#or last month my boy was so worried for the summoner

[oh-cool-a-burning-sword]

in light of the new FB event:

[missrosegold]

I've got a blood trail red in the blue

Synopsis: Vampire!AU You moved to the quiet, costal town to escape from your ex, only to find yourself entangled with a man with fiery blue eyes, and a grin that’s slightly too sharp.

He may or may not be an immortal gang leader to a bunch of other blood-sucking degenerates, but you’ll worry about that later.

Word count: 20k

Pairing: Dabi x Reader (fem!reader)

Warnings: Mentions of murder, Blood and gore, Smut, Mentioned past toxic relationships, Smoking, Smut and additional warnings listed below so Minors or Ageless blogs please DNI. This is rated 18+

Playlist: Take Me To The Sun - D4VD + The Summoning (the ending. if you know, you know) - Sleep Token

For @kimkaelyn Thank you for all of the encouragement you’ve shown me when I needed it most – this one’s for you. Also, thank you for making this beautiful banner for me!! It looks so good!!

Title is from The Summoning by Sleep Token

Inspired by The Lost boys

Happy Birthday Dabi - I'm so pleased I was able to finish this for his birthday. He deserves all good things.

**You can read it on A03 here if the formatting on Tumblr is throwing you off! I cross-post all my works to my A03 account!

Tagging: @vambirezz @dabisqueen @little-red-insomniac @sunaraii @touyasprettydoll @touyas-back-lover @cloudsz04 @faetheral @impulsivethoughtsat2am @whitemochabunnie

You sigh loudly as you move the last box of your things into your new bedroom.

Dusting off your hands, you stand up and look around the small room, giving it an approving once over, before heading out into the living room to continue putting the rest of your things away in your new apartment.

Opting to take a quick break, you crack open the sliding glass doors leading out onto your small patio and step outside into the evening air. Closing your eyes, you breathe in the balmy, salt laced air, as a cool breeze combs through your hair, sending pleasant chills down your spine. You stay like that for a moment, before the sound of seagulls cawing overhead draws your attention to the surrounding view.

The sight of the small costal town spread out before your balcony greets you, as you look outward. You’d just moved to the town of Ashikita a few days ago, leaving your life in the busy city of Tokyo behind you. You scowl even thinking about the place.

You’d loved your life in Tokyo. It was the person you shared your life with there you’d hated.

You purse your lips as your thoughts trail back to your ex-boyfriend, despite your best efforts. He was the sole reason you’d moved all the way out to this small town in the first place. Your relationship had been on a downwards spiral for a while, and had gradually become unhealthier the longer you’d stayed with him. He had become progressively more controlling and manipulative whenever you’d tried to leave your shared apartment for anything else aside for work, and his behavior had only become worse by the day.

Eventually, things came to a boiling point when he decided to try and lock you in the bathroom when you’d told him that you were going out to see a friend, and that had been your breaking point. You had packed your things up when he’d left to go to work, and that had been that. You had taken up residence at your parent’s place for a few months while you’d searched for a new apartment and a new job, far away from your ex’s grasp, all the while dodging his incessant calling, before blocking him all together.

You had settled in Ashikita, a small costal town in Kyushu, known for its attractive beaches and coastlines. It was also quiet during the off season, deeming it the perfect place for someone who was trying to escape from the city.

Perfect for someone who didn’t wish to be found.

You allow your gaze to sweep through the sights spread out below your balcony. Your apartment was located near the coastline, and had a nice view of the nearby beach and wooden boardwalk that wrapped around it, much to your inner delight. The twinkling of lights from the few carnival rides you can see on the old wooden platform catches your attention, and you can’t help but smile to yourself as you recall old childhood memories of when your parents used to take you to the small country fair that used to come by your hometown in the summer.

You sigh as the multicolored lights gradually become brighter as the sun slowly sinks behind the watery horizon in the distance. Glancing back into your dark apartment, you decided to go down to check out the boardwalk after night falls – not wanting to spend more time in your lonely apartment then necessary.

You slowly slink back inside, and force yourself to continue to unpacking as the outside becomes darker. Once your apartment looks somewhat like your own space, you quickly change into something a little warmer to explore the boardwalk, before making your way out of your apartment.

The boardwalk, as you discover, is only a ten-minute walk away from your building, and you use the time to lightly explore the surrounding area as you make your way towards the beach. The distant crashing of the ocean waves against the shore makes your heart pound excitedly in your chest, and the sounds of the boardwalk rides echoes through the air around you, only adding to your growing excitement.

You make your way onto the old wooden boardwalk and look around at the rides and other various vendors set up on both sides of the platform. You slowly make your way around the brightly lit area with the crowds of other people taking in the sights and sounds like you, before a gentle musical chime accompanied by soft twinkling lights in the coroner of your eye catches your attention.

Turning to your left, you gasp in delight as you find yourself looking at a vintage merry go round. It’s old, older than you by probably several decades, but it’s no less charming than it would’ve been when it was brand new. You can’t remember the last time you’ve been on one, and before you can think about what you’re doing, you’re in the short line to buy a ticket.

The teen running the ride looks entirely uninterested as he takes your money before passing you a ticket and waving you on. You slowly make your way around the merry go round, taking in all of the old wooden animals – most of their paint old and dull – before settling on a sleek black horse wearing a blue saddle and bridle.

Not long after choosing your mount, the voice of the teen operating the ride crackles to life over the loud speaker and announces the ride was starting, before the squealing of gears and the hum of hidden electronics signals the start of the ride. You grip the pole as your horse slowly moves up and down, giggling in spite of yourself.

The world spins around you slowly and you lose yourself in the tinny sounds of music blaring out of the ancient speakers scattered around the ride. As you glance out at the boardwalk outside of the merry go round, something catches your attention.

No, not something, someone.

You catch a fleeting glimpse of a tall man dressed in various shades of dark blue and black, standing just outside of the fence blocking off the ride. You have to wait for the ride to do another full circle before you see him again, this time in clearer detail.

He’s standing still as a statue, allowing you to get a better look at him as you come around once again. He’s imposing looking, with his dark attire, save for a white shirt draped loosely around his gangly frame. He’s wearing a long dark blue duster and stitched pants, tucked into black combat boots – a strange choice of clothing considering the warm weather. He’s tall and lean, but you can tell he’s well-built underneath the loose clothes he wears; but his unique choice of clothing isn’t what draws your attention to him.

He is without a doubt, one of the most handsome men you’ve ever seen.

His spiky black hair is as dark as night, and his skin is pale and flawless, drawing attention to his high cheekbones but you notice a slight roundness to his cheeks, giving a gentle softness to his otherwise edgy features.

As you pass him once more, you lock eyes with the intriguing stranger and your breath hitches in your throat. His eyes are as blue as the surrounding ocean. You don’t think you’ve ever seen any one with eyes that particular shade of blue before.

As you slowly pass him again, he smirks at you, and you feel your heart flutter in your chest involuntarily.

The crackling sounds from the old loudspeakers snap you out of your trance as the teen from before announces the ride was over, and to leave at the nearest exit point. You slide off your horse and make your way to the exit, speed walking back to where you first saw the dark-haired man, only to find he’d seemingly vanished.

You look around the area, confused as to how he could’ve disappeared so fast, only to hear deep laughter echoing a little further down the boardwalk. You turn in the direction of the laughter, only to see the dark-haired man standing in the middle of a group of four other men.

They’re an interesting looking group if you’ve ever seen one: a silvery, white-haired man with vibrant red eyes is standing next to your handsome stranger, snickering at something he said, drawing your attention to the odd amount of scarring under his eyes and around his mouth. Beside him, a man with what you can only assume is box-dyed pink hair, dressed in a black hoodie is leaning slightly on him, listening intently to what he’s saying. On the other side of the ravenette; a taller, slightly older looking blonde-haired man with a long scar running down his forehead, is smoking a cigarette, and beside him, a well-dressed brunette who looked to be about the same age as his scarred companion, is fixing his tie, smiling and nodding with whatever was being discussed.

You smile to yourself as you take in the group. As much as you would’ve liked to talk to the dark-haired man, you didn’t want to interrupt his time with his friends. You turn around, ready to make your leave, only to feel a sudden weight draped around your shoulders. Startled, you whirl around only to find yourself staring up into the deep blue eyes of handsome stranger from before.

Now that he’s up close and personal, you find yourself unable to look away from the unique blue of his eyes. There’s something about them that has you completely entranced, and suddenly, the rest of your surroundings seem to fade away until it’s just you and him. You’re stuck in his orbit and he’s pulling you in simply by looking at you, pinning you in place where you stand. The stranger suddenly blinks, and just like that; he releases you from whatever hold he had you in, abruptly snapping you back to reality.

You don’t even have time to wonder how the hell he was able to catch up to you so fast, before you feel your throat dry up and close up involuntarily as he shoots you a dark smirk.

“’Sup sweetheart?”

His deep voice startles you. It’s smooth, with a slight rasp to it, sounding like he’d smoked recently. He’s warm as well – it’s almost shocking how hot he is, as you feel the heat from his body leaching into your side through the barrier your clothes provide.

You struggle to come up with a response to his greeting, and you can tell by the way his grin grows slightly, he enjoys the effect he has on you. He squeezes your shoulders again, almost teasingly.

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you’re getting all shy on me now? I saw you checking me out on the merry go round. Thought you wanted to say hello.”

“You saw that?” you ask before you can stop yourself, fighting to keep the flush you feel creeping up your neck under control, as the man throws his head back and laughs, allowing you to catch sight of clean white teeth that seemed slightly sharper than the average person’s.

“Yeah, I saw. Gotta say, I’m flattered. Haven’t seen a cute thing like you around here for a while. You new here?”

“I… Yeah.” You finally manage to sputter out, “I just moved here.” causing him to grin again.

“Yeah? Where are you from?”

“Tokyo. I got a new job down here. It’s a lot different than the city. Nice though.”

The dark-haired man nodded. “I bet. Why did you move here? This isn’t exactly a major city. I’m surprised you’d want to come here of all places.”

You freeze. Memories of your ex come flooding back, and you chew on your lip as you struggle to figure out what to tell the handsome man. You didn’t want to divulge your shitty dating history to a total stranger, when you yourself were trying to move on. Thankfully, the longer you remain silent, the more the grin seemed to slide off his lips, seemingly understanding what you were thinking, without you having to say a word.

“Someone there made you want to leave?”

You nod soundlessly, causing the man to kiss the back of his teeth.

“Well, that’s a shame. Dunno who the jackass is who made you feel the need to come to a remote shithole like this, but fuck ‘em.”

His brunt comment makes you snort in spite of yourself. You turn in his hold so you’re facing him more directly, offering him a half smile. “I don’t even know your name. What is it?”

The man grins salaciously at you as he stoops down to your level. “Dabi. And you, gorgeous?”

You know there’s not a chance in hell that’s his real name, but you decide not to press him on it. Maybe you’ll ask him about it later, if you ever run into him again.

You tell him your name, and he straightens back up, rolling your name off his tongue, causing you to flush gently under the intensity of his piercing blue gaze, He jerks his thumb back at the group of young men behind him. “The guys and I were just hanging around the boardwalk. Wanna walk with me pretty girl?”

You look over his shoulder to see the other four men staring you down intently. There something about the way they’re looking at you that makes you uneasy, but you can’t place what about it makes you uncomfortable. Instead, you smile up at him and shake your head.

“That’s okay, I don’t want to interrupt your time with your friends. I just wanted to explore a little bit. I’m still unpacking my apartment, so I should probably get back to doing that.”

“You wouldn’t be intruding.” Dabi sends you another grin, teeth glinting like knives in the carnival lights. “I’m sure you’d be better company then those jokers always.”

“I’m good.” You tell him, gently removing his arm from around your shoulders, watching as his smirk falls slightly at your gesture. “Maybe next time, if you’re around.”

“My boys and I live close to the area. I’m sure we’ll meet up at some point.” Dabi takes a step back from you, shoving his hands into his pockets, and sends you another smoldering grin that makes your heart speed up to dangerous levels.

“See you later sweetheart.”

“Bye.” You tell him with a timid wave, watching as he sends you a knowing wink, before turning on his heel and making his way back to his friends, who are already at his throat.

“What the hell was that, Dabi? Thought you were going to bring her back for sure.”

“Dude, I can’t believe you didn’t take her out. You always manage to pull—”

“Shut the hell up you psychos.”

Your roll your eyes as at their conversation as you shift your purse on your shoulder and walk in the opposite direction, away from the interesting group and back towards your apartment. The sound of the roaring ocean overtakes the sounds of the boardwalk as you make the trek back to your apartment alone.

You wake up the next morning to the sound of your phone alarm going off.

You get up with a groan, and slowly begin your morning routine. You shuffle around your apartment as you get ready to start your new office job. You pack your lunch with what meager items you have in your fridge, before heading downstairs to where your car is parked. Hopping in, you quickly plug the coordinates into your car’s nav system, and make the twenty-minute drive to your new office.

 It’s small building, and your job is an entrée level position, but it pays decently well and is still more than enough to cover your living expenses – it’s part of the reason you took the job in the first place, since you’ll have to pay the entirety of your rent by yourself now.

Still, you’d much rather struggle by yourself then crawl back to your ex.

You day is uneventful, and you spend the majority of your day filling out new employee paperwork and getting to know the rest of your new colleagues. They’re nice and seemingly keep mostly to themselves, something you’re not used to after working in Tokyo for the last several years.

Still though, you can’t complain. Honestly, you think it might be good to keep your head down for a while as you get settled in. There’d be plenty of time to get to know the rest of your new coworkers later.

Your day passes quickly, and before you know it, you’re pulling into your parking space at your apartment building. Soon enough, you find yourself shutting the door to your apartment with a sigh as you kick your shoes off, before heading into your bedroom to change out of your work clothes and into something more comfortable.

As you make your way back out into your small living room, you’re hit with how bland your new apartment looks in comparison to your old one, and suddenly you don’t want to be in your tiny apartment. You glance out the living room window that’s pointed towards the beach and you know where you want to go.

Grabbing your keys, you find yourself making the short walk to the beach as the sun sinks lower in the sky, casting golden reflections on the water’s choppy service. You spend an hour on the beach, relaxing and breathing in the salty air, before getting up and making your way over to the boardwalk where several food vendors are setting up.

After paying for some cotton candy, you walk around the darkening boardwalk, nibbling mindlessly on your food as you explore several areas you hadn’t been able to look at the night before. As the numerous strings of fairy lights decorating the rides gradually get brighter as the sky grows darker, you decide you head back to your apartment before it get’s too late.

Before you can turn around to make your way back to your home, you feel a presence behind you and a sudden heat washes over you.

“Didn’t expect to see you back here so soon sweetheart.”

You whirl around at the familiar voice, only to see the dark-haired man from the night before standing behind you with a sharp grin. You note he’s wearing the same clothes from the night before, but he’s switched out his long duster for a shorter leather jacket with a ripped collar, adding to his intrigue.

“Oh hey! Dabi, right?” you ask him, prompting him to nod with a wicked smirk.

“Sounds nice, coming from you.”

You roll your eyes at his flirtatious comment, instead asking what you wanted to ask him last night. “That’s not your real name, is it?”

Dabi’s smirk only grows wider at your question, his bright blue eyes seemingly growing brighter. “No.”

“You ever going to tell me what it is?”

The dark-haired man clicks his tongue against his teeth. “Maybe later, if you stick around long enough.”

You shrug, not seeing any point in pushing it further. “Do you live around here?”

Dabi nods after a moment. “Yeah, I rent a place near here with a few guys. They’re tolerable.”

“Oh, your friends from last night?” you ask, thinking back to the group of men with him last night. You can’t help but grin as the man’s handsome face twists into a grimace at your comment.

“Wouldn’t go as far as to call them my friends, but we’ll go with that.” His dry response causes you to laugh.

“So, you’re more of a lone wolf, huh?”

Dabi snorts, the hint of a smile gracing his lips. “Absolutely. Up until those idiots wormed their way into my life years ago, I was fine with being on my own.”

You laugh at his comment before asking: “Have you lived here long?”

At your question, Dabi seems to pause. You watch as he chews on his bottom lip before carefully responding.

“I’ve been here a while, yeah.”

You nod, “Well, it seems nice here from what I’ve seen so far. It’s a lot different from Tokyo, but in a good way, I think.”

Dabi snorts, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looks away from you. “If you’re saying that, then you clearly don’t know what actually goes on around here.”

You frown at his cryptic reply, not sure how to feel about what he’s telling you. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Dabi only gestures for you to follow him, and you do without much resistance. He ends up taking you further down the boardwalk to a spot you hadn’t yet been to, and stops in front of a large bulletin board plastered with several layers of white filers.

He taps the board. “Welcome to the missing person’s capitol of Japan.” He tells you flatly, allowing you to get a closer look at the papers rustling in the breeze. 

You feel your heart sink into your stomach as you take in the layers upon layers of printed paper faces and their basic information printed out under them. From what you can see, some of the missing person fliers are months old, and others are as recent as a week ago. The missing people seem to be of every age and ethnicity, but the number of people plastered on the bulletin board is shocking.  

You turn to Dabi, flabbergasted. “What the hell is this?”

Dabi shrugs nonchalantly. “An open secret.”

“I checked out the area before I moved here. All the websites I looked at painted this place as quiet and safe. I never saw anything like this.” You protested, causing the dark-haired man to nod.

“That’s because the authorities do whatever they can to cover it up. This has been going on for a long time. Years, honestly. These are the most recent ones.”

“The most recent?!”

“Like I said, years, babe. Didn’t you ever wonder why the rent around here was so cheap?”

“I—well, I mean, yeah, but—” You run a hand through your hair nervously. “I came here to escape from the chaos – not get involved in a different kind.”

Dabi pulls out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and puts one in his mouth, but doesn’t light it, instead opting to nudge your shoulder gently. “You’ll be fine during the day. No one’s going to steal you away sweetheart. It’s night time you have to be worried about. Just keep your head down and don’t go looking for trouble, you’ll be fine.”

You hum in response, but you must not look very convinced, because he sighs around his cigarette, taking it out of his mouth and flicking it into a nearby trashcan. “Tell you what; how about I walk you back to your building. Will that make you feel better?”

“I don’t want to inconvenience you—”

“You’re not.” Dabi interrupts you as he brushes past you gently, his abnormally warm fingers ghost the skin of your arm as he passes you. “Come on. I’ll take you back home. Can’t have someone snatching you away now, can we?”

He winks at you, laughing lightly as your face flushes against your will, yet you find yourself tailing after him, leading him back to your apartment. Normally you’d be very against allowing a near perfect stranger to know where you live, but the news of the missing people has shaken you more then you’d like to admit, and right now having some extra company doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

You walk slowly back to your apartment side by side with him, and in that time, you end up talking about anything and everything. Conversation seems to come naturally with him, and your guard slowly drops. The more you talk to him, the more he seems to loosen up in turn, though he keeps a polite distance when you try and find out more about him, instead, re-directing the conversation back to you.

“So, you never told me why you left Tokyo.” he drawls, heavily lidded eyes finding your own. “This isn’t exactly near there. I’m just trying to understand why you’d wanna leave your family behind to come here. You don’t strike me as the type who likes being alone for long periods of time.”

You stop short and mull over his question in your head. As much as you didn’t want to get into it, the raven-haired man was the closest thing you had to a friend here, and if you continued talking to him as you were, the question was bound to come up eventually. Instead, you exhale loudly through your nose before answering.

“Your original guess wasn’t far off.” You admit quietly, watching as his dark brows rise slightly at your subdued response.

You elaborate. “I left Tokyo to escape from my ex. The relationship had been bad for a while, and I should’ve left sooner then I did, but it was really hard. He was so possessive at the end, I felt like I was suffocating. It never got physical between us, but it probably would’ve if I stayed longer.”

You look up at your companion, only to see that his normally bright eyes are dark, and there’s a prominent tick in his jaw that hadn’t been there earlier. Dabi catches you staring at him, and sighs.

“Does he know where you are?” You shake your head.

“Not that I know of. I didn’t tell many people I was moving here aside from my parents. Most of my friends know I moved, but don’t know where to. I wanted to keep it quiet since he’s still trying to find ways to contact me. I don’t want him knowing where I am.”

Dabi hums in agreement as you approach your building. “So, you don’t have any friends out here, huh?”

You shake your head as you approach the main entrance. “I’m all by myself.”

You both stop a few feet from the door, and to your surprise (and relief), Dabi makes no move to invite himself in. You were worried he’d insist on walking you to your actual apartment, and as handsome as he was; you weren’t sure you wanted him knowing what apartment was yours… yet.

You’re just about to bid him goodnight before he suddenly speaks up, catching you off guard.

“What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“No plans as far as I know. Just working during the day. I should be free past six. Why?” You sputter, not expecting him to ask.

Dabi shrugs, sending you a relaxed grin, and once again you note how his teeth are oddly sharp. “It’s Friday night. If you’re not busy and you want to make some new friends, the guys I room with are having a night in. If you want to join, you can. Our place isn’t far from here.”

You’re slightly shocked at his offer. He doesn’t seem like the type who enjoys more people hanging around him then necessary, but then again, you’ve been wrong about people before, and now that he’s offered, he’s right: you don’t have any friends out here, and you are becoming lonely. Maybe meeting some new people wouldn’t be a terrible thing.

Before you can think about it any longer, you hear yourself agreeing. “Sure, that sounds great.”

Dabi smirks at you, broadcasting his pearly canines. “Excellent. I’ll let them know you’re coming. I’ll come pick you up back here when the sun drops. My place is about twenty minutes by car.”

You nod with a small smile. “That sounds good. Thanks again for walking me back Dabi.”

He only waves you off. “It’s nothing, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, bye.” You tell him as you open the door to your building, watching as he shoves his hands back into his jacket pockets and heads back in the direction of the boardwalk without another word. You watch him leave until he’s all but swallowed up by the surrounding darkness, before smiling to yourself and heading inside.

Dabi sinks his fangs into the man’s neck faster than he can scream for help. He holds him locked in a death embrace until the man’s frantic thrashing grows weaker, before completely stilling as his body grows limp in his hold.

It’s only when the man’s colour pallet has gone a deathly white does Dabi finally release his grip on the man, letting him collapse onto the sandy ground underneath the boardwalk. He wipes his bloodied mouth on the back of his sleeve with a grimace as he stares down at his victim.

Sour. Too sour for his liking. Clearly the man wasn’t in the best health before he got his hands on him, but beggers couldn’t be choosers, and he was hungry.

That’s the biggest downside to being what he is: the insatiable thirst for blood couldn’t be ignored for long. He would know. He’s tried to fight against his unsavory appetite in the past, but the end results are always the same, and he not about to starve just so a few lost souls could be spared. He’s no saint – in fact, he’s damn near the opposite of one.

Vampire.

The title is branded into him, even if only he can see it. He has to feed regularly in order to keep his more monstrous tendencies at bay, but he can go a few days without a meal. Any longer than that, and the real him becomes visible to all. The last thing he needs is anyone finding out what he really is.

Dabi feels his fangs slowly retract into his gums as he cooly observes his latest kill. It wasn’t anything personal, he didn’t even know the guy’s name. Just like the rest of his victims, he prefers not to know anything about them – it makes draining their blood harder later on. The body laying before him was just some random man he’d seen wandering the boardwalk by himself half drunk, making him an ideal target. It was all too easy to lure the man to a more secluded spot before jumping him, but he’s had years of practice perfecting his craft. He’s done it so many times he doesn’t feel much of anything anymore.

The missing person board can confirm that much.

Once he’s certain most of the evidence has been cleaned from his face, he snaps his fingers, and the corpse before him suddenly bursts into bright blue flames – consuming the unnamed man until there’s nothing left of him except for a pile of blackened ash, and the horrid smell of burnt meat. 

Dabi sighs as he turns away from the remains and slowly trudges out from the wooden underbelly of the boardwalk above him, kicking at sand carelessly as his thoughts drift back to you.

You smell so good. Your blood practically sings to him. Walking you back to your apartment had been a challenge to him, as he had to fight every urge screaming at him to whisk you away and drain you dry, just like he’s planned to when he’d first laid eyes on you. But the more he talked to you, and the more you’d let him in on certain parts of your life, the less he wanted to do so.

You were… different. You stuck out from the other humans he’s forced to be around. You were sweet, if a bit withdrawn, but it added to your appeal. Your personality was refreshing, and it made him want to keep you around, and figure out just who you really are.

It helped that he found you to be rather… pretty, to say the least.

He wouldn’t bother trying to deny you were a good-looking girl. He’d seen the way you’d looked at him on the merry go round, and if that meant anything, then you found him to be just as attractive.

Well… at least you found his current face to be handsome. He’s not sure how you’d react to his real face, but he’d cross that bridge if and when he came to it.

He feels the corners of his lips upturn at the thought. Now the real test would be if you could handle him and his boys.

The next day is uneventful. You continue your training at the office, and slowly get to know some your co-workers past a first name basis. You finish up your work load at the end of the day and bid your co-workers good-bye, before making your way back home.

The sun is just starting to dip down in the sky by the time you get back into your apartment. You toss your keys onto your tiny kitchen table, taking a seat and scrolling through your phone mindlessly.

You respond to a few texts from your friends who know where you moved to, letting them know that you’re doing okay, and how you were going to meet with some of the locals later, before one of your friends texts out something that sends a chill down your spine.

Your ex had reached out to them asking them where you went.

Your friend assures you they didn’t tell him anything before you can ask, but you still feel a heavy weight building in your stomach. You end up putting your phone down after promising you’ll text them later, before getting up and moving into the living room, breathing heavily as you fight to control your nerves.

The sun has just sunk behind the horizon as you peer out your window, only to balk as you see a sleek black car parked beside yours in the parking lot, and a familiar man lounging on the hood, smoking a cigarette.

You swear to yourself as you grab your room key and bolt out of your apartment and down the staircase to the main floor. You make your way out into the parking lot, waving at the dark-haired man, who straightens up upon seeing you.

“Hey.” Dabi rasps, tossing down his cigarette and stomping it out.

“Hi.” You tell him with a slight smile. “I didn’t expect you to come by so soon.”

“I told you when the sun sinks.” The blue-eyed man retorts, but there’s no venom behind it. “You ready?”

“Let me get changed first.” You tell him, gesturing down to your work clothes. “You can come in and wait in my apartment if you want. I’d feel bad if I left you out here.”

Dabi looks hesitant at first, but he nods and follows you stiffly towards the entrance of your building. You wave him through, and he passes you with a slightly uncomfortable look on his face, before following you up the stairs to your front door. You open it and step in, expecting him to follow you, but he doesn’t. You shoot him a questioning look, and he cocks an eyebrow at you, giving you a tiny smirk.

“Gonna invite me in doll?”

“Oh, sorry, you can come in.” You laugh, and that seems to be the invitation he was waiting for, since he glides through your doorframe easily, shutting it behind him.

You can’t help by notice how glaringly out of place he seems in your minimalist apartment. He sticks out against the light colours like a sore thumb, and you have to bite back a giggle as you watch him take a seat on your small living room couch.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” you ask him as you make your way towards your room. Dabi only shakes his head as he leans back into your sofa.

“I’m good doll, thanks.”

“Okay, I’ll be out in just a second.” You tell him as you dip into your room, shutting your door behind you. You quickly throw on some casual but nice clothes and run a brush through your hair in an attempt to rid yourself of the tangles. You don’t know what kind of night you were in for with a bunch of men who looked to be in various stages of their twenties and early thirties, but you still wanted to look presentable. The last thing you wanted was to be accused that you were trying too hard, or turning Dabi’s invitation into something it wasn’t.

Once your satisfied with how you look, you make your way into your living room where Dabi is waiting for you. You don’t miss how he eyes you up and down as he stands up and makes his way over to you. “Ready?”

“All set.” You confirm, watching as his fiery blue eyes seem to light up as he grins at you. Twirling his car keys on his finger.

“I’ll drive.”

You follow him downstairs to his car, and surprisingly, he holds the door open for you. You slide into his passenger seat with a stammered thank you, allowing him to close the door behind you and get into the driver’s side, starting the car with a low roar. He puts the car in gear and pulls out of the apartment complex, before turning onto the road that leads back towards the beach, chatting you up all the while.

Your nerves about meeting the rest of his roommates slowly fade away as he assures you that his roommates where alright (even though he claimed they were still annoying), and while some of them were quieter than others, they meant well.

He steers the car past the boardwalk, causing you to raise an eyebrow at him. Dabi catches your look and chuckles. “I rent a house on the other side of town with a few guys. It’s more secluded.”

You nod as you watch the multi-coloured lights from the rides pass you by as Dabi continues on down the road. You learn very quickly he wasn’t kidding about his house being secluded, as he pulls off the main road and onto a dirt path leading into the trees that line the left side of the road. You can’t help but inwardly sweat at the change of scenery, but the passive look on Dabi’s face doesn’t change as he focuses on the road.

“You plan on murdering me or something?” You half joke, only for him to snicker.

“Naw doll, not tonight. You’re too pretty for that.”

He must see how flushed your face is reflected in the mirror, because he laughs openly at you and reaches over to squeeze your knee with a hot hand

“Kidding. Relax, we’re here. Probably should’ve told you I live in the middle of nowhere.” He chuckles as he pulls into an old driveway and puts the car in park. “Welcome to my house.”

You find yourself looking at a large traditional-styled home that looks like nothing’s been done to it since the turn of the past century. There’s moss and dead leaves littering the roof and front yard, and some of the white paint on the front of the house is cracked and pealing. If you had stumbled across the house on your own, you would’ve thought it was abandoned – if not for the two other cars parked on the other side of the driveway, signaling the house was inhabited.

Dabi must see your apprehensive look as he gets out to open your door again despite your protests. “I know, it looks like a bit of a dump.” He admits as he jerks a thumb towards the house. “That’s what happens when you have five guys who all work nights living under one roof. Rents cheap though. It’s why we’ve been here for so long.”

“You all work nights?” you ask as Dabi leads you towards the front door. He hums in agreement as he opens the door, exposing a dark inside interior.

The more you think about it, the more it makes since. You’ve never encountered him during the day, and every time you’ve run into him it was always near the boardwalk.

“What is it that you do?” you ask him as he flicks on a light near the door, illuminating an old mudroom and part of a dark hall. He shuts the door behind you as he kicks off his shoes, prompting you to do the same.

“I work near the docks.” He tells you vaguely as he gestures for you to follow him further into the house. “I do some operational work. Shipping and receiving. All that boring shit. It’s not very exciting.”

“What do the rest of your roommates do?” you ask him as he takes you towards a closed off room near the back of the house. You can hear different voices echoing behind the door as well as what sounds like a TV playing in the background. Dabi only shakes his head at you as he opens the door, exposing the room inside.

“You can ask them yourself.”

You step inside and are greeted to the sight of the four men from the boardwalk lounging around a large flatscreen TV. The man with the pink dye job and silver haired man with the odd scarring on his face are huddled around the screen playing a fighting game, while the two older looking gentlemen are sitting on the worn leather couch behind them, providing commentary. The blonde one with the scar running down the front of his face is smoking another cigarette, while the brunette dressed in well-tailored clothes is sitting on the other side of the couch, away from the smoke.

The pink haired man lets out huff of annoyance as his on-screen character dies. He turns around, only to freeze as he locks eyes with you.

“Oh shit.” He breathes, “She came.”

His comment causes the other men to turn around and stare at you, their facial relations ranging from a mixture of surprise to slight distrust. You don’t know why some of them are looking at you with slightly guarded expressions, but you don’t get to dwell on it for long, as Dabi comes in behind you and lightly drapes an arm across your shoulders.

“These are the guys.” He announces, nodding at each of them in turn. “The two idiots on the floor are Tomera and Iguchi. That’s Jin,” he nods to the blonde who breaks out into a grin, waving at you. “—and last but not least is Atsuhiro.” The aforementioned man stands up to greet you, giving you a polite handshake.

“I apologize for the mess.” He tells you, gesturing around the crowed room. “We seldom get guests. We weren’t sure if you were actually going to come.”

“That’s alright. I didn’t notice.” You tell him as Dabi steers you towards an empty couch to the side of the one Jin and Atsuhiro are sitting on. You notice he keeps his hand on your frame as you sit down with him, and he doesn’t remove it afterwards, almost as if he’s guarding you. It’s not uncomfortable, but you notice the same uneasy feeling you had when you first met him and his motley crew is back. There’s something about them that unnerves you, but for the life of you, you can’t place what it is.

They seem alright at first glance though. Tomura and Iguchi resume their game, but make a point to talk to you while they play, as Jin and Atsuhrio engage you in conversation, all the while Dabi observes you, not really adding anything to the conversations, and seems content just listening to you talk to his roommates.

You find out that Tomura and Iguchi are streamers – their online tags being Shigaraki and Spinner respectively – while Atsuhrio works as a street performer using the stage name Mr. Compress. Meanwhile Jin (who insists you call him Twice, for reasons he doesn’t get into), does deliveries around town during the evening, on top of working with Dabi at the docks when it’s slow, but has the night off tonight.

As you slowly start to relax, the conversations gradually become easier until you’re questioning why you felt so uneasy in the first place; that is, until Tomera makes an off-handed comment to you.

“M’surprised he brought you back here.” He jerks a thumb back at Dabi, not looking up from his game. “Most girls don’t last that long with him—”

“Tenko,” Dabi seethes out through gritted teeth beside you. “Shut. The fuck. Up.”

“Don’t call me by that name.” The red eyed man snaps suddenly, pausing the game to glare at the man beside you. “That name is dead, and you know I’m right.”

“Don’t be an ass.” Dabi snarls back as he pulls you towards him. “I told you to behave tonight while she’s over.”

“Fuck you, you’re not my father.”

“No, but I can torch your ass—”

“Alright, maybe we shouldn’t have this fight in front of her.” Iguchi suddenly speaks up, cutting them both off. “I don’t know about you guys, but I like her, and I want her to come back.”

“Thank you, Iguchi, I like you too.” You tell him sweetly, causing the tips of his ears to pinken, as he mumbles something intelligible under his breath and turns back towards the TV. Tomura rolls his eyes and resumes the game. Jin only chuckles as he turns towards you.

“I’m glad you’re here.” Jin tells you with a genuine smile. “Himiko’s going to love you.”

You shoot Dabi a questioning look, but he only rolls his eyes. “You’ll meet her shortly.”

“Her? But I thought only you guys lived here—”

Before you can get another word out, the distant slam of a door, accompanied by the sound of footsteps rushing towards the room interrupts you. As the light footsteps grow closer, you feel Dabi tense up beside you, as he leans over to whisper something to Atsuhiro that sounds suspiciously along the lines of, “I swear, if she’s just getting back in from one of her nightly rampages, we’re going to have a problem-“ Before a blonde girl who looked to be no older then eighteen, with two hair buns on either side of her head, bursts into the room with an almost manic grin on her face.

“Guys, you would not believe what I smelled coming back up here.” She cackles. “I think there’s a—” she cuts herself off as her abnormally golden eyes find yours. Before you can blink, she’s tossed herself over the couch that Jin and Atsuhrio are sitting on and plops herself down right in front of you.

“Hi! You’re really pretty! I’m Himiko Toga! Who are you?” she questions you with a smile that’s almost too wide for her face. You introduce yourself with a breathless laugh at her animated introduction, only to hear what sounds like a rumble coming from Dabi.

You turn to him only to see his insanely blue eyes are locked on the girl sitting in front of you and realize that he is, in fact growling at her.

“Back off Toga.” He warns her, but she ignores him.

“God I’m so happy another girl is here – I’m stuck here with these smelly boys every day and it get so boring! Do you know that you smell really, really good by the way—”

“Okay, enough.” Dabi hisses through gritted teeth. “Jesus, you don’t need to come onto her that fucking strong.”

Himiko gapes at him in mock shock. “Oh, come on. I could smell her all the way from outside the front door. You know she smells good. We all know!” She points around the room, but for some reason none of the other men meet her eye. In fact, they seem to be trying incredibly hard not to acknowledge what she’s saying.

Odd. You don’t remember putting on any perfume before you left.

“Thanks… I guess.” You tell her, unsure of what to say in response. Before the younger girl can respond, Dabi swiftly interrupts her.

“It’s not a bad thing. This psycho just doesn’t know how to give a compliment like a normal fucking person.” He shoots her a pointed look, but he’s not snarling at her anymore. Himiko seems to get the point, and sticks her tongue out at him, settling into the space between Jin and Atsuhrio, chatting excitedly with the older blonde, while occasionally sneaking glances at you.

The earlier tension fades away and you spend the next couple of hours with the odd group, chatting with each of them. Some of them have more to say then others such as Jin and Himiko, while Tomura and Iguchi are more on the quiet side, but still pleasant to talk to none the less. Dabi remains quiet for the most part next to you, never saying much, but you can tell he’s pleased with how you interact with his roommates.

Still, even as you grow more comfortable around them, there’s still a nagging feeling in the back of your mind that something is off about them. You have no proof to back up your unease though, so you try your best to ignore it, and focus on having a good time. After all, the seemingly mismatched group was the closest thing you had to actual friends here, and made you realize how badly you missed your group of friends back home.  

You quickly end up losing track of time, and it’s only when Dabi checks his phone besides you, and muffles a curse under his breath, do you realize how late it is.

“Shit, it’s already five, I gotta take you home, sun will be up soon.” He mutters as he stands up, offering a hand to you, which you accept.

“Gotta keep up your sleep schedule?” you ask, hearing Tomura snort in the background at your comment. Dabi only nods as he heads towards the door.

“Something like that.”

You wave at the rest of the group. “It was really nice meeting you all.” You tell them sincerely. “Hopefully we can do this again sometime.”

“Come back anytime!” Himiko chirps, waving at you enthusiastically. “You better bring her back!” she crows at Dabi’s retreating from, and he waves at her without turning back around.

He leads you towards the front of the house where your shoes are, before walking out into the dewy morning air towards his car. Once again, he holds your door open for you, ignoring your protests, before getting in himself and starting the car, pulling out of the old driveway, and heading back down the dirt path towards the main road.

The sun is just starting to peak out from the horizon, painting the coastline in soft pinks and purples as Dabi steers the car past the old boardwalk, before you finally ask the question that had been on your mind for the last couple of hours.

“So, what’s the deal with Himiko?”

The dark-haired man only grunts. “You mean why is she so unhinged? Beats the hell outta me princess. “

“No, not that.” You wave him off, smacking his shoulder playfully at the nickname as he sends you a shit-eating grin in response. “I mean… you didn’t tell me about her initially, and I’ve never seen her with you before. Does she live with you too?”

Dabi mulls over your question for a moment, keeping a careful eye on the horizon which is slowly growing brighter, as he turns onto your street. After a moment he nods.

“Yeah, she does.” He confirms. “I know how it looks: one high school girl living with five guys in their twenties and thirties, but trust me, it’s not like that.” He’s quiet for a moment before elaborating.

“Toga has a shitty past. She ran away from her folks years ago – bad homelife from what she told us – and she had nowhere to go for a long time. I found her wandering the boardwalk one day and she never left after that. She took to Twice immediately, and she’s basically like his little sister. He’d do just about anything for her.” He exhales through his noes as he begrudgingly admits; “Hell, we all would.”

“Damn, how much did it hurt to admit that?” you tease him, prompting him groan.

“Shut up.” He grumbles as he pulls into your building’s parking lot. He parks the car and turns to you. “So, did we scare you off?”

“Not yet.” you tell him with a smile as you unbuckle your seat beat and open your door, posed to leave. “You guys are definitely interesting, I’ll give you that, but honestly; this was really nice. Thank you for inviting me over. I hope we can do it again sometime soon.”

Dabi shrugs his shoulders, “Well they seem to like you, especially Toga and Twice, so you’re welcome to come over again if you want. It’ll have to be during the evening though, since we all work at night.”

“Noted.” You tell him as you slide out of the car, only for him to suddenly grab your arm. You turn to stare at him quizzically, only for him to nod at your purse.

“Gimme me your phone for a second.”

You unlock it and pass it to him wordlessly, only to see him open a new contact in your phone and type something into it before passing it back to you. “My number.” He tells you before you can ask. “It’s easier to get a hold of me this way, rather than running into me at night at random.”

“Good call.” You agree, “I’ll text you later?”

“I’ll be waiting.” He sends you a knowing smirk. “I’ll see you later sweetheart.”

“Yeah… later.” You tell him, closing the door behind you. He waits until you’ve made it inside your building’s lobby, before peeling out of the parking lot and taking off towards his house like hell on wheels. You find it a little strange, but you loose track of your thoughts when you glance down at your phone, only to see he’s labeled himself as Dabi with a little flame emoji and a winky face next to his name in your contacts.

You feel yourself blush involuntarily as you stuff your phone back in your purse and climb the stairs to your apartment.

You definitely had a crush on him, you couldn’t deny it. Yet there was something off about him you just couldn’t place. There was something he wasn’t telling you – you just couldn’t figure out what it was.

The next several weeks come and go, and for the most part, they’re uneventful.

Work is going well, and you finally manage to find the time to finish personalizing your apartment so it looks more like home. Your friends still message you occasionally, giving you updates about what’s going on back home, and your ex pops up in conversation with them once or twice on how he’s still asking about you, much to your dismay. Aside from that, everything in your life is shockingly normal.

It feels almost odd being able to say it out loud. This is the most at ease you’ve felt since breaking up with your ex. Being on your own, away from him and his obsessive tendencies, makes you question why you didn’t do it sooner.

It feels nice, being able to breathe for the first time in almost two years since calling it off with him. Your life is calmer, maybe a bit slower than you’re used to, but it’s peaceful and stable. You’re happy.

The only major thing that’s changed recently is how you’re spending a lot more time around Dabi now.

Ever since he gave you his number, you’ve been texting back and forth frequently. You’ve gotten to know him better in that time (even though he still refused to tell you his real name), and you can safely say; he has his quirks.

For starters; he only messages you at night. He’s radio silent during the day, and only texts you back once the sun has set, or whenever he gets up. You’d blame it on him working nights, but he’s always quick to respond to your texts late at night, and always seems to be free whenever you message him asking if he wanted to get together, making you wonder what kind of work schedule he runs on.

Another thing you find peculiar is how you don’t think you’ve ever seen him eat before. You’ve offered to make him dinner a few times or to go into town to get something, but he always waves you off politely, telling you he’s already eaten, or giving you some other reason why he doesn’t want to get food with you. It’s not a deal-breaker by any means, and he doesn’t strike you as the type to have issues with food, but you leave it be just in case.

He's also weird about coming into your apartment even though he’s been in it multiple times by now. You’d initially thought he was uncomfortable being in your space, but it seems to be more of a politeness thing than anything else. He’s definitely not as stiff about entering like he was when he first came to visit, but he still makes a show about you inviting him in, even though he claims he could waltz right into your unit if he wanted to, but he never does.

Finally, you’ve noticed he isn’t particularly well-liked by the locals. In fact; none of the people in his house seem to be, but it’s especially bad with him.

It’s glaringly obvious. He’s taken you into town a handful of times so you can walk around together, only for people to glare pointedly at him and start whispering as soon as you were both out of ear-shot. If it bothers him, he doesn’t let it show, but you know from how his jaw tenses up, he’s aware that people are talking behind his back.

You tried to ask him about it once, but he shrugged you off, saying something about how there was some bad blood between him and some of the older locals, but refused to dive into it, stating how it was old news, but some people didn’t like to forget the past. His tone had given you the impression he wasn’t going to tell you any more than that, so you’d left it alone, not wanting to get into it.

There were somethings people didn’t feel comfortable sharing. You could relate; your rocky relationship with your ex was one of those topics for you.

To his credit, Dabi doesn’t pry into it, but it’s come up a few times – it’s inevitable, you knew it would eventually – but he doesn’t force you to say more then what you want to tell him. You don’t think you’d have to say much anyways; he seems to be able to piece together what happened in your past relationship on his own, without you having to say much of anything.

“Guy’s a dick.” He’d told you bluntly one night as you were taking an evening stroll around the boardwalk. “Seriously, he sounds like a tool. You should be glad you got out of there when you did. I wouldn’t waste your time crying over someone like him.”

“Easy to say that now – it wasn’t so easy when I was living with him.” You’d told him calmly. “We had joint banking. It’s hard to get out when you have to pay rent and buy groceries. I saved up enough to move out and get my place here eventually, but it took time.”

He’d fallen quiet at that, shifting his piercing blue orbs from your figure to the wooden boards beneath his feet, before nodding and muttering mostly to himself; “Yeah. I get that.”

For some reason, your heart had swelled in your chest upon seeing him vulnerable for a moment – a far cry from his usual fiery and cocky self.

In that moment you knew you were screwed; you were down bad for a man whose real name you still didn’t know. Somewhere along the lines, he had wormed his way into your heart without you noticing, and made a place from himself there.

Yet, you couldn’t say you minded. He was different from anyone you’d ever met, but in a way you found refreshing.

Currently, you find yourself walking with him on the boardwalk once again, admiring the blinking strings of fairy lights. Dabi doesn’t hold your hand, but he walks stride for stride with you, your shoulders bumping occasionally at the close proximity. Suddenly, a loud wail interrupts the usual fair noises permeating the warm evening air around you.

You both turn in the direction of the cry, only to see two middle-aged women standing in front of the massive missing person’s board. One of the ladies is sobbing unconsolably, while the other one is trying to console her.

Ah yes, you’d been so wrapped up with moving into your place and hanging out with Dabi on top of work, you’d almost completely forgotten about the town’s dark underbelly.

You can see Dabi’s lips pull downwards slightly as he takes them in, and he reaches out to try and steer you away from the scene, muttering under his breath about not wanting to get involved, but you gently pull your arm away from his grasp as you take a hesitant step towards the ladies who are slowly moving away from the old wooden board. You manage to overhear the last bit of their conversation as they leave, and older woman’s cry’s pull at your heart.

“—I don’t understand, where could he have gone? I saw him that morning, but he never came back home!”

“—We’ll find him dear. Maybe he’s visiting your friends on the other side of town.”

“—He would’ve called! It’s been three days! Three days since I’ve heard any word from my husband!”

You creep closer to the old corkscrew board and feel your heart sink in your chest as you find yourself looking at a fresh photo of a middle-aged man, presumably the woman’s missing husband. Now that you can see the board in its entirety, you notice there’s several new fliers posted among the sea of other missing faces, presumably never found.

You hear the heavy tread of Dabi’s combat boots behind you. “There’s more.” You tell him sadly without turning around. You hear him exhale loudly through his nose.

“Told you there would be. I wasn’t lying. This place is the missing person’s capitol of Japan.”

“I don’t understand.” You turn to face him, only to see that he has a blank expression on his face, giving nothing away. “I’ve never seen anything suspicious when we’ve gone out at night, and you told me that’s when this stuff usually happens.”

“The difference is; you don’t go out looking for trouble.” Dabi tells you smoothly, his insanely blue irises meeting yours, locking you in place. “Trust me, these people probably went out of their way to stumble across something they weren’t supposed to see, and they paid the price for it. Bad things happen all the time sweetheart, whether you see them or not.”

“You seem pretty confident about that.” You murmur finally, holding his gaze. “Had some experience with trouble in the past?”

For once, Dabi doesn’t have anything to say to you. Finally, he sighs and rakes a hand through his inky spikes. “Maybe.”

You want to ask him what he means, but in that moment, you feel your phone vibrate from inside your purse. You fish it out, only to see a text appear on screen that has your blood turning to ice in your veins.

???

Found you.

There’s no name attached to the text, only a random number you don’t recognize, but you think you already know who it’s from.

It has to be him. There’s only one other person you can think of who would text you something so innocent but so sinister, and it has you feeling like you want to puke.

Your ex-boyfriend.

Your eyes dart around the packed boardwalk wildly, trying to see if you could spot the familiar face of your ex in the crowd, but thankfully, you don’t see him anywhere.

How in the hell did he find you? There were only a few friends aside from your parents who knew where you’d moved to, and you highly doubt any of them would tell him where you’d gone. It was possible he’d simply gotten a new number and found a way to text you just to scare you, and if that’s what he wanted, he had accomplished his goal.

Your panic must be written across your face clear as day, because the next thing you know, Dabi has a hand underneath your chin, lifting your face up to meet his concerned expression.

“—I asked if you were okay doll. I’ve been calling you, but you didn’t respond to me.” He tells you. He glances down at your phone, a frown pulling at his lips. “What’s that?”

“I don’t know.” You tell him truthfully, shoving your phone back into your bag. “A really sick joke, I hope.”

His eyes narrow, the fire burning in them shines brightly, even though they’re more lidded then usual as he narrows his eyes at you. “What’s going on sweetheart?”

“Nothing—I—” You croak. You can’t stop looking around, hoping, praying, you don’t see the one person you were trying to escape from staring back at you. “—I gotta go.”

A look of concern passes over Dabi’s face, and you feel a flash of guilt for lying to him, but you don’t want to get him involved. You don’t want to bring anyone else into your mess. It’s not fair.

“If this was about earlier, I can—”

“It’s not!” you cut him off, already backing away from him. “I’ll text you later. I just—I just gotta go. I’m sorry.”

You don’t give him time to respond, before you pivot on your heel and book it down the boardwalk, away from the blinding lights, and away from him.

You don’t look back, and you don’t stop running until you’re in your tiny apartment – slamming the door behind you and locking it – even though it feels suffocating. It feels like the walls are closing in on you, and you’re finding it hard to breathe as you collapse onto your bed and cry.

You don’t know what to do.

You awake to the sound of furious pounding on your door.

You don’t know when you passed out; probably sometime after you managed to calm down slightly, but you can feel the dried tear tracks covering your cheeks as you slowly sit up and shuffle hesitantly towards your front door. The pounding continues, and you can’t help but wonder what time it is, and if you were going to receive a noise complaint from one of your neighbors, before you hear a horribly familiar voice just outside your door:

“I know you’re in there. You better open up right now or I’ll get your whole building involved!”

Your blood turns to ice in your veins as you hear the unmistakable sound of your ex-boyfriend’s voice snarl threateningly from the other side. You feel like someone’s dumped a bucket of freezing water on you as you start to panic. Tears flood your eyes involuntarily as you try to process what’s happening, but nothing’s making sense.

You have no doubt he’d wake the rest of your apartment building to get at you – if he hadn’t already woken up your neighbors. You know what he’s like better than anyone. Your ex has always been a big guy, and once he has his mind set on something (or someone), he’ll stop at nothing until he’s gotten it.

You have no idea how he got in the building in the first place, or how he figured out what apartment was yours, but that doesn’t matter as you watch your doorknob start twisting violently. You bolt forward and grab it with both hands, trying to keep it from unlocking as you listen to your ex-boyfriend grunt outside the door, no doubt trying to pick the lock from the outside.

After a few moments of back and forth struggling with the door; you hear the tell-take click of the door unlocking. You don’t stick around to watch it swing open – you know you won’t be able to hold it closed against him for long if he tries to force it open – and you sprint to your bedroom, slamming the flimsy door shut and locking it behind you.

You can’t calm down; you hear him in your kitchen, treading around the tiny space, calling for you, before his heavy footsteps slowly make their way towards your bedroom door.

You have limited options; if your apartment was closer to the ground, you’d consider escaping out your bedroom window, but you’re several stories up and you don’t want to do something that may cause you to break your leg, putting you at even more of a disadvantage against your ex-boyfriend. You have no idea what he wants from you, but if he’s so desperate that he’s willing to stalk you and break into your apartment, it can’t be good.

The police will take too long to get to you, you already know this. In the past, they hadn’t been helpful in these kind of situations – you know from experience. You can’t call them… but there is someone you can call.

You dive for your purse and pull out your phone just as your ex starts pounding on your bedroom door. Your finger hovers over Dabi’s contact in your phone, as he starts yelling at you through the door. You don’t want to involve Dabi in your personal troubles, you really don’t… but right now, you don’t have a choice.

Even though you don’t want to call him… you know he’ll help you.

Before you can second-guess yourself, you’ve hit the call button, and scoot yourself into the farthest corner of your room from the door, as you listen to the phone ring. It only rings twice before he picks up.

“It’s three in the morning sweetheart, what’s going on? Are you okay—”

“Dabi please help me!” you interrupt him, whispering frantically as your ex starts to rattle your doorknob. “I’m in trouble. I don’t know what to do!”

“What’s wrong? Where are you?” Immediately, his voice deepens, and you can tell he’s on high alert. You can’t see him, but you can hear rustling on the other end, and the tell-tale jingling of keys in the background.

“I’m in my apartment—it’s my ex—I don’t know how, but he found me. He broke in, and now he’s outside my door!” You hate that you’ve starting crying again, but you’re terrified, and Dabi can tell.

“Is he in the room with you?” Dabi rasps on the other line. “I can hear shouting in the background, that him?”

“Yeah, that’s him, and no he’s not, but he’s trying to force his way in!”

Dabi hums and you hear a door slam in the distance, followed by the sound of what you assume is his car starting.

“I’ll be there in less then ten. Just stay on the line with me. Everything’s going to be okay doll, I promise. I don’t know what he wants, but he’s not going to hurt you, I promise—”

At that moment, your bedroom door flies inward, causing you to scream and drop your phone, ending the call, as your ex rushes towards you. A surge of pure adrenaline hits you, and you drive your foot into his stomach and kick him back, giving you enough time to push yourself to your feet and make a mad dash for your door, only for him to grab you around the middle, and throw you down onto your bed, climbing on top of you and pinning your hands before you can recover.

“Get off me you freak!” you screech as you thrash in his hold. You manage to knee him in the sternum, briefly knocking the wind of out him, but it only serves to make him angrier, as he presses his knees into your thighs, and grips your wrists so tightly you know you’ll have handshape bruises adorning your arms for days after.

“Hell no, I finally found you, you little bitch—there’s no way in hell I’m letting you go again.” Your ex seethes above you. “It took me weeks to track you down. Your friends were no help, so took me longer than expected to find you.”

“I didn’t want you to find me, that was the point of me moving here!” you wail as you desperately try to free your legs. “I never want to see you again! What part of that is so hard for you to understand?!”

“Bullshit. You and I aren’t done until I say we’re done.” Your ex snaps. He looks around your bedroom and scoffs.

“I see you’re trying so hard to build a new life without me. Ungrateful brat. You moved on fast.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean—”

“Don’t lie to me!” Your ex-boyfriend dips down so your noses are almost touching. “I saw you on the boardwalk with that guy earlier. Who the hell is he? Your fuck-buddy? Your new boy toy?”

“He’s not my boyfriend, but he’s on his way here so I suggest you leave before he makes you!”

At your threat, your ex throws his head back and laughs. “I know what he looks like. He’s not even half my body weight. I’m not fucking scared of him—”

The abrupt sound of your front door being kicked in aggressively stops him mid-sentence, and the sound of heavy boots stomping towards your bedroom causes him to freeze. Your ex shifts so he’s more upright and looks behind him, giving you a clear view of your doorframe; only to see Dabi standing in it, looking absolutely feral.

His dark hair is wilder then usual, obsidian spikes sticking up every which way, and he has on the dark, torn duster you’d first seen him in over his usual dark pants and white tee-shirt, giving him a an almost deranged look. He has a mean glint in his eyes you’ve never seen before, and he looks almost predatory as your bedroom casts odd shadows across his face. You’ve never seen him this pissed before, and all of your instincts are screaming at you to run as you take in his disheveled appearance. 

“You’re not scared of me, huh?” Dabi chuckles, but there’s no humor to it. His voice is as cold as ice, but his eyes are like blue fire, and are locked on your ex.

“You should be.”

It’s the only warning you get before he lunges at your ex. The sudden tackle rips him off of you and Dabi wastes no time taking him to the floor as you bolt upright. You look on in shock as both men wrestle on the floor before it turns into an all-out slug fest between them. You leap out of the way as they make their way off the floor and crash into your walls, never once taking their hands off of each other as they yell obesities and filth that you’re certain your next-door neighbor can hear through your shared wall. 

Honestly, you’re shocked at how well Dabi is handling himself – you didn’t think he was weak, but he’s much leaner then your ex and not as tall – yet, he’s clearly got the upper hand as he cracks your ex across the face in rapid succession. You freeze as his nose explodes into a mess of scarlet, splattering across his face and your wall as he yells out in pain, taking his hands off of Dabi to hold his nose in a pathetic attempt to stanch the bleeding. The sudden display of gore has the opposite effect on Dabi.

He stares at the blood flowing from your ex’s nose like a faucet, before shooting you an almost apologetic look. 

“Sorry you have to see this doll.”

You don’t have time to ask him what he means before he seems to shift right before your eyes. The shadows of your room seem to warp and twist around him, and you think it’s just a trick of the moonlight streaming in from your window; until you watch his obsidian hair turn stark white.

You feel your eyes widen as his form shifts – you ex is too busy trying to keep his nose together to pay attention to what’s happening in front of him – but you notice a horrible burning smell wafting through the room as his once pale, flawless skin morphs into a patchwork mess of dusky, wrinkled burns, held together to the few patches of visible healthy skin by what looks like silver surgical staples glinting wickedly in the pale moonlight.

You have no idea what’s happening to him or who or what he is, but you feel your knees give out as he flashes you a nasty looking grin, giving you a full view of the wicked sharp fangs sliding down past his burnt lower lip.

“You—” you whisper, but you don’t manage to say anything more, before Dabi turns back to your ex, grabbing him by the hair and yanking him down to his level, before sinking his razor-sharp fangs into the side of his neck before the larger man can even register what’s happening.

Your ex tries to fend him off, but Dabi is stronger. He ends up relinquishing his hold on his hair in favour of wrapping his arms around him in a death embrace. You can’t pull your eyes off of the scene in front of you, as your ex’s struggling gradually grows weaker, while Dabi laps at the blood flowing freely from the deep puncture holes in the side of his neck.

You hear your ex gargle wetly in the back of his throat before he goes completely limp in the white-haired mans grip. After a moment, Dabi retracts his fangs from his neck, before tossing his motionless body to the floor. You whimper involuntarily as you cover your mouth, staring at the lifeless body of your ex-boyfriend as Dabi whirls around to face you, his piercing eyes finding yours.

“You killed him.” You whisper. Dabi only glances down at the still-warm corpse on your bedroom floor for half a second before locking eyes with you again.

“I did.”

“Why?”

“He was assaulting you.”

“Oh.” You croak lamely. You try not to stare at the red coating his lips and dripping down his chin, staining the white of his shirt.

A moment of silence descends on your room. The only thing you can hear is the frantic pounding of your heart in your chest – it’s so loud in the resounding silence, you’re sure Dabi can hear it. The air is so tense you can cut it with a knife, but neither of you make a move. Finally, you clear your throat.

“I think I’m going to call the police.”

“You’re not going to do that.”

When the ivory-haired creature speaks, his voice is low and quiet, but you can tell just by looking at his eyes, he means business. You swallow thickly and nod to the corpse behind him.

“There’s a dead body in my apartment Dabi, I need to call the police. I—” you cough, trying to reason with him. “I’m not going to tell them about you. I won’t say anything. I know you were trying to protect me, but I can’t just ignore a dead body in my bedroom—”

“Don’t worry about it.” Dabi interrupts you, waving a hand at the corpse dismissively. “I’ll take care of it.”

“What do you mean you’ll—”

Dabi snaps his fingers, and before you can blink, the corpse of your ex-boyfriend bursts into bright blue flames. You scream as you scramble backwards, pressing yourself further against the wall, as the flames rage and quickly consume the body before your eyes. Dabi only grins savagely at your reaction.

“Don’t be scared sweetheart. He’s trash. The least he can do is become fuel for my flames.”

“Oh my god,” you whisper, watching as the cobalt flames extinguish themselves, leaving nothing but ash in their wake. “What are you?”

Dabi only stares you down as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “I think you already know the answer doll.”

You do. But you don’t think you can voice it out loud. You don’t know what it means for either of you now.

Dabi licks his mismatched lips, allowing you to catch a glimpse of his red tinted fangs. “You’re coming with me.”

You shake your head. “No, hold on—”

“I’m not giving you a choice sweetheart.”

He’s on you faster than you can blink. He slaps a brunt hand over your mouth before you can cry out. He grabs your chin with his free hand as he presses you up against the wall, forcing you to stare into his burning irises.

“Sleep.” He commands.

You feel a wave of sudden fatigue pass over you, and your eyelids flutter shut against your will. The last thing you remember is feeling his insanely warm arms wrap around you and a sudden feeling of weightlessness, before sleep takes you.

You wake up with a pounding headache.

Blinking away sleep, you slowly sit up with a groan and rub at your eyes, wincing internally as you feel your eye makeup smear even further. You slowly look around, only to freeze as it suddenly dawns on you have no idea where you are.

You’re in what appears to be a bedroom, but it’s hard to tell since it’s so dark. The window coverings block out any form of light from outside, keeping you quite literally in the dark. You have no idea what time it is or (more concerning), who’s bedroom you’re in, until the events from before you passed out come flooding back to you.

Your ex. Blood everywhere. Dabi. Scars. Blue flames. Fangs.

You shudder at the last thought. Had you hallucinated the whole thing? It didn’t seem real. You think back to feeling the heat of the flames that had consumed your ex-boyfriend on your skin, and you rub at your arms involuntarily.

No, they had definitely been real. Which means everything else was real too.

Currently, you were certain of two things:

One: your shitty ex was dead. Drained of his blood before being incinerated to a crisp before your very eyes.

Two: Dabi wasn’t human.

Before you can sink too far into your thoughts, you’re suddenly aware of a prickling sensation dancing along your skin. You know the feeling all too well, and as groggy as you might feel in the moment, you’re painfully aware someone’s watching you.

You’re not alone.

A slight shuffling noise from the far corner of the room catches your attention. You slowly turn in the direction of the sound with baited breath, only to see an abnormal looking shadow faintly outlined in the surrounding darkness of the room.

You already know who it is without him having to say anything.

“Dabi?” you call out to him timidly. A deep sigh answers you.

“Good, you’re awake. You’ve been out for a while.” He rasps quietly.

“Where am I?” you ask, squinting at his outline. The more you try to make him out, the more he seems to try and blend into the pitch of the room.

“My room. Back at the house. I drove us back here after you passed out.” You hear him kiss the back of his teeth. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sleep for so long.”

“Wait, how long have I been out?” you question, as you feel around your surroundings, only to realize that he’s put you on his bed.

“About an hour. Dawn’s coming soon. I couldn’t leave you alone after you saw all… that.”

He doesn’t need to clarify what he means.

You both laps into an uncomfortable silence, before you finally gather up the courage to ask him the question that’s plagued you since he took you.

“Are you going to kill me?”

Silence answers you, and you feel yourself start to shake as every horrible scenario you can think of races through your head. Almost as if he senses the what you’re thinking about, you hear Dabi take a hesitant step forward, only to catch himself at the last second.

“…No.” he finally admits. “No, I’m not going to kill you.”

“Then why did you bring me here?” you sniff, as you try to control the tears you feel pricking at the corners of your lash line. “Why do any of this. What are you? Who are you?”

He doesn’t answer you. You squint into the abys of the room where you know he is, and you can faintly see his deep blue eyes gazing back at you, looking like twin flames in the gloom. You swallow hard and try a different approach.

“It’s too dark in here… can I have some light?”

Dabi sighs, but you hear him snap his fingers, and suddenly a candle you didn’t know was nearby, bursts into blue flames. The wicks hiss and sizzle before settling, casting an eerie blue glow around the room, illuminating it slightly. You glance to the corner where you know Dabi is, and you can see him a little better, though he seems to be trying to keep himself out of the light as much as possible.

You frown slightly. “Come here.” You tell him quietly, patting the space beside you on the bed. You know you’re tempting fate, but you believe him when you say he won’t hurt you. He had multiple chances to kill you, and yet; you’re still here.

You hear Dabi snort. “I don’t think you want that.”

You shake your head. “I do. C’mere. We need to talk.”

Dabi falls silent, but you see him turn towards you, and slowly makes his way over to you. The flickering blue light the candle provides casts twisted shadows over his lean frame as he stops just in front of you, and bends down so he’s eye level with you.

You find yourself face to face with a mess of painful looking burns covering the majority of his face, held together with countless surgical staples. The burns are everywhere; under his eyes, his neck, the entirety of his lower jaw, and even his ears. Now that you’re up close, you can see he even has some staples decorating his ears much like regular piercings, and he even has three studs dotting the right side of his nose. They suit him in a way, and you can’t help but find him handsome, even with half of his face completely ravaged by burns.

Dabi’s eyes glint savagely as you take him in slowly, his two-toned lips pulling back and exposing the deadly sharp fangs inside his maw. “Not pretty, is it?”

“What happened to you?” you whisper, hesitantly reaching up to touch his burnt lower jaw. Dabi seems to want to flinch away from your touch, but he forces himself to stay grounded as your fingertips gently brush his destroyed skin.

He laughs breathlessly and rakes a burnt hand aggressively through his now very white hair. “It’s a long story.”

“I have time.”

“Yeah. Sure.” He agrees, pulling away from your gentle hands reluctantly. He trudges over to a small loveseat pushed up against the wall opposite to his bed and sits down on it, shrugging off his torn duster, before putting his head in his hands with a sigh, giving you a painful view of the long wine-coloured burns tracking down his arms and ending at his knuckles.

You try not to focus at the dried blood that’s still decorating his shirt and hands.

After a moment he props his head up on his hands, fixing you with his intense gaze, but still doesn’t say anything. You realize he’s waiting for you; but now you’re at a loss for words. The agitated vampire across the room from you sighs, and you can see the veins in his neck become more prominent as he forces himself to try and relax.

“I know you have questions, so ask.”

“So, you’re really a—” you cut yourself off and swallow thickly. Even though you know what he is without him saying it, you still can’t quiet bring yourself to say it out loud. He leans forward, smiling meanly as he rests his forearms on his knees, eyeing you with his burning stare of his, that suddenly seems so cold.

“Go on, you can say it.” He prompts you, finally getting you to unfreeze.

“—A vampire.” You finish lamely. He nods, leaning back and draping both arms over the back of the loveseat.

“You got it sweetheart.”

“But how?” you prod, finally finding your voice. “I thought they were myth?”

“So did I, until one bit me.” Dabi snickers unkindly across from you, before quieting down, allowing you to ask your next question.

“How did you become one?”

“I died.” Dabi tells you flatly, avoiding your gaze for the first time since he brought you here. His nose scrunches up after he says it.

“Well, I almost did. Technically I was walking the line between life and death when the old fucker found me.”

He sighs and runs a blood-stained hand through his spiky white mane, leaving faint russet streaks behind. You force yourself to maintain eye contact with him as he speaks again.

“When I was alive, my name was Touya Todoroki.” He admits softly, giving you his real name for the first time since you met him.  “I was taking a walk in the woods near my family home when a forest fire broke out, burning everything. I got trapped in the blaze and I ended up with these.” He gestures to the dark patches of gnarled skin covering the majority of his visible skin.

“I’m not sure how I managed to survive, and I don’t know how long I was left there for; but it was the vampire who ended up turning me, who found me in the aftermath. I was in bad shape and probably would’ve died if he hadn’t given me his blood, turning me into this.”

He says it so scathingly. You know he’s frustrated without him having to tell you. Still… the horrific burns that mar his skin tell you a story of unspeakable agony. There’s no way a normal person would’ve been able to survive what he went through without help. His help just happened to have come from an unexpected source.

“He saved you.” You murmur quietly, causing Dabi… Touya… whatever his name was, to snort bitterly.

“He didn’t fucking ask, he just did, consequences be damned. Believe me, there was plenty of days at the beginning where I wish he hadn’t and just let me die.”

His bluntness causes a deep ache to bloom in your chest as you take in the vast amount of damage covering his body. You can only imagine how much worse the burns had been when he’d first been turned, on top of dealing with becoming what he is now. Before you can say anything, Dabi continues on, still refusing to look at you directly.

“After he turned me; my sire brought me back with him to recover. I ended up staying with him for a few years while I was figuring out my new body before I eventually left. Found my way here a while ago and never ended up leaving. Been here ever since.” He looks at you pointedly. “Don’t ask me how old I am. I stopped keeping track a while ago.”

Normally you’d be content to leave it there (honestly, now that he’s said it, you’re not sure if you want to know exactly how old he is anyways), but he has a car, which means he must have a license of some kind, which then begs the question how he was able to get one in the first place.

“Wait, so if you’re a vampire and you’re… older than you look, how have you been able to get a drivers license, or any I.D. for that matter?” Dabi snorts.

“Remember how Compress works as an entertainer?”

“Yeah…?”

“Turns out he’s really good at forgery too.”

“Oh.” You furrow your brows at his explanation.

“So… Compress knows about your… condition?” Dabi smirks at your hesitance.

“Oh yeah. Fully aware.”

“Is he… I mean… is everyone in the house a—”

“We’ll put it this way doll: nobody in this house has a heartbeat except for you.”

Well, this just kept getting better and better. Not only was your crush and his friend’s part of the undead; they were also committing fraud. You definitely knew how to pick them.

In hindsight, you shouldn’t be as surprised as you are upon hearing the rest of Dabi’s roommates are also vampires. All of them operated at night, and they definitely had quirks that set them apart from other people. Not to mention it would also explain the feeling of unease you always experienced around them. You’re more shocked at how many there are, which brings you to your next question:

“So, your sire—” you look at him questionably, waiting for him to explain. Thankfully, he provides you with an answer.

“—is a term referring to the one who turns you, yeah. Mine happened to be a particularly old bastard. Strong as hell, but old as time. He had a lot of influence over my kind back in the day. Pretty sure he died some years back. No idea who killed him, but I’d thank them if I knew.” He pauses before laughing lightly.

“Come to think of it; Shigaraki and I share the same sire, but he stayed with him way longer than I did. I left as soon as I could.”

Well, that was interesting news. “Why?”

“He played favourites.”  The snowy-haired vampire grins at you from across the way, but there’s no warmth behind his eyes.

“I’m pretty sure he turned me first, but I was already gone by the time Shigaraki came into the picture. We knew of each other, but our paths never crossed. He sought me out a year or two before our sire bit the dust, and I’ve been stuck with him ever since. As for the others…” he waves his hand dismissively. “Hell if I know. They just sort of showed up one day, one after the other. I don’t know how they found us, s’not like I was broadcasting we were here, but they still came regardless, and then they never left.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about what happened to your sire.” You tell him. “It must be hard, loosing your mentor like that.” To your surprise Dabi only laughs, waving off your concerns.

“Don’t be. In fact, I’m not. I’m glad he’s gone. Shigaraki was more torn up about it then I ever was, but even he got over it. There’s a lot of perks that come along with your sire dying. Powerful perks.” He leans forward, pointing to the blue flames chewing away at the candle wicks.

“When it comes to vampire hierarchy, the most powerful vampires are the older ones who create the majority of newer vampires. The vampires they turn are basically their pawns – never to get any stronger – unless, their creator dies. Then they can inherit some of their former sire’s abilities through succession.”

He grins darkly at the confused expression you know you must be wearing on your face, because he elaborates before you can ask. He taps the marred skin of his lower jaw.

“If you haven’t noticed, I can shift between my real face, and the one you’re used to seeing; minus the burns. I didn’t used to be able to do that. Do you know how fucking difficult it is to go out in public when your face looks like this? Even at night, all people do is stare. It’s fucking annoying.” He shakes his head, allowing the dim candle light to reflect off his pale hair, giving it a blue tinge. “There’s a bunch of other things I can do now, but this is the most useful.”

“Like the flames?” You ask. Surprisingly, Dabi shakes his head.

“No, that I’ve always been able to do since I turned. My own special ability if you will. Normally you get one when you become a vampire. Shigaraki can decay shit; Toga can transform herself into a different person if she’s drank their blood; Twice can create multiple copies of himself; you get the picture. there’re some weird ones out there. Mine’s a sick fucking joke, considering it’s what killed me in the first place, but it’s powerful, so I can’t complain too much.”

“Oh.” You mumble, still trying to wrap your head around what he’s telling you, but you know you’re failing miserably. You’re not worried about him killing you, but you still don’t understand why he’s telling you all this.

“So… you don’t want to kill me.” You clarify gently. Dabi only shakes his head.

“No. Wouldn’t have bothered tell you all that if I did.” He confirms softly.

“Then what do you want with me?” you ask him again. Dabi sighs.

“I don’t think it’s a secret that I like you princess.” He tells you with the faintest hint of a smirk, and you feel heat rise to your cheeks. “—and I know you like me too.” He adds after a pause.

Your mouth twitches and you nod slowly before looking away. “I do, it’s just... this is a lot to take in.”

A thought occurs to you suddenly, an awful thought. One that you wish you didn’t think of, but now that you have, you have to ask.

“All those people… the missing ones from the boardwalk… that was you, wasn’t it?”

His silence is telling.

“Oh my god Dabi…” you whisper, running a hand through your hair as you let out a breathless laugh. “There’s so many people… how long have you been doing this for?”

“To be fair, not all of them were me.” He corrects you, but his answer lacks any of his usual fire. “There are five other vampires here. I can’t drain over a hundred people by myself. Besides, I don’t need much to survive. I can go two or three weeks without feeding, but the longer I go without blood, the worse the thirst is.”

“Over a hundred?” you sputter. You think back to all the faces you’d seen posted on the bulletin board. Some postings had been quite old while others had been days old, and there had probably been more before them – many more.

“Like I said; we’ve been here a long time. We never get old, and we basically never die… but we have to feed. That’s the trade off.” Dabi tells you solemnly.

“We normally try to go for people who won’t be missed; drunks, the occasional asshole who pisses us off… and some piece of shit abusers.” He growls ominously, and you know that he’s referring to your ex without him having to say it.

“… But some people just end up coming across us at the wrong place at the wrong time.” He admits after a moment. “We try to be selective about who we feed off of, but if we’re starving, we have to feed, otherwise we would go feral.”

“Is that why you brought me here?” you hate that you have to ask him, but you need to know. “To feed off of?”

“Hell no.” Dabi reaffirms. “Of course not. Your blood smells incredible, and I’d be lying if I told you I hadn’t thought about drinking from you...” He bites his burnt lower lip as you visibly cringe in front of him, before quickly adding: “But I’m not going to feed off you. I enjoy having you around too much. You’re different from the other humans I’m forced to be around. Besides, I’m not hungry anyways.”

You try not to read too much into that.

“So then what are your plans for me?” you finally ask, as you pull one of the blankets you were laying on over your legs. “Why bother telling me any of this? Do… do the others know I’m here?”

“They know. If you’re worried about them getting at you, they won’t. They’d have to go through me, and I’m not someone they want to fight anyways. I’d light their asses up if they got within ten feet of you. But they don’t want you harmed either, so don’t worry about them.”

“You’re sure about that?”

Dabi scoffs. “Shigaraki isn’t happy that I brought you back here, but he’s a miserable bastard on a good day. I couldn’t very well leave you back at your place anyways.”

“So then what happens now?” you ask quietly. “I don’t think things can go back to the way they were before.”

Dabi shakes his head; his ivory spikes sway sightly at the motion. “No. They can’t. I figured if I brought you back here and tried to explain what was going on, you’d understand at least a little. I wouldn’t have bothered saving you from that piece of shit if I didn’t somewhat care for you, you know.” 

“I know.” You pause before averting your eyes, and mumbling bashfully; “Thank you for saving my life. I have no idea what he was going to do with me, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. I was… so scared.” You admit as you drop your gaze to your hands.

You ex had never acted like that before in the past – even when things were at an all-time low between you, he’d never physically assaulted you. The look he’d had in his eyes could’ve fooled you into thinking he was possessed by a demon. You don’t want to think about what would’ve happened had Dabi not intervened.

At your silence, Dabi stands from his spot and slowly makes his way over to you, giving you plenty of time to stop him if you wanted, but you let him approach. He cautiously kneels on the bed in front of you, and slowly takes your hands in his large, scarred ones.

“Look;” he tells you softly, but firmly. “I wasn’t lying when I said I like you. There’s something about you I find irresistible – and it’s got nothing to do with how I find the smell of your blood intoxicating either. I want you to stay… with me, that is.”

You feel yourself soften at his admission and he groans in the back of his throat, squeezing your hands. “Look. I’m not good at this shit. I’ve been around a long time and I’ve never been good at it – never needed to be – but ever since I met you, I’ve wanted to keep you all to myself.” He bites out a laugh at his admission.

“It’s selfish of me to say that; especially considering everything that happened with your ex – but you make me want to be.” He licks his lips before quietly admitting;

“I may be a monster, but I certainly won’t treat you like one.”

You mull over his words for a moment. His eyes convey nothing but sincerity, and you find yourself believing what he’s saying to you. You squeeze his hands back.

“I feel the same way about you.” You admit, watching as a variety of emotions flicker through his eyes. Shock. Surprise. Acceptance, and something else you couldn’t quite place—

“Can I kiss you? He suddenly blurts out. You blink, realizing he’d gradually gotten closer to you, invading your space and crowding you in. If it’d had been anyone else, you’d be uncomfortable with how close they were to you; but it’s Dabi, and even with the knowledge of what he was, you don’t feel anything but calm.

Odd, considering you’d watched him murder a man right in front of you not too long ago – but even knowing that, you know he won’t hurt you.

You nod, your eyes slipping closed, and he leans in and presses his two-toned lips to your own. The texture of his lips is unlike anything you’ve ever felt; his upper lip is soft while his bottom lip is rough and chapped from the burns, but the contrast is nice, and you feel yourself sigh into the kiss, giving him further access to your mouth. The scarred man takes the opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth, deepening the kiss, as you feel his hands leave your own to cradle either side of your face. You realize how big his hands are when you feel his fingers splay out across your lower jaw and sweep over the pulse point in your neck, keeping you tethered to him as you fist your hands in his shirt.

You only pull back when air becomes too much of a necessity, but not before you boldly run your tongue over the too-sharp teeth hidden in his mouth, causing Dabi to laugh slightly as he watches you regain your breath. His hands never leave the sides of your face, as you reach up to cover the backs of his stapled covered hands with your smaller ones.

“You’re playing a dangerous game sweetheart.” he chuckles, slowly rubbing circles onto your face with his fingertips. “Keep doing that, and I really won’t be able to control myself around you.”

His statement makes you blush and you squeeze his hands. “Dabi I—"

“Touya.”

“What—?”

“Touya. My real name. It’s Touya.” He tells you breathlessly. “You asked me when we first met what my real name was. It’s Touya. Just call me Touya.”

“Touya.” You test his real name out gently, and a pleased rumble escapes the back of his throat.

“Fuck, it sounds good coming from you.” He tells you, eyes half-lidded. “Really good.”

Your heart pounds in your chest as he closes the gap between you again, pressing his lips to your own, only this time, he’s bolder and allows his hands to wander down your body until they settle on your hips, hot as a brand.

“Shit.” You murmur as you wrap your arms around his neck. Touya chuckles against your lips before tilting his head so his head his mouth is right next to your ear.

“If you want to keep going, just know I’m not going to stop.” He rasps as he squeezes your hips. “I won’t force you, but if you don’t want to then you have to tell me now—”

You cut him off by turning your head and pressing your lips to his again, prompting him to pull you closer until you’re practically straddling his lap.

“Fuck.” He snarls as he shifts and pins you down on his bed. “Here I was trying to be nice. Trying to be good for you, but you had to go and rile me up—”

“Touya.” You whimper as you feel something hard pressing into your inner thigh. “Touya please. Don’t tease.”

“Fuck sweetheart, I know. Don’t worry I’m going to take care of you.” He hisses as he paws at your shirt. “Fucking—take this shit off. I want to see you.”

He helps strip you out of your clothes in record time, and suddenly you find yourself bare before him. You move to cover your exposed breasts but Touya swiftly pins your hands. He doesn’t bother to try and hide his unapologetic gaze as he takes in the sight of your naked body on his bed.

He looks at you as if you’re a work of art, you realize, and he seems to be completely lost in you. You call out to him gently, snapping him out of whatever trance he’s fallen under.

“I can’t believe you’re letting someone like me do this to someone like you.” He admits. “Even after I told you what I am. After you’ve seen what I can do. What I’ve done.” He shakes his head, but his eyes light up as a wicked smirk overtakes his features, allowing his fangs to peak out from under his lip.

“Think you might be as fucked up as me, pretty girl. No woman in their right mind would let a monster like me fuck them after watching me kill their shitbag ex. You’re a sick little thing, aren’t you?” he teases you, but you only shake your head.

“You’re not a monster.” You tell him sincerely. “I don’t think you are.”

Touya only smiles down at you as he touches his forehead to yours. “Think you might be the only person in the world who thinks that sweetheart, but thank you.”

You fist your hand in his bloodied shirt. “Take this off.” You tell him, and for the first time, he hesitates slightly.

“It’s not pretty underneath.” He warns you. “The burns go all the way down.”

You help him out of his shirt in response.

He’s not wrong: his torso is a mosaic of dark purple burns and staples crossing over his shoulders, stomach and back. His legs aren’t much better once you shimmy his pants down his legs, but you couldn’t care less once you see his cock.

It’s beautiful and pale like the rest of his unmarred skin, it’s a good length, and decently thick. The tip is flushed red and you can’t help but swallow in anticipation as he kneels between your legs again. Touya grins as he hovers over you.

“I can hear your heart about to burst out of your chest princess. You might wanna calm down; don’t want you passing out on me.”

“Shut up.” You mumble sheepishly, prompting him to laugh. “It’s been a long time since I’ve—well…”

Touya chuckles at your hesitance. “Me too.” He admits, and for some reason, it makes you feel better. Touya’s eyes rake down your exposed form, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he drags his eyes up to your neck. “You smell so good.”

“Do you want to?” you ask breathlessly, turning your head slightly to the side. “I could let you—”

“No, not yet.” Touya murmurs, bending down to kiss you. “Let me try something.”

You don’t get the chance to ask him what he means before he’s bent down between your legs, and licking a long stripe through the middle of your pussy with the flat of his tongue.

You let out a load moan and throw your head back as he begins to lap at your pussy like a man starved, his large hands hold your thighs open as he licks at your center. You whimper and moan as he eats you out with vigor – your cries only increasing in volume as he introduces his fingers to where you need him most.

He starts with one pushing deep into your core, but it isn’t long before he’s adding a second digit, scissoring you open as he eats you out like he’s biting into a ripe fruit, and you feel divine.

It’s not long before you feel yourself teetering on the edge, and you close your eyes as you prepare to fall – only for your eyes to suddenly snap open as you feel something sharp digging into your inner thigh. You bolt up with a gasp only to see your vampire’s fangs buried in the meat of your thigh as he continues to pump his long fingers in and out of you.

Your blood dribbles down his chin as he continues to suck on you – moaning around your leg – and some sick part of your brain thinks it’s one of the hottest things you’ve ever seen. You reach down and fist your hand in his hair, tugging on it slightly and watch his eyes close as he groans something that sounds suspiciously like “harder.”

His fingers brush up against your sweet spot when you tug on the blood-streaked strands again, and you buck up into his hand, causing him to stroke the spot again and again has he drinks your blood. You’re getting light-headed and you can’t tell if it’s from your impending orgasm or the blood loss, before Touya pulls away from your leg, and twists his fingers just right, causing you to fall over the edge with a loud gasp as you feel yourself come undone.

“Fuck me.” You hear Touya snarl, and suddenly he’s looming over you again, caging you in with both his arms on either side of you, mouth dripping red with your blood. He grins down at you sadistically, elongated fangs streaked red with your blood. “That’s so fucking hot.”

You only moan in response as you feel for the puncture wounds he’s left in your thigh, but he swats your hand away as he lines himself in with your entrance. He pins both of your hands above your head with his free hand, and swoops down to press a heated kiss to your neck before slamming himself home – filling you up in one fluid motion.

You feel your back arch off the bed, and your mouth drops open in a silent ‘o’ as you struggle to adjust to his size. Above you, Touya hisses, as he struggles to keep himself in check.

“I can feel you squeezing down on me.” He pants. “You keep doing that, I’m not going to last long.” He warns you, but you shake your head.

“Don’t care. I just—I just want to feel you Touy—”

You don’t get to finish your sentence before he’s moving within you. His movements are deep and deliberate, leaving your breathless as he snaps his hips against yours at a brutal pace. He’s relentless, almost as if he’s trying to make a home for himself in your depths. You notice that his pupils are dilating and shrinking rapidly as he struggles to hold himself back break completely breaking you.

“Fuuuck.” The white-haired vampire groans as he slides his hand down to your hip, holding you in place as he pounds into your gummy walls. “You’re perfect. I knew you would be. I wanted you. I wanted you from the moment I smelled your blood. I’m glad I didn’t—” he cuts his ramblings off, and buries his head in the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent as you moan his name.

You feel his fangs ghosting along your neck, and it brings you back to reality. You weakly tap at his hand holding both of yours prisoner with your fingers, and he quickly releases you. You opt to wrap your arms around his burnt neck – being mindful of the staples holding his skin together – trying to keep him as close as possible, as his other hand finds your free hip, and grips you hard enough that you know you’ll have handshape bruises by the time you’re done.

But that doesn’t matter, not when he’s trying his damnedest to rearrange your insides.

“I’m close.” You murmur in his burnt ear, and he grunts in acknowledgment.

“Me too.” He rumbles, pressing his warm body to yours. “Need you to come for me doll. Need to feel it—” he sneakily reaches down to rub at your clit, and that does you in. 

You come with a choked scream and he follows you with an almost feral snarl. You feel his cock twitch and are rewarded by the warm stream of his dead seed deep within you. It’s too much stimulation, and you try to move away, but he follows you, holding you down with his body weight. You feel the press of his fangs like a whisper against your neck, but he doesn’t bite down, much to your surprise.

You stay glued together for what feels like an eternity, only for him to pull out of your body with a huff and flop down next to you on his bed. He doesn’t go far though, and opts to pull you close to his scar-ridden body so you’re practically laying on top of his chest; not that you mind though.

It’s funny, now that you’re so close to him – it’s only now that you realize he doesn’t have a heartbeat.

It should be concerning. It should have you running for the hills. You should be panicking at the knowledge of the literal undead roaming around, draining unsuspecting victims of their life blood – and while you’re still not sure what to think of the last part – you also know the vampire next to you wouldn’t hurt you. He’s protected you in his own gory way, and while you know you probably shouldn’t; you feel safe around him.

You trace the seams of his scars, and feel him hum contentedly in the back of his throat as he shifts you slightly against him. Peering at the dark window coverings, you can see the faint traces of dawn light trying to break through. Touya follows your gaze through heavily lidded eyes.

“Guess you’re staying here doll; I’m not going out in that. I’ll take you home later.”

“What, so you can make me do the walk of shame in front of your roommates?” you ask him, causing him to laugh.

“They won’t say anything. Not if they don’t want to get turned to ash.” He wiggles his eyebrows, and flashes his fangs at you, glinting wickedly in the low candle-light. You tap them hesitantly.

“Why didn’t you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Bite me. You could’ve.”

“Your leg says otherwise sweetheart.”

“Not that.” You brush him off. “I mean my neck. I know you wanted to. I could feel you.”

Touya exhales loudly through his pierced nose. “I did.” He admits. “The problem is, if I did, I probably wouldn’t stop.”

“Ah.”

You lapse into silence for a moment more, before you go back to tracing seams of his broken skin. “Can you turn people? Into what you are?”

He only nods, closing his eyes gently. “I can.” He confirms. “Never done it before though. Never had the need or want to.”

You feel your heart speed up in your chest, and you know he must be able to hear it as you force yourself to ask; “What would you do, if I asked you to turn me one day?” Touya only chuckles.  

“I’d turn you into my own personal thrall. Keep you by my side.”

“Oh, so like some sort of slave?” you tease weakly, but Touya only shakes his head with a slight grimace.

“I was thinking more along the lines of a Dracula’s Bride sort of arrangement actually. I wouldn’t put you through the shit I went through when I first turned.”

The implication hangs heavy in the air between you, but he doesn’t make a move to take it back. You twist and prop yourself up on your elbow so you’re looking him dead in his eyes, only to see he’s deadly serious, causing your breath to hitch in your throat.

“You mean that?”

“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.” he tells you gruffly, placing one of his large hands on your head and pushing you back down to his chest. “Don’t ask me shit like that unless you’re actually serious though. It’s a one-way street. The change is permanent. You’re this forever.” He warns you.

He must see the hesitation in your eyes, because his voice softens, and the hand that’s currently holding your head down switches to lightly combing through your hair.

“Live your life for now sweetheart. My offer still stands: If you really want to toss your mortality out the window. I’ll be the one to take it from you. But for now, just think about it. You can give me your answer when you’re ready.”

“…and what if I decide I’m never ready?”

Touya chuckles. “Then you’ll have my undead ass as a boyfriend when you’re an old lady up until the day you die.”

“A boyfriend huh?” you tease, grinning up at him softly. He rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. I just told you I’d make you my thrall, that’s all you’re getting from me pretty girl.”

“You basically said you’d make me your wife. Dracula’s bride, remember?”

Touya rolls his eyes, and you swear you see the faintest dusting of pink flash across the parts of his cheeks that aren’t brunt, but it’s gone as soon as it came, prompting you to giggle, and you both fall into a comfortable silence.

He squeezes you once after a heartbeat. “I’d take care of you, you know; if you wanted me to turn you. I’ll take care of you now, but I’ll look after you if and when you decide you want me to change you. You know my secret so you’re stuck with me now. It’s not like I can let you go. You don’t have a choice.”

You laugh in spite of yourself and snuggle closer to him. “I could think of worse things.”

“You say that now…”

“and I’ll mean it later.” You tell him as you reach up to stroke the burnt flesh of his jaw. “Really, I do.”

You feel Touya press a light kiss to the crown of your head, “Yeah I know.” He confirms, murmuring into your hair. “Now, sleep. I’ll take you back to your place once the sun has set. We’ll figure out what to say to your landlord about the scorch marks I left behind. Worse comes to worse, you can just move in here with me.”

You feel your eyelids droop at his words and you snuggle into his burnt flesh, trying your best not to apply any more added pressure to the sutures keeping him together, as you feel his arms settle at your waist, keeping you close to him.

You weren’t sure what the future held for you now, but you were sure that whatever it decided to throw your way, your vampire wouldn’t be far behind you.  

FIN

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box— Imagines Edition: Asking Permission

General Series Masterlist

request: “you mentioned a while back that trevor had to ask quinn’s permission before asking y/n - i’d love to read that 😍”

warnings: there’s probably a curse word or two but i can’t think of anything else. extremely unedited.

wordcount: ~2k

SPRING BREAK 2018 (JUNIOR YEAR)

it was your favorite time of year: spring break. quinn was home from college for a few days, and the ntdp boys had a few days off from practice (a schedule that you purposely made quinn choose said days off to come home).

you bounded down the stairs of your house at eight in the morning on the day quinn was finally coming home. ellen was busy cooking breakfast when she heard a thud noise and your “i’m okay!”

you quickly got up and continued to run into the kitchen, holding onto the corner of the wall to whip yourself into the room. ellen was smiling an amused smile at you, her daughter. legal or not; you are her daughter

“well, good morning,” ellen laughed.

“QUINN IS COMING HOME!” you screamed, bouncing up and down as you did. ellen laughed, “yes, he is. per your request i believe?”

you smiled at her deviously, “request, demand, threat, whatever you want to call it, it got him to come! quinny’s coming home!”

you were literally spinning and jumping around the kitchen in excitement. while you were spinning, and mama hughes was cooking, some heavy footsteps were heard from upstairs. you ran over to the bannister to look up at whoever was coming. it was a very messy haired jack— a grumpy one at that.

“it is 8am, sissy. why are you screaming?” he groaned.

“quinn is coming!” you bounced.

jack, while excited to see his older brother, was not as excited to be woken up at 8am by your shouts.

“did someone fall earlier?” you heard a sleepy trevor call out.

“i’ll give you one guess,” jack said. trevor appeared next to him, rubbing his eyes, “y/n?”

“i don’t fall that much!” you protested.

jack and trevor shared a look before looking back at you, both wearing “seriously?” faces.

“y/n, baby, darling, sissy-“

“you can’t call me sissy,” you interrupted trevor.

“right, sorry,” he stuttered. “you are a danger to yourself at all times. jack has first aid kits not for him, but for you, in his car and backpack.”

“you do, too!” jack swatted him. “quinn still has one, and he doesn’t even live here anymore!”

hearing quinn’s name made you excited again, “jack! why aren’t you as excited as i am?!”

jack groaned and slammed his head into his best friend’s shoulder, “i am! i’m just not going to jump and fall on my ass over seeing my brother.”

trevor laughed and patted jack’s head teasingly, “there, there, hughesy. don’t worry! she’s only going to get louder.”

while you skipped back to the kitchen where ellen was, trevor was smiling at you as he watched from the top of the banister. jack elbowed his ribcage, getting a groan out of him.

“what was that for?!”

“be a man! if you like her, just ask her out!”

trevor folded his arms on the rail and semi-slammed his head onto his arms, “i can’t just do that! do you remember when she had her first breakup?!”

“technically… i was her first break up,” jack muttered. trevor lifted his head up with a bewildered look on his face, “she’s basically your sister?”

“it was before she moved in, okay! we lasted a month so it barely counts.”

“right… well… okay- um,” trevor stuttered. “i was talking about her breakup at the end of september. she called quinn crying and he drive for hours to be with her! he’s not just basically her brother, he’s her best friend. and i just don’t think i’m good enough for her. and i’m certainly not good enough for his approval.”

“you don’t want my approval?” jack asked. trevor shot him a look. “fair enough. y/n and quinn have a special kind of relationship.”

while trevor and jack were talking, you were summoned by mama hughes to help her so that you weren’t running around (and falling) anymore. quinn wasn’t due to arrive til later that afternoon, and the world simply didn’t stop for him. there was still breakfast to be made, and the other three boys in the house wanted to go to the lake.

you planned on waiting around the house for quinn instead of going out, but ellen promised to call as soon as he arrived. trevor tossed you over his shoulder and carried you out to the boat when you still weren’t sure.

“trevor!” you protested. you began to bang your fists on his back, “put me down, zegras!”

needless to say, he did not put you down until you got on the boat. you flipped your hair over to get it out of your face really quick when trevor plopped you down on a seat before lunging at him. trevor had this dopey look on his face. he was clearly loving the physical banter you two had going right now. you? you weren’t sure. you were mad because you wanted to wait for quinn, but suddenly being with trevor was the only thing on your mind.

jack nudged luke for him to look at the two of you. your bad mood subsided at that shit eating grin that covered trevor’s face. you felt yourself slipping into a smile, and regrettably, trevor spotted it before you could change your facial expression.

“there’s that y/n smile i know and love!” trevor point out. you glared your eyes and scrunched your nose at him, “and there’s that y/n grouchy face i know and love!”

you smirked and took a step closer to him, “oh yeah?”

he took a step, “yeah.”

you were inches apart. both smirks and grins faded away and replaced with looks of longing. it felt like the rest of the world slipped away and all that was left was you two standing close together, gazes switching between each other’s eyes and lips.

then your phone rang.

you and trevor awkwardly stepped back from each other as you reached into your pocket to answer your phone.

“is he here?!” you practically shouted.

“come see for yourself,” you heard quinn’s voice say.

your eyes lit up and you got all bouncy again, “quintin!” the three boys on the boat laughed at your sudden excitement, and they could hear quinn laughing, too. “guys! he’s home! we have to turn back!”

there was no arguing with you over that. plus, jack and luke would be lying of they said they didn’t want to see their brother. while his absence doesn’t effect you guys as much as it did when he left at 15, it still has an impact. on you especially.

you almost tripped running off the boat, but you caught yourself at the last second. you sprinted from the dock back to the house as fast you could. the second you opened up the door, ellen called out, “in the kitchen!”

you squealed as you continued to run into the kitchen and straight into quinn’s arms, “quinny!”

quinn scooped you up, spun you around in a hug, and placed a kiss to your forehead when he set you down.

“god, i missed you,” quinn admitted, tucking you into his side again. “i’m taking you with me next time, i refuse to leave you again.”

“i wish,” you laughed, not removing your hands from around his waist.

the boys walked in next, and jack and luke immediately smiled when they saw their brother. trevor was smiling, too, but mostly at his friends being happy. not that he wasn’t happy to see quinn, because he was, they just didn’t know each other that well yet.

there is a standard rule around the hughes household and company— if you’re hugging quinn, you are not letting go until you are ready. you don’t care who yearns for your or quinn’s attention. you don’t let go, and he always keeps at least a hand on you in response. this meant that jack and luke had to one arm hug their brother from the side, but none of them minded.

after everyone caught up and all ate lunch, you all decided that eating s’mores by the campfire was the move for the night. however, there wasn’t any s’more supplies, so you and ellen were voted to go to the store.

back at the house, trevor was buzzing with nervousness. he kept wringing his hands and tugging at his lip, struggling to figure out a way to do this. all he had to do was ask to talk to quinn, how hard could it be?

extremely hard. very hard at best. terrifying at worst. trevor was feeling more of the latter.

jack nudged him, “what is wrong with you?”

“i need to talk to quinn,” trevor whispered to him.

“so speak? what is hard about this? you’ve talked to quinn loads of times,” jack said.

“no like… i need to talk to quinn,” trevor said again, this time emphasizing “talk.”

“are you seriously going to talk to him about sissy?” jack asked, albeit a little to loud.

“talk to who about sissy?” quinn asked. the two junior’s heads snapped towards him.

“uh…”

“trevor wants to talk to you about sissy alone!” jack announced. trevor winced and elbowed him in the side.

quinn raised his eyebrow as his brother groaned. it only took him a few seconds to realize why, “you like her.”

trevor’s eyes widened at being called out. jack, however, enjoyed this very much, “he does! he’s practically in love with her!”

quinn sat down on the ottoman in front of trevor. his leaned over and clasped his hands together with his elbows resting on his knees, “and why do you need to talk to me about this?”

“because you’re important to her. when she had that big breakup and you drove down to be with her, i knew i’d never have any real chance unless you liked me enough. and i’m scared i won’t be enough for her, but i want to try. i really want to try and be the perfect man for her because she deserves nothing less. but i could be the most perfect guy for her in the universe and it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t approve.”

quinn looked down and tried to hide a smile, “are you asking me for permission to ask y/n out?”

“i am,” trevor said, confidently this time.

“no one else has done this. no one else has even been around long enough to make it to the meeting me stage, which she deems as most important. so you’re already ahead of the game,” quinn said.

“i’m not sure if that was a yes or not,” trevor said.

“you’ll be good to her?”

“i’ll be everything she wants and needs.”

“and you won’t be offended by the ‘i don’t let go of her until she’s ready even if it’s for hours’ rule?”

“never. what you two have is special and i’d never want to take that away from her,” trevor answered firmly.

quinn smiled, “then by all means; if she deems you good enough, i do, too.”

trevor’s eyes lit up, “really?!”

“really,” quinn laughed.

trevor jumped forward and tackled quinn into a hug which sent the entire room laughing. quinn semi-reluctantly hugged him back before shoving him off of him, and that’s when you and ellen returned.

“whatcha doing on the floor, z?” you laughed as you walked in with a grocery bag.

“quinn shoved me!” trevor shouted in a tattle tale voice.

“did you deserve it?” you asked him.

“yes!” quinn shouted at the same time as trevor said, “no!”

“sorry, z,” you laughed again. “what quinn says goes!”

trevor got up and walked over to you, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, “what quinn says goes?”

“look who’s listening ears are on!” you teased. “yes, what quinn says goes.”

trevor looked at quinn, who looked back all knowingly, “i’ll have to agree with you on that one.”

[exitpursuedbyavulcan]

What is Broken (Aemond Targaryen x Pregnant Sister-Wife!Reader) SNEAK PEEK II

The war, the "Dance of the Dragons," as they have come to call it, is over. And yet, you are not celebrating. You have just learned that your husband, Prince Aemond, spent the last months of the war with another woman in his bed. Not only that, but his mistress is pregnant. Just like you...

Pairing: Aemond Targaryen x fem!reader (third person, no use of Y/N), side Aemond Targaryen x Alys Rivers

Warnings: Angst, pregnancy and related symptoms, infidelity, maybe smut in the future

Author's note: This is taking a little longer than I thought, I had like a really terrible week. But I'm working on it!

What is Broken Sneak Peek II

He called her name, his voice rasping and low – desperate.

She did not respond. She didn’t even look at him.

Aemond sighed, calling her name again. “Please, my love. Look at me.”

“Ābrazȳrītsos,” he said, a hint of command slipping into his plea. Little wife.

He had always loved calling her little. According to their mother, the first thing Aemond did when he saw her as a babe was exclaim, “She’s so little!”

Ever since, he’d been calling her little.

First, she was simply hāedus. Little sister.

Whenever she tried to follow Aemond when he went somewhere she wasn’t allowed or did something she wasn’t allowed to do, he would gently scold her, “Haedus, you’re too little.” Inevitably, she would cry. About half the time, her crying was enough to sway him.

Then, she became zaldrīzītsos. Little dragon.

“You’re my zaldrīzītsos,” he would say when she hugged him tightly after Aegon or one of the Strong boys mocked him for not having a dragon. She didn’t have one either, but she never felt she needed one, for she had Aemond.

For a time, she was maegītsos. Little witch.

Aemond had dubbed her so when she came to visit him in the Maester’s tower while he recovered from the loss of his eye. The Maester would give her some “special leaves” so she could brew a “magic potion” to help Aemond get better. In truth, the potion was simply tea. But Aemond always pretended that the potion had indeed worked miracles, just to make her happy.

Once he was healed, she was again zaldrīzītsos.

Since he finally had a true dragon, she worried that he would not want her anymore. When she came to him in tears one day as he was leaving the Keep to see Vhagar, he hugged her as tightly and told her, “You will always be my zaldrīzītsos.” Then he brought her with him to ride Vhagar. It was the best day of her life.

Or it was, until the day they were officially betrothed, and she became raqiarzītsos. Little darling.

It was what he would call her every morning when he greeted her with a chaste kiss on the cheek. How he would summon her to his side at court events. What he moaned into he ear when they kissed unchastely each evening before saying goodnight.  

She had been so excited when she became his ‘ābrazȳrītsos.’ The first time he had whispered it in her ear at the wedding feast, she’d blushed so brightly that their grandsire inquired about her health. The next time he said it, Aemond made sure they were alone.

Little sister. Little dragon. Little witch. Little darling. Little wife.

Always little.

Once, the names had made her heart flutter with delight. Now, they only prompted another wave of nausea.

Aemond was everything to her – he always had been. She thought he felt the same way, but it seemed she was wrong. To him, she was just “little.”

[alltoowelltom]

a missed chance

tom holland x single mom!reader

from this request here

note: this is a repost! i've been having so many issues with tumblr and posts not showing up so i decided it was best to just re-upload <3

⭑･ﾟﾟ･:༅｡.｡༅:ﾟ:*:✼✿

Almost three years ago Tom came to the conclusion that he'd missed his chance. The photo of two pink lines on a stick you'd sent to the group chat with no caption was an image that Tom saw whenever he closed his eyes. It haunted him in the middle of the night and clouded his mind when he sat in traffic. It summed up the situation, as he saw it - he'd waited too long and the opportunity for your will-they-won't-they friendship to ever grow into something more had slipped out of his grasp.

He settled into his role as Uncle Tom wonderfully. As the eldest of four he'd always been great with kids and he loved your young son as if he were Tom's own, but the tension in your friendship never quite fizzled out.

⭑･ﾟﾟ･:༅｡.｡༅:ﾟ:*:✼✿

Your phone rang as you sat on a park bench, watching Alfie play in the sandbox just a few meters away.

"Hello?"

"Love, you've got to start checking the caller ID before you answer." Tom chastised lightly on the other end of the line.

"Tom!" you squeal, drumming your feet on the concrete ground. "Does this mean you've landed?!"

"I'm touching solid ground," he confirms. "Back in the land of hope and glory."

"Good," you grin. "I've missed you."

"Yeah?" you don't miss the hope in Tom's voice and if you could see him, you'd notice the crinkles by his eyes that only appeared when he received really good news.

"Does that mean I can come over this evening?" he wonders aloud.

"I wouldn't complain," you shrug. "It's your first night back though, you don't want to see your family or anything?"

"How many times do we have to have this conversation?" Tom shakes his head. "You and Alfie are family."

As if being summoned, Alfie begins to whine from the sandbox, seemingly done with the plastic shovel in his hand as he holds his arms in the air, wanting to be picking up by you.

"Alright, I've got to go but I'll see you tonight," you say. "Talk soon."

⭑･ﾟﾟ･:༅｡.｡༅:ﾟ:*:✼✿

"How's my little man?" Tom asks, scooping Alfie up as he runs towards where Tom stands by the front door. He swings Alfie through the air, spinning around before bringing the giggling toddler to rest on his hip.

"He's grown!" Tom remarks. "You're almost too big for me to do that." He tells Alfie, poking him playfully in the tummy.

Tom feels stupid for not realizing how much bigger Alfie's gotten in the last four months since Tom's been away filming. Your FaceTime calls usually took place while Tom was in hair and makeup, right before you went to bed back in London and by that time Alfie was more often than not fast asleep already, so Tom hadn't seen much of the little guy. He wanted to kick himself for once again kidding himself into believing that you and Alfie existed in some sort of time-warp, lives permanently still until Tom came home to London. Of course you guys had your own little life together. You didn't need him, right?

"Yeah, he's getting older by the day," you laugh, wiping your flour-covered hands on your jeans as you step into the hallway. Tom wraps you into a side hug with his free arm, making sure not to squash Alfie between you two, who's fiddling with a loose thread on Tom's sweater.

"Alfie's just had dinner, do you want any?" you call over your shoulder as Tom follows you into the kitchen.

"Hmm, what's on the menu, chef?" He chuckles, placing Alfie down on the carpet and ruffling the boy's hair.

"It's the extremely gourmet and elegant meal of boxed Mac and cheese." You answer.

"Ooh, yes please!" Tom calls as he wanders into the living room.

He's always felt so comforted in your flat. It’s always felt a mile away from the stresses and worries of Tom's life as an actor, and more importantly it's always felt like you. Despite the baby bouncer hanging in the doorway, the discarded toy stuffed behind the TV and a few picture books strewn across the sofa it retains the features that made it yours like the vinyls on display above the record player Tom bought for your birthday one year and the mini chalkboard with a half rubbed out score from a game of beer pong from before everything changed. There was now a hastily scribbled reminder to 'buy teething rings' over the top.

"Sorry about the mess," you say, gently kicking a few brightly colored building blocks out the way. Tom helps by stacking the picture books from the couch into a little pile on the coffee table. "I was going to have a tidy up when Alfie and I came home from the park, but you know how it is."

He doesn't know how it is, not really. As close as you are, he's always slightly on the outside when it comes to you and Alfie, reduced to an uncle just the same as Uncle Haz or Uncle Tuwaine. But he wants to be more than that. He wants to be your partner in this, someone to lend a hand when the house gets messy or a shoulder to cry on when things get tough. For being a web-slinging superhero during the day, he wishes he was brave enough to tell you how he felt.

"Don't even worry about it." He says instead, smiling in thanks when you pass him a serving of mac and cheese in a colorful plastic bowl and a plastic spoon.

"I ran out of real cutlery." You laugh as he looks at it quizzically, one eyebrow raised. "You know, no one tells you how much living with a toddler changes you," you say. "I haven't used adult cutlery in about a week, and just the other day I found myself eating a sucky yogurt for dinner while watching Cocomelon. Alfie wasn't even in the room."

Tom laughs as he spoons the golden pasta into his mouth.

"It sounds to me like you're desperately in need of some adult interactions." He hears how it sounds as soon as he says it and hopes you don't think he's being creepy.

"Oh God, don't even get me started, " you say. "I haven't gotten any sort of adult interactions in like, a year. No wait…two years and nine months."

"Two years and nine months?!" Tom gasps, glancing at Alfie out of the corner of his eye who sits on the carpet playing with a toy train track Tom had given him last Christmas.

"Welcome to motherhood." You grimace.

Tom puts his empty bowl on the coffee table, trying to figure out how to word his next question.

"Do you ever get…lonely?" He asks delicately. "I don't mean physically, I mean actually."

You shrug, pulling a blanket over your lap.

"I mean, yeah. It's just that between work and Alfie, I don't have time to go out and meet people, you know?"

Tom nods thoughtfully, letting you continue as he gently tugs the edge of your blanket, pulling it over his legs too.

"And if I do meet someone, it's hard because sometimes if I tell them about Alfie it's a deal breaker, or if they're okay with it I'm still not comfortable bringing people in and out of his life. If someone's in his life I want them to be in for good, right?"

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Tom sympathizes, placing a hand on your leg.

"I wouldn't change having him for the world," you say quickly. "I just sometimes wish I had someone to talk to who doesn't speak only in Bob the Builder references."

"I'm always here to talk to, lovie." Tom reassures you. "Can we fix this? Yes we can!" He giggles and you laugh too, pushing his shoulder with yours.

"I'm really glad you're home, Tommy." you say quietly, putting your hand over his where it still rests gently on your leg and rubbing small circles into his skin.

"It's good to be back." He agrees. His eyes meet yours and you both lean in ever so slightly. He picks his hand up off your leg and slowly brings it up, only to be interrupted by a shriek from Alfie as one of his trains crashes off the track. You both jump away, Tom's hand hovering in mid-air as the only proof of the moment that might have happened, frozen on its collision course to your cheek.

You avert eye contact, standing up and reaching for Alfie.

"I'm sorry-" Tom starts but you shake your head, eyes shining.

"No don't worry, it's okay." You say. "Uhm, do you want to help with bathtime?"

⭑･ﾟﾟ･:༅｡.｡༅:ﾟ:*:✼✿

"Hello?" Tom calls down the hallway, kicking the front door shut behind him. There's no answer but he hears chatter and laughter from in the distance. He deposits the cake on the kitchen counter, breathing a sigh of relief upon discovering he'd gotten it from the bakery to your house in one piece.

He steps out of the French doors, immediately grinning as he takes in the scene before him. In the back garden Alfie's second birthday party is in full swing. A handful of toddlers play on the mini slide set you'd set up, their parents hovering nearby and chatting. He assumes these must be some of Alfie's friends from daycare. He spots Alfie almost immediately, running (or waddling) around with the top half of his face painted to look like a Spider-Man mask, clearly having the time of his life.

"Tom!" you spot him standing on the deck, excusing yourself from a conversation with a few parents and heading over to him.

"I'm so glad you made it," you say, giving him a quick hug. He lingers for a second, basking in the feeling of being able to hold you close. He lets you go with only a slightly wistful smile.

"Did you get the cake?" you ask hopefully.

"Of course," he says, rolling his eyes but taking you by the arm and leading you into the shade of the kitchen. "It's in here."

He opens the cake box, grinning as you gasp happily.

"It's perfect! Thank you so much for picking it up." you say, giving him a quick one sided hug and he gulps.

"You look pretty." he murmurs before he can stop himself, taking in the glittery dress you'd chosen for the occasion.

"What was that?" you blink, turning your head away from where you were putting two blue candles in the frosting and making eye contact with Tom.

"Uh, I said I love this city." Tom tries to save it, suddenly losing confidence as usual. "Glad to be back, y'know?"

"Okay?" you nod. "'s good to hear."

･*:༅｡

Tom hangs back as Alfie blows out his candles with a little help from you, allowing himself to hide in the small crowd of toddlers and parents. He'd been so confident driving up to your house with Alfie's cake safely in the passenger seat, even going as far as blasting Enchanted by Taylor Swift with the windows down to prove to himself that today was the day. He had to admit how he felt for so many years or it would truly eat him alive. But now here he was, leaning against the wall at a two-year-old's birthday party and feeling like the biggest wimp in the known universe. He silently excused himself to the bathroom, locking the door and knocking his head on the mirror. Come on, Tom!

"Hey," Tom said, tapping you on the shoulder.

･*:༅｡

"Oh shit," you say, whipping around and dropping the pile of paper plates you'd been collecting up. "You scared me, Tom! I thought everyone had left already."

"Sorry," Tom laughed gently. "No I was just in the bathroom. Want some help cleaning up?"

"You were in the bathroom for an hour?" you ask worriedly. "Jesus, is everything okay?"

"Oh, everything's brilliant." He smiles at you. "I was just thinking."

"I didn't know you knew how to do that." you grin at him. He breathes out, glad some of your familiar banter had returned.

"I have to tell you something." he says before he can think too much about it.

You nod, smiling gently for him to continue as you clean up.

"Can you…can you stop doing that for a minute?" he asks shyly, taking the stack of paper plates from you and putting them down. "This'll only take a minute and then I'll be gone, promise."

He hesitates before taking both your hands in his. You lean into his touch, trying to ignore the electricity that radiates from where your hands meet.

"Do you remember that night at the pub a few years ago?" he asks slowly. "It was the night they were doing the trivia night on pop culture and you won our team all those points for knowing the One Direction questions."

"Yeah," you laugh. "Once again the 1D obsession saved all of our asses."

"And then later that night," Tom continues, his voice wavering. "You uh- you found out about Alfie and you sent that picture of the test to the group chat."

You nod, remembering that night all too well.

"I was outside your house that night." he blurts out. Well, I've done it now, he thinks.

"What the fuck, Tom." you laugh. "You got all serious just to tell me you were stalking me almost three years ago?"

Tom groans.

"Will you let me finish, love?" he asks. "You left before any of us. And the boys all hyped me up, and then I left too. I came to your house because I had to tell you how I felt. And then before I could even knock, you sent that photo to the groupchat. And then how could I possibly add more to the situation and tell you that I've been in love with you since we met?"

Your eyes widen after his confession and you slowly take your hand out of his. Tom swears he's never heard a silence quite this loud before, and he takes it as a bad sign.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he babbles. "I just had to tell you because I couldn't keep lying to you and pretending that everything I see or think about doesn't remind me of you."

"No, Tom." you stop him, gently placing one finger over his lips to shush him. "It's just that I don't really know how to respond to that. I mean, you want me? You actually want me?"

"Darling, you could punch me in the eye and I'd still want you." Tom tries to ease the situation and you giggle. You wrap your arms around him gently, breathing in his scent.

"Is this okay?" you ask hesitantly.

"It's more than okay." Tom confirms, copying your actions. He nuzzles his head into your hair, inhaling the sweet smell of your conditioner that he's only ever been able to admire from afar before now.

You nudge him ever so slightly away from you and tip your head up a tiny amount so you're looking at him. He's been so brave, being the first one to make a move so you feel it's only fair that it's your turn to break the ice. Chest flush against his you close the gap between your mouths, meeting his lips in a soft kiss.

Tom all but melts into the kiss, holding you firmly. There's no way he was letting the chance slip away again, now that he was right where he wanted to be.

⭑･ﾟﾟ･:༅｡.｡༅:ﾟ:*:✼✿

tysm for reading! reblogs are always appreciated and really help a writer out <3

[writingintheshadowsforever]

The Angels Brought Me Back to My Loves

"Can you run it back for me one more time?" You asked the young boy sitting across from you.

His name was Diego, and his loyalty to you was undying and unwavering. You don't remember doing anything to earn such devotion. But that was the problem, wasn't it. You didn't remember a single thing when you woke up from a six month coma.

Not your name.

Not your profession.

Not your powers, which seemed to be dormant since you awakened. Considering you haven't been unable to summon even a spark of electricity. No matter how many times Diego and the other kids tried to motivate you.

Not any friends, family, or significant others you might have.

You couldn't remember a single thing about your life, and the only information Diego could provide you with was. The brave and daring chronicles that began with you breaking into an evil scientist's base of operations to rescue them. And ended with you taking down their number one solider with the power to move the earth itself.

You were pretty sure he exaggerated certain parts of the story, but you never tired of hearing it. Hoping it would somehow help restore a memory or two. If you were lucky enough, all of your memories would come back.

He recounted the story again, breaking down every single detail. No matter how big or small, even throwing in little things he had forgotten about. Or just didn't think were that important watching you carefully. To see if any of it was doing any good and brought a memory out.

But nope, there was no surge of images flashing through your mind. Like you hoped for, you listened with intent, but nothing came back. It was pointless just like the last seven times.

You expected him to grow frustrated at some point with repeating the same tale over and over. He never did, though. Instead, Diego got to his feet to walk crouch down beside where your head was buried in your hands. He placed a comforting hand on your knee and said the same words over.

"Don't worry Avenger, we'll get there somehow or someway. I can feel it."

And there it was that one word that did seem to resonate with something. Deep buried inside of you, the key to bringing it all out. But as soon as you tried to grasp it. It vanished out of your reach.

Avenger the one word that meant everything to you. Whenever someone spoke it or referred to you with it. Your heart beat a little faster. It meant something. There was purpose behind the title, and it was the one thing that you focused on. You might not remember who you were and what your life was. But you were sure of one thing, and it was going to have to be enough for now.

You were an Avenger.

Two Months Later

The rest of the story goes as follows after the three kids lugged you back to the small town. The townspeople became worried the evil scientist would return to take vengeance upon them, and this time you would be in no condition to stop them. With that fear lurking in the back they came to the decision it was best to flee while they had the chance. The only problem being getting you back to the Avengers.

Reaching out to the Avengers was no easy task like it used to be back when the team was actually put together, and had their own system of answering distress calls. Things never really got back to normal after the Avengers disbanded over the Sokovia Accords, and the aftermath of the Battle of Thanos just made things worse. The remaining heroes were scattered and really just doing their own thing these days. If countries outside of the U.S. wanted to get in contact with an Avenger for help. They were forced to go through the government and sometimes the letters were just thrown in random pile by an agent. And it wouldn't be handed off to an Avenger until one of you came by looking for an assignment, or when Sam would go there to pick up all the Avenger mail.

The townspeople didn't have the luxury of waiting around for months for the Avengers to come to the rescue this time. So they took you with them into hiding, and a few weeks later they found an abandoned village to settle into and call home. While Chloe's healing powers might've been enough to bring you back to life. The little girl wasn't strong enough to heal your injury completely, so the small team of doctors, and one surgeon had to work around the clock to keep you alive. Apparently you had coded at least two more times, but they were able to resuscitate you.

When you finally woke up from your six-month coma the entire village rejoiced. Even though you were suffering a serious case of memory loss they were just happy to see you awake, and moving. Although the moving thing was limited to just lifting your arms and turning your head by yourself. A few weeks went by before you were able to ditch the wheelchair, and even then you still had to use a cane to walk.

During it all, Diego was a Godsend staying by your side through it all, and constantly challenging you to push yourself to get better and better everyday. When you were at your lowest wanting nothing more than just to give up. You were still waiting for the day where he finally gave up, and moved on with his life. The other two kids and his mother laughed whenever you made a comment about him growing tired of you one day. All of them insisted Diego looked up to way too much, and felt in your debt even if he had saved your life. Oh and then there was the other reason you had to keep trying no matter how pointless it all seemed. Kai and Chloe neither of them were from this country instead both were relying on you to get them home back to their families. The most frustrating thing about recovering your memories is how random ones pushed their way to the surface caused by the smallest hint of familiarity. The scent of your favorite food hitting your nostrils as you limped past a random home. Suddenly you were sitting at a circular table stuffing your face with a sandwich, so messy the meat inside was falling out onto the wrapper below. The person next to you with his head propped up on his own fist took the time to chastise you from such sloppy mannerisms.

Diego convincing you to spar with him one day, a friendly practice fight ending with him pinned face down to the ground. Your knee digging into his back, and his arm wretched upward at a painful angle. The sparring session was all fun and games until you pulled some lethal move the boy had no chance of dodging from muscle memory.

But while those occurrences had you wishing for your memory to come back. It was one memory in particular that left you longing for the feeling of it long after it was gone. It happened on a hot and humid day the rising temperatures so dangerous not even Diego was willing to risk the heat stroke to get you out of the house. But what the heat in his home so much worse was his mother's decision to bake some goodies. The activity had both you and him seeking solace at the neighbor's house. A nice family who were familiar with you for they were the ones to house you for the duration of your mission.

Once the pastries were done and cooled off his mother was kind enough to drop some off to both of you with a wide smile. While making a comment about the two of you leaving her to suffer in a hot kitchen alone like a servant. Diego planted a kiss on his mother's forehead before shoving the sugary cake in his mouth. You took a tentative bite, savoring the rich and sweet flavor as the white powdery sugar coated your tongue and sides of your mouth. Diego pointed at the mess with a chuckle, and in that moment another person's laughter flooded your brain along with an unfamiliar voice referring to you with a tone of endearment. Both voices belonged to that of a different woman, but your body had the same reaction regardless. Your heart started beating a little faster as your grip on the funnel cake loosened so much. It fell from your fingertips to the floor while you did your best to hold onto the fleeting sounds that had already faded away back to the deep crevices of your mind. Where all your memories were awaiting for you to find a way to unlock them. You grew so desperate to summon those voices again you didn't think twice about eating another sweet, but nothing happened.

No soft laughter this time, or woman calling you something other than your name. But the way she said it told you whatever the word stood for. It wasn't anything bad but the opposite if anything she said in such a loving way you yearned to her say it again. You needed to hear her say it again the way you needed air to live. This was the first memory to hint there was someone out there thinking you were dead. Someone who saw you as the most important person in the world. Someone who's entire world fell apart when you didn't come back from the mission. Someone who might still be waiting for you to come home holding out hope that despite the fact. Its been more than eight months since you disappeared somehow you were still out there. And you were with newfound determination to make it back to them no matter what.

Another week passed filled with more random memories coming out of blue triggered by the simplest of actions, or anything related to smell or taste. One of them did do some good helping you remember your name finally.

Thanks to the physical therapy Diego put together with the help of the doctors. You were able to get rid of the cane and was back to walking on your own without any assistance. This encouraged both of you to start taking your training a bit more serious hoping to get your powers to come back out. But unfortunately any attempt to use summon your powers failed no matter what the two of you tried. The danger tactic failed. The believe in yourself and go for it speech got you nowhere. Even you touching a faulty wire hoping the connection would spark something did nothing. The frustration over the lack of progress continued to build to you finally hit your breaking day. You stormed off right in the middle of a session with Diego.

The kid let all the random items floating high up in the air waiting to be shot down by your electricity fall back to the ground. He called out your name begging you to come back, you were tired mentally and physically. Not wanting to let the kid down, but knowing if you pushed yourself any harder for the day only to come up empty-handed. Would lead to a inevitable meltdown that neither of you would escape from unscathed from. You kept going not sparing him another glance.

Eventually nightfall came bringing quite the thunderstorm along with it, and while most of the townspeople let the sound of the pounding rain with the rumbling thunder lull them into a deep slumber. One determined little kid did the opposite, sneaking out of his home to make the journey to yours. The storm was so powerful you weren't able to tell the difference between the knocking at your door, and the raindrops slamming into the roof. It was his familiar disgruntled yelling that made it possible for you to distinguish the difference finally, and then you were dragging yourself out of your warm and cozy bed to. Yank the door open and drag the young boy into your home with a firm hand on the back of his neck.

"Diego what the hell are you doing outside? Did you not see the mini hurricane raging on out there?" You scolded him throwing in a smack upside his head for good measure.

The action didn't faze or kill his mood in the slightest. He looked up at you with a massive grin plastered on his face. "Yeah and do you know what that means?" He countered your question with one of his own.

The tone of excitement in his voice bewildered you just as much as his presence here. "Usually it would be a great night of sleep for normal people."

Diego shook his head. "Well you're not exactly normal and this is your chance."

"My chance to what? You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion.

He groaned, rolling his eyes as if it should be obvious. "This is the perfect opportunity to reawaken your powers. A thunderstorm like this means giant lightning bolts if you get struck by one. It could be the jumpstart they've needed to come out all this time."

Now you understood his excitement. the process of trying to your electricity powers to activate again hadn't been easy, and ended in failure more than once. The most you were able to do these past couple of weeks was generate a few sparks in the palm of your hands. "Didn't we already try that?" You reminded him thinking back to the faulty wire he had you touch. The only thing it accomplished was a brief flickering of lights in the house while you were hit with a tiny jolt of power. It was very anti-climatic and kind of embarrassing if you would say so yourself.

"Oh come on, comparing that tiny shock to a lightning bolt is like comparing a candlelit flame to a raging inferno." Diego scoffed following you into the living room where you flicked on the switch. "If anything can give your powers that jumpstart its this" he insisted almost pleading at this point.

Even if you wanted to argue with the kid it wasn't possible while you might not be able to summon or generate electricity beyond a few playful sparks. You could still feel the hum of it, and how it powered every little thing in the village. But tonight everyone had their electronics turned off in fear of a attracting a stray lightning bolt. So the hairs on the back of your neck shouldn't have been standing up the way they were, and the powerful hum that had your entire body tingling with anticipation should've been way less stronger. Instead it was one of the strongest pulls of electrifying power that you felt since waking up. Your body craved it more than anything so what were you waiting for?

"What if it doesn't work? What if it fails like everything else?" You asked aloud realizing it was the fear of failure holding you back. The fear that you were going to stuck like this forever.

"It won't" Diego exclaimed with nothing but confidence.

"You don't know that it won't" You argued unsure.

Diego stared at you with disbelief and for the first time since you woke up. He looked at you with disappointment, releasing a huff in frustration. "It doesn't matter y/n its worth the risk" he said, standing his ground with his hands placed on his hip.

"Damn it y/n if you're not willing to do it for yourself then do it for whoever has you walking around here like a lovesick puppy. They have to be worth it, right?" Diego pressed you even more when you didn't answer fast enough for his liking. His comment at the end got your attention as your head snapped upward with your eyes zeroing in on him.

He held up his hands to keep you calm. "I've noticed a change in your behavior since that day my mom baked those funnel cakes. I don't know what memory it brought up, but I know whatever it was you've been trying kinda hard to make it come back. The key to unlocking your memories might be connected to your powers y/n."

It turns out Diego was more determined to help you get your powers back to full strength than you knew. The kid had a plan just in case this exact opportunity ever presented itself. He already scoped out the area finding the perfect vantage point for you to try and call down a lightning bolt. The strong winds and blinding rain slowed the two of you down on your way, but about forty minutes later. You stood perched on the edge of the cliff with quite the view below of a wider and more dense forest. But tonight in this raging storm the trees before were bent from the force of the gales. Leaves were ripped free from the branches swirling throughout the air. Some of them forming a tornado of leaves it created a haunting sight.

Your eyes drifted up to focus on the darkened sky that casted nothing but shadows upon the land. Every now and then it lit up with a flash of lightning, and with every bolt you felt your heart pull towards it. Diego stayed back hiding behind the trees hoping it would shield him for the wrath of the storm. It didn't matter if the lightning bolt did splinter them you weren't going to let anything happen to him. Either this plan was going to work or you were going to shocked with enough bolts to put you back in a coma.

You took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly preparing your mind and body. The lightning bolt shouldn't be able to hurt you, but then again you couldn't be to sure of your immunity with the majority of your abilities laying dormant inside of you. But it wasn't fear that you felt as the hairs on the back of your neck stood up, or when your hair started to frizz. You were filled with excitement and a sense of impatience as if this is exactly what your body had been craving. This was going to work. It had too.

Deep down inside the connection was still there buzzing with a low hum. A bolt of lightning shot from the sky grazing the forest below, and you were sure the strike took a tree down. Another one followed not too far behind, and the only difference was this one was a bit closer. It was as if the storm felt your presence and was challenging you to tame it. It raged on with the winds picking up greater speeds your hair flowing behind you, and your jacket along with your shirt was lifted from your body letting the cool air hit your skin. The rain started coming down a little harder, clouding your vision. The storm had turned into a ferocious beast intent to knock you down, but you stood your ground. Planting your feet on the edge of the cliff determined to not give it a single inch. The elements weren't going to bend to your will.

Good thing that wasn't your intention because you knew all too well some power just couldn't be tamed. Instead you wanted to become one with it again, and with you let out an agonized cry spill out of your mouth. A plea you were so desperately hoping would be answered. Digging deep down inside you searched for your power urging no commanding it to come back to you. Lightning flashed in the sky overtaking you with its strength. Teasing you with how close you were to colliding with it. You felt a small surge of electricity and sparks of it began to dance in your fingertips. Grabbing a hold of that power you refused to let it go. Expanding your connection to it focusing on the immense source of power in the sky above.

A white hot bolt of lightning shot from the sky colliding with your body. This time lighting you and the ground beneath your feet up as well. For a solid two seconds your were encased in a tomb of three hundred million volts. Diego watched from the distance amazed but still fearing for your well-being. Your body wasn't convulsing or anything, but instead remained still. He continued to hang back in the safety of the trees honoring his promise to you. To not get involved no matter what, and to not attempt to pull you out of the pathway of the lightning. This was his plan after all.

And it was working because yes for a mere second you were in unimaginative pain. It felt as if the volts of electricity was seeping into your skin, worming a path throughout your entire body to destroy you from the inside. Then the pain faded away and you became more alive since waking you from the coma. When the surge hit your brain the flush of memories hit way too fast dropping you to your knees. As you watched your entire life playback like a movie, only for it to stop short. You growled in frustration trying to push more power to the circuits in your brain to summon the rest, but the lightning bolt had served its purpose, and seemed to just evaporate into thin air.

The once brown and rocky ground you were standing on was now charred black. A circle of small flames danced around your form, and the sound of Diego calling your name reached your ears.

You lifted your upper body upright remaining on your knees taking deep breaths in and out. Sparks of blue electricity were now crackling around your entire body. Your powers were no longer dormant, and now you had the majority of your memories back.

It worked.

"Do you really have to go right now?" Diego asked, hovering by the entrance to your bedroom watching you stuff what few belongings you possessed into a duffle bag.The two of you returned from the journey into the mountains not too long ago, and the night was still young. It was going to be at least another three to four hours before sunrise, and while it would've been more ideal to wait until then to depart from the village. You found yourself unable to wait any longer to get back to your life, and your friends. No your family because while none of them weren't related to you by blood.

The bond you shared with the Avengers was an unbreakable one, and you knew without a doubt that Sam and Bucky spent the past eight months. Blaming themselves for your disappearance, and presumed death, especially Sam considering this was exactly the type of mission. He would've done everything in his power to convince you not to go on alone. Oh and that was another thing while the lightning bolt managed to restore your powers somewhat, and awaken the majority of your memories. Not all of them had returned, and there were still blank spaces you needed to fill.

The people in this village had your gratitude and you would be forever in their debt, especially Diego's, but if you were going to get back to full strength, and recover all of your memories. It was time to go back home no matter how hard it might be to say goodbye.

"Yeah kiddo, the faster I get a move on the faster I get back home plus I need to make a quick stop on the way." You told him slinging the duffle bag over your shoulder, the action caused a burst of agony to shot through your body. Somehow you managed to mask it with a tight smile, not wanting to give him anymore ammo to convince you to stay.

"Fine but just promise me one thing" he said, straightening his body to make himself look taller.

You quirked an eyebrow at him with a grin. "Yeah go ahead."

"One day when the Avengers are like looking for new prospects to join the team. You'll remember me, and come back." Diego said, trying to keep his usual confidence, but you noticed the worry in his eyes. Worry that you were going to move on with your life, and forget he ever existed.

"Awww Diego" You chuckled, ruffling his hair. "Of course I'm coming back for you, and I promise its not going to be like twenty years from now or something. It'll be soon after all I still got to get Kai and Chloe back home."

"And what about the bad guys?" "I wouldn't worry too much about them the Avengers probably took care of them sometime after I disappeared."

Eight Months Earlier.

The alert didn't come from you instead it came from Wakanda.

The crazy thing about it was Sam had been thinking about sending Bucky in after you to just to make sure everything was going smoothly. The super solider finally got Valentina off his back, agreeing to join her little anti-Avenger squad. As long as she promised not to interfere with his life, or more like personal vendettas. There were still plenty of names on his list that he planned on crossing off.Just as Sam reached for his cell phone to reach out to him, the giant screen sitting in front of him came to life on its own. On the other side of the screen was a face he knew all too well, and she didn't look happy. Nor did she have her usual calm and focused demeanor about her.

He could see the distress on her face and was on his feet in seconds. "Ayo what's wrong?"

"Y/N do you know her location?"

"Not exactly she's on a mission in Costa Rica." He answered, a sense of dread coming over him.

"I'm sending you her coordinates now, we need you to get moving at once. You can reach her faster than we can" Ayo replied.

Sam threw his hand out to get her to pause before hanging on. "Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

"She's in danger" was the only thing she would tell him before hanging on.

A few hours later the part of forest where your kimoyo beads were still pinging from was swarming with a small team of government agents led by Sam and Bucky. Ayo and Aneka touched down just thirty minutes after them accompanied by Okoye and Shuri the Black Panther herself. Together it didn't take them long to search the area, and the only trace they could find of you was the beads. Laying in a puddle of water with a large pool of dried up blood next to it, and no one needed a DNA test to know who it belonged to.

A few feet away was the body of a large male, and his injuries told a story. They just wished he was still breathing so he could tell them what happened to you. Your body was nowhere to be found, but with the amount of blood loss you suffered. There was no way you could've gotten far on foot, so everyone scoured the surrounding area and beyond in hopes of finding at least. A sign of what might've become of you, but they had no such luck. After failing in the search for you, Sam and Bucky turned their sights on the guys you were sent to take care of. Locating the main base of operations wasn't hard at all with being only a few miles away from your final location. Ayo and Shuri tagged along with them just in cased any of the soldiers were left.

Between the Black Panther, The General of the Dora Milaje, A super solider with a vibranium arm, and Captain American armed with wings, and the ionic vibranium shield. It took literally no time at all to make quick work of the small army of goons armed with machine guns. The man in charge was in trying to sneak out the back, and disappear into the depths of the rainforest. Instead the door was ripped from its hinges when he reached it, and before he could turn around to go back the way he came.

A shiny black metal arm with lines of gold running down its length reached out to take a fistful of his shirt. Bucky lifted him off the ground, and carried him back into the building. Where he proceeded to slam him into a wall. One, two, three times, and on the last one his head connected with hard material. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and suddenly his vibranium arm disconnected from his body. He stepped back as it fell to the floor at his feet along with the near unconscious man.

"What the hell Ayo?" He growled already knowing who was responsible.

She came up to stand beside him with nothing but disdain in her eyes for the man below. "You weren't restraining yourself" was her explanation.

It took all of five seconds to pry the metal arm off the short and stocky man. Sam hauled him to his feet by his white lab coat, and half-drug him to a random office. Where he was tossed into a office chair the momentum sent it spinning out of control. Until it slammed into the wall, and turned over dumping him back on the floor.

"For Bast's sake can you two not be so rough. We need him conscious if we're going to question on y/n's wherabouts" Shuri scolded the Avenger.

Sam and Bucky grunted out a fake apology. Shuri went over to help the leader back to his feet with a firm grim on his forearm. She led him back over to the chair that Ayo had picked up from the floor waiting on the side with handcuffs. As soon as he was seated and his hands were secured to the arms of the chair. Bucky threw a bucket of cold water on him drenching his entire body.

"Ahhh" he gasped shooting up from his slumping. His eyes widened and his hands strained against the bonds when he tried to wipe the water off his face. A second later he started to realize just what kind of predicament he was in. When his eyes settled on Shuri positioned in front of him in her signature Black Panther suit. The mask was still covering face to set the tone, and evoke more fear into him. Ayo stood on her right side just a few inches behind her with death grip on her spear. If looks could kill the man would drop dead in an instant from the way she glowered.

Bucky sat perched on top of a desk closer to the door with Sam leaning back against. Arms crossed over his chest deciding it was best to let the Wakandans handle the interrogation. The rage built inside of him was too strong for him to trust himself to question the man responsible for your disappearance. Especially considering the thing fueling his anger was the thought that all of this was his fault. You would've never been put in this position if he had just listened to his instincts. In the first place and waited until Bucky returned from dealing with Valentina to give you the mission. Instead he let you go alone and now you were gone.

"Where is she?" Shuri asked her voice so calm it was eerie.

"Where's who Princess? You're going to have to be a little more specific." The man said letting just a drop of sarcasm seep into his voice. It earned him a blow to the jaw courtesy of Ayo with such speed. He didn't even realize he'd been struck until the stars cleared, and he spat blood onto the floor.

"The Avenger who was sent here to bring your operation down" Ayo seethed.

A knowing look came over him and there was no way for him to hide it. When grin stretched across his face to match the pure delight in his eyes. Shuri moved with inhuman speed to encase her General in her arms, and pull her back.

"Lula Ayo lula cinga ngesithandwa sakho" She whispered into the enraged warrior's ear.

"I assumed your Avenger was successful in her mission, and would've returned to you by now. You're telling me she hasn't?" He asked out of curiosity and disbelief.

"No she hasn't and her last coordinates puts her about a mile or two away from this place. We went there but there was no sign of her only some dead burly dude." Sam explained walking forward to take over as Shuri took Ayo out of the room.

"Ahhh so she did kill project Earth" the man said his tone emotionless as he shrugged his shoulders. "I figure as much when he didn't return after I sent him after her and my other subjects."

Sam glanced over his shoulder to see Bucky's eyebrow twitch, and he sighed wishing the guy knew how to hold his tongue. No doubt he was referring to the missing kids. He stepped out of the way knowing his strength didn't even come close to matching the super solider. Whenever his eyes darkened the way they were now, and he moved nearly matching Shuri's pace. He wrapped his human hand around the man's throat, and squeezed until it got to the point that every time the man tried to gasp for air. The end result was him choking even harder.

"Those subjects have names and so did that man who died for your heartless endeavors. They were human beings and you stole their life away from them." Bucky snarled dropping to one knee so he could make eye contact with terrified scientist. "The least you can do is remember their names. When this is over I'm going to make sure you know every single last one of them." It wasn't a threat but a promise.

The interrogation went on for a full two hours with Okoye coming in, and taking over after the first hour was up. She had years of experience under her belt witnessing some of the most proven methods to get someone to talk. She had no sympathy for this man, and saw no need to show him an ounce of mercy. But once it became obvious he knew nothing of your whereabouts, and had no useful information on the abandoned town.

Okoye broke the news to everyone and called the interrogation a waste of time to keep it going. Of course Ayo and Aneka who were holding onto breads crumbs of hope right now argued.

"He is lying let me speak with him" Aneka demanded stalking towards the door.

Both Sam and Okoye blocked her path, but he hung back letting the former General attempt to calm her fellow Midnight Angel down.

"Aneka brute force will not work I've tried both manipulation, and torture. He just doesn't know" Okoye insisted.

"He's a demented man who used people as test subjects to give them powers. He would've saw y/n as the perfect specimen." Aneka argued.

"Maybe but that doesn't change the fact she's an Avenger which makes her liability to someone like me." The man's voice came from the doorway. His hand were now cuffed behind his back, and even though there were no tell-tell signs of physical torture. His face twisted in pain when Bucky forced him to continue to humble along beside him. Bruises were littered around his face from the few blows he suffered early-on coupled with the strangulation.

"In case you didn't notice my operation was built off subtlety. I targeted a small town with little to no police force, and hidden away from civilization. I knew no one would come rushing to these people's rescue, and the few kids who I did have brought to me from other countries were low-risk. Runaways with parents who gave up on them a long time ago, and children from a broken home. That's how I stayed off the radar taking an Avenger captive would put on the map, and it wasn't worth it. I ordered project Earth-arghhhh" his speech was cut off in a painful groan.

Bucky had tightened his grip on his shoulder past the point of being just uncomfortable.

"Todd I ordered Todd Jenkins to kill her" he cried in distress. Bucky loosened his hold with a death stare. "His orders were to kill her and bring the kids back. You can torture me all you want by my story won't change."

When no one else opened their mouth to argue Bucky moved along shoving the scientist forward. Aneka turned back to Ayo searching for answers neither of them had. If you weren't taken captive then why were you. Both of them replayed your last words to them in their head having memorized the message by now. And how defeated you sound the horrible coughs mixed in with your words. You were on the verge of death, and the last update Griot gave them on your vitals was anything but good.

He told them you had sustained fatal injuries, and he lost a pulse about five minutes after you sent the message. And that was another mystery why did you take your kimoyo beads off. Aneka had found the beads lying in a puddle of water with tiny drops of dried blood on them. Her heart filled with dread at the sight of them not being on your wrist. You'd never just take them off none of this was making sense.

"Someone had to move her right? She wouldn't of gotten that far in her condition" Aneka said. Her and Ayo returned to the spot where your last fight took place. Bucky took charge in removing Todd's body, so the area was empty now surrounded by trees, and the noises of various animals creating a symphony.

"Maybe an animal got to her" Ayo suggested hating the words as they left her mouth. She hated what the theory implied, and it earned her a glare from her lover.

"You're suggesting a predator took her for dinner, but left behind the man the size of a bull in one piece." Aneka scoffed turning around to walk away.

Ayo caught her by the wrist making her pause. A single tear slipped free rolling down her cheek. The others were still combing through the town, and the forest looking for any sign of what could possibly happened to you. But at this point most of your friends had accepted a dark and ugly truth about your fate. No one wanted to say it aloud though especially Ayo herself, but eventually they were going to have to call the search off. Eventually they were going to have to return back to Wakanda, and resume their daily life. The country needed the Black Panther and its protectors right now more than ever.

Sam was going to have to hold a press conference as well, and speak on your behalf. He knew he could only put it off for so long you were more dedicated to the cause of the Avengers than any other hero. After the aftermath of the final showdown with Thanos unlike others who either went on a break, retired altogether, or went back to their own purpose. Your disappearance was going to be noticed and felt all across the world.

There was going to be tears, memorials, flowers, heartbreaking goodbyes, and three funerals. A public one for the world you fought so hard to keep safe. A private one for your friends who had become family at this point. A secret one for Ayo and Aneka as a piece of them were going to die along with you. The second they were able to admit the truth.

You was gone forever.

Stop One: Clint's Farmhouse

All the down time that came with being a retired Avenger must have been paying off. Because the house along with the barn had some major upgrades between now, and the last you'd been here. When Clint brought the Avengers to his home to lay low and hide from the aftermath of the second showdown with Ultron. You were overcome with a wave of guilt after realizing that had been more than a decade ago. It piled on top of the gut feeling you were already feeling since the majority of your memories returned.

The large two-story home had what looked like a fresh new coat of paint, and the porch was larger more open with a white swinging bench. A set of rocking chairs were aligned along the rest of the space. A flowerbed was blooming with daisies and lilies all around the front of the house mixing in nicely with the perfect cut grass. You got the feeling most of this was Laura's touch with Clint doing the heavy duty work.

Thunk.

"There we go Katie alright sweetheart just do what she did." A familiar voice said. Drawing your attention to the right side of the yard with a considerable distance from the house.

Clint was losing his edge not sensing your presence right away you decided. As you resumed walking in his direction where the archer was holding a archery class from the looks of it. With two younger girls in attendance one of them you recognized as a much older Lila, but the other tall and dark-haired girl's identity was a complete mystery. She was the first one to notice your approaching your figure her grip on the bow in her hand tightening. While the other one inched towards the quiver of arrows resting on her back. For a second you thought she was going too take the shot, but once you got a bit closer. Her grip on the bow loosened till it fell from her fingertips to the soft grass below. As both of her hands flew up to cover gaping mouth. She made the connection.

Clint on the other hand was too busy correcting Lila's aim to pay either you or her any attention. The dark haired girl reached out to smack Clint on the shoulder in repeatedly. A ghost of a smirk appeared on your face as you watched him glance over his shoulder too snap at her. Time slowed down as Lila released her hold on the drawstring letting the arrow fly towards the wooden target board. In the same instant Clint finally turned around too see what the other girl was making a commotion about. You paused your advance a few feet away, and the two of you locked eyes. Tears flooded his vision in a matter of seconds.

"Y/N."

The arrow struck the center of the target board embedding itself. Lila let out a cry of joy jumping up and down clapping her hands together. Clint closed the short distance with one long stride too sweep you off your feet, and into his warm embrace.

"You're alive" he breathed into your ear. "Its really you I'm holding you."

"Yeah Clint its me back from the dead" You reassured him with your arms constricted around his neck. He held you tighter if it was even possible, almost like he was afraid. You'd disappear into thin air if he let go for even a second. The two of stayed like that for what seemed like forever. You weren't going to rush him knowing that while seeing you alive after believing you had perished was a big relief for him. At the same time his brain and heart needed time to process this. But after five minutes or so Clint finally pulled back to get a good look at your face. His thumbs rubbing soothing circles into both of your cheeks.

"I thought I lost you" he whispered.

"You almost did" you replied. Eight months ago you would've said never to that statement, but now you knew all too well how fragile life truly was now.

Clint introduced you to the dark-haired girl. Her name was Kate Bishop and she was definitely a fan. Unable to contain her excitement finally getting the opportunity to officially meet you. Of course she wished it was under better circumstances. You went on to repeat the same tearful emotional reunion with Laura and the kids. Afterwards once the sun had set, dinner had been survived, and everybody was tucked into bed.

You and Clint were finally able to sneak away from the farm. The archer telling you there was something special he wanted to see you. The two of piled into an old school red pickup truck to go on the twenty-minute drive.

"You're really going all out on the whole rancher lifestyle huh." You joked tapping the outside of the passenger door letting your arm hangout the open window.

"Hey be gentle with my baby, and don't mock her." He chided you softly. I'm going to be teahcing Cooper how to drive in this in just a few more months you know" His tone grew softer as his eyes did when he continued. Clint couldn't wait for that day. His family meant the world to him.

The night sky was lit up with thousands of bright stars a sight you presented that much living in a big city. It reminded you of those nights spent in the village sometimes training with Diego. You wondered if the young boy was back home moping around because of your absence, but then buried such thoughts. He was probably working harder than ever preparing for the day you returned to make him a honorary Avenger. The thought made you chuckle a little bit as you followed Clint into a wooded area.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going? You asked eyes scanning the tall and skinny trees that were too thin to hide any real threats. Although you were still on high alert, while you weren't going to admit it. This expedition did trigger some bad memories some that were still buried.

"Don't worry we're almost there." He told you reaching out behind to take your hand into his giving it a gentle squeeze. Clint knew PTSD when he saw and heard it so the change in pitch of your voice was a sign he couldn't miss.

Not even two minutes later Clint pushed back some brush blocking his path, and pulled you ahead of him. It It led to a wide circle clearing that had obviously been cleaned up by someone. The grass that didn't manage to grow out here in the dirt was cut evenly. The ground was clear of all sticks, pine needles, rocks, or anything else that would take away the aesthetic. On the edge of clearing were three tombstones setup a few feet apart from each other.

You let out a gasp realizing what this place was. His whole little private cemetery for his fellow Avengers who were now deceased.

"It might sound crazy but I needed my whole spot to visit them, and just be with them in private. Sometimes to talk or feel some sort of connection other times to have a good cry."

It didn't sound crazy at all when Tony and Natasha died. One had public funeral while the other had a private one. You understood why Tony's was the televised event with only the heroes, and his family allowed to attend in person. But it still felt weird having the cameras there and you found yourself holding back the ugly cry because of it. Not to mention it was practically impossible to visit his grave later on, and get some alone time in with him.

You and Clint walked over to the tombstones. Of course you already predicted two of them belonged to your fallen friends, and you had a feeling who the last one belonged too. And indeed your name was engraved into the top of the gravestone. The other two had a few specks of dirt on them, and some vines shaping around them. He wasted no time in dusting the dirt off, and ripping the vines away. Your gravestone still fairly new and was in perfect condition.

"While I'm not upset you choose to pay me a visit first y/n. I do have to ask why?" Clint finally asked the burning question.

The one you were kind of hoping wouldn't be brought up. Because now things were about to get real for you.

"How did you do it Clint?" You asked lifting your head to stare up at the sky. "How did you walk away from the Avengers? This life fighting the good fight, for the greater good that's all we've ever known." You had this feeling in the pit of your stomach that before you left for the mission. That costed nearly costed you your life had costed something way more important. And it only got worse when you watched Clint interact with his family today.

"It wasn't easy y/n but ultimately I came to the conclusion that my family was important, and I owed it to them to start being there a hundred percent of the time. Instead of giving barely thirty percent of me."

You lowered your head to look at him in the eyes. "But what changed because you didn't give up the hero life until after Ultron. You had a family before that."

"I almost died if it wasn't for Pietro I wouldn't be here y/n, or are you forgetting?"

You shook your head that was one memory embedded deep withing your brain. The look of devastation in Wanda's eyes when Vision swooped in with her in his arms.

Clint took a seat on the a patch of grass, and patted the spot beside him. You did the same but got even more comfortable laying down on your stomach.

"Later on it really hit that if Pietro wasn't as fast as he was. I would've died and my baby boy was going to be born into a world never knowing his father. Nathaniel would've only had the stories told to him by Lila and Cooper. The pictures Laura kept around the house to know what I look like, and that's if she were able to keep them up. If the sight of her dead husband didn't destroy her all over again. That's if the kids hold onto their memories of me instead of burying them in their attempt to deal with the grief. I realized then I couldn't do it anymore the Avenger life wasn't for me anymore. Because the thought of dying to save the world, and leaving my family alone. It broke me y/n it became my biggest fear."

His words resonated with you now more than they would've if you asked him. All those years ago when you had the same question for him, and you understood it.

He could see you were through your own little dilemma, and decided to switch the focus onto you. "They came here you know."

"Who?" You asked a little too fast sitting up on your knees.

"Your lovers asking me if they were any safe houses in that particular area where you went missing. That you would go hideout to wait for help. I gave them the location of all known places I thought you would go. They love you y/n" Clint said.

They so there was more than one someone in your life, and you still couldn't remember either one of them. Yet you could somehow feel the effect of their love. "I feel like I love them too, and I think I screwed up big time."

Clint shrugged his shoulders. "You probably did you suck at relationships almost as bad as Nat did."

"Shut up" you shot back crawling forward to shove him backward. He recovered with a heartfelt chuckle as you settled in beside him. "When fighting is all you ever known its hard to imagine a life without. Its harder to imagine giving up that life for something like love. I know that better that anyone y/n." He said after a minute or so of silence as the two just gazed up at the stars.

"Love, peace, family those are foreign concepts to people like us" Clint continued. "We don't think its in the cards for our life even if we crave it more than anything. And when we do find it there's this fear its not going to workout. That's the thing that keeps you from walking away. You're afraid your little paradise will fall apart the second you go all in, and you'll be right back to fighting."

He paused to turn his head towards you. An emotion on his face you couldn't exactly place. "But when its real y/n its worth it. God the real thing is worth everything." he said unable to hold back the tears. He cried for you. Knowing you almost died because you refused to take a chance upon love.

"I know it is Clint but being an Avenger is in my blood too. I still want to fight to protect that very same love." You argued feeling horrible at the disappointment that washed over his face at your response.

"That's the adrenaline talking and now that you survived a near-death experience. No you actually came back from the dead its going to be ten times worse" He commented in exasperation. As if he were talking to a toddler who never learned his lesson when it came to touching a hot surface.

"Clint I-" you tried to defend yourself, but he held up a hand cutting you off.

"I use to be just like you y/n in case you're forgetting. People have two different responses when they have a brush with deal. He held up one finger. "One it spooks them and reminds them just how precious life is. Most of us know its the most fragile thing in the world because we take the lives of others on a daily basis. But we survive the majority of those situations until one day death comes knocking. Laura walked away from Shield long before I did for that very reason."

Your eyebrows shot upward as you let out a slight gasp in surprise. No one ever really knew why she decided to turn her back on being agent for the white picket fence life. All there was rumors and assumptions.

Clint put up a second finger. " Two it makes you even more reckless because now you feel invincible. You start to wonder just how far can you truly go, and not die. You start to tempt fate." He fixed with stern gaze before continuing. The way a brother would to his sister dating the wrong type of guy. "Fate gave you a second chance at life y/n don't take it for granted, and don't tempt it again."

"I don't think it was fate that brought me back Clint. I think it was the Angels." You replied the hymn replaying in your head from right before you succumbed to your injuries.

"Well thank them and be more careful with your decisions. They might not do it again."

With that the discussion came to an end. Clint knew you was going to hit the road again soon. After all the entire world believed you were dead you needed to clear the air on that. Plus you still had about a few months worth of memories to recover, and you knew exactly who could help you with that. He did tell you if you need another perspective on giving up on the life of an Avenger to talk to Scott Lang. Another retired hero and father who still resided San Francisco, California. It was out of the way of your original destination, but why not you decided. It gave you more time to avoid a major scolding from Sam.

Stop Two: San Francisco

Scott had the same reaction to seeing you turn up on his doorstep, but unlike Clint who shed tears for you with no shame. The former thief turned hero put on a tough guy act only exerting happiness. You felt his tears soak your shirt when he hugged you laughing. When Scott pulled back complaining of allergy season. But when you asked him the same question his usual goofy and happy demeanor was replaced with a hardened face. His eyes as serious as you ever saw them.

"Well for one its not like I asked for this life. I was basically tricked into by Hank who set me up."

"Maybe you shouldn't have broke into his home" You quipped playing along with his joke. Even though it technically was true unlike you and Clint. Scott never signed up for this instead a serious of weird circumstances brought him into this life. But he was more than eager to help Captain America fight during the Sokovia Accords era.

"From day one I got accepted this because I thought it would make me a better man. A better father to Cassie, and it did until it didn't eventually being a hero drove us apart."

You didn't know if he was talking about getting stuck in the Quantum Realm as a result of Hope, Hank, and Janet being a victim of the Blip, or him being locked up after getting captured by the cops. Steve came for him but he did have to plead out for his limited freedom.

"Time is the one thing you can't get back once you lose it. I missed out on so much of her life in prison. Then Thanos cost me another five years, and I couldn't even be upset the way I wanted to. Because me getting trapped in the Quantum realm was the key point to saving the world." Scott sounded genuinely angry about it.

"Death isn't something you can usually reverse once its done. That's it you're gone, and the person is only left with memories. After we defeated Thanos I retired because all I ever wanted was to be able to spend time with my family, and I was losing out on all that putting my life in danger for what."

You raised an eyebrow at his last statement. Saving the world was no small feat.

"Calm down" Scott said immediately when you opened your mouth. "What I mean is there will always be guys like Yellowjacket running around you know."

You frowned. "Who and what is a Yellowjacket?"

"He was my first nemeses I took him down by myself" He stated a bit proud. "You know the small guys there never going to stop showing up. No matter how many of them I take down one will always replace the last. But time with my daughter isn't something I can get back y/n, and those precious moments I missed out on I can't go back and experience them. So I don't care if she's in her teenage rebel phase, and giving me hell. I want to be there for all of it and more. If another Thanos comes along I got your back, but until then I'm retired."

You see now why Clint told you to talk to Scott. The way he put it couldn't be argued with you lost out on almost nine months of your life. And those nine months were frustrating as you tried to piece it all back together.

"Plus there will always be guys like us too you know" he added in bumping your shoulder with his own. "Last I heard Sam had found some pretty good prospects for his new official Avenger squad. The world will always have heroes to count on."

Stop Three: New York

"So Tony created this thing to restore your memory." You mused studying the contraption before with interest and worry.

"Yeah back when I was on the run and Steve started looking for me. Apparently he wanted to help, but said he was no help in playing detective, and did't have the time to hunt down another 80-year old virgin. So he designed this instead" Bucky explained holding a circular crown-like object. You figured it was supposed to go on your head.

"And this was before he found you murdered his parents right?" You winced realizing there was probably a better way to ask that question.

Bucky shot you a dirty look before letting a small smile grace his face. "You're lucky you just came back from the dead y/n" he said running a hand through his hair. Which had grown out a bit more since the last time you'd seen him. Nearly the same length back during the first battle with Thanos. You wondered if it was on purpose or was a result of him grieving your supposed death.

"Yes he finished long before the Accords came into play around the time he and Bruce started working on Ultron" he reassured you.

"And you're sure he didn't modify this thing to erase memories after finding out the truth about his folks." You continued to press on.

"Y/N" Bucky snapped in irritation. "You're making me start to wonder why I missed you in the first place."

"Okay first of all ouch" You feigned like his comment actually hurt your feelings. When in reality it did the opposite amusing you at the most. "Second I gotta make sure Tony could hold a grudge, or are you forgetting?"

Bucky didn't need you to finish the statement to know exactly what grudge you were talking about. The one caused when Steve chose Bucky over Tony, and the two heroes went on to not speak to each other for years. Even when the world needed the Avengers to reassemble at full strength. Tony was still hesitant to make the call.

"I don't think he did" Bucky admitted sheepishly. It was a possibility he never considered until now.

"Did you ever use yourself?"

"No.

"Why not?"

The majority of my memories came back naturally overtime, plus the museum dedicated to Steve really helped."

"But did you ever get all of them back?"

"No but I got the important ones back and that was all that mattered in my opinion." Bucky told you his tone apologetic. He knew that wasn't the answer you were looking for. You wanted him to tell you with a little more time the rest of your memories would just come back. But in reality this machine was your best bet to get them back in a timely manner, and possibly in general.

"Do you think its worth it? Bucky asked when you remained silent.

You nodded. "I have to remember them. I need to remember them. They're worth it." The ghost of the memories haunted you way too much. A laugh here. A smell there. You needed to remember all those moments again. It was the only way you were ever going to feel complete again. You spent your entire life thinking love was never going to find you, but then it did. And you screwed up in a big way, and how were you suppose to fix things. If you couldn't remember them, let alone your last moment with them.

"Alright then let's do this" Bucky encouraged you clapping you on the shoulder.

He helped you get hooked up in the lounging chair which was surprisingly comfortable. Despite how intimidating it looked, and proceeded to place the metal round thing around your head. It fit perfectly, and then Bucky pressed the only red button on the control panel. At first nothing happened you just laid there with the thing connected to your brain. Then the machine roared to life lighting up with power. For once you were grateful your control over your powers hadn't returned fully. Because if it. had this machine might be in pieces as your brain was hit with a surge.

It was nothing you could handle but this surge hit you with one purpose, to find the wiring in your brain in charge of your memories. And when it did the floodgates were open your body spasmed as a tidal wave of images slammed into your head. You gripped the arm rests in a death grip. It didn't hurt but the feeling was equally unpleasant, and your stomach began to do flips as you tried to keep up with everything. Then it was over as quickly as it began and you leaned over to the side throw your lunch back up.

Bucky hung back with a disgusted look on his face watching you rip yourself free with a groan.

"Can it Barnes I know you want to laugh" You grumbled climbing out of the chair.

He ignored your comment only focused on the end results. "Did it work?"

You held your stomach making sure nothing else was going to come back up. Once you were sure the puking was a one and done side effect. You answered him.

"Ayo and Aneka are going to kill me aren't they?"

Bucky pulled you into a bone-crushing hug with a cheer.

Two Hours Later

All they wanted was to spend more time with you. Your loves only wanted you to be safe and sound to proceed with caution. Maybe Ayo went about discussing it in the wrong way, and maybe you should've stayed to listen when Aneka wanted to work things out. Instead of storming out like a angry teenager and going on a dangerous mission alone. There truly was no maybe about the later you were wrong, and it cost you basically nine months with them. Not to mention all the grief, pain, and guilt your death has put them through. Had they found a way to heal from losing you? Did it cause the two of them to fall apart? You knew Aneka was partially upset with Ayo for pushing the topic. That morning while she went out to get breakfast.

The only way to fix things was to confront them meaning it was finally time for you to make your last stop in Wakanda. If Sam ever let you go.

"Sam seriously you've hugged me like seven times, and lectured me for a whole thirty minutes. I need to get going" You pleaded.

He had called your name making you stop in your haste to reach the hangar. Where a quinjet was waiting for you fueled up and ready to go. "I know but there's one more thing I wanted to run by you before you go."

"What is it?" You asked dialing back the attitude. Your interest had been peaked.

"I know you're feeling some type of way I found new recruits for the next Avengers lineup without consulting you. But in my defense you never stuck around long enough to hear me out. You were always trying to be one woman army. It was impossible for you notice the potential in heroes on the rise."

As much as you wanted to argue with his observation. You knew it was true thinking back to your conservation with Scott.

"Just remember in the future the world isn't going to fall to pieces if you take just a small break." He told you as parting words.

"Go on" You demanded.

"You know Clint got Kate as an apprentice, but he's not really in this business anymore. Scott's kid is pretty passionate about the superhero stuff. Rumor has it Cassie never lets him hear the end of it about his early retirement. I got this kid named Eli who's grandfather was a super solider. It turns out he might've passed on the serum to his grandson, and now I'm the only keeping the government off his back. Then Dr.Strange-"

"Have all of us been taking in younger and stray heroes?" You exclaimed cutting him off at Doctor Strange. The arrogant sorcerer was the last person you thought would take on the responsibility of being a mentor.

"You got one too."

Yeah there's a kid named Diego back in that village. He's telekinetic and got a lot of heart. I don't know about Chloe and Kai let them get settled in with their families again."

"Cool well I was just thinking with all these young heroes on the rise. The next generation of Avengers is shaping up nicely, but the only problem is they're going to need. Someone to show them the ropes, and prepare them for this life. They're going to need a real teacher you know....." Sam let his voice trail off staring at you with hope filled eyes.

You picked up on what he was putting down and held back laughter. "You want me to teach them."

"No its just an idea and I don't know Clint called so I know you're on the fence about the superhero life. So I was just offering a healthy alternative. You don't have to run off on missions all the time, but you're still in the game."

It was more than an idea at this point, but you needed time to think on it. Your main focus right now was getting back to Ayo and Aneka. "Ask me when I get back" you told him.

Sam nodded failing at suppressing the grin forming on his face. Both of you knew it would be a while before you returned, and with that you were free to go.

Last and Final Stop: Wakanda

Night had fallen when your quinjet entered Wakandan airspace. No doubt their security systems picked up on your aircraft the second it crossed the border. One of the tribes was monitoring your travel route right now to make sure you moved on to another country. So you knew when you landed in a field near the rhinos habitat. It was only a matter of time before someone came.

You just hoped a certain warrior in a blue vibranium suit found you first. Was she even on patrol tonight your tried to practice exactly what you were to say to them. But any planned speech vanished from your memory when you picked up on the slightest of movements behind you. A soft whoosh sound filled the air the wild too silent for her to keep her mask fading away quiet.

"I don't know who you are but you've made a grave mistake coming here" Aneka warned you in a low and dangerous tone.

Your heart started to beat a little faster and it was a miracle you didn't drop to your knees to beg for forgiveness. Instead you somehow found your voice and replied. "Well I would've use the front door but I knew I wouldn't make it that far, and my last entrance didn't end too well for me. So I decided to take this approach this time."

Her breath hitched as she came to an abrupt stop when you started speaking. Aneka was silent for a long time so long you were beginning to worry. You made a silent prayer that your girlfriend didn't blast you, or bury her spear in your abdomen. You were still healing after all.

You slowly turned around peeling off the hood to reveal your face.

"Stop moving I demand you cease all movement at once" Aneka demanded. But her orders fell flat as her voice lacked any authority, or seriousness. She sounded hopeful and unsure. A hundred thoughts were running through her brain at the moment, but it all came to an end when her confused eyes met your soft ones brimming with tears.

"Hey Aneka" You greeted her softly throwing in a quick wave. Her entire world came crashing again when her name left your mouth. Here you were her lover. Her heart. Her everything standing before her when you were supposed to be long and gone. Aneka and Ayo attended your funeral nine months go. They grieved you. It took all their strength and endurance to keep going with each other after your untimely demise. For the longest time Ayo blamed herself for your fate, and at first Aneka did nothing to reassure her it was anything but her fault.

In all honesty for a while Aneka did blame Ayo needing someone to blame, and take her anger out other than you. Because you were gone and the opportunity to yell at you for being so stupid and reckless was never gong to come. She didn't want to admit you had played a hand in your own death. Aneka wanted to be angry at the world but not you.

Until now in this very moment and you saw all the different emotions overtake her features. Pure shock at first followed by disbelief as she opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Then anger and her before she could stop herself her fist slammed into your gut. Agony tore through your stomach as she struck the fatal injury that was still in the healing process. You let out a cry hunching over to hug your stomach as the pain spread everywhere else.

"I guess I deserved that' you wheezed lifting your head to glance up at her.

Aneka's mouth dropped as it finally hit her you were indeed real, and not some illusion her brain conjured up. It had happened many times in the past couple of months with her dreams. They were so vivid and real whenever she woke from them. Ayo had to remind her you were gone and wasn't coming back. She relived your death every single time breaking down in her lover's arms.

'Y/N" she said your name like a prayer. You stood up straight again ignoring the lingering pain. There was only an inch of space left between your bodies now, and it still felt like she was miles away. You wanted to wrap your arms around her, and kiss her deeply. But it wouldn't be fair to her after everything she'd been through. You had to let her decide the pace of things.

"You're alive" Aneka whimpered a hand hovering over your cheek wanting to caress you. But she hesitated out of fear you would disappear again. You leaned into the hand nuzzling it.

"Its me Aneka I promise this is real."

"You promised me that forever and it never was" she shot back.

"Whatever I have to do to convince you name it. I'll do it" you told her.

"Kiss me like you mean it, and don't ever stop. Please don't ever stop" she begged. Just like that your willpower was gone and you granted her wish closing the distance to press your lips to hers. The kiss ignited something in both of you, and then Aneka started going down.

You followed her on the way down to ground not letting her lips disconnect from yours for even a second. She leaned back into a laid position, and you hovered over her. Lips sealed together in a dance of desperation, and love. She moaned into the kiss coiling her arms around your body like a snake pulling your ontop of hers fully. Your hands rested on either side of her head.

"Tell me you're real" Aneka murmured against your lips.

"I'm real" you assured her.

She pulled back. "Tell me something only you would know."

"When you first me you insisted we were meant to be together even though you weren't suppose to yet. Because I still hadn't warmed up to Ayo yet." You said thinking it back to the early stages of your relationship with them. How you held a grudge against Ayo for flipping you over her shoulder onto the hard cold floor in the lab. "You also offered to give me a butt massage that day to make up for what Ayo did" you threw in for good measure."

"My love its really you" Aneka whispered guiding your head into the crook of her neck. So she could bury her face into your shoulder breathing in your scent. "I'm never letting you go again. I will handcuff the two of us together if I have too."

You chuckled pecking her shoulder. She shivered at the feel of your lips on her body tightening her hold on your hips.

"Aneka are you here? Answer me sithandwa sam" Another familiar voice spoke up only a few feet away. Her footsteps approaching fast and you lifted your head right as Ayo appeared over the two of you. She must have not gotten a good look at your face, because her hand reached out to grip the back of your neck in a tight grip.

Ayo hauled you to her feet with vengeance because the General hadn't known anything else since your death. She took out her anger on her enemies at any given opportunity. You deserved her wrath as much as Aneka's, but the utter hatred in her eyes terrified. Your injury wouldn't survive a blow from her especially if she didn't recognize you.

"Ayo no don't" Aneka cried out in alarm on her feet in flash yanking you out of harm's way with an arm secured around your waist.

"Why are protecting the intruder? Have you lost your mind?" Ayo went off but her eyes settled on you, and just like Aneka. The General went through a multitude of emotions, but she came to her senses quicker. Because she knew her eyes weren't deceiving her with the way her lover stood protectively in front of you.

"Stand aside Aneka let me see her" Ayo said a bit breathless. Aneka listened stepping to the side. Tears pricked at her eyes as she opened her mouth to say something, but a sob ripped itself free from her throat.

"How?" she whispered launching herself forward and you caught her body in your arms ignoring the pain once again. Ayo didn't care how truly she was just happy to see you alive. She was happy to be able to touch you again, and wanted nothing more than to take you home. Crawl into bed with you sandwiched between her and Aneka falling asleep together. She wanted morning to come to wake up with you sprawled out before her in some weird position. Ayo wanted to wake up to you to make sure this really wasn't a dream.

For now she'd accept resting in your arms. Eventually Aneka hugged both of you, and the three of you stayed like that for a very long time.

The Next Day

"Its her alright DNA doesn't lie that's our y/n." Shuri announced to everyone waiting around in her private office in the lab. You were still outside resting on the sand table fast asleep. You had been in go mode for the past couple of days, and exhaustion finally caught up to you.

"She is a bit malnourished and out of shape, but other than that she's relatively healthy besides that nasty abdomen injury. I'm assuming that's the one that took her out. Whoever healed her did the best they could, but it'll cause lingeirng problems if not taken care of properly. She'll need probably need physical therapy as well-" Shuri was rambling now while her hands shook.

Nakia was the one to waltz over placing her hand over the tablet in her hand. Shuri looked up at her ready to protest. "Y/N is alive and well you can turn off doctor and scientist mode for five seconds sister.

"I'm fine" Shuri insisted.

"Come here" Nakia told her opening her arms wide for the Princess to step into them. She released a shaky breath keeping the sobs at bay unlike. Okoye who broke down at sight of Ayo and Aneka walking through the doors last night with you in tow. That's when the tests began.

The rest of the day was a bit blur as you slept through most of it. Ayo would move you to a bed in the infirmary after a while. Where her and Aneka took turns cuddling with you. Neither wanted you to be out of there sight for to you long, so later on when evening came and you were finally awake. They hovered on the balcony below where you could see them while talking with Shuri.

The Princess had requested your audience, and who were you to even think about turning her down.

"I will take care of your injury, and Okoye will be in charge of your phsyical therapy to get you back to full strength. If you want her too" Shuri said staring out at the Golden City. The sight never got old as you followed her gaze.

"I'm sensing a but" You pushed her.

"On the condition you promise us you attempt to run off on any missions. Until you're cleared by both me and Shuri" Okoye declared walking up the three steps to the balcony. She gave you a brief hug.

"So no more Avenger stuff until you two say so basically."

"Yes for you and their sakes" Shuri answered jerking her chin towards Ayo and Aneka. The two women stood side-by-side to each other shoulders pressed together. You wouldn't be surprised if they had some ear tech to eavesdrop.

"When I told them not to break my favorite American's heart. The same went for you as well you know" Okoye stated taking up position on your other side. She leaned forward on the edge of the balcony.

"What's it going to be y/n?" Shuri asked trying to keep the hint of fear out her voice. You could say and she'd still heal you not being able to leave in pain, and there was plenty of other heroes capable of helping you recover.

"Guys I can barely throw a decent punch, and I'm at the baby stages of controlling powers again. My death hit reset on everything I wasn't going on a mission anytime soon regardless, so hell yeah I accept your terms" You finally said.

Both of them let out a sigh of relief causing you to laugh. Shuri let you go to be with your girlfriends, and when you attempted to leapt down from a story up. Just to give them a heart attack Okoye reminded you she could make physical therapy absolutely unbearable. You disappeared with an apology taking the elevator.

Ayo and Aneka were finally able to take you home again. Leading you to the bedroom and you took everything in. Nothing had changed even the alarm clock you fried while in bed with them remained on the nightstand.

"Hey we have something for you by the way" Aneka said.

You sat down on the bed. "You guys didn't have to get me gifts. My birthday didn't pass, and we still have two months before Christmas."

"No its something that already belonged to you. An item that would've made finding you a whole lot easier saving us all this time and grief. Ayo said walking into the room with a small black box in her hand.

You knew instantly what she was referring to, and let out a nervous chuckle. She sat on your left and Aneka on the right. The box was placed in your lap.

"You can do honor of opening it."

It was your kimoyo beads.

For the first time since getting you back neither of them looked too happy. You slid them back onto your wrist and the bracelet came to life lighting up with a chirp.

"Y/N it is good to have you back" Griot greeted you.

"How did you lose them in the first place? Aneka finally asked.

"Its a long story" You told them.

"We have time" Ayo replied.

You grinned in happiness knowing you were right where you belong. You glanced over your shoulder to catch the sight of two lone stars in sky by themselves through the window. You thanked the Angels for bringing you back to your loves deciding that y'all did have time.

All the time in the world because you weren't going anywhere for a long time.

Tag List: @kofforever @darkwitch192 @deliciousfestsalad @unsatisfiedanddisappointed @mbakuetshurisprincess @justariellove @purple-nugget @shuris3leg @riribabymomma @wandas-nose-scrunch @ceaseanddecease @someobliviousgirl @marsfunzon22 @urfavvmiyahh @chatitajens @greek-freak101 @takeyaki @naslt @princesscharmingnoir @kiwiana145 @como731 @unsatisfiedanddisappointed @sopaintercrown @sweettea32 @alistair-mooncrest

[mads-weasley]

Epiphany Pt. 6: Daylight

Lewis Nixon x Reader

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

inspo: daylight: live from paris by taylor swift

A/N: heyloooo! this one is probably my favorite chapter yet! enjoy! this is about the fictional portrayal of easy company on the show. nothing but love and respect for veterans on this blog!

Summary: (Y/n) returns to the front to find things are not as they seem and a long-awaited moment takes place because of it. (this is a terrible summary lol)

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: nothing but tooth-rotting sweetness

As the jeep rumbled to a halt in the early morning, (y/n) carefully stepped out onto the ground, the crisp air brushing against her face. It was nearly eight, and the camp was buzzing with soldiers starting their day. She winced slightly, mindful of her healing side, which reminded her to move cautiously.

“I’ve gotta report to Cap’n’ Winters, so I’ll let him know you’re back,” Gene said, grabbing his medic satchel from the backseat. 

(Y/n) nodded as her eyes scanned their surroundings for her friends. “Alright. Thanks again, Gene.”

With that, Roe was gone. She took a deep breath, feeling a sense of comfort and belonging. Laughter echoed through the air, and her curiosity got the better of her as she followed the cheerful sounds to a small clearing. In the clearing, George, Skip, Alex, and Don sat in a circle, engrossed in a lively conversation with their heads thrown back in laughter. 

A genuine smile graced her lips and she stood for a moment, savoring the scene before stepping forward. The laughter gradually faded as they turned in unison, eyes widening in disbelief. 

“(Y/n)!” Skip’s joyful exclamation broke the silence, and he pulled her into a careful embrace, mindful of her wound. “You’re looking great!”

She returned the hug, laughter bubbling up from her stomach. “Good to see you too, Skip.”

Alex and Don each pulled her into a warm hug, and when they pulled away, George stood behind them, a wide smile on his face.

“You had us worried there,” he announced.

(Y/n) shrugged. “I’m tougher than I look,” she replied, walking forward to pull him into a hug. 

George returned the embrace, a hint of pride in his eyes. “That you are, (y/n). I’m glad you’re back.”

“Yeah, so are we!” Malarkey snickered, grabbing his gear off the ground. “With you gone, he’s been annoying us more than usual.”

George rolled his eyes with a scoff. “You’re just jealous you don’t have my sense of humor.”

As (y/n) listened to their banter, her heart felt full for the first time in a month. The only thing missing was the dark-haired officer her heart longed to see. Her thoughts were stuck on his calming voice and snarky demeanor, and she found herself accidentally thinking out loud. 

“Where’s Nix?”

George and Don shared a nervous and knowing look.

“At this hour, probably laying in bed,” Skip laughed, playfully hitting Penkala’s chest. 

(Y/n)’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean, at this hour?”

“Uhh…” Skip looked to the group for help, but they just looked away.

“Cause ya’ know, he’s…um…probably hungover or something.”

“What?” She asked, eyes widening in disbelief. In his last letter, he’d told her how he had a handle on his drinking.

George came to the boy’s rescue. “(Y/n/n), he’s been struggling with you gone.”

Understanding dawned upon her, and her worry deepened. “I need to see him. Now.”

The rhythmic thud of her heartbeat was almost deafening in her ears as approached the small brick house that was Nixon’s billet. Her emotions were a hurricane, swirling within her like a fierce storm. Whether it was in anticipation or anger, she didn't know.

“Don’t be too hard on him,” Don’s words echoed through the air and she nodded, her gaze distant as her mind raced with thoughts.

Summoning all her courage, she raised her knuckles and rapped on the door, three sharp knocks reverberating through the air. Her heart pounded faster as she waited for the man she loved to answer.

The knocks were met with silence for a few moments that seemed to stretch into an eternity. The anxiety coiled tighter in her chest as the seconds drug on. She knocked again, her knuckles stinging from the hard wooden door. Finally, she heard shuffling and yelling from within. 

“Dick, for Pete’s sake! Let me sleep!”

The door creaked open, and there stood Lewis, looking disheveled and worn. His hair was a mess atop his head, and he wore a wrinkly army green tank top and PT shorts.

“(Y/n)? You’re back?” He stammered, rubbing his eyes, as if not entirely sure if she was real or a figment of his imagination.

“You look like hell,” she blurted, unable to hold back her concern.

He managed a weak smile. “You should see the other guy.”

She stepped inside, ignoring the flutter in her chest at being in his space again. “That’s not funny, Lew. I told you to take care of yourself and you’re doing the exact opposite!!”

His eyes found the floor, and he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. “Yeah, I know.”

(Y/n) let out a sigh, her anger slowly deflating as she took in the reality of the situation. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He looked up at her, his brown eyes searching for something. “I didn’t want you to worry more than you already do. You were in the hospital for crying out loud.”

“Like I wouldn’t worry about you anyway?” She snapped, her frustration bubbling over.

Lew took a step closer, his voice softer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t handle it right.”

Sighing, she closed the distance between them. As she wrapped her arms around him, she could feel the tension in his body, a mix of exhaustion and the weight of his own actions. His shoulders were tense, and she could sense the rigidity in his posture as if he had been carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

His arms eventually found their way around her, encircling her in a protective but careful embrace. Despite her anger, she had missed him terribly. “Just…don’t shut me out, okay?”

He held her close, burying his face in her hair. “Deal. I’ll do better, I promise.”

(Y/n)’s own grip tightened as if to reassure him that she was there, that she would be a support he could lean on. The scent of sweat mixed with his familiar smell of cigarettes and whiskey, creating a scent that comforted her. She pressed her cheek to his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart, a rhythm that told her he was really there. Each thud was a reassurance, a reminder that they were both still alive.

“Wait,” Lew froze, his grip loosening. “Am I hurting you?”

She smirked up at him. “I’ve still got some morphine in my system, so no.”

Lewis looked down at her, captivated by the radiance of her smile, and tenderly tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear that had fallen loose from her ponytail.

“I’ve missed that smile,” he muttered, bringing his hand up to caress her cheek.

She leaned into his touch, savoring the warmth of his hand against her skin. “I’ve missed you too, Lew.”

His eyes softened, reflecting a mixture of relief and longing. “I’ve been going out of my mind worrying about you here.”

“I’m here now,” she whispered, “and that’s what matters.”

Lew’s eyes flicked to her lips, the gentle rise and fall of her breath captivating him. It took all the willpower in him not to lean down and connect their lips, to let the magnetic pull between them no longer deny the two of a closeness they’d been wanting for so long.

The rays of the rising sun shone through the windows, casting a soft, golden hue across the room. The golden light danced across her face, accentuating the delicate features that had become etched into his heart. Her eyes held a sparkle, a reflection of the sunrise, and her smile was a beacon of warmth. It was a breathtaking sight, a moment of pure beauty that took his breath away.

He used to think that love would be in black and white, straightforward and simple. But looking at her before him, amidst the golden embrace of the morning light, he realized that love was more complex, more nuanced. It was golden, like the daylight breaking through the clouds after a long, dark night. It was the warmth in her smile, the gentleness in her touch, and the way her eyes sparkled with unspoken affection. Love, he realized, was a mosaic of moments and emotions, and it was all there, woven into the golden hues of this precious morning. 

‘This is it. The perfect moment,’ he thought. The moment he’d been waiting for. The room seemed to hold its breath in anticipation.

“(Y/n),” Lew began in a whisper, his fingers tenderly tracing the contours of her face, feeling the warmth of her skin. “Can I tell you something?”

She reached up and placed a hand over his. “Anything.”

“I’m completely in-” he paused, the words caught in his throat, heart racing with the weight of his admission.

The door flew open with a loud creak, shattering the delicate bubble they were in. Panic surged through Nix, and they quickly moved apart, their connection abruptly severed. Dick walked in, absorbed with something on his uniform, completely oblivious to the moment he had interrupted.

“Nix! Get up! Guess who’s ba-”

(Y/n) swiftly saluted, her heart sinking at the interruption. Dick looked up, registering the situation, and his face morphed into one of horror at the realization of what he had walked into. 

“Oh, pardon me,” he stammered, his face flushing with embarrassment.

If looks could kill, Dick would certainly be dead from Lew’s harsh glare.

“Uh, no problem, sir,” she sheepishly replied, a red tinge creeping up her neck. “I was just coming to…uh…tell Nix I was back.”

Dick nodded, awkwardness hanging in the air. “No problem, (y/n). Glad to have you back.”

Before Lew could speak, she started walking toward the door quickly, her heart heavy. “I’ve got to check in with Guarnere, so…um…I’ll see you both later, sirs.”

Dick’s eyes widened. “Guarnere’s off the line, so Sergeant Malarkey is your squad leader until he returns.

“Yes, sir,” she murmured. (Y/n) looked at Nixon, her eyes reflecting conflict and longing before exiting the room, closing the door with a loud click.

The two men stood for a moment in silence, the room filled with tension that seemed to crackle in the air. 

“Lew, I’m sorry,” Dick sighed, running an ashamed hand down his face. “I didn’t think she’d already be here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have-”

“You know, it’s fine, Dick. I’m sure there will be another perfect moment to confess,” he interrupted, chuckling bitterly..

Lew’s facade of composure was cracking, revealing the turmoil underneath. The moment had been so carefully built and so abruptly shattered, it left him feeling a mixture of frustration and disappointment. He had mustered the courage to confess his feelings, to finally put them into words, and it had been snatched away by an ill-timed interruption.

This frustration simmered beneath his calm exterior, directed not at Dick personally, but at the cruel twist of fate that had teased him with the ‘perfect moment’. He was so close to telling (y/n) what she meant to him, but the moment was gone, the words caught in his throat like a fleeting breath of air.

Dick was riddled with guilt as he stood next to him, knowing how much the confession meant to his friend. 

“You’ll have your chance,” Dick repeated, hoping to offer some reassurance. “When things settle down and we get a moment of peace, you’ll be able to tell her.”

“Yeah,” Lew replied, but his tone lacked conviction. 

Dick cleared his throat quietly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Doc said that Moose should be okay, but he’d gonna be sent home.”

Nix’s eyes flicked up from the floor, a mix of concern and relief visible in them. “Who’s going to take over Easy, then?”

“A replacement. Lieutenant Norman Dike,” Dick replied, hesitating slightly.

The intelligence officer’s expression shifted from disbelief to frustration. “A replacement?”

“Yeah,” Dick confirmed.

“Why not promote a Toccoa man or something?”

“I would,” Dick interjected, “but I can’t control who gets Easy.”

“Great. I can’t wait to see how this goes over with the men,” Nix groaned.

Dick let out a tired sigh. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. And from now on, I’ll knock before entering. I’m sorry again, Lew.”

He acknowledged Dick with a nod, his mind already racing, contemplating the changes that were coming in more than one aspect of his life, and the uncertainties that lay ahead. The only thing he knew for sure was that even if it was the last thing he ever did, he was going to tell (y/n) how he felt sooner rather than later. 

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[sixosix]

midoriya izuku: im in love w u, dumbass

gn!reader, dorks attract each other, izuku gets jealous, confessions, fluff, holy shit this entire fic is stupid, wc 1.9k

for all the months of pining you had to go through, that was one anticlimactic confession. izuku loves it all the same.

“y/n… are you okay?”

you startle out of your skin when uraraka nudges you with an elbow, nearly toppling you over as you trip over your own feet. uraraka panics as hard as you do, her fingers slapping your back before you hit the ground face-first.

“oh,” you blink up at her sheepishly, “hi there, ochako. haha. whoops!”

“i got deja vu for a second there,” uraraka murmurs and doesn’t explain, helping you stand up as she releases her quirk’s effect on you.

like a rush of air leaving your body, you feel heavy again, but fortunately, your best friend slings an arm around your waist to help keep you upright. uraraka stares at you, mild shock on her face. “y/n! did you even sleep?”

“sleep, right, that,” you nod robotically like you don’t even feel like you’re doing it; your brain feels as if it’s miles away. “you know, i think i beat shinsou’s record. crazy, right?”

“you didn’t sleep!?” her outburst made some of your classmates turn their heads.

you shush her, waving away shinsou’s curious stare. “it wasn’t my fault! a miscalculation.”

uraraka doesn’t look amused.

you pat her head. “such are the struggles of being in love with the most oblivious person on the planet.” oblivious to uraraka’s growing worried expression, you continue: “i am mourning. the closer we get, the more i see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

“is this about deku-kun again?” uraraka sounds like a tired mom. “y/n, i’m telling you--”

you whack a hand on her mouth, distressed eyes flitting all over the room. “don’t say his name out loud! it summons him like he lives in the damn walls or something--”

“um,” midoriya materializes behind the two of you, “were you guys calling me?”

“good morning, izuku-kun!” you fake an enthusiastic laugh, kicking uraraka’s shin when she snickers. midoriya looks even more worried. “what are you talking about? i don’t see anyone calling.”

midoriya is staring openly at your face in a way that makes you look like the spluttering fool instead of what he’s known for. and then he smiles. “sorry! must’ve heard wrong,” he laughs. “good morning, y/n-san. uraraka-san.”

uraraka waves. “morning, deku-kun! you’re late this morning.”

midoriya nods, eyes lingering on your face that is quickly heating up the more he stands there, before looking at uraraka. “yeah. i accidentally stayed up last night to work on my kicks!” he exclaims. he’s so cute.

not. stop thinking about his face. bad y/n.

“wow, kicking, huh! lots of kicking. you should show us sometime!” uraraka says, giggling at your pained expression. “i would love to see it.” the way she says it is implying it’s not her who wants to see it.

“right, right, ladies, you can make more plans about how to get aizawa-sensei to expel you faster later,” you say, patting uraraka’s back until you’re pushing her to her desk and midoriya is left confused. “i, for one, want to sleep during homeroom, without any part of this.”

“y/n-san…” midoriya starts, hesitantly, brows knit together.

“...yes, izuku-kun?” why does he have to stare at you like that? it’s almost offensive.

“did you get enough sleep last night? you look tired.” he sounds so sad, so worried, oh how you want to squish his cheeks and kiss the hell out of this boy. “it’s not healthy to stay up, you know. what if there’s an emergency? you might get tired quickly-- if you don’t sleep enough, it might affect your performance! please don’t follow shinsou-kun’s footsteps. he’s a different breed, not like your breed, which needs sleep-- haha, i’m rambling again. um, is something bothering you?”

“hah?” you’ve been staring at him too fondly the entire time. “uhm, yes. you can say that…?” what was his question again?

midoriya looks more alert now, sharp green eyes considering you, breath on your face. what? since when was he this close? “you can talk to me about it, you know… were you thinking of something? oh! was it about the mission last week--”

“izuku--”

“--i hope you don’t beat yourself up over it! if you get nightmares, you can, uhm, call… aizawa-sensei…? and if he doesn’t want to, you can call me! i’ll be there, i promise!”

more and more people are starting to watch the interaction, amused at your flustered expression and midoriya’s non-stop rambling.

“oh, i appreciate it, but it’s--”

“it’s not fine if you can’t give it your all today because of it!” midoriya argues. what are you two even arguing about? his face is getting purple; he hasn’t taken a breath yet. “so i want to help! as a friend, of course! unless it’s weird for you, then i understand. i don’t even know why i’m offering because i wouldn’tknowhowtocomfortyoubuti’msoworr--”

you grab his shoulders. “i was thinking about you, dumbass, breathe!”

midoriya finally cuts himself off, jaw slack. but at least breathing. “y-you-- you were think-- why were you thinking about-- you were thinking about ME!?”

it's even worse now. he looks like he's about to faint.

oh, maybe you can ask yaoyorozu for a shovel so you can dig yourself a grave.

bakugou snorts from behind the both of you. “fucking idiots.” where did he even come from!? he's commentating bullshit like he's reading a shoujo manga!

you glare at him, somewhat grateful to pull your attention away from midoriya’s red cheeks. “shut up, bakugou! ass!” bakugou snarls in response.

you whirl around and stomp at your seat. todoroki pats your shoulder comfortingly.

“sorry, kacchan.” though, midoriya almost looks like he’s glaring at him.

bakugou looks elated at his expression for some reason.

“my face? burning? no, it's fine.”

todoroki blinks once. “it doesn’t look like it is.”

“huh? what makes you say that?”

todoroki’s eyes flit between you and midoriya, who's kicking mineta’s ass at the moment for the exercise -- what a man, you keep mumbling. then back at you, the one with the round eyes and a lovesick smile. then back at midoriya again, because now he's waving at you with a grin so bright todoroki has to squint.

“i just feels like it is,” says todoroki. “you've been watching him since we entered. he and mineta are the last pair to fight each other.”

now, todoroki is no expert when it comes to these things, however, he’s become an expert thanks to his much more qualified friends. they've all said the same thing as a conclusion.

what was it again? something about…

“do you have a silly highschool crush on midoriya?” asks todoroki, making sure to perfectly recite all the words that uraraka and mina used to describe it.

“just a silly highschool crush? oh, don’t be silly. this is a forever thing now. i’m doomed for life! look at those muscles!” you swoon.

“that’s called being in love, isn't it?” not the swooning over his muscles thing, but maybe that's also part of it. “also, stop ogling him, he’s staring at you.”

“y/n!” midoriya exclaims, waving excitedly as he jogs over the both of you.

you stiffen beside todoroki, somehow losing balance. todoroki catches you by the waist, keeping you upright.

“ah! izuku-kun!” you beam back.

“todoroki-kun,” he acknowledges. midoriya’s eyes slice swiftly to todoroki’s arm. todoroki has the sudden urge to let go of your body as if it's burnt him -- he doesn't, but he still makes a pointed show of removing his arm from your waist.

midoriya’s smile is sharp, somehow changing back to its cute softness when he looks back at you. “y/n-san! you did great today! i couldn't tell you earlier because aizawa-sensei dragged us away but i wanted to talk about your new move--...”

todoroki shudders. jealous midoriya is someone he does not want to cross paths with.

it happens when the girls of 1-A -- mostly mina, uraraka, and hagakure -- crowd around you before homeroom.

midoriya had entered just a second ago, and is deeply worried that something has happened to you.

“eh? but l/n-chan! we're almost third years now!” what an exaggeration… first year is barely ending. “think about all those days you don't get to experience a high school relationship with your beloved!” not so much of an exaggeration; uraraka has a point.

you pout. “aizawa-sensei would kick my ass before i even think about holding hands with anyone.”

“ah, hi, deku-kun!” uraraka chirps, a mischievous smile on her face. “how long have you been there?”

“y/n-san likes someone?” midoriya’s face is carefully blank, as if he hasn't realized he said it out loud. you yelp with embarrassment, arms flailing to cover your face. midoriya smiles softly, but it doesn’t meet his eyes.

mina squeals, slinging an arm over your shoulder. “isn’t it so cute, midoriya!? budding romance! you wouldn't see that every day!”

midoriya schools his expression into something more -- hopefully -- friendly. “that’s so nice, y/n-san!” you sound like your dog just died. “who is it? todoroki-kun, probably, right?”

todoroki blinks.

“i- i… i-- um.”

midoriya’s eyes widen, softening at the way you can’t even look at him. “ah! sorry!!! i didn’t mean to pry! it’s probably someone in the class, huh? sorry again.”

everyone inwardly groans. idiots.

“why the sad face, midoriya?” mina waggles her eyebrows. you pinch her side.

midoriya grimaces, though it just looks more like a pout. “sorry, i’m just--” he fumbles for the right word. “--confused? i didn’t know you like someone, y/n-san! guess we weren’t as close as i thought?”

oh no. nonono.

“izuku--”

“ah, please don’t feel guilty!” but it’s true. you’re closer to him compared to anyone else.

he looks more stumped than anything, but the way your heart lurches over his words has you stumbling. a hurt midoriya is a midoriya no one -- not even bakugou -- wants to see.

it pains you more than anything; and it slips out before you could stop it, “i like you, dumbass!”

“i-- w-whuuuuuh?” says midoriya.

and then multiple things happen at once.

midoriya’s face explodes into a dark shade of red, so intense that it flushes all the way from his ears to his neck. your classmates, who now had their attention on you at your outburst are dead silent.

aizawa-sensei enters the room -- or, well, crawls? worms??? -- staring deadpan at his class. he takes one glance at your horrified face, midoriya’s beet red head, and the girls guffawing, then decides that this isn’t something he wants to deal with this. he worms his way out.

you realize your mistake, and move away to leave, but midoriya catches your wrist.

“really?” izuku breathes. “me?”

he says, like you haven't spent all these months pining after him like some fool who drunk too much love potion. like some fool who's willing to drink more.

“yes. you.” you fidget, acutely aware of the eyes around you. “d-do we have to do this here? i don’t think i want to continue this embarrassing confession with all these people.”

said people are still watching you two intently. seriously. how many of them knew about your feelings?

izuku doesn’t even look like he cares, grinning and blushing, looking all cute and hopeful. well, the way he’s looking at you like you’re the cute one. “later, then? i still need to give you my answer.”

“later,” you promise.

no one comments about his arm around your waist the moment the bell rings.

[pickinglilahs]

Blackeclipse for the soul

I feel like I should name this since it's so long Remus/James/Regulus You know the drill if not: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 6.5; Part 8 CW: Self Harm/Cutting (its between the ~~ if you need to skip it. take care of yourselves)

Remus hated leaving Regulus like that, but he was cutting it close as it was. He didn't even have time to drop his bag off in the dorm before making his way toward the entrance hall.

Poppy gave him an arched brow and took his bag as they walked down to the Whomping Willow. She immobilized the tree for him, and he thanked her before slipping into the tunnel.

The boys were waiting for him when he got there. The chorus of 'Where have you been's and 'We were worried's died off as soon as they saw his face.

Shit.

The Mark.

"James, I need to talk to you."

Peter and Sirius took the hint and went upstairs. James came over and took Remus' face in his hands. Remus tilted his head for James to see.

"Regulus."

It wasn't a question.

"What, did he slap you?" There was a tenseness to James' voice, like he was trying to make light of this new development.

Remus shook his head and stepped back. He started shucking off his clothes as he explained. There wasn't time to be modest. "His rings. They aren't silver; they're steel. My hands were covered by your jumper, so he just laid his hand against my cheek and- Yeah."

James nodded as Remus took off his trousers. "Do you think..."

"I don't know but-" Remus froze.

His thumbs were still hooked in the waistband of his pants, but his eyes were suddenly seeing past James.

Remus felt panic course through his veins.

Dread pooled in his gut.

Something was wrong.

"Remus?" James checked his watch; they should still have at least a minute and a half, so he wasn't sure what was happening.

"James." Remus felt the tremble in his voice, but all he could hear was the rush of blood in his ears. He gave up on undressing and grabbed James by the arms. "You have to find him. Something's wrong. Really wrong."

James started to protest but Remus was already shoving him towards the trap door.

"Use the map. Find him. Please."

James gave in and nodded, slipping through the hatch and out of sight.

"PADS! TAILS!" Padfoot came down the stairs but changed back to Sirius at the look on Remus' face.

"What's wrong? Where's James?" Sirius took him by the shoulders and Remus saw Tails resting on Siri's.

Time was running out. "Something happened to my other Soulmate. I don't know what, but I sent James to find them. Do NOT let me out of the house tonight."

Pads nodded. Shenanigans could wait till next month.

~~~ CW

The look Remus had given James scared the living daylights out of him.

He sprinted all the way from the Shack to Gryffindor Tower.

He took the fastest, most direct route, not caring who he ran into.

He tore up the stairs to their room and summoned the map from Sirius' things.

He snatched the paper out of the air and opened it as he ran down the stairs.

He scanned it as he tore back through the common room and rushed out the portrait hole.

In the hall, he paused.

Gulping for air, James had started his search in the dungeons, but Regulus wasn't there. He wasn't in the library either. So, James started at the bottom and scanned every room until- There!

James was already hurdling down the stairs before he could stop to consider why Regulus would be in the second-floor girls' bathroom.

James, huffing for breath, rushed into the bathroom and made a beeline for the last stall. It wasn't until he heard Myrtle talking that he realized why Regulus would choose this of all places.

"Regulus?" James took a deep breath and tried to steady his breathing. "It's James. I'm coming in."

Myrtle passed through the door—and James—crying as she went. James shuddered and pulled on the door. Locked. He tapped his wand and tried again. It swung open and something fell towards him.

James' heart stopped.

Blood.

Everywhere.

The floor...

The walls...

The toilet...

There was so much blood.

It took James a moment to even register what he was seeing. Regulus was passed out on the floor; his back must have been against the door because he was now sprawled at James' feet. He was white as a sheet and only wearing his socks and an undershirt.

And there, on the inside of his thighs, were neat rivers of blood feeding into the growing ocean on the floor.

James dropped to his knees and did the first thing he could think of, he put his hand over the open wounds. His one hand covered the three lines on Regulus' right thigh. He held his wand in the other and, praying he was using the right spell, sealed the three cuts on the other side.

They closed—painfully slow—just like Remus had shown them, and James sighed in relief. He moved his hand and sealed the other three. Remus had shown them how to check for a pulse too, but James was never good at that. Instead, he put his ear to Regulus' chest and held his breath.

He sighed in relief at the slight rise and fall of breath and faint thump, thump, thump of his heart.

James grabbed Regulus' pants and trousers, using them to wipe some of the blood away. He was too afraid to use a cleaning charm.

James then took off his own robes and wrapped them around Regulus so all you could see was his face and his toes. James pocketed his wand, stood, and, as he leaned down to pick Regulus up, he saw the knife.

It was a short, silver thing that, under normal circumstances, may have looked harmless. Currently, though, it was lying in a pool of blood.

Regulus' blood.

That he had spilled himself.

James grabbed it, wrapped it in Regulus' pants and trousers, and set them on his prone chest.

~~~ END CW

For the first time since the last moon, Remus didn't wake to fingers running through his hair.

Instead, he awoke in the Shack to a hand on his shoulder.

He bolted upright and immediately regretted it.

The pain was back in full force. He felt the hand on his shoulder steadying him, guiding his head between his knees. When the world stopped spinning, he looked up.

Sirius was crouched next to him. "James sent a patronus last night. They're both fine but James stayed in the hospital wing with him. Poppy will be here in a minute, so Pete and I are going to go wait upstairs, okay?"

Remus nodded and dropped his head again. Either Poppy came seconds later, or he dozed off because, when he next looked up, she was kneeling in front of him.

She helped him into clothes, through the tunnel, and up to the hospital wing. She took him to his normal cot, but it was already occupied.

The cot had been expanded to three times its normal size and there, in the middle, lay his Sun and Star.

James was lying on his back with Regulus curled into his left side. They looked so peaceful, Remus almost didn't want to disturb them, but Poppy hauled him over. She deposited him on the edge and went to get his potions.

Remus watched James and Regulus sleep while he waited. Regulus was pale, —well, paler than normal—but they both looked relatively alright.

Poppy made him drink his regular cocktail before forcing him under the covers and refused to explain what had happened until after he had gotten some rest.

Remus relented, too tired to protest. He mirrored Regulus, resting his head on James' shoulder and hand on his chest.

Like magnets, both James and Regulus' hands moved to Remus. James' hand slid up under his shirt and Regulus' moved to rest under his cheek.

The corners of Remus' mouth twitched at the unconscious movement. He was almost asleep before he realized, his hand had moved under James' waistband without him noticing.

Remus fell asleep with a smile on his face.

[writingsofwesteros]

Why is all the sons my favorite?!!! Please can we have a conversation between Aemma and Yn abt childbirth where yn promises Aemma that her sons wld forever be loyal to Rhaenyra cause that's the right thing to do. And a convo between brothers where Viserys banishes Daemon from court after Aemma death cause he jealous. (Show established Daemon meant no cruel remarks)

AN: Hi, I hope you like it x

ALL THE SONS 

Requests are closed

“My Queen.” You deeply curtsied as the door fell shut behind you. Aemma had her ladies in waiting leave the room. Your eyes watched them as your hand rested on your matching pregnant stomach. “Lady Y/N.” The Queen politely smiled and moved to stand in slow movements.

“I’m glad you came.” Aemma softly spoke and you bite your tongue; it wasn’t as if you could ignore a royal order. “Come with me.” She spoke and you moved to follow as the Queen guided you to the chairs at her window. You smiled when she motioned to the seats whilst you wondered what this was all about.

“Thank you.” You whispered and settled yourself as comfortably as possible whilst resting your hand on the glass table. The silence moved over you both and you couldn’t help but become more worried. “Is everything fine?” You couldn’t help but ask and you hoped your tone didn’t give you away.

“Oh, of course.” Aemma moved to take your hand now. Her fingers moved over your rings for a moment. You were still confused and your face must have shown it as the Queen in front of you softly sighed. “I would like to talk to you about Rhaenyra.” Aemma finally spoke about the reason for the meeting.

“Rhaenyra?” You asked in complete confusion; your hand moving over your stomach once more as you wondered if she was safe and well. “Is she fine?” You babbled out; the worry you held for the little Princess only grew. “Yes, she’s well.” The Queen smiled gently at the mention of her daughter.

“I’m glad.” You whispered to her with a bright, true smile as the Queen seemingly relaxed back into her chair. “I want to speak about when she’s Queen.” Aemma whispered as if it was treason and you cocked your head to the side. “I know she will have many enemies. Her being a woman will not help the situation.” The Queen continued.

“You might have a son.” You offered her some comfort, you hoped anyway. Aemma only smiled sadly, as if she knew something you didn’t. “I wanted to ask you something..for you to promise me.” She began once more. “When the King dies..I need you to have your sons swear their loyalty to her. Forever.” 

You were still so completely confused. “I don’t want the throne..neither does Daemon.” You whispered to her. You wondered if that was why she was asking you this. Was she worried you wanted to use your sons to gain the throne? “I know..I know…even if my husband doesn’t.” Aemma was quickly growing tired now.

“Please just promise me.” The Queen seemed to be begging you now as she took your hand in a tighter hold than usual. Your frown of confusion could only deepen. “Of course. I promise you.” You finally whispered out and you could see a weight being lifted from her. “I promise.” You repeated with a softer smile.

Aemma matched your smile and all was quiet again as she softly stroked your hand before removing herself from you. She lent back against the chair as your eyes moved towards the sunset coming down. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” The Queen whispered and all you could do was stare and wonder.

A MONTH LATER and the Queen was dead. You thought about that last conversation with her a lot as time moved on. You kept your boys closer to you and Daemon was never far away either. Until the King had ordered him into the throne room. Alone. And now all you could do was sit and worry.

“Brother..” Viserys called when Daemon finally moved into the room and slowly made his way to the throne. “Brother.” The prince bowed to his King and hid the confused feelings he had. He wasn’t sure why he had been summoned but he wouldn’t let that show. He watched Viserys play with his rings.

“Was there something you wanted?” Daemon asked and noticed the guards in front twitching when he stepped closer. He decided on standing still now with his hands clasped behind his back. Your words moved through his mind about feeling unsafe and he hated to have to agree with you about it now.

Daemon watched his brother slowly stand and wondered how he hadn’t noticed how weak Viserys had become. Well, he knew why. He was kept busy with his desires for you and the many sons running around him. Those thoughts nearly brought a soft smile to his face before he placed his mask on. “We have been talking.” Viserys began and Daemon wondered who was the we. It was probably the cunt of a hand his brother had. “Yes?” The Prince raised an eyebrow as he helped his brother along. “We…I think it’s best if you left the court. If you left the capital.” The King began to explain.

The silence easily filled the throne room and Daemon noticed the guards twitching once more. Those violet eyes of his followed their movements before returning to his brother. “This is what you truly want?” He had to ask. “Of course. I don’t want to see your sons in my court.” The King snarled out.

Daemon’s jaw tightened whilst his eyes darkened in anger now. The two brothers stared across from each other with each passing moment. The room grew with tension as everything shifted. All Daemon saw was the enemy and he knew when to pick his battles. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of them. 

“My King.” He bowed with his eyes never leaving Viserys. He noticed his brother’s eyes softening for a moment and wondered if one day his brother wouldn’t be led by his heart. The bonds of brothers ran deep but they weren’t endless as now Daemon witnessed as he turned around.

His shoes echoed on the stone floor as his eyes stared ahead. To the future. To his family. His real family, Daemon thought to himself. His mind is already racing with thoughts and plans to remove you and his sons from his godforsaken place. Daemon wouldn’t have you stay here another moment.

Not with these vipers waiting to strike. But he would be back. Daemon had been exiled before; it was his near speciality. But it would never be the same again, unfortunately for Viserys as he lost a true ally. It would take years for Viserys to realise that and in the end; it might not even matter.

TAGLIST

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[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading update: july 2023

I don't have a cool and witty opening for this one. I read a fuck of a lot of books this month and I want to tell you about them LET'S GO

Black Water Sister (Zen Cho, 2021) - Black Water Sister has a very fun premise: a closeted lesbian and unemployed recent graduate moves back to Malaysia with her parents and is already having a bad enough time when she starts hearing the voice of her dead grandmother, who turns out to have been deeply involved in supernatural organized crime. our hapless protagonist becomes a medium against her will, and has to navigate to world of Malaysian spirits and superstition to lay her grandma to rest. unfortunately the actual style of the story wasn't more me; although definitely adult fiction, the prose is breezy in a way I affiliate strongly with YA, which is not to my personal taste but is still so hashtag valid. if you're one of the countless people trying to make that jump from YA to adult fiction and you like queer urban fantasy then Black Water Sister might be a great fit for you, although I should provide a warning for a pretty surprisingly graphic near-rape in the book's climax that really took me by surprise in a story that's otherwise pretty zany in its violence.

The Bride Test (Helen Hoang, 2019) - I think I said last month that Alexis Hall's A Lady for a Duke was the best so far of the romance-novel-every-month scheme I'm trying to pull off this year. the Bride Test has pretty swiftly displaced it; have I finally discovered the really good romance novels? (worry not; I know what I'm reading for August and my hopes are. low.) our two protagonists, Mỹ/Esme (her chosen American/English name) and Khai, are both genuinely charming and are pretty strong characters independent of each other, which cannot be said for A Lot of romance protags. despite the absolute insanity of how they met (yes, Khai's mother went to Vietnam and offered, uneducated a poor single mother a tourist visa in exchange for trying to seduce her autistic son. yes, that's shady. don't think about it too hard) and Esme waiting until WAY too late in the game to reveal the existence of HER LIVING HUMAN CHILD, I liked this book a lot. it's silly and heartfelt and I had fun; what else do you need? 5/5 eggplant emojis.

Giovanni's Room (James Baldwin, 1956) - there's probably nothing I can say about Giovanni's Room that I could say that someone smarter and gayer hasn't already said, but god. it really is breathtaking. I so often see this book talked about as a gay tragedy, and honestly that feels like almost too glib of a description. it's a really meticulous dissection of white male masculinity and the claustrophobic constraints there of, and our narrator's claustrophobic fear of divesting himself from the power that he's entitled to by virtue of being a white American man perceived as a heterosexual. this man would rather live in repressed misery for his entire life than risk being like those effeminate faggots at the gay club, but spoiler alert! being miserable doesn't make you better than your fellow fags; it just means you're miserable AND a fag. sharp and painful and so so so smart. also I'm going to summon @zaricats because I was supposed to tell you what I thought about this book. oops!

Lone Women (Victor LaValle, 2023) - okay so listen. did I just say Black Water Sister wasn't really for me because of the simplistic prose? yes. did I really enjoy the very sparse, straightforward style of Lone Women? also yes. leave me alone, I contain contradictions. anyway, Lone Women is a ripping piece of historical fiction spliced with supernatural secrets, based on LaValle's research into 19th century Black women homesteaders who made their lives in Montana. LaValle opens on a scene of irresistible intrigue - Adelaide Henry, lone woman, sets out for Montana with a mysteriously heavy trunk after burning down her family's California farm with her parents' mutilated corpses inside. and boy, does it escalate from there! it's a story about isolation and community and the people who are failed by so-called close knit small towns, and the ways in which vulnerable people band together to protect one another. it also makes the compelling point that maybe, just maybe, the real monsters were your local transphobe and her husband's lynch mob all along.

Black Disability Politics (Sami Schalk, 2022) - what a cool book! Schalk's argument begins with the idea that Black disability politics are distinct from predominantly white mainstream disability politics, and are therefore often overlooked in conversation, activism, and academia. Schalk analyzes the historical work of the Black Panthers and the National Black Women's Health Project to showcase what she describes as Black disability politics in action. in Schalk's conception, Black disability politics take a much more holistic approach to disability, conceptualizing as just one form (and, frequently, as a result of) of oppression tangled up with a myriad of others that cannot be meaningfully addressed when they're treated as separate issues. the book concludes in interviews with contemporary Black disability activists and organizers that shed light on ways in which the wider movement is often unwelcoming to folks of color, and an exhortation from Schalk for readers to continue the conversation well beyond the confines of the book. in a killer show of praxis, the entire book has been made available to read in PDF form, and I strongly recommend giving it a look!

The River of Silver (S.A. Chakraborty, 2022) - mentally I am kicking myself a little for waiting so long to read this continuation of my beloved Daevabad trilogy, because it did take me a minute to get back into the swing and mythology of the world and that did make me feel unpleasantly like I wasn't appreciating these character-focused short stories as much as I could be. but even having said that - man! fuck I love the world of Daevabad, and I adore these characters so much. getting to see them again, even briefly, was a delight, and I am once again congratulating Nahri and Ali on being the invention of heterosexual romance. (also, on a related note, but I ADORE the way Chakraborty writes her characters having crushes. they crush SO hard and it's very sweet. these books are such big drama all the way down.)

Men We Reaped (Jesmyn Ward, 2013) - an absolute powerhouse of a memoir, and devastating the whole way down. in Men We Reaped Ward attempts to make sense of a series of tragedies that befell her community when five young Black men - beginning with Ward's younger brother - died between 2000 and 2004. the word 'unflinching' is hopelessly played out, but it's difficult to figure out how to describe the head-on way Ward explores each young man's life and ultimate end and her own upbringing. the men in Ward's history - her brother, the friends she lost, her father and other male relatives - are never idealized; their demons, miseries, infidelities, addictions, and violence are placed on full display. but Ward is also insistent on displaying these men with dignity, compassion, empathy; showing them at their best and, most importantly, as men who were loved and deserved better than the violence that poverty and racism wrought on them. it's a furious memoir, one that will leave you mourning too.

Nimona (ND Stevenson, 2015) - did I only read this so I can make more informed complaints if/when I end up watching the netflix movie with my wife? YES. but listen, it wasn't JUST petty hater behavior. Nimona is just really good, and I think I got a lot more out of it this time around that I did when I first read it years ago. this comic is wild and unfettered and so spectacularly weird; I wish more things felt the way Nimona does. I also with more things starred small girls begging to kill cops and stage a violent overthrow of the government, that rules hard. also man I love Ballister, he's SUCH a good protagonist. he's curmudgeonly, he's deeply principled, he's held a grudge for years, he's paternal, he's even gay. what a guy!

[atlasscrumpit]

(Yandere?) moon Boys with an Reader who has an demon inside of her (like enchantress, from dc)

Where the Demon Resides

Why did you like this life?

Everything about it was wrong, but...you felt so safe and cared for.

You didn't want anything to take you away from them, but you knew she would be getting restless.

Especially being under the rule of a human with mental illness.

"You okay, baby? You look like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders." Marc said as you snapped out of your deep thoughts and looked beside at him.

"Sorry..." You muttered as he looked at you with worry.

"It's okay, what's wrong?" He asked resting his hand on your knee.

You couldn't help but start to bite at your nails, showing vulnerability and nervousness.

Suddenly you got up and backed away.

"I-I'm gonna take a nap." You muttered before rushing off to bed.

Marc was worried but he decided it was best to let you go for now.

--

Marc went to go check on you an hour later, his heart nearly stopped when he saw the bed empty.

He was sitting on the couch the whole time and didn't even hear a noise.

"Marc... Did someone take her?" Steven asked nervously before Marc summoned the suit.

This was a big city, and it would be impossible to find you, but a few weeks ago Marc had done something he wasn't too proud of.

He'd implanted a chip into your neck to make sure he always knew where you were.

He set out on a mission to find you, he saw you weren't too far from the apartment.

When he made it there he found you in an alleyway covered in blood and curled up in the corner, crying.

"Shit, baby!" Marc shouted as the suit retracted and he ran towards you.

"No! Stay away! Please." You cried out as he stopped and didn't come closer.

"Baby, it's okay. I'm here." Marc said as you began to sob.

"I don't want her to hurt you." You cried as he looked at you in confusion.

"Who? Who did this to you, doll?" He asked, cautiously coming closer and kneeling onto the ground.

"I should've told you, I didn't want to lie. I would never lie, I want to be good for you, always." You rambled away as Marc looked at you sadly.

"Deep breaths, love." He said as you nodded and tried to level your breathing.

"There's an evil spirit that possesses my body. The last few months she's been quiet, but now she's back and I know she'll try to hurt you." You whispered as Marc looked at you in shock.

That definitely wasn't what he'd expected.

Marc realised he had been silent for far too long.

"Marc?" You questioned as he reached forward and helped you stand up.

He kept hold of your hand as you both stood up.

"We're going to get through this together, sweetheart." He said before your head was thrown back and you gasped, it was similar to how Marc changed with Jake or Steven.

"You must really like this little slut, huh?"

Marc looked at you in shock, your voice was deeper and your eyes a different colour.

"How long have you possessed her?" Marc growled before she chuckled. She grabbed him and plunged her dagger into his side.

You screamed and fell to the floor, taking control once more before Marc ripped the dagger out and let the suit form to heal himself.

"You have to kill me, please." You whispered as you began to cry hopelessly.

"No, sweetheart. It's okay, forgive me." Marc whispered before kneeling again, he smiled before knocking you against the head, rendering you unconscious.

--

All you could hear was screaming, your body felt as though it was burning.

You finally came to and realised it was you screaming.

You looked up to see a dark figure above you, your body collapsed and you began to cry from the pain.

"Shh, mi amor." A voice said as you sobbed with relief.

"Jake!" You shouted, trying leap up to hug him but you were restrained.

He gently ran his hand over your cheek as you sobbed.

"Shh, it's okay my sweet angel. She won't be in your mind ever again after this. No more pain." He whispered as you looked at him with confusion.

"I'm scared, what's happening?" You whispered as he leant down and kissed your forehead.

"Be strong for me." He whispered before the burning pain began again.

You screamed and saw Jake disappear from your vision.

The pain was unbearable, you thanked your mind for putting you to sleep.

--

"Love? Are you with me?"

A voice startled you awake from your slumber.

"Stevie." You whispered hearing him chuckle softly and hold you tightly in his arms.

You knew you were curled up in bed with his, it was so comfortable and warm.

"I'm right here, darling girl." He said as you groaned and looked up at him.

"What happened?" You asked as Steven brushed his hand through your hair.

"We had some friends help, but we got rid of the spirit that was within you. She can't ever hurt you again." He replied as you looked at him in shock.

"She's...gone?" You muttered as Steven nodded.

You could barely comprehend anything.

"Sweetheart, stop thinking so much. You don't need to think, just rest. Focus on me." Steven said as you nodded and cuddled into him.

Maybe it was best to just focus on Steven and the warmth he gave you.

"It's just us now, love."

[hyunlixsbbygirl]

The Baby Verse | Three.

summary: when chan and hyunjin are summoned to the company, they decide to leave felix in charge of little jisung while they're gone - things don't always go according to plan and when felix slips, there's only one person that is big enough to care for them.

-- paring/s: chan x felix & hyunjin x jisung

-- genre: idol au, fluff, slight angst

-- length: 3.2k

-- chapter warnings: impure regression, hints of stress, diaper wetting

-- notes: this story is cross-posted to ao3 under the username thishippiekid

Tag list: @3rachasninja @veryjeongintxtkid

BangChan and Hyunjin had somehow managed to sneak the two sleeping littles out of the company building without being noticed; they had put face masks on them to hide the pacifiers and piggybacked them all the way back to the dorms. Hyunjin froze in the entryway as they entered the dorm though realizing the other members were all in the living room together; Chan sensed the situation and moved around the younger to take control.

"Oh hey, you're ba..." Changbin began but quickly stopped himself from continuing when he saw Felix fast asleep on Chan's back. "Everything okay?" The second eldest member asked softly as he stood up from the couch; it was then that he noticed Hyunjin standing behind Chan with a sleeping Jisung on his back. "What the hell happened?" Lee Know asked suddenly worried that the twins had gotten hurt or sick.

"Yeah everything is fine; Felix just finally let himself relax and he fell asleep in the studio" Chan lied, Lee Know nodded and turned his attention to Hyunjin, waiting for his explanation. "Jisung was complaining that his legs were hurting; I guess trying to keep up with Felix got the better of him. I offered to carry him home and must have fallen asleep on the way back" Lee Know didn't quite buy their stories but let it be for now.

"Get them to bed then. Changbin, sleep with me tonight. Let the twins share your room with Chan" the younger member nodded as he watched Chan and Hyunjin bring the boys to his, Chan, and Felix's shared room. Once they were inside and the door was closed, the two caregivers let out a relieved sigh. "Think they bought it?" Hyunjin asked. "I mean.. they've all seen how Felix has been these last few weeks. I'm sure they at least bought my story. Though Jisung does complain about being in pain so they could've believed yours too."

Chan gently sat down on Felix's bed, lowering the sleeping little and helping him lay down watching Hyunjin do the same with Jisung on his bed. "Let's get them changed, don't forget the diapers. I have no idea how old they're regressed to right now." Hyunjin nodded. Chan opened up the closet and took out Felix's fluffy blue pajama bottoms and a plain white t-shirt; he then grabbed some red flannel pajama pants from Changbin's side and a plain black t-shirt for Jisung.

Hyunjin rummaged through the bags of items Chan had bought months ago and found the pack of diapers; he set them on the bed and took the clothes from Chan before removing Jisung's face mask. The little still sucking on the pacifier Chan had slipped into his mouth at the studio; Hyunjin then removed his shirt and sweatpants as Jisung stirred; "Lift your hips baby boy" Jisung did as he was told and Hyunjin quickly slid off his boxers, replacing them with a diaper.

Chan also began to undress Felix; the little whining as his sleep was disturbed. "I know baby, but daddy can't let you sleep without a diaper on." Hyunjin's heart fluttered hearing the older call himself daddy. Would he also be able to call himself daddy with Jisung? Soon the two littles were diapered and dressed for bed; both sucking their pacifiers as they fell into a deep sleep. "Two littles... twin littles at that." Chan stated, his hands on his hips as he looked between the two younger members.

Hyunjin crossed his arms over his chest; "What are we going to do hyung? What if they start slipping in front of the others?" Chan also worried about that. The other members still had no idea Felix had slipped into little space months ago despite Felix occasionally showing symptoms of it. "Well first; we need to make sure Felix and Jisung understand what happened. By now I think Felix is aware of his regression but Jisung... he's never even shown signs."

Hyunjin nodded as he yawned and stretched out his back; he unbuttoned his jeans, letting them slip to the floor before he crawled into bed with Jisung. "We can figure it out in the morning. Let's just sleep for now" Chan nodded even though the younger had his back turned to him. He followed Hyunjin's actions of just letting his jeans fall down his legs to the floor and climbing to bed with Felix; the younger felt the warmth of the older and cuddled into him.

Chan kissed the younger's head as he wrapped his arms around him, he wasn't sure what he was going to do about the other members finding out but as the leader and first caregiver; he'd figure it out when the time came.

----------------------------

The next morning Felix woke up first; his jaw a little sore from sucking on the pacifier all night. He rubbed his eyes before gently shaking Chan awake, "Mmm Lix? Are you..." he started asking, he sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "I'm not regressed anymore hyung" Chan nodded and pulled him into a hug, "How are you feeling? Any better since yesterday?" Felix nodded as he hugged the older back.

"Thanks Channie..." his voice was barely above a whisper but the older heard him clear as day. "For what Lix?" Felix looked up into the older's eyes a trace of regression still present in them but for the most part he was back to being big Felix. "For helping me slip, for taking care of me, for...caring so much" Chan gave the younger a pout, "You know I love you right? I'd do anything to help you." It was Felix's turn to pout, "You love all of us though, but you took extra care of me though you didn't have to."

Chan ran his fingers through the younger's hair; "You know you're special to me Lix; you're my home. I do love all my kids but I've always loved you just a little more." it felt weird to admit that he loved Felix differently than he loved the other members but it was the truth; there was just something about him that made the eldest just melt. The two had spent a few moments just looking at each other in silence when a strained whine broke the silence.

Felix hadn't noticed that Hyunjin and Jisung had been there until he heard the whine that came from the younger of the two; Hyunjin woke up immediately upon hearing it, completely unusual considering he was the hardest member to wake up typically. "What's wrong baby boy?" Jisung whimpered as he made grabby hands towards the older. "Baby boy? Did Hyunjin just... oh my god." Felix's mouth hung open when he finally saw Jisung properly.

Jisung still had the pacifier in his mouth; his eyes big and round with tears threatening to spill over his lashes. Hyunjin pulled the little into his lap and pat him on the bottom soothingly, "Ah, someone needs to be changed I see." Felix immediately looked at Chan for an explanation, "Yeah... so last night. Jisung kind of saw you slip into the headspace and I guess the stress of trying to keep up with you all month got the better of him. He uh.. slipped too."

"Jisungie is a little too?" Felix asked, his eyes wide in shock. Chan nodded his head, "Hyunjin and I felt it before it happened so I took out the extra pacifier I bought for you to see if he would take it and he did." Felix wiggled, he was kind of excited to have another regressor in the group; at least he wouldn't be alone as he navigated this new side of himself. "Am I..." the younger suddenly realized. "In a diaper?" Chan nodded before flashing him a smile.

"You were non-verbal again so I didn't know how old you were. I figured it would be a good idea to put you in one just in case." Felix felt odd about being in a diaper but when he realized he was dry he felt a little better about the whole ordeal. Hyunjin had just finished changing Jisung into a fresh diaper and was starting to pull on his pants when he acknowledged the other two with a nod; "Morning Lix, glad to see you doing better"

"Thanks, Hyunjinnie, I know you were there too. So thank you for helping me too." Felix stood up from the bed and wrapped his arms around the taller boy, Hyunjin smiled and hugged him back. "Uh hey Hyunjin, the manager wants us at the company in a bit. He has a question regarding danceracha's group stage next week." Chan told the other as reading his texts. "What about Jisung? He's still regressed and I don't want him to be alone if he comes out of his headspace." Hyunjin's voice full of worry.

Felix looked over at Jisung who was in the process of falling back asleep; "I'll take care of him. I may be a little myself but it's only for a little while right? I don't think I'll slip today so it should be fine" Chan gave Hyunjin a look; they knew it was really their only option considering the other members had no clue what was going on yet. "Are you sure Lix? What if him being little triggers you to slip?" Chan asks him.

"FaceTime me. Use your phone like a baby monitor so you can occasionally check in on us while you're gone." it was a brilliant idea. Chan quickly hit the FaceTime button on Felix's contact and watched the younger grab his phone and accept the call; he then placed the phone on the nightstand in the middle of the room so you could see everything. "Okay, we'll be quick. Try to stay in the room as much as you can while we're gone. Use Jisung's phone to conference into the call if you need to leave so you can watch him."

Chan and Hyunjin threw on some hoodies and checked each other's hair to make sure they both looked presentable enough before leaving Felix with his twin. Felix sighed nervously and moved around the room to change into something a bit more grown-up to help prevent an unwanted slip. When he had gotten changed into a pair of boxers, some athletic shorts, and one of Chan's shirts he grabbed Jisung's phone and conferenced himself into the call so he could use the bathroom.

To Felix's dismay; Lee Know was walking towards him, seemingly wanting to check on him and Jisung. "You're awake, good. I wanted to talk to you about last night." the older started once he saw Felix standing in the middle of the hallway. "What about it? Did I do something wrong?" Felix genuinely didn't know what happened last night, he just remembered Chan forcing him to sit on his lap in the dance studio and then nothing until this morning.

"You don't remember falling asleep in the dance studio and Chan carrying you home?" Felix shook his head, "I was probably really exhausted. It's not a big deal, I just overworked myself a little that's all" Felix made a beeline for the bathroom as he heard Lee Know follow him, clearly not finished with their conversation. Felix was too fast for him though; he got into the bathroom and locked the door so the older couldn't come in.

Feeling defeated; Lee Know headed into the living room, he decided to just wait things out to see if Felix remembered anything significant about last night. It was just weird to not only have Felix being carried home asleep but to also have Jisung carried home asleep as well. Something else that Lee Know had noticed was that both younger boys had something in their mouths underneath their masks, the bulge of the pacifiers obviously straining against them.

Once Felix had relieved himself and checked on Jisung, he headed to the kitchen; stomach growling as if he hadn't eaten in days. Lee Know followed the younger into the kitchen, determined to get more answers. "Was dancing the only thing you were doing to relieve stress?" Felix jumped not hearing the older follow him into the kitchen. "Yes, why?" Lee Know searched the younger's face for any trace of a lie but didn't detect one.

Technically Felix wasn't lying since he really had no idea what happened last night but he wasn't exactly telling the truth either. That's when they heard it; a sound that made the younger freeze but it made the older bubble up with concern. Lee Know grabbed the source of the sound from Felix and looked at the screen; he saw Chan's name in the top corner along with Felix's and then saw Jisung sat up in Chan's bed sobbing.

The older was faster than Felix expected; both of them running to the bedroom reaching the door at the same time. Lee Know threw open the door and attached himself to Jisung immediately looking him over for injuries or anything that would explain why he just burst out sobbing. "Jisung, what's wrong? Look at me, what's wrong..." the older saw it. Jisung's bright blue pacifier slightly slipping out of his mouth as he sobbed.

Felix rubbed his arm not sure what to do; surely Chan would see this on the camera right? "Lix.. what is going on?" Felix looked up at the older who was desperately trying to soothe Jisung without understanding how. Felix felt himself slipping, he shook his head to clear the feeling and tried to speak; "Jisung is an age regressor, we think or Chan thinks. He..s-slipped yesterday and just st-stayed like that all night" he audibly gulped.

Lee Know tilted his head confused but the confusion didn't last long as he saw Felix's eyes grow wide and wet, "Lix, wait... I'm not mad." he said quickly but it was too late. Felix couldn't contain it anymore; he couldn't fight it and so he slipped into little space again, this time being slightly older than the last two times. He fell to his knees and started crying himself; not knowing what to do now that he was little.

Lee Know kept glancing between Jisung and Felix; both now crying hysterically. Lee Know picked up Jisung and carried him over to Felix, pulling him up to stand so they could all sit on the bed and hopefully figure out what the hell was going on. The older took a deep breath to calm himself before he put Jisung in his lap and Felix next to him; "Lixie, please tell hyung why you're crying." he asked softly. Felix slowed his crying just a little so he could speak.

"M' scawd, hyung not know" Lee Know knitted his brows together, the younger wasn't acting like himself; nor was he speaking normally. His lap suddenly became slightly warmer and that's when he noticed that Jisung was wearing a diaper in which he must have just wet because he started crying harder. The pacifier falling from his mouth which didn't help the situation at all; "Minho! Can you hear me!?" Chan's voice suddenly boomed from Felix's phone on the nightstand.

"Yeah, I can. Hyung what is going on?!" the panic evident in his voice. "I'll explain in a minute, we're on our way now. Just grab the pacifier from the floor for Jisung and then find Felix's pacifier. It should be on the bed behind you." Lee Know bent over carefully so he didn't drop Jisung as he picked up the pacifier and slid it into his mouth, then he felt around behind him until his hand landed on something hard; he slid the other pacifier into Felix's mouth and both boys ceased their crying.

"Hyung..." Lee Know said shakily as the two boys began playing with each other. "We're right outside, just stay there." Chan ended the call and he and Hyunjin ran up the stairs rather than take the elevator up to the third floor.

--------------------------------

Chan ran into the bedroom only a few minutes after ending the call; he picked up Felix the second his eyes found him. Hyunjin was right behind him and ready to transfer Jisung from Lee Know's lap into his own. Once the two littles were content in their caregivers' embrace, Chan began his explanation of what just happened. "I had my suspicions that Felix was a little for a few months before I asked him if ever tried regressing. He was really hesitant but once he slipped I could tell it made him feel better."

"He has a hard time relieving his stress which is why he threw himself into dancing so much with Jisung. Last night though Jisung was over it and called us to make him stop dancing." Hyunjin continued, Lee Know hanging onto every word the two were saying trying to put the pieces together. "We helped Felix slip into little space last night after he stubbornly refused to accept this side of him and watching Lix slip kind of triggered Jisung to also slip though we had no idea."

"He just crawled into my lap and when Chan held a pacifier out to him, he took it with almost no hesitation" Lee Know looked at the two littles who were quietly babbling with each other. "So that's why they fell asleep? They became overwhelmed and... slipped into little space so you both had to carry them home?" Chan nodded, "I know it's a little, unusual but it's helping Felix more than you know. He actually got more than three hours of sleep last night."

"So, how old do they become?" Hyunjin shrugged. "So far it seems like Jisung is under one year old while Felix appears to be able to regress a little older though the first two times he was also regressed younger than one." Felix crawled onto Chan's lap, "Daddy twirsty" he pouted. Lee Know's heart nearly melted hearing Felix speak so cutely for the first time; it was weird but he suddenly felt taking care of the little himself even though Chan was clearly his caregiver.

"So Chan, you're Felix's...daddy? And Hyunjin is Jisung's?" Chan looked at Hyunjin and then looked at the older. "Well... Felix responds to me calling myself his daddy so in a way yes I am. Jisung, however, kind of just allows Hyunjin to care for him. We're actually not sure if he realizes that he's a little." Felix whined feeling ignored, "Daddy! twirsty!" he nearly yelled. Lee Know jumped up first moving towards the door; "Does he have a...bottle? Sippy cup?"

Chan nodded to the bag on the floor of his closet; "I think a sippy cup will be fine, there's some apple juice in the fridge" Lee Know nodded and grabbed the first sippy cup he could find before rushing out to the kitchen. He quickly poured the juice into the cup and sped walked back to the older's bedroom; instantly handing the cup to Felix who was now squirming on Chan's lap unhappy about his current state of thirst.

Felix grabbed the cup and started sucking the juice out of it, "Baby... say thank you to hyung." Felix stopped whining and squirming finally satisfied, "tank ewe hyungiie" Lee Know's facial expression finally softening into something new; there was a hint of maternal? Paternal? Instincts kicking in behind his eyes as he watched Felix continue drinking his juice. Chan smiled brightly, maybe telling the other members wouldn't be so hard after all.

[revisitingfandoms]

guess who finished the date fic! It’s me ya boi. Anyways I hope you enjoy, do let me know what you think. I’m going to bed now, I got school.

—————————————————————————

Today was the day! Arcane egg stands in front of the mirror in her room, they were fussing over their hair. Trying to make sure her braids were perfect, or at least as close to perfect as possible. They were also fussing over their outfit, they know all three of them agreed to just wear their normal outfits. But she can’t help it! She wants to impress! As they fuss over their appearance they can’t help but sink into their recent memories. It felt like they were dreaming.

Surely the pass few months were but a sweet dream right? She’s currently imagining a dream scenario while getting stabbed by golden butter right? They were still dealing with the hungry ones right, that… that has to be true, right….?

NO, she smacks her face softly. No she’s alive, she’s very much still her. Her friends saved her, nursed her back to health. They helped her find a way to be rid of the hungry ones, for good. They found Mirror moon cookie, who used to be Fortune cookie… they found Flowing water cookie, the baby they used to take care of. Now just a little older, around 12 arcane thinks. They banished the hungry ones back where they came from! She destroyed her soul jam, which freed her. 

Which led to the solution that wouldn’t only free her friends, but stop Dark enchantress cookie from gaining power! And so the soul jams were destroyed, of course those who held them for so long are still connected sort of. They can draw on its power easily enough, but now everyone can! Every cookie! After that the war simmered down, Dark enchantress loss a lot if not all her power. It now belongs to white lily. Afterwards the beasts, golden, and you returned to Crispia. They’ve began to find new purposes, your just happy you have your family again.

Which leads to the present day, you’ve…. Recently confessed your romantic interest in both Shadow milk and Golden butter, fully expecting them to say no. But they accepted! Which both surprised and excited you! And so a week ago Shadow milk proposed the idea of an ice cream date! In the ghost village near the rebuilding Blueberry Academy, you both agreed obviously! 

Snapping back to reality you leave your room in a slight hurry, your slightly behind schedule now but that’s fine. Your a goddamn mage! As Arcane steps outside their house in the cookie kingdom, they summon their fork staff. They say a few words in a different language to open a portal with their staff. Before they step in arcane takes one last moment to look at themselves in on of their windows, seeing that they look fine they step through.

The lovely atmosphere in the small town surrounded you instantly, it was dark but the blue ghost flames lit up the place wonderfully! The air was also nice and cold, of course not freezing cold it was more breezy than anything. The hustle and bustle of all the new people moving in is what caught your attention next, your still impressed that Shadow milk managed to clean this place up so quickly. 

Your attention is caught by a familiar jovial voice “wohoo! Sunny! Over here!” ah! you immediately perk up and look his direction 

The familiar round face of Shadow milk cookie comes into view, you give a little wave “Hi Moonie!” You softly shout. He beckons you over and you happily comply.

“Now how is my Sunny wunny fairing this fine day!” He says pulling you into a tight side hug, his hugs are always so nice. Nice and firm.

“I’m doing good Moonie, how are you doing?”

“Oh just wonderfully! Especially since the last person we needed for our lil date is FINALLY here!” He squeezes you tighter.

“Wait final person? Am I late?” You ask a little worried and frazzled, your worried thoughts are interrupted by a calm voice.

“No, no need to fret Sunny your on time. I just got here a little earlier than expected.” Golden butters explanation soothed you. It also seemed like she was carrying something.

“Oh thank god- I really thought I was late for a moment. Ooo what do you have there Starlight?” At your little nickname Golden butter seems to fluster a bit. Cute.

“J-just the ice cream” she stutters out a little, she than collects herself “Why the nickname..?”

“Well I mean, you and Moonie call me Sunny, and you and me call him Moonie. Well you do it less… that besides I thought you should have a nickname too!” You explain “do you not like it?” 

“N-no I like it! I’m just not used to such nicknames… especially ones with such affection.” suddenly an indignant gasp can be heard.

“We’re my nicknames not sincere enough! Why I never, I gave you plenty of nicknames!” He lets go of you before floating up a but than pouting “I gave you plenty on nicknames! Like Goldie or dear and not once have you reacted like this! Are my nicknames not good enough! Hmm, HMMM?”

“You know that’s not what I meant, besides at the time I thought you were just trying to get a reaction.” Golden crosses her arms loosely, you can tell she’s not actually mad but she like to tease. In her own way.

As they continue to playfully bicker you gently grab the ice cream from Golden butter, and went to find a table. It was off in the corner and nice and quiet, the perfect spot for a nice conversation. You put the ice cream down, it’s been like 3 minutes since you left the two. You look over and at least they aren’t sassing each other anymore, for as funny as it is you don’t want the ice cream to melt.

You leave one of your little faberge egg bots at the table, to show it’s a claimed table. And walk over to them, they don’t notice you. It’s a talent of yours, and for as much as you like listening to their voices. So you speak “hey I found a table we should go eat out ice cream before it melts.” You than grab their hands, Shadow milk on the left, Golden butter on the right.

Both suddenly pause, before a small blush crosses both of their cheeks. Really cute you think “We can talk at the table, besides what were you talking about anyways? You both seemed really invested in it.”

“O-oh um we were talking about Goldies recent travels, and from what she’s told me their wild!” Shadow milk seems to regain his composure quickly as he begins to babble about Goldens recent exploits.

Golden butter didn’t seem to be doing as good a job, she just stares at where you hand meets hers. Her blush still has that slight tint to it. “You good starlight? Oh wait do you like my nickname, I can change it if you don’t like it” you ask sincerely.

“No it’s fine, I actually really like it… and to respond to your point earlier Shadow milk. You can call me any nickname you like.” Golden butters smile, oh her smile was so pretty. You can feel your face start to heat up, and while subtle you can tell Shadow milk was affected by her words and smile as well.

The three of you make your way to the table and all take a seat, while you mourn the loss of being unable to hold their hands anymore. And so a little time passes, the conversation between the three of you light and jovial. And all parties involved seem to relax from the first date jitters, the ice cream helps as well you note. You do notice however Shadow milk being a little messy with his, he seems to enthralled with the conversation and atmosphere.

“Hey Moonie you have a little something.” you point to the corner of your mouth to show him where it was on him.

“Hmm~ I do? Why not get it for me, with a kiss my dear Sunny~?” He teases while making a kissy face, Golden butter seems to roll her eyes in the background.

Without thinking about it, probably an instinct you have now when you we’re traveling with the young Gingerbrave and friends. You grab a napkin, lean over the table, hold his face steady as you wipe of the ice cream. You sit back down and toss the napkin in a trash bin. Oh look got it in first shot, you pump your fist in the air.

You look back at the two, they're just staring “ um? Are you two ok”

Shadow milk looks turkey stunned for a moment but he quickly replies “I um-(ahem) I didn’t expect you to actually take me up on my offer, if only partially.” He holds his cheek “ for wearing gloves all the time Sunny you sure have a tender touch, I want you to hold me all the time now~!” 

You fluster slightly “w-was it weird that I did that?” 

“No, not weird, just um weirdly tender.” Golden butter replies she seemed a little flustered at Arcane eggs braisen display of affection “especially since your a little picky about those you touch.”

“??? But I love you.” Golden butter almost spits out her water while Shadow milk just stares a little wide eyed “??? What’s the reaction for?” Your a little confused.

“Gah- when did you get so bold! Your almost as bad as Shadow milk!” Golden exclaims 

You stare at both of them, they really don’t fully understand. Do they. You gently clasp Goldens hands but make sure to face both, so they know your talking about both of them “I thought I would never EVER see you both again. It’s only recently when that changed, and now I get to give you all the affection I’ve always wante to. I’m not squandering in, so that being said. I love you, both of you.”

Both just stare, and it’s quite for a long moment. But soon a hearty joyous laugh is heard, Shadow milk cookie suddenly pulls you and Golden close. It’s warm and comforting “oh ho, I didn’t expect such a brilliant display from you my dear Sunny! But I must say I do agree with the sentiment, so~ I love you!”

Golden looks surprised for a moment before getting a soft look in her eyes and soft smile “Agreed, I love you too!”

Your heart thumps wildly within your chest. Oh this, this feeling. You want to chase it forever, it’s like fresh air. Like breathing, it’s so nice. “Hehe, I love you! Forever and always!”

The joyous laughter from the three cookies could be felt and heard. And it was this day that the world knew such a joy.

Ah yes op- but heres the turn back-

TAKE THE FUCKING LETTERS.

Dear Moonie,

It's been a long run between us, huh? So many years between us, from the old days on my island and your tower to where we are today. I missed you for so many years when you were taken. I can’t count the amount I would just sit back and wish that you were here by my side. I remember wanting at one point wanting to just summon you to tell me what happened and yet- I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Anytime I thought about it- I’d look back on the false letter the witches sent thinking that this was what you wanted.

I betrayed my emotions hundreds of times- always thinking ‘he wanted to be alone, this what he wants’. Part of me can only look back at how foolish I was. Did I not know you for hundreds of years? Did I not visit and learn beside you for decades? Perhaps it was my assumption and belief of you being under the influence of the corruption. I only realize now that was something that doomed me in the end.

Moonie Shadow Milk, I have come to realize one thing. I cannot hide the pains I’ve gained over the years, I should not hide my pains because in the hide they will only come back to hurt myself and those who care for me.  

Shadow Milk, I did not tell you everything that day. I left a few secrets to myself and I tell you now because I cannot bring myself to say it in person.

Shadow Milk Cookie, I love you. It's a realization that hasn’t come to me easily, much less immediately.

I realized only after you were sealed. Perhaps that's what originally broke my heart- I remember Golden Butter telling me about the kiss you shared between her and you. Part of me had resigned to never holding your heart- until you told me those words that day. I won’t hesitate here and now. Shadow Milk I love you. 

Yours truly, 

Sunny.

An ever shifting dark and light blue mechanical flower lays on the letter- letting out the sound of circus music in a slow tone of a music box. 

Dear Starlight,

A Lot has happened over these thousands of years and there's quite a bit I feel I should say. The question is how I put it into words.

For the longest time I’ve had feelings for Shadow Milk and yet- You loved him. Back then I was more than content to let you two be with each other even at my own expense. You two made each so happy and I couldn’t…

I couldn’t bring myself to ruin that. Yet over time something inside me grew- I didn’t realize it right away.

It was only after you were asleep that I realized I was in love with you. I remember silently cursing fate, I remember more than expecting for my own heart to break once again. 

Yet in the aftermath of everything, I want to defy that so-called fate I thought of- I want to chance this, I want to so badly.

Starlight I am in love with you, I am so very much in love with you and shadow Milk- more than anything. 

Sincerely yours,

Sunny

A yellow flower that when light rebounds shows the color of the rainbow is held in a hand as a small- yet familiar tune echoed across the room.

[spooky-steamel]

DATING SIMS AND DATING SIM ADJACENTS part 1

So I've decided to make a review of all the dating sims and games where you can date characters I've played yet. (Okay that's a lie, all the dating sims I feel like talking about right now)

This is a review by a player for players so buckle up, I'm doing this for the people! And it’s only part 1 so more is coming when I feel like writing again

Remember that it's mostly from memory and that I'm not a God so I can be wrong, feel free to correct me if so! Ok let's start-

MYSTIC MESSENGER

Story: Downloading an app to 'chat with pretty guys' you get thrown into the chatroom of a charity organisation called the RFA by some hacker. The head of the organisation decides to make you their newest member to fill the role of their dead leader to start holding charity parties again. Will you be able to uncover the secret behind this hacker and why he wanted you in this chatroom?

Where to play: It's a mobile game and I was gonna say 'you might find some way to play on PC with an emulator' but with its game mechanics it's not worth it

Price: The game is free but you can buy stuff inside the app but it's not needed to advance the story, just a nice bonus. I played the game without needing to buy anything

Play Time: A route lasts 11 real life days, in real time or less if you get a bad ending so it's kinda difficult to measure a real play time for it

Love Interest(s): There's 7 love interests in total, including one girl. You can either date the gamer college student, the narcissist musical actor, the overworked secretary, the funny mysterious hacker, the cat-loving CEO, the selfless photographer or another hacker but make it a pretty boy.

Main Character: The MC is automatically a girl, with only your name customizable

LBGT Representation: We know some of those dude ain't straight but it's not actually CANON but who cares about canon? The girl route really romantic and more platonic than anything but she's just lying to herself. You can hook up with a girl in one of the bad ends? Not too much representation but it's not inexistent at least.

Game Mechanics: The app is like a real chatroom, opening between certain hours to progress the story. You don't HAVE to got into every chatroom, especially those at 3 am but be sure to not miss too many so that you don't get a bad end. You can receive calls and personal messages by the characters and even try to call them back. To get a good ending you have to bring as many guests as you can to the party so you have to answer mails correctly but don't worry you can always look up on internet the answers if you don't want to use you brain.

Fandom: Not as huge as back when it first came out but still a big fandom, lots of fanarts and fanfics you won't run out of content anytime soon

Personal Opinion: Yeah I started with one of the most famous one but it's famous for a reason. I love the story and the characters, the mechanics are new even if they could have NOT MADE 3 AM CHATS EVERY DAYS but I mean it's my fault for wanting to 100% the game. Great game, it's the one that got me into dating sims and was my whole personality in high-school. You can go back to it years later and it'll still be as good, absolutely recommend.

OBEY ME: SHALL WE DATE?

Story: You're summoned into the Devildom to take part in an exchange program between angels, humans and demons by the ruler of demons. You have to spend an entire year down in Devildom going to school along with the representation of the 7 Deadly Sins who you live with. Will you survive the year, and will you attract the attention of one of them? (It's a dating sim, of course you will)

Where to play: Another mobile game

Price: Also free to play but since it's something that the people call a Gacha, trust me you'll be really tempted to buy currency to get the pretty cards of your newest blorbo. I personally didn't last long.

Play Time: There's like 40 chapters YET with each like 10 little stories in it so trust me, I've been playing for months and I'm still nowhere near the end of the game. There's also new side stories every three weeks or something so no chance of getting bored.

Love Interest(s): There's currently like 11 love interests, all guys. The 7 Deadly Sins, the dorky ruler of demons, his loyal butler, the beautiful angel and the shady sorcerer. They're all varied and not all of them are accessible from the start but you can date them all at the same time so it's a win for hoes everywhere. There's a pretty girl later on but you can't kiss her YET. There's no route just a main storyline where you kiss who you want.

Main Character: The MC is represented by a pretty pink sheep and I'm pretty sure the characters uses they/them to talk about us. You use your own name but not customize the MC further.

LBGT Representation: Gender Neutral MC = everyone is gay, I don't make the rules. The cast is pretty fruity but never outright said, except maybe for some allusions of the avatar of lust sleeping around.

Game Mechanics: To advance the game you got to use character cards to win dance battles to unlock the rest of the story. At some point you might get stuck because your cards are too weak so you gotta constantly upgrade those bad boys. That's like half of the game ngl

Fandom: Big fandom, not deteriorating anytime soon seeing as the game is constantly putting out new content. I take like an hour every morning to check every new post on tumblr

Personal Opinion: This game is addictive. I won't lie it has it's bad sides and the story is kinda progressively getting less well written but it's not a deal breaker for me. I like the characters and that I don't have to start all over again to get a certain character. The good thing about this game is that you can put down the game for months and then come back to it later when you need something to get fixated on again. Real good game for casual play, would recommend.

THE ARCANA

Story: You're a witch that is suddenly visited by Countess in the middle of the night to find the murderer of her late husband to punish him. Will you actually find what happened 3 years ago and solve the circumstances of the Count's disappearance?

Where to play: Another mobile game! But unlike the others this one should be easy to use an emulator for

Price: Free to play but if you're bored easily beware cause the button to buy keys to progress the game is easy to find and oh so tempting, and if you do it once you will never stop. Also, you need game currency for the best (mostly horny) game options but you can get them for free in the game. Or not if you got the money.

Play Time: Took me like a week to finish one of the route without spending too much money, it all depends on how much if any money you want to spend on the game

Love Interest(s): There's 6 love interest, including 2 girls and one nonbinary person. You can romance either the pretty magician, the beautiful and smart Countess, the charming runaway supposed murderer, the cute servant, the quiet forest man or the ghost of the Count.

Main Character: You can choose your name and pronouns, this MC has no mentioned physical appearance so just go wild with your imagination

LBGT Representation: Everyone is bisexual! Canon gay couples in some routes and the nonbinary love interest uses he/him. Gay/10

Game Mechanics: The main story is just a visual novel. There's some mini-games on the side to get game currency or bonus scenes but it's mostly a visual novel.

Fandom: The fandom is not as huge as the other two but the tumblr tag is still getting fed everyday

Personal Opinion: The atmosphere of the game is amazing. Good story with good characters. Actual romantic female route??? I'm surprised, you don't get that often in games that aren't R18. There's a good ending and a bad ending for each love interest and they're both really good. I may have spent way too much money on it but it's not like I HAD to so it's kinda my fault. Good game!

DREAM DADDY

Story: You're a single dad moving to a new house with your teenage daughter who is pushing you to actually be social for once. Among your new neighbours there are several other single dads who might be looking for love? Who knows?

Where to play: I played when it first came out on my old PC but now you can also play on mobile, switch and PS4

Price: Ngl I have no clues what the free version does but I'm pretty sure the good stuff isn't free. It should be around 15$ on every platforms.

Play Time: From memory I don't think it's that long to play through it? Not a short game but I've definitely played way longer dating sims.

Love Interest(s): There's 7 dads to choose from. You can either have the cold bad guy dad, the Victorian vampire dad, your childhood bro dad, the suburban (not actually single??) dad, the dorky barista dad, the english teacher dad or the friendly competitive bear dad.

Main Character: First game on the list where you can personalise your MC! You can dress up your character sprite and change his appearance and full name. But you are a dad and that won't change.

LBGT Representation: It's a game about a dad seducing other dads, of course it's pretty gay. But apart from that, you can make your MC wear a binder and one of the love interest is implied to be transgender. You can also choose whether your daughter is biological or not, and the gender of your late spouse.

Game Mechanics: Another pure visual novel, I don't have much to add about this.

Fandom: There was a fandom back in the days but I'll be real with you, I don't think it survived so don't expect anything too big regarding new content.

Personal Opinion: It's a good game. Not life changing but it's really funny and the love interests are good characters. I mean I'm not the target audience at all but still an enjoyable game! If you're bored and have 15 bucks to spare go for it!

MECHAT – LOVE SECRETS

Story: This is just a fake dating app, there's no real story tying the characters together, each love interest has their own little story.

Where to play: Another mobile app (I swear there are other platforms at the end of the list)

Price: Technically free to play but it's one of those game where you have to pay so much game currency to have a choice that doesn't suck, so you might get frustrated and spend money to see if it gets better

Play Time: There's no beginning or end to this game, but each character story should last like an hour or something

Love Interest(s): There's a lot of varied characters of all gender you can choose from, just like a real dating app. Except with furries.

Main Character: You can choose your name and sexual orientation and for a game like that I think that's already a lot

LBGT Representation: Like I said, you can find anyone on there so yeah it ain't a straight game

Game Mechanics: It's just a fake dating app with some 'real life' date parts. Nothing much to add.

Fandom: No real fandom as far as I've seen, but at least people are talking about it

Personal Opinion: If you're bored and horny (cause yeah this game is pretty horny) you can go do one or two stories but the wait for the currency makes you give up on the game pretty quickly but if you download this app you already know what to expect. If you're a fan of story-based visual novels like me this is not it honey

MONSTER PROM

Story: You're a monster going to high-school. You need a date to prom. Need I say more?

Where to play: You can get the game either on Steam or switch

Price: The base game is like 12$ but there's a bunch of dlc or sequels to the game if you want to spend more money

Play Time: The game says a full route takes around an hour but it's definitively less. Or not, don't look at me for answers.

Love Interest(s): I'm only talking about the base game so there's 6 love interest, including 3 girls. You can either pursue the typical bad guy demon, the himbo werewolf, the hipster vampire, the girlboss medusa, the life of the party ghost or the tyrannical princess mermaid.

Main Character: You can choose one of 4 characters to play: a Frankenstein gal, a zombie boy, a fire hottie or a dark humanoid blob. You can then choose their name and pronouns.

LBGT Representation: No set gender MC which means everyone is gay. There's also some space prince dude or something that hit on your love interests sometimes? And one of the DLCs includes a trans girl eldritch horror. Pretty gay game.

Game Mechanics: To get into a route, you gotta go to school to change your stats, each characters having necessary stats to romance them. You can also play this game with other people and race them to see who gets who first! Damn I wish I had friends

Fandom: The people know about this game but the fandom is not thriving as far as I've seen. Not a big fandom but it's existent at least

Personal Opinion: Ok real talk this game is absolutely hilarious. Everything is stupidly overdramatic and it's great! Ok there's barely any story but it's not a story driven game so it's good. If you have a few hours to spare to have a good laugh, buy this game. But if you're looking for a gut wrenching love story, this ain't it.

ERROR 143

Story: You're a hacker. You decide to hack another hacker who stole your first place. This loser hacker hacks you back and starts talking with you. You start to get feelings, oops

Where to play: On Steam and Itch.io

Price: This game is fully free yay

Play Time: Like, 2 hours? It's a rather short game

Love Interest(s): There's only one love interest here: Micah Yujin. He's a dorky little shit who's probably chronically online

Main Character: You can choose your name and pronouns, the MC doesn't have a mentioned appearance.

LBGT Representation: That dude ain't straight, and there's no other characters so congrats on the fully gay game

Game Mechanics: Works like a normal visual novel who doesn't look like a visual novel. There's some hacking hangman mini-games but it's not really important to win.

Fandom: Small fandom but for a 2 hours long dating sim by god they are here, I've seen medias with 10x the amount of official content have less fandom than that.

Personal Opinion: This game is funny, pretty and the voice acting is godly. Not a huge plot to it but that's alright, just a small feel good game and for free?? If you like dating sims you gotta play it, it's really great!

[thelazyhermits]

Y'all know how I've mentioned before that I like playing otome games? Well one of the games I played last month has been on my mind cause I keep thinking of how I could incorporate Yuu and some of the TWST boys into the story of that game.

I have no idea why my brain suddenly started doing this, but I figured I'd go ahead and make a post about it cause why not? 😂

Okay, so first off, the otome game that I'll be talking about is Winter’s Wish: Spirits of Edo, which I would recommend to anyone who likes otome games. While I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a favorite of mine since I didn't get super attached to any particular LI, I still enjoyed the game and thought it was really cute ^^

Anyway, this game takes place in Japan during the Kyoha era, and it involves these monsters called blightfall that are created thanks to people's negative emotions. They've been wreaking havoc in the town of Edo for a while now.

There's a special task force established by the shogunate called the Oniwaban, which is in charge of fighting these monsters that most people don't know anything about since blightfall mostly appear at night, and this is just something they try to keep the public from having to know about.

The Oniwaban mostly consist of individuals called vessels, which are formfolk that have had their memories and hearts sealed. In exchange, they're given the power called Snow Sacrament which allows them to defeat blightfall when they engage them in battle.

Formfolk are human-like figures that are born when an item receives enough love from its owner and is given a name. The main difference between them and humans is that they can change their appearance at will, and they can be killed if you destroy the items they were born from. They also have wooden name tags, which can also be targeted, so they have two weaknesses.

Moving on, the heroine of the game has the ability to see threads that no one else can see, and by looking at these threads, which are attached to everyone's, except for vessels, necks, she can tell what a person is truly feeling, ergo she can see their emotions. These threads can also tell her when a blightfall is about to appear since they're the product of negative emotions.

That's why the shogunate summons her and has her join the Oniwaban in hopes that she'll be able to help them stop the outbreak of blightfall that has been going on for the last several years.

The reason I started thinking of Yuu in this setting is because in the game the poor heroine is ostracized/exiled by the village she grew up in because she could see things they couldn't and she could tell when someone was gonna die from looking at their threads which led them to believe she was the reason those people died.

The heroine lived in the village with her father, but as soon as he passed away, she was forced to live up on the mountain away from the village. Thankfully, because her father was so well-respected by the village, they send her provisions, so she is still technically provided for, even though that obviously doesn't make her situation any less horrible.

It's just really easy for me to imagine Yuu in that kinda character role, because of the kinda luck she has, so my brain just rolled with the idea lol

I could easily picture poor Yuu being misunderstood for powers only she has, and as a result, she's only close to her father, whom thankfully loves her very much and takes good care of her up until his passing.

Because she wants to be useful to her hardworking father, Yuu learns at a young age how to cook and clean despite him telling her she doesn't have to. Plus, she prefers remaining indoors practicing these skills anyway since indoors she won't have to deal with any judging looks or people whispering about her.

However, Yuu does venture outside whenever she wants fresh air. She just typically heads outside of the village, although she doesn't go too far since she doesn't want to scare/worry her father.

It's during one such outing that an eight-year old Yuu happens to find a young wolf that's injured and has an infected wound. The poor thing was abandoned by its pack and left to die since it was in such bad shape.

Yuu couldn't bear to abandon the animal, which was too weak to do anything but quietly growl at her, so she did what she could to treat its wound with the first aid supplies she likes to always carry around with her.

Despite her young age, she's rather good at first aid, because she has a lot of experience practicing it due all the injuries she'd get when the kids in the village would bully her. She learned how to tend to her own injuries so her father wouldn't have to and she had hoped this would make him less worried about her.

However, after she finishes tending to the wolf, Yuu still thinks her father should personally check on the wolf since she's obviously no doctor and is just a kid, and thankfully, when he hears about the wolf, her father agrees to look it over after she begs and pleads for his help.

Since the villagers wouldn't be pleased about a potentially dangerous wild animal being brought to the village, Yuu's father decides to bring the wolf to the old house up on the mountain that's not being used by anyone.

For the next several days, Yuu and her father tend to the wolf, constantly taking care of its injury and offering it food to help it regain its strength.

Yuu spends almost all of her time with the wolf and only leaves its side whenever her father says its time for her to come home at the end of the day.

Thanks to Yuu and her father's dutiful care, the wolf survives its injury and manages to make a full recovery, much to their great relief.

Once the wolf eventually recovers, they expect it to leave and return to the wild, although Yuu hates the idea of having to part with it, but to their great surprise, the wolf decides to remain in the area.

Naturally, that's partially because it has nowhere else to go but mostly because it wants to remain with the people that nursed it back to health since it feels indebted to them and has become attached to them.

Yuu is delighted about this since this means she now has a friend, and she pays the wolf, which she names Jack after a storybook character she likes, visits all the time since she loves hanging out with him.

For a while, time passes like this until a very surprising turn of events occurs that involves a sad, nine-year old Yuu visiting Jack after having escaped her bullies.

While she's not normally one to cry since she thinks she should be strong in order to avoid worrying her father, Yuu is crying when she comes to visit Jack, who becomes worried about her since he's never seen in her in a state like this before.

Jack wants to know why Yuu's crying, but obviously, he can't ask since he can't speak like a human. He wishes he could, though, since he really wants to help her so she'll smile for him again.

As of late, Jack has been having these kinda thoughts where he wished he was more than just a wolf so he could become even closer to Yuu and better support her since there's only so much he can do with a form like this.

Much to his and Yuu's surprise, this strong desire to talk to Yuu and become closer to her leads to Jack turning into a Beastman, which is something that's not in the game so it's an original idea.

Just like how items can turn into formfolk, I thought it'd be neat if something similar could happen to animals when they receive enough love/feel enough love toward a human that leads to them wanting to communicate with/be closer to a human, and I just decided to use the Beastman term since I'm not creative with names in the slightest lol

One thing that's special about Beastmen is that they can swap forms, so they can look like an animal or a human, although their human forms will always have animal characteristics like ears and a tail.

Since Beastmen are rarer than formfolk, Yuu is very surprised to see one for the first time, but she's also delighted that she can have a conversation with Jack, whose current form appears to be the same age as her.

Jack is also pleased with his sudden transformation since he'll be able to talk to Yuu now and be the kind of friend she needs/deserves. He'll be able to support/protect her even better now.

Because the village forbids formfolk from living there since formfolk eat like humans and this small village has limited supplies, it's immediately assumed that the same would be said about Beastmen, so Yuu only tells her father about what happened to Jack.

Thankfully, Jack can turn back into a wolf whenever he wants, so the chances of the villagers finding out about him are low, especially as long as he remains around the house on the mountain where he's been hanging around up until this point.

From that point on, Yuu is even more excited about visiting Jack, and she spends the majority of her time with him because she loves being with Jack who doesn't treat her like she's something dangerous cause of her powers.

They become really close over the years, like family, and it's because of that bond that Yuu has an easier time getting by after her father eventually passes away when she's thirteen, because she ends up living with Jack, who the villagers thankfully never find out about.

Jack is Yuu's rock during the time she's mourning her father and dealing with being ostracized/exiled by the village. While he was already protective of her, Jack becomes even more so after those events.

More than anything, he'd like to tear into those villagers for their cold-heartedness, but he doesn't since that's not what Yuu would want. Plus, he can't risk the villagers finding out about him and possibly trying to separate him from Yuu.

So, instead, Jack focuses on doing everything else he can think of to look after her, like helping with house repairs and hunting/gathering food in the forest, so there's always enough food for the two of them since the village only sends up enough supplies for one person.

Just like a human, Jack grows older as time passes, so he eventually ends up with an appearance like what he has in TWST canon. He gets all his muscles cause he's constantly training in order to make himself stronger, so he can always protect himself and Yuu, because that's what's most important to him.

For a while, their little world just consists of the two of them, and they're perfectly fine with that since they're just so grateful and happy to have each other. However, eventually, their world becomes a little bit bigger.

Enter the Shroud brothers.

One day, while a fourteen year old Yuu is in the forest gathering edible plants, she happens to hear a lot of yelling, and out of curiosity, she decides to check the situation out but fully intends to remain out of sight since the villagers have to be behind the ruckus and she knows they won't wanna see her.

Much to her surprise, Yuu finds out the commotion is about the village having discovered that Ortho is a formfolk, which is something Idia and his parents have been hiding these last few years.

You see, a few years ago, there was a living human by the name of Ortho Shroud. Sadly, he fell seriously ill and died despite his family's best efforts to save him.

Coincidentally, around this time, one of Ortho's favorite toys, a puzzle box that Idia had made for him, became a formfolk and ended up with an appearance just like Ortho's since formfolk tend to end up looking just like their owners.

Because they knew about the village's law about formfolk being forbidden, the Shroud family decided to hide the truth about Ortho's death and bury him secretly, so that formfolk Ortho could take his place.

The only other person that knew the truth about that incident was actually Yuu, because, back when she still could live in the village, she had seen the original Ortho with black threads around his neck which meant death was in his near future, although she didn't say as much because she didn't wanna be blamed for his death.

Yuu found it highly unlikely that Ortho could survive, considering no one with black threads has ever survived before, but she kept those thoughts to herself since she had no proof that he had been replaced. Plus, she didn't want him to get in trouble with the villagers.

Unfortunately, the secret has finally come out, and the village wants Ortho gone by tomorrow. Naturally, Idia and his parents are against this since Ortho's too young to be off on his own, and Idia can't bear to lose his brother again.

Taking pity on them, Yuu decides to get involved after the villagers all return to the village and the Shroud parents run after them in hopes of getting them to reconsider their demands.

Once Idia and Ortho are the only ones who are left, she calls out to them from her hiding spot, catching them off guard. They quickly recognize her, though, since everyone in the village knows her.

Fortunately, they don't treat her like the other villagers do since they don't see her as a monster. The reason for that is because for the last few years their parents have been researching the clan that Yuu's mother came from.

It's her late mother's blood that led to Yuu having her special power because everyone in that clan could see threads like her, and they were often relied on by the shogunate to fight the blightfall.

While the original reason the Shroud family moved to this village several years ago was to be with Idia/Ortho's grandparents who were unable to provide for themselves due to old age/illness, Mama and Papa Shroud soon had another reason for living there, because a few years after they moved to the village, they received an order from the shogunate to research Yuu's mother's clan's sudden disappearance/demise since no one knows what happened to them and why Yuu is the only one with that clan's blood left.

Mama and Papa Shroud, who were both held in high regard by the shogunate due to their brilliant, inventive minds, were all to eager to accept the order because they've always been quite fascinated by the family Yuu's mother came from, so they were all too happy to delve into this intriguing mystery.

As a result, thanks to their research, the Shroud family knows Yuu's situation, and Mama and Papa Shroud really felt bad for the poor girl and wished the villagers didn't treat her so horribly. Unfortunately, there was no reasoning with the other villagers who outnumbered them.

Plus, they were doing their best to avoid drawing too much attention to their family because the whole situation with Ortho.

Anyway, back to Yuu and the Shroud brothers, after she gets the boys' attention, Yuu offers to let Ortho stay in her home, much to their surprise.

While they'll need to make a big show of Ortho leaving so the villagers will be led to believe he's gone for good, Ortho can secretly come back through the forest and hide out on the mountain with Yuu if he so desires. That way he won't have to be completely separated from his family.

Ortho is delighted by this news since he doesn't want to be apart from his brother and parents. Meanwhile, Idia is surprised and confused by why Yuu would help them when they hardly know each other. Plus, they're part of the village that exiled her, even though their family was actually against Yuu being treated so horribly.

Yuu wants to help because she doesn't think it's right to separate Ortho from his family, and she also has noticed that the Shroud family were the only villagers that never treated her unkindly, so that's enough of a reason for her to wanna help them out.

In the end, the Shroud family takes her up on her offer, but it'll be just a temporary living situation since Mama and Papa Shroud intend to ask the shogunate if they can leave the village and plan on wrapping up their reasearch efforts over the next few weeks/upcoming month.

During this time, Idia, who, ever since the original Ortho died, typically spent all his time indoors with formfolk Ortho up until this point because he was so afraid of losing his brother again, constantly visits his brother at Yuu's house, and as a result, ends up spending a lot of time with Yuu and Jack as well.

Thankfully, Jack didn't mind this temporary living arrangement since Ortho's a sweetheart who's willing to help out around the house, and cause the Shroud family never mistreated Yuu.

Thanks to this, the Shroud brothers become a part of Yuu and Jack's little family, and they all become quite close friends.

Because he feels she has the right to know, Idia explains to Yuu about her powers and her mother's side of the family since it pisses him off that she's treated like a monster and that because of the villagers Yuu sees herself in a negative light just cause she's not like everyone else.

Idia also mentions that his parents had talked to Yuu's father about the missing clan as part of their research, but all he knew was that they were dead. He has no idea what happened to them. He was just told by the god of the local shrine that they're all gone now, which was also the story the heroine's father was given in the game.

Yuu is naturally very sad to hear that she's the last of her clan, but she's glad that she's not the only one to ever have had these powers.

She's also puzzled about what happened to her mother and her clan since she doesn't have any memories of her mother. For some reason, she can't remember anything from those years when she had lived with both of her parents, which is also the story for the game's heroine.

The Shroud family knows this because Yuu's father had said as much. Yuu had actually been with her mother when the clan suddenly disappeared, so they think something traumatic must have happened that resulted in Yuu losing her memories.

Thankfully, while he couldn't find his wife or her clan, Yuu's father was able to find Yuu after the incident occurred, and he avoided talking to Yuu about it out of worry that she'd remember painful memories best left forgotten.

That's why Mama and Papa Shroud never tried to question Yuu since, despite their curiosity, they didn't want to endanger her mental wellbeing.

This is why Idia tells Yuu not to think too hard about those memories and says that she's better off focusing on the present than dwelling on the past since finding out what happened to her mother and her clan won't make her current situation any better.

Jack backs Idia up cause he doesn't want Yuu to remember anything that will hurt her, and he also agrees that focusing on what happened in the past won't do her any good.

Even though she really would like to remember her mother, Yuu does think they make a good point, so when she fails to recall anything from what happened all those years ago, she decides to drop the matter, especially after Ortho says his parents are working hard to figure out what happened so she can leave things to them.

Sadly, in the end, Mama and Papa Shroud are unable to figure out what happened to Yuu's mother and her clan, although they do think the snow that's always falling on the mountain where Yuu lives is somehow connected to the clan because it's not natural for there to be snow there all year round, making them wonder if the shrine god that Yuu's father mentioned is possibly behind the constant snow and if the snow has a purpose of some kind.

Even though they're not successful with their research efforts, Mama and Papa Shroud still get permission from the shogunate to leave the village since there's really not much else the researchers can do at this point.

So, once that's decided, the Shroud family leaves and heads for Edo since Mama and Papa Shroud's services were requested by the shogunate which is stationed there.

Yuu is naturally very sad to see Idia and Ortho go since she had been so happy to have more friends, but she's happy that they'll be able to live together as a family with their parents again.

Idia and Ortho wish they could just take Yuu with them since she deserves better than being isolated on a mountain, but Yuu and Jack are a package deal and it'd be rough for Mama and Papa Shroud to take care of two extra mouths.

Plus, with all the blightfalls showing up as of late, Yuu is safer on the mountain, so it's decided that she's better off remaining there.

It's still hard for Idia and Ortho to leave since they got really attached to Yuu, and Idia, who's older than her, feels like he should take care of her like Ortho.

That's why Idia says that he'll come back for Yuu and Jack once his family has settled down in Edo and he thinks that the two can safely and comfortably live in Edo.

Little did Idia know that five years later he'd be coming back for Yuu on the shogunate's orders because her powers are needed to deal with the blightfall.

The reason Idia was sent was because, with his genius mind, he ended up becoming a great resource to the shogunate, especially since, during his time at Edo, it was discovered he had great potential to be a soothsayer, which is someone who can use magic by using their knowledge of onmyodo.

The Shroud family is well-known for having powerful magic users, and Idia ends up being a prodigy, the best the family has seen in many generations.

While he orignally had no interest in using magic and doing this kinda work, Idia started practicing and studying after he moved to Edo so he'd be able to protect his family from blightfall and he had hoped he could solve the blightfall crisis before the shogunate felt the need to seek out Yuu's help.

Unfortunately, Idia wasn't able to accomplish that goal so he's left with the frustrating task of having to recruit Yuu, even though the last thing he wants is for her to have to be anywhere near those dangerous monsters, even if it means he can finally get her far away from that damn village.

However, he can't refuse an order from the shogun, so Idia has no other choice but to go get Yuu, but he's determined to keep her out of harm's way and won't let anyone take advanatage of her like what had often seemed to happen to the members of her dead clan.

Because Yuu is family, and nobody takes advantage of Idia's family while he's around.

Now that I've covered the Shroud brothers, there's one last member of Yuu's makeshift family I wanna talk about here, and he gets brought into the picture after the Shroud family leaves for Edo.

About four years after the Shroud family leaves, a formfolk is born in Yuu/Jack's household, and it's from one of Yuu's old toys. It was a small wooden crocodile that Yuu's father made along with several other wooden animals.

Because the crocodile was her father's favorite animal, Yuu always especially treasured that one after he died, so she'd take extra good care of it and make sure it was always clean as it remained in a shelf that she could always look at.

Because Yuu had a lot of love for that crocodile, a formfolk is eventually born from it, much to her great surprise.

Naturally, Yuu is also very excited since this means she'll have a new family member/friend, and she quickly gives him the name Sebek, which she came up thanks to a book she once read thanks to the Shroud family sharing their huge book collection with her that mentioned the Egyptian deity, Sobek, who is associated with crocodiles.

Jack is a little exasperated by this turn of events because Sebek has such a huge appetite, but he doesn't mind having another face around since he gets along well enough with Sebek. Plus, it makes Yuu happy to have another family member/friend, and he's glad there's someone else to help him look after Yuu.

Sebek here is a lot like his TWST game counterpart, except he doesn't have any negative feelings toward humans, although he does hate the villagers for making Yuu suffer, like Jack.

In this setting, Sebek treats Yuu like his master and is very loyal/decidated to her and quite protective of her.

While Yuu greatly appreciates how dedicated Sebek is to her, she doesn't want him to treat her like she's his master since she sees them both as equals.

Thankfully, after enough time passes, Yuu is able to get Sebek to be more relaxed and less formal around her, and he begins treating her more like Jack, although he still remains overprotective of her.

From the start, Sebek thought highly of Yuu because of all the love she showed him when he was just a wooden crocodile, and he found it impressive that she could remain so kindhearted despite everything she went through thanks to the villagers.

However, after spending time with her as a formfolk, Sebek's attachment toward her grew even stronger because she treated him as an equal and always showered him with so much genuine love and care.

As a result, Sebek becomes quite close to Yuu, like Jack, and ends up seamlessly incorporating himself into Yuu & Jack's little family since the three of them get along so well.

Of course, there are still times when Jack and Sebek butt heads since their personalities are similar, but they never have serious fights and can usually resolve things within a reasonable amount of time.

Unfortunately, while Sebek's presence in their lives is wholeheartedly welcomed, he does make their living situation more difficult because of his large appetite, even with Jack's hunting skills.

Which leads to Sebek eventually deciding that he needs to find a job so he can make money to buy the food he needs since he refuses to impose upon Yuu/Jack despite Yuu insisting that he doesn't have to do that.

Sebek is determined to find work, however, since he feels he should be responsible for himself, and he's also hoping that he can make enough money that he can use it to further improve Yuu/Jack's lives that way they don't have to always scour the forest for food.

That's why Sebek goes on a journey to find work since he doesn't want anything to do with the nearby village. He's hoping he can find a town that's not too far from home, so he can make regular trips back to see Yuu/Jack.

Sadly, Sebek's journey ends in tragedy since he ends up turning back into a wooden crocodile after having saved the shogun, whom he didn't realize was the shogun at the time, from a blightfall by shoving him to safety.

The shogun, who had been traveling incognito at the time, had shared his food with a hungry Sebek who had collapsed by the road prior to that incident, which is what led to Sebek risking his life to save him.

After the Oniwaban, who eventually arrived on the scene, later defeated the blightfall, the shogun collected Sebek's item and decided that he'd make him into a vessel since he didn't know who and where Sebek's owner was, only Sebek's name, since this is the only way to give Sebek's life back to him without his owner.

Plus, by having Sebek join the Oniwaban, Sebek will have a stable job and a roof over his head, which the shogun felt he deserved after sacrificing himself for his sake. This is why Sebek becomes so loyal to the shogun and treats him as his master since the shogun always treats him so kindly.

Unfortunately, this means that when Sebek is reborn his memories and heart are sealed, so he no longer remembers Yuu and Jack, which the two are naturally sad about when they finally reunite with him.

This reunion happens when Idia is sent to retrieve Yuu because Sebek is tasked with accompanying him.

Yuu is elated when she sees Idia and Sebek since she had missed them dearly, and she had been worried sick about Sebek whom she hasn't seen/heard from in months.

(Yuu had wanted to go looking for Sebek, but Jack convinced her to wait since it was possible that Sebek had to travel a great distance to find work or that Sebek didn't want to contact them until he had good news about work since he's so prideful and wouldn't ever want to admit he couldn't do what he set out to do.)

She's both confused and heartbroken when Sebek asks if he knows her while Jack is angry since he can't believe Sebek could just forget them like that.

Upon realizing Yuu is Sebek's owner, Idia quickly pulls her and Jack aside and explains Sebek's situation and how vessels have their memories/hearts sealed.

He also tells them that if a vessel's heart/memories were to ever become unsealed the vessel would soon cease to exist, so if they don't want to lose Sebek, they need to accept his memory loss and not force him to remember.

Yuu is devastated by this news, but she, along with Jack, agrees to keep Sebek's past a secret from him since she can't bear the thought of losing him again.

Fortunately, despite his memories being sealed, Sebek seems to unconsciously recognize who Yuu is since he feels drawn to her, and he's kinder to her than he has ever been to any other human aside from the shogun he so loyally serves.

Sebek is also quick to protect Yuu when a blightfall appears in her village after the villagers get all worked up over Idia and Sebek bringing Yuu down to the village from the mountain, like what happened in the game.

Initially, Sebek fights the blightfall on his own since Idia's magic can't outright defeat blightfall, only someone with Snow Sacrament can do that, but Jack ends up joining the fight despite Yuu/Idia telling him not to.

Much to everyone's surprise, after working with Sebek to fight the monster, Jack manages to unconsciously use Snow Sacrament on the blightfall, which, according to Idia, shouldn't be possible.

Idia has never seen anything like this, so he has no idea how Jack can perform a feat like that, and of course, neither does Jack who was just acting on instinct and his strong desire to protect his friends.

The only possible explanation Idia can think of is Jack's prolonged exposure to Yuu and the fact that he became a Beastman because of Yuu led to him obtaining a special power the likes of which her clan posseses, although it sounds way too surreal to him.

While the shogunate's orders were to recruit just Yuu to the Oniwaban, Idia knows they'll be interested in Jack as well, so he decides to introduce them both to the shogun. That way Jack can remain close to Yuu to keep her safe and Jack can use his power to help them deal with the blightfall.

Initially, there are some reservations about joining the Oniwaban on Yuu/Jack's end, but because they trust Idia and want to be with Sebek, they agree to go to Edo with them after Yuu asks the villagers to take care of her father's grave in her absence.

And that's all I've got right now. I'll write more later if I can think of anything else for this AU lol