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ilovepedro · 6 months

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Woven in the Stars | din djarin x f!reader

Series masterlist | Main masterlist

Chapter 1 - Stitching Serenity

Rating: 18+ MDNI

Word count: ~2.5k

Chapter summary: As he adjusts to life on Nevarro, Din Djarin ventures into town with his son, Grogu, to gather supplies to finish settling into their new home. While shopping, he has a chance encounter with you - a local seamstress. The two of you make an instant connection, as he's drawn in by your beauty and kind heart. After striking up a deal with you, Din heads home after a long day, where suppressed feelings of loneliness and desire arise.

Chapter warnings: slow burn, domestic!Din, dad!Din, mutual pining, yearning, loneliness, bit of flirting, inaccurate star wars info, male masturbation, Din Djarin is referred to as Din and i’m not sorry, reader is female, no mention of hair type/skin color/body type, NO USE OF Y/N.

A/N: happy mando monday! we’ve got another series, babes! buckle up - we’ve got mega pining incoming. Din is a very special character that i hold close to my heart. 🩵 he is so complex, and i want to handle him with so much love and care. i hope y'all enjoy this introduction to the series! feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments or in my asks/dms 🫶🏼

Divider by @saradika

Light blazes through the cracked window, his room rapidly warming up from the brutal Nevarro heat. Din stirs as he hears his son babbling from his room right next to his. Rising to his feet, he pads into the next room, greeted by an excited Grogu. Din scoops him up out of his bed, and carries him into the kitchen.

Grogu’s been babbling a lot more, Din is curious if he’ll say his first words soon. He fixes up Grogu’s breakfast and sets him in his chair at the table along with the food. Making sure his son doesn’t choke while eating, he makes a mental list of things they need to get today at the market.

Beams, wire, fence lining.

Grogu spills some of his breakfast on his tunic, eliciting a sigh from Din.

New clothes for Grogu are added to the list.

After breakfast, Din changes Grogu out of his messy tunic into a spare one he keeps in the drawer for laundry days. Settling Grogu back into his tiny bed, which Din so proudly made himself, he places his favorite ball and a stuffed frog Greef Karga had gifted to him inside to keep him occupied while he gets ready.

He trudges into the refresher, turns on the shower and strips down before stepping into the water. While scrubbing, Din makes another mental list of chores he needs to do around the farm.

Tend to the yard, give the starfighter a tune-up, begin building the fence around the pond.

He steps out of the shower and dries off. Dressing in the refresher, he slips back out into the hall and back into his room.

He’s still adjusting to this new life, never knowing such tranquility and domesticity before. They haven’t got much yet, but he’s trying his best. Wanting to give his son a new, calmer life after all they’ve been through.

Sliding on his helmet and tacking on his remaining equipment, he slings the sack Grogu likes to occasionally ride in over his shoulder. He pads back into Grogu’s room, scooping up his gurgling son as he’s entertained with his toys, and placing him into his pram. The clan of two sets off on a long day of gathering things for their new home.

Sauntering into the markets, the clan heads in the direction of the hardware stand. Buying a few beams, wire, and a few sheets of metal fencing to build a fence surrounding the pond in his front yard. Din efficiently packs the supplies together and slings them on his back.

The fabric stand catches his eye, noting that he and Grogu do need more clothes, and even some new bedding.

As Din peruses through the selection of handcrafted items, picking up a new set of sheets for himself and garments for him and his son, Grogu wanders off in his pram to the stuffed animals.

Din perks up at Grogu’s babbling, seeing that his son has picked up a stuffed bantha. “No, Grogu. Put that down, we’re only buying things we need right now.” Grogu’s ears droop as he whines. “We’ll come back in a few days. I promise, kid.”

“Do you need help with anything?” A sweet voice breaking through the bustling air.

You appear from behind one of the cloaks that are hung up on display, kindly smiling at him and Grogu. Din’s breath hitches in his throat at the sight of you. You look radiant, ethereal - your beauty rendering him speechless for a moment before clearing his throat.

“Uh, no, ma’am. Is this your stand?” He asks, feeling flustered.

“It is. Do you like that one, baby?” You ask, crouching a bit to get on Grogu’s level, who’s cooing at your words. “Take it, sweetheart. It’s okay,” you gently tell him.

“Oh no, I’m sorry. We’re only buying necessities today. Will you have any more next week?” You smile up at the mandalorian. “Nonsense, it’s on the house,” you tell him, giddy as a toothy grin plasters your face. “I’m afraid I can’t accept, ma’am. Thank you for your generosity, but-”

“You mandalorians are always so cordial. I insist it’s on the house. It’s alright, sweet boy. Go on, take it,” you say. Grogu squeals and squishes the stuffed bantha into a bone crushing embrace, your heart melting at the sight of the little green child.

“Thank you, ma’am. That’s very kind of you. Could you at least let me pay for it?” You playfully roll your eyes. “Is your helmet sound proof or something? It’s on the house,” you smile, winking at him.

Thank the stars Din wears this helmet, or else you’d be able to see how red he is underneath.

“I surrender. You drive a hard bargain. I’d at least like to pay for the clothes and these sheets. Are you the seamstress in charge, ma’am?”

You perk up at his question. “I’ll allow you to pay for the clothes, and that I am!”

You’ve got a bit of a spunky personality, from what Din can gather.

“Do you happen to take commissions? These shirts will fit him fine, but if it’s not too much trouble, could I possibly ask for some smaller ones that’ll fit him a little better? I’ll even pay double whatever you normally charge,” he rambles. A twinkle glints in your eyes, your face hurts as you can’t stop smiling at the flustered mandalorian.

“I do take commissions. And no need to pay me double, I’m more than happy to help at whatever price works for you,” you kindly respond. The mandalorian huffs out a modulated chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Thank you very much, ma’am. Could I stop by tomorrow with him to get his measurements? We’ll be in town again gathering more supplies for our new cabin. We’re still settling in and I want him to have enough clothes,” he tells you.

“Sure! I’ll be here for the next week until dusk or whenever I sell out, whichever comes first. Are you liking Nevarro so far?” You curiously ask, wondering if he’s got a spouse at home.

“We are. It’s a much quieter life than our past one, but… it’s a nice change. Just want to make sure the kid has everything he needs.”

You nod at his answer, unable to stop the next words tumbling from your lips. “Does your spouse need any custom garments as well, or just your son?”

“No spouse. It’s just me and my son,” he quickly blurts. Your smile reappears at his answer, silence brewing amongst you two. Grogu’s gurgling cuts through the air, both of you turning to look at the excited child in his pram.

“You’re a good dad,” you softly tell him.

“Thank you. You’re a very kind woman. Thank you for being so kind to my son,” he quietly says, fondly staring at Grogu who is occupied with his new toy. “Of course. I can tell he’s a sweet kid. Also helps that he’s adorable. I can fold those by the way,” you say, hands out awaiting his items.

“Oh, thank you very much,” the mandalorian says gratefully, intently watching you fold his purchases as he searches for his next words. Not wanting your conversation to end just so he can hear your sweet voice.

“Do you make those stuffed animals as well?” The mandalorian asks you. “I do.”

“You’re very talented,” he compliments. Now it’s your turn to feel flustered, heat surging throughout your body - and it’s not from the blistering Nevarro heat.

“Thank you very much,” you gracefully tell him with a bashful smile, silently asking for the items in his hands

“I might just have to commission you for one of those as well,” the mandalorian says as he hands you the credits for the sheets and garments as you fold them.

“Apologies, as well, for not introducing myself earlier. I’m…Mando. It was nice meeting you,” Mando says, trailing off at the end while packing everything into his bag.

The market bustles now, making you shuffle a bit closer to him so he can hear you, as you timidly give him your name. He quickly repeats it, burning it into his memory. The gap between you both having grown smaller. Catching a whiff of your sweet perfume, Din’s knees nearly buckle.

Of course you’re the embodiment of sweetness - and he longs to have a taste.

Flashing him your dazzling smile, you stick your hand out, awaiting his grasp. His face grows hot as he shakes your hand, both of your touches lingering. You gaze deeply into the slit in his helmet, hoping he can sense a sliver of desire from you.

You shuffle even closer, nearly fully flushed against his beskar. “It was nice meeting you too, Mando. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” Your voice hushed, your words only meant for him to hear.

“Yes, we’ll be back in the morning,” Mando says just as quietly. Your smile softens as you glance down to your conjoined hands. You pull away, realizing your hold on his hand lingered for a tad too long.

He clears his throat before turning to his son. “Come on, Grogu. Let’s go,” he barks, causing Grogu to snap his head up and look at his father.

“Bye, baby! Oh, hold on a second!” You say, fishing in your pocket and pulling out a piece of candy. “Here you go!” You squeak as you hand him the sweet treat. His eyes light up and he gurgles in excitement. He hurriedly takes the candy from you, unwrapping it to shove it in his mouth.

“Grogu, what do you say?” His father sternly asks him. Grogu looks up at you and babbles what you think is his version of ‘thank you.’

“You’re welcome, Grogu. Bye bye!” You giggle as you wave off the clan.

Din makes one last stop, purchasing some things to make dinner. He carries his bag of garments and sheets in one hand and the bag of ingredients in another as his hardware rests on his back. He lugs everything back home as Grogu entertains himself with his new toy.

Opening the door, Grogu rushes in first in his pram as Din trails behind and shuts the door. He tosses the bags onto the couch and settles the hardware in a corner of the living room. Grogu babbles as he plays with the bantha you gave him, giving Din the perfect opportunity to quickly cook him some soup for dinner.

It’s different not living out of ration packs, and actually having time to cook a real, hot meal. Domesticity is so foreign to him. The thought of sharing this new life with someone - with you - quickly infiltrates his mind. His mind swirls as recalls his encounter with you today while making dinner.

How did you become a seamstress? What’s your story? Do you give away stuff for free to other customers? Or was it because you’re interested in him? Is that why you had asked if he had a spouse? Or were you just being polite? Why does he care so much? He hadn’t thought about the other merchants this way, but there is something about you that has pulled him into your orbit, making him unable to shake you from his mind.

Grogu’s cooing pulls him from his trance, the soup he’d prepared had boiled over while he reeled through his thoughts. Din exasperatedly cleans up the mess and serves Grogu dinner, who scarfs it down the second it’s placed in front of him. As his son eats, Din continues reeling.

He’d been fine with being alone all these years. Why is he starting to feel this way? He and Grogu have been living here for a few months now, so why is he suddenly feeling a sense of desire? Longing? Even loneliness? Could it be the paternal instinct to provide more for his son? Or could it simply be you?

A tiny burp drags him back into reality. Grogu tiredly yawns, his belly full after a long day at the market with Din. His eyes droop, along with his ears. Din scoops him up and heads to Grogu’s room. He places the green child in bed, placing the stuffed bantha you’d gifted him alongside him.

Din shuts the door and walks into his room next door. He continues to think of you while stripping his armor. He’d suppressed his feelings of loneliness for years now, but something about you had brought them to the surface.

Perhaps it was the way you treated Grogu with such sweetness, so maternally. Or perhaps it was your divine beauty which shines so brightly, penetrating from within your kind heart into the external realm. Whatever it may be, Din could not seem to shake the overwhelming feelings of yearning and loneliness - needs craving to be fulfilled by someone, by you.

Sighing as he removes his helmet, he changes into sweats and opts to sleep shirtless tonight. Padding into the kitchen, he puts the dishes from dinner into the sink, grabbing a glass in the midst of everything.

He knows his son is a Jedi and can overpower him at any moment, but Din still places his spotchka on the top shelf of a cabinet. He just hopes for the best and trusts Grogu won’t get into it.

Swiping the spotchka from the high point, he pours himself a hefty helping and chugs it. Helping himself to two more glasses, he begins to feel the effects, his eyes glazed over and heavy.

Placing the spotchka back on the top shelf and his empty glass in the sink, he walks back to his room and pulls his blanket back. Settling into bed, he still can’t get you out of his head.

His cock twitches at the thought of you, palming himself through his sweatpants. Images of you flash through his mind as he takes himself out of the confines of his sweatpants. His length springs out and bounces onto his stomach, thumping in the processing.

Din spits into his hand and winces as he strokes his cock. He’s so hard it hurts. Closing his eyes, he sighs as he strokes himself up and down, gathering the bead of precum that has dribbled from his tip and smearing it along his length.

The memory of you smiling as you appeared from thin air has him thumbing at his sensitive head. Your sweet scent lingers in his nose, smelling of florals, candy, and a hint of musk. He picks up the pace at the recollection. His breathing grows ragged as he remembers the glint in your shimmering, kind eyes. A fire burns in his veins, balls throbbing as he nears the edge.

He recalls how his skin felt electric beneath his glove as you shook his hand. The thought of your lingering touch sends a jolt of lightning through his veins as he replays the sweet sound of his name fluttering from your lips.

He wonders if his real name would sound just as sweet.

At that thought, he teeters off the cliff and plummets into his orgasm, painting his stomach with his spend while he groans your name. There’s so much cum, he’s definitely going to have to use his new bedding tonight.

He swims through the treacherous waves of his climax, sweat sheening his body. His hair sticks to his forehead and the back of his neck, a heady bliss crashes over him as he tries to catch his breath. He hasn’t cum that hard… ever.

He pants as he throws an arm over his face. Attempting to steady his breathing, he exhales a deep sigh. He’s never been so frustrated with himself. He’s always had more self-control, more discipline when it came to his desires. It’s unbelievable, and downright embarrassing, how quickly he caved at the thought of you. He doesn’t even know if you’re interested in him that way. It’s not like he could give you everything you deserve either, so long as he follows the Way.

Rising to his feet, he pads into the refresher to clean up the mess he made on his stomach. He heads into the living room, rummaging through the bags he carried in earlier. Slipping into the new pair of pants he purchased from you, along with grabbing the new sheets, he trudges back into his bedroom. He strips the bed and replaces the sheets with the ones you crafted and sold to him.

Groaning, he plops himself onto the mattress and stares at the concrete ceiling. Scintillating moonlight shines through the cracked window while the embarrassment and guilt sink in.

How is he supposed to face you at the market tomorrow?

An exhausted sigh rumbles from deep within his chest. He's never been more eager to wear his helmet ‘til now. He turns on his side before nodding off - hoping for a dreamless sleep, one free of you.

thank you for reading! may the yearning begin 🫡 i’m setting these two up for a slow burn hehehe

we will learn more about reader and her story in the next chapters!! i just wanted to introduce Din’s mindset after settling into a calmer life with Grogu

i want to delve some more into Din’s mind and examine his loneliness since we only catch very brief glimpses of it in the show. we know he gets lonely though, an example being apart from Grogu for 2 years. he’s a human after all underneath all that armor. a complex one at that with being an orphan and having to hide himself all the time.

anyway, i hope you enjoyed! let me know if you'd like to be tagged in future chapters <333

tag list: @gracieheartspedro @undrthelights @tinygarbage @party-hearses @bastardmandennis @nostalxgic @pascalpvnk @javierpena-inatacvest @mandoisapunk

#fic: woven in the stars #din djarin #din djarin fic #din djarin x female reader #din djarin x f!reader #din djarin x reader #din djarin fluff #din djarin smut #din djarin series #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian x f!reader #the mandalorian x female reader #mando monday

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burntheedges · 2 months

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Hi Kate!

I'm back with my Ask games again!

This time we have a spring based prompts theme. You get a spring prompt and a character and I'd like to know your head canon/immediate thoughts on the combination.

Character: Din Djarin

Prompt: lake

With love,

El! the way this immediately set my brain spinning!

anyway, here we go, I hope you enjoy this. I made myself laugh. lol

A day at the lake

Din Djarin x gn!reader | 1006 words | rating: gen | ao3 tags/warnings: make sure to do your research before going to strange planets, I guess, the Razor Crest is still with us, not betaed

or, Din tries (and fails) to relax on vacation

…

Din stepped out of the Razor Crest with his hands on his hips, sweeping his gaze over the view in front of him. He huffed a tiny disbelieving breath, too quiet to be picked up by his helmet’s modulator. He shifted his weight and shook his head.

It was, by any measure, idyllic. The sunlight reflected off the small ripples in the surface lake in dazzling patterns. A gentle breeze rustled the colorful flowers and grasses that lined the narrow shore, itself covered in pastel orange and pink pebbles. The mountains across the lake that formed this bowl-shaped valley had extremely picturesque snow glinting on their peaks. As he stood there, taking it all in, he heard the songs and trills of 4 different birds. A trio of small, colorful winged insects floated by the edge of the ramp of the ship, fluttering in the breeze. He watched a shiny fish jump out of the water and do a flip before smoothly slipping back into the lake.

He blinked.

When you’d said you wanted to take a vacation, just the three of you, he’d remembered hearing nice things about this planet. It had been nearby, barely a system over from their last destination. And it really had looked nice as he flew the Crest into land. But looking at it now, he realized it was too beautiful. Way too beautiful.

He didn’t trust it.

Din thought back, trying to remember what he’d read about the fauna on this planet. Or maybe strange weather patterns? Was it extreme temperature fluctuations? Paradise couldn’t actually exist, not without people taking advantage of it. There had to be a catch.

He walked slowly down the ramp as he looked for a sign of you and his son. It didn’t take him long to spot you.

You were both sitting on the shore of the lake, about 35 meters to the right of the ship. Right as he turned towards you Grogu tossed a small pebble into the lake, and the sound it made when it hit the water – kerplunk – sent the child into a fit of giggles. Din watched as you joined him, letting his eyes trace the shape of your smile and the outline of your shoulders, relaxed and at ease. Hidden within the privacy of his helmet, he smiled.

He started to walk towards you, still carefully scanning your surroundings with every sensor and setting his helmet had to offer.

Nothing.

Brow furrowed, he stepped onto the beach about 10 meters away from where you were sitting, and you and Grogu looked up and smiled at him. He smiled back in spite of his growing conviction that nowhere could be this perfect.

“Din!” You called out, grinning. “Look at this place!”

I’ve been looking, he wanted to say, and I don’t trust it.

“Isn’t it almost too good to be true?” You continued, incredulous, as a frog-like amphibian hopped just out of Grogu’s reach into the lake and he squealed.

Din nodded as he stepped up beside you. “There has to be something wrong with it.” He knew he sounded judgmental and wary, but he couldn’t help it.

You threw your head back and laughed. “I knew you’d say that.” You reached out to gently poke his leg. “Can’t just take the win, huh?”

He was certain you could tell he was smiling. He sank smoothly to sit next to you. “It’s too nice. Nothing is this nice, cyar’ika, not for free. Not without a catch.”

You shrugged. “Maybe it’s just too far out of the way of any of the main trade routes. Maybe there’s a season of ridiculous weather we’re lucky to be missing.”

Din tilted his head, amused, and reached out to tickle Grogu's side gently. “Maybe there are giant, man-eating frogs that are creeping up on us now, as we speak.” You laughed again at his words, letting your head fall onto his shoulder. Grogu made an offended noise and poked his father in the knee.

“That’s right, Grogu, your father is being very silly right now.”

Din huffed to hide a laugh but he knew you could feel it. “I set the ship to do a long-range scan. I’ll check it again before we decide whether to stay.”

You sighed but smiled up at him without removing your head from his shoulder. “I knew you would. But really, so far?” You lifted your right shoulder in a small, uneven shrug. “So good. No idea what kind of problem there could be.”

Din brought his right arm up and around your shoulders, tugging you in closer as Grogu climbed into his lap. He nodded, conceding. “We’ll see.”

…

Later, after a very pleasant afternoon by the lake, you could see how hard he was trying to hold in his “I told you so” as you jogged up the ship’s ramp to escape the huge, hissing, angry aquatic mammals that had emerged from the lake at sunset. Nocturnal, you'd guessed as you scrambled towards the ship. They had fangs.

On the bright side, they were pink, just like the many pebbles Grogu had stuffed in your pockets. And their legs were really short, so short they had no hope of catching you.

You looked at Din when the ramp closed, and his shoulders were shaking with his effort to hold in a laugh. You rolled your eyes. “Yeah, yeah. You still owe me a real vacation, you know.”

He laughed outright, and the sound of it through the modulator made you grin. “I’ll do more research next time.”

“You’d better!” You called after him as he moved towards the ladder. “No more angry pink animals with fangs, please.”

Grogu squealed and held up a pink rock for your inspection. “Yeah, buddy. Pink, like that.” He made an insistent noise and waved it at you again.

And that’s when you noticed that it had legs. That one, and the 35 other members of Grogu’s collection that started squirming in your pocket at exactly the same time.

“DIN!”

...

a/n: lol no, I don't know where this came from

tag list: @katareyoudrilling @jeewrites @djarins-cyare if you're on the tag list for Maintenance Request and you want to be on my tag list for any/all fic, just let me know!

#din djarin x gn!reader #din djarin x reader #din djarin x you #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin #the mandalorian fanfiction #x reader

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heartthrobin · 1 year

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paint my sunset peach (1)

mechanic!eddie munson x farmgirl!reader

wc: 6.71k

warnings: reader is a little bit of a meanie, dirty sweaty eddie, hella pining, sunshine!eddie + grumpy!reader, swearing but otherwise pretty wholesome, limited use of y/n

an: i started writing this literally months ago and only finished it recently, super duper proud of it :))) this will be part one of a (probably) three part series. let me know if you want a tag in part 2 !!! i tried to tag all those who liked this post so thanks for the support - love you all <33

summary: the conveyer belt of mech-heads you dealt with on a weekly basis were nothing more than a side-show annoyance. but god, the auto-shop had never sent one with such round, wet brown eyes before.

part two

Before the auto-shop, on the corner at the intersection of Lovett and Harwood, was a Chinese restaurant.

The Red Lotus.

On Friday nights as a kid, daddy would drive into town and return with a steaming white bag of fried rice and dumplings. Sometimes, when they had in stock, he'd bring a single mooncake to share between him and you.

It was family run, the Zhou's. Three sons and a daughter.

They closed down right after you graduated, tired of the middle of nowhere-ness. The tractors rumbling loudly through town at six o' clock every morning, the shaky cell reception and the incessant knock of evening frogs on the porch.

Tired of butt-fuck nowhere Tennessee.

It stood empty for two years. Sometimes you'd pass it in your truck and remember them, other times you wouldn't even look.

But now, now it stood as a brand new garage. Or at least the tiny town's excuse for "brand new".

Daddy's friend, Mister Carl Abernathy, owned it.

He was a short stocky man, bald all over and you'd never seen him without a cold bottle of cider and the remnants of it’s sweat staining down his creased button-up.

You knew that only because he was always around: lots of things on the farm needed fixing up.

Weeds crept up into the tires of the tractors, age beat at the truck you used to move in and out of town - crates of peaches bouncing jovially over each bump.

Every time they needed a looking at, Carl would send over the bonehead of the week.

The same white pull-up would brake loudly outside the farmhouse door, always somewhere around nine: just in time to disturb your breakfast, and one of his latest recruits would hop out.

They’d lean haughtily against the large wheel of the dying blue tractor.

"Well, looks like we've got a problem on our hands here, hey little missy?"

They weren’t even worth the effort it took to roll your eyes. No shit.

The farm didn't make nearly enough from the weekend markets in bigger nearby towns, or the pennies of the townsfolk to afford new vehicles. So, you stuck it out with each caveman Carl sent your way.

And you were fine with it.

Mostly fine with it.

Sure, some of them were vulgar: they'd whistle at you or comment on your ass when you passed them working. Others could only succeed at making the vehicle worse than when they'd started, but it was your job to sort them out.

Could you have gone off with your high school friends to college? Sure.

Maybe.

But that’d leave Daddy all alone in that big house. You pushed away the thought when it surfaced to bug you.

Your mother had disappeared long before you knew her, exhausted - like the Zhou's - of being nowhere.

Maybe of being no one. Perhaps of being a no one peach farmer with the grump that was your daddy and a toddler zooming at her feet.

Either way, it didn't matter.

She had left and you remained to do the job, and that job included dealing with Carl’s mechanics.

At least it hadn't mattered, not until some morning in late summer.

The sun watched from high over the green farmhouse. It glared down, peeking over the edge of the porch.

You were fixed on the bird pecking at the already deteriorating grey window pane above the sink, overlooking the rows of colourful fields.

"You're messing, Cherry."

Cherry. Daddy had been calling you that since as far back as you could remember him talking.

You glanced at him across the table, where the spread of bread, eggs and jam had been lain, before you noticed where a long stripe of strawberry jam had run down the front of your black tank top.

"Listen now, you're gonna be fine with the tractor today?"

His voice was stern - probably too stern for such an hour of the morning, but you hardly noticed - swiping at the jam with your finger and nodding.

"No problems, alright?"

Daddy usually worked the tractor, but he was going to some meeting two towns over. He hadn't mentioned what about, but you were sure it had to do with the crippling financial state of the farm.

You nodded.

It's how you found yourself alone out in the heat of the midday sun.

The tractor rumbled beneath you, joggling over every rock and mole hill.

Every couple meters, you'd stop: climb off and pick at the peaches before tossing them into the crate. When enough crates were full, you'd load them onto the truck and move again.

You'd been at it, burning over your arms and shoulders, for what couldn’t have been more than a few hours when the tractor gave a sickening jolt.

Gripping the wheel and watching in horror over the edge of your sunglasses, your eyes followed the thick cloud of grey smoke where it began seeping out at the edges of the hood and disappearing up into the sky.

"No, no, no ..." you drew up the handbrake and leapt out the side onto the soil. The blue metal scalded the tips of your fingers where you threw the bonnet open before swallowing down mouthfuls of hot smoke.

It took five minutes of coughing against the side of the vehicle, another five kicking at the left wheel and at least another ten swearing at the sky before you dug your phone out from between the seats and dialled the number to Carl's auto shop.

It rung three times before his gruff voice carried across the line, "Abernathy Auto Repairs speakin', hello?"

"Good morning Mr Abernathy," your fingers pressed into the sides of your temple, working fruitlessly against the headache forming there. "I'm calling from the farm down Jasmine road—"

"Oh hey there, darlin'. What can I do you for?"

A squirrel rustled somewhere down the row of bushes. "Well, I'm out in the field now and the tractor has ... uh, given up on me. The ‘63. Need one of your men to come give it a start, or a look-over or—"

"Not a problem, not a problem at all. Are you far out? Whereabouts are you?"

You cupped a hand to shield up over your eyes, glancing back from whence you'd came. The house was but a speck of green in the distance.

"About two or three miles north west of the house?"

You could practically hear him nodding, a steady gulp audible against the line.

"Don't you worry about a thing, little darlin', I'll have one of my boys out there within the hour. Just hang tight."

"Alright, thank you kindly sir—"

But the line was already dead.

You glared at the phone.

Huffing loudly, you pulled yourself back up onto the truck - allowing the soft shade to gently graze over your face as you sunk back into the seat.

The warm wind rippled over the tops of the rows of greenery and you watched quietly, the irritation simmering to a low boil in your chest.

There was a quiet tranquility in being so far out from the house, shielded from the scorch.

Your boot tapped rhythmically against the console. Warm breeze brushed over your face again and you sighed, tilting your hat lower over your forehead. The lull of the quiet field allowed your lashes to fan closed over your cheeks. Before you’d taken note of the bird coming to perch on the roof, you were already asleep.

It was the loud rumble of an engine and the throbbing pain in your neck that brought you back to the world of the conscious.

You woke with a jump. Heart thumping against your ribcage in instant confusion. Your hat flew off your head and over the edge of your seat from where it had been blocking the light over your eyes.

Bringing a hand to your neck you whined loudly, the angle you’d been perched at doing nothing for the long term preservation of your muscles there.

You turned anyways, noticing the white pick-up quickly nearing from the direction of the house.

Frowning, you glanced down at time against the console. Three fifty-eight.

"Shit!"

You stuck your head out from under the shade of the tractor top to notice how low the sun has sunk in the sky. It was almost reaching the head of the hill in the distance.

The mechanic shouldn't have taken longer than an hour to find you, and subsequently, wake you. You quickly diffused yourself of blame.

Daddy was going to kill you.

Clambering off the side of the tractor, your hands found your hips before the car pulled to a wailing halt barely a few centimetres off from your knees.

Dust swept up around the truck, obscuring the view of the man that stepped out of it.

"Woah. Almost hit you there, doll."

Warm wind cleared the air and the figure of a young man stood in your field.

The words sitting on your tongue begging to be spat out were sucked straight back down your throat.

For a moment you forgot what you had planned to say at all.

The man's eyebrow cocked at you under strands of dark, curly hair falling carelessly from the skew bun atop his head.

Behind you, a crow cried in the distance. Your senses quickly returned to you.

Your fists tightened at your sides. "Where on god's green earth have you been?"

He looked taken aback.

"Well, I had some trouble finding the house," he smiled sheepishly, motioning to the farmhouse over his shoulder, "and then I had to phone Carl cause he didn't really tell me where—"

"So you're new then? Carl sent a greenie to come fix my tractor?"

Anyone who'd spent more than three days in town knew the farm down Jasmine road. Knew your farm.

A heavily ringed hand came up to his jaw, rubbing there and eyeing you in a way that made the hair on your arms stands straight up.

It was painfully unfair how handsome he was.

"New to town. Not new to fixing tractors." His voice was smooth, the curl of a grin peaking at you from the edge of his mouth.

Sucking in a deep breath - a feeble attempt at composure - you nodded once.

"Well, I've got a tractor and it's broken. And you're two hours late, so if you don't mind, I've got a job to do."

You turned violently on your heel, sure if you stood under his gaze any longer that you'd melt right against the soil.

The sound of the peaches tumbling out the crate onto the tractor split the air between you and him, and soon you were marching away from his figure - crate in hand - in pursuit of fruit further down the lane.

"I'm Eddie!"

You waved vaguely over your shoulder, electing not to bless him with an answer.

Carl was going to hear an earful from your father, you were sure of it. You plucked angrily at the fruits off the bush, tossing them a little too violently in with the rest.

It was quiet from the distance behind you, but you refused to turn to look.

Sure, you shouldn't be so surprised that one of Carl's idiots was nearly two hours late and got lost in a town that really only has two roads, but god, he'd never sent one with such round, wet brown eyes before.

The walk was long, each stop causing the crate to become heavier, and you worked hard to put the image of the mechanic’s black shirt - that he'd obviously cut the sleeves off himself - and how it clung to his chest with sweat out of your mind.

You didn't stop until a voice called from behind. At first it was soft, but it grew louder within a minute: as was the sound of footfalls.

"Hey, miss!"

He was jogging towards you, pieces of hair falling recklessly out from the grips of his hair tie to frame his red face.

Eddie only stopped when barely a few feet separated you.

"All done." He grinned, huffing around his smile. "She just overheated a bit, needed some water and a a couple valves disconnected."

You couldn't tell whether it was harder to hold his gaze or work to keep yours off of his chest.

"Right. Good." You nodded, leaning to lift the crate at your feet. "Then I'll be getting back to it."

It was heavy, almost too heavy if you hadn't lifted boxes like those from sunrise to sunset for the last eighteen or so years.

But the mechanic was clearly unconvinced, he swooped in closer to you. "Let me get that—"

"I'm fine—"

"No really." By now he was way too close, close enough that you could smell the undertones of a shower gel or maybe a cologne.

His voice softened, "Please. To make up for my tardiness."

It was hard to tell whether it was the sun making you so dizzy or his proximity, but either way, it forced you to nod slowly. "Fine."

Eddie took the crate from your hands, you ignored the rush of heat to your stomach as he grunted against the weight.

"Strong thing aren't you, doll?"

You didn't respond, eyes fixed on the giant blue tractor a couple meters from where you stood.

Silence rung, only the footfalls filling the space. You'd almost made it all the way back to the tractor without conversation before the mechanic decided to open his mouth again.

"I don't think I caught your name earlier."

You met his eyes, regretting it almost immediately when your knees threatened to buckle, "That's because I never gave it."

Stepping just close enough to take the crate from his grip, but avoid the drift of his cologne again, your hands brushed closely against his.

They were cool against your sweaty ones.

He was grinning again.

You stepped back, balancing the peaches against your hip before tilting it over the box attached to the end of the tractor allowing the round pink pieces to clatter down into its depths.

"Right. Well, what's your name then doll?"

But you were already clambering back up the side of the tractor into the worn leather seat.

"Wouldn't you like to know, pretty boy."

He was leaning against the side of the truck now, you avoided looking down at him, something told you that you'd find those eyes blinking right up into your soul again if you did.

"So you think I'm pretty?"

Hot red blush chased up the sides of your neck over your ears, you prayed it wasn't discernible under the pink sunburn.

The keys jingled loudly as you slid them into the ignition and turned them violently. The vehicle jerked to life.

"I think your job is done. Good afternoon sir."

Before he could say another word, your foot had sunk down on the accelerator and the tractor was rumbling back down between the bushes again.

In your peripheral vision you watched how the mechanic stumbled back against his pick-up, narrowly avoiding catching his foot under one of the hundred pound tires, and the sound of an echoing chuckle fading as you plodded away.

The drive back to the auto-garage was quick. At least quicker than the drive Eddie had taken to find the farm.

His hands tightened around the wheel, twisting over the leather as he pulled to a park in the open spot across the street.

A ring of brown soil stared up at him from where he'd pulled at the handbrake with dusty paws.

"Shit ..." he wiped his hands down the jean over his thighs.

Eddie was used to the oil and the reek of grease, as if that wasn't already enough, but not the itch of farm soil up his nostrils and behind his ears.

He twisted the metal ring around his finger, a small grin playing at his lips.

But the soil wasn't so bad, he reckons he'd swim through a pool of it it to get another chance to watch the hot-tempered farm girl's hips sway when she marched away from him, just as you'd done earlier that afternoon.

The smile didn't leave his face as he climbed out the car, locked it and crossed the street whistling.

Eddie was almost completely used to the whir of the drills echoing off the walls and barely registered the creak of the lever that was raising a car near the back of the shop.

Carl was leaning over the reception desk clinking the bottom of his cider bottle against the wood and puffing on the end of a cigarette.

He waved vaguely down at the open ledger when he noticed Eddie nearing, "See here, extra two hundred dollars on a cheap fucking knock off for that AMC Eagle. You believe that, Munson?"

"Hardly, boss."

Eddie was halfway back to where he'd abandoned the engine on a red convertible before weaving across town to find a farm when the boss' voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hold it, hold it. Where’ve you been? Didn't I send you outta here three hours ago?" He swivelled on the bar stool against the counter to face him.

The greasy palm that had been picking it's way under car hoods all afternoon reached up to rub against the side of his neck. "I couldn't find that fucking farm, did three circles ‘round the post office before I saw the sign for Jasmine road."

Carl surveyed him with a crooked brow. "They didn't teach you to read maps down in Indiana, boy?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He was about to turn back on his way, when the picture of your face glimmered at him behind his eyes, "Listen boss, the girl there. The daughter you said, what's her name?"

By then, Carl had already turned back down to the accounts. "What's it to ya?"

Silence rung long enough that Carl peeked back up at Eddie over the rim of his glasses.

Eddie shrugged bashfully. "Pretty thing."

Carl threw his head back, laughing loudly - Eddie always thought his laugh sounded like a dog barking.

"I've seen that look." He shook his head, lifting to perch his glasses on his shining bald head. "Too many of you boys come back from that farm starry-eyed. No hope with that princess, she don't like you mech-heads. Nope, not one bit."

"Ah, come on, don't you believe in love at first sight?"

Carl let off another crumbly chuckle, "Bit your head off, didn't she?"

"Sure did." He beamed like the cat that caught the canary, "Love it when a lady talks to me sweet."

A sweaty hand shrugged him off.

"Get back to work, Munson."

But Eddie wavered. "Just a name, boss."

Carl stared at him for a couple moments, clearly bored. It took a long slug of the yellow cider and a hard sigh before he spoke again: "Y/n."

The grin crept back up his cheeks. He tested the name on his tongue, finding it to taste as sweet as he knew it would.

"Appreciate it."

"Get back to that convertible before I fire you."

Eddie the mechanic had been firmly put out of your mind following the ruckus out in the field.

Sure, his puppy dog face had returned to you later that night as you lay in bed, but that hardly counted.

You'd forgone mentioning his tardiness to Daddy, electing to take the mild scolding instead.

By the time the end of the week had arrived, you'd just about completely forgotten the floppy haired man that had once graced the farm.

That was until Daddy rose the topic of the auto-body shop again.

He handed you the wet plate, you took it carefully - starting to wipe it down. The water sloshed beneath his hands, scrubbing hard at the soapy pan.

Bullseye watched up at you from where she was curled up on the kitchen chair, purring loudly. Outside the sky was turning deep lilac and the crickets were clicking loudly.

"Tomorrow on your way back from Madeline's, I want you to stop by Carl's."

Madeline's was the local - and only - grocer. You dropped five cases there every Tuesday.

Your hand stilled against the plate, "For?"

"I want you to ask him to spare a man, a good one. Just a couple afternoons a week to do some work."

Your father handed the next plate over carefully.

Confusion tugged at your brow, "Work? What work?"

"You're too curious for your own good, y'know that?"

Bumping your shoulder against his, the pot lid almost slipping from his wet fingers, you laughed. "Don't be difficult, what for?"

The old man sighed.

Some nights, with the evening hue seeping in through the window against his face like it was just then, you were reminded of how old he really was.

"I want to fix up the Cobra."

In the barn around the back of the house, sitting untouched and unmoved for almost twenty years, lived a 1965 AC Cobra.

The steel lid slipped from your hands, clattering against the floor. Your father jumped.

"You're fixing the Cobra!" You grabbed him by the arm, eyes wide in delight. "Is it for me?"

He offered a half-hearted stern look at you, leaning to pick up the lid before straightening out.

"Don't get too excited, she's a real piece of work and we don't know if she can even still be revived."

You tugged at the edge of his shirt, "But ... it's for me, right?"

"Well, your twenty-first is coming up and I thought you're old enough now—"

Just about strangling him, your arms flew up over his neck.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you—!"

He sighed over your shoulder, patting your back with a wet hand. “Alright, alright. Just speak to Carl.”

Your drop-off at Madeline's had never gone faster.

Town was busy, as busy as it got on a Tuesday morning, and Abernathy's was no different.

You pulled into a spot down the line of other nearly identical pick-ups to your own in front of the shop.

At the front desk, where you were sure he'd grown roots into the stool behind it, sat Carl Abernathy.

When he looked up from a piece he'd been tinkering with, surprise twisted at his features.

"G'morning darlin'," he set the piece down, puffing around a lit cigarette, "What can I do you for on this fine morning?"

"Good morning sir," you set your hat on the counter, leaning beside it. "My daddy sent me, he's asking if you could spare a man for some work 'round by ours. Couple nights a week."

The little man's eyes screwed at you.

"What, may I ask, will he be expected to do?"

By then you couldn't stifle the grin any longer.

"He's gonna be fixing the Cobra."

The response seemed to delight the man as much as it did yourself, because he laughed loudly and slammed a hand down against the wooden desk.

"Your old man finally found some sense, hey?" He jeered, "I'm mighty pleased to here that, little miss, I really am."

You smiled, "It's my birthday gift. Twenty-first coming up."

"Twenty-one, hey? Well, I've got just the boy. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it."

Carl leaned dangerously back on the stool, you fleetingly wondered how he didn't topple over, before yelling over his shoulder into the depths of the shop.

"Munson! Get your up-to-no-good-ass over here!"

Not to say that you'd completely forgotten him, but you were still more than a little taken aback when the tall framed mechanic from a few days before emerged from under the hood of a pick-up.

"Boss—?" His eyes found you. They lit up like main street over Christmas. "Oh, what a pleasant surprise. Morning, doll."

Grease covered every inch of his arms up to his elbows which held the scrunched up ends to the black long sleeve he was wearing. He was dirtier than last you saw him and it made your stomach swoop dangerously.

"Him?" It slipped out before you had time to catch it.

But Carl didn't comment on your rudeness, instead he slapped a heavy hand over Eddie's shoulder and shook it.

"For sixty's models, this is your boy for the Cobra." The older man beamed at him, like he was telling you his son was a heart surgeon. "Hands like a magician I tell you."

The comment sent a icy chill down the back of your spine, it wasn't helped when the mechanic snapped a wink at you from under his boss' hand.

"R-Right, well, you can come by as soon as you want to start working. A couple hours a day, my daddy will pay you."

With his hair clipped back, you could make a clearer assessment of his face as he nodded to you. He had thick lips and a strong-set nose.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, doll."

The cheekiness in his grin was plucking at a nerve behind your eyebrow. "Think you'll be able to find your way this time?"

"I think I'll be fine." His hands sunk into the depths of his jean pockets, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Left at the butchery and right down the road to my heart."

You scoffed, turning back to Carl. "Thanks Mr Abernathy. I'll let my old man know."

Not even sparing Eddie another glance, you grabbed your hat off the counter and turned on your heel back to the car.

He watched your hair sway under the press of the brown hat and where your wide shoulders glistened in the light beneath the straps of your overalls.

Only when the sound of your engine had disappeared down the street, did he turn back to Carl who was digging the end of a screwdriver into a metal plate.

"You're really an old romantic aren't you, boss."

Carl grumbled, waving a dismissive hand at him.

Eddie shook his head, chuckling delightedly, "Psh, "sixty's models"! As if Jacob couldn't get that Cobra running in a couple days."

Pulling another cider noisily out from the cooler he kept at his feet, Carl guffawed. "I sure hope it's gonna take you more than a few days, lover boy, cause that little miss doesn't seem too fond 'a you I can tell you now."

But Eddie wasn't fazed, "Don't worry, she will be."

Sure as the sun rose in the sky, two o' clock rolled around the next afternoon and a noisy white pick-up pulled into park in front of the green farmhouse.

"Cherry! The mech's here!"

You'd grumbled, reluctantly pulling yourself out from where you'd been perched under the cool shade of the back porch repainting worn pots.

Eddie was standing lost in the driveway when you found him.

He was dirty, obviously just from the shop, and you offered something short of a warm welcome, but he seemed unfazed.

"Car's in the barn 'round the back of the house."

"Well good afternoon to you too, miss." You wondered if his smirk had been permanently stitched there.

The toolbox rattled with each step he took after your pacing figure.

As promised, the barn stood nearly as tall as the house in a faded orange hue.

It was dark inside and the door creaked loudly where you'd swung it open.

There she sat in all her glory. The 1965 AC Cobra, in a fitting cherry red.

Eddie whistled lowly over your shoulder behind you.

"A damn shame hiding this beaut up in this dusty barn." He passed you, running his hand over the bonnet that glimmered even in the low light.

We can agree on one thing at least, you thought.

"I've got to go finish up," you motioned over your shoulder, "but, uh, if you need anything I'll be around. Just shout."

You'd already caught the edge of the door, halfway out, when his voice stopped you in your tracks.

"And what is it exactly that I should I shout, doll? Seeing as you still haven't told me your name."

You surmised him, considering only momentarily letting your name spill off your lips.

Hm. Not today.

"Doll works just fine, greenie."

Finishing off the pots was easy, quick. They stood lined up against the bannister drying while you busied yourself in the vegetable patch behind the house: twisting carrots and beetroots out from the dark soil as the sun sunk slowly lower in the sky.

The time had hardly occurred to you when the back door swung open, your father sticking his one foot down the step.

Keys to the pick-up dangled in his hand.

"Cherry, I'm running to Madeline's for some wood glue and another bag of nails. Need anything?"

Swiping an itch on your forehead with the back of your hand, wiping a long black stripe there, you shook your head. "Nothing."

"Right," he nodded and the door was already halfway shut when he tossed it open again. "Oh, and go make that boy a bite to eat. Damn skinny thing's been in that hot barn for hours now."

You sagged your shoulders childishly, voice coming out as a whine. "Must I really?"

"Yes, you must really."

And he was gone.

The fridge was a ghost town, spare for the never-ending supply of fruit and vegetable that lived in the bottom drawer.

Following five minutes of pursing your lips and staring into its depths, you conjured up a lettuce, cucumber tomato and sweet-chilli sandwich. It didn't take long to convince yourself into making another to satiate your own complaining stomach.

You hummed as you worked, pouring cool lemonade into two glasses, packing the food back into the fridge and rinsing off the butter knife.

The tall clock chimed jovially from the hallway when you shuffled out the back, two plates and two glasses in hand.

Your hip nudged open at the barn door and a wave of sweltering heat rushed over your face and between every tendril of hair on your head.

Blinking foggily into the dim sauna that was the barn, you were met with the only slightly browned back of one Eddie Munson.

The man was hunched over, head lost in the depths of the car's stomach and when he straightened out you just about swallowed your tongue.

His long black mane was in a messy ponytail at the base of his neck and his shirt had been abandoned somewhere by the right tire. Sweat was sliding down the side of his face like an open faucet.

"Hey," he smiled when he met your eyes, voice groggy and tired. The sound made the plates wobble under your grip.

"Hi—" you cringed internally, it was the most pleasant greeting you'd offered him so far. Why had it come out so ... awkward?

You motioned down to the plates, as if his eyes hadn't already found them. "I made you a sandwich ... didn't know if you were hungry or—"

The wrench flew from his grip down into the box where he tossed it and Eddie sighed. "Starving."

You handed him the plate, watching how his blackened fingers stained the edge of the plate and the rim of the glass.

He sat carefully down against an empty crate that had been abandoned by the wall, resting the glass by his feet and wiping his hands down the length of his thighs.

"Hot as hell in here." The mechanic mumbled before diving into the sandwich.

Letting his head fall back against his shoulders, he moaned loudly.

"This is fucking delicious." He commented around the mouthful.

You worked hard to swat away the blush reaching at your cheeks by nodding quickly. That sound would probably ring in your head all night.

"I should go—"

"You're not gonna eat here? I don't mind ..." Eddie eyed the sandwich you'd made for yourself in your hand, gaze flickering between the plate and your face.

Your mouth curled around a response, but you were beat to the chase.

"I know you probably mind," he interjected quickly, "but if you w-want company, I mean, you could eat here ..."

Pursing your lips, you surveyed him: long gangly legs spilling in every direction and rings clinking against the glass.

Would it really kill you to sit five minutes with him?

"No need to turn red, greenie." You resigned, kicking over another crate near the grate of the car before leaning down to perch against it. "I don't mind."

It was quiet for the first couple minutes. You focused on your sandwich, feeling his gaze flicker up to you every few minutes.

He'd practically inhaled the first half of the sandwich, but you noticed he was eating the second half slowly.

"So," he swallowed down a gulp of lemonade. "What were you busy with now before I forced you into sitting here with me?"

You picked at a cucumber that had fallen loose from your sandwich, teasing at the outer skin with your teeth.

"Very important work." Your lip curled at the corners, it seemed he noticed. "Fate of the farm depended on it. Guess now it'll have to crash and burn ..."

"Oh yeah? Enlighten me."

His amused look matched yours.

"Pulling carrots out the patch."

He leaned back, eyes widening theatrically. "Sounds exhilarating."

"You have no idea."

You bit into your sandwich again, finding the space suddenly more comfortable.

"Tell me," he pulled off a piece of tomato hanging dangerously off the edge of the sandwich, "How does a car this beautiful find it's way onto a farm in the middle of nowhere?"

Your chest pinched at the question.

"Y'know, just ..." you motioned vaguely towards the roof, "Aliens."

He caught how your gaze flickered from his to a loose bolt near your foot.

Okay, sensitive spot.

The bread was soft between Eddie's fingers, he set it down.

"I thought I saw some funny lights in the sky last night."

It was becoming almost impossible to keep his eyes off you, even for a couple seconds at a time.

You only nodded at his response, refusing to lift your gaze from the floor.

It was making his stomach churn, desperate for a couple more minutes to enjoy the view of your face.

There was a smudge of brown soil against your forehead where your hair fell over it, making his hands twitch in his lap, itching to reach out and swipe at your sun-kissed face.

"Just you and the old man then?" He pressed, reaching for his glass again.

You shrugged, "Couple creatures of the earth too. And the peaches, of course. Always the peaches."

"Peaches are good."

"No boyfriend then?"

It slipped out of him before he had chance to catch it. He'd been dying to know since the second your figure had appeared to him beyond the cloud of dust out in the field.

You took your sweet time, examining him over the rim of your glass. He couldn't tell whether you intended to respond to him at all.

The weight of your gaze was making his head spin.

"'A course I have a boyfriend. Nights on a big farm like this get lonely without someone to warm the other side of the bed. Y'know?"

Eddie's heart sunk into his stomach.

The sandwich had suddenly lost it's appeal. He set the last couple bites by his feet. He nodded slowly.

"... Can imagine."

Blood was rushing past his ears loudly, he could feel it pooling around his cheeks: warming his face with embarrassment.

"He's actually around if you want to meet him?"

"Uh—" Eddie couldn't even formulate a half of a response before your head was thrown back over your right shoulder:

"Cowboy! Baby!"

Cowboy?

There was a thick confused silence where he wasn't entirely sure who or even if anyone would march through the door - he mostly hoped that you'd been lying and nobody was coming at all.

"Baby!" You called again.

Then he heard it.

The fall of footsteps. Someone was running towards the barn and getting quickly closer.

From out of the sunshine, bounding through the door, Eddie made out the shape of the largest dog he'd ever seen.

Four long gangly legs carried him across the small space, tongue swinging over the side of his jaw: he'd appeared so quickly that Eddie didn't have a moment to prepare before the hound leapt excitedly into his lap.

"Hey, boy—!"

He toppled back over the crate and the dog licked hungrily at the sauce around the edges of his mouth, he nudged Eddie's face with his giant snout before spotting the last few bites of the sandwich left abandoned and scooped it up in one long lick.

The distraction of the food offered Eddie the opportunity to sit straight up again, he could feel the hay tangling into the depths of his hair - but the thought dissolved when he picked up the sound you were making.

You were laughing.

The sound was making him drunk, he was sure of it.

It was made worse when he looked at you: head tilted to the side, leaning at the wall and calling the dog breathlessly between giggles.

Eddie could feel the tiny birds flying in circles over his head and his pupils turning to hearts.

"Cowboy, leave the man's food!"

But the sandwich was long gone and the dog had apparently lost interest in sniffing at the empty plate, returning to licking wet stripes up the side of Eddie's face.

"Sorry, he's just a pup." Your face had softened, giggles bubbling down to a sigh. "Hasn't grown into all his manners yet."

"A pup?" Eddie mumbled in disbelief, catching Cowboy behind his ears with a tickle.

Like a magic button, the dog collapsed into a puddle by his feet: panting loudly.

"Kinda looks like your boyfriend likes me more than you."

You leaned against your knees, head shaking. "I'm feeling a little betrayed that he hasn't even looked in my direction yet."

"It's my natural charm, what can I say. Attracts animals of all species."

Scoffing loudly, you shook your head. "Keep the traitor then. We'll see how long he lasts without me feeding him spoonfuls of peanut butter under the table."

Eddie briefly wondered how big of table existed in the kitchen beyond the window of the farmhouse to fit the monstrous animal at his feet.

"Aw, then who would keep you warm on cold farm nights ..." he flashed a toothy smile, "Winter is just around the corner after all."

"Well, in that case," you tilted your head back in false concentration, lifting your hand to count on your fingers: "There's Bullseye, the cat ... Rodeo, the other cat. A couple stray dogs sometimes walk in off the fields, maybe we could adopt a goat?"

Cowboy was watching you with his head in Eddie's lap, Eddie tilted his head innocently to the side. "No one else?"

"Nope ... none that come to mind."

You were smiling at him now, mischief curled into the edges of your mouth.

It was turning his insides to a molten pool of goo.

"Is that a smile I see?" He tried his luck. "Did I make you smile? Is a comet about to hit the state of Tennessee?"

You turned your head quickly, working to wipe the expression off your face, but not entirely succeeding.

Instead you stood up.

"Whatever, greenie." Leaning down to pick up your plate, Eddie was briefly exposed to the view down the front of your dungarees. He blushed again. "Don't you have work to do?"

Crossing the space quickly, you grabbed his plate from beneath one of Cowboy's pot-sized paws before clicking your tongue at the dog.

He clambered back onto his feet like a new-born deer, clearly still not entirely sure what to do with so much leg.

"I'll see you later then, doll?"

But you didn't turn back, disappearing into the light of the sun with Cowboy trotting at your heels.

"Maybe in your dreams tonight, pretty boy."

tags:

@jokersgrf @anicosa-ironlung @sleepy-bunnie @pricelessemotion @sweetgladiatorfesival @eggo-segual @m1rkw00dpr1ncess @introvertedmouse @ctrlaltdel3te @multifandom-l0ver @inarinine @sillysteveharharhar @buckystwilight @hey-lucille

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fanfiction #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson au

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artbyace · 7 months

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what pet do y’all think each marauder would have? i’ll start-

james: obvious answer is golden retriever BUT i don’t agree with this. i think james is a lil bird guy. like , cant u imagine him with a tiny little mini james chilling on his shoulder ??? just teaching him little sayings and being like OMG GOOD JOB MY SON when he says one 😭

regulus: black cat. obviously. no other option.

sirius: lizard owner. idc idc. they’re cold blooded just like him /j

remus: orange cat owner. he is 100% just like “yep this is my son he is an idiot and has no brain” energy

lily: GERMAN SHEPHERD GIRLIE. i’m so serious. like the huge black ones. she has them trained so so well they are so intelligent.

mary: A PITBULLLLL this makes so much sense to me as someone who grew up around pitbulls <3

marlene: she has a hamster. that’s it .

pandora: PANDORA IS A FERRET MUM I CANT EXPLAIN ITS JUST HER ENERGY. she has at least 2 and they’re as wild as her

pete: this man owns a frog. the silly little pac-man ones. he takes such good care of itand it bites his finger sometimes when he’s feeding it becuase it is so dumb

evan: snake owner but not like the cool, intimidating kind. he has a lil goofy corn snake named smth dumb like toe

barty: he wants to come off as tough but he saw a senior chihuahua (like marbles) in the shelter and now he dresses her up in cute lil outfits and that’s his daughter .

#txt #marauders #marauders hc #marauders headcanon #pets #tell me if you think i’m wrong #but i believe #dead day wizards

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twigg96 · 8 months

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Where’d ya hear that at?!

Daddy! Daryl X Reader

Era: Alexandria

Warnings: Fluffy Wholesome Fluff, Daryl being a dad, Kids being kids,

POV: Daryl

Pronouns: You

Summery: When Daryl takes your little family for a walk he watches his youngest daughter Lillian play while you try and teach your eldest two (Phoenix and Beau) some basic survival skills. Daryl plays along with his littlest's antics.

A/N: Inspired by this video XD

Walking slowly along the dirt path Daryl watched as his youngest hopped playfully from puddle to puddle wet and muddy from the past rain storm. You were a little farther behind, he could hear your soothing voice informing his eldest of what berries were safe to eat before scolding his son for chasing a frog down the path and refusing to pay attention. It was quaint moments like this that felt so surreal in the world they lived in.

"Poppa." Lillian's sweet voice cut through the fog of his mind. Looking down at her he smiled. "Yeah, baby?" He asked. Lillian smiled up at him walking over from the puddle she had been jumping in. It had long since run dry from her splashing and left nothing but thick mud for her to play in. Holding out her hand for him to take she smiled widely. "Can I go jumps in the big one now?" She asked pointing with her free hand to a rather large, deep looking puddle farther down the path. Instinctively, Daryl scanned the area, taking his daughter's tiny hand in his own. "Course baby girl." He muttered walking with her, glancing back at you, Phoenix, and Beau to make sure you were all safe.

"Poppa." Lilly whispered, pulling on Daryl's arm. "Do we need to hide?" She asked, worry filling her eyes. Daryl felt himself wince at the toddler's question. He hated that his children needed to be so vigilant. Hated that they needed to know where they closest shelter was or what to do if he and their mother was no where to be found. It killed him inside. Looking down at Lillian's sad, scared eyes Daryl tried to swallow the lump in his throat, kneeling down. "Not right now." He muttered, but the fear was still evident on his little one's face. "Ok." She whispered, kissing Daryl on the nose. "I love you, Poppa." She whispered, hugging his head tight. Daryl couldn't fight the chuckle tearing through his throat at his daughter's sweet actions. "Love you too munchkin." He muttered, watching her wander off towards the puddle.

"Poppa!" Lilly called over her shoulder as she took the first leap, giggling loudly when muddy water splashed up all over her. "Watch me, Poppa!" She giggled. Standing fully Daryl chuckled through his nose. "I'm watching, baby." He said proudly. Stepping out of the puddle Lillian rounded it for another go, this time jumping in at a different angle. Giggling loudly as she was splashed once more, she began to stomp around wildly singing to herself joyously. "Mary had a little lamb!" She started singing, giggling as the splashing matched her voice. Daryl smiled scanning the forest around them. "I am the Queen! Queen of all of Alexandria! My name is Lillian and you will listen to me!" She switched up her song next giggling as she made up words to her song. "Queen of Alexandria huh?" Daryl teased, playing along with his daughter. A round of fitful giggles filled the air and more splashing came as Lillian kicked wildly. "Yeah! I am!" She squealed. "Don't think your uncle Rick would like that much if you took over Alexandria." He teased, laughing as Lillian squealed and ran all around the puddle. "Well... well... then I'll just be the princess!" She squealed defiantly. Daryl nodded smiling at his daughter. "Ah... ok."

The kicking slowed down a bit and fell back into a type of rhythm. A sly grin slid across Lillian's face as she kept looking to her father making sure he was watching before she began to sing again. "Hi! I'm Ethan and I'm fourteen!" She chimed to the beat of her feet. Daryl cocked a brow but stayed quiet. "Slaying girls with my massive Pe-" Daryl froze staring at his daughter in disbelief, fighting the urge to laugh all at the same time. "Lilly!" He barked, making the little girl freeze in place. "Where'd ya hear that at?" He asked, staring down at the three year old. Tears welled in her large dark eyes and her lip jutted out as she stared up at her father. Pinching the bridge of his nose Daryl sighed. Kneeling in front of her he scooped her up, ignoring the mud that covered her. "I ain't mad at ya... I just wanna know where ya heard that at?" He whispered, bouncing her on his knee soothingly. Clinging to his neck, Lilly sobbed but nodded. "B-Beau..." She sniffled. Why was he not surprised...

Standing with Lilly still in his arms he rubbed her back shushing her lovingly. "It's ok. Calm down. You're not in trouble. Just don't say stuff like that..." He whispered kissing her temple. "Matter o' fact... just don't repeat what Beau says at all." He muttered. "Ok, Poppa." She whispered. "How about we head home? Get you washed up for the night?" He asked, glancing to the darkening sky. Walking towards you he gave you a reassuring smile watching as his two eldest played. Well... more like Beau was chasing Phoenix around with a snake he found trying to get her to hold it. Lilly nodded squeezing him tightly yawning sweetly. "Ready?" You asked, standing on your tippy toes to peck Daryl's lips. Daryl hummed nodding with a sigh as you both started on the path towards home. "Beau..." He called. "We gotta have a talk when we get home..."

#the walking dead #twd #daryl dixon #twd daryl #the walking dead daryl #daddy daryl #kids being kids #daryl dixion x reader #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl x reader #daryl fanfiction #daryl twd #daryl x you #daryl dixion imagine #daryl x y/n #daryl drabbles #Did I use lyrics from a tictok thing? Yes #Inspired #Jacques the whipper

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arqueete · 4 months

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thinking about how so many christmas songs are sad songs, about things we used to know and people we wish we could be with.

i went to my husband's catholic aunt's house for christmas day and they always say grace before dinner, and they were listing off people the family had lost in the last year and it was a long list. some years go like this.

my husband and i watched muppet christmas carol as always and because we're mourning a friend that had often spent christmas with his family, the scene where scrooge sees tiny tim's death hit especially hard--as i get older i'm always struck by a line that passed right by me as a kid, which is when scrooge says to the ghost, "must there be a christmas that brings this awful scene? how can we endure it?" and of course kermit the frog as bob cratchit and his matter-of-fact delivery of the line, "life is made up of meetings and partings, that is the way of it." in this movie that was the first one the muppets made after jim henson died, directed by his son.

i'm also thinking about my family's christmas dinner, where a bunch of us were gathered around the table with several loud overlapping conversations, and my cousin came over to me to show me something on her phone--she had found a home video on VHS dated 1990 and converted it to digital, and it had my grandpa, who has been dead for over 15 years, bouncing a baby on his knee and she wondered if that baby was me, actually? as she played the video, my grandpa said something on the screen that i could barely make out over the phone speaker but across the table my mom suddenly looked up from the conversation she was in, bewildered, and said, "that's my dad."

#personal

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momowritings · 17 days

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Love Bites pt. 2

When two worlds collide…

Baker Fem Reader x Toji Fushiguro

word ct: 15.1k, 11 Chapters

Preview: “I wasn’t joking about Megumi. He doesn’t smile often but he is one of the kindest kids in the class. He’s like a tiny adult. I think you’d like him.”

“Stop that! I barely know the man. I just—“

“You just add new items on the menu in the middle of the season for him to be the first one to try it. No big deal...”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Two: Chimayo Chai

Much to your dismay Toji visited the shop at least once a week with the same order. He always wanted to eat two of everything and a new drink to try, a drink that you had to choose for him. Your routine was set to where you had his boxes already waiting for him by the time he came in.

“Can I ask you a question?” Toji stops and stares down at you. You roll the ties of your apron around your fingers to try to calm yourself.

“Why do you order so much? I mean, you come in every week, but you don’t strike me as someone who has a sweet tooth.”

Once again Toji didn’t respond right away but you were used to it by now. Toji seemed to talk more when he was annoyed, so him being quiet was actually a good sign.

“I give them to my son and… coworkers.”

“You have a son?” you perk up. “I didn’t know you were married.”

“I’m not.”

You cringe at his response. You didn’t mean to bring up an unpleasant memory for him but you could never seem to talk to him normally.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I- Here’s your drink,” you sigh and hand him the latest fall drink on their menu, which is a Chimayo Chai. You hold the drink out and he takes it, lingering for a moment before speaking again. “He doesn’t like sweets either. My son.”

Your eyebrows knit together at his confession. “So it’s mainly just your coworkers who like sweets?”

Toji nods and finally takes the tea from over the counter. “They won’t shut up about them.”

“I love to hear that. I’ve been meaning to try more sugar and gluten free recipes. Maybe then you can enjoy them too.” You gave him a soft smile and the word “cute” flashed in Toji’s mind. He couldn’t even remember the last time he used that word willingly. “Oh, one more thing,” you say. “Next week on this day I won’t be here. The shop will be closed actually,” you mutter quietly. The words make Toji’s grip tighten around his cup and he waits for her to continue.

“It’s just for one day! I’m telling you because you always come in on Thursdays so I wanted to give you a heads up. I’ll close earlier on Wednesday but Friday will be open during normal store hours,” you smile and push your glasses up.

“Why?”

You were hoping he wouldn’t ask that question. You really didn’t want to lie to him, but at the same time you didn’t have any idea who this man was, even if your interest in him piqued every time he walked in with his tieless suit and emotionless face.

“I’m… visiting family,” you acquiesce.

“For only a day?”

“Yes, that’s all I need.”

Thankfully another customer broke their conversation with an announcement of their own. “Hey you, feeling old yet?” You smile at your tall friend who reaches over the counter to give you a tight hug.

“My birthday’s next week, jackass. How have you been, Rina?”

“Now I have to be more creative with my learning plans to keep the kids focused on their school work,” Rina dramatically sighs and her eyes trails over to the man she brushed past to say hello to you and her eyes widens.

“Oh Mr. Fushiguro! Funny seeing you here!”

“You know him, Rina?” This was getting ridiculous. How could an elementary teacher know a man like Toji?

“I teach his son, Megumi. He’s an absolute sweetheart. Quiet, but smart. He also loves all things related to frogs. Did I interrupt your conversation?”

“No, not at all. I’m sure Mr. Toji has other things to attend to. I’ll see you next week? Or maybe not, but soon?”

“What drink is this again?” Toji looks down into the cup.

“Chimayo Chai. You’re the first person I’ve made it for so far since it’s new on the menu,” you beam. “Let me know what you think when I see you again, okay?”

Toji nods and leaves without another word and Rina slowly turns to you with a smile pulling at her lips.

“He’s single you know.”

“Rina.”

“And quite a catch. He shows up to all of Megumi’s events and the other PTA moms drool over him from a distance.”

“Rina…”

“I wasn’t joking about Megumi. He doesn’t smile often but he is one of the kindest kids in the class. He’s like a tiny adult. I think you’d like him.”

“Stop that! I barely know the man. I just—“

“You just add new items on the menu in the middle of the season for him to be the first one to try it. No big deal,” Rina smirks and pops a piece of a muffin that she grabbed off of a rack into her mouth.

“Shut up. And I'm charging you for that.”

“Yeah yeah. Anyway, be sure to get ready for the school’s fall festival. Who knows, maybe Mr. Fushiguro will be there too.”

<<<Chapter One

Chapter Three>>>

#minimoe #momowritings #black fem reader #jjk #toji fushiguro #jjk fanfic #toji x reader #toji fushiguro x reader #toji fluff #jujutsu kaisen #bakery au #jjk fluff #kid megumi

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whump-queen · 1 year

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lee and void y’all are both are like this:

[@hidden-dreamland @whumpasaurus101]

you: provokes me provokes me provokes me provokesm—

me: …

me: …..💢……,

me: … 💢💢…,,,,

me: provokes back

you: mEEE?? the BabieEEE??? 😱😱😨⁉️❓🥺🥺‼️‼️nO bULLy 🚫🚫👎✋ThE bAAYYYbIEEE 🥺🥺👉👈👉👈🥺👉👈

#nOOOO yOU kICK MIETTT???¿¿??!!#jAil!! JAIL!! 100 yRS!#and all that #since y’all both awake rn #lee #void #my tiny frog son #pretty boy void #I really do have epithets for all of you huh #mutuals #shitpost

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captainzigo · 2 months

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since I have been making my little pony comics for the past few months, I have basically forgotten what every single one of my duckverse comic prompts means. I had a big list full of one sentence prompts for duckverse comics that I was going to make, and I was reading through it yesterday, because I thought about making one. I was surprised to find out that I have no idea what any of them mean. instead of just deleting the list, I have decided to share with you. For what good it will do you. Think of this as a little shout out to the people who followed me for duckverse content. i havent forgotten about you. it’s also a little peek in my twisted mind. my horrible creation process. a behind the scenes look from hell. the list of prompts is below the break

max college fund

launchpad rescue hero

costco 22¢ per bite

house of mouse

door to darkness

because i’m hispanic?

donald cousins catch and release

fish wife

the greatest skateboard trick in the seven seas

backyardagins movie

evil versions boy band

gladstone gay moms

the poor part of town

private army of freaks vs my boys

you own the town. you are politics - what do you think taxes are for - not gladstone bail - id be doing everyone a favor

kids table is great actually

donald cry gold swim

beautiful gold moon

villains table

these lovebirds

gladstone can’t read

gladstone hyper specific thrift store shirt

louie seeing anyone right now?

managed my uncle’s finances

june dolls episode

may louie webs spy episode

house of mouse christmas hdl want to come

propeller cap start to turn. big wind. its a helicopter landing. thanks babe

double gay batteries

daisy likes donald snoring

if you can understand anything he says then yeah!

sora. quack pack. bald monkey

i respect your pronouns. i dont not respect YOU scrooge

why are you friends with my rival’s girlfriend

we’re sisters now too???

The dancing hacker - do you know how hard it is to lucid dream

are you guys playing dancing hacker?

how did you do that? Those dice were rigged i mean.

you guys were supposed to prepare a musical number every session

Lady in pink but with a knife

girl boss? No girl lady. But not a girl.

sephirof at the door. never seen Donald that serious in my life.

I have a superhero alter ego - like super Grover?

louie x robin the frog

daffy: i’m getting you a job in Hollywood, kid! You gonna make big times. Why? uh… i’m friends with your mom.

Duckburg community college is the only community college that does dance scholarship

duckberg community ducks, and the Duckburg University geese

in helicopter: you ever going to get tired of having our dates like this? no never.

donald take responsibility for our son! panchito what

babe your costume is terrible. why are you still in a sailor hat

tasha austin gay lesbian solidarity

hey webby! *glittery hands*

webby diary

shake for trust? glitter on hand. body slam

why did t you tell me your girlfriend is a pilot? tasha said i shouldn’t tell you because of what happened to you pilot ex. he’s still alive!

pablo: sleeper agents be like time for my next mission

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

WHATS UP T-BOYS?

donald’s boyfriends what does gladstone have against gay people

donald you should wingman for me. i thought you were gay

dugan duck is your secret kid isn’t he

huey ponytail

donald has three boyfriends why can’t i have two

woops i mexed up their super powers - let’s go, t boys! i didn’t make them trans! they were like that before, right?

your brother donald has like five partners. yeah and i’m not my brother donald. you’re right. i should date your brother donald

dewey damn girl your ass phat what are your pronouns. katy nun/ya

tying normie trans girl to a chair turbo pablo

don’t worry. the promise ring is just a tracking device

punch buggy gets steadily more and more violent

dewey’s many licenses

duck twins cobwebs

beaks: help! #911

katy can not entertain in her tiny trailer

uno gaydar donald i finally give you a job and you’re being gay on the clock??

when mom comes in and you have to hide your DS under your pillow

HDL Tulin

HDL chart

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #donald duck #dt17 #duckverse

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darushi-chan · 1 year

Photo

MORE HOTD REPTILES AU 🤗 EDIT: After I took a nap I checked the post on my phone and the quality of the image looked like crap, dont know if it is my damn phone or what, but just to make sure I divided the strip in parts, now it looks fine in my phone, I like looking at Vhagar the komodo dragon in good definition ok xD? Also Arrax with his cute little crown. Im in pain, I commited myself and finished this in almost 3 days, never again lol. Headcanons time: -If you follow my other posts you know Aemond and Luceyrs are roommates, Aemond lied and said Vhagar “was friendly” so Luke will stay with them, he had been very careful and nothing happenned for like 3 weeks, but the one time he went jogging and didn’t make sure Vhagar’s enclosure was properly closed something happened. -His “Lucerys it’s in danger” sense tingled and he came back in time to prevent disaster, but Luke saw Vhagar in his room. -Lucerys knows Vhagar its not “friendly”, but he also wanted the roommates situation to work, so he feigned ignorance and trusted Aemond, after all Vhagar did listen to him, most of the time. -Vhagar did want to have snack time so bad 😞, but she also loves her almond, so no eathing the tiny dragon, Arrax its “her friend” now, and shes also a new member of Luke’s youtube videos! Plenty of new subscribers thanks to that 😂. -Yes, their silly costumes are a little bit of an hommage to their HOTD real characters, after all we do love to make Luke and Aemond queen and king (Or kings) in a lot of fics 😋. -Also also, yes Luke its wearing crocs with cute charms on them, I also love jogging pants, very comfortable 😌. -Vhagar its inded as tall as Luke when she stands, she’s a full grown Komodo, my doberman its as tall as me when he stands, so I think that makes it possible, I’m like 1.60 m, 5.25 feet, so yeh. -After this Vhagar and Arrax become really good friends indeed, they take walks together with Luke and Aemond, they sunbathe, Luke makes videos with both of them from time to time, they also play catch and chase together, this scares Luke a little, but Vhagar will not hurt Arrax, they are important to her know, Aemond likes them, so does she. -The costumes and videos are a little bit tedious, but Luke makes sure to never do something she hates, and Aemond always gives her special treats and cuddles after them, she also gets a fanbase that sends her gifts! Luke says she’s a star now 😘. -MOre lore that keeps me awake at night: Targ special pet companions Need to be a reptile or amphibian+ blood magic with a Targ blood family member sample, usually blood+ some other secret enchantments. Usually, the parent will bring their baby or child and be shown a wide variety of options, specifically eggs, and if there’s a connection with one or more, they are taken and can go through a series of trials and blood magic rituals, and the one that hatches at the end it’s the one that goes with the client. This process can take some time and specially lots of money from the client. Also, it can only work with people from Valyria, the only ones that can really afford this type of thing are the Targs and their blood family members. They may or may not also have a very restrictive contract with the dragon keepers for this kind of service too, hehe. Driftmark incident and bonding with Vhagar!: Alicent lets Viserys have his way with Aegon and Helaena, they got their pet companions since very young, she agreed since both were also relatively safe options, but then he started to get sick and wasn’t as able as before. She never liked this tradition the Targs had, just looking at Rhaenyra’s Syrax, or even worse, Laena’s Vhagar, the seven forbid one of her kids bonds with a monster like that, so with Aemond she gets more control of what her son get access to bond with, small geckos, frogs, turtles…safe and/or small companions, but none of those take, time passes and then Aemond decides he wants to have a big crocodile like his father, Alicent hates the idea, she wasn’t a Targaryen, so she really didn’t believe it was safe. But no matter what other small safe reptiles Aemond was shown none of them reacted. Aemond knew why, he didn’t want any of those “safe” companions, Aegon and Jace won’t stop bullying him with one of those, he needed something that commanded respect, not something “small and safe”. More time pases and Aemond still doesn’t have a pet companion, Alicent stops trying, and he gives up a little. The day of the funeral the kids dare Aemond to go into Vhagar’s enclosure. He accepts and goes into Vhagar’s room at Daemon and Laena’s house, there he finds this really big lizard he has never seen before. The dragon keepers haven’t shown him anything like it, and even if it’s not a croc, he knows this would definitely do, his excitement goes away when he kind of feels the creature’s sadness. He starts to sing her a Valyrian lullaby (The one Daemon sings to Vermithor), and this catches Vhagar’s attention, she goes out from her enclosure and Aemond touches her snout (Like in how to train your dragon, hehe) while he says Lykiri and Dohaeras (Like in the show!). Vhagar can sort of feel the connection, but we still need the blood for it to be completed. Cue the other children. Aegon and Jace can be a little bit mean and feel kind of “attacked” (Inferiority complex it’s that you?), that Aemond it’s getting a good reaction from Vhagar, they weren’t expecting that after all, and because children can be little shits they enter the room and try to make fun of Aemond for singing Vhagar a lullaby, Vhagar has never seen this other children before and doesn’t like all the noise so she goes back to her enclosure. Rhaena and Baela are not vibing that much with the bullying, neither does Luke, but then Aemond gets mad and lashes at everyone, telling them they have lame companions, how they wish they could have something as cool as Vhagar, especially the idiot Strong bastards. Luke and the girls are sad and crying and answering their own mean things to Aemond and then everyone its fighting. Aegon knows their parents are gonna kill him if something happens, so he runs away in search of the adults. There is some stuff used to feed Vhagar in the room (Gloves, scissors, thongs and stuff like that) and in the struggle those things end up in the floor with Aemond and Jace, Aemond grabs the scissors and slashes them around in desperation and ends up cutting Jace a little. Its then that Luke, that was comforting Laena and Baela after they got punched in the squabble, sees this and gets scared, and ends up pushing Aemond, he trips around the mess and pierces his eye with the scissors, by then the adults arrive and all hell breaks loose. While everyone screams, Vhagar gets close to Aemond and licks some of his blood from the floor, Laena its dead, and she likes this feisty hatchling, so the bonding gets completed. Still, the adults are fighthing, but the kids get to say the truth about the taunting and the mean words and Alicent, Rhaenyra and Viserys see the damage that has been done through the adults mean remarks and hatred. So yes, they are all very mad, and are not in the very best terms then, but they all decide to start going to family therapy, so not everything goes to shit in a couple of years, this way Lucemond and Jacegon can still be a little bit toxic, but nobody needs to die, ok? Also Alicent freaks out and almost passes out when she sees the monstruosity sitting at her son’s side, that makes everyone go back to their rooms, lol.

#lucemond #simple comic that almost makes me lose a hand #lol #Im going away on a trip this friday #so i really wanted to finish this before wednesday #its wednesday and 3 am now #but i finished before #so its fineeeeee #i have a lot more of ideas i want to draw!#but that will have to wait till next week when i come back #vhagar the komodo dragon #arrax the bearded dragon #hotd reptile AU #a little bit of #jacegon #i need sleep #but it wont come #halp

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apricityxoxo · 4 months

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Uncertainty II

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

hello yall this is pt 2 of this!

Din Djarin x fem!Reader

wc: 3,090

Summary: You are confused, you're always confused around him. He's always on your mind and you don't know why. You hate it. You always put a bit more effort around him. You want to impress him and you don't know why. Maybe it is because he's so irritating.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Info/Warning: angst, fluff, suggestive material (teeny tiny part not a lot), argument, an oc makes an appearance. lmk if I forgot anything. remember when i write i always have poc in mind, especially black women.

enjoy

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

So, he’s amazing…that’s all you have to say. He’s absolutely perfect and it doesn’t get any better. You know that absolute perfection is basically impossible but if anyone is perfect, it's him, you want him to be here forever.

His big eyes and green face are the most adorable things created by the Maker. Even though he has wrinkles and the fact that he has hair but is bald at the same time, he’s still cute. You feel like during these two weeks something changed in you because you immediately wanted to keep him forever.

If this child was a flower, he would have bloomed overnight. You watch as he makes himself comfortable in your home, making a fort with pillows to sleep on the floor. You watched as he played with the trinkets you had lying around. He tried to bring live frogs into your home, which gave you a mini heart attack from reacting quickly to get the slimy amphibian from your home, as gross as that was at least he was comfortable to try.

Not only did he grow comfortable with you, but with your other students and kids that you taught. You told the Mandalorian during the day the child would accompany you to the school. He would sit in on the classes where you would teach him with the other children and pack him lunches so that he could eat during breaks.

The Mandalorian dared to disagree with you, to suggest that you cancel two weeks of school so you can focus entirely on the kid. “First of all, you’re not the only one with responsibilities, my students are also my responsibility. Second, I’ve taken care of children since I was still merely a child and it might do him some good to spend time with other kids.” You told the Mandalorian, now extremely irritated, he didn’t trust you and now he’s trying to tell you what to do.

You’re glad the Mandalorian reluctantly agreed because per usual, you were right. He made friends immediately; all of your students loved him. The child became more talkative, even though no one could understand him, he was a social butterfly. He made friends and played with them, ate with them, and learned with them.

When you woke, you were excited. Today was the day the Mandalorian will return, and you’re buzzing with excitement. Definitely not because you want to see him, you’re just excited to share with him how well his son did, how much he grew in two weeks. You want to tell him, suggest to him that while he’s on Nevarro the child should be enrolled in school.

You get up from your small bed and start your morning routine. This morning is different, this morning you put in a bit more effort and you don’t know why. Why do look at your face a little more closely this morning? It's definitely not because of that feeling you get whenever you are around him.

You think back to the day when he dropped off the child.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“Thank you for watching him…” he says in an uncertain tone. That irritated you, you feel like he thinks you’re incompetent. He’s always given off those “vibes”. Maybe he hates you? Maybe he thinks, you’re not skilled enough to watch his son? He’s always sent you these mixed signals.

“It’s not a problem,” you said annoyed.

“Remember to watch him, don’t let him put anything in his mouth, don’t let strangers near him, and if anything goes wrong call me, my transceiver is always on. My transceiver code is 7 -”

“-75292MRC?” you cut him off, he’s told you all this at least four times, and you resist the urge to roll your eyes.

“Um yes that’s right…” he’s said followed by an awkward silence.

“And um…thank you, I’ve never left him alone this long before so I apologize if I’ve been… irritating.” He says, sounding shy.

You feel bad now, what’s wrong with you? Of course, he’s skeptical of you, you would be the exact same way if you had to leave your child alone with someone you barely knew for so long. You’re about to apologize but then he takes both of your hands and you go mute.

“Thank you… sincerely. I know you do a lot for the children here so I’m so grateful you agreed to watch my son.”

You’re stunned and all you can do is nod to him. Before he lets go of your hands, he gives them a gentle squeeze. He walks over to his son and talks to him with a stern tone before giving him a hug, probably telling him to behave. He picks up his son and walks back to you and you feel your heart racing. He hands you his son and you jut out your hip to carry him on your side.

Even though you can’t see his eyes, you feel like he looks you up and down. He stares at you for a second before he finally says goodbye to you, and you’ve never felt so warm from someone just saying your name. And you stare as he walks off.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You put more effort this morning, you do your makeup with a little bit more focus. You try to accentuate your features, like your lips. You add a nice dark outline to them, adding a nice neutral color to the middle. You add a little color to your eyes, making them darker with a bit of brown pigment, you feel you look natural but different. You unwrap the scarf you put on your head last night. You were excited, so excited that you prepped your hair to be styled in the morning. You spend the rest of your morning styling your hair, taking your time instead of just wrapping your hair in a scarf and calling it a day.

You put on a brown wrap dress that was the color of Caf. The dress had a low-cut V-neck, definitely lower than you're used to wearing. It has long flowy sleeves that are wide at the end. The dress is long and you pair it with some boots. You add some jewelry and finish by admiring yourself in the mirror.

You even go as far as wanting to spray a bit of perfume. You look at your perfumes “Which would he like?” you ask yourself. You internally cringe because who cares which he would like, you for sure don’t. You settle on your favorite, a warm and mature perfume that you haven’t worn in a while. You usually spray this perfume when you go out with your friends or on special occasions, today feels like a special occasion.

When you finish spraying, the baby monitor goes off. The child is up and whining, he's definitely hungry. You need to make him some breakfast and soon, if you learned anything in the couple of weeks it's that this child can eat. You prepare a full breakfast, a traditional breakfast from your home planet Lah’mu.

You get sentimental while cooking food from your home. You make a traditional grain and you top it with an assortment of vegetables that look like the ones you grew on your family farm. You top it off with three large eggs.

You talk to the kid while you cook, and ask if he’s excited to see his dad. You tell him about the food you’re making, you tell him the origin. You tell him what ingredients to use like which vegetables are necessary, which rice grain is best, and which seasoning must be added. You know he can’t understand you but it’s nice to have someone to talk to. You finish his food and serve it to him.

“Enjoy cutie, should I make more for your da-” Before you can finish you are cut off by a deep groaning sound coming from your kitchen sink. You rush over to inspect the sink and open the bottom cabinet to look at the pipes. You have a leak. Now you’re irritated. Irritated by the problems you get from owning an old home. The creaky floors that make it impossible to sneak up on anyone, the outdated appliances that require older parts when being fixed, the uneven stair steps inside and out of the house, and now a leaking kitchen sink pipe.

“Kriff!” you curse to yourself, looking for a bucket to place under the sink. When you place the bucket under your sink you search for your transceiver. You start to dial the

number by memory but before you hit ‘Enter’ you hesitate, it takes you a second but if you want this to be fixed you need to call.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“Thank you for coming, I know it's short notice and you usually need to make an appointment so I'm sorr-”

“Don’t worry about it Mama” he cuts off your rambling with a wink and a cocky smile.

Mazian Xorsson, you’ve known him for a long time now, he’s definitely…interesting. He’s around your age. He’s very tall and you always see his physique under the tight black shirts he always wears. He has short buzzed hair that is a nice golden blond color and light skin. He had dark deep brown eyes and you’ve always had a thing for deep brown eyes.

He’s nice to you at least, he's a bit cocky and a big flirt however he's very considerate and funny. He was one of the first people you met when you moved to Nevarro. He helped you move and spent time with you when you felt lonely. When you first met, you asked what he did for work, he told you a little bit of anything, he was a handyman and plumber, and he even knew a good amount about fixing ships. Those were good jobs but that never explained why he always seemed to have money. He made you nervous in a good way, but not the same the Mandalorian made you feel.

You internally want to beat yourself up because why are you thinking about the Mandalorian right now. You literally have a tall and handsome man in your house right now.

“How much do I owe you?” You ask going to get your wallet.

“C’mon, you know you don’t owe me anything,” he says with a smile

“Pleaseeeee Maz, I didn’t pay you when you fixed the fresher! Let me pay you” you whined

“You can pay me with a kiss,” he says with a wink and turns his cheek to you.

You roll your eyes and begin to walk away, not before saying “You're such a flirt” You go to the kitchen and see that the baby has finished his food already and he looks at you with a giggle. You pick him up and take him out to the family room walking past Maz as he walks into the kitchen with all his tools.

You sit and you wait for the Mandalorian, your knee is bouncing and you don’t know why. The kid is in your lap playing with the belt of your wrap dress as you zone out waiting for the Mandalorian.

You jolt when you hear a knock at the door and run to the door with the baby in your arms. You check the peephole and see a ‘T’ shaped visor looking around your front porch. You give yourself a second to try and catch your breath but you open the door when you see he is going to knock again

“Hi,” you say breathlessly.

“Good morning,” he says back.

“Come in,” you say and move to the side so he can step in. He goes to sit down on the deep armchair you have that’s facing the couch. He sits down and adjusts himself by spreading his legs, wide. You look at his thick armored thighs and you feel like you're being disrespectful. You shake those thoughts out of your mind and walk close to him to hand him his adorable son.

“He did such a wonderful job, you have such a great baby,” you tell him with a big and bright smile on your face. You tell him how he made friends and how talkative he has become even though you can't understand him. You tell him about the things you tried to teach him and how well of a learner he is. You told him how good he ate and all the new foods he tried, for some reason, he’s not a fan of poultry but a big fan of red meats and eggs. He's an angel and you made sure to remind Mando of such.

“Maybe when you’re here… he can come over or visit the school?” you say quite shyly.

“Yeah maybe, I think he'd like that…” he replies

You try to suppress your smile, excited not only to spend time with the kid but also to see the infamous Mandalorian more often.

“Alright, I’m all done but I’m still waiting for that ki-… oh I didn’t realize you’re having guests,” Maz says as he enters the room and sees the Mandalorian. You and Mando both stand but the Mandalorian stays and watches as you walk over to the man.

You walk over to your purse and find your wallet to give him the credits. “Here, this is all I have but I should have more by the end of the month”.

“It’s all good, don’t worry about it” Maz replied

You both went back and forth for a few minutes and you could feel the Mandalorian staring at you. You finally give up and thank Maz for his work, you see him out and give him a hug before he leaves.

Awkward. That’s how you felt, that’s how the room felt.

“Anyway, how wa-”

“Who was that?” he said, his voice stern and serious. He said it like he knew the answer.

“My friend, Maz… my sink broke so I called him to fix it.” You said and you hated that you sounded so nervous.

“I thought I told you, no strangers. “He said, he took a step closer to you.

“You did, he’s not a stranger”

“He’s a stranger to me”

“Everyone’s a stranger to you, he’s my friend and I trust him,” You told him with an attitude, ‘why is he always questioning you like a child’ you thought to yourself.

“I asked you to watch my son and you can’t follow some simple rules”

You’re pissed. You’re mad and you feel disrespected. “Why are you treating me like a child, I followed your rules and I would never let a stranger near your child, let alone in my damn house. I’m not an idiot so stop treating me like one.”

“Stop acting like one. Why can’t you follow some simple rules? Do you think I’ll ever let you watch my kid again?” He argued.

That broke your heart. You only spent two weeks with the kid and now you are already attached. Fine.

“Fine, you’re right. I’m an idiot, I’m a idiot. So, you’re right, you happy?” You ask, you’re so upset.

“Yeah”. He says, he sounds cocky and you hate it.

“Get out.” You’re done, he crossed the line and now you're pissed off. You go to get all of the child stuff. You shove everything in a bag. You’re angry and when you’re done you throw the bag at the Mandalorian feet.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t me-”

“I don’t care, get out. Now.” You say and you watch as the Mandalorian grabs the bag and walks out the front door. He turns around like he’s about to say something but you shut the door.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You ignore him. You can possibly seem to understand why he keeps trying to talk to you. He’s made his point clear, and you’ve accepted it. He’s dropped off the kid to the school for a couple of hours but you know he’s close by. Every time he comes to pick the child up, he tries to talk and you ignore him.

Maybe you’re petty, it has been a whole week and you can’t stop thinking about it. You’re currently wrapping your hair, trying to complete the final step of your nightly routine but you’re distracted.

Every time you do think about the incident your mind wanders. First, you think about the times he tried to talk to you after the incident. Then you think about the time he asked you to watch his son and he held your hands, or the time he helped you down the steps of your home and held your hand.

Your mind wanders even more, you think about when he came to pick up the child. He sat down and spread his legs. You think about that a lot, late and night, and imagine his gloved hands on your body. You imagine sitting between his spread legs.

There’s a knock at the door, and your thoughts and routine are interrupted as you pause. You listen to make sure you heard that right. You finish wrapping your hair quick and you go to the front door.

You rush to the front door and look out the peephole. There is no one there, not even on the street below and you are now on edge. Maybe today is the day you get kidnapped and die and with that thought in mind, you open the door. You look out and no one is there but before you close the door something on the floor catches your eye.

Flowers.

Your favorite flowers to be more specific. Skeleton flowers in a dark green vase with a red ribbon attached to it. You take the flowers inside and set them on the small dining room table. There’s a note attached to the vase and you’re surprised that you're a little excited to open it. You open the note and all it reads is:

I’m sorry, forgive me.

-M

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

next part will be mando's pov lol

#roma’s works ❀#fanfic #fanfiction #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin x reader #din djarin x fem!reader #din djarin #x fem!reader #x reader #x black reader #x black fem reader #star wars x reader #pedro pascal #pedrohub

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water9826 · 4 months

Text

Cursed Guardians (A JJK Fic)

AO3 Link

Start Here

“I’m going to fucking murder you, Sukuna.”

“That’d kill you too, dumbass.”

“I don’t care! How could you NOT do the ONE thing I requested of you?!”

“Oi! It ain’t my fault that I didn’t notice!”

“You were supposed to tell me the second you sensed Yuuji’s presence! For fuck’s sake, you made a binding vow with me!”

“And nothing’s happened to me, right? I didn’t tell you about Yuuji on purpose. I didn’t sense him, so the binding vow wasn’t broken. I did nothing wrong!”

“YOU’RE SUCH A– I JUST– AGH! I HATE YOU!”

“WHAT?! I GOT US BACK HOME, YOU UNGRATEFUL BITCH!”

“Yeah, you did get us home, but you want to know what you also did? YOU ALERTED ALL THE JUJUTSU SORCERERS IN JAPAN! YOU PRACTICALLY INVITED THEM TO OUR HOUSE!”

“THEY AREN’T GOING TO COME! HAVEN’T YOU HEARD OF INTIMIDATION TACTICS?! THEY’LL BE TOO BUSY PISSING THEIR PANTS TO EVEN TRY TO FIND US!”

“YOU KNOW DAMN WELL-”

An ear piercing wail made all arguing screech to a halt. Ryomen glared murderously at Sukuna before heading to the baby’s room. The much taller being followed the man with a scowl that was more resemblant of a pout.

-One hour Earlier-

Once Infinite had deposited the group to the requested location, Ryomen had immediately gotten to work on cleaning up his long lost son of any grime he had collected when at the forest with soft baby wipes. The infant whined in pain when Ryomen gently brushed his finger against the dark markings on his chubby face and arms. A million questions flooded the man’s mind, but he ignored all of them due to the teary, golden eyes looking up at him. Ryomen’s heart melted and twisted at the same time at the sight. He soon began to prepare the formula for the hungry infant. The moment the bottle was placed in Yuuji’s mouth, the baby quickly devoured the meal greedily. As the infant drank, his loyal protectors were in a circle, watching him dutifully. At some point, Overtime used one of his wrappings to wipe off the mess of milk from Yuuji’s face due to the baby’s clumsy drinking. It caused the baby to squeal with laughter, causing everyone in the room to soften at the sight. Even Sukuna had to bite his lip in order to hide a smile at the happy squeals.

Once Yuuji had finished his meal and was burped, Ryomen carried the baby to the bathroom to give him a much needed bath. While the wipes had done well to clean off the dirt, a proper, warm bath was needed to help sooth the baby’s irritated skin and get rid of the tiny sticks in his hair. His six guardians had tried to follow them into the bathroom, but Ryomen was quick to scold them. Only Supernova was allowed to enter due to his small size. The cat purred loudly before jumping onto Ryomen’s shoulder. Yuuji made grabbing motions towards the purple feline. Because Supernova had been the first being that the baby saw, the boy had imprinted on Supernova. An undeniably smug look appeared in Supernova’s eyes as he peered at the other guardians while Yuuji’s attention was fully on the cat. Infinite squawked loudly in pure offense, the colorful feathers along his back raised to show just how unhappy he was at Ryomen’s decision. When the draconic creature tried to use his long body to steal Yuuji, Chimera was quick to summon one of his frogs to wrap around Infinite's beak before it could make contact. The dark goop immediately began to stick into the white fur of Infinite’s back, eliciting another affronted squawk.

“Damn, he’s loud. Think we’re going to have trouble with that in the future?” Ryomen raised a brow at Sukuna. Fortunately, the noise did not scare Yuuji in the slightest. In fact, the baby giggled and cooed at the draconic bird amalgamation. This made Infinite shake off the black goop and try to nuzzle the baby’s head, responding with coos and trills of his own. However, a swipe from Supernova’s paw caused the larger creature to whine with disappointment.

“It will definitely be a problem moving forward. That thing cannot live without annoying someone else. He never knows when to shut up. You can chop off his upper half and he’d still be a pain in the ass.” A glare was sent to the dramatic bird, who had used his smoky tail to hit Sukuna in the face. Sukuna suppressed a growl, not noticing that Ryomen was looking at him oddly from his choice of words.

Ryomen sighed, more than used to the ancient curse’s weird phrasing. He adjusted the now wiggling baby in a more secure grip and looked at the other guardians. He was briefed on the names and purposes of the guardians that would accompany Yuuji long ago, but nothing could have prepared him for how strange they looked. Any grievances he would have had disappeared once he heard his son’s happy squeals as Supernova began to groom the small amount of pink hair on Yuuji’s head. The cat was clearly different from the average feline. Not just from his purple fur and spikes, but also his behavior. All the cats Ryomen had interacted with in the past had no qualms with biting or scratching him if he so much as breathed the wrong way. In contrast, Supernova let the baby grab at his tail which most cats would have clawed someone for doing. His purrs were somehow much more soothing than other cats. The purring Supernova was emitting made vibrations go through Ryomen’s body, causing him to unconsciously relax. It had the same effect on Yuuji, so he knew he had to act quickly. Bathing a cranky baby was something Ryomen had no desire to deal with at this time of night.

To his chagrin, the five guardians that weren’t allowed to enter the bathroom were sulking. Boogie and Infinite were the loudest with their complaints, one was howling in pure agony while the other was chirping as pitifully as possible. The rose on Resonance’s left eye wilted at the edges while the green lights on Chimera’s face had dimmed considerably. It was nearly impossible to read Overtime’s body language, so Ryomen paid attention to the looser wrappings around his body. The wrappings were subtly reaching out in the direction of Yuuji. He felt terrible for separating the guardians from their precious ward.

Catching onto Ryomen’s internal dilemma, Sukuna rolled his eyes. “The guardians will not disappear if they are away from Yuuji for five seconds. I suggest you bathe Yuuji now, considering how sleepy the brat is getting.”

“He’s not a brat!” Ryomen responded instantly. Although, he knew that Sukuna was right about Yuuji’s sleepiness. “Just make sure they don’t break in, okay? They can watch by the door if they get too restless.”

“They’re already restless, so that is a given” Sukuna responded with a scoff.

Ryomen shook his head and flipped Sukuna off as he turned to enter the bathroom. The snarl that followed made Ryomen smirk as he closed the door. Big, honey eyes looked at the new space in complete awe. Yuuji was staring at the sink as if it was the eighth wonder of the world. A warmness that Ryomen hadn’t felt in centuries blossomed in his chest at the sight of his precious son’s curiosity. He had waited so long to have Yuuji in his arms again. If he wasn’t careful, he knew that he would be sobbing his heart out at any moment once being reunited with his long-lost son. However, duty calls, and Ryomen could not be bursting into tears while his baby needed him.

The bathroom had long been baby-proofed, so some of Ryomen’s many anxieties could be eased. He first took out a blanket from one of the cupboards and placed the fluffy material on the tile floor. Yuuji giggled when Ryomen booped his nose after placing him on the blanket. It took all of Ryomen’s self control not to cry and not to cradle Yuuji in his arms and never let go. He shook his head again, focusing on getting the supplies needed for the bath. Considering Yuuji’s sensitive marks, Ryomen chose the gentlest products he had. With that sorted, Ryomen knelt on the floor to turn the faucet on the tub. As the water warmed up, the pink-haired man stood and went to the cupboards beneath the sink. To start, he collected the foldable baby tub he’d bought online and placed it to the side. Afterwards, he grabbed three soft towels that had never been used before. Ryomen pointedly ignored the mirror of the sink, knowing just how rough he looked from his eventful day. If someone had warned him that he would be alerted of his son’s presence while buying groceries, causing him to run out of the store with one bag in hand as he forgot the rest of his groceries because he was too busy running down the street with Sukuna screaming directions in his ear, which then led to him looking like an insane person as he shouted at the parasite in his head for all to see, further fueling his determination to get to his son’s location as fast as possible, making him throw up at least four times from the overexertion as he sprinted about ten miles to the forest his son was in, only to find his baby boy wailing in fright and hunger whilst being surrounded by the most powerful and influential sorcerers in the country…then Ryomen would have drank all of Sukuna’s stolen saki until he forgot how to feel feelings.

I should still find the time to steal Sukuna’s saki. He stole it from the finest restaurants in Japan, so stealing it again shouldn’t count as a crime. Not like he can get drunk anyway . His musings were interrupted when a paw incessantly tugged on his pants. Ryomen snapped back to reality, and he was surprised to see Supernova sitting on his leg, nodding his head towards the tub with a disapproving gaze. Somehow, the sharp meow Supernova let out felt like a harsh reprimand. Shit, I really need to focus. Can parenting skills get rusty after a thousand years?

Ryomen breathed in deeply for a few moments to get his frazzled nerves under control. He placed one towel on the floor where he’d be kneeling, another on the edge of the tub to clean up splashes and bubbles, and the third was resting on the counter of the sink to be used at the end. Luckily, the water was the perfect temperature without Ryomen’s interference. At the same time, Supernova was being used as a living plush toy by a giggling baby. Yuuji was on the cat's fluffy back with a smile. His tiny hands gripped at the fur, and his head was buried into the purple softness. Golden eyes started to flutter as he further burrowed his head in the warmth. Supernova never once growled at the baby, only nudging the boy’s cheek to keep him awake.

When Ryomen turned to place Yuuji in the tub, a snort left his lips to see his adorable son trying to use Supernova as a bed. He gently plucked the baby from Supernova’s back and removed the baby’s diaper and dirty onesie. Part of him was worried that Yuuji would start wailing at the separation, but his fears were put to rest as his boy made grabby hands at Ryomen’s face. The father and son duo had matching smiles that could rival the sun in their brightness.

This time, Ryomen could not stop his tears from flowing when chubby hands grabbed at his nose. Yuuji giggled when Ryomen nuzzled his nose into the baby’s soft grip. Dark honey met golden honey, and Ryomen finally felt complete. One of Yuuji’s hands patted Ryomen’s cheek, coos of shere delight escaping the boy’s lips. His baby boy giggled again and looked back at his crying father. Ryomen let out a watery laugh that sounded more like a sob. “Oh…Hi…Hi, Yuuji … Hi …I’m your Papa, remember? I’m going to take care of you from now on, okay? You already have so many people who will always love you and protect you. You’ll never be alone. You’ll always have someone to dry your tears. You’ll forever have someone to hug you when you’re scared. You’ll always have a roof over your head. You’ll always be warm and cozy. You’ll never have to go hungry ever again. You won’t get sick anymore. I promise.” Memories of a long forgotten plague filled Ryomen’s mind. The helplessness. The pain. The grief. The rage-

Another pat on his face broke Ryomen from his spiraling thoughts. This time, Yuuji was patting his forehead repeatedly. His chubby cheeks were puffed out in pout. The baby looked just as disapproving as Supernova had earlier. Tears of pure joy soon streamed down Ryomen’s face as a much more pleasant memory surfaced.

“No sad, Papa! I hit sad away!”

“Yuuji, hon, you’re hitting me- OW! Stop it, sweetie, you don’t need to- OW! OW! Okay! Okay, the sad is gone! Good job, Yuuji! You can stop hitting Papa’s head now.”

“No!”

“N-No?”

“You still sad! Need more hits!”

“Wait, Yuuji- OW! OW! You’re doing this on purpose- OW!”

A genuine laugh burst from Ryomen’s chest. “I should have expected your lack of tolerance for sadness.” Ryomen kissed Yuuji’s forehead, remembering what he still had to do. He switched to holding Yuuji with one arm and placed the smaller baby tub inside the larger bathtub and waited until the tiny tub was at the appropriate water level. He also placed a stopper in to prevent the surrounding warm water from draining out. After testing the water’s temperature again, the pink-haired man carefully placed Yuuji into the baby tub. In an instant, Supernova jumped onto the rim of the bathtub in order to watch the baby like a hawk. There wasn’t much need to do so because the baby tub was shallow enough that drowning was impossible with Ryomen there. However, it was still nice to have someone care for his son so much.

Yuuji was confused at first from the new sensations, but he quickly relaxed into the warm water. Ryomen got out the baby wash and squeezed it into the water. As he swirled the water with his hand, Yuuji squealed as bubbles appeared. The baby was ecstatic as he slapped his tiny palms into the water. However, Yuuji had always been a boy with excess strength, even as a baby. Soapy water hit Ryomen in his face. He sighed and grabbed the towel on the corner of the bathtub. When he opened his eyes, he was relieved to see that no burn came, proving the gentleness of the baby wash and shampoo. He’d definitely be buying from the brand in the future.

Yuuji wiggled around and splashed some more, even managing to soak Supernova. The attentive cat simply shook his head to rid himself of the water and went back to watching Yuuji. The sight of the purple feline’s droopy, wet fur made Ryomen snicker. Eventually, Yuuji would calm down enough to allow Ryomen to properly wash him without making an ocean out of the bathroom. A mild scent of honey could be detected from the soap and the same was seen in the shampoo.

Maybe I should start calling him little bee. Ryomen thought to himself. With the stripes on Yuuji’s tiny body, it was easy to compare the baby to a bumblebee. However, he could not abandon his favorite nickname of all. The black stripes along his son’s face and body resembled a tiger much more than a bee. “Seems like my tiger cub finally got his stripes, hm?”

As cute as the stripes were, Ryomen knew that it wasn’t normal for a baby to have. There were two stripes on each side of Yuuji's cheeks, six stripes of varying length on his arms, three stripes along the length of each leg, and one circular marking on his chest. What was most concerning was that it was painful if he touched Yuuji’s tattoos. He was hoping the pain was temporary and would go away with time. For now, Ryomen would continue to use the gentlest products for his boy. When he began washing Yuuji’s tattoos, he treated them like they were more fragile than porcelain. Yuuji had initially whined at the touch, causing the spines on Supernova’s back to raise in anger. Fortunately, Ryomen’s face would not get mauled as the tiny whines stopped after a few seconds. On closer inspection, there was a faint outline of redness surrounding each marking. He frowned, but Ryomen knew of the many lotions he had bought specifically tailored towards irritated skin in infants. Turns out his many online shopping sprees in the middle of the night would prove useful.

When it was time for shampoo, Yuuji had splashed most of the water from his tub. Ryomen used a small pitcher attached to the wall on his right to scoop out the warm water surrounding the larger bathtub. It was still warm, so Ryomen gently poured the water into the near empty baby tub. Yuuji squealed with the additional water. Before he could splash Ryomen and Supernova for the umpteenth time, Ryomen plopped a dollop of shampoo on Yuuji’s head. Immediately, the baby cooed and tried to reach for his head. The man and cat both sagged in relief. Not wanting to have the shampoo run down Yuuji’s face, Ryomen used one hand to block Yuuji’s eyes and another to scoop water onto the baby’s head. With great care, Ryomen lathered the shampoo into the pink hair, making sure that every speck of dirt was gone. He had thought that he would need to spend ages removing each tiny splinter and stick from his boy’s hair. It seemed like Supernova had taken care of that when the feline had groomed the baby’s pink-hair earlier. Ryomen looked at the cat, who was still watching his boy with great focus. Thanks to Supernova, the bath would go much faster than Ryomen anticipated. It made sense that the cat would be so attentive according to Sukuna’s brief descriptions of the guardians.

Supernova will be Yuuji’s bodyguard in a sense. His regular form is smaller than the rest, but he is large for a cat. That’s why he can alter the size of his form to fit the situation, so Yuuji can take him anywhere. Supernova is capable of both long range and close range attacks with his blood manipulation technique. He’s the ‘all-in-one’ guardian and will protect Yuuji with his life. I doubt that protection will spread to you or me because that cat does not give a shit about what happens to anyone besides Yuuji. He doesn't even seem to care that much about the other guardians. Oh, and before I forget, don’t try petting him either. If you’re not Yuuji and you pet him, the little fucker will slice your hand off.

For once, Ryomen was grateful to Sukuna. If he hadn’t warned him, Ryomen would have pet the fluffy cat upon seeing Supernova. It was a good thing that Yuuji had shown nothing but happiness towards Ryomen. Any tears would spell his doom.

Yuuji luckily only continued to coo at Ryomen’s gentle ministrations. Once the shampoo was fully washed off, the peach locks were vibrant. Ryomen smiled as he realized that he, Yuuji, and Sukuna all shared the exact shade of pink. Additionally, they all had tattoos of their own. Sukuna had the most, but Ryomen had his fair share as well. He had the same markings on his forehead, nose, cheeks, and shoulders that Sukuna had. He had two black bands on each thigh and two on each calf. The two bands around each of his wrists were the most unique. They were thinner than the other bands on his skin. The top band separated into five lines that spread to his hand and fingers. In fact, the lines even grew onto his nail bed. No amount of filing would rub off the marks, so Ryomen got into the habit of painting his nails with the darkest polishes he could find. The lines would then travel down to the pads of his fingers, forming a perfect square on each one. He had an identical black square on the sole of both feet. All the squares were a symbol of the technique he has. While Sukuna had all the brutality and strength, Ryomen had the firepower so to speak.

“Oi, dumbass! Are you done yet or have you finally succumbed to your stupidity?” Sukuna’s muffled voice broke the peaceful environment. The curse had been relentless in teasing him when Ryomen had continued to puke during his dash to get Yuuji. He kept talking about how Ryomen would die any second with his ‘shitty’ endurance.

“Shut up, Sukuna! I thought you had ‘the patience of a god’!”

“I do, but not with these fucking demons throwing tantrums!” After Sukuna said that, Ryomen heard various whines and scratches coming from the other side of the door. A large claw tried going through the crack under the door with a miserable squawk. Infinite continued his mournful cries until a spotted wrapping yanked his claw from the door.

Seeing as his time was up and not wanting to have Yuuji’s skin get pruny, Ryomen grabbed the towel from the counter and wrapped Yuuji securely. He got out a soft cloth and began to dry Yuuji with it. He would have used a normal towel, but Ryomen was taking no chances in irritating his baby’s sensitive skin. Yuuji was quickly starting to fall asleep, so Ryomen used all his focus to be even more gentle. Behind him, Supernova was grooming himself to rid his fur of the soapy water. The cat went to the door crack and hissed. In response, the very tip of Infinite’s beak poked through. Based on the muffled swears from Sukuna and the sounds of things crashing, Infinite’s large body had knocked several things over in his attempt to peek under the door.

“Looks like our time is up, little tiger. Let’s get you to bed. You’ve had quite the day!” Ryomen carried a now dry Yuuji in his arms wrapped in another towel. The shirt Ryomen had been wearing was so soaked that he had to use the towel he had first bundled Yuuji in to wipe the slippery tile. He took off the wet fabric and threw it in the sink’s basin, too tired to clean the messy bathroom. It was a problem for future Ryomen. Current Ryomen was on his way to passing out like his sleepy son.

Supernova backed away from the door, shrinking in size before jumping on Ryomen’s shoulder again. His smaller form allowed the cat to curl up without having most of its body hanging off. To his relief, Infinite had removed his beak from the door. He took a deep breath in and opened the door and was met with a disaster.

Several vases lay shattered on the floor, spilling dirt everywhere. A few nails had been stabbed into the walls, and there were claw marks along the floor. Some of the paintings on the walls had been knocked over or were covered in slobber. Black goop managed to stain the ceiling. Shreds of spotted fabric also littered the floor. At the center of the mess was a tense Sukuna. He had his four arms crossed, refusing to look at Ryomen. It was clear that the guardians let their anxiety get the best of them, and Sukuna was a horrid babysitter. Before said curse could let a word out, Ryomen raised a hand. Whatever expression Ryomen was adorning was enough to shut Sukuna up and make all the guardians sheepishly back away.

Tomorrow. It’s tomorrow’s problem. That was the mantra running through Ryomen’s head. The only source of solace for the poor man was the weight in his arms. Yuuji was completely knocked out with his tiny head buried in Ryomen’s right shoulder. On his left shoulder, Supernova was purring again with his warm fur tickling Ryomen’s neck. In silence, the others followed the pink-haired man into the nursery.

The nursery was made with love and care. Yuuji’s crib was meticulously carved by a certain curse with a tendency for slashing. Intricate swooping patterns were carved into the wooden crib. Flames outlined the edges of the crib with sharp notches between each flame. On the front of the crib was the symbol on Sukuna and Ryomen’s foreheads. According to the ancient curse, it was actually a rune marked into their skins to offer strength and bravery. He didn’t entirely believe Sukuna, but Ryomen let it slide.

“If anyone messes up the nursery, I am killing every last one of you.” Ryomen whispered to the others as he placed Yuuji on the changing table. Even with the room being so inviting with its beautiful abstract paintings of flowers and tigers, an army of animal plushies, fluffy blankets with matching pillows, and impossibly plush carpet, all the creatures in the room felt like they were facing death itself.

The exhaustion of a single father was not to be messed with.

With the threat in all their heads, the remaining guardians were very careful as they maneuvered around the nursery. Chimera headed towards a dark corner, hiding himself in the shadow with only his green eyes visible. Boogie laid his large body on the side of the carpet in the center of the room, tailing gently wagging. The canine laid his head on his paws and got into a comfortable position to sleep. Resonance was the most cautious, knowing her sharp appendages could do great damage to the room. She sat down on the red rocking chair in another corner and curled up as much as she could. Overtime loosened the wrappings on his body to plop down next to the crib. This allowed him to take up less space. His more solid left side began to glow brighter, heating up the room as Overtime allowed the magma inside his body flow along the cracks of his body. Being the longest and largest, Infinite had the most trouble fitting into the nursery. He chirped in irritation before he saw the stone rafters on the ceiling. The ancient origins of their home had its apparent perks. Infinite trilled softly as he used his lengthy form to reach the rafters that fortunately supported his weight. The high position allowed Infinite to have a bird’s eye view of the room, which was quite fitting for the draconic bird. Infinite let his smokey tail dangle from a gap in the rafters. The tail opened slightly, revealing six eyes that were bright enough to be a nightlight. Each eye was focused on the sleepy baby in Ryomen’s arms, now dawned in a yellow onesie and fresh diaper.

Despite his fatigue, Ryomen’s eyes were bright with happiness as he rocked Yuuji in his arms, patting his back. In seconds, the baby went back to sleep. He had been woken up when his father dressed him and was eager to fall asleep again. Ryomen delicately placed the baby into the crib as if the boy was made of glass. A small, pink blanket was draped over the infant. All the occupants in the room were momentarily frozen as each was immersed in watching the small baby’s rising and falling chest. Supernova shrunk again and curled around the baby, giving Yuuji one last lick.

Eventually, the exhaustion within Ryomen grew too great to handle. His limbs subtly trembled with the effort to remain standing. What broke Ryomen from his slight trance was a notification from his phone. He had left his phone on the changing table when Yuuji had first arrived. Seeing how the baby was in nothing but a bundle and diaper, Ryomen ran to get something to put on his son. The man reluctantly walked away from the crib to see what kind notification would pop up this late at night. He stared at the bright screen for about a minute, his eyes widening the more the information settled in his tired mind.

It was a message from an unknown number.

Congratulations on the reunion! Your odd little family has made quite the impact on Jujutsu society! Word spreads quite fast among sorcerers, you know? You’re the hot topic of discussion! Say hi to Yuuji for me :) -K

The phone shattered in Ryomen’s hand.

Without a word, Ryomen stormed out of the room, harshly grabbing the curse by the door so hard Sukuna felt his arm pop. The guardians were startled by the sudden fury in Ryomen, but they stayed where they were. Yuuji continued to sleep, unaware of the doom upon them.

Ryomen had dragged Sukuna into the living room. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand. His breaths were rapid and harsh. It took a couple minutes for Ryomen to gather the energy to speak. The rage in Ryomen’s eyes overtook the fatigue. His first words to break the tense silence were snarled, sounding more beast than human.

“I’m going to fucking murder you, Sukuna.”

-Present-

Sukuna was fond of the home they had found.

The place they were currently in used to be an old shrine dedicated to Sukuna. This allowed the massive curse to exist outside of Ryomen’s body. While Sukuna’s form in the shrine was visible, it was not tangible by any means. Ryomen could stick a hand through his form, much to the curse’s displeasure and Ryomen’s amusement. If he reinforced his ghostly body with cursed energy, he would become more solid. However, once the curse was outside the shrine’s given boundaries, there was nothing Sukuna could do to remain corporeal. The only way that Sukuna could return to his physical form was if he used Ryomen to do so. Over the years, the two had developed a give and take method. If Sukuna wanted to take over when Ryomen didn’t want to switch, he would need to do a favor for the man. The same applied for Ryomen if he wanted to take back control. Sukuna could take over the man’s body easily and never give it back, but it was counterintuitive to his goal of keeping Yuuji happy and safe. This goal alo prevented Sukuna from going on a mass murdering rampage as any large-scale attacks from the curse would garner too much attention from the sorcerers.

So much for not alerting the sorcerers.

With how angry Ryomen was at Sukuna, he doubted that the man would allow him to take over any time soon. For now, he would have to be satisfied as being a ghost for the time being. He leaned against the doorframe of the nursery with his four arms crossed over each other. The guardians Sukuna had wished for were just as unruly as he remembered. While the six creatures were dedicated to protecting Yuuji at all costs, they still had no intention of respecting or listening to Sukuna’s orders. In fact, they were all glaring at him from the floor of the nursery. He rolled his eyes and glanced at Ryomen. The tired, pink-haired man was cradling a crying Yuuji, rocking him gently to soothe the child. It wasn’t the cry of a hungry baby or a baby that needed a change. No. It was the cry of a baby in pain. Two other marks had appeared on Yuuji’s face. Marks that made Sukuna tense up considerably.

A mark on the tip of his right eyebrow, splitting it.

A mark on the left corner of his lip.

That’s where Yuuji’s deepest scars used to be.

Sukuna cursed under his breath. The curse was well aware of what he had done in a world that no longer exists. While most of his memories had become foggy, he had a general understanding of his actions, especially of the times he made Yuuji suffer. Ryomen was unaware of what Sukuna had done to the world, and the curse had no plans of ever telling him. This new world was supposed to be completely different but it seemed like there were some ‘stragglers’ that refused to go. Events that could not be erased. People that would not disappear.

He had a feeling he already knew who this ‘K’ was. The random message sounded friendly on surface level, but Sukuna wasn’t an idiot. The hidden threat woven into the amiable text was easy to detect. There was only one person that Sukuna knew who was crazy and powerful enough to mess with Sukuna and not die.

Only time will tell if I actually made things worse . Sukuna looked at the cursed souls surrounding Ryomen as the man continued to comfort the distressed infant, all anger from his previous encounter with Sukuna gone. Due to the nature of their souls, Sukuna knew everything there was to Ryomen. He had originated from the man, afterall. Even so, there were stark differences between the two. Sukuna hated children while Ryomen had an immense soft spot for them. Yuuji didn’t count . Ryomen was impatient while Sukuna was willing to wait decades for a plan of his to come to fruition. Sukuna kept his composure while Ryomen had a temper that would go off at a moment's notice. Ryomen was violent when he needed to be while Sukuna reveled in the bloodshed he caused.

However, there was one thing that both beings could agree on: Protecting Yuuji at all costs .

It was a pathetic goal for one as powerful as him to have, but Sukuna had made peace with it long ago. The curse glanced at the baby, whose wails had turned into soft sniffles, and felt a stabbing pain in his chest. Ryomen was soothing his hand against Yuuji’s tiny back. He was humming a nameless tune with his eyes closed and a soft smile on his usually stressed features. It was likely that Ryomen had not noticed what he was doing as he hated whenever Sukuna caught him doing something ‘weak’. Likely too tired to be aware of his surroundings. Normally, Sukuna would have shouted at Ryomen to startle the high-strung man and laugh at his misery. This time, the curse stayed silent to allow Ryomen time with the boy he had been waiting for for centuries. His beloved son. Sukuna noticed the guardians for the baby gently copying the tune Ryomen was unknowingly humming. There were soft purrs, rumbles, chitters, and trills in the air. The small symphony of sounds began to lull the baby back to sleep.

The sight was utterly domestic.

This was not a place a curse was welcomed in. Sukuna knew that he did not belong among such a peaceful sight, but he was prideful enough to remain where he was by the door. Nothing would force Sukuna to do anything he did not wish to do.

Infinite looked at him.

All the warmth that Sukuna felt had turned to ice. No one aside from Sukuna himself noticed the change in atmosphere, meaning that the annoying entity had targeted him and him alone. The cocoon of adoration and protection had been closed off in order to prevent Sukuna from entering. It wasn’t like the curse had any intentions of entering such a pitiful environment, but it was still irritating to see the obvious attempts at pushing him away. Out of all the guardians Yuuji had, Infinite was the most ‘aware’ so to speak. Each creature was wired to perform a different duty in caring for the boy. They were beings that operated on pure instinct, complex thoughts practically impossible for their fragmented minds. What little remained of their souls aided in their jobs as Yuuji’s protectors, yet it also caused the entities to have leftover feelings towards certain people. All of them showed great disdain for Sukuna, but Infinite’s disdain was different. Of course, the others' dislike of him specifically was more due to a personal instinct than anything else. In contrast, Infinite looked at Sukuna with nothing but clarity in the many blue eyes within his tail.

Stay away.

You’re not wanted here.

Get out.

I’ll kill you if you get any closer.

Those were the messages Infinite was sending Sukuna with nothing but his piercing gaze. The blindfold attached to the creature’s face did not hinder in his staring contest with Sukuna. His tail had more than enough eyes necessary to stare the curse down.

If the sorcerer Infinite originated from was completely aware in that draconic bird form, then Sukuna would not be still standing. Gojo Satoru was currently an eighteen-year-old boy who recently entered his third-year in Jujutsu High. Infinite was not Gojo Satoru, simply the minute remains of a long dead man. While Infinite was the strongest out of the six cursed souls, the creature was also the most intelligent. Sukuna could see the gears in Infinite’s head turning at all times, analyzing any potential threats to Yuuji and his fellow protectors. The bird’s ability to have somewhat coherent thoughts would likely be a pain for Ryomen to deal with in the future. Sukuna had long gotten accustomed to Infinite's infuriating habits.

No matter what form he took, Gojo Satoru would always be a thorn in Sukuna’s side.

With a deep sigh, Sukuna made his way out of the nursery. He did not have the energy to deal with Infinite’s aggression. Ryomen’s exhaustion was caused by the man barely eating, running several miles with no breaks, and the overall stress of today. Sukuna was different. His fatigue was perpetual, something Sukuna had gotten used to over the years. In his previous life, nothing was capable of tiring Sukuna out. He could keep going whilst all his enemies collapsed from exhaustion. No one was powerful enough to challenge Sukuna in a meaningful way. This did not mean that his current strength and cursed energy had been weakened in any way, but his exhaustion had caused Sukuna to ‘settle down’ so to speak. While Sukuna still enjoyed causing mayhem, he did not seek out as many opportunities to do so anymore. In his previous life, Sukuna had hated sitting still and being lazy. Now, Sukuna took naps and meditated often.

He did what he wanted, and Sukuna wanted to relax.

Ryomen would likely ignore him for the rest of the night. Additionally, the curse knew damn well that the stubborn man would refuse to sleep in his own room tonight. Sukuna mentally prepared himself for the crankiness to come since there was no way to get Ryomen to sleep on anything but the nursery floor.

The cool air of the night greeted the curse’s translucent skin. Sukuna could not properly feel the wind as a specter. It felt like a thin barrier was between him and the breeze in this form. He shook his head and continued walking until he saw a great pond in the center of the shrine’s gardens. The pond acted as a well of cursed energy for Sukuna. Whoever had created the shrine clearly dedicated every detail to the King of Death. Sukuna found himself liking this title so much more than his previous one. Crimson, wooden poles surrounded the shrine, a bovine skull on the top of each one. The poles also served as a visual marker for the area Sukuna had to stay within. Anywhere beyond the poles would cause Sukuna to discorporate and be sent back into Ryomen’s body.

Two large torch towers stood on each side of the back entrance of the shrine. The inferno on each tower was contained with a basin of human bones. When Sukuna had first discovered this shrine several years ago, Ryomen had lit the tower with his flames, and he had yet to relight it. It was one of the very very few times Ryomen had managed to impress Sukuna.

His supposed followers had sacrificed countless people in honor of their king. The remains of the sacrifices were buried underneath the ground, in the ashes and structure of the torches, carved into the wooden poles, and placed in the pond Sukuna was sitting in front of. Sukuna had a faint memory of the cults that were created to worship him, mostly done out of fear, which was a massive ego booster. However, Sukuna never paid them any mind, so the curse had been very surprised yet pleased to see a shrine dedicated to him that had remained intact in the modern era. At Ryomen’s many complaints, Sukuna let the human update the interior of the shrine with the technology of the time. It took a long time due to the unique layout of the temple. Stone had been used to build many support beams and even rooms. With Ryomen’s revamping the entire insides, Sukuna had full control over the decorations of the outside. Sukuna changed nothing, much to Ryomen’s displeasure. He only added one thing. Koi.

With the pond already built into the ground, Sukuna simply stole several koi from the many luxurious ponds of rich establishments and homes. Ryomen had yelled at him when he realized that Sukuna had been using his body to take priceless fish away from their owners in the dead of night. The man had said how important those fish must have been and other nonsense that Sukuna ignored. If those fish were so precious, then it shouldn’t have been so easy to pluck each one out of their pond! Sukuna tossed all the fish into the large pond with little care, promptly returning control to Ryomen. Despite wanting to argue with Sukuna about his terrible decisions, Ryomen had to care for the many stressed koi fish. He had always been fond of being a caretaker, so it was easy for him to fall in love with the colorful fish. Eventually, the koi would swarm to Ryomen each time he approached the pond, reminding the man of how his late son would beam at him and run into his arms. On the other hand, it had taken a few weeks for the fish to stop scattering in Sukuna's presence. During those weeks, the fish began to change in appearance. The immense cursed energy inside the pond began affecting the koi. Instead of their vibrant oranges and whites, the fish were either fully black, red, or a mixture of the two. Their fins got longer and more elegant at the price of having spikes emerge from their entire dorsal fin. Ryomen was upset at the change, but the koi’s bright personalities had, at least, remained. They still swarmed to the surface for food, but they now had sharp teeth in their mouths like piranhas. Sukuna preferred the change and began to sit at the pond every night, which he was currently doing.

Sukuna’s form became more solid at the proximity to the pond. It was wide and deep, allowing the fish ample space to swim in. At this hour of the night, the water looked pitch black, but Sukuna had no troubles seeing in the dark. His superior vision allowed the curse to see the depths of the pool. Skulls could be found everywhere beneath the waters. Some of the smaller koi used the skulls as a makeshift cave while the larger fish used the remains of rib cages as hiding places. Many plants in the pond grew out of or around the many bones at the pond’s bottom. It was a human graveyard with aquatic life.

The presence of death would never hinder the growth and birth of life.

How stubborn.

The koi were not very active at this hour, but some swam to the surface to greet the large being observing them. Four fish had come to see him. One was entirely black while the other two were red with varying black patterns. In contrast to the darker fish, there was a pink koi that swam eagerly to the hand Sukuna submerged.

“You’re new, aren’t you?” Sukuna smiled at the small koi. It was fitting that the pond would have a new arrival to match Yuuji’s own arrival. The curse knew the pond had become something akin to the supernatural from the cursed energy of the sacrifices, but he did not care as long as they stayed in the pond. The tiny koi matched the color of Sukuna’s hair. The familiar peach was present in Ryomen’s and Yuuji’s hair. Having pink hair was a shared trait the three had, and Sukuna took pride in their unique hair color. He knew that Ryomen secretly held the same pride. It immediately made the pink koi Sukuna’s favorite. Small pecks tickled Sukuna’s large palm as the smallest koi tried to investigate what the strange object was. It was endearing to see such a young creature be so eager to go near a curse like him. One reason that Sukuna frequented the pond so much was something he would not tell a soul even if he was tortured.

Interacting with the koi helped Sukuna learn how to be gentle.

There were a few accidents where Sukuna was too rough and injured or killed the fish. He used his reverse technique to heal them, which his old self would have guffawed at. Slowly, Sukuna learned how to control the strength of his grip. Now, the curse had no worries of hurting the young koi that was swimming through his fingers. While he did prefer to have claws instead of his blunt nails, it was necessary for the safety of the delicate fish. More importantly, his lack of claws was vital if he wanted to hold Yuuji without cutting the poor baby’s skin. Skin that was already marked up.

Because Sukuna knew he was alone in his shrine that was in the middle of nowhere, Sukuna let his body deflate. Ryomen and the others were too preoccupied with Yuuji, so no one would be coming to see Sukuna any time soon. With solitude came comfort for the curse. He had always preferred being alone than wasting his time with the weak. The koi were his only company, and they could not speak of the troubles plaguing the ancient being. Sukuna caressed the pink koi before retracting his hand. With practiced ease, the man folded his four arms and placed them in his lap. As if knowing that Sukuna would no longer pay attention to them, the small group of koi swam away into the depths of the pond. Without the fish’s movements, the dark water stilled. The combination of the calm waters and bright moon made the pond turn into a makeshift mirror. It was something Sukuna did not appreciate whatsoever.

Seeing his reflection within the dark waters made Sukuna’s features twist into a grimace. In a forgotten world, Sukuna used to have two eyes and one pair of arms. After his planned death, his cursed form reflected the monstrous crimes Sukuna had committed. This was not to say that Sukuna was self conscious or had low self-esteem. Sukuna did not care about his ugliness whatsoever. It was a fact that he was unpleasant to look at. His looks had no effect on his power, so he offered them no further thought. Additionally, he had never had an interest in courting someone and never will. Yorozu was the only person who had wanted him as a suitor, and he met all of her advances with boredom, disgust, and a fatal slash to her heart. His deformities irked him because of the memories that they brought forth.

He had had more than enough time to accept his deformed face and body. However, Sukuna was not delusional enough to say that his unique features were what made him attractive or that he had some ‘hidden beauty’ within. Absolutely not. His two left eyes were a demonic crimson while his two right eyes were a gaudy pink. A wooden slab of sorts had fused into the right side of his skin, causing his right eyes to be more vertical. It was the same wood that Sukuna had carved runes into that would ensure his new life after being burnt alive. Both the wood and his new pink eyes were a harsh reminder of his forgotten origins. While the wood represented his birth as a curse, the pink of his eyes were a symbol of the cause of his death. Itadori Yuuji.

Going against the rules of nature and time had its consequences. Besides the new color of his right eyes, Sukuna had several new tattoos adorning his skin. A thick, black band wrapped around each of his ankles. On the outside of his left leg, a blood red chain that emerged from the band on his ankle marked his skin. The same pattern appeared on the outside of his right leg, but the tattoo was black instead of red. Each of his hands had their own unique mark at the center of his palms. His bottom right hand had Mahoraga’s spinning wheel which had allowed Sukuna to reach new heights in power, his bottom left hand had the outline of the volcano that resided on the head of the cyclops disaster curse he’d fought, his upper right hand had an eye that represented the annoying Six-Eyes user, and his upper left hand had the horizontal stitching pattern that plagued each of Kenjaku’s stolen bodies. It was fitting. The markings on his bottom set of hands were a harsh reminder of the destruction Sukuna had wrought while the markings on his upper set represented the two people that had troubled Sukuna the most.

None of the new markings plagued Sukuna as much as the tattoo on his chest.

A red spider lily seemed to grow out of the center of his chest. The flower was there for all to see since Sukuna refused to cover his top half. It was a simple drawing, but its simplicity only bothered him more. Such a delicate design had no place on his monstrous body. The deep reds of the flower blended perfectly into the blacks of the tattoo’s outlines. Sukuna knew damn well what the stupid flower symbolized. Death and Rebirth. He had no desire to look further into the supposed meanings. From what he had gathered over the past few centuries, this flower was poisonous, often grew or planted in graveyards, and only bloomed for a short period of time during the Autumn Equinox. It was also ugly in Sukuna’s opinion. The crimson of its petals were its only redeeming quality. Everything else was horrendous. The petals themselves were so thin and spindly. It looked like a spider with too many legs had gotten tangled with the shredded remnants of a better flower. However, there was nothing Sukuna could do to remove any of his new markings. He had killed the world, and then started it anew. Sukuna more than deserved the reminders of his misdeeds bashing him on the head for the rest of time.

It was strange to think of his actions as misdeeds. Even now, the regret did not come to Sukuna naturally. He was not a creature made for sympathy or guilt. The only reason that Sukuna looked at some of his prior acts and winced was the effect they had had on Yuuji. At the time, he had laughed at the boy’s misery and went out of his way to torture him. He had taken great pleasure in breaking the child back then.

I’LL DO ANYTHING! DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH ME! THIS IS JUST LIKE WHEN YOU FIXED MY HEART! PLEASE HELP JUNPEI!

NO. HAH! YOU’RE MINE! YOUR FUTURE AND EVERYTHING YOU WILL EVER POSSESS! YOU DON’T HAVE A SAY IN THIS! YOU’RE HELPLESS! HOW SAD! YOU’RE SO PATHETIC, YOU STUPID BRAT!

Hey, brat. Take a good look.

…Die…Only me…Just me…DIE! DIE! RIGHT NOW! DIE! JUST ME! JUST ME!

Remember when I said…we’d see…something interesting…brat?

…Fushiguro?

SUKUNAAAAAAA!!!! YOU!! WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LIVE A NORMAL LIFE?! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SPREAD SO MUCH MISERY?!

Well, allow me to ask you this…Why are you so weak? You’re weak, yet you cling to life!

How can a creature that falls apart with one touch say that it always wants to be happy? The helpless have no choice but to swallow the suffering life gives them.

Then let’s see if you can swallow… my suffering.

I miss them, Sukuna! I can’t take it anymore! I want to be with them! Let me be with them! PLEASE !

He had never tortured someone as much as he had tortured Itadori Yuuji. Hell, Sukuna had gone out of his way to hurt Yuuji like it was his sole purpose in life. It was extraordinarily difficult to balance the feelings he has now towards his actions and his feelings he had in the moment of his murderous actions. Now, seeing Yuuji wail in pain from markings that weren’t supposed to be on the baby’s smooth skin, broke something in Sukuna.

Even after everything he had done to give Yuuji a better life, Sukuna had still failed.

Yuuji’s suffering had been too great. Restarting the world was not enough to erase all the trauma the boy was put through. His pain clung onto his infant self, who was supposed to be free of the pain of the past. Considering Yuuji had appeared far sooner than Sukuna expected and the message from an unknown number, the curse knew that there was trouble afoot. A third party had likely inserted themselves to ruin what Sukuna was trying to repair.

Sukuna couldn’t help but dig his nails into the stitching on his upper left hand.

Losing was equivalent to death. It was a belief that Sukuna still held, so this new failure affected the man greatly.

He had thought that all the ‘mushy feelings shit’ that he had felt when he had held a sobbing Yuuji was from the reappearance of Ryomen’s soul. In a way, it was from Ryomen. The long buried memories of a man losing his child and the overwhelming fondness for the teen were all Ryomen. In this new world, Sukuna was confident that he would not be subjected to the softness ever again. Once more, the world rightfully hated Sukuna. Emotions that Sukuna still could not place raged in a violent storm inside Sukuna’s mind at all times.

All the times where he had laughed while Yuuji sobbed uncontrollably from a vicious nightmare. All the times where he had relentlessly reminded Yuuji that the boy’s existence only caused pain. All the times where he had screamed within Yuuji’s head about his uselessness and weakness. All the times where he had denied Yuuji’s broken pleas to stop after barraging him with the reasons why the deaths of his loved ones was Yuuji’s fault.

The satisfaction he had when he saw the light in the boy’s eyes fade away.

The glee he had when he saw the smiles the boy was known for disappear.

The pride he had when he saw the unbreakable boy shatter further and further with each death of his loved ones.

He saw the memories of a younger Ryomen playing with a toddler Yuuji, causing the child to squeal with laughter. He saw the memories of the utter adoration Yuuji had shown towards his father and anyone around him. He saw the memories of the agonizing decline of Yuuji as an unknown sickness sapped his light until it was completely extinguished.

Because of Sukuna’s mistakes, Yuuji might have to go through that suffering all over again.

Small ripples agitated the calm surface of the water. The reflection of the massive curse was muddled as more droplets broke the crystalline waters of the pond. Its prior reflectiveness had vanished.

The mind of the being sitting before the pond had vanished as well.

A very, very long time ago

When Sukuna had requested for the rebirth of the world, he did not mean it literally. He imagined that the new timeline would begin the same year Yuuji swallowed his first finger.

It seemed like the world had other plans.

Sukuna had no recollection of when he had ‘appeared’. The best way for him to describe it is the moment he had properly gained consciousness. His first memories were laying on an empty beach with nothing but the clothes on his back. At first, Sukuna was confused as to why he was at an empty beach. After a few seconds, the knowledge of what Sukuna had done and the life he lived prior came rushing to him all at once. Once he remembered, the man had briefly panicked that his attempt at time travel had not worked. This was mainly due to the beach being identical to the one that Sukna had been at during his last moments with Yuuji.

At the thought of the pink-haired boy, Sukuna jumped to his feet, mind frantic, and looked around. Immediately, the curse knew that the world was indeed different. Yuuji was nowhere to be seen, and there were no buildings or roads in sight. The only thing that Sukuna could observe were trees as far as his four eyes could see. However, the grand forests were barren of life. There were no birds chirping in the air or the rustle of animals in the trees. This lack of life made Sukuna remember that he had eliminated all life on Earth. He was confused, though. The plant life had returned, so where was the wildlife?

His question was unfortunately answered in the worst way possible.

A strange creature began to crawl out of the ocean on tiny flippers. Sukuna stared at the fish-like animal with his mouth agape. The thing’s body was long and slender with a wide head that resembled an alligator’s. Thick scales covered the creature, who was slowly emerging from the sea with uncoordinated movements. It was unlike any animal Sukuna had seen before and he had been alive for thousands of years.

It looked like a rough draft of an animal that had escaped before it was finalized. Something one would see in prehistoric times.

…Prehistoric.

“Oh no. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO. NO !” Sukuna screamed at the clouds as the realization dawned on him. Surprisingly, the lizard-fish-thing did not react in the slightest to the loud roar Sukuna let out. When Sukuna went to kick the sand in pure frustration, he froze when he saw his foot go through the white particles. The sand showed no hints of being disturbed.

The world had restarted.

He was a ghost again.

The evolution of wildlife had begun.

Over the years, Sukuna would watch the rise and fall of so many species that he could not be bothered to remember. His previous experience being a cursed object for over a thousand years helped immensely in dealing with the excess of time Sukuna had. He had to spend millions of years waiting for the era of humans to come with nothing to do. Going into a dormant state for as long as he could was the only way Sukuna could deal with the waiting without going mad. Sleeping until he was awoken at some point had become his main activity. Time had become a mystery to Sukuna. He would sleep and wake up without knowing how much time had passed. Usually, he was able to keep track by seeing if there were any new creatures or evidence of further evolution.

At the start, Sukuna had used his excess time to explore the beginnings of the young planet. Traveling across the world had been easy due to his abilities remaining intact. His true form was Sukuna in his prime afterall. It was the strongest and the fastest. Sukuna could explore vast lands with his inhuman speed. There was no rush to explore every inch of the world, so Sukuna would only go on these excursions when he felt like it. Most of the land was the same as there were no distinguishing landmarks at the time. He had gotten bored of the plant life and unimpressive wildlife and decided to space out like he did when his soul was split into his twenty fingers without a vessel.

His first ‘nap’ had him awake in an entirely new era. Giant creatures roamed the land with their superior adaptability and strength. Sukuna’s boredom had disappeared as he saw the head of a dinosaur appear over the cliff he had chosen to rest on to eat the leaves off a tree next to him. It was the first time that Sukuna had been truly enamored by an animal. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and crawled to the edge of the cliff to see the dinosaur in its entirety. When he looked down, he saw that the head was attached to an impossibly long neck that belonged to an even bigger body. Other dinosaurs of the same species could be seen feasting on the vibrant leaves of the many trees. Because his presence did not affect his surroundings, he could get as close as he wanted to observe the new creatures. The only reason why Sukuna recognised the massive reptilians as dinosaurs was because Yuuji had been fascinated by all things jurassic as a child. As his vessel, Sukuna was able to see through his memories, something he never told the boy. He had done this as soon as he could to familiarize himself with his vessel while trying to find anything significant about the teen that could work out in Sukuna’s favor. At the time, he had found nothing useful and labeled the boy as a boring waste of space.

Being face to face with the grande creatures made Sukuna see all the reasons why Yuuji had been so intrigued by them. While there were curses he’d seen that could rival the dinosaurs in size, no curse could beat the grace and beauty of the animals. Curses were made from negativity, so their appearance would reflect that. Curses were ugly, vile creatures that were deformed and perverted. The animals before Sukuna were the complete opposite.

It was the first time Sukuna had been fond of a life other than his own.

The slow evolution of the world was making the man experience many firsts.

Sukuna enjoyed studying the fearsome creatures that dominated the land. His favorite specimens were those with intelligence and bloodlust. He would sit and watch packs of tiny dinosaurs overwhelm a much larger opponent, eating them while they were still alive. He found great humor in the small arms of the biggest carnivore of the era. The maddening boredom that had been plaguing him was momentarily cured as Sukuna took the time to learn about each new species. The old curse made up his own names for the many dinosaurs he saw. The faded memories of the book Yuuji loved only served to make Sukuna recognize the basic shape of certain creatures. In his head, Sukuna called every reptilian creature a dinosaur.

For once, Sukuna found himself appreciating nature. Waiting millions of years alone was a punishment, and it was affecting Sukuna more than he anticipated. He had always been indifferent to everyone and everything besides himself. Uraume was the closest Sukuna got to appreciating another’s existence. In the past, Ryomen only valued strength and nothing else. Without strength, one might as well cease to exist. His forced isolation made Sukuna rethink many of his prior beliefs. The only belief that remained unchanged was his belief that losing was equivalent to death. However, said belief only applied to Sukuna. He would never let himself forget his failures that led him to his current predicament.

One day, when Sukuna was watching his favorite specimen, he heard strange noises he had not heard before. The creature Sukuna was looking at was an old, battle-worn triceratops, but Sukuna had named the animals ‘Tri-horns’ in his head. The triceratops snapped its head at the same time Sukuna’s did. Sukuna’s eyes widened as he detected large amounts of cursed energy coming from the bushes. Humans were not supposed to exist yet, right? The man cursed himself for never bothering to learn the history of…well… anything .

Sukuna summoned his trident in his lower right hand, a manic smile on his face at the chance to finally interact with something. There was a tense moment of silence before multiple blurs burst from the bushes and trees. The triceratops snorted and went back to eating its meal of leaves.

Meanwhile, Sukuna’s brain was malfunctioning. Six entities stood before him. They were making direct eye contact with him, meaning that they could see him unlike every other creature. He stood tall with his trident. “Who are you?”

No response came, disappointing filling the old curse. He had hoped that they were capable of speech. Millions of years without talking to anyone was taking its toll, even for an antisocial person like him. Sukuna swallowed his disappointment and began observing each entity. The more he looked, the more distressed he became. There were too many similarities.

A black stripe across a nose.

The muscular physique of a meat-headed gorilla.

Deadly nails and roses.

Spotted fabric and peculiar glasses.

Bright green eyes and shadows.

A blindfold and six blue eyes.

“Goddammit.” Sukuna dematerialized his trident to rub at his temples. He recognized each one because of the brat’s many memories of them.

At the center of the group, a white dragon with bird-like qualities was putting on the most smug expression Sukuna had ever seen. The draconic bird got up and personal to Sukuna, pecking at his head while letting out shrieks of laughter. For the time being, Sukuna allowed it as his mind was still recovering. His stress only grew worse when a familiar voice spoke into his head.

Y̶̮͌o̵̮̎u̴̯̅r̶͙͑ ̶͍̓g̸̠͒ṳ̴̐a̴̙͊r̶͔̅ď̸̘i̴͈̊a̷͙̐n̸̞̽s̵̟̍ ̸̱̍h̶̤͝a̵͖̔v̷̦̚ê̶͈ ̷̣̋ā̵̞r̶̺̓ŗ̸͋ḭ̷́v̷̡͛ȇ̶͍d̸̥̅!̵̧̈́ ̶͈͂I̴͎̾ ̶͔̕c̸̡̿ḁ̷̽n̸͚͑’̸͕̎t̴̊͜ ̵̭̄w̵͍̒a̷͜͝i̵̺̒ẗ̷̳́ ̶̹̍t̷̢̕o̴̫̅ ̷̦͌m̷̦̓a̴̲̎k̷͙͠e̴͙͋ ̸̣̌t̵͇̕h̵̦͌e̴̬͒s̷̛̩e̶̤̍ ̶͓̚n̵̜͐ę̵͘x̷̝͑ț̵͝ ̷̫̚c̶̞̓é̷̲n̶̕͜t̵͖̕u̸̜͗r̷̙̐í̸̩e̵̝͊s̷͇͐ ̶̫͒a̵͍̽b̴̘̐s̶̩̿ò̸͎l̵̩̐ų̵̊t̷̨͊e̶͈̍ ̴̛̳h̵͙͌ë̵̻l̷̬̾l̶̥͂ ̵̼͝f̴̪͂o̸͔͘r̴̗̒ ̵͚͆ỹ̸̼o̴̹̎u̷̗̅,̷̛̭ ̴̰̋S̶̪̕u̷̝͠k̶̥͌ų̷̂~̴̗͛

That stupid bird would keep his promise.

Sukuna would have to endure countless assaults from each entity. The battles often lasted for hours that left each muscle of his throbbing in pain. Sometimes they were individual battles, other times it was six against one. Or three against one. Or two against one. And so on. At first, Sukuna despised the constant battles, but he soon realized that being idle for millions of years had made Sukuna soft. After he realized this, he gladly participated in the battles. It felt incredible to fight again, feel his cursed energy flowing through his veins. As they fought more and more, Sukuna became familiar with each entity’s personality and abilities. Their names had been ingrained into Sukuna’s head the moment he had encountered the beings.

Boogie was a beast in every sense of the word. His thick fur coat could not hide his muscular body whatsoever. He was surprisingly perspective as well. Anytime Sukuna thought he had caught the dog off guard, the beast would bark before he could land a hit. His bark would cause him to switch places with someone with a certain amount of cursed energy. Due to the lack of curses and humans, the only sources of cursed energy were Sukuna or the other guardians. It was disoriented every time his technique took hold. However, each time Sukuna thought he had gotten used to it, Boogie would surprise him with another trick. His most impressive trick was his ability to remove one of the tusks on the second skull on his head. Once dropped, Boogie would imbue it with cursed energy and switch himself or someone of his choice with the tusk. Out of all the guardians, it was the easiest to get along with Boogie. Sukuna and Boogie lived to fight. The canine was always energetic and tended to annoy his other guardians, especially Chimera. Overall, Boogie was a simple yet intelligent creature who fueled Sukuna’s will to battle.

Resonance was unsettling to look at first. Her body moved like a marionette, but was capable of moving at incredible speeds if needed. The sharp ends of her limbs allowed Resonance to stay rooted to the ground, giving her great stability. She was quick to launch a nail at Sukuna or anything that annoyed her. She had awoken Sukuna many times with a barrage of nails aimed at his head. Her nails always hit with deadly accuracy. Sukuna’s reflexes were put to the test each time he engaged with her. Additionally, she could control the direction of a nail until it snatched a part of her opponent. Once gathering the material, she would make the nail return to her, creating a makeshift hammer with her roses and vines to hit the nail into a straw doll she kept hidden within her body. She was as tough as the metal she was made of, but Resonance wasn’t all sharpness and violence. The cursed soul frequented places with loads of flowers, sitting amongst them for hours in a content state.

Supernova rarely interacted with Sukuna outside of battle. He looked at the curse with burning hatred at all times. When attacking, Supernova put effort into making his attacks as painful as possible. His blood manipulation technique was more advanced and deadly than any other Kamo-clan sorcerer Sukuna had ever seen. He wasn’t afraid to get physical, Supernova could grow to the size of a horse and charge at Sukuna with bloodied claws. His spikes could be removed if Supernova had no other choice. During one particularly gruesom battle, Sukuna had lost himself in rage after Supernova managed to cut off two of his arms with his Piercing Bood attack. The cat snarled and spit at Sukuna. He separated his longest spike from his back and shot it directly into Sukuna’s heart. The spike was still attached by a thin strand of blood, but it didn't take away from the force of the attack. It surprised Sukuna to see the cat land such a hit. Of course, Sukuna healed himself, only to see Supernova walking away from the fight with a bored expression. In fact, the cat was practically in a perpetual state of apathy. The only time that Sukuna had ever managed to see emotion on Supernova's features was when he had spied on the cat and saw that the cat was whimpering over several stones. There were ten in total with the three in the middle marked with a bloody paw print. Supernova let out soft whines as he tried his best to nuzzle the rocks. The rock in the very center had a pinkish hue and was the one Supernova was nuzzling the most. No longer wanting to watch the painful sight, Sukuna left with a new perspective on the cat.

Overtime stayed far from Sukuna. Not out of fear, but out of disinterest. The mummy-like creature spent most of his time by Infinite’s side, though it looked like it was often against his will. When not being dragged to places by Infinite, Overtime enjoyed being on the beach Sukuna first woke up at. They had the entire world at their disposal, so Sukuna and the six guardians would travel to the most remote areas. Any place with a beach was favored by Overtime. Though, as long as it was peaceful, Overtime would enjoy it. If the others were intruding on Overtime’s resting spot, he would use his wrappings to constrict whoever had dared disturb him. The most common offender was Infinite. However, the draconic bird would be allowed to stay once he gave Overtime a fruit and didn’t squawk. A few times, Sukuna had caught the often rambunctious bird sleeping in the sand next to Overtime. If anyone could calm the storm that was Infinite, it was Overtime. This ability to calm spread to the other guardians. He was the one that separated squabbles or forced the others to settle down. In turn, the others seemed to respect Overtime the most. Sukuna had even respected the volcanic mummy after engaging him in battle. Despite never seeing him fight, Overtime attacked like a seasoned warrior. His wrapping would lengthen at his request and would be shot out at Sukuna. Despite looking like cloth, Overtime could make his wrapping become as sharp as a blade when in combat. He hit with ferocious strength, speed, and accuracy. When hit by his ratio technique, Sukuna could feel the weak spot being forced to form on his body. When wanting to deliver a stronger attack, Overtime would use his wrappings to form a blunt sword. Each swing carried great power that shook the ground below. Although, if Overtime thought the battle was dragging on for too long, he would stop and go to the nearest secluded area.

Chimera was the second most frequent attacker. It was obvious as to why, considering the person Chimera originated from. Sukuna had always seen the great potential in Fushiguro Megumi. As a cursed soul, the fragments of the ten-shadows user could still be seen within the dark creature. Without any morals to hold him back, Chimera attacked with total abandon. He would summon armies of frogs just to see how much he could overwhelm Sukuna. He would mix up his strategies each time they fought. Chimera enjoyed seeing Sukuna caught off guard and made it his job to startle the curse at any given moment. When Sukuna tried to rest, usually because there was nothing else to do, Chimera often manifested out of the shadows to summon a pool of darkness underneath the curse. The only touch of color Chimera had were his green eyelights. The light would shift into the form of the shikigami Chimera was summoning. Despite the disadvantage it gave Chimera, the shadow monster did not give Sukuna a chance to prepare for the oncoming shikigami. Chimera was perfectly capable of fighting without the help of his shikigami. The fact that Chimera did not need to keep his hands free to maintain his technique, Chimera had no problems barraging Sukuna with blows and strikes. Besides his shikigami, Chimera could summon a pair of tonfas, a sword, and a blade. Each was made of the goopy material that Chimera himself was made of, but it did not take away from the sharpness of the weapons. It was exhilarating to battle Chimera. Sukuna could fight the cursed soul for hours with no victor in sight. The way that their battles usually ended was when Overtime physically dragged Chimera from the area. The mummy would use the magma burning inside the left side of his body to force the shadow creature into giving up.

Infinite, as always, took great care in being as infuriating as possible. While fighting the others was exciting and invigorating, fighting Infinite was more akin to torture. Both Infinite and Sukuna were equal in physical strength and speed, but Infinite had a new advantage that the sorcerer he was based on never had. Gojo Satoru’s Infinite Void was a domain that overloaded the victim with so much information that they were struck frozen and vulnerable. Sukuna remembered the overwhelming sensation well during their fight. However, Infinite used this ability to overload an opponent with information much differently. If Sukuna made eye contact with Infinite, the creature was capable of plaguing the curse with violent hallucinations. If Sukuna made eye contact with the eyes on Infinite’s tail when it was fully spread, the hallucinations given were so vivid that Sukuna would think his real body had been attacked. Infinite could construct the hallucinations he caused to his liking. In other words, Infinite personally created the most horrific images to infect Sukuna’s mind. The hallucinations always contained Yuuji in some way since Infinite wanted to make Sukuna suffer. The need to make Sukuna hurt was an instinct engraved deeply in the feather dragon. It pushed the cursed soul to attack Sukuna the most. He did not give Sukuna hallucinations every time they fought, unknowingly preventing Sukuna from preparing his mind for the onslaught of horror. Most of Infinite’s attacks were petty in nature and meant to annoy Sukuna. Infinite would use his smoky tail to wip Sukuna across the face or use the eyes within to stalk the man. His beak would be used to deliver quick pecks to every inch of exposed skin. There were more than twenty times where Infinite dragged a rabid animal with his claws to throw it at Sukuna. Other times, Infinite would screech loudly when Sukuna tried to nap, not stopping until one of his fellow guardians forced him to. The only proof that Infinite had the capability to be anything but insane was when he interacted with the other guardians. He showed great affection towards Overtime, Chimera, and Resonance. The other two did not appreciate the dragon’s touchiness whatsoever, so Infinite begrudgingly let them be. Though, the bird would still try to mess with them from time to time. Infinite seemed to take pride in how irritating he was.

Eventually, the exhilarating battles and spars grew old. Sukuna had allowed himself to fight each cursed soul as long as he could. He knew he could end the battles in moments, but the curse had been desperate for something to do. Infinite was the only one whose battles Sukuna never tried to drag on. The thrill Sukuna had felt vanished. It seemed the group of cursed souls noticed as their attacks stopped. One day, it became too much for even Sukuna to bear. He turned to the six creatures and spoke with exhaustion clear in his tone.

“I cannot wait another million years like this. It’s mind numbingly boring, and I am sick of such monotony. I am going to rest for as long as I can. Do whatever you wish, I don’t care. Ideally, I do not want to wake up unless it’s finally the Heian Era. Do not bother me until then if you wish to keep your heads.”

Thankfully, the world would give the sleep Sukuna had wished for. The only memories he had of his self-induced hibernation was the smell of smoke in the air, then sudden feeling of everything being ice cold, and the occasional noises from the six creatures who would periodically check on the massive curse. Sukuna did not dream the entire time. It felt like he closed his eyes, got stuck in a void that had no light, noise, smell, or surface, then woke up to a screeching bird.

Sukuna had to listen to the loud squawks until his muddled mind regained its sharpness. Once awake enough, Infinite dragged Sukuna out of the cave he did not remember falling asleep in. Outside of the cave, the other guardians were waiting with excitement clear in their features. When he looked around the place the cave was situated in, he felt a wave of familiarity wash over him. The villages nearby were identical to the ones Sukuna remembered of the Heian Era. More importantly, the cursed energy he senses indicated the birth of sorcerers and curses. Instead of getting to familiarize himself with ancient Japan again, Infinite grabbed Sukuna and tossed him onto his back. Before Sukuna could react, the dragon leaped into the sky with great speed. Like the prior blindfolded maniac, Infinite was able to float. Infinite had grown to his full size, allowing his fellow guardians to fit on his body. Boogie and Supernova were clinging desperately to Infinite’s long neck while Resonance and Overtime were tightly gripping Infinite’s white mane like the reins of a horse. Chimera had simply hidden himself within Sukuna’s shadow. It had happened so fast that it took Sukuna a few minutes to realize what had happened. Eventually, Sukuna began to watch the clouds fly past them. The air was thin, but it was crisp and fresh. It ended much too quickly in Sukuna’s opinion, but Sukuna was immediately distracted by the familiar village they were heading towards.

It was Sukuna’s village when he was a human.

Infinite landed in an empty field to prevent anyone from seeing the cursed souls. Unlike regular curses, cursed souls could be seen by all. At the time, this was unknown to Sukuna as he only knew that animals could see the guardians.

Based on the insistent nudges Infinite was giving Sukuna, the curse knew that something crucial was about to happen. He adorned a stern expression and arrived at the village in the blink of an eye. It was obvious when he was due to the stench of death and sickness in the air. Sukuna walked through his village, looking for his human counterpart. The human that had become Sukuna was long gone in an erased world. The Ryomen of this world was about to reach his point of no return if Sukuna did not act quickly.

It was easy to find Ryomen. No one had ever looked like them with their pink hair, but Ryomen stuck out even more with the tattoos etched onto his skin. That was new, but Sukuna did not dwell on it as he reached the scene that broke Ryomen unfold. It was almost pathetic to see his former self kneeling in the dirt as he begged the village elders and healers to help his boy. The sight of a lifeless Yuuji made Sukuna feel sick. Seeing a child version of the boy he had hurt was horrible, but it was even worse considering the evidence that the child had been dead for at least several days. Ryomen continued his begging like a madman. His grief was so great that Ryomen had become delusional. Sukuna watched silently as the villagers surrounded the suffering young man.

“TAKE THAT INFECTED CORPSE OUT OF THE VILLAGE THIS INSTANT, RYOMEN!”

“THERE IS A PLAGUE. WE DON’T NEED YOUR ROTTEN CHILD MAKING IT WORSE!”

“WE SHOULD GET RID OF BOTH OF THEM. RYOMEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A BAD OMEN WITH THOSE MARKINGS!”

“WE SHOULD GET THE JUJUTSU SORCERERS TO EXORCIZE HIM! HE’S CLEARLY NOT A HUMAN! WE WERE FOOLISH TO EVER BELIEVE HE WAS!”

“CURSE!”

“DEMON!”

“MONSTER!”

The crowd quickly turned into a riot of angry villagers too paranoid to see the clearly human man sobbing for help. The Ryomen from Sukuna’s old world was never treated this badly, nor was he so dangerously thin. Then again, this Ryomen had tattoos that old Ryomen never had. Such a supposedly insignificant addition must have caused the young man’s life to become worse than ever before. Sukuna could not interact with any of the humans, so he continued to wait patiently until Ryomen’s cursed energy reached its peak. It had been steadily increasing with each new insult from the villagers.

All it took was a small torch to make Ryomen snap.

A man had thrown a lit torch at Ryomen in an attempt to rid the village of the infectious corpse and the black sheep of the village. In an instant, the rags both Ryomen and Yuuji wore caught on fire. Cruel, sick smiles were present on the elders of the village as screams of agony erupted from the grieving father. With Ryomen set aflame, one of the healers grabbed Yuuji and ran to throw the child into the mass grave pit.

Before the healer could get very far, maniacal laughter made her stop in her tracks. Despite his flesh peeling off and blistering, Ryomen began walking to the healer. It was a gruesome sight. Some of the villagers were already throwing up at the sight and smell of Ryomen’s burning flesh. Sukuna was amazed by the man’s ability to remain standing.

Even though Ryomen could not speak anymore or really see, he smiled wide with bloody cracked lips. The aura of his cursed energy grew potent enough that all the villagers, no matter how old, were left trembling and unable to move. Ryomen raised his arms, seemingly ignoring the layers of skin being burnt off, and mimicked how one would draw a bow and arrow. Sukuna recognized the motion and grinned. The flesh on his hands and fingers were nothing but blood and muscle, but the squares on each fingertip had remained, even without the layer of skin. With gums bleeding and skin peeling, Ryomen spoke with a broken voice.

“F u g a.”

An arrow made out of fire formed between his burning hands, but Ryomen did not waver once. The villagers were still paralyzed in terror as the arrow grew bigger. A myriad of colors could be seen within the flames, it was a beautiful sight. That was until Ryomen released the arrow aimed directly at the healer who had stolen Yuuji.

In less than a second a once thriving village had been reduced to nothing but ash. The charred corpses of the villagers were unrecognizable and the smell was unbearable. Sukuna stood among the destruction, simply admiring Ryomen’s power. His pleased observations were overtaken when the wail of a tortured man filled the air.

This bastard better not be dead. Sukuna ran towards the noise and easily found the source of the cries. Blood pooled from every orifice and inch of Ryomen’s burnt skin. However, the wails were not caused by pain but grief as Ryomen knelt by the incinerated remains of his son. The fire had been so strong that the boy was nothing but bones and ash. Sukuna looked at the horrific sight with an intense sadness he had never felt before. Without a word, the massive curse knelt next to Ryomen and placed a hand on his back. Unlike every other living being he had encountered, Sukuna’s hand did not pass through upon contact. Ryomen jolted at the unexpected touch, his grief-filled screams stopping.

“Your son is going to be okay. I promise.” Sukuna spoke softly at the man, not reacting to the gore underneath his palm. The curse let his reverse cursed technique flow through Ryomen. His skin began to stitch back together, and his bleeding stopped entirely. Considering the extent of the damage to Ryomen, Sukuna took extra care when healing him. Most of his nerve endings had been fried, so Sukuna focused immensely on fixing them without error. After some time of meticulous healing, the only proof that Ryomen had been hurt was the ash on his face and body and the bloodstains.

Ryomen passed out immediately upon becoming fully healed, collapsing against Sukuna. Again, Sukuna’s body remained solid against his human counterpart. Sukuna reached out another hand to scoop up one of the charred bones that had once belonged to a lovable boy. Sukuna felt pain in his chest again, but he refused to break. With even greater care than before, the monstrous being poured as much of his reversed cursed technique into the tiny bone. Eventually, the cracks on the bone disappeared and it regained its ivory color.

Without looking up, Sukuna already knew that the guardians had arrived. They had perfect timing as always. When a beak gently nudged the hand that had Yuuji’s bone fragment, Sukuna raised his gaze.

For the first time, the blindfold that was supposed to be permanently attached to Infinite had disappeared. Six eyes, a pair of three on each side, looked at him imploringly. There was no cheekiness or teasing to be found in Infinite’s gaze. Sukuna nearly refused to give Infinite the last piece of Yuuji, but he then remembered the purpose of the guardians. It was in the name, they protected Yuuji in every sense of the word. He knew how much the people the cursed souls were based on loved Yuuji. They would never wish any harm on the boy. With a great sigh, Sukuna opened his palm to reveal the bone shard. Infinite cooed at the tiny piece and delicately picked up the fragment with his beak. When Infinite turned to walk towards his other guardians, he paused and looked back at Sukuna. There was gratefulness in those eyes and Infinite bowed his head in thanks.

Sukuna would never see the guardians again after that.

It did not matter as he had a new person to focus on. Ryomen would be Sukuna’s proper vessel, but the curse would make sure that the human would stay alive no matter what. He knew in his soul that Yuuji and his guardians would come back, so the boy would need Ryomen. Yuuji needed his father and Ryomen needed his son.

As Sukuna sat in the remains of the village, he made a binding vow with himself that he would never fail the two people who would become his most precious treasures.

Things would be different.

Things would be happier.

Present Time

“Sukuna.”

“Suuuukuuunaaaa!”

“Dumbass!”

“Fuckface!”

“Uh…Suku?”

In an instant, Sukuna grabbed at the hand poking him and twisted. Ryomen yelped in pain and wrenched his arm from Sukuna’s grip. “I told you to never use that infernal nickname.”

“Well, it woke you up, right?”

A grumble was the only response Sukuna gave. He opened his eyes that he hadn’t realized he closed and was surprised when he saw a sunny sky and fluffy clouds. Sukuna glanced at his left, where Ryomen had been poking him, and guffawed at the outfit the baby in his arms was wearing. Ryomen held Yuuji like the lion cub from the movie Ryomen forced him to watch a few months ago. He looked extremely proud of himself, and Yuuji squealed as his father raised him high in the air.

The baby was wearing a tiger onesie with detachable paws and ears on the hood of the outfit. Yuuji giggled like a hyena as Ryomen bounced him. “He’s finally in his true form.” Ryomen chuckled to himself as he looked at his adorable tiger cub. It was a slightly delirious laugh, and Sukuna saw the reason as to why. The usual bags under Ryomen’s eyes had darkened so much it looked like a bruise. Ryomen desperately needed to sleep, and Sukuna had just woken up from an accidental nap.

Sukuna sighed and raised his two upper arms towards Yuuji. “Give him to me, idiot. You are going to blackout any second now, and I do not wish for Yuuji to sustain an injury so soon after acquiring him.”

There were still many issues to talk about, especially the concerning message Ryomen received, but his sleep deprivation caught the best of him. When Ryomen was about to refuse, his vision started to blur, and he knew it was his body screaming at him to rest. “Fine. Wake me in ten minutes. I’ll make this a test for you.”

“Mhm.”

“I’m serious. Once I come back, there better not be a single hair misplaced on Yuuji’s head.”

“Alright.”

“If there is even a-”

“Ryomen. Go. To. Bed.”

“...Ten minutes.” The pink haired man gave one last glare to Sukuna before walking back towards the house. However, his walk was more of a stagger.

Sukuna rolled his eyes at the stubborn man’s antics. The tiny baby in his lap made any irritation the curse would have felt disappear. Yuuji held one of Sukuna’s fingers with a curious expression. He looked so impossibly small compared to Sukuna. Yuuji’s hands could not even wrap around Sukuna’s finger. Despite the size difference, Yuuji showed not a hint of fear towards the curse. His bright, wide eyes looked at Sukuna with so much happiness. No being had ever looked at Sukuna like that. A warmth blossomed in Sukuna’s chest at the smile Yuuji was giving him. This time, Sukuna relished in the warmth instead of suppressing it.

With great care, Sukuna picked up Yuuji and stood. The baby was small enough to fit in Sukuna’s palm, but there was still no fear from Yuuji. Sukuna breathed in the fresh air. For a moment, he was worried that his form would dissipate, but Yuuji’s presence only strengthened Sukuna’s ability to remain tangible. He couldn’t help but nuzzle his nose into Yuuji’s hair, dislodging the hoodie. Yuuji grabbed at Sukuna’s nose with his chubby hand, and the warmth within the curse grew like a welcoming hearth. The happiness Sukuna felt could not compare to his past life. Doing what he desired and killing who he wanted had never brought Sukuna such a feeling of warmness and joy.

Sukuna’s smile was the brightest it had ever been. He let out a content hum as he held Yuuji close to his chest. The baby responded to his hums with happy coos.

He was happy.

No matter what, Sukuna would make sure that the smile on Yuuji’s face never disappears again.

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