#she just logics her way out of being flirted with and its a pain in the butt

[edenslostwallflower]

sindays are always so fun when u and ur muse are somewhere ace-spec so it's like... i'm not opposed to nsfw, and i love the idea of shipping. i just literally don't think of it. spicy thoughts? nah fam my brain is full of marshmallow fluff. talk to me about ships and my first thought is 'ye they can be best friends totally!!' i don't think leanna is conventionally attractive enough (both physically and personality wise) for people to even entertain the idea of shipping but it's open..

[dark-side-blog3]

I play degrees of lewdity! day 2 warning for canon typical violence, noncon, and spoilers

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I went into the woods to see if something could interest me. Wenta little far in and heard a wolf howl. FUCK 0x0

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I managed to avoid the wolves so now I'm thinking that's only gonna be a problem if you've got beastiality toggled on. Also picked up some arrow heads that I can apparently sell at the museum! And I've got school the next ingame day so now I'm worried how I'm gonna be able to grind and get the cash i need for Bailey while also going to school... There's got to be consequences if you don't go to school, right? Even though this game is focused on fantasy rape? I feel like there are consequences if you don't go to school... Surely...

On the plus side I got hired at the docks for weekends so maybe that'll be good and help me earn some cash!

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ROBIN SOLD HER CONSOLE! Is there a way to spot her a bit of cash? :( I took her for a picnic so we had a little bit of fun and didn't end up staying out at night (can you get raped while walking with someone else in this game? Like irl yes but in game? The logic ain't really logic-ing because its a videogame so maybe it cancels out?)

also i found mickey and im trying to get him to purge my records of constant rape from the files and he's kinda weird?

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I forgot to save my game file before working at the brothel and I just didn't like it :/

Sooooo I'm going back to my last save which was before school started. I've got to redo all my efforts for classes but whatever :p

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Got raped while leaving school. its the cigerette event. Meh :/

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ey i am not a catholic but Sydney is amazing. Actually the best character in this game. I hope nothing bad ever happens to him and I will fight for this :) <3 What a wholesome guy.

AH sydney just asked what it means when people flirt with him. I know he's a grown man and can technically engage if he wants but he's so innocent I can't tell him the truth... I comforted him :')

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Loft discovered and exams passed eyyyyyy very good

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I got raped and they stole my skirt and panties! I tried to walk to the store to buy more clothes but I got accosted on the beach! My character ended up passing out from the pain. When i woke up a different group has stolen the rest of my clothes and collared me, and hypnotised my character to strip instead of concealing any exposed skin, which has six different body-writing phrases!

Fuck!

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Robin has confessed that she feels like Bailey is unreasonable :( poor girl.

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ROBINS AT THE DOCKS?!?!?!?! SHE COULDN'T AFFORD TO PAY!

Im gonna save here incase i change my mind.

attempted to fight: Lost. Badly. Afterwards, got tossed into the sea without my clothes, got exposure, passed out, woke up with the feat "Alluring" achieved. Robin is still on the boat. proceed to get raped as soon as i wake up again. This is going to be struck from my record.

attempt to take robins place: She's successfully back on shore, I got tossed overboard while stripped and passed out again. Dolphin merfolk played with me though so I stopped being stressed. Swam to shore, and somehow it made my character less stressed. Got swept out to sea. ended up getting picked up by a boat and getting raped, but not by the same people as before. Fuckers tossed me overboard afterwards. Got beat up immidietly afterwards too by another gang of rapists. Robin better be as loyal as a dog to my character after this.

Had just enough energy to go get shackles removed at museum. and woke up in the hospital with doctor harper again. I am now supposed to go to therapy every Friday at the hospital. And I've now been arrested by the police, and am preforming five days of community service.

I took Robin to the hospital. I swear, Robin better be worth all the torment I went through. And there better be a DAMN good reason I have to drag Robin to the hospital after I literally passed out from pain and had to be carried in on a stretcher.

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Robin has not infact helped at all and has been somewhat useless.

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had consensual sex with a guy and it was actually so sweet <3 Askd him to wear a condom for oral sex and he did and he gave praise the whole time, what a sweet guy <3

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SOMEONE BROKE INTO MY ROOM WHILE I WAS GONE AND NOW MY PANTIES ARE MISSING???? WHAT THE HELL-- its got to be someone bailey approved of because he's canonically thrown a pervert out when they don't have a reason to be perving in the orphanage, but also??? I've been paying bailey, I've never missed a payment, and I've never fought him. Why??? Is it Kylar?

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I am in therapy w/harper, and he wants to hypnotize me. This feels like its about to go horribly wrong. It doesn't tell me what it is exactly when i overwhelmed, so I'm going to have to try really hard to keep my stress down!

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Aight I am making another save file with robin cuz i actually really like this timeline even though robin is useless

Also the cream buns are so good that whats his name (sam?) is buying the store next to it, which is great... Except for the fact that this is how i grind out the most cash. And I decided to take on robins debt like a moron.

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Kylar is stalking me. Confirmed because something was watching me since i left the house, and I saw him do that horror movie trope with the bus at nightinggale street.

But also i might restart the save because despite taking robins debit robin isn't at school. I'm not paying extra if shes not even here :/

Ah but a quick look at the reddit says this is normal, robin is just getting the fuck beat out of them. Well... Aint nothing I can do about that now.

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Got raped while trying to break into houses, and got raped on my way to the hospital for after pills :/

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My character is getting raped by rando's so much I'm bored reading the chats and I'm bored documeting them. I'll add anything of note. Like whatever the fuck is up with the mommy kink ginger sewer woman. Did not enjoy that. I am into mommy/daddy stuff within reason, and this was far outside of it.

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GOT RAPED AND WE KNOW WHAT HARPER HYPNOITSED ME FOR!! My character now gets aroused with painal, and smacking other peoples asses.

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" You chat with Sydney. "No one else has made such an effort to get to know me like this. Not in a long time, at least. I appreciate it." He holds up his holy pendant, kisses it, and places it against your forehead. "Blessings." | - Trauma" UWAAAHHHHH uwahhahanannannmmamammhpmmmhmmmmmmmwuaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh I WOULD DIE FOR SYDNEY ;A; Like the cross thing is... a tiny bit uncomfy, but its known he is such a sweetheart and no one wants to talk to him??? uwahhhhh poor boooyyy..... (I've had some bad run ins with various religious students who were super religious so when I say this crucifix use is a nice one TRUST me its so sweet because I know what threating crucifix use is). SYDNEY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH SWEET DARLING (platonic)

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HARPER PUT ME IN THE ASYULM?!?!?!?!?! HE KIDNAPPED ME! AM I IN A SOFTLOCK?! WHAT ABOUT BAILEY?! I HAVEN'T PAID HIM! HARPER KIDNAPPED ME?!?!?!?!?

I'M GOING TO LOOSE MY FUCKING MIND OAOAOBQGOAFACEQWRAGW

[just-some-random-blogger]

'VALENTINES DAY IS A CAPITALISM PLOT' YEY DESTROY THE PATRIARCHY!!!! good morning, my love, lets go riot! 'what if i dont' well... then dont.... 'HA HELP?' I MEANT THE DRESS TT 'i was ont he brink of tears' oooh poor girl TT im so sorry for your headache TT you did great with that fic. i never read it bc i had no mood for pedro but im sure. i trust you and your readers. youre amazing and funny so its the only logical way. 'NOW 7AM SUNLIGHT BURNS' got some freezy hugs from me idk TT 'a child i never understood...' well recently i heard two girls in the kindergarten giggling after hearing 'bare soul' and was like?? its really only the society that makes a big deal out of .. everything? any part of human being and life.. 'but i love you' and i love you so i say you should write it only if you want. you dont have to do it. 'i did 😗🍵👌' youre a catgrandmom now 'WHY IS HE CRINGE NOW' i never watched vampire academy and dont judge your taste. you can like danila however you want. and maybe back in 2014 it was indeed good. but i know his russian works. and i know his present works. and 1) most of them are cringey 2) hes cringey 3) hes done many other cringey things. though its not only his works or personality that made him a meme here. hes just a meme? somehow weve come to this and i love this. good for danila. a pretty name. and a pretty person, he makes money with his cringe after all. 'YOU WHINY BABY' i am. 'SHE IS DAEMONS FIRST WIFE THE ONE AND THE ONLY' Yey sounds like the victory! 'he’s technically also not wrong' nah hes wrong bc 1) HE doesnt consider himself the first 2) man. 'change my mind about who yn ends up with' in my mind hes lonely and he ends up heartbroken with his brother who finally came to his senses, watching the wedding with the bitterness in the smile and the great pain. 'im going to add that' such an honour TT 'let me finish this fic in 5 parts dammit' go ahead. dont forbid you anything. go ahead. ill gladly read. 'you know that married member in BigBang?' GHDKDOLHHG ok mental health cutie. i got u. thanks<з yk i like witchy playlists VERY much. ive just found this. and i dont understand if its the authors au or smth but. u feel how accurate it seems with daemon?... like my witch au wasnt abt it. its definately another thing. but imagine another witch au. where daemon is no prince but a narcissistic demon. and a witch loves him unconditionally and selfishly. hes the rouge prince of his own, he does whatever he wants and have as many women as he want. and she know it, it doesnt matter though. bc she love the feeling of love, she loves the fact of feeling something for such a powerful and one of a kind creature. theyre acquaintances and hes totally aware of her love, he relishes in it. he flirts with her and she responds in kind with no hesitation or embarrassment. and they both are just perfectly fine with this. it may sound foolish or not making any sense but i love relationships with no logic TT that are absolutely chaotic and incomprehensible for anyone outside of the dynamic. sorry i just got inspired a little. tbh i liked only the first song of the playlist... and its not exactly the mood i have about this dynamic but nvm. also i love the trope with the relationship bound to end from the very first moment. and it is the one of those i told about. a reader meets daemon in essos/another place he travels to during his exile. and its the love at first sight. and both of them knows he wont stay and she wont come with him. so they enjoy the very 2 or 3 months they have. thats all i wanted to say. besides 5 other ideas i had💀 maybe at weekends... maybe... hope your week is alright, you eat well !!! and drink enough water. have a nice day/evening/night! love u! take care<з

HELLO <3 MY MING MIMG MIMGING MIGMGNIGNMIGMNGMIGN

i was bummed out i couldnt write anything so i didnt reply to you though i read this moment i saw it. sorry

'VALENTINES DAY IS A CAPITALISM PLOT' YEY DESTROY THE PATRIARCHY!!!!

good morning, my love, lets go riot!

damn i just woke up i dont want to riot i want to write and finish my assignments

'what if i dont' well... then dont....

T_T HAHHAH

'HA HELP?' I MEANT THE DRESS TT

ahhhh ok AHHAHHAHAHHAHAH T_ HAHAHAHH

'i was ont he brink of tears' oooh poor girl TT im so sorry for your headache TT you did great with that fic. i never read it bc i had no mood for pedro but im sure. i trust you and your readers. youre amazing and funny so its the only logical way.

T_T i have been wanting to write but i find myself unable to T_T you dont have to say sorry to me but i do want to tell you that idk... i usually write every other day or every day and yet i havent written in 2 days lol T_T i mean i know i dont owe anyone anything but T_T T_T idk i feel like im letting people down /: i know im not but /: my brain. my brain man

'NOW 7AM SUNLIGHT BURNS' got some freezy hugs from me idk TT

thank you <3

'a child i never understood...' well recently i heard two girls in the kindergarten giggling after hearing 'bare soul' and was like?? its really only the society that makes a big deal out of .. everything? any part of human being and life..

T_T BARE SOUL HAHAHHAHAHAHA T_T AHAHHAAHAHAHAH thats cute. society is fucking weird and L

'but i love you' and i love you so i say you should write it only if you want. you dont have to do it.

T_T but i love you. i love you so much and if i cant do this if i cant make art what am i T_T this is why im tryna make another cover song soon. i have to keep making art. i cant stop

'i did 😗🍵👌' youre a catgrandmom now

T_T it be like that

'WHY IS HE CRINGE NOW' i never watched vampire academy and dont judge your taste. you can like danila however you want. and maybe back in 2014 it was indeed good. but i know his russian works. and i know his present works. and 1) most of them are cringey 2) hes cringey 3) hes done many other cringey things. though its not only his works or personality that made him a meme here. hes just a meme? somehow weve come to this and i love this. good for danila. a pretty name. and a pretty person, he makes money with his cringe after all.

i want to say that i want to be a meme if i ever become a celebrity T_T BUT it has to be like funny haha meme not omg CRINGE meme. anyway i do love his name sm sososossosos much and hes pretty cute. and yes he makes money off his cringe so good for him HAHAHHAH

'YOU WHINY BABY' i am.

/: why didnt you put an episode number so i can watch. should i start in the first ep of matt smith? but i also kinda wanted to watch david tennant

'SHE IS DAEMONS FIRST WIFE THE ONE AND THE ONLY' Yey sounds like the victory!

lol if thats what it sounds like to you <3

'he’s technically also not wrong' nah hes wrong bc 1) HE doesnt consider himself the first 2) man.

#2 HAHAHHHAHAHAHAH. i mean just because #1 he doesnt consider himself the man doesnt make it less true

'change my mind about who yn ends up with' in my mind hes lonely and he ends up heartbroken with his brother who finally came to his senses, watching the wedding with the bitterness in the smile and the great pain.

very logical. i hate logic. im going to give him a shot. a fair shot

'im going to add that' such an honour TT

<3

'let me finish this fic in 5 parts dammit' go ahead. dont forbid you anything. go ahead. ill gladly read.

T_T thank you <3

'you know that married member in BigBang?' GHDKDOLHHG ok mental health cutie. i got u. thanks<з

T_T AHAHHA 1000000000000$ cutie

yk i like witchy playlists VERY much. ive just found this. and i dont understand if its the authors au or smth

i think it is.

but. u feel how accurate it seems with daemon?... like my witch au wasnt abt it. its definately another thing. but imagine another witch au. where daemon is no prince but a narcissistic demon. and a witch loves him unconditionally and selfishly. hes the rouge prince of his own, he does whatever he wants and have as many women as he want. and she know it, it doesnt matter though. bc she love the feeling of love, she loves the fact of feeling something for such a powerful and one of a kind creature. theyre acquaintances and hes totally aware of her love, he relishes in it. he flirts with her and she responds in kind with no hesitation or embarrassment. and they both are just perfectly fine with this. it may sound foolish or not making any sense but i love relationships with no logic TT that are absolutely chaotic and incomprehensible for anyone outside of the dynamic. sorry i just got inspired a little.

ok. i like this prompt. i will try to write it because i feel like i cant write anything rn T_T if i cant write this rn T_T then i guess i cant.

i really like how you made daemon in this. a demon a selfish demon its so canon and poor bb girl witch who loves him no matter what T_T fuck off i hate men i kinda want to write it. but also ??? T_T sounds tiring

idk i havent been able to write. i have so many things i want to write but i cant T_T i need a cleanse fic. a fic only i thought about and i need to go wild

tbh i liked only the first song of the playlist... and its not exactly the mood i have about this dynamic but nvm.

LOL HAHHAH im in class right now but i'll listen to it later

also i love the trope with the relationship bound to end from the very first moment. and it is the one of those i told about. a reader meets daemon in essos/another place he travels to during his exile. and its the love at first sight. and both of them knows he wont stay and she wont come with him. so they enjoy the very 2 or 3 months they have.

oh no i love this too T_T <3 you've got such a beautiful brain. i love you so much

thats all i wanted to say. besides 5 other ideas i had💀 maybe at weekends... maybe...

you should have told me all of them! i love hearing you speak or reading your words rather AHAHH. if i sound out of it, maybe i am my head hurts again. maybe its the heat AGAIN maybe im dehydrated fuck. but just tell me everything you want ok <3 i love you

hope your week is alright, you eat well !!! and drink enough water.

i will do my best <3. i hope you do too <3 take care of yourself ok i love you

have a nice day/evening/night! love u! take care<з

i love you so much i hope i feel better this sucks i love you <3

xxx

[punchholesinthesky]

im annoyed at the incompetent coppers in this book I am reading.s they are blindsided by someone who uses an alias in their professional work. they think she murdered someone based solely on proximity, even though she had reason to be there and gave them the work she was doing.

like how is someone not telling you the legal name they never use a red flag? how is that lying? it's literally your job to find that shit out ffs

oh she's suspicious cause she's private???

they claim she did it cause her bootprints were near but failed to notice the lack of blood in them? or her clothes? bludgeoning someone is not a clean job

also have they looked if she was even capable of it? like what height was the murdered likely to be? how much force was used? etc ? no they have not

they say oh but we found this photo which proves you knew the victim!

no it proves they were at the same party. years ago.

it'd be pretty dumb of her to kill someone when there's a lot of evidence showing she was there. a lot of which she provided.

plus she has absolutely no motive

between this and someone else being prevented from joining her, it seems that what the evidence is saying is whoever killed her knew there was going to be someone else there, and is attempting to frame said person

so the question is

who knew about this meeting? who knew about this secret tunnel? who had access?

who had motive? who benefits from the death?

so incredibly incompetent they tried to rile her up by bringing up a painful traumatic past event.

and a completely irrelevant one at that, which they had no right to even know about

oh, also the husband, whom she was divorcing and he had shady dealings, changed his name and they did not know that either. they havent looked at his financials, who he's been in contact or anything!

just 'oh thats suspicious. anyway let's look at the girl without motive again'

and now theyre interviewing the husband again whos clearly and shamelessly redirecting them back to her

oh and ofc the main cop thinks shes cute, and is basically flirting with her to try and get in her good graces which is incredibly unprofessional

and the book is like look at this sweet guy! he doesnt wanna arrest her hes just bad at his job! hes being hard on her to overcompensate!

also, the dead wife's friends told the cops the husband was jealous and controlling, and they have also done absolutely no checking

i'm not saying the husband did it.

i'm saying the husband is the first place you look and all they did was check if he had an alibi

at 70% theyre thinking hey we should look into the husband some more.

and thats only cause a lawyer chwed them up and their boss told them to stay away from our poor girl

personally i think it's likely someone the mc works with is involved

they also have not even looked into the victim's life all that much? which seems like a logical step

they suspect the victim's gran was murdered as well, but no suspects there. its worth mentioning theres no way our girl couldve done it and yet..

idk how much longer i cant stand this

i have a low tolerance for bullshit. at least this kind

give me real problems, not idiot balls

her love interest is kind of annoying too, upset she didnt tell him thw truth about her family and background

but how is that any of his business???

she mentions at the beginning how theyve only been working together a few months

and shes understandably private due to a traumatic past.

his feelings dont seem very important

if they started going out yeah but a new friend youre not yet sure ia trustworthy?

now that she's managed to catch the husband in the act they actually discover his evil plan

say sorry but not sorry (sorry it hurt you but the questions had to be asked)

and now they say 'oh its all circumstantial we cant do anything' about the husband

grrrrrr

and now theyre like oh hey those incriminating emails were bs actually

the same idiots who said her timestamped photos werent proof????

oh and apparently her idiot colleague /love interest hasnt spoken to her in months

yeah im definitely not reading book 2

the husband seemed so damn guilty I thought thered be a twist, an accomplice something

not the husband looks guilty cause he is and the cops are just incompetent idiots

ugh, shame i like the MC and its a cool plot but holy shit did this need edits

theres a lot of talk of ecology and bat dna but a lot of glaring plotholes

[moon3thereal]

Hiii one request! Nat meets R in a bar or something while she is trying to be far away from the problems of being an avenger,the read head tries to have a date with her and R accepts, then in the midel of the date R takes the initiative and start to be a little/much sassy 😏 and convinces Nat to leave the place to be in somewhere more private. But when they are alone R start to fight with Nat trying to knock her out but Nat pin her down and asks why she is doing that, R admitt that she is a widow and was sent to cach her and bring her back to the red room. The end can be as you wish.

Thanks!!

Title: Eyes on the prize

genre: fluff, angst-ish

warnings: guns, violence, alcohol, knives, mention of memory removal

the bottom: (dont ask why, but leah forced me to credit her at the bottom and technically i did!) credits to @midgardianweasley for practically co-writing and building the foundation for this fic, i could NOT have done this without her, thank you so much, and please go check out her fics everyone!

a/n: one of the longest fics i've written, i hope you guys enjoy! ends with fluff dw

2.7 K words

Natasha brushed a hand over her face in fatigue, she’d been to more than 3 countries within the time span of a week for missions and had done so much paperwork she thought she might pull out her hair if she laid eyes on another mission report. The cadets that S.H.I.E.L.D recruited, in her eyes, were no more than children who didn’t even know how to hold a gun properly, not to mention shoot.

What the Russian needed right now was tequila, a shit load of tequila. Fortunately, there was a bar that the redhead frequented whenever she needs to put some distance between her and the problems of the avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D

Picking up her leather jacket that was tossed carelessly on her couch and the keys to her Chevrolet, Natasha set off to a bar about 3 blocks down the Avengers compound, in fifteen minutes, she was met with a glowing neon sign, she was regular at the dim bar and was almost always seen there on a Friday night with her red hair in a braid and several locks framing her face in effortless elegance

Usually, people didn’t approach her and if they did, she never paid much attention to them. However, today when she sat down, there was a y/h/c haired woman already locating the seat next to her with a beer in her hand. You were idly swirling the beer in its bottle and staring off into space when the redhead settled down in her usual seat.

She ordered 10 tequila shots and you raised a brow at her “you sure you can handle that?” she turned to you with a smirk “I can handle twice as much as that but I have work tomorrow” you hummed in acknowledgement “I haven’t seen you around here before, you’re new?” Natasha asked downing a shot without so much as a grimace “I’m looking for a job, bartender” you said propping your foot up on the counter “well you sure don’t look like one” she remarks and you frowned “is there a specific look for a bartender?” and she downed a second shot and gestured to a woman taking orders from drunk customers “sure there is, there, like her”

You scoffed “hm maybe I’d be an exception to the standard” the corner of the redhead’s lips quirked up “good, it’d be nice to see some change around here” you stretched your arms out in front of you “it would be, if they hired me, but they didn’t, which is why I’m sitting around moping about the fact they rejected such a pretty face” Natasha downed another shot nodding in agreement. You looked at her, genuinely impressed at her alcohol tolerance. “Your mom never taught you that it’s rude to stare?” your face fell for a second at the mention of your mother, she was dead, like all the mothers of the widows who attempted to pry their daughters out of the red room’s grip. But you restored your poker face before she could catch your look of discomposure.

“If staring at you was considered rude, then the whole world would be douchebags” you quipped. Natasha only laughed and shook her head at your obvious flirting “you come here often then?” you asked after watching her down another shot “obviously not enough if I can’t remember a pretty face like yours.” The redhead said lightly. she was studying you though, she noticed how you were sitting, back straight, shoulders back, she wasn’t unfamiliar to that posture at all, in the red room, all widows were trained to be on the defense, on alert at all times, always anticipating anything and everything, nothing could go amiss that way. And she’d also noticed the way you had barely taken a sip of your drink, resorting to swishing the liquid idly in its bottle.

Against everything logical and her own unmistakable and uncannily accurate instinct, Natasha stopped her brain from analyzing and evaluating these signs and allowed them to be overlooked as a side effect of her falling into a trance simply by observing you, how your eyebrows arched perfectly, the curve of your lips, the perfect ridge of your nose and the captivating color of your eyes and how all of your facial parts are completely flawless to her, she could’ve sworn she’d seen you somewhere before. Natasha had met many interesting people in her line of work but she’d never yet met one as intriguing as you were, the quintessential mysterious girl in the bar.

If you had told her two days ago, that she would ask a stranger in a bar over to her apartment to drink with her, she’d have called you crazy. However, it didn’t seem so crazy to her now, it was unlike Natasha, but she asked you to come over to have a drink, an unofficial, casual date. You raised an eyebrow “now, now, was that an attempt to get me drunk?” you clicked your tongue in faux disapproval “simply seizing the opportunity to get to know you better” she said with a shrug. You hid a smile behind your beer bottle, taking the first sip of the night. You had tried to convince yourself that it was simply your success at scoring a date with the Russian therefore giving you a chance to lure her somewhere private to eliminate her, but something in you told you it was more than that, the way she smiled, how her lips curved and her perfectly sculpted eyebrow lifted, it was all so familiar yet you simply couldn’t retrieve the memory.

But one thought was clear, raging even, at the back of your mind. You didn’t want to hurt her, whoever she was, you didn’t want to lay a hand on her, couldn’t bear to see her in pain, you’d defy Dreykov, defy the red room, defy Russia and all of their stupid organizations if it meant you could figure out this mystery of a woman, discovering her secrets one by one, layer by layer. Not to report back to the red room but just to see Natasha as she was. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way, it never worked that way, if you’d done it, Dreykov would’ve been notified and you’d be dead before the sun rises the next day. Your eyebrows knitted together momentarily at the thought that the woman before you would be dead at your hands before dawn before you arranged your features to hide the moment of doubt.

“Natalia Alianovna Romanova. Natasha Romanoff. She’s a problem, a threat, a danger to the future of our widows, I need her terminated, and there’s no one better than you, y/n, for the job. Don’t let me down” Dreykov’s voice flashed in your mind, his orders were clear, kill her or there will be consequences.

Natasha’s voice brought you back to the conversation “what do you do? Before you decided to look for a job at this dingy bar I mean” she asked, the shot glasses were all empty now where there had been at least 5 more before, you must’ve been too entranced by your thoughts, or how strands of her hair had escaped her braid and curly wisps of ginger hair were framing her face perfectly. You both had decided to get out of the bar, more patrons had walked in making it stuffy and crampy, you were walking out the door with Natasha, presumably to her apartment “a primary teacher, English.” You said without hesitation, you always spent hours reciting the information of your cover, sometimes you felt as if you were really the person you were pretending to be with how fluently you could deliver the lines you’d practiced in front of a mirror until they were flawless.

She laughed; a clear, melodious laugh that made your cheeks heat up “you? An English teacher? Wow.” She said “what are you gonna say I don’t look like one?” you glared at her with indignation on your face “no, you don’t, you don’t at all” she said, her expression turning into a serious one, for a second your heart dropped, thinking your cover had been blown and you’d have to resort to shooting her in the middle of the street, which wasn’t exactly ideal “you look like a zookeeper” she said biting her lip to hold back her laugh at the look on your face. you raised your eyebrows in amusement “that wasn’t funny” you said “oh but it was” the redhead laughed showing her impossibly white teeth and her cheeks were pink from walking in the cold night air, you couldn’t help but stare at her lips, her perfectly kissable- snap out of it y/l/n, you thought to yourself, that isn’t what you’re here to do.

“But seriously, I’m actually happy about how tonight is going, better than drinking alone” she voiced out, you looked to her with a smirk evident on your face, you’d just reached her apartment and she was unlocking the door letting you in behind her. “Going soft for me Romanoff?” she scoffed before her face fell into an expression of momentary confusion, in a split second you both had your guns pointed at each other “who are you? How do you know my name?” the carefree Natasha was gone now, and in her place stood the infamous black widow.

Deciding that hiding your identity from her was pointless now, you attempted to attack, kicking the gun from her hand and vaulting to get your legs around her neck to choke her. Unfortunately for you, that was textbook red room and a trick Natasha had used countless times on enemies of various sizes. Blocking you, the Russian pinned you, one hand on the small of your back and the other at the back of your neck, holding you down “I knew I should’ve spent the night alone.” Refusing to be defeated so easily, you swept her feet out from under her, but once you got up, she’d punched you in your side causing you to double over in pain. She moved to her gun but you weren’t the star student of the red room for no reason, in the blink of an eye, you had a knife to her throat.

The both of you had stood there for a few seconds, breathing heavily before you felt a familiar feeling of cool metal, the barrel of a gun, through your thin shirt. “You didn’t think I just had one, did you?” she said pressing it into your side in warning. Gritting your teeth in frustration, you released her with a shove and dropped your knife with your hands raised.

“If it was anyone else, in any other situation, I would’ve shot you and be done with it, but you’re intriguing, there’s a story behind this. I trust you won’t pull anything?” she asked watching you stare down the barrel of her Glock. You nodded once, albeit grudgingly. To your utter surprise, she placed the gun down and gestured to a chair on the opposite side of the table and sat down herself. You’d utterly demolished the rest of her kitchen with your fight. Sitting in the chair rigidly, Natasha raised an eyebrow at your silence, you noted how if you made a run for it, she had the ability to shoot you before you even stood up with the proximity of her hand and her gun. Her gun, you had the exact half to the one on the floor across the room, your gun. You furrowed your eyebrows, you had one half of the twin guns, the other half was hers. But that didn’t make sense, unless there was a reason why she’d seemed familiar to you?

Natasha seemed to think the same, her eyes flickering from the gun just inches away from her fingertips to the one across the room, hers had your initials engraved at the bottom, and yours hers. But you’ve never understood why there was two letters engraved on to your favored gun “N.R. Natasha Romanoff” you said, more to yourself than to her. She spoke two letters, your name.

“What is this, who are you?” you said struggling to even out your breathing. “y/n y/l/n” she said. “no it cant be” she said disbelief streaked over her face. “The red room is gone, I killed Dreykov” she said shaking her head and pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes “I hate to break it to you, but Dreykov is very much alive” you said “I’m a widow, I was sent here to kill you, you’re a threat to them” you said staring her directly in the eyes. “Whatever you did, unsuccessful” you said. “do you even remember me?” she said a crease in her forehead and looked up at you “you seem familiar. But no, not really” all hostility had gone out from both your voices, you were both just doing your jobs

She started humming a song, the music sounded eerily familiar, the same feeling you’d felt previously looking at her painted lips flooded you. Familiar, but the memory was just out of reach. “with the lights out, it’s less dangerous, here we are now” she started singing softly “entertainers” you breathed out disbelievingly. It suddenly came rushing back to you

When you’d snuck a radio from your trainers’ office

When you’d sneak out of the cuffs on the beds at night to share hidden kisses with each other

How you’d trained side by side

How a redheaded girl had been by your side when you threw up on your first kill

Natalia. Natasha. You had loved her in secret, between the shadow and the soul. You had loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.

Shock was written clearly over your features. You hadn’t seen her since she’d gotten out, ten years ago. Now that you remembered, you couldn’t believe you didn’t recognize her. The same fiery red hair, same eyebrows, same emerald green eyes, same smile. Same Natalia.

Guilt rushed in like an overwhelming wave, Natasha couldn’t believe that you were still alive, she’d attempted to search for you, almost went crazy when you went completely off grid after the Budapest mission. She’d meant to defect, and then go back for you. She had it all planned out, but you seemed to vanish off the face of the earth “I’m sorry, y/n. I’m so sorry, I tried, I really did. You were just gone, I thought you were dead” You stared back at her in shock “its okay, we were separated, I was sent to Italy, remember? It wasn’t your fault.” You said still in a daze

After moments of confusion over how you didn’t remember someone that important to you, an expression of realization found its way onto your face. Memory removal, of course. The red room had the technology, attachment to anyone, anyone at all was nothing but a weakness. Love is for children, that was what the red room had burned into the widows’ minds.

Hatred shone in your eyes when you realized that Dreykov had practically had his scientists cut the part of you that had loved Natasha out of your brain. “you’re an avenger. Means Dreykov won’t hurt you” you contemplated “or your comrades” you supported your chin on your heel of your palm. Natasha nodded slowly in confusion. “They can’t afford to” she said “so if I was your comrade, they would lose any and all ability to do me harm” she nodded again “I suppose so, yes” when you both locked eyes again, you both knew what the other was thinking. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Natasha asked with a smirk “to burn the red room to the ground? Yes.” You said with a matching smirk

If love was for children, you were both toddlers. After everything the red room and the world had done to keep you apart, you had somehow found your way back to each other again. And you weren’t planning on letting her out of your sight any time soon.

[xsamsharons]

come here often? - n. lantsov

pairing: nikolai lantsov x healer!reader.

genre/warning: fluff. mentions of injuries.

words: 1.6k

summary: in which nikolai and you aren't really close, until he falls on his face and you fall in love.

It was a rather slow night considering you were working as the main healer aboard a ship that had the prince of Ravka as its captain and also counted the three leaders of the grisha triumvirate as part of the crew. Night after night, people would come in though the makeshift hospital David had built into your room for you, injured by the weirdest things you would ever imagine, and go back out to no doubt keep endangering their lives on behalf of their country. Now, you were not saying that fighting for your country was an dishonorable thing to do, the opposite actually, but for the life of you, you just couldn’t seem to understand how someone could possibly willingly jump off a ship and into an ocean filled with monsters and mythical creatures, and not expect any injuries.

Speaking of, as of right now you found yourself attending the injuries of none other but the captain himself, he looked like he hadn’t slept in ages, and reeked of sea water and sweat. The first time you had met him you had been extremely nervous about actually using your powers on him, after all, you didn’t wanna be known as the healer who had permanently injured the future king. That day you had learned that Nikolai became pretty delirious every time he was suffering from physical pain given as he had had a broken nose and damaged rib, but he had claimed that ‘the other guy had it worse’. This would’ve be a normal enough to say, except in this case, the ‘other guy’ was an ancient mythical being that has been believed to only exist in Ravkan’s passed down stories. Ever since then, he has been ending up in your room almost every night, and with your unfortunate luck, he always seemed to arrive right in your shifts.

His face was framed by messy strands that had fallen from his red tailored hair, and on his chest were displayed a couple of gold necklaces that matched the buttons of his red coat. He had been talking to you and distracting you from your work ever since he arrived, and to make matters worse, he had to rest on one of the beds in your room all night just in case the fall he had taken on his face somehow caused more damage than you had originally thought.

“So, you come here often?” he asked with a crooked smirk and wandering eyes.

“You mean my room? Where I work?” you answered, rolling your eyes when he nodded his head and raised his eyebrows, implying it was a totally logical question. “Yes, I come here often. Not as often as you it would seem. Quite prone to hurting yourself, aren’t you?”

“Maybe I just like to visit my favorite healer.”

Ah yes, the flirting. It seemed it wasn’t enough for him to already bother you with his presence, but he also made it his mission to flirt with you as much as possible during his stay.

“Firstly, I’m the only specialized healer you know, so that line isn’t as smooth as you think it is.” you started, continuing to work on his nose. “Secondly, I would appreciate it if you could keep your advances to the minimum. We don’t want you to damage your brain trying to come up with more pick up lines, seeing as it requires a lot of effort for you to even get coherent sentences out.” you said sarcastically and watched his smirk grow.

“What is it going to take for you to finally admit you actually really like me?” he asked, and for the life of you, you could not understand how he’d come to that conclusion when all you’ve ever done is turn him down. Nonetheless, you figured you’d follow his game. If you were going to spend your whole night by his side, you could use some fun.

“Well, for one, I have never seen you not beaten up, or showered for that matter, so that would be a great start.” you said, tailoring his nose to look like Sturmhond’s crooked one after you finished tending to it.

“It’s not my fault I always end up here in the nights when we get ambushed.” he said in a voice that could almost be considered as a whine, and you found yourself smiling at how cute he sounded when he wasn’t being an asshole. Still, you furrowed your brows in response to something he’d hinted at.

“Ambushed? What, like by other crews?” you asked and he nodded. “So, you tailor yourself to not get ambushed for being a royal, but we still are ambushed even when you look like Sturmhond? What’s the point then?”

“It may be kind of useless now that everyone in Ravka knows us, but I like pretending to be someone else sometimes.” he shrugged, a look that you’d never seen on his face appearing. “It’s stupid, i know” he snorted, trying to shake off the weight of his sentence after you remained quiet for a few seconds.

“It’s not stupid.” you were quick to deny. “I get it, believe me. Growing up as a grisha in Fjerda, I wished every night before bed to have the ability to simply be reborn as someone else.” you admitted, missing the shocked look on his face.

“You are Fjerdan?” he asked.

“What? That’s not in my file?” you answered with a question of your own and he rolled his green eyes.

After you accused him of violating your privacy for reading your file and he defensively said that it was his job to know his crew, you spent a few minutes teaching him Fjerdan words and took advantage of the little knowledge he had about your native language by making fun of his tailored face, knowing he couldn’t understand what you were saying.

“So, how come you praise yourself so much about your aim but seem to get beaten up every night?” you asked.

“Hey! I am actually an incredible shot, thank you very much.” he replied, offense clear on his voice, making you snort.

“Can’t be any good if the only times I ever see you is when you are injured.” you said sarcastically, and he made a face that seemed a bit dramatic in your opinion.

“Not my fault you are trapped between these four walls every night.” he replied, and now it was your turn to act defensively.

“Excuse you! I have a life outside of the hospital.” you said in a light tone, to let him know you weren’t truly offended.

“People who have lives don’t need to remind other people that they do.”

“People who are great in battle don’t need to remind other people that they are.”

“Touché.” he said with a smirk.

You spent the next couple of hours talking to Nikolai about random topics, him not failing to deliver a pick up line from time to time, and the night was slowly but surely starting to slip out of your hands. Right now, you were back to him being the topic of conversation after you had ranted for a couple of minutes about how hard it was to have to grow up in Fjerda hiding who you were. As you teased him telling him he had to settle for captain of a ship because he wasn’t a good enough royal (a claim he denied thoroughly), he looked like he wanted to say something else, before Genya entered the room with a smirk on her face.

“If you two lovebirds are done flirting, you are needed up on the main deck. Sparring session gone wrong - again.” she informed you, rolling her eyes at the usual recklessness of the crew.

“Yes, ma’am.” you saluted sarcastically, before turning back around to face Nikolai again and check his injuries one more time.

“You should actually stay upstairs with us sometime, that way I can prove to you that I'm actually good.” he suggested once Genya was out of the room again. “Plus, the day should be sunny today so we’ll probably spar a lot.”

“You’ve flirted with me every night you’ve been here and the answer’s always been the same, what makes you think tonight is going to be different?”

“Oh, come on. I promise I'll shower and I will try to not get punched in the face. That way you get to see me showered and not injured, it’s a package deal you can’t just ignore.” he pleaded, in reference to your words from earlier.

“All right, maybe I'll stay upstairs after I finish fixing the crew up, and if I catch sight of a certain arrogant royal I know, I might stick around to watch a sparring session or two.” you gave in with a smirk, leading him to the door so he could leave you alone to fix your room up a bit before you went upstairs.

“I’ll see you when I see you then.” he said while bowing his invisible pirate hat, and walked away with a wink.

He left you standing at your desk watching as, just like every other night, he slipped past your door and out onto the main deck again. You watched as he caught up with Genya and said something to her with a smirk, though you couldn’t quite catch the words the spoke, and turned back around to tidy up your room with a stupid smile on your face.

bonus:

“Did it work?” Genya asked him with raised eyebrows and a smile, her question in reference to the plan they had come up with to get Nikolai to spend more time with you. It consisted of Genya tailoring his face to look like he had fallen on his face and busted his nose open.

“Like a charm.” Nikolai nodded, a smile similar to the one you were wearing back in your room appearing on his face.

a/n: making fun of sturmhond's nose is a personality trait and it's mine (and alina's)

[lifblogs]

@chaos-company's Angstpril 2022: Day 11 - Migraine

“Hey, Kanan, we got plenty of targets,” Hera said, voice traveling through comms. “You maybe want to hit any of them?”

Kanan was up above; his job was manning the overhead gun.

A headache had started at his left temple, and it was slowly drilling its way to spread behind his eye. The pain had been sudden, throbbing, and it’d left him unfocused. But now he was firing at oncoming TIE-fighters. And he was missing, hitting either the edges of wings, or nothing at all.

“Kanan, you okay up there?” Hera asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just keep being perfect.”

“Oh, you know I will.”

“Hey, can you two stop flirting?” Ezra asked through comms. “We have a lot of work to do.”

Funny that Ezra was being the responsible one.

Kanan was about to fire at an oncoming TIE when suddenly it felt like something had stabbed him right through the head. The pain went all the way down to his teeth. He cried out, nearly falling from his seat and down the shaft to the deck.

There were people saying things, maybe asking questions. He was stabbed again with that invisible spear. He was double over, holding his head, groaning.

The pain had taken over the whole front left side of his head, and it felt like someone was trying to scoop out his left eye with a spoon.

Kanan thought he saw someone beneath him at the bottom of the ladder, but he wasn’t sure. A TIE exploded, and he only knew because the bright light had the pain throbbing worse than ever, and he suddenly felt like he was going to throw up.

“...and Kanan’s not looking good,” he caught on, Sabine speaking right beneath him. “Kanan, what’s wrong?”

The pain subsided just a bit, and he tried taking deep breaths.

“Migraine,” he said.

“Karabast, right now? Okay, just come down the ladder. I’ll be here to help you.”

“Where’s Hera?” he asked, really wanting her right about now.

The ship rocked, and Kanan nearly fell again. He started climbing down, eyes squeezed shut, having to feel his way down.

The rungs were cold against his hands, and he wanted to rest his head against all that cold. Maybe it’d help, maybe it’d get his stomach to stop twisting and twisting and—

The Ghost shuddered again—another hit to the shields—and Kanan fell.

Before he could fully hit the floor, Sabine caught him, arms looped under his armpits.

“Hera, I got him!” Sabine yelled.

Yelling. That wasn’t great.

All around him there was chaos and light and noise and sound, and it was making it so much worse. But the mission. The mission was important. He had to—

Kanan stood, but was hunched over like an old man.

“Hera wants you in your cabin.”

“No, no, I have to… The mission—”

“The faster I get you to your quarters the faster I can get back to the fight.”

Liking that logic, Kanan let Sabine help him through the passageways to his cabin.

He lay there in the darkness, not even moving his head. He feared that if he did he would throw up.

Everything was spinning and swirling, and he was still surprised he had his left eye. It hurt so bad right behind it, and all around it, and his temple was a nightmare of agony.

It seemed like the fight would never end, but eventually there was a jolt he recognized—the Ghost jumping to hyperspace.

Minutes later, Hera was coming in to see him.

“Kanan, are you all right?”

“Not really,” he got out.

“What can I do?”

Kanan managed to peel his eyes open and saw Hera standing in the doorway.

“Stay with me?” he asked.

Hera gave him a gentle smile, and came to kneel by his bed. She started rubbing his back, and Kanan let out a sigh.

“Thanks, Hera.”

His eyes slid closed, and he felt her kiss his cheek.

“You’re very welcome, Kanan.”

Kanan drifted off with Hera soothing him.

[marvelsbanner]

You come here often?

Prompt: Bruce x reader soulmate au where the first words your soulmate says to you appears on your body.

Pairing: Bruce Banner x reader 

Warnings: very slight angst (internal, self-doubt), like one curseword 

Word count: ~1400

A/N: Likes, reblogs, and feedback makes my heart happy <3 Not beta’d, all mistakes are my own! 

**i don’t own marvel** **not my gif** 

It wasn’t ideal, really. But it also could have been worse. He’d seen soulmate marks that were insults, curses- some really downright vile things, so it definitely could have been worse. That didn’t mean looking down to his wrist and seeing the words “That physically hurt me” didn’t fill his chest with anxiety. 

He’s hurt a lot of people in his lifetime. A walking mass of destruction with no limits, a time bomb of green that seemed to go off at all the wrong times. 

He couldn’t imagine getting the privilege of meeting his soulmate only to hurt him or her, to see the utter fear in their eyes that he’s seen in so many others. To cause them pain by his actions, to have to live with himself after it- what if it was bad? What if those were the last words they would speak not only to him, but to anyone at all?

The thought of it alone kept him up some nights- a faceless body puppeteering his dreams, causing him to wake up sweaty and breathless and a little green around the edges.

He usually kept a wristwatch over the words, it wasn’t uncommon for people to keep their marks private. Less likely that someone twisted would try to fake a meeting. The only person he had shown was Tony, who tried his best to calm his anxieties (His own wrist had Pepper’s iconic “Wow, you really are an asshole”  after coming for an interview and finding him half naked and hungover in his office. They had been happily married for two years now) 

So, he tried not to worry- he really did, but every time he would take his watch off to sleep or shower the harsh black words on his wrist made his head spin with the possibilities of what was to come. 

-

He hated parties. Didn’t matter the occasion. Being in a loud, crowded room with warm bodies and fake smiles dripping with complementary liquor- it made him and the other guy incredible antsy. 

Despite knowing how much Bruce despised parties, and the threat that he was putting everyone in attendance in, Tony managed to drag him to nearly every single event he hosted. 

This time it was a charity event, Stark Enterprise making some big donation to a charity to clean up a little of the bad publicity and backlash the last Avengers battle had created. 

That being so, alongside his teammates was a pool of unfamiliar faces. He nursed his drink and surveyed the room, heart pounding as his feet did an antsy shuffle. 

Steve and Bucky were playing pool against Sam and Natasha, Thor and Rhodey were trading stories with important looking men in crisp suits, Pepper was making small talk with some of the women from the charity board, and Tony was no where to be found; ultimately, Bruce was on his own. 

Logically, he knew that, and yet he had the feeling that he wasn’t. He felt a pair of eyes on him from the side, and turned to see a pretty woman sitting at the bar, nursing a drink and stealing a glance at him. 

She gave a polite smile before ducking her head and turning away, clearly not expecting to have been caught. Or- maybe she had wanted to be caught? He wasn’t very good with these kinds of things. 

“That’s Y/N Y/L/N, she works on the head committee of the charity.” Tony says, appearing seemingly out of nowhere and making Bruce nearly spill his drink. “Jesus Tony- don’t sneak up on me like that,” he yelped, running his hands through his hair and trying to calm his raising pulse. Tony simply ignored him and continued speaking.

“Spoken with her a few times- super nice, uses big words I don’t understand. Right up your ally,” he said with a wink. “Go talk to her” he ordered, giving him a slight shove in her direction. 

“No- no! Tony, I don’t.. I don’t think that’s a good idea,” He fought, before Tony interrupted him- “Uh uh, no if ands or buts mister, I’m tired of seeing you sulking at these things.  She’s smart. She’s pretty. You’re smart. You look half way decent cleaned up, go talk to her.” and with a final shove from Tony he decided to give in, blowing out a sigh and downing the rest of his drink. 

He tried to calm his heart rate as ran his fingers through his unruly hair, wishing he had put a little more effort into getting ready today. He slowly made his way to stand by the bar where the woman was sitting, giving her a shy smile as she turned to acknowledge his presence. 

Panic. Panic. Panic. “So, uh, you come here often?” He stuttered out, immediately cringing and wishing he was still in his bed- or curled up in a ditch and dead, whichever would come quicker. God, he couldn’t believe he just said that!

She snorted into her drink, nose scrunching into a cringe and she shook her head at his awful line,

“That physically hurt me. Ouch, oh god you really need to work on your flirting skills, if that’s what that even was.” She started laughing before turning her head to meet his stunned gaze, his jaw practically on the floor.

“You��ll catch flies like that” she chuckles nervously. 

“S-sorry, I just, can you say that again?” He stutters out. 

“You’ll catch flies..?” 

“No no, before that. You- you said I hurt you.” 

“Oh, I meant- I didn’t mean- its just a saying,” she tries to explain before he cuts her off.

“No no, I get that, I just..” He quickly undoes his watch and turns over his wrist, showing the dark black words matching her exact phrasing. Her own jaw drops this time, eyes going wide before her mouth snaps shut and she gives him the smallest smile. She turns over her own wrist, the words reading “So, you come here often?” and he laughs, he laughs with a big dopey smile on his face- almost afraid to believe this could actually be happening.

“You’re not the first guy to say that to me, but you’re the only guy who’s had my words in return” She says with a smile. 

“God I- I’m so sorry you had to go for so many years with that god awful pickup line on your wrist” he laughs. 

“No I’m sorry you had to walk around with my words, I’m sure you’ve gotten some weird looks for that one,” she replies. He gives her an almost sad smile, “I was the only one who seemed to be concerned”

Her face slightly falls before she composes it, holding out her hand for him to shake, “Y/N” she introduces herself. 

“Bruce” he replies with a small smile. 

“So, do you come here often?” She says with a smirk. 

He gives a chuckle, “Yeah, yeah actually. I live right upstairs and am usually forced to attend these things by our generous host.” he says with a chuckle.

“You live in the tower? What are you, an avenger?” She jokes, clearly teasing before his face answered the question for him. “Oh shit, you’re actually an avenger. Are you the one in the star spangled spandex or the big green one?” She teases, but she could see his shoulders tense. 

“Yeah, that would be me. The big ugly green one” 

She frowns at his choice of words and tone, “Hey, I never said ugly. I always thought that guy was ruggedly handsome in a strange, green sort of way” 

He puffs out a breath and shakes his head. 

“What?” She asks, shoving his shoulder with her own. 

“I uh, I have a kind of.. complicated life. I was honestly expecting you to run at the first mention of the big guy,” He took a deep breath before continuing, “I uh, I was always worried that the first words spoken to me by my soulmate would be after he had hurt them somehow.” He finally raised his head to meet her eyes, expecting hesitancy or fear- and yet her eyes were free from judgment. 

“Well, they weren’t. Just tipsy teasing. And I’m not planning on running yet, but we did just meet. Buy me a drink and maybe I’ll change my mind afterwards” she said with a wink, and all he could do was give her a dopey smile in return. There she was, this beautiful, sharp-witted girl that he was so worried he would scare off, subtly doing her best to make sure he was at ease. 

“Yeah, yeah I’ll buy you a drink. On one condition.” He said to her.

“And what is that?” She asked, quirking one brow. 

“Go to dinner with me tonight.” He said smoothly. 

Her lips quirked into a small smile, “I’ll be there” 

He smiled and signaled for the bartender to fill up their glasses as he slid into the seat next to her, brushing his shoulder against hers with a playful smile. 

[darthkruge]

Hello! Could you do an Anakin x reader where the reader is jealous of Padmé so goes on a walk through the night, and leaves a little trinket of hers so Ani doesn’t worry. She runs into a bounty hunter and Ani senses her danger through the force and saves her? Thanks 🥰

Anakin Skywalker x Reader ~ Jealousy and Rescues

Summary: Jedi!Reader gets themself in some trouble after going on a walk during the night and Anakin comes to their aid

Warnings: Angst, jealousy, torture (knives), blood, kidnapping, ends w/ fluff I promise

Words: 3.8k

A/N: Yess!! I loved writing this so much and I’m sorry it took me longer than I expected to get out. I think I went a bit angstier than your request implied but that’s where my brain was at today slfksjd! I am also rushing to post this so if there are some grammatical errors whoops

gif credit

After a few threats to the Senate, your boyfriend was assigned as Padme’s bodyguard. You knew, rationally, their relationship was strictly professional. He’d never be disloyal towards you and you did trust him. There was nothing for you to worry about. Or, at least, that’s what you repeatedly told yourself as you saw them walking and laughing together. 

Being in a secret relationship is difficult, you wouldn’t deny. Especially when your boyfriend was one of the most attractive and charming men in the entire galaxy. You would see people flirt with him constantly and there was nothing you could do without jeopardizing both of your careers as Jedi. 

You played with the necklace he had given you when you spent your first Life Day together all those years ago. Your home planet on one side, Coruscant on the other, symbolizing your past and your future -- your future with Anakin. It always calmed you; it was something you could hold and feel in public, a reminder of the realness of your hidden romance. 

You let out a sigh, dropping the pendant as you tried to shake off the unease you felt as you watched them interact. It mostly worked, too. When you remembered all Anakin had done for you, the intense moments of happiness and love you’d shared, you never felt more secure. But for some reason, as you saw Anakin lean down so Padme could whisper something in his ear, that anxious and guilty warmth ran through your veins.

You hated feeling jealous. It didn’t matter that you logically knew you had nothing to fear, the emotion remained. It embarrassed you, making you feel childish and small. It made you want to crawl out of your skin and hide away, yet simultaneously run up to Anakin and beg him for reassurance. It made you hate Padme, a woman so kind you cursed yourself for feeling that way. It made your mind run wild, conconting torturous scenarios that made your insecurities flair. 

Even though it brought you pain to watch, you had to expend great energy to tear your eyes away from them. You returned to your apartment, waiting for Anakin’s shift to be over. All you wanted was some time alone with him, to hear him tell you how much he loved you, to feel his arms around you and lips against yours. To hear him gently laugh as he picks up on your jealousy and mumble reassurances into your ear. You awaited his beautiful words that would evidently overtake your thoughts and leave you feeling secure and peaceful. 

Letting your brain run for a while, you felt yourself unconsciously picking at your fingernails and playing with your hair, doing anything to keep yourself busy. You jumped as C3PO entered your room, too lost in thought to register anyone’s presence. 

“I apologize Master L/N, but Master Skywalker instructed me to inform you that he will be working late this evening.”

You felt your heart start to pound as your eyes grew heavy with tears. “Threepio, what do you mean? Did he tell you why?”

“Senator Padme has to go to a special dinner this evening to meet with the leaders of some other planets and he must accompany her.”

“Oh.”

C3PO walked closer to you. “Are you alright, Master L/N? Should I call for Master Anakin?”

You shook your head, quickly wiping the tears from your eyes. “I’m fine, thank you.” You said, trying to keep your voice as even and happy as you possibly could. 

The droid exited your apartment as you walked onto the balcony, the cold air hitting your cheeks and quelling the hot embarrassment that flowed through you. There is nothing to worry about, you rationalized. These dinners are formalities, Padme goes to them all the time! And Anakin is just her bodyguard, he would never cheat on you! 

Even as you thought the words, you felt frustratingly unconvinced. You decided to go for a walk, the silence in the apartment that your boyfriend was supposed to be back at driving you mad. Even so, you didn’t want him to worry on the off chance he returned home before you. Sighing, you slid the necklace off and placed it on the nightstand, quickly scribbling a note that read “on a walk, be home soon.”

You pulled your Jedi robes closer around you as you walked the Coruscant streets. You had no particular destination in mind, nor did you know how long you intended to be gone for. You let your body drive you, walking around as if in a haze while using all your energy to expel the thoughts from your mind. You made random turns, walking in various directions until you felt yourself calm. 

You looked up and to your left and smiled as you saw your apartment. Anakin. You smiled to yourself and shook your head at your foolishness. You didn’t know why you’d gotten so worked up over his and Padme’s relationship; at the end of the day, he would always return home. 

 Perhaps this was why you weren’t paying attention. Or maybe it was the way you were focussed on  Anakin’s force signature, honing in on him and letting the rest of the world fade away. It could have been your exhaustion, emotionally drained for the day. Whatever the reason, you were unprepared when a dark figure jumped out of the shadows and stunned you. All you knew was that one minute you were on your way home to him and the next you were surrounded by darkness as the ground quickly caught up to you.

Anakin rushed out of dinner, feeling quite guilty for leaving you alone all day. He hated working late, especially during the few times you and him were both on Coruscant. Frequently, your missions kept you apart and, thus, the days where you were home together were sacred. He reached out to you, surprised to not feel your force signature in the apartment. 

He opened the door and was met with a darkness and stillness that immediately set him off. He pulled out his lightsaber but was careful not to ignite it just yet. He looked around and came upon your note and necklace and relief flowed through him. However, he couldn’t shake the sense that something was off. The words in your note felt clipped and cold and he knew you must not have been happy to hear he was running late. 

He walked to the balcony, trying to see you but quickly realizing the futility of the plan. He paced in the apartment, reaching out farther with the Force. Although he hadn’t completely found you, Anakin’s blood ran cold as he sensed with overwhelming clarity that you were in danger. You wouldn’t have lied to him about your whereabouts so he knew you were on foot and, thus, couldn’t have gone too far. All he hoped was that he found you quickly and wasn't too late. 

You groaned, already knowing what had happened. The Council already briefed the Jedi that there was an uptick in bounty hunters throughout the galaxy, specifically those targeting the Jedi order. You couldn’t believe you were stupid enough to walk around, unnattentive, through alleyways, at night. The bounty hunter came into your cell and pulled off her mask. Her features were sharp, her face hardened. You looked into her eyes and were met with a predatory gaze. 

“What are you going to do with me?” You almost didn’t want her to answer. 

The woman simply laughed. “Kill you, of course. But why not have a little fun first? I bet you’d look so nice begging for mercy.”

“I’ll die before I beg for anything from you.” You spat.

“I’m sure I can accommodate both of those things, sweetheart.” With that, she grabbed a knife and plunged it into your foot, anchoring it to the floor. 

You bit your lip, tasting blood as you tried not to scream. You clenched your fists, your hands shackled above your head. Your foot felt hot, the crimson blood running down its sides. Just as the pain began to numb, the woman pulled out another blade and slowly cut the bottom of your other foot. 

You screwed your eyes shut, desperately trying not to give in. She laughed at your feeble attempts before bringing the knife down. The force she used pierced through both muscle and bone and you couldn’t stop yourself from letting out an involuntary cry.

Your brain was a muddled mess, tears leaking down your face as you willed your pained whimpers to die in your throat. She cut through your pants and into your thighs. With each line she carved, you felt more and more helpless. She made her incisions deep and languidly, as if pulling every ounce of blood from your body. You tried to squirm away from the blade but the twisting movements made the knives dig even deeper into your feet. 

You tried to reach for Anakin, for some reminder that there was peace waiting for you if you could only hold out through this. You faintly felt his force signature. He’s still out there. He’ll come for me, I know he will.

“Ready to beg yet, Jedi?” She cooed, the tip of her knife under your chin, forcing you to meet her eyes. 

Your gaze hardened as you thought of him. She would never take you from him, nothing could tear you and Anakin apart. Your determination remained. She’s not going to break me.

“Never.” Even as the tears ran down your cheeks, even as you felt your grip on the world weakening, you’d never meant a word more than that. 

“We’ll see about that.”

You cried out as her knife cut across your cheek. The sharp sting from the newer and shallower cuts  combined with the throbbing ache in your legs and feet. The sensation and blood loss made you dizzy. Even so, you forced yourself to remain conscious. You’d get through this, you had to. 

Anakin drove his speeder through Coruscant, following a combination of his instincts and the Force to track you down. Every minute, he felt your fear and pain intensify through your Force bond and he grew more and more desperate. By now, he knew you must have been taken by a bounty hunter, there was no other explanation. However, he was occasionally met with a spark of determination and defiance.

He smiled. Whoever had you might be causing you pain, but you definitely weren’t an easy capture. Pride filled him as he thought of your strength. You’d get through this, you had to. Hang on, Y/N, just a little while longer.

The bounty hunter had left the room a few minutes ago, probably frustrated of waiting for you to give in. She’d moved onto cutting through your shirt, your stomach and chest now littered with deep, red, lines. It hurt to breathe, every movement tugging at one of the gashes and causing more blood to ooze out. You were honestly surprised there was still blood left in you to give, as your head felt light and body heavy.

You were so weak, so dizzy that you couldn’t support your own weight anymore, even sitting down. Your head hung down, lolling unimpressively as your neck refused to cooperate. Your mind was swimming and you were delirious, half-convinced you were already dead. 

“Y/N!” 

You used all your energy to lift your head, meeting a pair of beautiful blue eyes that you would recognize anywhere. 

“Anakin,” You breathed out. “Anakin please, help me.” 

“Shh, it’s okay.” He knelt down beside you and you looked at him, immeasurable relief coursing through you. 

He put his hand gently to your cheek, careful to avoid your cuts. “Hold on, Y/N.”

Your eyebrows furrowed, confused. “Why aren’t you helping me?”

“Hold on.” The whisper of Anakin’s voice remained in the air as his figure melted away. You screamed in agony, despair clutching at your soul. You desperately looked around, willing the hallucination back to you. Even if it was a cruel trick your fatigued, weak, blood-loss ridden mind created, you wanted him back. 

“Please, Anakin, please come back to me!” You cried. You sobbed, the pain of losing him in any form impossible for you to bear. 

You begged and begged and begged, trying to will him back to you. You screamed and thrashed until your hands wore raw against your restraints, until your cuts had reopened, until your throat was sore and your eyes burned from crying. 

You whimpered out one final plea before your eyes fluttered shut, the fight completely drained from your soul.

Anakin’s heart pounded. He could feel you slipping away, your determination slowly fizzing out. He couldn’t blame you; these bounty hunters were notorious for their torture, for leaving their victims as broken shells before they were killed. He forced the image out of his mind, refusing to think of you in that position. 

Finally, he made it to an abandoned building on the edge of Coruscant. The Force had guided him here and he felt you strongly, or as strongly as he could given your broken state. He jumped out of the speeder and saw a woman twirling a knife, leaning against a wall. 

Igniting the lightsaber, he walked up to her.

“Anakin, I presume?” 

He froze but quickly regained his composure, eyeing her and trying to figure out what her motives were. 

“Don’t fret, young Jedi. They were just calling for you. Quite pathetic if you ask me.”

“If you hurt them I swear-”

The bounty hunter’s lips curled into a bone chilling smile, giving Anakin all the answers he needed. He swung his lightsaber, deflecting her blaster shots with ease. She pulled out two knives and threw one at his middle, making Anakin jump to the side to escape the blade. 

Anakin twirled the saber, once again trying to get traction. She was quick, swinging herself up onto the room of the building by flipping backwards from the balcony. He, however, was quicker. Anakin jumped up gracefully, continuing to spin his weapon and stalk her in this intense, choreographed dance they were engaged in. 

The woman sent her other knife flying at Anakin’s neck and he used his trained reflexes to catch the hilt right before it cut through his skin. Now, it was his turn to smile. He watched as her expression faltered, paying attention to her footing to sense her next move. He followed her, catching up quickly before running the blade through her, barely waiting for her body to drop before bounding off the roof and into the building to find you.

His breath caught as he took you in. Your unconscious body was limp and blood was seeping out of you. He grimaced, seeing the blades running through your feet. As much as he didn’t want you to lose more blood, he needed to remove the knives in order to carry you out of here. Your flesh squelched as he pulled the blade out as evenly as he could and a low whimper escaped your throat. 

“Y/N, Y/N can you hear me?”

“No, no, no, no, no, please, not again!”

“Angel it’s alright, I’m not gonna hurt you.” Anakin said, moving to meet your eyes.

“You’re not- this isn’t- no!” You tried to pull yourself away from him, unable to watch this hallucination falter. 

“Y/N, please, let me help you. I need to get you out of here before you lose any more blood.”

“This isn’t real!” You screamed. “Please, stop, this isn’t real! You’re not here, you’re not here, you’re gone, I’m gone, it’s not-” You continued to spew unintelligible words, tears already bubbling up in your throat. 

Anakin caught on to what was happening. “Angel, look at me. I promise I’m here. I’m real, okay? Please believe me.”

“I can’t!” You sobbed. “I can’t let myself hope again!”

“Y/N, okay, okay. Remember that necklace I gave you? It had your home on one side and ours on the other. You left it for me, a token to prove that you were safe when you went for a walk. I think you were angry with me; I was working late because I was guarding Padme, remember? It’s me, I promise. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Despite yourself, you believed him. “Ani.” You said softly, tears coming to your eyes as you allowed yourself to have faith that you would be alright. 

“Yes, my love, it’s Anakin. I need you to be still for me, okay? It’s going to hurt but I need to get us home.”

You nodded, cries escaping you as he pulled the second knife from your foot. Your vision went white, the pain profound. Anakin gently hushed you, hand smoothing down your thigh to comfort you as he worked. He went to your restraints next, releasing your hands and watching as they fell heavily. He caught your body as it wrenched forward, making you gasp as the cuts on your chest came in contact with him.

Anakin apologized quickly, pulling off his robe and wrapping it around your body, your cut clothing offering almost no protection from the cold, nighttime air. He also wanted to help you as your body was clearly going into shock from the trauma.

Anakin placed you in his lap, holding you to him with one hand and driving with the other. For anyone less talented at riding a speeder it would have been precarious. You weakly wrapped your arms around him, too, as best as you could. 

You were in and out of consciousness the whole way back, barely registering how Anakin pulled you up and into his arms, the sway of his walking faster and more desperate than usual. He went into medbay, placing you gingerly on a bed and calling over a medical droid to determine the extent of your injuries.

Noting how empty it was, Anakin took the risk and held your hand. He knew it was dangerous, the fear of getting caught weighing constantly on both your minds. But after he almost lost you, nothing else mattered. 

The droids informed him that you had lost a severe amount of blood, but the cuts themself should heal with time. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized you would be fine. Anakin begged them to let him take you back to your room, saying that the trauma from the torture would only grow worse if you woke up in an unknown environment. 

They allowed, so long as he made sure you were supervised and rested for at least the next week. He agreed hurriedly before scooping you back up. You groaned at the movement and he whispered a quick apology, trying to get you into your bed as soon as possible. 

He set you down, resting your back against the pillows just as you liked. You were all bandaged up and looked so fragile in your current state, a far cry from what he was used to. He hated it. You were such a skilled Jedi, he sometimes forgot that you were vulnerable, too, and this reality check was immensely painful. 

He watched over you as you slept, refusing to move for hours. Finally, your eyes opened and  you  looked at him blearily. 

“Hi.” You croaked out. 

Anakin’s eyes snapped up to yours, gently laughing from the relief of hearing your voice and its gravelly tone. He floated the cup of water by your nightstand to your mouth while using his other hand to brace your neck, coaxing you into a sitting position so you could easily swallow the liquid.

You hummed your thanks as he slowly set you against the pillows. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to you sooner, I should have told the Council I couldn’t do the extra meeting and just come home.”

“No, Anakin, it was your job, I shouldn’t have been upset. I was just jealous, I guess. I saw you and Padme together and,” You trailed off. It felt so unbelievably stupid now. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have left, I shouldn’t have been so careless.”

Anakin’s eyes were understanding. “It’s okay, my love. But you have absolutely nothing to worry about. The only reason I was with Padme for dinner was because the Council assigned me to. No one could make me willingly skip dinner or anything else with you.”

“I know” You said sheepishly.

“I love you, angel. No one even comes close. I promise, I’ll never leave you.”

“I love you too, Ani.” 

He carefully connected his lips with yours, hyper aware of your injuries and not wanting to cause you  any more pain than you’ve already been through. 

“Lie with me?”

Anakin nods as you scoot over. He climbs into bed and allows you to situate yourself. You eventually find a position that doesn’t put strain on your cuts and bruises and you smile, leaning your head against his chest. He gingerly puts his flesh hand around your back, looking at you to see if it’s okay. You nod reassuringly and Anakin lets his arm rest there, fingers gently running through your hair.

“I was so scared, Anakin. I thought I’d never see you again.” You say, breaking the silence.

He looks at you, silently encouraging you to go on, if you so wanted.

“I hallucinated you, you know? I thought you’d come for me. But you told me to hold on and then you disappeared.” Your voice was barely a whisper at the end, tears leaking onto his chest. 

“I’m so sorry.” Those words were all he could give. He spoke them with such meaning and love that you melted. None of this was his fault.

“I love you.” You replied, your words carrying the same intensity as his. 

Anakin brought his metal arm around, too, to further hold you to him. 

“You’re never going to lose me, okay? I will always come for you, I will always protect you. With everything I am, I will always love you.” 

“I know.” Your voice was loving and soft, exhaustion once again pulling at you.

He kissed the top of your head. “Get some sleep, Y/N. You’ll need a lot of it.”

“Hmm?” You questioned tiredly

“They assigned you to at least a week of complete rest.”

“What?!”

“Shhhh, go to sleep, angel.” Anakin chuckled. 

You huffed but nuzzled closer to him. You were too drained to fight it and too happy to finally be back in his arms. Nothing could ruin the moment.

----

if you would like to join my taglist, the link to do so is on my pinned! please dm me if you would like to be taken off. if your username is crossed off, that’s because for some reason i couldn’t tag you. <3

general tags:

@saltybreaddream @buckysbeloved @lolquarth

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[san-fics]

Responsible and silly

MLB fan fiction

MisterNoir/LadyNoir, Marichat, Adrianette

Part 2

Lady Noir convinsed herself nothing was going wrong.

It was easy, cause if it would, it meant she must have do something, take some decisions again, and... And Marinette wasn’t ready to end her vacation yet.

It was just that she loosened up her protection, maybe relaxed a little, now that she was wearing the black suit. But soon everything will return to its place, no need to go in any trouble about that. Right?!

But in order to take revenge on Mister Bug, just for making her doubting herself, Lady Noir decided to have some fun too, and came to the next patrol with a red rose.

“Hello, Mister Bug,” She said with a charming smile, landing next to him, and offered gave him a flower with a bow. “It would go well with your costume.”

Mister Bug was looking at her obviously surprised, which only sparked her game more.

“What?” She smiled, leaning closer to him. “Can’t I give a rose to my partner?”

“Uh...” His cheeks blushed, and Mister Bug was just looking at her, blinking. “Emmm...”

This was even more funny then she was planning. Lady Noir began laughing, she didn’t remember when was the last time she had so much fun.

“I knew that the expression on your face would be irresistible!” She confessed, wiping away a tear of joy from her eye. “I couldn’t wait to see it!”

When Lady Noir looked on her partner again, she stopped laughing immediately.

Mister Bug was staring at her with his eyes still slightly widened, but his face didn’t express any emotions. What do they say about stony face?

“Oh, come on!” She exclaimed, slightly annoyed. “You are bringing me flowers all the time!”

Mister Bug was just staring at her for few more moments, then a dark shadow of sadness and pain ran across his face.

“What?!” Lady Noir was upset now. Chat Noir was flirting with her all the time! Couldn’t she let herself to play just a little too?

“When I give you flowers, they mean something to me. And you...” Mister Bug looked away far to the city. “My feelings are just a game for you.”

Well, wasn’t that what she didn’t expect to hear? Lady Noir was staring at her partner... shocked? Amazed? Unpleasant shiver ran down her back. Did she really just hurt him so much?

“I...” She started, not knowing exactly what she was gonna say. “I didn’t mean to...” What? Hurt you? Upset you? Lough at your feelings? For some reason saying any of the above out loud didn’t sounded in her imagination good.

Mister Bug turned and made a step to her direction. He looked into her face with narrowed eyes, as if looking for something.

Lady Noir only now noticed the natural color of his eyes. Green human eyes, so deep and languid in an attempt to recognize something in hers, as if they penetrated through her mind.

Those eyes seemed so familiar and close with this sad expression, that was giving her a pleasant and at the same time painful shiver in her chest.

It seemed to her that she could drown in them. It seemed, that she had already drowned long ago... which didn't make any sense as she saw his real eyes for the first time in this costume.

His gaze was so honest and direct, his feelings so sincere in it, and even wounded a little.

Lady Noir was shocked by the depth of his eyes... and feelings. She felt like there was no way of ignoring them, no way to avoid responding on them. What? No!

She loved Adrien! His green eyes were the right place for her to drown...

Maybe that was the trick? Chat Noir’s... Mister Bug’s eyes were same color with Adrien’s! That’s why she was so mesmerized! Maybe it’s her type or something? This was the only logical explanation. Nothing to do with Mister Bug being so sincere, and protective, and...

“Let’s just get over with this patrol.” Mister Bug said, throwing his yoyo before jumping away.

What? Was she staring at him all this time? It was her job to cut the moment and leave! It was his job stay behind, watching her trail with trembling eyes!

And yet, something had change. And she didn’t even notice when.

**

“I’m so stupid, Plagg,” Marinette was walking there and back round her room for half an hour already, grumbling under her breath. “I really messed up. I hurt him!” She turned to Plagg.

The other qwamis were watching the scene from a shell silently, not wanting to interrupt her with questions.

“He is my partner! And he takes so much work for me now! My work! And I was so carried away by my new image and freedom... It was irresponsible!”

“Kiss him already, and let’s get over with it!” Plagg’s voice sounded more annoyed then usual.

“What?! Plagg!” Marinette gave him an angry look. “I’m not gonna kiss HIM! I love Adrien!”

“So?” It looked like Plagg didn’t even considered what she was saying.

“So, I was talking about making it up to him for hurting him.”

“That’s what I said: kiss him.” Plagg looked at her like it was so obvious.

“Plagg, he’s my partner! I don’t have feelings for him.” Marinette was desparete to get any support from this qwami. “Tikki is much more helpful then you are!”

“Yeah,” Plagg flew over the table and took the last pice of cheese from the plate. “I bet she has even more troubles then me now, wiping his snot in another hysterical ‘my lady doesn’t love me’ monologue.”

Marinette’s heart sank.

“He...” She swallowed. “He does that?”

Plagg’e eyes widened. “I didn’t say he does!” He yelled. “Who knows what he even does? Probably eating the ice-cream and plays video games! Teenagers! Haha” Marinette didn’t know qwamis could be that nervous, not along Plagg. “Please don’t tell him I said that.” Plagg begged.

“Of course!” Marinette inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly. “I won’t. Don’t worry, Plagg.” She set down on the chair and dropped her face on her hands, elbowed on her knees. “I laughed at his feelings. He was there for me and I...”

Chat Noir was a great partner before, but now, as Mister Bug, he was... Marinette could see him from new perspective, more mature, responsible and serious, then before.

She messed up. But she was gonna make it right now. She was gonna show him how important he was for her.

“I know what to do.” She said and got up.

[part 1] ... [part 3]

[more MLB fanfic]

[skyandseaofsurprises]

I Will Leave You Words- Kaz Brekker

Summary- A young boy and girl, met in the darkest valley, away from each other, to see the stars and moon. When they caught a glimpse of each other, they exchange and left some few words for each other.

gif is by @crowbrekker​ <3 so.... this is my first kaz brekker fanfic so pls be considerate lmao and my first post in tumblr, for that matter. idk i had this idea in my head so i decided to make a tumblr account in the middle of the night :) fanfic’s inspired by Je te laisserai des mots- patrick watson’s song and I LOVE IT SM AND I NEED ANGST. + i’m still half way of the books so this might be a lil ooc so sorry anyways here we go!! (i changed the age of kaz when they moved to ketterdam so instead he and jordie moved in ketterdam around the age of 5 and not 9)

   What such good lies it was what came out of your mouth. Love, the most unexpected thing for such Grisha like you. A Tidemaker, and a powerful one. Your parents had died when you were a kid, and you were taken to the Darkling’s services. Such good power like yours needs help. He’d told you. You, being a scared and naive girl at the moment, didn’t see the evilness in his grey eyes, and you let him train you. For years you were in his army, fighting.

   But you wouldn’t forget your life before your parents had died. You were all living in Ketterdam, and it may not be the best place to live when you are a runaway Grisha, but it was alright for you, it’d felt like home, or how you define home is.

   Your parents were runaway Grishas; Inferni and Heartrender. They did not want to be a part of the war, and so they run, ran with their powerful Tidemaker child, you because they knew Darkling would want you to be in his side if he ever finds you, and that will certainly not be happening as long as your parents breathe.

   While you were staying in Ketterdam, your family had lived in a small apartment, inside the shadows where no one can find you easily. You weren’t allowed to go out seeing as Ketterdam was dangerous, and your parents were the only ones to go out to get some money and food.

   You obliged their orders and stayed in your apartment. The apartment was small, but it was still neat for one to live in. Whilst your apartment was located on one of the darkest alleys of Ketterdam, your apartment was tall, yet small, enough that you could see the stars twinkling underneath the shining moonlight, You’d rest your little cheeks on your smalls window and stare at it, the longing, sad stars reflecting back on your kind and tired eyes.

   And then, all of the sudden, you had found a boy, lost and scared, on the alleys of your apartment. You were fast and logical enough to hide underneath your table; Remember, my child, Ketterdam and its people is not one you would trust. This man was a stranger and was probably just lost. So she hid.

  She stayed there until the boy seemingly climbs to the top of the others apartment roof; using its back stairs. There the boy sat quietly and comfortably, watching the stars. You blinked, why would a young boy, your age, climb up one rooftop just to watch the stars?

  You never knew why, but the boy’s name was Kaz Brekker, and his mother would sometimes take him on top of the highest grounds near their farm to watch the shooting stars. He seemingly turns around when you were peaking out the window, staring at him in awe.

   He’d stared back, and he had smiled at you. You froze and felt your cheeks hit up as you subconsciously. closed your windows and flopped on your small bed. 

   That was the start of the nights you’d see him. And you kept seeing him.

    Je te laisserai des mots     I’ll leave you words

   For over the years, he’d go to the alley of your apartment, to watch the stars. You guys were now 8, kids who met at 5, and you started to interact with each other for over 3 years. You’d been able to sneak out when your parents weren’t home, and lay a note on the ground of the rooftops, and wait until the unknown boy would be there, and he, too, would leave you a note of words and poems and dreams.

   “Do you like the stars, too?”   “Stars are wonderful, don’t you think?”   “Yes! I’m Y/N L/N!”    “Well, hello, I’m Kaz Rietvield.”

    Every wakening of the breezing nights, you kids would interact with each other by sending little notes to each other, every night in your 3 years of friendship. You, still yet not allowed to explore the world and was only ever inside your apartment, would send him waves and smiles that could light up the world in distance. He’d blushed, look back at the stars, and would read your letters. Your smile could light up the world, seeing as it lit up his life.

  Living in Ketterdam as orphans weren’t easy. Jordie Rietvield, his beloved brother he’d told you about in one of his letters, was going back and forth to jobs, just to keep them alive. Jordie had sent Kaz off to school as he works. Kaz, after schools, would go sit by the rooftop right opposite where Y/N’s window is and would leave her notes about his day.

   Everything was alright in their little world. Until it wasn’t.

   Y/N’s parents were dead. They caught the Queen’s Plague. It seems as though Kaz Rietvield and Jordie Rietvield had, too. The last time she’d seen them was when they were taking their bodies out on the ocean.

   You’d cried. He was dead. Her friend from the other sides of the stars and darkness was dead. 

   You snuck off a ship headed towards Ravka, and when you were sent off to Keramzin, you had been tested as a Grisha and was taken to Os Alta, where they trained you in combat and how to use your Tidemaker magic- or science- or whatever, you never really cared. As for Darkling, he’d become your mentor, like a father. He’d tell you stories he uses to know when he was a kid and will help you in your Tidemaker skills.

    En sous de ta porte     Underneath your door

   You were living a good life, but you never forgot the face of one dead person. Kaz Rietvield. You’d still send letters on Ketterdam, even if it was pointless to send letters to a dead man. You always addressed it to that apartment and made sure the letters were sent. You were being crazy; sending notes to someone who would never. . . no, who could never, again, read your letters, your stories, your dreams, and the stars.

   After the wars of Ravka, you travelled around the world, in disguise, still. You is still yet to trust everyone after what happened to the Darkling. After you went to different places of the world, your last destination was Ketterdam, the home of the lost, the home of the stars, and your home.

   En sous de la lune qui chante    Underneath the singing moon

   Whilst you were in the ship headed towards Ketterdam, you were looking at the sea, where your parents’ and a certain young boy’s body now lied within. You slowly bent down, the tip of your nails touching the seawater as you started to play with it, tears forming on your eyes. You were in the middle of the ocean, above was the moon, and you started singing for the lonely, peaceful moon.

   It wasn’t great to be back on the sea of the dead beloved ones.

   When you arrived at Ketterdam, the first thing you had noticed was it was darker, now as dark as the once alley of your apartment where you- Again, there it was again, thinking about the dead. Everything seems to remind you of him.

   And so, you went straight to that alley of where you lived, seeing it pitched black. Of course. You’d grinned. You looked up at the starry sky and see the twinkling eyes you once dreamed of seeing again in your Ravka days. It feels good to be back.

    Tout près de la place où tes pieds passent     Near the place where your feet pass by

   You stayed in the middle of that alley, not noticing a dark shadow watching you over your apartment’s roof. That shadow seemingly furrowed their eyebrows when you decided to walk to the stairs of your neighbors' house, where you dreamed of going to just to see a certain boy.

   Because of the dark, starry nights years ago, you never truly saw what he looked like, but you knew he had ebony hair, and a smile you will never once forget.

   When you arrived, you saw that your letter wasn’t there, and started to look everywhere, eventually climbing on the rooftop. There it was in front of you, the most beautiful shooting stars you’d ever seen. Wow, you thought. This was the best view of the stars in Ketterdam, no wonder he chose to pick this spot. You smiled to yourself, looking at your apartment’s window, seeing it empty. You smiled sadly, imagining your old self looking back at you, the orange light behind you making your whole body more noticeable. And then you realized, that boy knows how you looked like, but you don’t even know how he looks like.

   You eventually left that valley. You decided to go to the place where they delivered letters around the world until you passed a club, a dark but loud club.

   The Crow Club.

   The Crow Club. That’s a funny name, you’d thought. You went inside and heard people gambling, drinking, and just having fun. You smiled to yourself, even in that pain and suffering you felt and saw 2 years ago, in the war, you were still the girl you once were.

   You decided to go to the bar side of the club and ordered a drink. You tied your magical hair in a low ponytail as you waited for your drink until a Zemeni man had appeared beside you.

   “And what’s a pretty lady doing here, all alone?” The Zemeni tried to flirt with you, adjusting his coat and ordering a drink.

   You smiled kindly at him, taking your drink as you look at him, “Thanks for the flattery, Zemeni. Y/N.” she said.

   The boy smirked at you, “Jesper Fahey, at your service.”  he winked playfully again. You did not notice five sets of eyes looking directly at you and one boy whose eyes stayed on yours for the rest of the night.

   He remembers. He remembered all of it. Your letters. Your dreams. Your hair. Your smile. Your eyes. The stars. . . all of it. He didn’t need a reason, but when it comes to you, he had every reason why you were the most amazing and spectacular girl ever.

   His crows found your letters scattered on Kaz’s table when they were planning their Ice Court Heist, and he was forced to tell them who you were, (after some death glances and threatening threats.) He remembers it all like it was yesterday.

   Kaz Brekker also remembers that day, when he was alone in the sea, the body of his brother dead, as he thought of you to keep him calm, as he thought of you. . . as he made you his reason to live.

   When he was back ashore, Jordie had haunted him, and he couldn’t go back to you anymore, not knowing you had already left. And so, years later, when he’d finally become Kaz Brekker, Dirtyhands, the Bastard of the Barrel, he came back to that dark alley, seeing all your letters from Ravka.

   Caché dans les trous de temps d’hiver    Hidden in the holes of wintertime

   He kept all of it. Hidden. Safe. It was his one memory of you, and if that letters got destroyed, you would only be living in Kaz’s head, full of memories of Jordie and revenge, and he couldn’t bear to make that happen.

   Kaz never replied. You were safe. Alive. And that is what he wants.

   Until he saw you in the bar, until his brown eyes looked into your Y/E/C’s. Until he saw you, truly, not the girl hiding behind her window. Until he saw you close. Until you were finally there.

   And yet, Kaz still felt like you were stars and oceans away from each other. Maybe it was always like that. Darkness and distance in between you and him. Maybe it was bound to happen, either way.

   But Kaz didn’t want to believe that, and he actually convinced himself that he was cursed, never to loved, and to be loved. The memories of Jordie came flooding in, the water drowning him again.

   Until you looked back at him with that smile of yours he used to remember. One that reminded him of the stars. One that reminded him of a boy that once loved the stars and one girl who also loved the stars.

   You furrowed your eyebrows at him, and Inej Ghafa, his wraith, who was sitting across from Nina Zenik, planning the heist, looked at the frozen man on the stairs.

   She smiled softly; she knew you. Kaz would always send her to get some important letters of his on a dark alley, where you were an hour ago, and she saw you.

   Kaz was still looking at you. And you were looking at him. Now, the water was gone, Jordie’s haunting eyes were gone, and it was just you. And your wonderful smile.

    Et quand tu es seule pendant un instant     And when you’re alone for a moment

   Unbeknownst to you, you didn’t know he was the infamous Kaz Brekker, named like a boy you once knew, Kaz Rietvield, but you didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need you to know that. Kaz Brekker would fall if you left him again, and so, he approached you after composing himself.

   He was Kaz Brekker and you were Y/N L/N. Not Kaz Rietvield and Y/N L/N. 

  Kaz promised to himself he would send you notes and letters, but he couldn’t find himself to do so. He didn’t want you seeing the boy who had once loved the starry sky, now a monster full of revenge. A greedy man of power and money.

   He wanted you to remember that boy you met years ago to be the same boy. Kaz Rietvield was dead, Brekker wasn’t.

   “Would you leave me words, too? ‘Cause I feel like I’m the only one contributing to this friendship.”   “I promise, then. I will leave you words as you do.”   “Hooray! Now, look at the stars! It’s a new one! The brightest!”

   I will leave you words. You and Rietvield promised each other, but not Brekker. Oh, no. This was another love story to tell in another lifetime.

   Embrasse moi    Quand tu voudras

[dadzawa-adopt-dabi]

Break me like a promise.

It starts off with lies. Small flirty little things Hawks finds funny.

'I'm not sure we should do this.'

'its merely a crush you'll out grow'

'I would never betray my wife.'

'Its just coffee'

They start dating anyways, Keigo had found the devotion to someone he didn't love cute. Admirable even that he took care of his sick wife, continuing to stay married and pay for her treatment.

That was more harmless flirting than anything else. Hawks doesn't care about a few lies here or there. He's lying himself. Sleeping with a scarred villain with the same shade of blue blue eyes and careful touches.

The first shattered promise wasn't Enji's fault. It was Touya's, what did he expect Enji to do? He was apologetic, heartbroken over who Touya had become. He promises Hawks that he's not that man anymore. That he never meant to harm his wife or children. Hawks knows how it is, the larger man appeals to Hawks logic. Holding his gloved hand in his much larger ones. He can do better with Keigo. Restart and have a relationship he's always wanted.

Rei was too fragile, he was always unhappy with her. Enji had wanted to be with a man, and Rei no matter what she had done had frustrated him out of control. He hadn't been able to do anything about Touya.

Enji had been a busy man, a up and coming young Hero! Hawks knows how the press is, the pressure put on Heroes. Its exaggerated. Dabi gave himself those scars, Enji told him to stop using his quirk. Discouraged it and told him to practice control. Considered taking him to therapy. Enji did everything he could, supportive every step of the way.

He dragged Touya away from any path to recovery until he died. Then covered it all up.

Dabi is arrested and sent to prison. Hawks promises Dabi help as he places the unconscious villain in the police transport vehicle that things were blown out of control. Dabi is sick, he cant be remembering it correctly. Things are different now and will continue to be.

Enji is a changed man. Sincerely apologetic for not being there for his family.

Hawks moves in with Enji, it's everything they wanted, for a few weeks. Keigo's wings pain him often as they regrow bone and eventually feathers. They itch and he's snappy as well as tired. Enji comes home after being the number one hero and picks fights.

Why does Keigo have to continue working, He makes enough to carry them both as a top Hero. Keigo has telepathic control of his feathers, why are they laying around, never mind that those ones are dead fluff. No matter how many times he explains it to Enji he has a issue with them. Screaming and throwing things after a long day or hard fight.

Enji doesn't need to go to therapy or anger management. Keigo needs to stop asking and focus on himself. Enji knows that Hawks is sore and tired. They argue, but all couples do. At first it's the nitpicking. Then its over which interviews could have gone better. What modeling gigs will take Hawks still he try's to take, only for their to be another drawn out fight over Hawks need for attention.

Hawks is needy, Hawks is unprofessional, He's lazy and messy. Enji snaps at him that he is becoming his parents. Surrounded by trash and never leaving the house. Hawks steps directly into his face. Both of them glaring at each other out of their good eyes.

"You want to talk about parents En-"

Keigo sees stars, his wings hit the wall painfully. The echo of a slap filling the house as he stumbles against the wall. He never saw it coming, Enji striking on his blind side. Hawks stares up at him. Twisting his face into a snarl before Enji turns around and storms out. It takes a couple hours for him to return, during which Hawks sits in front of a blank TV waiting. maybe Enji is right, he knows he could become his parents. He had gotten up in Enji's face as well. He doesn't want to end up alone. The though circles in his head as he waits.

Enji does eventually come back. A cup of hot coffee for Keigo and a apology on his lips. He thought Keigo would dodge, he'd tried to pull back before connect with his cheek. Hawks forgives him. Sinking into a warm cuddle session and the promise that he wasn't alone. The promise that Enji didn't mean to hurt him, he should be more aware next time. Step out of the way if they are going to argue like that.

When Rumi comes to visit, a rare occasion these days, her eyes latch on to the bruise. Keigo demonstrates the growing wings, how awkward they are now and she takes the excuse for him being clumsy.

Later, Keigo will realize she didn't want to see anything. People see what they want to. A year into living with Enji, Keigo understands. No one would want to believe him anyways, so they wouldn't. Enji starts being rougher with him. The periods before he's kind, apologizing with the same crappy coffee get longer and longer.

His words when he's screaming at Keigo get worse and Hawks craves any attention when he's calm. Immediately crawling into Enji's lap whenever he possibly can to lay against his chest and remember when that's all this relationship was. Coffee dates and sex.

Keigo's wings start growing back in, he starts contacting his agency to return to actual hero work. Enji comes home one night and he's in a rage over a interview. There's a bruise on Keigo's unscarred cheek, and one around one of his arms. The feathered Hero tenses when Enji stomps into the room, continuing his rant about how Dabi's broadcast had been lies. Keigo doesn't even blink, no one can predict what Enji will come home pissed about after one of his interviews.

He reaches out to shake Keigo, force him to listen instead of stare off into space. His useless wings shudder and prickle, then screech in pain as Enji uses the sensitive limbs to pull him off the couch.

A painful feather pokes through the thinner skin on his wings, the first one a year.

Then Keigo is holding a fresh bloody red feather in his hand. Sharp and ready in his hand on pure muscle memory. " You promised me Enji Todoroki. That since I am a man you would be different. You promised you would do better." Hawks winces as he attempts to remind Enji. Keeping his voice soft as he shoves down his anger again.

"If you would just listen and stop testing my control I would be!" Enji snaps at him.

"Bullshit. I'm going to show you how I fix a broken promise." Keigo snarls at him. Done being blamed for Enji's actions and temper. His head comes off too easily.

Enji too used to Keigo staring blankly past him as he slaps him around. Hawks had struck him from Enji's own blind spot, both of them having opposite scars and impaired vision on opposite sides. It feels like a fog has lifted in his mind as Keigo stabs the feather upright into the couch. He hasn't washed his hair in days and now there's blood in it. He's starving and Enji is dead.

Keigo steps over the body and shoves a leftover plate it the microwave. Then calmly steps over Enji's body again. A shower and hot food make him even better. It's as he's pulling on a clean coat to walk to the police station that realizes the date. The calendar on the wall telling him it's valentines day. Recognizing the date as the day Dabi broadcasted his story, the date Enji went public with Keigo. No one had believed Dabi. Even covered in burn scars he bared as he told his story. Keigo had also killed Twice that day. No one had believed that footage either.

Keigo turns around to the body he's been largely avoiding on the floor, crossing his arms in thought.

"I killed a abusive bastard who committed multiple crimes against his family for years." Keigo announces as he walks into the police precinct. A canvas bag slung over his shoulder.

"No loss there, your a Hero Hawks, I'm sure no one will notice someone like that going missing, your license is almost reinstated anyways." A officer states as they sit him down in a empty room. Its not a interrogation room, Keigo has watched enough of them to know. He bites his lip and nods.

"I understand however,' he shrugs his bag off his shoulder and empties it out onto the table, 'please reconsider." Enji's head thuds when it land on the table. Shock paralyzing the officers until it rolls off the edge and hits the floor. That unlocks them, screaming as they shove their chairs back.

After they finally stop screaming and start treating Hawks seriously. Keigo is placed in prison. Dabi's prison, same block, same cell.

"Pretty bird, what the hell happened to your face?" Dabi walks up as he's released into the general prison.

"Your father breaks a lot of promises, so I finally returned the favor." Keigo sees Dabi's hand come up to cup his bruised cheek. Despite the dull pain he leans into the contact. "Missed you hot stuff."

[onlyhereforangst]

WWR

I’m baaaaack bitches 😘 let’s be honest the last two episodes were shit & you wouldn’t have wanted that wwr anyways. SO let’s get into the ✨angst✨ that was Nick’s episode under the cut…

Oh but before I start, why yes, yes I called this theory too. Me and this writer share a goddamn brain or something because I’ve literally always guessed big plot points of his episodes correctly 😅

Ok Nick’s dad leaving like that, with poor bby Nick all sweet asking if he promises to bring him back his favorite pastry and him hesitating before he’s going to promise- NO. 

*picture Michael Scott gif here*

It’s not faaaaaair, little Nick deserved so much better- so MUCH better. And it’s only going to get worse as the episode goes on, so strap in for the walk down emo lane. 

Quick pit stop for cute banter because duh. Nick giving the real estate agent Ellie’s number cracks me up because bro you want this house with her don’t you 👀 you still keep her business cards on you when you could have just as easily gotten your own (or McGee’s) by this point 👀 you just want to maaaaarry her and move iiiiiiin with her I knooooooow it 👀 Ellie’s reaction the split second we see also has me dying because she’s like ha ha this is funny you had to talk to real estate agent you drew the short straw hey wait what the fu— you did not! Before McGee interrupts any protest she can hurl back Nick’s way and that’s just gold right there. Pure middle school flirting as per usual for them and I love it.

Oooooooh Kasie’s lab scene. The growth in this one. Nick worried his family and by extension him, is going to get implicated for murder (or is guilty) even though it sounds outrageous to him, he’s got PTSD from Mona Lisa (and who wouldn’t tbh). But Ellie immediately, like IMMEDIATELY goes and defends him. Is like uh-uh don’t even GO there, it’s not a possibility its just person of interest I don’t care if it’s literal hair at the scene of a man stabbed brutally seven times, he’s not a murderer. The grooooooowth Ellie, I’m so proud of you 🥺 we went from using that logical head to realizing it’s ok to listen to your heart and wade into situations with empathy (especially for the boy you ~*looOOoOoOve*~) And then Nick talking about his dad being dead and a deadbeat and walking out when he was 5, he looks at Ellie almost the entire time, only barely glancing over at McGee like he needs to have that connection with her, she grounds him when this is suddenly very jarring having a relative by semi-involved in a murder. And Ellie isn’t the slightest bit shocked when Nick dumps this news so clearly she’s heard it and by her look, not only has she heard this, but she does not like the man for what he did to Nick. She looks pissed his father hurt Nick like that because how dare any one hurt her man 😤

And oh here it is, we back on emo lane. Nick recognizing and seeing his dad for the first time in 30 years. It’s gonna hit like a 🎵freeeeeight traaaain🎵 at first he can’t even believe its him, he blinks like a thousand times because *surely* his eyes are deceiving him and then his dad goes and uses his nickname, his nickname people the CRUELTY. YOU DON’T GET TO JUST SHOW UP THIRTY YEARS LATER AND CALL HIM BY HIS CUTE LITTLE NICKNAME YOU GAVE HIM AS A CHILD. YOU DON’T MIGUEL. NOT IN THIS GD HOUSE. Ok and now nick is in pure shock because he just got confirmation that his dad is not only *not* dead, but he’s here in front of him, in DC no less, possibly a murderer no less. AND he’s finding this out by chasing him down *not* by Miguel reaching out to him while in DC. The shock and confusion and hurt my poor baby.

And when that shock wears off and it’s just barely contained rage, my heart 🥺 so of course Ellie goes in there with him and nows she needs to immediately be the support she knows he needs but he won’t admit to needing. Nick tries to deflect with a joke at first but oh honey it’s no use. But quick comedic relief for us on emo lane “sit down, no I don’t like sitting” AHAHAHA like father like son I’m cackling because the look Ellie and nick share and nick’s eyes warn her like don’t you dare fucking say it and she’s like yep yep nope I wasn’t gonna say a damn thing I’ll just look down and try to contain my laughter because now is NOT the time. But see I’m on my couch and I can laugh all I damn well please at this scenario that was gold from the writers thank you. On a more serious level this probably hurt nick even more seeing that he’s even got the smallest something similar to his dad. He’s probably desperate to be the exact opposite, he doesn’t want to even consider being capable of what his father was capable so this - while seemingly insignificant - thing like not wanting to sit in a chair will hit deep for him without him realizing it. If something so trivial is the exact same, wouldn’t something much much heavier like commitment to relationships and family be the exact same? Wouldn’t it?? And good god poor nick for going through that mental anguish, on emo rollercoaster lane. Because it just gets better when Miguel’s excuse for being in DC is “visiting family” like call your BULLSHIT Miguel you certainly ain’t visiting family and Nick now knows oh he lies too, great, another win for the Torres blood, fan-fucking-tastic. 

Quick peek at viewing room and we don’t believe in personal space, Ellie wants to be as close as possible to her hurting bby 🥺

But back to the emo stuff - Miguel just lying off his ass and Nick fed up with his father’s games because it’s truly just twisting that knife in his back that’s been stuck there for 30 years deeper and deeper. AND THEN Miguel has the audacity to yell out for “Nico” like bitch you do NOT get to call him that either. You walked out on him and never came back gtfo. And Ellie is trying so hard to keep it together but man she wants to do one of two things if not both at the same time - wrap Nick up in her arms and shield him from this deadbeat and/or punch this man through the glass to cause just a fraction of the hurt he caused Nick. But instead she just has to keep her cool to be the supportive girlfriend she is and ask nick what he thinks and then. Then. “He’s lying…because his lips are moving”

Well FUCK. Murder me right now. The anguuuuuuuish. Poor five year old Nick in a 35 year old Nick’s body. That little boy who was promised a big hojaldre in the morning from the next town over is right there. Right there to witness the father he thought he had, hasn’t changed. One of the only memories Nick probably has of his father is him leaving. Him lying and leaving. And what does he do when he finally shows up again? 

HE LIES AND LEAVES. HE FUCKING LIES AND LEAVES. (I know I’m getting ahead and technically at this point we don’t know he’ll leave again but whatever sue me because this shit is too much.)

Side note: Ellie talking about a “conflict of interest” that Nick didn’t interrogate his father is laughable considering she should have never interrogated Xavier but ok. 

Ooooo lets see some pissed off Nick. Let it loose baby, you deserve this. And I know I wrote about this in the tags somewhere but can we take a second to appreciate McGee’s growth??? Like bro went from straight up denial to acceptance and giving Ellie the look of “go talk to your boyfriend ok we need to make sure he’s alright and we both know your support is going to go a lot further than my support” and Ellie wordlessly kNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE’S SAYING. She’s like yeah, of course I’ll go help my man why wouldn’t I. 

I don’t know why but Ellie asking Nick if he’s talked to his “mom and sister” is just so 🥰 I can’t explain this one to you but I love this dialogue ok. Actually I love this whole ensuing conversation. Nick still is bitter (he has every gd right to be), Ellie playing the supportive girlfriend but *tiiiiiniest* bit of devil’s advocate with saying he might be innocent. Once again, so much growth because honestly she knows what it’ll do to Nick if his dad actually *is* a murderer. Like can we for a second imagine if his dad actually was guilty, right? Nick already saw he was like his dad in trivial things like not wanting to sit in chairs. Nick has already had serious, serious doubts to what he’s capable of aka worried he could, if the right buttons were pushed, be a murderer on multiple occasions. Ellie has been there with him for all of that, she knows how low his confidence is when it comes to his perceived “goodness” and she knows just how much it would break him if he learned his direct bloodline IS capable of murder. She knows how he’d spiral if that was true and so she’s gripping to any small possibility his dad is innocent. But nick, oh poor Nick my heart- he’s done. He opens up to Ellie without literally any prodding. He’s baring his long buried soul to her, that troubled, broken childhood that he surely keeps locked away in fear of letting anyone see a weakness. He bares it without question because he feels so safe in her presence he can let her in to see his deepest shame and by extension his deepest worry 🥺🥺🥺 and poor Ellie, she’s a little lost at how to go about helping him because she does have a good relationship with her dad, so yes all she has here for him is saying his father was guilty of a crap dad but it’s because she’s still trying to convince them both he has to be good. He has to be good for Nick’s sake. Buuuuuuut it doesn’t really work does it, because oh shit pissed the fuck off Nick is a site to behold isn’t it 🥵 kicking down doors once again and his smart “still think he’s innocent” oooooooo damn. Ellie’s face says it all- she’s trying so hard to hold out hope for Miguel, so hard. She needs him to be innocent she’s willing to speak it into existence a thousand times but her face is like fuck this is going to kill him and I can’t do a damn thing about it other than just watch. 

More pissed off Nick 🥵 but when you think about it is so so painful, all I can picture is that little 5 year old boy who woke up the next morning waiting, waiting, and waiting. Staring out the window at each car that slows down but ultimately passes. Tugging on his Mami’s shirt asking for the hundredth time when papi is coming back from the bakery with his hojaldre, oblivious to the tears that are slowly sliding down her cheek because she still can’t find the words to tell him what she knows deep down. That little boy who when the sun starts to set the confusion sets in with it. Why hasn’t my papi come back yet? Where is he? He promised. The sadness and sense of rejection that starts to fill his little heart when his mami tucks him and his sister into bed and he asks one final time where papi is and will he say goodnight to them and his Mami has to say she’s not sure when he’s coming home and quietly to the side, “if he’s coming home.” The little boy who weeks later has finally abandoned watching out the window every, single morning. The little boy who had his heart ripped out and thrown to the side of the road when he realized his papi didn’t go to the bakery and instead he was thrown out by his father like a day-old hojaldre. So yeah pissed Nick is fine af but good god the angst underneath is suffocating. Because Nick in this moment doesn’t know the *true* reason Miguel left. He knows what he lived and what he lived is a piece of shit. Nick’s response to “is that what you think of me” is amicable because OOF he could’ve gone the fuck off right there and told him what he really thought of him but he stuck with only a slight dig. TO WHICH MIGUEL. FUCK YOU MIGUEL. IT HASN’T HURT YOU MUCH. FUCK YOU MIGUEL. FUCK YOU. SOUNDS LIKE YOU WERE A SHIT DAD SO YEAH PROBABLY A GOOD THING YOU LEFT. THANK HIM NICK WITH YOUR FISTS BECAUSE HE’S A LITTLE SHIT. FUCK YOU MIGUEL. TOUGHENED HIM UP SO MUCH HE SHUTS EVERYONE OUT. YEAH FUCK YOU. 

And then man here is the point where it all just muddies in Nick’s mind. The poor dude. He knows this line of work, hell he was undercover for almost a decade. He understands how that leaves almost no room for a family. He gets it, so deep deep deep down a tiny part of him realizes why Miguel likely *thought* it was ok to ditch his family. But for thirty years he’s felt abandoned- no reasoning can change that. 

“It’s good to know he was making a nice living while my family was starving” fucking GET HIM NICK. Damn I wish Miguel had been in the room for that. He deserved to hear that one. Ruthless. 

I do not know how I missed this the first time around but holy shit Nick asked to be removed from the case. Nicholas Torres- a man who does not back down. A man who bullied his way into finishing his first ever case with this team that he was arguably way too close to that one too. This is how much pain Miguel brings him. A man who does not quit, not in his vocabulary - was so pissed at getting sent home back when Reeves died, he asks to get sidelined. He actually asks to get sidelined. Holy shit Miguel did a number on Nick and I mean we knew this but 🥺😭😭 poor bby. No wonder you don’t trust yourself in a serious relationship. It’s not the girl you’re worried about it’s you. You don’t think you’re capable of staying, you’re terrified you’ll be just like your dad and leave. once again, you’ve seen the similarities with trivial things and so this just cements your fear of failing at commitment. And this is Nick in just so much pain he asks to step back. oof. I do love Leon stepping into a slight fatherly role for Nick right there though, he shows his support, his pride in Nick and in that moment I think Nick realizes while his father by blood is shit, he’s got several other strong role models in his life that care and that’s why he agrees to work with him. 

Nick’s smarts comment about leaving the note behind 🤣 oh classic Torres move. Also do yourself a favor and pause it on Ellie’s reaction to him. GOLD hahaha she’s like ooo-kay did you really feel the need to say that, let’s not. Honestly I think I’ve given this look to my husband almost daily. They married y’all. 

So married that she overhears Miguel trying to talk to Nick and her hackles raise!!! She’s like hold the fuck up do not traumatize my baby even more, Nick do you need me??? Because I will get you out of this, I will be here for you, I will fight this man, just say the damn word!!!! And Nick ugh, his look. They can communicate with just a simple look, he knows all that she would do for him in that moment and still nods her off, but that tiny bit of gratitude is present. Then we find out that yes Grace is really good at guessing theories “in order to keep his young family safe, it means he has to leave. Of course he can’t *tell* them why he has to leave so that they continue to stay innocent and safe. So he plays it like he’s a deadbeat dude who was “too young” to be a father and is just now realizing it and leaves his wife, little daughter & son behind. Flash forward thirty years and the NCIS case leads them to him. A piece of evidence pops up with his alias, they go knocking down doors to interrogate a potential suspect (Nick’s father) before our lovely CIA agent interfere and claims he’s innocent because he’s a CI…” like DAMN, I’m good. Hahaha any ways the reason I bring this up is because I feel like I predicted/analyzed Nick’s feelings really well back then in this theory and after seeing his expressions, they hold true. Nick is just absolutely warring with himself during this explanation, searching for anything to confirm his dad truly is a deadbeat (and yes he is still absolutely a piece of shit for what he did, but there’s a “good” reason for his leaving and that’s what makes it so- hard.) and as I said when I first broke this down, Nick understands undercover work and his dad (being the POS he is) brings that up to Nick. Like he should “get” it because wouldn’t he do the same thing since he’s in that life? But here’s where (and Nick doesn’t totally realize it yet) Nick and Miguel are different. Because Nick came back, Nick stayed. He stayed y’all and he says it here but he does not realize the implications of his words quite yet. He is NOT the same as Miguel. Yeah he doesn’t like to sit in chairs but he has stayed. He has stayed through some tough shit too but he’s stayed nonetheless. More than Miguel could ever fucking say, that’s for sure. So yes, when Nick has the come to Jesus and realizes that he is not the same as his dad and he can and will stay? Damn I can’t wait for that moment. Also I wanted to slap Miguel when he called Nick “mijo” because BITCH YOU DO NOT GET TO CALL HIM THAT. YOU DO NOT GET TO CALL HIM YOUR SON. NO. “I’m not perfect but I did the best I could” well fuck you too Miguel because look at this broken five year old boy inside a thirty five year old man’s body. Does that look like the product of a “best you could”?? Does he look “ok” to you??? Fuck you. 

But yes here’s my take on where Nick is at: how do you forgive someone you’ve despised for thirty years once you know they “didn’t have a choice” (even though it will always feel like they had a choice or they could’ve explained it to you even if you were only five) and left in reality token you safe and give you a better chance at life? How do you reconcile the real dad and the one you lived with in your head for so long?? How???

And then you’re stuck still reeling from the night before and the bomb that was dropped and the reconciliation you’re attempting to your dad bringing in the ONE THING. The ONE THING he promised to bring home in the morning thirty years prior. How the actual fuck does one come back from that. Can I give another big FUCK YOU to Miguel Torres? Because seriously??? Why do you ever think that’s ok??? Hey I promised my kid I’d bring him hojaldres in the morning for breakfast thirty years ago so may as well make good on that promise right, only thirty years late that’s totally fine right? He won’t tell the difference right?

Fuck you, Miguel. 

And they’re still clearly Nick’s favorite because he’s brought Jimmy to a restaurant specifically for them and that just makes my heart break for the man he had to become without a father. He still held onto that love for them even though they were probably always associated with a horrible, horrible memory of being abandoned 🥺🥺 god damn Nick you’re so broken I’m so sorry. 

Ellie is still as supportive as ever and good god we clearly have lost all pretense of personal space at this point, what is her we don’t know her isn’t this normal for coworkers? But this conversation implies he called her after his talk with his dad and ugh yesssss 😩❤️ I still think he called her immediately after leaving the building, talked the entire car ride home and while getting ready for bed, needing the comfort of her voice on the other end of the line as he worked through his whirlwind of emotions and tried to come down off the cliff he felt himself on. All pretenses of a bad boy with a mysterious flare forever gone, his heart is open for her to see and he doesn’t give two shits about it anymore. But Ellie does a damn good job of girlfriend duties here and not only supports him but also gently prods him to see if he can maybe one day have a relationship with his father. The parallels she brings up makes him think (and also makes him look at her lips twice 👀 he’s just so close to her how could he not I mean right 😅) and I love that she’s still being v supportive but also trying to help him grow. 

And then Ellie giving Nick the option to go with his dad or go to the other location because she’s not going to push anything on him he doesn’t want and then when he chooses the embassy to avoid his dad her reaction had me laughing 🤣 but she respects it. And yet shortly after Miguel tries to team up with Nick and Ellie hears it from the other side of the bullpen, immediately all ears to step in if he wants to avoid him again despite giving him flack for it earlier. Nick can sense her worry and support and this is the moment he takes her advice in just a tiny step and accepts teaming up with his dad. But OMG KILL ME WHEN NICK THINKS HIS DAD IS DEAD BEFORE HE GETS TO TRY AT A RELATIONSHIP AGAIN. HIS WHISPERED “papa’s” I CAAAAAN’T. 

Ugh and then his last conversation with his dad while Ellie is checking on him constantly. It’s just too much, that little boy is back, desperately hoping for his dad to stick around. And Ellie is just so happy she can’t contain it for him and it’s perfect. He walks right to her, her hand on his back because they just need to touch each other after such a heavy couple of days and Nick echoes her advice back at her because he’s showing he listens and he values her insight and I just love it. 

AND THEN MIGUEL HAS COME TO RIP MY HEART OUT BECAUSE HE’S A PIECE OF SHIT REMEMBER. 

My poor bby Nick’s face when he realized his dad LIES AND LEAVES. REMEMBER. HE LIES AND LEAVES. God Wilmer killed it because Nick is literally on the verge of tears and my heart breaks and then yes he goes to Gibbs to see his pseudo-father who he then realizes is more of a father figure than Miguel will ever be and hell that’s okay but STILL. 

I will end this WWR with a I love supportive girlfriend Ellie and another big Fuck You to Miguel Torres.

Goodnight.

[missskzbiased]

The Three Lessons

Genre: Angst, Romance, Fluff (Hm…), Witch! Au, Love Triangle

Pairing: Chan X Fem! Reader X Seungmin

Word Count: ~5,1K

(The First) (The Second) (The Third)

Warnings: (Mild) Mentions of [Death, Burned Witches, Torture, Poisoning]

Reminder: I’m not a witch and do not have knowledge of any kind about the matter in modern days. It’s mere fantasy writing. It’s not intended to reflect Neopaganism since I’m not versed in it.

Notes:  Reference to Songs:  “The River Is Flowing” (Lindie Lila) [I modified the lyrics to fit my need] and “The Ghost of Pagan Song” (Donovan)

Updates: I’m writing the 2nd Chap yet. As soon as I finish it and review it, I’ll post it.

Tagging: Please, send me an ask/DM me if you wish to be tagged

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CHAPTER 1: The First Lesson

   There are only three lessons you should never forget, kiddo…

    The voice faded away like a thin fog vanishing from your view, and you couldn’t help but wonder why your sub-conscience felt the urge to remind you about it every single day of your life. You fluttered your fingers ─intertwined on top of your chest─ beginning to regain your consciousness over your body, feeling every inch of your form wake up along with your mind before you slowly opened your eyes to fix your gaze on the ceiling.

    At the age of seventeen, you should be used to have this same dream over and over again ─ as if your brain was some kind of broken parrot, who couldn’t stop replaying it on your mind every night ─ but you weren’t, and you didn’t really feel like you would ever be.

   The ceiling looked like the usual: Woody and leafy, as you liked to define.

   You didn’t need to look around to know exactly what it looked like because, for seventeen years of your life, you woke up in the exact same spot. You lived in the exact same place. You interacted with the exact same people. You lived the exact same life. You had the exact same dream. You heard the exact same voice. You learned exactly… Well, at least you learned different things over your life.

  And again, none of those answered your questions.

   You felt your sweat dripping slowly from your forehead; all your body burnt as if you were baking something all day long ─ except you weren’t ─, and at this point, you weren’t even surprised anymore. Every day you woke up like this: Dripping sweat and burning fever.

  The Coven swore to you that you weren’t sick.

   It was just Nature manifesting itself.

   You never saw Nature manifesting like this on any of your fellow members.

   You knew it had something to do with your dream but you couldn’t completely understand it. The scenes were blurry ─just like when you’re crying and the tears make it impossible to discern anything before your eyes ─, and the voices that surrounded you were loud and incomprehensive enough to confuse you to the core. The only thing you could really point out was that at the center of whatever place it was and surrounded by the crowd, something was consumed by the flames.

   It was easy enough to assume that something had a name…

   It was only logical to assume that the voices resumed the existence of that something ─ who was indeed a someone ─ in the only thing they could understand; chanting it in a tone filled with hatred and fear… You could only assume that the nameless figure who was engulfed by the flames ─ the only discernable thing in your dream, a bright orange-ish dance that emanated all the warmth that you felt burn your body at night─ was being called a witch.

   Just like you.

   You couldn’t even count the times you woke up afraid of being that nameless figure burning down on that stake… You couldn’t even count the times that you prayed for Nature to protect you like She had protected so many of yours… You couldn’t even count the times that you wished your undiscovered power wasn’t premonitory… You couldn’t even count the times you asked for The Elders to take this away from you.

   Yet, They couldn’t.

   Nature wants you to live with it, They said.

   Pretty convenient.

   “Do you need me to throw cold water on you or will you raise that butt by yourself?” The door shoot open as the old lady ─ also known as your grandma─ opened all the windows with a flick of her hand. The wood slammed on more wood, sounding loud and clear into your head, and all the brightness of the day got to your eyes, hurting them “I’ll give you three seconds!” She chanted, walking around the space, and picking up things around.

   She was loud as hell.

   You would expect an old lady like her to be really slow and quiet, maybe feel a lot of pain and complain a lot.

   Actually, one of those could be checked.

   She complained a whole lot.

   “And three!” She snapped her fingers.

   You felt the mattress whip under you ─ twitching in a way that projected your body out of it─, making you yelp as your body raised in the air, limbs floundering around as you waited for her to do something to prevent you from falling to the ground. You raised your voice as you yelled, eyes widening and heart bursting out in your chest, feeling despair wash over you as your body began to make its way to the ground.

   “And two!” She snapped her fingers again, sounding giggly as she did it, and you made a mental note to make a hell out of her life by the end of the day.

  The vines that hung from your ceiling came to life, tangling over your limbs to pick you up right before you hit the ground. They lifted your body enough to get you to her eye level, and she grinned at you, looking harmless as her eyes molded into crescents. You shot her a scorn grimace, waiting for her to give the order, so the vines would peacefully place you to the ground. She took one step back, taking the bucket she had under her arms and smiling brightly at you before snapping her finger, a coil of fluids forming of thin air to fill it up.

   Oh, boy.

   “And one!” She sang before jolting the bucket and hitting your face with cold water. You shut your eyes, mouth agape as you felt the drops rolling down your face, the cold feeling penetrating your skull and waking you up completely “Let’s go, we have a lot to do today!” She dropped the bucket with a loud thud before clapping her hands twice, turning her back to you and heading to the door.    

  “A little hand here?!” You yelled as she disappeared from your view, and her head came back into your view, peeking over the doorframe slyly. You waved your arms in the air, gesticulating to yourself and tightening your lips, suggestively looking at her, so she would realize you were still stuck on there.

   “Oh, right!” She chuckled dismissively “Vivi, let her go, Sweetheart!” She said friendly, and the vines ─ Vivi, as they were called─ promptly dropped you to the ground. You hit the floor with a loud thud, arms preventing your face to smash on the floor, raising your head to glare at your grandmother.

   “Really?!” You whined, yelling so she could hear you after disappearing again behind the doorframe. You rolled over your back, watching as the vines retracted to the ceiling, adorning the wooden beam there “Well, thank you, Vivi!” You sneered but they didn’t give you any attention, tangling over the wood and resting peacefully.

   “What is all that commotion?” You tilted your head back, taking into your view an upside down Chan framed by the door “Again?” He giggled, dimples digging his face as he approached you, extending his hand for you to take. You took it gratefully, standing up with his help and dusting off your clothes, trying to look presentable enough.

   The blond warlock didn’t seem to mind your soaked self or your sticky hair to your face, keeping his smile as if he didn’t even notice the mess you looked like right now. He ruffled your wet hair, chuckling as you shrank embarrassed, before he raised his index finger, spinning it around. The warm and soft air jet that twirled from his fingertip slowly dried out your hair and clothes, and you took the opportunity to fix them once again.

   “This is so cool!” He chirped “I never thought I would have this honor” He sighed, satisfied.

    Chan was an expert among the few Warlocks you had at The Coven. It was general knowledge that magic manifestation in natural forms ─ such as elemental spells ─ was uncommon for Warlocks but there he was, playing with the warm air. No one believed him when ─ at the age of nineteen, only halfway through his witchcraft studies ─ Chan said he learned to use some basic air spells.

   It had been a week and he had yet to grow used to the idea.

   Although some of the others related his abilities to the fact that he was the grandson of The Airy Elder, you didn’t agree with them. None of the others could make spells, and some of the Warlocks, such as Changbin, were grandsons of other Founders too. The fact was that Chan had a pure soul; pure enough for Nature herself to grant him the honor to hold her power.

   You may be a little biased, though.  

    “First, stop flattering yourself!” You joked, pushing him lightly, getting a giggle out of him “Second, I was totally going to get up!” You defended yourself, which he dismissed with a knowing look that made you blush. You cleared your throat ─ a vain attempt to hide how your heart drummed inside your chest ─, feeling embarrassment wash over you at the mere thought of your painfully obvious crush being there for anyone to see.

   It was especially uncomfortable to know that Chan had a great hearing.

   The young Warlock specialty was to hear the soul and heart’s voices.

   At this point, you could just deafen him just by your heartbeat.

   “Oh?” He blurted out, arching his brows as he shot a look to the ceiling. You followed his gaze to meet a small bird flying around in a spiral right on top of you two. He extended his finger in a twig-like gesture that invited the tiny creature to approach him, which it did. The bird landed on his finger, fleeting and tilting its head to glance at both of you, blinking rapidly. You stared at it curiously, tilting your head to the side, and it funnily mimicked you.

  Stop flirting around and come help me, you ungrateful child!

  You rolled your eyes when your Grandma’s voice sounded through its opened beak, embarrassed. Chan seemed to find it funny enough, though, because soon he was in stitches, holding his stomach as his laughter sounded like jingling bells. The bird flew off right after, startled by his sudden motion, letting you and the amused boy by yourselves once more.

   He recomposed himself, wiping a tear from his eyes and chuckling before looking softly at you and gesture to the door, accompanying you out of the cottage. You closed the door behind you ─ rubbing your arm awkwardly as you averted your eyes ─, trying to figure something cool to say that could cover up all the embarrassing moments before. He took it in the wrong way, though, taking off his coat and covering your shoulders with it, throwing you a warm smile.

   “Oh, no! There is no need for such a thing!” You rushed to say, trying to take out his clothes. He grabbed your shoulders, squeezing them lightly before chuckling. You glanced at him coyly and he patted your shoulders, fixing his gaze somewhere behind you before leaning closer to your ear, his breathy giggle fluttering some hair strands on your temples.

     “Keep it… Who knows how many surprises she holds for you?” He whispered, turning you around to look at your impatient Grandma, tapping her foot on the ground. He pushed you lightly, waving goodbye when you threw a look over your shoulder before picking up your pace to reach the upset Elder.

                                                                       /////

 The trees' crown rustled, allowing the thin light beams to dance on the ground.

  The gleam caught your eyes for a split of a second, bringing a content smile to your face as you felt the warmth of the woods impregnate your body; the blowing wind inciting you to spin around with the dancing trees. You fluttered your limbs in a dainty motion ─ spiraling once while feeling the breeze dance along with you ─, connecting yourself with every single living creature around for just a brief moment, enough to bring you to tears.

   The moment was overwhelming and you felt your heart swell before the gentle breeze and calming tune that came from the deepest parts of the woods shattered in small pieces right before you. The silence that came along was overbearing. It was like every single one of the creatures mourned and yet gloated, choosing to retire themselves for a while; a suffocating hollowness falling to the woods.

    The sudden gale hit you like a slap, pushing your body backward before spiraling around you ─ and you around ─, bringing altogether thousands of voices that didn’t seem to belong to anyone, and yet seemed to belong to everything. You shot your head up, eyes roaming around the woods as you tried to spot whoever was the source of such powers, but meeting no one to the sight. The whispers resounded in your mind, bewildering you, and the mix of voices buzzed to your ears before dying out gradually.

    Nature allows you to be who you truly are… Never turn your back on her

   The First Lesson was chanted by a soft voice brought by the wind, a voice that soon enough fell silent again; just like the woods. You roamed your eyes around ─ urging to make sense out of the suspicious situation ─, noticing how the animals hid far from the sight, a less than best-case-scenario for your hunting.

   The silence was broken once more by the wind itself, a sourceless yowling blown into your ears, making you snap your eyes to the side, startled. Once again, no one was in sight. You had this odd feeling in your gut, like an intruder just came into your home, and the bitterness that grew on your tongue prompted you to grunt, sharp eyes darting between the trees.

   “Reveal yourself!” You demanded, head swiveling but meeting nothing but the forest before you. The wind blew again, whispering through the leaves, and this time you followed its flow cautiously, eyes attentive to every single flutter you caught in the way. It faded away just like this, without a path for you to follow, and you groaned in frustration.

   What ─ in the name of the Goddess ─ was happening here?

    “H-Help…” Your ears perked up, eyes shooting to your left “P-please…” It was a small voice, undoubtedly owned by a human, and the realization made you shiver. You closed your eyes for a few seconds, sighing as you pondered what to do. Should you pretend you didn’t hear it?

  The wind blew again, violent, as a not so silent warning.

   You tsked, sighing before slinking through the trees for a few minutes until you spotted the boy on the ground, curled up. He seemed to be young ─maybe around your age─, dark hair stuck to his sweaty skin and eyes unfocused, roaming around. There was no doubt that his intoxicated figure ─pale skin, delusional eyes, and dry lips─ were caused by the one thing that had your hands tied: The River.

   As much as you pitied his agonizing end, he deserved it.

   You would never forget the day when all of the younger ones ─ such as yourself─ joined to ask The Elders why you couldn’t go into the woods like the older witches and warlocks, upset that you couldn’t do anything for The Coven.

   You would never forget the way your Grandma looked at you ─ letting the pain wash over her features right in front of your eyes─ before averting her gaze to the horizon, a stern and distant self that seemed to look directly to the past as if she could see everything unraveling right before her eyes.

  “The Humans… They were cruel to us” You remembered her saying “They tortured us over the years in ways that I wouldn’t dare to tell you kids in details… The Coven is protecting you from them and you should listen to us because no one else out there will care for you as we do” Her answer wasn’t satisfactory for any of you, so you whined, prepared to make a commotion. She stomped the ground ─a loud roar echoing from under her foot─ and looked at each of you with a steel-cold gaze.

   “Take a look at those” She raised her feet, exposing burn scars all over the sole, making all of you gasp in unison “I was captured by The Humans ages ago… Before The Coven was even founded... I and tons of other witches were tortured for being what we are… Women. They hate us and persecute us. They wanted us dead…”

  “They restrained us to the point we couldn’t feel our own blood running through our veins… The blood that connects us to this Nature… Some of us lost our hands or our feet… Some of us lost our lives at this point… It didn’t really matter to them” The pause revealed a suffocating silence but none of you dared to interrupt her rewind, keeping your breaths withhold “The ones who survived were already deprived of water, food, or light… We had only ourselves, our voices, our hope, and our faith with us. We didn’t even have clothes, as they stripped us and let us freeze to death. Some of us did. Some of us didn’t”

   “The ones that still survived all that were beaten up to the ground… Battered to the point they couldn’t even bear to stand up and fell dead right there, in front of our eyes… I wish I could say it was just it… Just once… They selected some of us to go to the woods, to let us have the chance to survive” She scoffed, looking away “The ones that weren’t selected were allowed to drink some water before going through all that over again… And again… And again… They had us for about three weeks” Her eyes teared up, and you still had the urge to cry until today whenever you remembered her broken voice.

    “When my time to go to the woods came, I discovered we weren’t simply thrown in the woods… No, we had to bear with our bare feet the red-hot soil under tender skin… Dehydrated… Starved… Ruined… I almost wished they could only burn me down at the stake. They didn’t. All of the survivors were marked for their lives… Not only here” She pointed out to her temples “But in a way that they could identify us in the future…” She raised her feet.

    “They said the ones who survived were witches and the ones who didn’t weren’t… So we couldn’t have any winners. It didn’t matter if you survived or not. It didn’t matter if we were witches or not. All of us somehow deserved to be dead…” She looked at you filled with sadness and regret before she averted her eyes, ashamed “They even poisoned the river… They knew the first thing we would do was to look for water, drink to relieve the dryness of our soul and body… And so did tons of us… Especially the younger or the least experienced ones… The exhausted souls that couldn’t think of purifying the water anymore… Who couldn’t handle it” She sighed, lowering her head “All dead”

   It wasn’t out of vanity that The Coven enchanted the river.

   The first thing they thought you at the age of fourteen was how to purify water so it would be safe to drink from the river; so you wouldn’t be killed by the cruelness that flowed through its waters if they ever did it again. The enchantments and spells threw all around the place were the only way to protect all of you from them… The only way you could afford to have somewhere to survive. The only way that you could be yourselves.  

   If it meant the death of some meddling humans… Let it be.

   They killed you enough for regret to wash over your souls.

   The River now was a symbol of your rebellion, of your power and urges to live… It was also the symbol of all the deceased witches you had because of their cruelties. It was the blood that ran through your veins. It was the magic that imbued your souls and body.

    The magic that ran through the body of this unaware guy struggling right in front of your eyes… The magic you couldn’t undo even if you wanted to…. He was a lost cause. You turned your back to him, ready to go back to your hunting and leave him behind, but one broken sentence was enough to make you stumble over your feet.

    “I don’t want to die all alone…” He cried, holding his throat tightly in despair.

    Never turn your back on her…

    You sighed before approaching him, sitting right beside him before taking his hand into yours. He shot his eyes at you, startled at the sudden presence, and you made your best to throw him a gentle smile even though you could see his face slowly swelling up as he suffocated right in front of your eyes.

    “The river is flowing… Flowing and growing… The river is flowing down to the sea…” You chanted, caressing his hair gently “Mother, carry him… Your child He’ll always be… Mother, carry him… Down to the sea…” You wiped his sweat, opening your canteen to give him some water to placate his thirst, wetting your hand before carefully rubbing your palms over his face.

   You could feel how the woods sang along with you, the soft rustles of the leaves following your tune, and birds tweeting to the rhythm. You felt your heart swelling, connecting to your surroundings once again, and even his heartbeat seemed to sing along with Nature for a split of a second.

    The attuned orchestra was interrupted by his muttering ─ soft voice under his breath─, something impossible to comprehend that made you nod anyway. You kept your smile firm on your lips to reassure him in his last moments, hoping that Nature could have some mercy on him. He tried to hum along with you ─ like he was tempted to pray before his end but could only follow your lead ─, and even though his rattling lungs couldn’t keep up with your chant, you slowed down a bit, getting a single grateful tear from his eyes.

    The emotional moment was broken by his strangled gasps ─a desperate attempt to breathe normally─, and you made sure to avert your eyes to look straight ahead. You shouldn’t witness his moment of weakness like this. You squeezed his hand to reassure him, to remind him that he wouldn’t die by himself, and as soon as he squeezed back ─ as strong as he could, trying to get your attention─, you obliged yourself to return your gaze to him.

   “K-Kim Seungmin” He struggled to say, sharp intakes of breath hinting he wouldn’t last much longer.

   “I’ll let your family know” You lied, bringing his head to your lap so he could feel more comfortable, allowing a little bit of air to get to his lungs. He tried to nod, and you averted your eyes again, looking into the woods to distract yourself.

   And distracted you got.

   The scene that met your eyes was, to say the least, amusing; your Grandma strode in your way, staff floundering in the air as she approached the guy in a rush. She took a look at him, musing before shoving some herbs inside his mouth out of nowhere, gripping his jaw in a way to force him to munch it.

   You looked at her startled but utterly ignored as she snapped her fingers over and over again.

   “Come on, young man” She said in her best elder lady voice you had ever heard “Gulp it down so you won’t die” She instructed, snapping her fingers to get his attention. Except it wasn’t the case. You could almost feel the frisson around his body as she kept snapping it over and over again, drawing circles in the air. The heavy layer of magic covered him like a blanket.

   He gulped down before you heard a sharp intake of breath ─ one that signalized he could really breathe right now─ and he gasped, again and again, feeling the air burn his lungs as he coughed for dear life. His torso snapped up, hand meeting his throat as he tried to recompose himself, practically back from the dead, eyes roaming around the place.

   The purple that once painted his face dissolved into a more healthy color and flushed cheeks. You took a better look at his face, warm brown hair hiding his forehead and dark eyes that were big as saucers for the moment, completely taken aback by his luck. He had just survived. He opened his mouth a couple of times, and you couldn’t help but notice how red his lips were right now, and also exceptionally well-shaped.

   “Don’t talk right now” She advised, taking the canteen from your hand “Drink this… You must be thirsty” She said kindly, adjusting the object so she could allow him to drink some of the water inside it. He took large gulps, eyes overflowing with relief before he had enough strength to raise his hand to the canteen and stop her motions.

   “I don’t know how to express my gratefulness for both of you” He said sincerely “I own you my life” He was quick to kneel, lowering his head in respect, one arm bending on his back and the other one rested on top of his knee. You extended your hand, ready to dismiss the unnecessary formality, but your Grandma seemed to think otherwise.

   “You do” She agreed, standing up and supporting herself on her wood staff, like an elder. You almost scoffed at her antics but a single twist of her feet made you shut your mouth, the hard inaudible pang on your ass making you think twice before disrespecting her “Unfortunately, I may have to take some of it from you” She smiled apologetically.

   She acted before you could even understand what she had just said.

   The staff was raised to strike his stomach in a quick motion ─ so quick that he couldn’t help but hunch his back, hands over his stomach as he huffed in astonishment ─ before her hand covered his face to push his head to the ground, tipping him over.

   “What strings are plucked beneath the mound? Awake the seeds to break the ground” She chanted, hand gripping his head firmly. You could see his right eye widen, peeking between her long fingers, mouth opening to scream for help. She jerked his head once, the sudden movement silenced him, and as you watched the scene with your mouth agape ─ utterly startled─, you noticed how his eyelashes fluttered close, hinting he was under a sleeping spell.

   “Grandma, what are you doing?” You hissed, looking around the woods as if Nature herself would come to punish both of you.

   She raised her other hand in a sharp movement, signalizing that you should keep quiet. You shut your mouth, pursing your lips to make sure not a sound would drop from you. It didn’t prevent you from stretching your neck, trying to get a better look at whatever was happening right in front of your eyes.

   The scene before your eyes had your head tilting.

   You never saw an enchantment like this.

   You watched as strings of translucent energy oozed from his ears, slowly drenching the ground underneath his head in a spiral that seemed to fuzz the grass. The delicate flutters of her free hand seemed to hasten the energy flow, and soon enough she released his head, fluttering her fingers as if she was seasoning him. The mere thought of the unconscious boy being treated like a roasted chicken made you chuckle, and she shot you a glare to keep you quiet.

    “No question asked… No answer found” She continued, and the energy coiled to the ground, knotting there before a small flower gradually sprouted, “Young man, now list to me…” She snapped her fingers, and all the fuzzing you felt around vanished. She caressed his head, thumbs running through his cheeks “It’s all a strange dream; don’t worry too much about this… It was really dangerous to fall asleep in the woods, wasn’t it? They should be worried about you by now…” She sighed, getting up and gesticulating for you to follow her.

   You straightened up, prepared to obey without a question.

   A sudden breeze made you shiver and you stared at the boy on the ground, musing for a second before taking Chan’s coat from your shoulders and covering him up. You threw a look over your shoulder to check up on him as you rushed to your Grandma, watching his asleep form snoring peacefully in the middle of the woods, resting next to a tree as if he was in a secure field. When you finally got on her tracks, you threw her a look, clearing your throat before voicing your thoughts.

   “Shouldn’t we wake him up? He could be eaten by a wolf…” You pointed out but she kept her pace, waving her hand dismissively.

   “He’s not our problem anymore” She shrugged, walking fast “Furthermore, it’s not the time for his death yet…” You narrowed your eyes at her, humming in wonder.

   “Was that why you meddled?” You asked curiously, and she finally glanced at you over her shoulder, pursing her lips “I never thought you would save a human” You admitted.

   “My mission is to respect Nature… If Nature herself wants this young man alive, I’m not the one to go against her wishes” She declared, intending to drop the subject. You hummed again, and before you could open your mouth, she cleared her throat “I thought it was clear that neither of you should approach a human until the age of eighteen” She stated matter-of-factly.

   “I’m just a few months away…” You rolled your eyes before grinning “Also, I thought the first lesson of The Coven was to never turn our back to Nature… As you said, Nature herself didn’t want the young man to die” She scoffed, amused by your retort “Who am I to go against her wishes?” You chuckled, noticing how she shook her head in disbelief, though it was clear she found it funny.

   “Don’t forget the other ones” She muttered seriously before snapping her fingers twice, probably releasing the poor boy from the sleeping spell.

                                                    ////

I won’t lie to you all, I’m really excited about this SUHAHUSAHUSASHUAUS It’s the first time I’ll be writing any kind of fantasy stuff. I have the general plot in my mind and I may be dropping some hints to make some kind of spin off if people like it or if I feel like it in the future lol

I really hope you guys like it!

Any feedback is more than welcomed, especially vocabulary and stuff like this. Feel free to criticize me (just do this in a constructive way, please LOL)

[sayakas-dr-imagines]

Hello! Buuuut hajime, kazuichi and celestia being jealous of their s/o?

Hi! So, when I wrote this request, I didn’t know if you meant being jealous of their S/O, or being jealous over their S/O. That probably doesn’t make any sense.

If this isn’t what you were looking for then please, please, please, please, please tell me, and I’ll write another version! Okay? Deal.

- Mod Sayaka

Hajime Hinata, Kazuichi Souda and Celestia Ludenburg Getting Jealous Over Their S/O!

Hajime Hinata

- Hajime likes to think of himself as quite a relaxed and laid-back kind of guy. He doesn’t get too uptight in situations, but he’s just the right amount of logic you need to get you out of a situation when given the opportunity to help in any way possible.

- Jealousy has never really been an emotion he feels much. Sometimes he finds himself with a minor case of jealousy when people somehow stay calm in situations where even he is stressed out in. But it had never really gone beyond that sort of petty jealousy before.

-Yet as he looked on at you surrounded by guys, chatting with them and laughing with them, he couldn’t help but feel a pit in his stomach. He cursed himself for being so overprotective, since he knew it wasn’t a reasonable thing to get jealous over at first.

- But then he noticed one of the man’s advances. Most of the guy’s intentions with you were shown clearly through his body language and that certain twinkle in his eye that shows he’s up to no good.

- He has an inner argument with himself for a couple of moments. 

- It’s perfectly reasonable to get jealous when guys are flirting with your S/O, right? But then again... what if he wasn’t? They’re laughing. They might be jokes. But still...

- He let out a puff of air as he ran a hand through his spiked hair - conflicted beyond belief. He couldn’t help how he feels, but sometimes it isn’t right to feel a certain way about things. He could very well be in the wrong. Yet, as he looks at that guy casually wrap and arm around your shoulder...

- Now he feels anger. Anger that not only did he clearly have the intention of wooing you, but this man had the guts to touch you. He took one look at your face. You didn’t seem uncomfortable, but you did seem to try to step away from the man who put an arm around your shoulder.

- His body was moving on its own at this rate - as he casually walked over to the group. He couldn’t help but notice how your face lit up upon seeing him walk over. “Hajime! Come here, wanna hang out with us?”

- Honestly, Hajime had no response to that. He didn’t want to let you down or cause suspicion that he’s being possessive, but he also has no intention of speaking with any of these men who sparked something deep inside of him that he didn’t even know he had.

- Without thinking, he nodded his head in order to avoid the slim chance of you thinking he was being far too overprotective. Immediately after, you went back to chatting with the other guys. 

- He appreciated how to did your best to include him in the conversation, but he really wished you were psychic at the moment, so that you could know just how much he would pay or do to not be involved at all. This was the last thing he wanted to do - and he answered without thinking, which got him involved in the end.

- “Excuse me, guys,” you say as you take Hajime’s hand in yours. His heart stops for a moment. He hates that he does, but he takes pride in the look of fury and shock in the face of the man who was making moves on you. “I’m gonna leave now, ‘kay? See you later!”

- You pulled on his arm before he could register that you’d even started to walk away, and so he hastily walked after you as you led him around a corner or two. Somewhere, deep down, he was afraid of you telling him that he was being a terrible boyfriend by being jealous. But how would you even know exactly how he was feeling? He wasn’t that transparent, was he?

- You stopped abruptly, causing him to awkwardly bump into you. He mumbled an apology as he took a small step backwards. You turned around to face him, and you took a moment to even say a single word.

- “Hajime... is something wrong? You’ve been quieter than usual. Are you mad at me?” Panic flooded through his mind as soon as you said that. Did it really come off as if he was angry at you? He internally screamed at himself for letting you feel that way.

- He raised his hands. “No, no! N-not at all, I’m not mad at you, I swear!” He says this all too quickly to be believable, and be notices that, too. “Seriously, it isn’t you. I could never be mad at you.”

- “Then what’s up?” you asked frowning. Your gaze never left him for even a second - to the point where Hajime found it almost intimidating. He’d never felt like that before whenever your gaze was transfixed on him for another reason. Maybe it was the circumstances that made him feel intimidated.

- “I just... That guy, the one who wrapped his arm around your shoulder? Yeah. He clearly had alternative intentions with you - and... I was jealous.” It was almost painful for him to admit it, but relieving nonetheless.

- You didn’t look upset, or mad, like he thought you would. Instead, a big grin spread across your face. “Aw, Hajime! It’s fine. Next time just tell me, okay? I don’t actually like that guy, anyway. Too touchy-feely, y’know?

- The utter relief that he felt was overjoying, and he smiled back at you. “Yeah. Of course, I should’ve known there was no reason to be jealous.” 

- He was caught off guard as you pulled him down by his tie and kissed him, but he settled into it after a quick moment of realisation. 

- Now he realised how stupid it was to be jealous over something like that.

Kazuichi Souda

- Kazuichi was just wandering around through the halls, whistling to himself quietly when he turned a corner and was immediately stopped by his own shock. His thoughts were actually what brought him back to reality. 

- Around the corner, he saw you, being hit on by another guy. He had a typical jock aura to him, the type of one where they clearly aren’t to be messed with. He stood in shock for a moment, before deciding to get a good read on the situation before jumping to conclusions too early.

- He felt anger boiling up inside him as he heard him casually add in pickup lines to any decent conversation you two seemed to be having. They weren’t even that good - was this guy for real right now?

- This guy had the balls to hit on you when you clearly just wanted a casual conversation. It wasn’t as if he didn’t understand - like, you’re hot as hell, Kazuichi would honestly hit on you too. But he had the decency to have a conversation with you without completely ruining it with weak pickup lines.

- No, he’d ruin it with good pickup lines.

- But still. Even though he understood how the guy felt, that didn’t change how he felt. You’re his S/O, and by all rights, he should feel like this when guys are hitting on you. But what if he was joking around? What if he screwed something up while confronting you two about it?

- He was overthinking things. Which was never a good sign, no matter the circumstances. He gripped his beanie, distress, as different options ran through his mind.

- After seeing the guy give you a small punch to the shoulder, he snapped. He walked over - fully prepared for any conflict that may lie ahead of him. “Hey, man! The hell you doing?”

- The guy obviously didn’t want to see Kazuichi - because he previously confident and smug facial expression faltered and he looked almost disappointed. There was no response, but you turned to him with a look in your eyes that screamed “help me”.

- “Back off, dude. S/O doesn’t want you here.” Kazuichi pushed him back, standing next to you after saying that. The guy simply tried to regain his place next to you by shoving back.

- Kazuichi was fully ready to get physical with this guy - no matter what consequences were sure to follow. He stopped as soon as he felt your grip on his arm, pulling him back. “Stop it, Kazuichi. It’s fine, really, let’s just leave now. Okay?”

- He nodded, but ended up being shoved back again by the guy, who was clearly not just going to let him go without a fight. He stepped up to glare at him, but ultimately turned around and rushed out of the area with you trailing close behind him.

- He stopped when you two arrived at a bench. He practically collapsed down onto it, letting out a dramatic sigh as he did so. You were quick to follow, sitting down next to him. “You really didn’t have to do that, Kazuichi. But thanks - that guy was getting pretty forceful.”

- “I did have to do it, S/O! Listen - I know it sounds weird - but seeing guys treat you like that makes me real uncomfortable. You’re my S/O. Nobody else’s, right?” He looked at you, as if for confirmation, even though you both know nothing he just said needed any sort of confirmation from anybody, even if it was phrased that way.

- You smiled gently, leaned down, and kissed him. He seemed as if he was already prepared for this - kissing back almost immediately after.

- At least the worry he previously had was gone by now.

Celestia Ludenburg

- Celeste was normally a very calm and composed person. Even in times of crisis she was always able to stay level-headed and logical, which was a trait that many people admired. It was a trait of hers that she, herself, admired and found herself lucky to have.

- She was rather intimidating, too. Sometimes this was something she used to her advantage when people were being a thorn in her side - other times it was something that inconvenienced her when she needed people to trust her wholeheartedly.

- Yet as she walked into the library only to be met with a couple of guys making moves on you, she couldn’t help but feel like her calm and composed nature was faltering and deteriorating by the second.

- Her first instinct would usually be to walk right up there and confront the situation as it is. Tell the guy to go away so she could talk to you about it, and then the main problem would be solved. That has always been how she thought she would handle a situation like this.

- But when it happens in real life and she was faced with the decision for the first time, not in a hypothetical situation, it became much more difficult to work up the courage to bring herself to do anything at all.

- She was rooted to the spot, and she was left to unwillingly listen to what was happening between you two. What she heard only increased her rage by an amount she didn’t even believe was possible.

- This absolute imbecile was repeatedly telling you how much he “knows you want to go out with him”, and how much he’d “like to take you for a ride”. She couldn’t help but feel proud as you repeatedly told him to leave you alone without losing your composure completely.

- She finally regained control of her own body and forced herself to walk into the room - taking a good look at the situation ahead of her.

- Currently, you were sitting at a table with a book in front of you. Your struggle to keep focused was apparent in both your expression and how loudly the man was babbling on about himself.

- First, she walked over and took a seat near you. She saw your face light up, and felt her anger melt away slightly. “Good evening, dear. How are you today?” She rested her chin on her hands as she looked at you with the same deceitful smile on her face as always.

- “I’m doing great, Celeste. I’m trying to study, but-”

- “Excuse me, lolita girl, I’m having a nice conversation with this lovely person here.” Celeste looked up at the man, who had a smug look on his face. She gave him a smile.

- “Actually, I believe S/O here is attempting to study. They should not be having a conversation with anybody - unless it is one sided, yes?” Her passive-aggressive comment was not met kindly with the man it was directed towards. He slammed his hands down on the table in an attempt to be threatening.

- Celeste let her smile drop. She stood up, using her hands to lean over the table and be closer to the man. “I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave my dear S/O alone to study. A foul man such as yourself should be in the garbage dump - where you belong. Now do me a favour and get out - before your stench invades this entire library.”

- The man was either stunned into silence or embarrassed into silence - because his face turned red and he exited the room faster than a lightning bolt. Celeste turned back to face you.

- “Are you alright? Did that imbecile harm you in any way at all?”

- “No, I’m completely fine. Thanks for that, though. He was really overbearing.”

- “It was nothing.”

[soyforramen]

String-Theory Miracle

A holiday prequel to this Witchy prompt (Anon, I hope this makes up for the eon it took me to do the original):

Betty let out a full body sigh as she watched Archie and Veronica skate around the frozen lake.  Unsteady on her feet, Veronica’s arms windmilled.  The flash of panic was replaced by laughter when Archie caught her around the waist.  They’d been on the ice almost from the moment they’d shown up at Cheryl’s Sweetwater party, while Betty had taken up her lonely vigil at the bonfire.

Tonight was the first time Betty had seen Archie look this radiant.  A pity, really.  Because for the longest time, she thought that it would be her that would bring that look to his face.

“You did a good deed, Coop,” a voice said from behind.

She turned and found Jughead holding out a steaming cup.  Betty took it and wrapped her gloved hands around the cardboard, eager for anything that would ward off the late season chill.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said loftily.  She took a sip of the drink - mocha latte, extra shot.  Of course he’d know what she’d been craving.  Jughead Jones was never one to carelessly offer food.

He rolled his eyes as he settled down onto the log next to her. “You really want to tell me that Reggie’s carburetor mysteriously disappeared, defying reality and quantum physics, a mere ten minutes before he was supposed to pick Veronica up for their date?”

While Jughead was talking, Betty pulled his arm tight around her against the wind.  He’d long since given up trying to convince Betty that the Jones’ did not, quote, snuggle.  (Said conversation had been held in third, fifth, and ninth grade.  Despite it being a well refined argument, Jughead had resigned himself to the fact that Betty (and Veronica and Toni) had dubbed him the human furnace at Archie’s first homecoming game.)

“Must have been a Christmas string-theory miracle.”

He snorted, and Betty felt a small rush of pride in his confidence.  After all, sabotaging Reggie’s carburetor was the only logical thing anyone could accuse her of.  The rest was a mix of cajoling Polly into various coincidental spells to make sure the cold front blew in early enough to freeze the river (and to put a bug into Cheryl’s ear about one last winter blowout before graduation); Betty stealing Archie’s letterman jacket, only to return it with a luck charm sewn in the lining; and to make sure the jalopy worked well enough to make it to Veronica’s without a gasket blowing out.

“You gonna be okay with this?”

Betty glance at Jughead.  “What do you mean?”

“Your long time crush dating your forever best friend.”

She sighed and pulled him closer.  The wind gusted around them and Betty considered whether he’d let her steal his beanie.

“He’ll never look at me that way.  It just took me fifteen years to realize that.”

A sharp whistle caught their attention and they turned to find Sweet Pea and Kevin making smooching noises at them.  Betty gave them a beatific smile as she lifted her hand in a one finger salute.  Sweet Pea cackled.  He threw his arm around Kevin’s shoulder, more than tipsy at this point, and left to harass someone else.

Jughead squeezed her waist, and the movement made her squirm against him.

“You’re a good egg,” he said softly.

They sipped at their quickly cooling drinks while the party swirled around them, content to be alone among the crowd.  As night began to fall, the food truck Cheryl had rented closed up.  The teens began to disperse as girls in thin leggings wrapped themselves in letter jackets, all the while cajoling their dates to get out of the cold.  Veronica and Archie had disappeared long ago, red-faced and glowing, while others talked about a promised Blossom wassail tasting.

The pain Betty had earlier when she realized just how perfect Veronica and Archie were together had subsided to a dull ache.  A reminder that no matter how perfect she tried to be, no matter how relatable, no matter how friendly, she’d never be what Archie wanted.  But sitting next to Jughead, just enjoying the night, it was nothing more than an overstretched muscle.  An unsightly bruise to both her pride and ego.  

“Walk me home?” she asked Jughead when the fire was nothing more than a few embers.

He nodded and stood.  Holding out his hands, he took the empty cups in one and pulled Betty to her feet with the other.  On their way to the trailhead he tossed them in an overly full trashcan and let her lead them towards the dimly light hiking trail.

“Any plans for break?”Jughead asked.

Betty slipped her hands into his coat pocket and wrapped her fingers around his.  He shivered at her cold touch.  

“Just the Cooper traditional Christmas Eve feast followed by four hours at midnight mass.  Then six hours in a car for Christmas brunch with Dad’s family.  You?”

Jughead shrugged his shoulders and Betty felt a catch at her heart.  The last he’d mentioned the Jones’ were trying at being a family again, but history had proven that didn’t mean anything.

“Mary invited me and Arch up to Chicago.  Thought I might take a look at some colleges while we’re there,” he said evenly.  

She squeezed his hand, a silent apology for asking.  He squeezed it back.  Such a simple motion, but one that put her at ease about the next few weeks.

It wasn’t until they reached town that they realized snow had begun to fall around them.  The first natural snow of the season, Betty realized.  One untouched by magic.  It was a sure sign that the holidays were just around the corner.  The one time of the year where Betty was permitted to stay in bed late, curled around a stack of the latest best-sellers; when her parents acted like teenagers, openly flirting while they decorated their house, tipsy on egg nog.  The only time when Polly still wanted to curl up with her in their grandmother’s oversized recliner and gossip; when her father handed her a cup of hot chocolate spiked with Schnapps while they watched Charlie Brown’s poor tree loose all of its needles.

This was her favorite time of year, and she refused to let something as silly as disappointed puppy love, as silly as Archie get her down.

With a laugh, Betty tugged them towards the town square.  Jughead stumbled, but had no trouble catching himself with his long legs.  Halfway to the square she scooped up what snow she could off a parked car and threw it at him, shrieking with delight when he managed to come up with a properly made snowball.  Shoppers taking advantage of the later holiday hours on Main Street shook their heads at such childish exuberance, but even crabby Ms. Crabapple pulled a smile when they ran by.  

Panting, they made their way to Elm Street.  Betty stuck her tongue out and managed to catch a snowflake on her first try.  

“Show off,” Jughead teased.

She winked and slid her arm through his.  One by one, the lights on the houses kicked on.  Puzzled, he stared at the houses.

“Did you do that?”

Betty shook her head.  Magic had nothing to do with this, but even she couldn’t deny the strange sense of wonder the lighted block brought out in her.  She pulled Jughead closer; for once, Betty was happy to have someone decidedly not Archie to experience this with.  (And, perhaps, it wasn’t just any someone so much as it was a particular someone, she was slowly beginning to realize.)

“Must have been some real string-theory holiday magic,” she said with a contented smile.