#okay first of all this is really well documented. nice job i hope you eventually finished that school paper

[juyeonszn]

DIVE TO YOU

PAIRING lee sangyeon x f!reader

WORD COUNT 2.61k

GENRES fluff ﹒suggestive

WARNINGS 18+ MINORS DNI u already know, roommates to ;) type beat, ummm they’re naked, they are in a bathtub, sangyeon is… wow sangyeon just deserves a warning on his own, he is A Lot, there’s a mention of a voyeuristic moment but it’s nothing crazy, he massages reader, they make out, i tease u all bc i’m evil like that

SUMMARY you’ve never really thought of sangyeon in an explicit way, but now that you’re stuck in this position, it’s going to be difficult for your thinking to go back to normal.

MORE SURPRISE ALLY (@winterchimez) MY BELOVED THIS ONE IS FOR U <<<3 i hope i didn’t kill u </3 this is another request from my 100 followers event! prompts used are: 9, 16, 17 🤞

PERM TAGLIST @winterchimez @maessseongs

You hated your job more than anything in the world. It was mind-numbing. All you did was stare at a computer all day and type type type, responding to emails or drafting up documents for your boss. It was exhausting. To be honest, you were sick of it.

But you needed it, unless you wanted to get kicked out of your apartment for not making your share of the rent. Sure, having a job you disliked wasn’t ideal, but you were surviving and wasn’t that all that mattered?

Besides, you’d probably die if you were forced to move out of your apartment. Your roommate was the only reason you moved in to the damn place despite rent being so fucking expensive.

You remember the day you stumbled upon his ad like it was yesterday, though it had already been exactly one year. You’d just finished your first month at your job and you were growing tired of dealing with your parents. Yeah it was nice that you didn’t have to worry about half of your current expenses while living under their roof, but you knew you needed to ship up and move out eventually. You figured this was the perfect time to do so.

You scoured the internet for apartments, but soon realized that living on your own would be way too much, considering all of the other things you also had to worry about now. As you started filtering through listings that requested a second habitant, you stumbled upon your roommate’s. The rent itself was a little bit over your budget, but the way he worded his ad had you hooked.

Just an hour later you were emailing him and setting up a meeting to discuss important details. You met up at a cute little coffee shop a few days later when you both found some free time. Being the punctual person you were, you arrived earlier than planned, ordering your go to and picking a two seater in the corner by one of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

You had always been the type to psych yourself up before doing anything major. You needed at least half an hour of prep time if you were making any important decisions, because you could not handle things going wrong. Everything in your life had to be carefully and methodically done. You liked to say you were thorough, but everyone else called you a perfectionist. It is what it is.

And because you didn’t know this guy, you had no idea what he looked like and you weren’t aware that he had the same mindset. You glance up from your drink to see the most handsome man you’ve ever laid your eyes on walk into the cafe, ordering something you can’t make out. He looks like something straight from a drama, his hair styled neatly and his outfit put together. Even under his thick coat, you could see how well sculpted he was.

You don’t realize that you’re staring until he’s suddenly walking towards your direction, his coffee in his hands. He furrows his brows and clears his throat. “Hi, I don’t mean to bother you, but do you happen to be Y/N?”

Oh my god. No way. There was no way this hunk of a man was your potential roommate. It was impossible.

When your lips part in shock and you don’t respond for a couple seconds, he blinks at you. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that impossible. You nearly facepalm for already making such a fool of yourself before you’ve even held a proper conversation. You stumble over your words as you gesture to the chair across from you. “Y-Yes! Yes, that’s me. Please, take a seat!”

He smiles politely, setting down his drink and shedding his coat. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Sangyeon.”

You wipe your hands on your jeans before reaching to shake his hand nervously. If you could hardly handle this simple meeting, how could you handle living with the guy? He might send you into spontaneous combustion by just looking at you.

Sangyeon had the patience of a saint, and you would be eternally grateful for it. After getting to know each other better and growing more comfortable around him, the two of you discussed the roommate situation. You truly lucked out in finding him, seeing as you shared a lot of similar ideals. He even offered to lower your part of the rent as much as he could, explaining that you were by far his favorite candidate for the second room.

Later that same day, you went over and got an apartment tour prior to signing a lease agreement. And then the rest was history.

You sigh as the clock finally hits 6, signaling the end of your very long work day. One thing you disliked about getting off at the time you did was the fact that it was always snowing. It made it hard to navigate your way home, since most people packed around the bus stops like sardines. You hug your coat to yourself to block out the harsh winds, your scarf wrapped up to your nose.

You were tired and cold and all you wanted was to be inside the blanket that was your apartment, soaking in a hot bath with a glass of wine beside you. Sangyeon was supposedly working late today, which meant you’d have some much needed alone time.

The entire bus ride, you find yourself drifting off and then startling awake when you drove over a bump. You don’t remember the last time you were this drained after a work week. It could’ve been because you stayed over time a couple days, but you didn’t think it would affect you that badly.

When you finally arrive at the stop near your apartment, you’re almost in a zombie-like state, trudging through some of the snow that has started to stick. The only thing keeping your eyes open was the obnoxious chattering of your teeth.

It feels like a millennia by the time you’ve reached your front door, hands shaking as you attempt to unlock it. You’re partly surprised you didn’t drop your keys. The moment you step into your home, it’s like a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders.

From the lingering scent of your peppermint and vanilla candle to the warmth of the building’s heating, you felt like you’d just been cuddled by a teddy bear. You shrug off your coat and hang it on the set of hooks beside the front door, leaving your shoes on the rack just beneath. Your sock clad feet drag you towards the kitchen, where an unopened bottle of wine awaits you.

You’re tempted to just drink straight from the bottle, but you didn’t want to get shitfaced, you just wanted to feel relaxed. Nevertheless, you pour yourself a… hefty… glass and waddle to the bathroom. A mental note was made to thank your coworker for the bath salt and bubble set she got you as a gift, seeing as it was finally being put to good use.

It doesn’t take long for you to peel off your layers of clothing after you’ve turned on the faucet and adjusted the temperature to your preference. You watch with heavy eyelids as the bubbles begin to form along the surface of the water, rising up and filling the tub. You dip your toes in while simultaneously taking a sip of your wine, damn near moaning at how much better you felt.

You press play on one of your playlists and light a candle before finally sinking into the water, succumbing to its serenity. Your eyes start to flutter shut and you don’t even try to fight the sleep that calls your name.

You’re not sure if hours or minutes have passed since you fell asleep, but the creaking of the bathroom door opening stirs you from your slumber. Most people probably would’ve had a bigger reaction, considering someone just walked into the bathroom without checking if it was occupied first. And also because you had assumed you were home alone.

This was one of the various times you wished the earth would just swallow you whole.

Lee Sangyeon stands in the doorway, shoulder resting against the threshold with his arms crossed. His dress shirt from work is unbuttoned all the way to the third from the top, his muscular frame stretching the fabric deliciously. You wondered how he was comfortable, since he wore such tight shirts. Occasionally you truly understood why the term ‘Take A Picture, It’ll Last Longer’ existed.

You were extremely thankful that you added bubbles to your bath, the foam covering up your body where the sun usually doesn’t shine. Sangyeon has an amused glint in his eye and even with the fogginess of your partially awake brain coupled with the few sips of wine you’ve had, you know it’s off brand for him.

“S-Sangyeon, what are you doing in here?” You trip over your words, wrapping your arms around yourself tightly.

“Well, I just got home and I was planning on doing the same thing as you,” he rolls his neck as if to display his own tension from a long day. “But it looks like you’ve beat me to it.”

You blink at him. Why was he still standing there? Staring at you like… that?

“Um… Why haven’t you left?” You swallow, but your mouth is dry.

“Is there some space in that bathtub?”

He asks the question so smoothly, the words rolling off of his tongue like he’s asked to join you in the bath on numerous occasions. You gape at him, your head spinning in circles. Perhaps you were still half asleep and your mind was playing tricks on you. That made the most sense. Perfect, sweet roommate Sangyeon would never ask you a question like that.

“I’m sorry?” Part of you feels stupid, gawking at the male and stumbling over your speech. It’s like you’ve completely malfunctioned, every logical point of your body shutting down for unscheduled maintenance. You had to recalibrate your systems fast.

Sangyeon repeats himself, not skipping a beat as he does so. You do a 180, glancing around the room as if someone else was present. You jab a finger into the only exposed part of your chest and then at the water with scrunched eyebrows.

“Yeah, is there some room in there for me to fit? You know, Y/N,” he shrugs, going for the next button on his shirt. “I have seen you naked before.”

You nearly drown yourself on the spot. Lee Sangyeon has seen you naked? This was news to you. Last you checked, neither of you had ever done anything intimate enough for that. He laughs that attractive laugh of his, his eyes forming crescent moons. You’re enticed to drown yourself a second time.

“Y-You have?” This was probably single-handedly the most embarrassing moment of your life.

“To be fair, it was an accident. I walked past your room while you were changing once but you didn’t have the door closed all the way, and well, I am a man so, I couldn’t help but take a peek.” He scratches the back of his neck, letting out a small chuckle. Okay so God definitely had favorites and you weren’t one of them. Nice to know.

He unbuttons another button, stepping closer to you, closing the distance between you. He crouches next to the tub, finally at eye level with you. Oh, what you would give for a moment of this man’s time. Here he was, handing you just that on a silver platter and you were royally fumbling the bag.

“So is that a yes?”

You really don’t trust your own voice, so you merely nod, biting back the urge to groan when he grins at you, standing upright. It’s like you’re stuck in a trance, watching him clear the rest of the buttons of his shirt like light work. The sight of his abdomen on full display has you releasing a tiny squeak. Then comes the unbuckling of his belt and that alone is a mental image you don’t think you could ever forget. You dip your chin into your shoulder, looking away when he strips the rest of his clothes.

You feel him before you hear him, his leg brushing against the back of your arm as he slips behind you into the tub. He exhales deeply, exactly like you did when you got in. You’re as stiff as a board, not sure what you should do with your roommate naked and sitting behind you, sharing bath water like it was a regular Friday night. You keep your focus on the faucet, too afraid to make any sudden movements.

“Relax, N/N,” he pins his chest to your back, hands coming up to massage your shoulders. “You’re so tense.”

The way he works his thumbs into your skin has shivers running down your spine, your entire being feeling like it’s lit up. You suppress a whimper when he kneads a knot just below your neck, squeezing your eyes shut and biting your lip. Before today, you’ve never really thought of Sangyeon in an explicit way. Sure you thought he was extremely handsome, but that had always been just a surface level notion. You’d never fantasized about a crazy, fan-fiction type moment like this. But now that you’re in it, you don’t think your thinking could ever go back to normal. You could never see him as just your handsome roommate.

You have half the mind to scoot into his lap, but it seems like he’s beat you to it, sliding his hands down to your waist and pulling you towards him. Your eyes widen when you feel him, hard and pressed to your lower back. At that, you finally make a noise; something between a strangled moan and a whine.

Sangyeon brings his lips to your ear, grazing them along the shell of it. “Can you feel how much I want you?”

“Y-Yes,” you gasp. “I can feel you.”

This is insanity. Were you still waking up, conjuring up this entire scenario with your half conscious mind? Maybe some sick and deluded higher power wanted you to realize the possibility of having feelings for Sangyeon, and this was their way of doing it.

But then one of his hands trails to your thigh and he pinches you lightly. That’s how you know this is real, this is actually happening. You crane your neck slightly to glance at him. His eyes are darker than usual, a deep brown swimming with lust that almost looks black. It’s similar to how a predator would stare down its prey and it’s a look you could get used to.

Sangyeon’s gaze flickers down to your lips and you just about lose your last bit of clarity, leaning forward to connect your mouths. It’s kind of messy, kind of rough, but the way your stomach twists into knots and goosebumps litter your arms makes you think that the higher being you were cursing minutes ago was actually doing you a huge favor. You’d have to thank them later.

One of Sangyeon’s hands comes up to cup your cheek, his thumb caressing your cheekbone as he does so. Without parting, you turn around in his lap, straddling him as best you can in your limited space. If you thought you felt him before, you definitely feel him now, his cock pulsing against your aching core. Your need was carnal, primal even. He hisses when you grind down on him, gripping your hips to halt you.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, sweetheart.”

© juyeonszn. do not steal, claim, or repost.

[flyingwargle]

the front door opens. shoes are scuffed as they’re kicked off in a heap. “i’m back…” the voice is muffled, drifting off. the lights flood the apartment, but the book over kuroo’s eyes shield him from the onslaught. “bro?”

kuroo pulls the book from his face as bokuto approaches him on the couch, gym bag slung over his shoulder, hair down from his post-workout shower. “everything okay, bro?” he asks.

“just about.” papers are spread across the table like a bad conspiracy theorist, tablet cast aside. kuroo throws the book down beside him with a sigh. “did you see any good eye candy at the gym?”

“you and i both know that we’re whipped for other people that aren’t at this university.”

“you’re right. but?”

bokuto flops down beside him. “but i saw that fourth-year econ guy bench 250, and i thought, if he can bench that much, i should be able to do at least 280 before graduating.”

“good luck. you’ve got two semesters left until then.”

“you gotta come next time to spot me.”

kuroo closes his eyes. “i’ll see. these last few days have been stressful. it’d be nice to have a distraction.”

“it’s open gym tonight.” he can hear the hope in bokuto’s voice.

“maybe. i have some assignments left.”

“come on, bro! some of the guys will be there for a casual game. they miss you.”

of course they do. in fact, a lot of people miss him, like the coaches, his ex-teammates, even some independent sport journalists who latch onto up-and-coming athletes to document their rise to stardom, then brag that they discovered them first. kuroo turned his back on all of that at the start of his final year, to secure employment before graduation, or at least an internship. he still hasn’t had any luck.

perhaps it’s his own fault. instead of joining business clubs and associations, he was on the volleyball team, despite not wanting to go pro. it was mostly because bokuto begged him, and although he spent most of his time as a second-string player, he eventually became a regular. his block won them the last collegiate tournament, the title of best middle blocker, and a dozens of scouts’ attention. many of their business cards were shoved in the bottom of his sock drawer.

he still remembers the conversation he had with a representative from a sports agency, especially their dismissive laugh. you’re better off on the court than on the sidelines, kid.

what if that’s true? he definitely has a future as an athlete. but then he’d recall kenma’s smile and tsukishima’s laughs during the fated battle at the trash heap, and the awe on those kids’ faces at the volleyball gym that he volunteers at. that’s all worth something, isn’t it?

bokuto stands to head into the kitchenette. “you hungry? i’m starved.” university did his boisterous best friend well. he’s a decent cook who can mix a pretty good smoothie, and he’ll soon graduate with an education degree, future already decided with the msby black jackals.

and then there’s kuroo, who quit the team in his final year to job hunt, but to no avail. sure, he isn’t graduating yet, but knowing that every agency and company that he contacted hasn’t replied back doesn’t sit well with him.

his sigh is long and heavy. bokuto, who is peering in the fridge, looks up at him. “you sure you’re okay, bro?”

“bro, tell it to me straight.”

“i’m gay.”

“bro, tell it to me gay. should i have gone pro?”

the fridge closes. plastic bags rustle. water runs over a cutting board. “i’ll tell it to you straight and gay because i’m your best friend. first, straight – nah. i mean, you’re good, like, really good, but i don’t think the professional scene fits you.”

kuroo is silent. that is true. he never envisioned himself shining beneath the stadium lights or featured on billboards and ads. even when he was interviewed after games, it’d always be brief. he didn’t like the attention.

“gay, on the other hand,” bokuto continues, “it’s still no.”

“what?” kuroo twists around to face him. “that’s the same as being straight.”

“that’s because being pro isn’t for you. just like being straight isn’t for you.” they conducted a very scientific experiment to see if kuroo could be bi, but the results came back undeniably gay. “you wanted to do sports promotion, right? so that’s what you’ll do.”

he sinks back onto the couch. “i haven’t gotten any calls,” he mumbles. “like, none at all. i talked with the counselors and a bunch of alumni for advice on my resume and portfolio, but i never got any responses. i’m…scared that i won’t get anywhere with this.”

“you shouldn’t be. you just need that one call.” his friend turns to the cutting board. “there’s still time left, bro. plus, you played volleyball, so that gives you an edge.”

“you don’t have to have played it to know how to promote it, bro.”

“yeah, but you have a player’s perspective! that’s valuable, you know?”

kuroo supposes he’s right, but doesn’t say anything. soon, the apartment smells like yakisoba, which they eat on the couch. “come by tonight,” bokuto says through a mouthful. “play around and forget about job hunting for a while. have some fun.”

“okay. sure. you just want to play with me one last time, don’t you?”

“i didn’t say that! you did!”

he finds his court shoes afterwards and follows bokuto to the gym, where his ex-teammates welcome him with open arms. like bokuto, most plan to go pro, a few with contracts lined up already, some planning to attend tryouts. only a handful don’t plan to take volleyball further.

the semester ends, and the next begins. kuroo continues his job hunt, bokuto with volleyball and training, one whose future is secured, the other feeling himself grow nearer and nearer to the abyss. it’s one weekend when bokuto is away for games and kuroo is wallowing in the darkness of the apartment that his phone rings, and he crawls out from his blanket cocoon on the couch to pick it up. “hello?” he says, fully expecting a spam call.

“hello, is this kuroo tetsurou-san?”

his back straightens, the tone unfamiliar but professional. “yes, who is this?”

“kobayashi enya of red star sports. we recently reviewed your resume and portfolio, and we’re quite impressed with your work. we’re actually looking for a paid intern student at the moment to help us with a project, would you be interested in that?”

“yes,” he blurts out. “i’d love that, but how did you…”

“ah, we were recommended to you by one of my colleagues. we mostly work with collegiate athletes, and my colleague works closely with one such athlete. he spoke very highly of you, actually. he’s an outsider hitter for chuo university, if you know him.”

“i…might. i’m familiar with their athletes.”

“perfect. do you have time to discuss this in more detail?”

kuroo pulls himself out of his cocoon and opens his tablet, chatting for the next half hour about the internship, pay, potential job opportunities. “we’d like to see what you can do first. if we’re interested, we’ll extend a job offer to you, if that’s all right.”

“yes, of course. thank you very much for the opportunity.”

“i look forward to working with you soon, kuroo-san.”

they end the call. kuroo pumps his fist in the air, yells at the top of his lungs. he’s about to call bokuto when he sees an unread text message.

boku-bro koutarou (3:45 pm) told you to wait for that one call!!

he could never wish for a better best friend.

[distopea]

@lured-into-wonderland from here

Like the good man (puppy) he could be, Mika was pleased whenever he was about to help. That woman was walking in a shady neighborhood after all, so it was the least he could do to be helpful. And now that she had noticed he was only here to help, her bodyguard would at least stop menacing him this way. Well, he didn’t really feel endangered and such, he was used to fighting in many ways, but civilian interactions were definitely more pleasant in the end. He offered the purse with no bad intentions, along with his brightest smile. 

“It’s fine, they only do their job.” He waved his fingers, still wearing that smile because he felt useful today. She seemed to be happy getting her purse back, and she wouldn't suffer from all that administrative hassle for getting her documents back. Oh well, maybe she wasn’t the kind of person to be bothered by that… She seemed to have plenty of people at her service. “You’re lucky I found it first. We’re not really in the safest neighborhood, so keep it tight under your arm and get ready to elbow anyone getting to close.” 

He raised both of his hands to prove that he hadn’t stolen anything, before he took a step backward, just in case she felt in danger. She was already blushing and he had the sensation he was perhaps taking too much of her time; maybe she was shy and embarrassed because of his friendly attitude. He was ready to get going, when she eventually continued to talk. He tousled his own hair with a firm hand and winked back at her. “You’re welcome, lady. I’m glad you didn’t lose anything.” But then, she offered to take the conversation further and he remained silent for a moment; he was truly surprised. 

Did she notice he was thirsty or hungry? Or was she only nice to him? It was hard to tell and he wasn't sure if she could tell or not that he was a man in need. He didn’t get the cash promised for his night job and he was on his way to retrieve it against services. “I’m…” He hesitated before he smiled once more. He was hungry and thirsty. Surely, it wasn’t bad to hope for a bit of food right now? “Okay, well, if you want company I guess I can do that. Nunnally, you say? It’s nice! I’m Mika.” He didn’t want to look suspicious and cheerful, but he was excited to perhaps earn his meal of the day without fighting once more in a cage. He looked back at her bodyguards, unsure about their reactions.

“And I promise that I don’t have bad intentions!" 

[tortilla-of-courage]

ok i want to preface this by saying i am so so sorry for bringing this up again but xx-dark-dart-xx tagged me and the bastard wheels in my brain started working, so.

Before I start, the main point I’m ultimately going to be getting at is that the same event (more or less) occurred twice on different platforms, about a month apart. Obviously the first incident (LU discord onceler day) would have affected the second incident (the tumblr one) to some degree, seeing as there are users on both platforms who happened to witness both events, but I digress.

Anyhow. I’m going to start first with the Link is a tumblr sexyman in the same way the Onceler was/is because that’s where it all started on your blog. While it started on the discord because of a few people just going feral over the onceler alone, we did have this:

It took Gabee about a week to come to the full conclusion afterwards, but the conclusion was reached nonetheless.

(I believe Gabee was discord jailed for saying it.)

So we have our two situations of Link being equated to the Onceler, both on Tumblr and on Discord.

Then we have the Onceler x Link fusions. On the discord, it was Warriors x Onceler (or Warceler), and was first brought up by Buck (Nebulapaws) as far as I’m aware.

(Side note, Buck, Gabee and I are a Trio™️ on the server and I regret to inform you that the three of us have a tendency to be caught in the middle of stuff like this a lot)

Keep in mind, Warceler was not initially intended as a ship! What was intended as the LU Discord ship was this:

And so we get into shipping, in true Onceler-esque fashion. (I would like to make it very clear that never on the Discord did we ship together any of the Links (Warceler Link included) with one another. It’s strictly prohibited there!)

And anyways I went to draw it because I enjoy creating bastard things, but went on autopilot and ended up with Wars instead. Which brings us to the Wars x Onceler art. I’m not going to post it because you’ve already had to see it once and that’s enough.

Coming back to Tumblr, on June 30th anon asked if you had seen the Wars x Onceler art. Prior to that date, I could find no other art of that besides my own (regrettably) and so i once again apologize for that aspect.

My final point is Shringler, or Shrek x Tingle x Onceler (thank you Chel), was more or less the discord’s version of Sans x Linkceler x Onceler on the basis of the following criteria:

1.) Was born of Link and Onceler chaos

2.) Includes three characters who have no business being near eachother

3.)The characters are ones with a reputation in the respective communities that is typically negative leaning and chaotic.

Now that I’m done I very much regret to say that there is basis to the “Link is the new Onceler” claim based on the fact that these two events occurred at least decently independent of one another and both came to similar conclusions. Anyways I was meant to be writing an essay for AP Lang but instead I’ve typed up this historical record of the Onceler Link incidents. I sincerely hope there isn’t a third one that’ll have to be added to this but so far our track record doesn’t look very good.

[fnf-amateur-writing]

Hey! It’s Fox again! How are you doing? I just started school back up today, so I’ve been busy Xp.

Think you would be cool with writing some Pico with an s/o who is a writer, and tends to ask him about things like “hey, how long does it take someone to bleed out” or other things like that?

I understand if you don’t feel like it, and I hope you’re having fun 😊

🦊

Hello again Fox, I'm doing quite well rn. I'm cool with your prompt, especially since I need more writing material anyways.

Took me a while, because I didn't want to do a hc, but rather come up with a oneshot with a little twist to the style. Well, hope it works well.

Good luck with school, mate!

TW: Mentions of violence, swearing, slight sexual reference, and crime.

Pico with a writer S/O who asks him strange questions

Prologue:

On a chilly autumn morning, you were sitting out on your patio with a laptop and a mug of your favourite beverage next to you. Whenever you looked up, you could see the warm coloured leaves fall as the breeze accompanied you. The whole scene was an aesthetic.

When your boyfriend, Pico, came outside to see this, he knew that the nice environment you surrounded yourself with meant one thing. "You're back in your writing space already. Heh, with that bestseller you published, I thought you were comfy taking a break." You simply smiled and said, "can't waste the inspiration rush I got right now."

Pico had a good point though, with your rising popularity as an author, you were near set to retire before turning fourty. But you wish you weren't given all of the credit, since your boyfriend's stories of his dodgy job has occasionally sparked some ideas for your stories. However the books you wrote in the past were usually meant for the young adult and had few mature themes. This time, you thought maybe it's time to garner extra inspiration from those stories.

You were met with some disappointment when you realised that your mug was empty, only a drop entering your mouth. "Here, babe, I'll ya some more," Pico said, taking your mug and walking inside. "Quick question," you stopped him. "Yeah?"

"What would be the best place for a murder cemetery?"

"... What?"

Chapter 1:

"So you're doing some story about the police hunting down a mass murderer?"

"Pretty much."

"And to think you were gonna write Pixar's next script. Aight' I respect that." Pico takes a seat next to you with a refill of your drink placed next to your favourite writing laptop. "Thanks, Pico. But yeah, I want to branch out to something edgier, and I think you can help too."

"Let me show you what I've got so far." You showed him some of your notes in a little notepad document, detailing the story thus far and your current plans for this chapter. "Oh, that's it? Just looks like boring police preparation mainly," Pico commented. "Yeah, it's not much right now. But it'll get juicy later." "And bloody?" "And bloody."

"Welp, I'm gonna head back in," Pico got up, "let me know if you need anything." He head back inside, closing the door, but then opened it almost immediately afterwards. Pico stuck his head out, "by the way, the guy should use some strong alcohol or something to throw off those sniffer dogs."

Chapter 2:

"And then, because they used a silencer, the police don't immediately notice the--"

"Nope! I'm calling bullshit (Y/N)!" Pico had suddenly interrupted your explanation of the scene you were currently working on. "Silencers can help prevent some hearing loss, sure, but they're not magic."

"Alright," you reply, "no silencer, but the killer still has to kill in a way to not get blood on them, so I thought shooting and killing them from a distance would work." "Well, they're alone. Instead, have the guy get shanked in the neck or something, and have the killer use a plastic bag as a glove. It saved my ass one time."

"Woah!" you exclaimed with a giggle, "you used a knife once? What happened to my trigger happy boyfriend, huh? That's pretty sus."

"I forgot to reload the Uzis, alright?"

"What an impostor would say."

Chapter 3:

"What would be the best way to muffle the scream of someone you kidnapped?"

You two were sitting on the couch together watching a show. You didn't have your laptop on you, so Pico didn't expect you to still be thinking about that book. "I can't say from experience, really," he said as he paused the show. "However, shove a rag in their mouth and duct tape it in, and you should be good."

"Thanks Pico, also one more thing." "Yeah?" "What if our killer also wanted to..." God, this one was gonna be awkward, but you had to say it or else no help. "You know, cut off this victim's willy. How would you do that?"

"Wai-wha-uh-ga," Pico started fumbling his words like never before. He stopped, then took a deep breath. "YO, WHAT THE FUCK?!" "It'll make sense in the story later, I promise!" You watch Pico begin to lose it, breaking into laughter. "Ladies, gentlemen, and others," Pico dramatically stood up, pulling a little Showcaster impression and directing his arms towards you, "my famous 'young' adult novelist partner!"

Chapter 4:

It was in the dead of night, but you awoke to Pico on his phone. His vpn was on and Tor was up. As per usual, he was checking up on his little hitman service, where others could request for a certain someone's guts to fly if they paid him a hefty sum first. Though tired, you ound this to be the best time to ask him some more questions.

"Pico, how do those sites work?"

"Oh, you're awake," Pico blankly stated, sleepy too. But he still answered you. "Basically, some anonymous rich guys in the area give me money and a target, then I just do the thing and send a mission accomplished email." "Do they pay you in person?" "Nah, we use always use Bitcoin. It's a lot harder to trace than real money."

"Thanks Pico. Goodnight," you wish him, yawning and going back to sleep. "You too... So this guy is a hit man too?" "Hush. Tomorrow." "Okay." Pico puts his phone away, leaving it on a nightstand. You then spoon the night away, peacefully thinking of murder as you drifted off.

Chapter 5:

On a morning similar to before, you two sat on the patio with your drinks and laptop at the ready. Pico watched rather awkwardly as you typed away, wondering why you haven't entertained him with another question yet.

"You gonna ask anything else?" "What? Oh, nah," you plainly state. Inevitable, sure, but he was kind of saddened. He liked being able to share his messed up wisdom. "So, you're done?" "Almost." You turn to look at him, "want the spoilers?" Pico smiled, "sure thing."

In the novella you and Pico crafted together, the main character is a cop who hunts down a killer. They eventually notice that there would be two murders at a time for unknown reasons. Well, it was unknown until one victim had left up a dark web hit man for hire site. They that the hit man not only kills the target, but the client as a hidden price for the service.

And any request will be fulfilled, according to the hit man's site.

"Do they catch 'em?" Pico asked. "Well, ANY request is granted. So, if our hero were to... hire him to kill himself..."

"No way!"

"He did. They find both of their bodies in his bedroom."

Pico was a bit impressed with the ending you came up with, but then he remembered something. "Why did that guy get his thing cut off?" "Lol, I forgot," you giggled. "He sent a message to the hit man, saying he wishes the target would choke on his dick."

"That's my favourite part."

Epilogue:

After everything was finished up, you sent the book off to your editor. After the initial joy of knowing how the story ended, you saw that Pico was still in thought. "What's up with you?" "Oh nothing, well it's just... I'm probably just biased, being that I'm a bit of a hitman myself, but it's kind of sad to see the guy go."

"Then I should spoil the epilogue I came up with." Rather than being excited, Pico nervously asked, "what's an epilogue?" He didn't get an answer, only you staring at him. "Sorry, school held too many bad memories for me to pay attention."

"Anyways," you continue, "the rest of the police gang did some background checks, and find that our killer was a normal guy with no criminal history."

"Penilian?"

"No. But I did decide to take a more supernatural approach here. Somewhere across the country, another string of double homicides occur and that site is active once more. And the story kind of repeats itself."

"Penilian."

"You joker," you give him a playful little kiss on the cheek, one that definitely caught him off guard. "So is it canon?" Pico smirked. "Nah, just thanking you for being my cute little co-author." "Oh," Pico started, "so we're flirtin' now, huh. Come here babe!" He tackled you onto the ground, giving you several kisses in exchange.

"Actually, I think we call that 'making out'," you chuckle out, flustered. "But that doesn't mean I said stop'!" You pull him in for more, accidentally bonking your heads together rather painfully. "Nice double kill there, (Y/N)."

[keysmashingfantasies]

An Old Fashioned Meet Cute

A/N: hi! this is my first fic here and i hope you like it. comments and constructive criticism is very much appreciated just please be nice and i tried not to describe nor reader nor the Hilda character too much apart from the fact that they are plus size so it can cater to more people (altough the Hilda character is a white woman originally, I left that out because I wanted everyone to be able to read it) :D. and a huge thank you to @divine-mistake for encouraging me to make this blog and post my fics. ily Tay <3, this one's for you.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!plus size Reader

Word count: 2.1k

Summary: Bucky didn’t remember much of his life before the war. Not as much as he would like, anyway. But he was content to at least have remembered something. The memories of his teenage shenanigans with Steve always made him laugh. But there was a memory that he didn’t even know it was on his mind until that day when he accompanied Steve to the thrift shop. And until an Avengers party, where he met you.

-

“Steve, come on… Shouldn’t you be showing me the wonders of the modern world?”, he mocked. He knew Steve was doing his best, he did. But he knew that this wasn’t just a friends’ afternoon. And Bucky didn’t need a babysitter.

“I will! I just thought it would be nice to see something less overwhelming first and Sam told me a thrift store would be a nice place to start. Most of this stuff is new to us anyway”, Steve said, picking up a CD of a shelf.

“Yeah, ok”, he mumbled. The things he did for Steve. He mindlessly wandered through the little cluttered store, browsing the shelves full of knick knacks. He saw vinyls, old books, a great variety of toys, some paintings and an old fashioned vanity, with an old mirror, a few vintage perfume bottles, and… Oh.

“Steve?”, he said, picking up the old calendar that was propped up against the stained mirror. Carefully, he lifted the calendar up, looking at his friend. He had seen it before, he knew he did. He flipped through it as he waited for Steve to make his way across the store, careful to not bump in any of the tables containing delicate porcelain tea pots. His eyes scanned through the cover, a delicately painted picture of a curvy woman and with the saying “HILDA, 1940’s calendar” in bold red letters above it.

“Oh wow”, Steve let out a belly laugh. “You remember when we stole some of these? Man, we even took these to war”, he said. He started to remember. Him and Steve running, each one with a calendar in hand, flipping through the pages, Steve whining that he would never find a girl like that. He didn’t even think twice before taking it to the counter, with Steve giggling like a school girl behind him.

“For the memories, punk”, he said in a stern voice and a frown, but with pink dusted cheeks.

“Of course”, Steve said in a mocking voice.

-

“So, Tony’s throwing a party next weekend”, Steve said as he entered the training room.

“I prefer the thrift store”, Bucky mumbled, without tearing his eyes from the punching bag.

“Come on, Buck. I think it will be good for you to go”, Steve said. “It will be something small, Tony will introduce the new team assistant, so no eyes will be on you”, that got Bucky’s attention.

“Small?”, he said, pushing his hair from his face.

“Very”, Steve assured, but he had that look that Bucky knew very well from his young years; the look he would get when he was about to pick a fight. He was up to no good. But he didn’t want another trip to a dusty thrift store.

“Yeah, sure”, he mumbled.

-

You were shaking in your boots. Yeah, you knew that you would work for them, which meant that you inevitably would have to attend this kind of things. But this wasn’t like your former office jobs, no. You work for the Avengers now.

“You can do this. You have to. Do it for the paycheck”, you said, trying to reassure yourself as you shakily applied mascara. As you browsed through your wardrobe, you let out a sigh. You remembered shyly asking for advice on what to wear from Natasha, but you took it with a grain of salt. She could wear a potato sack and still look gorgeous, and you were… Well, a potato. You knew this was another test. If you couldn’t handle all eyes on you and the eventual bickering that was about to happen, you were not fit for the job. But damn, you at least expected a few weeks of taking care of documents and serving coffee before a party. In a room. With the, quoting the tabloid you read that very morning “super team that saves the world and looks hot doing it!”. You were a pretty confident person. But this… Anyone would be nervous.

“You can do this”, you told yourself one more time before heading out.

-

When you got to the party, not everyone was there. You politely greeted everyone with a nod, and gave your name to the ones you didn’t have the pleasure to meet yet.

“You, pick your poison”, Tony Stark pointed at you while walking to the bar.

“No, thank you, Mr. Stark, I won’t be drinking tonight”, you managed to say, silently thanking all the gods above (even the one that was sitting not too far from you) that you managed to hold back the quiver in your voice.

“She doesn’t want to be vulnerable around us. Smart, I like her”, said Natasha. Sometimes you wonder if she was a telepath like Wanda.

“Is there anything wrong, Y/N? I sense that you are uneasy”, asked Vision, with those glassy unblinking eyes. You wondered if he was in your mind that very moment.

“Gee, I wonder why”, said Rhodes, before taking a sip of his drink.

“I’m okay, just… A bit nervous, that’s all”, you said.

“Well, then you definitely need a drink”, said Tony, handing you a glass of champagne that no doubt cost the same as your previous paycheck.

Soon enough, the awkwardness made way to pleasant conversation. You laughed as you listened to their banter. It wasn’t like any business party you ever attended. No, it was more like a family gathering than anything.

The sounds of the elevator doors opening caught you attention as three men wide as refrigerators walked in, followed closely by a pretty young woman. Of course you knew them. You read all about them. Especially The Winter Soldier, the little devil on your shoulder taunting you by remembering you of every single time you talked to your friend about your crush on him.

“Sorry we’re late guys, Steve went to pick me up before the party and we had dinner”, said the blonde, linking her arm with Steve Rogers himself.

“Nah, Sharon, don’t cover his ass. We were late because the three of us had to wrestle Barnes into changing out of that old ass Henley”, said Sam.

Instantly, Tony and Natasha cheered and raised their glasses, making you laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, very funny”, said a gruff voice coming from the bar, making you turn your head, seeing Bucky Barnes open a beer bottle with his vibranium hand. 'How did he sneak past everyone?', your thoughts were interrupted as you took him in. You wanted to personally thank Sam, Steve and Sharon for making him wear that tight fitting black shirt.

“Well, Y/N, here’s Capsicle, Mrs. Capsicle, New Captain, and Snowflake. Guys, this is Y/N, the new assistant. Oh, and there’s Spider Boy but he’s on curfew, Strange had to hop out of the dimension and Scott but he’s… He’s somewhere out there being small, I don’t know. Watch were you step, just to be safe”, said Tony

“Hi”, you gave a shy wave, being greeted right back.

-

If it wasn’t for the serum, Bucky is absolutely sure he would have a heart attack on the spot. You were wearing red heels, a form fitting black pencil skirt and a white button up blouse and he could see your curves, your strong arms, your thighs. You looked absolutely amazing. You look like one of the girls that Bucky would’ve rushed to ask for a dance back in the day. But what really made him stare is the fact that your body type looked eerily similar to the character of the calendar he spent an embarrassing amount of time staring.

As your eyes scanned the room as you were bombarded with questions, Bucky made sure to avoid your gaze, looking everywhere but your face: his shoes, the ceiling, the armrest on the couch, Steve’s shit eating grin. Oh. So THAT’S what it was about. Little shit.

Even avoiding your gaze, he made sure to keep his ears open. A man could be interested, right?

.

By the time the party ended, Thor and Bruce were sleeping, Tony was buzzed walking around singing Iron Maiden, Natasha and Sharon were talking, Steve and Sam were giggling like two school girls, Rhodes went home and Vision and Wanda were talking and looking out the window to the New York skyline.

Which left you – and Bucky – alone.

“Uhhh. I guess I’ll start cleaning, then”, you said. Your face was on fire. The only person that you were sure didn’t like you and you were awkwardly standing, not knowing where to look and what to say. It didn’t help that you were attracted to him but damn it, you were not going to lose this opportunity because of a school girl crush. So you decided to keep yourself occupied by taking some empty glasses and bottles from the table and taking them to the kitchen.

“Oh, come on, Y/N! Let the cleaning crew deal with this in the morning!”, said Natasha.

“No, no, I don’t mind. I like to keep myself busy”, you said with a smile. Technically, it wasn’t a lie. You only hoped she couldn’t see how awkward you were.

“I’ll help”, he said, picking up some glasses and following you.

“You can pick up more of these glasses and I can start washing them”, he said. “I- I noticed you got your nails done, so…”, he said, and you shyly looked away while thanking him and making your way out of the kitchen.

.

In no time, the room was getting emptier. Vision and Wanda went home and Thor took Banner back to New Asgard. And you were almost done with the dishes, having also gotten rid of most of the empty food containers. As you both cleaned, you and Bucky got a bit more comfortable with each other.

“I’m sorry for seeming a bit standoffish earlier”, he said suddenly. “I’m not used to parties and I don’t know how new people will react to me. Especially pretty women”, you smiled at the compliment, but felt your heart ache. You were so caught up in your insecurities that you didn’t even consider his side of things.

“You don’t have to be sorry. I don’t know how you feel but by what I’ve seen and heard, you have a family here. You’re out there fighting to save the world. Trying your best. This is redemption enough, don’t you think?”, you said as you put the glasses to dry, missing the awestruck look that Bucky sent you, a goofy smile making its way into his features. “Okay, you wait here and I’ll get what’s left”.

You were back in no time. “Okay, so just more two champagne flutes and one plate left”, you said but before you could give the dishes to Bucky, you slipped, and if it wasn’t for Bucky’s reflexes, you would’ve fallen hard. You yelped as the sound of breaking glass hit your ears and for a second you two just stared at each other, before Bucky pulled you closer and back to a standing position.

“Thanks”, you said as he helped you straighten up.

“Your ankle, does it hurt?”, he said.

“Uh, no, I don’t think so”, you said.

“Ah, I think it does. And I can’t let a dame go home alone on a hurt ankle”, he said, giving you a dashing smile.

“You know what, now that you’ve said it, it hurts really bad”, you said, catching on. “You know what’s amazing for a bad ankle?”, you asked, and the gentle smile in your lips and the mischievous glint in your eyes made his heart piston inside of his chest.

"What?", he said softly, stepping closer, like you were sharing secrets.

“Ice cream and a walk on the park. Very therapeutical”, you said, making Bucky laugh.

.

Before you knew it, Bucky had already scooped you up into his arms and rushedly announced that you had slipped and fell, whisking you away into the elevator.

“Dude, that took all night”, said Sam. “This is the smooth guy you told me about?”, he said, while Steve and Sharon laughed.

While everyone got ready to go home, Scott came out of the kitchen in his Ant-Man suit eating some leftovers.

“Someone owes me 20 bucks for making her trip”.

[cloudywriter]

the lost princess of terrasen

rowaelin month - september 7th 

prompt: fairytale au - (an anastasia au in this case)

important: okay y’all so i went way overboard with this entire au and it got out of hand so now this might just be a full-blown thing. however, with that whole releation and me going crazy with outlining and writing i could really only have this much of the story out and ready for today but i plan on continuing it!! hopefully after rowaelin month. enjoy this little introduction :)

(cw: brief descriptions of violence) 

masterlist, AO3

~~~

At freshly 18, Celaena Sardothien was free. She’d aged out of the orphanage and was finally released to go live her own life, no longer held down in the outskirts of Rifthold. Celaena didn’t want to wait a second longer, the need to leave the horrid place she’d lived the last ten years was ingrained in her bones. 

The woman who ran the orphanage, Clarisse, was cruel. From a young age, she poked at Celaena, commenting constantly on her weight or how she didn’t act like a proper young lady. Her entire life up until this point was spent at the mercy of Clarisse and her stern ways. All the girls in the orphanage were treated as maids and dolls for Clarisse to manipulate. But, Celaena made it, counting down the days until her birthday. 

Now, here she was, stuck out in the cold. She’d imagined her freedom to be more alluring than this instead she was shaking as she wandered through side streets that led to the heart of Rifthold. She carried with her a backpack barely full of her meager belongings and the too-thin coat on her back. Clarisse didn’t even spare her a hat to keep out the cold so she moved her hair to shield her freezing ears the best she could and waddled along the snowy pavement. 

She still had her kingsflame necklace around her neck, though, and that’s all that mattered. Where she had gotten it from she hadn’t a clue. The first memory she possessed was waking up in the very orphanage that would become her prison. Clarisse explained to her that she’d hit her head and a nice man named Arobynn had brought Celaena to Clarisse to be cared for. Clarisse questioned her about her family and upbringing relentlessly but Celaena could not recall a thing. Her mind was blank. For many nights as a young girl, she’d sit upright in the creaky, lumpy bed she occupied and willed herself to remember. She’d cry and scream, banging her fists into her head in frustration when nothing ever surfaced. 

The only connection she had to whatever life she lived before was her kingsflame necklace. And she’d follow that kingsflame to the ends of the continent if it meant she’d one day solve the mystery of her existence. 

Which led her to the first stop on her journey of discovery, Terrasen. Once Celaena had accepted that her memories weren’t coming back and this was the life she’d have to lead she adjusted. She served Clarisse and went to the small, dilapidated school down the street with the other orphans. There she discovered her love of books and the meager library the school offered became her sanctuary. It was there while she read a book on the kingdoms on Erilea, hoping something would strike her familiar she learned that kingsflame flowers only bloomed in one place, the capital of Terrasen, Orynth. 

As a child that discovery was a revelation. Terrasen. Maybe she was from Terrasen. 

As Celaena walked she felt her toes growing increasingly numb, Adarlan’s winters were bitter and she was not equipped with the proper wear. Her teeth chattered but she pushed forward, she needed to get passage to Terrasen. 

She drew the map out of the pocket of her coat once again and checked the status of her journey. Only a little longer until she was at Rifthold’s main dock station. 

The city of Rifthold was big and Celaena felt out of her depth as groups of people swarmed the streets walking to and from their different destinations. It was overwhelming, the smells, the tall buildings, the weather, the noise, the sheer number of people, everything. 

Eventually, she saw the lights of the station and she blew a sigh of relief, she hadn’t been very confident in her ability to read a map. She approached a man sitting in a booth behind a sheet of glass, smoking a cigarette. 

Celaena stepped up to the counter. 

“Hello, sir, I’d like to buy a ticket to Orynth,” she gave him a smirk, leaning casually on the box. She’d learned from many years of coexisting with Clarisse and a revolving door of people that to make it through life you needed a mask. Celaena had crafted her mask carefully and had perfected her act after so many years. She exuded arrogance and confidence so that another soul would never see the scared, lost little girl she truly was. 

The man grunted, blowing a puff of smoke from between his cracked lips. “Do you have your papers, girl?”

Her brain stalled. Papers? She cleared her throat, “papers?”

“Yes,” his scratchy voice replied, “you need papers to cross the border.” 

Celaena’s heart sank but she kept her expression neutral. “Well, I-”

“Listen, girl, I’m not going to sit here and waste your time so don’t sit here and waste mine. If you don’t have the right documents then I can’t sell you a ticket, simple as that,” he held the cigarette between his teeth. 

She searched for some way to turn this situation around, chewing on her bottom lip. 

From the shadows a little ways into the dark alley adjacent to the docks, she heard a hissed whisper. “You, blondie,” an old woman emerged slightly from the shadows, beckoning Celaena forward with her index finger.  

Celaena looked around, the man in the booth was already back to ignoring her, his nose stuck in a newspaper so she decided to approach the woman. She didn’t have much to lose and Celaena thought if it went south she could take her. 

Celaena crept closer, tightening her grip on the strap of her backpack. 

“You need papers?” Her voice was hoarse as if her throat was made of sandpaper. Celaena nodded her head keeping her guard up, watching her surroundings out of her peripheral. 

“I know who can get you some,” her face morphed into a slight smile that unsettled Celaena more than anything. Celaena furrowed her brows, “who?” The woman tsked at her, her hot breath forming a cloud in front of her face. 

“That kind of information isn’t free, my dear.” Celaena had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, everything came with a price in this world. 

Celaena reached around to the side pocket of her backpack, fishing out a few coins she had to spare. She’d saved just enough from doing odd jobs to pay her fare to Terrasen. She deposited the coins into the palm of the old woman’s hand, her knobby fingers running along their smooth edges. 

“Go a few streets north and into the red brick warehouse with the large windows, you can’t miss it. Ask for a Mr. Rowan Whitethorn, he’ll get you the papers,” she instructed, hoarding the scant sum of money she was given as though they were priceless heirlooms. Celaena turned her head in the direction the woman directed as if she could spot the warehouse from here and by the time she rounded back the woman had disappeared once again. 

Celaena huffed and shot another glance at the ticket man, he was still paying no attention, tapping his cigarette out with his finger. She didn’t necessarily want to go on a wild goose chase to obtain these papers but she had no other way of getting them so she breathed deeply and shoved her hands into her pockets and twisted north. 

The woman was right about not being able to miss the warehouse. It was a large, old, imposing structure, clearly, it had not been in use for some time now. Celaena crept closer peering into the foggy windows as she passed the front of the building. She couldn’t see anything and was unconvinced she’d find the elusive ‘Rowan Whitethorn’ inside. 

Nonetheless, she approached a rusting metal door on the side and pushed it open with her gloved hand. The door protested but it miraculously opened revealing a wide area stacked high with boxes along the walls and corners.

She ventured further into the space, dust and broken glass crunching beneath her boots. She didn’t see any signs of life besides maybe some rats. As she neared the opposite corner what could’ve been a makeshift sitting area came into view, blocked from view initially by a stack of boxes. She approached noting the circle of crates, a dusty blanket, and a few books piled on the side. 

She peered at the title of the book on the top of the stack. 

The Royal Family of Terrasen. Mixed emotions surged through her body. 

“Who’s in here?” A male voice boomed nearly rattling the windows. Celaena shuttered, letting her bravo fill her bones as she heard a set of footsteps enter the space. 

+++ 

Rowan Whitethorn’s life since the fall of Terrasen and the reign of the Valg had been a hell-hole, to put it bluntly. His family fell out of status, his parents were slain in the ambush on Orynth’s castle, and Rowan was left in an unfamiliar land at twelve years old. 

A sect of the Whitethorn house had been visiting Terrasen’s court for the holidays when Maeve made her move against the continent. Doranelle crumpled first to her rule and Terrasen followed, the army of Valg she’d amassed was too large to stand against. Adarlan only survived because King Dorian bowed down to Maeve. 

Even now at twenty-two, he has nightmares about that evening. The terror he felt as Valg poured into the ballroom and slaughtered the royals. The terror he saw in the princess of Terrasen’s eyes as she was shoved into the kitchens by her nursemaid where Rowan had happened to take shelter as well. He was scared too, running as soon as his father screamed at him to as the Valg slit his throat. He regretted it deeply, leaving like a coward when the palace was invaded. He regretted the cowering he did in the kitchens as well but when the young princess had burst in the doors, tears flowing freely down her cheeks something had come over him. He had pushed her out into the snow yelling at her to run and she did, scrambling to find her footing.

The rest was a blur, the Vlag hurried into the kitchens soon after but somehow Rowan made it out with his life. The same could not be said for many people in the castle that night. 

Now, Rowan lived in Rifthold as a thief and doer of other’s dirty work. He longed for the day he could get out of this city of nightmares crawling with Valg. One day, he promised himself, one day he’d have to funds to make it back to Wendlyn and witness what had become of his home. 

There was an opportunity, though, that’d heard about from whispers on the streets. Aedion Ashryver. One of the few survivors from Terrasen’s downfall. He chosen to stay in Terrasen’s territory afterward, the country had no real structured ruling now. The old King-Consort Darrow was the closest thing there was to a king but from what he’d gathered the man is old and weak, not the same after the death of his husband, King Orlon. Terrasen had virtually crumbled. 

Somehow, Aedion had built up the Bane and gained standing for himself. A standing he was using to campaign to find his long-lost cousin. How Maeve hadn’t gotten wind of Aedion and his plotting and squashed him, Rowan wasn’t sure. Nevertheless, Aedion was offering a hefty reward for the return of his dear Aelin, the nation’s true queen, convinced she was still alive.

Rowan thought the operation was useless. Her body was never found, that was true, but he imagined she’d likely fled into the Oakwald forest and perished from hypothermia not long after. If he could make a pretty penny from returning the ‘princess’ to Aedion, though, he wasn’t above doing so. 

All Rowan needed was a young, blonde, and blue-eyed woman he could convince to join his cause and he could coach her to be the perfect replacement for Aelin. Truthfully, he wasn’t convinced this could ever be achieved but it was something he’d contemplated. 

Rowan was making his way back to the warehouse he liked to operate his more shady business out of, the biting cold seeping into his clothes. The looming, muddy red-brick building came into view and he pushed the frosted metal door open. Immediately, he was aware that someone had invaded his space. 

Small footsteps had disrupted the layer of dusk along the floor. His hand flew to the dagger strapped to his chest as he prowled further inside. 

“Who’s in here?” he called out, gripping the dagger tightly by its handle. Once he got far enough into the space he could see a young woman was standing near his makeshift seats.

The first thing he noticed was she was beautiful. Long, golden blonde hair flowed down her shoulders, her skin was pale and her lips had a blue tint to them. Rowan pushed aside all those unsavory thoughts, she was an intruder after all. However, he couldn’t help but study her, she was dressed far too light for the dead of winter, not even a hat on her head. 

She looked right back at him, accessing him as he was her. She didn’t look scared to have been caught trespassing, no, honestly, she looked annoyed as if he was interrupting her. 

“Who the hell are you?”

~~~

let me know if y’all like it so far and would like to see more, xoxo

[my-soul-sings]

kiss the girl: ch 3

Fandom: Tears of Themis Characters: Artem x Reader

Summary: Armed with a trusty book, Artem Wing attempts to win the woman of his dreams.

ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 2 extra (ft. marius) | ch 3

***

Compliment her. 

This was supposed to be the easiest tip of them all. Giving her compliments was easy; he could compliment her for doing a good job on a court document draft, for responding well to the client at a client meeting, for her quick and sharp answer to his question about a case… Point was, it wasn’t a difficult task.

…At least, that was what he thought, until one afternoon, Celestine barged into his office looking quite exasperated.

“You’ve been complimenting her a lot lately, you know,” she tells him, to which he merely looks up briefly before returning his attention to the case file he was reading.

“And?”

“I know what you’re doing, but, Artem… this...” He looks up again and Celestine is chewing on her bottom lip, frowning as she thinks about how to string her thoughts into words.

“Am I doing something wrong?” How can he get this wrong though? He might be clueless in things like giving flowers, but surely he’s able to do something as simple as compliments.

“It’s not that. It’s...” she starts snapping her fingers as she attempts to summon a coherent explanation. “She’s happy, but… ah, I’ve got it.” Celestine clears her throat, smiling confidently now. “The compliments are coming from you as her boss rather than as a love interest. You get it?”

Artem sees nothing worth smiling about. In fact, the paper in his hand begins to crumple.

His colleague is quick to realise this, and her smile drops almost immediately. “It’s not a huge problem. She’s happy that you think she’s performing well!”

Her words don’t seem to register in his mind, however. The crumpled document falls from his grasp and flutters soundlessly onto the table, while Artem interlocks his fingers and rests his head against his knuckles with a loud sigh.

“Come on, don’t be like that. It’s fine. Just keep it in mind the next time you want to compliment her.”

“What compliment can I give that won’t sound like it’s coming from her boss, and won’t land me in a talk with the HR department?”

“Just say her hair looks nice. Or her outfit. Women aren’t that hard to please.”

With another sigh, Artem looks up and nods, although the movement is noticeably weary. Celestine eyes soften at the sight, although of course she can’t help but laugh at him—as she always does. “You’re making progress, don’t worry. And I have your back, so everything will be fine.”

“Alright... Thank you, Celestine.”

“You can thank me by treating me to a fancy dinner.”

In the haze of his thoughts, he agrees easily. “Fine, I will.”

Artem waits for her to gleefully exit his office before leaning back in his chair and running his hands through his hair.

So much for it being easy this time.

***

You’re starting to wonder if Artem is sending you hints… and not in a good way. He’s been complimenting you on your outfit and hair for the past three days, even though you’ve been wearing the same hairstyle and the same red jacket and pencil skirt to work (because that is the only outfit you own—you’re not sure why, it’s not like you’re a character in a game).

Is he hinting for you to change it up? He’s not the kind of person to tell you outright if you need an outfit change… Maybe it’s time to schedule a solo shopping trip this weekend—if you can clear the pile of research on your to-do list before then, that is.

“You look worried. What happened?” Kiki asks as she passes by your desk on the way to the restroom.

Right, Kiki. You can ask her. You swivel your chair around so she can get a full look at your outfit. “How do I look? Tell me honestly.”

“You… look the same as always. Am I supposed to notice something new?”

“No,” you wave her off with a sigh. “I think Artem is hinting for me to get some new clothes.”

“Huh? No way. Why? Did he tell you to go shopping?”

“He didn’t… He’s just been complimenting me a lot on my clothes and hair, but I look the same as I always do.”

“That’s weird…” Kiki purses her lips, eyes darting left and right as she thinks. “But everyone in this office wears the same outfit all the time too, even him. Why would he single you out?”

“I don’t know,” you mutter. “Maybe I’m doing something wrong?”

“He’s here,” she whispers sharply, and immediately you tense up when you notice Artem walking over towards the pantry. Kiki sends you a quick thumbs-up sign, mouthing “Good luck” before she scurries off in the direction of the restroom.

You pretend to go back to work, hoping that Artem will just walk by and not comment on your outfit or hair again—you got the hint. You’ll go shopping this weekend. You will incinerate these clothes and maybe get a haircut or try a different hairdo. All you want is to not hear from the man you like that he’s less than impressed with your outfit or hair.

Unfortunately, it seems that your silent pleas won’t go answered today again. You hear your boss clear his throat right next to your desk, and you look up, plastering a smile on your face to greet him.

“Yes… Artem?”

He pauses, scrutinising your face for a moment, and you regret letting your smile slip for just that split second. Artem has eyes as sharp as an eagle’s and immediately he asks, “What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing!”

He leans over, his frown deepening. It’s unfair that he can look this effortlessly good in his suit and tie despite wearing it every day. You, on the other hand…

“You don’t look like you’re okay. Is it a case that’s troubling you?”

“No, it’s not. It’s something else... I won’t let it affect my work, don’t worry.” You grin at him, hoping he’ll buy it, but you gather from the thin line of his lips that he is hardly convinced. Of course not—this man has been thoroughly trained to single out liars on the witness stand.

Your shoulders tense, not sure what Artem is about to say. Judging from the frown, it doesn’t look like it’ll be good.

But then in that moment, his features soften into the kind, gentle man you’ve become familiar with after working with him for so long. “If there’s anything you’re worried about, you can talk to me. I’m here to listen.”

His words remind you of why you fell for him in the first place.

Touched, your lips begin to lift into a smile. “It’s really nothing… But thank you.”

Again, he pauses, although this time, his expression wavers, morphing into something pinker and unsure. His lips move, but no sound comes out until a few seconds pass.

Eventually, he speaks again. “You look... better when you smile.” The sentence is almost too soft to hear, but you manage to catch it before he turns around and marches right back into his office.

You stare at his retreating figure, wondering if you’d heard wrong. Despite the lingering doubt, your cheeks begin to warm.

***

When Artem returns to his office, the first thing he does is to loosen his tie—it’s starting to feel suffocating with how warm he’s suddenly feeling. How pathetic must he look? He was asking her what she was worried about, but all he did was say something and then run away with his tail between his legs.

But then… maybe that could count as a compliment? He can’t really tell, since Celestine only told him to compliment her on her outfit and hair. And he doesn’t want to consult Celestine further on this, lest she ask for another appallingly expensive dinner treat.

If that was a compliment though, then it had come out far more naturally than he had expected it to. Maybe that’s what it’s supposed to be like—natural, easy and sincere. No need to think too deep into it and just let things be.

With a satisfied smile, he peeks out the window of his office to see her also smiling to herself as she continues her work.

Compliment her. That wasn’t such a bad tip after all.

[journalxxx]

By Hook or by Crook (5)

“What do you make of all this?” Toshinori asked, when they were finally alone. They’d momentarily parked the kid in the hallway with a cup of tea while the hero had followed Tsukauchi in his office as he took care of the last bureaucratic dregs of the questioning.

“As I see it, there are two major possibilities we ought to consider.” Tsukauchi said without taking his eyes off the monitor of his computer. “The first is that Midoriya’s quirk is just a mutation, and he is in no way related to All For One. His father is likely a government official whose position grants him knowledge of enough confidential files to make him fear negative repercussions in case his son’s quirk was publicly known, and has therefore enforced silence on the matter. We aren’t looking at any outstanding crimes here, although this man isn’t going to win any Parent of the Year awards any time soon.”

Toshinori grimaced. Wouldn’t that be nice? “And what are the odds of this being our case?”

“I wouldn’t bet my next paycheck on it, for sure.” Tsukauchi typed something on the keyboard, and checked his phone at the same time, before sighing and leaning back in his chair. “The other possibility is that Midoriya is indeed related to All For One, maybe even his son. He’s been fostered to a trusted associate of his and kept in the dark about everything.”

That option could be more statistically or genetically likely, but it still didn’t sit right with Toshinori. “That doesn’t sound like something All For One would do though. Why not raise him as a successor, or even just an underling? Surely another All For One wielder would have made for an important asset to his schemes.”

“You forget that Midoriya’s quirk manifested only two years ago. It is possible that All For One may have planned to do so, but lost interest when the child was deemed quirkless.” Tsukauchi scratched his head pensively. “As for why he didn’t keep the kid close since his birth… we can only assume it was out of caution. Fourteen years ago you had already put a significant dent in All For One’s syndicate and influence. Maybe he was already taking precautions against his own downfall, and didn’t want his potential successor to be involved in case things took a turn for the worse too quickly.”

“... I guess that makes sense.” Toshinori nodded. As per habit, he sent a quiet thanks to his lucky star for accidentally baring his secret to a damnably honest and capable member of the force such as Tsukauchi, God knew Toshinori himself wasn’t exactly cut out for fine deductive work. “In this case, the boy’s father…”

“...Is a former subordinate of All For One’s currently employed by the government, yes. Not a pleasant scenario to work with.” Tsukauchi waited for the printer to regurgitate a disproportionate stack of documents that made Toshinori instinctively recoil. The detective flipped through the paperwork quickly before sprinkling his signature on just about every odd sheet. “Regardless of which of the two hypotheses is true, I definitely want to look into this Hisashi Midoriya. He is by far the most suspicious aspect of the boy’s account.”

“Yeah. He doesn’t visit his family for a decade and a half, he doesn’t talk about his job, he doesn’t follow basic legal procedures, and you can tell he had more of an active role in encouraging Midoriya to hide the quirk than the kid lets on... It doesn’t exactly paint a reassuring picture.” Toshinori sighed. “This isn’t going to be easy for the boy…”

“It never is, when a family member is involved in criminal activities. But the fact that their relationship seems rather distant may make things a little less traumatic for him.” Tsukauchi checked his watch as he tidied up some stationery and turned off his computer. “Well, I guess I’m not too unforgivably late for my other meeting since we don’t have to question Mrs. Midoriya.”

“...Sorry about that. And for springing this on you all of a sudden.” Toshinori said with an apologetic grimace and his utmost sincerity. “You’re a saint.”

Tsukauchi’s small smile implied that he was well aware of the fact. “I’ll drive Midoriya home while I’m on my way to the city hall. Do you need a lift? Or do you want me to let you on the rooftop for a smoke?” That bit of code speak would never not be tragically ironic, Toshinori thought.

“No, I’ve already finished my shift for the day.” All three, scant, scattered hours of it. Japan’s finest, most dependable hero, ladies and gentlemen.

“Then thank you for your hard work.” His friend gave him a quick look and a brief, firm squeeze to his shoulder before heading to the door. No pity, no unrequested sympathy, no disingenuous praise, just straightforward respect and understanding. He really was one of a kind.

Midoriya was exactly where they’d left him, busy fiddling with his phone. He perked up when he saw them return. “Uh, my mother just texted me back. She says she’ll be home in about an hour. If you still want to talk to her.”

Tsukauchi hesitated. “It’s a little too late for me, I’m afraid. I’m expected somewhere else, but…”

“I can wait.“ Toshinori immediately volunteered. “It won’t be as thorough or official as if you interviewed her yourself, but if it can lighten your workload just a little…”

“...Well, I don’t see why not. Hop in the car with us then.”

The return trip was silent. Toshinori glanced at Midoriya a couple of times from the rearview mirror, and he always caught him in an ill-concealed state of unrest. Fidgeting with his phone, picking at the seatbelt, gazing nervously out of both car windows. Toshinori didn’t like that. Why all that agitation, now that the worst of the ordeal was supposedly over?

The boy eventually locked eyes with him. “...Oh. Uhm.”

“Something on your mind?” Toshinori asked.

“Uh, well, I was wondering…” His gaze dropped to his knees. “Are you going to tell my mother about my quirk?”

“I’m afraid so. She is bound to find out anyway, eventually. The police will issue an update on your quirk registration, as per the norm in such cases.”

“...Ah.” Oh boy, now he looked like a kicked puppy. That was just depressing.

“I don’t necessarily have to be the one to break the news to her though. If it makes you feel any better, you can tell her about the incident in your own words.” Toshinori offered, hoping to soften the blow.

“I… I think I would prefer that. Thank you.” The boy quietly acquiesced.

Tsukauchi shot Toshinori a pointed look. All right, maybe that wasn’t the most proper way to go about it, maybe standard procedure demanded the officer in charge to keep mother and son separate during the questioning and explain things personally in the most objective possible terms. But Toshinori wasn’t an officer, he was a washed-up alter-ego of the Symbol of Peace acting in semi-official consulting capacity, and he’d be damned if he didn’t try to make things a little less humiliating for the forlorn child in the back. He condensed that whole argument into a meaningful glance of his own, that Tsukauchi couldn’t hold for more than two seconds lest he drove them all straight into the back of a truck. Toshinori took that as unspoken permission to proceed as he saw fit.

“I’ll be leaving this in your capable hands then.” Tsukauchi said as the two stepped out of the car. The man had a veritable talent for conveying irony while maintaining the straightest of faces and the driest of tones.

“Your trust is deeply appreciated. Drive safely!” Toshinori shut the door of the car decisively and waved him off with a dazzling smile.

“Uhm. Okay.” Midoriya said, his eyes darting between the hero and the speeding car with obvious perplexity. “Mom won’t be here for at least another forty minutes. I can fetch that photo you wanted in the meantime. I think I know where it is… probably...”

“I’ll take you up on that, thank you.” Toshinori followed him across the parking lot and up the stairs of the apartment complex. The boy’s eagerness to please was a sight for sore eyes in this cold, self-serving world. “You really did something commendable today, you know? Not many people would be so ready to relieve the pain of those who hurt them. That villain owes you more than he’ll ever know.”

“Oh…” The boy fiddled with his keys as a light redness tinged his cheeks. “It’s nothing, really. It isn’t my place to judge anyone... let alone steal from them. I just hope he’ll get better soon.”

“I’ll keep you up to date on his condition, if you want.”

“Oh, you don’t need to! It’s fine!” Midoriya’s instinctual politeness clashed against Toshinori’s no-nonsense availability. It was a fierce battle, but one didn’t become the number one hero without developing a certain skill in staring people into reasonableness. Midoriya surrendered with a small smile. “...I-It would put my mind at ease though.”

“Then I shall.” Toshinori claimed with finality. “Honestly, I wish I could have done more today for you and Tsukauchi. You two took care of all the heavy lifting and data collecting while I just stood around doing nothing the whole time.”

“You did, didn't you…?” Toshinori’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Well, he hadn’t been expecting that candid a confirmation of his uselessness. Midoriya flinched and started flailing about in obvious distress as soon as he realized he’d voiced that thought aloud. “N-No! I mean- I don’t mean that you were- What I’m saying is that you didn’t really need to come. But you did anyway! F-For my sake, I get that. Because you promised you’d help me out, even if you surely have better things to do with your time, and… I truly appreciate it. Really.”

Toshinori laughed softly. Yes, ‘truly appreciative’ was indeed the boy’s default mood whenever he was graced with the barest amount of consideration, as far as the hero had witnessed in their short acquaintance. He didn’t think it was some sort of hero-worship-related response either, the kid just seemed that sensitive to it. “Don’t worry about it. It’s part of the job.”

“Is it?” Midoriya finally opened the door and they stepped inside. He let out a small chuckle of his own as they removed their shoes. “I guess I have new insight to add to the online speculation about All Might’s decreasing workload. I guess it is to be expected if yo- if he’s taken  to follow up on all his cases so thoroughly.”

Toshinori had to fight back a traitorous cough. “W-well, there is really no need for me to overexert myself nowadays as I used to do in the past.“ He started, automatically supplying his PR-certified response to any inquiry on the topic. Goodness, people really did notice, didn’t they? It was hardly a new concern, but still… “The crime rate has been decreasing steadily, and the industry is so saturated with heroes that there’s someone ready to intervene almost at any place and at any given time. And those heroes could use the money and exposure way more than me…” Toshinori trailed off as they made their way to the living room. The boy was regarding him with unnerving attention, as if memorizing his speech word for word. “There are other reasons too, of course…”

Midoriya cocked his head to the side curiously, expecting further elaboration. Then it clicked, and he fleetingly glanced at the hero from head to toe with open contrition. “O-Oh! Of course! Your… Sorry, I forgot.”

That simple sentence confused Toshinori so much that he couldn’t help but gape back. The silence grew very awkward very quickly. “...Uhm. So, that photo of yours?”

“R-Right! I’ll go look for it! Make yourself comfortable! Be right back!” The boy bolted fast enough to leave metaphorical dust clouds behind him.

Toshinori wandered to the nearest chair with small steps. He forgot. That was quite the feat, while literally standing in front of the sad, wrecked husk that Toshinori had become. Or maybe the kid hadn’t realized that his appearance was a relatively recent development. That seemed more likely. Perhaps he had interpreted his vague answer about his quirk to mean that the number one hero had always been just that, a sickly, overachieving twig in a bodysuit keeping his own skeleton in the closet for nearly forty years.

Toshinori let out a sigh. Quite the uplifting impression he was leaving with this young one.

His circling thoughts were interrupted by a yelp, and the thundering noise of some heavy objects crashing just outside the living room.

“Midoriya?” Toshinori called, jumping to his feet. The second unanswered call had him by the source of the noise in a moment.

“I’m here! I’m fine!” Midoriya’s voice finally answered, from behind a half-closed door conspicuously marked as ‘Izuku’ by a familiar blond-banged nameplate. 

“What was that?”

“Just… some stuff that fell down...” Toshinori approached it and peeked inside. Even from his limited perspective, he could see the boy sitting on the floor and rubbing his forehead, next to a tipped-over chair.

“And did that stuff happen to include you?” Toshinori deadpanned, inviting himself in... and pausing on the threshold. Taking in the interior of the boy’s bedroom. Which wasn’t the priority right now. He willed himself to ignore the star-spangled elephant in the room assaulting his senses and knelt down beside Midoriya, gently peeling his hand away from the sore spot. “Are you hurt?”

“No, no, it’s just a bump.” 

“You should put some ice on it.” There were no cuts or outer signs or damage, which was a good start. Toshinori’s eyes fell on the bottom half of the toppled piece of furniture beside them. “...Did you seriously try to climb on a rolling chair?”

“I do that all the time. It’s steadier than it looks!” There was no appropriate reply to such a claim, but Toshinori’s judgemental glare was enough to make the boy squirm. “I’m fine, really-”

“Ice.” He pointed sternly at the corridor. Maybe there was still a minimal chance of preventing an oversized lump on Midoriya’s forehead from outing to Tsukauchi and other responsible adults the fact the boy had nearly cracked his skull within five minutes of being left in Toshinori’s charge.

“All right. Just a second.” Toshinori kept an eye on the kid, making sure he wasn’t struggling to keep his balance, as he made his way out of the room. Room that Toshinori was now free to observe in all its embarrassing magnificence.

A soft All Might carpet. All Might-themed bedding. Walls plastered with All Might posters. All Might-patterned curtains. Shelves and shelves and shelves of All Might action figures and books. 

It was always… humbling to be reminded of how much passion and care people from so many different walks of life could put in something as trivial as collecting hero merchandise - his hero merchandise, more often than not. Popularity and revenue were Toshinori’s very last priorities when it came to his job, but, despite merchandising being exactly about those, he wasn’t opposed to the practice in principle. It did help cement the reassuring image of the Symbol of Peace in the collective mind, which was definitely one of his lifetime goals. It brought a sizable influx of wealth to the agency’s treasury, which he largely redirected to charity and assorted emergency relief funds. It did seem to spark genuine joy and entertainment in both children and adults. And, when none of these arguments were enough to wash away the vague sense of guilt that came with profiting off the love and admiration of Japan’s fine citizens, Toshinori reminded himself that there were much worse, self-destructive indulgences people could waste their savings on. Alcohol. Tobacco. Drugs. Troll 2 DVDs. The like.

Midoriya reappeared nursing an ice pack against his temple. “Sorry about that. The photo should be in one of those boxes.” He gestured towards the wardrobe that sported a brown cardboard box on the top, and then towards the floor, where its twin lay sideways after a presumably rough landing. They cut through the tape of the latter and, after Midoriya emphatically assured him that he didn’t mind him browsing through his personal belongings in the slightest, Toshinori joined the kid on the carpet in their quest for the photographic Holy Grail. 

“I probably slipped it inside one of these…” The boy said, pulling out small piles of notebooks and publications. Toshinori confined his perusal to dated magazines, comics and books that didn’t seem likely to invade Midoriya’s privacy. The first box yielded no result.

“Maybe it’s in that one. Let me get another chair- oh.” Toshinori only needed to raise his arms and strain slightly on his toes to comfortably reach the top of the wardrobe and retrieve the second- crap, that was heavy. How the kid planned to pull it down himself while standing on wheels was beyond him. “Thank you.”

Toshinori was sitting cross-legged and flipping through an old gossip magazine lavishing pages and pages of speculation on the meager information they had managed to scrape together on his association with Dave - ah, those were the days… - when Midoriya finally let out a triumphant Aha!

“Found it!” He regarded his prize with joy, but his expression quickly morphed into concentration and then confusion. Toshinori held out his hand expectantly, and the boy deposited the photo into it while indicating a specific spot. “It’s, uh… my father’s this one.”

Toshinori looked at the man in question.

And froze.

“He doesn’t…” He heard the boy say distantly, as if from kilometres away. “He looks… a bit different from the picture in the police file…”

Toshinori coughed. He was different, all right. Subtly, cunningly so. Both men had short, snow-white hair, both had relatively plain features and pale complexion, both had faintly-colored eyes that could pass as blue under the right light. They were similar enough that they could be mistaken for one another, when described verbally. But the man in Tsukauchi’s file was a stranger to Toshinori. The man in this photo wasn’t.

“This-” The hero managed, between small bursts of coughs that he couldn’t restrain. “This is the man that- told you to keep quiet about your quirk-”

“Y-Yes.” Midoriya was gawking at him with obvious concern, and it only got worse when the hero’s words sank in. “I-I mean, he didn’t- he just- we sort of agreed that-”

“And the-” Toshinori covered his mouth with his hand, already tasting iron on his tongue as he patted his trousers to find some tissues. “The last time you spoke to him was…?”

“A little less than a month ago.”

Something inside Toshinori just gave up on trying to hold it together. He erupted into a brutal fit, vicious enough to shake his whole body and squeeze his eyes shut. He heard the boy asking something in alarm, and he felt warm blood trickling down his chin before he finally got ahold of a handkerchief to press against his lips. He hacked and spluttered for an interminable minute, his throat and chest tight and sore from the effort. Eventually it died down, and he found himself hunched over and bracing himself against the floor, wheezing and struggling for breath as something shuffled beside him. He turned to check on the noise, and saw Midoriya tapping on his phone.

“Don’t.” Toshinori rasped, swallowing down the remaining blood coating his mouth and reaching out to gesture at him dismissively with his clean hand. “I’m fine.”

“N-no, you aren’t.” The kid looked on the verge of fainting himself. Toshinori followed his horrified gaze, only to notice he’d sprayed plenty of little crimson stains on both the photo and the carpet, not to mention his own clothes. Damn, that was a mess even by his standards. “B-But- it’s okay, I’ll call an-”

Toshinori unceremoniously plucked the phone from Midoriya’s grasp, made sure that he hadn’t dialed any number, and tossed it on his bed. No need to make the situation even more headache-inducing than it already was. “I mean it. It happens. Don’t worry.”

Toshinori cleared his throat as he contemplated the ruined piece of evidence anew. At least he hadn’t marred the spot containing ‘Hisashi Midoriya’. Despite the less than optimal angle, there could really be no doubt. There was no mistaking that face for anyone else’s, it had been seared in Toshinori’s mind by more than three decades of pain and regret.

...Shit.

Shit.

Toshinori collected the picture from the floor and stood up to drop it on the kid’s desk, where it sat innocently surrounded by dozens of pieces of licensed All Might memorabilia.

“...So this is your father, and he’s alive and well.” He stated it aloud and with scorn, because he felt it was important for the universe to hear that its sense of humor didn’t fly with everyone.

“Ehr. Yes. Do you-”

“All right. Okay. Fine.” Toshinori turned on his heels and headed for the door. “Excuse me, I have to make a phone call.”

“...To your doctor?” Midoriya asked apprehensively, visibly starting to doubt the hero’s mental as well as physical well-being.

“No.” He almost stamped a huge, bloody handprint on his slacks before remembering that he still looked like he’d just slaughtered a pig and devoured it raw. “Can I use the bathroom?”

“Second door on the left.” The boy muttered, too stunned by now to object to any of Toshinori’s tangents.

Toshinori washed his face, neck and hands, and rinsed his mouth. He decided he couldn’t bother to do anything about the state of his clothes. He took care of scrubbing the sink too once he was done, making sure he didn’t accidentally leave any red smears on it. He dried his hands and fetched his phone.

“Tsukauchi? Sorry, can you make it back to Midoriya’s house? Yes, as soon as you can. ...No, but we found that photo. You need to see it, it’s… it’s him.”

He closed the call and stared at his reflection on the mirror. His brain didn’t produce a single coherent thought. He walked back to the kid’s room.

Midoriya was peering at the picture intently, even though he hadn’t moved it from where Toshinori had left it. The man’s eyes fell on the scattered blots on the carpet. In his experience, there wasn’t much hope of removing them completely, but it seemed rude not to try, at least. “Got any cleaning supplies?”

Midoriya blinked at him owlishly. “In the bathroom. Under the sink.”

One short trip later, Toshinori was back with paper towels and rubbing alcohol. He waved the boy off when he made to kneel down beside him to help. He handed him the ice pack that lay forgotten on the floor, and the kid pressed it back on his forehead mechanically as he sat on his bed. Toshinori could benefit from only a couple of minutes of silence before Midoriya spoke.

“You know him.”

“...Yes.”

“You’re upset.” 

Toshinori wondered if it showed on his face, or if it was just an educated guess based on the half-baked spontaneous hemorrhage he’d just displayed. He didn’t reply, his attention ostensibly focused on dabbing lightly at each smudge.

“Why…” The boy’s voice faltered. “W-Why is there a photo of another man in the police records?”

Toshinori couldn’t hold back a deep exhale. He wasn’t sure he was the most qualified person to have this conversation with the boy. He surely wasn’t the most eager to.

“All Might.” He felt compelled to raise his gaze. Midoriya was pale, his eyes wide and shiny with unshed tears. His expression was heartbreakingly imploring. “Please.”

He was going to find out anyway, at least the bare bones of it. Kindness was one thing, cowardice was another. Denying him an answer at this point felt more like the latter.

“I know him because he is known to the police. He’s a villain.”

“...A villain…?” The information bounced right against Midoriya’s shock. Toshinori gave him a curt nod. “No… no, that’s… not…” 

Toshinori could track the gradual, painstaking process of acceptance the poor kid was going through from the aborted expressions quickly blurring into each other. Horror, fear, confusion, disbelief. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle a sob.

“A-Are you sure?”

Toshinori hesitated. Was there any other possibility they weren’t considering? “Are you absolutely certain that that’s the person you’ve been talking to?”

“I… I’ve never met him in person. B-But mom has, and she’s been talking to him too. She said it’s him.”

“...Then I’m afraid there can be no mistake.” It felt like dropping a boulder on the child’s chest, and the way Midoriya crumpled onto himself, cradling his head in both his hands, reinforced that gut-churning impression. Toshinori made no effort to conceal the sympathy in his whisper. “I’m sorry, kid.”

“H-He said…” The rest of that thought was swallowed into distraught silence.

“He told you he worked for the government?”

Midoriya took his time to answer, and he did so with a half-choked snort. “He… he never did, actually. I thought… He said things that… made me think…”

Toshinori grit his teeth. Figures. That silver-tongued demon wouldn’t spare even a child from his precious little mind games. “I can imagine.”

The silence that followed was only broken by the boy’s quiet sniffles, and it was so long that Toshinori believed the kid to have exhausted his reserve of bravery for further questions. He’d resumed his ill-concealed procrastination via blood-cleaning when the next inquiry dropped.

“What did he do?”

Oh, man. What didn’t he do? “He’s been involved in a variety of criminal activities, both directly and indirectly. He’s… quite the nasty customer.”

“Since when? How long for?” Midoriya gripped his head even more tightly, his fingers digging deep among his curls. 

Toshinori had the distinct feeling that his well-meaning honesty was now trespassing into inadvertent cruelty. “We should wait for your mother before discussing this any-”

“Please.” Midoriya’s head snapped up, and the weight and emotion of those emerald eyes pierced through him like a blade. “Please, just tell me.”

Fourteen years of lies. Toshinori couldn’t bear to add even one more to the heap. “...Since long before you were born.”

Midoriya’s head dropped anew. Toshinori got back on his feet, unsure whether a kind word or a pat on the head could possibly ease that burden even slightly-

The ring of the doorbell made them both flinch, bursting that odd bubble of private desolation that had enveloped the boy’s room. They made their way out of the room, Midoriya quietly trailing behind the hero as the man opened the front door.

Tsukauchi opened his mouth to greet them, and froze. His eyes immediately homed in on the blood liberally splattered on Toshinori’s clothes, and on the melted ice pack Midoriya was still absently pressing to his temple. 

“...What happened?”

Inko Midoriya had the same dark green hair as her son, styled in a way that made something inside Toshinori’s chest ache with nostalgia and familiarity. She had the countenance of a demure, quiet, respectable housewife that valued stability and her loved ones’ well-being above all, and would never even conceive of starting a family with anyone any less sensible than she was.

That was why Toshinori was thrown for a loop when, upon being informed that her absentee husband was a criminal, she simply closed her eyes and bowed her head with a sigh and a resigned “...Yes, I am aware.”

Toshinori let Tsukauchi lead the questioning, as usual. Inko had met ‘Hisashi Midoriya’ (under a different alias, at the time) when she was twenty-six, working as a secretary at the main branch of Detnerat. The man had been introduced to her as a representative from another support item company doing some preliminary checks on Detnerat for a potential merger. 

This was unusual, but not exceedingly so. In the nearly thirty years he’d spent meticulously dismantling All For One’s organization, Toshinori had gathered evidence of him personally handling certain aspects of his schemes with surprising regularity, even relatively minor tasks or dirty deeds that could easily and safely be entrusted to his subordinates. He hardly ever found any specific reasons for All For One’s direct involvement. Toshinori strongly suspected that the bastard simply didn’t enjoy the lifestyle of the cooped-up, invisible puppeteer, and sometimes just felt like wrecking some havoc with his own diabolical hands. 

Inko had been charged with supplying him with quite a sizable amount of rather sensitive data, but since the CEO in person had given the authorization, she had performed her task diligently and unsuspectingly.

Now, Toshinori had been expecting the worst to emerge while questioning the circumstances that had led Inko Midoriya to her current marital status. Without exaggerating, the very worst. Any sort of revolting account of manipulation, coercion, even human experimentation, there was no low All For One wouldn’t stoop to. They had confined the boy to his room before starting for that exact reason. 

But apparently the universe wasn’t done throwing curve balls at Toshinori that day, and what they’d gotten instead was the succinct description of what seemed to be, by all accounts, a perfectly ordinary and unassuming workplace romance. One instigated mainly by Inko herself, no less. Toshinori’s strained mind didn’t quite know what to make of that baffling information, so it promptly repressed it. 

“We didn’t keep seeing each other after he stopped coming to the company, but I did reach out to him when I found out I was pregnant. That was when I became aware that there was much I didn’t know about him.”

“How so?”

“He told me.” Inko replied simply. “He was... forward about it, in a way. He said that he couldn’t settle down in any given place, nor spare the time for being part of a family. He offered to let me join him in his activities, but… the way he worded it made it clear that he wasn’t talking of any sort of legal business.”

“Did he mention any details about what his ‘business’ entailed, in general or in that specific time frame?”

“No, not at all. But considering how we met, I assume he must be involved in industrial espionage.” Grief, brief but intense, shadowed on the woman’s features for a moment. “I… I resigned from Detnerat as soon as I found out. He had been asking rather sensitive questions about the inner workings of the company, and… even though I never technically shared confidential information, I felt like I had exposed it to too great a danger because of my irresponsible conduct. And, honestly… I was afraid of what could emerge if I kept working there in my condition.”

Toshinori rubbed his hands in his lap uncomfortably. No job, a son on the way, a presumably disreputable partner to deal with… What a wretched situation to find oneself in.

“You said he offered you to join him? In what way, exactly?” Tsukauchi asked from above the pages and pages of notes filling his notepad.

“...I am not sure. I didn’t ask, I had no intention of getting caught in that sort of environment. Nor did I want Izuku to grow up embroiled in dubious activities from an early age.” Inko’s brows furrowed, and her fist clenched slightly. “...I didn’t want him to feel abandoned either though. I didn’t want him to grow thinking his father had deserted him. I asked Hisashi to grant us that, at least. Financial support and the decency to call, once in a while.”

Toshinori couldn’t hold back a sharp cough at that. Inko regarded him with a mix of concern and suspicion. 

He couldn’t blame her for it. He had accidentally caused her a fair share of grief when, her son having forgotten to warn her to expect guests upon her return, she’d opened the front door and found a freakishly tall, gaunt, haunted-looking, bloodied stranger looming in her hallway. Toshinori had waited in a conveniently secluded corner of the living room, trying to make himself look as small and non-threatening as possible, while Tsukauchi delivered the proper introductions and deflected the few concerned neighbors her terrified scream had attracted. Not exactly brilliant, as first impressions went.

“And he agreed to that?” Toshinori croaked.

“Yes. I was expecting some resistance, but… he agreed almost immediately.”

Toshinori gaped at the remissive-looking, soft-spoken woman who had once been capable of browbeating All For One into exercising a modicum of fatherly commitment. This whole Midoriya case was getting more and more unbelievable by the hour.

Tsukauchi cleared his throat pointedly. Toshinori scraped back together what little dignity he had left and tried to soldier on.

“Please continue, Mrs. Midoriya.” The detective encouraged.

“There isn’t much else to say, I think. I didn’t hear from him for months after that. I contacted him a few days after Izuku was born, and we’ve kept in touch ever since.”

Tsukauchi tapped his chin with his pen for a few moments, his expression deeply focussed. Then he looked Inko straight in the eye.

“You are being… unexpectedly forthcoming about all this, if I may.”

Inko let out a deep sigh. “I was never under the impression that we could escape the consequences of Hisashi’s actions forever. As soon as Izuku was born, I decided that I would never subject myself or my son to undue duresses just to keep my husband’s secrets. I told Hisashi as much as well.”

Toshinori had to stifle another wet cough with his handkerchief. How on earth was this woman still alive? 

“And he had no qualms about this declaration?”

“No. It rather amused him, actually. He said that any mother worth her salt would put her offspring’s safety above that of their parents. And… something about natural selection and survival of the fittest…” Inko’s eyes flickered upwards briefly, like those of a very normal wife exasperated by the very normal idiosyncrasies of her very normal husband. “He does go off on such tangents.”

“So you aren’t concerned about any possible retaliations on your husband’s part because of your cooperation with us?”

“Oh!” Her eyes went wide, almost shocked by the mere suggestion. “Oh no, I really don’t think he’d be capable of something like that.”

Oh, how very wrong she was. Toshinori frowned, admittedly perturbed by the level of trust All For One had managed to establish within the family without ever even deigning to step in their household. Precautions would have to be taken to protect the Midoriyas from the tragic fate that usually befell all those who were deemed traitors by the Symbol of Fear.

More and more questions followed. With his habitual thoroughness, Tsukauchi pursued a multitude of topics and leads that hadn’t even occurred to Toshinori, at least not so readily. Timing and means of communications, occasional postal deliveries to and from the family, details about the sums of money regularly deposited in the family’s account, and so forth. Toshinori was rather out of his depth here, but he tried his best to help Tsukauchi sort through the reams of documents, receipts, records, and diverse paperwork Inko produced at the detective’s request. By the time Tsukauchi declared to be satisfied with his preliminary inquiries, he had earned himself two plastic bags bursting with evidence, and Toshinori had developed a burgeoning migraine.

As they finally made their way to the entrance, Toshinori glanced at the door to Midoriya’s bedroom. Amidst that cascade of new revelations, they’d barely touched upon the topic of the villain attack and of Midoriya’s quirk with his mother. Toshinori felt genuinely sorry for the difficult conversations that were sure to follow between those two.

He hadn’t realized how late it’d gotten until he stepped outside the Midoriyas’ apartment. Sunset had come and gone, and the lampposts and the bright squares of the neighbors’ windows were the only sources of light in the moonless night of that unassuming residential area. As the door closed behind his back, squeezing into nothingness the rectangular glow framing him and Tsukauchi, Toshinori felt the darkness weigh on his shoulders and seep in his bones almost physically. 

He felt, suddenly, extremely tired.

“I’ll drive you home.” Tsukauchi’s wasn’t an offer, so Toshinori didn’t refuse.

“Thank you.”

They walked to the car as his friend made a couple of quick calls to instruct some agents to watch the house until the next morning. The fresh night air would have felt like a small bliss to Toshinori on any other day, but in that moment it only rattled whatever unpleasant manifestation of his unease had lodged itself in his lung earlier that afternoon and hadn’t left since. He coughed a few times in his fist, then a few more on purpose to make sure he got most of the discomfort in his throat out of his system before he settled in the passenger’s seat.

The drive was quiet. Toshinori gazed absently out of the window, letting the new awareness sink in his mind like a stone in a pond. All For One was alive. All For One was still alive, somehow. Toshinori couldn’t fathom how. They had never retrieved the body, that was true, but there was precious little they had managed to retrieve from the location of their fight back then. It was nothing short of a miracle they’d found Toshinori himself quickly enough to lend medical assistance. The only reason why they’d been able to keep the public from learning of the accident was because it hadn’t happened on the mainland, and the tiny, uninhabited island that hosted it had all but been wiped from the maps. That his foe may have survived that disaster, considering the damage he’d sustained, was almost inconceivable. Toshinori was pretty sure he’d actually caught a glimpse of the man’s exposed brain after landing the last-

“Are you all right?” Tsukauchi asked quietly.

The corner of Toshinori’s mouth twitched upwards. “I’m never going to defy New Year’s fortunes again. Moving away from Tokyo was a terrible idea.”

“This is a good thing. If you hadn’t, All For One would still be out there, and we’d be none the wiser.”

Hell. Five years. For five years they’d been none the wiser. How much strength had All For One regained in five years, while Toshinori’s own slowly went down the drain? How much of his criminal network had he managed to rebuild? How many unnoticed, unreported atrocities had he been plotting and executing, unbeknownst to all? The mere notion made Toshinori’s skin crawl.

But Tsukauchi had the right idea, there was no point in brooding over the current situation. Things could have turned out a lot worse. If Toshinori had already chosen a successor and exhausted One For All’s embers, by now he’d be powerless and useless, and the burden of facing his revived nemesis would have fallen entirely on the new, inexperienced wielder. That truly would have been a worst-case scenario. But as things stood, he could still rely on his quirk for a decent amount of time. He could still tie this dreadful loose end himself before passing the torch, and he’d spare no effort in the endeavor. He’d pursue the monster to the ends of the Earth if he had to, even if it meant wearing himself down to nothing for the rest of his life.

Or meeting his gruesome, bitter end in the process.

Toshinori shivered.

“So,” he heard himself say, “where do we go from here?”

Tsukauchi gave him a stern, silent scrutiny, then he told him.

[mieohmy]

𝗌𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗋 | 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗍𝗐𝗈

 original fic  → here (i recommend you read it first if you haven’t already to understand the story better!) 

PAIRING: CEO boss! jeon wonwoo x secretary! reader

GENRE: fluff, angst, humor, office au

WC: 3k 

update: final part can be found here !

❋

“Seungkwan that’s not it!!! I swear I looked through the whole desk, and I can’t find it.” You rub your face in frustration. 

It was an earring. Not that big of a deal since you weren’t really wearing it, but it was a gift from your father. So ....it was kind of a big deal. You may or may not have panicked for about 10 minutes before calling seungkwan over to help your search. 

“Did you drop it then? Maybe it’s on the ground or something,” seungkwan suggests. You both share a glance before dropping to the floor.

“I can’t believe we’re crawling on the ground like babies for an earring.” You huff from under your desk. “It’s a special earring. Please, just- ow!” Hissing in pain, you stumble out from under your desk where you just hit your head. 

Seungkwan looks over at you, unimpressed. “Now that’s funny.” “I just- Seungkwan, seriously?!” You scrunch your face in pain after gently touching your forehead. “Can you check if there’s a mark?” 

Seungkwan rolls his eyes, muttering something under his breath before making his way to you. He leans in over you, inspecting your forehead. 

“Where? Here?” he presses on a spot. “Ouch! You idiot, don’t press on it,” you say, slapping his hand away. He’s about to respond when you hear someone call your name. 

Turning, you spot wonwoo. “CEO Jeon!!” seungkwan blurts out, bowing hastily. Wonwoo doesn’t say anything, standing there with a weird look on his face. You frown, is this deja vu or something? “Secretary y/n, what are you two doing?” The tone in his voice telling you he was clearly jealous. 

You had reassured him that you liked him and only him, but it was still funny endearing to you how jealous wonwoo could get. 

Fighting back a smile, you explain. “Wonwoo, we were just-“ 

“Wonwoo?!?!” seungkwan bursts out incredulously. “You call our CEO wonwoo now?” Cringing, you forgot how wonwoo insisted a million times for you to call him his regular name. You both decided on an agreement. Outside of work, you would call him his normal name but at the office, you firmly persisted in calling him formally, it just accidentally slipped out this time. 

You look at wonwoo, panicked, but he just shrugs and opens his mouth to speak. You being wilding gesturing behind seungkwan’s back to be quiet and mouthing don’t-! but it’s too late. “I guess you don’t know, Mr. Boo. Y/n and I are in a relationship.” 

Seungkwan lets out an incredulous gasp as you slap your face in defeat. He turns to you, and you prepare yourself, bracing. “You didn’t tell me ANYTHING?!?! This whole time I thought we were best friends, and you go and do this?!?” He inhales, about to go off again when wonwoo clears his throat. 

“Mr. Boo.” seungkwan freezes. “I’d rather you not blame y/n. We both decided to keep quiet for the sake of our jobs and us as well. You’d understand, right?” 

Seungkwan stiffly nods and bows, leaving but not before shooting you a dirty look that screams we’ll talk about this later.

You eventually explain everything to him, forcing him to keep it a secret that ended in you keeping seungkwan in a headlock until he promised. 

❋

It’s about a week after finally revealing the secret to seungkwan when you’re finishing up a document, the workday almost ending.

Once you finally close your laptop, a smile makes its way onto your face as you quickly pack up and make your way over to a familiar door.

Knocking, you push through the door, spotting him. Wonwoo gives you a small smile before looking back at his papers. You make your way over, resting your hands on his desk. “I’m about to go home. When are you leaving?” you say.

He furrows his eyebrows, looking outside. “You’re going now? In this weather?” Your eyes follow his out the window, rain pouring down outside. You didn’t even notice the weather.

“It’s ok,” you reassure. “I’ll just run quickly.” Wonwoo knew you didn’t have a vehicle and took the bus home. He offered to drive you every day, but sometimes he would stay at the office super late -plus, you didn’t want people noticing and saying more things. 

“Why don’t I just drive you home?” he suggests. You’re about to protest, but a crash of thunder causes you to jump slightly. wonwoo gives you that look. “Y/n, it’ll be way faster and more convenient for me to take you. And don’t worry, I’ll drive instead of my chauffeur. He can go home early.” 

You sigh reluctantly before nodding. “Alright, let me just get my stuff.” You walk out to your desk, gathering your stuff before you walk back into his office, looking sad and defeated.

Wonwoo can’t help but smile-he found you adorable. You slowly shuffle over to him. He takes your hand, asking, “what’s wrong?”

“I might’ve left my apartment keys at home..” You squeeze your eyes shut, stupid!! How could you leave your keys at home? What are you gonna do now?

“You can stay at my house. If, that’s okay with you?” You open your eyes, glancing at wonwoo in surprise. You bite your lip, contemplating. You really didn’t have a choice. 

“I-I have a spare room, and my maids can get clothes for you too..” he adds. “I guess, If it’s not too much of a bother..” you say hesitantly. Wonwoo grins, “Alright, Let’s go.”

It wasn’t your first time in a car with your boss, but it was the first time you saw him drive. You liked the sight a lot more than you would admit. 

❋

Arriving at his house, you’d seen the outside plenty of times when picking him up, but you were definitely more awestruck than you thought. It was different going to his house as his partner, not his secretary.

Once he parks, he gets out and opens your car door for you. You smile at the action. Strolling up the walkway, you spot a servant waiting at the entrance.

She bows to both of you, smiling and saying, “welcome home, Mr. jeon,” before turning to you. “You must be y/l/n y/n. I’ve heard a lot about you,” she says before winking.  You shoot wonwoo a surprised and confused look, and he returns it with a smile. 

“You think I wouldn’t at least brag about you to my servants?”

Entering his house, you’re in awe, eyes unable to focus on one thing. It was a lot cleaner and simpler than you thought, but still magnificent (plus a lot more kitten accessories than you ever could’ve imagined). His servants did a great job keeping the whole place clean. 

“What do you think? It’s your first time inside, isn’t it?” You nod, suddenly feeling more awkward as you realized you were staying overnight in a man’s house, specifically your boyfriend’s. 

He continues. “All the workers leave to go home at this time. I don’t like to keep them long. Except for one though, she’ll be assisting you before leaving.” You gulp, you’re gonna be alone in a house with jeon wonwoo? 

Wonwoo leads you to another worker, waiting outside a room that you figured was the one you were gonna be staying in. “She’ll help you get adjusted.  I’ll be going to my room-it’s just down the hall. If you need anything, call me. Well uh, goodnight, y/n.”

“goodnight.. wonwoo.” He gives you one last smile before walking off, and the maid guides you into your room. 

It’s a nice guest room. Not too big or small. Plus, you had your own bathroom. The maid gives you a pile of clothes. “I hope these are fine., and everything else needed should be here.” You nod gratefully, “yes, thank you.” 

The maid walks to the door before stopping in front. You glance at her, confused.

“Mr. jeon... he always seemed so lonely living in this big house by himself, It’s nice to see him with someone, especially you who really knows him. Thank you for staying by his side for so long. There are not many who can. He always speaks so highly of you, I can tell you make him really happy.” 

You aren’t able to speak, just softly smiling and nodding, too full of emotion. 

You space out, thinking of wonwoo before remembering to get ready for bed. You enter the bathroom, it’s way better than yours at home nice.

You frown, there’s no towel. You remember all the workers left, so you have no choice but to ask wonwoo. Preparing yourself, you exhale before leaving your room. Walking through his nice hallway to his room, you notice his door is cracked. 

Softly pushing through, the door widens and you’re able to look around before spotting him coming from another room, presumably his bathroom. Except, he was naked. From the waist up. Thank goodness for that towel.

Let’s just say his body was a lot more toned than you thought. 

You inhale, staying frozen for a second before your body finally listens to you, and you scramble out, running back to the guest room. 

Shutting the door, you fall back against it, letting out a silent scream. AKFJGNE WHAT DID YOU JUST SEE?!?

You try to collect yourself, taking in a deep breath, but the image of him pops into your brain. and you crumple to the ground, face hot. 

I guess no washing up tonight...

You didn’t get much sleep that night. 

❋

Your eyes flit open. Squinting, you glance around. This isn’t your room... Ah, that’s right. You spent a night at wonwoo‘s house. 

Exhausted, you somehow manage to get ready before timidly and quietly exiting your room. Walking to the kitchen, you’re stopped by the view of a full table. 

And, wonwoo of course.“Uh, hi,” he says. 

“Hi,” you respond, taking in all the food. “I-I asked the servants to cook breakfast. I didn’t know they would make this much... How was your sleep?” wonwoo asks.

You awkwardly nod, “it was nice,“ trying extremely hard to stop a sudden oncoming yawn. “are you sure?” he asks, “you look really tired. Maybe you shouldn’t work today..” You protest. “No! It’s fine- I’m fine.” Your eyes meet his for a second, quickly averting down to your chair. 

You promptly sit down, shyly watching as wonwoo gets food for you- your favorites. 

You mutter thanks, refusing to look him in the eye as you drink your water.

“Are you okay y/n?? You look like you’re seeing me naked or something,” wonwoo jokes. 

You immediately choke, coughing and gasping as you almost drop the cup.

“Y/n!! Are you alright?” wonwoo helps you clean up. You nod, quickly excusing yourself to the bathroom. 

You splash water on your face, groaning. This is gonna be a long day.

He drives you to work, and you quickly go up before him. Once you get to your desk, Seungkwan and Dokyeom ambush you. 

“Why are you so late? We were getting pretty worried about you. Also, you look horrible.” seungkwan says. You rub your face, sighing as you mutter, “well, that’s what happens when you stay over at Jeon Wonwoo’s house...” Immediately you clamp your hand over your mouth. Curse exhaustion for you not being able to think straight and running your mouth. 

“You stayed at Boss’s house overnight?!” Dokyeom furrows his eyebrows in thought. “Wait, does that mean-“ 

You fly over to him, roughly slapping a hand over his mouth-er, face. Dokyeom shrieks from underneath you. “I swear to god- if you say anything- you’ll no longer have a home to go to,” you mutter into his ear. He gives you a tiny nod. 

Finally, you release him and shoot seungkwan a deathly look, dragging your thumb across your neck as a threat. He gulps, nodding hastily. 

You turn around, walking before stopping and calling out, “and no! Nothing happened!” You hear seungkwan and dokyeom mutter from behind you. 

Sighing, you brush yourself off and continue to the drink station-you needed energy-ignoring others giving you weird stares.

❋

Sometime that afternoon, wonwoo calls you into his office. “What is it?” “Sir?” you add. He only grins, “would you like to come with me to an opening party tonight? You’re free right?”

You nod slowly- you haven’t been to one in a while. Sometimes you would accompany wonwoo to events, dressing up nicely even though you were only there to stay at his side, like a pet. You actually didn’t particularly enjoy them- it was boring talking to random people and escaping strangers who acted a little too flirty for comfort. 

But after everything changed- your feelings, specifically, you kinda liked going with him. Wonwoo was still busy interacting with other guests, but he always made time for you and scared off other people.

“Alright, don’t forget to dress up nice,” he winks. You laugh, bowing. “Yes, sir.”

Surprisingly, you were able to control yourself- by that you meant your thoughts. You give credit to your lunch, it gave you energy, and you were able to focus better. 

Wonwoo allowed you to go home early and get ready, and you were also able to obtain spare keys to get into your apartment. 

Immediately once you opened the door, you flew to your closet, throwing out clothes. What were you gonna wear? No, you already wore that one before.  Ugh, that’s too old fashioned. 

Before when you used to go to events with wonwoo, you would complain while dressing up. It took you a long time to get ready since wonwoo would insult your look until you looked good enough to join him. It was strange, now, how you actually wanted to dress up and look all nice for him. 

Finally, you were ready. A honk outside alerts you. Grabbing your stuff, you quickly walk over to the car. Uncomfortably getting in, you try not to wrinkle your outfit. “You look amazing y/n,” the chauffeur says. You smile, “thank you. It took a while.” 

Once you’re almost to wonwoo’s house to pick him up, you quickly take out your phone camera, checking your appearance, smoothing your hair, confirming everything looks okay. You miss the chauffeur’s quiet laugh. 

When the driver stops in front, you prepare yourself. Exhaling, you walk out and up to his door, knocking. After a few seconds, a servant opens it. Wonwoo stands there, handsome as ever. “You look beautiful,” he breathes. Blushing, you respond, “you too.” 

“Me? Beautiful?” he asks.“Yep,” you respond, looping your arm through his. Wonwoo chuckles, the two of you walking down together. He opens the door for you, and you quickly remark, “what a gentleman..”, causing wonwoo to poke your side. 

Throughout the drive, you two chat along the way. “You know,” you muse, “I used to hate coming to these events. It took forever to get ready, and it wasn’t even fun to go to! I mostly agreed for the food. But..” 

“But what?” Wonwoo prompts. You look out the window, not catching his eye. “But ... now, I kinda like going, ...with you.” You fidget with your hands, a bashful smile on your face. 

The driver chuckles at the two of you, both too shy to look each other in the eye. You suddenly feel something warm move on top of your hand. Your eyes flick down, finding wonwoo‘s hand resting over yours. You smile, a comfortable silence between the two of you as the ride continues on.

“We’re pulling up,” the driver informs you. You brace yourself, preparing for the onslaught of bright flashes and putting on your camera face (even if they weren’t necessarily taking pictures of you).

“Are you ready, sir?” You ask, fingers hovering over the door handle. Wonwoo nods, and you open the door.

Immediately the familiar flashes blind you as you step out, patiently waiting for wonwoo. Once he gets out, you follow behind him, entering the venue.

It’s an extravagant bustling place, filled with other fancy guests. Wonwoo secretly squeezes your hand from behind, before letting go and you leave him to interact with other important people. 

You sigh, making your way over to where the food and drinks were. 

It feels like hours and hours pass of you avoiding speaking to random people before wonwoo finally approaches you, a sparkle in his eye. 

“Are you ready to leave?” You ask. He nods, grinning. “Yes, but I want to show you somewhere first.” You look at him questioningly as he guides you past all the commotion, out through a door.

You gasp. it’s an empty balcony overlooking the city. “How did you find this place?” You breathe. “Well, I wanted some fresh air and happened to find this place.” The two of you stand at the railing, staring over the edge at the beautiful city. 

“It’s so pretty at night,” you murmur. Wonwoo suddenly taps your shoulder. Turning, you watch as he fumbles with something in his pocket. No way, he isn’t gonna-?

Wonwoo finally gets it out with an aha! and you squint at what’s in his palm. It’s an..... earring?

Specifically, your earring! You look up at him in shock and delight. “Woo, how did you find this?” He blushes at your nickname for him. “Well, I might’ve asked seungkwan about it, and he told me what happened. It uh, took a little while to find, but I finally got the chance to give it to you.”

“Thank you. It was a gift from my dad,” you whisper. Leaning up, you press a quick kiss to his lips. “Now can we go?” 

He laughs, “yeah, we can go home now.” 

❋

You crashed into bed that night, immediately falling asleep. But what you didn’t expect was to be woken up by what seemed to be a bazillion phone notifications. Groaning, you reach for your phone, checking the time.

Then you see it. A bunch of texts from Seungkwan and your other close co-workers. As well as even more from people you didn’t even know. 

You launch yourself up in bed, clicking on a message sent from Seungkwan.

 Oh my god.

You’re screwed.   

❋

A/N: uhhh i didn’t plan on making this into three parts but it kinda got long... so here’s part two? :]  (also i apologize if there was anyone waiting for this- school just started for me so..🤮🤮)

[thewhitejournal]

“The Intern” Part Two

Aaron Hotchner x Reader

hello all! the love on this first part was absolutely unexpected, but i am so grateful for it! here is the link to the first part of the series, go ahead and read that in case you haven’t yet. if you liked this part or have any feedback, do not hesitate to let me know. without further ado, onto the show!

content warnings: mentions of child sexual assault and murder

link to the inspiration for this fictional case

You and Penelope started looking over the file Agent Hotchner had given you. Not soon after you read over some of the details, a blonde woman swung open the door to the office.

”Garcia, debriefing in five. Hi, I’m Jennifer Jareau, but you can call me JJ. I’m the liaison for the team; I’ve heard so much about you, Penelope is so excited to not be alone in her office all the time.” She smiled at you, offering you her hand to shake, and you took it.

”It’s so nice to meet you, I’m (y/n) (y/l/n).” You smiled back at her, and she called for Garcia over her shoulder as she left. You looked up to Penelope, silently asking what your next move should be.

”C’mon kid, you're on this case. I have a little feeling Hotch won't mind if I invite you to work it.” She said to you with a knowing smirk playing on her lips, heat flooding your cheeks. You'd hope not, you didn't want to make the boss mad the first day you were shadowing.

Following Penelope out of her office, you looked around and noticed other agents heading the same way. Agent Jareau was walking ahead of you, talking to a dark-haired woman, and your path aligned with a skinny, long-haired man wearing a sweater vest and gun on his waist that looked like it physically weighed him down.

“Uh, hi, I-I’m Spencer Reid, Garcia told me about you. It’s nice to meet you.” His lips were in a straight line, and he didn’t make direct eye contact with you. You smiled at him.

“(Y/n) (y/l/n).” Without responding, he picked up his pace a bit, catching up to the two women in front of you. Garcia chuckled.

“He’s not the most social butterfly in the garden.” You scoffed, laughing lightly yourself. She assured you he would warm up to you though, which made you feel better. You didn’t want a single member of the team to dislike you.

You all eventually gathered in the debriefing room, and you couldn’t help but wonder where Hotch was. Penelope introduced you to the other agents sitting at the table that you hadn’t met yet, and they welcomed you warmly. Agent Rossi said something about always needing extra help, which gave you a nice feeling in your chest.

JJ stood to present the case, and not a second later, Hotch walked in the door. She must have seen him coming. The only empty seat left happened to be next to yours, and he took it. He gave you a very small smile, then turned to face JJ. You suddenly remembered you were in a room full of profilers; if you were going to steal glances at Hotch, well, it’s probably better you didn’t. How frowned upon is a relationship with the boss, especially with someone not even officially part of the team? You didn’t want to think about that, it was just a silly little crush after all.

Pictures from crime scenes and documents you had to be closer to the screen to completely identify crowded every screen in the debriefing room. A twelve-year-old boy went missing outside of Seward, Nebraska. Unfortunately, he wasn’t missing long, because his body was found in a ditch off of an interstate not three days after he was reported missing. The cause of death was asphyxiation, and there were signs of sexual assault, post mortem.

“You know, this reminds me of the Oakland County Child Killer. He was responsible for the killings of four children in Oakland County, Michigan in 1976 and 1977. Each child's body was discovered in a public area within 19 days of their disappearance, two boys and two girls. The children were all either strangled or shot, and the two boys had been sexually abused.” All this information at once took you by surprise; how did he know all of that? It was like he was reading it straight from a book.

“Are there any more missing kids in the area? This could be some kind of copycat.” Morgan questioned.

“There hasn't been any reported since this boy, Nathan Harrison. Reid, how far apart did the Oakland County Child killer take his victims? If this is a copycat killer, we could try to estimate when the next victim might be.” JJ asked him.

Reid thought for a moment. “His first victim was in February of 1976, and he didn’t kidnap again until December of that year. Then, though, the last two victims were taken only months apart in 1977. I don’t believe this killer had a pattern, other than always placing the bodies where they could easily be seen.” Hotch sighs, eyes darting around the table that’s filled with case files and crime scene photos like he’s taking in all the information. His dark brows are furrowed; you guess he’s thinking of what the team should do next.

“Well, I don’t want to wait around and see if he makes his own M.O. or if he follows this killer’s actions. We’re going to need to do more research on the Oakland County killer and if there are anymore unsolved child cases in Nebraska that might be connected to our unsub. Wheels up in thirty.” Hotch looks around the room at everyone as he says this, and his gaze lingers a second longer on you before he leaves the room. The other agents start gathering the files and coffee mugs they may have brought into the room and head out too.

“Just like that, they’re gone?” You ask Penelope, turning your chair to face hers. You were the only two people left in the room. She nods.

“Just like that. You and I will stay behind and help with all the fun behind the scenes stuff unless they need us out there later.” She stands, jewelry jingling with the motion. You followed suit, trailing behind her back to her office. Looking around the room, the agents were carrying duffel bags out the door and to the elevator. You saw Hotch still standing in his office, preparing his bag and making sure he had everything.

“You think they’d let me come with you?” Your voice lowered. Secretly, she knew you meant Hotch. You didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, this was their case after all.

She only nodded, dangling earrings swinging as she did so. Hotch exited his office and you tried to inconspicuously watch where he was going. You’re sure you can’t have been that sly about it though. He rounded the corner and looked like he was going to go out the door, but he stopped behind you two, calling out for Garcia. You turned around in sync to face him.

“I don’t know what we’re walking in to yet, I want you to have a go-bag ready if needed.” He turned to face you. “(Y/l/n), if you’re comfortable with coming along with us now you’re more than welcome. We’re leaving in fifteen.” With that, he slid past you, walking through the doors to the elevator in the hall. For a split second, you felt his body heat in your space; you even caught a little whiff of his cologne.

You looked over at Garcia. You didn’t know what to do; you were here to shadow as a technical analyst, not as a profiler. You weren’t supposed to be in the field, it wasn’t the plan. You searched her face to try and figure out what she might say next, and if she was okay with you going. Maybe it could be fun, a good experience. It might be a chance to get to know the team better, maybe one to get to know your temporary boss better too…

“You can go if you want to honey, I know it appeals to some people. I am not some people, however. I like my office. My screens. And hey, nobody said you had to stay here. Maybe they’ll make you wanna be a profiler.” She placed a hand on your arm, gently patting it, her smile beaming at you. You gave her a small smile back.

“I don’t know Garcia, I don’t know the first thing about being in the field and profiling and working an actual case like that. I’ve been studying tech stuff, it’s all I know.” Your lips tightened and your brows knitted. Your eyes fell to the floor; you couldn’t look her in the eyes. It felt like you were abandoning her, as silly as it sounds.

“I may not be a profiler, but I can tell you want to work this case out there. I’ll still be here when you come back in one piece.” A small smile came upon your lips, and you met her eyes.

“Thank you, Garcia.” She smiled with her lips. Her eyes scanned your body.

“If you end up needing to stay there, you can probably fit Prentiss’s or JJ’s clothes. I’m going to send you all the teams’ contact information too. Be careful. Tell them they better take care of my girl.” She gave you a quick, unexpected kiss to the forehead. Turning into her office, she grabbed your purse and handed it over to you. She told you where to go to board the jet, and you hurried out to the elevator. You heard her laugh behind you, but you didn’t care. You were excited to be going into the field and getting to be able to know the team and all the ins and outs of the job. Maybe you did want to be a profiler.

Hotch filled your mind again though, inevitably. You were still thinking of how he extended the invitation to you personally, did that mean something? Maybe he was just being nice to you, trying to make you feel welcome here. Or did he really want you to be there with him and the team, did he want to teach you the ropes and spend more time with you? You shook your head to yourself, now heading out to board the jet. You needed to be focused on this case. But you had a feeling that being in a little space with him for at least three hours, which you knew would feel like so much longer, wouldn’t help your focus at all.

[slashmebois]

Exhausted

“Hi !

If it's okay may I please have Bo sinclair x reader? Just reader been up for like two days straight because they're super busy but also super exhausted and they end up passing out? Like how would Bo react?” (Anon)

Oh my goodness, of course you can. Dirty garage man lives in my head rent free. Hope this is close-ish to what you were expecting Nonny!

Living in Ambrose was generally a quiet life, save for the occasional visitors. But even their noisy presence was quickly snuffed out and put on display. You had grown accustomed to the lazy days and the hard graft of luring people in and helping to move their bodies after Vincent or Bo dealt with them.

As much as you loved helping Bo with his passion project, it didn’t pay for the food on your table. There was a little money in visitor’s pockets here and there, but most people carried cards these days. So, when someone from your old life messaged with the offer of a paid remote research position you felt you would be an idiot to refuse. You just didn’t realise how much work it would be.

Bo had scrunched his nose up when you told him you needed to stay home for a week or two, and asked, “what’s wrong with the garage?”, but he hadn’t pushed you to come with him. Vincent was downstairs in the basement all day and Lester was waiting for hapless folks to show up, so your days were pretty lonely, but you told yourself that was good for your focus.

The first day went pretty well, you found what you thought were relevant articles and went into some critical evaluation before sending them over to the project manager. The second day got off to a worse start, your manager had sent the articles back telling you they were irrelevant because of something or other. You groaned in frustration and went about finding articles that fit their very niche description. From there on out it became a back and forth of you finding articles and evaluating them, and your manager being a hard-ass, or as you preferably thought of them A DICK. You were staying up later and later, eventually resulting in you forgoing sleep altogether. You would get in bed with Bo, using your crappy laptop, and as soon as he fell asleep you would sneak away to the kitchen table to continue your work.

Vincent was the first to notice your dark and baggy eyes, putting a hand on your shoulder one morning and cocking his head, “I’m fine Vinny, just not sleeping great, don’t worry”. He stood there a moment longer, looking uncertain before walking away to make breakfast, and you felt a pang of guilt. You weren’t exactly lying; you just didn’t want any of them to worry. They were all so good to you. And you knew that if Vincent got too worried, he would tell Bo, and that would not go well for sure.

Slowly but surely your manager started to give better responses to the articles you sent, and you breathed a sigh of relief. The nightmare was nearly over, you could start typing up the research into a document. With renewed inspiration and a lot of caffeine you set to work writing it up. Bo came home from work that evening and was surprised by you actually greeting him.

“You’re in a good mood y/n”

“Sure am, got a good chunk of work done. How about we celebrate on the weekend? Grab a couple beers, watch a trashy movie?”

His smile made your heart flutter, “I’d love that y/n. Don’t stay up too late now. Now come give your man a kiss”

You jump to your feet, tripping on the laptop cord in the process. You fall forwards and Bo catches you, smirking.

“You falling for me again baby?”

Your cheeks flush, “Always, you know me, just clumsy”

He grasps your hair and presses his lips to your head, inhaling, “For real, don’t stay up too late though, bed feels empty if I ain’t got you next to me. And well, feels like I’m waking up to an empty bed in the morning a lot recently.”

You smiled up at him, “I’ll be up as soon, promise”, Unfortunately, it was a promise you had to break.

Around 2am, your laptop cut out. The plug had pulled away from the wall when you tripped. But you hadn’t noticed.

You stared blankly at your reflection in the screen, numbness welling up inside you. When was the last time you saved? You couldn’t remember. What was the point? You put your heart and soul into it, but it was all crumbling to ash in your hands. You sat still as a rock for a moment before slowly raising yourself up and plugging your laptop back in. The rest of your night is spent catching up, as your eyes grow heavier and heavier.

A voice is calling you. You can hear it faintly as you monotonously type a letter at a time. It isn’t until a hand is waved in front of your face you blink back to reality and look up to a concerned looking Bo.

“Y/n. What the hell is wrong with you? I’ve been trying to get your attention for 5 minutes”

“Wha- Uh, sorry. Was really focused on this…um…this thing”

“I can tell, it was your turn to cook, remember?”

Your brain slowly ticks, as you look over to the clock. Fuck, he’s right. And you’re making him late for work.

“Oh god, Bo. I’m so sorry. I’ll just whip something up real-“

You feel your legs fall from under you as you stand and see Bo’s eyebrows knit together as he lurches towards you. And then your vision blurs out to black.

You feel very warm. It’s like there’s an all-encompassing glow surrounding you. You try to remember what came before but it’s just so comfortable here. You were at the kitchen table. And you were having breakfast? No. You fell and Bo…

You gasp awake, looking around to ascertain your surroundings. You’re in your bedroom, Bo’s metal band posters adorning the walls, and the little plants you keep on every surface. You also see Jonesy curled up on the bed, her ears perking up as she sees you rouse. You eyes come to rest on Bo who is sat on the edge of the bed staring at you.

“Hey Bo”

His lips firm up, before he lets out a sigh, “Hey.”, it’s short and curt. Fuck, he’s mad at you.

“I uh, I fell huh?”

“You could say that”

The silence is palpable.

“Look I’m real sor-“

“Don’t. You must have known you were being an idiot. I sure did. I thought you were just getting up earlier, getting less sleep. But fuck. You weren’t sleeping at all were you? All for what, some goddamn fucking job?!” His voice starts at a steady volume and rises.

You can feel yourself choking up, “It ain’t just some job. I, I just wanted to help. I thought if I made some money I could help out, get some groceries, cook a nice meal”

“WOULDN’T FUCKING MATTER IF YOU’RE DEAD Y/N” he yells, throwing his cap from his head across the floor, “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW SCARED I WAS. I THOUGHT YOU WERE FUCKIN’ DEAD LIKE MAMA” he swipes angrily at his eyes, and his hoarse voice trembles out, “I don’t wanna lose the best thing to happen to me. Just please, we can handle money. I want you here with me, chatting shit with me in the garage, sharing dinner with all of us, cuddling up at the end of the day.” He faces away from you, and you can see the tension in his back.

You let the tears flow freely from your eyes, “I’m sorry baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ll do better. I’ll set myself hours and stick to them. And if that’s not good enough, I’ll quit.” You kneel on the bed and reach your arms over his shoulders, he tenses a little more and then relaxes back into you. “I’ll be better Bo”, your hand comes to his face and he allows you to guide him to your lips. He kisses you deeply, reaching around to grab you tight.

This. This is where you belong. In Bo’s arms. Fuck everything else.

[grimmseye]

Tandem

Read on Ao3 Here

Rating: Gen

Fandom: She-ra

Relationships: Hordak & Entrapta, Hordak/Entrapta (pre-relationship

Chapter Characters: Hordak, Entrapta

Chapter Tags/Warnings: This is just 1500+ words of Hordak’s thoughts about Entrapta, Pre-Season 2

(Disclaimer: remember that Hordak is both an imperial soldier and a cult survivor. This is also before he and Entrapta have really started building their relationship. His narration is told through that lens. )

— — — — — — — —

Years of sifting through the Horde’s administrative detritus had not made the job any more bearable for him. Even when Shadow Weaver had been keeping operations smooth, there was a certain portion of work that had to fall on his head, plans and projects needing review before they could be dismissed or approved of.

It was aggravating work, with one new exception. When he reached the file with telltale oil smudges on it, he could already feel the weight of his armor ease. There was a quickness to his movements as he flipped the file open — certainly not eagerness, but anticipation. For once, the weight of the file pleased him rather than had Hordak biting back groans.

Entrapta’s projects were the only things that brought him any mental stimulation these days. He took a cursory flip through the first packet, ears perking as he spotted the first draft of her blueprints. For once, she wasn’t offering new weapons to deploy, but rather a more espionage-focused design: something small that could scope out their targets before they sent any troops to seize new territory.

It was delicate work, and deeply time consuming. He settled in to read in more detail, making a note to himself to grant her a more direct line of contact to him. From now on, Entrapta’s projects should be sent through communication pads, to be vetted by the only person in the Fright Zone who could offer worthwhile criticism. Two pages in, he could tell notes from those who had reviewed it before were utterly worthless, all questions and conjecture with no understanding of what it was that they demanded. It was worthless to insist she work faster if there wasn’t a method to do so.

There was one, potentially, but not a single of the previous readers had mentioned it.

Hordak created a document on his communications pad and set a stylus to the screen. He got several lines into his writing before he had to stop, giving a faint sneer. His armor weighed his limbs, making his writing sloppy, and regardless...

He tapped his nails along the edge of his throne. As excellent as Entrapta’s reports were, she did not receive the same work with enthusiasm. Audio recordings were her preferred means of reference if he recalled correctly, remembering a delay in her work when she'd first began working on his bots. When he'd inquired about it, she'd mentioned something along the lines of struggling to digest the information. A vocal repetition and a recording of the instructions had been enough to get her back on schedule.

A moment’s deliberation sent to the security feeds, ensuring Entrapta was in her lab before he flicked on a monitor. Through his screen, it gave an overhead of Entrapta at her workbench, looking to be setting up to get to work. Good. He wouldn’t be able to interrupt her if she were doing something delicate.

He lifted his chin before announcing himself with a call of, “Princess Entrapta.”

She straightened up at once, head swiveling before she caught sight of the monitor, gawking for a moment before breaking into a smile and calling out, “Hello!”

She’d forgotten to bow. Again. He pushed a breath through his teeth, finding that the urge to demand proper respect felt oddly diluted for Entrapta. Whether or not she bowed had yet to compromise her work. Instead he skipped to the point: “I received your newest blueprints. The design is promising, if… inefficient.”

Entrapta clapped her hands together, looking excited before the words caught up with her. “Oh, I know. I’ll need to develop a prototype to get a real sense of what materials I’ll need and how much time it’ll take —” As she spoke, her words grew quick, almost snappish. “— But right now the estimated time per drone is much longer than I’d like, let alone viable for regular use.” Her hair frizzed out, bristling not unlike a cat’s. A clear sign of displeasure.

He lingered in that for a moment, then spoke. “I have a suggestion,” He said, appreciating how she perked up at once. It was gratifying to work with someone who knew what they were doing, and even understood what he was doing — at least as far as an upbringing on this planet allowed. “There is a synthetic compound we produce here in the Fright Zone that may work as a substitute for what you intend to use: adamantine. It should have the strength to support this device even in sheer pieces.”

She listened to him speak, interrupting only once to ask if she could run a recorder. Once again, he found satisfaction in that. He rarely had trouble with being listened to — with the exception of Entrapta, all knew to bow in his presence, to not speak while he was speaking. He had fear, and respect, and obedience, he had created a facsimile of the true Horde, successful in his emulation of Horde Prime. And yet, while Princess Entrapta did not fear him or even always obey him, she heard him in a way no other creature on Etheria had before. She challenged him, even, and as irritating as her insubordination could be, there was value in an alternative perspective.

Truly, she was impressive. Despite being a princess, Entrapta had taken well to life in the Fright Zone. Everything he knew of the Etherian princesses suggested inordinate wealth and luxury that would not lend itself to the Horde’s lifestyle. The primary kingdoms were disorganized and self-serving, lacking unity and loyalty to any but themselves, excising that which they found displeasing and then stuffing their castles with unneeded opulence. Here, closest thing to luxury Entrapta had been provided was her own room, something all ranking officers were granted. And yet he’d heard none of the anticipated whining, just a snippet of her voice from Imp about the brown nutrition bars being unfavorable in texture, even once cut into smaller cubes.

He wasn’t sure he could count her among the ranks of the princesses at all, and that was entirely favorable. Dryl had such organization and stability that even in their princess’ absence, the small nation ran like clockwork. It seemed almost entirely self-sufficient, and what necessary trade was denied to them after allying with the Horde could be supplemented.

Again, he berated himself for not considering Dryl’s value. It seemed that like the other nations of this planet, he’d vastly underestimated its value, and Princess Entrapta’s value most of all.

At some point, their conversation drifted off track, to the materials Dryl itself mined and then stories of what Entrapta had found beneath the earth, the First Ones’ tech she was so enamored with.

“Their power sources are more efficient than any Etherian technology I’ve seen,” Entrapta breathed, her chin cupped in her hands. “One crystal,” she framed her thumb and forefinger approximately an inch apart, “could have enough energy to fuel one of your Skiffs for a full day of flight, longer if you stop to let it replenish — because that’s what makes them so amazing, they don’t run out of power. I think eventually they might exhaust their capability for storage but I have yet to prove it, but in the meantime they seem endlessly capable of recharging their own energy, potentially by harnessing the latent magic in Etheria’s atmosphere.”

Sometimes it could become difficult to keep up with the pace of her voice, when her words began to run into one another and she took great gasps as she ran out of breath. And yet, the subject held his attention, ears perked forward with fascination.

“If we were able to collect such crystals…” Even that much energy would be insufficient for his portal machine, but to collect a great quantity —

“That’s the trouble,” Entrapta sighed, deflating. “I’ve rarely found these crystals intact.”

Disappointment weighed heavy in Hordak’s chest, then curled into anger. He’d hardly known about it for a moment, and already his hope —

He slammed his fist down on his throne. Hordak glanced at the clock, realizing half an hour had slid by without his noticing. This entire thing had been — “A waste of my time.”

“I disagree!” Entrapta’s rebuttal made his eyes narrow. Still, he knew to listen to his officers when they spoke — even to Shadow Weaver, who had to walk through elaborate metaphors and tangents before she ever got to the point. Though perhaps he should have listened less to her. The very premise of her arrival should have served a warning — seeking revenge did not sow loyalty.

Unlike Entrapta, who worked for her discoveries, for possibility rather than vengeance on the fools who had left her for dead.

So he did not silence her as she continued, “Your input was quite valuable! If you could have some of that material sent to my lab, I’ll be sure to attempt a prototype using it and see if it will be a good substitute.”

His ears relaxed from their flattened position. Hordak glanced away from the screen for just a moment, taking a breath to calm his frustrations. “Of course. I will see it is done.” He hesitated for just a moment before saying, “That is all. You are dismissed, Princess Entrapta.”

“Okay!” She smiled. “It was nice talking with you! We should do this again!”

His finger hesitated over a button. Hordak inclined his head, half of a nod before he ended the transmission.

The quiet that followed left him with a strange feeling: reluctance to continue his work, the want to shift it aside and perhaps pull up his records on Dryl to read more on what Entrapta had told him. Instead he took his pad, putting in two orders: one to deliver a shipment of adamantine to Entrapta’s lab, the other opening a direct line to her own communicator.

Just in case she wanted to consult his opinion once again.

[atlafan]

My Everything - Part Seventeen

A Take it Slow Sequel

What happens with Harry and Y/N after he proposes? How will the two navigate the engaged life while also continuing to juggle their jobs, friends, and families? Let’s find out.

Warnings: fluff and angst. TW: mentions of past abuse!

Words: 6.7K

a/n: This part is a little more serious, with some fun things sprinkled in between. 

Masterpost

Many things were the same with this pregnancy as they were with Jack. Harry took a picture of you every week to watch your tummy grow, and he also insisted on doing a maternity shoot. You thought it could be even more fun to have Jack involved too. Harry had set up a nice space in your bedroom. You had a robe on and did your hair and makeup nicely. Jack was coloring on the floor sitting next to Buster.

“Ready babe? Drop the robe.” Harry smiles as he finishes getting his setting on the camera just right.

You take a deep breath and let your robe fall. Harry’s eyes grow wide and he clears his throat as he blushes. If Jack wasn’t in the room he probably would have fucked you before taking the pictures.

“How were you able to shave?”

“I didn’t…um…remember when I was with the girls the other day?”

“Yeah.”

“Well…Rachel bought a home wax kit and she waxed me.”

“The three of you…are a little too close.” Harry chuckles.

“Well at least it looks pretty now!”

“It always looks pretty, hairy or not.”

Harry positions you how he looks, getting a nice side profile. He always took really tasteful photos of you. Jack wasn’t paying much attention until Harry took out some paint. You put on a nude bra and underwear set.

“Jack, wanna come be in the pictures with Mummy?”

“Yeah!” He gets up and gives you a hug.

“Alright, I want you to stick your hands in the paint, and press them gently on Mummy’s tummy, yeah?”

“Okay!”

Jack was really excited, he loved paint, and he loved when you and Harry allowed him to be a little messy. Harry lifts him up and helps him press his hands on your stomach, around your belly button. You hold onto Jack so Harry can snap some photos. The hand prints looked really cool, and Harry was able to get a candid shot of you and Jack giggling.

“Were you able to find that crop top for the family photo? I’ll get this on a timer so I can do the paint too.”

“Mhm, let me go put it on.”

You come back out in a black short sleeve crop top and black joggers. Harry dips his hand on the paint and presses them to the sides of where Jack’s hand prints were.

“There, see Jack, it took all of our love to make this baby.”

Jack beams up at his father. Harry scoops him up and they position themselves to take some family photos. You put your hands in the paint and press one hand on Jack’s stomach, and one Harry’s back, making for a very cool shot. Harry had too many tattoos on his stomach for the hand print to be prominent. You get a shot with Buster too, and you all smile as they look them over.

“Pretty, Mumma.” Jack says.

“You think so? I’d say we’re a pretty good looking family.” You look at Harry lovingly. “Thank you so much for convincing me to do this again, it’s so special.”

“Of course, honey.” He kisses your cheek. “You just look so good, it would be a crime not to document it.”

//

Time was going by way too fast. You were due soon, and you were freaking out because it was only the middle of April. Someone would have to take over your classes for the rest of the semester. You were hoping to hold on for a couple more weeks, but Jessica Rose had other plans for you. You were in the middle of one of your lectures when you felt something.

“Oh my god.” You gasp, and squat. The whole class gasps. Your water had broken and it was seeping down your pant legs. “I’m fine, everyone!”

“Did your water just break?!” One of them shouts.

“Yes.” You breathe and reach for your cell phone. “I need, shit, to call my husband.” You press your phone to your ear. “Class dismissed, uh, Kelly, can you let the admin know what’s going on?”

“Sure thing!”

A few students hang back to make sure you’re okay.

“Harry?!”

“Hi! Aren’t yeh teachin’? Do yeh miss me?” He chuckles.

“My water just broke in front of my class.”

“What?!”

“Can you get over here? My go bag is in my trunk already, so you just need to, fucking hell, get here.”

“I’m gonna take a cab, I’ll be there in ten minutes. I’ll snatch Jack from day care, just get to your car.”

“Okay.”

A couple of your students help you outside to your car. Before you know it you see Harry running towards you with Jack in his arms. He grabs you by the back of your neck to kiss you.

“Okay, uh, I’ll get him strapped in, get in the car, babe.” He says excitedly.

Harry speeds to the hospital. Jack got a little frightened once you were inside and getting wheeled away. Harry called your mom and had her come pick him up.

“Where’s Mumma!?” He sobs.

“She’s…gone to pick up baby Jessica, Jack. And Daddy needs to go help her. But you’re really lucky, you get to spend time with Mimi. I need yeh to be a big boy f’me, can yeh do that?”

“I’ll try.” He sniffles.

Harry gives him a kiss and a hug before handing him off to your mom. He sprints down to your hospital room where you were chewing on ice chips.

“Is he alright?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. You know how he is when he first leaves us. I think he was just scared from all the commotion. I’m sure your mum will calm him down.” Harry takes your hand and kisses it. “How are you feelin’ this time around?”

“Remember when I told you what it was like when I got my nipples pierced? The first one didn’t hurt because of the adrenaline, but the second one hurt because I knew what to expect?”

“Yeah.”

“Welp.” You burst into tears. “I suddenly remembered what it was like to push a giant head out of my vagina, and I’m probably gonna tear open again, and…” You look up at him. “Tell me again, why I wanted to do this?”

“Because you wanted to have another baby around.” He smooths some hair away from your forehead. “And we really like makin’ babies.”

“We do, we really do.”

“It’s gonna be alright, love. I’ve got way more time off from work this go around, and you have the entire summer.”

“What if Jack doesn’t like her? He used to getting all of the attention. He’s only going to be three next month, he won’t understand.”

“Well, he took a liking to those dolls we gave him. Remember how good and gentle he was with the baby? I think he’s excited. He may not like it all the time, but like everything else he’ll get used to it.”

“I can’t wait for them to drug me up soon. I read that sometimes the second kid can come a lot faster.”

“Let’s hope.” He leans in and kisses your forehead.

//

Thirty-six hours in labor. You had no idea what was going on. Your water had broken, what was the hold up? You were uncomfortable and in pain and you just wanted this baby out.

Dr. Johnson comes in to check on you.

“So…I’d like to talk to you both about a cesarean.”

“You want to cut me open?!” You look at Harry, frightened.

“It’s much less invasive than it used to be, and you’d be in really good hands.”

“I don’t want to have a giant scar across my stomach!”

“You won’t, like I said, it’s not like how it used to be. The recovery time takes a little longer, but your vagina won’t tare open.” She tries to make a joke, but right now you weren’t sure what to say. “It’s up to you, but you’ve been in this hospital for two days.”

“Would I still be able to go in with her?”

“Oh sure! We’ll numb her up, you won’t even feel a thing.”

“What do you wanna do, Y/N?”

“I think I’m ready to meet our daughter.”

“Great, we’ll get everything prepped.”

//

They let you hold Jessica skin to skin, but Harry wasn’t able to until you were back in the actual hospital room. You felt disgusting. They had to give you a bed pan. You never thought you’d miss the mesh underwear so much. You found yourself crying every few minutes from the pain that was creeping into your body, but Harry would call a nurse and she’d give you some medicine.

You breast fed Jessica just as you did Jack. She was gorgeous. Harry couldn’t stop crying either.

“I just love her so much.” He sobbed as he held her close to him.

Eventually you felt strong enough to use the bathroom, and a nurse helped you through it. After another night of rest you told your mom she could bring Jack in to see you.

“Mumma!” He exclaims as he comes into the room. “Missed you!”

“I missed you too.” You say, tiredly.

“What about me?” Harry pouts at him.

“Missed you too, Daddy.”

Harry scoops him up.

“Come on, we gotta wash your hands. How was he, Lynn?”

“Very good, we had a nice few days together.” She comes over and kisses you on the forehead. “A c-section, huh? Had four of them myself, you know?”

“It’s much different now. I need to stay here a couple extra days, but at least it doesn’t burn when I pee.” You laugh.

“Where’s little Jessica?”

“Down at the nursery. A nurse is going to bring her in soon. We were exhausted.”

A nurse comes in shortly and you take your daughter from her.

“Harry, put Jack on the bed with me.” He does as you say. Jack’s eyes grew wide as he looked at the baby in your arms. “Now, Jack, this is much different than your baby doll. You need to be even more gentle, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Meet your baby sister, Jessica Rose.”

You tilt her towards Jack so he can see her face. He gives a gentle stroke on her cheek.

“Baby.” He whispers.

“God, look at them.” Harry blubbers while he takes his phone out. He takes a picture of the three of you.

“Here, let me get one of the four of you.” Your mom says.

Harry picks up Jack and sits on the bed with you. The four of you snuggle up close. It’s a great picture.

“Once you feel up to it, we can get a real portrait done.” He tells you. “What do you think, Jack? Ready to be a big brother?”

“Yeah, she smells good.”

You laugh as you hand Jessica over to your mom.

“That’s that new baby smell, buddy.” Harry says to him.

//

You had to spend a couple days extra in the hospital to make sure you were healed up properly. Harry was a saint. You were too weak to do much other than feed Jessica when you got back home. You didn’t breast feed much. You just pumped and put everything into the fridge. It allowed harry to feed Jessica much easier.

Jack soon discovered he didn’t like the sound of the baby crying. He also didn’t like how much attention the baby got over him, especially from you.

“Put baby down, Mumma.” He would whine.

“I can’t right now, honey, I’m giving her a bath.” You were bathing her in the sink.

“Jack, I think Jessica has the right idea. Let’s go give you a tubby.” Harry says.

“No, I want Mumma.”

“You can’t fit in the sink anymore, Jack.” You giggle. “You’re gonna be three years old very soon.” You pick Jessica up and boop her nose. You wrap her in a towel and hold her close. “I’ll put her down and then we can give him a tubby together.”

“You heard her.” Harry says to his son. “I’ll get the water started.”

“Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you lull her to sleep? I think Jack needs some alone time with me.”

“Alright.” He kisses your cheek and goes into the baby’s room.

“Okay, baby boy, let’s get you clean.”

You and Jack play with his water toys, and then you scrub his head. Just like Harry, he loved the way your nails felt while you washed his hair.

“Daddy and I have a big surprise for your birthday.”

“Really?”

“Mhm, it’s coming in a couple of weeks.”

“What is it?”

“Can’t say.” You smirk.

“No fair.” He pouts.

“Just know, it’s going to make summers even more fun.”

You wrap him in a towel and lift him out. You get Jack in jammies and get him tucked into bed. You read him one of his favorite stories until he falls asleep. You kiss his forehead before leaving his room. You let out a tired sigh after you close his door.

You go down the stairs to see Harry making dinner. Just a simple salad. He hands you a bowl.

“Thanks, honey.” You yawn.

“Sorry he’s been so clingy lately. I try to keep him busy most of the day. Buster helps tire him out, but it’s like the second he sees you…”

“He wants his, Mumma, I get it. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t like spending so much time with you though.”

“I know.” He sighs. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better. The extra rest you gave me was much appreciated.”

“Well, you needed it.” He sets his bowl down and wraps his arms around you. You rest your head on his shoulder.

“I’m tired.” You groan.

“Wanna turn in early?”

“It’s only seven.”

“So? I’m happy to go crawl into bed if you are.” He chuckles.

“Alright, yeah. Oh! We could watch something on TV and just relax.”

“I like the sound of that.”

//

“A pool!” Jack squeals when you let him outside.

You and Harry had saved up for over a year to get an above ground pool built in the back yard. You wanted to give Jack a pool party for his third birthday.

“We’re gonna have a big party here next weekend just for you, honey.”

“Just for me?!”

“That’s right.”

“Thank you, Mumma.” He hugs your legs.

“Go thank Daddy too.”

Jack runs over to Harry who was finishing getting the pool filled. He hugs his legs too.

“When can we go in?” Harry scoops Jack up so he can see into the water.

“Not for another few days. Gotta test it and make sure it’s safe.” Harry comes over to you. You were feeding Jessica. “I picked up a heating pad too, you can lay it across the water to make the water warm, just in case it’s too cold.”

“Good thinking, babe.” You hold your daughter up and pat her back to help her burp. “Jack, would you like Daddy to take you to the store so you can pick out some pool toys and floaties?”

“Yeah! Can we, Daddy?”

“Of course. We can head out soon. We can pick out something Mumma would like too.” He winks at you.

You needed a nap. You were exhausted. Even though Harry was more than willing and able to do the night feedings, you found yourself beating him to it. You bring Jessica up to her room and get her settled into her crib. You crawl onto your bed and close your eyes. Your body was still doing a lot of healing. You had started going for walks on the treadmill in the basement. You wouldn’t be able to go for neighborhood walks with Sarah until June when her school year ended. You’d be back in shape in no time.

You woke up about twenty minutes later to the sound of your phone going off. You wondered if Harry had a question about the pool toys. When you see Dr. Mara’s name pop up, you’re slightly confused. She still prescribed you your medication, but you hadn’t had an actual visit with her in quite some time.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Y/N, it’s Dr. Mara.”

“Hi, yeah, um, is everything okay?”

“Yes, well, there’s an article I saw online today…I think you should see it, but I wanted to call first before just texting it to you.”

“What does it entail?”

“Jake…” Your eyes grow wide. It was a name you hadn’t even thought about in years. “He’s been arrested recently. I know you never came forward with anything, but sometimes…well, sometimes when more people step forward on these things, it helps. Everything is up to you, of course. I’m going to send you the article. Do with the information what you will.”

“Okay, um, thank you for letting me know.”

You hang up and she sends you the article. He had been arrested on domestic violence charges. Apparently he had been divorced, and he had attacked his ex-wife. She was pressing charges, but the article didn’t get into it.

“Oh my god.” You feel tears prick at the back of your eyes. You lose all control and start sobbing.

Jack couldn’t wait to show you the things him and Harry got at the store. He races upstairs to your bedroom.

“Jack, mummy could be sleeping, hold on.” Harry whispers and picks him up. He opens the door to your room quietly. You were sitting on the edge of the bed, shaking, eyes red and puffy. “Y/N?”

“Mumma! We got so many toys.”

“That’s, that’s great, honey.” Your voice was hoarse and just as shaky as your body.

“Um, Jack, could you go color in your room for a bit?”

“But you said we could show Mumma.” He pouts.

“We will, I just need to talk with mummy alone quick.”

He sets Jack down. He grumbles as he leaves the room. Harry sits down next to you. You flinch when he tries to put his hand on you. You hand him your phone to show him the article. He gasps when he reads it.

“How did you even come across this?”

“Dr. Mara called me.” You say quietly. “She said…if I were to come forward…it could help this woman’s case. Get him locked up.” You sigh. “It’s weird, it’s like, I almost forgot I had been through anything.” You start crying again. “If I had just pressed charges back then this poor woman he married wouldn’t be dealing with this.”

“Y/N.” Harry gently places his hand on your back. “It’s okay.”

“I still have everything. I don’t know if the DNA would even still be on there, but I kept everything in a box just in case. I could go to the police station and give my story. I have to help.”

“You’re sure this is something you want to go through? You may end up needing to testify.”

“I made a mistake by not doing this before.” You put your hand on his knee. “We have children now. If something like this ever happened to either of them…I’d, I’d lose my goddamn mind! I can go to the police station this week. I know it’s cutting it close to Jack’s party, but I should do this sooner rather than later.”

“Do you want me to go with you? We could get a babysitter.”

“No, I should go by myself. You stay home with the kids.”

“I’m so sorry this is all being brought back up. Are you gonna be okay?”

“I don’t think I will be until I know that monster is properly put away.”

//

The next morning you rummaged in the basement for the box you had kept the bags of the sheets and dress in. You sighed when you found it. You weren’t sure what it would do, but you were thankful you kept it. Harry kisses you goodbye before you go. You wanted to leave before Jack woke up.

You drive out to the police department that had arrested Jake. You take a deep breath before walking in. You walk up to a woman sitting at a desk. There were a ton of people walking around, and loud phones going off. You shake all of the background noise away.

“May I help you?”

“Um, yes, I…need to report…a few years ago…you recently arrested Jake Robinson, and he raped me a few years ago.” That was the first time you ever actually said something like that out loud.

“Oh my.” The woman says. “You’re not the first person to come in about this. One moment.” She makes a call and a few minutes later a detective come out.

“Hi, I’m Detective Ruiz.” She says to you. “Would you like to come have a chat with me? I’m working the Robinson case.”

You nod and follow her back to her desk.

“These are, um, the sheets…and what I was wearing when it happened.” You place the bags on her desk. “It happened back in 2018, so I don’t know if they’ll be helpful.”

“They definitely will be. We can send everything off to the lab. They’ll be able to tell us what’s on it.”

“The woman up front said I wasn’t the only one to come in…”

“You’re not. We arrested him last week, and three other women came forward.”

“How’s his ex-wife doing?”

“She’s making it through.” She takes a note pad out. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“Of course. We had been on about four dates. He seemed like a really nice guy. We hadn’t been too intimate, mostly just kissing. On our fourth date, I invited him up to my place. We ended up on my bed. I thought we would just get into, um, some heavy petting, but before I knew it my head was being shoved into my pillows and he was just…well, you know. I didn’t feel safe enough to say no. I thought he might do something even more forceful. I certainly didn’t consent to sex. When he left I passed out from the blood on my sheets and the blood between my legs. My best friend, Niall Horan, came and helped me afterwards.”

“Did you happen to take any pictures?”

“No…the only time I used my phone…oh, wait, um…I do have a picture of Jake and I from our date that night. We had gone for a walk and taken a selfie.” You go onto your Instagram and scroll back really far. You weren’t sure why you kept this picture, but right now you were glad you did. “See.” You show her.

“Are you able to send that to me? He may claim he’s never met you before.”

“Of course. I feel terrible. I should have come forward when it happened.”

“All of the other women said the same thing, don’t worry. The others happened before you. It can be hard to talk about these things. Coming to us doesn’t exactly help make it all go away.”

“I just want to do everything I can to help now. I have a soon to be three year old, and an infant to think about.” You think for a moment. “I went to therapy for years. I know there’s doctor patient confidentiality, but I’ll sign whatever waiver that’s needed if you need more information to support the case.”

“Thank you, we really appreciate that. May I ask who you saw?”

“Dr. Pricilla Mara.”

She nods and writes the information down.

“Alright Mrs…?”

“Um, my husband’s last name is Styles, but legally I go by Y/F/N Y/L/N…I’m a PhD as well, that’s why I kept my name.”

“Kept my own name too.” She smirks. “No need to explain that. So, the lab process will take some time. We’ll be in touch, though.”

“Alright.”

“Thank you for coming in. You’re definitely making a big difference.”

//

When you get home you find Harry on the couch with Jessica in the crook of his arm, and Jack nuzzled up close in his other side. He was reading one of his books to them. You giggle slightly and take your phone out to take a picture.

“Mumma!” Jack exclaims and gets up to run over to you. “Where were you?” He pouts.

“I had to run an errand, my doll.” You pick him up and kiss his cheek. “But I’m home now. Can I sit there, Daddy?”

“Sure thing, Mummy.” You sit down and Harry throws his arm around you. He kisses your temple. “Jack really liked the story in this book. I pretended it was about a prince and a princess.”

“Ah, well, let’s keep reading then.”

It was a nice family day. You pushed Jack on the swing outside while Harry took Jessica for a walk in the stroller with Buster. Then he grilled up some food for dinner. Once both kids were down, you told Harry about what happened at the police station.

“So, they’ll call you if they need more from you?”

“Yup.”

“You’re being really brave, I hope you know that.”

“Thanks. You had a nice morning with them?”

“It was great. Jack crawled into bed with me and we had a nice snuggle before I had to get Jessica. She was so good for me too. I made Jack pancakes for breakfast after I fed her. We had a nice chat. He misses his friends at day care, but he said he’s excited that we’ll both be home for a bit.”

“Aw, he’s so sweet. We had fun in the backyard earlier. I like that you’ll be home with me a little longer than last time.”

“Me too. Mum and Gem are excited to fly in for the party.”

“They come Friday, right?”

“Mhm.”

“I can’t wait for them to meet Jessica.” You wrap your arms around his neck, and his hands rest on your waist. “We have a nice life.”

“Wouldn’t trade it for anything else.” He kisses you gently.

“Okay, I’m letting go before you think this is an invitation.” You chuckle.

“What?!” He laughs. “I wasn’t even making a move!”

“I could feel your hands sliding down to my butt, I can read you like a book, Harry. I know your moves.”

“Well, as much as I’d love to get my hands all over you, I know we can’t yet.” He rolls his eyes. “Even though my little friend stayed intact this time.” He wraps his arms back around you and pulls you close.

“Yeah, well, my stomach is still healing up.”

“I’m well aware, angel.” He kisses you again. “Doesn’t mean I can’t kiss you does it?” He mumbles against your lips.

“I suppose that’s okay.”

He leads you over to the couch, and lays you down. He hovers over you and sucks your bottom lip into his mouth. You can’t remember the last time you simply just made out with your husband. After the morning you had this was everything you could have needed. He knew that. He always knew what to do.

He deepens the kiss by licking into your mouth, and you have absolutely no problem with it. Your tongue finds his and you just feel like you’re getting lost in each other like you used to. You’re taken out of your intoxicated state when you hear Jessica cry through the baby monitor. Harry sighs into your neck. He slowly lifts off of you.

“I’ll go check her, why don’t you go take a bath or something. You’ve had a long day.”

“Thanks, yeah, maybe I will.”

You both go upstairs. Harry changes Jessica and rocks her back to sleep. He checks on Jack quick to make sure the baby didn’t wake him. He was sound asleep. Harry goes into the bedroom and sees the bathroom door open a crack, you were just getting into the tub. He opens the door and leans against the frame.

“I’d ask you to join, but I’m still a little self-conscious.” You blush.

“S’alright, can I sit against the tub just to be near you?”

“Of course.”

Harry sits down on the cold tile. You drape your hand over his head and mindlessly play with his hair. Times like these you almost forgot you were a parent. When you’d be able to just sit and talk with Harry about things. He’d be home with you through the end of May and for the month of June. You decided that since Anne and Gemma were coming here, that it would be a good idea to not go to England this summer, and to just make your trip longer in January.

“Are you sure you’re okay with not being able to see your friends?”

“You know that’s not the only reason why we go there right?” He turns slightly to look at you. “I love seeing Louis and all, but we go there to see other family. I go there to get some other work done. Besides, since we’re not going we’re making more money off the flat.” He shrugs. “And traveling with Jack and Jessica right now doesn’t sound all that appealing. It would be a lot. You’re still healing too.”

“I’m just saying, if you wanted to go…”

“You’re crazy if you think I’d use the time off from work that I’m supposed to be here helping to dart off to London.” He takes your hand and kisses it. “I’d never do that.”

“I’m really happy you’re taking so much time off. I appreciate it a lot.”

“And then when I go back I’m only doing half days until you go back to work.”

“Jessica won’t be able to go to daycare until she’s six months, so she’ll need to be with you.”

“That should work fine. Can you believe that Jack only has one more year of daycare until he’s at preschool? Time’s flying.”

“I know.” You sigh. “We should probably start looking at places we want to send him. Sometimes you almost have to book your spot a year in advance.”

“I wish the university had a preschool, we’ve been spoiled.”

“I’m gonna start asking around to see where other people have sent their kids. I don’t want pick up and drop off to be annoying.”

“Well, shouldn’t we look around this area? It would be better for him to meet more of the Milton kids that he’d actually end up going to school with.”

“Good point. I’ll talk to Sarah, she probably knows what preschools are good.” You look at your hands and see they’re getting pruney. “Could you hand me my towel? Think it’s time I get out.”

Harry stands up and hands you your towel. You stand and quickly cover yourself with it.

“You know, a few scars don’t scare me.”

You give him annoyed look as you step out of the tub.

“It’s not about you though. It’s about how I barely recognize my body half the time when I look into the mirror. It was easier this time around since I knew what to expect…but…still.”

You throw on a bed shirt and some shorts, hang up your towel, and crawl into bed. Harry gets in only wearing his boxers.

“I have liked just pumping instead of breastfeeding. I’m way less sore since I don’t have a little mouth nibbling on me.”

“Do you miss the bonding at all?”

“Nah, I mean, I still rub my nipple on her face to help with the acne like I did with Jack.” You giggle and roll on your side to face him. He faces you and puts his hand on your back to rub it up and down.

“I know it’s not about what I think, but you have to know I think you look incredible.”

“You also thought the same when I was as big as a house nine months pregnant.”

“I did! You were glowing, babe. You still are.” He leans in to kiss you, and gently slots a leg between yours to get comfortable.

“I haven’t been cleared by the doctor yet. It hasn’t quite been six weeks.”

“I’m not doing anything, just getting cozy. Just wanna snuggle you.” He pulls you in closer to his chest. “You have an appointment next week, right?”

“Mhm, on Wednesday. And then I’ll probably go back a month or so later for the IUD. I’m just not ready for another invasive procedure just yet.”

“We can just use condoms if you don’t feel like having it put back in.”

“But you hate using them…”

“I know, but if it makes it easier for you, I don’t mind.”

“I love you.” You snuggle into his chest and sigh.

“I love you too.”

//

The day of Jack’s party, you pulled out all the stops. It was dinosaur themed because he was very into dinosaurs right now. You put up decorations all throughout the house and in the back yard. The pool was ready to use as well. Harry made everyone a nice big breakfast, and once it was done you both creeped into Jack’s room to wake him up. You both sit on the edge of the bed while Gemma takes her phone out to film everything. You all had gone out the night before to eat, it was nice for Jack to be so excited about his Grammy and Auntie.

“Wake up, baby.” You coo as you stroke his cheek.

“Hm.” He mumbles.

“It’s your birthday, darling.” Harry says.

Jack shoots up in his bed and look at the two of you with a big smile on his face.

“I’m three?!”

“You’re three!” You both say at the same time and tackle him with hugs and kisses. His giggles fill the room and it makes you both so incredibly happy.

“Come on, I got you a new bathing suit.” You tell him and show him the new trunks that had dinosaurs on them.

“Oh, wow!” He gazes at them.

“Gotta go potty first though, son.” Harry picks him up and brings him to the hall bath.

You go into Jessica’s room where Anne was sitting with her in the big comfy chair.

“She’s absolutely precious.”

“She really is.”

“Harry made a nice breakfast, mum, let’s head downstairs.” Gemma says. “He’s just getting Jack washed up for the day.”

You all enjoy the breakfast Harry made. There was fresh fruit, pancakes, vegan bacon, and muffins. Something for everyone.

“When’s my party, Mumma?”

“In a few hours. Mimi and Grandpa are coming, and so are your other aunties and uncles. Some friends are coming too.” You smile as his face lights up. You had invited his best friend, Ryan, and his mother Lisa. “And your cousins of course. Michael and Melissa are very excited to see you.”

“Melissa’s party was fun.”

“You remember it, baby?” Anne asks.

“Mhm, we painted.” He points to the paper with splattered paint on the fridge. “It’s Buster.”

“So it is!” She beams. “It’s nice he has a cousin so close in age.”

“I know, they’ll be great friends I think. And Michael loves being the older cousin. I can’t believe my little man is six! He’s going to into the first grade in the fall.” You shake your head.

“He’ll be over here babysitting before we know it.” Harry chuckles.

“God, don’t even say that. You know my brother lets him text me sometimes. He sends me these funny videos of him dancing or just saying hi.”

“Clearly you’re his favorite.” Gemma says. “So, Jack, how do you like being a big brother so far?”

“It’s okay.” He shrugs.

“He think she’s loud and boring.” Harry says.

“Daddy!” He whines.

“Sorry, was that supposed to stay between the two of us?” He laughs.

“You think she’s boring?” You can’t help but laugh too. You look down at the baby in your arms. “Well, I suppose she is, isn’t she?”

“She just sleeps. She can’t even play.” Jack says.

“But she’ll be able to when she gets a little older. And then you can show her how to play nice with all your toys.” You explain. “Won’t that be nice?”

“How come you had a girl and not a boy, Mumma?”

You and Harry look at each other, then to Anne and Gemma who were cracking up, and then back to Jack.

“Well, buddy, Mummy’s and Daddy’s don’t get to decide.” Harry says.

“Why not?”

“It’s just how it works.” You say. “Are you sad you don’t have a little brother?”

“No, I like having a sister.” He gets up out of his seat and crawls up on you and into your lap. “She’s pretty, just boring.” He gives his sister a kiss on the nose and everyone at the table awes.

//

Your yard was full of people. Plenty of adults keeping their eyes on the kids in the pool. Jack was having a wonderful birthday. It was the first time your extended family got to meet Jessica as well. You were happy to pass her around. Anne and Gemma were big helps in keeping the food outside stocked up.

Harry tells you to sit down with Jack at the table as he comes out with the large cake. Jack blows out the candles when everyone is done singing. It was very cute. Harry cuts the cake for everyone, while you help Jack open up his various presents.

“What do we say?” You say to your son.

“Thank you everyone!”

Jack gets up and gives hugs to his family.

“I can’t believe how big he is.” Rachel says to you as she digs into her cake.

“I know! Too big if you ask me. Wouldn’t mind if he stayed like this.”

“Oh, but it’s fun to watch them grow.” Sarah says. “I love when my students come back to visit me.”

“Mumma, come swim!” Jack says to you.

“I can’t yet, honey. Why don’t you find Uncle Niall, he’ll swim with you.”

“He’s with Daddy.” He points over to Harry and Niall who were deep in conversation.

“Alright.” You squint over at the pool and see Kyle swimming with Michael. “Uncle Kyle’s in the pool with Cousin Michael, you can go in with them.”

“Okay!” He runs off.

“No jumping!” You shake your head.

“I’m glad you guys got one of your own, but you’re still welcome to come over once my school year is over.”

“Thanks, I’m sure we’ll take you up on that. He loves when Harry jumps off the diving board with him.”

“How have you been feeling?” Rachel asks. “Does it take longer to recover after a c-section.”

“Yes and no. I was in the hospital longer. I mean, it’s a major surgery. My scars are healing up nicely though. It’s just been six weeks, I have an appointment with Dr. Johnson on Wednesday. I’m hoping she’ll be able to clear me. I’m in some major need of loving with my husband.”

“I bet.” Sarah giggles. “Niall said he’ staying home the entire month of June with you?”

“Yeah, he said he wanted to be home to help more. He’s the best. He’s going to do half days after that, and then when school starts he’ll take Jessica to work with him until she can go to daycare.”

“You’re going right back in the fall?” Rachel asks.

“Yup, it’s fine though.” You shrug. “I was sort of spoiled last time. I’ve got the hang of things now.”

“Auntie Y/N.” Michael says coming up to you. “Are there any more juice boxes. There’s none in the cooler.”

“Oh! Sure, give me one second I’ll bring some out, my love.”

“Thank you.”

“Excuse me.” You say to the girls and go inside. Your phone had been sitting on the kitchen counter charging. You check and see that Detective Ruiz had called. “Shit.” You swipe your phone to call her back. “Hi Detective, I’m sorry I missed your call…my son’s having a birthday party.”

“No problem. I just wanted to let you know we got the lab results back.”

“Already?”

“We expedited things. His DNA was on there.” You take a deep breath as she continues to speak. “Thank you for bringing that in, it really helps with the case.”

“What are the next steps?”

“We may need you to come in and testify once the case is brought to court.”

“Will I need a lawyer?”

“You’ll want one, yes, just to help you. We’re hoping to get this moving along quickly. The other women have also agreed to testify. We have a strong case against him.”

“So…he would be there…in the courtroom?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“I know that it won’t be an easy thing to do.”

“I said I wanted to help the best that I can, and that’s what I intend to do.”

[peachiikawa]

Fly | Route Selected: S. Daichi

a/n: thank you all for being so patient with me. finally, here is the long awaited daichi route. hope you all enjoy!

genre: mafia au

warnings: blood, reader getting hurt, guns, violence

word count: 2.3k

Fly Masterlist

“I choose you”

Your eyes locked with daichi

And daichi stared into yours trying to figure you out

“Are you sure?”

You nodded your head and held your ground

“Im sure”

He felt his eyes soften for a moment at the determination in your eyes before hardening again

“Fine. Everyone else, go home. Youre with me then. Lets go”

Daichi called for a car and drove you home

The silence between the two of you was only filled with the soft sound of a piano playing on the radio

The ride was finally over after about twenty minutes

“I’ll come get you tomorrow morning. Youll be working as an intern now so dress accordingly”

With that he left and you felt like you could breathe again

Just what had you gotten yourself into?

As he said he was at your house in the morning in a car that looked just a tad too expensive

You gulped before taking your first step towards him

“Good morning, Daichi”

He just nodded at you as you got into the car

The drive was once again silent

You looked over at the man behind the wheel and noticed how...formal he looked

Suit, straight back, both hands on the wheel

You felt yourself naturally adjusting yourself to mirror his mannerisms

He stole some glances at you without you noticing and felt his eyes soften upon seeing how nervous you looked

As soon as you stepped into the building you could feel the professional atmosphere

The endless windows and white walls gave off a chilling feeling

You only came back to reality when Daichi gently nudged your back

“I dont have all day. Hurry up and move”

The harshness of his words were the opposite of his touch but they still hurt nonetheless

You nodded your head and kept walking, trying to keep up with his quick stride

You followed him into an office as he took a seat behind the wooden desk

“This will be brief so don’t feel the need to sit”

Your eyes followed his every move as he organized his desk that was already pretty organized with stacks of papers

Daichi went on about your duties here but you honestly werent listening

You were a bit overwhelmed from the unfamiliar building you were in that you forgot about the man in front of you

Up until your eyes landed on the nameplate that sat on his desk

Sawamura Daichi, CEO

Without even knowing it, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion

Just who did you get yourself involved with?

Daichi finally noticed that his conversation with you wasnt going anywhere

“Hey. Are you even listening to me?”

You snapped out of it and shook your head

“Im listening!”

He just sighed and repeated everything he just said again

“Whatever. Just listen because this will be the last time i say this. Youll be working here at Sawamura Inc from now on as an intern. Your fellow interns are Hinata and Kageyama so feel free to ask them questions if you have any. You can leave now. I’ll come get you at the end of the day”

You nodded your head and started your day

Kageyama helped you the most in learning the ropes, you didnt see much of hinata. it was almost as if he was avoiding you

“Ok...so these files go here?”

He nodded his head

“Yeah i think you got it down now. If you need me ill be organizing some things for suga”

The rest of the day went on slowly until finally seven oclock hit

You could hear the faint sound of footsteps approaching you

“Lets go”

Daichi wasted no time in leaving

You quickly put down the rest of the papers you needed to organize and followed him out

The next couple weeks were like clockwork

Almost exactly the same as the day before

And no matter how hard you tried to get to know the man who took you to and from work he wouldnt budge

The only thing you ever got out of him were short replies and head nods

Did he really not like you that much?

But something you noticed every morning and every evening was the light sound of a piano playing from the radio

“Do you like the piano daichi?”

You werent even sure youd get an answer out of him

But he must if he listened to it everyday

You saw his hands lightly grip the steering wheel tighter before loosening, a ghost of a smile appearing on his lips

Your eyes widened when you saw it

In your two weeks together...youd never seen him give a look like this

Like he...enjoyed life

Like he was happy

“Yeah...its okay”

But just as fast as it appeared on his face, it quickly disappeared

Who knew that the stoic man next to you could make expressions like that

Almost made your heart race

“Do you play?”

Silence fell upon the both of you before you heard him let out a sigh

“No”

And now we’re back to stage one when you finally though you were getting more than one word answers

What could you do to make him see you?

This question played in your head as you filed away some papers for Asahi with Hinata

It was the first time youd done something with him but from what youve seen kageyama just calls him an idiot all the time and hits him

Also from what youve heard hinatas been with the sawamuras for a while so maybe he has some insight

“Hey hinata, can i ask you a question?”

He kept quiet so you took that as permission

“Do you know why daichi likes listening to the piano so much?”

That caused him to stop

“If he hasnt told you then dont ask me”

Youd be lying if you said that didnt make you more intrigued so naturally you did some digging

And eventually you stumbled upon an article from no more than five years ago

It told the tale of a young piano prodigy that had chosen to study music at the university of music and performing arts in vienna

And that piano prodigy was the now the distant leader of the Karasuno Mafia

You wonder what happened to him, what the story was behind his change in career path

The next day you decided that if you wanted to learn more about him then asking the questions would help

“Good afternoon daichi!”

You smiled at him as you delivered some paperwork to him

“Morning…”

You set the small stack down on his desk in front of him

“These are the papers for the closing on the Inarizaki deal”

He picked them up and quickly skimmed it

“Okay, thank you. You may go now”

When you didnt move he looked back up

“Do you have something else for me?”

He saw the way you fidgeted with the tips of your fingers and his eyes softened for just a moment

“Would you like to have lunch with me?”

He knew that he should say no

That he shouldnt let you in

“Sure”

How harmful could one lunch possibly be

Little did daichi know he was about to be interrogated

“--no i dont know who my favorite superhero is”

This was probably the tenth question youve asked and he wished you would stop

But he didnt know how to tell you no

Not when you were asking genuine questions

He thought it was kind of nice to be talking to someone normal again

Not someone who was involved with the mafia

But someone who was just...ordinary

“Ok ok..one last question”

He smiled softly

You felt your breath hitch after him showing you that gentle smile

“Go ahead”

The way you talked to him with no filter was refreshing

So he wasnt expecting the next question really at all

“I came across an article the other day about this boy who loved playing the piano,”

Daichis heart almost stopped

“Why did you stop playing daichi?”

‘Because my father made me’

He clenched his fist, crumpling the napkin inside of it

“I just got bored of it”

His reply came out through gritted teeth and you knew he was lying

You gently laid your hand on top of his until you felt it relaxing under you

“Well, no matter the reason, I hope that someday ill be lucky enough to hear you play”

His heart melted

The thought of playing again is something hes always wanted

But his father wouldnt let him

And left a permanent reminder on him about it

“That probably wont ever happen so dont get your hopes up. Let’s get back to the office, lunch is over”

And just like that he was back to being cold towards you just when you thought you were making progress

A couple weeks go by and it seems like daichis pushed you out of his life all over again

So much so that suga was the one giving you assignments from daichi where daichi used to just tell you himself

“Hey, hinata, kageyama and y/n! Daichi wants you guys to go make some copies from the store around the corner. Printer is jammed here and we need to get those documents ASAP”

You all nodded your heads and headed out

You were really too caught up in your own thoughts to be thinking about your surroundings

Had you really crossed a line that day?

You just wanted to figure out the real daichi

Because to you, the real daichi had his walls up 24/7 but behind those walls was a gentle smile and just a guy who wanted nothing more than to just live a normal life

So you didnt notice when hinata and kageyama stopped causing you to run into their backs

“Why did you guys-”

Hinata held a protective arm out in front of you

“What are you doing here, mad dog?”

The boy you assumed was ‘mad dog’ pushed himself off of wall he was leaning against

“Boss wanted me to fetch something”

His eyes locked onto your form

“And im here to collect”

This sent chills down your back

What was he going to do for you?

Who was his boss?

Your mind was running a mile a minute

“y/n you need to run”

Hinata’s voice brought you back to reality

“What?”

Hinata’s eyes never left the man in front of him

“Kageyama and i will take care of him. You need to get back to the office. Now!”

You sprinted as soon as hinata yelled for you to leave

‘Theyll be alright, right? They handle stuff like this all the time’

But you came to an abrupt halt at the sound of a gun going off

‘Fuck my life’

You turned back around help in any way you could

Only to come upon an unconscious kageyama and bleeding hinata

“You fucking idiot! Whyd you come back?!”

Meanwhile mad dog approached you and placed his hand under your chin

“You just made my job a whole lot easier”

Before you could even scream a piece of cloth was placed over your mouth and your vision went black

“Give your boss a message for me, carrot top. Tell him that if he wants his intern back he has to come get them himself”

Hinata gritted his teeth before passing out himself

Suga found them not too long after that

And after hinata told daichi what had happened...he was livid

He was supposed to protect you

To make sure that you stayed safe

And he was too weak to do it

Too afraid of what his father would have done if he found out that he was fond of a random person they picked up from the streets that had no ties to them

Afraid of what his father would have done to you

He clenched his jaw and let out a grunt as he punched the wall next to him

But fuck that

He knew that in this moment he needed to get you back right now

The thought of you being injured due to his own incompetence scared him more than what his father might ever do to him

So he was off

“When will they wake up?”

“Theyve been out forever”

“Dude its only been like three hours of course theyre still out”

The voices around you became clear as you regained consciousness

“Oh~ looks like theyre finally awake”

“Yeah probably because you wouldnt shut up”

Standing in front of you was a group of men you had only seen in brief pictures from the reports you made for daichi

‘Seijoh’

From what you remember their boss is a major flirt and his right hand man keeps him humble

Mad dog was sitting off in the corner next to a brown haired man who just kept staring at you…’creepy’

You flinched as the one you recognized as their boss reached a hand out towards you

“Aww dont be scared! I promise i wont hurt you”

He bent down to your level with a hand on your shoulder and leaned in to the point that his breath tickled your ear

“Though im not too sure that some of the others here wont. So be good for me, okay y/n?”

You were scared out of your mind

But you were not going to let this guy get into your head

So you did what any reasonable person would do

You pulled your head back and headbutted him in the forehead

He stumbled back a bit

“Stay the fuck away from me”

Oikawa held his head and gave you a nasty glare

“Iwa take care of them”

Everyone filed out till it was just you and the spiky hair man in front of you

“Nothing against you, just doing what the boss said. Plus you could have just laid low but you had to provoke him”

Daichi wasted no time in getting to seijohs building

And as soon as oikawa heard he was in the building he sent for him

“Welcome daichi! What an unexpected surprise!”

Daichi always hated the sound of oikawas jovial voice

How fake it sounded

“Just give me y/n back”

Oikawa just shook his head 

“Never were a fan of small talk were you daichi? Okay, since youre just dying to see them ill bring them in now”

Daichi turned around and reeled at what he saw

Bruised and battered as you were set down onto the ground

“You fucking bastard”

Daichi clenched his jaw

He was at a loss of words for the sight in front of him

But he knew he had to get you out of here

So he scooped you up into his arms and headed for the door

But before leaving he stopped and spoke into his earpiece

“Get them”

And with that he left as a war ensued between the two gangs

Beep beep

The sound of your heart monitor brought you back to the land of the living

And next to you was a passed out daichi

You slowly felt around your bed before hitting the call button for your nurse

And as soon as you did daichi jumped up from his seat at the sound of footsteps approaching

You reached out and put your hand on his to get his attention and smiled at him

He sat back down and let the nurses tend to you, his gaze never leaving your body

“You should be able to leave within the next day or two. Rest up mx. l/n”

The nurse then left your room and left the two of you alone

You locked eyes with him before looking down at his hand and seeing how discolored it was

He noticed your eyes widen and tried to hide his hand once he realized what you were looking at

“Daichi! You need to take better care of yourself!”

You sat up from your bed and called a nurse to get a basic first aid kit

“Im fine y/n. You need to rest”

“Like hell youre fine! Daichi your hand is hurt. Please just let me fix it for you”

But before you could apply the bandages you hand your hand in his

“It cant be fixed y/n. This hand doesnt feel anything”

You looked up at him with confused eyes

“Its the reason i dont play anymore. My father crushed it a few years back so i wouldnt even think about playing. Said it was time i stopped playing with useless things”

The grip on your hand tightened a bit before slowly loosening

But you just gently squeezed it

“Well, even if your hand is ‘useless’ id still feel better if youd let me wrap it. Your hand is still a part of you and it can still bring so much joy into your life as well as those around you. You just have to have the courage to seize what you want.”

‘The courage to seize what I want’

Your words played out in his head over and over again

He made a promise to himself that day

That one day, you two would be happily together

No matter how hard this path may be

He was going to seize his happiness

Tag List:

@the-ironic-me​ @multisun​ @my-mass-hysteria​ @sugawsites @youbloodylegendyoudidit @sinthxy​ @celamoon​ @tinymouth @fait-de-fleurs​ @tsukifanbase​ @69owo​ @laglyssage​ @hearteyeskags​ @ntngann​ @shnnn​ @fukuro-dani-ace​

[broccoliboix5peepeeman]

Req: Shōto moves from the big city to a small town where he meets & befriended by a local boy, Izuku. Together they experience memorable summer filled with beach outings, bike ridings, festivals & fireworks. But a dark secret about Shōto's past & true identity threatens to destroy their friendship.

Thank you for the prompt! 😊

When Shoto first moved to Izumo, he didn’t expect his life to change forever…

Well, that was a slight lie - after all, the entire reason he had moved away from his home in Tokyo was to get away from the stifling environment and constant pressure his father put on him. He had even tried to mask his identity, going by Shoto unless it was for important documents, in which case he'd use his mother's maiden name; he had also dyed his hair a rose pink to get rid of the red and white that stood out like a sore thumb. When he moved to his new home though, he had expected to live out his life quietly and alone, knowing that it was better than the alternative.

He changed his mind.

When Shoto moved to Izumo, he didn’t expect his life to change for the better. He didn’t expect to meet a local boy with fluffy green curls, constellations of freckles dusting his cheeks and a shining smile that instantly made him feel weak at the knees.

Midoriya Izuku.

Their meeting had been an accident - one that shouldn’t have happened - but Shoto was so glad that it did. He had been returning from the shops, both hands full of groceries, when he had spotted him running towards him.

His green hair bounced with each step and a bright smile was plastered to his face that was filled with mischief. As he ran past Shoto, he winked. Before he could spontaneously combust in response though, someone suddenly shouted and Shoto turned his attention to another boy, who seemed to be chasing after the first. His face was covered in mud.

'Damn, Deku! I'll kill you!' He roared. 'Get back here!'

At that moment, Shoto made a decision. He shouldn't meddle, he knew that - he didn't know the context behind this - but something told him to just go for it. Was it because the first boy had winked at him and was actually quite cute? Maybe… But he wasn't about to admit that.

As the angry blonde ran past him, Shoto timed it just right; he stuck his foot out to the side for the boy to trip over.

The instant he went flying, feet completely leaving the ground, Shoto sidestepped into a narrow alleyway to avoid being caught. He never saw the aftermath of his… Intervention, deciding to remain in his hiding spot for at least five minutes before venturing back out onto the sidewalk.

By the time Shoto made it back home to his small cottage, the ice cream he had bought had half melted, but he had no regrets. 

He had just finished putting the shopping away when there was a knock on the door, which turned out to be none other than the boy who had winked at him earlier. His hair was slightly damp with sweat and his face was flushed.

'Hi!' The boy began. 'I'm Midoriya Izuku! You might not remember but before-'

'No, no. I remember quite vividly.' Shoto interrupted, leaning against the door frame. 'I'm Shoto.'

'Shoto…' Midoriya spoke softly, before a grin made its way onto his face. 'It's nice to meet you! I just wanted to say thank you for earlier. Kacchan can be a dick sometimes. He said something about my mum's weight so I put a spider down the back of his shirt and shoved some mud in his face so I could get a head start. That's why he was chasing me. I don't know what would've happened if he had caught up to me so yeah… Thank you.'

Shoto blinked a few times as he processed all of that - Midoriya could speak rather quickly.

'It's no problem.' He eventually shrugged. 'It was quite entertaining.'

'I know right?!' Midoriya exclaimed with a laugh. 'I looked over my shoulder just as he flew like 3 metres. I only knew it was you because you mysteriously disappeared before he could spot you.'

Shoto allowed himself a small smile as he watched Midoriya wipe away a stray tear.

'Well, from what you've told me, it sounds like he deserved it.'

Midoriya nodded slightly, before going silent. Shoto watched as he seemed to consider his next words, rubbing the back of his neck and shuffling on his feet.

'I haven't seen you around before. Are you new to Izumo?' When Shoto nodded, he continued. 'Well, if you want, I could give you a tour? I know we don't know each other that well and you're probably busy, but… Yeah, it's up to you though! I'd totally understand if-'

'I'd love to.' Shoto smiled earnestly. 'Give me five minutes and I'll be good to go.'

'Awesome!'

The more they got to know each other, the more he came to realise just how kind and brave Izuku was, with his own fair share of scars and the inability to leave Shoto alone even if he tried. Every day held an adventure and Shoto found himself enjoying every moment of it.

Ever since that day, the two of them had been joined at the hip. Initially, Shoto had been reluctant to allow a stranger into his life, never having much luck with friends due to who his father was. It was different now though. Not only had he forsaken his old life and now lived in a place where no one knew him, but the friend in question was Midoriya Izuku, who seemed to slot himself into Shoto's life so easily, it was like he had always been there.

His once empty house was now filled with memories. Photos of him and Izuku were scattered across the walls, commemorating their various hiking conquests, cycle marathons and charity runs that Izuku had convinced Shoto to take part in. That wasn't all though, some pictures were more casual, like the time they went to that bubble tea shop that also sold bubble slush that Shoto had quickly become addicted to, or the time they were chilling at Izuku's house and his mum, Inko, had wrapped him in a tight hug that ended up with Shoto crying, or even when they went to that summer festival wearing matching kimonos and danced together.

Life was impossibly good and Shoto loved it. When he was with Izuku, he was truly happy. He couldn't picture living without him.

As the months came and went though, Shoto knew it wouldn't last. He knew eventually he'd have to tell Izuku the truth about who he was and potentially face losing him forever.

It was a terrifying thought, but his friend deserved to know. He just hoped Izuku could one day forgive him.

☀️🌙

'It's so hoooot!' Izuku moaned, collapsing onto their shared beach towel and spreading himself out along the material. The two of them had decided to spend their Sunday at the beach, before Izuku started his new job the next day.

When Shoto said nothing as he calmly sat down next to him, Izuku poked an eye open to look at him expectantly. 'I said, it's hot, Sho-chan!'

'Is it really?' He deadpanned. 'I couldn't tell.'

'I hate you.' Izuku pouted.

'You love me and you know it.' Shoto replied easily, albeit he chewed on the inside of his cheek as he waited for his best friend's response.

'Hmmm.' Izuku huffed, before both of his eyes shot open and he smiled brightly at him. 'I guess I do.'

Shoto felt his face flush terribly at that, but before he could overthink it, Izuku suddenly jumped up and removed his top. He tried not to stare as his friend's surprisingly muscular torso was exposed, and instead focused on an interesting shell next to him.

'Sho-chaaaaaan!' He looked up to find Izuku staring at him, a bottle of sun cream in his hand. 'Can you rub my back, pretty please?'

'So needy.' He quipped, holding out his hand. Their fingers brushed as Izuku passed him the lotion, then his friend moved to sit with his back to him.

Shoto's hands shook slightly as he popped open the cap and squirted some onto his palm, before reaching out to rub it onto a freckled back. Izuku's skin was surprisingly soft, even with the scars that were scattered across his body. The warmth his friend radiated was also quite overwhelming, but Shoto wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not - after all, he was feeling rather flustered himself.

When he eventually finished, he tapped his shoulder and Izuku shuffled around to look at him.

'Your turn!' He announced, taking the sun cream from Shoto.

'You haven't done your face and chest yet though.'

'You're hopeless, Sho-chan.' Izuku sighed, before patting him on the head affectionately. 'But it's okay. I forgive you.'

Shoto didn't know what he meant by that, so he just shrugged and removed his top.

☀️🌙

'Izuku.' Shoto finally muttered, clutching his towel close to his chest. They had just been for a swim in the sea, hoping it would cool them down slightly. When he had initially suggested the idea, Izuku had dived into the water straight away, and when he eventually resurfaced, he had called out to Shoto, a bright smile on his face, before splashing him playfully. The salt water had stung his eyes a little, but Shoto had still smiled back and matched Izuku's laughter.

Now though, smiling was the last thing he wanted to do. After all, he had decided to finally tell the truth. He couldn't keep going on like this, enjoying Izuku's friendship whilst hiding who he was. It wasn't fair on his friend.

'Yeah?' Izuku finished drying his hair and looked at him curiously. When he noticed Shoto's worried expression, he stepped forwards and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. 'You wanna sit down?'

Shoto swallowed heavily and nodded. He allowed himself to be guided to the beach towel by his friend and they sat down facing each other.

'Okay…' Shoto whispered, more to himself, before exhaling heavily. 'Izuku, I want to start by saying that you mean so much to me and that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me.'

'Nawww, Shoto-kun!'

'That being said,' He continued before he could get distracted. 'I haven't been completely honest with you.'

When Izuku tilted his head to the side in question, Shoto sighed. No point beating around the bush. 'My real name is Todoroki Shoto. My dad is Todoroki Enji, you might know of him, he's that dickhead politician that-'

'Yeah, I know about him' Izuku laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. 'My dad used to be a supporter of his policies, not that he's ever been around to realise that his son is part of one of the communities he actively hates on.'

'Sorry about that.' Shoto muttered. 'For what it's worth, I don't agree with him. When he found out I was…' Bite the bullet, Izuku won’t care. 'When he found out I was gay, he wasn't too pleased.'

'Shoto-'

'It's fine, Izuku. I've always hated him.' He shook his head. 'My old man is the reason I moved here. I had to escape while I could. I've been using my mother's maiden name and I dyed my hair so no one would catch on. I wanted to get as far away as possible and make a life here, before eventually bringing my mother here to live with me. The bastard put her in a hospital, but me and my siblings have been working to get her discharged, and we reckon she'd be happier in a place like this.'

He paused for a moment, considering his next words as he bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut. 'I couldn't keep lying to you, Izuku. You're my best friend and I just… I'm sorry, I hope you can one day forgive me.'

Silence fell over them then, but Shoto didn't dare open his eyes. He didn't want to see the look of betrayal in Izuku's eyes, as selfish as it may be. He couldn't bear the idea of looking up to find his best friend gone.

Suddenly, a warm hand came to rest over Shoto's own trembling ones, soft to the touch and grounding him enough that he could look up to meet shining eyes.

'There's nothing to forgive.' Izuku almost whispered, sincerity in his voice that was so undeniably Izuku that Shoto wondered how he could ever doubt him. A reassuring smile graced his face. 'You're not your father, Shoto-kun. He's a cruel man, while you're nothing but kind. I understand why you kept your name a secret, I just hope that the Shoto I had the pleasure of getting to know was the real Shoto.'

'It was.' He let out a bashful smile when Izuku's own only grew. 'With you, I am myself entirely.'

'Then I'm glad.' A calloused hand squeezed Shoto's own affectionately. 'Because you also mean the world to me and to lose you would be… I couldn't-’ He sighed. ‘It would be heartbreaking.'

'I don't deserve you.' Shoto shook his head with disbelief. Before he could stop himself, he continued. 'I have something else to admit.'

'Your sister's not the prime minister, is she?' Izuku giggled.

'No… She's a teacher?' Shoto tilted his head to the side, confused.

'I'm just kidding, babes. Go on.' His friend playfully shoved him, and Shoto tried not to think too hard about being called "babes", even if it was a jibe.

'Okay, so remember how I said you're the best thing that could ever happen to me?' He began, focusing on Izuku's hand still covering his own. 'Well, it's more than that. I've never felt this way about anyone before, but when I'm with you, I never want it to end. You've made me smile more than I have in years, and every time you smile, life seems a little brighter by it. You're beautiful, both inside and out, and I can't imagine a life without you.'

He looked up to find Izuku staring at him, tears streaming down his face as he rubbed circles into Shoto's hand. A few months ago, he would've been worried at having made his friend cry, but now he knew better. Crying was a good thing with Izuku.

He exhaled shakily. 'I- I like you, Izuku. So, so much.'

Before he could comprehend what was happening, his friend suddenly leapt forward, wrapping his arms around Shoto's shoulders and tackling him to the ground. His back hit the sand with a muffled thud, but he hardly cared, returning the hug as Izuku nuzzled into his neck.

'I like you too!' He mumbled, tears dampening Shoto's skin. 'We'll be okay, promise. Todoroki won't be able to touch you here. I won't let him.'

'Izuku…' Shoto's throat felt tight as he rested his head back, not caring about the grains of sand burrowing into his hair. 'This can't be real.'

'Why not?'

'Because you're perfect.' His vision blurred and Shoto shut his eyes to prevent any tears from falling. 'This can't be real.'

'Is it real if I do this?' Izuku lifted his head up to look at him, before bringing his hand forwards and pressing his fingertip to Shoto's nose. 'Boop.'

Shoto crossed his eyes to follow the digit, eliciting an amused giggle from Izuku that was surprisingly contagious.

'That helps thank you.' Shoto laughed, his nose feeling strange as it was squished.

'Hmmm, I'm glad.' Izuku whispered, finally removing his finger to cup Shoto's cheek instead. The two stared at each other and Shoto tried to commit every feature to memory, from the spots of emerald in his verdant irises to the way the corners of his eyes crinkled with mirth.

He watched as a tongue darted out of Izuku's mouth to lick the bottom of his plump albeit slightly chapped lips. 'What about if I do this?'

Izuku leaned forward then and captured Shoto's lips in a quick kiss. He gasped upon the contact, and when Izuku pulled away he found himself chasing the feeling needily.

Izuku's cheeks were dusted pink and he sat up. 'Sorry, I should've asked first- Umph!'

Shoto sat up enough to link his arms back around Izuku's waist and pulled him down for another kiss. It was awkward - Shoto had no idea what he was doing and he assumed his friend didn't either. It was okay though, they could learn together.

'Izuku.' Shoto murmured against his mouth. 'I really am glad I met you, and I'm sorry for lying.'

Izuku rubbed their noses together before pressing a quick peck to his lips.

'It's okay really.' He whispered. 'I trust you.'

They spent the rest of the afternoon curled up on that beach towel together, and when they arrived at the Midoriya household for dinner that evening, holding hands, Inko was nothing but delighted.

Yes, Shoto had moved to Izumo to escape, but he hadn’t expected to love life quite as much as he did right now.