgil leaned into Remus, who was lurking over his shoulder like some kind of lanky cathedral goblin. How Remus had landed a boyfriend before he did, Roman would never know.

The worker handed Roman another ball, which Roman accepted with a half-hearted "Thanks."

"It's true, though," Remus said, placing his chin on Virgil's shoulder. "The hoops are ovals."

"Everybody knows that," Roman huffed, and threw the ball.

"Yeet!" said Remus. Idiot.

The ball bounced off the rim. "You distracted me!" Roman huffed. The carnival worker held out another ball, but Roman dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "Oh, forget it!" Two baskets would only get him a stupid Minions keychain, and he definitely didn't want something that cursed in his possession. He turned and walked away, half-hoping Remus and Virgil wouldn't follow him.

"Dude, you paid for three tries," Virgil said.

Roman stopped and turned around and nearly got trampled by a herd of excited pre-teens. "You don't get it!" He gestured at Virgil and Remus' intertwined fingers, even now unable to fight back the wave of jealousy and longing that rose up inside him. "You guys already have your fairy--" He paused, corrected himself. "Your weird, creepy, Tim Burton fairytale dream. I have one shot to impress Logan tonight and I need to make the most of it!"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on!" Remus grabbed Roman by the wrist (ewww, Roman, just try not to think about where his hands have been) and dragged him over to a bench. "Your grand plan is to win Logan some lame carnival prize before he even gets here?"

"Oh, buddy." The mocking pity on Virgil's face was enough to make Roman blush. Jerk. All he'd had to do was sit around and wait for Remus to make the first move. "What makes you think that's even going to work?"

Roman stood up again, motioning for Virgil and Remus to stay seated. He'd had enough. "Because it's a grand, romantic gesture and I am a grand, romantic prince. Now leave me alone! You're wrecking my concentration and I'm supposed to meet Logan in an hour!" And he stalked off, soon getting lost in the crowd.

Virgil looked at Remus, who was wearing a look of undisguised masochistic glee. Still, Virgil ventured, more to soothe his own conscience than anything, "Should we try to help him?"

"Look!" Remus shot to his feet, pointing off into the distance. "Deep fried pickles!" He took off, nearly jerking Virgil's shoulder out of socket.

Virgil dodged an elderly woman and nearly tripped over his boots. "Roman?"

"No, I'm Remus."

"No, I mean, should we try-- Oh, forget it." Virgil wrapped his free hand around the back of Remus' and let Remus yank him through the crowd. There was a long line for the cart selling deep fried monstrosities because this was the county fair and people lost their humanity upon stepping through the gates. Not Virgil. He would sooner lick the door of the horse barn than consume anything from this horrorshow of a food cart. That was one thing Virgil and Roman could agree on: fair food was disgusting. Ah, poor Roman. "You do have to feel a little sorry for him, though," Virgil said, admiring the shiny piercings decorating the shell of Remus' ear.

"Who?" said Remus, standing on tiptoe and examining the crowd.

"Ro--"

"Oh, Roman?" Remus landed hard on his heels and nudged Virgil with his hip. "No I don't. A little heartbreak might take Sir Brags-a-Lot down a peg." Something caught his eye and he jerked his head away with a smile. "Hey. V. I'd like to dip my pickle in your deep fryer."

Virgil made a face, but soldiered on. "But he's had a crush on Logan since, what? As long as I've known him."

"Longer." Remus stuck out his tongue. "He and Logan were lab partners Freshman year. And I had to hear about him every single night." He lowered his voice into a passable imitation of Roman's, gesticulating with abandon. "'Ugh, Remus, this boy in my science class is so annoying; he knows about dumb shit like protons and covalent bonds. Who even cares about that? I don't. So I'm gonna keep talking about it for the entire bus ride home.' Nightmare."

"Exactly!" said Virgil, though he had kind of forgotten what he was getting at. What had he been getting at? He shuffled forward as the line moved and turned his fractured attention to the menu.

"Hey," said Remus, now drumming on Virgil's shoulder with his fingertips. "When was the last time you saw Pat and the Hat?"

"Who?"

"Come on, that was clever."

Virgil tapped his lower lip. "You mean Patton and Janus?" Remus just blinked at him. "I dunno, didn't they say they were buying tickets?"

"Yeah, like, 30 minutes ago.

The line moved forward again. Remus ordered his horrifying hell-pickle. Virgil ordered a lemonade, knowing full well that Remus would insist on paying anyway.

"Maybe," said Virgil, side-stepping away from the order window and deliberately ignoring the way Remus was running his tongue all up and down his deep-fried pickle, "they went to the petting zoo."

"Well, let's go get 'em," Remus said. "They don't get to ditch us just because Patton wanted to see the bunny rabbits."

The setting sun painted the clouds a brilliant orange. Patton sighed and stared out at the expanse of the fairgrounds beneath him. One by one, rides were starting to turn their lights on. It was exactly the most romantic time of evening, exactly how he'd wanted things to go when he suggested they take a quick ride on the Ferris wheel before tracking down the others.

Well.

Almost exactly.

"I should sue," Janus said. Again. He looked over the edge of their basket where it dangled almost exactly at the top of the Ferris wheel. "How long would you say we've been stuck up here?"

"Um," said Patton, trying to wiggle his phone out of his pocket.

"What if I was diabetic, hm? What if one of us needed to take life-saving medication and couldn't because we were stuck at the top of this death trap?"

"But Janus." Patton waited for Janus to meet his eyes, then smiled. "We don't."

The magic didn't last. "It's the principle of the thing!" Janus said explosively, looking away in obvious agitation.

Patton rallied and tried again. "You don't think it's kinda romantic? I mean, look out there." He gestured at the lit-up fairgrounds and the golden haloes of clouds.

Janus huffed and didn't look. "I don't see what's so romantic about a potential reckless endangerment lawsuit." And he was off again, ranting about confusing legal concepts and other things Patton wouldn't care about, except that they were important to Janus.

Oh, well. He sighed and watched the blinking lights of El Niño. If they got down soon, maybe he could win Janus a teddy bear or something and make his confession then.

"What color?"

Roman ran a hand through his hair. Of all the games to have a knack for, he hadn't expected darts. "Pink, I guess-- No, wait, the blue one."

The attendant nodded and handed Roman a flimsy acoustic guitar. "Congrats, man."

"Thanks." Roman turned to go. He had to meet Logan at the gates soon. At least he wasn't doing it empty-handed, not that a barely-playable guitar was a particularly romantic gift. Realy, who was he kidding? Logan didn't want the guitar and Logan didn't want him.

The fairground lights lit everything up a sickly green. Roman scanned the crowd at the midway, trying to determine the best way through, when his gaze fell on a familiar pair of glasses.

He was still trying to decide how to react when Logan reached him, his arms full of brightly-colored stuffed lemurs. "Hello, Roman."

"How long have you been here?" Roman demanded. The idea that Logan had been sneaking around, avoiding him, sat heavy in his stomach.

But to Roman's surprise, Logan blushed. "Not long," he said, shifting his weight. "I wanted-- Well, it seems foolish now."

Roman forgot his anger in an instant. "What? C'mon, Lo, I don't think you're even capable of being foolish."

"I had thought," Logan dropped his gaze to the stuffed lemurs in his arms, "I had thought that if I came early, I might be able to win something big and--" He cleared his throat. "And give it to you."

"Why?" Roman demanded. Why would Logan copy his plan?

"Well, Roman," Logan said in such a clipped, professional voice that he might have been delivering the weather report, "traditionally, winning a large prize for your sweetheart at the county fair is a romantic gesture."

"But I'm not your sw-- Oh." Roman's jaw dropped. The guitar's strings dug into his fingers. Then he started to laugh. Logan's expression hardened, but he stayed put, staring intently at Roman. "I'm sorry!" Roman choked out, brandishing the guitar at Logan as some sort of peace offering, though Logan didn't have a free hand to take it. "I was--" Tears streamed hot and ticklish down Roman's cheeks, his entire body still spasming with stifled laughs. "I was trying to do the same thing! That's how I got this stupid guitar."

"Oh," said Logan. "Oh, dear."

"Come on, let's sort this out." Roman stood on his tiptoes, spotted an empty bench, and led Logan to it.

"This is terribly awkward," Logan said, adjusting the lemurs in his arms. "Do you even want these?"

"Not really," Roman said. He held up the guitar. "Do you want this?"

"I don't."

They smiled at each other. "You know," said Roman, hurriedly counting Logan's stuffed lemurs. "You can trade six of those in for a kiss."

"Piercings!" Remus tugged on Virgil's sleeve and gestured at the booth.

"I thought we were looking for Patton and Janus," Virgil said, already trying to think of a way to keep Remus from getting an ill-advised piercing.

"Forget them! I wanna get my tongue done."

"Here?" Virgil asked as Remus tugged him closer and closer to the piercing booth. "We're, like, six feet away from a horse barn. You're gonna get an infection."

"Damn, V, it's not like I'm gonna French kiss the horses."

Virgil bit his lip and made a second attempt. "Don't you have enough holes punched in yourself?"

"Nope!" They reached the booth and Remus bounced on his toes while he studied the laminated photographs pinned to one of the tent walls.

"Fine, but don't expect any kisses until that piercing is fully healed," Virgil said, struck by an eleventh-hour moment of genius.

"Hold up." Remus turned around and stared at Virgil. "What?"

"You heard me." Advantage secured, Virgil relaxed a little and even managed a sneer. "No kisses until I'm 100% sure you're not gonna get blood or anything else in my mouth."

"Baaaabe." Remus wrapped his arms around Virgil's shoulders and let Virgil take some of his weight. "You're killing me! What about my self-expression?"

"You can get your tongue pierced," Virgil said, "just not at some shady horse barn-adjacent piercing booth run by a bunch of traveling randos."

"I'm an American," Remus mumbled into Virg's collarbone. "It's my God-given right to die of a horse infection because I got my tongue pierced at a-- Whatever you said."

"C'mon." Virgil stood Remus upright and took him by the hand. "I'll pay for you to get your tongue pierced at that nice place downtown. Or I'll get Janus to pay for it. Next birthday. I promise."

"Thanks, I guess," Remus muttered. He was obviously trying to pout, but his face kept cracking into a smile.

"And as for your self-expression…" Face-painting booths were a dime a dozen at the fair; you practically couldn't turn a corner without running into some kid with their face painted to look like Spider-Man. Virgil pointed to the closest one and continued to lead Remus toward it. "I'm thinking spider eyes for me, kraken for you?" Remus took a breath, but Virgil knew better. "There's no way anyone is going to paint a photorealistic dick on your face."

"Alriiiiight," Remus said. "Kraken it is."

The sun was now nearly gone over the horizon, only visible as a faint golden line. Janus had finally worn himself out and gone silent, though even in the darkness, Patton could see the annoyance smoldering in his eyes.

Oh, he was so cute. Even when he was annoyed. Which, granted, seemed to be most of them time, although some of it had to be an act. He smiled sometimes, when he thought Patton wasn't looking.

It was those secret smiles that had given Patton the courage to make this plan. He jiggled his leg and swallowed as nerves sent flutters of nausea through his belly. "Um, Janus?"

"Hm?"

"I mean," Patton started, "since we're stuck up here and everything."

"Don't remind me."

"I mean, you know, It's not all bad. If I have to be stuck at the top of a Ferris wheel, I'm glad it's with you. I… I'm glad it's us."

For a moment, Janus was silent. Then he said, in a tone of suspicion: "You're trying to cheer me up."

Patton sighed. As smart as Janus was, he just didn't seem to be putting the pieces together. Although, that was as much Patton's fault as it was Janus'. Well, it was mostly Patton's fault. He just had to be brave. "Look, Janus, I had this whole plan where we were gonna ride the Ferris wheel together and it was gonna pause at the top and while we were looking out over the fairground, I--" His breath hitched.

"...Was going to push me over the edge?" Janus asked.

"I was gonna do this." Rainbow lights from the Ferris wheel spokes danced across Janus' face. Patton leaned over and took his hands. "Janus, I really like you. And I want--"

"Yes," said Janus. "Whatever you're about to say, yes."

So Patton kissed him.

#queuing this for later today as well #i truly have no idea when you people are online #spicypost #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #moceit #logince #dukexiety #spicywrites

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peakyswritings · 4 years

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Something pure

Requested by: anonymous.

A/N: okay this took AGES, I’m so sorry for the wait. It also turned out longer than expected, I wanted to give a little background to the request and things got out of hand lmao. I hope you like it⭐️

Summary: Luca had never felt something so pure before, he would do anything to preserve it. Even if it means hiding his feelings from the woman he loves. Little does he know, it’s not enough to keep harm out of your way.

Warnings: mentions of violence, description of signs of physical harm, semi-nudity (no smut)

The gif is not mine, credits to the owner.

You wished you could say you knew what you were getting into when you met Luca Changretta. That you were prepared for what was coming, that you were fully aware of the risks that you were taking by being involved with a mafia man. But you couldn’t.

You were just a small-town girl who moved to New York to seek her fortune, fascinated by the myth of the life in the city, a life that until a couple of months prior you had only dreamed. You had never found yourself close to the underworld, never been in trouble; you lived a quiet life in your family home, spending your days helping your mother or reading some books under the shade of the old tree in your garden, right in front of the swing that your father had hung on the branches when you were a child. Even though you were grateful for the way your parents had raised you, you were looking for something more. You didn’t want to spend your whole life in the dull countryside, so you packed your things and moved to New York, with a suitcase in one hand and your dreams in the other.

You had started working for an Italian tailor who made suits in a basement in Mott Street, Fenacci. You had a bit of experience, you were good at what you did, it wasn’t hard for you to obtain the job.

The first time you met Luca, you didn’t know what he did for a living, what he was capable of.

You were drowning in your work, when you heard the bell on the door ring as a tall man that you had never seen before entered the shop like he owned the place. Your co-worker slightly nudged you to get your attention, leaning towards you with a cautious look on her face.

“Whatever he wants, it’s on the house” she whispered, sitting straight again to get back to work. You nodded, still confused by her strange behaviour. Taking a look around, you noticed that the room had fallen so silent that you could hear a pin drop, everyone was focusing on their work and no one dared to look at the man.

You didn’t understand why no one talked to him or asked him what he needed, nor why he just walked around the shop without asking for the help of the shop assistants. Being a naturally shy girl, it was hard for you to talk to people, so you had to gather up the courage before addressing to him. “Can I help you, sir?”

After your question, almost everyone stopped what they were doing, looking at you like you were gone crazy. You nervously fidgeted with your pencil, wondering what you did wrong.

The man, that was previously looking at some suits with his back to you, slowly turned around, clearly taken aback by the fact that someone had the nerve to talk to him. When his green eyes landed on you, you could see a hint of amusement in them.

“Are you new?” he asked with a thick accent, taking some steps towards your table. You nodded, already feeling your face becoming red with embarrassment.

“What’s your name?”

“Y/n y/l/n”

He stopped in front of you, holding back a smile at the sight of your red cheeks. It didn’t take him long to understand that you had no idea of who he was. Your awkwardness was due to your shyness, not fear. You didn’t lower your head when he walked into the shop and you weren’t afraid of talking to him.

“Thank you for your politeness, miss Y/l/n, but I’m just here to see my uncle”

You stayed silent for a while, looking closely at him. An aura of power and authority surrounded him, he looked strong and self-confident. At the same time, he also seemed polite and good-mannered and you wondered why his presence caused everyone to be so on edge. Before you could say another word, a man appeared from the door behind you, interrupting your brief conversation.

“Your uncle is waiting for you in his office, mr Changretta”

In response, he dismissed him with a gesture, turning to look at you again.

“It was nice meeting you, miss Y/l/n” he said, tipping his hat and walking towards the door that led to Fenacci’s office.

When he closed the door behind him, everyone seemed to relax a bit.

“Is he Fenacci’s nephew?” you asked your co-worker, unable to hold back your curiosity.

“Yes, on his mother’s side” she confirmed, not raising her head from what she was working on.

“So that’s why his suits are on the house”

She giggled at your naive question, shaking her head.

“Oh, sweetheart, everything’s on the house for him”

******

At the end of your shift, you gathered your things and walked out the shop eager to go home, take a hot bath and relax for the rest of the night, worn out from working all day.

You still had to get used to the chaotic streets of New York, they were nothing like the peaceful and quiet countryside. A part of you was fascinated by everything that surrounded you, you had seen more in a week than in your entire life, things that you had only heard of on the radio or read about in the newspaper. On the other side, you had to admit that you were kinda scared, you felt so small and lost in the midst of all of those buildings.

Just a few feet away from the shop, you bumped into someone, too lost in your thoughts to pay attention to where you were going.

“I’m so sorry, I....” you started to apologise, but your voice dropped when you met a pair of familiar green eyes.

“Miss Y/l/n” mr Changretta greeted you, taking off his hat “don’t worry, it’s my bad”

You stayed silent for a moment, your awkwardness was keeping you from uttering a logical sentence. He cleared his throat, thankfully breaking the uncomfortable silence. “Are you done for the day?”

“Yes” you nodded “I’m going home”

“You’re not from here, are you?” he guessed, slightly smiling at you. He had probably noticed that you walked around like a lost puppy, jumping at every loud noise and keeping a careful eye on everything that surrounded you.

“Is it that obvious?” you asked with a hint of irony in your voice, feeling your embarrassment slowly slipping away.

“Just a bit” he chuckled “I can walk you home, if you’d like” he offered.

“Thank you, but I wouldn’t want to bother you, it’s not too far from here” you said. He probably had things to do, maybe he wanted to go home and he was just asking you out of politeness. You couldn’t deny that you wouldn’t have minded some company, though, since it was dark and you didn’t know those streets very well.

“It’s no bother at all” he replied “I can’t have you waking alone at this hour of the night”

You hesitated for a moment. After all, you didn’t know this man and everyone seemed terrified by him, maybe it wasn’t the best idea. However, he had done nothing to scare you away, he had been nice and polite and something told you that he wouldn’t have hurt you. So you accepted.

He came back to the shop the following day and the day after that and all the days after. Sometimes he needed a new suit, sometimes he needed to talk with his uncle, sometimes he just kept you company for a while. Every night, he walked you home after your shift. If he had had a busy day and couldn’t make it to the shop, he made sure to at least be there when you had to go home, so that you didn’t have to walk alone. The days became weeks and the weeks became months. The first week or so, you walked at a certain distance. Then you found yourselves walking a bit closer every day, until he started offering you his arm. You enjoyed those late-night walks with Luca, you felt comfortable around him and it was a new feeling for you. As time passed by, you couldn’t help but notice the way your heart seemed to beat a bit faster when you were close to him, or the way your cheeks flushed every time the two of you casually touched. You tried your best to ignore the way you felt, you were pretty sure that he didn’t feel the same way. He was confident, and handsome, he always knew the right words to say. You were shy, clumsy and hopelessly awkward, certainly not what he was looking for.

Little did you know, the things you were insecure about were the ones that got him falling for you. He loved how easily your cheeks turned red, the way you stumbled over your words, the smile that you often tried to hide. It made you real, genuine. When you felt comfortable enough to open up to him, he fell for you even more. He found himself looking forward to see you, the time he spent with you had become the best part of his day. He couldn’t deny the calmness and comfort that took over him every time you placed your hand in the crook of his elbow, walking side by side with him. Just like you, he had no intention of confessing his feelings for you. You were nice and innocent and he didn’t want to involve you in his dangerous life. Of course, during those months you had learned about what he did and even though you didn’t push him away, he was sure that you didn’t want anything to do with that kind of things. You were just too good for someone as violent and ruthless as him. Too good to be put in danger for his selfish desire. For that reason, walking you home was enough. If it meant to see you smile, to hear you talking about your day, to see the spark in your eyes when you talked about the things you loved, it was enough. It had to be enough, because it seemed to be the only way to have you close to him without dragging you into the rabbit hole with him. You wouldn’t have found Wonderland in there.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep you safe.

******

For the first time in months, you were going home alone. Luca had told you the previous day that he had an important meeting to attend to outside the city and that he couldn’t be there that night. You wrapped your coat tighter around your body, the freezing air was penetrating into your bones and you couldn’t feel your hands. It was later than usual, you had stayed in the shop an extra half-hour to help your co-worker clean up the place. The streets seemed emptier and darker, but maybe it was just the absence of the man that had walked with you until that night that made you feel like that.

It didn’t matter how much you tried, you couldn’t shake off the bad feeling that you got since you walked out the shop. There was a little voice in your head telling you to wait for your friend, but you chose to go out alone, eager to get home as soon as possible.

Only you weren’t alone.

When you turned around, you saw three men walking a few feet behind you. You turned again, telling yourself that they weren’t following you, that you were just being paranoid.

But what if they were?

You decided to cross the road, to make sure that they just gave you the wrong impression.

They crossed the road, too.

You took a deep breath. It’s just a coincidence.

You crossed the road again.

They did that, too.

Fear took over you as you started to walk faster, your heart was pounding in your chest, every muscle in your body was tense. Your knees were wobbly and you weren’t sure for how long you could have relied on your legs before they gave up. You couldn’t think straight and you felt like you had completely lost control of your body as it shook uncontrollably.

Then a pair of hands grabbed you.

******

Luca was surprised not to see you at work the following day. His uncle told him that you had called to say you were sick, asking for permission to take a couple of days off. It felt odd to him, you never missed work and you seemed fine the last time he saw you. He couldn’t help but get worried, he knew you didn’t have anyone in New York and he didn’t like the fact that you were alone when you were sick, with no one there with you if things got worse.

He had no idea of how bad it actually was.

The memories of the previous night were a blur, everything happened so fast that you didn’t even know where you got the strength to get up from the dirty ground of the alley and go home.

You took a deep breath, grabbing the closest steady thing for support as you got out of the bathtub, wincing in pain. You wrapped a towel around your shivering body, rubbing your hands up and down to warm up. You hadn’t even realised that the water had turned so cold. You sat on your bed, staring at the floor, the same sentence repeated in your head again and again.

Tell your friend that this is what happens when he doesn’t comply.

These were the words that one of the men said to you, right before leaving you in that dark alley, hurting and bleeding.

You didn’t know how much time had passed when you decided to get up from the bed, probably a lot, since your hair was dry. You wore your underwear and you walked towards the mirror. You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath. You still hadn’t had the courage to look at the state you were in, too scared to see what they did to you. But you had to know. You slowly opened your eyes, looking at your reflection. You started by looking at your face. You had a bruise and a cut on your right cheek and a split lip; then your eyes fell on your body, that surely got it the worst. There were several blue and purple marks scattered all over the upper part of your body, a giant bruise on the left part of your ribs, you had finger marks on your wrists and arms. Your knees were skinned and your legs were full of scratches. Your eyes watered at the sight. Your body would have healed, but you couldn’t say the same for your mind. You were terrified and the scenes kept on repeating themselves in your mind. You felt weak, frail and broken and you hated it.

Your thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on the door. You quickly put on your robe, cautiously walking towards the door, trying to push back your fear. You opened the door, immediately relaxing when you saw Luca’s familiar face. However, comfort was soon replaced by agitation, you didn’t want him to see you like that. He opened his mouth to talk, but he closed it right after his eyes fell on you. His expression changed, you couldn’t quite decipher the look in his eyes. He gently placed a had under your chin, turning your head slightly to examine your bruise.

“Who did this to you?” he asked after what seemed an eternity, letting his hand fall.

“No one, I just fell” you lied, crossing your arms over your chest and looking away from him. He entered the house, closing the door behind him.

“Tell me the truth” he demanded. His voice was firm, but it didn’t lose the hint of kindness that he only reserved to you. When you didn’t answer, he placed a hand on your shoulder, trying to look you in the eyes.

“Y/n...” he started, stopping when you winced in pain. His eyes moved to the bruise that was poking out of your robe, right under your neck. He hesitated for a moment, before moving his hand to the string of your robe, silently asking you for permission. When you nodded, he untied it, leaving you in your underwear.

He felt anger quickly building up in him as he looked at your body, clenching his jaw. The thought of someone doing that to you unleashed something violent in him, a blind rage that he wasn’t sure he could contain. However, he tried his best to hide it for your sake. You were already scared, you didn’t need to witness one of his outbursts.

“Three men followed me home last night” you admitted, still not looking at him “they told me to tell you that this is what happens when you don’t comply”

Luca should have seen that coming. He didn’t need to admit his feelings to put you in danger, just being in his life made you a target. They observed him, they had been observing him for weeks, waiting for the right moment to make their move. He made a decision and you payed the consequences. That was the reason why he didn’t want to involve you in his life in the first place, because that’s how it worked. It was the biggest unspoken rule of that wicked world: innocent people were punished for someone to achieve what they wanted. You were innocent and they hurt you. You of all people didn’t deserve it. Anger was partly replaced by guilt and remorse, as he covered your body with the robe again, enveloping your trembling frame in his arms. You wrapped your arms around his torso, pressing your head against his chest as he gently stroked your hair.

“I’m sorry” he whispered “I know it means nothing right now, it doesn’t change what happened... but I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you in this mess”

You shook your head, holding him tighter. You didn’t blame him, not even in the slightest.

“It’s not your fault-”

“It is.” he interrupted you “They did this to you to get to me. It’s how it works, they hurt people we love to get to us”

You froze for a moment, trying to understand the meaning of his words. You raised your head, looking him in the eyes in a silent request for an answer.

“I love you, Y/n. I thought that you would be safe if I didn’t tell you, but I was wrong”

He cupped your face with his hands, being careful not to hurt you by touching your bruise. “And I want to protect you, I want to keep you safe.”

Your heart fluttered at his words. After all the pain that you had experienced, it almost felt like a dream, like something that your mind had made up to bring you some comfort. But it wasn’t a dream, Luca was right in front of you, telling you what you had hoped to hear for so long. “I love you, too” you uttered.

He slowly leaned towards you, moving his hands to your waist. He closed the space between you, his lips were soft on yours, he was gentle and his touch was feather-like, almost as if he was afraid you would break if he applied more pressure. You put your hands on his face, inviting him to deepen the kiss. Everything slowly became more urgent, he pulled you even closer while you ran a hand through his hair.

“No harm will come to you ever again” he said once he pulled away, caressing your cheek “I won’t let it. I’ll keep you safe. It’s a promise”

He meant that, he had never been more serious in his life. He never thought that he could feel something so pure and genuine, that someone could bring out the tenderness in him. He would have done anything in his power to protect it, to protect you.

And you believed him, because you had never felt safer.

Tag list: @arwyn-the-cyrptic-bisexural @iamngoclinh08 @lilywinchesterlove @fandom-puff

#peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders fics #luca changretta imagine #luca changretta x reader

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moonlit-imagines · 4 years

Text

Headcanons for being Tony Stark’s Daughter (The Aftermath)

Tony Stark x daughter!reader

warnings:

a/n: y/n is about 17 or 18; i cried while writing this. sorry this is really long!!! pls forgive me 🥺

prompt: takes place from a3 to smffh

The Early Years (1) The Teenage Years (2) The Intense Years (3) Continued (5)

let’s start on a happy note! ahahah

so for a while, earth was calm

you, pepper, and tony got to be a family for a while

wedding planning!

of course you got to try the ben&jerry’s ice cream named after your dad: Stark Raving Hazelnuts

“it’s not fair that you got ice cream named after you and i didn’t”

“well, when you grow up to be as awesome as me, maybe you’ll get your own ice cream flavor”

developing nanotech suits together for a Bonding Experience(tm)

speechless after the first test

“dad, this is...”

“the coolest thing to ever exist?”

“yes!!”

yall ready for some shit?

the day that ebony maw invaded was pretty—what’s the word? interesting? no. well, yes, but...HORRIBLE.

it all started when you got the call from your dad

“y/n, incoming call from ‘big fat meanie’”

“god, i really have to change that. okay, JOSHIE, answer it. hey, dad? what’s up?”

“hey, kid! you know that weird ass building on bleecker street? how fast can you get here?”

“JOSH can you track FRIDAY really quick? lets see how far dad is...uh, okay, be there in five, see ya”

taking your suit for a spin and realizing how GREAT it was to be able to basically fold up your suit and put it in your back pocket

knocking on the door and it opened on its own, it was kinda cool

“is this a museum? cool.”

bruce turning around to see you after about three years and giving you an awkward smile and a wave while you stood frozen around the wizard-guys

“y/n, god, you’ve grown up!”

charging into him for a long overdue hug

“you don’t know how much i missed you. it’s been chaotic without you”

“i can...i can only imagine”

a debriefing on the situation you were about to face, and bonus! having to play the catch-up game with bruce

“just call him, dad. we need as much help as we can. steve will understand”

rushing outside to face off with some ugly-ass aliens

“oh nooo, it’s roger smith from american dad”

bruce: 👀, stephen: 👀, wong: 👀, tony: 👏👏🥰 that’s my girl

simultaneous nanosuit unveiling

“you ready for this one, pops?”

“of course! ive waited years to kick some more alien ass”

montage of you and tony getting your asses beat together (as a family <3)

peter showing up

“give me one good reason why i shouldn’t send you back to that school bus”

“because i’m good company?”

“whatever, just listen to whatever dad has to say, i forfeit my responsibilities over you”

pew pew, repulsors, pew, tiny rockets! fun! action! destroying new york again and again. good times...

until JOSHUA gave you notice that your dad was flying high

“call him. now.”

“hey! how’s it going down there?”

“dad, you know how i feel about you and space”

“i know, i know. i just...i gotta take care of this. keep pepper safe for your old man, okay?”

“i lo—l—ve y—”

“y/n? y/n?! i love you! shit!”

“we lost connection with her, sir”

trying to call peter

“call failed, y/n. should i try again?”

“i’m gonna kill them...”

walking through the rubble to find bruce, the only sensible man you know

taking him to the avengers compound asap to get to rhodey and figure out what comes next

meanwhile, tony was dealing with space and another teenager

and worrying a lot about leaving you on earth

“i mean, mr. stark, y/n’s one of the most capable people i know. she’s probably trying to fix this whole mess as we speak”

“i didn’t get to tell her i love her”

“oh...”

having a lovely meeting with thaddeus ross with rhodey, having a lovely time watching them passive-aggresively argue until your former teammates arrived

having to patiently (and professionally) wait for ross to hang up before running into them for a hug

“holy shit, you guys have no idea how bad i’ve wanted to see you. it sucks not being all together anymore”

“i know, y/n. we’ve all missed you.” -cap

“a lot” -nat added

bruce’s little entrance that was sure to bring some awkwardness

you, secretly freaking out about your dad

sam was the one that found you crying after you “stepped out” for a few minutes too long

“oh, y/n,” he was contemplating grabbing someone else to step in, but decided to sit next to you in the hallway, “i’m sorry, kiddo. i can’t promise you anything, but your dad is a fighter. a big pain in the ass. i think your odds are good”

laughing through your tears

“yeah, you’re right. thanks, sammy”

he gave you a little hug while you calmed down

getting to business, the ass-kicking kind

as the wise natasha romanoff once said to your father, you were being “uncharacteristically non-hyper verbal”

your mind did this funny thing...wandered into places it really should not go

the talk about sacrificing vision led to wakanda, where you had a swell time patrolling

“guys! we’ve got incoming. a lot of incoming”

well-deserved uncle/niece team up. who wouldve thought?

you would have nightmares about these aliens for years to come

“you get to die, and you get to die! everybody gets to die!”

“y/n, what did we talk about?” -rhodey

“using humor as a defense mechanism makes the team uncomfortable...”

covering the girls 😌 because we gotta have those all-girl teamups, uh-huh?

some more blasting

thor made his comeback and you just could not miss it

“hi, thor!”

you landed next to him and your helmet receded

“well, hello, miss y/n! good to see you again! my, you got taller...oh! meet my friends: rabbit and tree”

having a “what the actual fuck” moment upon seeing thanos for the first time

and flying at him from behind with a massive nanotech blade ready to kill this purple bastard

but he grabbed your arm and flung you into the dirt, that was gonna leave a mark

“i just had to make a suit when i was ten...no one stopped me, huh? i couldn’t be elon’s kid, he was a nice guy”

watching thanos snap his fingers and looking around to see dust floating through the air and thanos retreat

“rhodey? uncle rhodey?!”

“i’m right here, kid, don’t worry”

he grabbed your hand while you were dusting

“tell my dad i love him, promise?”

fading away and leaving rhodey with your last words

he was mad before anything else

all he could think about was a promise your dad made him take years back

“rhodey, you keep my daughter safe no matter what, promise?”

the avengers recooperating at the compound, waiting to figure out whether any of the space-crew survived

they had to let pepper know that you didn’t make it, she was a mess upon hearing that news

tony finally making his way back to earth

and stumbling out of that ship

“where’s y/n? where is she?!”

“tony, tony, calm down”

“dont tell me to calm down! where is my daughter?!”

“she made me promise to tell you thay she loves you”

tony knew the answer by now, he lost his mind over your death

it didn’t feel right not having you by his side, for the past 18 years you’ve been with him

after a long period of recovery, tony and pepper moved on, got married, built a home, had a new daughter...

tony made sure there was a spare room for you

he put all the things you left behind in it

there were so many photos of you in the house

and he’d show your sister, morgan, all of them. he wanted morgan to know her sister

“that’s y/n when she built her first robot. it snuck up on me a few times. it went ‘boo!’”

morgan loved the stories about you, but she didn’t understand why she couldn’t see you

“when do i get to meet her?”

“uh...maybe someday, sweetie”

after being unbothered for almost 5 years, the remaining avengers came back with a plan that was so tempting, he just wanted his little girl back

cracking under pressure and telling pepper that he couldn’t ignore this mission because it was his chance to get you back

“get her back, tony”

“you think so?”

“i miss her, too.”

and so it began, he made it his mission to get you back

peeking at the wallet picture of you on his shoulders when you were so little

tony travelling to 2012; loki’s invasion

and there you were, the sassy genius 12 year old that he missed so much

“we’ve got this, tony, we’ll bring her home” -scott

and then things went badly and also 2012 tony went into cardiac arrest and 2012 y/n dove onto the floor to tend to him

“dad? give us some room, would you?!”

2023 tony smiling at how much he missed you worrying about him and how reckless he was

but also...the mission kinda went bad so that sucked

push it a bit farther back and now tony was with grandpa stark! asking how to be a dad and all that!

he could barely stand still waiting for you to come back to him, god he missed you more than he thought

and after a bit of hard work, it was time to snap

just like that, you were back in wakanda, puzzled by the gap in time before one of dr. strange’s portals opened in front of you

and then you were in the ruins of the avengers compound

“JOSHUA, can you locate my dad?”

“i think you’ll be able to see him”

“wow, i cant believe i programmed your cocky artificial ass”

“i think you can”

seeing your dad flying high and patching into the comms

“miss me, old man?”

and then he hit the gas to get to you and when this man hugged you, you almost couldn’t let go

“i’m so sorry, y/n. god, i’m sorry. these last five years...i was so lost without you”

“it’s okay, dad, i’m here now”

getting shot at during your reunion

“son of a bitch...we’re having a family moment here, asshole!”

yes, im gonna say it again. of course i am! and.........father/daugher team-up

the last one

“peter, is that you? you asshole! i cant believe you went to space without me!”

“missed you too!”

rhodey!! cant forget about uncle rhodey!!

“you gave my dad the message, right?”

“it was your dying wish, of course i did!”

“great. don’t forget i love you, too, rhodey!”

“couldn’t let me forget it”

lest we forget that pepper joined the fight?

plot twist: (step)mother/daughter team-up

mother/father/daugher team up!!!! ultimate stark machine!!!!!!!

and then you left him alone for 5 minutes and he’s got the infinity stones and you know it’s the last time you’re going to see him and you cant decide what your next move is and you’re just frozen and you cant catch your breath and he snaps and your heart plummets

you have to rush to his side, the last time you can sit beside his tired body and let him know that its going to be okay

“hey dad, it’s okay, we’re gonna be fine. thank you for everything”

peter grabbing your hand as you both sobbed next to your dad, feeling robbed of your time with him

pepper brought you home where she told you all about the five years you missed

both of you just cried harder than you’ve ever cried before

“so i have a sister?”

morgan was so happy to meet you, she couldn’t contain herself, practically latched onto you

and she didn’t fully understand what happened to tony

you saw your new room for the first time and didn’t leave it for a while, occasionally pepper or morgan would pop in

morgan actually crawled into bed with you a few times

the funeral was one of the worst days of your life

the remnants of your young life pulled back together for one day

then you hid back in your room before you heard a knock

“who is it?”

“it’s happy”

“come in”

“hey, kiddo. me and morgan are gonna get some cheeseburgers, you wanna come?”

she really was a stark

after a long hibernation, you started to get back into the groove of your old life

but the press was brutal and harsh, you were bombarded with questions regarding your dad

it took everything not to explode on camera

you stayed in contact with the rest of the avengers, mourning your dead, keeping the support system, staying a family

it was all you could get...for now

#tony stark x daughter!reader #tony stark imagine #tony stark x reader #tony stark #iron man x daughter!reader #iron man imagine #iron man x reader #iron man #marvel x reader #marvel imagine #marvel #avengers x reader #avengers imagine #avengers

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atopearth · 3 years

Text

Brothers Conflict (Passion Pink) Part 1 - Asahina Masaomi Route

I am happy to announce that I will try my best to play Brothers Conflict in Japanese! Yes, it was Christmas so I splurged and bought Diabolik Lovers, Brothers Conflict and Norn9 hahahah. Hopefully I can do this! Apparently Brothers Conflict is an easy read because it's slice of life and uses normal everyday words so let's go! Ema and her squirrel Juli huh? That's kinda cute lmao. Anyway, I know the basic premise but it's kinda crazy to have like 11 new brothers, like wow. And her squirrel talks?! I guess it's nice to have a such a reliable squirrel "parent" for Ema since it seems so capable haha. I don't blame Ema for being so nervous though haha. Oh wow, Miwa (the lady Ema's father is remarrying) is rich and nice! Hahahaha, Ema thinks Masaomi is Wataru's dad, is he that old looking?🤣 Anyway, I know it's a game so Ema has to be surprised to know all these hot guys etc are her new brothers but if this was real life and I was nervous about meeting all these brothers by myself, I would definitely hope to have seen or have a photo of them with me lmao. Anyway, lmao at Wataru giving Ema candy for accidentally hurting her when he couldn't stop his bike in time lolll, who is the little kid here?!🤣 Awww, I don't like fan clubs but I do like Iori! He seems cool and kinda knows how to handle his fangirls. Ukyo mightttt be my type, we'll see🤣 Anyway, Ema is such a considerate daughter for not wanting to intrude on her father's newlywed life and deciding to live in the Sunrise Residence with all the other brothers, I would be so scared to live with a bunch of new random siblings lol.

Is a sunflower badge a symbol to show you're a lawyer or something? That's pretty cool! Anyway, Masaomi is the eldest son?! I totally assumed Ukyo would have been the oldest haha! Guess looks are deceiving. Hahaha, Ukyo calling him "nii-san" (older brother) is a shockk🤣 I admit that Kaname's purple kimono looks pretty cool, but dang, kissing the back of Ema's hand and then saying can he kiss other places too?! That's a great way to introduce yourself... I'm so glad Ukyo hit him for doing that lol. Lmaooo I thought Kaname was going to be a fashion designer of some sort but he's actually a Buddhist priest?! Wow lol. Oooh I like Tsubaki and Azusa's looks! They're cute, are they twins? Okay yep, they are. I love them already🤣 Omggg and they're both voice actors? They're getting cooler by the second🤣 I love how friendly Tsubaki is lol. I love how just as Ukyo hits Kaname for getting out of hand, Azusa does the same for Tsubaki lol. Lmao at Ema thinking to herself whether Tsubaki is "okay" in the sense of whether there's anything wrong with him because of how he talks hahahaa. Awww Subaru seems cute, he's shy with girls even though he's a university student! OMG Tsubaki is older than Subaru? I can't tell these age differences lol!! I like Iori a lot though hahaha. Lmao I thought Iori recognised Ema's school uniform because he knew girls from there but it was actually because Yuusuke (another brother) goes there hahaha, sorry my bad Iori. Tsubaki is so slack to hide from Yuusuke that they were going to have a new sister lolll. But his reaction was funny so I can understand. I find it hilarious how Yuusuke can't handle Ema being sad over him not approving of this loll, so he had to just agree to make her happy haha. HAHAHA, when Kaname asked Ema to call him "onii-chan" LOL, like geez dude!! And then even Tsubaki joined in🤣 I like Azusa, so I'm glad there was an option to call him onii-chan loll. I think it was pretty funny how they got her to keep calling them onii-chan lmao, it was nice how she played along with them and got to enjoy having so many siblings considering that it must have been pretty lonely with just her dad and he's probably busy working a lot of the time.

Awww that's so sweet, Ema woke up early hoping to make breakfast for the brothers! She's such an awesome sister. I have to agree with Ema, Kaname exercising early in the morning is a surprise haha. I honestly thought Ukyo would be the one there...and he is! Ukyo is the one who cooks breakfast and all the meals I guess! Lmao at the cute rabbit apron he wears🤣 Ukyo best boyyy! Omg Rui is pretty, I love his hair. But I find it so funny how he's like touching her hair and Ema is like so calmly just introducing herself to him lmao. Oooh, so we have another idol brother, lmao at Ema thinking the family were fans instead of him being a brother, like what are the chances that they would all be fans of him🤣🤣 Aww Mahoko looks like a cute best friend for Ema. Sasakura (the soccer ace guy) seems pretty friendly to offer to help Ema move. I have to agree with Ema though, Masaomi in work mode is nice to watch, I always think it's so sweet to see guys so kind and patient with kids (even though I don't like kids🥲). It was so sweet how Ema so honestly told him she would have liked a doctor like him when she was a kid, Masaomi blushing at her praise was actually pretty cute lol. Awww, his pocket is full of chocolates and other stuff as rewards for the kids! It's nice that he has a whole variety of stuff like stickers and mini cars since he doesn't want to give them too many sweets. It must be so heavy though lmao.

Fuuto sleeping CG is pretty cute~ LOL did he just say Ema is cute but it seemed like she's dumb?! Well, there goes your idol dreams, Ema lol. Lmao when he said she didn't deny it and said she's an idiot, like woww, way to go Fuuto, you're definitely an ass. He's probably traumatised or annoyed with his fangirls or something. I can so relate to Ema's rage, I would want to strangle Fuuto loll. Okay, I did something wrong and didn't realise I needed to go to the aquarium with Masaomi! Lmao at Ema saying all the fish are cute lol. Blushing Masaomi is so adorable though. It was so cute how he got embarrassed for not realising that he was really close to her, and it was so cute how Ema tried to explain that she didn't hate it and that it just made her heart beat really fast😂 Aww Ema and Masaomi both like small animals. Damn, these guys are rich, do they have a villa on an island?!! I think it's really nice how they all take the time out to go on holiday with the whole family there every summer vacation though. Considering how many of them there are and how busy they are, it's good to see that they try to make the effort to bond with each other. They've even got a private beach on a part of the island, danggg. Anyway, I love how welcoming the brothers are. I agree with Iori, Ema is really admirable to even do supplementary classes to help with going to her dream university, she's working hard!

You know, considering that these guys are her "brothers", I find it funny that they're quite unreserved towards the idea of doing date-like stuff with her loll! Like with the amusement park, Masaomi held her hand to keep it warm after she got a bit freaked out with the haunted house attraction lol! I guess considering the game, I should just throw that all out of the window and just enjoy it for what it is haha. I mean, I gotta admit, it's pretty cute. I guess it's not that cute after I looked at their character profiles and realised that Masaomi is actually 31 and Ema is like 16-17? Oh well, I guess I'll ignore that too😂 Aww, Masaomi seems like such a parent, he's sad that his brothers are older now and they don't rely on him as much for stuff anymore. I guess that would be something good but also sad to see. It's interesting how the dialogue changes when you get more hearts. It's like initially, Masaomi used to be like, nah I'm not free into yeah I'm free, and now he's just like let's go lol. I think the nicest change is that he used to leave to go somewhere else after their outing, but now he goes home with her. I think something that's nice to see is Masaomi "spoiling" her, like he doesn't do anything over the top, just simple stuff like buying her a strap, holding her bags etc, but I feel like because she's always lived only with her father, and now that he has a new partner, she's even more reserved towards not wanting to trouble others, so I think Masaomi treating her sweetly is nice. I find it so sweet how he understands her so well that he knows that she would feel bad about it, so he asks her to buy snacks for everyone in exchange. I love how Ema made a whole bunch of sandwiches on their zoo date, I love little picnics~ And it's so cute how she offered to make him lunch next time since he's always so busy with work that most of the time he just buys rice balls and sandwiches from the convenience store.

I'm so excited for their trip!! Lmao, I really want to see Ema's swimsuit now, considering how Subaru was so surprised by it, he told her to wear his jacket🤣 Aww playing with fireworks at the beach with Masaomi was nicee~ I think Masaomi really gives off that great big brother vibe that will ensure she'll never feel lonely, it's really heartwarming to see. Omggg there's the option to stay overnight in Masaomi's room now!! Not that anything happened (for now) since he just helped her study and she fell asleep there~ but it was really cute to know that Masaomi keeps all the letters he gets from his current and old patients, it's sweet that his room is "messy" because of it haha. Gotta love how Masaomi took his other futon to clean so now they have to share a futon lol, like how far away is Ema's room lolll! But anyway, it's fine I guess because it's cute~ It seems like from way back when he was a kid, Masaomi was already mature and stepped up to be the big brother that would help out his parents because they're so busy. I still wonder how he survives as a doctor if he nearly faints after seeing a little bit of blood lol, but yeah it's crazy how much of Masaomi's life revolves around his family. Even him choosing to be a doctor was because he wanted something stable, good income and have useful knowledge for taking care of his family if anything were to happen so that his parents wouldn't need to worry. He's such a good child. I found it so wonderful how Ema praised Masaomi for his work saying she could really see how much his patients really trust him and see how earnest he is with his work. Can't blame him for feeling so embarrassed hahahha. Okay, I'm dying at how sweet Masaomi's lines become. Now when you ask him on a date, he's like are you sure you want to spend your precious break day with me?! Hahaha, of course we do! And now when you ring his doorbell hoping to stay over, he looks forward to Ema being the one to ring it, I love it so much🥺 I find it so cute how he's more conscious of her staying over so late now hahaha. Omggg, he just asked if it was okay to share the same futon and Ema was like sure, awww that's so cuteee, they're practically together now lol. Omggg he confessed that he liked her when he thought she fell asleep! He even kissed her on the forehead! Awww!! I wonder how Ema will react now~

Kaname really loves to flirt with Ema allll the time doesn't he lol. Subaru blushing at Ema having baked his birthday cake for him is so cuteeee. Anyway omg, does everyone actually already like her?? Even Iori said he was happy that it was because Ukyo was busy so she ended up having to bake the cake and not because she wanted to since the beginning😮 Anyway, it was so cute how Masaomi said he wanted to be the first to congratulate her when she turns 20 (since they just came back from Subaru's 20th birthday), and okay, it seems like Ema lives kinda far from the guys?? Lol, I thought it was a shared house kinda thing. Anyway, their accidental kiss seeming led up to Masaomi giving her another kiss?! I feel like my heart was beating fast like Ema's lmao. LMAO when Masaomi offered a kid to ride on his shoulders to see the dolphin show properly (he even called himself an big brother/onii-san) and the kid still calls him an uncle/oji-san hahahaha. HAHAHA, I love how Ema readied herself to have Masaomi check her with a stethoscope (she was sick) since it feels embarrassing and she raised her clothes so high, he saw her bra or something lmao. LOL, Usa-tan sounds like an amazing doll that can shoot out stationery, record, be a calculator etc, like dang lolll. Omggg that Ema had to wear bunny cosplay for the school festival cafe, lmao when Yusuke saw it and was embarrassed lol. Ohhh, there's another older brother called Natsume who moved out of the mansion! I've lost track of how many there are honestly but Natsume is pretty good-looking. I'm so glad Azusa made Natsume apologise to Ema properly for being so rude to her when he didn't know who she was and reacted badly to her calling his name so familiarly. WHAT, TRIPLETS? Them being triplets is definitely a shock to me like whaaaat omg. Once again, impressed that Miwa had so many children and looks so good. I seeee, so Tsubaki and Azusa are identical but Natsume is fraternal oooo. Anyway, I was so shocked that I forgot to say I didn't even think about a wedding ceremony so I'm glad there is one for her father and Miwa hahaha. LOL when Miwa gave Ema the bouquet and told her if she likes any of her sons, she would help them hold the ceremony, like dang, she's already decided that she wants her new "daughter" to be like a true daughter loll. Gotta love it when your parents are supportive of you marrying your step brothers lolll. Anyway, seriously though, I guess that makes it easier for them later on with no parental drama haha.

It's so cute how Masaomi gives candy to Ema as a reward all the time hahaha. Well, Ema not being the real daughter of Rintaro was unexpected... I felt sorry for her when she found out and felt that she would be all alone if her dad told her the truth properly. I feel like Ema's always tried her best to be strong on her own because her dad was always busy, but he was family and she knew he would always be there because they're tied by such bonds so it was okay even if she was sad that she couldn't see him much, so I feel like her breaking down is understandable. I thought it was really sweet how Masaomi told her that he would always be by her side so she would never be alone, and that if she's still sad after talking to her dad, she can always go to him for help. It's sad that her parents died so early in her life, but I'm glad Rintaro decided to take care of her instead of leaving her all alone in some institution. It was also nice that Ema got to hear what she needed to hear, which was that even if they're not connected by blood, Ema is still his daughter, and I think it really helped her insecurities to hear her dad properly tell her that.

Lmaooo when Ema thought Hikaru was Kaname's girlfriend😂 On the other hand, I'm not sure what to think about Tsubaki and Kaname being "moe" to little sisters lolll, but I guess at least they're quite frank and obvious about Ema totally being their type lolll. Anyway, I guess now we've seen all the brothers! I knewww Miwa was going to ask Masaomi to go to an omiai but danggg. Especially since he's the oldest brother so I guess it was to be expected in his route. Awww I love how Masaomi so honestly told the girl he had someone he liked. I legit can't wait until they both tell each other their feelings, I'm so excited!! Lmaooo, Masaomi in a Santa Claus costume looks so funny hahaha. Awww he bought Ema a Christmas present!! It's nice that Masaomi gave Ema her very own Usa-tan! Anyway, omggg Azusa and Tsubaki are sooo close, it's actually kinda cute how much they love each other haha. I loved how Ema properly thanked all the guys during the Christmas party for looking for her when she ran away after realising her dad wasn't blood related to her, and I loved how they told her it was natural since she's family. When he hugged her thanking her for always encouraging him and supporting him, it was so cuteee, I love how much Ema loves seeing the serious Masaomi that dedicates himself to saving people however he can.

Masaomi is usually so tired from work, but I love how he's always like Ema is always welcome to visit his room! I think it was especially cute when Ema was about to go back knowing that he didn't get much sleep and she woke him up, but he knew that she wouldn't randomly just come to annoy him for nothing, so thankfully he got her to not feel like she was bothering him and gave him the chocolate~ Masaomi blushing is always the cutest~ Lmaooo Ema is like a pro gamer😂 I found it so funny how Subaru and Ema just told Yusuke to pick up items because he's weak😂 Awww Masaomi was sad that Ema didn't react to the pink heart necklace he gave her through Usa-tan! To be fair he did do it in a really roundabout way so I guess it's understandable that she didn't notice it, but luckily she did lol, so now she doesn't need to misunderstand that he thinks of her as just a kid. Ohhh, I thought Masaomi was just jealous that Ema was having fun with Subaru and them, but it was actually because he thought that Ema would probably have more fun and be more happy with a guy around her age and that's why he was sad🥺 I'm so happy that they both told each other their worries and how much they enjoyed their time together. Ema definitely was more brave to say she wanted to always stay beside him though haha. Lmao at Masaomi having eaten so many sweets at that shop he bought the white day presents for Ema loll. Anyway, I didn't realise Fuuto was actually like 2 years younger than Ema, considering how arrogant he seemed, I thought he was around the same age lol. Anyway, I obviously rose the wrong stuff and didn't get the best ending LOL. I was so sad when Masaomi was like, you'll always be my sister or something and it ended, and I was like excuse meeee!? Anyway, I redid the whole thing LOL. I knew that Masaomi had to get over the blood thing if something happened to Wataru so I'm glad Ema was there to kinda wake him up to do that haha. I missed out Ema in a kimono CG!! She was so beautiful!! And omggg, their wedding and expecting a baby endings were nice~ Definitely worth me going through all that again just to see it lol.

Overall, if you can ignore the fact that Masaomi is like 30 and Ema is 17, then this route was quite nice. Well, to be fair, the whole premise is a grey area so I guess the age gap shouldn't be a problem for most who decide to try this game haha. Anyway, I really liked Masaomi. He's like the oldest brother that's super caring about his family, but also a bit childish, maybe because he's kinda like Wataru's father lol. I thought Masaomi was the one who took care of most of the brothers but Masaomi got too busy with his job so that kinda fell on Ukyo instead, which I'm looking forward to in the future! But yeah, I really loved how kind, gentle and sweet Masaomi was all the time, and I really liked how much he had that nice older brother vibe that I super dig lol. You can say, he really soothed my heart LOL, like every time I spend some time going through the route, he always makes my heart warm and makes me smile because of how kind he is, and I just really loved that. I always love how he always takes interest in his patients' interests and does his best to understand them so he can better interact with these kids and make them have an easier time in the hospital. Anyway, I'm super proud of myself that I was able to finish this route in Japanese!! I probably didn't understand 100% of it, but I think I got most of it and I'm so happy about that! I probably spent wayyy too much time on the dictionary searching for kanji but I can definitely see the progress and I'm looking forward to finishing all the routes! It's still kinda crazy to me though, like I still remember once upon a time, I really wanted to play this game and honestly hoped for a localisation one day, but now I've given up and decided to just practise my Japanese with it instead lol. It's interesting how things have come to be, but I'm excited for the rest~

#brothers conflict

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izukuwus · 4 years

Text

Bunny Eyes

A/N: I JUST WANTED TO WRITE BUNNYZUKU GETTING DISAPPOINTED AND BEING CUTE HOW DID THIS HAPPEN BUT Y’ALL WANTED THE SICKFIC SO HERE’S THE SICKFIC

Summary: Saying 'no' to your boyfriend is hard enough, does he have to make you feel so guilty when you’re already sick? (bunny!Izuku x sick!reader, fluff)

Warnings: uh none, the reader has the flu and has flu symptoms but I didn’t go into like, gross descriptions

Word count: 2600+ (HOW THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SHORT AND SWEET)

Your boyfriend might be just a little bit evil.

Not in the traditional sense, no, Izuku's too pure and kind and good for this world. Reckless, selfless, and all around perfect.

But he's evil and he knows if he just looks at you just right, you won't be able to say no.

Currently, you're bed-bound from a nasty flu that's been making you feel absolutely miserable. When you're not asleep, the farthest you've been able to go is being miserable on your balcony in the fresh air (usually at night, since this damn flu has absolutely slam dunked your sleep schedule) or sneaking on to your computer to game, exhaustion and dizziness and all manner of symptoms making even sitting up for too long a chore.

You have to thank whatever powers are out there for Izuku's loving hand in your recovery. You don't trust yourself to make it all the way downstairs to the kitchen from your fourth-floor dorm room, and without even asking, he's stopped by every morning and afternoon since you got sick to bring you food, including a few simple pre-packed things to choke down for lunch and extra bottles of water. Not that you've been particularly hungry, but on the rare occasion you feel well enough to choke something down, thanks to him, you've actually been able to.

He's constantly been worried over you, since even before you started dating in your first year, but the flu picking you up and effortlessly slamming you through the floor certainly hasn't helped that. Still, he's so sweet, and by this point (day 5 since you got sick, but who’s counting?) he's basically the only sunshine you're getting. You're sure if your bunny-eared boyfriend didn't have class to go to (and Aizawa was adamant that he still attend class), he'd be at your side every moment, fussing over you and making sure you eat, stay hydrated, and take your medicine.

Unluckily for you (or perhaps luckily—your medicine tastes utterly vile and isn't helping your stomach settle any more), he's had class every day since you got sick, and he can't afford to fall behind even if he's apparently spending most of his time in class worrying over how you're doing alone in your dorm.

Whether him being at class every day is lucky or unlucky, the opposite is true for today. (Or is it tomorrow? What time is it again?) It's the weekend, meaning he's got no other obligations to deal with, so you can and do expect him to want to spend every moment doting and fussing and using those damn eyes to get you to relent and take your disgusting medicine.

On one hand, score, cute boy acting as your nurse. On the other hand, if he spends all day in your room tending to your sick-people needs, he's gonna get sick, and it'll be an utter nightmare trying to get him to take his medicine and actually rest. God knows he'll be trying to sneak in studying when you're not keeping an eye on him. You'll probably have to confiscate his weights so he doesn't try to work out while he's still sick. (Not that you aren't almost just as bad, but at least you're not a rabbit with godlike ability in terms of sheer power and speed to make it harder to deal with.)

As much as you'd adore having his presence with you to make you go from miserable to "miserable but also very aware of how in love you are and being forced to take gross meds" (which kinda cancels itself out), you don't want him getting sick or wasting his whole day on you. Also, you get the feeling he's probably smart enough to figure out that you haven't been resting as much as you say you have. For now, at least, you're sat on your balcony, leaned up against the railing lightly to get some fresh air. And that's where you fall asleep, exhaustion hitting you like so many trucks.

When you wake up, you're being cradled against Izuku's chest and carried to your bed. You shiver, feeling both heat and cold overtake you, and tears prick at your eyes as you realize your fever has almost definitely come back in full force. Izuku pulls back your covers and lays you down, not noticing you're awake until he moves to drape the blanket back over your body. His rabbit ears stand at full attention, his face lighting up just a moment before a playfully chiding look comes on his face.

"You shouldn't be sleeping outside like that, love, you'll get even more sick. And based on how hot you felt when I picked you up, you did." He places his hands on his hips, frowning even as you note the sparkle of affection in his eyes. You're not sure he's even capable of getting actually mad at you.

"Sorry," you mumble, bringing the covers up to hide your face and how utterly awful you look before deciding almost immediately that you're going to overheat under these covers. You writhe about just enough to kick them off, already feeling sweat form on your skin. "The air felt really nice."

You end up throwing a pillow over your face so at least the worst part of you is hidden, hugging it close when Izuku laughs and tries to move it away. "I brought breakfast, please quit hiding so you can eat?"

"But I look like shit," you whine into the pillow. "I don't even have the energy to get downstairs. I had to wash my hair in my bathroom sink."

Warm hands find their way to your wrists, gently prying your hands and the pillow away so you can meet his adoring gaze. If you weren't already flushed from fever, you'd probably have the energy for a blush to find its way to your face. "You're perfect, starshine," he says softly, causing your heart to stutter and your body to instantly melt. His library of pet names never ceases to pull you further into love.

Before you can find some response, he crosses the room to your desk, where he apparently set his Nurse Deku Kit™ so he could carry you back inside. You shift a bit to lean up against your wall, watching in amusement as the giant cotton ball he calls a tail twitches a little bit. You hope, idly, that he doesn't notice that your computer's only in sleep mo—

He bumps the mouse by accident, and the screen lights up immediately, showing your games library with a very obvious "recently played" list. Busted.

He lets out a little sigh as he turns back to you with a thermometer in hand. "Princess..."

You try hard not to look like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and smile innocently at him as he approaches. He sits on the side of your bed, and you tilt your head. "Something wrong?"

He holds out the thermometer, and you obediently let him stick it underneath your tongue, knowing he won't let you out of having your temperature taken. "Have you been resting?"

You nod. He hums, clearly not believing you. "Are you feeling up to eating anything?"

Your nose scrunches up, your stomach turning at the thought. "Ughf," you force out around the thermometer.

Izuku frowns, ruffling your hair as the thermometer beeps. He takes it from you, and his nose twitches as he reads the number. You'd fawn over how adorable it is if not for the look of worry that crosses his features. "Your fever's back, starshine. I really need you to rest more for me, okay?"

Not that you're planning on arguing, but it's really hard to have the will to when his ears drop down and he gives you a look like you just kicked a puppy. You nod, and he perks up just a bit, placing a new water bottle on your nightstand and reaching for a box of crackers. "I know you're not feeling up to eating, but can you do me a favor and eat just one cracker?"

You compromise with half a cracker before your body threatens to revolt for your hubris. You pause, forcing yourself to swallow it, and chase it with a bit of water. With Izuku's coaxing words and a minor break, you manage to choke down the rest without getting even sicker, and he gives you a strained smile that still manages to light up the room.

He leans forward, and you sense his intentions, narrowing your eyes and putting a hand up in front of his lips. "No."

Izuku lets out a disgruntled noise that's a mix between a grunt and a whine when his lips meet your fingers. "Baby," he whines out.

"No!" you insist. "You'll get sick, 'Zuku."

"But I miss you," he says as his ears fall all the way back, his eyes reminding you of one of those adoption commercials with all the sad animals that make you cry every time. "Please, starshine?"

Shit. You're already desperately trying to bring your resolve back. You swear he's figured out exactly how to get you to do what he wants, but you won't falter this time! "No kisses. I shouldn't even be letting you stay in the room to take care of me."

As if the bunny eyes and the oh-so-adorably-expressive ears weren't enough, he wiggles closer to you, taking your hand in both of his and running his thumb over it. "I got my flu shot, I'll be fine! I promise!" He pauses, pouting a bit. You can't tell if it's him thinking or another way to express how disappointed he is. "Please baby? Honey? Sweetheart? Starshine? Princess? Rosebud? Light of my life?"

"Nooo," you press with a giggle as he continues running through every possible pet name he can in a playfully pleading tone. "I know you got your flu shot, but so did I, and here I am."

"Still..." He keeps those damn green eyes (that's the official name for that shade, damn green) locked on yours sadly, and the guilt spikes in your stomach. "Just one?"

And like that, your resolve crumbles. "You're evil, you know that?" you mumble, tearing your eyes away. They dart back just in time to see his whole being light up, rabbit ears effortlessly perking up from their previous saddened position. "Using such a dirty trick. You get one."

You'd continue berating him for the crime of using his adorable face to get what he wants, but he immediately takes your face in his hands and begins showering your face with kisses–your cheeks, your nose, your forehead–everywhere except your lips, which he saves for last, a slow, sweet, chaste kiss that leaves you melting.

"Izuku..." you whine as he pulls away. "I said one."

He chuckles, resting his forehead against yours. "Sorry, starshine. I couldn't help myself."

Your playful ire melts at the way his eyes flutter shut in contentment, small smiles on both of your lips. He surely knows by now that it's impossible for you to say no, not when he's this damn cute.

A giggle surges out of you, followed by a coughing fit that you desperately cover in your elbow. When you catch your breath, you smirk at him, eyes sparkling. "If you get sick because of this, I'm confiscating your weights so you can't try to train."

"Alright, alright, I get it. You haven't taken your medicine yet today, right?" You wince, turning your head away preemptively. "'Zu-kun..." you whine.

"[name]..." His tone is gently chiding as he prepares the medicine, unscrewing the cap with one hand and gently placing the other under your cheek and pushing you back to face him. "You're not gonna get better if you keep trying to skip your medicine and sneak onto the computer instead of resting."

"But if I take the medicine, I might throw up the cracker, and it was so hard to eat just the one..." You give him your best puppy eyes, but he only smiles fondly and shakes his head, continuing to measure out your dose.

“You'll get all the cuddles when you're better if you take your medicine like you're supposed to," he promises.

You pout, but when he extends the dose cup filled with liquid distaste, you begrudgingly take it, downing it like the least pleasant shot you've ever had in your life. You gag on the swallow, but you down every drop, pouting at Izuku when it's all down. "Happy?"

"Very. You did a good job, princess." He ruffles your hair, and you really wish you could muster the energy to be flustered at the praise like you normally would, but honestly, you already feel yourself kind of drifting back off. Determined, you shoot him a smile and try to distract yourself from sleepiness.

"I know it's a weekend, but if I stay in bed and promise to get rest, can I get away with asking to see your notes from class?" You plead, giving him your best puppy-eyed look.

"I don't know, you haven't shown me a very good track record of actually resting," he says teasingly, not yet having looked at you as he rifles through his little kit for something else.

"'Zu-kun," you whine, stifling a yawn. "I don't wanna go to sleep yet. Please?"

Izuku disappears into your bathroom for a moment, followed shortly by the sound of running water, and when he emerges to see your pleading look, you can see his own resolve crumble.

Two can play at his little pleading game.

He smooths a hand over your forehead to move your hair out of the way, laying a blue towel over your sweat-slicked forehead that's cold, far too cold—

You let out a whine as you shiver. "How is it even that cold?" You mumble, shifting into your blankets more in an attempt to balance the heat.

"Oh, it's one of those exercise towels," he explains. "They're made so they get really cold when they're wet. I want to try to bring your temperature down, but if it's way too cold, I can get a regular towel instead–"

You shake your head. The cold does feel soothing, underneath all the cold cold cold so cold making you shiver. "Notes?" you remind him.

He leans forward and presses a quick peck to the towel in your forehead before you can stop him. "I love you, [name], but it can wait until you're feeling better."

"So can kisses," you retort, swatting at him lightly. "I don't wanna be useless the whole time I'm sick, so—" You break off into a yawn. "—so please let me study a bit?"

"Try to eat half of one more cracker before you fall asleep and I might consider it when you wake up," he says with a teasing grin. You pout and hold out your hand for him to place the broken cracker in.

"I hate having crumbs in my bed," you mutter, nibbling away at the cracker. You barely manage to eat the half you were given, your body protesting your attempts to actually eat and keep something down all the while, but you do manage it.

Izuku's fingers entwine with your own, a fond smile on his face as you feel yourself nodding off. "[Name]?"

"Mm?"

"I love you. Get better soon, okay?"

"Love you too," you reply sleepily, another yawn wracking your body. "Sorry. I wanted to stay up and... talk with you... but..."

A hand finds its way into your hair to play with it as your eyes drift shut. "It's okay," he says adoringly, "We'll talk later. Get some rest, princess."

#midoriya izuku x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bunny!izuku #deku x reader #my fics

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infernalshadowtheif · 3 years

Text

Synthetic Blood

After taking over her father's company, Lena Luthor spends her time trying to develop a safe man made synthetic blood for medical science and maybe for herself and her kind too of course. You see, Lena is technically human but she is also technically a vampire, well more of a half vampire that's more or less human except for her extra abilities and vitality. As she tries to develop a Blood substitute her brother Lex attempts to steer her away from the light and back down a dark path that has always beckoned her to walk down.

[Look, vampires are kinda cool and I've been meaning to finish this idea that I literally dreamed about last year so let me know if you guys like it, hate it, or have ideas for it yeah? I'll post it on Ao3 later.] Words: 3,036K 🙃

Lillian took the cold metal brush handle in her hand, making it up to her hair, and started to brush through the already smooth tresses of hair on Lena's head.

"On to more pressing matters, it seems we won't be hunting for a while, seeing that the humans are now more aware of our kind since your brother started his little war with the Kryptonians." The aimless brushing continued a bit rougher than before but not painful.

"How are we to feed then mother, how are you going to feed? I am obviously already prepared but I know you prefer straight from the source." There was a slight hesitation in the last stroke of the cold brush.

Lillian set it down slowly almost methodically as she turned away and towards the moonlit window behind them.

Lena looked after the older woman cautiously.

"Mother?" Wearily she stood from the vanity mirror and closer to Lillian’s side.

She received a click of a tongue as an answer before she sighed.

"I hated how it reeked on his body, your father I mean, I hated how the smell of artificial blood was always stuck to him, it reminded me of that awful white meat substitute that some humans love in place of real meat."

"Tofu mother," Lena added helpfully as Lillian sneered further at the window and crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.

"Yes, that was it. He always smelled of his fake blood, you already adopted his tendencies to not want to drink from the source of what we need to survive, which is fine but I’ll never understand it." She turned her head to Lena almost puzzled.

“Well mother I know that this situation will be harder but I’ll try and figure something out for us. I'm sure I can maybe synthesize something more to your preferences if need be."

Lillian wasn't the warmest parent compared to most others but after Lex went on with his blood-war with the aliens, she saw that Lena was more stable than she originally thought, especially compared to her son. So through great effort and shattered pride, she tried her best to bridge the gap between her and her daughter as best as she could, trying to make up for years of neglect and misplaced scorn.

With a defeated sigh Lillian finally turned to look at her youngest,

"Thank you, dear, I know you'll try no matter how many times I say I'll be fine. I just want you to use that brilliant brain of yours for more than just little old me, I'm content with the choices and endless amount of repenting I have waiting for me when it's time." Lillian never smiled at Lena, at least not often, especially as a child, but the one she gave her at that moment was the best one she'd ever seen.

“I think we all do mother. Thank you for taking care of me and letting me wait out the sun for today, I lost track of time again.” Lena lightly skims her thumb over the still healing blemish on her arm, if she were a full vampire like the rest of the Luthors in her family she would have lost it or simply turned to dust as her father did.

“Any time dear, this is still your home too, no matter what your brother claims.”

Lena almost cries, such simple words that her past self would have never dreamed of hearing from the woman before her, Lena simply nods in acknowledgment and heads back out to her car to get back to her apartment.

The drive back to National City is quiet, the long highway back lets her mind playback the hellish day she had, to say she’s dreading the minute she has to see the cities resident Super would be an understatement.

She saw me, I know she saw what I’m capable of. Or at least that I'm definitely NOT human.

Lena’s thoughts turn darker as she imagines the red-caped hero’s look of repulsion and utter hate when she does truly figure out that she’s a creature of the dark, or, at least half of one.

Her mind spirals further down the dark hole of fear of what she will do with her, so much so that she missed the new set of headlights quickly coming closer in her side-view mirror.

When it finally caught enough to slam into her back bumper she quickly snaps out of it and tries to keep her own car on the road and away from the sheer drop of the mountainside to her right.

“Fuck! Now, what!?” The vehicle sways again as the car behind her clashes into hers, she took one of her more pedestrian cars today so her usual horsepower she’d use to escape is severely lacking this time as another hit on her life is in motion again this week.

So much for going incognito.

The shattering of her rear window makes her jump, the side of her car slamming right into the metal railing, seeing the lack of ground on the other side has her heart drop right into her stomach as she tries to get control again.

Big nope to that.

Another pop was registered in Lena’s brain as she finally lost control of her car, her vision spinning just as quickly as the car itself.

“Fuckfuckfuck! I swear, I'm going to stake you myself when I deal with your pets, Lex!” Sweating out of panic, Lena decides that trying to outspeed them won’t happen while in her brick ford car, she figures that she just might have to use some of her power for this one.

Her car makes a sudden stop as the front end crashes through the metal railing at the edge of the road, she was lucky the car became wedged into the twisted metal otherwise she would have had a very unfortunate freefall over the cliff.

Dizzyingly, Lena pries her hands from the steering wheel, her death grip making her bones ache as she tried for her seatbelt next. The sound of car doors slamming shut jumpstarts her heartrate, flooding her system with adrenaline.

The shadows in the headlights get closer, the sound of a gun reloading, four sets of boots crunching on gravel as they round her car on both sides.

She is actually scared now, her right shoulder twinges painfully as she tries to rip out the buckle of her seatbelt, “Ah, shit.” They actually hit her it seems, her white blouse is starting to bleed red down her arm the more she struggles on the belt.

A balding man crouches down into her window, his eyes are glazed over, his face is twisted into a sickening grin. “Hello halfy,” He sneers. “Your big brother wanted us to check in on you this fine night, he was deathly worried for your health as of late.”

His gaze snaps to her bloody shoulder fixated on it for a second or so as he takes a deep breath of warm fresh blood, his dull eyes start to pool red as he takes another lung full of bloody air.

Lena shudders in disgust tilting her face away from his, he reeks of death and rot, ghouls were her least favorite creature that her brother had in his employ.

“Enjoying ourselves are we?” She mutters as his eyes roll open again.

He hums in delight. “He did say your blood was more or less mortal, it's almost humanly sweet.” his smile widens, some kind of old meat seemingly stuck in his teeth and gums as he appraises the state of her and her battered car. “Shame you didn't drive your nicer car, we could have stripped it for parts, but ah, oh well. We’re only here for you tonight then sadly.”

A creaking noise shook the car as he ripped her driver’s door clean off its hinges, Lenas heightened smell was shocked by a wall of death the bald man oozed when he leaned in to free her of her seatbelt and dragged her out of the car by the scruff of her blouse.

Still dazed and newly freed from the metal deathtrap, Lena saw this as her last chance to try and escape from her brother’s lackeys. “I may smell human but by no means does that mean that I’m weak like one.” Latching onto the ghoul’s arm with shaking hands, Lena uses his own weight to counterbalance them both into the loose dirt and flipped herself over again to grab for his throat. She hates to use it but her power has to be used now before what little blood she does drink wears off and leaves her completely defenseless, she’ll have to kill him quickly.

His body starts to convulse as she uses her hand to tear into his fragile throat, black rotten blood oozing over her fingers as his body finally stops thrashing about. She’s still aware of the three heartbeats of the other goons as she finally stands up, her glowing eyes lock onto a man with mousy brown hair, his own eyes are terrified. They all are.

These ones are all human, two are just boys compared to her own age, and they’re all frozen stock still like rabbits to a fox.

Lena is shaking, she doesn’t kill humans, she won’t stoop to her brother’s level. “Leave, go home and forget about this whole night, I don't want to kill any of you. This man was not human, he likely would have eaten you all after my death so take this as an act of mercy. Please.”

The youngest is seems to want no part so he tossed down his weapon and dragged the other two back to their vehicle, the older ones still frozen and staring at the rapidly decaying body of the now-dead ghoul. “Let’s get the hell out of here guys!”

The car ripped out and back onto the highway leaving a wobbly and drained Lena in the dust, “Ugh!” She shrieks in anger as she kicks the rotten body in her rage.

Before she can take out more of her frustration on the dead ghoul she hears a familiar chime of her phone’s ringtone, or more specifically, Karas ringtone.

“Shit. Movie night, I was supposed to be at Karas tonight.” Grumbling as she whipped her bloody hand on her jeans, she bent over to pick up her cracked phone to answer her friend.

“Lena?” Lena sighed, “Hi Kara, I'm sorry for not calling you back, I seem to have run into some car trouble on my way to yours.” Glancing over to her clearly totaled car she winced at the sight of it, “Well more like it's completely totaled now.”

On Karas’s end of the line, she heard a crash and rushing of footsteps, “Ohmygosh! Are you okay Lena?? Where are you, I can come to get you or send my friend to help? Please tell me you’re okay..”

The brunette felt her eyes well up with tears, she really didn't deserve this human known as Kara Danvers, she really didn't.

“I'm off of creek falls and the main highway near the cliff drop, I'm no worse for wear sort of, I'm standing on my own two feet at the moment so I’d say ok, for now anyway, I definitely need a shower and a lot of sleep after this though.” Lena tried to joke but didn't hear Kara anymore, just a rush of air against the microphone.

Confused Lena checks the line, “Kara? Are you still there?”

“Y-yeah Lena I'm still here, um, please don't be mad." Now that made Lena pause. "What? Why would I be mad at you?"

The wind in the earpiece lighted up a bit, "I'm almost there, I'm picking you up, I called Alex she'll be on her way too okay? Was there another car involved or an animal run across the road?" Panic gripped at Lena, Kara can't see this mess! Let alone the rotting ghoul body at her feet, she wouldn't understand!

"Kara, wait, it’s alright I already called the authorities and everything, it'll take a bit but I'm fine right now, also don't drive while on the phone! I don't want to be the cause of yet another accident tonight." Lena hear Kara scoff into the phone, "Thank you for the concern, but I'm definitely not driving, I don't even have a permit." She chuckled at her own expense.

Another pause.

"I'll be fine, just promise not to be mad when you see me? Yelling is fine but don't hate me, please." Anxiety wasn't a common thing for Lena but right now she can feel it clawing up her throat and she swallowed down her guilt of having her sweet fragile Kara seeing what her own monstrous hands are capable of.

She trusts Kara with her life, she'll have to trust her with her dark secret now. "Only if you promise me the same, it’s a mess over here and I'm certain that it'll be horrific for you to see why."

Kara hummed in thought for a second, "Well duh, I could never hate you Lena, or any other bad emotion towards you really." She said carefully like if she said it louder Lena wouldn't believe her.

"Ah wait, I think I see you? Oh." Kara whispered then the line went dead.

Lena was sitting hunched against her busted car, looking around confused at the lack of vehicle, Kara nowhere in sight. Letting out a ragged breath Lena let her head fall back with her eyes closed, praying that Kara would listen to her explain the scene before her.

The brunette’s eyes snapped open when she felt a warm hand on her good shoulder, to say she almost shit a brick would be putting it very lightly because right before her was Supergirl, but in Kara Danvers' sweats, T-shirt, and a very red cape with no socks or shoes to top it all off. Being shocked would be a very light word for how Lena is at that moment.

Super- uh, Kara is pretty much herself while she looks Lena over, making soft cooing noises as she checks over each scrape and bruise, she all but balls her eyes out when she shifts Lena's shirt to check the gunshot wound.

"Lena, Rao, I should have listened further out for you, if I was listening I could have stopped this." Lena was a bit slow to process her words but she quickly bounced back and stupidly asked, “Kara? You’re not human?” Kara stilled her hands, “Yeah. I'm sorry I kept it from you ‘till now, I just could never find the right moment to tell you. I was going to try again tonight if that’s worth anything.”

Kara did look nervous, wary that Lena was angry about her lying for so long, but instead of being angry Lena just full body laughed at their predicament.

As light tears started to form in Lena's eyes Kara nervously held the brunette's hand. "Lena? I don't know if laughing should make me feel nervous or happy right now."

Lena chuckled a couple more times and pulled the blonde into a relieved hug. "I've been an idiot, I've been trying to bring up the fact that I'm not human either for the past year Kara, so right now I think it's a bit ridiculous that you've been worrying about the same thing." Lena definitely didn't miss the full bodied twitch Kara did after hearing her say this, she understood though, Lena is technically human but only partially. It was briefly a one sided embrace until Kara hugged her back with almost all her strength, leaving Lena only mildly squished but overall content.

Their little bubble was immediately burst when a black SUV pulled up to blind the two of them, a bedraggled Alex dressed in her own pajamas and combat boots holding a shovel, "Kara. Tell me why did you text me 911 please bring a shovel! At 1 am Kara- WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT??"

Alex is out of her car and right by Kara's side almost instantly when the once thought to be dead ghoul flips onto its side to drag its to Lena, grossly gurgling its black blood as it crawls over to the trio.

"That would be what's left of my brother's newest hit and sent to check in on me. He's a ghoul so I probably should have made sure to take the whole head off inside of ripping her throat out." Lena extracts herself from an equally shocked Kara and tugs the shovel out of Alex's limp fingers, "Please pardon me, I'll give it right back."

Alex looks at her dumbfounded, Lena shrugs as she turns back to the ghoul clearly annoyed beyond belief. "I would say have a nice trip given that you're going straight to hell but I really don't appreciate what you did to my car, " she glances over at the once upon a time pristine white paint job and cringes at the many bullet holes and scratches.

"Actually I'm more pissed that I had to meet you at all, so, bye now."

She raised the shovel as high as she could with her good arm and swung down with all of her might, the ghoul let out one last hiss as the head fell from his body.

Exhausted Lena looks back at the gawking Danvers sisters, "Help me clean this up and I'll get you both whatever food you want and could eat for a month?" She was almost certain Alex was going to shoot her up until that offer was in play, both sisters bolted up and came over to help.

"You're also going to fill us in about whatever the hell that thing was and why he worked for your brother." Alex stated as she waved her hand in Lena's direction in an almost protective voice.

"And about the not human thing." Kara mumbled as she grabbed the creatures legs over to the deepening hold Alex was currently working on.

With a big sigh of relief Lena nodded, vowing to answer whatever her two friends asked her.

"Deal."

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rejectclone · 4 years

Text

Even though I’ve never played Minecraft EVER in my life, since Steve got in smash I tried learning some general stuff about the series on the wiki and apparently there’s no ‘real’ lore to him??? I tried making some headcanons at least since I genuinely like the character potential he has!

* Steve seemed to originate out of virtually nowhere, just being spotted by some villagers one day and he seemed to just set up camp nearby, soon making a small house of his own.

* He is mute, but is still capable of writing in English and communicating with ASL. Unfortunately for him, villagers and other sentient humanoid species do not comprehend his hand gestures, and thinks he’s just messing around with them, much to his dismay.

* As for how he learned how to write and use ASL, he oddly doesn’t seem to remember. He assumes he learned it from his parents, and yet he doesn’t even remember their own faces.

* He claims that he is a orphan, as most of his childhood memories seem to be in a haze, and his stronger memories seem to exist from his mid-teenage years as he was already living off the land on his own.

* He is gifted in both mining and construction, and likes to dabble in alchemy. However he is still a rookie at it, and has accidentally ruined many important items by trying to place enchantments upon them.

* He doesn’t really have that many hobbies, as he’s always focused on maintaining his home, crops, animals, and safety, which is a constant 24/7 endeavor. Later on after exploring more villages and learning new lifestyle related information, he has taken up reading as a small hobby. This is where he first learned of preforming alchemy, as he once thought it was impossible to learn if you weren’t ‘gifted’ with it.

* He has seen his fair share of mobs, but the ones that seem to ALWAYS rock him to his core are oddly enough, the zombies. He claims that every time he even glances at one, he feels extreme discomfort. Perhaps it has to deal with most zombies originating of supposed human origin, and their uncanny valley-ness getting to his mind.

* Zombies honestly may be the closet thing to ‘other human beings’ in the area, as Steve seems to be the odd one out in terms of species. Villagers, Illagers, Endermen, and other sorts are in abundance, but not his own kind. He tries to not let this go to his head, but there has been plenty of nights of him suffering from touch-deficiency and total isolation.

* Even though he may be seen as a outsider to many, nobody can deny how much of a optimist he is. Constantly beaming with joy and always willing to help, he has become well known for being one of the most incredibly helpful people out there.

* However it is quite rare in which he comes off as incredibly stoic and even morose. When like this, the metaphysical aura he gives off is immediately powerful and extremely unsettling, to the point some usually hyper aggressive hostile mobs seem to notice this and actually leave him alone.

* Genuinely did not know WHAT a cake was. Learned about it and tried it for the first time from a farmer villager, and has been completely enamored since. Has developed a bit of a sweet tooth from consuming too much after learning about it, and now tries to eat cake moderately. He also enjoys pumpkin pie, but only during the fall months since it feels ‘more cozy feeling’. Ironically not a huge fan of cookies, and prefers the chocolate in them to be used in cakes.

* His favorite mobs to interact with are most of his own livestock! He owns pigs, cows, sheep, donkeys, and even a rabbit! However, chickens might be his top favorite, and thankfully he doesn’t really eat them and instead just takes advantage of their eggs and how fun and enjoyable it is to maintain them. Later on as he saw parrots for the first time in person, he has been in absolute love with them!

* Even though he does keep and maintain livestock, he is petrified by the concept of keeping a permanent house pet. He has actually tamed some wolves and cats in the past, but has endured too much heartbreak when they are accidentally killed when trying to defend him when undead mobs attack near their home. He always breaks down when burying their remains.

* He does own a horse, but is wary of using it since the last thing he wants to do is accidentally overstrain it and cause it any harm. He still cannot bear to see any more animals under his care go through any pain for him.

* He keeps a small beehive near his house, as he enjoys how their pollination leads to some beautiful flowers sprouting up around his home. He sometimes harvests their honey, but has been stung so many times that he’s not really willing to harvest honeycombs again. It took him quite some time to realize that he needed to use a campfire to calm the bees down, as before he just literally shoved his arm in the hive to get honeycombs.

* He will sometimes try to add new flowers that he discovers from his travels to his home’s makeshift garden, but eventually he really started to put more effort in having a visually pleasing garden and not just having a mess of various plants and flowers.

* Kinda thinks Creepers are cute, but is equally scared of their odd ability to explode violently. He has tried many times to tame them but always inadvertently scares them, soon prompting their unfortunate demise. He still has hope for possibly meeting a non-exploding Creeper one day, but will still keep his distance out of fear.

* He is a good swimmer, capable to dive to considerable depths, but refuses to go down to the deeper parts of the ocean such as the surface floor. Mainly out of concern from accidentally drowning by not being able to make it to the water’s surface in time, and also his distaste for looking at the Drowned as they also give him that ‘off’ feeling.

* He doesn’t mind crafting potions when needed, but feels like most of the time they’re quite unnecessary as they mainly take away the trill and inherent danger of exploring. He will cave in however and will use the Potion of Water Breathing and the Potion of Fire Resistance when he knows he’s heading into some riskier areas.

* As for how Steve met Alex, it was quite sudden actually. He was just out exploring when he saw them hunting in the distance, stalking some Skeletons. He assumed at first it was just some brave Villager, but soon noticed how their physical proportions seem to mirror his. After realizing that they ARE human, he was too shy and terrified to actually go up to them and introduce himself. What if they thought he was a creepy stalker? Or a Pillager?! It seems to be fate however when Alex was soon cornered and he threw himself into the fray to help. After the fight, the two awkwardly interacted, as Alex does speak English but didn’t realize that Steve was mute. Since then the two have interacted more and more, showing to each other their homes and various bases, along with trading goods and their own life stories to pass the time together. He does hold some romantic feelings for Alex, but holds it inside of him as he fears that expressing his love would inadvertently scare them away.

* His body is wracked with scars, all from various accidents and misadventures. Strangely however, he does have some scars that would only be created from fatal wounds, such as a arrow entry-wound scar directly over where his heart should be, or odd deep bite wounds around his neck. Steve always seems to shrug these scars off and claim that they’re usually from falling debris when mining, but it seems unlikely.

* He claims that he tends to suffer from randomly occurring nightmares, all ending in brutal deaths such as being burned alive in lava or being ripped to shreds by zombies. If you were to ask what happened before these events, he will explain that it feels ‘just like any other day’ before the death happens. He is completely oblivious to the fact that after each nightmare, a new scar seems to appear on his body.

* Sometime after Steve ‘moved in’ to the area, there has been some strange rumors of another human, a unusually hostile human..... Some Villagers claim it is a near splitting image of Steve, but they refuse to believe it’s him. After all, why would he become so....... brutal..... The few that managed to observe this human usually claim that his body is usually drenched in his own gore from being mauled, charred beyond belief, riddled with arrows and weapons still lodged in their flesh, or even fully drenched in seawater with them perpetually vomiting it and blood out. Others claim that this human has no pupils or iris, just a unsettling white void that almost appears ethereal-like.

* When addressing Steve about this odd human lurking around in this area, he is actually quite curious yet afraid about it. He met Alex by chance, as they’re more of a free roaming explorer, so perhaps this new human is akin to Alex’s more extreme traveling lifestyle? He does agree however on their reported violent behavior to be..... deeply unsettling....... setting Illagers on fire to only chop up their corpses in the end, disfiguring and torturing Witches with their own potions, purposely corralling Creepers together to cause a horrible chain reaction to occur that deeply scars the ground, drowning Endermen and proceeding to gouge out their eyes after the deed has been done......... certainly dark actions for a twisted individual. Steve thinks they might be observing him, as he has found trails of blood and other various fluids leading up to his house’s door every few days. He can only hope that if they were to meet one fateful day, he would be spared.

#really had fun writing these!!!!#minecraft #MC Steve #steve #mc alex #Alex #herobrine #vinyl scratching

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twistedsinews · 3 years

Text

Like Rabbits Seeking Buried Treasure Under the Moonlight

Cyberpunk 2077; Jackie/V, T-Bug, assorted others; PG-13 (AO3 Flavor)

“...point being, I think we deserve a bonus.”

The woman in the swank suit stared at her, an icy fury boiling her eyes.

“But, hey,” V remarked, the shard dangling between her fingertips, “if you don’t wanna comp us what it’s worth, we can always put it back and you can find another team willing and capable not only to take on a corp but also work outside of a fixer.”

Expression still fixed in a scowl, Lavigne glanced off. Then she turned back to the table, credit chip pinched between her thumb and forefinger. She placed it flat, and slid it across the table.

V nudged Jackie. He tore his attention away from the dancefloor below, and reached for the chip over V’s shoulder to give it a scan.

“Looks clean,” he told V.

“Of course it’s clean.” Lavigne huffed. Rising from her seat, she leaned forward to snatch the shard from V, who amicably let it slip away and brushed her thumb against her fingertips instead. “I never want to hear from you again.”

“Feeling’s mutual,” V told her quietly, as the woman faded into the crowd without a backward word.

Behind her, Jackie started to snigger. Smirking, V raised her hand and he clasped it tightly; she squeezed back before letting go. Her head lolled back against the chair, and she smiled at him before rolling to her feet.

The night was young, and they’d just gotten paid overtime.

“How the hell do you do that, anyway?” Jackie asked, as they made their way down from the balcony.

“Do what?”

“Put ideas into peoples’ heads without even saying ‘em. You had her thinking exactly what you wanted her to think.”

“I told the truth; it was her own goddamn paranoia did her in.”

“Fuck, how’d you know she’d think it was worth extra?”

“Educated guess. She was willing to go outside of a fixer to get it. And she was so worried that I’d read it she didn’t even think of you as anything but dumb hustle. Just ‘cause someone can make it in the corpo life doesn’t make ‘em any less of a gonk.”

“...you ever do that to me?”

At the bottom stair, V paused to look up at him. “Huh?”

“You know – make me think shit that’s not true.”

Staring down at her, Jackie wasn’t even offended by the notion.

Just openly curious.

V thought about it, and shrugged. “Can’t remember a time I ever needed to.”

Jackie snorted.

“What?” V scoffed. “That was a no.”

“Mhhm,” Jackie intoned.

He reached for her hand, and his fingers tangled with hers as he took the lead.

Dancing in Night City was nothing like in the badlands, V had learned early on. Even different districts, different clubs could have their own unique flair. Melding them together gave her a distinct style all her own, that shifted and changed with the mood and the music.

Jackie wasn’t quite as fluid in style, but nevertheless he improvised as best as he could and kept up with her all the same. They shared a kind of synchronicity that transferred smoothly from the battlefield to the dance floor.

A woman drifted along the far wall, circling inward as she watched them. As the night wore on, she moved right into V’s orbit.

It was almost too subtle to be called a dance, the way they circled one another on the floor. The woman moved with a refined kind of elegance, her cream-colored dress splashed with the colorful lights of the club. V found herself entranced by the pale glow of the strangers eyes.

And when Jackie got too close, the stranger stared at him icily.

Taken aback, he offered the woman a nod of understanding and a repentant smile. Meeting V’s eyes, he stepped away.

Just because they had an arrangement, didn’t make them exclusive; just because they shared didn’t mean every hookup worked out that way.

They ended up along the dark edge of the room. Pushed up against the wall, V found the peculiar glow of the woman’s eyes seemed even brighter, with the light of the bar shining like a halo behind her. Her own eyes slid closed, she tilted her face lower...

And then...

What she’d been expecting to happen, didn’t.

V blinked, at a loss, as the stranger stared at her, equally so.

Then, the woman simply turned to walk away.

V reached for her, and the woman shrugged her off. She cast a cold, blank stare over her shoulder, to which V raised her hands in a gesture of amicable peace.

The stranger slipped off into the crowd.

V cut her own path, her focus shifting back towards the dance floor, and the beating heart of the bar. There was plenty of delight left to be had, but the strangeness of the encounter, never mind the sting of the rebuff, left her feeling distant.

Instead, she made her way towards the outer landing, following the Exit sign. From there, she cast a perfunctory scan of the room.

At last, she caught sight of Jackie at the bar, a woman on either arm, each as different, at a cursory glance, as night and day, but complementing one another to a glitz perfection. He was splitting his attention between them, for all that Jackie had made himself the center of theirs; V couldn’t be sure what subject they might’ve been on, but he was energetic in telling some story or a joke while they hung off his every word in rapt attention.

With a soft sigh, V glanced away.

When she looked again, Jackie was staring right at her, vibrant expression faded.

Managing a faint smile, she held up a hand in a lackadaisical wave, meant to impart: Goodnight. Good luck. ‘Til tomorrow.

Jackie stared a moment longer, an inscrutable expression on his face as he watched her across the room, before seeming to remember he had company. He turned his mind back to them, twice as lively as before.

V tore herself away as he was kissing the brighter one’s hand.

Stepping out of the warm embrace of the bar and onto the chill night street, she breathed out a long, measured breath. Holograms and billboards cast bright shadows over the world, blotting out both the darkness and the moonlight, and despite the hour there were still a colorful assortment of people going about their business – legitimate and not.

With no destination in mind, V started down the street.

She’d only made it past a few buildings when a message flickered at the edge of her display, demanding attention.

Hold up.

Lifting her head, V blinked, and glanced behind her to find Jackie jogging to catch up. She waited for him, and only starting walking again once he’d fallen into step beside her. Quietly, at first, but when she didn’t say anything at first, he opted to fill the silence.

“After all that, didn’t work out, huh?”

V shrugged.

“Too bad. She’d been watching you the entire time we were negotiating with Lavigne, you know?”

“Since we walked in. But... hey, maybe all she wanted was a dance.” Not wanting to dwell on it, she veered onto a convergent path, “Anyway, why’d you split? Looked like you were having all the luck tonight.”

“Tch.” Jackie nudged her shoulder with his own. “Really, V, what kinda guy’d I be if I got off with twice the good fortune and let a choom walk home all by her lonesome?”

“‘Sides,” he added, “this is nearer my neighborhood, you may as well drop in.”

They walked along in comfortable silence. V’s gaze was drawn to Jackie as he moved with a confident, capable ease, though he was nevertheless weighing up every thin shadow between the buildings they passed.

Her eyes flicked lower, and her fingers brushed his hand.

All at once he was staring at her, a warm curiosity in his expression.

Casually, V glanced off.

As though the shadows between the buildings were that much more interesting than the warmth radiating from his hand, so close to hers. Movement caught in the corner of her eye, and her gaze drifted that way.

Jackie slipped away from her as her pace slowed, and he paused to turn back.

V’s sneakers scuffed the sidewalk as she stopped and blinked.

“Are rabbits common in Night City?”

“Not... that I know of. Why?”

V stared at the white little bunny rabbit, eating lettuce without a care in the goddamn world. Jackie stared at her like she'd lost her mind, or maybe dropped a tab of something she shouldn't have. “Nothing; no big deal.”

It was a bit of an absurd question. But when she looked again, the rabbit was cleaning its face, a pace or two from where it had been a moment ago. V took a step towards it, and it nonchalantly hopped away from her.

With a backwards glance at Jackie – who was still staring at her, at a loss – she took another step, and the rabbit stretched and pulled itself forward.

“You’re really not seeing this?”

With every cautious step V took behind it, the rabbit continued its leisurely way down the alley. Always, it seemed, the same distance away.

Still – she didn’t want to spook it and send it running.

Halfway down to a dead end, the rabbit turned towards the brick wall. The last V saw of it was a flash of its fluffy tail as it wriggled and vanished into the dark. Nearing where it had disappeared, she crouched down; at the base of the wall, bricks had been broken and removed, or had perhaps more simply fallen apart, and she found herself peering into a jagged hole close to the ground.

She couldn’t see into it, and scanning it turned up nothing. And so, without a second thought, V reached down into it.

“What’d you find?” Jackie asked.

V blinked up at him; he’d followed her step for step, even if he hadn’t seen the rabbit. But all she could do was shake her head.

She had no idea what it was.

Rather than soft, warm fur, her fingers found roughened, cold canvas – an old, faded military jacket stuffed in the gap. It was weighed down, and as V pulled it loose from its hiding place, the cloth unraveled around an older-style cyberdeck, at a glance not unlike the antique model she’d had to trade in when hers had stopped working.

But it was in good condition – better than hers had been. Finding its wire, she shrugged up at Jackie, and plugged it in.

A display booted across her lens, but all she could make of it endless stream of garbled data.

“It’s encrypted,” she told Jackie.

“Ah,” she winced, as her further poking around provoked a cautionary counter-spike. “Really, really encrypted.”

Tugging the wire free of her port, V handed the deck up before moving on to check the pockets of the jacket, and came up with an unlabeled shard. Slotting it gave her a momentary sense of... something as it connected and powered on, but... there was nothing on it. Nothing at all.

There was nothing else in the stash, and no sign of the rabbit at all.

Pushing up to her feet, V met Jackie’s inquisitive stare.

He flipped the deck over in his hands, and offered it back to her. Taking it, she wrapped it back up in the jacket.

“Maybe that’s enough mystery for tonight?” Jackie reasoned out loud, as V cast about the alley for anything that would give them any sort of a clue. “Already been a long day.”

V opened her mouth, but she couldn’t argue.

Not when Jackie brushed his fingers down the traces adorning her cheek. Particularly not when he brushed his thumb across her lip, and not in the least when he followed it with his mouth.

~*~

There was a squeak in the third stair from the top she hadn’t kept in mind. By some stroke of luck, it didn’t give her away as she padded down to the family room.

Jackie was sprawled on the couch, thumb pressed to his cheek and a contemplative pout on his lips as he stared off into space.

Stepping lightly, V edged around the sharp angles of the table. Her fingers slid over Jackie’s shoulder for balance as she helped herself to his lap; he roused with a soft groan, turning his head blindly towards her as his hands first skimmed her hips, then slid behind her, and his arms settled about her waist. Jackie blinked twice, the glimmer across his lens fading, only for his eyes to flutter shut as V sought his mouth with her own for a languid, unhurried kiss.

Jackie shifted beneath her, allowing her to settle more firmly against him and drawing a croon of appreciation from her throat.

The kiss broke, and V immediately claimed another – softer, shallower, but no less sweet – before they drifted apart. Opening her eyes, she found herself lost in his, and absently traced her fingers up his neck, her thumb brushing lightly over the mismatched texture of metal and skin behind his ear.

Jackie breathed in deep, and sighed a gentle little, “Oh.”

“Mmm,” V agreed. “Mornin’.”

“Afternoon, more like. You slept half the day away.”

“Mmm? What’re you reading? Anything interesting?”

“Sure.” Jackie shrugged, thinking to add, “If you enjoy poetry.”

“Frost?”

“Blake.”

“Huh.”

Pulling her lip between her teeth, V tangled her fingers in the hem of his shirt, giving it a gentle tug to free it from being tucked. Jackie chuckled, catching one of her hands to stop her from fussing with his belt, and braced her with his other arm as he sat up straighter.

“Alright, how about,” he suggested, with a soft kiss to the heel of her palm to sweeten the deal, “I go and I make you breakfast ‘fore we go and we get started on dessert, hmm?”

With his arm still around her, V held on as he stood, and dropped gracefully to her feet to pad after him as he made his way into the kitchen.

The kitchen was kept, clean, and stocked as it always was. V watched with rapt attention as Jackie dug out and set to work on a selection of fresh vegetables – how Señora managed that feat, V felt she would never know – and tofu protein.

Jackie glanced her way but didn’t admonish her when she stole a slice of toast from a half-built plate, and nibbling kept V occupied long enough for him to finish. She followed him right back out to the family room, where he set the food down on the table for her.

Almost burning her mouth on the first bite, V hissed sharply, and Jackie paused on his way back to the kitchen.

“Jesús, V,” he chuckled. “Give it a moment to cool, yeah?”

She picked away at it, blowing on bites even while it was almost too hot, and he was back again soon enough – a soy drink in one hand and a bottle capped with a shotglass in the other. Seating himself beside her, Jackie slid the first her way, keeping the latter for himself.

Realizing the discrepancy, V blinked.

“You’re not having any?”

“Already ate, chica.”

She jabbed a forkful towards him. “You want some?”

“Nope,” he assured her. “All for you.”

Shoving the food into her mouth, V murmured something around it that might’ve been intended as a word. Jackie smirked at her, pouring himself a shot of tequila.

“So... uh... this thing with seeing rabbits...”

“It was one rabbit.” V stabbed a cube of fried potato. “Maybe I was drunk.”

“Didn’t see you touch a drop last night; how drunk could you have gotten?”

“Maybe I was high.”

“And were you high, V?”

“...no.” V pushed food around on her plate before taking another bite. “Maybe it was just a rabbit.”

“In Night City?” Jackie sighed. “Just thinkin’ out loud here, but maybe it’s time you oughta drop in on Vik. Make sure everything’s workin’ as it should be.”

She stilled, staring at him.

Then swallowed.

“Yeah... maybe,” she assented. “After dessert, though.”

Jackie paused, with the glass barely having tipped towards his mouth.

“Claro que sí,” he acquiesced.

~*~

“Hmm.”

Fidgeting on his table, V rolled her head towards him. Vik had just gotten done telling her how unlikely a problem seemed, and now it was Hmm?

He glanced over at her, then back to his display, and shook his head.

“There’s some garbled data in your system.”

“Meaning...?”

“I’m not sure. Doesn’t look like it could be much of anything.”

Her eyebrows drew together as V stared at him.

“Think in terms of script at its most basic. Binary. Ones and zeros. It looks like some of the zeros got flipped to ones, but at complete random. No pattern behind it. There’s not even enough of it to make anything – a few bytes at most. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“So it’s... not a virus or some daemon that put it there, it’s just... a glitch?”

“There’s nothing else in your software or your hardware. Everything came back running as it should be.” Viktor’s mouth pulled into a frown as he thought about it, “It might indicate your cyberdeck is starting to deteriorate, but the odds on that are long. Militech makes good hardware, and this deck is still practically new.”

“Yeah, and I still got a warranty, right?”

His expression softened, and Vik didn’t quite smile at the joke.

“I could delete it for you? See if it comes back?”

“I could delete it myself, if it turns out to be nothing. Now that I know it’s there.”

“You sure?”

“I kinda wanna know what it is. What it means... if anything.”

Vik conceded with a subtle nod. V reached to pull her link cable free, and he shut down his display. He slid his hand behind her back to support her as she started to sit up.

“If I had to guess, I’d say what it means is be more careful when jacking into random, unmarked terminals.”

She had one foot on the ground, and his hand lingered on her arm as she met his stare, head cocked.

“What about that cyberdeck I found?”

“It’s encrypted. Whatever’s on it, I don’t have the means to decrypt it. Best I could do is reset it for you. It’s in good shape, I’m sure I could get it working like new, but anything on it – if it’s anything of value – would be gone.”

“And the rabbit...?”

Vik shrugged.

“Maybe you saw a rabbit.”

“That Jackie didn’t. And that led me right to the deck and then disappeared.”

“It’s not impossible.”

“Sounds a little like Alice in Wonderland.”

V blinked.

Vik’s eyebrows raised.

Both of them glanced at Misty, who draped herself over the arm of Vik’s table and flicked her eyes between them.

“By Lewis Carroll? Jackie has a copy.” She thought about it, leaning her cheek against her hand, and added, “Or he used to. He let me borrow it once.”

Thinking on it a moment longer, V sighed deeply, then turned her attention back to Vik.

“What do I owe you?”

“Peace of mind,” Vik replied. “But scans are always free.”

~*~

“Misty usually knows what she’s talking about,” Jackie told her.

They sat at a stall in Kabuki market over lunch, and V absorbed half of what he was saying, but she was full of good food and the sun was warm on her skin. And if Vik had said it was next to nothing to worry about, well... why worry.

Propping her chin on her knuckles, V glanced off into the thick of the it, gaze wandering across the colorful assortment of stalls and goods for sale. Nothing she felt obligated to buy, but an eclectic selection all the same.

Her eyes narrowed.

“...uh, V?”

She heard him.

Barely.

But her eyes were locked on the rabbit. A scan came up empty, and as it hopped around the corner of the nearest stall, V slipped out of her seat.

With carefree ease, it made its way through the market.

V crept after it, her pace slowed by the bustle of the crowd.

The rabbit ignored her and continued on, disappearing up a walkway without her when she got caught in a particularly thick crowd. Working her way through, she hurried up a level to catch up with it – only to see it’s tail disappear around the curve of the building once she reached the top.

On the upper level of the rotunda, V found the rabbit sitting in front of a door, scrubbing its face with its paws.

“This?” V asked.

The rabbit offered no response, and she glanced up at the sign. She looked down again, and around; the rabbit was nowhere in sight.

Waving her hand over the panel, she opened the door and stepped through.

It was a small shop, but majestic by market standards – a pair of netrunner chairs for public rent in the back, a selection of arcade games... and all the goods that must have been kept behind the counter, or in cyberspace.

The woman manning the counter regarded V coolly as she wandered in. Endeavoring to put up a good front and act, at least, less lost than she felt, V marched right up to the counter. Placing her hands flat, she leaned into it, smiling brightly.

“I’m here to pick something up,” V said. “For...” a rabbit, “...someone. I think.”

The woman behind the counter merely continued to stare at her.

V scratched the back of her neck.

“For... Alice?” she ventured, “Like in Wonderland?”

The woman’s eyes flicked over V’s shoulder, and V followed her gaze to find Jackie moving to stand close behind her.

“Try White Rabbit?” he suggested. “Dinah? Dormouse? Jabberwocky?”

“Maybe...” V tried, “Lewis Carroll?”

It was like attempting to figure out someone’s password. The woman’s bland customer service stare had begun to slip into a look of irritation, as though they were playing some kind of joke.

“Cheshire Cat?” Jackie guessed.

Several uncomfortable seconds ticked by. V dropped to her elbows against the counter, at a complete loss, with the woman now glaring outright, and Jackie slipped his fingers around V’s arm.

“Ah. Apologies, señorita, I think we got the wrong ‘runner shop.”

With a gentle tug, he pulled V away from the counter, and she trailed along after him as he led her out of the shop. He only let go once they were outside, a few paces down the catwalk.

There, he stared down at her, mouth quirked in less of a smile than in complete bewilderment.

“Mind me askin’, What the fuck?”

“Not in the least; I’ve been asking myself that all morning.”

~*~

Her console flickered on. A black screen and a blinking white command line cursor, and nothing else. Lifting her head from her desk, V stared at it, blearily.

Words flashed across the screen.

Who are you?

V sat up a little straighter in her chair, and scrubbed her eyes.

Curiosity won over confusion.

Tentatively, she typed a reply.

The first thing to come to mind.

Who is anybody?

A pause, then followed,

Neither a rhetorical question, nor a riddle. Tell me your name.

Just V.

Link in.

V stared at the words on the screen.

This was the part of her life where being reckless often got her into trouble.

Sometimes, at least, she was aware of it.

In the pause that followed, another word appeared.

Please.

V swallowed. She pulled her neural link free of its cradle, and jacked it into the terminal’s port. She felt... something. A little like linking in to another person and a lot like getting scanned.

You’ll have to do.

“Um. Thanks?” V ventured out loud. She left the cable linked in, for all that she opted to type her replies.

What is going on?

I need you to go to Kabuki market. There’s a netrunner kiosk there. There’s data in their servers I need you to retrieve.

If you’re the one that’s been jerking me around, I was there this afternoon. I don’t think they like me very much.

I’m not jerking anyone around.

Before V could reply, the next line jolted down her back like ice.

I need help.

I have access codes. No one should be there.

Do not trust anyone.

V’s next sentences came slow.

You should know, that’s going to be difficult for me.

I don’t work alone. I have a partner. I trust him very much.

There was a pause before the mystery answered.

Valentino?

Yes.

Don’t involve him.

“Fuck you,” V told the screen, incredulously.

Please.

I need you to find me.

I can’t hold out much longer.

V rubbed her eyes. When she opened them, peering over the back of her hand, there was a single word on the screen.

Help.

“Yeah.” V sighed. “Alright. I heard you.”

Back to Kabuki?

~*~

Kabuki at night only resembled Kabuki during the day.

The merchandise had changed over completely in the hours between, and in the darkness there was much the illusion – if not the reality – that one could find anything.

A distinct flourish of color caught her eye as she turned a corner – an older man, selling nothing less than flowers out of a stall. On another, more leisurely night, V might have stopped and browsed. It wasn’t the first thing to catch her eye, but it was perhaps the most eye-catching.

Tonight, she wove through the evening crowd, once more making her way to the upper rotunda.

The door was locked, its indicator dim.

Narrowing her eyes, V cracked the lock, and the door slid open.

She slipped inside, intuitively pressing herself into the shadows once she was past the threshold. The shop was empty at this hour, and, creeping through the dark, V vaulted over the counter and cracked the door to the back room.

There were several servers running, assorted status lights and screens casting a soft glow over the room. A console drew her attention, and V found a jack to plug into.

For several long moments, she sat still – watching her display and listening to the soft hum of the mainframe as she waited for some connection to be made.

At long last, V fidgeted.

A data packet uploaded to her system.

She didn’t have time to unpack and go over it in detail before a sound got her attention. Another door whispering open, different to the one she’d come in, and V slipped out before whoever it was could stumble across her.

Slipping quickly as she could the long way around the counter, a step ahead of them, V bolted out the shop’s door, onto the rotunda catwalk, and kept on running.

~*~

Her door slid open.

Jolted from her thoughts, V sat up straight.

Jackie poked his head through, offering her a wave and a bright smile when he found her at her desk before stepping through. V pulled herself up from her chair, and stepped around the partition that separated her desk from the rest of the room to meet him.

“¿Qué onda?”

The words that slipped out of her mouth were first that came to mind.

“I was not expecting you here tonight.”

They were overtly blunt, and did nothing to cover her. It was obvious in the way that Jackie cocked his head, eyebrows knit together.

“Had a thing with Vik. Figured while I was in the neighborhood I may as well drop by.”

Smile blooming in full splendor, Jackie offered her a rose.

Taken aback, V blinked at it.

Eyes narrowing at him, she reached for it slowly.

Not a real rose, not up close – the silky petals were made of some kind of synthetic micro-velvet, in an striking array of red and blue, overlapping into one another. Its green leaves and stem hewn closer to the illusion of a plant, but nonetheless still soft under her fingertips.

And even synthetic, the rose still had thorns, for all that they were encased in velvet.

“What’s this you’re working on?”

“Ah.” V turned to find him staring at her terminal screen.

Fuck.

“It’s... something... I was looking into. For someone. Asked me to.”

“Looks familiar...” Jackie mused. He glanced back at her, “Hey, isn’t this the place we broke into the other day?”

V’s gaze was drawn to the map.

“...is it?”

“Maybe not the same floor, but I think that’s the same address.”

He’d barely finished the sentence before V killed the display with a flick of her fingers.

Which only served to bring the full weight of Jackie’s perplexed stare down on her.

V’s gaze fell to the flower in her hands. She twisted it by the stem between her fingertips, watching the petals shiver as they moved.

A small piece of art.

Jackie’s fingers brushed against her temple, and her breath caught in her throat. V leaned into the soft touch as he threaded her hair back behind her ear.

“You know, I...” She breathed out a shaky little sigh. “I’m glad you stopped by. Everything was feeling all...”

It was an honest truth.

Even if it was only a fraction of another.

A deep chuckle rumbled in Jackie’s chest. V dragged her gaze up to meet his.

“For a moment there, thought you were gonna say...” His smirk faded, and he glanced off. “Uh. Yeah. No matter.”

Reaching for his fingers, V let the rose slip from her hand into a glass on the desk. His other hand was already sliding over her hip as she pressed his palm to her mouth, eyes drifting closed, and his fingers skimmed down her chin to tilt her face upward.

Her eyes cracked open again to find him staring, mouth set in a solemn expression that seemed far out of place as he studied her face. Before she could read too far into it, the corner of his mouth quirked, and a slow smile spread across his.

Smiling now herself, V blinked as he kissed her forehead, which was followed by a kiss to her cheek, and another to her chin. He yanked her closer, and she gave a sharp gasp of surprise right against his mouth.

~*~

She was comfortable and warm, and a slow, rhythmic breathing lulled her heart gently.

A small spike of electricity jolted up her spine.

Fuck!

V hadn’t intended to fall asleep.

Squirming, she tried to extricate herself from his embrace without jostling Jackie awake, only for her arm to get held back by a taut pressure on her wrist. Reaching behind her, she followed the tension in her link cable to unplug it from his neural port by touch.

Perceiving a glimpse of the data it was feeding her just before it vanished from her display, V froze, her cable retracting with a soft, audible click as though to punctuate the snag.

Jackie’s arms tightened around her, his mouth soft against the back of her neck sending a shiver coursing through her.

His vitals were hot.

He was wide awake.

“You gonna tell me what it is that’s going on,” he murmured, “or... I gotta make you scream s’more for that?”

“Fuck.”

“Mmm.”

Jackie was warm.

Her bed was warm.

His breath was warm.

That little flutter in her belly in response to his gently scraping across the apex of her jaw with his teeth was warm.

Someone out there needed her help.

“Can’t,” V mumbled at last, wiggling her way out of his grip. She slid her legs out over the edge of the bed, and pressed her hands into her face. “Shit to do.”

“Está bien,” Jackie sighed. He eased past her out of bed, and started picking through their clothes get dressed. “Guess I get to find out when we get there. No es gran cosa.”

“We?”

“You gonna run off into the wild blue yonder chasing rabbits, I’m sure as fuck gonna tag along make sure you don’t trip and disappear down any rabbit holes.”

V rose to her feet as he stepped into his pants.

“Look. I’ve been in Night City long enough – and you’ve taught me enough – that I know what I’m doing. I can take care of myself.”

“Mira. And do you know what it is what you’re doing?”

V stated evenly, and with full confidence, “Not in the fucking least.”

“Exactly my point, V.”

Staring at the floor, V swallowed.

Grabbing up her clothes, one by one, from where they’d fallen, she retreated into her storage room to get dressed. And, more importantly, to strap together her kit.

Stepping out again, she went straight for her terminal, ignoring Jackie as he lurked around behind her.

The shard was missing from the computer’s port.

With a slow, meticulous sigh, V straightened up. She held her hand open over her shoulder, and Jackie pressed the shard into her palm.

“Someone asked for my help,” she told him. “Kept anonymous so far. I really don’t know anything more than that. Just what you saw, and coordinates.”

“They offering you any money?”

“No.”

She slotted the shard. No better place for it, really.

“Sounds suspicious as hell.” Jackie waited until she’d turned around to face him to ask, “Do you really wanna walk into this alone?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” V stated. But that wasn’t the whole conflicting truth. “And I’d feel better having you at my back.”

“¿Cuánto mejor?”

“A lot.”

“Eso lo resuelve. We rollin’ or what?”

~*~

V’s coordinates, once they untangled the right set from the jumble of data, led them out to the badlands.

Straight to a worn hatch dug in the rock beneath their feet, under the moonlight.

“I don’t have any idea of what we’re gonna find down there.”

“No sense standing around, then, is there?” Jackie told her. “Let’s go down and find out.”

V sighed.

Then nodded.

The hatch opened smoothly, without a sound. Down the ladder hidden below it, it opened into an empty, well-lit security checkpoint, guarding a lone door.

Stepping up to the door, V happened to glance down, only to find the rabbit sitting at her feet.

On impulse, she crouched down beside it, thinking it might hop away... but it didn’t. She expected her fingers to pass right through it, like a hologram. Instead, its fur was soft under her fingertips. It scrubbed its face and sat up on its haunches, and for the first time seemed to take notice of the fact that she was there next to it.

Incredulous, V smiled.

Then she remembered Jackie was standing right there beside her. Staring down at her like she might’ve lost it; a mix of confusion and concern playing across his face that he was struggling to keep in check. Straightening up, she looked at him, and shrugged.

“I guess... this is our place.”

Jackie glanced up the ladder, and around at the guard station around them. No one had followed them down, not that they expected that; but stranger still, no one was down here already and no alarms had been tripped.

None that they knew of.

V glanced at the rabbit, still there. She reached for the door’s panel; it slid open, and the rabbit meandered through ahead of them.

Strange, how it wasn’t even locked.

Beyond the door was a dimly lit corridor.

Ahead of them, the rabbit wove from wall to wall, leading them onward into the warren of hallways beyond.

Or leading V onward, as Jackie merely followed her.

A more grim discovery lurked within the darkened halls, where they stumbled across a body – armored, but lifeless. And soon enough another. After a few more, clustered together, one of which might’ve been a scientist or a board director, Jackie stopped to inspect one of them more closely.

“These people can’t have been dead longer than a couple of days.” He wondered out loud, “I know life is cheap, but isn’t it kinda weird that no one came down here to check on any of them?”

V didn’t have an answer for him.

Not a real one, anyhow.

Ahead of them, the rabbit sat and cleaned its face.

Their path wound still deeper into the complex.

V’s thoughts turned inward.

What was there here for them to find?

Who would it help, and how?

What were they even doing down here?

The rabbit thumped.

An illusory warning, which nevertheless brought V up short. She saw the danger the moment she did, only for Jackie to wrap his arms around her and pull her out of harm’s potential way. The rabbit had bolted for cover behind one of the elaborate planters posted at intervals along the hallway, opposite the one were now crouched behind.

Ahead of them, a crew of maybe a dozen heavily armored soldiers, clustered at the end of the hall. One was working on a security door with a torch. Two were standing by. The rest were milling about uneasily

Looks like they’re trying to cut through to whatever’s in there., V flicked to the man over her shoulder.

Bet you it’s the same thing we’re after, whatever that is., hit her display a moment later. You got a map of this place, too? Flick me a copy.

V did as he asked, and almost imperceptible, Jackie shifted beside her, obscuring his eyes to hide the glow of his lens. He gave her shoulder an amicable pat, and stepped out into the corridor.

“Wait, what...?” V tried to ask, the words a breath on her lips and spoken to late.

“¡Cogé a cada una de tus madres y a tus padres cogé dos veces!”

Having brought all due attention down on his head, Jackie turned and bolted back the way they had come, bellowing a boisterous laugh as he did.

It was only luck and timing with which V slipped around the planter, out from under the gaze of a soldier glancing back, and as two men left behind – the one cutting through, the other his guard – turned their attention back to the door.

Great plan, Jack, V was tempted to send after him.

Not that she had a better one.

She stifled it, focusing on the task at hand.

Stepping up silently behind the guard, V caught her arm around his throat and prayed he would go down before he could send a message to his buddies.

He went slack in her arms, and the other man didn’t seem to notice.

A good sign.

The power tool posed a challenge – scanning it, V found a weak link and short-circuited its connection to the powercell. When the man stood, she leapt at him out of the darkness to slam his forehead against the door, knocking him cold as well.

V sighed.

The rabbit crouched at the door as she pulled the battery from the cutting tool, and used it to restore emergency power to the keypad. Whatever programs had been loaded onto the Kabuki packet autobooted to work their magic, and the door slid open with a screech of warped metal.

Dim light spilled out.

When she looked down, the rabbit was gone again.

The room beyond was half-powered. Emergency lights still hummed above her head, brighter than the ones in the hall, as she passed under them, but there was also the deeper hum of more sensitive electronics. Taking it in, V found herself standing in a netrunner station – a single chair in the center of the room, surrounding by an array of databanks and consoles and screens, with even more databanks stacked deep along the walls.

There was a woman in the netrunner chair, eyes closed and inert.

Biting her lip, V concentrated on what looked to be the main console. She linked in to it, and whatever command or access she was carrying seemed to... do... something, as some of the screens flashed to life, and the fluorescent lights overhead buzzed to life.

An unmarked text message flickered across her display, demanding her attention.

Retaining bolt.

“Um?”

As V stood there, at a loss, another message appeared.

Back of the chair. Slides across.

She glanced at the woman in the chair as she circled it, examining closer. Finding what she thought must have been it, she fussed with the lateral bolt until it scratched and slid from one side of its mooring to the other.

Something disconnected, and as soon as V had pulled the bolt, the netrunner stirred. She groaned as she struggled to sit up, and V sprung to her feet to support her as she detached one wire after the next. Fully disconnected, she wavered a bit in V’s hold, and perhaps thinking better of it, sank back into the chair.

“...water?”

V frowned.

She hadn’t thought to bring water.

But had she...?

Stepping back, she dug through her bag in search of any that might have happened along for the trip. Instead, she unearthed a soft nutrient packet. Unsealing it and uncapping the built-in straw, she pressed into the woman’s hands, letting go only when she was certain it wouldn’t fall from them once she did.

Raising it to her mouth without even looking at it, the woman pulled a tentative sip. She pulled a face at the flavor, side-eyeing V as she did, but continued to drink the thick mixture anyway.

“It’s pomegranate black cherry,” V stated helpfully.

“It’s goddamn corn syrup,” the woman groused back.

“Yeah...” V agreed cheerfully, “But it’s artificially sweetened to taste like what some corpo-mandated algorithm has determined pomegranate and black cherry mixed together tastes like. And the date’s still good – ‘cause that shit’ll last well into the next century.”

The woman rolled her eyes.

“And, uh...” V pulled the jacket she’d found out of her bag, along with the cyberdeck. “I think this is yours?”

She offered it to the woman, who stared at it coolly.

“...yeah,” she said after a moment, taking it from V. “Thanks.”

With a distinct lack of enthusiasm, she left the entire thing in her lap as she focused instead on sucking down the fruity meal replacement corn syrup.

Moments ticked by in awkward silence. V walked along the perimeter marked off by the consoles, drumming her fingers on the metal casings, and the woman eyed her all the while.

Before V could think of a suitable topic to broach the silence, a message flickered on her lens.

Hope you’ve found what you’re looking for, chica, ‘cause I could use a hand whenever you got a moment.

Her blood ran cold.

“Fuck,” she swore out loud.

Jackie wasn’t asking for help, he was just... asking for help.

That didn’t bode well.

Finding the woman staring at her, V explained, “I gotta delta – my partner might be in trouble.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “The guy I explicitly told you not to bring along?”

“Yeah, well – he’s stubborn,” V defended. “And to be fair I don’t think I could have gotten down here without him; we ran into another team down here trying to get to you and he opted to run a decoy. On his behalf, You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Motherfucker.”

Taking a thick slurp off the packet, the woman sought out of the cyberdeck in her lap. She plugged them into the jack on her arm, and strapped the cuff around her wrist.

“So, yeah,” V said, starting for the door, “gotta go.”

After a thought, V paused to turn back. “And... um, I guess you should know where my apartment is; Megabuilding H-Ten, oh-seven-sixteen – feel free to grab whatever you need out of it once you get out of here.”

“Wait.” Patting down her pockets until she found it, the woman pulled the blank shard from her jacket. She slotted it, and V hesitated, glancing at the door.

A handful of moments later, she slipped the shard free, and held it out.

“Take this.”

“What is it?”

“Trust me.” The netrunner shrugged. “Or don’t.”

~*~

V dashed down the halls, following Jackie’s signal. She barely slowed coming around the corner where he was pinned down, and slid her knife free from its sheath.

None of the soldiers were paying her any mind, too focused on the displaced Valentino in their midst.

Jackie was kicking up a fuss: machete in one hand, gun in the other, with a modicum of cover in an old office and a barrage of increasingly petty insults.

They might’ve wanted him alive. To know how he knew about this place, or whatever intel Corporate liked to know about trespassers on their top-secret bases.

V held no such regard for their benefit.

Their armor was comprehensive, so she focused on the weakest spot she could fathom, and jammed her knife into the soft gap between the helmet and the shoulders of the first man she reached. He went down in a gurgle of blood, and her sudden arrival caught the rest of the lot by surprise.

As soon as he realized she was there, Jackie leapt into the fray with her, firing at one of the men and bringing another to his knees with enough force to crack bone as he twisted between them to reach her.

Between the two of them, an easy half of the soldiers were down before they wound up back to back, surrounded in the cramped hallway. The rest began to spasm and collapse one after the other around them as their implants seized up and overloaded, burning them from within.

For Jackie, the fight went on a moment longer, until he realized for good there wasn’t anyone else left standing. He raised an eyebrow at the still-twitching bodies.

“Ah...” He turned to V. “Neat trick. Hope you got what you came here for,” he told her again, adding, “‘cause I think they called for backup.”

“Reinforcements are on their way, I suggest you find an exit now.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” V answered them, one after the next, “Hey, what about you?”

Jackie blinked at her, before the realization dawned on his face that she wasn’t talking to him.

“Already way ahead of you.”

“Yeah, alright,” V replied, before glancing up at Jackie. “Time to leave.”

“Pase,” Jackie agreed, with a sweep of his arm.

With no rabbit to guide them, they followed the map. It cut them a swift path to the security gate, and they escaped back into the desert.

~*~

The closest thing to a rendezvous was V’s apartment, and the netrunner wasn’t there waiting for them.

For a few moments, V thought she might have been. The door glitched, refusing at first to open, but everything seemed as she and Jackie had left it – the bed unmade, the room lived in, in a hurry.

In the end, it might have been wishful thinking. V realized she wouldn’t have been able to tell, one way or the other.

Once it was obvious they were alone, Jackie had shed his machete and made himself right at home on her couch.

V followed him, slowly, and was still trying to determine if – maybe – that one can of cream tangerine dream in particular had been open and empty when they’d left when he leaned forward to wrap his arms around her and pull her onto his lap.

“All’s well that ends well, huh?”

V shifted around in his arms, and he kept her steady as she found her balance, knees to one side of him as she draped across his chest, leaning into his shoulder.

“Has it ended well?” she asked.

Jackie’s eyebrows raised in question. Her fidgeting stopped. “I thought... you might be pissed off.”

“You kidding?”

“Not really, no.”

“V, you tried to seduce me as a means to a deception. That’s like somethin’ I would do. I love it to think that I might be a bad influence on you.”

V snorted. “Other way around, maybe.”

“Maybe. But, uh....” Shifting under her, Jackie shrugged. “Anything else you might wanna let me in on, while we’re on the subject?” He brushed her cheek with his thumb, then his hand dropped lower, where he toyed with the neck of her shirt. “Little secrets? Heartfelt confessions?” Smirking, he flicked his gaze up to meet her eyes. “Any other shit you might’ve been holding out on me?”

V pressed her tongue into the corner of her mouth as she considered the question.

“I thought it must be obvious,” she remarked.

“Hrmm?”

Dipping her head, she nuzzled his jaw.

He tilted his face towards her and their lips brushed together as she pulled only near enough away that their eyes again met. Stretching just that far, Jackie enticed her back down until her mouth was pressed firmly against his, with his fingers tangled her hair.

The television screen flickered to life, emitting a soft, crackling hum.

V paid it little mind; Jackie, even less.

“...am I interrupting?”

They broke apart, V casting about for the source of the voice and Jackie tensing outright, his fingers digging into her shoulder as he assessed the danger of a threat that wasn’t there.

Or... was maybe not a threat to them, anyway.

“Mmm, tal vez un poco,” Jackie answered her, while V stared mutely at the screen. “Wanna try back in an hour?”

The woman depicted on it hrrmphed.

“The name’s T-Bug. I wanted to thank you for your assistance earlier.”

“I’m happy we got there in time.”

“Trust me, so am I.” In the brief pause that followed, the woman seemed to arrange her thoughts. “Listen, I...” she explained, haltingly guarded, “Recently... I’ve hit upon some hard times, and my resources are limited right now. I can’t exactly pay you back for what you’ve done for me, but I’d still like to find a way to even things out.”

“Sometimes it’s not about the payoff.”

V started to slide off Jackie’s chest as he jolted up straighter. Eyes locked on the screen, he slipped an arm over her to catch her on reflex, and she got a hand on the couch to prop herself back up.

“Hey... you...” he jabbed a finger at the screen, eyes narrow. “Not to interrupt, but I feel like I know you from somewhere. Did we, uh... Have we... met... before all this?”

“Yes.”

“Ah.” Jackie fidgeted beneath her, and V followed the conversation raptly between him and the woman on the screen. “Sorry, if I, uh... can’t remember every little detail...”

“I was hired on for cybersecurity. Consulting job. You showed up out of literal nowhere and punched my client in the jaw. Tracking you down after the fact wasn’t really worth anyone’s time or money.”

“¡Ay! That... must’ve been it. Now that you bring it up.” Under his breath, he breathed a quieter, “Gracias a Dios.”

T-Bug seemed to regard him for moment more, then her attention visibly shifted.

“V.”

“Mhhm?”

“I’ll contact you later when I’m better situated.”

“Guess you already know where to find me.”

“Yeah. In the meanwhile, I’ll let you get back to... what you were doing.”

The television screen flickered off again.

Jackie continued to stare at it, until V combed her fingertips through his hair and she felt him start beneath her.

“Ah. Right.” Jackie cleared his throat. “What were we doin’ again?”

Biting back a smirk, V offered a hapless shrug. “Not sure I remember.”

“Guess we’ll just have to do this, then.”

The way his arm tightened around her was all the warning she got when all at once he twisted, rolling her onto the couch beneath him with a deep chuckle at her surprised squeak.

~*~

“Where’s your friend?”

“Honest?” V answered wryly, “In hiding.”

“...in hiding?”

T-Bug met her easy smile with open skepticism.

It only made V’s smile grow deeper.

“I think he might be worried that you’re gonna hack his dick.”

Hands slowing as she worked, T-Bug regarded V for a long moment, then scoffed with a shake her head.

V leaned over the chair, watching her wire her space. The apartment was barely more than a room, smaller than V’s, and the assorted half-built array of netrunning equipment took up half the floor space, and a sliding partition wall separating the net space from the rest of the living space made it feel even smaller.

“Isn’t this place a little cramped?”

“You don’t need much space when you’ve got cyberspace.”

Sitting back, T-Bug scratched her eyebrow. “So, I managed to, uh... I called in some old favors, scraped together a few eddies; it’s not much, but it should cover the food I took from your apartment. It’s on the counter.”

“From the looks of things, I think you need it more than I do.”

T-Bug’s eyes widened, a glance slowly pulled V’s way. “Generous of you.”

She sighed, brushing off her hands as she got to her feet, and fixed her stare on V.

“Hey. Who are you, really?” she asked. “The letter V alone is impossible to find a data trail on; what’s the real name?”

“V is my real name. In its entirety. I rode with the Bakkers, before the clan fell apart.”

“And now you do mercwork in Night City?”

“It’s a living. And I occasionally rescue netrunners from...” V trailed off as her gaze fell on the chair, and she realized she still didn’t know. “What the hell was all that, anyway? Why did they have you locked in like that?”

The expression on T-Bug’s face soured.

“From what I managed to piece together when I was in their network, some kind of AI research,” T-Bug indulged her, “I don’t know the detes. Typical corpo overlord wanna-be bullshit.”

“You don’t think anyone’ll come after you?”

“I hope they’ll have learned their lesson the first time. And, with respect? I’m trying to put it behind me.”

V took the hint.

And felt a twinge of regret for having asked

Standing straighter, she gave the chair a pat.

“Guess I should let you... finish... setting up all this...”

It looked pretty set up, but V didn’t know much about netrunning tech, aside from the few tricks she’d picked up in trade.

“Mmm,” T-Bug intoned.

V started for the door, pausing at the threshold as T-Bug’s drifted after her.

“Hey, V?”

V looked back to find screens flickering on. Standing amidst the cluttered display of cyber-tech that was her element, T-Bug smiled at her... for all that it looked a little forced. “I’ll be in touch.”

Smiling back, V nodded a goodbye.

The door slid closed behind her; the indicator on the panel reading it to be locked.

V followed the faded carpet running the length of the hallway towards the stairs, to make her way out onto the streets. There, she rolled her shoulders as she picked a direction at random, her smile had faded a touch, but didn’t vanish.

She had no destination in mind.

It was nearing midnight, and the city was still wide awake.

#cyberpunk 2077 #nomad!v #jackie welles #t-bug #misty olszewski #viktor vektor #fanfiction #please take this away from me now #it is a long fic for me you probably wanna read it on ao3

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