#redheads who sometimes wear headbands | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

that-was-anticlimactic · 3 years

Text

reki with tourette’s headcanons

[ID: it’s reki from sk8 the infinity wearing a yellow sweatshirt with his hands on his hips. he’s wearing a red bracelet on his right wrist and he’s smiling. behind him is a touette’s syndrome awareness flag. end ID.]

so. @zukkaclawthorne got me hooked on reki with ts and now imma post headcanons i wrote oops

okay so first—that little skateboard he plays with??? stim toy, actually.

he likes the sound the wheels make—that whirrrrrr sound. it makes his arms flappy :)

he also finds the rolling motion soothing and relaxing and it always calms him down—it takes his mind to a happy place

he rocks back and forth and shakes his legs a lot. that also contributed to why he was terrible at skateboarding the first few times he tried—because his body would be like “time to rock back and forth!” and it would mess him up

neck twitches for days :)

no but for real—neck twitching is one of his worst tics because sometimes—if he’s in a bad mood or if he’s sad or anxious—it gets harsh and violent and really strains his neck.

so, langa gives him neck / upper back neck massages to help with the pain

he went through this phase for a couple of months where whenever his neck would twitch, he would snap his fingers two times.

he has a lot of hand tics which can be stressful when he makes skateboards because sometimes he’ll be in the groove and then suddenly he’ll mess something up

speaking of messing things up, he has a tendency to dig the bottom of his palm into his forehead whenever he feels like he does something stupid—he doesn’t even realize it until someone points it out.

he feels like even more of a failure of a skater because of his tics because they can hold him back and make the course more dangerous.

if his blinking tic resurfaces, sometimes the blinking gets so intense that he literally cannot see for anywhere between five seconds and a minute depending on how bad it is. that is how he got some of his worst scars.

or sometimes he’ll make a really aggressive hand motion and it throws him off balance on the skateboard due to the intensity

anyways back to hand tics: he points a lot and does symbols like the “rock on” sign or certain numbers (for some reason, the most common number for reki to throw up is four—though sometimes he throws up whatever number he hears) he also grunts a lot as a tic so he sounds angry even when he is’t.

sometimes, his hand tics really hurt and his hands become shaky and his fingers start to feel the way his heart feels when he’s anxious. langa helps in different ways—he holds reki’s hand, he gives him something to fidget with to try to distract him (sometimes it’s his own fingers—he’ll just set them in reki’s palm and be like “let me carry some of the pain”—no, reki didn’t totally cry when he said that what)

sometimes, reki sticks pencils in his ears. his teachers have been trying to stop it since he was young, but he always did it anyways—he couldn’t help it.

his hair is also long enough for him to chew on. yes, he chews on the tips of his hair because i say so. sometimes, to stop him from doing that (and from swallowing his own hair), langa will try to make him laugh so it falls out of his mouth and then he’ll scoot close and tuck the hair behind reki’s ears… once they start dating, he kisses him too. but also that’s one reason why he wears the headband—to try to keep his hair out of his face so he doesn’t chew on it.

reki’s favorite form of stimming (other than his skateboard toy, that is) is stress balls. he’s got a couple of stress balls in his room or backpack—even one with string attached so he can carry it around his wrist. he just really likes the texture of them.

after his second race against adam, cherry and joe were so proud of him and also impressed and worried dads that they bought reki a big stress ball, like, the size of a stuffed animal. it was a blue cat. he uses it all the time.

speaking of fricking adam, we all know he would so use reki’s tics against him during a race. like, when he grabbed his wrist and “danced” with him, he would mock reki’s tics or say creepy things about how his verbal tics are music and his motor tics are him dancing along and it makes him so uncomfortable and like even more shaken

oh and adam purposely does things to trigger his tics, like when i mentioned that number tic??? yeah, adam will purposefully say numbers to make reki do the hand gestures

one time, reki wanted to tell langa that he loved him but got nervous so he signed it in sign language instead. but, since reki’s tics are occasionally hand gestures, langa thought that it was just a tic and mentally was like “i wish that was for me…” and reki is like “i wish he knew it was real…” and joe, cherry, shadow, and miya are all facepalming and groaning at their obliviousness

reki prefers taking hand written notes to electronic notes because he draws / doodles to stim and he can’t really doodle well on a laptop. so, he’ll doodle in class all of the time

sometimes, his pictures / notes turn out pretty bad / illegible depending on how bad his tics are, but that doesn’t phase reki. it used to when he was younger, but it doesn’t bother him at all anymore. in fact, he thinks it adds personality

during class, he’ll draw pictures for langa and slid them on his desk. they’re usually really random things like the teacher or the back of someone’s head or squiggly lines or whatever he sees outside. more often than not, it’s abstract art. langa loves these drawings and he keeps them all on his desk in his room.

reki also started drawing pictures for the rest of the sk8 crew and gives it to them during races. when he gave everyone their first doodle, he was like “i’m not the best artist ever and sometimes my tics mess up the doodle, but i thought of you while i drew it so i want you to have it”

(shadow didn’t shed a couple of unwilling dad tears when he got home that night what)

anyways, they all keep them. every single one. miya puts them in their school binder so they don’t feel as alone / isolated at school.

although shadow and miya give reki a lot of crap / teasing about not being as good as everyone else, the second they hear anyone comment about “the weird red head that makes noises” and comments on his ts in a negative way, oh, they will stop you.

sometimes, reki whispers words he hears under his breath as a tic (echolalia, baby~) and when he overhears people saying stuff about “that redhead that always follows snow around” or about him not being good enough or how he’s an idiot to face adam, he ends up muttering that too. and it’s not a one and done kind of thing—like. he does it for days. it makes him so upset (and i already hc him, with depression so it just makes it worse)

having tics while having injuries is not a good combination—especially if it’s with a broken arm. the crew made sure to keep an eye of reki’s comfort / pain level after adam broke his arm and literally tried to kill him in their final race. joe let reki squeeze his hand whenever he felt the urge to tic and cherry would ask him how much pain he was in after he ticced and depending on how bad it would be, would make joe or shadow fetch a heating pad or an icepack for reki.

joe also taught reki about the magical thing called physical therapy tape and helped him put it on his shoulders, neck, and back one time. it was his idea to use the tape on reki’s fingers when he was injured to make him feel better (because it literally makes my fingers feel better)

also langa kisses each of reki’s fingers and knuckles, slowly and tenderly, soft so he doesn’t hurt him or trigger a tic. a way of showing that he loves him not despite his tics, but even with his tics and that he loves him and his tics.

cherry isn’t always the best at showing he cares, so he’ll wear a ts ribbon sometimes in a way to show support (and it makes reki beam)

shadow once gave reki a flower shaped stress ball because there were “extra at work” (not true—he went looking for one)

miya didn’t really know much about ts at first and asked why reki made those noises and made weird movements all the time and langa explained so then that night when miya got home, they did research on ts so they could understand it better. later, they told reki that whenever they called him a slime, they meant it purely about skateboarding and it had nothing to do with his tics—even that his tics didn’t make him less of a skater

all his life, reki had been the different one: the one no one wanted on the team because sometimes his tics messed him up, the one who was asked to leave classes during tests because his tics were too distracting and made him take the test in the hall, when sometimes he’d get too overwhelmed by how close people were in the halls or at races and would have panic attacks, how he rocked in his chair and adjusted his position seventeen times an hour and sat on his feet while the other kids didn’t, how he shook his legs more aggressively than others, how he couldn’t skate as well as everyone else because of his tics and because he wasn’t good enough

which is probably part of the depression that weighs on his shoulders

the first time reki had a panic attack during a race due to closeness and overstimulating noises (and this is the first one after the sk8 crew happened) langa was racing and wasn’t there to help, so shadow kind of panicked and like picked him up under the armpits and carried him away from the crowd since reki could barely process anything other than panic and the sound and feeling of static and they sat in shadow’s car for the rest of the race and once he felt better, he gave shadow a huge hug and shadow returned it.

one time it happened and cherry was nearby and he saw the signs before it got bad (remembered from the previous time / his own experiences) and helped talk reki down before it got bad (he has a soothing voice)

usually, though, when / if it happens (because reki usually feels safe there), langa is the one who helps

but it got so much worse after skating against adam the first time because he no longer felt safe and suddenly everyone cheering adam’s name even after witnessing what he did to reki was too much but langa was racing adam so langa wasn’t there and this time it was joe who kneeled in front of him and started talking just loud enough for reki to hear and he was like “you’re safe—we won’t let anyone hurt you. we won’t let him hurt langa. you’re safe. i’m here and so is cherry and shadow and miya and langa will be waiting for you at the end of the race…”

it happens again at the next race he goes to—and this time it’s miya who notices and they tug on langa’s sleeve and is like “i think you need to take reki somewhere else” and langa does :)

okay i’ll end on a positive ts note or two—langa asks reki to add the ts ribbon to the design on his skateboard

shadow finds chewelry at the store one day when he’s shopping and buys it for reki (and gets a matching one for langa!)

once reki came back after his mental health break, the first thing joe said to him was, and this is nonnegotiable “reki! i missed you and your tics!”

miya once overheard reki muttering to himself about his annoying tics were, so they intervened and was like “your tics aren’t annoying. they’re you and anyone who think s they’re annoying is an idiot”

and for the first time in his life, reki doesn’t feel alone and isolated and so different from everyone (at least, he’s working on that last one) and he’s finally found a group of people who want him on their team and a boyfriend who always supports him and makes him feel less isolated, tics and all <3

i uhh I have a lot of feelings,,,

130 notes · View notes

sugarmaplewings-fics · 4 years

Text

Big Secret

Pairing: Kirishima x reader, but also . . . pining!Bakugou

Warnings: Mentions of/implied sex, but nothing actually graphically happening. Gay/Bi/Poly fun stuffs. Bakugou doesn’t like the color pink. Also language from YoU kNoW wHo

Author’s Note:

*sips tea*

So.

Technically, no one asked for this, but I wanted to write it anyway. Then someone requested a sequel, so I made this prequel first (because I had a clearer idea, nothing against them). It doesn’t matter if you read Little Secret or Big Secret first, so do whatever if you’re new.

Little Secret did surprisingly well, so I was more than happy to jump back into the mini AU. This takes place about a month before the events of Little Secret. I could not pick whether this is angst or crack, so I made it both. Both is good.

This is my first crack at angst (haha, see what I did there? I’m so smart and funny). If it’s bad, then it’s kind of just practice for me. If it’s good and you decide you like it . . . hooray! I did something right for once.

Anyway, I’ll shut up now. Enjoy!

-Sugar

⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙

Bakugou stood in front of your door, scowling as usual.

Ever since you and Kirishima had started dating, it felt like the red-haired hard boy was impossible to be reached, constantly spending all his time with you. Bakugou had expected as much when the two of you had announced to him that you were a couple, but this was starting to get ridiculous. He was starting to feel a little too left out, getting angry at how much he found himself missing your presences as you had once hung out interchangeably in all three of your rooms. But that was before, when you were all just friends.

Just friends.

Bakugou shook his head before rapping impatiently at your door. "Oi, (N/N), have you seen Kirishima?"

"I'm in here."

Katsuki immediately recognized the sound of the redhead's voice on the other side of your door, causing him to frown. Of course. Just as he'd anticipated.

"It's open," you called.

And you were in there too. Gods, he hoped he didn't just catch you two doing something disgusting, like kissing or worse. He was almost to the point of praying that the two of you were at least decently clothed when he opened the door.

What he most certainly didn't expect was the sight before him, immediately smacking him in the face the moment he walked in.

Kirishima had just gotten up from laying belly down on the floor, clad only in a pair of loose black sweatpants, defined muscles clearly out for anyone to see. You were right next to him, sitting in your cute pajamas. Bakugou had tried telling you off for copying him by wearing that black tank top like he did, but you had insisted that it had been as much your idea as it had been his. His gaze wandered to your bare legs, accentuated by a pair of short (F/C) shorts.

The most shocking thing however, was the fact that both your faces were slathered in some sort of mint-green paste, hair tied up and pushed back with fuzzy animal-themed headbands.

"Need something, Bakubro?" Kirishima asked, yanking him out of his thoughts before he could get too far down a rabbit hole that would be painfully embarrassing to climb himself back out of.

"You have my notes. I need them."

It was true, Kirishima had asked to borrow Katsuki's lesson notes, like he always did at the end of the week. Upon finding the boy absent from his room, Bakugou could have easily let himself in and taken them off his desk, right where they always were. But for some reason, he'd been driven to go out and find the redhead. He didn't know why. Maybe it was to torture himself. He never knew why he even still bothered being around you two.

There was a new feeling ever since you'd become official; a sickness churning in the pit of Katsuki's stomach. Oddly, he vaguely recognized it from when that damned Deku would constantly show him up, but this one was always much stronger, somehow even more painful.

Why did he wince every time you went to grab Eijirou's hand? Why did he find himself with the urge to go be sick when he'd first seen Eijirou lean over to give you a peck on the cheek? It had been because it was gross couple stuff, right? Bakugou wasn't here for all that nasty touchy-feely stuff. He'd seen his parents do it, and it disgusted him. And now his best friends were doing it with each other; sometimes right in front of him, sometimes when you thought he couldn't see.

But he saw, and he knew. He'd heard you, late that night after training. Heard the two of you noisily entering Kirishima's room, clicking the lock on the door as you'd stumbled to the opposite wall. He'd listened to everything: the telltale sounds of skin meeting skin and coming together. He'd heard both your sweet, pretty voices, desperately trying to keep quiet as foreign waves of feelings coursed through your bodies on the other side of the wall. The thin wall, where every sound was as plain as if the barrier hadn't been there at all.

He should have stopped himself then. He should have given up all hope, closed down all his feelings. He'd laid awake the whole night, thinking about how his two best friends were now seeing each other in this way. You were third years, and having relationships within the class was to be expected. But his best friends? Together? And now it was just him. The sideliner. The outcast. The third wheel. Alone.

He'd been forced to listen. It hadn't been his choice. It was even less his choice when the two of you had approached him the next day, listening one last torturous time to you as Kirishima sheepishly explained that the two of you had become an item. Bakugou pretended like he didn't already know.

He should have stopped hanging out with you, distancing himself as the two of you grew closer. But this had all happened almost four months ago, and he hadn't been able to force himself away from either of you. He couldn't tell if he resented you both or genuinely enjoyed your company.

What did it matter? It was only his stupid emotions, stupid feelings bleeding through his enforced walls. He had other things to focus on, better things. Like being a hero. Training to be at the top of the class, climbing ever higher to surpass All Might and be the number one hero. That was his goal. That was his purpose. It had nothing to do with his idiot, overly supportive best friends—if he could even call you that anymore.

"Your notes?" Eijirou's voice questioned.

"Yeah," Bakugou said. "Where are they?"

"My desk," Eijirou said. "Like always. My door should be open, you could have just taken them."

Bakugou scowled. "Oh," was all he said.

"Hey, we're having a spa night," you piped up.

"I noticed," Bakugou deadpanned.

"Ooh, you should totally join us, Bakubro!" Kirishima's green-caked face slipped into a grin with ease, flashing his ridiculously cute sharp teeth.

"Yeah!" It was your turn to beam, face lighting up in your smile. "Spa night for three!"

Just the three of you. That sounded wonderful. And also absolutely terrible.

Bakugou scoffed. "You're not going to get me to do your childish nonsense. I need to go study. And then sleep."

"The gren-nerd returns," you said, rolling your eyes. "Come on, Blasty, there is such a thing as too much sleep."

"Yeah," Kirishima agreed. "Besides, it's a Friday night. You have all weekend to do whatever. Have some fun with us and lighten up for a change!"

Katsuki glared at you, hovering inside the door frame. You smirked and began pumping your fists in front of you, maintaining eye contact with him.

"Spa night, spa night, spa night—" Your voice took on a low, stage whispered chant, and soon Kirishima joined in next to you.

"Spa night! Spa night! Spa night—!"

"Fucking dammit," Bakugou finally said, slamming the door shut behind him and stomping over to where you were sitting in the middle of your floor. He hurled himself down into a sitting position, trying to make every possible inch of his body language convey that he didn't want to be here. "You're just a pair of idiots and losers."

"I refuse to be cast down by your simplistic labels and insults," you said dramatically, placing a hand on your chest. "Gimme your face. Now."

Bakugou jerked his head back from you, even though you technically hadn't even reached for him yet. "What are you going to do?" he asked suspiciously.

"We must start with the face mask. Eiji, go get him a headband."

"A what?! I am not—"

"Yes, you are," you said firmly. "Unless you want to go take another shower to get it all out of your hairline, because, trust me, it gets everywhere."

Kirishima came back and flopped back down beside you, handing over a fuzzy, pink and white fabric headband with small bear ears stitched onto the side. Bakugou looked from it to the ones you were wearing. You donned a sparkly pink unicorn themed one, decorated with a horn, ears and a fluffy puff of a mane. Kirishima wore one that was very similar to the headband you were now holding, except his was black and white, clearly panda themed.

Katsuki pointed at Eijirou's head. "I want his."

The redhead blinked. "What?"

"Yours is cooler and not pink. I want that one."

You sighed. "Katsuki, it doesn't matter."

"I'm not wearing pink!"

"What's wrong with pink?" Eijirou asked.

"It's too girly!"

"Hey, pink can be a manly color," Kirishima argued. You nodded your head in agreement.

"Then why aren't you wearing it?" Bakugou shot back.

Eijirou blinked. "I, uh—um—"

"See, you don't want to wear it either!"

"That's not—!"

Bakugou lunged towards Kirishima, grabbing at the item keeping his red bangs pushed off his forehead.

"AAH—hey! It's gonna smear—!"

The boys took a moment to scuffle, Eijirou desperately trying to hold back Katsuki's arms as they grabbed at him. You took a moment to look into an invisible camera like you were on The Office, heaving a sigh.

"Alright, that's enough." You pulled Katsuki off your boyfriend by the back of his shirt collar, shoving the pink headband into his hand. "You can either wear the headband, or you can let it get in your hair. Eijirou was here first, so that one's his. Got it?"

Bakugou donned his 'I just bit into a lemon' face, spitting out a "tch" before reluctantly putting it on his head, pulling it up so his forehead was on display.

You noticed the ears were a bit off kilter, leaning a little too far to the left. It set off a tic in your face, making you reach over and straighten it out. You couldn't help but notice how Bakugou froze when your hands and face came nearer to his own, breaths stuttering and slowing to a stop. You sheepishly finished adjusting it, sitting back when you were satisfied.

In all honesty, you'd tried to ignore Bakugou's shift in behavior around you. He was as abrasive and irritable as ever, but there was something in the way you'd noticed him looking at Kirishima. You'd gotten briefly jealous until you realized he often acted the same around you. You told yourself to pay no heed to it, and now certainly wasn't the time to be sorting out and guessing at the feelings of your emotionally closed-off best friend.

"If either one of you takes my picture like this," Bakugou said. "I'm gonna fucking kill the both of you."

"Sure."

You glanced over and made eye contact with Eijirou. One of you had to do just that without him noticing by the end of the night. He was simply too cute not to; the pink matching his ash blond hair just right.

You tore your gaze away from Katsuki. I have a boyfriend right here, who I love very very much, you reminded yourself.

That much was true. Maybe you weren't allowed to order off the menu anymore, but it couldn't hurt to take another glance.

"Alright," you announced. "I'm getting the face mask back out." You got up and walked to your felt storage container of toiletries, grabbing the same green tube and package of face wipes you'd used only minutes prior.

"So why the fuck do you have three of these?" Bakugou asked, referring to his newly acquired pink ears.

"Sleepovers, duh. Also there was a sale and they're really cute and cheap, so there."

Bakugou let out another tch as you sat back down in front of him. You pulled out a wipe and began to work at his face, removing any oils that might have gotten on there throughout the day.

"Relax your face," you ordered, and Bakugou surprisingly complied. "You'll get wrinkles if you keep doing that. You know, the whole frowny thing."

"You sound like my mother, dumbass," he commented, keeping his lips turned down in a frown.

"Well, your mother is right."

"Feh."

You ignored his dismissive noise. "You have really nice skin, you know," you commented, moving back to your seated position and tossing the wipe in the general direction of your trash bin. "Do you have a routine? I found out today that Eijirou doesn't so that's what got us started."

The redhead shrugged behind you, having taken out his phone while you tended to Bakugou.

"Um, I wash it sometimes," Bakugou admitted. "My mom said something about how our sweat helps keep it clear, but she still sends me stuff every now and then."

"Neat." You sighed. "Wish my sweat actually helped my skin. Other than, you know, keeping it cool and whatever."

You took the tube from the floor next to you, popping the cap open and squeezing some onto your fingers.

"What is that stuff?"

"Avocado oatmeal clay mask," you said, glancing at the label. "Purifying."

"Huh."

You leaned forward again on your knees in front of him, beginning to spread the green paste over his cheeks and forehead like you'd done to Kirishima.

"I'm not a baby, you know," he protested. "I can do it myself."

"Oh, come on," you countered. "It's fun having your friends take care of you. Just let me do this."

Bakugou sighed through his nose. He had to admit, there was a teeny tiny part of him that liked how close you were, the way your fingers glided over his cheeks and forehead.

But you had a boyfriend. A very sweet, loving, cheerful boyfriend. He was yours and you were his, and Bakugou was . . . unavailable. He'd stay yours and Kirishima's friend, and he'd just have to accept it.

You finished fixing up his face, going back to your criss-crossed sitting position and wiping your fingers off with a tissue.

"Now what?" Bakugou asked.

"We can wash it off in about ten minutes, we just have to wait for it to dry."

Bakugou sat back, assessing the sensation of the mask on his face. It was cold and sticky, but he had to admit it smelled good. He'd never done anything like this before, and the tiniest part of him actually didn't hate it.

You started talking about a meme you'd seen on Instagram, and you laughed with Kirishima. You both were cute in your face masks and headbands. He would never admit it, not even to himself, but maybe Katsuki would be willing to sit through something like this again if it meant seeing you both like this.

You sat back and seemed to go into thought for a moment, as if trying to decide what to do next. "Eijirou, let me see your nails." He presented them to you, his face questioning. You studied his cuticles, clicking your tongue. "Imma get you some nail oil. We could probably all use some."

You got up again and grabbed the little bottle, twisting off the cap and beginning to brush the liquid onto your boyfriend's nails.

"What does that do, exactly?" he asked, watching you concentrate.

"Strengthens your nails," you explained. "Keeps them hydrated so they won't crack and break off so easily."

"Look at that Bakugou!" Kirishima proudly proclaimed. "I’m gonna have strong, manly nails!"

You giggled, beginning to blow on them so the solution would soak in and dry faster.

"Babe, I just realized something," Kirishima said.

"Yeah?"

"We look like Shrek."

You looked up at him, his face caked in the solid green mask, then turned your gaze to Bakugou. "You know, I wasn't going to say anything, but, yeah, we totally do."

You both started cracking up again, and Eijirou laid down on the floor as he laughed. He had the sweetest laugh, the absolute best. You provided hefty competition, however; your slightly higher voice adding to your own pretty sound.

"No hate on my mans Shrek, though," Kirishima said, sitting back up as his audible joy died down a bit.

"Shrek is love, Shrek is life," you said, nodding your head solemnly.

"I thought I was love. For you." Kirishima's expression changed to puppy eyes, pretending to be more hurt than he was.

"Uh, yes. But I've known Shrek longer than you, so he represents life."

"What the fuck, guys."

You both ignored Bakugou's comment, proceeding to bicker.

"But he doesn't love you like I do," Kirishima argued.

"He's shrekxy."

"I—" Kirishima blinked, shaking his head a little in bewilderment.

"Fite me, it's a scientific fact."

Instead, Kirishima turned his gaze to the blond, who was watching the full affair with barely concealed intrigue. "Bakubro, I'm getting jealous of a fictional 2-D green swamp ogre. I think my girlfriend is going to leave me for him."

"Actually he's 3-D," you corrected.

"See?" Kirishima exaggeratedly gestured at you in mock offense. "She doesn't appreciate me anymore for who I am. I'm going to rebound to you, Katsu."

Bakugou stiffened at the proposal. He knew it was just a joke, but now he couldn't get the thought out of his head of actually being with Kirishima. Allowing his hand to grasp his. Placing a kiss on the boy's cheek. Waking up next to him in the morning. Was that his problem? He wanted what you had with Shitty Hair? Or did he want what Kirishima had with you?

"Like I'd ever date you!" Bakugou finally spat, after maybe a bit too long of a pause. "You're a dumbass idiot, just like your girlfriend. You two are perfect for each other!"

Both you and Kirishima blinked at Katsuki's outburst, turning to make eye contact.

"Thank . . . you?" you said, unsure if you should take it as a compliment.

You were both used to Bakugou being brash and loud, often yelling insults he probably didn't mean. But this was a bit unusual, even for him.

What is going on with you, Katsuki?

You sat back and made a little "pthbb" sound with your lips, taking the cuticle oil and starting to apply it to your own nails.

"So when are you going to go back to rubbing my back?" Eijirou asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Or is that only for Shrek?"

You snorted. "I love you, Eiji. I'd give you a kiss on the cheek to prove it, but you've got some artificial avocado there."

Bakugou's frown shifted a bit. At least the masks were good for one more thing.

"Where?" Eijirou teased, feeling at his face as though it wasn't slathered in a thick layer of green paste.

"Ha ha," you said dryly. "I'll go back to personal masseuse-ing after we wash these off."

"When's that?"

You leaned over and tapped at Bakugou's face, finding his still a little moist. "Five minutes," you wagered.

Eijirou started a conversation about training, lightheartedly arguing with Bakugou over one of his techniques.

You watched the nuances of how the two interacted. They'd been friends for so long, they just sort of flowed together and bounced off each other perfectly. Kirishima was clearly more physical, wrapping an arm around Bakugou's shoulders or touching him on his arm or his back. Bakugou never yelled about this like he would with probably anyone else, instead choosing to silently glower while Eijirou finished his thought.

Finally it was time for the masks to be washed off, the three of you crowding around the sink in your cramped bathroom. Eijirou helped you wipe yours away first with some damp paper towels, delighting in being so close to you and your beautiful face. Bakugou opted to simply wash his own off in the sink, splashing cold water over his cheeks. He watched the little green flakes and chunks swirl down into the drain, some of them catching stubbornly on the porcelain surface.

He straightened and looked at his newly washed face in the mirror. He didn't look or feel any different, sans the fuzzy pink bear ears that still wrapped around his forehead. Bakugou tugged them off, stepping away from the sink so Kirishima could take his own turn in washing.

The blond watched the both of you finish up, Eijirou rubbing gently at his face while you patted toner into yours. There was something so mundane about it, even in your tight closet of a toilet space. He liked the little smile you took on as you gently slapped liquid onto your cheeks, and how Eijirou squeezed his eyes shut and gave little shakes of his head to escape from the rivulets of water streaming over his features.

Kirishima stood back up, taking a look at himself in the mirror much like Bakugou had done moments before. "Wait a minute—I still have acne!" He leaned in and closer examined a small cluster of raised bumps.

"Of course you do, ya goof," you said, snickering and setting down your bottle of toner. "It's just a clay mask. If you want magic, use calamine lotion overnight. That should do the trick."

"Why didn't we do that instead?"

"Because these are more fun. And a lot shorter."

Eijirou shrugged and pulled his own headband off, soft red bangs falling over his eyes. Katsuki took a second to admire it. What would it feel like under his fingertips? He wondered for a brief moment how soft it truly was before he ripped his eyes away again. No. No. NO.

"So are you going to rub my back again?" Eijirou asked, puppy-dog eyes shining at you hopefully.

"Maybe later," you said, sliding your headband over your head and undoing your hair. "Right now it's Katsuki's turn. And mine, if it's not too much trouble."

Kirishima sighed tragically, slumping forward. You grinned and went up behind him, rolling the pads of your thumbs into his shoulder blades. He tilted his head back, sighing and closing his eyes at the feeling.

"Babyyy," he said, drawing out the last syllable. "Don't tease me like that."

You giggled and kissed his shoulder. "I'll get back to you soon enough, just be patient."

Bakugou watched the two of you yet again. He had a strange feeling like this was more complicated for him than it should be. Why couldn't he just pick one of you to hate more than the other and move on? Why couldn't he decide which one of you he would rather be in your situation?

"Yo, Katsu," you said to him, bringing him out of his own head. "Get over here." You had sat yourself back down on the floor in the middle of your room, and Kirishima was stationed behind you.

Bakugou walked over and flopped down in front of you, unsure of what to expect.

"Lay down perpendicular to me," you said, tapping his shoulder.

"What? Why?"

"You'll relax more. Do it."

The blond grumbled a bit more before turning himself and laying down on his stomach. "Happy, dumbass?"

"Indeed." You began to work at his shoulders through the barrier of his shirt. Behind you, your boyfriend did the same, running his large hands over the muscles on your back. "How often do you get this done?" you asked the boy under you.

"What? A massage?" Bakugou was really trying to ignore how good your fingers felt on him, pushing and applying pressure in places he didn't even know he needed.

"Yeah."

"Never," he admitted.

"Wait, what?" Eijirou said from behind you.

"Yeah, how?" you asked, stilling your hands. Bakugou resisted the temptation to squirm under you to get you to resume what you had been doing. "That can't be good what with all the training you do."

"I have those foam rollers," he said. "They work just fine."

"Aw, come on," Kirishima said. Bakugou was glad his face was more or less planted on the floor so he wouldn't have to look up at him. "It feels so much better when you have someone else do it for you."

"Tch."

"Katsuki, Katsuki, Katsuki," you tsked, going back to your motions on him.

The blond quietly sighed through his nose, allowing himself for a moment to sink into the feeling of your fingers dancing over his muscles. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, it felt really nice. He was surprised at how skilled you were, alternating between your thumbs and your knuckles to provide the most pressure, working out tension as you went along. Your hands, which were so small compared to his and his friend's.

Maybe he was starting to like this a little too much.

You and Eijirou had picked up another conversation about nothing. Bakugou was more than content to zone in and out of it, picking up on your even voices. He listened to the little breathy sighs you'd let escape as the redhead pushed into your back much like you were doing to Katsuki. They were almost too cute, and the more he was left in his own mind, the less comfortable he became.

He began to shuffle under you, a part of him wanting to get up and leave, another willing himself to stay.

"You comfortable, Bakugou?" you asked him. "Want a pillow or something?"

The way you'd said his family name; Bakugou. He was an outsider. He shouldn't be here. He pushed himself up from the floor and out from under your hands.

"Woah," Kirishima said. "Where you going, man?"

"I need to leave." Bakugou rammed his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants and turned to your door.

"Wait, are you okay?" you asked, moving to get up too. "Did I do something wrong?"

Bakugou ignored you, adjusting his black t-shirt as he flung your door open and shut behind him.

You slumped back into Eijirou in defeat. "What is going on with him?" you lamented, eyes glued to the closed door.

Your boyfriend rested his chin on the top of your head, pondering as you pressed into him. "I have no idea. He's been acting weird for a while . . . . Could it be something going on at home?"

Your eyebrows scrunched a bit in thought. "I don't know about that. Do you think it could be us?"

Kiri shifted himself so he could lean in and look at your face inquisitively. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know," you shrugged. "It's just that . . . you and I are together and he's . . . alone. I mean, we're still friends, but he might feel . . . left out."

"Ohhh." Kirishima sat back again, pulling you further into his chest. "What should we do?"

You sighed, curling up against his bare skin. "I don't know."

...

Bakugou sat, finally alone in his room. What was happening? What was going on? What was wrong with him?

He hated this, these new feelings. The jealousy he felt whenever you and Kirishima were close and he was left to the side. He wanted to join you, feeling your arms wrapped around him and Eijirou's kiss on his cheek.

But he would never be able to.

Surely, you both would hate him if he said anything. You'd think he was just being sad and greedy, maybe even a creep. It would completely destroy your relationship with him, and he'd lose the two best friends he'd ever had.

Katsuki's bed dipped beneath him as he sat down onto it, placing his head in his hands. Infinite loops of yes and no spiraled forever around in his brain, willing him to just do something.

But he couldn't. There was nothing he could do. He'd have to choose either parting ways with you both or just feeling this way . . . forever, keeping it to himself. He was tired of it already. He wanted the feelings to go away. He wanted to stop hurting like this and being so confused. His rational mind told him to just turn and leave. It made sense. He'd be able to focus fully on his ambitions and become the best hero ever. And yet a tiny, stubborn little part of him knew, just knew that he wouldn't be able to go. There was something between the three of you, and even the tsundere-lord Bakugou Katsuki couldn't ignore it.

He laid back on his bed, closing his eyes. In the dark, he listened. But this time there was no sound. His mind wouldn't rest however, racing and screaming and hurting. It would be hard, but Bakugou would have to do it.

This would all just have to be his big secret.

⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙●⊙

[Little Secret]

[Disclosed]

Author’s Note:

No happy ending?? Well guess what, this is a three-parter. The epilogue/sequel/part three will be purely Kiribaku(+you) fluff, so get ready for that. I know I am!! Also remember Little Secret exists. CUDDLES!! and TICKLES!! YES!

Thanks for reading,

-Sugar

Taglist: @basicaegyo @iiminibattlehero @katsugay @nabo39 @pyrofanatic @sendhelpimstupid @sokkasangel @xoxopam4

#katsuki bakugou #bakugou katsuki #bakugou bnha #katsuki bakugou bnha #bakugou katsuki bnha #bakugou x reader #eijirou kirishima #kirishima eijirou #kirishima bnha #eijirou kirishima bnha #kirishima eijirou bnha #kirishima x reader #kiribaku #kirishimaxbakugou #kiribaku x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #reader insert #sugar fics

348 notes · View notes

flooffybits · 3 years

Text

The Baddie Is A Softie

Idol: Dreamcatcher

Anon: hiii can i request a 8th member dreamcatcher scenario? so the reader is known to be usually calm and always has one of those intimidating resting faces but when she encounters babies/kids in a fanmeet (idk if that rlly happens) she gets all smiley and caring (in a older sibling type of way if that makes sense?) and both dc and the fans just coo at the rare sight. reader tries to play it off cool, hiding the fact that shes embarrassed while being teased. thank you n you can change anything btw :)

☕buy me a coffee☕

“One, two, three...” Minji checked around the room, making sure that each member was accounted for, only for her brows to pinch together when she failed to see two people. “Where are Sua and Y/n?”

“I’m right here!” Bora raised her hands, turning the chair she was on and laughing as she waved her hand to make her presence known. “Oh, okay.” The leader laughed at herself for not noticing her friend and then continued to look around until the maknae spoke up. “Y/n unnie went to the restroom.”

Right after she said so, you came walking back inside, a bored look on your face before you took the seat that was next to Yubin and the leader let out a sigh of relief when she saw that all members were present.

“Unnie was looking for you.” Yoohyeon informs you when you sit down and you look up in confusion to meet Minji’s eyes. “The event is about to start, so I had to be sure that everyone was here.” She quickly states as you nod your head then turn back to your phone while you waited for you all to be called.

Siyeon, and soon Yubin, were off to the side, filming for Dreamcatcher’s Note before Gahyeon was joining them. “Over there, you can see our lion is trying to sleep.” Siyeon said when Yubin turned the camera to face you, seeing your eyes beginning to close while your head slowly started leaning on Handong’s shoulder.

“Ah, if Y/n unnie wasn’t so scary all the time, she would be cute.” Yoohyeon complained to the camera, a pout on her face as she looked at you and Handong, watching as the Chinese member took note of your state.

She gently pulled you closer and rested your head on her shoulder while keeping one hand under your head. “Try to nap while we’re waiting.” She instructs you and you hum while nodding your head against her shoulder, falling asleep next to her while she leaned her head against yours and smiling before she continued to read the book she had on her lap.

“How does Handong unnie do it?” Gahyeon pouted when she watched from the side and Siyeon shrugs her shoulders. “They had more chances of bonding together since they’re both foreigners and born on the same year.” Yubin explains calmly before they momentarily said goodbye to the camera and turned it off.

While your members didn’t really have any problems with you, they had all admitted that you could be quite intimidating from afar. The stoic and expressionless face you wore most of the times made it difficult to approach you, and with your usually calm and quiet nature, conversations never usually lasted unless your members pushed for it or you actually got in the mood with talking.

You had your own ways of showing your members and fans your affections. Similar to Yubin, you had your moments where you would let your façade fall and act like a complete fool along with your members, which earned you the title of being Dreamcatcher’s most normal member.

“She babies you a lot though, what are you complaining for?” Yoohyeon asked the maknae with an incredulous look. “Yeah, but sometimes I don’t know if it’s really okay with unnie. I don’t want her to be annoyed with me.” She replied with a frown. “Ah, but you are annoying?” Siyeon asked teasingly, earning a pout from the maknae as Yubin and Yoohyeon burst into laughter.

“I’m just kidding. I’m sure Y/n isn’t annoyed with you.” Siyeon patted her arm reassuringly. “It’s understandable to worry around Y/n. She rarely expresses what she’s thinking so sometimes you end up wondering ‘should I do this’ or ‘is this okay’.”

“We all know she loves us though.” Yoohyeon said confidently. “That’s right.” Yubin agreed. “I can’t be too sure about Yoohyeon, but Y/n has told us that she loves us.” She added, making the Lee sisters laugh while Yoohyeon pouted. “Yah!”

When a few minutes finally pass and the staff had given them the okay, Minji looked to everyone before waving to get Handong’s attention. “Dongie-ah, please wake Y/n up. It’s time to go out.” The younger girl nodded her head before she put her book down and gave you a small nudge.

The movement was enough to wake you. Squinting, you look around before yawning and stretching your arms and legs. “Ah, how cute!” Bora’s loud voice rang in your ears as she watched you with a wide smile. “Y/n-ah, wakey wakey. InSomnias are waiting.” Siyeon tells you when Handong stands while grabbing your hand, aware that you would take too long to really get up if she didn’t.

“Does my make up look alright?” You ask and the redhead fixes your hair a bit back in place and then patted your cheeks. “Perfect.” You couldn’t help the light roll of your eyes at her antics but follow her out as Minji leads you all to the stage.

The cheering of the people there was much louder than you had expected it to be and the sound of shutters going off from fansites added to it, yet all was the same. You kept a straight face, even as you got to your place and did your introduction like always.

While talking with fans though, you would give them a small smile every time a new one came over to you. You were situated in the third to the last chair, followed by Minji and then Bora, who have decided to start messing around with each other before they decided to target you for their amusement.

While you were waiting for the next fan to sit in front of you and JiBo have both stopped pestering you, your boredom led you to just playing with the toys some people had given you before looking around and making eye contact with various of your fansites.

Deciding to give them something new, you gathered up the little hearts in front of you and then signaling for them to be ready, which they eagerly did so. With a devil’ horns headband on top of your head, you then threw the hearts up into the air before resting your elbows on the table, fingers laced together under your chin with the same intimidating stare you would give during performances.

Yoohyeon, who sat to your left, looked over with wide eyes as some of the hearts fell on her. “Yah! I’m right here!” She complained with an adorable angry puppy face whilst you leaned back against your chair and simply smirked at her, head cocked to the side. “Yoohyeonnie is upset.” You use the same teasing tone she always uses, causing her pout to surface before she started hitting your arm and shoulder.

When the fan finally moves from Yoohyeon to you, you offer them a smile before signing their album and accepting the letter they handed to you while Yoohyeon seemed to be overexcited this time when she conversed with the fan that was with her.

Shifting to the next person, you said goodbye to the previous one before your eyes fell on the little girl that was sitting before you. Your eyes widened and look at her to make sure you weren’t hallucinating from the lack of sleep, but she giggles at your reaction before waving her hand.

“Wow, hello! You’re so tiny.” You couldn’t help uttering out, making the girl giggle even more. You notice the paper bag she was carrying and it looked like it was nearly the half of her height. “Isn’t that heavy?” You ask curiously, but she shakes her head and lifts it up for you to see.

“Nope! I only have gifts for you, Jiu unnie, and Sua unnie so it isn’t very heavy.” She explains with a wide smile that seemed infectious because you end up grinning while leaning over the table to offer your hands, ones she happily takes.

Yoohyeon, who had been carefully watching the exchange, could not believe her eyes as she watched your icy persona melt away in front of such a small child. She looked scandalized when you even began such an easy conversation with the girl when you accepted the scrapbook handed to you.

“How old are you?” You had asked, arms laying on the table with your head down just so you could see her better. “Nine. My birthday is next week!” Hearing that had caused your smile to wide, more than it already was, and the way fans were reacting and calling your name had made your members looking over, minus the tallest one that sat beside you and was already witnessing this new display.

Your smile lasted on your face much longer than the other times you would interact with fans and they could actually see the affection and fondness radiating from you as you continued to speak with the girl.

“What’s this?” Bora asked out loud, something you were able to ignore with your attention solely on the person in front of you. “She’s not even listening!” Gahyeon said in disbelief as you continued to play around with the girl, laughing when she explained how her older sibling was the one who brought her there but were separated with the order of who met you first.

“Oppa, oppa, the camera!” You called out to your manager while Siyeon looked to the crowd and pointed at you, almost accusingly. “Yah! What did you give Y/n?” She demanded playfully while Handong held a hand to her mouth, laughing in disbelief as they all watched you hand the fan a picture.

Finally having to move to the next person, you reluctantly said goodbye, a visible pout on your features while you waved your hand. And since Minji was the next person she would be seeing, your leader did not hesitate when she beamed at her. “You broke our little cub’s curse of never smiling! Thank you!”

It didn’t help that she had said it, purposefully, into the microphone and you quickly snapped back into the straight face you usually wear, only to have Yubin come after you. “No, no, that’s not working. Everyone, you have that recorded, right?” At their confirmation, you had to cover your face with your hand and try to focus on the fan who was now in front of you, but even they were giggling at the sudden affection you had just shown all of them.

“You must really love kids.” They comment and you sheepishly rub the back of your neck before nodding. “I guess you could say that. I have a niece back home and my parents have told me that I spoil her too much.” You reply, acting as nonchalant as possible even as your members were making comments.

“Omo! It looks like our Y/n isn’t as scary as we thought.” Minji laughed when she signed the album for the little girl and then gave her a thumbs up. “Now, we know the secrets to this lion.” She says gleefully and you could see the shit eating smirk on Bora’s face, knowing that she was already thinking of ways on how to annoy you with this new found information.

You let out a deep breath before rubbing your face and then facing the fan that sat in front of you with a smile on their face. “If it’s any consolation, I think it’s really nice that you have this kind of side to you. A lot of people have been trying to say you were some sort of robot, but we InSomnias will be sure to prove them wrong.” They grinned at you before finally moving over to your leader.

And with that incident, your members did not fail in making comments about you until the end of the eventeven when you tried to act like your usual self. They knew not to push to much, but having discovered this softer and more affectionate side of yours, all previous worries they had was washed away with the knowledge that this fierce and intimidating mask you had was simply that, a mask that hid who you really were.

When you get backstage, Gahyeon clings to you while Yoohyeon and Bora proceed with their onslaught of questions. Handong joins in on the teasing, but her teasing does not only direct to you, but to the rest of your members as well. Siyeon was too busy laughing her ass off at one of Handong’s comments on how you probably didn’t see any of them as children, thus Gahyeon’s offended expression.

Yubin could only you a light pat on the shoulder, grinning because she knows that Bora’s attempt with messing with her would now be directed to you as well while Minji shook her head, though questioned you about your affection towards children. Since she’s heard bits of your earlier conversation with a fan, she couldn’t help but wonder what you were like when you were at home.

Though in the end, it didn’t change the fact that you did see them as family, just not one you found yourself having to constantly act as a child, which they were honestly fine with. But when you let your affections be more prominent during certain days, they know that those are days they need to cherish the most.

While you were quiet and reserved, they made it their own mission to break those walls down until you’re free to really act like yourself even if it were just them as your company.

189 notes · View notes

the-2p-nations · 3 years

Text

Cold

Oct. 10th Prompt: Cold hands/Candle light

Character(s): 2P!Øresund (Kaja), 2P!Upsalla (Nils), 2P!Sweden (Beck Oxenstierna), mention of 2P!Sealand and 2P!Ladonia

@welovefrukmerunning

(Nils and Kaja can be found on my blog @ask-oresund-bridge )

Kaja huddled up to Nils. The two of them are orphans and they had never been taken to an orphanage. So they had just wandered the city and during the night they would find somewhere to sleep and just curl up to each other. If they were lucky someone would give them some food. Sometimes someone would walk up to them with a whole plateful for them to share. That would usually be another kid. Neither kid knew what it was like to be warm or have someone other than each other love them. That all changed one day when someone stopped and got to their level. Red eyes of Christian and blue eyes of Kaja look at the other. They’re wearing heels, a short black skirt, and a red crop top with sleeves that fall of their shoulders. They also have red makeup, a red headband, and shoulder length orange hair.

“Do you have anywhere to go?” They asked. Huh, they look like a female but sound like a male. Who are they? What are they? The two kids shook their heads. “Nej,” Nils said. The look on the other’s face saddened a bit. “Come with me,” they said and held a hand out to each kid. Cautiously, Kaja and Nils took the other’s hands. Standing up, the other led the two somewhere. The two look around. They’d never been to this part of town before. The three of them stopped at a house, where two sets of eyes look up at it. It’s a fairly big house, enough to fit a few people. “You’re going to stay here with me. Is that ok?” Red eyes look at the two kids. They looked at the person and nod. “Let’s go in and I’ll show you around.” The three of them walk inside, where the kids were shown around the house. In two of the rooms there’s already a couple kids in them. One was introduced as Leeroy Kirkland, their son adopted from England, and the other as Garth Oxenstierna, their son adopted from here in Sweden. “Hi papa,” Garth said with a bright smile. Papa? So, this is a guy dressed as a girl? “Hi, Garth,” the taller redhead said. “I’m going to go change and get dinner started, in the mean time you kids can get to know each other.” And with that, he left the kids alone.

Some time later, after dinner and the kids introduced themselves, the kids learned that the person that brought them in is a drag queen, a male that dresses as a female and performs for a group of people. They learned that when they saw him after he had changed clothes and saw that now he looks more like a guy. A guy with the same hair as when they met him. Turns out he doesn’t wear a wig. When asked if they were still cold, Kaja and Nils gave him their hands. Beck, as they learned his name is, gently took hold of their hands. Yep, still cold. What did he do in response? Get them new clothes and then start a fire in the fireplace. As soon as that happened, Nils and Kaja sat in front of the fire and put their hands near it, not to the point where they were practically touching it, but close enough to where they could feel it’s warmth.

#2p Øresund #2p Uppsala #2p week

8 notes · View notes

punkpoemprose · 3 years

Text

December 2nd- Jumping for “Joy”sticks

Universe: 1980′s Arcade AU Rating: G (General, Fluff, Meetcute) Length: 4752 Words

A/N: I was not alive in the 80′s, I barely remember any of the 90′s, y’all can start picking on my era generalizations when I hit the 00′s. I had a lot of fun with this, I’m sorry for the pun title, it was all I had. Thanks for all the comments and tags on yesterday’s fic. Everyone’s engagement is what keeps me going!

Working as an arcade attendant wasn’t exactly Kristoff’s dream job, but college was pricey, he hated the idea of making his parents help him out, and the work wasn’t exactly difficult for the pay. It was relatively simple as his main duties were emptying coins out of the game machines, dumping them into the change machine, and keeping kids from climbing to jumping on the game cabinets or anything else. Once he got past the sound of kids screams and shouts mingling with Duran Duran and Wham!, the blinking lights, the smell of teens who needed a lecture about deodorant and hygiene, and the uncomfortable sensation of wiping down whatever sticky substance coated half the games it was actually a pretty cushy job.

Most days he spent more time sitting behind the front counter working on classwork and reading his textbooks than doing anything in his job description because it just wasn’t necessary. He had the good fortune to work mostly morning or afternoon into evening shifts on weekdays, so other than the occasional interruption of a truancy officer looking for a kid playing hooky from school there wasn’t much for him to bother with. When he didn’t have homework or classwork to keep himself preoccupied, he found himself, a tried and true introvert, bored enough to people watch. Mostly it was teens and tweens trying to beat each other’s scores on Pac-Man or Donkey Kong Jr., but every now and then there’s be someone a bit more interesting to watch. A father who would sometimes come in with his young son to play Burgertime, an older woman in her 50’s who liked to kick kids off the Tetris machine, and a small company of mall goths all made the grade for entertainment where his entertainment was concerned. There was one standout though, a young woman who would come alone on Wednesday nights.

Wednesday was the only day he worked where he was consistently scheduled to close. It was one of his few days without evening classes or labs and it was usually the quietest night of the week with kids on tight curfews for school and most everyone else just wanting to get home after a long day. The girl though, for some reason he still couldn’t glean, would come in exactly an hour before closing to play Ms. Pac-Man.

She always seemed a bit out of place despite appearing to be just a bit older than the high school kids who usually haunted the place, and being consequently, just a bit younger than he was. He thought that maybe she always stood out to him because of how she was dressed. Not many women spent much time in the arcade, much less alone, but of the small handful she was the only one who came in wearing L.L. Bean sweaters over a perfectly pressed white blouse with a similarly blindingly white skirt and tennis shoes. Her fire red hair was always held in place by a headband that matched her sweater, though he often noted that despite the clear effort put into her image, on a second glance her hair was a bit wild like she didn’t bother much with it.

The overall impression he had of her was that she’d taken a wrong turn on her way to a nearby country club’s squash court. He really wasn’t even sure what squash was, but he thought that it was something like tennis and was generally the kind of sport rich girls would play. Pretty young women dressed as nicely as she did had to have hobbies he couldn’t understand. He supposed that it might be one of those biases he’d built since starting college that his Ma would chew him out over, and as it ended up whoever the redhead was, she was much more interested in getting a little yellow circle to eat round things than she was in hitting them with a racquet.

Every Wednesday evening like clockwork she’d come in at nine, give him a shy smile like she knew she didn’t belong there, and then would proceed to spend an hour and a pocketful of quarters on Ms. Pac-Man. She was quiet as she played, like she was afraid to make a sound, but sometimes when he’d switch off the music early and start turning machines off, he’d hear the “wokka-wokka” of her machine and the occasional almost inaudible huff when she lost followed shortly by the clink of another coin hitting the slot and dropping down into the coin box.

Their only real interaction beyond the shy smile she’d always give him on her way in and out was the brief exchange of him letting her know that he was getting ready to close up for the night. She’d always thank him quietly for letting her know, and he noticed how red she would get on the nights she apologized for staying so long. He’d been annoyed by that at first, the fact that she would come in not long before close and play right up until he was ready to lock up for the evening. He supposed that it was easy to lose track of time in the arcade if you weren’t always waiting for your shift to be over given the distinct lack of clocks in the space, but it was always bothersome to have to be held up by a customer.

He remembered wanting to tell her the first few times she’d overstayed that she should check her fancy watch if she was going to wear it. It probably cost more than he made in a year, and yet despite the fact he was certain it kept time well, she always seemed to be surprised by the hour passing. However, the annoyance quickly passed when she would apologize for getting caught up and leave promptly after he let her know they were closing.

It was impossible for him to stay annoyed at her, despite his best efforts to not pay attention to anyone at his job more than strictly necessary, the red head with her love for Ms. Pac-Man often were the subject of his idle thoughts. She was polite and she was pretty, and he was a grumpy “old bastard”, but he was a man and he could appreciate polite and pretty when he hadn’t dated anyone in a very very long time.

In fact, he started to look forward to Wednesdays. Even knowing that her arrival would keep him from a early night, he felt strangely like she needed to be there. He didn’t know her, but there was something in her manner that told him that maybe this was where she came to breathe. He would never call himself on expert in communication or understanding others, but there was something about the shyness of her entrance and exit and the way she just relaxed when she played that made him glad she came, that the space was safe for her. She always looked so sad when she left.

It was a particularly slow day when he was informed by a coworker who had been on the shift before his that several machines were out of commission due to what they assumed to be a power surge. On the line of downed machines were Galaga, Frogger, a few other semi-popular games, and most unfortunately, both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. He’d also been informed that the repair shop had been called, but there was no word on when, or if they would arrive before the end of the week let along the end of the day.

Kristoff knew that it shouldn’t bother him. They were just games after all, and he barely if ever played any of them himself. Kids would find something else to play and the cabinets would get fixed when they got fixed. He did care though, he spent his whole shift pacing behind the counter, watching the door, waiting for the phone to ring, and generally hoping that someone would come and fix something. He cared because it was Wednesday and she was going to be coming in to play Ms. Pac-Man and he, strange as it may be, liked her quiet company. He liked the idea that one of these days he might ask her for her name and maybe talk with her for a little while.

Hours passed, and he only gave up hope when he knew that it had to be past time for the repair shop to close. His anticipant pacing then turned to nervous heel rocking as the last few customers filtered out for the evening and the time of her arrival neared. He wondered what he should say to her when she walked in, or if he should say anything at all. She’d find out that the game was down either way, but he didn’t want her to go right after she found out either. Maybe, he thought, she might stay if he just said the right thing.

He held his breath when he heard the door open, and while he wasn’t exactly surprised when she walked through the door, he was thrown off to be greeted with, not her shy smile, but instead with her rushing past the counter, not looking his way at all. That, he decided, took the cake for the oddest part of an already strange day.

There was of course no obligation for her to interact with him, but there was something in the way that she rushed by that had him feeling uneasy. He really wasn’t a people person in any sense of the word. He preferred the company of family or his dog over any interaction with strangers, but he had an odd sense that even having not spoken to her much, she wasn’t a stranger.

“I’m sorry your game is down,” he said quickly before she got far enough away that he’d have to raise his voice to relay the information, “I’ve been waiting for the repair guy my whole shift but it looks like he couldn’t make it.”

She stopped dead in her tracks, and though she didn’t turn to him, he noticed her shoulders slump. He felt guilty despite it being out of his control. There was something about her that made him want to please her, and while he knew that his sisters would tease and tell him that it was just because she was pretty, he knew that there was more to it than that. She was nice, and despite his initial misgivings about her, she’d never given him any reason to believe that she was the kind of person who deserved karma had knocked out her favorite game and the best possible alternative at the same time.

“Oh,” she said, so softly he almost couldn’t hear it over the music.

It was a defeated sort of sound that made him wonder why she really came in to play the game every Wednesday. Maybe it was more than just a game or needing a break for her. She did always come in like clockwork after all.

“I…” he didn’t really know what to say. It wasn’t as if he were the one who broke the games or something, an apology didn’t really make sense, and he wasn’t sure why it meant so much to her in the first place.

“I just thought you should know, before you got over there and saw it.”

She sniffled and he froze on the spot. He wasn’t unused to seeing crying. Little kids threw temper tantrums when their parents made them leave, some kids cried in frustration when they couldn’t beat a level or a high score, but usually that was confined to people under the age of ten and there was someone else around to deal with it.

“Thanks for letting me know,” she choked out, and he could hear the tightness of her throat in the tone of her voice. She was crying. He couldn’t see it, but he wasn’t so dense that he couldn’t tell. He felt his face heat, not sure of what to do and feeling like every second that ticked past were an hour.

“Are you okay?”

It was all he could think to ask. It was obvious to him that she wasn’t, and in fact he figured that she probably wasn’t okay when she walked in and that it was the reason she hadn’t looked at him in the first place when it was so routine for her to do so.

“Not really, no.”

He walked around the counter slowly, his legs on autopilot. His mother would be proud, he thought absently as he walked over to her, she’d been training him to be a proper gentleman for years. It wasn’t her fault he was so inept with girls, she’d done her best, and his sisters had tried to help. He just considered himself mostly a lost cause.

“Do you, uh… want to talk about it?”

She turned to look at him and he could see for the first time how red her eyes were, how her usual put-togetherness was marred by her hair being even more wild than usual, by the wet splotch on her cuff where she’d been wiping her eyes.

He also noticed for the first time just how much smaller she was than him. He was a big guy, not excessively so, but still taller and bigger than most of the people he knew. He was miles taller than his parents and sisters, and while that had everything to do with adopted, it had taught him how to make himself small at times, when he was bandaging his littlest sister’s knee or when he needed to fit into the frame in family photos.

He put his hands into his pockets and slumped a bit, trying to keep his expression as neutral as possible even though his head was spinning with half-thoughts on how exactly he could even attempt to be helpful. The last thing she needed was for him to panic on her. He was sure that she was panicked enough for them both.

“I couldn’t… you don’t even…”

She was crying harder now, the words hardly coming out right as she tried to hold a conversation with him. He felt awful. He thought that maybe he should have just let her see the game was out of order and leave instead of making her talk about it. He wasn’t sure what he would have wanted if the roles were reversed. He wasn’t exactly a “talk about it” guy, and when he needed to talk something out, it was always to his dog. He kind of wished that Sven was with him, girls liked dogs, or at least his sisters did.

“You can, if you want.”

She shook her head but seemed to calm down a little bit, taking breaths slowly. He wasn’t sure whether or not she was going to tell him what was going on until she opened her mouth and started in telling her story, still tearful and hiccupping, but at least with the ability to get all the words out.

“It’s just… the straw that broke the camels back? That’s been every straw today. I failed an exam, my ex-boyfriend showed up at my dorm even though he’s not supposed to know where I live, my sister is out of the country on business and I feel so alone.”

He nodded as she talked, “And you just needed a break?”

The shy smile he was so used to appeared again, her lips turning up slightly, making him feel like he could really breathe for the first time since she walked through the door. He hadn’t really noticed how close together they’d become since he walked around the counter, but now that they were just a bit more than a foot apart, he was noticing other things about her that weren’t immediately evident from the distance. She had freckles.

He didn’t even know he liked freckles, he’d never thought about it, but there was a dusting on her nose and across her flushed cheeks and he realized that yes, he really did like them.

“Yeah. I just… I really need a break.”

He’d like to offer to listen some more, to do something else for her, but he wasn’t really sure where the line was when a stranger unloads their emotions on you. He didn’t want to push, but he also wanted to help. It was making his head spin, and all he could focus on was her eyes, and her freckles, and her mussed hair.

“Well I mean, I don’t really know you very well, but uh, you’re welcome to play something else, I guess Tetris isn’t really as fun as Ms. Pac-Man, but it’s kind of soothing. I’ll close up while you’re playing, I promise no one else is going to bother you today. I’m not really good company or anything, but I’ll hang around if you don’t want to be alone.”

It felt like a lot. He put the ball in her court, she could decide whether she wanted him around, or whether she wanted him to go sit behind the counter until she was done, but even the offer felt like an overstep.

“That would be nice Kristoff,” she said, her hiccupping had stopped, but there was an edge of uncertainty to her tone. “Maybe show me how to play?”

“I uh… didn’t think you knew my name.”

She flushed again, her face going even redder than it had when she was crying.

“It’s… uh… on your nametag.”

It was his turn to blush then. He felt like a bumbling idiot.

“Oh, yeah. It is, isn’t it.”

He could practically hear his sisters laughing at him, like they could telepathically tell he was being a disaster from miles away. He was sure that he’d never hear the end of it if they ever found out just how “smooth” he had been trying to talk to a pretty girl. He only had to hope that she wouldn’t ever tell them. The odds, he thought, were slim to none on that, but nothing was ever impossible.

“I’m Anna, by the way. I thought you should know, you know, with me sobbing in front of you and everything.”

He was glad she told him, he wasn’t sure if he should ask, and he wanted to know. He’d been wanting to know, because now he could tie all the thoughts, he’d been having in his head about her to a name, something solid.

Anna.

***

The only sound in the arcade was the Tetris theme music, the clicking of the mechanical buttons on the cabinet and the chatting of two new friends. Kristoff had been surprised by how quickly he’d warmed up to Anna and in return how quickly she seemed to warm up to him. He really wasn’t used to people wanting to hang around him for awfully long. He blamed it a bit on his gruffness, he knew that he needed to relax a little more around others, but he always found it hard.

Anna made it easy.

She’d told him a lot about her, how she’d split up with a guy a few months ago for lying and cheating on her and how he kept trying to weasel his way back in, how she was trying to get her degree in art history so that she could run her family’s gallery, how her sister ran their family’s importing business and how it kept her away often enough that Anna often didn’t see her for months at a time. She’d told him that she was lonely, and that she came to the arcade because she hadn’t been allowed to go as a child, and now that her parents were passed she didn’t mind being a little disobedient because she knew they would forgive her.

He hadn’t said much about himself, except for when she asked. He told her how he was studying environmental science at community college. They didn’t go to the same school, she was a freshman at the university he was planning on transferring into after he finished his associates in a few months, and she told him how much she loved it there, encouraging him to follow through with his plans to transfer in. He’d told her how his family had adopted him because she asked whether he had any siblings, and it wasn’t exactly a secret. She hadn’t reacted like it was some kind of tragedy like other people sometimes did, which was a comfort to him because he believed that his parents adopting him was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He didn’t even remember his birthparents anyway.

“Oh my gosh, I think I’m beating you! Am I beating you! Oh crap, I shouldn’t have looked, now I messed up my lines.”

Kristoff couldn’t help but laugh. Anna had been the one to suggest they play two player mode on the game, and while Kristoff hadn’t really played it before other than a couple occasions on his lunchbreak on truly boring Monday shifts, he was doing a decent job of beating her at the game.

“I thought all your Ms. Pac-Man skills would have you in the lead,” he teased.

“Completely different set of skills,” she replied, “besides, I just played that one because it looked the easiest. Also, I like that it’s a romance. It’s cute.”

“A romance?” he asked with a laugh, watching as her blocks stacked up on the opposite side of the screen, almost to the top. He wasn’t intentionally trying to distract her; he was honestly curious. But that it meant he was going to win was just a bonus.

“Yeah it’s all about how they… oh damn it.”

He watched as her screen filled completely with blocks and the game informed him that he had, for the third time, won.

“Sorry,” he offered, “You were really close that time.”

She shrugged, gave him a look that was more mock annoyance than irritation, and then laughed. He laughed with her. He hadn’t had so much fun in a very long time, and he was dreading the fact that he could feel that it would be over soon.

“I wasn’t, but thanks for pretending,” she said, leaning over to bump him with her hip playfully, “You really cheered me up tonight. I owe you a lot.”

He opened his mouth to tell her that she didn’t owe him anything, and that he was happy he could help, but she put a hand up to stop him.

“No, really, I mean it. You were so nice to me tonight, and all the other nights. That’s why I kept coming back, even when you were miffed about me overstaying you were always nice about it and I just needed someone nice. I’m sorry I probably made you run late so many nights, but I guess I just needed the company, even if we didn’t talk. I owe you.”

He shook his head, “It wasn’t a big deal Anna. You were really polite and… I guess I started looking forward to you coming in. This is usually a pretty boring job and you were something different for me to think about. Not that I was… not that I was thinking about you all the time or anything, I just was wondering why you’d come in but…”

He wondered if he should just bend down and eat his shoe, speed up the process a little bit.

“You should have asked,” she said with a brighter version of the shy smile he’d come to expect from her, “I kept waiting for you to talk to me. I didn’t want to bug you at work, but I’ve been dying to talk to you for weeks now. I didn’t just keep coming back for the games you know?”

“You didn’t?”

“No,” she said, leaning into him again but this time less to bump him, and more to support her frame against his much larger one.

Kristoff could feel his pulse quicken. He wasn’t sure why, but his hand itched to reach out to hers. He hadn’t wanted to hold hands with a girl since middle school. He felt like he was thirteen again, awkward and just trying to figure out how to get a girl’s attention.

He already had it though, Anna was only focused on him and he could feel the weight of her gaze even though he wasn’t meeting it.

“I thought you were cute. I kept coming in hoping that maybe you’d talk to me and then maybe you know… if you weren’t seeing someone…”

“Oh.”

He didn’t know why he said that of all things. It was all he could think to say.

“Oh… are you? Seeing someone that is?”

She sounded a bit defeated, and as he felt her leaning away from his side, trying to step to the side, he panicked. He let his hand grab hers loosely, not letting her get too far away from his side unless she really wanted to as he turned to face her. Her freckled nose was illuminated blue by the light from the cabinet and her eyes held an uncertainty that he wanted to chase away.

“No, no I’m not. I just… I’m not used to anyone wanting to… I mean, no one’s ever been…”

“Well, if you want to… I mean, if you’re interested, because I do owe you after all… maybe we could catch a movie sometime, or we could grab dinner? My treat.”

He felt tongue tied, but he managed to nod his head at least. He wondered if she could tell how nervous he was. He was sure that she could because her smile and her eyes held an amusement that had quickly replaced her trepidation. Surely, he thought, she must realize that he had no idea what he was doing. But strangely she wasn’t rescinding her offer or leaving, just smiling at him warmly so he thought that it must count for something.

“How about Friday? I only have classes until noon so depending on your schedule we could grab dinner or coffee or something if dinner is too much?”

“Dinner would be fine,” he managed, “Or coffee if you prefer, I get done at three so if you want I can come pick you up after that… somewhere? It can be someplace neutral if you don’t want me to come to your dorm.”

She grinned, “Dinner then. We can work out the details later… Do you have a pen?”

He nodded, reaching into the pocket of the work vest he’d discarded to the side, and realizing in the same moment that he hadn’t yet let go of her hand.

When he slipped his fingers from between hers, someplace he hadn’t even noticed they’d slotted themselves, he felt a vague sense of loss. He tried not to hold onto it, thrilled by the prospect that soon he’d see her again. To that end he handed her the pen, and was surprised to feel her fingers wrap around his wrist.

They were cool from playing the game, and in stark contrast to his sweating palms. He opened his hand in response to the touch, which was evidently exactly what she wanted as she took the pen to his skin and quickly wrote her number.

“You can call anytime after four,” she said quietly, as if it were a secret even though no one else was there, “Or whenever and leave a message. Whatever works for you just…”

“Yeah?” he asked, his voice breathless even to his own ears.

“Don’t forget to call, okay?”

She handed him the pen, stood up on her tip toes, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He didn’t have time to react before she was grabbing her purse from the foot of the cabinet and heading out the door. Left alone in the empty arcade, one game to switch off and a door to lock up, he let his fingers reach up to brush the place she’d just pecked. If it weren’t for the fact that he knew his imagination wasn’t nearly so creative, he could have believed he dreamed the whole thing.

He looked down at his palm and saw in black ink, perfectly printed, her number, her name, and a small heart.

Anna.

He had never been so grateful for a dead-end minimum wage job in his life.

#kristannaadvent2020 #kristanna #frozen fanfiction #1980's AU #Arcade AU #Meetcute #Fluff

23 notes · View notes

elsanna-shenanigans · 3 years

Text

December Contest Submission #19: Strange New Worlds, Familiar Warmth

Words: ca. 4500 Setting: Star Trek AU (DS9 Dominion War Era) Lemon: No CW: Mild to Moderate Violence, Trans!Anna, Background character death, Injuries

It had been a rather long and laborious day, but Anna was finally returning to her village with a sack full of freshly skinned meat, the sustenance that would help to feed her village and let her people grow strong.

Anna found it a great honour that she was the huntress for her village, as her duty was deeply sacred one to their people. Their world was full of many strange and massive beasts and Anna was the only one of her tribe who had been trained to face them alone.

Her people worshipped four great spirits, and Anna, to her people, was the living embodiment of their strength, the fifth spirit. As such, it was her divine duty to care for her tribe and to bring them the food and meat they required to survive.

And what a feast she was bringing home. She’d carved up two Aurorasaurs, a Sytrac and even a rare Jagra cat that she’d tracked from its den. That was certainly something the people of her village hadn’t eaten in quite some time.

As she made her way down the long mountain path towards the village in the great forest that was just on the horizon, Anna stopped for a moment to take in the view.

These mountains, the forest, this was her whole world… and it was simply a thing of beauty. From the orange and red trees, to the blue sky, Anna wouldn’t trade her world for everything and yet… she often wondered if there were other worlds out there.

The legends of her people often said that the four spirits they worshipped originally came from the stars, from mysterious worlds unlike Anna’s own. Of course, these were legends, but Anna sometimes wondered if one day, she might visit them, to truly be among the spirits and all who dwelled in their domain in the stars.

However, as Anna was about to pick her sack up and sling it over her shoulder for the final trek home, she heard the sound of something streaking through the sky. Looking up, Anna’s eyes widened as she saw what appeared to be some sort of fireball falling from the heavens. She couldn’t make out what it was… but it was clearly going to crash into the forest.

By the spirits…! Anna thought. If that fireball hits the village, my people will be killed!

Dropping her sack, Anna quickly ran down the small slope towards the trees, watching the fireball fall down towards the ground at great speed. She leapt and jumped between the trees agilely, trying to get to wherever the fireball was going to crash down.

She prayed to the spirits to give her the speed to reach her village, but at the same time, cursed herself for not being there to protect her tribe. Fortunately for Anna though, there would be no innocent blood on her hands this day.

With a massive KABOOM, the giant fireball crashed into a small rocky outcrop in the forest, carving a path through the trees. As it hit the ground with a massive bang, Anna was knocked back and onto her rear, slammed into a nearby tree. Stumbling back up, Anna rubbed her head and slowly started to approach the impact site.

To Anna’s amazement, whatever had crash-landed was surprisingly largely intact. It appeared to be some sort of large, silver capsule, with a pointed nose and two strange protrusions sticking out of its rectangular body. It had a long red stripe going across its body and on its nose, Anna could make out some writing in a language she couldn’t really understand.

“You…Ess…Ess…” Anna managed to read outloud shortly before she was distracted by a noise coming from the battered object. It was a deep hissing sound, one that startled the redhead.

A door on its rear section opened and Anna hid behind some rocks, pulling out her hunting knife. If whatever was inside it was hostile… she preferred to have the element of surprise if she was to face it in combat. She kept hugging against the rock, eyes peeping out around the corner.

However, the hatch opened… and Anna saw a woman come stumbling out of it, carrying someone on her shoulders. The woman placed her companion on the ground, both of them visibly injured. If this woman was hostile, she clearly was in no way to start a fight with Anna.

Quickly, the woman took out some strange grey object from her pocket and hovered it over her friend. While they were both beaten and worn, Anna could see the woman’s friend was in a much worse state than her, with deep burns and scars across the side of his face.

The woman kept waving her strange grey machine over her friend, Anna seeing a pained, desperate expression on her face. She stared intently at her device, as if praying there was hope for her injured friend… only for it to only make a dull, monotone whine in return.

The woman let out a saddened sigh. “May the prophets be with you, my friend,” she whispered, taking the other person’s hand and holding it close to her chest.

Even though she didn’t know who this stranger was, she was able to empathise with her. She knew what it was like to say goodbye to someone she cared about. Her father in particular, as he lay dying of sickness, as he finally came to terms with Anna being his daughter.

Then Anna got a glimpse of the woman’s face and saw that she looked very different to her. She had short platinum blonde hair in a pixie cut, wearing a blue headband on her head. Her clothes were also quite different, a black and grey form-fitting outfit with a blue collar with two golden circles on it. The woman’s nose was also different. Unlike Anna’s smooth one, this woman had a series of bumps on the crest of her nose. On her ear, she wore a rather beautiful looking silver earring.

But her whole face was completely different from Anna as well. Instead of yellow eyes like Anna’s people had, the stranger had bright blue ones. She had normal ears as well, lacking the bony crests Anna’s people had on the sides of their heads. She also had five fingers on each hand, instead of the four Anna had. Yet, their skin tone was the same and Anna could understand her language… somehow.

Even though this woman was so… alien to her, Anna couldn’t help but think she was beautiful. Sure, she was covered in bruises and dirt, but Anna hadn’t seen a woman like her. She was fascinated by her.

However, before Anna could even think of trying to approach the strange woman, she suddenly remembered her hunting trip. She’d left all that meat on the hill when she saw the fireball crash. This stranger would have to wait, she had her own duties to attend to.

As the woman tended to her departed friend, Anna quietly made her exit from the area, the stranger completely unaware of her presence. Eventually, Anna made it to the hill where she had stashed the meat earlier.

Fortunately, it hadn’t been poached by scavengers, much to Anna’s relief. As she looked at the strange craft from afar, she kept thinking about the woman and where she had come from. She didn’t seem to be a spirit of any kind. Anna knew all the spirits, being empowered by them after all. Yet, whatever she was… Anna knew she had to keep her a secret from her tribe.

She knew they’d likely panic and as their guardian, Anna wanted to keep them safe. Besides, the stranger clearly had her own problems to attend to.

Slinging the sack full of the day’s catch over her shoulder, Anna started to make her way back towards her home.

xXx

When Anna got back to the village, it had been chaos. The people of the tribe had thought the end of the world was upon them. After stashing away her hunt in the village store, Anna saw a large gathering in the centre of the village, people surrounding the large fire that burned at the heart of their community.

So many occasions had taken place there. Weddings, funerals, ceremonies dedicated to the spirits, but this occasion was much dire than any of those.

The tribe’s elder, Yelena, was trying to assure her tribe to be calm, but there was no such luck. There hadn’t been a commotion like this since the last tribal war, where their tribe, the Northuldra, had fought their rivals, the Divalla over their hunting grounds.

The gathered members of the tribe were panicking and bickering amongst themselves, all of them fearful for what the fireball could have meant, and some fearful for their safety and the safety of their families and loved ones. Anna didn’t blame them. She was still a little scared herself.

“Calm down, everyone!” Yelena called for order. “Let us wait until our guardian makes her return!”

“And what if she was killed when the sky fell?” one of the tribespeople asked frantically. “What if she has been betrayed by her fellow spirits?!”

“Please, let us think rationally!” the elder spoke amidst the mounting panic. “We have been in harmony with the spirits for generations. There is no reason for there to be conflict between us.”

Anna then stepped into the village center, seeing the assembled crowd. “I’m here, brothers and sisters!” she called out to them. “There is nothing for you to fear!”

One of the tribe turned around at once. “It’s the Fifth Spirit!”

“Oh thank the Divine Ones!” Another exclaimed.

At that moment, a young woman turned around and ran over to Anna. It was Honeymaren, Anna’s Spirit-Sister. Anna’s family had been close to Honeymaren’s and after her father died, Honeymaren’s parents had adopted her into their own, as their spirit daughter. Born to different parents, but treated like family all the same.

Ryder, Honeymaren’s brother, was the tribe’s resident Akadeer herder, while Maren was a blacksmith, forging and carving weapons and tools for their village. Anna saw both of them among the crowd. As Honeymaren rushed up to her, she took Anna’s hands.

“Anna, thank goodness!” Honeymaren exclaimed. “By the spirits, we were worried about you.”

“I’m fine, sister, I’m fine,” Anna assured her gently. “I was fortunately nowhere near the shooting star when it fell from the sky.”

“You were uninjured?” Yelena asked her.

Anna nodded, putting her hands on her hips proudly. “I was. It would take a lot more than a shooting star to bring this fifth spirit down.” She hoped her usual sense of pride and cockiness would ease the concern of her fellow Northuldra.

The tribe indeed felt a little relieved at that, some of them chucking and others just smiling. Honeymaren however, sighed and rolled her eyes playfully. “Your hubris will be the end of you someday, I swear.” She smiled. “But I am glad to see you are uninjured. Did you bring much for the tribe?”

“Oh, today was a good hunt,” Anna replied cheerfully. “Our village will be quite fed for quite a while.”

“But what was the shooting star when it landed?” Yelena asked her. “What did it bring from the heavens? Surely you must have seen it after it had crashed.”

She didn’t think it’d be best to tell the tribe about the strange silver craft that had crashed into their forest. She knew her tribe would likely panic and try to kill that beautiful blonde woman she’d seen in the woods, thinking her to be some sort of demon. But Anna had seen her bleed, seen her cry. Demons did not do either of those things, but she knew her people wouldn’t understand.

But she still had to give them an answer.

“Well, what did it look like?” Maren asked.

“Oh, it was uhhh… a big rock,” was all Anna replied.

“Just that?” Yelena wondered. “A big rock.”

“Yes, a really big rock,” Anna responded. “I give you my word as the guardian that it hopefully will not cause us any harm. However, I would recommend we do not go near it… at least not until I remove it. It could still pose some sort of danger to the village that I am not aware of.”

Yelena nodded. “Very well, I trust your judgement, Anna. Alright everyone, you can go about your business now. The Fifth Spirit has spoken!”

As the people dispersed, Maren and Ryder walked with Anna to their hut, both of them still concerned. Maren in particular, since she was the closest to Anna. Anna knew she wasn’t one to be satisfied, even when Anna told her she had nothing to worry about.

“Please, don’t worry us like that again,” she said in a worried tone. “You are the only family Ryder and I have left.”

“I’ll be fine,” Anna told her. Honeymaren did tend to worry a lot. She was the oldest in the family after all.

“Still sounds pretty cool though!” Ryder gushed. “A massive ball of fire falling from the sky!”

Maren shot her younger brother a look. “Don’t you start too.”

Anna chuckled a little. As they went inside and Honeymaren started on dinner, Anna went to her room and sat down. She looked at all the various souvenirs in the room, tokens of her adventures.

Her life had been one of wonder and hardship. From discovering that she was a woman not long after she became the fifth spirit, to helping forge an alliance between the Northuldra and another tribe called the Saporilda, to losing her father to the sickness. All of that had been impactful on Anna… and yet, she hadn’t thought of any of that as much as that strange blonde woman and her craft that had crashed down.

She couldn’t get her out of her mind, even now.

Eventually, Honeymaren called Anna to dinner and she dined heartily with her spirit-siblings. But soon, when they retired to bed, Anna found herself thinking of the woman again, wondering if she was alright in the forest on her own. Where could she have come from? Why had her strange vessel crash-landed into their forest? So many questions… questions which were keeping Anna awake that night.

Soon, Anna realised she couldn’t sleep. She had to see that woman again, to know that she was alright. She jumped from her bed and grabbed one of her hunting spears before crawling out of the window. And then she headed out into the night.

xXx

As the stars hung in the sky above her, Anna kept making her way through the forest. Her mind was focused on seeing the strange woman again. Anna hadn’t seen a woman quite like her, and now that she was freed from her duties she could observe her for as long as hse wanted to.

Anna knew that Honeymaren would likely chew her out for rushing out in the middle of the night, but Anna knew this was for the best. After all, she was the representative of their people. If she did indeed want to talk to this stranger… she was the most qualified person to do that.

It didn’t take Anna long to reach the crashed craft. The woman had started up a fire near her ship and was sitting beside it for warmth. At the same time, she was tinkering with some sort of metal object. She’d brought other things out from her ship as well, strange machines that Anna did not understand.

Hiding behind a tree, Anna watched as the woman warmed her hands on a nearby fire she’d started, before she tried to activate the strange object. She grumbled, pressing a switch on the device, only for there to be no response. She sighed, trying to remain calm.

“Okay, let’s try this again,” the woman muttered to herself. She pressed a few buttons before speaking into the machine. “This is Lieutenant Iduna Elsa calling. any Starfleet vessel? Do you read me? My ship was attacked by a squad of Jem'Haddar ships. I managed to escape but have crashed on an uncharted world. I am all alone here, my supplies are low and I don’t know how long I can last. If there is any Starfleet vessel receiving this, please respond… please.”

The woman groaned, as there seemed to be no response.

“Oh come on!” she groaned. “Did I do something wrong? You were the engineering expert, Kristoff. If you were still here, I bet I’d have found someone by now.”

Iduna. What a beautiful name for such a beautiful woman. And Kristoff was likely the person Anna had seen Elsa carry out of their crashed ship. While Anna had a few answers now, she still had many more questions about this woman. Part of her wanted to talk to her… but she had a feeling that would only make things worse. The woman was clearly still grieving and a stranger interrupting would have been the last thing she wanted.

Iduna rubbed her forehead, clearly fatigued. Working on whatever that contraption was exhausting, not to mention her shouting at the contraption when it wasn’t functioning as intended.

Gazing curiously, Anna continued to watch the woman, seeing her open some sort of packet containing some food. Iduna seemed to express a certain disgust to the food, but ate it anyway. Clearly, it was the only thing she felt like eating, or at least, was comfortable eating.

At that moment, Anna thought about grabbing some fresh Javarro fruit from the nearby tree and offering it to Iduna, only to then realise it was probably best for her to observe and not interact. Still, she found herself in awe of the strange machine the woman had used.

While Anna didn’t know what its purpose was… it was clearly important to Iduna. Perhaps she was trying to send a message to the stars from where she came?

Eventually, after Anna had watched Iduna for a while longer with her eating, it was clear she was getting sleepy. The blonde woman sat back on the rock she’d been resting against and pulled a nearby silver blanket over herself. Anna realised she should probably leave as well. After all, she’d seen her strange visitor more than enough now.

And yet, Anna had another question. The woman’s face… it was no longer dirty and certainly no longer covered in cuts and bruises. Had the woman… healed herself somehow? In such a quick time?

As the woman was closing her eyes, Anna crept closer to the camp, wanting to take one final close look at the stranger.

However, just as she got closer. Anna saw something sneaking in the darkness. A faint red glow and two crimson eyes. Anna recognised them instantly. She heard the sound of footsteps rushing towards the blonde woman, crunching leaves beneath them.

Grabbing her spear again, Anna looked in the darkness. The red eyes were gone and the footsteps had stopped… but Anna knew whatever was out there was getting closer and she wasn’t going to let it hurt this strange woman. Clutching the weapon tighter, Anna listened for a low growling.

The woman may not have been a native of the forest or part of Anna’s tribe, but Anna was determined to protect her.

Suddenly, Anna heard the footsteps again, hearing the creature snarl and charge at the camp.

Leaping out from behind the tree, Anna tossed her spear at the creature as it leapt out at Iduna. The beast groaned, being knocked back from the force of Anna’s attack. The illusion wore off, Anna seeing the sight of a black, bipedal wolf creature with black and red fur. A Lukark. They were nocturnal, cloaking themselves in shadow to sneak up on their prey.

Iduna jumped up, seeing Anna standing before her. “What the hell?!” she exclaimed. “Who are you?”

“Stay back!” Anna cautioned.

The beast snarled, ripping the spear from its leg and tossing it aside., charging at Anna with its claws. Anna tackled the beast, punching it in the face with her fist. She tried to toss the beast down onto its back, but Anna’s own fatigue got the better of her, as the Lukark managed to slash her with its claws.

Grunting, Anna looked down at her bleeding wound, distracted. She tried to reach for her weapon, but she was already starting to feel weak. With the little strength she had left, she tackled the creature, pinning it against a tree. Her hands grabbed onto its neck, Anna trying to choke it, but the beast then kicked her square int the stomach with its feet.

Iduna, staring at Anna, realised she had to do something. She quickly reached for one of her devices, a sleek silver, handled device. She aimed the weapon, trying to get a good shot at Anna and the creature, but they were both moving too much.

However, the Lukark then tackled Anna down. It slashed at her and tried to bite at her head, but Anna, with what little strength she had left, tried to fight back, but the creature’s foul breath filled her face and its great strength pressed down upon her, claws digging into her skin.

As Anna thought this would be her end. She’d lost a lot of blood and knew the Lukark was going to kill her… but at least she would die knowing that gave her life for this woman, protecting this innocent stranger to her woods. She just hoped that Iduna was running away now, far enough that the creature wouldn’t catch up to her.

However, Anna was then saved herself. . A beam of orange energy fired through the air, shooting the Lukark off her, killing it instantly. Anna turned, seeing that Iduna had killed the Lukark. In surprise, she tried to sit up, but felt searing pain all through her body.

“Damn it!” Iduna shouted, rushing to Anna’s side and cradling her. “Are you alright?!”

Anna tried to respond, but her vision was growing hazy. She kept focusing on the woman though, those beautiful blue eyes gazing back at her. Iduna was clearly a mix of a cunning warrior and a gorgeous beauty… and Anna was glad to have given her life for her.

But, before Anna could thank her rescuer, she lost consciousness due to her blood loss…

xXx

When Anna awoke, she found herself wrapped up in the same silver blanket Iduna had been in. As her eyes widened, she saw that she was beside the fire… and Iduna was sitting on a rock beside her. She was looking at the fire, warming her hands again, but she stared at Anna when she realised the redhead was awake.

Startled, Anna jumped up, panicking for a moment. Iduna got up, trying to calm her own.

“Woah, calm down,” she assured her. “Everything’s alright… you’re safe now.”

Staring at Iduna a little warily, Anna looked down at herself after pulling the blanket off her form… and saw that the injuries she’d sustained had been healed. Was this strange woman magical? Did she have powers that could not only heal herself, but others as well? Anna stared back at Iduna confused.

The woman nodded. “Yes… I healed your wounds.” She sighed. “It was the least I could do for you saving my life.”

Anna felt grateful… and humbled. And she couldn’t help but admit that she loved the sound of Iduna’s voice. Melodic and gentle… like how she imagined the voice of the spirits.

“I’m breaking a ton of rules by even talking to you right now,” Iduna remarked. “But I couldn’t just let you die. I’ve already lost one person today and I wasn’t prepared to lose another.”

“Iduna…” Anna spoke.

The blonde woman turned. “Huh?”

“Iduna…. that’s your name isn’t it?” Anna stated.

“How do you know my name?”

Anna blushed. “I was watching you work on whatever that big grey machine of yours is. You said your name into it.”

“Oh…” Iduna responded, feeling embarrassed. “Well, I prefer to be called Elsa, if that’s okay. I never liked my family name much anyway.”

Anna was a little confused. In the traditions of her people, the family name came after the first name, but clearly, wherever Elsa was from, the traditions were different. If she was honest though… Elsa was a much more beautiful name. In her own language, it meant “white flower”, but she doubted it meant the same to her new friend.

“My name is Anna,” the redhead introduced herself. “I… I saw this ship of yours crash earlier”

“You saw me then too?” Elsa asked. “How long have you been watching me?”

“I couldn’t help it!” Anna argued. “I saw the ship fall from the sky earlier today. So did practically everyone in my tribe. Don’t worry… I didn’t tell them about you. They… probably wouldn’t understand you and Spirits, even I don’t know what you are? You’re so… different to me.”

Elsa rubbed the back of her head. “I guess you could say… I’m from another world. A world called Bajor.”

“Bajor?” Anna wondered. “Do you have spirits there too?”

“Spirits?”

“Yes… divine beings who protect you and you believe in?” Anna stated. “I am empowered by the spirits of my world and I’m considered the guardian of this forest.”

“Ah,” Elsa responded. “Well… I suppose we have something similar on Bajor. We worship the Prophets. They protect us and are there for us in our lives. They have someone like your Fifth Spirit too, an Emissary… I wish he was with me right now.”

Anna sighed. “You didn’t mean to come here, did you?”

“No, I actually thought your world was uninhabited so I figured it’d be a safe place to crash after my shuttle got shot down,” Elsa expressed. “I’m sorry you were dragged into this.”

“Hey, I dragged myself into this,” Anna insisted. She grunted as she moved. “Ah..”

“Easy,” Elsa insisted. “Just because I healed your wound, doesn’t mean you don’t need to rest.” She helped Anna lie back and tucked her into the blanket. “There… now you get some sleep.”

“What about you?” Anna wondered. “Won’t you be cold?”

“I’ll… I’ll be alright,” Elsa replied. “You need it more than me.”

“No… you deserve to be warm as well,” Anna stated. She opened up the blanket. “Come on… we can share. We’ll keep each other warm.”

Elsa felt a little reluctant, but nodded. She climbed into the blanket with Anna and they both snuggled up beside the fire. Anna relaxed, resting against Elsa, the Bajoran smiling at her. Anna didn’t know what the future held for her and the woman from Bajor… but she was certain that she wanted to be with Elsa now.

After all… she was making her feel warmth.

#elsanna #submission #december 2020 contest #prompt: warmth #cw: violence #cw: injuries

9 notes · View notes

mysteira6 · 4 years

Text

FukaFlower - Holding Your Left Hand

~*~*~*~*~

Summary:

She wasn’t gonna let him feel bad for holding his left hand.

Setting: Fukase and Flower are in the same high school grade and are around 17 - 18 years old. Also, they’re already a couple in this one-shot. Read on for fluff, angst and a little sweet moment at the end. ^3^

~*~*~*~*~

Autumn-coloured lamps decorated the streets, surrounding the many stalls by the pathway in a warm-coloured glow. Young adults in ankle-length yukatas and young children with bags of candy and treats in their hands littered the road before them, the small-talk between groups of teens and squeals of delight amongst children filling their ears. Stall owners left and right were hollering customers over, hoping to catch their attention to play their games or buy their fun-coloured snacks.

The white-haired teen blinked at the sight. “Wow,” She muttered. “I know Miku was warning us when she said this year’s carnival would be ‘packed as sardines’, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this… crowded…”

She heard a light-hearted chuckle from the young man standing beside her. “Welp, I guess that’s a lesson learnt,” He said jokingly.

“What lesson?”

As he turned to her, his scarlet right eye sparkled jovially. “That we should actually listen to the ‘popular diva’ instead of assuming that she only talks about rumours,” He noted, another laugh emerging from his mouth.

The thought of that made her narrow her eyes a little. “I’m not so sure about that, Fukase,” She murmured skeptically, shaking her head. “She talks more about gossip than anything remotely useful-”

“But if we had listened to her, then we wouldn’t be caught in this human traffic jam now, wouldn’t we?” The redhead replied, though soon after, he heaved a sigh and shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. “Oh well, we’re here anyway and the night is young, Flower! Hopefully, the crowd will thin out in a bit,”

Despite her initial disappointment of not having a peaceful stroll with him, the optimistic grin on his face was enough to wash her negativity away. Of course he would try to cheer her up like this. After all, this date was his idea, something that he came up with during their lunch hour when all the other students were talking about the upcoming summer festival and how carnivals were being set up in dozens of neighbourhoods. Given that they had just finished their school term, it seemed like a perfect time to start their summer break with a fun little getaway with just the two of them.

Flower puffed in mild annoyance. When Fukase asked her to go to the carnival in their neighbourhood together, she got giddy with excitement as she always was when it came to their dates. That was one of the strangest things about being with him; somehow, he had managed to break down her curt demeanor and unpack her sweet side that very few people saw. All it took was him being a cheerful jokester who not only tried his best to make everyone smile, but also possessed a kind heart to help anyone he could. Funny then, that he would be interested, and eventually fall in love with, a pessimistic girl who was essentially a stoic emotional wall.

Oh well. Life can be that weird sometimes. In fact, what was more weird was that as he talked to her everyday, cracking a joke here and there, Flower found herself becoming more conscious of how she presented herself in front of him. The little things that she barely cared about before gradually took priority in her appearance as he tried everyday to make her smile a little. Smoothing out her skirt and brushing her hair behind her ears were only two of the dozen things that crossed her mind as soon as she heard him talking to her.

Tonight was no exception to her new routine of fussing over her appearance; as soon as she got home, Flower immediately made a beeline for her preppy younger sister, Xin Hua, who was lounging on the sofa and scrolling through the feed on her phone as usual. However, after Flower explained her situation, the cobalt-haired teen quickly placed her phone aside and partook in the giddy excitement that her older sister was feeling. One trip to Sachiko’s yukata gallery and another to Mizki’s hair accessory treasury was enough for the aspiring fashionista to dress her sister up for her special summer date.

“Flower? Flower!” The sight of his bandaged hand waving front of her was enough to snap the short-haired teen back to reality, her violet eyes blinking a few times to readjust her field of vision. “Hey, are you okay?” Fukase asked her, a worried frown inscribed on his lips as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“O-oh, sorry, I… I’m okay,” She stuttered in embarrassment, slightly ashamed that she spaced out in the middle of nowhere. Her instinctive reaction of looking down whenever she got awkward got her looking at the yukata that Xin Hua had picked for her. It was of a deep violet shade, accompanied by prints of lavender and white coloured cherry-blossoms and outlines of round lanterns scattered across her sleeves and skirt. She had a grape-purple obi tied around her waist to keep her outfit together and Ms Sachiko even gave her complimentary wooden sandals and a hickory-coloured basket for her necessities to complete the ensemble. ‘Cherish your youth’, she had said with a warm smile after Flower had told her the reason for her purchase.

Meanwhile, Fukase chuckled at her quiet response and quietly slid his right hand under her chin, gently lifting her gaze to look at him. There wasn’t an obvious height difference between them (except for a few centimeters that Flower had but Fukase didn’t) but even then, Flower felt rather small under the gaze of his right eye, his left one being concealed under his white eye patch. Having him stand close to her also allowed her to take in his outfit for the night; a muted red yukata with black lines resembling tree branches drawn on its cloth all held together by a thin bright red obi.

“You sure?” He smirked at her like a cheeky devil would, the jokester side of him showing. “You’re blushing, you know,”

His words rooted her to the spot. “No, I am not!”

“Sharp response. I thought you were a kuudere, not a tsundere,”

“I-Does that really matter right now?!”

Her flustered response was met with a fit of laughter from Fukase, his red curls dancing in the air as he shook his head jokingly. “I kid! I kid!” He sang out as he held his hands up as if surrendering. “Please spare me from your silent treatment, Hana-chan~”

She puffed her cheeks. “You’re only lucky that I decided to dress up for tonight and I don’t want to ruin our date,”

“Oh right, I was gonna say,” His expression lit up as he continued. “You look… as pretty as a flower tonight,”

He half-heartedly expected a startled response and was unsurprised when she only snarkily replied: “A pun-related flirt isn’t going to get to me, Fukase,” Of course she’d say something like that.

“Darnnit, that didn’t work as well as I had hoped,” He pretended to be upset for a moment before raising his right hand towards her, cueing the snow-haired girl to blink at him a few times.

“Well anyway,” He began, tilting his head at her cutely. “Now that we’ve been chatting here for a while, I believe it’s about time for us to head down there, yeah?”

She found herself beaming as she accepted his hand. “Yes, let’s,”

~*~*~*~*~

“Come and catch your own kingyo! Only 200 yen to bring one home!”

“Fresh shaved ice and candied apples for sale! Come and get them before they’re gone!”

As their evening continued, the crowd really did grow thinner as most of the younger children were brought home by their parents and some of the teenagers were heading home as well. Since the both of them were night owls on a daily basis, the moon climbing up the sky did not bother them. Fukase’s enthusiasm for them to visit every stall did not falter even as the night went on. Beside him, Flower held tightly to his right hand, a small smile on her face as she witnessed him bring her all around the carnival. She could tell that he was excited for it.

“Are you hungry? We should get some mochi here,”

“I think those pinwheel headbands would look cute on you,”

“Hey, this fruit tea tastes great! Try some!”

Perhaps it was a little selfish for her to say it, but Flower really liked the attention that he was giving her tonight. It wasn’t odd for Fukase to treat her so kindly (he was literally known for being the kindest person for a lot of people) but hearing him talk to her alone made her feel warm and fuzzy inside, a feeling that only he could generate. However, tonight it felt like Fukase’s gentlemanly nature was much more prominent than usual… Was it because they were wearing such fancy clothes?

Whatever the reason was, she didn’t really care about it. After all, who would turn down a kind, pampering boyfriend like him? Even though Flower was slow to understand social norms as a wallflower, she knew enough to recognise that Fukase was kind of spoiling her (not that she was complaining, mind you).

Her train of thought was interrupted when something at a shelf on her left managed to catch her attention, silently motioning her to get closer to the stall with multi-coloured stacks of cans lined up in pyramidal formation behind its counter. She couldn’t take her eyes off one of the prizes at the game stall; a small lavender rabbit with a translucent maroon ribbon wrapped around its neck and a top hat sewn onto its head. Its subtle resemblance to Fukase’s normal outfit was probably what caught her eye.

“Whatcha looking at?” The very person she was thinking about turned his head in the same direction as she was facing, his eyes scanning the game stall for whatever had caught her attention. “Do you see that little rabbit on the shelf?” Flower whispered to him while leaning close to his ear. “It’s kinda cute. I just thought that it looked like you in your coat, doesn’t it?”

The redhead has his eyes trained on the stuffed toy that had caught his girlfriend’s attention. It didn’t take him long to mutter a ‘let’s head over there’ as he brought them both over to the stall, his hand never letting go of her despite her initial surprise. After he forked out some coins for the stall owner, a basket with brightly coloured plastic balls was placed in front of him, the challenge of knocking over all the cans in three hits now laying before him.

“Fukase, you don’t have to do this for me,” The white-haired girl standing behind him said timidly, a bit uneasy that he decided to play this game just for her.

The redhead smiled at her. “But I want to,” He simply said, picking up the first ball from the basket. “Besides, you like that rabbit doll, right?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“Then just sit tight and watch me win it for you!” He gleefully replied as he aimed for the base of one of the can pyramids before hurling his ball at them, nailing a hit on the cans at the bottom for his first throw. The coloured cans tumbled onto the table with loud clatters and clangs as the pyramid fell, knocking down all the obstacles quickly. He grinned at his victory.

“Wow, you got them all in one shot!” The stall owner commended, lightly clapping her hands to his success. “Congratulations! You’re welcomed to choose any prize you want for winning,”

“Any prize?” Fukase glanced over to her as the lady nodded, her satin pink hair bouncing up and down. He soon turned his eyes back to the little rabbit that Flower had been eyeing this whole time, the smile on his face widening. “Can I have the little rabbit over there? The one of that shelf, please,”

“Sure thing!” She replied as she gently lifted the rabbit doll off the shelf and handed it over to him. “Thank you for playing!” The store owner sang out as Fukase received the doll from her, turning back to his girlfriend. Holding out the lavender rabbit doll in his two hands, he smiled warmly at her. “Ta-da! Here you go, Flower,”

Her face shone as she held the doll in her hands, now able to marvel its cuteness up close. It really did look similar to Fukase in his fancy outfit. “Thank you,” She unknowingly broke into a wide smile as she petted the rabbit’s head the same way she did to Point, Fukase’s pet doll. “It’s really cute…” She giggled.

He grinned at her, a warm feeling washing over him at the sight of Flower’s smile. It never failed to make him smile back at her, or to make his cheeks feel a little warmer than usual. Deep down, he wished she did that all the time, but he also understood her take on it; it was better to let her slowly get into the habit of smiling instead of forcing it on her.

Instead, he raised his hand towards her again, hoping to continue their stroll through the carnival until he noticed which one he was holding up to her. In a hasty maneuver, Fukase swiftly relocated himself to be standing on her right side as he offered his hand to her again, disregarding the confused expression on her face. “Shall we go back to the path, milady?”

She giggled again at his formal demeanor. “You don’t have to be so formal,” She quickly packed her new rabbit doll into her basket as she accepted his hand again. Although she was already well aware of his odd behaviour from before, Flower knew better to not bring it up and make him embarrassed.

Unfortunately, the more she thought about it, the more it started to bug her. Especially when she started to realise how often such situations would occur multiple times that night. Upon closer inspection, there was one thing that they all had in common; the fact that Fukase had never let her hold his left hand.

As much as she didn’t want to sound like some prissy girl complaining on their date, the urge to ask him about it was stronger than those worries. “Hey, Fukase?” The white-haired teen began, tugging a little on their interlocked hands to get his attention. “Can I… ask you something?”

He eagerly turned to her. “What is it?”

“Can I hold your left hand?”

The question alone was enough to wash his bright smile away, replacing it with an astonished frown on his face and a startled expression in his eye. His footsteps immediately stopped in the middle of the pathway as his grip on her hand tightened a little. For a while, Flower started to regret asking that question; she would’ve not done so if it meant that she was going to be subjected to him staring at her, downright baffled at her words. Now, she felt as if she was riveted to the ground by his gaze, feeling her heart climbing up her throat as she gulped loudly.

Fortunately for her, he broke their staring contest by turning his head away from her for a bit, his left hand covered from top to bottom in bandages rising up to cover his face. In a low, apologetic tone, he muttered: “Uh, sorry about that,”

She was speechless. “Eh?”

“I know you don’t like it when people stare at you, so… sorry that I was doing that just now.” He hastily apologised before continuing. “A-anyway, why do you want to h-hold my left hand? I mean-! Is there a reason? N-not that you have to tell me, wait I mean-!”

As the redhead stumbled over his words, the gears in Flower’s head started turning. A line of stuttering dialogue from Fukase convinced her that her asking him about it was the right thing to do; in a normal everyday conversation, he would never ever trip over his own words. As far as she could remember, his confidence in speaking has never failed him, only faltering a little whenever Flower managed to sneak a sweet, unintentionally affectionate line of dialogue to him. So to hear him uncharacteristically stutter so much while talking to her normally… Flower quickly realised that something was up.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me, Fukase,” She tried to ameliorate the situation, hoping that he wasn’t too embarrassed. “I’m really sorry that I asked it so randomly-”

“It’s not that, it’s just…” He trailed off as his eyebrows furrowed, his gaze shifted to the sight of his left, bandaged, roughly-surfaced hand. A sigh left his lips; he was gonna have to tell her something eventually, so why wait?

“The truth is,” He started, hoping that he didn’t sound too nervous. “No one… has ever held my left hand before…”

“Why?” She blurted out as her curiosity overrode her politeness.

“I never offered it to them,” He explained slowly, gaining a bit more confidence as he confessed to her. “I mean, you know how my hand looks; it’s a mess. And even with these bandages, it’s still really… you know, coarse and rough,”

Flower found herself frowning at the mention of what his left hand really looked like. It called back a past memory of their time together, when Fukase had told her the events that caused him to look as he is now. That day, he even slowly, very gingerly, took off his bandages and eye patch to show her the scars he had hidden from everyone for so long, the damaged side of him that he refused to show in public in the fear that he would be met with disgust and disdain.

But on the contrary to his fear of Flower leaving him, Fukase was embraced by her love and adoration for him, the emotions in her that he managed to call out now being gifted to him instead as some form of mutual bond. In the same way that he helped her break down her emotional barriers, she had helped him overcome his trauma-induced obstacles. It was a relationship between them that nothing in the world could break.

And tonight was just another testament to it, Fukase realised as Flower quickly shook off his hold on her own hand, instead reaching for his left, roughly-surfaced one covered in white straps of cloth. Her fingers brushed across his as she matched them to line up with hers, a small yet ever-so-kind smile on her face encased in her lips. Fukase unknowingly gulped at the sight of his girlfriend looking at him with so much kindness and care, her beauty brought out even more tonight with her neatly combed tomboyish hair and lilac-coloured butterfly pin.

“Fukase,” She broke the silence between them as she whispered softly. “Does it feel any different when I hold your hand like this?”

He averted his eyes at her question. “Well, for me, it feels the same but for you-”

“It’s the same for me too, you know,” She interrupted him gently, shifting her right hand to the side a little as she interlocked their hands together. “I know you’re always worried about how your scars might change how I see you, but… You know that’s never gonna happen, right?”

As soon as she spotted the skepticism in his eyes, she took it as a sign to continue. “Whichever hand I’m holding doesn’t matter to me so long as it’s yours, Fukase. You don’t have to be worried about how you look when you’re with me; I don’t mind any of it at all,”

“ … Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Besides,” She chuckled as she recalled another memory. “Didn’t I already tell you before that I liked your scars?”

“W-well yeah, but…” After baring out the truth to her, the red-haired boy felt unnaturally vulnerable, the somewhat playful tone in her voice making him blush. He still wasn’t used to her telling him that she liked the permanent markings on his skin. For a long time, he hated them and wished that they would just disappear, especially since they were a reminder of that dark side of him. And yet to listen to her words when she said that she liked them… it felt like letting go of a breath of air that he’d be holding for a long time. ‘Because they’re a part of you too’, Flower had told him back then. ‘That’s why I like them’

Meanwhile, the girl standing before him gently pulled their interlocked hands back down, her left hand holding tightly to her basket as she turned back to the path. “I really don’t mind holding your left hand, Fukase,” She reassured him again with a soft smile. “So… let’s keep this date going, okay?”

Flower hadn’t even taken one step forward before she was tugged back towards the red-haired boy, his uncalloused hand cupping her face as he pulled her closer to him. Just like the beginning of their date when he had commented on her blushing cheeks, the snow-haired teen found herself hypnotized by his armour-piercing gaze, his right red eye staring intently at her for a short while only to soften as he leaned his face close to her, closing his eyes and landing his lips onto hers. As her cheeks heated up like red-hot iron, she knew in absolute certainty that she was blushing now.

It seemed as if time stood still as Fukase kissed her, the action and noises in their surroundings seeming to pause as her eyelids slid shut in conjunction to his daring public display of affection, his head tilting slightly to deepen their kiss as Flower mimicked his actions. It felt like hours had slipped by them as they parted from their kiss, the commotion from the carnival returning to their field of vision and awareness.

Fukase’s face was almost as red as his hair as he chuckled lightly, his iconic bright smile back on his face. “Hana-chan, thank you,” His voice was teeming with gratitude as he thanked her. “You always seem to know exactly what to say,”

Flower was blushing equally as much, her wallflower shyness emerging from her. “I’m just being honest,” She humbly replied.

“How in the world did I get a girlfriend as amazing as you?”

“I could say the same for you, you know,”

“Me? What did I do?”

“I mean, how in the world did I get a boyfriend as sweet and funny as you?”

“Hey! Don’t copy my words!”

“But it’s true!”

The both of them laughed at each other’s antics, their hands interlocked with one another as they continued to stroll down the dirt-trodden path.

~*~*~*~*~

A/N: GAAAAAHHHH these two make me soft~ ;-;

#fukase #fukaflower #vocaloid fukase #vflower #v4flower #vocaloid #flokase #fukasexflower #flowerxfukase #ship #vocaloid ship #carnival #festival #date #yukata

13 notes · View notes

denkamis · 3 years

Note

Congrats on 200!! I'll like a romantic SK8 matchup if you don't mind :)

Since SK8 only has males, I'll say I want a male matchup.

My pronouns are she/they, I'm 162cm/ 5'4, I have long wavy wine red dyed hair, I have pear shape body, my sense of style is Grunge and Dark Academia (sometimes indie), and I'm Ace

I consider myself a laid back, caring, trustworthy, honest person. I defend my friends and family all the time, if someone talks bad about them I'll make sure to defend them till the end. I love to tease my friends, I find it funny whenever they start to get annoyed, lol. I love to laugh, anyone who can make me laugh already has my heart and honestly it's very easy to make me laugh, you can say "what" and I'll be dying of laughter 💀

My music taste is Rock and K-pop, some of my favorite artist at the moment are Nirvana, Blackpink, The Neighborhood, Wallows, and Arctic Monkeys.

My hobbies are baking, listening to music, taking a nap, sowing, and playing the electric guitar.

My love language is Physical touch and Quality time and I'll like to receive Physical touch and receiving gifts.

I'm always up to trying new things, I'm not one to hold back. I like finding new hobbies to do since most of the time I'm bored.

That's about it, Thank you, Take care <33

aww thank you so much!! of course u can have a sk8 matchup, i gotchu B)

this one was really fun, thanks for being my first matchup ever hehe

i match you up with ...

REKI KYAN

okay first off— you guys have like the exact same music taste and he fucking loves that. you guys will share earbuds all the time at lunch or whenever he’s on break at dope sketch, drumming along the table and rocking out to nirvana and arctic monkeys. he always sends you new songs of underground bands he’d think you’d like and would definitely try kpop if that’s what you’re into simply bc you guys listen to music so often together

you’re definitely the calm to reki’s storm, which is why you two are an awfully good match. he genuinely loves talking to you, he loves complimenting you, and he really loves joking around with you. it’s a mutual amount of teasing between the two of you, him pulling at your cheeks and you teasing him about his permanent bedhead

speaking of hair!!! he calls you his strawberry baby (strawbee for short) and he loves that he matches with you. will 100% lend you his spare headbands if you ever want to wear them, and will probably buy you a lot of strawberry themed jewelry to match

the types of dates you go on are incredibly spontaneous. he loves spending time with you. milkshakes at 3am, going to a concert on a school night, or learning to skate in the middle of the day just to name a few. that doesn’t mean that you two can’t chill out, however! one of reki’s favourite dates with you is when you were sitting in his room, him watching as you strummed the strings of your electric guitar while you sat in his lap. many cuddles were had that day. he’s never felt so in love, honestly

hearing you laugh is the highlight of reki’s day. this boy lives to see your smile, to hear that sweet laughter. it makes him feel so special since it’s like he has this little superpower. he’ll pinch your nose or make goofy faces, even tickle you if that’ll get you to laugh. him and his stupid pickup lines always get you, though. it’s adorable. you two are adorable

RUNNER UP: kojiro “joe” nanjo (i wanted to put langa SO BADLY so i could make the joke of “cause redheads are his type ;)” but i think joe suits you just a teeny bit more)

all works © denkamis 2021.

#denkamis.matchups

1 note · View note

aparticularbandit · 4 years

Note

7, 3 and 15 (roisa!)

bookstore au, meet cute, “I’m rambling again, aren’t i?”

@backlandsofbutter - thanks for the prompt!!!!

prompts found here!

The bell over the door dinged just as Luisa opened the door, and she quickly leaned up on her tiptoes and stoppered the clapper, waiting for the imminent groan she expected from the indie store’s owner. He didn’t always have a headache, but most of the time when she was there, he said he did, and she thought, you know, the bell over the door being that loud and that sharp probably didn’t help.

But there was no groan.

Luisa span on her heel and stared over at the front desk. No owner there, either. Hm. Weird. He was probably in one of the aisles rearranging things – probably the romance shelves because if Jane wasn’t here now, she’d probably been here earlier – one of her favorite authors had just dropped a new book and Jane was the sort of person who couldn’t get just one book; she’d have gone through the entire romance section – again – and pulled out three or four and built little stacks without thinking about it with books she wanted to get and books she wanted to get now and ones she wasn’t sure about quite yet – none of which Luisa ever did, seeing as how she had enough money to just…buy the books she wanted without having to separate them into stacks – and the owner would have had to go and take the ones she had decided to wait on and put them back on the shelves and make sure everything was in the proper place.

And of course, despite the fact that Luisa knew she had a book she’d preordered waiting on her at the front desk, it was much easier to roam the shelves and see who was here and where the store owner was. Especially since said book owner had not liked it when she tried to go behind the counter to find her book the last time she preordered one and couldn’t find him and since she knew he often got headaches whenever she was around, she thought maybe not the best idea to ding the bell sitting on the front counter, despite the fact that the entire reason for it being there was to alert him to someone needing his assistance.

Then again, that was the point of the bell over the door, too, wasn’t it? And she hadn’t been that fast at stoppering it, had she? So he should know someone was here, shouldn’t he?

Meh, it was more fun to go look through the shelves and their aisles anyway.

Luisa didn’t start at the romance section, but as she went past the aisles and didn’t see anyone, she was more convinced that she had been right. But, instead of seeing the book owner grumbling to himself and slowly moving books from stacks and scanning the aisles and squinting and glaring at them as he moved books around and put them back where they were, Luisa was instead greeted by a tall redhead with frizzy red hair – red, red, red – glasses perched on the edge of her nose, a navy blue polo shirt tucked into light colored jeans that did an excellent job shaping her—

Luisa.

She swallowed and felt her heart pound just once against the frame of her chest.

The redhead didn’t seem to notice she was there, though. Instead, one long finger flipped the page of – was that Spring Fire? Luisa narrowed her eyes as though that would help her see better. She knew the cover of Spring Fire, but the problem was that she was seeing the back of the cover and that was a little harder to tell. The colors looked right. There were stacks of books all around the redhead – Jane was here, then, because Luisa could pick out a few of the books that she knew Jane wanted and hadn’t gotten yet in some of them, which meant that the owner hadn’t organized them yet – and where was he?

Luisa bit her lower lip, brushed some of her hair behind her ear – she’d pulled half of it back, but it didn’t always like to stay back – in fact, some of it had pulled free and liked to dangle just in front of her face. It was those stupid bangs she’d tried to give herself a few weeks ago. They’d grown out enough that they could almost get back into the half tail and they could almost stay tucked behind her ears, but they didn’t like to do it and she hated the way the little clips and pins looked holding them back – unless they were the cheap butterflies that she used to wear when she was smaller because then she’d have a rainbow of them like a headband – but she hadn’t done that today. Too much effort. Far too much effort for a day that was built for a light grey t-shirt with a bright rainbow with a smiley face and clouds for its cheeks proudly proclaiming it was into girls today, thank you very much! and short shorts with the ends rolled up so that they were even shorter – her legs were one of her best features and it was hot out and she didn’t feel like hiding them away if she didn’t have to – and a blue shirt with pink and white plaid stripes tied around her waist and making her already big hips seem even bigger—

Luisa bit her lower lip, brushed some of her hair behind her ear, where it did not stay, despite how much she tried to forcibly push it there, and calmly approached the redhead and tried very, very hard not to stare at her ass, which meant she had to look up, and then she had to try very, very hard not to stare at the rest of her.

She found a spattering of freckles along her arms – that helped – and as she approached, she said, trying to keep her voice down because she knew what it was like to be interrupted in the middle of reading a book, especially a good romance book – and it was, that was Spring Fire, she knew it!

“Have you seen Phillips around here somewhere?” Luisa asked, putting on her most charming grin – not the smug one, which was her particular favorite, but the happy one that made people more likely to like her. Then she stopped, considered it, and then continued, “Phillips is the store owner. Usually sits behind the front counter? Sometimes hangs out in the aisles. Was probably trying to fix these books earlier?”

The redhead stuck a receipt paper to hold her spot in the book and turned to face Luisa, and Luisa felt her heart drop a bit. This woman had the most piercing sky blue eyes. At least that gave her something to focus on higher up than everything else that kept trying to tear her gaze away. “He took the day off,” she said, her voice smooth and cool. She hid the book under her arm and stepped lightly around the piles of books, holding out one hand. “I’m Clara – Rose—” She stopped and kneaded her forehead with one hand then sighed and held out her hand again. “I’m Rose.” A smile graced her lips. “I’m his new assistant.”

“New assistant?” Luisa’s eyes widened, and it took a second before she acknowledged the other woman’s hand and took it between both of her own. “Phillips is the only one I’ve ever seen working here. You don’t get headaches, do you? I mean, I’m sure you do; everyone gets headaches at some point in time or other, but you’re not going to get a headache from the doorbell – not the doorbell but the one that’s hanging…over…the door – you know what I mean, you won’t get a headache or have one and get bothered by people coming in or ringing the bell at the counter if they need you and—” She flushed a bright scarlet and dropped the other woman’s hand and brushed that bit of hair that had used to be bangs and now was too long for that but too short to stay put back behind her ear again. “Sorry. I ramble. I’m good at rambling.”

“That’s okay,” Rose said, and she smiled – a soft thing – and Luisa felt her heart ache. “It’s—”

“—annoying, I know,” Luisa interrupted, rolling her eyes with a little shake of her head. She grinned. “I try to stop, but I’m no good at it. Luisa Alver, by the way,” she continued without even thinking about it. “Is my name. Luisa Alver. Luisa, you don’t have to say both of them; in fact, I would like it so much better if you didn’t use both of them, I’m just Luisa, or Lu, you can call me that, but don’t call me Loony, that’s kind of offensive, I won’t take it well, and—” She sighed, biting her lower lip again. “I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

“I don’t mind.” It looked like Rose was suppressing the urge to laugh. “And I was trying to say I thought it was cute, not annoying.” She shelved Spring Fire, tapped it once with one long finger, and then turned back to her. “Did you need me for something, since Phillips isn’t here?”

“Yeah, right, of course, yeah.” Luisa shook her head once, trying – and failing – to get a grip on herself. “I had a book on reserve, and I couldn’t help but notice that’s, um, that’s Spring Fire, isn’t it? The book you were reading?” She tried to meet Rose’s eyes, but the redhead avoided her gaze. “I read it for the first time a few months ago. It’s a classic.”

Rose froze, and her brows lifted as her gaze met Luisa’s. The novel hung in the air between them for a few seconds before the redhead said, hesitantly, “What did you think?”

“It’s the first lesbian pulp novel, so while some of its wording was weird, obviously I loved it.” Luisa pointed to the rainbow on her shirt, as if Rose hadn’t noticed it – and maybe, thinking about this the way that maybe she should have, Rose had been carefully trying to avoid looking at her in a way that might have made her uncomfortable in the same way she’d been trying not to look at Rose.

Rose’s eyes drifted to Luisa’s chest, where the rainbow still proudly proclaimed it was into girls today, and a bright smile spread slowly across her face. Her eyes lifted and met Luisa’s and then she tilted her head to one side. “You’re the one who reserved—”

“Yes, that was me, that was definitely me, and you can borrow it if you want because I’m sure Phillips didn’t order more than that one unless you preordered one, too.” The words came out all in a rush before Rose could even finish her sentence, and Luisa started to flush with embarrassment again before having a sudden realization. She slowly moved through the stacks so that she was closer to Rose. “You said my rambling was cute.”

One of Rose’s brows lifted again, and she stood in the same place, very carefully not moving as Luisa moved towards her. “Yes,” she said hesitantly. “Why?”

“Is there anything else about me that you think is cute?” Luisa’s smile turned smug – her favorite of her expressions – as she watched Rose’s cheeks turn a bright, unsettled pink. “I’ll take that as a yes. You don’t have to say anything.” She pulled a pen out from her purse, grabbed Rose’s hand, and slowly wrote her phone number on her palm. “When you get off work.”

“Or,” Rose hesitated, her gaze flicking from her palm to Luisa’s eyes and then back again, “you could stay here with me. Point out more of your favorite books. Let me reshelve these while we talk,” she didn’t even have to gesture to the stacks of books, “and when I get my dinner break, we can—”

“—go get dinner together?” Luisa grinned. “I know the cutest little sandwich shop just a few blocks from here, and they have the best chocolate-covered doughnuts—”

“I like powdered ones better, myself.” Rose tugged on one of the sleeves of Luisa’s flannel shirt. “And let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Maybe I just want to hear what you ramble about if I keep you here long enough.” One corner of her lips lifted. “Or you could just read me some of that book you have reserved.”

Luisa’s eyes widened. “You better hope no one else comes in here, then.”

“I could lock the door.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, she say. I could lock the door, she says.” Luisa couldn’t help herself from laughing. “Phillips wouldn’t be happy with you locking the door, and I’ve only known you a few minutes and I already like you better than Phillips, and I would hate to see you lose your job just because you wanted me to read a book out loud when I could just sit here and show you some other books and stretch my legs out in front of me and I could stare at you and every now and again you’d look at my legs because they’re gorgeous and we’d meet eyes every now and again and—”

“Luisa.”

“What, I thought you liked my rambling.” Luisa let her smug grin linger just the slightest bit. “Or was that too much?” Then, before Rose could say anything in reply, she reached over and patted her hand. “Wait here. I have a great idea!”

“Luisa—”

The bell dinged overhead as Luisa left the bookstore – she knew a vending machine at a store a couple of stores over that would have powdered donuts – and this time, when she came back, she didn’t even think about reaching up to stopper it.

#backlandsofbutter #bandit answers questions #bandit writes fic #roisa #rose solano #luisa alver #8D #i suck at writing short things friends

14 notes · View notes

ashotinthedark-avengers · 5 years

Text

A Shot In The Dark: Chapter 1: Every Hero Needs A Backstory- Part 1

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my character

Warnings: Death, Depression

A Shot In The Dark: Chapter 1: Every Hero Needs A Backstory- Part 1

You decided to get some coffee before heading back to lab. You were currently doing some research on how radiation can affect plasma molding. You knew plasma can act either as a gas or a solid molecularly at the same time. You were doing research on how you could instantaneously shift from plasma to solid back to plasma. Plasma is made up of charged particles that relies on electrostatic interactions making them able to conduct electricity and magnetic fields. When energy or electricity is passing through them, the particles in an atom move faster and collide with each other. Unfortunately, plasma atoms do not collide with each other fast enough- that would be a solid. So what if there was a way to run enough energy through the plasma that can change it. This is what you were researching.

Some gases, with enough energy, produce plasma. So with even more energy, they should produce a solid right?

That’s where the radiation come in. A flash of a wave of radiation can produce an immense amount of heat and energy.On the electromagnetic radiation spectrum gamma radiation then cosmic radiation gives the most photon energy per frequency of wave.

There's no way you were able to get cosmic radiation, so gamma radiation was second best. There was one person who knew gamma radiation better than anyone else: Bruce Banner. And you were reading everything he wrote, all his papers, his dissertations and books. Everything. After all your thesis depended on it.

Your name is Lizbeth Vasquez, or just Liz or just Beth, But only certain people called you Beth, your mother was one, and when she passed you just preferred Liz, it felt less personal. You were 20, a little young to be in a graduate program and your birthday had just passed. You went to Stanford at age 16, graduated with your Bachelors in Science in Physics and in Biochemistry, just this last spring.

Now you were at at Cal Tech working on your Masters and PHD in Quantum Physics and Biochemistry. Masters will take you 2 years and PHD will take you another 8. So yeah, you'll be in school for another 10 years, but you made a bet with Collin, your best friend in the mathematics and physics program, that you'd do it in 5.

You returned to your lab with coffee in hand. You already had the machinery set up to produce gamma radiation and the gas required to flow into it. You already tested it at a smaller scale. Neon lighting, you run electricity through a tube containing a gas, that gas turns to plasma and a "neon light" is emitted.

Different gases, display different colors. You chose pink.

But you wanted to be sure you read everything before you started experimenting with gamma radiation. After all, Bruce Banner did become the Hulk due to an experiment gone wrong.

When you returned to your lab, Collin was already in there eating leftover takeout. Collin is tall, lanky and redheaded. He was about 5 years older than you, but you enjoyed each others company. He was married to a preschool teacher, which suited him. He always treated you like a little sister. He started out as your peer advisor when you first started, but he enjoys your witty remarks, so he stuck around.

"So what's your thesis on again " taking a bite of left over noodles.

"I already told you, Quantum mechanics; manipulation of particles with radiation." you said taking a sip of your coffee. "and your name is going on the paper as well"

"What? I didn’t do anything" he said

"Well as my peer advisor, you advise me." you joked.

"So when are you going to fire up that thing" he said pointing at the metal contraption sitting in the middle of your lab.

" Not yet. I need to due more research. I'm reading all of Dr. Banner's work first." you answered

"How does It work?"

"So the radiation will come through there" you said pointing at a metal tube near the ceiling, " thought the cylinder with gas, hopefully proving my theory correct. And then surround it, is a Faraday cage, but like a backwards one, keeping everything in. "

Just as you were finishing up explaining your machine, the power went out.

"What the hell?" you groaned.

"Rolling blackouts" Collin said as the backup generator turned back on.

"It's 11am" you argued

"In LA in the Summer, it's already 97 degrees outside, past 100 in some areas."

"But like, global warming isn't real tho" you joked.

Collin laughed, "What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked

"Well If I get through this research, I was thinking of firing this thing up" you said.

"My Thesis presentation is tomorrow at 5pm, please come, and please dress nicely, you know, business casual." he insisted.

"I'm offended" you joked, he wasn’t wrong, your wardrobe mainly consisted of leggings and an oversized Cal-Tech sweater.

"Well I've got class. See you tomorrow" he said as he left.

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

"You clean up well" Collin said

Your long black wavy hair was straightened and pulled back with headband. You had a blue button up shirt tucked into a black pencil skirt. Honestly, this is what you would wear anyways if you'd actually took off those leggings.

"Except the shoes" he continued looking down at your black Keds.

"You know I don’t own any heel" you whispered.

"Good luck" you smiled and took a seat in the seminar class.

Collin moved towards the front of the class and waiting for people to show up before starting his presentation. You could tell he was nervous, he was after all presenting in front of multiple professors. If approved, he'd finish up his project and graduate in the spring.

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

"When do you find out?" you asked Collin as you two are walking back to your lab

"Sometime next week" he said.

"You didn't Invite Julie?" you added.

"No, she makes me nervous, and she doesn't understand any of it and she's pregnant." he replied.

Your lab is located in the basement of an older building, concrete walls and floors. You get to your lab and start turning on everything. Checking the power supply. Checking everything is connected properly.

You fill up the cylinder with gas and walk over to your control panel. Collin is standing next to you.

"Well,, here goes nothing" you said flipping a switch on your control panel.

"Radiation levels are contained. It seems to be working" you squealed.

Collin patted you on the back. You turned to look and him and back to your machine.

That’s when the power went out.

#bucky barnes #bucky x reader #Bucky #bucky imagine #james buchanan barnes #james bucky barnes #avengers #avengers fanfiction #bucky barns fanfiction #captain america #iron man

9 notes · View notes

gritsandbrits · 5 years

Text

Sonic OC Bio

Name: Cameron Segana

Nicknames: Cam

Age: 15

Alignment: Good

Species: Human

Continuity: Mostly games but with several changes

Physical Appearance

- Medium to dark brown skin

- Light brown eyes

- Super curly black hair worn in a short afro

- thin green headband

- Tends to wear green, teal, and coral pink outfits

- SA outfit: green and white sweatpants and short sleeved shirt with sandals

- Single eyelash and almond shaped eyes

- No gloves (they make her hands sweat)

- Bead bracelets

- Seashell necklace

- Beige and green sandals with ankle straps and a slight wedge heel

- Is one of the shortest human characters (by Sonic standards) at just 4'3

Family

- Erin (cousin)

- Nathan (father, whereabouts unknown)

- Karyn (mother, whereabouts unknown)

- John (uncle and Erin's father, whereabouts unknown)

Friends

- Team Sonic

- Amy

- Cream

- Silver

- Blaze

- Big

- Team Chaotix (sometimes)

- Team Dark are more like acquaintances

- Luna and Darcelle (two OCs associated with Team Dark)

Enemies

- Dr. Eggman

- Mephiles and Iblis

- Deadly Six

- Infinite

- Metal Sonic

- Black Doom doesn't exist because I hate them more than Mephiles

Backstory

Originally from an idea I had for a Sonic X reboot, Cameron is a 15-year-old human girl who lives in a secluded cottage with her older cousin Erin. In SA1, she discovers Tails after his crash and nursed him back to health before returning him to Sonic. Because of the badniks invading her home she decides to join up with them to stop Eggman from taking over the city. Along the way she discovers a knack for archery and some clues pointing to the whereabouts of her parents and uncle, who went missing during an expedition to Soleanna a few years back.

Personality

- Shy at first

- Introverted

- Learns to let loose

- Blunt when it comes to her opinions

- Sometimes expresses low confidence at times

- Mellow and soft-spoken

- Plucky

- Claustrophobic

- Bit of a neat freak because she doesn't like to attract bugs

- Expresses a thirst for adventure

- Can be pretty steely when angered

Hobbies and Interests

- Photography

- Swimming

- Surfing

- Collecting seashells

- Pizza

- Root beer

- Onion rings

- Scrapbooking

- Skating

- Works part time at a diner

- Playing her flute and drums

- Archery (she feels like a badass and likes to collect arrows)

- Traveling

- Skinny dipping on a hot Summer's evening or for privacy (her most shameful secret!)

- The colors green and blue

- Lemonade

Pet Peeves and Least Favorite Things

- Pickles

- Badniks invading her island

- Humidity

- Cold temps and snow

- Being underestimated because she doesn't have powers

- Gross things like bugs and slime

- Overly bright colors like neon orange and green (they hurt her eyes)

- Stubbing her toe

- People telling her that her parents and uncle won't come back

- Losing hope

- Closed up spaces

- Her camera malfunctioning

- Spoiled entitled behavior

Powers and Abilities

- Bow and arrow are her main weapons

- Hand to hand combat

- Athleticism

- Power Ups

- Hold her breath for extended periods of time (helping when in water levels; still need air bubbles)

- She can even weaponize her camera by turning the flash up bright to blind enemies

- Not the fastest nor strongest but has a healthy balance to keep up

- Learns to use Extreme Gear

Misc

- Cameron's surname is a reference to SEGA

- Her official ethnicity is African American but for the sake of my sanity her race will not be brought up constantly because I'm not here to earn social justice brownie points

- Cameron wears blue, green and oranges because I noticed how Sonic females tend to wear pink, purple and red and wanted her style to fit the games since there's not a female character yet who's associated with other colors besides those three

- A lot of people think that Cam and Erin aren't related because they look very different (Erin is a light-skinned redhead), which sometimes annoys her

- Out of the characters Cam has the most costume changes as she wears bathing suits, coats and winter gear, and other outfits depending on zone; she even begins carrying a bag to hold her outfits in

- She has a more mellow, humble personality to make her stand out from the other hammy, prideful and vibrant characters

- Cam documents her adventures through scrapbooking

- Her ultimate goal in the series is to find out what really happened to her family. This will eventually be resolved in Sonic 06 (spoilers: there's a happy ending)

- Also, Cameron and Sonic will be a couple but as always for my canon/OC ships, it's going to be a slow burn. Also I might tag as trigger warning for interspecies since some people still haven't got over SonElise.

- In SA1, Cameron received arrows with powers based on the stage. So for example, in Ice Cap she gets ice arrows, in Red Mountain fire arrows, Windy Valley has wind and leaves arrows, and Emerald Coast has her default arrows

- She doesn't have an ability type because I think it's outdated by now and limits potential

- I based her color scheme on the concept of Chromatic Arrangement. Sonic = blue, Tails = yellow, Knuckles = red, so it would make sense for another major character to be green (I don't count Jet and Vector). In SA Amy and Big round it out as "pink" and "purple."

- I guess Cam could technically count as a superhero even though she doesn't have the credentials of one (i.e costume, secret identity, edgy 90s redesign and bad Rob Liefield art)

- I based her SA/default costume from the styles that were popular in the late 90s and early 2000s since that's the era when the games came out

- Cam and Erin splits the bills, which is why they both have jobs since their parents aren't around. They end up getting rewarded money (SA2 by the president) which they then save up to go to Soleanna

- Cameron doesn't really consider Team Dark to be her friends, but she doesn't see them as enemies either

- She doesn't hate Amy either; she's more amused by Amy's worship for Sonic but does try to help her temper the obsession when it gets too much

- Cam eventually starts to see Tails and Knuckles as the brothers she never had, so she's protective of them; although her first impression of Knuckles was "Does he and Sonic fight every time they see each other?"

- I was inspired by Saphira24667's OC Saphira to make Cam and Sonic a couple because while I don't hate pairings like Sonally and Shadamy, I just want to do my own thing. Besides people will still find fault with it because it's canon/OC, so it's not like I have much to lose. No, I do not support beastiality but Sonic is at least sapient enough and people get away with Shadow/Maria.

- Originally my OC was going to be a Caucasian girl with long, wavy orange hair and a more "yoga instructor" design. Her names were also going to be Verna, Jade, Kelly, Celadon or Esmeralda, and her last name was going to be Greene. However I felt that having her be named after a shade of green and have a last name that literally is GREEN would be too much overkill so I changed her name and design. I also added more colors like blue and coral to give her a tropical aesthetic.

- Her theme in the SA games is Lauryn Hill's song "That Thing" which thankfully came out before SA was released in Japan (I tend to go extremely meta with my characters)

- One very old idea I had for her was for her to be a poodle with water powers to contrast her with Blaze; she's still associated with water though she doesn't have any powers

- Another old idea was for her to be a porcupine named Penny who had the power to control metal. The metal powers got carried over to my Shinkenger OC Ayane.

- I intended for Cam to be the total opposite of Chris Thorndyke as she actually has relatable problems, a character arc, and a likable and sympathetic personality.

- Cam weighs 121 pounds, so she has a canon weight compared to female Sonic characters

- In Sonic 06 Cam and Sonic becomes an official item (Amy will still be treated with dignity and respect as I hate ship wars)

- I have yet decided on what kind of power ups to give her

#sonic oc #sonic original character #actually good sonic oc #poc heroine #black female superhero #sonic human #sonic human fancharacter #badass normal #sonic games #good sonic oc

8 notes · View notes

ryqoshay · 5 years

Text

How to Handle a Nico: Yazaween

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~3k Rating: K Time Frame: October of Maki’s 2nd year in high school and Nico’s 1st year in college. Story Arc: Stand Alone

List of all HtHaN scenes

Author’s Note: This too far longer to finish than I thought it would. Ended up longer as well. Not complaining, much, though it does kind of hamper my ability to get a scene out for HL in time.

“Hap…” Cocoro started as she opened the door. “Maki-san!” She beamed upon recognizing the redhead on the other side. “Welcome! Come in! Come in!” She opened the door wider to allow entry before turning to call into the apartment. “Onee-sama! Cocoa! Cotarou! Maki-san is here!”

“Maki-chan?!” an excited voice immediately returned.

A moment later, an energetic Yazawa scampered around the corner and barreled into Maki, glomping onto her like a smaller version of a certain older sibling.

“Oomph…” The second-year high school student grunted with the impact. “Hey, Cocoa.”

Cocoa looked up with a smile that left no doubt of her bloodline. “We haven’t seen you in, like, fo~re~ver~, Maki-chan! What gives?”

“S-sorry…” Maki began.

“Maki-chan’s been too busy studying.” A twin-tailed girl said, appearing in the entryway. “Ms. Study-o-holic hasn’t even visited Nico in over a week!” She huffed, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.

“N-Nico-chan…”

“A week?” Cocoa protested. “That’s still better than us.”

“Maki-san…” A fourth voice drawled.

A young boy plodded toward one of his favorite people and joined his sister in attaching himself to her.

“Cocoa! Cotarou!” Cocoro chided. “Let Maki-san at least take off her shoes.”

“It’s fine…” Maki assured.

“But dinner is almost done, so you need to be able to come in and be ready.”

The sister actively pouted while the brother’s expression remained fairly passive. However, those who knew him could read the disappointment on his face.

Once freed, Maki stooped to remove her shoes before accepting a pair of slippers from the most responsible of the Yazawa siblings. When she stood back up, she was finally greeted by the smile she wanted to see. Well, not that she wasn’t happy to see the others, but…

“C’mon in.” Nico said, reaching forward to grab the younger girl’s hand. “I’m teaching Cocoro how to make tomato curry.”

“Maki-san is going to love it.” Cocoro assured, taking Maki’s other hand and leading the way back into the apartment.

“Hey, no fair!” Cocoa complained, following the others.

Nico laughed as they neared the kitchen. “You can show Maki-chan to her seat.” She said, handing off the redhead to her sister. “We’ll be ready in a bit.”

Maki couldn’t help blushing a bit as she was lead to the table in the dining room. She wasn’t accustomed to the younger Yazawas vying for her attention; Nico’s attention, sure, not hers. But, despite it being a bit embarrassing, she found she kind of liked it. She could kind of see why Nico loved it as much as she did… well, she enjoyed attention in general, so maybe it just ran in the family?

Of course, it wasn’t as if Maki couldn’t empathize. Seeking attention or approval or affection or whatever from a specific individual was something she did herself, like with her parents. Or from someone else… sometimes. Only sometimes. Maybe.

Maki smiled as she listened to Cocoa talk about the tennis match she had won, despite it being her first after healing from a sprained ankle. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Cotarou retrieve a handheld game before trying to squeeze in between her and the edge of the table. Allowing herself a small chuckle, she scooted over to allow him room before reaching over to tousle his hair. Not surprisingly, Cocoa did her best to bring Maki’s attention back to her while Cotarou contented himself with his game and simply being near.

It was times like this that she truly envied Nico with her adorable siblings who looked up to her with all the admiration in the world. And she couldn’t help thinking about how her life might have been different if she had younger siblings of her own.

“Dinner is ready!” Cocoro announced proudly, striding into the room.

“A Nico-nii special with a Cocoro twist.” Nico added, setting plates out for everyone.

“Looks good.” Maki commented as the visible chunks of tomato and a wonderful aroma made her mouth water. “Smells good.”

“But of course!” Nico preened. “What else would you expect from the No. 1 Chef in the Universe and her No. 1 Protégée?”

Maki opened her mouth to issue her usual retort, but closed it when she noticed Cocoro basking in the praise of the two older girls.

“Let’s eat!” Cocoa proclaimed, reaching for the serving spoon. “Maki-chan, hold out your plate.”

“She’ll need rice first!” Cocoro insisted, kneeling and opening the cooker. “Would you pass me your plate, please, Maki-san?”

Maki hesitated for a moment before she heard Nico chuckle. A quick glare only earned her a wide smile in return as the older girl took her place.

“Onee-sama, you’re next.” Cocoro reached for her sister’s plate.

“So, what are you gonna be tonight?” Cocoa asked the redhead sitting kitty-corner from her.

“Eh?” Maki blinked.

“You’re coming with us tonight, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“Well then you have to dress up!”

“Dress up…” Cotarou repeated.

“Onee-sama is dressing up.” Cocoro pointed out.

“Nico-chan?” Maki looked at the twin-tailed girl across from her.

“Not to worry, Maki-chan!” The older girl grinned. “Nico has it all taken care of!”

“I’m going to be Date-Krumm Kimiko!” Cocoa announced before Maki could get more details.

“The tennis player?” Maki inquired, redirecting her curiosity from Nico to a younger Yazawa.

“The best!”

“Cow…” Cotarou held up a hand.

“Cow?” Maki raised an eyebrow.

“Moo…”

Nico laughed. “Mama and I made a really cute costume for him this year.”

“A cow?” Maki continued to question.

“It’s what he wanted.”

“Moo…” The young boy repeated.

“So how about you, Cocoro?” Maki asked.

“Julia Child.” The oldest of the three younger siblings stated. “The second-best cook in the universe.”

“Second?” Even as the word left her mouth, Maki realized the answer.

“To Onee-sama, of course.”

“Soon to be third best, if Nico has anything to say about it.” Nico added, patting her sister’s head.

Again, the rebuttal bubbled up, held in Maki’s throat and was swallowed with her next bite. Not only was the food she was eating delicious, there was something… just… what to call it… heartwarming, about the interactions between Nico and her siblings. Far be it for her to ruin the moment.

As dinner continued, the younger Yazawa siblings talked about their plans for the night, what shops gave out the best candy last year and what they hoped to receive this year. Maki and Nico added a bit to the conversation here and there but were otherwise content letting the kids be excited.

Then after the meal and clean up, everyone went to change into their costumes. Maki followed Nico into her old room.

“Here you go, Maki-chan!” Nico said proudly, holding an outfit toward the younger girl.

“Nico-chan…” Maki was struck with nostalgia as she accepted the garment.

“Dancing stars on me!” Nico sang the title line of the song from a year ago.

“Where… How many did you and Kotori keep?”

“Just a few.” Nico shrugged. “I thought everyone knew.”

Maki shook her head.

“Well, if you want any of yours, let us know.”

“Hrm…” Maki wondered if she should take up the offer.

“And I’m wearing mine from the same set.” Nico turned to retrieve said costume from the drawer. “So Nico and Maki-chan can match! Which is part of why I invited Maki-chan tonight. Also,” She giggled as she turned back around “I may need help carrying some stuff if I’m going to wear these.” She held up her hands, now wearing pink cat paws.

“So I’m to be a candy pack mule?” Maki raised an eyebrow.

“Yup!” Nico chirped.

Maki deadpanned while Nico laughed.

“I suppose it can’t be helped…” The younger girl finally agreed with a sigh that was nowhere near serious.

It wasn’t like she was completely against the idea. If she were being honest, she had been looking forward to spending time with Nico and her siblings and watching said siblings collect their candy ever since Nico had proposed the idea. She hadn’t anticipated participating, but getting to wear another old µ’s costume was something she couldn’t pass up. And maybe seeing Nico wear one as well might have its own appeal. Maybe…

“Anyway, I think we’ll have fun tonight.” The older girl continued. “So let’s hurry up and get changed!”

Maki did as instructed, smiling as she secured the black caplet around her shoulders. It really had been an adorable costume, she thought, checking her reflection in one of Nico’s mirrors. Still was an adorable costume.

“Don’t forget this.”

Maki turned to see a headband with bat-like wings being handed to her.

“Oh yeah, thanks.”

“And we can’t be dancing stars without stars.” Nico produced a pair of hairclips. “Here.” She reached up to secure the star in Maki’s bangs. She stepped back for a second before moving forward again and adjusting the accessory. “There.” She nodded before attaching her own. “How’s that?”

Maki smiled and reached over to adjust the star in Nico’s hair, not because it needed realignment but because part of her wanted to mimic what Nico had just done for her. For some reason.

“Now we’re good.” Maki said, satisfied with her actions.

“Then let’s check on the kids.” Nico replied, slipping on her cat paw gloves again. She then frowned as she reached for the other girl’s hand but found she couldn’t do anything through the gloves.

Maki laughed and grabbed a paw. “Alright.”

“Pretty…” Cotarou murmured as the group entered the shopping mall.

Maki couldn’t disagree as she surveyed the stunning scene around her. Many of the shops had gone all out with their individual decorating as though there had been some sort of competition among them, but even the common areas had decked out. Witches on brooms hung from above while skeletons and ghouls danced below. Jack-o-lanterns provided flickering lighting amid the dimmed normal fixtures. Spider webs were stretched across doorways and passages. Mist crept across the floor in many areas.

And the costumes. By the gods, the costumes. They were everywhere. Though she had pretty much expected this to be the case, Maki found herself relieved that she wouldn’t stand out too much in her own costume.

“Hey, we should have a contest.” Cocoa suddenly suggested, refocusing Maki’s attention to the group.

“A contest?” Nico grinned. “What do you have in mind?”

“Who can get the most candy!”

“Wouldn’t we all get the same?” Maki wonder aloud.

“Not if we split up into teams!”

“But we’re five people.” Cocoro pointed out. “There’s no good way to divide that number.”

“Hrm…” Cocoa considered. “Alright, how about kids vs. adults?”

Nico scoffed. “Adults?” She glanced at Maki.

“What was that?” The redhead raised an eyebrow. “You’re one to talk.”

“Anyway, as much as Nico would love to team up with Maki-chan, I think it would be best if there was an adult on each team.” The raven-haired girl accented the word adult unnecessarily, earning a glare from the high school second-year.

“Then I’m with Maki-chan!” Cocoa claimed immediately.

Cocoro looked like she was about to protest but decided against it. “Then I shall go with Onee-sama.”

“And Cotarou?”

“I’ll take him.” Nico offered. “I’m used to dealing with all three, so two is easy. Is that alright with you, Maki-chan?”

Maki hummed an affirmation.

“But then they have three.” Cocoa said.

“We can average out the total earnings of each team.” Maki suggested.

“That’s my Maki-chan.” Nico grinned. “A brilliant solution.”

Maki felt heat gather in her cheeks. It was not uncommon for Nico to call her as such, and it never failed to embarrass her, much to her chagrin.

“So, we have our teams.” Nico raised a paw to encourage on the others. “Let’s go get some candy!”

The younger Yazawa siblings cheered in response.

“Thank you for inviting me tonight, Nico-chan.” Maki said, straitening her skirt, having just changed back into her school clothes. “That was a lot of fun.”

“Thanks for coming.” Nico replied as she turned toward the younger girl with a grin. “And thanks for putting up with the kids again.”

“They’re fine.”

“They enjoy seeing you. And of course, Nico does too.”

Maki felt her face warm a bit in embarrassment, but it still made her happy. “I like seeing them too.”

“Just them?” Nico pouted playfully.

Maki laughed. “Of course, I like seeing Nico-chan as well.”

“So, you two never did tell us…” Nico started.

“Tell you what?” Maki had a feeling she knew the answer, but asked anyway.

“What Maki-chan and Cocoa did to get so much candy.”

“Oh…”

“I mean forget averaging, you two beat the rest of us flat out.”

“… Just… normal trick or treating stuff…” Gods, why couldn’t she hide her embarrassment better?

Nico narrowed her eyes. No surprise, the older girl didn’t believe her.

“I’m telling you, it was just normal.” Maki insisted.

“Fine. Fine.” Nico shrugged. “I’ll just ask Cocoa later.”

Maki took a deep breath through gritted teeth and held it as she maintained eye contact with the older girl. After a moment, it became obvious Nico wasn’t relenting, so she relaxed her jaw and sighed. “She… uhm… convinced me to sing…”

“I know.”

“Buweehh?” Maki balked. “Y-you knew?”

“Uh, yeah. We weren’t too far away, you know. I just wanted to hear you admit it.”

Maki couldn’t help pursing her lips into a pout.

“And Maki-chan has a fairly distinctive singing voice.” Nico smirked. “Almost as lovely as Nico’s.”

Maki’s cheeks burned. “I-idiot…”

“You like it.” Nico stuck out her tongue.

“… Maybe…”

“Anyway, I’ll walk you to the station.” Nico offered, reaching forward. As she was no longer wearing the cat paws, she was able to actually take the other girl’s hand this time.

Maki nodded and the two headed for the bedroom door. However, as soon as Nico opened it, they found three faces staring up at them.

“Are you really going back tonight?” Cocoa was the one to speak up first.

“Huh?” Nico blinked. “Well, yes, that was kind of the plan…”

“You can have your old bedroom back for the night.” Cocoro offered.

“Stay…” Cotarou drawled.

“Well…” Nico laughed lightly. “I guess it can’t be helped. Let me just walk Maki-chan to the station.”

“Stay…” Cotarou repeated, this time reaching up to take Maki’s hand.

“Eh?” Maki blinked.

“You’re certainly welcome to stay as well.” Mrs. Yazawa said, coming up behind her children. “We have two guest futons in the living room.”

“Yeah!” Cocoa chimed in, taking the redhead’s other hand. “Stay with us tonight, Maki-chan!”

“Stay with us tonight, Maki-chan!” Another voice mimicked.

“Nico-chan?” Maki glanced at the older girl beside her.

“And in the morning, Nico will make her super special omurice.”

“Onee-sama’s omurice is the best.” Cocoro stated happily.

Maki was tempted to say that she already knew Nico’s skill in making breakfast. Instead, she smiled and said, “Alright. Let me just send a message to Mama.”

“You go ahead and do that.” Mrs. Yazawa nodded. “Nico and I will set up the futons.”

The morning flew by much quicker than Maki would have liked. Thankfully, there was no morning practice with the idol group, but she still needed to leave time to get home and change before heading off to school. As such, she wasn’t able to savor Nico’s breakfast as long as was deserved for such a delectable dish. But at least she was able to get three wonderful smiles when she decided to leave most of her candy for Nico’s siblings to split. It came as no surprise that Nico quickly followed suit, though Maki noted the older girl kept a bit more for herself.

When it finally came time for Nico and Maki to head out for the day, Cocoro, Cocoa and Cotarou lingered in the entry.

“You’re going to come back again soon, right?” Cocoro was the one to give voice to their shared thoughts.

“Of course.” Nico replied with a grin.

“Before Christmas?” Cocoa pressed.

“Absolutely.” The college first-year laughed lightly. “Maybe even in the next week or so, before I have to crack down for my exams.”

The high school second-year bit her tongue on commenting about Nico’s study habits.

“You too…?” Cotarou looked up at the redhead.

“Eh?” Maki hadn’t expected that.

“Yes, you as well, Maki-san.” Cocoro added.

“Come back soon, Maki-chan.” Cocoa smiled.

“Come play with us Maki-chan.” Nico echoed.

“Alright, alright.” Maki held out her hands. “Just… stop saying my name like that.” Especially with those pleading eyes and adorable expressions… She added silently.

The two older girls eventually worked their way through goodbyes and headed for the station.

“So, it’s obvious the kids want to see Maki-chan again.” Nico said as they approached the point where they would need to go their separate ways. “But when does Nico get to see Maki-chan again?”

“Hrm…” Maki pretended to consider. “Well, as you said earlier, exams are coming up. So I suppose you’ll need my help studying…”

“Exams aren’t for a few weeks.”

“Never too early to start studying for them.”

“Bo~o~!” Nico puffed out her cheeks. “And here Nico was hoping Maki-chan would just wanna hang out.”

Maki laughed. “I suppose we could do that as well.”

“Tonight?” Ruby eyes lit up with anticipation.

Well, there’s no doubt where her siblings get it. Maki thought to herself.

“I have practice this afternoon.”

“That’s fine. Just come whenever. Nico will have dinner ready.”

“Alright.” Maki finally agreed with a smile.

“And that’s my train.” Nico said, moving quickly as the doors opened. After boarding, she spun around, grinned and waved her signature gesture. “Have a good day, Maki-chan! See you tonight!”

“Bye, Nico-chan.” Maki managed to reply before the doors closed.

Maki then walked over to where her train was just arriving. As the train started moving, she found herself thinking about how much fun she had the previous night. That may have been her favorite Halloween celebration yet. However, as her thoughts continued, they began to dwell on three young siblings and the big sister they missed. She really couldn’t blame them; she missed seeing Nico every day as well.

Perhaps she could check her schedule to see when she might be free next to visit the younger Yazawas. But at least tonight, she would get to see Nico again. Maybe Nozomi and Eli as well, but definitely Nico. Maki smiled as she watched the city scroll past the windows. Definitely Nico.

Author’s Note Continued: I was inspired by a recent event story in Bandori, but I hit a wall with the main part of what I wanted to write here. And ended up cutting it completely. Hopefully, my little cheat around it will work out.

As mentioned above, this scene turned out a bit longer than intended, and took a bit of a different direction as well. However, in doing so, I think it ties nicely to other scenes I’ve written, as well as a few I still have planned.

Also, it was fun finally writing the Yazawa siblings. I definitely want to write more scenes with them now. E.g. a scene about how they came to refer to Maki as they do might be fun. I had a pretty good idea for Cocoro and Cocoa, but had to think a bit more for Cotarou.

Finally, Dancing stars on me remains high on my list of favorites in the franchise, both the song and the costumes. It is the only one for which I own an entire set of figures; partly because they’re chibi and as such were not as expensive as larger figs. I have the Nico and Maki out on display and have been using their R cards on my casual Cool teams in SIF all month. I’m actually a little disappointed that I will be taking down said display and changing the teams soon, though I am consoled by the fact that I’ll be replacing them with Snow halation.

In any case, because I love Dsom so much, I knew I had to include it in HtHaN at some point. And I’ll probably do so again later.

#NicoMaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #How to Handle a Nico #Love Live #fanfic #Happy Halloween

15 notes · View notes

taelaxies · 6 years

Text

check(mate)

“You know Y/N... The pieces are on the chessboard, not on my crotch.”

Summary: Taehyung would do anything for you to give him a chance. After being rejected, the only chance he had was to win a chess game against you - the chess club president.

Pairing: Taehyung x FemReader. Genre: Smut • School!AU | Warnings: taehyung being a little tease. A/N: Hey! I’m back. I’m feeling a little rusty, but I really wanted this image of my bias playing chess out of my head. Chess can be hot too, ladies and gentleman. Hope you like it.♥ Words: 4.5k

“Hey, Y/N.”

You looked up at him only for a second before returning your attention to your book.

Taehyung frowned, nervously playing with his fingers under the table.

It felt worse than that familiar anxiety minutes before a match. A mixture of excitement and fear was making his hands sweat, as if he had never asked a girl for a date before - which he had, a lot. Maybe Jimin was right and this was a terrible idea: you were not what it was called an ‘easy target’. But he was already there sitting in front of you at the school’s library and there was no turning back now. He cleared his throat and glanced at the chess book you were reading, “How’s your chess club doing?”

Facing him again, you narrowed your eyes in suspicion. “Since when do you care?”

Truth was he couldn't care less about your stupid chess club - the only interesting thing about it was that you were its president. “You’re right, I don’t care,” he admitted. “But… maybe you can teach me how to play sometime?”

A ‘bang’ interrupted the library’s silence when you closed your book loudly and glared at him, “Ha-Ha. What do you want Kim Taehyung?”

Okay, that was it. After all those days watching you from afar at the school canteen, he had to say it just once. He chose the same words he used with many girls before: “Well… I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me? We can do something you lik-”

“Go out, like a date?”

He gulped under your judging stare, “Yeah, like a date.”

It turned out even more awkward than he imagined. The corner of your mouth lifted up as you stood up from your seat and gathered your books, “Kim Taehyung, the only thing you can date is your hand, a ball, or your team of idiots.”

And just like that, the Bangtan’s School volleyball team captain was rejected for the first time.

It was not a surprise, a part of him expected you to react like that: the relationship between his team and your nerd club was not the best since the beginning - and the both of you were now in your last year. He did not blame you, they could sometimes act like idiots, unlike those sophisticated guys you seemed to enjoy being around. Like Kim Namjoon, your club’s vice president and your personal ass kisser who followed you like a puppy.

Well, you two were definitely ‘different species’, like Yoongi said a week later. “Forget about her, dude. That bitch thinks she’s smarter than all of us just because she moves some pieces on a board.”

“Yeah, I bet she’s fuckin’ that weirdo that follows her everywhere.” Jin stuffed his mouth with french fries, “That dimple boy.”

Jimin cringed, “Dimple boy? No way.”

“You should date Soo Young,” Yoongi continued, “she’s hot and she’s obsessed with you since first grade. I would ask her out if I were you.”

Taehyung instinctively glanced at Lee Soo Young, who was eating her lunch a few tables away. His friend was not wrong, she was a nice view indeed - with her red hair and plump lips - and she would be willing to date him anytime. He pursed his lips as his eyes travelled across the canteen again, until they landed on your face. Your hair was shorter, your grey uniform was as neat as always, and you were having fun with something ‘dimples’ said, ignoring the dark pair of eyes admiring you in silence. Why couldn’t you have fun with something he said? He could see you beyond that boring club you loved. Couldn’t you see him beyond his team uniform?

Jungkook snapped his fingers, “Stop staring at her, it’s creepy.”

“Yeah, we need you focused on the practise today, Cap.”

The damn practise. The last thing on his mind was the practice unless it included you. He rubbed his eyes and a long sigh escaped from his lips.

Practise consisted in three steps that Coach Han loved to repeat again and again: warming up, shots and training match. The good thing was that thanks to the incredible nice weather, the warming up would be outside - surrounded by fresh air, grass, birds and the girl’s field hockey team practise which was Hoseok’s favourite view since he had a crush on its goalkeeper. For Taehyung, it was just another day leading the group across the court and setting the pace for a good warming up session.

Perhaps dating Soo Young was not that bad idea, he thought while running in full speed. His self-esteem was lower than usual after your rejection, and maybe - just maybe, the pretty redhead could help him with that. Did that make him a bad person? Because despite her looks, he never really liked Soo Young. He sighed, and stopped - panting for breath. He took off the headband from his forehead and wiped the sweat from his face with it.

Coach Han clapped his hands and shouted, “Shots! NOW!”

Lee Soo Young jumped from her seat two days later, squealing with excitement because the guy she had always wanted had finally asked her out. Soon the whole school knew that the redhead from Class 4C was the new Kim Taehyung’s conquest.

If only they knew. If only you knew.

The news spread like a virus, and you heard them too - from some random girl mumbling how Taehyung was way too handsome for someone like her.

“You think Taehyung would take me on a date? I’m better than SooSoo.” the girl said to her friend as she scrolled down on her phone. What was it about Taehyung that everybody loved? More than a week had passed since your encounter at the library, and it still seemed surreal. What did he want from you? If he liked Soo Young why would he try his luck with you of all people?

Soo Young did not ask herself the reason of their sudden date, but that next Friday she waited for Taehyung at the coffee shop after school like he told her. She was still wearing her uniform, but she had applied some makeup on her face at the bathroom before leaving. She picked a table and ordered water, glancing at her phone and wondering if her date finished his practise later than expected.

Unfortunately for her, her date was running through the south hallway at school, looking for an specific door before it was too late - before he dated some other girl and tried to forget about you again.

The Chess Club door was the last one. There was no one there, because let’s be honest: your club was not the most popular one, it had only seven members including you. Taehyung sighed in relief, knocking on the door and praying for you to open it fast before someone could see him standing there.

“The club is closed!”

Closed? He recognized your voice shouting from the other side of the door.

“It’s Kim Taehyung!”

It took you a few more seconds to open the door and appear in front of him with a frown twisting your features, “What are you doing here?”

“Are you sure you are not interested in me? I need to know.”

Your eyes opened wide and your jaw fell. “I heard you already have your girl so, what’s the point?”

“I don’t have a girl, I just...” he rubbed his eyes and tilted his head back in frustration, “If you say yes then I don’t need other girl.”

“That’s why you’re dating Soo Young now?”

“I’m no- Wait, does it bother you?”

You tried to close the door again but his hand stopped you, “Y/N, please. I’d do anything. If you tell me to leave now, I’m not asking you again.”

“You’re so dramatic. ”

“Can I come in?”

“No.”

Taehyung rolled his eyes and buried his hands in the pockets of his grey pants. He did not have an simple reason why he liked you that much, he just knew. You just know those things. He stared at some random spot above you and spoke, avoiding your gaze, “Every time I enter a room I look for your face because I want to see you, it just… It just happened, ok? I don’t choose who to like! You feel… different, and I want to know you more. Is that so wrong?”

Afraid to look at you again, he waited for you to say something - and hoped you would not shut the door in his face.

“Okay,” you breathed.

Okay? He arched his eyebrow and finally met your eyes. You were leaning against the door, with your arms folded on your chest. “I’ll give you only one chance, Kim Taehyung. Let’s play chess. If you lose, you’ll leave me alone. If you win, you can take me on a date with you.”

He was about to say he had no idea of how to play chess. He barely remembered some moves his father had taught him ages ago. You would certainly win. You were challenging him because you knew you would, and he would be forced to leave you alone after that.

Things would be so different on a volleyball court.

He sighed, glancing at the clock on his phone screen. He was thirty minutes late to his date. What was he expecting? That you would say yes just like that before falling into his arms? However, you were offering him a chance (a very small one) instead of saying no this time. Something had changed.

“Deal.”

He had never been inside your club, because there was no reason for a volleyball player to be there, but it was no surprise that the white classroom looked as clean and neat as you. A big calendar was hanging on the wall, with a date circled in red: ‘02/05 Scholastic Chess Tournament!’

You told him the truth before, the club was closed since the extracurricular activities had already finished. You were cleaning, there were boxes piled on a corner next to a broom.

He watched you place a chessboard on a small table with two chairs on its sides. He pictured you usually practicing right there when you were with your fellow members. Your fingers carefully moved the pieces to their respective squares, which formed an elegant mixture of black and white.

Once the two of you were facing each other across the table, the game was ready to begin.

He chose the black pieces, so you would play with the white ones.

He convinced himself - he could do it. Or well, try.

Twenty minutes later, you were effortlessly winning. The only thing he knew was that pawns moved only one square forward at a time, and that the Bishop moved diagonally. In twenty more minutes or less, he would be done - and far away from you. You were enjoying it, a proud smirk decorated your pretty face as you expertly moved your pieces. You had a spark in your eyes he had never seen before, and it was beautiful. The same spark he had when the ball hit the floor every time he scored a point.

“Thinking of giving up?” you mocked him.

He smirked. “Never.”

You captured his Knight with your pawn. All of your white pieces were still on the board when his black ones kept being captured every turn, and Taehyung knew defeat was inevitable.

Until an involuntary movement while adjusting himself on his seat caused his foot to touch yours. It was a very small contact that made you glance under the table for a second before returning your attention to the game again, confused.

But little did you know that for Taehyung, it was his ticket to success.

He had to test that again. Smiling to himself, his long fingers placed the Queen a few squares backwards, not really knowing what he was doing. Then, it was your turn.

He raised his foot on purpose this time, the tip of his shoe traced an invisible line up on your calf.

Oh God, you looked so uncomfortable. You shook your leg and glanced under the table again, but his foot had stopped and rested innocently on the floor. You pressed your lips into a thin line, maybe wondering if it was just your imagination. Then you realized you still had a piece in your hand but you could not remember what you were planning to do with it.

You whined quietly and simply moved a pawn.

Bingo. If he distracted you long enough, you would fail and maybe give him a chance to win.

He bit his lower lip when it was your turn again. He decided to move his foot a little higher, as much as his long legs allowed him. He thought he could do it when his foot found your knee and then-

“What do you think you’re doing?!” you snapped, dragging your chair away from the table and letting your white piece fall from your hand.

Taehyung shrugged. “Strategy.”

“Are you trying to make me lose the game by teasing me under the table? That’s your strategy?”

“It would be more effective if you came a little closer.”

“You’re such an idiot, I’m wasting my time here.” You stood up, “We’re done.”

“Oh, so you lose.”

You laughed. “Are you blind? I won. You just have a few pieces left, there’s nothing you can do with that.”

“If you get up from that chair, you’ll be the one giving up. You lose.”

Your clenched fists turned your knuckles white because of the pressure as you darted a poisonous look at your opponent. “Right.”

You returned to your seat, but stayed away from Taehyung’s legs. Your proud smirk had faded away and instead, you were biting your lower lip so hard he thought it would eventually bleed.

Your Rook captured another one of his pawns and he cursed you under his breath. At that distance there was no way he could touch you in any form. He was running out of pieces and chances.

Before moving a piece, he eyed you from head to toe one last time, your features, your white shirt just like his, your grey skirt, your bare legs…

Okay, Plan B.

“Let’s play a game.” he announced.

“We are playing a game, Taehyung.”

“We followed your rules and I agreed,” he spitted, clasping two fingers around his tie an quickly loosening it. In a blink, the tie was on the floor and a mischievous grin was plastered on his face, “Now you’ll follow mine.”

“Your rules?” your eyebrows raised as you pointed your finger at his tie on the floor.

“I’ll take off one item of my clothes each time you capture one of my few pieces left. It’s up to you if you want to win and see me naked - which I’ll understand if you want to - or if you want to give up and date me.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” “Try me.”

If a little touch of his foot made you uncomfortable, he wished you could see your expression when he took off his grey jacket, then his shoes, then his socks and then his shirt with every black piece you captured.

Amused, he watched you struggle to stay focused on the board and not on his tan chest. Why did it look so good? Besides, you had never noticed his tiger necklace before: the silver chain popped on his golden skin.

You moved your piece but avoided capturing one of his.

“Would dating me be so bad?” he pouted.

Your eyes found his and inevitably fell on his chest, and he watched you gulp, “I had never considered it before. I never thought you were serious.”

“Can’t you see me trying here? I’m dead serious.”

How couldn’t you when you had him almost naked right in front of you? You fixed your sight on the board again, your hand hovering over your white Bishop before capturing another one of his pieces, “Check.”

Your victorious grin lasted only a few seconds until you realized that Taehyung was pulling down the zipper of his pants - the fabric rolled down his legs until the floor. “Please stop undressing asshole, it’s embarrassing” you mumbled.

“You can always lose and I’ll get dress again.”

Lose? You were not a loser, were you? You kept your eyes down while he sat on his chair again and spread his legs as if he was at comfort of the gym dressing room. You could not help but to glance at the growing bulge inside his black boxers, wondering which part of the game aroused him enough to be that hard. “You know Y/N,” he said, “The pieces are on the chessboard, not on my crotch.”

“Can you shut up?”

“What, you wanna see it? Is this turning you on, Y/N?” he pushed his last Knight forward as a bait for her Queen.

You were hesitating, your finger caressed the only one piece standing in your way to checkmate and he did the same with the waistband of his boxers - his silent warning for you. “I’m not responsible for what happens if you claim checkmate.” he added.

“Are you challenging me now?”

“I’ve been challenging you for the last forty minutes.”

You were players after all. True, you were ‘different species’ like Yoongi said, but the both of you loved the challenge of a good game. And you loved winning.

You pressed your finger on your Queen. The only thing you had to do, was to capture his Knight. Checkmate.

Just one checkmate.

Your eyes danced between the board and Taehyung, every part of Taehyung. You forgave his Knight’s life and moved your Queen just one square backwards. “We can call it a tie.”

He raised his eyebrows and folded his arms on his chest. “A tie? Wow, I didn’t know you were a coward.” He bit his lip, “It’s my turn to move now, then.”

Taehyung stood up from his seat and leaned forward, placing his hands on the chessboard and causing all the pieces to fall to the floor. “Say checkmate, come on. You don’t want to win?”

His face was so close to yours you could smell his cologne and see the veins popping from his neck. Your eyes looked for his but his dark orbs were focused on your lips when they parted and said: “Checkm-”

Kiss.

He had never tasted something like your lips. You had probably drank some sweet coffee before the game, because he swore he could savor the sugar on your lips every time they moved against his with no hesitation. Have you thought about kissing him before? He liked to think you did or maybe you were just lost in the moment, because you were as eager as he was

Your fingers traced a line from his jaw to his ear before burying them in his hair.

“What-” he mumbled in your mouth, “What were you saying?” “I think I’m letting you win, Taehyung.”

With a satisfied smirk plastered on his face, he patted the chessboard and motioned you to take a seat on it. He helped you to do it until your legs were hanging over the edge of the table as he placed his hands on the sides of your face and kissed you again - drawing circles with his thumb on your cheeks.

You just had to lower your sight just a little to see his erection begging for attention under the fabric of his boxers.

“Why are you so hard? We played chess, you always said chess is boring.” you breathed in his ear.

“It is boring. I guess watching you kicking my ass and being all smart turns me on.”

Your teeth brushed as the both of you smiled at the same time before pressing your lips together again one more time.

“Can we skip the date just for today and fuck?”

“Weeell, you won.”

Was that a yes? Because he took it as one. He covered your neck with kisses while his long fingers unbuttoned your shirt with the same ease as he did with his own minutes before. You hummed at the touch of his fingertips grazing your skin with every button he released all the way down - until your shirt ended on the floor with the rest of his clothes.

“Oh no, no,” he shook his head when your fingers searched for the waistband of his boxers. He stepped away from you and grabbed his red tie from the floor, “you caused too many problems today with those fingers and your fuckin’ pieces.”

In a second, the tie was tied around your wrists and your hands were now useless against your back. Taehyung observed his work proudly before kneeling on the floor and spreading your legs wider. He pulled your ass closer to the edge of the table and rolled up your skirt. His length twitched when his eyes met the wet patch ruining your white panties, your particular scent filling his senses and urging him to touch you.

He was not the only one aroused by all this after all: the smart, serious girl he admired from afar was now blushed, tied, and ruining her underwear because of him. Your breasts kept slightly bouncing up and down inside your bra with every erratic breath you took and it was beautiful.

He licked his lips and rolled your underwear down until he heard it fall onto the floor. What would he do to you first? Hell, he had thought about you like this too many times to count. Having you like this, as excited as he was, looked like one of his dreams. Your thighs were quivering on the sides of his face and slyly pushing him even closer, waiting for his touch. Instead, two of his fingers entered his mouth before circling his tongue around them.

He caressed your folds, you were so wet it was ridiculous to think you had rejected him before. “Are you going to take my cock well, Y/N? I begged so much for you. Will you beg for me to fuck you now?”

You felt his fingers pressed against your entrance, rubbing up and down until you answered. You simply nodded, unable to speak at the sight of his hungry eyes glued to your heat.

The chess room was spinning around you when his digits pumped inside of you. They were harsh in comparison with your soft walls, maybe because of all his practises and exercises. He was fast and rough, as if this was a race and he wanted you to be the first to cum. Every time his knuckles hit your skin, your clit reacted at the contact and pulsed, begging to be touched and making your gasp.

“Damn, touch me Tae-Taehyung.” you moaned.

“Later.” he curled his fingers inside you and your legs trembled. His free hand travelled up to your breasts, massaging them over your bra and making you moan louder, “Is the door closed?”

“There’s no one here now, idio-” you swallowed your words when he pumped even faster and sunk his teeth on your thigh only to lick the wound after. You wanted to make him touch your clit and relief you from the pain but your hands were locked on your back and your voice could not leave your mouth.

“It’s your turn to move.”

You whimpered at the loss of contact when he stood up, licking his fingers again - but this time coated in your juices. He pointed to the floor and you clumsily left your small table to get on your knees in front of him.

When his cock sprung free and his boxers fell to the floor, you gulped. His tip was reddened and glistening with precum, God knows for how long he had been hard for you.

You tried to move your hands and he sighed. “Can’t you see you’re tied, babe? Without hands. Suck.”

Who would have thought that the guy awkwardly asking you out at the library was now guiding his dick into your mouth. He placed his palms on the back of your head when your lips circled around his tip, and your warm breath made him shiver. Slightly moving your face side to side, you flattened your tongue enough to take him deep, inch by inch, encouraged by his low grunts after his tip reached the back of your throat.

A string of saliva fell from your mouth when he paused, allowing you to breathe, before slamming himself back in.

His hips started thrusting forward when the feeling of your mouth around him was not enough, the friction of your lips against his pulsing veins making him curse under his breath and eventually release a throaty moan.

“I’m gonna cum just with your mouth, unless you want me to fuck you Y/N.”

You wanted to answer but he slammed his dick inside your mouth again and your eyes watered. “What did you say Y/N? You don’t want me to fuck your pussy?”

Your hands fought against the tie keeping them in place, as you tried to make him understand you wanted him inside of you so bad, but then again, you could only answer with his cock between your lips. The vibrations of your words against him were too much for him to handle and pulled himself out.

“Please fuck me.”

“Are you sure? I’ll need something better than that.”

“Please, please, please, I want you Taehyung. I did since we started playing.”

“Bend on the table.”

From behind you, Taehyung unclasped your bra first and digged his fingers into the skin of your breasts, planting wet kisses on the back of your neck and your earlobe, “You smell amazing.”

You doubted that because you were covered in sweat, but that was the last thing he had on his mind. The tip of his cock was caressing your folds slowly, enjoying the soft sounds that escaped from your lips because of his sudden gentleness.

He lowered his eyes to the sight of your ass, your rolled up skirt, and his dick - stroking it slowly before guiding it to your entrance. “Fuck.” You were taken by surprise when he pushed himself deep inside and the skin of your ass burned at the contact with his hips.

“You said I could only date my hand.” Thrust. “A ball.” Thrust. “or my team of idiots.” Thrust. “Look at you now, chess club president.”

Letting go of your breasts, his hand explored all the way down to your throbbing clit and rubbed circles on it as he pumped in and out faster with every moan that filled the room. He wished you could see the red skin of your ass every time his hip bones crashed with it. “So hot” he grunted, lowering his pace

His cum filled you first, intoxicated by the fact that it was you who was moaning his name and “You fuck me so good,” from time to time. His mouth went dry and his legs shook with a series of sloppy thrusts that finished with him kissing your back.

However, his cock stayed inside of you while his fingers kept rubbing circles on your clit, “I want to feel you come from inside.” he whispered in your ear, pressing his chest on your back and fastening his movements.

You clenched around him and his lips parted at the feeling - it was your orgasm coating his length in your cum and squeezing it with every spasm of your body as you released the most erotic sounds he had ever heard.

“You felt amazing.”

“You too.”

None of you knew what time was it when you gathered your clothes from the floor and lazily tried to get dressed again. Did that matter anyway? You smiled at each other, sharing a knowing look as you struggled with the buttons of your shirt, the same he had unbuttoned so easily.

Your thigh hurt, your ass burned, and your wrists had marks - it had happened so fast you did not realize earlier. Was this the beginning of something? You fell for his charms (or stupidity), even when you did not want to.

“So… Tomorrow? Movie? You and me?” he asked, placing the red tie around his neck again.

It sounded so out of place after what you had done. Was he seriously asking after fucking you from behind? You rolled your eyes. You watched all the chess pieces scattered on the floor and sighed. “You won, Taehyung. Yes.” Yes.

He giggled and stood in front of you, fixing your hair “Your post-sex hair looks terrible.”

“Have you seen yourself?”

“I have this.” He took his headband from the pocket of his jacket and put it on. “See? I look hot wearing this.”

You laughed. “Did I really agree to date you?

“There’s no turning back, Y/N.”

Lee Soo Young (4:45 PM) Where r u? u coming?

Lee Soo Young (5:01 PM) Taehyung?

Lee Soo Young (5:18 PM) I hope u rot in hell

Min Yoongi: (6:42 PM) Dude. I found Soo Young at the coffee shop. Thanks for standing her up best date of my life.

Kim Taehyung (7:10 PM) Same.

#taehyung smut #bts smut #bts scenarios #taehyung scenarios #kpop smut #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #taehyung imagines #bts imagines #taehyung fanfic #kim taehyung #smut #bts fanfic

2K notes · View notes

creativebeast18 · 6 years

Text

Robstar Week day 2: Cosplay

Don’t Hide It

The only reason I put “Robstar Week” on the tittle, is so that people know that’s my entry. But it’s nice having a word that must be the center theme of the story, else, I would’ve never thought of writing this.

I’m sorry I’m taking so long. I have a few proyects going on and I must supervise all of them. You know how in every group of friends, there’s the “Mom” friend, because they’re the responsible ones? Well, I’m the mom, and I have to help my children not to fuck up

Enjoy!

——————————————————

Summary: Starfire doesn’t think she is the right person to cosplay. Who else can make her change her mind but the boy wonder himself?

——————————————————

Starfire stared at her reflection with a frown. This was the third time she changed clothes and hair style, and still not one outfit had convinced her. She took off her black wig and let her hair down from it’s updo. She placed the fake hair contraption on her bed, along with all of her failed attempts.

“Let’s see: Not The Wasp, not Hinata, and definitely not Sailor Mars...Ugh!!!” Kori plopped down into her bed and closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do at this time. She tried to think of a plan that could save her from not going. She could pretend to be sick...but that would make some of her friends worry and take care of her, and Robin and her would also miss the convention. What about saying that she had to go to a special and urgent mission that The Batman had encomended her and her only? No, Robin would immediately contact him, explaining that this was the Titans day off, and that was something NO-ONE messed with (after Tokyo, Robin took vacations seriously).

Starfire sat up and begun to gather all the costumes to hide them under her bed. What was she thinking when she said yes to cosplay?! She had never done this before, she only could do so much with the time that she had been given, and, most troublesome of all, she had ORANGE SKIN. No amount of makeup in the world would cover it up to look like the characters she liked from comics, books or anime. She would never be able to cosplay without looking ridiculous. But her thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock on her door.

“Star? Can I come in for a sec?”. It was her three month boyfriend, Richard Grayson. She remembered when he talked to her about the Con of the Comic. How marvelled he had seemed at the hundreds of entertainments and how his eyes had glimmered when he spoke about the cosplay. His exact words lingered on her head: “I’ve always wanted to do it, but it felt dumb to do it alone”. Well, she being his girlfriend, and not wanting to disappoint him, what other thing could she do but say yes?

“Y-yes, of course, boyfriend Robin.” She threw the garments on her hands to one corner of the room in an attempt to ignore them and not worry her lover. Richard came into the room and closed the door. He turned around and noticed the worried grin on her favourite alien’s face, almost like a fake smile, as if she was trying to hide something. He placed a quick peck on her left cheek, making her blush slightly. He took a step back and extended his arms, grabbing her wrists gently.

“Why the long face, Kori? Something I can help you with?”. Koriand’r looked to one side, then the other, avoiding his gaze. Finally, she closed her eyes and directed her head to the floor. Robin used one hand and placed it on her chin, lifting up her eyes so that they met his. She slowly moved her lips, barely making a whisper. Dick tried to close the space between them, so that he and only he could hear whatever she had to say. “Sorry, what did you say?”. Yet it didn’t work, as Starfire turned around and hugged herself. Richard, oblivious to what was happening, pleaded. “Please, don’t hide what’s wrong. I want to help”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry for how I look, and for not knowing so much of the shows as you, and for promising something that is simply impossible for me, and for disappointing you and...!”. She was cut of by a passionate kiss on her lips. Robin had placed his hands on her waist and gone for it. Star was so surprised, she didn’t close her eyes at first, but relaxed into it when the tears couldn’t let her see anymore. The small drops fell through her cheeks and into her mouth, allowing both to taste the saltiness. One of his hands trailed its way up to her face, cupping it and stroking the back of her ear with his fingertips. After a couple of minutes, Dick pulled apart their lips, but kept their faces close, making their foreheads touch to stay connected.

“There’s absolutely nothing to be sorry about. There’s nothing wrong with the way you look, the way you are, ever. Because you are the most amazing person I have aver and could’ve ever encountered in my life, okay?” Kori didn’t say anything, only nodded. “Okay, so in summary, and from what I gathered, you can’t find a costume, right?”. Richard stepped back and looked around. A couple of clothes were laying messily in the corner of the room, and a wig had hooked itself on the edge of an open drawer.

“No, you would be correct on that. My skin is too orange, while all of the characters have a paler complexion. Also, there are not many redheads that I like and can do the cosplay of them, at least, not without being too revealing”. Both of them blushed at the thought of her revealing too much. “Not for others eyes but mine” , Robin thought, although he knew it would be a long time until that moment came. “I cannot help but think that I will look ridiculous, no matter what costume I wear”.

“Star, that’s exactly what cosplay is about” Kori looked confused. “Sorry, let me explain. Cosplay is about feeling like the character you are portraying, and taking pictures with the people that admire them just as much as you do. It’s about getting into those clothes and feeling invincible, and everyone appreciating all the details put into the hole ensemble. Yeah, you can look amazing, but sometimes you can look ridiculous, especially if you are an amateur like us. But all the people on the convention don’t care, because they know they are dorky too. That’s the best about the convention, we can all be dorks together! And look ridiculous together!”. Richard took a step back and flung his arms in the air, making Starfire giggle a little. He then realized he was getting carried away, and took a deep breath. “Look, what I’m trying to say is that, yeah, we will probably look ridiculous, but we´ll do it together! And the people at Comic-con can’t judge us because there was a time in which they looked ridiculous too. It takes a lot of bravery to cosplay, and that someone shows up dressed up like a character is already something to applaud, even if they look weird and have a lot of things from the character missing. So, don’t ever think you could look ridiculous, okay?”

Kori blushed and rose a hand to her cheek, delighted by the words that her soul mate had spoken. It was one of the reasons they were both attracted to the other: they always knew the right words to say when the other was in distress. She smiled cutesely and closed her eyes, radiating happiness all over the bedroom. Dick secretly loved that smile from her, and she knew it. He stretched his arms out and grabbed both her hands. “So, do you still wanna cosplay? Or do you want us to go in our civilian clothes?"

Star softly smiled and asked "What would you suggest, Robin?". She looked at the stash of discarded clothes, still very unsure of them, as she kept thinking she hadn’t found the right one. The thoughts of not going crawled to her mind again, and Richard probably felt it too, as he replied.

"It makes no difference to me. I think you always look gorgeous. But if I had to choose, there’s someone that you can go as without having to put a second hand wig, and you are just as, if not more of a badass than her”. He went into her closet and got out a simple pale yellow t-shirt. He turned on his steps and headed through the door. “Be right back, I gotta go get something for you”.

——————————————————-

As the pair holded hands, they headed into the building, and both marveled on the wonders inside. Starfire could not believe such creations could come into live so realistically. Robin stared at his girlfriend up and down: A dark green dress, a pale yellow shirt and a blue bracelet, combined with her red mane, made the perfect Kushina Uzumaki.

“Oh, Richard, such a display of joyful people was not something I could have ever thinked of. You spoke incredible things about the Con of the Comic, but this is simply...spectacular!! And you had the best idea too!” She eyed him carefully, analyzing his ensemble: the white robe with the painted red flames, navy blue shirt and pants, a simple green vest, and a blue headband with a metal rectangle, engraved with a leaf, attached to it. “I must admit, you make a great Minato, although we didn’t manage to find the wig”.

“Nor the right vest either, but it really doesn’t matter, I’m glad that we came here like this. See that everyone likes it?”. Dick nudged his head to the side, signaling a couple of fans that were pointing at them in awe and taking pictures from afar.

“You were absolutely right. I did not know there was a thing such as a couples costume. It is the best idea”. She also hadn’t told him, but Minato Namikaze was one of her favourite characters from Naruto. Plus, having the day with Richard, dressed as one of her favourite characters, without him covering his cerulean eyes for her to explore? Starfire was having a blast, and she had all day to enjoy. What did it matter if their costumes were not the best? Or if they looked a bit ridiculous compared to others? She was having the time of her life, taking pictures with fans and others that were doing cosplay of her favourite characters. It didn’t matter that her skin was orange, or that her eyes were green and Kushina’s were blue. Fans appreciated courage, and creativity. But above all, they loved self expression, especially because events like this were designed to express themselves. Being on this embracing community, how could she ever have thought that she would embarrass Robin? So she embraced her weirdness just like she had before, and never hid her insecurities from him, or anyone, ever again.

#robstar #robstar week 2018 #robstarweek #robstar week #day 2 #cosplay #starfire #robin #koriand'r #nightwing #richard grayson #kori anders #dick grayson #teen titans #dc comics

23 notes · View notes