#she always has new injuries and broken bones

[i-am-hungry-24-7]

I've just re-read my previous requested fic for tf 141 x reader with high pain tolerance, and I think we could extend this prompt (and as always you can take it or leave it, no pressure a yea 👍🏻)

What if TF 141 almost lost F!Reader again, this time she got caught by enemies and got tortured for crucial/classified information. While being tortured, you can't help but feel a little grateful that you have such an extreme pain tolerance. You finally managed to get out that place by your own (and of course after unaliving your enemies) and got back to your team. Men are worried as hell cause 1) you look like shit, like someone has just crawled out of hell (which in your part it isn't wrong), 2) the fact that you have extreme pain tolerance just make it worse

And when you finally got evaluated by medics, including clothes off, that's when they knew you'd have it worse than what they've imagined. Black-ish bruises almost every where, broken bones, dislocated joints, dried blood etc. It's heartbreaking seeing you like this. Probably some will have self blaming, guilty, rage, and other mixed emotions. Hmm imagine the heavy angst but also the massive comfort after that.

Thankskie 🦈

Summary: high pain tolerance F!Reader get tortured, after you getting rescued, enjoy the FLUFF between you and TF141

cw: very slight gore (interrogation), canon swearing, canon violence

blahaj, FLUFF, TF141*F!Reader

last req about high pain tolerance F!Reader

Oh, This isn’t great. You probably going to die this time.

You licked your chapped lips, the bitterness of iron is obnoxious, making you regret the motion and go back to try to piece together your memories again.

You counted the time when you first got caught, but after endless rounds of interrogations, your mind is too hazy to keep up the measurement.

With your hands bounding tightly on your back, chains and steel bars preventing your legs from moving, all you can do is just prey for your teammates to come.

At least you aren’t afraid, no fear of death, nor fear of pain. It’s always these moments that you feel grateful for having almost no feelings of pain, it makes you keep composed and adamant.

Well, starving kind of sucks though, you guess you’ll even devour those vegetables you hated and shoved into Kyle’s plate if it’s presented to you.

Your mind wanders, from your pudding hiding in the deepest part of the fridge in case someone (Soap) eats it, to how Price will scold your ears off for being too reckless when you’re back, until the footsteps outside the door remind you to concentrate.

Damn, you need to get out alive if you want to listen to your dear Captain recite the rules.

The door creaks open with the broad man stepping in and his dogs tailing after with weapons.

The cool water gets splashed on your face when the man stands still in front of you.

“New toy, yeah?” you spot the machete in the man’s grip

“Glad to see you awake, sergeant?” The man laughs “Seems like the mouth still works pretty well, I hope your mind is clear too so we can cooperate perfectly today.”

“Sober enough to tell you ‘no’, I guess”

Red pours from your shoulder the second after your taunt, and you frown slightly at the little sting.

“Fucking bitch still has a sharp tongue after these wounds...” He eyes down at you with a bit of disbelief.

Even though you can’t see yourself, you know you look like shit either. Burnings from the lighters, slash wounds from various tactical knives, dark bruises forming on your thigh and other parts after countless punches and kicks.

All you need to do is buy time, but even if you barely feel pain, you still will die from blood loss if this keeps going.

The rest of the interrogation is just adding more injuries to your broken body, and your consciousness starts fading.

You really want to take a nap... but will you wake up again? you’re not sure especially when another smash lands on the back of your head.

Just about minutes before you sure will pass out again, you hear the noise. Gunfire, yelling, screaming of a massacre.

They arrived...

“Go check what’s wrong.” The broad man gestures, and one of his subordinates walks out to

“Guess your saviors have come... now” You look straight into the man ’s eyes when he puts the muzzle between your eyes. “No time for playing, one last time, tell me the people gave you the intel.”

The chaos outside is getting louder and closer. Buy time, you tell yourself again, so you whisper

“Okay... Okay... I will tell you, please don’t kill me, please...” You sniff, and start sobbing while your head stays lowered.

“Finally giving up, huh? Tell me, I need their name, who do they belong.” The smirk on the man’s face gets wider, god, you really want to punch his face.

“It’s...” You murmur, and the man leans closer to hear clearly.

“It’s go fuck yourself, you bloody bastard.” You spit the blood on his face and grin like a maniac.

and the door swings open, the gunshot splatters the man’s blood on your face, but you don’t care.

You win.

“Hey, guys, long time no see.” You smile at your teammates after the man collapses beside you.

“You’re fine now, don’t worry, we got you.” Soap rushes to your side “Price is calling the exfil, Ghost and Gaz are outside making sure everything’s clear.”

“Thanks...” You melt into Soap’s arm when he unties the rope and carries you.

“I tell the bastard to go fuck himself, hehe.”

“Stop talking, bonnie, ye need to rest.”

“Did I do great?”

“Yes.” The gravel voice of Soap’s becomes softer as he answers.

“May I rest now?” you blink slowly.

“Of course, lassie.”

Getting the confirmation, The warmth radiating from Soap is too soothing, you want to tell him how much you miss them, but those words are unable to come out as you get dragged into a coma instantly.

“damn...”

Your eyelids flutter open, the familiar white ceiling is the first thing you see.

“Morning, bonnie, how do ye feel?”

“dizzy as fuck.”

“pain?”

“Nah.”

“Sometimes I think you’re not human...” Soap laughs, but he’s worried, or worried can’t describe his mood when he saw your wounds as you were sent into the infirmary.

That day when they back to base, all of them followed you, and didn’t pay any mind about getting their gears off first.

You looked like someone who just found her way out of hell, beautiful face swollen, large bruises spread across your skin like some nasty paintings, and the situation was worse than they expected after the medics cut your clothes off and started their evaluation.

Soap couldn’t forget the rage swallowing him like flames when he saw what you went through in those days, the more wounds they spotted, the more tension in the air became more insufferable.

Gaz and he cursed when they saw the huge burn on your back, skin obviously inflamed, and when the deep cuts that exposed the bones revealed from the cover, he noticed Ghost clenching his fist to suppress anger.

Price stormed out of the infirmary and called Laswell between the medics surmising how many of your bones were broken.

“Wait...” your voice pulls Soap back to reality “blahaj! 4 blahaj! Where do they come from?”

“Price gave them to you, as rewards for your hard work. He said you keep rambling about wanting to have one.”

“awwww” Soap grins as he watches you struggle to hug all of them at one time.

“There ya go.” He helps adjust the plushies so you can get them all in your arms.

“Oh yeah, where’s others?”

“Price’s on op, will be back in a week. Ghost and Gaz will visit you soon.”

“Hmmmm.”

You caress one of the blahaj’s head and turn your face

“Thank you.” you grin “For coming to save me.”

“What are you talking about?” Covering his hand on yours, he looks into your eyes, without those playful glints in his azure ones.

“We’re a team, or more than a team. Ye think we will throw ye there and do nothing?”

The seriousness on his face infatuates you, you meet his gaze without darting, and finally, break into tender giggles.

“yeah, sorry, you’re right.” You chuckle “You know what? In that basement, All I wanted was to get out of there and come back to eat my pudding.”

“Pudding?”

“Yeah, I have one in the fridge.” nodding in excitement, you continue “I should ask the doctor if I can eat it.”

“Wait that’s yours?!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ehhh...” Soap’s smile freezes on his face under panic “I ate it.”

“...”

Soap MacTavish gets kicked out of the room with a new mission: buy 10 puddings.

When Gaz knocks on the door and steps into your ward, you are staring out the window, but turn to him immediately when you hear his arrival.

“Hey, Kyle.” You wave with your better hand.

“Feel better?” The sugar-coated smile he has always provides you with energy, your mood lights up as he takes the seat beside your bed.

“mmhmm, not that dizzy anymore.”

“loves those sharks very much?” He points at the blahajs you squeeze close to you.

“Damn, they’re my new babies now.” You show Gaz each of them.

“This is Pricey, this is Ghostie, this is Gazzy, and this is Soapy.” Proudly introducing them to Gaz, you give the sharkies a few pats.

“Such Innovative names, hm?”

“I don’t think Gaz is some special name too, Kyle.”

You both giggle at the stupid names you granted to the sharks, while Gaz lands his eyes on your arm hanging mid-air, his laughter gradually comes to a halt.

“Hey.” He watches you raise an eyebrow when he calls you “Sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“Just...” His eyes stay on your bruises, traveling along them, and he hates that they lead his gaze to roam your whole figure. “We should be there faster.”

His brown eyes are full of distress when they meet yours again.

“Garrick, come closer.” You beckons, and he follows suit.

“Don’t apologize. When I saw all of you on that goddamn chair, I knew I was safe now.” You cradle his cheek in your palm “You guys are my shelter, my home, and I never thought the chance that my team wouldn’t save me, Soap said it yesterday, and I’m sure you’re the same, yes?”

“Of course.” His eyes soften, and you return him a reassuring smile when

“Time for you to go train the rookies, right?” Shooting a glimpse at the clock, you ask.

“yeah, time to deal with those troubles.” He stands up from the chair and looks down at you “See you, lovie.”

“see ya.”

You watch him walk towards the door, but stop after a few steps.

“Why does Soapy have a huge dent on his head?”

“Oh.” You pout “He ate my pudding, so I punched his shark since I can’t spar with him now.” another punch hit Soapy when you finish speaking.

“Wow...”

Gaz mourns for his brother’s future with his whole heart.

“Still awake?” The gruff yet gentle voice floats into your ear the moment the door slides open.

“Been sleeping the whole day, LT.”

Ghost watches you shift, and lies on your side to face him.

“How’s the day, Ghost?”

“Shit as usual.”

“How about seeing me, feel better?”

“Feels worse.”

“Hey, honesty is a virtue but not here.”

He scoffs at your retort as he observes your face.

“The bruises on your face look smaller.” Ghost indicates.

“Oh yeah, my face! How does it look like?” You point at the hand mirror Gaz brings you, and after Ghost hands it to you, you open the lid.

“Jesus Christ!” you shout when the reflection shows you how shit you look like “I’m so ugly right now!”

“We all know.”

“Damn, if there’s an award for honesty, you will be the winner, Simon.” You throw the mirror back into his grip.

“Will you congratulate me?”

“I will give you an ‘I’m a winner’ sticker for you to paste on your mask.”

He chuckles at your banter, but you can sense his exhaustion, from his limp body to his half-lid eyes.

“You’re tired, Simon. Go back to rest.” You coo softly.

“I’m not leaving until you sleep.”

“but I’m not that sleepy now.”

“Should I sing you a lullaby, sergeant?”

“I’m afraid that my ears don’t have the honor the hear your beautiful singing, Sir.” you feign an ‘oh hell no’ face to him, but your eyes light up when an idea comes to mind.

“Hey, how about you lie on my bed? it can fit 2 people.”

“I don’t know you’re such an active woman.”

“Fuck you, Simon. If you want me to fall asleep then get on the bed right now!”

Sighs in compromise, Ghost rises from the chair and sits on the edge of your bed with a grunt, and you scoot inward to leave him more space to lie down.

“You’re like a bear, Ghost, I’m gonna squash into a pie by you and the blahajs!”

“Then throw those bloody sharks on the floor.”

“No! they’re Tf141 blahaj!” You pet the one in your arms when Ghost gives you a confused face. “This is you, Ghost.”

“The real Ghost is beside you and you choose him over a fake one?”

“I don’t know you’re that active, lieutenant.”

You smirk at him, he’s only wearing a balaclava, so you’re able to see the corner of his eyes crinkle at your words.

But Ghost must have some magic, you grow sleepier under his presence, maybe it’s his steady breath sounds like a lullaby, or it’s because safety he always generously offers to you.

“Sleepy now?” He speaks slowly and quietly as if he’s fear of scaring your sleepiness away.

“a bit...” A big yawn answers the question better than your slurry voice.

“Close your eyes then.”

“mmm.”

You secure the Ghostie blahaj in a tight embrace as you follow Ghost’s command.

you feel light pats on your non-injured part, and you scoot closer to the bulky man, letting him lead you into a peaceful sleep.

Ghost watches you fall asleep, and he moves off the bed as gently as he can.

“Sweet dreams.” He chants in a low voice, and he takes other sharks in his hand, placing them closer to you.

Making sure the sharks are cuddling you, he leaves like a ghost in the serene silence.

You look down at yourself, ankles tied to the chair, blood dripping from the knife that’s barely in your sight.

Aren’t you already out of that basement...?

Is it all a dream? In reality, you’re still getting interrogated?

You try to fixate on the noise outside the door, but you feel the cold metal touching your forehead.

Am I never going to see them again? I want to see them again...

I want to hear Price’s praises, want to hear Soap and Gaz fighting over the last biscuit, want to hear Ghost’s annoyed voices at my frolic.

Tears gather in your eyes when you hear the click from turning off the safety of the gun.

“... geant...sergeant... sergeant.”

“Ahh!” You let out a yell as you snap your eyes open, which are wide with horror.

“Cap-Captain...” You pant whilst you recognize the person pulling you from your nightmare.

“Yes, it’s me, love. You’re safe now, you’re in the base, infirmary, remember?” He caresses your hair to calm you down.

Oh, yes, you aren’t in that basement. You’re back.

You’re with the people you love.

“Why are you here, Captain?” after you breathe steadily again, you notice it’s 1 am, and the aisle outside is silent.

“Just came back from the op, and want to see you.”

“You should have some rest, Price.”

“You mean I leave now even when you just woke up from a nightmare?” He crooks his eyebrows.

“Well...”

“Be selfish, love. I will stay here.”

“You don’t blame me for being too stupid and getting caught by the enemy?”

“Things went south sometimes.” He shakes his head “It’s not your fault.”

“...”

“Say it, luv.” He encourages you when you hesitate.

“I...” “I thought I was not afraid of anything... at least in that basement, pain’s not a big deal for me, starvation is bearable, and death... if that means I won’t lose to those dorks, then it’s nothing to me.”

Price gives you a grunt as acknowledgement, so you continue.

“but... I think I’m still afraid of dying...” You fidget your fingers “I want to see all of you again... I want to come back to you.”

“I don’t want to die...”

You haven’t noticed tears staining your cheeks until Price’s finger — calloused yet warm — wipes the tears away.

“We all know you’re brave, kid.” Price cups your face, hand barely touches your skin, must be avoiding trigger your pain, but you don’t care, nor you can feel the pain, you shove your cheek in it and earn a chuckle from the man.

“Your high pain tolerance makes you look forward to your target without worrying yourself, but keep in mind.”

“Don’t make us worry, you need to come back to us, we can’t lose you, just like you can lose us. Understood?”

“Yes, Capt.”

“You want to go back to sleep?”

“If you tell me a bedtime story, then I will.” the mischievous grin returns to your face.

“Greedy, eh? I thought those sharks could satisfy you.”

“I want your bedtime story too.”

“How about I tell you a story about how to become an attentive soldier?”

“Fuck you, Captain.”

You hit Price with the plushie, which he catches easily, and put it on his lap, letting you give the shark little punches to drain your excessive energy, as he starts telling what happened when he met Soap the first time.

You aren’t afraid of pain, and you become an undaunted person on the battlefield. Yet still, you now keep in mind that there are people who love you, and are worried about you.

You all are a team, a home, and a haven for each other, always by each other’s side, or waiting for others to return safely.

and it’s really nice to be able to come back home.

a/n: thanks for reading! and thank you sharkie for the request, I hope you will like it (or not too disappointed) !! :D

Have a nice day/night, everyone!

[lovelyladyabsinthewrites]

Can I request ACOTAR poly bats x mate reader? Who got killed if you don't write that the reader just got injured badly? Thank you!

Injury HC (ft. poly!mates Bat Boys)

While I love me some heavy angst, I just couldn't bring myself to kill off mate reader even if its just for a hc 😭😅

Warnings: lots of mentions of blood, wounded/dying!reader, polyamorous mates, injuries, healing, angst and fluff, ft. mor, ft. amren, ft. madja, ft. wraiths

woof where to begin

it would be damn near impossible for any of them to think rationally at the sight of blood coming from you, not their beloved who should only be full of smiles and laughter

bat boys become overbearing if you even get a papercut

But this. . . this was something else entirely.

So much blood that they feel sick from the rusty smell of it that permeated the air.

You looked so small and broken; Rhys has already come up with a thousand ways to kill whoever did this to you. You were their beautiful, proud, cunning mate.

The first one to make a move toward your body would be Rhysand. Always rational under pressure as Azriel and Cassian look around in case there was an ambush by the enemy. He feels sick to his stomach the entire time he's checking your vitals. When his fingers make contact with your blood soaked head, the sticky substance felt white hot. Rhysand could wash his hands millions of times and still feel that searing sting of your blood on his skin.

When they finally get you safely to Madja, you do manage to regain some consciousness, enough to reach out and grab Azriel's hand as everyone was leaving the operating room. Its difficult to move your lips to speak but you manage to plead for Azriel to stay. His shadows always soothed you.

There's no rest for Rhysand or Cassian unfortunately.

Despite Mor and Amren's best efforts, they can't drag your other two mates away from the door.

Rhysand being constantly updated by Azriel through his thoughts and shadows

Cassian tried not to let dark possibilities into his head. They banged against the door of his mind, loud and clear. If you died. . .

"She won't die." Rhysand would tell him sharply. He couldn't lose hope. But the steady smell of your blood that refused to lessen worried Rhysand greatly.

For Azriel, he was forced to stand there at your side as Madja did her best to put you back together. He refused to look away. There was absolutely nothing he could do to help.

He furiously clenches and unclenches his hands. Angry with himself for not being enough to protect you.

In the wee hours of the morning, Mor finds Rhysand and Cassian slumped together asleep. She put a blanket around them and takes a seat to join them in awaiting news. Amren soon follows suit once she has risen from bed by worry.

Finally, Azriel emerges into the waiting room.

Cass and Rhys leap from their seats

You're alive, although incredibly weak.

Madja had to bind and fix your bones while also trying to stop your bleeding. The most important thing was that you would live with some major scarring.

For the next several months, you acquired three overbearing nurses.

Not that you were complaining.

They only allowed Madja to tend to you and that was just during your checkups. Even the Wraiths' cooking was monitored by one of the bat boys.

Azriel and Rhysand had the tenderest hands when they changed your bandages or moved you around so you wouldn't get bed sores.

When you were well enough, Cassian would carry you to the outside garden so you could enjoy the warmth of the sun personally. You'd sit on his lap with your head resting on his chest. You liked listening to him talk as your ear was pressed close to his heart.

You had to tell them to shut up a few times because of how often they would apologize to you about letting you get hurt. It wasn't their fault, you'd argue to deaf ears. This was actually motivation for you. To remedy this and prevent getting hurt this badly ever again, you'd have to train more. Get stronger so your mates wouldn't blame themselves for you getting hurt in their absence.

Rhysand may be the only one who doesn't coddle you during any kind of physical therapy. He's one for tough love. Cassian too. Poor Az is utterly helpless.

Oh, you're out of breath? Let me carry you, sweetling. Rhys and Cass being too difficult? I'll give them a talking to.

Once fully healed thanks to your bat boys, you feel stronger and better than ever.

[lovezbrownies]

I wanna make a request for Yandere Bully, Lauren if that's alright?

Scenario: every single day, since the reader transferred to her school, they always have very visible injuries on their face and body. (ex: a broken arm in a cast, a leg brace, bruises and swollen eye sockets, broken nose etc.) Reader comes to school with these injuries nearly every day.

Then, it turns out that the reader is part of an underground fight club where the reader fights and gets beaten up every single night because they're poor and need to earn money for their sick mother's treatment.

I am so sorry for the delay! Very very long one ! :3

Lauren's Masterlist + General Masterlist

Synopsis: How would Lauren react to seeing you hurt all the time?

Lauren McCanister x GN!Reader

Warnings: Physical assault, fighting, bullying, isolation, crossing boundaries, stalking, made up illness, usual Lauren activities!, slightly edited!

“Mom, how can I tell the difference between injuries made on purpose and injuries made by accident?”

“Why do you ask, Laurie?”

“Something suspicious has been happening with my darling as of late, constantly comes to school in pain. Various bruises, broken limbs, and random swelling.”

“Hm… Let’s go to the big whiteboard in the lab, the living room whiteboard won’t be enough. Bring your notebook.”

You hiss in pain, trying to sit on your desk as gently as possible to not anger the arm whose bones you’ve broken two days ago at the last fight you attended. Thankfully it was only your arm, had it been your leg you wouldn’t have been able to participate in tomorrow’s fight. The underground society’s rules are twisted, any broken limbs are okay to fight with, even if both your arms are shattered, but if it were your leg? Not a chance would they let you register another fight. You couldn’t care less if you were battered and beaten almost to death, as long as you had enough to pay for your mom’s medical bills for the month. 

Your mother’s been sick for a while, and you’re her only hope to get her better. And even if she was terminally ill with little to no chance that she’d make it into the next year you will make sure that year would be the most fulfilling, joyful, healthy year for her. Your mother’s done so much for you as you’ve grown, sure maybe there’s been a few bumps along the way but there always will be when you have a parent. Either way, you will make sure she’s treated, you will make sure she gets better, and you are sure she will heal and become healthy once more.

Since you’ve changed schools you haven’t exactly been a very social butterfly. Not making any new friends in the new one and neglecting your friends from the old one, far too busy to partake in any friendships. One individual, in particular, hadn’t stopped bothering you, however, harassing and bullying you since you joined the school. Lauren McCanister, the most popular girl in school, a jock, gorgeous, and incredibly smart. She’d chase after you and obsessively harass you until either school was over or when you finally reached your home. Lauren for some unknown reason loved to follow you home, of course, while verbally abusing you along the way.

One very strange thing about your bully is she’s far too worried about your health for her to count as a bully anymore. An everyday occurrence it is, with your broken arm and bruises scattered around your body, she’d cornered you like a Lion, “Fuck’s this? Again? What, you broke your arm when you were cooking and juggling the ingredients but fell down the oil you spilled before that? Fucking likely with how ridiculous your damn stories are, I know these aren’t self-inflicted dickhead, who did this? What’s their name? Do you know them personally? I hope you know you’re m-min- Ugh, you’re my-my um… Whatever! You’re not supposed to be hurt! Get hurt one more time I will find who did it and kill them! Good lord…” 

Excited shouts sound out, and you breathe in and out, today is another fight, and another fight tomorrow, and as many as you can until your mom’s happy and healthy again. It was almost instinct at this point, go on the offensive immediately, get a few strong punches in, go on the defensive then trap your opponent in a death grip before throwing them down to the floor where you then proceed to beat them up until the ref says signals the winner, that is you, that they’ve won. After that is all the stupid celebrations and drinks and whatnot, you prefer to leave before anyone pulls you into a celebratory party. You’d rather take the money you owe tonight and get the hell out of there.

“Hey! Rel, wait!!!” Just as you are about to go to your manager for the cash someone calls out for you. Calling out a nickname only your fellow fighters use, it stood for Relentless Pain which is the name your manager gave you after a few fights. Looking back it was two other fighters who were also under your manager. “Oh sorry, what’s up?” Dick (Dick Crusher) smirked as he and Skull (Super Skull)  neared you.

Leaning into you Dick spoke into your ear, he needed to get close so you can hear him through the crowd, “I didn’t know you had such a hottie for a girlfriend!” Confused, you gave Dick a perplexed look, Skull leaned in to speak in your other ear, “Yeah! Like super super hot! She’s blonde, green eyes, really fucking tall, but in a dominatrix hot way, ya know?” Blonde, green eyes, and tall… Only one person you know of matches that description, and no way in god’s name will you let that evil bitch know you work here, else she’d use this shit against you.

This can’t be real, first, she torments you in your personal life, and now she wants to do the same in your work life? Lauren can eat shit you won’t let her take this away from you, you needed this job, and knowing Lauren she’d do anything to ruin your reputation. You panic, grabbing Dick and Skull’s respective shoulders, “What?! No way! Give someone my spare costume and have them pretend to be me, man! She’s insane! A-A stalker or something!” Panic settles into the duo’s faces as they realize the weight of what you’ve said.

Dick grabbed your hand, rubbing it softly, “We got you man don’t worry, we’ll make sure she never knows you’re here!” Skull follows up while taking off their jacket, “Here, take my jacket, you don’t gotta worry about a thing!” You muttered a soft thanks as you put on the jacket Dick offered, immediately running out of the nightclub the underground fight club is hosted in. You didn’t want to risk a thing, so you ran home, as fast as you could.

“Hey, lady! Here they are! The Relentless Painnn!!” Moron One called out to her, extending the word ‘pain’ as Lauren turns around, finally, you’re here! Finally, she can get an explain to her what you’re doing here, why you’re getting yourself hurt over an- “Who the fuck is this?!” Lauren exclaimed as she took a good look at the wimp claiming to be her darling. They were scrawny, hunched over, and had so little muscle it almost made her laugh.

Moron Two stepped forward, hands raised in the air, “Listen, man, you told me to get my best buddy, the Relentless Pain, and I did! Now, we will-” 

“Shut the fuck up, you absolute buffoon, if you value your life and family I’d suggest you get me MY Relentless Pain, or else I will make sure you will regret the very day you were born you absolutely pathetic piece of TRASH!” Lauren cut Moron Two off as she yells at the two ridiculously dressed nincompoops, the other nincompoop cowering in fear behind them both. Her darling wouldn’t fucking cower in fear! Her darling eats fear for breakfast!

Lauren growled, rolling her sleeves up due to frustration, “I fucking saw them! I saw them on the stage and this wasn’t them! My [Name] isn’t some fucking wimp! My [Name] has a fucking broken arm and this moron doesn-” It then hit her, this wasn’t some stupid mistake, this was all on purpose, to give you the time to run away from her before she can find you. Now she is confused and furious, why would you run away from your girlfriend? And why the hell would you run away from your girlfriend.

Lauren ran out of the dressing room, the two morons calling out to her but she had better priorities than those idiots! She continued to run, bumping into several people until she finally made it out of the nightclub, there wasn’t a single soul out there, except for some person wearing a hoodie, and walking away from the club, but Lauren was sure it couldn’t be you. You were wearing your fighting clothes, not a hoodie and shorts, but then again… Moron One had a jacket on when she first met them, but when they came back they didn’t have it on…

Was that damn bastard trying to hide you away from her? Fucking idiot won’t know what’s coming, but now she has to deal with you. Lauren calls out to you, she needs you. “Hey! You! Come back here!” She yells out at you, as you look back at her slightly, you face still hidden, and suddenly… The figure books it, running faster than she’s ever seen you run! 

You couldn’t be stupid enough to run away from her right? You know how fast she can run, don’t you? Cause this little act is going to give you more trouble later on, that’s for damn sure. Lauren scoffs and starts running after you, this chase reminds her of the predator and prey dynamic, especially with how much you’ve been looking back as she nears you. It… It turned her on… Sure, she felt a little shameful, but she’s a sadistic bastard, Predator-Prey dynamics are her bread and butter!

With lust on her side, she caught up to you pretty easily, grabbing your arm and stopping fully, pulling you back into her, laying your head on her chest… Except it wasn’t you, it was some… weirdo! ”Ew!!!” Lauren exclaimed, sick to her stomach over the fact she let some rando touch her. The weirdo stuttered out a few words, “I-I-I’m s-so sorry!! I’ll p-pay the-the bill I swear!” They shuffled around their jacket pockets, quickly taking out their wallet and handing it to Lauren. Which the lady then proceeded to push him to the ground and stomp back to her car, beyond furious over tonight’s events.

Maybe she was wrong, maybe you didn’t work at the club… No, hell no. McCanisters are never fucking wrong, and she will get it out of you one way or another.

Another day, another fight. It’s been two days since the Lauren incident, and surprisingly she hasn’t brought it up at all, maybe she wasn’t there, maybe it was some other hot tall blond! But you couldn’t think of any other person who’d claim they’re your girlfriend that looks like her, whatever, as long as she doesn’t ruin your career you couldn’t give more of a shit anymore. You spent the rest of the day as you usually do, hoping to god that this time she won’t try and catch you in the fighting club.

And of course, god doesn’t listen, as one could see the predatory Lauren had pushed you into an empty classroom, she straddled you and pinned both hands to the floor, careful not to put too much pressure on your broken arm, and before you could try and recover she had used her head to point to the sole desk in the room, where a camera was recording you both. She looked so damn smug you almost wanted to beat the hell out of her for humiliating you like this, for always taking advantage of you, for making you feel miserable any time of day.

“Be careful with what you do to me, darling, there’s a camera recording every single thing, and many more that I hid-” Lauren threatened but you couldn’t sit still and let her do whatever sick thing she wanted to do! You wiggled as hard as you could, managing to get a hand out of her grasp. The moment of hope quickly is stolen away from you as Lauren captures your wrist once again, “God damn it stay fucking still!” She screamed, accidentally spitting on your face, making you wince in disgust you were temporarily distracted and the spit aided in stopping your resistance.

The woman above you panted heavily, the smug smirk that was previously on her face has been replaced by a strong grimace, her hands tight around your own, and her legs tightly pressed against yours. This was bad, horrible. You were at a disadvantage, fight back and you have no life. Lauren’s the town’s princess, and if you dare hit her you will become ruined, fired from both jobs, no money to pay for your mother’s medicine, and no way out of the town with no money and no car.

Then, a strange sound suddenly cuts through the tension. She… Lauren was laughing, wildly even, as if she was reading your very thoughts, as her laughs slowly tuned out she shifted her face closer and closer to yours, noses now touching, her hair covering your peripherals, “Tell me. Why are you always hurt? And don’t lie to me or I swear to god you’ll have more than a broken arm after this.” Why is she so obsessed with what you do in your free time? Why does she want to know why you’re always in pain? Lauren hates you for all you know, always berating you day in and day out, so why so… needy?

You sighed, trying to look the other way, yet you couldn't see anything other than blond hair flowing all around you, to tell her or not to tell her… That is the question… Then you felt Lauren dig her nails deep into your wrist, she smirked as you yelped in surprise, looking back up at her, “Answer me.” Lord, she’s nosy… Either you answer and she tells everyone, which can lead to your arrest due to how illegal underground fighting is, leaving your poor mother all alone, or you don’t answer and she does some other fucking thing to ruin your life. One can never escape a McCanister with their sane intact still.

“You want to know? Soo badly? Fine, I fight in an underground fighting club, there. You can let me fucking go now, right? Since you’re going to ruin my life one way or another anyway right? Just let me have a lick of freedom before you sick the police on-”

“God, shut up. I’m not going to do anything, jeez why the hell do you see me that way?” She literally threatened your life two seconds ago, “Why are you fighting? You don’t need the money, aren’t you on financial aid?” Lauren asks question after question and it’s getting on your last damn nerve. Is any of this necessary? Should you genuinely be putting up with this? And all for what? To not make Princess mad? Who the fuck cares you have less than a year to get out of this hell hole and you couldn’t care less if she ruins your reputation, as long as you can still make enough money for your mom.

You rolled your eyes, sighing. It was fairly easy to overtake her strength, she may be a jock but you’re an athlete. You quickly turned the table on her, her now on the floor while you stood high above her, brushing yourself off. “You found out what you wanted, why I fight is none of your business, Lauren.” And you attempted to storm off, yet the classroom door was locked shut. Looking back at the blushing Lauren on the floor, you ask, “Why did you close the door, Lauren…?” Chuckling softly the woman on the floor slowly gets up, dusting off her skirt. She walked up to you, head held high.

A smirk was plastered on, her face full of mischief. “I had a feeling you’d do something like that, so I had someone lock it after I got you in here! And they won’t open the door until I send them a voice note specifically telling them to, so you have no way out until you tell me the whole truth, silly!” Her smirk only extended to a full-blown Cheshire smile, tilting her head to the side Lauren looked deeply into your eyes, expecting her demands to be met. 

This was a bad position, cameras watching your every move, a witness outside who is also the only way out. You couldn’t attack her and get away with it, breaking open any windows would take too long, and she probably already has that solved as well. Looking off to the side you let out a scoff, “Why’re you so obsessed with me? Don’t you hate me or something? You know with all the harassment, I thought you’d enjoy me being beaten up.” You honestly expressed to Lauren, though her only response was a big scoff, mocking you for your own thoughts.

Lauren leans towards you, leaning her hand against the wall next to you she has you in her grasp. “Shut up, who cares about why I’m doing this, just tell me why you’re looking for the money.” Lauren shamelessly brushes off your concerns, a need for knowledge overwhelming her. God, I’m just like Mom Lauren thinks, “Heavens, fine, if I tell you, you’ll let me go got it?” Lauren nods frantically, ready for whatever your reasoning might be, “I- My mom’s sick, it’s terminal and I needed the money for her medicine. That’s it. Is that what you wanted, you sick freak? To know my mother is ill and dying and I’ve risked my life for her? Are you satisfied-”

Lauren immediately cuts you off, “Which illness?” Her rude interruption stunned you, with no worry or guilt she asked something so incredibly intrusive… Fine, whatever it takes to get the hell out of this room, it’s getting hotter and hotter. “Willheim’s.” Silence overtook the room, you nor Lauren uttered a single word, up until Lauren’s twisted laughter began echoing throughout the room, you looked at her, rage overcoming you.

“Aha! HA! I-I’m so- ehe- sorry! It’s just so ironic!” Your hands are clenched, knuckles white with pressure. You wish you could blow her head out, “I’m so sorry, I laughed because my mother just discovered the very cure for Willheim’s. I can have my mother administer it to your mother for free, just come over whenever you want! I’d do a-anything for y-y- Erm, my mom made it a while ago actually! Just has been arguing with Big Pharma over the price which is w-why she’s taking so long to publish i-it!” Lauren stammered out, so nervous, so needy for your approval.

It felt like a complete smack to the face, all that work and pain, only to find out your bully’s mother had the cure this entire fucking time? It was hard to even comprehend the words Lauren just spat out, with just one visit to her home your mother would be safe and healthy again. It was both a dream and a nightmare, having your mother be healthy again is the only thing you’ve dreamt of for months now, but to know it’s Lauren McCanister that’s helping her? What a nightmare.

A stinging pain came from your palms, a wet feeling covering your fingers. You’ve been clenching your hands so hard your fingernails began penetrating your skin, what a lovely day. Your face filled with disgust, you continued to stare into her eyes, hatred swirling within your own. Lauren stayed quiet, that stupid smile of hers still going strong, “...Fine.” You mustered out, shame overcoming you, pride no longer intact. 

Somehow, Lauren’s face glows even brighter, and finally, finally, she backs off. Lauren gestures for you to follow her as she walks off the the back of the room, where a bunch of pillows and blankets and various foods and drinks lie. Strange how you hadn’t noticed that before. As Lauren sat down in the middle of all that comfort she extended her arms outwards, beckoning you into her arms.

“Come here. You have to tell me where all those bruises came from and who they come from… I’ll take care of you from now on!”

[mvltisstuff]

Evan Buckley x female reader - tsunami episode - they have been dating for 4 years and Buck has recently proposed, reader and Buck spend a day on the pier with Christopher but they soon get caught up in the tsunami. Reader gets injured badly (hit her head/unconscious/broken bones etc) and Buck struggles to find her and panics. Some hospital scenes with Buck and reader and 118.

angst, injuries(if ur comfortable too write about it), heartbreak, fluff 🫶🫶

waves - e.b

summary: request

evan buckley x reader

a/n: you guys always have such good ideas istg… so funny story i was gonna finish this last night but i was drunk so i couldn’t 😁

every time her eyes were forced open, y/n was faced with a new horror in front of her. the murky grey water full of debris scratching against her skin. the stinging salt water in her eyes and lips. the salt from the sea diving into her scrapes. the feeling that she was drowning and there was nothing she could do to stop it. the ocean has always been scary, but it’s never scarier than when you’re in the center of its wrath. she came up for air, only to take one deep breath before being forced under the surface again. she’s a good swimmer. she knows she can swim, but no one prepares you for a wave from hell in swimming lessons.

y/n and buck had taken christopher out for the day, trying to get buck more involved after his accident. they went to the pier, the arcades, anything that christopher suggested they did.

they were supposed to go to the movies. to see a film, but the only thing they saw now was pure calamity in front of them.

she didn’t think buck could take much more pain and uncertainty in this world. he’s the toughest man, but even the toughest soldiers can fall. y/n’s concern for him had peaked. his life felt empty when he didn’t have y/n or the 118. he loved working more than anything, saving people ended up saving him.

he knew y/n before she even started working at the 118. they had been in the same training program, and y/n was eventually transferred to los angeles. buck was so fond of y/n. he loved her more than anyone, which frightened him but also made him filled with electricity. she was alluring, talented, and the sweetest person he’s ever known. she showed him love when he needed it.

so, the ring was in his apartment, shining in one of the hidden compartments in his closet. he was certainly prepared to whip it out and spend the rest of his days next to y/n, but then, a kid with some bombs took over. the engine was on top of buck before he could take a breath, and all his plans to propose were thrown away. it was now or never, he thought, laying on the stretcher. he’d switched from gut-wrenching wails to a solid “marry me.”

now, y/n looked for buck wherever, but the shore had become one with the whole city. the pier was gone, and she didn’t know if buck and chris were too.

she was being shoved across the water, her body being smacked with incoming debris. her head made contact with a slab of concrete that the wave had taken up. after, she’d made contact with another piece that sliced through the side of her abdomen, leaving a clean gash that was releasing a spill of blood. before she knew it, the the water was cold, but she started to feel warmer by the minute. the water around her started turning red, and her face became paler as she accepted her fate. she wanted buck to be there to save her. she wanted to be able to save herself, but the aggression of the water made it near impossible. she allowed her frail body to wash up on top of a white delivery truck, laying there with her maroon blood smeared on the top of the truck.

she was transformed into survival mode, thinking of anything she would be able to do without killing herself even more. she was able to reach for a piece of sopping fabric, pressing it securely against her belly where the massive slash was. there was nothing to be done for her head as the damage had already been done. she’d be damned if this tsunami killed her, but as long as she knew buck was out there, she was going to fight like hell.

buck felt completely lost. he was settled on top of a fire engine, christopher being cradled in his arms as they faced the disaster together. they were the only two people on bucks mind, y/n and christopher. at least he knew where christopher was, but he was separated from his fiancé the moment the wave flooded the pier.

buck tried to stay positive, he really did. but, seeing all the bodies float past limply brought his spirits down. he knew that he would be okay, but the woman who’s the center of his universe could be dead. buck thought nothing could hurt more than his accident. on the contrary, the thoughts in his head during these moments of his life hurt more than any physical pain he’s experienced.

buck stayed silent, not wanting to scare christopher but the boy had his own questions. “how come y/n is gone?”

“she, um, she got lost in one of the waves, pal,” buck mumbles, trying to contain himself from completely breaking down. “we’ll find her when this is over, alright?” buck wishes he had a more firm answer, but there is nothing in this environment that is stable. no one knows a single thing that could or couldn’t happen.

suddenly, everything turned to nightmare fuel. christopher had fallen, and was swept away by the harsh flow. buck screamed his name, jumping in after him and searching for him anywhere. he swore his heart stopped, watching the exhausted boy fall into the unknown pit of water. everything had become a blur to buck. he didn’t even care about anyone else as long as christopher went home to eddie, and y/n went home with him.

bucks heart fell with eddie’s face as their reunited with each other at the hospital. he was carrying the weight of two missing people, feeling like it was only his fault. he wanted y/n there so bad, he so badly wanted her to hold him and say it’ll all work out in the end. y/n was gone, and buck had no fucking clue because now, she could be anywhere. he loves her more than anything on this planet, and a wave can’t change that.

buck continued to notice the shallow breathing of eddie, the pure horror on his face as he might’ve lost the person he adores most. there’s no pain like losing a child, and buck could never live with himself if he didn’t save christopher. alas, when eddie’s eyes directed to behind bucks cut and dirty body, he saw his son wrapped up in a warming blanket. buck felt like complete shit.

he knew he saved christopher, and he was thrilled beyond words. but where was y/n? he had to know. the sun had already set and if she wasn’t found, she was probably dead. the word rang through bucks brain, repeating itself over and over like a monster under the bed. she’s the best thing that ever happened to him, and he never guessed that it would shoot him in the foot until now.

“buck!” bobby yelled, beginning to walk over with hen and chimney as eddie sprinted to his little boy. “hey, what’s wrong, kid?”

buck could barely formulate words, the heaving in his chest was too strong to hold anything else. he panted while spitting out y/n’s name. “i cant find her, guys i tried so hard but we just got separated so fast-“

“alright, buck hang in there,” hen says, placing her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to ease him. “we’re going to look around, ok?” buck nods, knowing that this isn’t easy for them either. y/n was the light at the station, being able to cure a bad day and always making every glad to be at work. she made it the best experience, and she became their best friend outside of work too. they’d lose a coworker, but they’d lose a member of their family above all else.

buck storms around the parking lot in the triage areas, desperately begging them for her name. “do you have a y/n here? y/l/n? ive been to all of the other ones and if she’s not here i don’t know what to do.”

“she’s not on my list, sir. i’m so sorry, but have you checked the black tents?” the sad woman asks, acknowledging the tarp that was decked with body bags. buck stared at them, like they became the only thing in the world.

“i- i cant-“ buck breathes, turning around to break the contact.

“i know, you’re ok, buck,” hen speaks, as buck falls into her arms, his knees barely holding any support of his body. he tries to match henrietta’s breathing, her comforting voice soothing his ears. he tried to ignore everything around him, but the aggressive sirens of another ambulance and the lights illuminated the teams faces.

he watched as the two paramedics opened the doors, revealing another on next to a womans body, squeezing the air into her lungs with the bag. buck knows. he sees her damp hair on the stretcher, the hair loves and admired every day. he sees her crimson-stained outfit, the one he complimented her on this morning. lastly, he sees her beautiful face, the face he could never forget. he wants to sprint over to her, but his feet are planted on the ground. he has no more fight left to give, and he lets himself fall to the ground in exhaustion.

the next time his eyes peel open again, buck is sitting behind a curtain, an oxygen mask around his head and a bottle of water being handed to him. “drink this,” bobby demands.

“thanks,” buck replies.

“don’t thank me. you did great work out there today, buck. i’m proud of you.”

“thank you, cap,” buck twists the cap off, starting to take sips of the water. “please tell me i wasn’t dreaming when i saw y/n.”

“you weren’t. she’s in surgery now. she had a pretty nasty laceration on her head, and an even worse one on her abdomen. they’re thinking it hit her appendix, so they’re going in to take it out before it causes more harm than good. they did a few test on her as well,” buck hisses at bobby’s words, not wanting to hear anymore but needing to know. he didn’t know if it was good or bad, but he had to know. “she has a severe concussion. she’ll probably be disoriented and confused when she wakes up, and surely in pain. buck, hey,” bobby notices the man starting to zone out. she’s still hurt, and it’s not enough for buck. he wishes he could put a force field around her, wanting to take the force of anything that might hurt her. knowing that this out of the ordinary thing almost took her life pains him beyond injury.

“s-sorry,” buck whispers. “i want to see her when she’s out of surgery.”

“you can, but i need you to know that it’s going to look bad. she’s going to be intubated and definitely banged up. you have to know that she’s going to be ok. so, say it,” bobby tells him.

“what?”

“say she’s going to be ok.”

buck gives him a confused look, trying to contain the waves of his own tears as he utters the words out. “she’s going to be ok,” before he knows it, the dam breaks and bobby’s hugging buck, comforting him from the emotions that have taken over.

the minute buck gets the confirmation to see his girl, he’s passionately walking down the hallway of the ICU, scanning the rooms for the only one he cares about. scarily, bobby was right. it looked bad. she had cuts through her cheeks and her shoulders, even passing through her eyebrows and forehead. she had a thick bandage around her abdomen, protecting the incisions on her stomach. the lights were dimmed, protecting her eyes from hurting her head even more. the tube down her throat was a haunting sight for buck to see, realizing that she could barely do it on her own.

he sat in the chair next to her, anxious to even graze her hand. he just watched her chest rise slowly and sink down again, next to the hissing of the machine. and he stayed there. he couldn’t bring himself to leave her side again. he lost her once, it wasn’t happening again. so, buck sat next to her until her anesthesia wore off. some people might’ve thought he was a statue, the way he didn’t rip his eyes off of her.

the doctors came in a while later when y/n started breathing over her tube. she was still sleeping, but she was breathing on her own. buck knew she could, he knew this wouldn’t be the thing to take them apart. the worlds had it’s go at trying to separate buck and y/n, but it never works. until death do them part, literally. buck looked at the ring on her finger, almost forgetting that they’re planning a wedding. he’d been given the ring from the nurse, who took it off before her scans. he was the first one to put it on her finger, so he did it again.

the 118 had piled into her room, eddie bringing christopher to his tías house to spend time with her. he came back when he heard about y/n. buck just saved the life of his son, and y/n saved bucks life before he even knew it. the entire team knew it. they needed her to be ok, or work would truly never be the same.

she’d worn off the anesthesia a few hours later, looking at her family surrounding her.

“hey, baby,” buck smiles, still dressed in his muddy clothes. “i know it hurts, it’s ok.”

“what happened?” she asks, rasp in her voice.

“there was a tsunami, y/n. it got you pretty good, too,” bobby added, standing at the edge of her bed. “you fought that pretty good, y/n. they said it was pretty ugly when they found you.”

“yeah, i remember,” she squints. “but why am i here? shouldn’t i be at work soon?” buck gives his captain a confused look.

“she’s just confused, buck. it’s the concussion, don’t worry about that,” eddie whispers behind buck into his ear.

“do you remember seeing anyone or anything?” hen asks.

“i remember being scared, for buck and c-christopher. i thought they were dead for a little, and i thought i was next. but i couldnt just drop there and give up on them.”

buck noticed her exhaustion, from the pain medicine and just the stress of her disorientation. “you should get more sleep, honey. you’re gonna need it.”

“bucks right. we can come back to see you tomorrow, y/n,” hen stands. “we love you, y/n. you did good.”

“you’re tough, y/n, you’ll be alright,” chimney adds, patting her hand and starts to clear out of the room.

“don’t go, buck,” y/n says, grabbing his hand with her eyes shut tightly.

“i’m not going anywhere, y/n/n. you’re stuck with me,” buck tells her, leaving a kiss on her hand and he sees the corner of her lips rise with it.

[thepenultimateword]

Secret Santa 2023

For this year’s secret Santa I got @watercolorfreckles (I know you got mine too, but I promise I used a randomizer!) I’m sorry this is late, I’ve been traveling and just writing every chance I can get. I got a little overambitious and wrote several scenes instead of just one, so hopefully it doesn’t feel choppy and you like it!

"Hero's shy medic is the unsung and unappreciated glue that keeps the team together, magically repairing their every injury with her power to heal. What happens when Villain finds out how the hero's broken bones are always so quickly mending, and kidnaps the medic to utilize himself?"

Henchman was waiting in baggage claim when Villain arrived. His violet-dyed hair, thick mess of scars, and tall stature made him stand out against the crowd, but he still waved his whole arm over his head as Villain came through the doors.

Villain's glove creaked feelingless against his suitcase handle. This was getting tiresome. Probably for Henchman too. It was ridiculous that he insisted on picking him up from the airport every trip instead of looking for a new employer.

"Any luck?" Henchman said, seamlessly transferring Villain's bag into his own hand.

Villain's insides twisted. Maybe he should fire Henchman. That would force the underling to think about himself. Though Villain couldn't deny his reluctance to lose such loyalty. He wasn't sure he actually had the strength to enforce his own abandonment.

"Nah." He rubbed his numb hands together and forced a lighthearted tone. "Just another waste of money. I spent three weeks meditating away the damage, only for the so-called "power guru" to say I don't want to be healed. Apparently, if I did, I would have been able to banish the "bile" from my body."

Henchman gave the suitcase wheels a little bang against the ground. "Morons and scam artists.”

"Yes, well, it was a 50/50 shot in the first place. How's my bird?"

Henchman grimaced. "Still eating very little. She has stopped beating against her cage, but now she's very lethargic and despondent."

"You've tried cheering her up? Good food, nice things?"

"Yes, but she's not very chatty. Maybe we should have waited to get her until after your trip. This would have gone better with...some stability."

The automatic door swooshed open, and they stepped out into the chill winter air. Villain blew out a long cloudy breath and watched it disappear into the dreary, gray city landscape. Everything was so temporary. Here one moment, gone the next.

"The opportunity was too good," he said. "Besides, we couldn't leave her with our friend."

Hero had enough of an advantage without also having a decent healer on his side. No matter how many hits Villain divvied out, the heroic team always got back up unscathed. Perhaps without their golden goose, Villain could actually turn the tide. And maybe... Villain didn't want to get his hopes up, but maybe she could do something more too. He knew that Henchman knew that was the main reason he’d stolen her away in the first place. By this point he was just pretending to himself that there was a bigger purpose behind it all.

The crosswalk sign beeped its permission to cross the street, and Villain scanned the lot for Henchman's car, spotting its orangey paint job near the front.

"I am concerned she's been doing poorly this whole time. Why don't we stop by her enclosure first."

Henchman nodded and very kindly played along with the act that this was truly concern over an asset and not another cowardly excuse for himself. “I don’t think she’ll be very pleased to see you.”

She’s not going to help you.

“That’s alright.” Villain slid into the passenger seat. As Henchman loaded his suitcase into the trunk, he muttered under his breath, “I don’t have much left to lose.”

***

Villain called her Birdie.

Of course he knew her real title as Hero’s medic, but the nickname just encapsulated her so well.

So small. So skittish. Always flitting around the outskirts of a fight, the great folds of her medic’s cloak flapping at her sides like wings as she lighted briefly at each fallen party. The color was supposed to mark her as a noncombatant, take any targets of her back, but she had the instincts to remain wary always. Most villains didn’t follow the rules, and the gray was as likely to get her killed as not.

So why continue to wear it? Villain wondered, watching her through the one way glass of her cell's wall mirror. It was really more of a mini apartment than a cell--sitting room, bedroom, bathroom. The sitting room was the only room Villain could view into, but he doubted whether Medic knew that. Perhaps it was riskier to give a hostage so much blind space, but anyone worth keeping around couldn't be kept like any regular prisoner. Though, from the looks of it, Medic wasn't exactly grateful for the thoughtful accommodations.

She sat with her face buried in her knees, grey cloak nearly swallowing her little curled up body whole. He'd asked Henchman to prepare daily clothes changes, and the peeking green edge of sleeve implied she'd been taking them, but the cloak remained the same.

Villain moved around to the front of the cell and drew back the bolt on the otherwise regular door, taking a breath before swinging it open with a flourish. “Hello, Birdie.”

The woman leaped a little, head shooting up and fixing him in the inky black pools that were her eyes.

“Sorry for the delay." He locked the door behind him as casually as he could manage. "I’ve been out of town. But now we can finally chat."

Medic blinked then turned her chin into her shoulder.

Villain plopped down on the couch a couple feet away from her place on the rug. "Apparently you haven't been eating properly. Is the food not up to standard? Can I get you something else? Any favorite meals or treats?"

Medic didn't turn or respond.

"Hmm...what do birdies like. Worms?"

The healer's lip curled a little but still nothing.

"How about chocolate? Steak? Fruit tarts?"

Medic only tucked her chin tighter.

"Alright, I get it. The nice treatment doesn't work on you. Unfortunately, I don't have a mean treatment. Not for you at least. I can't asks favors from someone by relying on fear."

That got her attention. She still didn't unfold, but her eyes watched him sideways. Wary but curious. What could a villain need from a healer. He must have his own, so why her? She didn't need to speak for her thoughts to clutter the air.

"No, I can't just tell you," Villain said with a loud sigh. "You might go tell that precious hero team. I know you're quiet, but I don't believe for a second you're that quiet."

Medic swiveled her shoulders ever so slightly. "How...?"

Her voice was not so birdlike. Short yes, but like a rasped breath than a chirp. Still...

Villain grinned. "The very best of ways: by pretending I knew what you were thinking. Throw out a guess and you'll be right 80% percent of the time. That's also a guess by the way, I haven't actually researched the subject."

Medic retreated back into her cloak.

Darn.

Either he was totally unhumorous, or Medic was just that hard to entertain. Then again, she'd seemed interested by the prospect of a supernatural ability. She'd only clammed up again once she got the simple explanation for her question. She should've already known his Gift from the fights she'd witnessed, though he had held bad considerably this last year.

"You're not like other medics," he said, redirecting the conversation. "You have a Gift, don't you? And don't deny it, I've seen the recovery your patients. Scarless, rapid, perfect. One fight I saw a hero putting full weight on what, minutes previously, had been broken femur."

"And that's why you want me?" Medic squeezed her hands together, nails digging into the back of her knuckles like each word spoken aloud pained her. "Because I'm better than your medics? You want me to turncoat?"

"Not entirely. I took you because your good, yes. So good you've kept that ragtag trash hero team up and running way longer than it should have ever been allowed to go. Hero needs to be stopped."

Nothing.

"I'm going to the statue unveiling tonight." He watched her face closely. "I'm going to break it. And while I'm at it, break him."

"He's not that fragile," Medic said, her voice hushing a little further, and her brow furrowing.

"Ah, you know because you've tried?"

"I know because I' m his medic and I know how much treatment each fight requires." It came out quite a bit snappier than Villain expected and Medic must have realized it too because she set her jaw and looked away again. "I can't help you."

Villain pushed himself back to his feet. The declaration was firm, but hardly the denial of a truly devoted team member. Or maybe he was just reading to hard into things. Medic was shy. Maybe she wanted to make herself clear in as few words as possible. But if there was a chance only her fear was holding her back...

"I'll let you know how it goes," Villain said. With that, he made his way back outside the cell, bolting the door behind him with fumbling fingers. He flexed his hands a couple times, as if to warm them back to full function, but they felt as clumsy and disconnected as always. He shoved them gloved into his coat pockets.

Don't think about that. You have a hero to fight.

***

Villain couldn't feel his shoulders. He'd definitely overdone it. He'd overestimated his ability to fight with his arms as damaged as they were and he had relied too much on the power he'd been so careful to conserve.

He stumbled hard against Medic's door, sliding weakly to his knees. He didn't know why he came here. Henchman was probably having a fit searching for him after he'd bolted. Most of those heroes laid in shattered pieces at the scene. Or at least, parts of them did. Villain had found long ago that his Gift--the power to turn whatever he willed to stone--could be used strategically. The loss of limbs was usually enough to make a hero retire, no need to end a whole life. He wouldn't have minded ending Hero, but once again, the leader was the only one who escaped unscathed. Too this day Villain had only ever managed to take a pinky. It was a wonder no one found that suspicious.

Villain slammed his fist against the cell door, or more like tapped. He stifled a sob. “I don’t want to die.”

Not yet. Not without bringing down Hero’s deceit.

Villain strained to reach the bolt, fumbling it twice before finally jostling it outward. He practically collapsed onto Medic’s rug.

Dark spots clouded his vision but suddenly cool hands were running trails down his face.

“Villain?”

Medic?

No wait, the door…he needed to close…why was she still here?

“Uuughh…” Villain rolled into her knees. “It did not go well.”

“What did he do?”

“Besides use every other person as a shield?”

“I mean to your face.”

Villain squinted up into Medic’s dark eyes, so deep and concerned and…and infinite.

“My face,” he mumbled.

“Are these bruises?” Her fingers trailed a second time down his cheek. “It looks painful.”

“It’s in my face?” Villain barely restrained a wail.

“Villain,” Medic said firmly, her quiet rasp getting almost loud. “What happened? Do you need healing?”

Villain’s throat felt thick and swollen, too sticky to get out words. Of course he needed healing. But if she couldn’t help him…he didn’t know if he could take another failure. He didn’t know if his body could take it.

He extended his hand. When Medic only stared, he nodded at the black, fitted glove.

Medic’s thumb worked under the edge. Villain felt nothing but he imagined her fingers felt just as gentle as they had on his cheek.

She gasped.

Villain glanced at the bare skin for only a moment. The once caramel colored palm now a deep ebony. Like something rotten. Like something dead.

“Villain?”

Villain cleared his throat, fighting the words upward. “All powers have a price.” He forced himself to look at blighted appendage. “Mine’s is killing me.”

Medic turned his hand over in her own. “How long?”

“Always. It used to just be a little. Nails. Hair. Parts I could cut off. Then it hit skin…and it won’t stop. I can’t feel; I can hardly move. And no one…” He choked. “I’m going to die. All from trying too hard to rid the world of Hero, and I couldn’t even finish him tonight.”

Medic rested her fingers on the cuff of Villain’s sleeve, eyes meeting Villain's with some unspoken request for permission.

Villain nodded.

Medic's nimble fingers gently picked at the button, freeing the fabric and rolling it up to his elbow. Villain’s eyes widened along with hers. What had once had been dark veins was now as pitch black his hands. From the nothingness in his shoulders it was probably no different above the elbow.

Medic felt gently at the half-petrifaction. Most people, even his most loyal were afraid of the blight. Henchman was unfazed, but the previous medic had quit rather than admit they didn't want anywhere near Villain. And yet Medic touched him willingly.

“You can’t fix it, can you?” Villain said, practically plead. He didn’t care anymore. Even with the doubt in his gut and in his voice. He just needed help.

“I…I might…” Medic said.

“But Hero wouldn’t like it.”

Medic ducked her head. “It’s not that. Well, no…you’re right, he wouldn’t, but he wouldn’t have to know. And there are no specific rules that say I can’t heal a villain, it’s just…”

Villain blinked groggily up at her as she chewed her bottom lip.

“Like you said, all powers have a price.”

“And this one is too much,” Villain said.

“Yes, well, no. I don’t know.” She glanced toward the open door. “Maybe there’s a better healer…”

Villain closed his eyes, practically sinking with resignation. “No. Already tried. I don’t think I have the energy to search anymore.” He clasped numb fingers around his numb arm. “Or the time.”

A long silence stretched between them.

“It’s alright, Birdie. Fly away.”

It didn’t matter who she told now.

Medic pushed him carefully off her lap, clothes rustling as she rose. Two steps sounded toward the door way and then stopped.

“I’m not supposed to…but I’ll do it.”

Villains eyes shot open. “You will?”

Medic sucked in her lips but nodded. “Just…don’t tell.”

She knelt beside him, long gray cloak fanning out around her. The second glove peeled off easier than the first, and she held both hands in hers.

He’d always wondered what it felt it like to experience one of her gifted healings.

It was warm. Like drinking something hot. It spread from head to toe, and the numbness leeched out little by little. The skin lightened from black to charcoal from charcoal to heather grey from grey to brown.

Medic’s hands turned soft in his grip. He squeezed them lightly, his mouth parting in disbelief at the feeling of pressure of warmth of regular mobility. When he sat up, it came easy. Tears sprang to his eyes.

“You did it! You actually did it! Medic, you are—“

He stopped at the sight of her slumping figure. Sweat rolled down her temples, her face was flushed, and her teeth were grit as if in agony.

“Birdie?”

Medic only shivered.

“Birdie. Birdie, are you alright?”

Villain reached out, but she lurched back, stumbling toward the back corner. Veiny blackness spread from her fingertips, trailing up the creases in her skin. Her shoulders trembled. A small vein popped out of from her forehead. And she glared at the blight. Not like someone afraid of it, but like someone who’d like to peel it off and throw it away. Or burn it.

“No!” she cried and slammed both palms against the wall mirror with a feral cry. Immediately the glass crackled and, like a rolling wave, turned to cold, hard stone.

The black faded from dark ebony to a tan spot only

A few shades darker than her skin. She still glared.

Villain gaped. “You… That’s what I do. How did you do what I do? Did I…? Did you…?”

Medic’s eyes darted toward the door.

Villain jumped in front of it first. “Hey hey hey! I’m not going to tell!”

Another guess but apparently the right one because Medic’s shouldered untensed a fraction.

“I’m not going to tell,” Villain repeated. “I just… How?”

Medic wrapped her cloak tighter around herself. Her eyes had taken on a glazed shine suspiciously alike to unshed tears.

“It’s not exactly healing,” she murmured. “More like stealing. Taking injuries and making them mine.”

“The price.”

She nodded. “But this sort of injury…made from a Gift, it doesn’t work the same. It’s more like a build up of power concentrated in one place. And now that it’s mine…I can do what I like with it.”

Villain cocked his head. “And that’s…bad?”

“I don’t work for Hero,” Medic said. “I’m on the team because he’s supposed to watch me. Stop me from doing things like this.”

“Becoming too powerful?”

“Becoming a villain.”

Villain might have laughed if she didn’t actually look so scared. He took her hands carefully, savoring the sensation of skin on skin warmth once again. He fixed her with a hard stare that she seemed uncertain to hold or shy away from. He smiled, the first real one in a long time.

“What’s wrong with villains?”

Medic swallowed, looking away but not pulling back her hands. Her voice came out very quiet. “I guess…not everything.”

[wileys-russo]

Hellooo, I absolutely love your Barca x reader fics with Pollito, I love how you write her and all the dynamics she has with all the team, it makes me so happy to see when you post a new fic for her.

I have a few headcannons about her which I have been thinking about:

I don't know if you have spoken about her siblings at all but I feel like she's the type of girl to have two older brothers and like a older sister, so it goes her oldest sister, then her brothers and then Pollito, cause of course she is the youngest, she just gives off those vibes. All of Pollito's siblings are a good couple years older than her with her sister being ten years older. Pollito has the same dynamic with her brothers as she does with Mapi, as children all they did was get each other in trouble so thats why she felt so comfortable with Mapi.

Vicky is always third wheeling Pollito and her girlfriend, whenever they go anywhere together Vicky is always close behind. They all joke that Vicky is their child.

Pollito has never had a very serious injury before, one that would put her out for months or something she needed to have surgery on. And all of the team calls her invincible cause anytime she goes down on the pitch, she's right back up again. But one time is training they were setting up plays for corner passes, Pollito went for the ball, accidentally tripped over someones leg and with Ale marking her from behind, the hand Ale has on her back sent her falling forward into one of the goal posts. Ale freaks out when Pollito doesn't move but makes sure to keep with the head injury protocols of not moving her, incase of spine injuries. Medics arrive and five minutes later Pollito is up and giggling, with a massive golf sized ball bump on her head and is put on heavy concussion watch. Ale feels absolutely terrible, but Pollito has an absolute field day with it, as she now uses it as blackmail for anytime Ale tries to get mad at her.

Sometimes Olga and Ale go off on trips so before Pollito even gets the chance to ask if she can stay with her girlfriend, she is jetted off to Mapi and Ingrids place. Pollito has her own temporary room there, and she can never stay mad with the opportunities to play prank about prank of Mapi, messing with the older women in her own home.

She has like five family dogs, that have been around since she was a toddler. Her family are big dog owners and Pollito is exactly the same. Mapi finds it absolutely hilarious that when Pollito first met bagheera she wasn't sure how to act around cats. She was so scared at first but of course when she finally warms up to him, she changes into the biggest cat person as well as dog person.

love your writing so much, I hope these headcannons do justice to Pollito and what you think she is like and how she lives. xx

these are so perfect!!

pollito absolutely grows up in a large family and misses that a lot when she first moves to the academy and then to the senior team. which is why she gravitates toward older friends and ‘role models’ to replace what she’s missing. mapi is exactly like her brothers and fills that void for her, and the same thing in that mapi always wanted a younger sister but instead she was the younger sister, so they bonded and grew close quite fast. and Alexia and Frido both remind pollito a lot of her older sister!

Pollito eats it up that everyone calls Vicky her child given that Vicky is older, but it doesn’t stop her from still inviting herself to hang out with Pollito and her girlfriend whenever she’s bored, and Vicky and pollitos girlfriend are quite close so as much as Pollito whines and complains she really doesn’t mind that much that her best friend and girlfriend get along well!

Alexia even asks pollitos parents if she’s broken a bone or anything before and somehow she hasn’t despite running around like a madwoman and playing sports as soon as she could walk. But a lot of the older girls are cautious that Pollito knows she’s not actually invincible so that she doesn’t do anything stupid because Pollito is very easily convinced.

whenever Pollito wants something from alexia she winces and holds her head and says something like “no no i’m fine, i think it’s just the head trauma from when you pushed me into a goalpost” and suddenly Ale will give her whatever she wants out of guilt, even though it’s been months and her head is completely fine

everytime Olga and Ale go away pollito is given two options: frido’s house or ingrid’s house, and no amount of begging or guilt tripping will change alexia’s mind because anywhere else and pollito isn’t supervised to alexia’s standard

Pollito and Bagheera are frenemies, at first pollito was terrified and steered clear and refused to even be within 5 feet of her. Mapi would always bring bagheera in and drop her on Pollitos lap and pollito just freezes and refuses to even breathe until ingrid takes pity and shoos bagheera away. but then one night when pollito is upset about something and misses her dogs sleeping in the bed with her (no amount of begging will convince alexia to let even one of the big dogs come live with pollito) bagheera comes in and pollito very cautiously pets her and suddenly they’re best friends much to Mapi’s annoyance

[breakfastteatime]

Today's Fallen Order request is "That looks broken" for @blueflowertea

The sun shines outside, flowers bloom, Greez has freshly baked bread cooling in the galley and all is calm and quiet aboard the ship. The others have ventured into a nearby market, leaving Greez with the whole ship to himself. He’s set the navicomp to run maintenance routines, the deck is sparking from his intense scrubbing, he baked the aforementioned bread (mostly to get rid of the odour of whatever the heck Cal tracked in from their last stop on an honest-to-great-grandma swamp planet), and the refresher hasn’t been that tidy since the day the ship left the production line.

All in all, Greez has had a very productive day while the others go gallivanting, with their ‘the Force is calling me’ and ‘I wish to see a new world’ and scanning, always scanning. It’s the first time in too long Greez has been able to play his own music on the sound system too. Apparently Latero lounge funk is nauseating for Humans. And Greez means that literally – both Cere and Cal get all woozy and pale if he tries playing it. It makes Merrin giggle uncontrollably in a genuinely dangerous to her health kind of way.

Greez makes himself a cup of caf and prepares to sit down, maybe catch a pod race, when he hears familiar voices approaching. He switches off his music and watches BD lead the way. That’s unusual. He rarely puts his own feet on the ground unless…

Greez looks up. Cal is on his feet, conscious and limping. Cere and Merrin follow, Merrin looking extremely pleased with herself while Cere looks like she’s ready to catch Cal at a moment’s notice.

“What happened?” Greez asks.

“Cal did not look where he was going,” Merrin says. “He tripped over a market stall.”

“And did such a great job putting it back together the stall owner wasn’t even mad at me!” Cal flops down onto the couch. Good thing Greez didn’t get around to cleaning that off today. He’s covered in soil. “And I was looking where I was going. I just got distracted. Totally different problem.”

“Yes, you see something shiny, and all other thoughts fall out of your head,” Merrin says.

“Nah, that’s BD, right, buddy?”

BD cackles and dashes off to scan the terrarium.

“Take your boot off,” Cere says.

“I twisted it, Cere, it’s nothing.”

“Take your boot off. Greez, grab me the medscanner.”

Greez never, ever, messes with Cere when she’s using this tone of voice. Cal, on the other hand, is not that wise.

“I twisted my ankle. Some ice, a few stretches, it’ll be fine.”

“And how are you going to apply the ice with the boot on? Take it off. Now.”

Merrin snorts. Cal levels a glare at her. She heads off into her and Cere’s cabin. Greez hands over the scanner to Cere. He gives Cal a nudge. “There’s no need to turn this into a fight,” he whispers.

It isn’t much of a flashpoint, but it’s one nonetheless and despite all this time together, no one has managed to iron out Cal’s ‘I’ll work through anything’ mentality. On top of that, he’s a young man who clearly wants to spread his wings. Greez gets it, he really does, but sometimes Cal needs a reminder he isn’t immortal. No, it’s simpler than that. Sometimes, he needs reminders that he doesn’t need to be in pain constantly.

With much eye-rolling and amateur dramatics, Cal reaches for his boot. He pulls, and Greez watches him literally go several shades paler. A funny gasp emerges from him, and he grabs the couch cushions, knuckles bleaching white. Greez hears Cere take a breath, ready to lecture, and reaches over to whack her on the arm. The woman really needs to know when to push and when to shut up.

It’s slow and painful (literally for Cal, based on how much he’s sweating), but the boot comes off.

Greez can’t help himself. “That looks broken.”

Cal is silent as Cere scans the obvious problem. Greez grabs an icepack, ready to put on the injury the moment they have confirmation.

“Yes,” Cere says. “Broken. It’s a hairline fracture, so a bone knitter and a few days of rest will fix it right up.” She reaches into the medkit once more and pulls out said knitter. Definitely an essential purchase, one they’d made not long after meeting Cal.

Head shaking, Cal tries to pull away. “I don’t need to rest it, I can manage.”

Certain he knows why Cal thinks he can ‘manage’, Greez slaps the icepack down just hard enough to catch Cal, who hisses and levels a glare at him. “You are resting it. Consider the rest of us at your beck and call.”

Cal pauses, turning the thought around. “Everyone?”

Greez nods. “Merrin!” Cal bellows at the top of his lungs. “You’re at my beck and call! Grab me a drink, please!”

[teddyeyeseddie]

To Hell I Go

If She Wants A Cowboy

✰ bull rider Steve x reader

masterlist

✰ cw: broken bones, an er visit, steve in a sling, an eddie debut, first kisses, straddling steve in a creek, smut, minors dni, oral (m rec), boot riding

✰ a/n: this series has been flopping but I am so in love with dandy and our boy that im gonna keep writing it bc they deserve to have their story told, thank you @lofaewrites for betaing :,)

now playing: If She Wants a Cowboy

Steve is rushed right back when he gets to the ER, grumbling an “I’m fine” when he sees the amount of sick kids in the waiting room. Despite his efforts to wait in the lobby, it only takes 30 minutes and he is sitting in a room awaiting his results.

Steve tears up at the news, knowing what this meant for his career. It came to an abrupt stop, throwing Steve forward into a mess of emotions. They did x rays to find that his shoulder was, in fact, broken. His coach eventually leaves, only able to offer so much reassurance and solace. 

He sits cooped up in the ER for what felt like hours, left alone to his devices, those emotions from earlier bubbling and breaching the surface now that he was alone. His dad was right, just like he always is. The job chewed him up and spit him out. Usually, a broken shoulder meant the gig was up, not many riders can recover from a serious injury like that. 

He wills away his spiraling, putting his head back in order to rest. When he’s about to fall asleep, a soft knock resonates through the room. 

“Hey cowboy,” the voice is like music in Steve’s ears, the sound flowing into the air and causing goosebumps to rise on his skin. 

“Dandy, they let you in here at this hour?” he questions, a small smirk on his face as he adjusts himself in bed, wincing when he disturbs his shoulder. 

“Jus’ had to tell them I was your wife,” she replies sheepishly, wincing slightly.

“I did give ya a ring, didn’t I darlin’?” he cracks a wide smile.

You settle yourself into a chair next to the bed, digging in your purse to find the small paper ring Steve had made you days prior. You slip it on your finger once you find it, flashing it at Steve causing him to let out a full-bellied laugh. 

“You kept it?” 

You offer a small nod, reaching your hand out to hold Steve’s free hand. The other slung up as the two of you waited to hear what the next steps are in Steve’s recovery. 

“What’s the verdict here?” you question softly, rubbing your thumb over Steve's calloused hand. 

“Shoulder’s broken. S’ a clean break but fuck if I know what that means,” he groans, throwing his head back as tears form in his eyes. 

“Shit Dandy- I’m sorry, don’t mean to turn into a mess while you’re here. It’s just this could be the end of the line for me,” he pulls his hand away from yours in order to wipe his eyes. 

He settles his hand back in yours, squeezing it as he stares forward at the wall in front of him. 

He didn’t ask you to come and the fact you did makes Steve’s heart flutter inside his chest. You came on your own, and that is more than Steve could ever wish for. 

“I’ll be right here with you, Steve,” you break the silence and lean up to kiss his cheek, the first time you had displayed any sort of affection aside from holding hands. 

He leans into your touch, relaxing and letting himself be loved on. 

The doctors come in moments later, setting his arm and immobilizing it with a fancy looking sling. 

Six weeks.

Six weeks of being rendered useless, Steve groans into the night air once he’s been released at the odd hour of 5 in the morning. Hand in yours as you guide him to your car, helping him get settled into the passenger seat. 

“I guess in the grand scheme of things, I’m lucky,” he says once you get situated. His head is leaned back, exposing the column of his neck as he turns to look at you. 

“How so?”

“A whole summer of being doted on by you? 

“Who said I was gonna dote on you?”

“Mmm I just gotta hunch, Dandelion,” 

Steve isn’t wrong, you are there every day you're off work, going on walks with him or helping his mother cook dinner. 

It’s been about 2 weeks of helping take care of Steve when you pull into his driveway at the early hour of 8am. You softly knock on the door, smiling when you hear a quiet, “come in” from the other side of the door. 

You and his mother, Donna you had come to learn, had become well acquainted, spending the evenings cooking dinner together giving you time to converse regularly. You got all the stories of Steve when he was younger, your favorite being the time he peed off the side of the pool when he was potty training. 

“Is he awake?” you question, setting the groceries Donna had requested you bring the night prior.

“He’s not, had a rough night last night. He said not to let him sleep in if you’re here though,” she says with a sly smirk on her face, like she knows something you don’t know. 

You ignore her look, not wanting to read much into it, trudging upstairs to wake Steve up. 

You smile when you see him, he’s propped up by some pillows, something his mom helps him do every night so he is more comfortable. 

You sit on the edge of his bed, extending your arm to caress his cheek. He stirs a little bit, waking with a small jolt when you begin to run your thumb across the expanse of his jaw. 

“Good morning, Dandelion,” he smiles, his voice thick with sleep, the groggy melody making your cheeks flush. 

“Good morning, Steve,” 

He sits up at the waist, using his free arm to push him up on the bed. He’s right beside you, free hand coming to rest on your thigh. His lips press a soft kiss to your temple.

“Didn’t think you’d be here this early, sorry I wasn’t up,” he mumbles, resting his chin on your shoulder. 

“S’ okay honey, liked getting to wake you up,”

You get up, turning back towards the bed to help him stand. His pajamas are slung low on his hips, soft hair traveling up his belly and to his navel. He looks peaceful like this, freshly woken up, sleep in his eyes and bed head- it makes your heart warm. 

He stretches once he’s standing, averting your eyes as his already impossibly low pants stoop even lower. 

“You gonna shower?” you question, picking at the comforter on Steve’s bed. 

He shakes his head, turning towards his closet and pulling out a pair of wranglers and a t-shirt. 

He turns away before dropping his pajama pants, your cheeks flushing at the sight of Steve in just his boxers. 

He grabs the clothes he laid out on the bed, shimmying his pants up his legs, frowning as he gets to the button. 

“C’mere,” You mumble, buttoning his wranglers, knuckles bumping into his soft belly. 

He smiles down at you, brushing a hair out of our face. 

“Gonna help me with the top now, dandy?” 

You nod, grabbing his top and sliding it up his hurt side, carefully threading his arm through  while it is still bent. He chuckles as he pokes his head through the top, easily pulling his other arm through. 

You wait on his bed after you get his sling back on his arm, Steve having perfected his one-handed bathroom routine. 

He peaks out of the bathroom once he is ready, padding across the room to grab his hat. 

“Ya ready?” 

You nod, following him downstairs. 

When you reach the living room, you’re surprised to see Charlotte and Eddie sitting on the couch. 

“Mudslinger! How ya been?” Eddie gets up, pulling Steve into a hug, Lottie shooting him daggers as he does so. 

“Careful with the man, Eds. He’s fragile,” Charlotte scolds, pulling Eddie away when he starts to get too rough. 

Eddie listens to the woman, settling in beside her with a protective hand on her thigh. 

“Wanted to come visit ya, see if there was anything you needed before I head down to the barn to get some lessons started,” 

The two of the men fall into easy conversation but you and Charlotte find yourselves stowed away in the kitchen, chatting about anything and everything. 

“So- You and Steve, huh? He’s never brought a girl around,” she says as she stirs her tea. 

“Yeah- He uh saved me from Billy Hargrove,” you take a sip from your mug, glancing into the living room to check on Steve. 

“Oof- Eddie used to work on Billy’s ranch breaking horses. Never got paid enough for the work he did, here though? He’s taken care of, Donna makes sure he is anyways,” 

You had learned that a lot of the ranch bonuses and raises used to come from Donna pestering Richard until he caved, that was until Steve came around and gave everyone their well deserved performance based raises.

“Steve’s running it right finally, taught his Daddy more things than he’s taught Steve probably, I can’t wait to see what happens when he finally takes over, maybe he will settle down now that he’s broke himself,” Charlotte rattles off, your stomach lurching at her words, remembering why you’re here.

Steve hurt himself. If he hadn’t been rendered useless in terms of bull riding he’d be off riding in other competitions and eventually nationals. He was kept at home by a broken shoulder, not by you. 

You shake the thoughts away, Steve would have wanted you wherever he was, you had to convince yourself. 

You and Charlotte continue conversing, finally steering the conversation away from you and Steve. 

“Dandy-” You hear Steve shout from the living room, you set down our mug and straighten out your skirt before making your way to him. 

“Whatcha need cowboy,” you question, smiling when you round the corner to see him standing, cowboy hat situated on his head. 

“Come to the creek with me?” he questions, smiling softly as he holds out his hand. 

You turn back towards Charlotte, who is now left alone now that Eddie has gone to the barn to start lessons for the day. She nods her head, shooing the two of you away and out into the summer sun. 

Steve laces your fingers with his, boots crunching on gravel as he makes his way to the stables.

“Wish we could take sonny today,” Steve says, frowning slightly when you pass them. You distract him with a kiss to the cheek, bumping into his hat causing him to let out a chuckle. 

“Tryna kiss me stupid here, honey?” he asks as he continues walking, dipping into some trees at the edge of the property.

“Just tryna kiss ya, cowboy,” he smiles back at you as he leads you through the trees, finally stopping and letting you settle in next to him once you reach the creek. 

You release his hand, kicking off your shoes in order to step in the creek, turning to Steve who is still on the bank.

“Comin’ in?” you grin, looking up at him. He scratches at the scruff that is forming on his chin, contemplating kicking off his boots and joining you.

“I dunno, Dandy,” 

“C’mon, don’t make me enjoy this all alone,”

With that, he toes off his boots as you step forward in the water in order to roll up his jeans for him. You hold your hand out, Steve taking it and stepping into the water with you. The two of you wade in the shallow creek, your back to Steve when you feel a splash of water hit the bend of your knees. 

You whip around, scowling at Steve who has a wide grin on his face. You bend over, skimming your hand in the water in order to splash him back. Steve walks backwards, tripping over his feet, sending him tumbling, falling on his ass. 

You rush to him, dropping to your knees in the shallow water next to him.

“Are you okay?” you question, looking him over as if you’ll see any physical damage. 

He simply smiles at you, on your knees-so close to his lap. He wishes he could pull you onto him and kiss you breathless.

That’s when he realizes there’s nothing stopping him.

He hooks his arm around your waist, pulling you towards him. He mumbles a soft, “C’mere,” as he motions with his head for you to get on.

You swing your leg over his lap, heartbeat high in your throat as you look down at him. It’s a little awkward, his sling taking up much of the room between the two of you, but it doesn’t matter.

Steve’s eyes travel to your lips, a smile forming on them as your hand raises to pet the hairs adorning the nape of Steve’s neck.

“I think you’re the one that’s trying to kiss me stupid,” you breathe.

“Just tryna kiss ya,” 

With that, he leans in, capturing your lips in a firm kiss. It’s slow–calculated, each movement well thought out as he guides you. You eventually crack a smile while kissing him, teeth knocking together as Steve begins to smile too. You finally pull away when it’s time to catch your breath. 

“Why’d you wait so long, cowboy?” you ask, hand still petting at his hair. 

“Kinda thought you deserved more, Dandy,” he breaths out, thumb rubbing at your hip as his eyes flash back towards your lips. 

“Well- why don’t you let me worry about that, mudslinger” you lean back down, kissing him sweetly before pulling away and getting off his lap. He looks up at you in a daze, lips pink and full as he cracks a smile. 

You help him up and out of the creek, using your now half soaked cardigan to dry your legs off before slipping back into your shoes. Steve gets along fine with getting his boots back on, but you can't help but giggle when you turn to see his jeans still rolled up. You bend down to fix them, Steve mumbling a soft thank you. 

You walk hand in hand back to the house, offering Eddie a small wave when you pass by the stables.

You’re both still sopping wet when you make it to the front porch, Steve groaning when he’s intercepted by Donna at the door. 

“I know you are not about to come in here with those sopping wet jeans on,” She scolds the two of you. 

Steve playfully rolls his eyes, nudging past her and making his way inside. 

“I’ll clean it Mama,” she playfully smacks his good shoulder before retreating back to the kitchen to continue cooking lunch for the Saturday workers. 

Steve opens the door to his room, closing the door after you. 

“Skirt’s pretty soaked, do you want some shorts and a new shirt?” he questions, turning towards his closet to grab himself a change of clothes. You squeak out a small “yes” as you kick off your shoes. He hands you a pair of sweatpants and a shirt, turning back towards the closet. 

In a surge of courage and confidence, your hands find the hem of your shirt, pulling it over your head while Steve’s back is to you. 

When Steve turns around, he feels like he’s been punched in the gut. His lungs are void of air as his eyes rake over your frame, drinking you in. He swears he sees stars when your fingers dip into the waistband of your skirt, dropping it to the floor with a wet thud. 

You stalk towards him, fingers hooking in his belt loops as you guide him to the chair sitting in the corner of his room. 

“Dandelion- sweetheart what are you doing?” Steve asks as you drop to your knees in front of him, eyeing him sweetly. 

“Just let me take care of you, Cowboy,” you push him back by his hip, satisfied once you force him to sit in the chair. 

Fingers come to unbutton his damp wranglers, cock already straining against the rough fabric. You pop the button, slowly unzipping his pants, tapping his thighs so he will lift his hips. 

He’s looking at you with glassy eyes, pupils blown wide as he watches your hand sneak into his boxers and pull out his hard member. 

“Fuck, darlin you don’t have to do this,” his hand reaches down to caress the your flushed cheek. 

“Want to,” your hand strokes him, the drag causing Steve to throw his head back, loud groans leaving his lips as he indulges in the feeling of you taking care of him. 

You suck the head of his cock, tongue swirling around the tip. Steve’s hand comes to thread through your hair, grabbing a fistful and pulling just hard enough to get you off of him. 

“You wanna feel good too?” Steve questions, free hand coming to stroke himself. You nod your head, pleading eyes meeting Steve’s. 

“Ride me then,”

“S-steve your shoulder,” He laughs, the hand that was stroking his cock now caressing your face. His boot begins tapping on the floor beneath you. 

Tap-Tap-Tap

You look up at him through hooded eyes, biting your lip as you lower yourself onto his boot. You let out a soft mewl when the rough leather catches on your clothed clit. You begin to rock back and forth, riding his boot as you take him back into your mouth. 

You take him to the back of your throat, nose bumping into the soft pudge of his tummy, being tickled by the pubic hair that adorns the area. 

He groans, the deep growl echoing off the walls causing you to pull back and shush him. Steve chuckles as he guides his cock back towards your lips, you greedily sucking him in. 

Your hands come to rest on his hairy thighs, your own shaking from the impending orgasm, the coil in your tummy tightening as you use his boot to get off. 

“Jesus, Honey. I’m gonna come if you keep takin’ me so deep like that,” he moans as you release his member with a soft pop, a giddy smile on your face as you look up at him. 

“Kinda the point, Honey,” you begin to stroke him, hand slippery with your spit and his precum.  

“Gonna come,” he grits out, your mouth enveloping him as his hips stutter and his cock twitches in your mouth, hot cum running down your throat. 

You pull off him once he winces at the overstimulation. Your hips are still moving, your sopping cunt still dragging across the ridges of Steve’s boots. 

“You close honey?” Steve asks, a little hint of pity lacing his tone. You whine when he begins to mock you.

Three more thrusts of your hips and you’re coming undone, panties now soaked with your release and seeping onto his cowboy boot. You slump forward when you’ve finished riding out your high, face resting on his thigh mere inches from his now softening cock. His hand pets your hair, letting you rest there for a while before breaking the silence.

“These pants are still wet darlin, need to change,” he taps your cheek, causing you to rise from the spot in his lap and pull yourself off of his boot. You wince when you disconnect from him, blushing when you see the wet spot you left on the leather. Steve however, props his foot up on the ottoman that you were just wedged between and admires the slick spot on his boot-proud of what you’d done to him.

“Might keep it there,” You whine at his words, embarrassed you’d just come undone so easily for him.

“Hey- don’t pout,” he says as he gets up, a soft grunt leaving his lips as he does so. Tall frame towering over yours, his hand coming to brush your unkempt hair out of your face. 

He presses a soft kiss to your forehead, pushing down his pants and stepping out of them. He digs around for a pair of boxers before turning and offering you a pair. 

“Figured you’d soaked your-uh,”

“Panties?”

“You just had me ride your boot, now you’re shy about my wet panties?” you question, a small smirk forming on your lips as you take the pair of boxers from him. 

Now he turns bright red, cheeks flushing at the mere talk of your underwear. 

“I’m a gentleman, Dandy,” you roll your eyes, mumbling a soft, “not in the sheets” as you walk by him. 

“Come on mudslinger, let's get dressed. I’ll make us some lunch once we get downstairs,” 

[beba-780]

Everything will be fine

Summary: Kai takes care of Wyldfyre after escaping the Cloud Kingdom.

---------------------------------------------

- Lloyd, we can't abandon the monks and Euphrasia to their fate with Ras and those guys with scary wolf masks - Arin responded as he approached the helm of the Ship with Lloyd as they left the Cloud Kingdom.

- We need to create a new plan, Arin, clearly Ras has a new power, and that guy with smoke powers who used that strange Spinjitzu-type power is very strong. We need to create a new plan – Lloyd responded to his young apprentice while he tried to maintain his composure without having to remember his strange and terrifying visions of those guys with wolf masks.

He did not want to accept it, but seeing that his visions were true he bothered Lloyd too much, almost at the beginning of the fight he trembled with fear, but he had to forget his fears if he wanted to contribute well to the situation.

- AGH! HURTS! – Wyldfyre complained as he fell to the ground and held his leg in pain, it was obvious that that strange power that Ras's apprentice used seriously damaged his leg. Even some of the fabric of his pants was tattered and almost singed.

- Wyldfyre! – Kai was the first to arrive with Wyldfyre. He carefully managed to sit her up so he could better inspect her leg, and it was not a good view – Hey, calm down, calm down, let me check –

Kai revealed Wyldfyre's injured leg and as he feared, the wound was quite serious, red marks and burns were shown on almost his entire leg, that strange power that Ras' strange ally used managed to disintegrate almost all of Wyldfyre's boot.

- That... doesn't look good - Sora mentioned sheepishly as she looked at Wyldfyre's leg, even Riyu groaned in a worried manner.

-It's nothing... it doesn't look as bad as it seems... -Wylfyre tried to put on a tough face, she even tried to move his leg a little, but that was a serious mistake, moving his leg caused more pain.

Hearing that he kept making pitiful sounds, Kai quickly managed to find the first aid kit and took out bandages and medicines so he could stabilize Wyldfyre's leg a little while they arrived at the monastery. Since Zane was also unavailable at the moment, Kai, Nya, and Lloyd would be the only ones who could help Wyldfyre with his injury, at least with the little medical knowledge they had as Ninjas.

- Don't worry, everything will be fine... - Kai managed to calm her down a little by hugging her, which impressed Nya and Lloyd, since Kai has always been the first person to comfort them as a kind of father when one of them was hurt.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

After arriving at the monastery Kai tried to take Wyldfyre directly to the infirmary but she refused and demanded to be taken to Heatwave's stable, not wanting to hear any more of her tantrums, Kai listened to her and took her to Heatwave, Nya had to carry the necessary medical supplies to heal her while Lloyd took Zane to the monastery to receive the necessary repairs, even Sora offered to help Lloyd with Zane.

Right now Kai was bandaging Wyldfyre's injured leg, Heatwave was too worried to see the human girl she raised, as if she were her own child, being injured. But at least the dragon calmed down to let Kai finish properly bandaging Wyldfyre's leg.

- Ouch! – Wyldfyre complained after Kai tightened the bandage on her leg a little.

- I'm sorry - Kai quickly apologizes - But the bandage must be tightly wrapped around your leg, Wyldfyre -

Wyldfyre was lucky that his leg was not completely broken as many thought, but if he was seriously injured, as if that strange power of corrupted Spinjitzu had burned his skin almost completely to the bone, Zane may not be able to do a quick scan, but at least thanks to Nya he was able to find a good remedy to better treat Wyldfyre's wound. The bad thing was to see that even the poor wild girl was suffering from the pain, even though she tried to hide it, Kai knew that her injury would prevent her from walking for a long time.

At some point, Nya went up to the monastery to bring Wydlfyre something to eat so he could relax better. After all, she loved all kinds of food.

- Ugh! This sucks! I hate every time I get hurt but this is too much for me! - She complains as she now looked at her newly bandaged leg - That “smoke boy” is going to pay me! He will feel the heat of my flames! – His abrupt movement caused his leg to complain of pain and caused Wyldfyre to stop her speech while she tried to hold onto her injured leg.

- Calm down, Wyldfyre. I know how you feel, I also hate being hurt, but I promise you that this will happen soon - Kai approached Wyldfyre and helped her lie down comfortably next to Heatwave, who, by the way, had no intention of leaving her human girl.

- How do you know? – Wyldfyre confronts Kai, giving him an incredulous look – I bet you and the other ninjas weren't hurt as much as I am now, since you are all expert masters – Wyldfyre complains in an annoying way while crossing his arms.

- Of course we got hurt, Wyldfyre - Kai reprimands the girl, who only responded with a dissatisfied grunt towards the Red Ninja - Just because we are Ninjas, or teachers, doesn't mean that we are strong enough to avoid getting hurt in fight. Believe me, there were moments that I would have liked to avoid where my friends or my sister would have been seriously hurt, even I have been hurt, and I assure you that they were more serious injuries than the one you have now. There are worse things than having an injured leg –

Kai knew from his own experience what it was like to be seriously injured, how many times does he not remember the injuries he received after each battle, mission or unexpected adventure he has had to face after becoming a ninja, he even remembers the painful moments he suffered in his life long before he was a ninja. Wyldfyre may have grown up in the Wilderness, but she didn't have to face the dangers that Kai had to experience throughout his life.

He even remembers the times his friends got hurt after each confrontation. Kai always blamed himself when he saw you hurt, he told himself over and over again that he had to be more careful, faster, stronger to be able to save them and keep everyone safe. He even vividly remembered those moments when he would kill himself training to the point of exhaustion in order to perfect his fighting habits, and there were even times when his hands would bleed due to the pressure he put on himself.

Kai wants more than anything to find a way to prevent his friends from getting hurt, even he would give anything to forget those painful memories of seeing a member of his team seriously injured.

- Whatever - Wylfire murmurs, using a haughty and childish tone as he leans closer to Heatwave - I hate this - he moans as he tries to move his leg.

- You finished? – Nya suddenly responds as she arrives with a tray with some food and some tea.

Sighing, Kai turned to see his sister – Yes… luckily her leg is not broken, but if it took a while for her to heal –

- What's that? – Wyldfyre suddenly asks with interest when he sees the tray that Nya had.

- Just some food and tea, it won't heal it instantly, but it will take away some of the pain so you can be more comfortable - Nya mentions approaching Wyldfyre.

-I thought they had a magical tea that healed all wounds – Wyldfyre responded somewhat confused as she scratched her head.

-There are magical teas, but from our experience, it is better to use the normal ones and not the magical ones that make you experience crazy things – Kai exclaims when remembering his experiences with magical teas, even Nya had to agree.

Growling in frustration, Wyldfyre accepts the tray Nya brought and proceeds to reluctantly eat the appetizers first.

Kai motioned to her sister so she could leave him alone with Wyldfyre, Nya caught what her brother was trying to say and left Kai and Wyldfyre alone while she gave them her space.

- Hey - Kai began as he sat down next to him - Just because you're hurt doesn't mean we'll leave you out of our next missions, Wyldfyre. You have to rest and regain strength, and you will see that very soon you will return to action with us. Also...-stretching his arm towards the cup of tea served on the tray, Kai brought it to Wyldfyre - This is very effective for you - Kai smiled affectionately as he offered Wyldfyre to drink the tea.

With no other option, Wyldfyre accepted the cup of tea and drank some, it didn't have much flavor, but at least it left a relaxing feeling in his body.

- Everything will be fine, I promise you - using a confident tone and showing a look that made anyone around him feel safe, Wyldfyre could see confidence and security in Kai's eyes, perhaps he is the only person in the monastery who really I had more faith in her than anyone else.

Just seeing that comforting look from Kai made Wyldfyre completely lose all worry about her injury now.

From a distance, Nya saw the way Kai looked at Wyldfyre, it was like seeing a father and daughter, which reminded Nya of her childhood in her parents' blacksmith shop, Kai looked at her the same way and so did he did with Lloyd.

Nya knows that Kai has been the only person she has had in her life for as long as she can remember, and although she doesn't openly admit it, Kai was more like a father than a brother to Nya. Maybe it was because of the fact that they grew up together since their childhood, but Kai has been the only person who has raised her without anyone's help. Despite not knowing how to act like a real father, Nya already saw Kai as the only one father figure. He did the same with Lloyd, he still remembered those moments when Kai helped Lloyd with other activities that were not just training to be a ninja, he still remembers those moments when he saw Kai teach Lloyd to cook a little for him, when he He sometimes took him to Ninjago City Park, when he gave him candy, when he let him help him repair the ship, and when he took him to watch the sunsets over the roofs of some buildings.

Nya knew that Wyldfyre was very lucky to know Kai.

Seeing that Wyldfyre would be in good hands, she decided to go up to the monastery again to check on Lloyd and Zane.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Nya returned to the monastery through the elevator, she was able to find Lloyd in the living room. He looked exhausted, but that was understandable to Nya. Lloyd was sitting on the couch and had one of Master Wu's Spinjitzu scrolls with him.

- Hey - Nya called as she sat down next to her - How's Zane? –

- Good... - Lloyd answers, but his voice sounded exhausted - Sora helped me fix it and now she's just making some modifications to her program to make sure everything is okay -

- Well, one less problem to worry about – Nya mentions.

- Master Wu's scrolls show nothing about Shatterspin. Whatever that move was, there doesn't seem to be any record - frustrated, he throws the scroll onto the coffee table.

-Don't worry, we'll know something – despite trying to lighten the situation, Nya also seemed just as frustrated, but she didn't want to show it.

- By the way - Lloyd responds when trying to change the subject - How is Wyldfyre? –

- Better - Nya smiles - A little irritated, but it's okay. However, her leg will take several days to heal and she needs plenty of rest. Plus, Kai is taking care of her -

Lloyd sighed and leaned back on the couch – Well, luckily it wasn't too serious. She's lucky Kai is looking out for her -

- It reminds me of those days when Kai took care of us both when we got hurt. Do you remember what she did to you the first time you were hurt? – Nya fondly remembers those memories from the past in which her adventures were still simple.

Lloyd snorted as he remembered those days, they were days when Lloyd sometimes found it easier to cope with things - Yes... I fell off the deck steps of the Ship after tripping on a loose board, I hit both knees and one bled more than the other, Kai picked me up and took me to my room where he healed me and gave me several of the cookies that Zane had made - with affection, Lloyd remembers those times when he was still a child and lived with the others on the Ship.

- Or the time broken my arm when I was trying to repair one of the Ship's engines, Kai was the first to help me and almost yelled at Zane to take care of me immediately. He stayed by my side the entire time. And in compensation for not leaving me alone he said that he would do whatever I wanted for a week – despite mentioning that moment, Nya seemed to have a satisfying smile on her face.

- If I remember - Lloyd laughs - You literally made him your personal assistant in your projects, you stole the best of his food, you forced him to watch those cheesy movies that you and Jay watched and you forced him to go shopping with you - Lloyd could clearly remember the frustration that the Red Ninja experienced that week.

- Well, he brought it on himself by getting on my nerves when he tried to play the role of “mother hen” with me – Nya excuses herself, although in a funny way.

- Do you think everything will be okay? – Lloyd suddenly asks, as if he expected Nya's response to take away some of the weight he now carried on his shoulders.

-Yes – Nya didn't think about it too much, she just said it with complete certainty that she had – Yes, everything will be fine. You will see -

- I hope so… -

That day, everyone was resting, so that the next day they would have a real plan.

[flowersareverypretty]

All The Different Ways We Heal

Summer of Bad Batch 2024, Week 2: Injured

(Ao3)

No editing done, so be mindful of errors

Everyone has different ways they heal from injuries. 

As cadets, the members of the bad batch were no strangers to injuries. Many were minor cuts and scrapes or forming bruises here and there. But sometimes they would end up needing stitches to sew up large gashes or casts to heal broken bones. 

When Hunter was on the receiving end of those types of wounds, the other knew to keep as quiet as they could. Hunter’s senses were already at heightened levels because of his enchantment; pain would triple that, leading into a constant state of overstimulation until he was able to fully heal. 

So once Hunter curled up on his bunk after a nasty injury, he would be left alone. The others would make sure to bring food and water or anything else he might need but nothing more than that. If there was ever a fight starting up in their quarters, they would quickly leave and continue on in a place far from Hunter’s hearing. 

Wrecker was a different story. He was often injured given that he would charge into battle simulations head first without prepared backup. It was common to find him snuggling up with another member of the team after a serious visit to the medbay. If, for any reason, he wasn't able to cuddle his brothers, he would use Lula as a substitute. 

The others never really minded Wrecker’s need for physical touch. They knew it helped him feel better and were always ready to be his next snuggle victim. They would often find themselves falling asleep in his arms.

Tech was the most interesting of the bunch. The first time he got injured, everyone was surprised when beelined to Hunter and leaned against him with a satisfied sigh. He had seemed like someone who wouldn't like to receive any kind of touch, especially in pain. But no, Tech seeked comfort from his brothers. After a while they noticed he didn't just do that when hurt. If Tech wasn't able to stim through tinkering or if it just wasn’t satisfying enough, he would lay his head in Hunter’s lap as Hunter ran his fingers through his hair. It was a way to relegate himself. 

They also realized that Tech liked being able to hear his brothers when relaxing. It was a way for him to make sure they were nearby. Most afternoons would end with Hunter’s hands in Tech’s hair with Crosshair and Wrecker retelling stories from earlier that day. 

When Crosshair was ever injured, he enjoyed when his brothers doted on him. When they would bring him food or fluff up his flat pillows. He appreciated the acts of service each did for him as he healed. Tech would sit by his bedside tending to a bandaged cut or replace a dry wetcloth on his forehead if he had a fever. 

Interestingly enough, Crosshair also seeked comfort from the others humming soft tunes. No one in the squad was able to sing every well but they would often hum any familiar songs they knew. They wouldn’t complain doing so either if it allowed Crosshair to relax any tensed up muscles.

When Echo joined, they learned that he liked just being able to hear the voices of his comrades. The only trouble was the constant aches or sores he would build up from the implants he had. It was common to find Echo resting with Tech leading against the bunk’s frame as he read from a training manual or a new article study that Tech recently found. 

If Tech wasn't available, then Echo would start a conversation with one of his other brothers. Most of the time it was Hunter, they end up talking about the missions they had been on and the people they had met during them. It was always able to distract Echo from the constant pain he was in. It made him appreciate what the squad does for him. 

It was a major adjustment when Omega entered into their life. She wasn't one to rest after getting injured. Oftentimes, she would try to hide the injury and no one would know until long after she had healed from it. Hunter and his brothers had hope it was something she would grow out of. That she was only doing so to look tough to her brothers. But they were wrong. Hunter had almost fainted when she casually walked into their home on Pabu after a day out and announced she had broken her ankle. 

She was never one to stay down. They would have to force her to lay down and rest. It only ever worked half the time. She would comply just to make them calm down and then once they left, she was back up and off doing her own thing. It was one of the many reason why Hunter worried for her when she joined the rebellion.

[deadgirlwalking91]

new update - 'thank you for the venom', chapter 4: 'sugar, we're goin' down swinging'

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter 4 Summary

After a hard day, all Lute wants to do is relax in the bath. Alone.

Adam, however, has other plans.

Author's note:

I have a super cool announcement to make - I now have a beta reader! And not just any old beta - she is none other than the most incredible, incomprehensibly talented @branded-rose! She deserves the utmost thanks for being my sounding board, fellow head-canon theoriser, hype gal and all-round legend. Also, if you aren't familiar with her work, close this tab right now and go check her art and accompanying mini-fics out!

I have had the MOST fun writing this chapter. The concept for it has undergone a few transformations in my mind, and I'm glad it's ended up where it has. I hope you all enjoy reading it!

As always, thank you for the comments, likes, reblogs, inboxes and for reading this silly little story <3

***

Lute’s Apartment, Exorcist Training Centre, Heaven

Lute hated being injured.

It wasn’t necessarily the feeling of being in pain that she couldn’t stand. On the contrary, she welcomed the tenderness of every bruise, the sting of every laceration – hell, the dull, aching throb of every broken bone that had been inflicted upon her over her years as an Exorcist. Pain meant she had no hesitations in putting her body on the line; she was renowned, after all, for her reputation as an unrelenting, unstoppable, balls-to-the-wall killing machine.

Her body was heavily adorned with the scars as proof of her status; hundreds of faded gold marks of varying sizes were flecked upon her otherwise pale skin. Each healed wound beheld a gory reminder of her battles and triumphs.

No, what irked Lute was the unwanted attention that she attracted whenever she sustained an injury. Thankfully, due to her recent refocus on physical conditioning, there were no weapons being handled and therefore, there should have been minimal opportunity for anybody to come into harm’s way under her guidance.

There was just one variable that Lute hadn’t accounted for: her dickhead boss.

What the fuck had Adam been thinking, tackling her so suddenly during that afternoon’s training session? One minute, she’d been pointing out common weak spots to hit on a Sinner’s body to expose their vulnerabilities, and then the next she’d unexpectedly been crushed by him. Her right hip and lower back had taken the brunt of the fall as he’d grabbed her around the torso, pinned her arms against her body and drove her into the floor with a force so great she’d been winded before she hit the deck.

Then, her sisters had shrieked, screamed – there may have even been one who cried, there usually was when someone hurt themselves – and crowded around her as she lay on the hardwood floor, dazed, confused and completely smothered by Adam’s considerably larger frame.

“Get off her, Sir, she’s not breathing!”

“I-is…is she dead?”

“Lieutenant, are you alright?!”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Commander?! What the fuck was that?!” Thank God for Vaggie, who had elbowed her way to the front of the gaggling group and stood, hands on hips, glaring at the angel who lay atop her friend.

“Out of line, Vagina,” he had drawled lazily, finally pulling himself up to a standing position. “You owe me burpees for that.”

“I don’t owe you a thing after the bullshit you just pulled,” she’d snapped back, helping Lute stand to her feet. “Ladies, back up, she’s coming through.”

“Thanks,” Lute had managed to grunt, shuffling away from the crowd as quickly as she could so they couldn’t see the golden flush of humiliation that had started to warm her cheeks. There was only one thing that she hated more than being injured, and that was being embarrassed.

Luckily, the colour of her face had returned to normal by the time she’d knocked on Sera’s door to report that training had been cancelled for the rest of the day. She’d even come up with the perfect excuse: the Exorcists had made such remarkable progress with their strength training she was giving them the rest of the afternoon off as a reward while she made some adjustments to their schedule.

Too bad her hip and lower back had started burning by that point – not to mention the feathers of her wings were incredibly ruffled, a dead giveaway that she’d been involved in some kind of mishap. Sera, astute as ever, noticed her limp and disgruntled appearance and had demanded to know what had happened. And it wasn’t like Lute could lie to the Head Seraphim.

At least, not off the cuff.

And so, she found herself fumbling for her key outside her apartment door, ordered to rest up for the evening lest her injuries worsened.

Oh, she was going to rest up, alright. Today’s events called for a bath so damn hot her skin would burn brighter than the surface of the sun, a glass of wine in one hand and steamy novel in another. She’d slip beneath the bubbles of her bath and into the pages of her book, with zero plans to re-enter reality for at least three – no, maybe four hours.

At last, she felt her apartment key in bottom of her bag. Sighing in relief as she entered her immaculate personal sanctuary, she softly pushed the front door back towards its frame without looking, kicking her trainers off as soon she was fully inside. Hanging her bag onto a hook in her entryway, she made a beeline for her small kitchen – specifically, for a bottle of red wine she knew she’d had stashed away at the bottom of her pantry for emergencies and unexpected visits from Vaggie.

After the day she’d had, this was absolutely classified as an emergency.

Ignoring the burn that seemed to now consume most of her lower body, Lute located a wine glass and unscrewed the lid of the bottle, pausing to take a long swig directly from it before filling her glass.

Classy.

Sipping her drink from its intended vessel, she plucked a candle off her coffee table and wandered into her bathroom to start preparing for her date with her bathtub.

As Lute sat her glass and candle onto the counter, she caught her reflection in the mirror. God, she looked like she’d had a day – though, to be fair, she’d had the absolute wind knocked out of her only a few hours earlier. Her platinum hair, half of which had been twisted into a small knot on top of her head, had loose strands starting to fall around her face. The bun was askew, leaning more towards the right and threatening to unravel any minute. If her little altercation hadn’t been so public, it wouldn’t be so farfetched for one to imagine she’d been sandwiched between her boss and the floor for a different reason.

Snorting in disgust to herself at the mental image she’d painted, she released her topknot and leant down to turn on the bath mixer, nudging the lever closer to the right until the water temperature was practically scalding. Perfection. She plugged the bath and turned her attention to the unlit candle.

She’d forgotten the lighter. Dammit. She walked gingerly back out into her living area, peeling her crop top up and off over her head, letting it fall to the floor somewhere near the bench of her kitchen, her socks following. Usually, she’d never allow herself to leave stray items of clothing around her apartment, but she was so hyper focused on getting into her bath she was willing to break her own rules - just this once. Besides, she’d tidy up before bedtime anyhow.

After she grabbed the lighter from an overhead cabinet that was just out of reach, requiring a little assistance from her wings, she set back to the bathroom to light her candle. The calming combination of rose geranium, bergamot and patchouli filled her bathroom almost instantaneously; the smell reminded her of the one and only time she’d allowed Vaggie to drag her to a day spa for a massage and to get her wings preened.

It was a one-time event because, as it turned out, strangers touching her body made her skin crawl and she couldn’t bring herself to relax, even if the aim was to help relieve years of built-up tension, stress and physical exertion. Getting her wings preened was even worse; the therapist kept running her fingers through all her sensitive spots, which made Lute squirm uncomfortably throughout the entire session. Neither experience was what she would call enjoyable.

The only good thing to come out of that disaster was the candle she’d purchased to reassure Vaggie the day hadn’t totally sucked.

She took another sip of wine and looked back in the mirror, turning to see if she could see any obvious signs of bruising on her body. She pulled the waistband of her leggings down for a better look – ah, there it was, a familiar dark orange patch beginning to bloom directly over her right hip. She leant forward to inspect it further – that was going to be ugly tomorrow – and a repetitive, robotic tune sung from her pocket, breaking her concentration. Probably Vaggie checking in on her, bless her.

Lute dug her hand into her pocket and retrieved her phone, frowning as she checked the caller ID.

Commander Adam.

“Absolutely not.” She hit the red decline button and padded out to her lounge, where she turned her phone off and tossed it onto her couch. Bath time had a strict no-phone policy, and Adam had already ruined enough of her day – she didn’t need him encroaching on her night, too. She shimmied her leggings down her lower half, resting against the arm of her couch to support her body as she bent over and tugged the end of them off her feet.

Clad only in her underwear now – a practical, black, seam-free thong ideal for wearing under workout clothes – Lute headed into her bedroom, where she grabbed the book she was currently reading from her nightstand, closing the door as she turned towards the bathroom. Pausing in the hall to rid herself of her last item of clothing, entered the bathroom, fully naked, shutting the door firmly behind her.

The bath was now full and inviting, bubbles threatening to spill over the edge and onto the white tiled floor, steam visibly rising from its depths and dissipating somewhere just short of the ceiling. Grinning in anticipation, Lute shut the mixer off and turned off the light switch, the flickering flame of the candle providing the only source of light – just enough for her to be able to read. Grabbing her book, she stepped into the hot water, allowing the heat to envelop her completely as she slid down into its warmth, tucking her wings comfortably against her sides.

Sighing contentedly to herself, she opened her paperback up to where she’d dog-eared her page and allowed herself to be fully consumed by the words between the well-loved cover, banishing any thoughts, any feelings, any pain that had arisen from her day out of her mind.

What she was blissfully unaware of was that she hadn’t closed her front door properly.

Or that she’d missed two calls, a voicemail and a text message from her boss.

And that he was on a frantic mission to try and find her.

Right now.

Adam and Lute’s Office, Exorcist Training Centre, Heaven

“You’ve reached Lute. Leave me a message if it’s important.”

“What is the point of having a damn lieutenant,” Adam growled to himself furiously, “if she doesn’t answer her fucking phone when I need her to!” Huffing impatiently, he threw his phone onto his cluttered desk, knocking a ball made entirely of rubber bands onto the floor. Women were always on their phones, why was this one any different?

Because her sole purpose in life is to make everything difficult.

He glowered in the direction of Lute’s spotless desk. This was all her fault. If she hadn’t of approached Sera with her shitty statistics and stupid proposal, he wouldn’t be facing the prospect of a pointless life in less than a year’s time. Sera would have just let Extermination Day continue as it was, and things would stay the same. Stay normal.

And now, he had to figure out a way to coexist peacefully with the she-devil. Pretend to support her ideas. Not lump his paperwork on her. Make small talk with her.

Fuck his life.

“Ribs or wings?” He asked the empty chair. He figured he may as well sound out some practice questions in preparation. “Actually neither, you’d be the type to survive on gross shit like protein shakes and probably don’t know what real food tastes like. Alright…” he cleared his throat. “Uh, what was the last movie that made you laugh? Nah, that one’s dumb, I don’t think you’ve been programmed to laugh or understand humour.” He groaned. “Last one, because I’m starting to feel like a dickhead. Most fuckable member of a band…go!”

Silence.

Adam narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah, you would pick the drummer,” he grumbled, standing up. He reached for his phone and tried calling Lute again. Bitch better pick up, or he’d search every nook and cranny of this complex for her. And once he found her, she’d have hell to pay. Screw the idea of a truce, she was pissing him off now.

“You’ve reached Lute. Leave me a message if it’s important.”

Beep.

“Fucks sake, Lieutenant, pick up your phone!” He hissed. Instead of locking the phone after hanging up, he hit the message icon instead and tapped out a quick text, tongue between his teeth as he concentrated.

Adam: Lt. Call me. That’s an order!!!

He shoved the phone into his pocket and sighed, puffing his cheeks out. Dammit, he really had no other choice but to find her.

If I were her, where would I spend my spare time? No – it could take hours trying to find her. I need a workaround. Someone who would know where she lives.

Adam grinned maniacally, inspiration suddenly kicking in.

“I’m a ge-ni-us,” he sang to himself, taking his phone out once more and tapping on a contact.

“Hello, Adam. Have you calmed down?”

“Me? Pfft. Don’t worry about me Sera, I’m so fine. I’m calling because I really want to apologise to Lute, but she’s not answering her phone. Do you have her apartment number so I can drop by to check on her?” He balled his hand into a fist near his crotch and made an obscene gesture. Check on her, his ass.

Silence.

“Adam.”

“Sera.”

“If I do this in good faith,” her voice was dangerously cool on the other end of the phone, “and I find out that you’ve misused the information I’ve given you, there will be consequences. Understood?”

“Crystal, boss.”

“Her apartment number is 583. I mean it Adam, one more incident from you and I-”

“SweetkaythanksSeraloveyoubossbye!” He quickly hung up the phone before Sera could finish her sentence. He’d deal with the inevitable lecture he’d get for hanging up on her later.

He had a lieutenant to hunt down.

Apartment Block, Exorcist Training Centre, Heaven

It wasn’t often that Adam found himself in a situation that required him to make a mental pros and cons list.

However, Lute had left him in quite the predicament: her apartment door was slightly ajar. Which meant he was likely to find her in there: big pro.

He was also likely to find her in a more hostile state than usual, given the events that had transpired earlier that day: big con.

But, if he went in, he’d be able to propose a truce, which would help ensure the success of the next Extermination: bigger pro.

Also, he could twist his pitch to emphasise that it would make her job easier: another big pro.

Fuck it, that was all the evidence he needed. He was getting impatient. He nudged the door open, expecting a response from inside. Nothing.

“Lieutenant?” Adam called, pushing the door open further and poking his head inside. “You home?”

No answer.

He frowned as he fully entered the apartment, observing the immaculate home in front of him. His colleague lived a truly minimalistic lifestyle – he found it borderline depressing, really. A small TV, two-seater couch and coffee table were all that occupied her living room. No decorative clutter. No prints on the walls. No photos of friends. Clothes on the floor.

He did a double take. Clothes on the floor?!

That… he hadn’t been expecting. Then again, he didn’t take Lute as the type to leave her front door unlocked and open when she was nowhere to be seen.

He strode forward, trying to get his bearings around her apartment based on the trail of her clothes. Crop and socks by the kitchen counter to his left. He walked past the discarded pants next to the couch on his right. A dead end with two closed doors and…something scrunched up on the floor? He bent to take a closer look and bolted upright once he realised what it was.

Her underwear.

Dismayed, he blinked repeatedly at the offending item of clothing on the floor in front of him. This surely had to be some kind of fucked-up fever dream. Because if somebody had told him that during his search for his second-in-command that he’d find himself staring down at her underwear on the floor, he would have thrown them down into the pits of Hell himself.

“Sera must have put some kind of curse on me with her four hundred weird eyes,” he muttered. “This is too messed up to be real.” He took a wide berth, desperate to avoid the offending undergarment, and found himself directly in front of one door, with another to his left. Both were closed.

He tentatively opened the door in front of him, hoping to catch her in bed, asleep. Where else could she possibly be? He knew he’d likely pay for it – she wasn’t likely to enjoy being woken up, least of all by him – but it’d be worth it just to see the sheer panic that would likely cross her face for a brief second before she went off the rails.

However, nothing could have prepared Adam for what was behind that door.

Because, he’d found his lieutenant, alright. In the bathtub, her body illuminated only by candlelight.

Naked.

Adam looked down at her, his eyes widening in horror. Oh no. No, no, no. This wasn’t happening. This was meant to be her bedroom, she was supposed to be asleep and she definitely wasn’t supposed to be fucking NAKED.

He’d opened the wrong fucking door.

“SHIT!”

He clapped his hand over the mouth of his mask, accidentally banging the door completely open in the process, revealing his presence to the wide-eyed angel laying in front of him.

The same wide-eyed angel who, renowned for her reputation as a bloodthirsty killer, had a murderous look in her eyes that he’d never seen before, despite many an excursion down to Hell.

Shit. I’m SO dead.

Lute’s Bathroom, Apartment Block, Exorcist Training Centre, Heaven

“I am going to KILL you!”

The water in her bath had long gone lukewarm, but white-hot heat radiated throughout Lute’s body, starting from her cheeks and spreading rapidly all the way down to her toes. Still seated, she instinctively flung her book to the other side of the room. She desperately grabbed in the direction of her towel with one hand, her other arm pressed tightly against her breasts in a feeble attempt to cover as much skin as possible. She just needed to get this towel around her, sprint to the kitchen, grab the butcher’s knife and-

“Shit!” Adam yelped, turning away from his lieutenant, drawing his golden wings around his middle to protect himself. He hastily began retreating into her lounge, eyes fixed on the front door. At lighting speed, Lute seized her opportunity to stand – an awful squelch filling the room as water sloshed out of the bath onto the floor - and retrieve her towel, hastily wrapping it around her body with one hand, not bothering to dry herself before hurling herself out of the tub towards her superior.

Her wings were weighed down with half of the water from her bath, soaking through her white towel completely so it clung to her like a skin-tight dress. As she ran, enormous puddles of water pooled in her wake, but she didn’t care. Water could be cleaned up anytime.

She had mere moments, however, to violently murder her boss.

With an almighty cry, she launched herself at Adam’s back, still clutching the towel at the top her sternum. Her knee caught him in his lower back, causing him to stumble and trip, face-down onto the carpet of her living room.

“How-” she growled, straddling his upper back with her thighs, knees poking into his armpit, leaning forward so that her free arm curled around the front of his neck, “- the fuck did you get into my house, you disgusting piece of shit?”

“Maybe,” Adam rasped, using both of his hands to pull Lute’s arm away from his windpipe, “you should learn to lock your door, Lieutenant. You left it wide open for all of Heaven to come in and enjoy the show!”

“And you didn’t think it polite to knock?!” she roared. “Or, I don’t know, try calling me first?! What could you possibly want so fucking badly,” she grunted the last word as she squeezed her thighs against his back, bracing herself so she could fend off his hands, which were gradually freeing her elbow from his throat, “that you needed to walk in on me in the fucking bath?! How long were you standing there, perv?!”

Adam groaned in discomfort as her knees dug into his underarms. Lute squeezed harder again as she moved her mouth closer to the side of his head to get close to his ear.

“I am giving you three seconds,” she snarled, ignoring her towel slipping down her chest as she channelled all her energy into closing the gap between her elbow and his neck, “to explain yourself before I choke you to death. I don’t care if Sera casts me down into hell; a life of damnation would be worth it if it meant I got to be the one to end yo-”

Adam’s right hand let go of Lute’s forearm and he braced it on the floor so he could jerk his right shoulder up and over to his left violently, causing Lute to teeter off-balance and fall sideways onto her already bruised hip. She yelped in pain, motionless for a moment and Adam, now free, took advantage of her breather to straddle her thighs, pinning them together with his own. His knees were quickly becoming soaked as he pressed into the wet towel that still clung to her lower body, but he didn’t care. She howled in rage and made to claw at his mask with her free hand before he caught her wrist and held it to the floor above her head, his face only inches above hers. With his other hand, he swiftly untangled Lute’s fist from her towel and brought it up next to her other hand, pinning her down completely.

“Listen here, girlie,” he seethed as she thrashed her legs violently behind him, attempting to use her hips to throw him off. “I didn’t fucking come here to do anything untoward, alright? I needed to talk to you urgently and you weren’t answering your phone. Your door was wide open. What else was I supposed to do?”

“You didn’t notice the trail of clothes on the floor and think I might be otherwise occupied?”

“Oh please, I’ve seen enough thongs to last me an afterlife. Your underwear on the floor wasn’t going to stop me from finding you. Besides, I’d assumed you were in bed, asleep. Hold still you crazy bitch, I need to talk to you.”

“There is nothing you could need to tell me that necessitates coming into my home uninvited - argh.” She arched her back to try and twist herself free, her towel now dangerously close to being rendered completely useless. Frustrated, wet and spent, she let her head drop back against the carpet, her chest heaving with exhaustion. Adam’s eyes flickered downwards, and he grinned devilishly.

“Didn’t realise you gave up so easily, Dangertits.”

“What the fuck did you just call me?!” she hissed. Her cheeks flushed brilliantly as she looked down and realised that he’d snuck a quick look at her cleavage, which was beginning to spill over the top of her towel.

“You heard me, babe. I think that’s what I’ll refer to you as from now on. It really…” he let his gaze trail down to her chest again, before deliberately taking his time to being his eyes back up to hers again, knowing that he was antagonising her now. A wicked gleam etched across his mask. “…suits you. Ready to wave the white flag and hear me out?”

“I’d rather fucking die.”

“Not an option, Lieutenant. Shut up and stop running that filthy mouth of yours for a sec and listen to me. That’s an order.”

Lute glowered at him.

“Let me go.”

Adam snickered. “Not a chance.”

“Now.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“I’ll tell Sera.”

“Tattling again, Lieutenant? That would be twice today. I’ll give you a hot tip, because I’m feeling generous.” He bent his head low against her ear, his forehead pressing against her hair as he whispered into her ear. “I strongly advise you against it. Wouldn’t want the boss thinking you can’t hold your own now, would you?”

Lute shuddered at his closeness – or was the adrenaline starting to wear off and a chill settling in because of the wet towel? It didn’t matter, anyway. He was right. She couldn’t go to Sera again with something like this. It would make her appear weak. Incapable. Not to mention that the whole situation was utterly humiliating, and there was no way she was telling a single soul about what had happened tonight. Not even Vaggie.

“What do you want, then?”

Adam lifted his head back up, so their faces were parallel once more and scoffed.

“Are you kidding me, babe? We’re not having this conversation right now! In case you haven’t noticed, you’re soaking wet – not in a good way, either – and basically naked. We can talk tomorrow morning.”

“Y-you,” Lute gasped, shutting her eyes in disbelief. After all this, he wasn’t even going to tell her. Oh, how she wanted nothing more than to tear him apart, limb by limb. “You asshole. You evil, conniving sonnuva-”

“Nine o’clock. Our office.” Adam released his grip on her wrist and rose to a standing position. He held out his hand to help her up, but Lute swatted it away angrily. He could shove it up his ass, as far she was concerned.

“Don’t be late.” He straightened his robes and headed towards her front door, whistling merrily to himself. Lute pulled herself into a sitting position, readjusting her towel so she was adequately covered once more. She said a silent prayer of thanks that the wetness of the towel meant that it stuck tight to her lower body, ensuring some level of modesty for her during their scrap. She desperately wanted to scream at him, throw something at his head, charge at him again and make him pay for the humiliation she’d just suffered.

But she didn’t. Because, despite wanting to exact her revenge immediately with every fibre of her being, she was overwhelmingly exhausted. At this point, all she had the energy to do was crawl into bed and forget that she’d even woken up this morning.

Adam grinned as he opened the door.

“At ease, Dangertits.” He saluted her mockingly before exiting.

He managed to close the door just in time to hear the TV remote hit the back of the door and clang to the floor.

***

Next time: Lute's suspicious that Adam's trying to poison her.

[tokkias]

per aspera ad astra ship: natsu dragneel x lucy heartfilia summary: There's not much that would keep Lucy away from the stars but she supposes a fractured ankle will do it. Thankfully she's got a boy who would give her the stars, just because he can. ao3

Nalu Week 2024 Day 6: Stargazing/Injury

A soft huff of frustration escapes Lucy’s lips as she gazes out the window from her bed. Her curtains are drawn in a feeble attempt to capture a glimpse of the stars decorating the night sky above, but the streetlamps that line the sidewalks drown out any chance she may have had at spotting them. She knows it’s futile, but every night she still stares out the window, hoping for a chance to see the glimmer of the stars she feels makes herself whole.

Being trapped inside is slowly driving her insane.

That stupid fractured ankle has kept her inside for more of the summer than she would have liked. What’s most embarrassing is how it happened. One would think that someone with a lifestyle like hers was likely to experience an injury like this in the heat of battle, on some sort of job fighting a giant monster to protect a local town, not falling down the stairs of the damn building she’s been living in for years. She thought that muscle memory alone meant that she was safe walking downstairs in the dark, but one misstep was all it took for her to go hurtling down, breaking a bone in the process.

If that alone hadn’t been humiliating enough, not even Wendy’s magic was enough to heal it alone. She wouldn’t be recovering for as long as she might otherwise, but Wendy wasn’t a miracle worker—she couldn’t just bandage up her ankle and have the bone healed the next day. That was how she ended up trapped in her apartment, held hostage away from the stars she once shone beneath.

Maybe trapped was a little dramatic. She still found herself going to and from the guild most days with the help of her friends, but the stupid cast and stupid crutches limited her movement and therefore her independence.

It was okay for the most part. She was good at keeping herself occupied—many books had been read, and she had never made as much progress on her new manuscript as she had in the past few weeks, but that doesn’t stop her from getting a little stir crazy from time to time.

It mostly comes in times like these when it’s late at night and she’s on her own, longing to escape for the night, to lay in the grass and gaze up at the stars until she falls asleep under a blanket of moonlight.

Maybe she could hobble her way downstairs, use her crutches to get her across Magnolia, out into the fields she has deemed the best for stargazing. Apparently she can barely make it down the stairs in the dark with a normal foot, so she’s not liking her chances with a broken one either. Getting out is one thing, but getting back in is another, and she’s already faced enough embarrassment from this stupid injury as is. She can’t imagine what it would be like if she had to summon one of her poor friends to help her back up the stairs.

Instead, she’s stuck inside with only her books and the soft rush of the Magnolia river to keep her company.

She thinks she’ll call it an early night tonight.

Lucy isn’t alone in her apartment when she wakes up—something she has become increasingly used to over the past few weeks. Natsu and Happy have always been fond of letting themselves in, and now they use her injury and their wanting to help as an excuse to justify their actions. She can’t exactly administer a Lucy kick in this state, so instead she just lets it happen.

She doesn’t bother acknowledging them with more than a grunt as she hobbles to the kitchen for her morning coffee. She’s been inside a few days too many, and it’s making her lose her mind just a little.

“What’s up your butt today?” Happy asks, and she can practically hear the mischievous smirk plastered across his face.

“I’m sick of being inside,” Lucy replies, not bothering to dignify his thinly veiled goading. “I want to be able to go out and do things without these stupid crutches. I miss going outside and seeing the stars.”

She half expects Natsu to offer to take her out tonight, to carry her down the stairs and across Magnolia, all the way to her favourite stargazing spot. She’s a little disappointed when he doesn’t.

“That sucks,” is all he says.

Lucy simply replies with a disgruntled noise.

“We can go to the guild today,” he suggests.

It’s not exactly what she wants, but she knows he’s trying his best to help, so she offers him a half-hearted smile.

“I’d like that.”

Thankfully, the guild hustle and bustle doesn’t stop for a fractured ankle. It’s busy, and it’s loud, and a fight is on the verge of breaking out, but it provides a little sense of normalcy in Lucy’s currently bland life, so she doesn’t have it in her to care too much if a table or two goes flying in her direction.

A drink and a meal from Mira accompany her as she reads at the bar. It’s not any different from what she’s been doing at home, but given that she can’t join in on a brawl or take a job, she doesn’t have much in the way of other options. At the very least, the change of scenery is enough to keep her from losing her mind for another day or two. Familiar faces pop up from time to time to greet her, ask her how she’s healing, and provide her with a little company when there isn’t much else for her to do. It’s nice to see her friends when she doesn’t have the autonomy to see them whenever she wants.

Wendy checks up to see how she’s healing; Erza brings her a slice of cake from the bakery that just opened up around the corner; and Levy chats with her about the book she’s been reading while homebound. It’s all enough to keep her so distracted that she doesn’t realise that Natsu’s been off doing his own thing until he makes an appearance to tell her he’s leaving.

“Hey, me ‘n’ Happy are gonna be back later,” he tells her.

The sudden announcement catches her off guard. They had never mentioned anything about going anywhere today. Usually when they offer to take her out to the guild hall, they spend the day with her, or at the very least they let her know if they’ll be doing something else in between, which is why it’s weird when they suddenly bail on her with such little warning.

“What?”

“We got stuff to do, isn’t that right, buddy?” He says, flashing a grin towards her as he gestures to Happy.

“Aye!”

“Are you two going on a job?” She asks.

“Nah, Happy ‘n’ I just need to grab some stuff for the house,” he vaguely replies.

Her eyebrow quirks up as she waits for an elaboration, but it never comes. He doesn’t even give her time to question him before he’s already off.

“We’ll be back later!” He calls out. “See you when we get back!”

All she can do in that moment is stare in bewilderment as the duo practically sprint out the guild hall doors. They certainly don’t owe her an explanation for where they’re going or what they’re doing., but it’s weird that they didn’t give her one.

Levy regards her with a confused look, but Lucy doesn’t have any more explanation than she does, so all she can do is offer her a confused shrug.

Natsu and Happy arrive back a few hours later with not much to show for it and no real explanation, even when she tries to probe one out of them. He keeps insisting they were just getting some stuff to decorate and won’t elaborate when she asks for more details. She’s not certain how much she believes it given that they don’t even tidy that place, much less decorate it, but they’re standing firm on their explanation, and any time she tries to dig for more information, they just dismiss her as being weird. It’s a losing battle, she quickly decides, so it’s not worth the effort. If they suddenly decide they want their home to look somewhat liveable, who is she to judge?

When the late afternoon turns to early evening, Lucy decides it’s time to make their way to the back of her apartment. The guild has provided her sufficient chaos for the day, so she’s happy to go back home, even if that’s the place she’s been itching to escape for the last week.

It’s not dark enough for the streetlights to be lit on their way back, but it is dark enough to know they will be by the time she gets home. It means she’ll be relegated to longingly looking at the skies from her bedroom window again tonight, but at least getting out of the house for the day means she won’t feel quite as trapped tonight.

When they reach her front door, Natsu hits her with an expression she’s all too familiar with. She can read his face like an open book, and right now he’s got that grin that tells her he’s inviting himself in for the night. She’s long since decided it’s not worth fighting it, so she simply lets it happen tonight. They ate while they were at the guild, so he’s not coming in with the expectation of dinner, so she simply assumes he wants to spend time with her to make up for him being busy during the day. She loves her family at the guild, but she can admit that she misses out on her Natsu time when she’s not with him, so she’s more than happy to let him stay, especially when he’s the one helping her up those wretched stairs.

The door's already unlocked when they arrive, even though she’s pretty sure she locked it when they left, but the apartment doesn’t look ransacked and nothing important is missing, so she doesn’t pay it too much mind.

The relief she feels when she tosses her crutches to the side and flops down on the couch is unmatched. She takes up the majority of it, leaving Natsu and Happy to sit on the floor. Neither complain about it—not that she’d let them; she is the one with the broken ankle after all—and they quickly busy themselves with a deck of cards they left on her coffee table a few days prior.

“You wanna play some cards?” Happy asks her as Natsu begins to shuffle.

“I think I’ll just watch,” she replies.

She’s played so much solitaire while stuck at home that she’s pretty sure that if she sees another six of hearts again, she might just explode on the spot, so she’s content to just bear witness to their game. Watching them bicker about the rules of the game provides a welcome distraction from the discontentment she’s been feeling come nightfall these days. She may not be able to see the stars tonight, but those boys have stars in their eyes, and she supposes that’s close enough.

When the game comes to its eventual end, with cards scattered about the table, Natsu’s head falls back to rest on the soft cushions of the couch, and he looks up at her, his eyes shining and his lips pulled into a smile that she feels is less than innocent. There’s something behind those eyes that says he’s up to something, and it doesn’t sit right with her.

“What?” She says. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what? Can’t I just be happy to be spending time with my best friend?”

She wants to say yes, but she knows Natsu, and he’s been weird all day, so she feels like that’s not the case here.

“You can, but I don’t think that’s why,” she tells him. “What did you do?”

He doesn’t reply with anything more than a grin plastered across his face, and his lack of a real response is all the confirmation she needs to know that he’s up to something.

“You seemed kinda bummed stuck inside all the time, so I just got you something I thought might cheer ya up,” he says with a shrug in feigned nonchalance.

His reply makes her go quiet for a moment, and she blinks in bewilderment. It’s not that she doesn’t think he is capable of doing thoughtful things, but rather, given his apathy this morning, she wasn’t expecting anything out of him.

“Ya wanna see?” He asks, a grin plastered across his face.

Curiosity has taken hold of her rather quickly, and she nods with an eager glimmer in her eyes.

He leads her into her bedroom, where she sits on her bed and glances around the room. It looks the same as it did when she left that morning—same sheets on her bed, same books on her shelf, same scattered mess on her desk. She regards Natsu with a curious expression, and he just grins. He doesn’t give her more than that brief moment to read his face before he flicks the lights off, and the beat of confusion she feels is quickly washed away by the soft glow above her.

Her eyes are immediately drawn up to the ceiling, and she is met with a vast sky of stars and constellations glowing with a soft green hue. She glances back at Natsu, and in the low light, his eyes are shining as he waits for her approval.

If it weren’t for her stupid ankle, she would have dashed across the room and let her joy be known in the form of her arms around him. Instead, all she can do is gaze at him with soft eyes, hoping that the starlight is enough to get her message across.

“Natsu…” She says, her voice soft and airy, for the sight has taken her breath away.

“Ya like it?” He asks, but based on the self-satisfied look on his face, he already knows.

“This is amazing,” she tells him, her head tilting back so she can catch another glimpse of it.

“Pretty cool, right?” He grins. “We got ‘em and put ‘em up while you were at the guild today.”

“I was the one who put them up!” Happy interjects.

“Yeah, well, it was my idea,” Natsu grumbles.

A laugh escapes her lips before she has the chance to stop it, his pathetic little defensive grumble causing her heart to swell up in her chest.

Though from an outside perspective, Natsu might come off as brash and childish—which he certainly still is—but behind that is a kind and thoughtful boy, and it’s moments like this where it really shows.

They all squeeze onto her twin-sized bed, arm pressed against arm, pressed against furry little arm, and it takes everything in her to not sob in complete contentment in that moment. It’s not quite the same, but that doesn’t matter. These stars shine with love, just for her.

The ceiling obviously doesn’t hold the same constellations as the skies do, but she notices patterns in the way they’re placed, their arrangement forming shapes and pictures with big stars and little stars. She draws lines between them to paint a picture of her very own constellations, each of which she builds stories for in her head to mirror those of the constellations in the real sky.

They don’t stay just in her head for very long, and soon she’s spilling her lore to Natsu and Happy besides her, who happily listen. They ask questions just like they do when she speaks to them about the real stars, and she comes up with her own answers, building on her story brick by brick with their prompting and suggestions until a full story is painted across her bedroom ceiling in a soft green glow.

The stories she attributes to the stars are whimsical and fantastical, but somehow they don’t match up to the reality of how they found their place. The most important story they tell is how she’s lucky enough to have a boy who would give her the stars just because he could.

[sleepyfaequeen]

Hello!! I saw your life weaver one shot and I just adore it. I was wondering if you maybe had some general LifeWeaver headcanons? Maybe for a clumsy person, who is definitely not me but tends to have old scars and new injuries from things?

Thank you, your one shot made me weak he is such a darling of a man ♥️

Well, I didn't expect another request for Lifeweaver, but I shall grant you what my mind can muster up. I wrote this in one sitting. Enjoy~

Roommates

Summary: You just happen to always slip on your own two feet. Even in Vishkar University. Lucky for you, Vishkar has given you a nurse who is in 24/7.

Pairing: Lifeweaver x fem!reader

Warning(s): fluff

Requested: Yes, anonymous

Song:

A groan escaped (Y/n)'s lips as she laid down on the ground. The days of overworking yourself to the bone (has) finally caught up to you, and you can't help but just accept it. (Y/n) could hear sudden footsteps from upstairs before a familiar face peering down to look at what had probably caused all that ruckus. It was right then and there that she had wished she would've died on impact, so she didn't have to witness her roommate looking at her pathetic hopeless self sprawled out on the ground.

"(Y/n), did you just fall?" Niran asked as he held onto the railing of the top of the stairs.

"No." She replies.

"Then why are you on the ground?" He cocks his head to the side with a small smirk and raised brow.

".. I fell." She admits and this makes him sigh.

"I'm going to help you up." He said, already heading downstairs. Her roommate was always so nice and friendly while she was a clumsy mess. "Does anything hurt?"

"No." She lies. Nothing was broken, but she did feel ashamed that nearly everyone she knew had known her as the person who always would be in an accident.

"Good, then you can get up." He taps her hip and she couldn't help but groan. "Unless you want me to help you."

"No, I'm totally fine here." She smiles as she watched him roll his eyes and stepped over her before resting his hands on his hips.

"This is your last chance, N̂ảp̄hụ̂ng." He warns.

"Or what?" (Y/n) watched as he bends down and grabbed her legs before pulling her down the hallway.

"NIRAN!?" A squeak leaves her lips as he practically drags her. Her arms cover her fluttering face as he continues to drag her before he lets go of her legs and moves. She can't help but peak between her arm, though that was probably a mistake as his chest was in full view. The man was wearing a deep rose pink V neck t-shirt, revealing his hard yet soft looking chest. How was it that she was so blessed and cursed at the same time to have such a good-looking roommate. She swore she only joined Vishkar to learn and provide people with hope for the future. Still, her eyes can't help but look at the way Niran's white hair was tied up in a messy bun, and his bangs happen to fall over his eye.

"You must really like staring at someone who is treating you." He said with an amused smirk on his lips. This makes her avert her eyes before yelping as he picked her up and sits her down onto the couch of their living room. "I'm going to have to ask you if anything hurts. That was a dangerous fall.."

"I'm alright.." (Y/n) stretched her arm before whimpering as she held it to her stomach. Niran can't help but lean forward and reach over, gently holding her arm. "Okay, maybe not as alright as I had thought."

"This is why I'm studying to be you're nurse." He jokes as he decides to have a look at your arm. "Well, I can't fix it now since it's late. Lucky for you, I happen to be trained in wrapping a broken arm."

"Thank you so much, Niran. I'm so sorry to be such a clutz." She let's her eyes meet his soft chocolate ones.

"It's no problem. Without you falling around everywhere, I wouldn't be learning how to treat different kinds of first aid." He chuckles as his eyes glance at every small scar and recent bandages on you. "But really, I think it's rather adorable."

"Ho-!?" She can't help but almost choke on her own saliva before going into a coughing fit. He quickly pats her back before letting his hand rub the middle of her shoulder blades. "You think I'm.."

"Of course, I do. You're also the sweetest person I have ever met on campus."

"Ahh.." She was feeling her entire face burn up and quickly averts her eyes only to see Satya in her light blue pajamas with her pillow under her arm. She looked so tired and upset, which was never good.

"If you two don't stop flirting so loudly, I will not hesitate to strike you both." Her hands already holding up her pillow.

"Wait.. is that a seashell pillow?" Niran asked as he pointed at it. Satya can't help but look at it herself.

"Yes, it is."

"I didn't realize you believed in fairytales." Immediately, Niran's face is met with a loud "fwap" as the pillow is slammed against his face.

"(Y/n) if you're going to start dating him. I suggest you teach him some manners." She takes her pillow back, glaring at Niran before walking back upstairs. "Start with his snoring."

"Satya!" Niran whines as he can't help but tuck his face into your shoulder as he hugs (Y/n). Whether it was to comfort himself or to hold you didn't really matter.

Translation: N̂ảp̄hụ̂ng / น้ำผึ้ง: Honey

[lanitalay]

Before I Say Goodnight Chapter 14

A/n: I hope you all enjoy this one!!!!!!! I feel like I could end it in one chapter or in 10 :')

Warnings: canon typical mentions/depictions of injuries, mentions of a toxic relationship.

Word count: 2.6k

Other chapters

Steady steps fill the air as Eris walks down the main hall of the House of Wind. He had not expected to be welcomed here in light of recent events. 

“How is she?” He asks the shadowsinger posted outside a door, presumably hers.

“Stable” 

“Is she awake?” The spymaster shakes his head “Sometimes, never for long”. Eris purses his lips at that, those last few moments in the clearing flashing in his mind “can I see her?” Azriel nods once and opens the door behind him. Eris is certain that he will remain on the other side of the door and that his shadows will be watching closely. 

His breath catches in his throat when he sees her. In truth, he did not know what to expect. It had been days since that night and she had been given Feyre’s blood and a mix of power granted by two high lords, one high lady and one cauldron made fae. It was not something that had been documented before. He was relieved when she had opened her eyes in the clearing, but the white light that shot out of them had surprised him. She had been drained of her blood, kept in a dungeon for weeks, mauled by an ancient monster and struck by lightning. If he had to guess, she had done something to offend the Mother or another god. How does one come back from that? 

The dark circles under her eyes had softened. He noticed the new points of her ears poking out of her hair that laid strewn across soft looking pillows. The lightning had left her with scars that peaked out of her shirt and went to the base of her neck. The bolt forever reflected on her once porcelain skin. He couldn’t see her leg but was relieved to see two outlines beneath the sheets. From what he had seen, it would not have been surprising that a healer would have recommended amputation. Her cheeks looked fuller, that was a good sign. 

He stood there for a while, as she slept. There was so much guilt eating away at him for all of the things he had done during his father’s reign. Unspeakable and unforgivable things. He had tried to do some good, when he could guarantee that his father’s wrath would not be turned to him. He was brought out of his thoughts when she stirred. 

“You can’t be serious” she grumbles and Eris tenses “we are going to have to discuss boundaries”. Her eyes are open and she seems… fine. No pain, no grogginess, no anger. “What?” She yawns “everytime I open my eyes you're there, you were always at the Manor, in the dungeons and now my room? I think we need to talk about getting friends your own age”. Eris stays looking at her and she rolls her eyes “not you too”. He repeats himself “what?”. “I need normal conversation, everyone has been acting like I’m going to break if they look at me wrong and I hate it” he relaxes his stance but remains uncertain “you got demolished by three separate entities, you should be dead, forgive me if I am not in the mood to banter”. She goes to sit up but winces and lays back down “no”. Eris crosses his arms at his chest “no, what?” She throws a pillow at him “I won't forgive you not wanting to banter” he catches the pillow “I did not realize you were enthralled by my humor” he walks closer to her bed and places the pillow where it had been “are you aware of the watchdog at the door?” She scowls “don’t call him that. But yes” and yells “it’s a waste of your time Azriel, I’m fine!” 

A hint of a smile escapes Eris “you are the worst patient I’ve ever seen”. Now, she looks seriously pissed off “you try being bedridden for a week and see how you like it”. “You’ve been bed ridden?” She nods and grimaces “after everything went down the magic healed all my wounds but my leg was broken in so many different places and it healed all wrong. Madja has had to re-break and properly set the bones. They have not let me leave the bed”. A shiver runs down Eris’ back and just how brutal the attack had been. Any lighthearted energy having been sucked out of the room. “I wanted to apologize” she looks away from him and starts to pick at a loose string in the bedsheets and interrupts him “don’t”. He goes on “I have to, it was my father who got you into this whole mess and I could have done so much more to prevent it or to get you out sooner. I should have killed him years ago but I never had the courage and-” she held up her hand “Eris, please don’t”. He took a step closer “and I’m sorry you got hurt and tortured and I just stood by” she would not look at him but asked “did you notice that the bargain marks vanished?” He nodded. She took a breath and said “you kept your promise. I’m out. You never owed me any kindness. We were never even friends” that stung. “You deserved better” she made knots to the string she was fidgeting with “I hate when people talk like that, you can’t change what happened or what you did or didn’t do”. He took one more step “I think it's fair to lament what happened” she looked up and met his gaze “I think it's useless”. He could have flinched at the venom in her voice, but stood still when clouds and bolts of silver amassed in her eyes. She closed her eyes, breathed deep and said “let’s talk about something else” when she opened her eyes again, the storm was gone. Before he could think of what to say the door opened and Madja walked in, followed by Azriel. 

“Good morning y/n, how are you feeling?” The healer asked while opening up her bag of bandages and tonics. “I’m fine, the leg is a little sore” Madja hummed and said “well we have the last procedure today. If all goes well you’ll be able to walk around in a few days”. Y/n smiled at the news “really?” Madja nodded “alright, I will need any visitors to say their goodbyes now” she searched through her bag for something and Eris took his cue to leave. But before he did said “I will be back in a few days”. 

Azriel stood at the door throughout every procedure. His stomach churning every time he heard crunching or snapping coming from inside. She had been put to sleep again. Madja was done in less than an hour. 

He waited by her bedside until she woke up. After the procedures she would wake up in pain and he would be there to give her the tonic Madja had prepared. “That never gets easier to get down” she gagged at the foul taste of the concoction. “I know, it does not taste good”. He remembers all of the times he’s been hurt and forced to drink it. “You’re done though, Madja said everything went perfect. You can try to walk tomorrow” she let out a sigh “thank God”. Azriel chuckled “here, Elain made you soup” and helped you sit up so you could eat. 

“So what are you going to do?” Nesta asked, interrupting a very interesting scene in the book you were reading. She was keeping you company while Azriel was at a meeting in the River House.  “About?” She closed her book. Oh lord. “About Azriel and Eris”. You frown “I’m still lost” she leaned closer “are you going to choose?” Now you scowled “I don’t know why I would choose between two friends” Nesta rolled her eyes. “Don’t be coy, y/n” you cross your arms, defensive “I am not being coy, I am not thinking of my love life at all”. Now, she leans back and says nonchalantly “Gwyn has been dying to ask Azriel out”. Your eyes widen and you curse at how those words irked you just how Nesta wanted them to. “Gwyn does not want to go out with Az” Nesta raised a sharp brow “she used to, but since you came into the picture she’s lost interest”. You huff “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that Azriel only has eyes for one person but that person seems to be undecided” 

“Why do I have to make a choice now?” 

“You don’t have to, I was just curious”.

“I barely know either of them”.

“You know them well enough to know how you feel” 

“It’s not that simple” your voice quivers and Nesta’s expression softens.

“It seems simple to me”

“It’s not. I hate talking about it but I used to be engaged to a man, back in my world. He was not kind to me. But I stayed far longer than I should have because everyone in my life kept telling me that I had to, that I should. I also had a complicated relationship with my mother. She was very… controlling”. You got lost as you remembered how she would manipulate you “Anyway, it feels that all my life I have never made a choice for myself. The only true choices I have made was leaving him, traveling and then working at the apothecary. Everything else was either orchestrated by my mother or predetermined by fate. The portal being open, Lucien finding me, meeting Azriel, meeting Eris and now I am not even human anymore”. A wave of pain floods your chest at the reminder of your stolen mortality. “I just… as much as I might like Azriel I need to heal, in more ways than one”. 

Nesta nodded “I’m sorry for everything. I understand feeling like things just happen to you without you having a say in the matter” the way her eyes darkened you knew she had also gone through something similar. You could recall from what Mor had told you that she had been made against her will and that she had a… destructive way of dealing with the trauma. “I love Cassian, he’s my mate but a part of me will always wonder about the mortal life I could have had or what I would have done if they had not locked me in this house. So I’m sorry for prying and pressuring you. I should have known better” tears are gathering in your eyes. She gets out of her chair, sits in front of you on the bed and pulls you into a hug. “I don’t know what to do,” you say, voice quiet. “Just focus on healing”. 

The following day was better, you could finally stand and walk around. 

The day after that was great, Madja said you could resume your usual activities as long as you did not put too much stress on the leg. 

The following week she gave you the all clear that everything was perfect. Azriel was with you  every day. Eris came to visit and was relieved to see you in better spirits and mobile again. Lucien had brought you gifts that Muriel, Jurian and Vassa had sent along. He told you that Muriel thought you had been sick all along and she had sent so many tonics and salves in hopes that you'd get better.Your heart warmed. It broke a little, too. Going back to the Human Lands was not an option now and that stung. 

You were at the River House for a visit when Feyre asked you what you wanted to do now. “I have no idea, but I need to get out of the House of Wind”. Feyre furrowed her brows “why? Did something happen?” You shake your head “no, no, it's just that I feel bad asking to be winnowed or flown all the time and during the day nobody is really in the house and it gets lonely”. She thinks for a moment “you could stay at the town house if you want”. You raise a brow “town house?” She nods “we used to live there but the family grew so much we needed a bigger place. I don’t think anybody is using it now… so you could move there if you like”. That sounded perfect “yes, I would love that”. Feyre smiled “that’s perfect! You’d be so close you could walk here”. 

“How will I ever repay you?” It was a sincere question, they had been keeping you alive since Lucien found you and you had no money for rent or anything. “You don’t owe us anything, you’re part of our family now” you hated how that scared you. “Seriously Feyre, is there a job I could do or something?” She shook her head “Nope, you will move to the town house and continue to heal. I think you could train with an apothecary here or even with Madja if you’re interested”. She went on to list every apothecary in town and how they would never say no if the High Lady asked them for a favor. 

A knock startled you “come in”. “How was your day?” Azriel asks and closes the door behind him. He stays in place as he sees that you are packing up your clothes into boxes. “What are you doing” you look up at him “I was at the River House today and Feyre said I could move into the town house”. 

“Oh”

“I was just telling her how it gets lonely here when all of you are gone and how I’d be more comfortable in Velaris rather than above it” 

“When are you leaving?” 

“Tomorrow” 

He didn’t reveal any emotion but you knew he was hurt. “She said there are several rooms… you could come with me, if you want” he shifted his stance, hands behind his back, wings tight. “Do you want me to go with you?” You reply “I don’t really want to live alone” he shakes his head. “Do you want me to go with you?” Yes, you wanted to scream. You wanted to shout and hug him and apologize for not asking him first and that he found out like this. You wanted to kiss away his frown until he was smiling. But you stood there not saying anything. 

“Y/n”

“Yes” you step closer to him “I want you to come with me” you falter. Heart beating faster, hating the vulnerability. His hands come to his sides “are you sure?” You mentally curse him “yes, I’m sure”. You are standing a foot away from him. So close you can see a glimmer of something in his eye when you finish talking. “But I have to be honest with you” the glimmer disappears “Az, I…” A lump forms in your throat and you can’t get the words out. “I like you, ok? I like you a lot and I think you like me too but-” 

He cuts you off  “I do” 

The lump gets bigger “but I can’t promise you anything other than friendship right now… I hope you can understand that” 

He steps closer and your breath falters. He is so close. You want to reach up and just touch him. He grabs your hands and says “I’d wait any amount of time for you. You have my friendship, always”. His gentleness overwhelms you and tears well up. You groan “I feel like I’m always crying” he smiles and wipes away a few stray drops. You inhale “so you’ll come with me?” He nods and you want nothing more than to wrap your arms around him and kiss him. 

Azriel laid in his bed feeling lighter than he had in years. She likes me. 

Her words were a breath of fresh air, a cool summer breeze, a shimmering night sky. She likes me. 

He could not stop replaying the moment. She likes me. 

That night, he prayed that the fullness in his chest was something more than infatuation.

taglist: @luvmoo @leeknows-wife @nocasdatsgay @mybestfriendmademe

[kurithedweeb]

I am dying for your rewrite, I won't lie. I desperately need interactions between Laurence and Garroth, and also Garroth and Zenix. Zenix being Garroth's son is so overlooked

I know you, I've seen you on a bunch of my posts!! Hi :D

At the point I'm at in the full fic Garroth and Laurance haven't actually met yet, but I do have their first meeting all planned out. They're fairly cordial and all business at first, but they quickly become friends and get very close as pen pals, so we'll see pieces of letters between them up until Laurance gets stuck in the Nether, all of which Garroth keeps and will sometimes look back on later.

Garroth is the one who cares for Laurance when he appears post-Nether in Phoenix Drop's outskirts. Laurance is blind and scared and in a moment of weakness he admits he's afraid to be alone in this state, so Garroth takes off his helmet and gives it to Laurance to hold as assurance that he's not going anywhere, because he knows that Garroth won't be seen in public without his helm.

I'm a little sad I don't have much fully written out for them, but!! The drabble that started this entire rewrite project is all about Garroth and Laurance and it's actually up on my Ao3 already!! You can find it in the rewrite's series here: My Love (My Love) - KuriTheDweeb - Minecraft Diaries - Aphmau (Web Series) [Archive of Our Own]

Onto Zenix and Garroth: I love them so much.

Okay, so, I swear this is important - I mentioned in the tags of one of my Shadow Knights posts that since there's no explicit canon on how Zenix died I made the executive decision that he accidentally started a house fire and was so mesmerized by the flame that he got pinned by a burning bookshelf or a falling beam and he died of his injuries, which also led to some head-trauma induced memory loss. He's covered in burns and his voice is rough from breathing in too much smoke and he had a number of broken bones from being crushed. Garroth says in Rebirth that he suspects Zenix doesn't like Aphmau because she reminds him too much of himself, that he was badly beaten and burned and could hardly remember anything when Garroth found him.

Garroth nursed him back to health, and this idea of Garroth having saved him and sheltered him and taken him on as an apprentice, taken him in like a son, of having given Zenix an entire life to live when he wasn't sure if he had one, is integral to Zenix's view of Garroth. He's utterly devoted to his pursuit of power and his own goals, yes, but he's also utterly devoted to Garroth. He's pledged himself to follow Garroth, not whoever's Lord or head guard but Garroth himself. He only ever hurts Garroth in the very rare moments where his personal goals absolutely have to come first, like when Garroth almost discovers where he's been keeping Lord Burt and he's forced to shoot Garroth to keep his secret.

Zenix is Garroth's most trusted guard. He'd do anything for Garroth, he'd never betray him, and Garroth has total faith in the strange boy he's taken in. He has such a fondness and pride for Zenix, look at his boy go! When everything is falling down around him, when he's struggling to hold the village together until a new Lord comes, Zenix is the only one of the guard he confides in because he has complete confidence that Zenix can handle the stress and trusts him to know what Garroth needs his help with.

They always patrol together, talking about anything and everything, and Garroth always tries to nudge Zenix into acting his age more. Or at least the age he believes Zenix to be. Garroth thinks he's a little too serious for his age, and he would know because so was he when he was younger.

Zenix has this whole idea about "It's the least I can do." Garroth trusts him with gathering reports and checking in on any injured guards at the start of Drop of Sunlight, things that aren't part of his usual list of tasks, and when he thanks him and tells him that he appreciates it Zenix says, "It's the least I can do."

Ever since Garroth first coaxed him into speaking after his throat healed, that's what he's always said. It's the least he could do, since Garroth saved him, since Garroth took him in, but Garroth doesn't understand what he's done to deserve such gratitude from Zenix. He always tries to set the record straight, whatever task it was was something out of Zenix's way and he really does appreciate it. Zenix gets all flustered about it, which makes Garroth happy to know that the young boy he first found in the woods is still there under all that serious attitude somewhere.

Let me tell you, I got so close to Garroth calling Zenix 'son' during this interaction, but I need to save the moment for later.

Rounding back to Zenix shooting Garroth. I've mentioned before that Garroth prays when he's treating someone's wounds or when he himself is dying. When he's been shot and Garroth is saying his prayers, he's asking for Zenix to be safe and that if this is the day he dies, which he completely believes he will, to let him hang on for just a few more hours until he knows Zenix is safe. Until he can see for himself that his boy is safe. Just a few more hours, just until then, and then death could take him. The first thing he asks about when he wakes up completely is if Zenix is okay, if he'd managed to make it home by himself

The inherent cycling tragedy of their dynamic, always circling around each other. Zenix's genuine remorse for doing the things he does to Phoenix Drop and Garroth, balanced by Garroth's sense of betrayal and the way he clings to the boy he once knew with the belief that he'd never do these things of his own volition.

Augh, I love to write them, I hope I can do them justice the way they deserve it.

[firstdivisiongirl]

Hi i was wondering if you could do a law x timid fem reader that has a devil fruit that can rewind and stop time but when she uses it to much she gets burns on her hands thats last about a day but hurts a lot when not treated, i was thinking of a scenario were she gets the burns but doesn’t go to law because she sees that he’s treating other crew members and she doesn’t want to bother him but he notices and confronts her while she tries to hide it from him but he finds out and is upset that she didn’t come to him sooner, then shes tells him why and comforts her about it (could you also make it to where they are together already)

I know it a lot so please tell me if its too much thx 💕

Hi. Of course I can do it! I love Law so much. I mean come on, I’m Trafalgar D Nami after all lol! But anyways, I’m happy I got a Law request, it was super enjoyable to write. I hope you like it! Enjoy my friend!

Always Have Time for You

Everyone wishes they could turn back and fix things.  Time was a valuable thing.  You more than anyone knew that.  But with changing time came with repercussions.  You also knew that more than anyone.  When you were young, you ate a devil fruit, the jikan jikan no mi (the time time fruit).  It allows the user to rewind time and also stop it.  The only bad things: you couldn’t swim and you got burns on your hands after using it.  And did they hurt a lot.  But the good thing, you had a doctor for a lover, Trafalgar Law.  He took care of you, while you took care of him.  You hated it though.  You hated that he had to take care of you.  But you didn’t have many people other than the crew to talk to because of your shyness.

While docked, a small fight broke out between the Heart Pirates and another group of Pirates, nothing deadly, but there were a good number of cuts, broken bones, and bruises on both sides.  So when Law came back from picking up some medical supplies, he started taking care of everyone’s injuries back on the Polar Tang.  You had frozen time at one point so Shachi wouldn’t get stabbed by one of the enemies.  Law was taking care of him first obviously.  You looked down at your hands.  They were covered in burns, too painful to even touch.   You didn’t want to bother him when everyone else was in worse shape, so when he came over and asked you if you were okay, you hid your hands in your long sleeves and told him you were okay.

A few days later, you arrived on a new island.  You decided to try to muster up the courage and talk to the doctor on the island because the pain was so unbearable.  “I’m going to go look at some new earrings, mine are getting a little worn out,” you told everyone, “I’ll see you guys later for dinner.”  They all nodded.  But Law didn’t buy it.  You usually never left without someone to do most of the talking.  He decided to follow you.  You walked through the small town, passing jewelry booths, bars, etc.  You finally saw the sign Dr. Sanders’. You went to walk in but got nervous.  You didn’t feel comfortable.  With Law and the crew, you knew they cared about you and looked out for you.  But you didn’t know how this man would react.  You turned around.  When you did, you crashed into a muscular chest.  “Care to explain Y/N?” a familiar voice said.  You looked up into his steel eyes.  It was Law.  You looked down at your shoes. “Nothing,” you answered.

“No, it’s not.  You can tell me.  We’ve been together for years.  Come on, let's get back to sub.”

He grabbed your hand, but you quickly pulled away.  Just him touching your hands made a sharp pain shoot through your hand.  He looked down at you, seeing the pain in your e/c eyes.  The two of you then walked back to the Polar Tang in silence.

When you two arrived, you sat in the medical room.  He rolled up your sleeves that had been hiding your hands for days.  “I thought so,” he mumbled to himself.  You kept staring at the floor, refusing to look at him.  Eventually, tears started to flow from your eyes.  He stooped down to your level looking at you with nothing but concern.  “Hey, hey,” he said, “I’m not mad.  I’m just concerned.”  He started wiping your tears away with his tattooed thumbs.  He pushed a few strands of hair behind your right ear.  “Why didn’t you tell me about this?  Why did you wait so long?”

You finally looked into his eyes, “because everyone else needed help and I didn’t want to be a bother.”

“You’re my girlfriend, you’re not a bother and I’m not mad.  It’s okay.  I’ll treat it whenever you need it because I love you. I always have time for you.”  He hugged you as you cried into his crest.

“I love you too,” you cried into his chest.

You wished you could freeze time without the burns, so you could stay in this moment together for as long as possible.

Please do not copy, modify, translate, or repost my writing on other platforms. Comments, reblogs or likes are highly appreciated!